Hard Hill Training - 1 1/2 Hours - Miner's & Pioneer

Up Uren Street
Up Snow Mountain Ditch
Up Willow Valley Road
Up Pioneer Trail
Down to the Rock Creek Nature Trail
Up Rock Creek Road
Down Pioneer Trail
Down Miner's Trail
Down Uren Street


13.05 Miles
1579 Feet Climbing
1:33 Hours
1268 Calories
135 Average HR
182 Max HR
Cadence sensor on geared bike still not working.

On the geared bike. Intervals felt great after taking a few days off the bike.

Push Basic IV - 1 3/4 Hours - Pioneer, Rock Creek Nature Trail

Up Uren Street
Up Snow Mountain Ditch
Up Willow Valley Road
Up Pioneer Trail
Down to the Rock Creek Nature Trail
Up Rock Creek Road
Down Pioneer Trail
Down Miner's Trail
Down Uren Street


12.82 Miles
1823 Feet Climbing
1:47 Hours
1312 Calories
122 Average HR
162 Max HR
No cadence sensor on singlespeed

On the singlespeed. Accompanied by a single and twenty-nine engineer. Drop down to the Rock Creek Nature trail was very bumpy, littered with debris and awesome!

Hard Flat Training - 1 hour - On Spin Bike at Home

1:00 Hour
129 Average HR
179 Max HR
81 Average Cadence

Three sets of 3 minute 20 second intervals with a target range of 173 to 182 with a 6 minute 40 second recovery. Accompanied by wifers while we watched the Milano - San Remo race.

Spin Basic IV - 2 Hours - Scott's Drop from Nevada City

Up Uren Street
Up Snow Mountain Ditch
Up Willow Valley Road
Up Pioneer Trail
Down Scott's Drop
Along Scott's Flat Lake trail
Up Scott's Flat Road
Down Pioneer Trail
Down Miner's Trail
Down Uren Street


19.15 Miles
2196 Feet Climbing
2:07 Hours
2070 Calories
140 Average HR
172 Max HR
No cadence sensor on singlespeed

On the singlespeed. Great ride! Trails in perfect condition, not too chilly and only needed lights for a bit of Miner's Trail. Accompanied by two single and twenty-nine engineers, the Believer, Billiam, George Lucas and the woman formerly known as the Milk Lady.

Hard Hill Training - 1 1/4 Hours

Up Uren Street
Up Snow Mountain Ditch
Up Willow Valley Road
Up Pioneer Trail
Down Willow Valley Road
Up Willow Valley Road
Down Pioneer Trail
Down Miner's Trail
Down Uren Street


11.79 Miles
1588 Feet Climbing
1:19 Hours
1265 Calories
134 Average HR
176 Max HR
No cadence sensor on singlespeed

On the singlespeed. Three sets of 3 minute 20 second intervals with a target range of 173 to 182 with a 6 minute 40 second recovery. Had a hard time getting my HR up on the second interval, third felt good.

Hard Hill Training - 1 hour - On Spin Bike at Home

1:00 Hour
128 Average HR
182 Max HR
76 Average Cadence

Had a hard time waking up and getting my heart rate up. Was able to get 3 intervals in. Accompanied by wifers while we watched the finale of the Paris - Nice race.

Push Basic IV - 3 1/4 Hours - Bullard's Bar Reservoir

I dunno this place very well, so I cannot esplain.


24.32 Miles
2731 Feet Climbing
3:20 Hours
3208 Calories
135 Average HR
177 Max HR

On the singlespeed accompanied by the Believer, the TMNT and Adam. Found one tick on me after the ride. Trail was in great shape, a little slippery from pine needles or oak leaves in places. Poison oak was not too bad yet.

On Bike Strength - 3 mins @ 50 rpm - 1 hour

1:05 hours
130 Average HR
154 Max HR
77 Average Cadence

On trainer at home. Did 3 sets of 50 rpm cadence keeping HR in base training zone. I found that it is difficult to get the resistance needed for this strength training on the spin bike. The rest of these will be done outside. Accompanied by wifers watching the start of the Paris - Nice race.

Push Basic IV - 2 Hours - Scott's Drop

Up Uren Street
Up Snow Mountain Ditch
Up Willow Valley Road
Up Pioneer Trail
Down Scotts Drop
Up Scotts Flat Road
Down Pioneer Trail
Down Miner's Trail
Down Snow Mountain Ditch
Down Uren Street


18.78 Miles
2175 Feet Climbing
1:53 Hours
2010 Calories
138 Average HR
170 Max HR

On the geared bike, cadence sensor still acting up. Accompanied by the believer. Scott's drop is in great shape. Skipped trail around the lake to make sure we had enough daylight for Miner's Trail.

Spin Basic IV - 1 Hour - Lemond Loop

Up East Main Street
Up Hughes Road
Down Ridge Road
Down Rough and Ready
Down Bitney Springs Road
Up Newtown Road
Up Champion Mine Road


12.73 Miles
1230 Feet Climbing
1:02 Hours
792 Calories
138 Average HR
163 Max HR
82 Average Cadence

On the CX bike. Tried to keep my cadence above 90 rpm when possible. Rained and hailed a bit.

