June 19, 2008

Barack Obama gets harangued by bloggers for wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle. This is not a political endorsement from me for Obama. However, wearing a helmet ensures that he WILL get to run for President of the United States. When I was in Florida last week, I was amazed at how many people were NOT wearing helmets, especially those who were out riding on Highway 98, which has a speed limit which varies between 45 and 65 mph. Besides, if you are riding your bike at 5 mph and crash and hit your head, you could be either (a) severely mentally disabled or (b) dead. I like my odds better when wearing a helmet.

Posted by megabeth at 08:07 AM | Comments (1)

 
May 08, 2008

CommuteSmart Birmingham is offering a small amount of money for people who choose alternative methods to get to work. So if I ride my bike to work, I'll effectively be making $4 per day by saving $2 in gas and receiving a $2 payment from the program. I'll try it until some homicidal maniac tries to run me off the road on my way to work, then I'll quit bike commuting and add one more car to the road. Thanks in advance to all the homicidal maniacs for making the world a better place.

I was hoping to start commuting next week as part of the national "Bike to Work" day, but I still can't put my foot in a cycling shoe because of my broken toe. Oh yes, I've tried. Just about every day I try on my cycling shoe. This week I tried to pedal on the trainer in my cycling shoes, lasted about 5 minutes, then went back to platform pedals and athletic sandals. I could commute on my bike with platform pedals. I keep thinking, well maybe tomorrow my foot won't hurt when I put in a shoe. And the next day, I think the same thing. Ad infinitum. Waiting is hard.

Posted by megabeth at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

 
April 18, 2008

I received a category upgrade in cycling from a 4 to a 3 today. I wasn't in a big hurry to upgrade because the 3s race with the 4s in the majority of races, so it doesn't make much difference to be one or the other. However, with some races they split out the women into two groups 1/2/3 and 3/4, so the 3s have options on which races they want to do. If nothing else it is symbolic of the progress I've made and the stellar season results I've had so far. And it is indicative that my training plan is working. I didn't want to fork out the dough to hire a coach, so I decided to learn how to be my own coach. I researched and studied and asked questions, and compiled everything into a big binder that I use as a reference.

Being a cat 3 also means that I care less about where I finish in the race and more about winning primes or payouts. So I would need to finish well if the payouts are good, but if the primes are better, then I'll burn my matches going for primes instead. For the first part of this season I had to focus on placing as high as possible in order to prove to the association that I deserved the upgrade. So I am looking forward to trying different strategies and taking some risks during races for the rest of the season. I'm not sure I'll have the dedication to put in the training hours if I set a goal of moving up to a 2 next year, so I'll just enjoy being where I am now.

Posted by megabeth at 04:36 PM | Comments (2)

 
March 03, 2008

I've been at training camp this weekend. The weather was spring-like and wonderful. I like training camp because everyone on the team spends some down time with each other.

I rode about 140 miles in two days. I like this particular camp locale (Mentone) because it is hilly and we get to climb up the mountain a few times. For the last 30 miles, I was very tired. What's funny to me, though, is that as I become more tired, I would feel a bit more insane. This insanity drove me to want to ride even harder. I guess it is similar to feeling frenzied.

When we got back home I picked up my little pooh bear (Ruby) at my parents house. My mom asked us why we can't just go out for a nice leisurely ride instead of brutalizing ourselves. I don't know why. Maybe because people are competitive with each other. I like testing my limits.

Posted by megabeth at 04:24 PM | Comments (1)

 
February 04, 2008

At training camp, my homemade energy bars were mostly gone after the first ride, even the ones that had soy flour that I thought tasted a little chalky.

The next thing I started thinking about was the fact that I am using an egg in each batch. I don't know how good the shelf life is for a food item that has egg in it, even if baked. Probably not long. So I did some research and found that lecithin is often used as an emulsifier in commercial food products in lieu of egg.

Most articles proclaim lecithin to be safe and not particularly bad for you to eat. However, most lecithin is derived from soy beans and I am starting to think that soy is not the food it is cracked up to be. For one, it is an estrogen blocker**. This author states that soy lecithin is the gummy crap left over from processing soy beans and contains whatever pesticides were used to grow the beans. There are other sources of lecithin such as sunflower seeds and eggs, but apparently soy is the cheapest to produce.

Some proponents of lecithin note that it is an excellent substitution for those who don't eat eggs for whatever reason (high cholesterol, vegan). You can use it in place of egg when baking things that require an emulsifier, though lecithin is not going to provide the fluffiness that an egg white provides.

I haven't looked for powdered lecithin in non-supplemental form, so I don't know how/if it is sold for non-commercial use. In the meanwhile, I'm going to keep tweaking other ingredients (variables) in my recipe.

** I should explain this in more detail. Isoflavones in soy have been shown to possibly aid in lowering the chance of breast cancer in women because it neutralizes estrogen. However, when I overconsume soy products, my menstrual cycle goes all out of whack. I can't imagine that being a good thing.

Posted by megabeth at 03:55 PM | Comments (0)

 
February 01, 2008

I decided to try the bike rollers the other night and after a few fumbles, I was spinning support-free in just a few minutes. I started practicing looking away at something else and did okay with that, too. I'm not sure about the likelihood of successfully doing some hard riding on rollers without tossing one's self and the bike into an adjoining wall. I'll stick with my trainer for that.

Note. I had to change the title of this post (previously: "rollers") because I kept getting spam comments about Las Vegas.

Posted by megabeth at 04:50 PM | Comments (2)

 
December 17, 2007

My motivation for training outdoors slumps this time of year (same thing happened last year) due to the increase in highly aggressive and angry motorists during the month of December. I have no problems with the weather being cold, but I struggle with wanting to be on the roads. I've been told numerous times, "Don't let the drivers win. You have a right to be on the roads." Okay. That doesn't help me if I am hit by a car, because the car always wins. Though if I am not riding outdoors, there will be another five new cyclists to take my place and be a target for people who are angry about life in general. So I'll just keep riding outdoors and hope that someday, somehow, the 9 out of 10 drivers in Birmingham, AL who have no ethics, morals or character somehow find a way to develop at least one of those three virtues.

Two incidents this weekend:

I was buzzed by someone in a nice, new Ford sedan in Mountain Brook, and he stopped at the light in front of me, so I pulled up next to his car and asked him to roll down the window. He reluctantly did, but after I calmly (but nervously, as I had been scared to death) explained to him a safe distance between his car and my bike, he said, "You people need to get off the road" and rolled up the window. Black guy with his wife and kids in the car. Great way to teach your kids how to be an asshole.

Waiting on Lakeshore for the light to turn so I can turn left on Lakeshore and then immediately right onto a neighborhood road. It is about 30 feet I have to ride on Lakeshore, which I can do safely if the light stops traffic and I'm off the road before the stopped traffic catches up. Unless you are one of those drivers who feels that red lights are optional for you. This time: white guy driving a full size pickup. I stopped in the median before the guy went through the light. He slammed on his brakes when he saw us (he was only going to run the light if there was no traffic, even though there were other cars stopped in the other lane waiting). THEN he motioned me to come on over. HA HA. Like I am going to trust a mentally retarded idiot who should not be driving a motorized vehicle. Once the light turned and traffic went on (including Dumbbubba), I waited for a safe lull to cross the road and turn onto the side street. Since some of the worst accidents are caused by drivers who run red lights, I highly suggest stopping for them.

Then there was a point of light from the weekend: This sweet old black lady rolled down her window at a stop light and asked us where we were going, and then said, "Well thank the Lawd that you will be home safely!" So there's about one in a million who are actually nice.

This season turns me into a misanthropist. The driver/cyclist incidents are at an all-time high every December. Then I start mistrusting and disliking every stranger I come across because I suspect they all want to kill me, since most of them have already tried to.

And I have a hard time empathizing, because even on the worst day, I don't feel like killing anything. People take guns and kill deer and birds, or they play video games and kill fake things. But I've never had a bad day when I wanted to hurt a living thing, and I am not sure how anyone else could possibly want to do that. Cue the sixties. Give peace a chance.

Posted by megabeth at 10:17 AM | Comments (3)

 
November 29, 2007

Maybe I'm a big ol' weenie, but my low-cost cold weather clothing, purchased at outlet stores and held over from my skiing days, did NOT work nearly as well as the $60 craft windstopper base layer and $150 craft thermal jacket that I bought this year.

I like low-cost alternatives probably more than anyone else. But this article is mostly wrong.

Posted by megabeth at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

 
November 19, 2007

If you drive a road-hogging Suburban, you shouldn't honk at cyclists... you know the old saying "people who live in glass houses should not throw stones". The only occasion I can think of in which someone actually needed a Suburban was when I visited the King's Ranch (a foster home for children). Thus, a Suburban is just as discretionary as a bike. Also, it would take me a few hours to count the number of times in which, as a car driver, my view was blocked by a huge Suburban or other 4-ton SUV in front of me.

Posted by megabeth at 08:51 AM | Comments (2)

 
November 04, 2007

The girls I ride with were busy doing other things today, like cross racing, traveling, being sick, etc., so I decided to try the fixed gear ride with the guys, was pretty sure that I would get dropped, and yes, I was. But they were nice enough to wait on me and a couple of other stragglers a few times. I get dropped on long climbs but these guys are strong so I can't be critical, though I would like to keep up with them.

