My first ever cycling cap!
Weekday updates...
Few and far between, lately. Haven't had much to say! The weekends are jam-packed with goodies and weekdays not so much.
I have a few weight updates for ya, and I bought a bunch of goodies at Trader Joe's. I'm more and more coming to seriously love healthy eating and good food. I don't eat a ton of "rich" foods anymore, and try to stay away from sweets as much as possible. I've nearly cut out all alcohol and have been feeling pretty good and sleeping well (shocking!!).
After our all-out retaliation last Sunday morning the nights have been quiet. Sunday night I did shoring up of my own situation to ensure sleep (Tylenol PM, wax ear plugs, and a shot of Vanilla Rum - YUM) and slept great. I haven't even worn ear plugs all week since and I've been sleeping off and on. I've also made great efforts to be as quiet as possible whenever I'm home (not letting the door slam shut, not having the TV overly loud, not having the radio loud, etc.). I hope this lasts!
However, I have become OBSESSED with food. I live my day around food and when my next snack is. I haven't even been hungry. Maybe I just need to find something to keep myself busier during the day? It's a possibility. Riding is not a big focus this week (it's all about recovery and regeneration for the next cycle - starting this Saturday).
I've got my calories pretty well laid out, and while I essentially eat the same thing every week, I'm trying to change up breakfast and dinner enough that I'm getting a variety.
Cereal is a low calorie breakfast (Kashi Go Lean and Cheerios mixed, with blueberries when I'm lucky).
Bagel and cream cheese is super filling and a great way to kick start the day with a LOT of energy.
New for today - I tried making my own oatmeal that wasn't processed and full of sugar. (I'm a big fan of the Instant Maple & Brown Sugar.) I was eating a ton of that for years as breakfast, and have since moved away from oatmeal. But, we have an entire bag of plain oats that Justin's mom gave us over the holidays (she wasn't eating them) and I can't stand them plain. At all.
So, I asked (and received) lots of suggestions for what to put in oatmeal, and I made some today that included it ALL!
1/2 cup of oats
1/6 cup of Craisins
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/6 cup almond slivers
1/6 cup walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of milk
1/3 cup blueberries
It was pretty freaking good! In all honesty, I think the blueberries made it, but it was tasty and seemed filling. At the time. It's chockful of calories (530~), but a little high on the fat:protein ratio - mostly due to the nuts, I think. I figured with that kind of calorie intake at 6am I'd be full for the day. Not so! Wound up kind of hungry again at 8:30-9, just like always.
The cereal has been really filling this past week, but my calories are a bit lower than normal since riding is all easy spinning and really low volume.
Cereal (Kashi/Cheerios mix), milk, and blueberries comes out to 320 calories and a way better mix of fat:protein (7% fat, 21% protein calories vs. 35% to 12%).
Sorry for the extraneous info, but like I said, I'm obsessed lately!
Justin I think hooked it up with a DA cassette over the XTR for a weight-savings of 65g
and then switched out the chain to a KMC (uber pimp - pics this weekend of it installed) for a savings of only 21g.
But, it's supposed to be a killer chain, and not much difference in price from the Hollowpin SRAM chains (correct me if wrong).
With the added weight savings of -45g from removing the chainguard I'm now at minus 131g. Which is good, because next he added some weight.
At SRC #3 I was running the Specialized Fast Trak SLK tire on front with the MaxxLite 310 on the rear - 790g total.
This weekend I'll more than likely be running Kenda Karma's fr/rear (these are amazingly consistent tires when it comes to weight; we got 3 and they were 480, 480, and 481g). New tire weight is 960g. Difference? 170g.
So, we added 41g of rotating weight, but I'm also picking up a bit of rear tire traction. I have no idea how the Karma up front will behave, but I hope it functions okay.
I really liked the Karma on the back of the Dos last year toward the end of the year. It wasn't as fast/light as the 1.8 Bontrager, but it was close!
Just wish the rear tire would seal. It's been flat 2 days in a row.
Last up - the TJ's goodies:
I bought a lot more than that, but there's a selection. We got some whole wheat pizza dough so we're gonna make a chicken/veggie pizza Sunday night (whole grain dough, mixed bell peppers, red onion, marinara, black beans, lentils, canned chicken, lite mozzarella shredded cheese will be used sparringly).
I'll take pics of the oatmeal concoction if I make it this weekend, and also the pizza.
Now it's time for lunch!
I have a few weight updates for ya, and I bought a bunch of goodies at Trader Joe's. I'm more and more coming to seriously love healthy eating and good food. I don't eat a ton of "rich" foods anymore, and try to stay away from sweets as much as possible. I've nearly cut out all alcohol and have been feeling pretty good and sleeping well (shocking!!).