Spin Basic IV - 1 hour - On Spin Bike at Home

1 hour
134 Average HR
157 Max HR
85 Average Cadence

On trainer at home. Attempted 90 rpm with HR between 134 and 156. Accompanied by wifers.

Push Basic IV - 2 Hours - Round Mountain and South Yuba

Up Coyote Street
Down Atolia
Out Rock Creek Road
Out Hudson Way
Down Round Mountain Flume Trail
Down Purdon Road
Up Round Mountain Ranch Road
Out Trailhead Road
Down Round Mountain Trail
Down South Yuba Trail
Up Purdon Road
Up Rector Road
Up Rock Creek Road
Up Atolia Road
Down Coyote Street


15.96 Miles
2158 Feet Climbing
1:52 Hours
1515 Calories
138 Average HR
174 Max HR
67 Average Cadence

On the geared bike aiming at 70 rpm cadence. Dummy forgot to start the gps machine and missed quite a bit of miles and climbing. The blue is what was recorded. I fudged in the purple based on old data, but we did that bit too. Data also doesn't include the 6 or so miles from work to where we started. Accompanied by the Believer, Tazman, Billiam, the new guy from Moron County, and Jason Lively.

On Bike Strength - 3 mins @ 50 rpm - 1 1/4 hours

Up East Main Street
Up Hughes Road
Down Ridge Road
Down Rough and Ready
Down Bitney Springs Road
Up Newtown Road
Up Indian Flat
Across Wet Hill Road
Up Cement Hill Road
Down Cement Hill Road


14.67 Miles
1706 Feet Climbing
1:17 Hours
952 Calories
135 Average HR
165 Max HR
70 Average Cadence

On the CX bike. Did 4 sets of 50 rpm cadence keeping HR in base training zone.

Hard Hill Training - 2 hours - Miners & Pioneer Trails

Up Uren Street
Up Snow Mountain Ditch
Up Miner's Trail
Up Pioneer Trail
Over roads north of Pioneer
Down to Rock Creek Nature Trail
Up to Pioneer Trail
Down Pioneer Trail
Down Miner's Trail
Down Uren Street


14.93 Miles
2122 Feet Climbing
1:53 Hours
1452 Calories
138 Average HR
186 Max HR

On the geared bike, cadence sensor still acting up. Took the previous day off and getting the heart rate up for these intervals was quite easy. I felt pretty darn good having taken a day off. Some snow still up on roads north of Pioneer. Drop to Rock Creek Nature Trail hadn't seen any traffic yet, removed a bunch of downed branches.

Push Basic IV - 2 Hours - UnNamed trail from Nevada City

Up and out Cement Hill
....

South Yuba

....

Up Jones Bar Road
Up New Town Road
Up Champion Road
Up Old Downieville Highway
Back to Nevada City


19.65 Miles
1914 Feet Climbing
2:05 Hours
1895 Calories
137 Average HR
173 Max HR

On singlespeed accompanied by two single and twenty-nine engineers and Ralph Hinkley. Cool and clear night. Added a little singletrack and dirt road to the beginning of the route. Some mud and puddles on trail. Had to ride slow to wait for the sun to set.

Spin Basic IV - 45 Mins - On Spin Bike at Home

45 Mins
132 Average HR
163 Max HR
86 Average Cadence

On trainer at home. Attempted 90 rpm with HR between 134 and 156. I'm starting to feel more comfortable doing higher cadence. Accompanied by wifers.

Race - Cool Mountain Bike Race

2008 Cool Mountain Bike Race
Two laps on the Olmsted Loop in Cool, CA.


19.36 Miles
2426 Feet Climbing
1:34 Hours
1353 Calories
180 Average HR
199 Max HR (Holy Crap!)
83 Average Cadence (But this is only for the last mile, when it decided to start working.)

I have done the Cool Mountain bike race five of the last six years. Last year I got third in the Sport category and I was hoping to better that result. Considering how much I have been training, it was a goal that was not unachievable.

I did the Tune Up and Warm Up that my coach prescribed. During my warm up my large water bottle, filled with Cytomax, had the bottom fall out and leaked all over my drive train. I had two small bottles, full of water, with me and ended up using only those. My cadence sensor wouldn't work, I attempted to revive it but to no avail. Already I was feeling unprepared....
The race plan that I had decided upon the previous night was to stay with the race leaders on the first lap and then pull away from them and hopefully crush them on the second.

I lined up at the start with about 20 other Sport racers in my age category. Just before we started we were told that ALL of the Sport racers would be going together, the younger men, older men and all the women. Some in my group got to the very front of the start and I lost sight of them right as the race started. We bottle necked within the first few hundred feet at the start of the singletrack. I passed as many people as possible, my heart rate spiking at 199 bpm, but there were still quite a few people in front of me. I couldn't tell who was and was not in my age group.