Since I started riding the fixie, I've been going on fairly slow rides and getting used to riding the bike. This was the first time I went really hard, and it hurt REALLY BAD. Ouch. During the climbs my legs were burning like they were on fire. I took a bath in epsom salts when I got home, but regardless I am very sore.

The funny part of a fixed gear ride is going down a hill behind a group of cyclists, because their legs are spinning as fast as they can go and it looks funny to see multiple sets of spastically spinning legs.

I'm a little concerned about the health of my knees doing this kind of ride so I think I will get an easier gear ring for the back.

The weather was spectacular this weekend. On Saturday morning I left my house and rode (instead of taking my car) to meet some folks for a ride, and we stopped and lollygagged here and there. I feel as if I have more freedom on a bike as opposed to a car. I'm not sure why that is, other than not having the need to put gas in a tank or find a parking space.

Posted by megabeth at 07:32 PM | Comments (0)

 
October 15, 2007

Monkey Butt is one of Ruby's many nicknames. To my joyous surprise, there is a product called Anti Monkey Butt, for the purpose of powdering your bottom to prevent chafing and redness. You know you've gotta have some.

Posted by megabeth at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)

 
October 08, 2007

It isn't the most beautiful bike in the world, but it is really cool to ride. (I've never been a fan of obnoxiously loud branding, and Bianchi oughta pay me to ride this thing. You can see the logo from an airplane in the sky, two miles above the ground.)

I've designated Sundays as Pista riding day, this fall and winter. I started switching out components already; the handlebars, brake hoods and front brake were switched out with the track handlebar so that I can ride the bike on the road.

I like the "NO BRAKES" sticker on the top tube. On the track, brakes aren't allowed. It seems a bit scary to ride a bike with no brakes, but the track is banked, so you can slow down by riding up the bank (in a desperate situation), or pull back on the pedals to slow the bike down. I don't use the brakes on the road at slower speeds - I learned how to use the pdeals as brakes. However, going down a hill at 30+ mph, I discovered that the front brake is not entirely effective and when the pedals are forcing my cadence at 120+ rpm, it's not possible to pull back on the pedals. So, going down hills is a bit scary and exciting, and induces many laughs. Going up hills, on the other hand, induces many grunts. I nearly fell over yesterday riding up a steep incline. Needless to say, my legs are sore today.

Posted by megabeth at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)

 
September 28, 2007

My new track bike was ready yesterday. I had asked the shop to put road bike bars on it and take the track bars off (I'll switch them out when I go to the velodrome), and they installed a front brake and put hoods on the road bars for resting my hands. Last night I took my new toy out for its first spin. The first 3 or 4 times I clipped out of a pedal at a stop light, I had a hard time clipping back in because when the wheels are moving, the crankset is also moving. So I had to chase the pedal around and around until my foot caught it. Then I figured out that if I clip in as fast as possible, I can catch the pedal before it starts moving.

Then I did what every newbie does on a track bike - I tried to stop pedaling when I rolled over some bumpy pavement. This is what I do on my road bike. The pedals kept moving and I had to react quickly. I also learned how to keep pedaling over railroad tracks.

I realized after half an hour that my legs were not going to have a chance to rest during this ride.

Going down the first steep hill, I had to pedal at a cadence around 130 rpm, and that got me laughing at how goofy it felt.

By the time the ride was over, I had quickly improved at slowing the bike down without using the brakes (by putting backward pressure on the pedals).

My goal is to be strong enough on this bike to hang with a regular road bike group ride without getting dropped.

And maybe I can learn how to do a real track stand!

Posted by megabeth at 07:55 AM | Comments (2)

 
September 24, 2007

The newest member of my bike family has arrived at the bike shop. It is a dark blue Bianchi Pista fixed gear/track bike. I decided to get this as a present to myself for finishing my MBA. It's a little early since I graduate in December, but the new 2008 bikes were being ordered already.

With a fixie, there are no gears to shift, so you don't have to think about anything other than pedaling. The fixie guru Sheldon Brown can explain it better than I could. There is a lot of beauty to be found in simplicity. Also, bikes without gearing are inexpensive. Sometime this fall I will head over to the Dick Lane Velodrome in Atlanta and get certified for track racing. I'm not sure how often I'll want to go to Atlanta to use the track, but track racing does sound like fun.

New toys are fun!

Posted by megabeth at 10:02 AM | Comments (2)

 
September 13, 2007

My race season is over, so I can focus on school and ride for pure enjoyment for a while. I made some mistakes with training this year, but am learning a lot from them. Probably the most important thing I learned was that I am not a pro and thus can't train like one. The issue is not about available time, but more about pushing too hard during training and not resting enough. I have only one full season of racing experience, so my body is still acclimating to training adaptations. Last winter I rode a lot and got a lot of base miles, but then I was off the bike for two months due to the mystery disc problem, so I can't say whether that the winter training was a major benefit or not.

Speaking of the problems I had with my neck and back earlier this year, I am STILL in physical therapy for it and just now it is getting better to the point where I can say, "I don't feel any pain today." I still have a bad day every now and then.

Another valuable lesson I learned was that Friel wasn't kidding about periodization. I thought I was superhuman this summer since I had the long break, and I found out otherwise when I had symptoms of burnout in August. I am going to stick closely to the three weeks on/one week off training cycle from now on. It is clear that my body needs good rest. This doesn't necessarily mean staying off the bike entirely, but rather doing some very easy recovery spins during the rest week. Since it's fairly hilly here, I have a hard time sticking to a recovery spin unless I'm on my trainer indoors.

I learned about the importance of focused training sessions as well. I did some focused training this summer, but not on a regular basis. I had avoided structuring my training because I was just happy to be back on the bike. Then I thought that race intensity riding during the week was going to help me get stronger, and that theory proved wrong as it is better to save race intensity for races (aside from a structured interval training plan).

The mental struggles I have with racing I haven't figured out a solution for. Hopefully periodization will solve some of the burnout, but I've also been dealing with some personal family issues all summre that have really zapped my confidence. And there are other factors outside of my control that have to do with how women's cycling is treated like an afterthought. With the increase in participation this year, I am optimistic that things are going to get better and morale will improve. I also struggle with having a consistent level of aggressiveness throughout the race season. Sometimes when I line up for a race start, I feel like cuddling with my teddy bear instead of feeling the desire to ride hard and beat other people. Not wanting to chase after the breakway rider in this weekend's race is a good example of the occasional complacence I feel while racing. Maybe I should take up knitting instead. ;)

Posted by megabeth at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)

 
September 09, 2007

I was a little disappointed in my 6th place finish in my race yesterday for a couple of reasons - I wasn't giving it 100% during the race because I'm still a bit burned out on racing. I went for a couple of primes and won $50 (later they told me that they didn't have me down for winning a prime, so I was told that I was "fortunate" that they were willing to "give" me $25 plus a $25 gift certificate. My teammate was also told she won one less prime than she did, and they gave one prime to a woman who did not win one at all. This is the last year I will go for a prime in this race.)

On the final stretch I felt good for sprinting to the finish, but got boxed in by two cyclists on either side and couldn't go anywhere, and by the time I could it was a little too late. The other tactical error I made was that I could have caught the breakaway rider in front after the $100 prime sprint, and I rationalized letting her go because I didn't want to endure any pain and suffering during the chase. Moreso than anything else, I'm just frustrated because after all this racing I've done this season, I still don't have any idea what decisions to make during a race. That's because women of all abilities usually have to race together, and my race strategy has been "hold on for dear life until I pop". Once I do have the chance to try something offensively, I can't make up my mind to decide what would work and what doesn't. And that, in a nutshell, is why most women don't stick with racing, because after getting annihilated three or four times, it is completely human for someone to give up on it.

Next year I will try to prioritize races that split up the women's fields, and may have to travel longer distances to participate in races that allow me a chance to get some racing experience with women of similar ability.

In a few years of training I'll probably become competitive with the stronger women in the field, but that is a long time to wait. I tend to give up on things if they aren't working out, so I have a real fear that I may quit this altogether if I have another season full of races of suffering through getting brutalized by some Cat 1 and 2 women. I don't think a lot of men would stick with this sport if the beginners had to race with the pros.

This race was fun, though I am hard on myself and wnted a better result. I had a good time despite my tactical errors. I would have not sprinted for primes had I known they were gift certificates instead of cash. (My team chose to share primes before the race, and gift certificates can't be split.)

Posted by megabeth at 11:07 AM | Comments (1)

 
September 07, 2007

My last race of the season is tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm, at Pepper Place here in town. I am glad that my season is almost done because I'd like to take it easy and ride my bike for purposeless fun for a while. Sometime last week, I strained a quad muscle and it still isn't better, despite lots of massage and ice. This is Murphy's law. And typical of my idiocy, because I usually overdo it and then have to scale back. It's good that I have the willpower to be motivated and suffer much pain during training, but my body does not comply with that at this point in my 'racing career'.

I'm not in the mood for a criterium right now, so hopefully I can get into that frame of mind by tomorrow. I find endurance races to be less mentally stressful than criteriums (but more physically stressful) because riders drop off due to attrition instead of aggressive attacks. I'll have to find something to be mad about since that seems to help me to race better.

