July 31, 2006

My weekend races went a lot like the past Tuesday's crappy performance. The road race was very painful and I got dropped about 3/4 of the way through the race and finished the rest of it with a teammate. The criterium wasn't nearly as painful, but I got dropped early in the race but hung in there until the end of it. My muscles were extraordinarily sore after the road race. I skipped the time trial after the road race, but decided to go ahead and do the criterium despite feeling very hot and tired during the pre-race warm-up.

I'm already getting tired of chasing women of faster categories of mine during races. It does help to make me a stronger cyclist, but the strategy of simply surviving gets old. The problem with women's cycling in the state of Alabama is that it is nonexistent. There were six women for each race this weekend and one in each race wasn't from Alabama. I would like to try some races in Atlanta or Nashville where the Cat 4s are separated out so that they don't have to race against much stronger women.

I'm a little annoyed with the huge variability of my performance from one week to the next. This happened to me in May this year and I took some time off trying to recover. I don't have enough history in extreme sports to call this a pattern, but it is starting to look like one. The last round of blood tests in May did not uncover anything out of the ordinary. So I'm not sure where to go from here.

My team went out to eat in downtown Huntsville on Saturday night, and I walked around Big Spring Park on Sunday morning. I'm impressed with the improvements that downtown Huntsville is undergoing. It seems that a lot of cities are revitalizing their downtown areas. Huntsville has some very beautiful historic buildings and homes. I also noticed a lot of people out and about in the downtown area on Saturday evening, as well as an increase in new independently owned restaurants. Huntsville has suffered from a proliferation of mediocre chain restaurants over the years and it's nice to see patrons supporting some variety.

I'm also a little too fond of Memorial Parkway because some really smart engineers designed it and the people who put a red light every 20 feet on Highway 280 should have taken a major hint.

My grandparents lived in Huntsville for most of their lives before they passed away, so it's nice to see the places where so many fond memories of them still live.

Posted by megabeth at 08:56 AM | Comments (3)

July 28, 2006

On Tuesday I had a pretty weak ride, which I would say does nothing for my self-esteem but everything for my determination. That's probably a very good set-up for my upcoming race weekend. On Saturday around 11:30, I'll start the road race. 36 miles in length. After that, I'll do the ten mile time trial. Then I get a few hours of rest and will eat a big dinner in Huntsville. On Sunday morning at 8 am, I'll race in the criterium downtown.

I'm very excited but nervous. What if I don't feel strong? What if I am sore on Sunday morning? What if I get dropped? What if I finish last? What if I crash? What if I puke? And so on. I want to do well. My performance is helped if I convince myself that I have something to prove. Thus, if I tell myself that I suck, then I will want to show the world that I don't suck. If I tell myself that my bike is heavier and substandard to the other bikes, then I will want to prove that I can ride faster than women on nicer bikes than mine. So, those are the stories I'm sticking with. Criticism, whether internally or externally generated, serves as a motivator.

Posted by megabeth at 08:22 AM | Comments (3)

July 23, 2006

I had the worst ride ever yesterday, but I wasn't too upset about it. Probably because it was my fault for not changing my tires. I felt guilty more than anything, because I had to burden people who were on the group ride with fixing a flat and waiting for me to catch up.

Sequence of events:

I've been using some very thin Maxxis race tires that were on the Bontrager Race Lites. They aren't meant for everyday riding, but since I hate changing tubes and tires out, I decided to use them for everyday riding... for six weeks. My luck ran out on Saturday. As the group was rolling off the ride start, my back tire went flat. I took it into the shop, which wasn't officially open, but one of the mechanics was there. There was a hole in the tire. He changed the tube and put super glue in the tire. I rode off happy and thankful, but forgot my sunglasses in the shop. Rode back, shop was locked, he unlocked it for me (at his inconvenience). Got sunglasses, took off again. By this time the group probably has 20 minutes on me. Quickly time-trialed and rode fast down the hills trying to gain some ground. I caught up with them at the gas station about 14 miles later.

Riding that fast without a warm-up causes a lactic acid build-up in the muscles. My legs were already tired and we had 50 miles to go.

I was lolly-gagging off the back, recovering and chatting with some other cyclists. The group picked up the pace rapidly, and myself being stubborn and thus unwilling to believe that the group was going to ride at race pace instead of what the group leader proposed, "a slow tempo pace", I got dropped. By the time I finally realized that they weren't kidding, it was too late for me to catch up.

A girl on my racing team called my cell to find out where I was and told me where to turn. I caught up with the group at the next gas station stop. More inconveniencing of others.

