Tag Archives: Cycling

Three sports…one training day

The day was labeled “Race Simulation” on my training calendar.  And had it been a nice summer day with birds chirping, it might have been just dandy.  But in reality, here’s what it looked like: Given the weather forecast was … Read More Here →

Balls and Racks

Over the last month or so I’ve been toying with different methods to carry gel on my bike.  While this may seem like a relatively straightforward concept – it turns out it’s really not.  At least not once you consider … Read More Here →

4 Hours

It’s funny, if you take a four hour workout and put it on a weekend, it really doesn’t seem so bad.  Say from 9AM to 1PM – you’re done around lunch time, and you have the remainder of the day … Read More Here →

The long..long road ahead

While the ride was technically scheduled at 118 miles – just two miles short of my all-time 120 mile high, the weather conditions forecasted made it clear it was going to be a long…long ride. Despite temperatures into the rather … Read More Here →

Many, many, many miles of Cornfields

When I received my schedule earlier this week for the next few weeks, this little nugget was in the e-mail body: I thought to myself…hmm, what is this ‘Queenstown 120’ he speaks of.  I have no such race by that … Read More Here →

A Power Primer – Cycling with Power 101

If you watched any of the Tour de France this summer, you probably heard the commentators and on screen graphics showing ‘Watts’, and if you went ‘What?” – this this post is for you.  As part of laying the groundwork … Read More Here →

One way ticket

Typically my weekly long ride involves a long out segment…and a long back segment – all on Skyline Drive up in da mountains.  However, this week…I’d be purchasing a one-way ticket.  Instead of normally turning around at the 50ish mile … Read More Here →

75 Seconds to Evaporation

Yesterday’s brick and track workout was a hot one.  When we arrived at the school, the little reader board temperature thing said 98*F.  Though that felt a bit high, a quick check later on revealed it was instead 90*F with … Read More Here →

It’s cheaper than a night out…century rides.

After attending a wedding Saturday evening, the girl and I were mixing up our nutrition for our long ride the next day when I realized that I had just gone through an ENTIRE CONTAINER of my sports drink (EFS) for … Read More Here →

Two rocks and a chain

Now normally after a weekend I would talk about my typical Skyline drive bike ride, for example, we’d start with the night before with mixing up drinks… …using a KitchenAid blender of course.  How else am I supposed to mix … Read More Here →

Wanna buy a Kenyan bike?

Last week before my flight back to the US, I swung briefly through a Kenyan mega mart of sorts on the way to the airport.  My coworkers wanted to pick up some coffee (nearby regions are known for it) at … Read More Here →

Goin’ compact on Skyline

One of the biggest benefits of having a coach is when he or she can look back at months of data and finds a way to assist you in getting better. In my case, it was almost a year’s worth … Read More Here →

Skyline, Pork and Penguins

Today was (and still is) a busy day.  We were on the road shortly after 6AM for the first Skyline Ride of the season.  For those not familiar, Skyline Drive is a long 100 mile road that rides along the … Read More Here →

Bikes, Bubbles and BBQ’s

I’m now back on my ‘normal’ time zone, at least for another week anyway.  This means a fairly relaxing Saturday.  My only workout for the day was a 4200 yard swim, which ended with a 500 time trial (TT).  This … Read More Here →

Two puddles of water and a desert

Wednesday brought a bit of improvement in the throat situation, which was good – as I had two workouts scheduled. But due to the conference speaking and other work schedule, I wasn’t able to tackle these until until around 5PM … Read More Here →

I found some Red Rocks

So far…so good.  Well, as long as you don’t ask my throat.  I came into this trip with a slight head cold and a sore throat.  Speaking for 75 minutes at a shot multiple times a day…did not help the … Read More Here →

Ummm…it got hot.