Posted by megabeth at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

 
August 20, 2007

Since it appears that I have a crash-and-burn every six months, it would be close to the time when I am due for another one. However, I am learning from my mistakes, so this incident is much milder than the last one. I'd say the problem this time is simply that I am burned out on bike racing. And that isn't uncommon this time of year, especially when it's been 98-105 degrees every day for the past couple of weeks. I raced weekend before last, against my gut instinct, which was not a good decision, but I learned that racing in extreme heat is something I won't do again. (Who knew that I, the biggest hater of cold weather in the world, would be wishing for a wintry day?)

Due to the two months off the bike this spring, I was well rested when going into training again, and thus could really push things hard. I was riding six days a week; many of those rides were of high intensity. This was against the advice of Friel's training book, which said to plan for a few peaks a season and take LOTS of rest time (which in training translates to easy recovery rides and tempo mileage). In summary, I got too excited about being back on the bike again. I had been riding all winter and really wanted to race well this season, so when my racing season was abbreviated, I went a little gung-ho.

I peaked at the state championship road race weekend, which isn't a bad place to peak. Since then, I've lost my desire to put my body through the stresses of racing in the heat. So, I've been riding my trainer inside. Come winter, I will probably think that was stupid and wish desperately for riding outdoors again. But I have hopes that I can doctor my motivation if I mitigate some of the suffering.

My original plan for the weekend was to race an omnium in Chattanooga, but I've decided to scale that plan back a bit. I am sort of looking forward to a long, hilly race, because I like climbing, but the one thing I'm not looking forward to is the hour before the race, because I get so nervous and have to pee about 10 times and I have butterflies in my stomach, and I just want to hurry up and go, so that the suffering from racing will eventually make the nervousness go away. (*Note: Before the Meridian crit, my heart rate at the start line, before MOVING A MUSCLE, was 143.) I've talked to myself over and over again about this pre-race nervousness. It's normal to be nervous for a race, but COME ON. It's a just a leisure event. A hobby. It does not pay my bills, nor determine my worth to myself or others. It's something I choose to do because it is FUN. I mean, I like pain and suffering on a bike, so therefore a race should be enjoyable.

But I suppose not, if I'm burned out.

It's not that I don't want to ride at all. I keep thinking that what the kind of riding I want to do right now is social rides, centuries, and climbing an insane amount of hills/mountains.

Regardless of what kind of performance I have at the end of my racing season, I am pleased that I recognized the problem early enough before real damage was done, and will aspire to including an adequate amount of rest in my training schedule for next year's racing season.

Posted by megabeth at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

 
August 15, 2007

I'm going to admit my training secret which has helped me to become a stronger cyclist than about three other people. You can thank me later.

It's the ROM 4 minute cross trainer. I exercise just four minutes a day! In the comfort of my home! I rationalized the $10,000 cost of this machine because it is of utter importance to my ego that I am a faster cyclist than everyone else in town.

Seriously. When I saw the ad for this machine, it was so absurd that I had to go to the website to entertain myself with more absurdities. It looks like a very expensive piece of quackery, but if you are looking to get four minutes of exercise a day, then the product will deliver that claim truthfully.

This statement is my favorite:

If you feel that you belong to the potentially less reasonable variety of customer we would like to ask you to restrain your natural tendencies or not aspire to the purchase of a ROM machine.

In other words, if you are not easily swayed by someone's bullshit, then don't buy the product. Only the clueless need apply!

Posted by megabeth at 10:35 AM | Comments (1)

 
August 13, 2007

There are some things about women's racing that are very different from men's racing. One thing I've noticed is that if I go on a group ride with a bunch of fast guys, I can hang with them at their pace, but if I am in a race with women, our average MPH for the race is much slower. This is probably because women's races tend to have so few participants (in the southeast) that there is no pack advantage. What this means: if you have 30 riders in a pack, they can swap out pulls and keep the pace strong. If you have 5 riders in a pack, it's not a pack anymore; it's a paceline, and you have to pull 1 out of every 5 times, and there's no hiding in the middle of the pack, putting out 50 watts and chewing your cud at 25 mph.

It's not possible for a woman to hide unnoticed in the pack until the end of a race, not taking a single pull, and then sprint for a top place finish. That is a good thing because it is a cheater's strategy in amateur racing. However, the flip side of this is that if a woman tries not to pull in a small group, then the other women are going to be upset with her and will most likely let her know. So, I've been hearing a lot of squabbling going on in several women's races that I've been in. I'll take my share of pulls, meaning that if other women have pulled and I have recovered, then I will take another one. However there was one race I did where no women would pull through, so we rolled around at a very slow speed, waiting for someone to volunteer. That was getting silly. I found it more entertaining than annoying, since it's good that no woman can go unnoticed for long in a small pack.

On the flip side, women's racing is better than men's at the finish line, because there is plenty of room to find a place to sprint for the line. If someone is blocking me, then I will move to the side of that person. Men's races tend to have so many guys sprinting at the finish, that one can get boxed in, just like the pros at the end of a Tour de France stage.

The reason some guys give me for being old enough to race in master's fields yet still racing in the regular fields is that the master's fields are like women's: there is a wide variance between the participants' abilities. I know firsthand that it sucks when a Cat 1 racer shows up for EVERY race and you automatically are relegated to fighting for second place. That's the nature of women's bike racing. I don't know why I don't subtract 1 from whatever place I get and pretend like I did better than the reality of it. And also, it doesn't take long for the first place female to get ahead, so the rest of the race, we're all thinking "It's the fight for second place!" It's kind of a catch-22, because the fields could be separated IF enough women show up for races, but it's too intimidating for beginners if they have to race with the region's strongest female cyclists.

I have only a few races left this season, and unfortunately, I have not had many chances to be the aggressor. I'm getting bored with racing at this point. It's like showing up for an amateur golf tournament and finding out that Tiger Woods is there to compete against you.

Posted by megabeth at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)

 
July 20, 2007

Again, Tom Boonen isn't disappointing.

Posted by megabeth at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)

 
July 16, 2007

I was watching the TdF on tv yesterday and Borat shows up to cheer on the cyclists. He ran with the pack for a while, so I guess one can run very quickly when not wearing anything but a neon yellow ribbon.

The Eurotrash cycling fans are very reminiscent of NASCAR and/or college football.

Posted by megabeth at 08:39 AM | Comments (2)

 
July 12, 2007

These guys riding the TdF are often riding at a speed of 60 km per hour (or 37.3 mph). At that speed it takes them only 1 min and 35 seconds to complete a mile. I'm happy to complete a mile in 3 minutes at a 20 mph pace.

I am rooting for Tom Boonen to do well in this year's TdF because he makes a pretty photograph. Apparently my thoughts are not original; he appears to be a heartthrob in Europe.

Posted by megabeth at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)

 
July 09, 2007

I'm still commuting to work by bike one day a week and really enjoying it. This past Friday was the first time I had to call a lifeline since it was dumping buckets of rain when it was time to leave the office. I don't mind riding in the rain up to a certain point, but this rain was too hard and motorist visibility was restricted.

The Friday before last, on the way home, my commuting group had a nice guy yell at us out his window, "Get your asses off the road!" I looked down and double checked... my ass wasn't on the road at all! My ass was sitting on a bike saddle, not the road! It's nice when people try to be helpful, but that guy may need to have his vision checked.

So there are now four of us in the "bikepool" - actually we have decided that we are a bike gang, but haven't decided on a gang name yet. Beware. We are very scary. ;)

Posted by megabeth at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

 
July 02, 2007

My TT results were 10:13 for 4 miles which is 23.5 mph. I finished 6th in the TT, and needed a good crit finish to end up 5th overall in the omnium yesterday.

I'm not much of a morning person, and my body would not respond during warm-up for the crit yesterday. The field (they mixed the women in with men again) started out fast and I struggled to keep up. I hung in for about 15 minutes before getting dropped with a woman from a different team. We worked together for several laps until we were lapped by the field and latched back on. The funny thing is, after about 20-25 minutes of hard exercise in the race, my body was finally warmed up and ready to go. I did a 45 minute warm up but it appears that in the morning I need an even longer, harder warm up. The other woman and I jockeyed for position and during the last lap I charged up to the front of the pack in a full-out sprint trying to get ahead. With a half lap to go, the field took off on a very fast pace and I hung on almost until the end, and sprinted in for a fifth place finish in the crit and the omnium overall.

The weekend helped me figure out what my weaknesses are so I will be working on that in training.

One of the problems I was having is getting really tired the day or two after a race (tired enough to want to go home from work sick). Last night I got 9 solid hours of sleep and feel great today, so there is the solution to that problem.

It was a fun weekend, other than being overheated in the road race and wishing that I could jump in a huge tub of ice water. This was my first omnium, because in the past I would skip out on the time trial. This was my second ever trip to Memphis, and since I don't have anything nice to say about it, I won't say anything at all. Birmingham is really nice.

UPDATE: Photos from the races. I make some nice facial expressions when I am hurting. Apparently not able to carry a good poker face.

Posted by megabeth at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)

 
June 30, 2007

My road race today went better than I expected, but I had to call on the time trial experience I gained last weekend. The women started in a group with the juniors and the master's men (over 50). That is unusual to start those groups together, but I did enjoy being part of a large pack for once. Usually there are only 10-15 women in a race so we do not make up a large pack.