As we rolled out, a few miles later, I hit a bump and my back tire went flat again. We patched up the tire and put in a new tube as the group waited, and were on our way again. More inconveniencing of others.

About fifteen miles from home, fifty miles down, my back tire goes flat again. This time, I'm out of CO2 and tubes and sick of having flats. Three in one day. I tell the group to head on and called a friend to come pick me up at the gas station near where I flatted. More inconveniencing of others.

Back at the shop, I settled up on some new tubes and C02, then received a justifiable lecture on not riding on race tires.

I went home and after much fiddling and annoyance, changed out both tires with new ones. I'm very stubborn. That rear tire gave me five flats before I had the motivation to change it out.

But really, I should think about the fact that my laziness causes much inconvenience to others, and avoid such behavior in the future.

Posted by megabeth at 03:46 PM | Comments (2)

July 21, 2006

I'm finally getting the hang of riding a bike without holding onto the handlebars. I practiced at lower speeds in the neighborhoods until I became comfortable with it. Yesterday I won a field sprint during our group ride, so I raised my arms up in the air and signaled my joy in victory at 25 mph. If only I could have the chance to celebrate a victory like the pros at the finish line of a race.

The Huntsville race weekend is coming up (next weekend) and training is going well. Next week I'll taper off so I'll have fresh legs for the omnium.

Posted by megabeth at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2006

I've been burdening myself quite a bit lately with the choices I've made in my life. I'm not sure I'm going along the right path, but I'm burned out with work and thus can't see clearly enough to decide what it is I'd really like to do. I think a lot of us get caught in a routine and can't break out of it. The term 'golden handcuffs' refers to how it becomes difficult to change careers because we are accustomed to the level of salary and benefits being received and aren't willing to take on a sacrifice in exchange for a change. Ideally I would like to do something more humanitarian; but I may simply have the 'grass is greener' syndrome. It's difficult to see how my efforts in corporate compliance (thanks to Sarbanes and Oxley) are doing anything to make the world a better place.

I think this sense of discontent motivates me to ride my bike hard. Cycling is a form of escapism, at least for me. I don't have to think about work or how my house needs furniture or how I can't keep up with the latest clothing trends or keep my fingernails neatly groomed. I can make excuses to avoid attending social events, and I can physically be with other people without really talking to them that much. I can avoid the annoyance of living up to the high beauty standards that women hold up to each other. I've used athletics as a form of escapism for as long as I can remember.

This past month, I've been working hard on a freelance project outside of work which has been occupying my free time away from my full time job and cycling. The work is more fulfilling than my full time job because it is free from the hindrance of corporate bureaucracy and management politics. When it is complete, I can say that I actually accomplished something from start to finish. One thing that's nice about earning money in this manner is that it keeps me from going out and about and spending money. Thus, I earn and save at the same time. However, my discontent and increased stress level encourages me to go out and buy things to attempt to make myself happier. In my opinion, this is one good reason why those who make more money also spend more money. After I buy something for myself, I have a brief period of happiness because I justified the suffering and boredom I went through to make the money that bought the new item(s).

I wonder what it would be like to be satisfied. I'd take an earnings reduction for that, but when I was making half of what I'm earning now, I wasn't satisfied then, either. I was still working and studying all the time and generally feeling overworked. What I would really like is more free time. Those citizens in the lower income brackets are often equally as exhausted, disillusioned and burned out from too much work and too little time off to relax. I think the greater problem is the attitude of American society towards work; that we must work our butts off for hours on end without time off in order to get ahead. In general, I feel stuck, with no way out of this situation.

So I ride my bike and try to forget about it.

Posted by megabeth at 09:37 AM | Comments (4)

I am so excited, because yesterday was the first day I have ever joined the A group ride and then stayed with the group until the end. Granted, I think the pace was probably slower than usual due to the heat, but it's still nice to gain some confidence. Last week, I was getting a little frustrated with the B group because I felt like they weren't riding hard enough, so it was time for me to move up and try a faster group. The A group ride was more of a race-like pace and I had to constantly strategize to make sure I was on the right wheel. I didn't want to pull, because then I'd burn out and get dropped. But I also did not want to get stuck on the wheel of someone else who burned out, because then we'd both get dropped. It was very good race training.

