My commuting bike from last winter (sans drivetrain) is probably the biggest thing listed here, and then there are some odds and ends. Here is the parts spec for it. If you want the entire thing, I’ll sell it for $250. Otherwise, the price listed next to each part is the asking price for just that part. All prices OBO, as the bike has some corrosion from a winter of riding. But hey, it's a winter cross commuter.
Frame: Nashbar aluminum cyclocross frame in a size 56. 130mm rear hub spacing. Comes with a disc-only fork, headset, non-QR seatpost collar and stem. 27.2 seat tube internal diameter. ($150)
Tires: Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase 700x35c ($10 each)
Saddle: Bontrager select Black ($10)
Another wheelset I have for sale is a pair of 26” Sun Ditch Witch rims on Shimano Deore 6-bolt disc hubs. Come with no-name rotors and cassette, as well as some slightly used Bontrager Earl tires. ($80)
I store my training journal locally. This is an upload from the past few weeks.
Date: 11/01/09
Weather:
Weight:
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner
Snacks:
Workout:
Notes: Ankle almost better, still stiff
Date: Monday 11/02/09
Weather:
Weight:
Breakfast: Cracker Barrel pancakes, eggs, bacon.
Lunch: Chicken kebob with peppers, mushrooms, pilaf, juice and water
Dinner:
Snacks:
Workout:
Notes: I was at Trek Business School in Waterloo all day
Date: Tuesday 11/03/09
Weather:
Weight:
Breakfast: Whole Wheat Bagel and a Latte
Lunch: Shrimp Jambalaya, pasta salad
Dinner: Nachos
Snacks:
Workout: None
Notes: 2nd day of Trek Business School and I was totally exhausted after getting home. I had some nachos and went to the first team meeting. When I got home at 9:30 I went straight to bed.
Workout: Rode to work and back. Approximately 8 miles roundtrip.
Notes: My ankle is feeling good enough to ride on. No pain, just a bit stiff in the mornings and loosens up as the day goes on.
Date: 11/05/09
Weather: Sunny and 40s
Weight: 157
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Coffee, grapes
Lunch: hummus and carrots on whole wheat bread, grapes (I got some awesome grapes at the new Hy-Vee), craisins.
Dinner:
Snacks:
Workout: riding to work, sit-ups
Notes:
Date: 11/11/09
Weather: 45 and Sunny!
Weight: 152? Maybe I’m a little dehydrated.
Breakfast: Bagel and cream cheese, latte, OJ
Lunch: yogurt, carrots, plum
Dinner: Glass Nickel with banana peppers and pepperoni, red bull
Snacks:
Workout: 1.5 hours on the MTB trails on my CX bike.
Notes: It felt good to get back out riding with a normal ankle. While it was a bit stiff after the ride, my foot loosened up with a bit of walking and stretching.The season-end burnout I’d experienced has subsided and I’ve been riding to work more than driving, as well as riding the CX bike around town and taking whatever paths I encounter.
This exploration type of cycling has done a few things for me. First, it’s created a new kind of cycling that I haven’t done since I first moved to Minneapolis. Discovering a new place via bicycle allows you to cover greater distances than walking, and affords a greater level of interaction than driving. Meeting Madison via bicycle is a great experience.
Another fun aspect of riding the CX bike around town is that it’s a casual approach to base-building training. I’m not going to do any directed training until December or January, but keeping in shape is important.
Date: 11/14/09
Weather: Sunny, 40s
Weight: 159 (After lots of hydrating, I’m back to normal)
Breakfast: Just coffee and water.
Lunch: Tur-duck-en, mashed potatoes,
Dinner: Toast with jam
Snacks:
Workout: none
Notes: Today was the Lake Family Thanksgiving celebration. Since John is having hip surgery Monday and we won’t be having a normal Thanksgiving, John and Cindy (my parents) had all of their long-time vacation friends to Madison for a Tur-duck-en. Yes, that’s a chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey, and it’s amazing. I restricted myself to one small portion of each item I tried, but was still full enough after the dinner that I had toast with jam around 7 and just drank water the rest of the day.
I will call today day 1 of eating healthy again.
Date:11/15/09
Weather: Sunny, high of 50
Weight:158.9
Breakfast: Oatmeal, brown sugar, banana, coffee.