I decided to hang with the men as long as I could. That lasted about 9 or 10 miles, then I did the rest of the race alone. The first 8 mile lap took about 20 minutes, so we averaged around 24 mph, before I got dropped. I knew there were a few women in the group ahead of me when I got dropped but that most of them were behind me. I kept looking back from time to time to see if any women behind me were getting close, but never did see any. I finished 2nd in my category, of out 9 women, and 5th overall, out of 12 women. I think my average speed was around 20.8 mph. It was kind of a boring race since I did not have much to occupy my mind other than trying to ride as hard as I could in the heat of summer, and wondering at times why I voluntarily chose this hobby.

Tonight I did a 4 mile time trial and as usual, I sucked at this type of race. I think my average speed was around 22.5 mph. I will find out tomorrow where I placed.

Tomorrow morning is my favorite type of race, the criterium. Looking forward to it and I will give a report when I get back in town.

Posted by megabeth at 05:29 PM | Comments (3)

 
June 28, 2007

I'm racing an omnium this weekend (my first omnium ever!) and I'm not feeling very motivated. It's been a month since the last road race/criterium, so I've had plenty of time to recover. The problem is that in women's races, they usually throw all the women together regardless of experience or strength. Thus, it is difficult to look forward to an event where I will probably receive a sound butt-kicking. Not fun.

There aren't enough women in bike racing because of these high barriers to entry. Race promoters have to combine the fields since there are only like, five women who show up. But if the fields were separated by strength and ability, then more beginner women would want to start racing. It's a vicious cycle.

I'm trying to get some of the ladies who ride with me to try out some races for the first time, but they are already intimidated, and it doesn't help when I tell them, "Oh... this race will be 50 miles at 12 noon in July, and the fastest women in the southeast will be racing with us. Want to race anyway?" Ha ha ha.

So I'm doing a lot of positive self-talk this week. Things like, "Hey, last place isn't so bad when there were only three other women racing!" and "You'll get a great workout even though you came in last!" and, best of all, "You will get a lot of time trial experience once you get dropped by everyone else!"

This is going to suck.

Posted by megabeth at 01:40 PM | Comments (3)

 
May 29, 2007

I went to Atlanta to race this weekend. I kept it quiet because I wasn't going to say anything if it were a miserable failure, but it went well considering that I spent two months off the bike in March and April. It is evident when racing that I lost a significant amount of fitness during the two-month break. I have not raced since July of last year and this weekend was my 6th and 7th races since I started cycling. I have a lot to learn since my lack of experience cost me a few spots in both races. In the road race I reeled in a late attack and then blew up about 1/2 mile before the finish line because I could not get my heart rate back down after the attack. My heart rate went up to 198. In the crit, I started my sprint too late and was in the back of the pack, so I was only able to pass one cyclist in the final sprint. I got 6th, which was a very good result for my first crit in nearly a year.

Photos of the race. I was very excited at the beginning! I am looking forward to racing again.

Posted by megabeth at 09:25 AM | Comments (4)

 
May 18, 2007

I rode to work this morning. It took about 45 minutes and then 15-20 minutes to take a quick shower and get dressed. The traffic problem was solved by leaving at 6:30 am. I loved it!

When I drive to work, it takes about 15 minutes if traffic is not overly congested. The extenuating factor is the employee parking deck. I usually get there late enough that I have to park on the upper levels, then walk the distance of three city blocks to get to my cubicle. When I ride my bike, I can park in the 'special executive deck', which, by matter of total coincidence (just kidding), is right next to the building. That saves another ten minutes. So the difference in time during the commute is not too much, and I get to double duty my commute with some exercise.

Tomorrow I am leaving for the beach. I need a vacation; a couple of stressful situations that I can't change immediately have been wearing me down. Yay!

Addendum: We took Cahaba Road by the zoo and through English Village, then down Arlington. That is the easiest climb over the mountain.

Posted by megabeth at 08:14 AM | Comments (1)

 
May 16, 2007

Picasso had his Blue period, I had my Hell period. For the past couple of weeks my neck has been feeling a lot better. I am still in pain but it is minor. There are some days or hours when I do not feel pain at all, particularly on weekends when I do not sit down, ever. Every day I am doing strengthening exercises and several times a day, I am doing stretches. I am still going to physical therapy twice a week; recieving massage, ultrasound and stim. Also, taking a 30 minute walk seems to "reset" the spine, so I have been taking little Ruby on walks three or four times a week.

Exercise makes me feel better; sitting makes me feel worse. My life now revolves around the avoidance of sitting down.

I think that my belated racing debut this season will come soon. Better late than never, eh? (My Canadian cubicle neighbor is rubbing off on me.) I have been riding for about a month and feeling stronger every week. My biggest strength on the bike is climbing, and I am starting to get back into my "climbing zen". I'm still seeing quite a bit of weakness in aerobic fitness, because when riding hard, my heart rate will rise up to near-LT (for me, that is lower 180s) and won't drop back down after the effort. Nevertheless, I don't feel the desire to get back into a training program. My program is "ride when I have time and want to ride and sleep 8 hours a night". I like this plan.

Posted by megabeth at 08:59 AM | Comments (1)

 
May 10, 2007

Bike to Work Day is May 18th, and I am thinking about giving it a shot.

There are a few obstacles that keep me from biking to work. One is that I wear nice clothes at work, except casual Fridays, so I would probably try this only on Fridays. Two is that there are no available showers at my office building, but I am leveraging the NoZoner campaign to try to change that (NoZoner's goal is to encourage alternative methods of transportation to improve air quality in the area). And last, my lack of awareness of a safe route to ride from my house to my office downtown. The last obstacle can be eliminated if I participate in the local Bike to Work organized ride, because my fear will be mitigated if my hand can be held this first time.

Since I drive a small car about 5 miles to work, I doubt that the impact of my riding a bike to work one day a week is anything other than miniscule. (However, I get to exercise, and I like that benefit.) Birmingham has a real problem with air quality because people who live here commute, on average, a large distance to get to work. City and regional planners have gone to great measures to improve this problem. What confounds me is why nobody has ever passed an emissions testing law as part of the solution to the issue. There are a lot of passenger cars and small commercial trucks in this town that spew out clouds of noxious, black smoke. Surely taking just one of those vehicles off the road would have a significantly larger impact than one person riding a bike to work one day a week. Georgia does this. Georgia is ten years ahead of Alabama when it comes to improving quality of life.

THIS JUST IN: Birmingham city trucks are going to start using biodiesel. (What about the buses?) Also, Birmingham ranks #4 on the worst polluted U.S. cities list.

Posted by megabeth at 11:14 AM | Comments (6)

 
May 07, 2007

Yesterday I rode 66 miles of the Cheaha Challenge. I was wiped out when the ride was over, but I am getting stronger after my two-month hiatus, and my neck does not hurt unless I am sitting down in front of a computer. So, the weekends are nice, and then I have to go back to work and suffer.

The ride is organized very well, but I'm not sure that treating a century as a race and logging in participant finish times promotes group cycling safety. Centuries bring the squirrelly riders out from the woodwork and these people feel like they should jeopardize everyone else's safety to save 10 seconds off their time, which in the end doesn't mean a hill of beans. Social ineptitude is immediately evident with cyclists.

The weather was perfect, though, and it was nice to have a change of scenery and best of all, RIDE MY BIKE!

Posted by megabeth at 08:21 AM | Comments (0)

 
May 02, 2007

I finally found a saddle that is comfortable, after putting a lot of thought and analysis into the structure of the female nether region (aka 'the booty').

Previously tested: Terry Butterfly and Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow (too cushy), Selle Italia SLR Gel Flow (too narrow for my sit bones), Specialized Jett 143 mm (ouch on the sit bones), Fizik Arione and Fizik Aliante (too much pressure on tender parts).

I ordered a Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow from Excel Sports in Boulder. The saddle did not work for me (more on that in a sec) but Excel Sports is lightening fast with shipping orders. If you need something that your local bike shop does not carry and you want it sometime before next year, I recommend ordering from Excel Sports if they carry what you are looking for. I ordered by 2 pm MST on a Tuesday and had the saddle in hand on Friday (it was sent by USPS 2-day priority mail). When I mailed it back to them, they credited my account the day after they received the package.

The Selle Italia Flite Gel Flow (pre-2007 version) is an saddle that is fully committed to brutalizing your behind. I sat on it for only a few minutes and did not need any more time to decide to send it back. The saddle drops off sharply on the sides, thus rendering about 50% of the surface area unusable and thus, wasted dead weight on a bicycle. The cut-out in the center is so large that special parts, male or female, would fall down in the gap, and the edges of the cut-out gouge into one's tender parts. I cannot think of a more uncomfortable saddle, other sitting on a 2 by 4 wooden board.

I decided to order two saddles at a time as a new strategy so that I could combine shipping costs and speed up the process. The next order (from a different bike shop) took a week and a half to arrive. I ordered on Sunday, it did not ship until Thursday. I received the WTB Devo Carbon and the WTB Shadow V Stealth.

The Devo showed immediate promise, and while weight is not a factor in my decision, the saddle only weighs 190 grams. The Shadow V, on the other hand, was too narrow. A 30 minute trainer session ruled that saddle out quickly. WTB saddles are not sold by any bike shop in Birmingham so you don't see people here riding on them. They also were originally a mtn bike saddle producer, but now they make some road saddles. One of the common elements of a WTB saddle is something called a "Love Channel", which is a channel that runs down the center of the saddle to allow pressure relief on the tender parts.

