Training Week September 22 - 28, 2008

Monday – Off
Tuesday – GG Park Ride – 20 minutes tempo followed by a few hills – 1:45 total
Wednesday – 45 min spin class
Thursday – GG Park Ride – 1:15
Friday – 45 min spin class
Saturday – Tam – 1 hr w/u, race, ride back, cool down on trainer: 2:30 total
Sunday – Joined Zteam for Road 2 Recovery ride – easy out, some tempo on the way back; 2:30 total

Total: 9.5 hours

Busy day in the neighborhood & Tam

For people who have a lot of money to donate to the California Academy of Sciences they had a special preview night on Thursday with one valet parker for every patron.

It was quite a different scene today as it was the opening day for the public and admission was free.  I've lived in this neighborhood for 12 years and never seen this many people here.  Driving home from Tam (report below), I decided to go an extra few blocks south on 19th Ave to try and circumvent the gridlock, but virtually every street in the neighborhood (Judah, Kirkham, Lawton, Moraga, etc) was packed with cars, which I've never seen happen.  I had to park up on Noriega, which is the farthest that I've ever had to park.  At least I had my bike with me to ride home.

I had to post the above picture to show how stupid some people are.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen people park on this corner with the front of their car crossing the dotted line on the pavement marking the outside line of the path of muni light rail line.  The muni driver will just sit there and honk his horn, while traffic backs up behind, until the idiot comes back to his car.  I think the muni trains should have cattle guards on the front and they should be allowed to push cars illegally parked in their way off the road.

Anyway, getting back to Tam.  It was as hard a race as ever.  The 20 of us in the P/1/2 race couldn't really get organized on the Hwy.  There were no designated workers for the flat first 4 miles, so Nate English pulled for about the first mile, then Doug Merrill took a long pull, then me, Paul Mach and a few other guys tried pulling through, but only about 5-6 of us were willing to take a pull, so gaps would open up, we'd slow down.  Mark Weir took a couple particularly hard pulls trying to speed things up a bit, then Nate pulled for most of the last mile and we hit the turn in 9:45, not bad, but nowhere fast enough for a course record.

Most of us were together at the start of the climb, and I was about 8 wheels back.  Then I saw Nate moving up real fast on the inside and I knew that was the wheel to go with.  I don't have a power meter, but I'd guess that Nate was putting out somewhere around 500-600 watts (maybe more) and guys were dropping left and right.  Within about 4 minutes it was just Nate Paul and me, and I only held on for another couple minutes before I had to settle into my own pace.  Nate and Paul pulled out of site quickly even though I was going about as hard as I could trying to get out of Greg Remaly's view.  I could see him behind me on the next few switchbacks before I pulled far enough ahead.  Near the top of Bo/Fax I caught sight of Paul and was about 10 seconds behind him as I hit the summit in 28:25 (18:40 split), Nate was still out if site.

I basically just TT'd the 7 sisters.  I caught Paul on the 2nd climb and he rode with me until the 4th where I was able to pull away.  I didn't want to ease up at all since I was fearful that Greg may have been closing in on the rolling terrain, but I was able to hold on to 2nd finishing 56 seconds behind Nate (39:42) in 40:38 (12:13 split).  Paul held on for 3rd with Greg in 4th.

Congratulations Nate, that's faster than Euser rode the last 2 years!

Just in time for Tam!

Training Week September 15 - 21, 2008

Monday – 45 min spin class
Tuesday – Eve ride GG Park + some hills 1:30 total
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – Eve ride – polo fields, nothing hard – 1:30
Friday – 45 min spin class
Saturday – Tam practice ride. Easy ride from SF to Stinson. Hwy - 11:00; Climb – 20:30; 7 Sisters – 13:45 – Total of 45:15. Weather was cool and foggy – road was wet. The climb felt hard. Last year I did the practice ride with Nate E. and we were 1 min faster to the top and 2 min faster overall, so I hope it’s just a lack of competition. Still looking for a PR next Saturday. 4 Hour total ride.
Sunday – More climbing, several 4-5 minute steep climbs in the Sunset. 1:30 total.

Weekly Total: 10 Hours

Euser on USA World road team

Congratulations Lucas!

http://www.velonews.com/article/83306

I'll miss you at Mt. Tam.

Really.

Training Week September 8 - 14, 2008

Monday - 45 min spin class

Tuesday - Off

Wednesday - GG Park - Polo field ride with a few fast intervals - 1:30 total

Thursday - Easy 1 hr park ride

Friday - Day off work - 1:30 evening ride

Saturday - SF Twilight Crit - 1 HR wu, 1:15 race - 2:15 total - Fast race - scary but fun - finished safely behind the carnage.

Sunday - Off

Weekly Total - 7 hours

I guess Lance really is coming back

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/09/armstrong200809?printable=true&currentPage=all

Training Week September 1 - 7, 2008

Monday – Giro di SF – 4 hours
Tuesday – GG Park ride – Started hard, but legs were dead so did an easy spin – 1:15
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – Polo field ride with some good intervals – 1:30
Friday – 45 min spin class
Saturday – Long ride in Napa with Chris & Shawn. SF was only 85 degrees so I decided to drive up to Napa and start a ride at 10AM. Oakville grade at 1:30 PM in 100 degree heat was most unpleasant – 4:00 total ride
Sunday – Easy GG Park ride, much cooler than yesterday, probably under 60 degrees in the fog– 1:30 total

Weekly total: 12.5 hours

Giro - a long day in the chamois

Slept in until 9, put on the kit at 10 for the 25 min ride downtown for the Metromint Giro di SF.   It was one of those rare warm days in the city  so I didn't need arm or leg warmers or a wind vest.  After picking up my 2 numbers and pinning them on separate jerseys I hung out at the Roaring Mouse tent for a bit then spun around a while for a warm-up.

35+ 1/2/3 - shortened to 22 laps (16.5 miles) - I got in a few breaks and won a prime when off solo, but it came down to a pack sprint.  Bosch won.  For us, Caldwell was 8th, Rich was 11th and I was 17th, 2 spots behind Scott Cole.  We were tied for 2nd in Cal Cup points, so he won the tie breaker.

A few hours and 5 Metromint waters later was the P/1/2 race with somewhere around 125 riders for 55 laps (40 miles).  I spent about 15 laps in the last 4 or 5 places, then decided to move up.  It took a few laps, but once I got there I got in a couple breaks and even went solo for a couple laps, but it was too early and I couldn't maintain it so I spent the rest of the race hanging in the main pack while a breakaway got within 30 seconds of lapping us.  AJM beat Wohlberg for the win, I was way back in the pack and finished 52nd.

Nice and easy cool-down ride home - got home around 6:30 completely exhausted and sat around drinking beer and eating Kettle Chips for about 1 hour before taking off the kit and hopping in the shower.

Daily total - 80+ miles and 4+ hours of riding. 9.5 hours in the chamois.

Training Week August 25 - 31, 2008

Monday - off

Tuesday - GG Park ride - usual route closed, so did a few hill repeats on Twin Peaks - 1:45 total

Wednesday - worked late - no ride

Thursday - Polo field ride, easy - 1:15 total.

Friday - Spin class - 45 minutes

Saturday - Challenge - 15 min w/u - 2:45 race - 3 Hr total

Sunday - Easy 2:15 city ride - a few laps of Giro course and along Embarcadero to 3rd street.  Closed to traffic for car free Sunday's - Yea!

Total:  9 Hours