High Intensity Time!

Yeap! It’s the end of Sept and I haven't done one workout that involved an interval since June, so it’s about time. I have done some really tough group rides, but I have not done one workout that consisted of me primarily working on my high end form. I jumped back on the bike in August and have just been focusing on training rides that were at least 3 hours. I finished 3rd at the 6hrs of Santos on just 5 mtn bike rides since June, and placed 7th in Tallahassee on just 4 more rides. So I don’t have much on the legs, and both of those results have been my best to date. There are good things to come for 2007, and I can feel it.

What I have doesn't seem like much of a program, but it is. Last year I was doing very intense interval workouts in the month of July/August (Which was a waste), and I ended up losing form before the end of the season. All this spring and summer I just worked on developing my riding style and doing 30 miles training rides on the mtn bike at least twice a week. So this year I have purposely made my program sluggish so I can put in the intense workouts at the right time.

After the race in Tallahassee I was really motivated to get back and train because the program is going better than expected. I didn't attack one climb at the race, and I was able to put in 3 solid laps (With the exception of crashing and losing time the last lap) and my legs felt fresh.

In the car on I-10 I knew what was next to really have a coming out party to put the top 5 on notice in Reddick. That would be double workouts for 10 days to wake up the high end muscles. 2 week would be perfect to implement the program and rest the legs. What I dreaded the most was the 100 meters sprints on foot, but they have been the most beneficial workout in how successful my Road Race season went in the spring. I clocked over 40mph 3 times this spring, and I won all 3 of those races.

Monday I got up and did the OLD (One Legged Drills) workout that I purchased for my ipod from CTS. It is a beast of a workout, and I can tell you that your rpm's will go up on the mtn and road bike for sure. But it is not a workout that you can half-step through. Monday night I did a 90 Timetrial in my fat-burning zone to flush out the acid from the race.

Tuesday I did 5 sprint of 100 meter at full sprints on foot, and this does a lot of things for me. It gives me a chance to really get ballistic with my legs. It takes my heartrate Threshold Breathing right to the top level. It gives me a pretty intense leg burn, and that trains my body to buffer off the lactic acid better. Directly after the sprints I went to the patio and did fast pedaling workout for 1 hr. My legs felt a little tapped out at work, but I was still going to do the afternoon road ride. I got to the ride and my legs felt weak, so I tried to sit in the middle of the group which was even harder because the riders were letting it get stretched out and I would have surge to get back on. I was determined not to take a pull though. By the time we were on 84 at the sprint point Bob asked me if I felt good, and I said yes. Not even 5 seconds later he was giving me a monster lead out from a way, way, way, way, out. I hate going out that far, but Bob loves that kind of effort. I put my head down and stay on his wheel, and there are 2 riders on my wheel. I don't really feel like I can rip it by the time he pulls through, so I let off and wait for anyone of the riders to make a move. As the Bike America guys make a move I ride up right beside him, and surge to take the sprint. At the light I thank Bob for the monster lead-out, and a couple of riders go off the front. By the time we get to Weston Rd and get caught by a light they are gone. I asked the group if we want to work together to bring them back. I tell them not to take a pull more than 15 seconds and no hard or gorilla surges. It's about 20 of us, and about 8 riders that are working to bring the riders back that were up the road. When a rider is in the front for more than 15 seconds I yell, “Pull through". I even get a couple of funny looks the first couple of minutes, but it eventually turns into a group of riders that are trying to function as a team to pull back the breakaway group. Just as we have the riders up the road in sight they break off, and we finish off the ride with the same primary group doing the work. Job well done! It was actually nice to show leadership skills to the group. Normally, I shut my mouth and get the workout that I need for that day.