I rode on the Devo a couple of times on the road and quickly discovered that I need to use chamois butter with the saddle. (Explanation in a sec.) However, there was little soreness on my sit bones. I decided to order one more saddle to try out, a Terry Zero Y, which is a men's saddle with a cut-out in the center. I have ruled out most women's saddles because they are too wide. If you did not know this, Terry saddles are made by Selle Italia.

I rode three times on the Zero Y and the inside of my sit bones which rest on the edges of the cut-out were getting sore enough that any movement on the seat was very painful, and also I felt like I did not have control over my bike and was unbalanced. Feeling unbalanced seems to result in a decrease in power output.

Specs are something like:
Zero Y: 140 mm W, 177 L
Shadow V: 130 mm W, 175 L
Devo: 140 mm W, 165 L

It has been proven that my booty needs a 140 mm width saddle. Women's saddles tend to be 155 mm and up in width. However, Terry makes one that is 130 mm wide (the Damselfly), which I have not tried.

I put the Devo back on my bike and rode it last night with much joy, because I had complete control over my bike and the saddle felt very natural to me. I thought I required a cut-out because of pressure relief, but that is not really the case. The problem with a saddle with no cut-out is that it allows for more movement of the chamois in the shorts to rub against one's tender parts. The chamois butter mostly alleviates this issue.

Thus, a summary of saddle mechanics:

• Saddles with cut-outs reduce the surface area your booty rests upon, thus increasing pressure on the areas of the booty that are touching the saddle (mainly the sit bones). They also reduce friction between the tender parts and the chamois in bike shorts by "locking in" a section of the chamois into the cut-out in the saddle.
  
• Saddles without cut-outs reduce ischial pressure due to increased surface area, but there is more friction between tender bits and chamois, and possibly more pressure on the front area of one's nether region, depending on the design of the saddle.

The quest for a saddle has taught me that it is the most important component on a bike. You can have a bike worth $15K, but if the saddle is uncomfortable, your riding performance is going to suffer.

Congrats to the Devo for being nice to my booty.

Posted by megabeth at 02:52 PM | Comments (2)

 
April 18, 2007

Yesterday I rode for the first time in seven weeks. The weather was awesome. I took it very easy and didn't ride too far or for too long. The muscles in my neck and back were protesting being in that position and I still can't turn my neck to either side very easily. However, after the ride my neck muscles felt better. The PT said that I should start exercising again to get the blood flowing and that would help to loosen everything up.

There's a silver lining to everything, and despite my pissing and moaning about being in chronic pain, this two-month-long incident has benefited and changed me.

Howard had sent me an email a while back advising me to learn how to not-give-a-shit. The problem is that being wound up and having a Type AAAAAAAA personality makes it very difficult for me to simply say, "OK, I am going to be calm now, and I will sit here and relax." Can't do it to save my life. What's required is a gradual unwinding over a long period of time, like peeling layers off an onion, in order to reverse the build up of tension and stress that I have subjected myself to over an equally long period of time.

Being physically sidelined by a neck injury forced me to sit still and ponder the notion of learning how to relax. I am so stubborn and hyperactive that there is no person in this world who can force me to sit still. It *requires* a physical disablement in order for me to do this, and all the while I am whining about how I can't get up and do this or that, and how badly that sucks. It would be easier to tame a wild horse or a feral cat.

I give credit for the mental portion of this unwinding to a special person who has taught me how to slow down and smell the roses. He stayed with me, took care of me, and kept my mind off of being in pain. Type A people tend to feed off of each other's Type A-ness, and I needed a Type B person to show me how to slow down and let myself be spoiled. It's a nice place over there in Type B-world. :)

Cycling was an addiction, which has now been broken. During last night's ride I was having fun, but did not feel in need of it to make myself happy. My confidence tends to depend upon being consistent and following the rules, so my training program was running my life. If I had put the energy into my career that I was putting into training, I would now be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. I realize now that it doesn't matter if I miss a training ride, skip a few days or do something different than what the training schedule said to do, because in the big scheme of things, it doesn't matter.

The past few years have been a blur of one stressful activity after another, and I had forgotten how to toss off my stressors and do things that I enjoy, like gardening and cooking and home improvement projects.

I love cycling and I would like to do some races this year, but I do not feel interested in setting any specific goals. Well, other than continuing to relax and enjoy myself.

Posted by megabeth at 12:50 PM | Comments (2)

 
March 04, 2007

I went back up to Mentone for training camp to ride my bike, and more importantly to get away from stressors in my environment. Being on top of a mountain and sleeping in a little cabin surrounded by gusty winds is very relaxing. I couldn't stay the whole weekend because I have a midterm on derivatives on Monday.

Yesterday's ride was 67 miles with two climbs of the mountain, the first on a dirt road (maybe 3-4 miles of uphill). Riding a road bike on a dirt road sucks. There is the constant fear of slipping on the skinny tires and crashing down to the ground, and there is the inability to make the bike move efficiently. I suppose this will train me for riding on uneven road surfaces. On the second climb (at around 62 miles) I wanted to launch an attack to see how I would do in a hilly road race if I did such a thing. I waited until about halfway up and then let 'er rip. It is interesting how I find long climbs to be such enjoyment even if I am exhausted and sore. Those discomforts melt away when I am climbing.

I haven't lost any strength during my five days off the bike. My saddle problems continue to hamper continuity in bike fit and have impeded the ability to get settled into the feeling of riding a machine that fits so well that you don't notice it as a separate entity.

The people on my team are so very generous and friendly, and I consider my inclusion to be a blessing.

As my neck continues to improve (and if I can find a decent saddle soon), race season will commence.

Off to study; I am literally counting down the days to December 15, 2007 when this graduate school hell is over with.

Posted by megabeth at 07:29 AM | Comments (1)

 
February 19, 2007

On Saturday's ride I tried the Fizik Arione saddle. It is much longer than most other saddles and does not have a cut-out. The verdict? There is no possible way that this saddle could ever hurt someone's sit bones. The physics behind saddles without cut-outs is that your weight is more evenly distributed across the surface area rather than mostly on the sit bones. My booty felt good, but the complication is that the saddle doesn't have a cut-out, and certain tender parts weren't too happy during the ride. I think I may be able to get it to work out for me though, with some adjustments. I'm going to ride it for a couple of weeks before making a final decision.

Some pro women on the excel sports team ride on the Arione, which gives me some hope.

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

 
February 17, 2007

Picture this:

It's a sunny Saturday, and a young guy in his twenties decides to take his new Nissan 280Z out for a spin. Rex Lake Road is nice, because it has some curves and gentle, rolling hills, the perfect road to find out what a sports car can do.

And there's a group of a dozen or so cyclists who have climbed up a hill on a back road and then descended to where the road dead ends and meets Rex Lake. They stop at the intersection to regroup.

The convergence of these two scenes was not a good one.

Nissan dude catches the edge of the road with his front right tire, loses control of the car, and is skidding along the embankment at a very high rate of speed.

It's like time stopped right there. Those two seconds felt like two minutes. My first thought was, "That car is too far away to endanger us". And then my second thought was, "That car is very close to us now, and it's about to flip over and kill all of us." That's when I threw myself, still attached to my bike, off the road into an embankment, away from the impending disaster. I squeezed my eyes closed, cowering, waiting for the event to continue unfolding. And by the grace of God, the car stopped right before it reached where we were standing.

The Nissan dude was ok; he got out of the car immediately, then took his verbal beating from a bunch of angry cyclists. The police were called; the dude's father then shows up driving a Lexus that was also brand new. We collected ourselves. We collected the bikes that were strewn about in our desperate attempts to save ourselves from a sports car hurtling through the air. Then we rode off and finished our ride, after everyone had their wits again.

Everyone deals with near-brushes with death in different ways. I know that as a cyclist I accept a high degree of risk when riding on the roads. But one thing I haven't considered until today is that some drivers (particularly those who are reckless) do not always have control of their vehicles. I don't think the emotional gravity of this incident hit me until I was driving home after my ride was completed. For some unknown reason, I am numb to the possibility of death. I'd like to say that would be because I'm not afraid of it and that if I died today, that my life would have been full and complete; that I was right with God. What upset me, when I was finally alone and could process what happened, is that some of my friends may have been hurt or killed. I don't know how I would be able to deal with the emotional trauma of losing them and seeing it happen in real time.

I've replayed the scene a hundred times in my head this afternoon. I can't fathom the odds of something like this happening. I'm not angry at the driver; he didn't see us when he lost control of the car. I'm not angry, period. Instead I feel thankful that God spared all of us.

I'm happy to be alive today.

Posted by megabeth at 03:12 PM | Comments (8)

 
February 16, 2007

The Specialized Jett saddle is not going to work out. My sit bones are STILL sore (I'm starting to wonder if there is permanent or long-term damage) and that saddle makes them beg for mercy.

The Fizik Aliante was very comfortable for my sit bones, but it doesn't have a cut-out so my tender bits did not find a place to rest comfortably. I'm going to take a more in-depth look at the various Fizik models.

