Alpine Challenge 2011

Well behind the eight ball again with the ride report for the 250km Alpine Challenge. But here it is finally.....

Unlike last year I wasn’t as nervous this year with the route having ridden it previously. Also the volume of training leading up to this year’s event meant I had almost 3x the kilometres in my legs including some big days in the mountains from the Kosciusko 360 ride. Even the drive down this year was more relaxed with 2x stops at McD’s to allow Wee Man out to have a run around the in playground and stretch the legs. The start/ finish area was the same as last year situated beside the Oven River, and I swore to the wife that once I finished this year I was going straight into the water as a cool down.
This time around I actually got a full night’s undisturbed sleep and woke up refreshed before chugging down 2x cans of chocolate creamed rice. The drive was again in the dark to the start with a pull over at the top of Towanga Gap as Wee Man.....well needed to wee!
Getting to the start I loaded up the pockets with food for the day and rolled to the start.
After hearing a couple of snippets of conversation I realised the 250k wasn’t starting for the same place as last time up around the corner for some reason so I hopped up onto the side walk and pushed my way clear of about 200 people before heading around the corner and getting to the start proper.
I caught up with Thomo who I met on the Kosciusko 360k ride and he picked my brain for 5 minutes about the course and what lay ahead.

The Start to Mt Hotham

At 6.30am we were set off and rolled out at what felt like a very leisurely pace for the climb up Mt Hotham....but in fact it was probably about 30kph. My legs weren’t feeling fantastic, but at the same time I was feeling antsy to get the pace a bit higher. So when we hit the first slopes on Hotham I hit it hard, firstly to try and warm the legs up but also to get some pace into the bunch.
People soon settled into their rhythm and a largish group of about 12 formed at the front which stayed together through and across the top and false flat before the exploding after the descent and the final climb up to the peak of Mt Hotham. Like last year my legs just refused to work up this second portion of the climb and I soon found myself riding with 3 others while a group of 6 disappeared up the road. The road through this section this year was battered by freezing crosswinds which made the going even harder and I was hoping it was not a omen of things to come.
On the decent from the top we had a ripping tailwind as the direction changed and screamed into the first checkpoint at Dinner Plains.
Getting in I quickly refilled my bottles got my wrist band scanned and managed to roll out with the front group again!

Falls Creek

For the next 10-15ks we had a tailwind at our backs and made excellent time before dropping into the valley and loosing the wind completely. About now my legs were starting to protest a bit at the pace and on a couple of the rollers I started to lose contact before the final big climb into Omeo the elastic snapped completely on the climb. I kept the group in sight but I didn’t rejoin them before the next checkpoint. This one proved to more chaotic and we lost a couple of riders and ended up rolling out with only two others.
The other two weren’t too sure if the others were ahead or behind and so after catching a couple of riders from the group that started at 4.30am we worked out they were behind and slowed the tempo down up the climb out of Omeo. This allowed a bit more of a recovery, and we avoided running over the wiggly stick that was making it’s way across the road halfway up the climb.
Talking to the others, I found out that one of them was the one that had crashed on the decent off Towanga Gap last year and ended up going to hospital.
The other 4 riders caught back up across the top of the climb before the decent down into Anglers rest and the climb up to falls creek. Due to the wind this year the descent wasn’t as fun and you had to work quite hard to keep the momentum up. The group stopped at Anglers rest to refill bottles before we took the left hander and began the climb up Back of Falls. I filled up my bottle and rolled out by myself and set a slower pace until the others caught back up.
Next was the left hander and given the way I was feeling I thought this would be the last I would see of the others but I was in for a surprise. The road kicked and I got out of the saddle and suddenly the legs came to life....I was suddenly feeling strong the initial 20% grade and a couple of the others who I expected to ride off dropped off the pace.
As the graded settled a group of four formed in front on me while I settled into a high tempo pace knowing what lay ahead. The group only got a lead of about 200m before two riders lost contact. This gave me something to chase over the next 3k, slowly reeling in one then the second. The other two had disappeared from sight, but I was enjoying the climb this year rather than suffering. The road had bedded in over the previous 12 months and while there was a surface of loose stones every so often it was miles ahead of the year before. What also helped this year was the temps were definitely down by about 5 or 6 degrees.
At the top of the climb into the alpine area, the wind picked becoming into a wicked crosswind and after a couple of kilometres I spotted the two lightweights that had disappeared up the climb. Picking up slower riders as I went I soon had a 5 rider echelon sitting behind me as I drove it to close the gap by the time we reached the Falls Creek check point. Coming into falls Creek I had shut down all but 100 metres of the gap and when we stopped the look on the other two riders face was priceless, one of how did the guy that had been struggling for the previous 50ks close a 2 minute gap inside of 15kms????
A bottle refill and we were off with the standard warning about the lefthander 1.7kms on the way down. I decided I would have some fun on the way down, and started chasing a Ford Falcon through the top section of corners sitting about 2m off the rear bumper. The only problem with this was that because the straights were so short, accelerating to 60kph then braking down to 25kph for the corners I heated up my rear rim and caused the tire to blow off the rim after about 6kms of the descent. Luckily I managed to stop from 60kph to 0 in only about 20m. I’m actually pretty lucky it wasn’t the front as I’m not sure I could have kept it upright.
The other two stopped, surprised that I had kept it upright after the tire exploding before disappearing off down the decent when I assured them I was alright. With the tire already half off the rim it made the tire change easier. However as I found out the disadvantage of a mini pump is you really can’t get enough air into the tire to be confident on a decent.
Once back up and running with a softish tire I continued making my way down the descent with more caution this time.
The decent has a nasty kick in the middle of it, and after the time on the side of the road my legs didn’t appreciate it much. Down into Mt Beauty and the drag along the main road before the left hander and the road up Towanga Gap.