Wednesday, I'm back to my 1 hr workout of one legged drills and I know that it is paying off because my Avg Cadence has gone up dramatically. One month ago it was 91rpm for the dump road ride, and this past Thursday it was 96rpm. The only thing about these workouts is it makes my mtn bike training ride unpredictable. I have only had a couple of mtn bike training rides that I felt good because I have been normally doing really hard workouts the day before. This day was no exception. I did the first lap with Dean Yobbi of my Active Cycles Team. I kept the pace pretty snappy and I was trying to keep my heartrate in the 150's and after the gun range it keep spiking on all the steep climbs. I gapped Dean by about 20 seconds and going into the Outback Extension I backed it off for about 5 mins assuming he had to recover. Brian Woods jumped in with us going to Crime Scene. I made a mistake in Ted Twisted Trail and I let Dean and Brian pass me. I thought I would simple creep back up to the guys, but Dean must have been drilling it because my heartrate was in the 160's and I was still getting gapped, so I let them go. I'm going to stay with my plan of not ripping it during my double workout phase. 5 minutes later I catch up to Brian Woods as he has been unhitched from Dean and we finish out the lap.

Bob Mc, Adam, and Richard Diaz are out getting ready as we come out. My legs are on empty and I can feel it. Every time Richard Diaz is in the front he has always been hurting me. After about 15 minutes I decide to cut out all the big climbs and try to make it a road ride. After that lap I know it is over, so I spin my legs out for 20 minutes and call it a day.

Thursday
Before work I'm back to my sprints and fast pedal exercise. This time I do 7 sprints of 100 meters, and the last 3 I really gunned it at the end. I love this workout because it really opens up the anaerobic pathways. By the time I get on the bike I have already had an incredible legs flush, and I'm ready to ride. The fast pedal workout is 10 minute warm-up, 2 mins of pedaling between 110-115rpm, 2 minute recovery. 3 sets of those with another 3 minute recovery. Then 2 mins of fast pedaling of 110-115 rpms, with 1 min recovery and another 3 sets of those. That workout continues for 1 hr. I'm telling you at the end of this workout my heartrate was maxed out on the fast pedaling interval. My shins felt like they were going to explode. I leave the house at 5pm, and ride to the dump, and my legs felt good. I take one pull and get up to 34mph, and that confirms how good I feel. It was a headwind, but I walked away from the group to get up to 34mph. On 84 I’m behind Chris Fredericks that is drilling it and I take another pull, and decided to sit in and not go for the sprint, but surge right after that. Things break up before the sprint point and Bob is up the road with a rider in tow. Some riders start surging and I jump on and feel great. I jump out and charge up to Bob just as he is winning the sprint and I pass him at 36.5mph. The group is way off the back and 5 of us Time Trial it away from the group. After about 10 minutes one of the riders sits up, so 4 of us get out act together and share the pacemaking and finish out the ride without the group catching us. After this I do another 20 mile ride back home. I take Friday off so I can go to the apple store and buy another ipod video. I had a 60GB ipod that was under warranty and they couldn't figure out why it kept pausing, so I got another one for free. They didn’t have 60GB, so they upgraded me and got the new ipod classic 80GB ipod. SWEET!

Yeap! That is 24hour Solo playing on my new 80GB ipod. I'm not going to run out of music on a training ride for a very long time. Maybe forever.



I got home and dumped all my video and audio on it. I have a program that compresses DVD movies into a QuickTime files, and can be put on my ipod. I put over 80 movies onto my ipod. Everything from Batman Returns, Pitch Black, Transformers, The Lord of the Ring Blade, and Matrix Trilogies, and all 6 Star Wars Movies. I have over 200 music videos, The complete season 1 & 2 of Martin and Chapelle Show. 17 books on audio, and 5GB of music. I'm good to go. It took about 4 hours to get all of that on their from my itunes library.

Saturday was orientation at my college so we had to work until 4pm. After I got off and went home, I changed and went out for a 2 hour fat-burning ride. My legs were tight so I decided to take it easy in the beginning, but my avg spd and cadence was higher than normal, and my heartrate was in the 130's. By the time I got to the Mobil station to refill my bottles I had completed the first 20 miles with an avg spd was 20.3mph, so I knew it was going to be slower on the way back based on the headwind that was expected. I got back going and about 10 minutes later I had not gone under 22mph, and I was actually starting to feel better. With 30 minutes to go I still had a very high avg spd for the 2nd hour and I had no acid build up in the legs to would merit me backing off. I brought in the last 30 minutes really strong and my avg for the second hour was actually higher at 20.7mph. The sprint intervals are starting to pay off because my legs are starting to feel like they did in the spring, so duplicating the same program is going according to plan. Now, if I can stop wearing myself out before I get on the mtn bike.