This process has greatly increased my appreciation for the Terry Butterfly.

Posted by megabeth at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)

 
February 12, 2007

Presenting: The new Team BooKoo website.

This project was particularly fun because I have a personal stake in it, and because I had more creative license than I usually do. Some of the team members' bio pages are particularly hilarious; I encouraged everyone to think outside the box. I nearly split open my side with laughter while writing my bio page.

BooKoo Energy is our title sponsor. Keep a lookout for BooKoo in stores if you like energy drinks; the BooKoo drinks I've tried are much tastier than competing energy drinks.

Posted by megabeth at 06:42 PM | Comments (3)

 

For three weekends of riding I was sitting on a borrowed saddle: a Selle Italia gel flow. In an earlier post I had talked about how this saddle was making my sit bones sore. There was a bit more damage than that; there was some significant bruising. It gave a new meaning to "pain in the ass". Ha ha. Also it has been determined that my pain threshold is off the charts. My next career should involve travel to dangerous countries as a U.S. spy because when captured, the torture will not bother me enough to cough up classified information.

So I am now back on a fat cushy ladies saddle until my rear end stops hurting. I was able to ride this weekend without pain, but the fat saddle was driving me nuts. I could be making this up, but I think that a harder saddle allows for more power transfer to the pedals. It definitely allows you to reposition yourself on the saddle according to whatever task is at hand.

My next attempt is the Specialized Jett saddle. This one isn't hugely different than the SI gel flow, except that it is 13 mm wider and has some more padding around the cut-out.

If that one doesn't work out for me, I will give up on that shape of saddle and try something completely different.

Posted by megabeth at 11:30 AM | Comments (3)

 
February 09, 2007

I like the trees in this photo. (I am on the left.)

I am posting photos this week because all work and no play makes Megabeth a dull girl. This must be "hell week" for workaholics. If I survive, then I am officially classified and must begin attending the meetings.

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

 
February 05, 2007

The Selle Italia Gel Flow saddle I'm using is really hurting my butt. I assume that at some point, my butt will get used to it, but the saddle and I are going on the third week together and there is still deep bruising in my booty, and some serious soreness when I ride my bike. I WANT this saddle to work for me. It is a hard and light saddle, and I climb well on it.

*Update: I am currently sitting on a bag of ice. My sit bones are THAT sore.

Here's another photo of me riding in Mentone. My bike is beautiful. What's also beautiful about this photo is that I am changing out my water bottle with a fresh one that was in the car. Being sagged on a ride is awesome.

*Update: I am getting better with my bike handling skills. The day after this ride, I had on two sets of knee warmers and a pair of tights (it was below freezing) and I wanted to take one set of knee warmers off, so I managed to pull them off and over my shoes while riding the bike, then handed them off to the van. Then the van pulled in front of me and pulled me back up to the group. That was quite an adventure.

Posted by megabeth at 11:31 AM | Comments (6)

 
February 04, 2007

Who in their right mind would pay for a massage that inflicts serious pain and torture on the muscles? Ahem. I am not in my right mind.

Winter training has caused my muscles to coil up into a very tight ball of tension. I went to the massage therapist that some guys on my bike team recommended. I don't want anyone to work on me that is trying to make the experience all fluffy and zen. Instead, I want someone who isn't afraid to hurt me. And I received what I asked for. For an hour I was grimacing with pain while he made each muscle in my body cry for mercy. My hamstrings were the worst, if they were any tighter they would have snapped. He also attacked a knot in my neck and one in my back, and at the time I thought I might fall off the table and curl up into a little ball on the floor.

Needless to say, I am sore today.

Posted by megabeth at 08:26 AM | Comments (2)

 
February 01, 2007

One of my teammates snuck this photo of me while I was relaxing (uh, exhausted) by the fire after one of the training camp rides this weekend. I was using my knee warmers to hold bags of ice on top of my knees since they are both a bit angry lately, and I believe in icing anything that has even a twinge of discomfort - it can't hurt. My seat was too low so we are gradually moving it upwards 2 cm (don't want to do it all at once to avoid shocking changes). Riding with the seat too low causes stress on the quadriceps tendon that attaches to the patella. Things seem to be getting better as we make more adjustments. This process has taught me that the seat seems to be the most important piece of the bike; it has so much effect on everything else.

Posted by megabeth at 02:00 PM | Comments (2)

 
January 28, 2007

I am floored about how amazing this weekend was. Nearly rendered speechless, because I don't know where to begin. When we (the girls) arrived on Friday night, a brand new cabin was awaiting us, with a fire already going in the fireplace and the bedding already made up. Then we headed over to the guys' cabin, and there was a delicious meal ready for us to eat. And then when we arose the next morning, breakfast was cooked and served. And THEN our ride was sagged by two vehicles, and they kept/took our extra clothing, gave us drink refills and energy bars and gels. This is like a real bike team. This IS a REAL bike team, with people who are friends and who support each other. I think that the boys want the girls to join them because they served us the entire weekend. I don't get this kind of royal treatment when I go on vacations at the beach. I asked if we could have a training camp every weekend from here on out. ;)

On Saturday I rode 4 hours/67 miles with 4500 estimated vertical feet of climbing. We started on top of the mountain at Mentone, descended, climbed it, descended, then climbed it again (at different location). We also rode quite a while at tempo on flat and rolling terrain. On Sunday we rode 3.5 hours/55 miles on the road that goes along the edge of Little River Canyon, which is mostly rollers, to Fort Payne, with a long climb back up the mountain at the end. The weather Saturday was nice, in the mid-50s, and rather chilly today in the mid-30s (I had toe and hand warmers as my little helpers). The pace was a bit frisky until the climbs; we utilized a double pace line to ride efficiently.

So there was the pleasure. Now for the pain:

New saddle, little padding = VERY SORE bottom. Ouch. Muscular fatigue for the latter portion of both rides; when the pace got fast I was at LT+7 and about to pop. Riding with boys is hard. But it is now time for me to ride with boys because I am done with building a base.

And the climbing. I love climbing and it is becoming evident that it is one of my strengths. First up on all big climbs for the girls; I gave some of the boys an ego check. The funny thing is, the more painful it gets, I start laughing out loud. It is hilarious and I can't figure out exactly why other than there have been many times in my life when I was in pain (mostly emotional), and climbing a hill on a bike is nothing in comparison. So I get into my little 'zone' where I settle into a pedaling rhythm, and I think about how I am using all of the muscles in my body to power up the hill and if there is anything I could be doing to make it more efficient, and sometimes I feel like I have more to give, so I change gears and speed up. And sometimes I think about how I am making other people hurt, and I enjoy that very much. I don't think I have tapped my full potential. I am going to keep developing this strength.

Wonderful, wonderful weekend. I love this sport.

Posted by megabeth at 05:31 PM | Comments (3)

 
January 26, 2007

I am running around like crazy today about to leave to go out of town for a much needed break: Training Camp!

My cycling team has some incredibly nice and generous people. We have been set up with lodging (even separate houses for boy and girls, since boys are stinky). We have a chef on the team who is preparing the meals. We have a sponsor and a mechanic who are providing ride support (they'll be driving behind us in a van and scooping up whoever needs a break or has a mechanical problem). It will be a fun weekend, doing what I enjoy doing, with people who share my obsession. When I get back and thaw out, I'll recap the weekend.

Posted by megabeth at 09:16 AM | Comments (1)

 
January 20, 2007

Today's ride was like what would happen if I decided to ride my bike on a hurricane evacuation route right before a hurricane. I don't know what was going on today that brought people out of their homes... the second coming of Jesus Christ? It was INSANE.

Today an older woman in a Lexus buzzed us right before stopping at a red light. So at the light I knocked on her window and at first she wouldn't roll it down (a sure sign of guilt). When she did, I asked her nicely if she could please give cyclists a little more space because getting that close to them is not safe. She acted as if she was not aware that she did anything dangerous, and perhaps she truly was ignorant.

I've had to cut back a little on the big gear hill climbing because my knee is tweaked. The saddle I have been trying out for a month obviously isn't good for me so we changed it out to a narrower men's saddle and make some adjustments to my cleats (one was crooked). My knee felt a little better and hopefully I can get back into making the quads burn. I have a training camp coming up soon and am really looking forward to spending even MORE time on a bike. Heheh. I am insane.

One tip about the knees: When it's cold outside it's really important to keep the knees warm. Now that one of my knees is pissed off, I am being more careful about that. Knee warmers under 70 F. When I wear tights on a cold day, I wear my knee warmers underneath the tights.

Posted by megabeth at 07:25 PM | Comments (0)

 
January 14, 2007

Base 3 starts this week. This probably doesn't mean anything to anyone other than myself, but I am writing it down so that I will remember it. The intensity of training increases a lot during this period. My focus will be on hill climbing in Zone 4, right at LT. I did some of this during my ride yesterday. It is only slightly painful and I can sustain a hill climb right at LT for quite a while. The other focus of this period IS painful; it's muscular endurance. On my trainer indoors, I will be moving the target HR of my intervals up (currently they are at LT - 10) to LT -3. Now that hurts. I have stopped watching TV during indoor workouts because the pain is too much to focus on anything else. It's iPod time.