Towanga Gap

At this point I decided to shut it down up the climb so as not to go too far into the box for the day. I set an easy tempo up the climb using the 26 and 29 tooth cogs on the back before pulling into the way stop after 3kms up the climb. I refilled my bottle and started on my merry way for the remaining 5kms of the climb before cresting the climb.
On the descent I exercised caution again, and sure enough on the same corner as last year there was a rider in the ditch being attended to by medical officers. His bike was poking out of the ditch with the front end snapped of front the impact of going into the ditch. Another timely reminder that there is no need to push it when you don’t need to.
The valley floor was drag again with a headwind before the turn back onto the main road and into town. I linked up with another rider at this point and we traded of turns until crossing the line.

Numbers for the Day

So the numbers from the day were,
Time: 9:11hrs
Distance:248Kms
Climbing:4370mtrs
NP:237w
IF:0.818
TSS:517
Calories:5809

Kosciusko 360 Day 2

Khancoban to Cabramurra
The day dawned and I woke up not at all refreshed due to a fitful sleep. Due to Khancoban being small there wasn’t alot of choice for breakfast options, but the boys managed to convince the local takeaway shop to open at 8.00am. So it was another game of load the car up then off to breakfast. 45 minutes later everyone had eaten their fill, but there hadn’t been much in the way to talk with everyone in deep contemplation of the day ahead.
I came out of the takeaway shop to find my front tire had decided to go flat, so I did a quick change and we hit the road out of town at about 9.00am. The inital roads were course chipseal and heavy going before we took the right hander on the secondary road which would see us all the way to the snowy mountains highway. The first section of this really in bad repair with the top coat missing which just served to bash our already sore and tired bodies around more.
I was mentally hoping it was going to be like this the whole way otherwise what was shaping up to be a hard day was just going to get alot worse. Luckily after about 4k we dropped through a lefthander and began the never ending climb...or this is what I called it. First Andy then Gaz disappeared up the road leaving me to solo along at my pace. I decided to keep things pegged at a solid seated tempo and get out of the saddle to stretch and ease the legs through the numerous corners. The seal through here was good but it still felt like slow going.
I was watching the time and kms slowly tick away but it was alot slower than I had anticipated and by the time I finally reached the false flat along the top through the open alpine area I guessed I was about an hour behind schedule. The climb I had just come up was a solid two hour effort and the most climbing I had done in one stint ever.
Guestimating that I was still about an hour from Cabramurra, the next 10kms was pure torture with dead roads, driving crosswind and rolling to false flat climbs I mentally cracked at least three times through here.
The next false hope of the day was the descent into Tumut pond and realising I had to climb back out of the valley with 7kms to town. Being down at the dam and looking up while spectacular in view was a real mental kick in the teeth as the road just went up then disappear into the hill.
Up to this stage I had been playing tag with a bunch of motorcyclists with them roaring past and then stopping to look at the views allowing me to catch up before passing me again and off to the next scenic lookout. Ripping past me on the first steep portion I used the engine noise to work ou that in fact the road was a series of switch backs and wasn’t as bad as what I had been imagining.
Near the top I cracked again as I was out of water and stopped at one of the many culverts which had water coursing through it to top my bottles up. I knew how stupid I looked trying to clamber down these rocks to get at the flowing water but didn’t care. Immediately drinking half a bottle of some of the sweetest tasting water I almost over balanced and ended up face first in the culvert. It was here I had my first encounter with Australia’s marsh fly…..in fact I ended up with three bites including a huge one on my stomach which I didn’t discover till the next day when I was wondering what the pain down there was.
Out of the culvert and I hit up the last 1.5k to the top of the climb and the 2k roll down into Cabramurra. As I was coming into town Andy and Gaz were heading out. With the temps having dropped off about 7-10 degrees through the alpine area, I knew that the stop wasn’t going to be long. I grabbed a couple of cans of soft drink and sat down outside in a shaded are from the wind. I was trying to saviour the drink and clif bar I was throwing down my neck…but I’m sure that I drank both cans and ate the bar in under 5 minutes before saddling up for the next leg.