Sunday I decided that I was going to do 4 laps at Markham no matter how I felt or how gutted out the course would be because of the massive rain we got over the last 2 days. I got out there and had to go around to the mtn bike park the back way because there was a Jamaican Festival going on in the front part of the park. When I get there Luis C, Luis M. and Danny are about to go in, so I quickly get ready and we go in. I actually want to just complete 4 laps just to get the legs accustom to the time and distance of the XC race. I’ll let the speed come around later, but it’s more important now that I complete 3 hour training rides that are more than 25 miles and that is my goal for the day.

The trail is wet but not too bad that you can’t manage having a good ride. Luis C. is keeping a nice pace of 10.6mph, and I’m happy. The legs feel good, the HR is low, and it’s not too hot. This is perfect conditions to have a nice training ride. We finish that lap, go back to the car and top off bottles and go back in. Luis is setting the same pace again as the last lap, but he makes a mistake and I pass him. Shortly after I pull to the side to let him get back to leading the lap, he makes another mistake and I pass him and about a minute later my chain drops down to the granny ring. I have it set up so that my derailleur does not go down to the granny ring. NICK! Where are you? I get back up to the group and Luis M. has slightly lifted the pace and at the end of the lap he clears some logs and when he lands his front tire burps some air, but he is able to keep from crashing. I finish out the lap and go back to the car for a gel and water. Luis C. comes back and says that he had bonked that lap and felt sloppy but had topped off the body with food and Gatorade. I tell him I’m going to do the last 2 laps back to back, so he should take another water bottle like me, and he does. I ask him to set the same pace because I really don’t want to ramp it up at all. We go in and nail down a 2 lap flow. What I know about how I ride is once I nail down a flow I really don’t want to go faster. I have set my body into that zone, and I want to start and finish there. Luis rides in spurts. He’ll go through a section and start drilling it, and I’ll feel under pressure. Not pressure to get dropped, but the irritating feeling of being pushed out of the optimal training zone. The next minute he’ll be under the optimal zone. So that was what I notice about the back to back laps. He rides similiar to Matt, in that he is punchy as he goes through the lap. He can't nail down a pace that can eventually crack a rider, but instead decides to do mini surges. But we finish the 2 laps in the same time almost to the second, and my HR Avg was the same for both laps. See, that is a training ride to me. When your heartrate is 7bpm higher from 1 lap to the other, what is that? That is speed racing on a training day. I’ll get back to that later.

This is going to get deep, so I hope you can put it all together like I have, or at least I think I have. If you have some views or points to add, please leave a comment. I would love to hear what other rider’s concept for training is.

I have to give you the observations that I have found this year as my style has truly developed. It’s strange training with different riders because the tempo changes so much from rider to rider. Different riders train with different Methods of Operation. The concept I have is the most simple, but complete. I train for HR zones, because I think that is the best way to monitor your form getting better. If you can train at a certain HR zone, you are training your body to buffer off acid at the zone. Training in a zone means that you should maintain that zone throughout the lap even if the course goes up and down. If there is a section that is going to raise your heartrate 10bpm when you hit it, wouldn’t it make since to back off 10bpm before you get there? Doesn’t that give your legs more integrity in this phase? If you hit every climb at full throttle, then you are teaching your legs that you only have high end, and not low or middle effort. There are riders that can’t do a lap at 8bpms lower than normal avg HR. It’s because the speed would be too slow for them. And it’s because they are used to hitting the climbs at a certain speed, effort, and wattage. To me that’s not training, that is taking advantage of the fact that you know your home training course.

If you do zone training, you can go anywhere and ride at a good clip. Why is it that there are riders that are good at one course, and poor at another course? They have learned how to hit every turn at their training course like it’s a dismount in gymnastics. But that doesn’t translate over when they go to another course.

What are you training when you are out there riding all out? Skill or Ability? That is a question that is truly thought provoking. An athlete walks in the door with ability from the “Athlete Gods”. Skill is what allow that ability to flourish.

If you develop the training zone, the concept is to eventually lift that zone as race season approaches. I know there are other factors, and I’ll cover them.