I kept passing people up the first climb, trying to keep my breathing in check and not overdoing it. I passed people going down the fast doubletrack, going down this faster than I ever have. The first creek crossing created a bottleneck as did the steep climb following. I followed some slower riders down the next track-and-a-half section and started trying to pass more people on the next long steep climb. I caught some more racers on the descent into Knickerbocker creek and was slowed by them until after the creek crossing and the climb out. I passed a few more on the following up and down sections and yo-yo'd with a few more.

I got up to the next section of singletrack, a tight ribbon, gently flowing down with tall grass on either side. I quickly caught a female single speeder that was going slower than me. With no place to pass I tried to get my breathing back under control and recover for the climb to follow.

After some more double track I came to the bog section. There was nobody close in front of me so I tried to watch the riders far in front of me to see the best line. I saw a rider disappear into the bog and decided that was NOT the line to take. However, because he was so far ahead of me, my perspective was skewed and I ended up taking his exact line. I ended up in the bog, hub deep. Bummer, indeed.

I fought with racers back and forth on the following climbs back to the start/finish, the beginning of my second lap.

At the lap marker I took some water and a Gu packet. Into the first singletrack section, thankfully, there was nobody in front of me and I was able to take the first jump for fun. I was able to carry my speed through the second jump into an immediate left turn. Up to the top of the next short hill, pick up my second water bottle and fly down the next descent with a high speed jump and then a high speed right hand turn.

The following singletrack descent and climb was a blur of crazy fast descending and lactic threshold climbing, with an open seat bag spilling all my tools as a bonus. Bonus! I was no longer carrying my tools, extra CO2 cartridges or second spare tube.

About the half way mark I caught a racer in my class. I figured by now I was up near the very front of my category, maybe this guy was the race leader. I pulled up behind him on the pavement descent, drafted him a bit, then pulled out in front and sprinted for the singletrack. Before the descent into Knickerbocker creek I looked back to see where he was, right on top of me, Bastard!

I pulled away from him on the climb out of Knickerbocker, keeping my heart rate around 184 bpm. I kept him at bay on the next descent too. On the next climb he caught me, we yo yo'd a bit, until I dropped my chain trying to get into granny gear. I cursed, got off my bike, tried to control my breathing, put the chain back on and started pedaling. At the top of the hill a single speeder let me by because the tight ribbon of singletrack was coming up again. Within seconds I caught another singlespeeder. I tried going around him but couldn't get any speed up on the grass and he wasn't willing to yield any speed to let me by. This is a fine way to piss off somebody when you are racing, fyi. After the singletrack opened to double track again I thanked him and wished him a good day as I dropped his lousy ass.

My competitor had caught another in our group (guess he wasn't race leader) and I had them in sight, only about 10 seconds ahead. I had the bog ahead to deal with and a good deal of climbing as well.

I kept my heart rate at 184 bpm (btw, my Lactic Threshold is 180) and alternated between standing and seated climbing. I gave it my all, got a better line in the bog and was pushing with all I had. Near the top of the next to last climb I saw they had caught another racer in my class, a team mate of mine. For fuck's sake, how many racers in my class were in front of me?!

I figured at this point there were three in front of me in my class and I wasn't reeling them in fast enough. Fourth place is as good as last so I backed off and made sure I didn't lose any position. A few older sport racers passed me but nobody else in my class caught me. I rolled into the finish line humbled and ready for my rinse off and beers.

I ended up with 7th place. In years past I would have probably considered this a good finish, but not this season. First place is the only one i'd have been pleased with.

Consolation prize is that I was only a little over five minutes off the leader. Had I gotten a better start and made a few other race decisions better maybe I could have made that up.

After the race I won some raffle prizes which were worth far more than my entry fee. That made me feel better too.

Year after year, Cool is a really fun race with great competition and awesome raffle prizes.

Pre Race Warm Up - 45 Mins

Miscellaneous trails, roads and fire roads in Cool, CA.


7.18 Miles
849 Feet Climbing
50 Minutes
459 Calories
140 Average HR
184 Max HR
Cadence sensor wasn't working...

Warm up per coach's recommendations. Included three high heart rate intervals.

Pre Race Tune Up - 45 Minutes - On Spin Bike at Home

52 Minutes
101 Average HR
178 Max HR
64 Average Cadence

Pre race tune up as prescribed by Coach. Mostly very easy effort with one interval.

Spin Basic IV - 2 1/4 Hours - Empire Mine

I always get lost in Empire Mine so I'm not even going to bother to try to explain where we rode. Then I rode home.


16.95 Miles
2289 Feet Climbing
2:18 Hours
1883 Calories
120 Average HR
162 Max HR
Cadence sensor works off and on...

On singlespeed accompanied by two single and twenty-nine engineers. Cool evening, soil conditions were perfect. Good easy ride in preparation for Cool race on 9th.