Cabramurra to Adaminaby
The next stage of the ride started with a climb for 500 metres before hooking left and back into the tree line and onto a downhill for a kilometre or two before more rollers and climbing. The road through here was as dead as previously and I was feeling better after the drink and food. Eventfully I broke out into another alpine area but it was completely different to the last one. The roads were fast the landscape was more of a grassy pasture type then the scrub that had been higher up.
Looking ahead I could see the huge black clouds and knew I was going to be in for rain inside of the next half an hour. Plugging along with a slight tail crosswind I soon reached the intersection with the Snowy Mtns highway. Turning right onto this brought a huge smile to my face, I was back on good hotmix and the wind was now a tailwind and even though I had begun to drizzle I didn’t care as I knew the next 30kms was going to be quick and a lot easier than the past 5 hours.
The rain stayed at a drizzle for most of the next hour as I hauled a$$ over the downhill rollers enjoying every minute of it. It was about 5kms from Adaminaby that the heavens opened up properly on me and I was drenched to the bone inside of a minute. The rain was intense but it wasn’t cold which was a relief.
My head became a bit foggy at this point and I passed a sign pointing off to the right to Old Adaminaby. I almost made the mistake of taking the turn down here but decided no it wasn’t the right way, and rolled into Adaminaby about 5 minutes later. I found Andy and Gaz sheltering inside the local tearooms and quickly bought another 2 cans of drink and repeated the procedure at the previous stop. They had been there for about 20 minutes previously and by the look of the table had eaten half the shop. Apparently they had been riding in solid rain for about the previous 30 kilometres and had only just started to dry out. As I was freshly soaked I wasn’t keen on sitting around so we ended up rolling out for the final 50 kilometres together.

Adaminaby to Cooma
Starting out Gaz soon let me know that he was blown and only able to roll through occasionally so Andy and I took turns at taking measured turns on the front making sure Gaz didn’t get gapped on any of the rollers we were soon going over. The rain remained steady or torrential depending on where we were but we were making good time and kilometre kept ticking over.
I started to do some mental calculations to work out when we would be back in Cooma as I had told wifey it should be about 5pm and it was looking close. In one torrential down pour on a downhill section I ended up gapping Andy & Gaz as I was having to much stomping on the pedals with the crosswinds. When I ended up turning around I found I was suddenly on my own with Andy and Gaz about 300 metres back…..opps. After this I eased up and made sure I didn’t push too hard into any of the cross winds.
Eventually we were back on the main road into Cooma and with only a couple of small risers it was soon into town and dodging the cars and a right turn into the Macca’s carpark.
I think all three of us were please with completing the ride, and more so given the conditions over the final 2.5hrs.

Numbers for the Second day
Ride Time 7.33hrs
Total Time: 8.02hrs
Distance 175kms
Climbing 2978m
Normalised Power 230w
TSS 415
IF 79%
I have to say that this was great way to start the year with a huge kick to the training and I will definitely be up for it next year.

Kosciusko 360 Day 1

So this last weekend was the first (of hopefully many) running of the Kosciusko 360 ride around you guessed it Mt Kosciusko. The route was plotted by Big Jase just prior to Xmas and setup on Facebook for all comers with the date set down for the 8th & 9th of January.
Now whether this was a good choice in timing is still under debate given the mountainous route of the two days....

Day One: Cooma to Jindabyne.

The start was set down for a 10am rollout and as seems to be the norm recently I was running late. A combination of under estimating the drive time from Canberra and dumba$$ drivers meant we how into the Macca’s carpark at 10.05am. So after quickly sorting all my gear and bike out, I started to re-pack the car with everyone else’s overnight bag. Wifey had graciously agreed to pull sag wagon duties for the two days and also do some sightseeing as well.
So eventually we got rolling at 10.20am only 20 minutes behind schedule, and it was quick start with tail/ cross wind I eventually found myself up front with Andy, Gaz, & Thomo sitting on a good solid 40kph without much effort. From having previously ridden most of the roads for the first day so I knew what we were in for. But was surprised at the speed we were covering the ground. Having ridden from Cooma to Jindabyne before I remember dead alpine roads that just sucked all the life out of your legs...but not today.
With the high speed first Gaz then Andy were spat out the back leaving me at the front with Thomo for company till we got to Berridale and into the rolling hills. At the top of the long drag there was a regrouping and we were back to a group of four with no sign of the others. We set a moderate tempo for the remaining 10kms into Jindibyne.
We stopped at the servo there and didn’t really get the best of service...the woman behind the counter who reminded me of the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons, pissed off and made a 5 minute phone call when we walked in. So after we eventually got served it was a case of topping up the water bottles and hitting the road again.
We made the call not to wait for the others but to re-group for lunch at Thredbo.