Intervals you ask? Of course you have to be able to redline and manage it, but that should be something specific. At the end of the building phase, go out on a totally different workout and just work on high end intervals. Just because you can do a really fast lap at your course does not mean you can do intervals. Do intervals, and check your HR so see if you can keep your HR avg the same for each interval. Now you are working on a skill, and not overusing your Ability. Now when you go back and train, you are going to buffer off lactic acid even better at you normal training zone. You haven’t even had to ramp it up, but you are faster, and your legs will feel fresher. If this is your foundation, then you’re riding style, techniques and approach to how you handle your bike is next in line. You learn to manage your technique, and as you get faster, your technique lets you know how far you can push that envelope. I can’t see any inherit problem with that type of approach, because it's truly a system. Now you can tap out your skill level, then you can start to work on pushing the limits of your ability. That is how you find out what you are made of as a complete athlete.

Now to this speed racing thing! This is to all of those knuckleheads that just can’t hold back and are constantly looking down to see if you can beat the time you did the week before. Before I get critical, let me say I used to be just like you. I may have been worst than you, but I’m always looking at how to be a well-rounded bike racer, and that shit is totally played out. At his point it actually seems primative. Some riders are training like they are primates, but who is going to be the athlete that is training like he is standing "Upright".

Wrap your helmet around this concept, and see if it makes sense. Right now the season is about to be in full swing come next weekend, so ask yourself, are you Riding good, or are you a Good Rider? Did you work on all the skills that have held you back from be the complete rider/racer? Have you maximized all the techniques that has allowed you to be a superior bike rider/racer?

Good form is about riding better, which is short lived once you are on the downside of your peak. But being a better rider is fundamental. If you are the type of rider and every one of your training rides consist of you going through the trail and you are riding to beat your time from last week, then how are you working on being a better bike rider? You are trying to ride better for that day, which does not carry over to a better foundation. If you were a boxer, would you go out and hit the punching bag has hard as you can every single day? There has to be some days that you workout on power transfer, foot and hand speed exercises, speed work, cardio, weights, sparring, etc. Of course you have the suckers that think they can do all of that and go full blast in the gym. BULLSHIT! I have been a pro athlete for over 20 years, and you just can’t train like that if you want a long career. Contrary to what athletes believe, the muscles have a brain of their own and it’s better to understand how they work instead of forcing them to do what you think of. If not, they are going to sell you out when it matters. OK, that is my “Keeping it Real” moment of the day.

What I miss the most about being on B&J is they had really solid training rides, with a clear perspective. That was for the training ride to operate like a group rode ride. Since 2006 all of the rides consist of the “How fast can I drop and have the riders behind me chase me” concept, and I don’t subscribe to that. For all of 2007 I have LET all the knucklehead with that attitude drop me on all the training rides. If you are riding that hard on a Sunday training ride, how do you save something special for race day? With the Active Cycles group I implement the B&J training style. I let them know that 95% of the time the group starts and finishes together. The group should start to break up 80% into the lap as they can’t handle the constant pace. If I unhitch the slower rider and blow him up in 10 minutes, then he spends the rest of the lap in no mans land and there is not systemic improving to that. How do you become a better rider if that is the case? You may learn to ride better, but are you a better rider? Laying a foundation to being a better rider is a much longer process.

In 2005, I knew that my season was over about 3 races into the season, because I did not workout on developing all my skills and techniques, then maxing out my ability to have the best race season. But I was riding good, I was riding really good. I was not drop from a group ride on the road, or a mtn bike training ride for the entire summer. But my form ran out as the season approached. I also did not have proper XC racing bike. It was closer to an all mtn bike. Lessoned learned, as I came into 2006 with the Pacer-X. Oh! My bad, I mean Racer-X. But for the 2006 season I trained too hard too early, and did not have enough form to last the entire season. Lesson learned again.

