Mind Boggling

OK. I will admit. Riding indoors makes me a little crazy. The other night at The Badgers den, we ground out maximum power on the computrainers. Badger, Lotte, myself & the newbie, "The Man with Two First Names" were there hitting it hard.

It was tough, as I did a pretty smoking kettlebell workout Monday night.

Well, as I was grinding away, listening to bad 70's music, watching the 2005 Paris Roubaix on the tube, I thought to myself:

Who would win a fist fight between Grimace & a hedgehog?

The hedgehog, of course.

What is the hedgehog had TWO broken legs, in a cast, and had the sniffles?

I still think the hedgehog would win.

Onward & Updates

Was out of town last week for business. No new updates, sorry. Back in the saddle, literally.




It has been so cold here, and snowy, that a ride outdoors would be slightly impossible, if not dangerous. So, we head indoors, riding the computrainers.



The local cycling club, Proctor Bike Club has a really neat indoor setup, all hooked up to a multi-rider system, where 12 of us can be on the same home computer, competing against each other if we choose.

The bad part of this, as they are extending a favor to us VQ Ratz is the time we can use their facility is 6am, yes, you read that correctly, 6am on Saturday mornings. What does this mean for The Turtle? I have to be out of bed by 4am, eat, and slog my way out of the house by 5:25 am to be there at 5:45 to setup and ready to go. Talk about UGLY! I was always a "seize the day" morning person, but since my accident, I need a solid 8 hours of sleep & elevating the legs to get through the day. The bones need rest, and by the end of each day, my left leg gets pretty swollen, so it needs that time. Whining? No. Just the facts Ma'am.

So, this am, again, same routine. We did a SOLID 2+ hours on the CT, with 16 x 30 second "pops" at 120%-130% of our LT, combined with 73% of our LT for 2 hours, then, 4 x 3 minute drag out fights at 50-60 cadence at 130% of our LT. Tough? Yes. Smoked? Yes. Back for more? Yes.

Speaking of fights, it was kind of like Fight Club: Mischief. Mayhem. Soap.



Little update here: Remember back about 498 blob postings and the bet that I had with The Badger re: The "negative" button? You know, the button on the CT to make it easier, when you are suffering like a dog that's been beat too much? Kind-of-like the "EASY" button at Staples.

Well, during observation of today's indoor workout, the negative button was in FULL swing. Oh no you say! Oh YES! In full swing by most, with exception of a few, mainly The Badger & The Turtle, who dutifully chose the "positive" button for the last quarter or so of the workout!

Power to the People

Have been riding indoors, on the Computrainer, or CT. Sometimes, when I ride indoors like this, I have to do so many things to keep distracted, or I'll lose what little mind I have. I usually watch a movie on the screen in front of me, while the CT is to the right, racing against some pre-programmed computer dude.

When I ride with the VQ Ratz, we look at the multi-rider screen, to see where we are at etc. I put in the ipod, listen to tunes, play board games etc. just to keep my mind focused with the task on hand.

We have had "testing" this week, to see where our base is for fitness, compared to 3 months ago, when the season ended. Well, I was in pretty decent shape last time we tested, as racing season was just winding down. We did a 40 minute all out LT test on Tuesday, to determine the amount of power you can sustain, in watts for 40 minutes. I HATE this test, as I get bored after about 3 minutes. Long story short, I was 3/10th of a watt higher than 3 months ago. Not too bad I guess, figuring I have been doing more weightlifting & kettlebell than riding.

Lat night, we did the 4 minute VO2 max test, all out for 4 minutes & a maximum sprint test, ie: how much max power can you produce in an all out sprint. The 4 minute test was 8 watts less than my September testing or about 1.5% off, and the max sprint was 20 watts higher, or about 1.8% higher, but who really cares about the numbers? More indoor tomorrow am.............Cant wait!

So, I was thinking the other day, while riding indoors of course, mind wandering everywhere. Who would win a fist-fight between a badger and a hedgehog? Silly me, of course the hedgehog would win. BUT, what about if the hedgehog had a broken leg, in a cast, just to make it more even?

I still think the hedgehog would win.

Off to a Good Start!

G&I went to one of our favorite Midwestern cities for the celebration of a New Year, St. Louis, MO on Tuesday. I brought my bike, and G brought her workout clothes. We had a tall list to accomplish, working out, relaxing, going to the world famous St. Louis zoo etc.

Here is the dinosaurs that live in Forest Park. They were hanging out, counting laps as I went by.

Wednesday am, 26 degrees, 30 mph winds, feels like 14 degrees. I rode down to Forest Park for a ride and G worked out at the gym. I did 5 laps, make them 5 VERY cold laps for a 2+ hour ride at 190 watt average overall, not too bad. I think I had almost every piece of winter gear on me, and I did "OK".

After that, it was the zoo. I love the St. Louis Zoo, and almost all zoos in general, as I love animals. G&I had a blast there. It was cold, and I was VERY tired and sore from the weather and hardware related problems, but we did it, and I loved every minute.

Wednesday evening, we had dinner at the Ritz, and it was awesome! We partied in the Lobby Lounge afterwards. They had a great crowd, an awesome swing band playing, some hotel guests, some locals etc. I ate too much, drank too many beers, but hey, it's New Years Eve! In bed by 11 pm.

Oh, we had to leave by 7:30 am, so I could ride with Uncle Gary and my Team Mack teammates in Springfield, IL. G dropped me off on the way home, and we went out for a wonderful, 24 degree, 30 mph 2+ hour ride! I did a New Year's ride with The Team a couple of times before, last in 2007, which turned out to be a great year for me. I decided that I needed a full on-slaught of Uncle Gary & Crew to kick off my 2009, and it will be a great year as well.

Ki

Sammie the Sea Lion

Pete the Prairie Dog

Eddie, aka: Nico Tiscali, the Head Concierge from The Ritz Carlton

http://www.teamseagal.blogspot.com/ The crazy single speed mountain bike racers in St. Louis