Jindabyne to Thredbo

Knowing that the first climb on the road to Thredbo is long and steepish, I settled into something of a rhythm and watched Andy & Gaz ride off up the hill (which would continue to be a pattern for the weekend). The heat at this point was getting into the low 30’s so I made a point of trying to keep hydrated and just ride at a manageable pace. The road up the valley was a real trudge with the tar on the road melted and reflected heat making it more of baking nightmare.
Because the weekend was about training, I started to relax a bit and take in the scenery a more while slowly the km’s ticked over.
Eventually after about an hour and a half I made it to Thredbo. I kept riding past the first entrance and took the second straight to the bakery. Having spent a good chunk of my $20 I had thrown into the back pocket at the start of the day at Jindabyne of drinks. I was shocked when my H&C croissant and 2x cans of solo came to almost $13!
So I sat outside in the shade took my shoes off and slowly tried to eat the croissant and not skull the two cans of drink! I phoned wifey to find out where she was, and also sent Big Jase a text message to see how far away he was with no success.
After about ½ hour I rolled out to the garage on the main road where I found the others waiting and after 10 minutes Jase’s group rolled in and it was back to the bakery for another ½ an hour for more eating.

Thredbo to Khancoban

Once everyone had finished we hit the road again at about 3.00pm I muttered a prediction to wifey about what time we would be in at the finish for the day knowing I would be pushing it. The climb to the top of Dead Horse Gap reinforced that my legs were about half cooked and as the three other road away in the space of about 5k all I could do was watch.
At the top I settled in for the fun part! The descent down dead Horse is a 1km drop in about 12kms so makes for some very fast descending. Throw in sweeping corners and it’s enough to put a smile on anyone’s face. I managed to catch back up to the others on the way down and drop them by pushing harder into the corners and taking a couple more risks. And in a flash it was all over and we were out at Tom Groggins.
From here it was off into the unknown..well for me at least. The road from here consisted of initially a series of rollers (about 7-8) with a kick of about 20m to each one. At this point I was back riding with Gaz & Andy till we reached the last couple and I took my foot off the gas and dropped the pace back down.
It was a good thing too as there was a really sting in the final climb that went up about 500ms through a series of cuttings before eventually peaking at a dam /power station. This really hurt coning at about 155kms into the ride. Descent wise it was 7kms back down into the valley floor before the final 3kms to town.

Khancoban

Small town in the middle of the back of beyond.....Rolling in I almost decked myself on the ruts in the road along the left hand edge which were hiding in the shadows. The town centre was off to the right, but our accommodation was out the other side so I just kept going. I had been allocated a cabin close to the road so it was easy to spot the car.
Sitting down I started the re-hydration process with coffee milk and powerade happy with completing the first day but knowing there was a lot more to come tomorrow.

Data for the day

So first day over and the stats were,
Ride Time 6:22hrs
Total Time: 7:50hrs
Distance 171kms
Climbing 3075m
Normalised Power 243w
TSS 367
IF 83.9%


Dump from WKO

Hit out

So I decided to rock up for my first Bakery Bunch ride since about March. So the result.......well I made the front group through to the end but boy I was in a world a hurt. 335w NP for 20min. First up is the overall view,and secondly is the plot using fast find. As you can see in the space of 20 minutes there are close to 30 surges of over 315w or my the upper end of my threshold. Even trying to stay out of the wind when the acid is on hurts.

Overall plot

So how many surges in 20mins?

40°+

As I mentioned in my last post the training has been going really well, and the motivation is super high at the moment. So well in fact that over the past 10 days I have probably spent 10hr+ training in the pouring rain.
Well my body has decided it's payback time and as of last night I am running a fever in excess of 39°. It peaked out last night before I went to bed at over 40°+!
So today I'm at home, and supposed to be in bed. However wifey did leave me a medium sized list to chores to do so haven't made it back there after dropping her off at work this morning. I also had to swear on pain of death, that I would not ride my bike today, including on the windtrainer.
But there is a bright side! These arrived last Friday so I might get a chance to watch half of one this afternoon.

Linky

http://www.trainingandracingwithapowermeter.com/

Still waiting on my book... but thats another story

Torture Loop Version 2.1

Saturday saw a new version of the Torture Loop… we decided to try it in reverse with an extra loop around Urriara. Rolling out at 6.30am it was a brisk pace out to Stromlo to start the real fun. The morning still had traces from the fire reduction burn the previous day but nowhere near as bad as anticipated.
Down into Urriara Crossing and out the otherside we went at it, with me glancing down to see number in excess of 300w + all the way along to Mt McDonald.
Some recovery over the top and down into Pierces Creek, by this stage the sun was out in force and I was sweating up and storm, the day was super humid and the sweat wasn't evaporating.
Up Pierces we caught another two rider riders near the top and rolled with them for a while. By roll with I mean recover, admire their bikes (Colnago C50 and a bright red Time VRX) before I got bored at the pace being too slow and we took off on our own again.
Somewhere over the next 10k to the base of Corin I hit the wall hard, and knew the next couple of hours were going to be a big trip into hurt box.
We called a truce riding up Corin, Big Jase was on recovery mode still and I was trying to pace myself so as to make it through the ride without going too cross eyed.
Near the top Jase gassed it and I just kept rolling.
A regrouping at the far cattle grate and we wer off for the next target, Apollo Road.
By this stage we were both doing mental calculations to see how much time we had left and whether we could make the trip to the top of Fitz's and back to town before lunch.
My math said no, so we scrubbed that part and just hit up Apollo Road.
As soon as it got steep Jase was gone and I had the pleasure of the road to myself...well me and the flies that and appeared from nowhere.
Up through the steepest part of the climb the cadence was dropping as low as 45rpm with my breathing sounding close to hyperventilation before greatfully the road levelled out for the final 5k to top.
FIlling the water bottles up and talking sh!t for a couple of minutes before we hit up the descent back into town.

