2016 CX Season Opener

A lot has happened over the off-season.  Although I have mentally committed to making Cyclocross my primary sport and the focus of all my training efforts for the past few years.  This year I have fully committed to allowing myself to forgo the early Spring Road and Crit races.  In mid-summer I started my Transition to [CX] Base and did a block of LSD rides in August by targeting local Ridge Climbs.

Off-Season Overview:
Jan.  Hiking Trails                        Apr.  (some) Road        Jul.  Road/speed
Feb.  Hikes/some Trl. Running    May  LSD Road            Jul.  Run/Road/speed
Mar.  6-week Weight Training     Jun.  LSD/climbs           Jul.  Transition to CX

Last Week of July:
Hell Week:  Daily Running, Speed Intervals/Road, LSD/Wknd-Road 4+ Hrs.

Sept.  CX Camp
Sept. On CX Course Baseline Performance Assessment
Sept.  First CX Race of 2016 Season

To Be Continued...
Velo Magic

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Secret CX Camp 2016

Secret CX Camp follows the first week of transition a.k.a. Hell Week.
Here again, Ywoop Cycling Productions hosted the pre-season mid-week cyclocross training skills-drills baseline assessment program.

In a secret location riders attend this training session by invitation only.  All I can say is that I feel lucky to have been included in this years annual event that was attended by a number of riders that may be as few as 1, or topped out at 27.  This 1-hour session took data on a skills and disciplines format that included; Cornering, Run-ups, and Interval Repeats. 

The Highlight of this 1-hour session was the 10-Minute (3 x 3) Grass interval session.
30 seconds of seated position riding at Tempo
Followed by 30 seconds of 85% to 90% out-of-saddle effort,
Then a 30 second recovery period.
Repeated and continued for 10-minutes.

Outcomes may very.

Regatta Ride

Wilkinsburg.  My plan was to do a long ride today somewhere in the area of 4-hours.
I got up not thinking about the Pittsburgh Regatta but the advertisement on TV reminded me.
So why not.  I figured that I would explore the Great Allegheny Passage as I made my way into Greensburg.  This worked out really well.  Road traffic was light as I cut across Shady Side area and down past Polish Hill and into the Strip District.   Downtown was full of Pirates fans on their way to the afternoon game, and way down by Heinz Field I rolled through the collection of speedboats and crew getting ready for the days event.  I got a great vantage point of the race by riding my bike along both sides of the river, but the best view was from the top of the Fort Pitt bridge.  As I imagined I was able to make my way over to the South Side following the GAP trail that was well marked and paved all the way to somewhere just south of McKeesport.  The trail was a little confusing at Boston (PA), but I stayed on the trail heading south and it all worked out, except for the fact that the trail from there all the way to West Newton where I got off was crushed stone.  (Not a fan of gritty white crud getting all over my bike and me.)  Once in Westmoreland Co. I was familiar enough to pick and choose my roads back to my homestead.  The ride was very nice, weather was perfect, and very scenic.
Met my ride time goal with 5-hours riding time.

Velo Magic
"Regatta Ride!"

July / Summer Notes:

Place Keeper

June - Place holder - Be Back in July

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"Let me explain something to you. Whenever you come in here and interrupt me, you're breaking my concentration. You're distracting me. And it will then take me time to get back to where I was.
You understand?"

all

all work,

and no play makes jack a dull boy, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy, all work and no play

Beware of the May-niac's