So I have learned from the mistakes of those 2 seasons, which I don’t see as a lost cause. In 2005, I went into an Expert level season of racing with nothing in the database of training and racing, but my knowledge of being an International Level Table Tennis player. Knowledge is the key word in that last sentence. I have taken my table tennis playbook on how to train/compete, and that is why 2007 has been a turn around year for me. In table tennis I was constantly fixated on what I needed to do to improve a skill or technique. If those were taking care of, then my ability would determine how well I performed. In table tennis I went undefeated in Florida from 1996-2001, something that has never been close to being duplicated. As a matter of fact no player has gone more than 7 months of being undefeated since my 6 year reign. When finally lost, I packed up my things, put them in storage, and moved to Europe to play in the Pro Tour. From 2001-2004 I lost 4 out of 78 matches. Now that is knowing and perfecting your craft. Now, I know I have successful applied this concept to mtn bike racing. I need a database of experiences before I could be critical about how to put together a winning program. So I took a 3 dimensional look at how I could apply table tennis to mtn biking and what that is going to happen this season is going to be a direct result of that. I'm not sure what is going to happen, but I can say that it won't be the same mistake of 2005-2006.

This is the first season that I know that I have left nothing untouched, and I’ll be putting foot to ass at the end of the season. I’m not even sure if this is about beating the other riders at this point. It’s about successfully implementing and executing a training program that I can say with all certainty that it is better than what I did the year before, and to have the RESULTS to back up that.

See you in the trails

Pacer Out!

Photos - FSC #1 - Tallahassee (2006&2007)

These Photos were taken from John Kalin

2006 Batch






2007 Batch

Race Report - Tallahassee, FSC #1

The wait is over, and I’m in Tallahassee at the first race of the Florida State Championship Series. The drive is beautiful; the weather is hot, but not too hot. There is some rain in the forecast but with how clear the skies are, it’s hard to imagine it.

It is nice to see all my peers, and we catch up on how the year in training or racing has been. A noticeable absent is Trent, as he has a funeral to go to. Bummer! The next topic is the time trial, and who is going to do it.

I'm parked next to Tim, Robert and Matt H. I go with Robert, Tim and Carolyn. There is a creek that has developed at the bottom of the cadillac trail which should make for something unexpected come the XC race on Sunday. My legs feel heavy as we go up cadillac, and they get a break going back down. In the middle of cadillac you actually have to do a bit of pedal which throws the legs off a bit. As we cross over and go into the technical section, I see that all the climbs and downhills are gutted out which makes it more challenging to find a good line that won't be worn out for tomorrow.

We do a new downhill section which only means we have to come back up. Dave put in 2 big climbs like he did in 2005 and the first one is short but much more steep. The second one is the long gradual one that changes grade a couple of time and makes finding the perfect gear almost impossible. Then we bomb back down the hill, and have to singletrack climb our way back out to the rolling singletrack that leads back to the BMX. We do a 36 mins lap and I'm a little bit cooked.

I’m not feeling too siked up to do the Time Trials, as my legs felt totally stiff that lap. Tim is leaning towards not doing it also. I get back to the car, and get a call from Nick the Active Cycles boys are hear and are unloaded. I ride over to them, and we go in and do the Time Trial course, and man does that thing hurt big time, and that is when I’m pretty sure the time trial is out for me. Reasoning is, if I gun it on the TT, I may pick up a point or two. If that effort is too much for the legs, I’m going to give back more points in the XC race the next day. I’m still deliberating though.

The BMX section is still a XC riders nightmare if they attempt to clear those table tops and don't make it.



My mind is not made up until Tim and I go back in and do a lap just under race speed. The second half of the course is extremely demanding, and I just don’t want to put out that kind of effort the day before a race. Plus, once you do the 2 climbs, you still have to climb your way back out to the BMX section. No TT for Pacer. I’m gonna save it for tomorrow

5pm Saturday
When all the riders line up for the TT, I’m starting to feel like I’m missing out on something as almost all my peers are there and looking serious. Ryno prove once again the he is the man to beat in winning the TT over Bob Mc, with Victor Alber coming 3rd. I think Victor is the next rider that will challenge Ryan in the future. I didn’t say near future, but future. What was comforting was not one rider I asked said that they enjoyed the experience, and that is was painful as hell. I think the riders that went over the top have taken 1 lap out of the bank for the XC on Sunday.