Numbers

I have run a Multi analysis for the past two weekends rides. Bearing in mind that the first lot of data wasn't mine, and I felt like crap this last time, there was a 5% difference in the two rides.
But the interesting thing from a PE perspective is that both Jase and I agreed that the version this past weekend felt alot harder even though the numbers don't actually show it.


Ride Numbers


Multi-File Numbers


Quadrant Analysis Torture Loop 2.0


Quadrant Analysis Torture Loop 2.0 & 2.1

Weekends almost here!

Yes it's almost upon us, and it will be another revision of the Torture Loop tomorrow. We are going to do last weeks in reverse with an additional couple of km's by going through Urriara Crossing.

Sunday will be some hardtail action at Stromlo ealy. Wifey is going to be playing geriatric soccer (I'm going to get a slap for that)this winter so my Sundays are going to be somewhat limited. How that imapacts on the racing...well I'm make it up as I go. This part of my "not being such a selfish b@st@rd" with the racing this year. Also wee man is old enough now that wifey can get out and about with sport a bit more...I suggested trying an enduro and got glared at ..go figure.

I have been lusting after a new hardtail frame for the last month or so, and think I have it finalised. It's suprising a) how expensive buy a frame alone is b) how limited the availability is on alot of them c) how stupid Giant's distribution strategy is. All will be revealed in time.

The ride this morning was fantastic, I got motorpaced by one of these in the pitch dark for 7k @ 65kph

Weekend Numbers

While these aren't my numbers for the weekend they are close enough that I have adopted themself.



Time: 5:40hrs
Cals: 4440
TSS: 388 (Yes the legs are still tired)
Intensity: 0.83
VI: 1.2

Distance: 160kms
Climbing: 2370m


Power Distribution by 10w Bin


Power Distribution by Zone

Torture Loop 2.0

On Saturday Big Jase & I set off on the new improved torture loop version 2.0.

Unlike last year, this time it was straight into the hills for some serious climbing action. 6.30am is still dark O' clock so it was good one of us bought lights (me!) otherwise it would have been dodgy going for the first half hour.

First on the menu was Fitz hill, and dispite promising myself that I would take it easy I hammered up the climb just to get the torture over with. As Jase came over the top all I got was "40 RPM sucks!"

After 5 minutes admiring the view, getting the breath back it was off to the next target on the list Apollo Road. This climb wan't so bad, but by keeping a steadt tempo I managed to gap Jase through the middle steep section before he caught back up at the top.

Another short stop, refill the water bottles and we were off on the decent, it was here things got a bit hairy thanks to my old friend Mr Kangaroo who decided suicide by cyclist was perferable to watching from the side of the road. A a fist full of anchor the kangaroo was on its way, but it was close.

At the bottom to our delight we discovered it was going to be a tailwind all the way across to the bottom of Corin. Trading off turns at 38-40kph was fun and a great reward for all the climbing. Normally along here it's a headwind, which seriously sucks.

We reached the bottom of Corin well ahead of schedule, and started the meander up the climb. By this stage I switched the turbo off and rode with Jase all the way up the climb, just a steady tempo for 45mins to the gate at the top.

Because we were so far ahead of what was planned it was decided home the long way was on the cards, along Tidbinbilla Rd through Pierces Creek. Coming past the base of Mt McDonald we caught up with another group of riders and latched on the back for a tow to Stromlo.

By this stage we had to start racing the watch as we both had promised to be home by midday.

So all up it worked out to be 5.5hrs of riding and ~4000cals burnt for the day. I can't post anything up as the SRM decided to die just past Tharwa.

I now have to think up a new route for this coming weekend...I don't think I can come up with anymore climb...well maybe ;)

Mini-Fitz Challenege

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

The Black Hole

One of the latest discussions over on the Wattage group has been focused around the best method for raising FTP. Are there seems to recognized approaches. The first is the old tried and true method SLD or slow long distance, despite the latest trend to shorter harder efforts this approach does work.
However it is very time intensive the recommended dose is 25hrs+ a week in zones 2-3. I understand this is the approach used by both Craig Gordon & Chris Eatough for their 24hr preparations. However for most people this just can’t work through other commitments, work, family, life. I know if I was even inclined to attempt this my wife would probably kill me after 2 weeks.
The other approach is revolves around SST (sweet spot training) and L4/L5 work. With the development of TSS (training stress score) and PMC it was calculated that SST returns the best buck for your time if you are a time limited person. This coupled with FTP intervals (2x20min) and can only train 10-15hrs a week still provides a very effective way to raise FTP. This approach has been nick named “Training for the time crunched cyclist” by Lance’s Coach Chris Carmichael.
Now there was a lot of backwards as to which approach was theoretically better, but what struck me as a comment about people who can stretch their training out to 19-22hrs a week. Where do they sit? What is the best approach for them? The LSD method won’t work as the time is too limited, but the SST approach is too intensive and can cause burnout.
So this time period falls into the black hole region, I know personally I only ever hit this amount of training on peak weeks and it is not somewhere I regularly visit. But for those that sit in this region it could be time to reassess your approach.