After our all-out retaliation last Sunday morning the nights have been quiet. Sunday night I did shoring up of my own situation to ensure sleep (Tylenol PM, wax ear plugs, and a shot of Vanilla Rum - YUM) and slept great. I haven't even worn ear plugs all week since and I've been sleeping off and on. I've also made great efforts to be as quiet as possible whenever I'm home (not letting the door slam shut, not having the TV overly loud, not having the radio loud, etc.). I hope this lasts!
However, I have become OBSESSED with food. I live my day around food and when my next snack is. I haven't even been hungry. Maybe I just need to find something to keep myself busier during the day? It's a possibility. Riding is not a big focus this week (it's all about recovery and regeneration for the next cycle - starting this Saturday).
I've got my calories pretty well laid out, and while I essentially eat the same thing every week, I'm trying to change up breakfast and dinner enough that I'm getting a variety.
Cereal is a low calorie breakfast (Kashi Go Lean and Cheerios mixed, with blueberries when I'm lucky).
Bagel and cream cheese is super filling and a great way to kick start the day with a LOT of energy.
New for today - I tried making my own oatmeal that wasn't processed and full of sugar. (I'm a big fan of the Instant Maple & Brown Sugar.) I was eating a ton of that for years as breakfast, and have since moved away from oatmeal. But, we have an entire bag of plain oats that Justin's mom gave us over the holidays (she wasn't eating them) and I can't stand them plain. At all.
So, I asked (and received) lots of suggestions for what to put in oatmeal, and I made some today that included it ALL!
1/2 cup of oats
1/6 cup of Craisins
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/6 cup almond slivers
1/6 cup walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of milk
1/3 cup blueberries
It was pretty freaking good! In all honesty, I think the blueberries made it, but it was tasty and seemed filling. At the time. It's chockful of calories (530~), but a little high on the fat:protein ratio - mostly due to the nuts, I think. I figured with that kind of calorie intake at 6am I'd be full for the day. Not so! Wound up kind of hungry again at 8:30-9, just like always.
The cereal has been really filling this past week, but my calories are a bit lower than normal since riding is all easy spinning and really low volume.
Cereal (Kashi/Cheerios mix), milk, and blueberries comes out to 320 calories and a way better mix of fat:protein (7% fat, 21% protein calories vs. 35% to 12%).
Sorry for the extraneous info, but like I said, I'm obsessed lately!
Justin I think hooked it up with a DA cassette over the XTR for a weight-savings of 65g
and then switched out the chain to a KMC (uber pimp - pics this weekend of it installed) for a savings of only 21g.
But, it's supposed to be a killer chain, and not much difference in price from the Hollowpin SRAM chains (correct me if wrong).
With the added weight savings of -45g from removing the chainguard I'm now at minus 131g. Which is good, because next he added some weight.
At SRC #3 I was running the Specialized Fast Trak SLK tire on front with the MaxxLite 310 on the rear - 790g total.
This weekend I'll more than likely be running Kenda Karma's fr/rear (these are amazingly consistent tires when it comes to weight; we got 3 and they were 480, 480, and 481g). New tire weight is 960g. Difference? 170g.
So, we added 41g of rotating weight, but I'm also picking up a bit of rear tire traction. I have no idea how the Karma up front will behave, but I hope it functions okay.
I really liked the Karma on the back of the Dos last year toward the end of the year. It wasn't as fast/light as the 1.8 Bontrager, but it was close!
Just wish the rear tire would seal. It's been flat 2 days in a row.
Last up - the TJ's goodies:
I bought a lot more than that, but there's a selection. We got some whole wheat pizza dough so we're gonna make a chicken/veggie pizza Sunday night (whole grain dough, mixed bell peppers, red onion, marinara, black beans, lentils, canned chicken, lite mozzarella shredded cheese will be used sparringly).
I'll take pics of the oatmeal concoction if I make it this weekend, and also the pizza.
Now it's time for lunch!
Long Weekend
Not long in the sense that it was more than 2 days, it was just a tough weekend. Justin and I went out hard Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of last week. No rest for the wicked. Friday I did an easy spin, and Saturday we got up and hit it hard again. Wound up finishing a ride I assumed would take 4+ hours in 3.5. We were moving along, and my legs were tired, and it was kinda warm, and I'm like, "Why is my heart rate so high? Why do I feel like I'm working so hard?" Apparently we were climbing up a 7% grade at 9.5+ MPH. Hmm. That might explain it. Not fast, but fast for me!