I get a really good night of sleep, and feel refreshed. I normally tinker with my bike to workout the pre-race anxiety. Not this time. I had a Chicken Club from Zaxby’s, checked in to the Hampton, took a shower, and hit the sack.

On the line!
Riders 5 seconds! Whistle blows, and we are off. I’m beside LaRue and I know his is going to do what he normally does. He goes to the front, tries to set the pace, only for everyone to have to work their way around him. We make it through the tricky corner without any problems and I’m sitting about 6th, with Greg D, and Mose behind me. We go through the freshly made single-track and it’s still rough. We get to the creek and someone clips out in the middle and a load of us have to put a foot down. Mose and Greg manage to pass me and I’m clipped back in and in the paceline. SH#T that was cold, but I’m sure I’m going to love the refreshing feeling of wetting the feet on lap 3 and 4.

We are going up Cadillac and there is a guy with Jittery Joe’s that visibly in the wrong place. He can’t keep the pace, nor can he handle the technical turns that would seem textbook for an Expert rider. We get pass him by the time we get to the top of Cadillac. As we come down LaRue is the one that is getting us gapped by the Shawn and Mark G. I have no really agenda at this point, so I sit and enjoy the ride down.

Once we are at the bottom, LaRue surges hard to prevent anyone from getting around him, but immediately slow down and is in the process of getting gapped again. We go through the tight single-track like a assembly line until LaRue has to put a foot down. I get gapped by the group of Shawn, Mark, Mose, and Greg. Damn, this guy is so stubborn. I won’t even try to pass him until the first climb. As I make my move to get around him, Ryan B passes me. “Pace yourself” LaRue says as I pass him, and I don’t even respond. I’m only gapped by the leaders by 20 seconds or so. I had planned to hold back on the climbs and pick it back up on the way out to the BMX. At the bottom Jimbo Smart passed me and he is rolling hard on his singlespeed 29er. I get on his wheel and he pulls me through and actually drops me in the rolling single-track before the BMX. I get to the BMX section and I can see all the leaders ahead of me, and it inspires me. I’m normally going backwards at this point, but I was feeling good.

I finish the lap with Jimbo just ahead of me, and I practically chase him all the way of Cadillac. I’m thinking we can work together if you only stop looking back and gunning it. I get caught at the top of Cadillac by Darien and Scott C. I let them by as I think the are going to give me a escort down. Darien immediately gaps Scott, and halfway through he tells me that he is not good at the technical stuff and he lets me pass him. It takes me a couple of minutes, but I bridge up to Darien and he has going backwards, and he lets me by him. I feel inspired and start riding at my pace. At the top of the climb Tim W, comes by me and we roll out.

We finish the lap, and he has lifted the pace and I’m feeling it but not close to redlining. We catch Jimbo at the end of the 2nd lap, going going into the 3rd lap he rips it up Cadillac. His climbing style is really punchy. He doesn’t keep a constant speed. He’ll gun it for 20 seconds, and then spin it out. That type of climb would hurt my legs, and it was. We come down Cadillac, and I’m excited because I know that Tim is going to let it all hang out, and he does. I’m on his wheel and enjoying the pacesetting. We have to pass a guy and I put a foot down, and Tim is gone. I mean he is gone with the wind. I realize he really doesn’t want anyone on his wheel and I keep it going, but not nearly as fast. I get passed by a hard charging Eric Smith, and I don’t even try to get on his wheel. At this point, I want my own speed. I finish up lap 3 in 32mins, and 48 seconds, which is only 35 seconds slower than lap 2. That is something that I have never done before, so I know I have enough in the tank to gun the last lap.

Going into the 4 lap Nick gives me 2 water bottles, and I drink both of them before I even get to creek crossing which was refreshing like I predicted. I’m hammering up Cadillac and I don’t feel and signs of cramping, so going down I decide to let it all hang out. Coming down one of the technical downhills my right bar clips a tree and I hit the dirt at 15mph at least. I’m stunned, even to the point that I might have knocked the wind out of myself and I was moaning trying to gather myself. I move my shoulder to see if I have broken my collarbone, and it’s ok. I attempt to get back up and my left foot is still clipped in to my pedal. I get it back out, and look to see if my bars are straight and I’m back on the bike. I’m sure that cost me at least 30 second, and I’m surprised that I got up so fast as that was the hardest hit I taken in a race for sure. Surprisingly, I was able to get right back up to race speed in less than a minute. I crossed over to the 2nd half of the course and I’m feeling good, but I still held back on both of the long climbs. I claw my way back out of the single-track with new vigor as I know I can hold my 7th place, and my best performance to date in a state race. I get to the BMX, and I max my heart rate out there of all places. All of a sudden I found the lines on the BMX on the last lap and crossed the line with a bunny hop.