Alpine Assault 2010(250k)

Sorry for the late report but it's taken a couple of days to get this together.
Well I'm back, tired and sore after my jaunt through the Alpine Region of Victoria.
The ride began yesterday at 6.20am....so that meant a 4.00am back up to get some food in and also to get from Mt Beauty over to Bright for the start.

Breakfast consisted of 2x packages of Uncle Tobie's porridge and Gatorade. After a restless nights sleep through a foreign bed, no aircon, and a number of trips to the toilet (the after affects of hydration). I wasn't feeling the freshest, and with no coffee on tap the feeling didn't go away anytime soon.

The drive over to Bright aloud me to see the final climb of the day up Towonga Gap, and it wasn't looking bad. Driving it in the dark it seemed only about 5k and on the way up I spotted the location of the water stop on the side of the road.

Over in Bright we got a parking spot close by and I see about getting ready, pump the tires, bottles on the bike, shoes, helmet and off for a final trip to the toilet, before coming back and loading the pockets.

So what went in the pockets for a potential 9hr+ ride?
-3x clif bars
-2x gel shots
-4x bags of clif shotz
-2x 750ml bottles of Clif Salty Lemon Mix




The Start to Mt Hotham



The roll out along the road to Mt Hotham was pretty chilled with the bunch sitting on a steady 30kph. The morning was cool and crisp and just right to begin along day in the saddle. A couple of surges went in that put the bunch briefly into single file but no one was foolish enough to try attacking.

At the foot of the climb up Mt Hotham I moved towards the front as the grade picked up. There were no accelerations just a slow stripping away as the steady tempo and grade took it's toll.
After about 2km there was a small group of seven riders left at the front. At this stage I was surprised and actually enjoying the climbing. The road was smooth and the grades shallow, I knew "The Meg" was coming up and sure enough it rared its ugly head. I took the outside line through the corner to reduce the grade and made it through and onto the next pitch without going into oxygen debt. Over the top and there were 4 of us left and over the next few k's the group of 7 reformed.

Next up was the long false flat before the open section up to the top. It was on this section that the legs began to protest and I knew that I was not on a good day. The beginning of the open we were met by another steep pinch of about 600m metres and sure enough I got unhitched here. I decided well that I was better off riding at my own pace along here and try and catch back along the next shallower grade.

As road turned the corner the front 4 riders slowed and the wind across the peak turned into a x-wind. Back on the bunch briefly before unhitching again just before the top at the ski resort.

I crossed over the top with the other 3 riders before making a mad dash down the descent and catching back to the leaders before the first checkpoint at Dinner Plain.

At the checkpoint I refilled my bottle, stretched a bit before we hit the road again for Omeo.

Falls Creek



The road for the next 50k was open and rolling but downhill to it allowed plenty of recovery. By this stage we were out of the high alpine area and the temps went from chilly to warm and pleasant.

Rolling into Omeo and the checkpoint at the school it was time for a toilet stop and another bottle refill before hitting the road again.

At this stage we were joined by the bunch from behind as we hadn't been hammering the open road too hard and our numbers swelled to about 12 riders.

Out of Omeo and after a brief 3k climb it was a twisting winding descent for the next 40k. At this point my legs were really starting to protest to it was back off the bus for me as I tried to pile in the food and drink in the hopes that they would come right before we began the ascent up falls creek. But no dice, with every small acceleration out of the corners they squealed like a small pig.

It was about then that I decided that I would probably end up riding the climb on my own. Unfortunately the hard left came far too soon and I was steering up the face of a 10% for about a kilometre or so.
Start from one end of the cluster to the other and I tried settling into a rhythm, but unfortunately that wasn't happening.
The heart rate was up in the low 170's the power was 300w+ trying to keep forward momentum, and it all came to a grinding halt about 3k up the climb.

I swung to the right of the road under a tree and stopped to try and get the heart rate and breathing under control. To try and describe this climb is hard but unrelenting is probably the best word with no respite. It twists and turns it's way along the ridge leading up to Falls Creek with no let up!

After getting myself under control again I set off again with the power hovering at about 260w and cadence stalling to below 50rpm at times to keep everything under control.

Breaking out onto the plains area at the top of the climb offers some spectacular views but unfortunately I didn't have time to stop and take any pictures before the 10k rolling section to Falls Creek it's self.