This was a ride Justin had been wanting to do for a long time, and I did a similar but shorter route in January when he was sick. Very little traffic once you get out to the rural/NF land, and once we got back to civilization it was…well, civil. For a change.
We'd been cranking for awhile, final climb up to Elsinore Peak
Up above Elsinore
Re-fueling and resting for a few before our big descent
We got home and spent the rest of the day eating (no joke). It was some damn good food, too. Finished the weekend up on weight (again!).
Sunday morning we were up super early, after a horrible night's sleep. Our upstairs neighbors, as I may have mentioned, are the most horrible people I've ever come in contact with. We had 7 or so people living upstairs previously, and while they were BAD (the kids threw all kinds of stuff down on our patio, including at US, and threw nail polish and stuff that left a mess and broken glass), at least they were in bed by 11 every night. The new neighbors, despite having two kids that clearly are not even in elementary school are up making amazing amounts of noise (for 3 people) until well past midnight, and then they get up around 4 am sometimes and do it all over again.
So, I was pretty much teetering on the edge of overtraining, and I haven't been sleeping more than 6.5 hours a night (and it's fitful at best). Needless to say, Sunday wasn't going to be an easy day mentally or physically.
I knew I'd be shelled, and the Tour of California spectating wasn't exactly going to help my Sunday workout(s). We got up early and got ready to hit race pace at Daley for just over an hour with Zippy.
I prepped by deciding maybe I could get some autographs on my 2006 (inaugural year) Tour of CA jersey
Daley was good. LOTS of standing water where there never usually is. It was pretty weird, but trails were okay. Lots of rain ruts and dirt was missing, but they'll fill it all in with sand this summer and it'll be packed down again. Such is the cycle.
Justin shaved some more weight from the bike by replacing the plastic/rubber chain guard with clean Crankskinz
He also added some more green
I dig my bar. It makes me happy inside
In action
It was time to head out to catch the start after that, so Justin and I had something to eat in the car on the way down to RB. It was pretty packed right off, but we rode our bikes over from about a mile away and watched some of the team busses pulling in. I got it in my head that I wanted Boonen to autograph my S-Works, so I hung around the Quickstep RV. No one told me he had abandoned, so I missed out on seeing many other people.
No sign of Cav all day :( I was hoping for a pic or autograph!
The hoards
Ouch
Bjarne
Rock is not dead
Nice bikes!
Tyler
Liquigas riders
I didn't even attempt to get closer
Barredo
Justin hung out around the OUCH RV waiting for Floyd to emerge and sign our 06 jerseys (the year Floyd won). He was victorious, at least!
One of the Quickstep DS-people liked my bike
We rode down a bit as the last guy's lined up and I managed to sneak right in front of the throng and sit down for some front row shots (no barriers, w00t)
Lots of people turned out
Somewhat disappoints me that a bunch of idiots that don't know anything about cycling muck it up for fans that do care (e.g. I couldn't get auto's or pics cause a bunch of people that don't know jack about road racing, or riding a bike in general are there taking up all the space). I know that cycling is trying to reach out, but over half of the adults there this past week are just going to go back to being @$$hats on the road and not giving cyclists any respect or room to begin with, so why are they there? Two women behind me were chatting at the start, "Do you know what the best thing about this race is? They get to ride on the roads without any cars! Wouldn't that be nice?" And you know that 30 mins later they were pulling out of Starbucks checking their iPhones and honking and yelling at the cyclist trying to commute, exercise, or get out for fresh air.
Next up was Hodges. I ate some food, tried to rehydrate, and we headed out. I could tell just by getting dressed it was going to be pretty much a waste of time. My legs were fried and I had a headache. I had a Gu Roctane hoping for some energy. It lasted about 30 minutes.
We climbed up Bernardo Peak until I had to walk, then I decided it was turn around time!
Portage!
Once we got to the flat section my HR wouldn't go up, my legs were tired, and I generally felt like crap. Justin was still enjoying the day, so I rode behind him with a fake smile plastered on my face hoping it would change my mood. It didn't.
We hit Hernandez Hideaway and turned around. I was pretty disappointed with my lack of effort/intensity and it was going to be a low volume day. Not what we had in mind, especially with Saturday being an hour short also.
I just wasn't into it. My legs hurt, my head hurt, I felt really not into riding my bike what-so-ever.
We caught up with Luke and Charressa in Esco for the finish a bit later. It was packed. Justin offered to hoist me up on his shoulders to catch the action, but my camera settings were not where I had meant to put them, so I didn't get much.