Posted by megabeth at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

 
January 13, 2007

Either everyone else is out of shape or the training I am doing is greatly improving my climbing skills. I've dropped down to a lithe 119 lbs of lean muscle. My stomach is starting to show ripples. I should be a naturally good climber because my physique is lean and my muscles are of the long and lean variety (as opposed to beefy or thick). If I tried to bulk up, it wouldn't happen; I don't have the muscle type for it. My father's musculature is also sinewy.

The core work I'm doing at the gym is paying off. I've focused on lower back muscles, upper and lower abdominals, and obliques. While climbing I have noticed how much the lower abs and obliques contribute to the work I am doing. And when the hill gets steep, additional upper body muscle groups start working: biceps, triceps, pectorals, and lats.

I'm going to keep working on developing climbing as one of my strengths on the bike. I think it may take a couple of winters to build up major strength in the quads without injuring myself. Though currently I am already delivering some whoop-ass to other cyclists on hills. (My bike gets some of the credit - the Scott CR1 practically throws itself forward when getting into a climb.)

Posted by megabeth at 04:52 PM | Comments (2)

 
January 09, 2007

I did not know that this mapping tool existed. I've used the Google Pedometer for running routes. This one on the USATF website also records elevation.

Posted by megabeth at 10:22 AM | Comments (2)

 
January 01, 2007

I haven't been to work since December 22nd and sadly I have to go back tomorrow. During the time off I caught up on a bunch of things, but mostly I rode my bike.

I think that my training plan is really working because I went on two hard rides this week and I did well on both of them. The first was a manic hill climbing ride with a friend who introduced me to this sport. When I am about to have a heart attack while climbing a hill, he picks on my climbing technique. It's easy to get sloppy when you are tired. Then I worked on my technique on Saturday with a five hour hill climbing ride. I thought I would have been tired after that ride, but I was full of energy for the rest of the day and did not need a nap. My team (both men and women) partied so hardy last night (not really; we're teetotalers) and then rode together as a group today. And then we pigged out at IHOP afterwards. And probably because of that, again I did not need my usual post-ride nap. The ride was an insane three hours which involved trying to stay with a group of Cat 3 males. I did well and stayed with them for much of the ride, and when I was dropped, the trusty "reeler-in" guy was there to pull the laggards back up to the rest of the group. If our training camp in few weeks is anything like that ride, I am going to pass out after a few hours of riding. Anyhow, I am not supposed to be riding this hard at this point in my training cycle. My rides should be focusing on strength building by slowly climbing hills in a big gear. But it is nice to occasionally get a progress check like today's ride to see how I am doing.

Posted by megabeth at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

 
December 26, 2006

I'm not motivated unless there is a figurative carrot dangling in front of me, just out of reach. I think about why I have enjoyed the sport of cycling so much since I've always preferred sports in which there is a moving object that is chased, hit or thrown. Playing the game takes my mind off feeling any physical pain from pushing the body to its limits.

In triathlon or time trial, definitive time goals can be set. "X miles in X minutes". Nevertheless, there are environmental factors that can affect one's performance. If I raced a triathlon two years in a row, perhaps one year the weather was rainy and cold, and the following year it was brutally hot.

Bike racing isn't particularly measurable in terms of individual performance except for time trialing. Cycling is a team sport, so most team members sacrifice their individual goals in order to help a teammate win the race (think Floyd Landis working for Lance Armstrong). I'm competitive by nature, but I like the idea of being a helper. I especially like the notion that a team can devise a race strategy based on strengths that should be leveraged.

I don't think winning as an individual is what motivates me in this sport. At one point in time I wanted to excel in sports because it contributed to my self worth. I no longer feel compelled to prove anything to anyone. What motivates me now is thinking of my body as a science experiment. There is a general hypothesis of improved performance, but what are the inputs? What combination of inputs works best? There are millions of possibilities.

And how do I measure those inputs? By following a regimented training plan and keeping diligent notes in my training diary, then following up with periodic testing to see if my fitness has improved.

This sport is perfect for a detail-oriented numbers freak like me!

(And perhaps I *am* crazy, but it is a healthy endeavor. It has motivated me to improve my diet and it wears me out so I sleep like a rock.)

Posted by megabeth at 08:11 PM | Comments (2)

 
December 21, 2006

I'm a bit testy lately. I mow down any obstacles that prevent me from completing my goals by the end of the month.

I've been in Base 2 training for a week and have been doing some sub-LT intervals. Training in Base 1 was 'whee-fun' and training in Base 2 is 'when is this interval going to be over?'. Zone 3 is at 165ish for me and that is fairly tolerable but is hard enough work to cause a pool of sweat on the floor beneath my trainer. Zone 4 is right at sub-LT (173-175) and it hurts real bad to sustain for ten minutes. My focus from here on out is going to be strength and muscular endurance. I have one more week of hypertrophy in weight training and the next week starts the strength cycle. I totally can wait. It hurts just thinking about it.

Posted by megabeth at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)

 
December 18, 2006

My cycling team won the state cyclocross series trophy yesterday. I didn't have anything to do with that since I don't do cross. We have some more exciting things coming up soon that I do have something to do with. :)

Posted by megabeth at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)

 
December 15, 2006

Since Base 1 is over, I did my second lactate threshold test at the shop. The first one over a month ago was wrong - we discovered that the HR sensor is not correctly picking up my heart rate (it said my LT was 140). Obviously it's wrong if you are about to pass out and your heart rate is only 110. I had my own HRM turned on, so we used that to determine my lactate threshold.

I don't have a good understanding of the LT, but from what I do understand it is the point where your breathing goes from labored to gasping for breath like a chain smoker. The change in breathing is an interesting event because there is a definite point where you can tell that it changes. That happened for me around 175 bpm at 230 watts of power. I managed to hang on for the 250 watts interval of two minutes, which is an improvement over a month ago when I couldn't hang on for long at 230 watts. My HR went up to 187 before I blew to pieces.

I'm not sure if this number is correct, but the test did at least provide me with a baseline for future comparisons. The goal is to be able to last 30 minutes at my LT.

Since the weather was so good and I had some vacation time to burn, I took the afternoon off and rode for about an hour before my LT test. Hooray for the warm December.

Afterwards I found myself without a recovery drink. It's good to put something down immediately after a workout. The best emergency recovery drink substitute is chocolate milk, readily available at most service stations.

Posted by megabeth at 05:41 PM | Comments (1)

 
December 07, 2006

Since my Christmas decorating skill is a little on the green side, I got creative and turned an old cassette into Christmas tree ornaments.

Most of my ornaments are over at my parents' house and I haven't had time to stop by lately. My tree was looking a little sad with its ten hand-me-down (the word to make this look better is "vintage") ornaments and nondescript gold and red balls. If I have time (HA HA HAAA) I will think of something crafty to do with the cassette rings to make them look like real Christmas ornaments instead of some random items I found around the house and threw on the tree in an act of last minute desperation.

Something I have taken notice of during recent weeks when the sky is clear is that November and December brings us some amazing sunsets. When I leave work and do my usual round-and-round-and-round the parking deck, the western sky is ablaze with hues of orange and red. There's a positive for going to work late (which for my company is 8 am) and having to park on the top level of the deck. So now it's round-wow-and-round-aaah-and-round-ooooh-and round...

Posted by megabeth at 05:55 PM | Comments (0)

 
December 05, 2006

My goal this year is to cat up from 4 to 3. Really the issue is not "IF" but rather "WHEN". The obstacle at this point is not speed; I can keep up with the cat 3s on my team. I just don't have enough race experience to justify making the request to USCF.

My team's head honcho is in favor of catting up as soon as possible rather than staying back and being a sandbagger. You aren't going to become a better cyclist if you race against people who aren't as fast as you are. Also, if you continue to dominate your field over and over again, you end up looking like a weenie and your team ends up looking lame.

If I race only in Alabama and Mississippi, it doesn't really matter what category I am in because there aren't enough women participating in the sport***, so all cats are grouped together for one race. This is why I have to keep up with the cat 3s: I don't have a choice. (And in the end, it benefits me because racing and training with 3s has made me stronger.) In other states where the sport is more popular for women, such as Tennessee and Georgia, they divide the women into two groups: Cats 1/2/3 and Cat 4.

Thus, Cat 3 is a difficult place for a female cyclist to be, and it's also a difficult place for a male cyclist, because in the men's section, they often divide them up into three groups: Cat 1/2/3, Cat 4 and Cat 5. I think the Cat 3 men on my team do pretty well. It's better to stay out of the beginner categories (Cat 4 women, Cat 4/5 men). The beginners are more dangerous because they have less developed bike handling skills (which equates to more crashes), and they tend to be divas who do not know much about effective team race tactics.

So, my general plan is to head over to either Georgia or Tennessee as soon as I am ready to peak in my periodization cycle, and try out a Cat 4 only criterium. This will be a good indicator if I am ready to cat up. If I do well, then I am going to send in my request to cat up.

Note to non-cyclists: Road cyclists are grouped by categories of speed; men's categories (aka 'cats') go from 1 (fastest/pro)) to 5 (beginner), and women's cats go from 1 (fastest/pro) to 4 (beginner).

*** This non-participation thing with women really sucks. I would like to see more local women get into road racing.

Posted by megabeth at 08:45 AM | Comments (0)

 
December 04, 2006

A cycling friend sent me this "Christmas card" link from Specialized.