At the check point another toilet stop and bottle refill before a sweet 30k descent into Mt Beauty.

Passing cars, 4wd's, and bus on the way down was a blast and allowed heaps of time to recover.
Towanga Gap



In Mt Beauty, the wife was waiting and I stopped off and grabbed a couple of bottles of poweraide and lay on the grass outside chatting for 5 minutes before beginning the assault up Towanga Gap.

The was another climb similar to Mt Hotham with shallow grades and a smooth surface. I just noodled my way up the 7k to the top turning my legs over in their smallest gear.

Crossing the top I had another 15k descent before me and I started to switch off a bit before getting a reminder halfway down not too. Coming out of a corner there were 2x ambulances picking a rider up. I didn't see the rider themselves but it looked like they had over cooked a corner and gone into a bank....

In the valley at the bottom and only 7k to the finish it was time to give it everything left in the tank.

Numbers for the Day

Km: 248
Ride Time: 8:48hr
Calories: 6001Cals (12.5 Big Macs!)
Peak 20min power: 333w
Peak 60min power: 313w

Fluids: 5 litres

All up this was a fantastic training ride, both really well run and with some spectacular scenery. I would highly recommend doing this to anyone look for good base k's early in the year.

TARWAPM Edition 2

For those that don't know Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan will be releasing a second edition of Training and Racing with a Power Meter. This should be available early April this year.
It contains a number of updates plus several new chapters covering new areas and tools in WKO.

The Doctor is back in the Lab

In other exciting (well if you like numbers exciting) news Dr Andrew Coggan is also currently working on a reformulation of the TSS metric and performance manager.

First proposed by Banister et al. in 1975, this model, and/or variations thereof, has been repeatedly shown to accurately predict training-induced changes in performance (both positive and negative) in a wide variety of endurance and non-endurance sports. The impulse-response model has therefore been successfully used to design theoretically-ideal training programs, optimize tapering regimens, evaluate the effects (or lack thereof) of cross-training in triathletes, etc. However, this model also has a number of inherent limitations, which tend to limit its usefulness outside of a laboratory setting.

To read more see here

The details are very scarce other then Dr Coggan posting teasers on the Wattage Group list, but it currently was a working title of TSS 2.0.

'Cause I am smarter then your average bear

Just to prove I actually do something with all the power data I have.
This is the quadrant plot from the road ride I did today.
So what is it?
Quadrant Analysis is a way to measure the neuromuscular power demands of cycling. Taken from the book, "Training and Racing with a Power Meter by Hunter Allen and Dr. Andrew R. Coggan, "Tools such as Normalized Power, Intensity Factor, and Training Stress Score explicitly recognize the seemingly stochastic nature of cycling power output and help coaches and athletes better understand the actual physiological demands of a given race or workout.

Neuromuscular What? “Neuromuscular function” may sound complicated, but it simply means how fast you can contract a muscle, how strongly you can contract it, and how long you can contract it before relaxing it again.

Each quadrant represents a different combination of force(how hard you push on the pedals) and pedaling velocity(how fast you push on the pedals).
QI: High Force and High Cadence- An example of this would be sprinting.

QII: High Force and Low Cadence- An example would be steep hill repeats, big gear intervals and a lot of Mt. Biking resides in QII as well.

QIII: Low Force and Low Cadence- An example would be a recovery ride or just an easy ride around town.

QIV: Low Force and High Cadence- An example would be a Criterium or fast pedaling drills.


I have highlighted some key areas to look at when reading one of these plots.

These are,
- The general shape of the plot (a tight elipse)
- The direction of the shape (low right to top left)
- Where the outliers are sitting (Quadrant 2- High force, low cadence)
- What the percentages are in each quadrant

So this is what a road training flie looks like. Tomorrow I will post up a MTB ride to highlight a number of points.

Square Eyes

Everyone says get outside enjoy summer, my response is "Piss off it's too f^&ken hot!"

I have to admit I have a bit of a dislike to the Australian summer. The reason being that anything after about 10am and your already into the mid-30's. This makes trying to train after this but really hard physically due to the risk of dehydration but but backing up and recovering hard too. So this generally means that training means being super motivated and a 6am start or rolling out after work at 5pm and still getting cooked.

Yesterday was a Bakery bunch and and extra couple of hours around Uriarra for a bit of sunbaking. Today ftp intervals on the death machine.

After a couple of weeks the FTP is back up over the 300 watt mark...and the garage floor is looking like it's got a permanent sweat stain on it.

So what have it been doing with the rest of the time you ask?



Training the old reflexes on Modern Warfare 2 (Thanks Santa) I'm sure it's useful for MTBing somehow....

Ginga' Roo

Given the amount of time I have spent lately at Stromlo, I'm getting to know the 'Roos on a first name basis.
However yesterday I almost ran over one of these, hadn't met him before. I didn't even know that they made them this colour. I'm going to call him Stan

A Ginger Kangaroo

Now this has to really demonstrate God has a sense of humor.... I can't really think of a worse colour to make an animal that lives in the bush.