The masses
Right by the bus again (still no sign of Cav)
The break
We had no idea who took the stage until after it was over (too far away from a screen or announcer), the pack comes around
I had meant to have my camera on burst, but it never occurred to me that the settings reverted back to single-shot only. So I got that one, and this one
And, that's all she wrote. Kinda disappointing.
I waited and waited for Mark. Nothing.
Big George was heading back to the bus after his podium finish for the stage
They said Mark had to do some press conferences, and he was probably driven back to the hotel by a car (he never came back to the bus). We wandered around for awhile. Saw Floyd just trying to enjoy his beer without being hassled
I got a pic with Bob Roll (he was much happier than he looks in the photo, but was being mobbed)
We decided to wander through the booths right before leaving
>
And some of the Garmin-Chipotle guys were walking through!
Christian was super cool and said he liked Justin's Division 26 shirt!
Tommy D was being rushed away (no time for pics or autographs, really)
Then it was time to head over to Chipotle for dinner! There had been an email that some of the team would be there signing auto's and eating, and whether they were truly showing up or not, Justin and I were ready for grub.
They did have a small section reserved when we got there, and the place was pretty packed. We hung around and Tyler Farrar, Steven Cozza, Trent Lowe, and stage winner Tom Peterson came in some time after 6. I snuck up to right in front of the table and was one of the first to grab a Chipotle Cycling - Avoid the Bonk tee and 4 autographs. Tyler was really cool. Tom seemed like he didn't want to be bothered (course, who would be after 8 days on the bike like they had?).
Tyler and Steven
Tom and Trent
The signed shirt
It's a large; too big to wear anyway!
While I felt pretty down and disappointed yesterday about missing out on certain things at the start/finish, overall it was a cool day. Wish I had been able to be more focused on riding, but it was a really tough build week.
Right now I have zero desire to ride a bike. Good thing today is a day off, and then I've got 4 days of regen. Just hope I feel like pedaling tomorrow, cause I've got an hour to get in!
Legs hurt today, so it must've been a pretty solid block. Hope that I can rebuild and get stronger and ready to go this week. Next weekend is the season's first "big" race!
Late edit: A few photos from Thursday night in the new WIENS gear!!
I still managed to be the caboose up to the top of Dam climb, but the boys weren't waiting very long!
This was a ride Justin had been wanting to do for a long time, and I did a similar but shorter route in January when he was sick. Very little traffic once you get out to the rural/NF land, and once we got back to civilization it was…well, civil. For a change.
We'd been cranking for awhile, final climb up to Elsinore Peak
Up above Elsinore
Re-fueling and resting for a few before our big descent
We got home and spent the rest of the day eating (no joke). It was some damn good food, too. Finished the weekend up on weight (again!).
Sunday morning we were up super early, after a horrible night's sleep. Our upstairs neighbors, as I may have mentioned, are the most horrible people I've ever come in contact with. We had 7 or so people living upstairs previously, and while they were BAD (the kids threw all kinds of stuff down on our patio, including at US, and threw nail polish and stuff that left a mess and broken glass), at least they were in bed by 11 every night. The new neighbors, despite having two kids that clearly are not even in elementary school are up making amazing amounts of noise (for 3 people) until well past midnight, and then they get up around 4 am sometimes and do it all over again.
So, I was pretty much teetering on the edge of overtraining, and I haven't been sleeping more than 6.5 hours a night (and it's fitful at best). Needless to say, Sunday wasn't going to be an easy day mentally or physically.
I knew I'd be shelled, and the Tour of California spectating wasn't exactly going to help my Sunday workout(s). We got up early and got ready to hit race pace at Daley for just over an hour with Zippy.
I prepped by deciding maybe I could get some autographs on my 2006 (inaugural year) Tour of CA jersey
Daley was good. LOTS of standing water where there never usually is. It was pretty weird, but trails were okay. Lots of rain ruts and dirt was missing, but they'll fill it all in with sand this summer and it'll be packed down again. Such is the cycle.
Justin shaved some more weight from the bike by replacing the plastic/rubber chain guard with clean Crankskinz
He also added some more green
I dig my bar. It makes me happy inside
In action
It was time to head out to catch the start after that, so Justin and I had something to eat in the car on the way down to RB. It was pretty packed right off, but we rode our bikes over from about a mile away and watched some of the team busses pulling in. I got it in my head that I wanted Boonen to autograph my S-Works, so I hung around the Quickstep RV. No one told me he had abandoned, so I missed out on seeing many other people.