I think this marked the beginning of the ‘busy season’, which officially goes from now until mid-November.  Sorta like opening day in major league baseball – only much less relaxing. I honestly don’t remember what happened Thursday or Friday, so … Read More Here →

Things are made for a reason: Bike rack locks and wheel clips

The last few weeks my bike rack locks have been rather temperamental.  Not quite sure why, as I’ve been using them most of the winter for weekend rides out of the city.  But while I was fidgeting with them last … Read More Here →

Riding into the night…

Last night (Monday) I had a long ride scheduled.  I don’t usually have long rides scheduled on weekdays, but with a short sprint race this past weekend, and the Boston Marathon this upcoming weekend (well, Monday) it was gearing up … Read More Here →

Cherry Blossoms and gazillions of people

Every year about this time about 2,000 Cherry Trees around DC explode with little flowers.  Not only does it seem to usher in the start of spring, but also the start of the main tourist season.  I generally try to … Read More Here →

Jumping into the deep end

The last few days have been a nice change of pace as I’ve got a recovery week which started this past Saturday through Friday. (The Pacers Running group getting ready to head out pre-run) This change of pace gave me … Read More Here →

Tuesday Tidbits – February Edition

In no particular order – observations of the last week: No, my blog is not for sale.  While I’m flattered by the offer, it would be kinda awkward to sell this blog and blog name.  However, if you present me … Read More Here →

Bicycle Crash Density

Who knew?  Such a term.  I would have called it “Place where things go wrong”. I was browsing the city’s web site and stumbled upon their ‘Pedestrian and Bicycle Mobility Plan’ from June.  This plan essentially outlines how they are … Read More Here →

Spinning around after a long run

There are few times in my little athletic life where working out after I’ve already worked out sound appealing.  I’ve just finished another 20+ miler and my legs are already unhappy with me, but what’s on the schedule?  A bike … Read More Here →

Loops, Flips and More Loops

Loops Saturday marked the beginning of the taper for the Philly Marathon in two weeks.  It included an interesting run workout that I hadn’t done before.  It started off with a 10 minute warm up, and then stepped down temporarily … Read More Here →

The miracles of degreaser

If you’re a triathlete or cyclist – then you likely find bike grease on just about every object you own.  And if you’re a runner, then you’ll still find this stuff pretty darn cool. Back last winter the bike shop … Read More Here →

A few less than ideal ways to lose weight

I set off at just after 6:30AM on Saturday morning. My plan was to run about 21 or so miles in the 2 hours 30 minutes I had allotted for Saturday’s long run. The plan consisted of a run from … Read More Here →

Run towards the buns

Saturday is all about the run.  Run far, run sorta fast…but run long.  So I did.  Just shy of 21 miles worth of bank deposits in 2.5 hours.  I was a bit unhappy though as I couldn’t get the speed … Read More Here →

The effects of a cold on athletic performance

Indoor trainers provide a really great way to analyze the effects of a given environmental parameter without all of the fuss of the environment itself changing. Last Saturday I had an indoor trainer workout.  The exact same workout I did … Read More Here →

Swim, Bike, Run, Rinse, Repeat

Monday marked a return to the norm.  The ever constant and cyclic training regime: Swim, Bike, Run, Rinse, Repeat (actually, there are many rinses, fear not).  Except, the cool thing is that since I’ve got a race on Sunday (Nation’s … Read More Here →

The rear rack

I’ve received a number of e-mails and questions about my rear hydration/rack system on my tri bike.  So this is just a quick post to explain the various components.  The reason some have asked is that the Cervelo’s P2C’s are … Read More Here →

Enjoying the Taper

I continue to have more time that I know what to do with.  So, I’ve been filling up the rest of the days will all sorts of fun things to keep me busy. Friday: After knocking out a mini-IT2 trainer … Read More Here →

How to make bad BBQ

Another weekend, another busy boatload of stuff. In my continued attempts to keep things short, here’s the quick version.Friday:After having fun with the usual Friday IT2 trainer ride, it was time to watch the opening ceremonies. Without a doubt the … Read More Here →

How to use CO2 for cycling – a beginners guide

So perhaps you were like me – afraid of the little cylinder.  Perhaps you thought it would just simply explode on you, or that when you went to use it you’d end up putting more CO2 into the the sky … Read More Here →

The Last Century (condensed version)

In an attempt to appease the blogosphere, I will try and make this weekend workout recap short.  Really…I promise Sarah and Peter.  So let’s jump right in. Saturday: Continuing the week over week increase in swim time, I swam 1hr … Read More Here →