2009 by the Numbers

Training
Total time: 472hrs (Same as 2008)
Total Km's: 12000km (Less than 2008)
Total TSS: 34200(10% increase on 2008)
Total Energy: 330600kj (169 Big Mac's!)
Peak CTL: 116.4 (17th May)
Peak ATL: 153.2 (8th Nov)
Low CTL: 82.4 (24th July)
Highest FTP: 330w

Racing
Best Race: 100 mile Fling. Not sure why but I just really enjoyed the course and the day.

Worst Race: Jetblack 101. Run with a kangaroo on the way to the race, crap course (due to last minute changes), breaking 4 spokes in the rear wheel and having to DNF

Not going to make it moment: Otway. This wasn't a physical moment, more mental at the 1/2 way point.

Luckiest Escape: Coota Road Race. Not piling in on top of everyone else in the mass crash

Longest Road Trip: Otway Odessey. 9.5hrs

Longest Race: Tie. Token 12hr & 100 mile Fing both 8.5hr

Worst Accomodation: Nothing jumps out this year yah!

Best Post Race Food: The dodgy hamburger after the Otway race.


Other Stuff

Best Purchase over $1000

MTB Powertap

Best Purchase over $500

Garmin 705

Best Purchase under $100

Schwalbe Racing Ralph Tires

Merry Xmas

Well better late then never I guess.

So I got the family away on xmas eve alright with a 1.30am wake up so they could catch their 7.00am flight from Sydney to Auckland. So before 8.00am I had 6hrs of driving behind me. I then made the mistake I make every year and headed to a mall to pick up a couple of last minute things...I swear every year I'm not going to a go to a shopping centre but somehow always end up in one however briefly. And like normal it was absolutley nuts.

With this over I headed out for a short ride...and this would be the second mistake for the day. By 11am the SRM was reading 40°C(104°F) and I was only halfway through. What was left in the drink bottles was now luke warm and almost undrinkable and I had a headwind for the rest of the ride. By the time I got home and jumped on the scales I had lost 2.5kgs in fluids through dehydration!

So how did I spent Xmas day? Like this?


No 'fraid not, my xmas day was spent with this.... the pain machine



See it decided to rain here xmas eve and didn't stop till sometime on boxing day. So I was left with little choice but to head down to the garage for some 20min threshold intervals...yay for me!

Boxing day was more intervals and I when out for a short 2.5hr MTB ride in the PM.

So now I have a couple more interval sessions planned before Friday and a longish MTB ride set down for tomorrow. At the moment the hardest part is getting out of bed early to beat the heat. You really don't want to be riding past about 10.30am as the temps are really starting to get up at that point.

Down with the sickness

And not the Disturbed song either.

It seems I have managed to pick up a cold either from wee man's playmates at daycare or because we now have ducted air conditioning at home. I haven't decided which and it probably doesn't matter much.
The easing back into training is coming along well with a large block planned over xmas as I'm flying solo. Wifey and wee man are off to visit the outlaws back in NZ and I have opted to stay home alone.

One the training front I have been haunting Stromlo over the last 3 weeks and laps have been going well. The only problem is by riding early I miss running into any snakes however, I seem to catch the Kangaroos having their morning latte mid trail.
There have been a couple of times where I have ripped through a corner to find a couple just standing there not wanting to move. This morning there was one huge brown male(?) that just wasn't going to budge. He just stood there eyeing me up and I really didn't want to get within striking distance of his legs so we had a 20 second stand off before he got bored and casually hopped off the trail....point made I guess.

As I mentioned last time there is no racing over the xmas period so it's going to be all 4-6hr endurance rides scoping out the Brindies. I haven't been on the hardtail recently so I'll be getting reacquainted with that.

Suspension
Have been playing around with the suspension on the El Salt, and have the rear tuned but I cracked it with the Fox forks. I have been trying to get these things running properly for the last couple of months and it just hasn't happened. So I ripped them of the bike last Thursday and threw on a set of Rockshox Reba's I had sitting there. The tuning setup is just night and day between the two. In two rides I have nailed down the settings and am finally happy!!!


WKO

Other news, TrainingPeaks have released version 3.0 of WKO. And they have added a couple of very cool features. The first is quadrant analysis and second is range analysis. Now that the boundaries of training load management have been pushed out, the guys on the bleeding edge of power analysis are starting to look at the neuro-muscular demands of training/ racing. So expect over the next few months to see some posts from me showing exactly what it takes from an endurance MTB POV.

Restin'

Haven't done to much since my attempt at the Thursday Crit.
Wetn for a cruise around Majura yeaterday at about 2pm...might have been a bit of a mistake killed a 1.5l camelbak in an hour with temps in the low 30's.

Given the weather I'm glad I wasn't one of the poor souls who signed up for the RTE 4hr @ Stromlo....from all accounts it was brutal with no shade, dust and sun.

With the lack of riding over the past three days I'm thinking I might need to invest in some of this to keep up appearances....