Posted by megabeth at 08:38 AM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2006

Last week I was dreading this past Saturday's ride because I knew it was going to be long and hot. I was already tired going into it, but didn't feel tired until the last hour of the ride. I accidentally set the wrong alarm time and woke up half an hour late, so twelve minutes after waking I was in the car, getting dressed while stopping at red lights. By the time I arrived at the group meeting place, I had eaten a powerbar, was wearing my helmet and one shoe (the right one off so I could still drive), and almost ready to go. I pumped some air in my rear tire and it became evident that the stem had a hole where it attaches to the tube. One of the men fixed my flat, delaying the group about ten minutes. Not a great start to a long ride. However, I felt pretty strong until the last five miles. My bike logged about 68 miles by the end. I flatted out again about a mile from my car, so one of my BBC teammates picked up my car and brought it to me. The temperature was in the upper 90s for the last couple of hours of the ride, and that was brutal. I would rather not ride in such heat, but I was hoping it will temper me for the upcoming omnium in Huntsville at the end of July. My group stopped every hour or so to fill up on beverages. Once I had returned home, taken a cool shower and eaten my fill of lunch, I retired for a long afternoon nap. I was useless for the rest of the day.

An omnium is a bike race involving three sections: a road race, a time trial and a criterium. This will be my first omnium to race in, and I am excited about it. I just hope the heat that weekend won't be as brutal as it's going to be this week.

Posted by megabeth at 08:48 AM | Comments (3)

July 14, 2006

I thought the people that rode a lot (like, 5+ days a week or more) were nuts until I realized that there is some benefit in riding every day. It just took me a while to get to the level of fitness where I could increase my ride frequency without becoming tired and/or sore. From a high level viewpoint of the last several months, I can see where I went wrong. I jumped into hard training too quickly without ramping up first. It's also been very beneficial for me to drop the tri-sport training and focus only on one sport. I still don't have a long term plan, which is ok with me. I'm just trying this out for now to see how much I enjoy it.

I guess I am a sick puppy, because the most fun thing to me about the sport of cycling is when other cyclists in my group are hurting and I am not. I get even more pleasure when the other cyclist(s) are male and/or riding a very expensive bike.

But then, one day I, too, will have a very expensive bike (but not a penis), and I won't have my heavy aluminum frame to use as an excuse when I suck.

Posted by megabeth at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2006

I've been thinking about selling my road bike but have not found any auctions on eBay of similar bikes in order to determine the correct value for mine. I guess that my local bike shop will need to estimate the value for me.

I want to buy a much lighter bike in the $3K-3.5K price range. My bike weighs around 19 to 19.5 lbs and I would like to buy one around 17-17.5 lbs. I am interested in the brands Bianchi, Orbea and Scott. Which brand I choose will depend on fit, most likely. I would probably have a better chance of selling my bike in the active season rather than waiting until winter so that I have a good chance to test ride the bike in a group ride situation and to take advantage of a buyer's desire to increase her speed with an upgrade in equipment.

It seems nuts to spend that much money on a bicycle, but I am thinking about the fact that I spend more time on my bicycle on a weekly basis than in my car. This year I estimate putting 11,000 miles on my car and 4,000 to 5,000 on my bicycle. I estimate spending around five hours a week in my car, and eight to ten hours a week on my bicycle. Thus, I decided to keep my nine-year-old car and get a new bike instead. Hah.

It's possible I may sit on this notion for a while and see what kind sale prices pop up in the next several months.

Posted by megabeth at 09:39 AM | Comments (5)

July 06, 2006

On the fourth, a local cycling club hosted a sprinting competition. It was a fun, social event. I think it was too early in the morning for my body to work at its optimum level, or I need a lengthy warm-up to get into sprinting well. My heart wasn't really into the competition, but I had a lot of fun.

The stretch of road we used for sprinting is flat. My max speed clocked on my bike was 31.6 mph. I like sprinting because it is fast and exciting. In a race, a lot of times who wins the sprint is the person who has the best strategy. That person catches the wheel of someone else and then sprints around that person at the end for the win. However, if you wait too long or catch a slower wheel, you may not have a decent chance of sprinting around for the front position. All of these decisions happen in an instant, and sometimes choosing the right wheel happens because of luck.

Sprinting favors those with a lot of strength. Also, some very good sprinters are thicker, meatier people rather than the bony, tiny ones. That's because if you are meaty and strong, you can get some momentum going that can propel you forward at a faster rate of speed. Sprinting is usually painful because your heart rate is at its max, but I think it's a good test of fitness. And it doesn't last long, so it does not cause a prolonged feeling of pain like hill climbing.

After the competition, the ladies went on a ride and we climbed a 3.5 mile hill in 95 degree heat. I thought I was going to die. Normal people lay out by the pool on Independence Day. Crazy people, on the other hand, find each other and do nutty things like hill climbing in brutal summer heat.

Posted by megabeth at 09:04 AM | Comments (2)