Mark G was in front of me by less than a minute, and he had cramped up and was going backwards bigtime. I’m sure had I not crashed I would have caught him. I’m chalking this up as a huge victory as I came into this race season with no Interval work in my legs, and I managed my best finish to date as far as time is concerned. Shawn walked away from everyone with Ryan in tow and unhitched him the last lap. Tim recovered from 2 crashed in Cadillac on the first lap to storm back to 3rd place with Eric Smith right behind him. Greg D brought in 5th place, with Mark and I coming home 6th and 7th. Scott came in less than 1 minute behind courtesy of my crash. Ryan Woodall made it a double as he soloed in for the victory with his teammate and training partner about 2 minutes back. Bob Mc seems to be back to his 2005 race form as he placed 3rd place. Honorary mention to Ryno’s little Bro Reagan Woodall as he finished 7th place in his first Pro XC race. Man, talking about some God-giving ability in the bloodline.

I have 2 weeks off until Reddick, and I’m gonna hit is hard to finish top 4 at Razorback, and to do well in the Team Time Trial. We are currently 4th in the Team Classification, so that should motivate the team. See you at Razorback

Pacer Out!

The legs are BACK!

I got my legs back underneath me, thank god. Doing the 6-hr of Santos really put me under as far getting recovered, and after more than a week I can feel that the power is coming back under my legs. I will take you through the 10 days after Santos from being totally under, to almost fully recovered.

I did cramp up several different times at Santos, so my legs did have some really deep soreness afterwards. Nothing 2 or 3 days can’t fix. So I took the Labor Day off the bike completely.

Tuesday, Sept 4th
I did the Vista View road ride on Tuesday and put in a huge effort to win the first sprint. I just walked a way from everyone without gunning, and I think it’s because I didn’t have gunning it in my legs.

Wednesday, Sept 5th
The next day I got on the mtn bike with the guys at Oleta. Richard Diaz was in the front for the first lap, so I thought it would be a nice warm up, NOT SO. About 10 minutes into the course I was suffering like nobody’s business. Diaz was setting an impressive pace based on the last time I rode with him, but not enough that it would really hurt me, BUT I was hurting. Several times I felt like pulling out of the lap, but I was waiting for the legs to come around. Going into Davie’s trail just put the last 2 nails in the coffin as I was done after that. I went back to the car, had 2 water bottles with organic maple syrup in them. I was debating if I would go back in or not, as Bob usually uses the wheel behind him as a reason to ride at Mach speed. After about 10 minutes I decided to give it a shot.

Not even 6 minutes into the course Bob is throwing down the biggest effort we’ve done so far and I’m already with my back to the wall and eyes looking for a place to dodge out of the lap, but I keep on it. At 8 minutes we are at the fire road that goes around the cabin and he has about 10 seconds on me. Andres is behind me and he is happy to just suck my wheel as I’m sure he is hurting too. I put my head down and attempt to bridge to him before we get to the single-track in about .7 miles. I look up at my speed, and I’m going 19.5, 20.2, 20.6, 21.1, 21.7, and I have managed to get within 5 seconds of him when we get to the single-track but that is it. I let Andres pass me, do the next couple sections and head for the car. The legs are not recovered yet.

Thursday, Sept 6th
I get on the trainer for 45 minutes to see if I can spin out the legs and hope they feel better for the ride at Markham in the afternoon. I can’t tell if they feel better, and I go to Markham anyway, and my legs are heavy and still without power right from the start. On top of that we are getting some rain that has the bridges slippery, and the red ants are out in force. I call it a day at 1 lap and a half.