And there is a story behind it. The music was made entirely from the noises that bicycle parts make.

Cool.

Posted by megabeth at 09:51 PM | Comments (2)

 
December 03, 2006

Yesterday my HRM clocked 4.5 hours of time in which the pedals were moving on my bike. (2000 calories burned)

I was delirious by the time I got home.

At the under armour outlet I bought a cold-weather base layer shirt for twenty bucks, and it is perfect for keeping me warm in the 35-50 degree range.

Recently I read a post on someone's cycling blog about how they must use a trashmobile or old mountain bike for road riding in the winter due to the salt on the roads. How weird and foreign that sounds to me!

The boys at the shop have hot cider ready when we stop by for a break. So good!

I recently started converting my Favorites in IE and Firefox to del.icio.us. Here's the link if you want to browse.

Posted by megabeth at 09:42 AM | Comments (1)

 
November 29, 2006

In my weight program I'm transitioning into the hypertrophy phase from adaptation. Ouch. The gym is a humbling experience because it made me realize how little muscular strength my beanpole body has. I walk up to a machine, such as the chest press, and move the weight peg from where the last guy left it at 250 lbs, to 20 lbs, and three reps of 'weenie weight' still hurts. Men are so much stronger than women.

The core work is already paying off because it makes me feel better. Because my core muscles are getting stronger, it is easier to hold myself upright and perform tasks that require strength.

My current riding volume is high and I still have tons of energy regardless (or because of?). The stress from school and freelance work hasn't zapped my energy, either.

This past summer I took most of two months off the bike, May and August, because I wasn't feeling well. I visited a bunch of doctors, hypothesized about thyroid problems (proven to be wrong), had ultrasounds, took antibiotics, had pap smears and blood tests, et-cet-er-ah. My ob/gyn put her finger right on the problem: stress from dealing with a destructive relationship. She warned me that I had better think hard about making bad choices or ELSE (she told me a few stories about patients of hers who developed irreversible symptoms due to high levels of stress). My stress load has been fairly significant since the fall of 2003 when I started going to graduate school at night, and I have not felt so badly for so long or had such inexplicably weird symptoms like I did this past summer. Thus, I learned a valuable lesson that stress from personal relationships can cause medical problems and illnesses. I denied that the two had any connection until I experienced this firsthand. Fortunately my symptoms disappeared, and I will be careful from now on to keep that part of my life healthy so that I will be in good health for riding my bike way too often.

Additionally, I think that periodization (a la Joe Friel) is going to help with the issue of overtraining when race season begins in the spring.

I'm already lean but I hope that by spring I will have increased my muscular mass. This will be the first time in my life that I have done this sort of thing. It will be interesting (and fun!).

Posted by megabeth at 02:51 PM | Comments (4)

 
November 28, 2006

I put in nine hours of saddle time over Thanksgiving. Saddle time means 'time in which the pedals were moving' and does not include time waiting at lights or taking a break. Since the weather was unseasonably warm, I had to take advantage of it.

That left little time for doing my homework. There's always one night of classes in which most everything is due, and that night was last night. I still have a few presentations and an exam in the next couple of weeks.

Of course I much prefer riding my bike over doing homework.

Posted by megabeth at 08:48 AM | Comments (0)

 
November 20, 2006

I logged over six hours of actual riding time on the bike this weekend.

I'm doing the periodization thing this winter, so this is the base building phase. It's nearly impossible to keep my heart rate at sub-LT in the foothills of the Appalachians. However, my heart rate on the trainer is much more controlled.

The adaptation phase for strength training is almost over. Next is hypertrophy.

All of my teammates are putting in the saddle time this fall and winter. I'm so excited for our potential come springtime.

Posted by megabeth at 09:48 AM | Comments (2)

 
November 15, 2006

I bought a Terry Zero X saddle but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. It is 40 gm lighter than the Butterfly I am currently using. Some people have teased me for having a Terry Butterfly on my Scott CR1; the disconnect is that the seat is minor league and the bike is major league. However, after doing some research on seats and particularly saddles for women, the Terry Zero is one of the lighter saddles, and if I wanted to go lighter, I'd have to buy one of those hard-as-a-rock men's race saddles that probably render men who use them impotent.

I figured I might as well stick with Terry since my booty likes the Butterfly so much.

And if the Zero doesn't work for me, I can send it back and switch it out for a new Butterfly.

Posted by megabeth at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

 
November 11, 2006

Last night, Farmboy and I went to see the Borat movie. Very funny. I like. However, we were a bit traumatized by the wrestling scene involving two naked hairy men. (Here are some deleted scenes from the movie.)

This morning I met some folks for a ride. It was raining but optimistically I thought it would stop, or at least be sporadic. Wrong. We rode two hours in the cold rain. I stopped by the shop to take a lactate threshold test. They gave me some hot coffee before I put my wet cycling accessories back on and hammered back home so that I would stay warm. I've had better days in cycling. However, the hot shower when I got home was amazing.

My LT threshold HR seem a little low. My LT threshold at 230 watts of power is 140 bpm. At 230 watts of power, my power-to-weight ratio is 4.15. The magic number for pro cyclists is 7. The pros in the Tour de France can put out numbers of 500 watts, for brief intervals, during the climbs. Please, don't beat down my door with requests to sponsor me as a pro. ;)

Anyhow, I'll probably go out and do a field test to get some more numbers for my LT threshold. Generally, it's good to have a low LT threshold when combined with a high wattage value. I have no idea if my wattage at LT is good for a female or not. After doing some reading on LT, it appears that nobody knows what is objectively good or bad because the factors involved are different for every person.

Posted by megabeth at 01:48 PM | Comments (0)

 
November 05, 2006

I'm having a hard time believing that this isn't a fictionalization, it is that cool. I want one now.

Posted by megabeth at 01:01 PM | Comments (1)

 
November 01, 2006

"When I get on the bike, all of a sudden I'm thinking about the road and nothing else... It shifts you from one life to another."

From Harley Just Keeps On Cruisin', BusinessWeek, Nov 6 issue.

Posted by megabeth at 08:16 AM | Comments (0)

 
October 31, 2006

I found this photo of carbon fiber brake calipers (my source is a secret) made by a German company called Ax. To think there is something lighter than Campy Record! Soooo pretty.

Posted by megabeth at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)

 

I am going outside to play this afternoon!! I will be trick or treating on my bike. Happy Halloween!

Posted by megabeth at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)

 
October 26, 2006

My pro-level road bike just got even better.

I volunteered to man a rest stop at Saturday's century ride and we're going to try to ride both ways out to the stop instead of driving, so I thought I'd make the event more festive.

Awesome.

Posted by megabeth at 08:18 PM | Comments (4)

 

I have very few problems in my good life. The current conundrum is whether I should buy the Polar CS200 HRM, which is for cycling only, or the Polar CS300 HRM, which can be used for both cycling and running.

The CS200 has more cycling-related features, but the CS300 is a wristband so that I can take it running. However, I don't know if I really need an HRM while running. About the only thing I would use it for while running is to look at it and think, "HOLY CRAP. My HR is through the roof!"

Posted by megabeth at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)

 
October 25, 2006

I thought a road race was bad. This guy describes his painful experience in a 24-hour race.

If this happened in the U.S., I would have died and gone to heaven. One whole day a year with no cars on the roads!

Posted by megabeth at 08:30 AM | Comments (1)

 
October 22, 2006

Yesterday I did a 60-mile ride with my comrades; I forgot money and food and subsided on water and 20 ounces of gatorade for the ride. We didn't stop during the second half of the ride, anyhow. When I got back to the bike shop I wolfed down a Powerbar, barely chewing it. Then I ate a 12-inch BMT sub and a bag of chips from Subway. And for dinner, I scarfed down a big plate of spaghetti and garlic bread. I think I ate as much food yesterday as a college football player.

After my ride yesterday I ate lunch and hung out at the shop for a couple of hours to get started with helping them on some team/event-related stuff coming up. They have a fun job, goofing around, riding scooters and talking to people who stop by to hang out.

Posted by megabeth at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

 
October 14, 2006

Gawd. 5:45 am is too early. It was still pitch black outside when I got up, but Peet's was there to help me out. (I'm not sponsored, heh heh.) And it was 40 degrees outside. I started my 60 mile ride at 7 am as part of the Kid One Century ride. We took it slowly, since it's now time to rest up and get ready for winter training season. Winter training involves building endurance with long, slow rides. This year, as opposed to last, I am following a more regimented program that targets some of my many weaknesses.

So in one week I went from baking in the sun on a Gulf Coast beach to freezing my booty off while wearing various layers of winter cycling clothes. It warmed up after a while, and the layers were peeled off as the temperature rose.

My bike did most of the work for me. I'm falling in love with my new bike. :) My old bike is ready to be put on the trainer, so that I don't put any wear on my new bike while training indoors.

Posted by megabeth at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)

 
October 11, 2006

I have never seen track stands like these or cyclists with a cadence that fast. This track race is amazing from start to finish. And the guys have HUGE muscles.

Posted by megabeth at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

 

I'm trying to decide if I want to do some track racing. The velodrome is in Atlanta. My team leaders have organized a weekend certification session for us. I'd be all about it, but obligations to my freelance clients are not allowing much free time on weekends.

Posted by megabeth at 10:33 AM |