No sign of Cav all day :( I was hoping for a pic or autograph!
The hoards
Ouch
Bjarne
Rock is not dead
Nice bikes!
Tyler
Liquigas riders
I didn't even attempt to get closer
Barredo
Justin hung out around the OUCH RV waiting for Floyd to emerge and sign our 06 jerseys (the year Floyd won). He was victorious, at least!
One of the Quickstep DS-people liked my bike
We rode down a bit as the last guy's lined up and I managed to sneak right in front of the throng and sit down for some front row shots (no barriers, w00t)
Lots of people turned out
Somewhat disappoints me that a bunch of idiots that don't know anything about cycling muck it up for fans that do care (e.g. I couldn't get auto's or pics cause a bunch of people that don't know jack about road racing, or riding a bike in general are there taking up all the space). I know that cycling is trying to reach out, but over half of the adults there this past week are just going to go back to being @$$hats on the road and not giving cyclists any respect or room to begin with, so why are they there? Two women behind me were chatting at the start, "Do you know what the best thing about this race is? They get to ride on the roads without any cars! Wouldn't that be nice?" And you know that 30 mins later they were pulling out of Starbucks checking their iPhones and honking and yelling at the cyclist trying to commute, exercise, or get out for fresh air.
Next up was Hodges. I ate some food, tried to rehydrate, and we headed out. I could tell just by getting dressed it was going to be pretty much a waste of time. My legs were fried and I had a headache. I had a Gu Roctane hoping for some energy. It lasted about 30 minutes.
We climbed up Bernardo Peak until I had to walk, then I decided it was turn around time!
Portage!
Once we got to the flat section my HR wouldn't go up, my legs were tired, and I generally felt like crap. Justin was still enjoying the day, so I rode behind him with a fake smile plastered on my face hoping it would change my mood. It didn't.
We hit Hernandez Hideaway and turned around. I was pretty disappointed with my lack of effort/intensity and it was going to be a low volume day. Not what we had in mind, especially with Saturday being an hour short also.
I just wasn't into it. My legs hurt, my head hurt, I felt really not into riding my bike what-so-ever.
We caught up with Luke and Charressa in Esco for the finish a bit later. It was packed. Justin offered to hoist me up on his shoulders to catch the action, but my camera settings were not where I had meant to put them, so I didn't get much.
The masses
Right by the bus again (still no sign of Cav)
The break
We had no idea who took the stage until after it was over (too far away from a screen or announcer), the pack comes around
I had meant to have my camera on burst, but it never occurred to me that the settings reverted back to single-shot only. So I got that one, and this one
And, that's all she wrote. Kinda disappointing.
I waited and waited for Mark. Nothing.
Big George was heading back to the bus after his podium finish for the stage
They said Mark had to do some press conferences, and he was probably driven back to the hotel by a car (he never came back to the bus). We wandered around for awhile. Saw Floyd just trying to enjoy his beer without being hassled
I got a pic with Bob Roll (he was much happier than he looks in the photo, but was being mobbed)
We decided to wander through the booths right before leaving
>
And some of the Garmin-Chipotle guys were walking through!
Christian was super cool and said he liked Justin's Division 26 shirt!
Tommy D was being rushed away (no time for pics or autographs, really)
Then it was time to head over to Chipotle for dinner! There had been an email that some of the team would be there signing auto's and eating, and whether they were truly showing up or not, Justin and I were ready for grub.
They did have a small section reserved when we got there, and the place was pretty packed. We hung around and Tyler Farrar, Steven Cozza, Trent Lowe, and stage winner Tom Peterson came in some time after 6. I snuck up to right in front of the table and was one of the first to grab a Chipotle Cycling - Avoid the Bonk tee and 4 autographs. Tyler was really cool. Tom seemed like he didn't want to be bothered (course, who would be after 8 days on the bike like they had?).
Tyler and Steven
Tom and Trent
The signed shirt
It's a large; too big to wear anyway!
While I felt pretty down and disappointed yesterday about missing out on certain things at the start/finish, overall it was a cool day. Wish I had been able to be more focused on riding, but it was a really tough build week.
Right now I have zero desire to ride a bike. Good thing today is a day off, and then I've got 4 days of regen. Just hope I feel like pedaling tomorrow, cause I've got an hour to get in!
Legs hurt today, so it must've been a pretty solid block. Hope that I can rebuild and get stronger and ready to go this week. Next weekend is the season's first "big" race!
Late edit: A few photos from Thursday night in the new WIENS gear!!
I still managed to be the caboose up to the top of Dam climb, but the boys weren't waiting very long!
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