Team MWC, FTJ, NGT

December 2006 - Posts

• Implosion

  Strength period only has two days per week. I've started to get on the bike in between those days. Yesterday John and I did the Flatwoods loop. Flat is not correct. There's some steep grunts on this ride. My legs are screaming. The biggest limiter is the lower back. It's fatigued from the lifting. It's quite apparent to me how important the lower back is to cycling. It's the keystone for power transfer. With it fatigued I can just feel or … Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 30 2006, 12:21 AM by ashwinearl with no comments

• Implosion

  Strength period only has two days per week. I've started to get on the bike in between those days. Yesterday John and I did the Flatwoods loop. Flat is not correct. There's some steep grunts on this ride. My legs are screaming. The biggest limiter is the lower back. It's fatigued from the lifting. It's quite apparent to me how important the lower back is to cycling. It's the keystone for power transfer. With it fatigued I can just feel or … Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 30 2006, 12:21 AM by ashwinearl with no comments

• Strength training burnout

  I'm starting to burn out on the strength training. This year the repeat of the hypertrophy/strength cycles isn't working out as well as last year. My heart isn't into it. I'm cutting some sets short and just want to be done. There's been too many small breaks caused by Christmas and work commitments and it's dragging the lifting out longer than I'd hoped. The weather has been mild and I feel like I'm losing out on some good rid… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 26 2006, 03:08 AM by ashwinearl with no comments

• shock therapy

  Visitng my parents. Just lifting a little,no aerobic activity. LOTS and lots of food with lots of bad choices around. At least this year I didn't eat an entire candy jar of peanut butter cups. Haven't had hardly any sweets at all. But I did have some. And I sort of feel like Bart Simpson when he keeps sticking his finger in a light socket and getting shocked. I had some chocolate cake for my neices birthday (xmas eve … Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 26 2006, 03:02 AM by ashwinearl with no comments

• More musings on nutrition / reactive hypoglycemia

  Haven't been riding too much but have been lifting in the morning. Most times I've been feeling really lightheaded while lifting. I know that small amounts of carbohydrates trigger a reactive hypoglycemic affect in me which leads to the bonked feeling. I've tried to have a solid meal with more than 70g of carb for breakfast. This has included oatmeal, yogurt/grapenuts, etc. The problem is that I eat and then go to the gym within 1/2 hr. Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 21 2006, 10:11 PM by ashwinearl with no comments

• cold feet

  My feet get cold a lot. Part of it is some circulation issues as I get hot foot (tingly) feeling all the time. Part of it is perpetually clammy feet. I've tried foot powder and antiperspirant for the claminess to no avail. Orthotics have helped with the hot foot but they still get cold a lot. If it's under 50 or it's windy, I wear these toe covers: Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 19 2006, 12:55 AM by ashwinearl with no comments

• An interesting idea for weight control

  Josh Horowitz is a cycling coach who posts articles over at Pez Cycling News. This is from an article he wrote on being your own coach. One of the tips he discusses is for losing/maintaining weight while still keeping energy levels up for cycling: ------------- Q #9. I’ve been trying desperately to lose weight, but it’s hard to diet and keep my energy levels up for trainin… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 18 2006, 12:08 AM by ashwinearl with no comments

• nails in the coffin

  If yesterday's ride was hard today's ride put the nails into the coffin. Scott, John and I did a road ride. I'd forgotten how hard road rides can be. Scott's a 20year veteran of road riding and he just drilled it. The route had lots of small/steep hills and one extended climb. My legs were just in agony the whole time. I'm amazed at the difference between road riding and mountain biking and how important economy of motion is. I'… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 17 2006, 11:46 PM by ashwinearl with no comments

• Drill that BB

  Why am I going to take a drill to my frame and put a hole in the bottom bracket? This is why I was blown away with how much water was in there. And this is from not too many wet/rainy rides or washings. Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 17 2006, 03:18 PM by ashwinearl with no comments

• energized

  Whew. Fried legs, smokers hack. bonked, lower back screaming, dehydrated. all good. I've been in that phase where the less you ride the harder it is to actually motivate to get out an ride. Work is really hectic and I'm just trying to follow the strength training plan and get to the next phase. The ride last Friday was so bad that I was resigned to feeling that rides during this time of year aren't that good and I was just going… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 16 2006, 06:38 PM by ashwinearl with no comments

• hy-puke-trophy part II

  I started me second round of hypertrophy today. The weights are higher than the first round because I reset my maxs. By the end of the 2nd week of strength I'm supposed to be doing 2reps of squat at 200lbs 2 reps of leg press at 515lbs (**yes I've read MTB strength coach's treatise against leg press**) 2reps of 105 on the Hamstring curl 2reps at 165 stiff legged dead lift (which really isn't that much) B… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 13 2006, 01:45 AM by ashwinearl with no comments

• Winter clothing reviews and thoughts

  Reposting some reviews of winter stuff. Foxwear Evap winter Jacket Base Layer shootout *I've decided that s3 works best when used with a jersey or light vest. When used with a windblock jacket it gets clammy. The Craft pro dri … Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 12 2006, 02:30 AM by ashwinearl with no comments

• Too cold to be fun

  The shop sponsored a mtb ride with Trek Pro Sue Haywood yesterday afternoon at 3pm. The stars weren't aligning for this ride. Work was slammed all day. didn't have lunch till 2: Chinese food==> reactive hypoglycemia. Rush rush rush to just get out there. I got there late in my work coveralls and several layers. I ha… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 09 2006, 02:22 PM by ashwinearl with no comments

• musings.

  I've been riding a little bit lately. Hour here hour there, road or mountain. One thing I noticed is that my lower back is quite fatigued after just a short time on the bike. Obviously the squats, deadlifts, core work have been keeping my lower back busy. It's interesting how something that is located above the legs can have such a huge impact on the transfer of power to the pedals. The lower back is like a conduit for power transfer. When riding during these months, it'… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 02 2006, 11:40 PM by ashwinearl with no comments

• Dave Morris' Performance Cycling

  I was recommending Dave Morris's book to some people that emailed about my training and it appears to be unavailable at Amazon or BN. Amazon has like 4 copies listed as new/used that range in price form $65 to $202. I emailed Dave to ask what's up. He hasn't talke… Read Full Post Here Technorati Tags: Cycling, Mountain Biking Posted Dec 02 2006, 12:17 AM by ashwinearl with no comments