Lunch: chicken stir-fry
Dinner: Coffee, water, small bean burrito with tomatoes and onions. Mango orange juice.
Snacks: a beer!
Workout: Rode to work and took the long way home. Maybe 15 miles total riding? No hard efforts, just cruising. 100 sit-ups.
Notes: Soon I’ll be printing up lists of my goals for next year. I’ll print three; one for my bathroom wall above the scale, one for on the refrigerator, and one for right by my bedroom door. I’m also going to be putting racing pictures up around my house. I find these keep me motivated when the first race of the year is 7 months away. Racing goals will be on there, as well as a few other life-type-goals I have. So far this year I’ve reached all of my goals except two. One of those goals was to win the Subaru Cup overall for my age group.
I’m working on a Google calendar of the WORS races. Hopefully I can get that published this week. Google Calendar is an awesome tool that I use daily and it keeps things nicely organized in a visual way that I love. My training, racing, and work calendars are all on it and I can access it from anywhere.
To digress: I overhauled my Procaliber and pulled a bunch of leaves out of the cassette before running it through the parts washer. After replacing some housing and the drivetrain cables, it should be ready for a few winter rides.
Date: 11/16/09
Weather: sunny, 50
Weight: 158.5
Breakfast: Wheaties, coffee, OJ
Lunch: Chicken bacon spinach wrap
Dinner: n/a
Snacks: Lots of water!
Workout: 2 hour spin on the cross bike, 100 sit-ups.
The biggest thing I learned from my coach at Minnesota was how to recover. Getting faster is about recovery. When you're on a rest day, you need to rest. Sit on your bum, play video games, drink a ton of water, and let your body rebuild.
This also applies to those time one gets sick during the season. When a cold is coming on, learn to recognize it and and stay off the bike. Sit on your bum, play video games, drink a ton of water, and let your body rebuild.
When you're injured, let your body rebuild as fast as it can. Do NOT ride. Sit on your bum, play video games, drink a ton of water, and let your body rebuild.
Catch my drift?
Today I'm recovering from an odd ankle injury that I never saw coming. After Sunday's epic ride to Blue Mounds I had a stiff right ankle. Monday morning it was really hurting and walking was painful.
THEREFORE: I stayed off of my right leg and kept it elevated. I did not ride. I did not walk. I did light stretching that wouldn't engage my right ankle, and I did my situps.
Today (Tuesday) it feels much better, just stiff. While missing the beautiful weather is frustrating, prolonging an injury is even worse.
My leg is finally feeling better, and it's been two weeks since Sheboygan. My trainer has arrived, and next Monday is the end of daylight savings. I've finished reading the Training Bible, and will soon be done with my first nutrition book. Other than one night of light spinning, I haven't been on th ebike since Sheboygan.
It is time to begin training for next year.
I've never started training this early, and while I'm not going to ramp it up for a month or two, I will be spinning 4 or 5 days a week, just to avoid putting on any extra weight. When it's nice I'll ride outside.
My eating has already changed a bit, and early and mid-day meal portions have shrunken to accommodate the lower number of calories burned, but I still have my lifelong bad habit of pigging out later at night. Perhaps meal planning will help me avoid that.
I've never felt so motivated this late in the season. Between this year's successes, my category upgrade, and my preliminary team plan for next year (which I cannot discuss quite yet), I've already generated goals for the off-season. While my training goals are a bit more abstract for the next few months, they'll become more concrete as we approach Spring.
Off-season goals: 1. Learn about nutrition. This may seem vague, but I've never known much about nutrition and tend to eat things that make my other mom (Denise Whalen) cringe. Beyond eating fruits and veggies and avoiding sugar and fast food, I don't know much. 2. Keep riding weight below 160 (normally I jump from 155 in-season to 165 off-season). 3. Purchase a Powertap and learn to train with power. 4. Learn about racing with the big kids from those who do it.
Next season's specific goals: 1. One top 15 finish in a WORS event. 2. A top 25 overall finish in WORS. 3. A top 75 finish at Chequamegon.
Less specific in-season goals: 1. Attend 10 WORS events. 2. Attend the Tuesday night time trials at Franklin. 3. Attend two large non-WORS MTB races, such as an MNSCS or Michigan event. Maybe SBF.
I'll soon be posting retrospective pieces about my races from this year. Writing is how I think about things, and I think it will help me process some of the less obvious skills I've learned from this year.