Friday, Sept 7th
I do a fat-burning ride to see if I’m recovered. For this workout I ride at 20mph, and keep my heart between 130-140bpm. This is the premiere workout that indicates if my legs are recovered. I normally spend between 46-55mins in that zone. It was a successful workout as I did the necessary speed, and 29 minutes of the workout was below 130bpm. Nice, but what does that mean?

Saturday, Sept 8th
The next morning I did the same workout to see if yesterday was a hoax, and at the same speed I spent 52 minutes between 130-140bpm, and the remainder was above 140bpm. Friday was a HOAX, and now I’m confused about what kind of effort to do when I ride, and when my body will come back around. I don't think that the heartrates zones should change so drastically from one day to the next.

Sunday, Sept 9th
I got to Markham and T. Wiz, Matt. H, and Carolyn V are out. Great! 3 Expert riders that ride at a decent speed to call it training, and not racing. I suffer like a dog like I did at Oleta on the first lap, and I’m lucky enough to finish lap with them. I’m in it to do the 2nd and 3rd lap back to back, and I plan to do the 2nd with them and the 3rd by myself. 10 minutes into the lap Wiz starting putting it down and he and Matt walk away from me. I know they were not riding fast, I just couldn’t even lift my pace at all. So I crawl out that lap, and I’m crawling even worst the second lap. I do half of the gun range, and just pull out. I’m going too slow to hit the climbs at a speed that I could even call it productive. I get back to the picnic table and I’m rethinking the last week of my pathetic life, and Carolyn and Tim come out. Tim went over the bars, and he called it a day also. Oh! Did I mention it was “Africa” out there also.

Monday, Sept 10th
I wake up, and my legs actually feel great, and I decided to go out and do 2 laps at Markham before I have my presentation in class. But my XO rear deraileur was cracked so I went to the shop to have them replace it. That took some time as Nick had customers, and I knew it would be difficult to get in 2 laps. I get to the park, and LaRue is there, and we go in and I actually do feel great. I’m actually drilling it and my heartrate is in the 150’s, and I’m not suffering at all. About 10 minutes later, the heartrate jumps up and I still feel good. I gap LaRue several times. I make a mistake in the gunrange, and he passes me. I keep him 10 seconds in front of me for the rest of the lap. That lap was 34 mins, and I felt good. I only have 15 minutes, so I ride 8 minutes in, and 8 minutes out, and call it a day. I’ve got a lot of confidence from that 1 lap, because I felt like my body's ability to buffer off the lactic acid was back to normal.

Tuesday, Sept 11th
I go to the Vista View ride and my legs are feeling good yet again, and I decide I’m just going to put in a huge effort going East on 84. The ride is fast as we have a tailwind for first 20 minutes and I don’t even get a chance to get to the front. Going North on Glades there is a headwind and all the heavy hitters come to the front and keep the pace between 25-30mph. We turn East on 84 and there is a nasty head/crosswind. Blain jumps to the front and one of his Bike America cohorts jumps with him. Bob jumps to chase and I’m behind him. We trade pulls and form a small gap. After about 2 minutes the group is back with us, but we are still the primary riders taking pulls. Then the group gets involved as they are now recovered. The involvement is short as it slows back down after about 2 minutes. Blain and his cohort jump again and they have 3 more with them. We keep a certain distance on them, and I’m looking for a good position, because I want to contest the sprint.

We let them hang out there and burn themselves out, and they start to go backwards coming back to us. As we get to them Ricky looks back and taps him helmet as if to say, “I got a leadout for you”. Now just 3 weeks ago Ricky and I had words as he didn’t want to pull through, and now the guy is offering me a leadout. Thank you God! He pulls out and surges hard. We quickly have a gap, but we are way far out. He shocked the group with going out so far. I stay on his wheel and he is drilling it like his life depends on it and I look down and the speed is 31.6mph. I look back and Bob is trying to bridge to us, as he is the only one to go. We have a nice gap on Bob, and I’m not even looking at my speed. Then Ricky is gone, and we have slowed down. The guy can lead you out, but when he is out, he has nothing left. I look back and Bob is still at the same distant. I put my head down and my speed is 29.7mph, and I slowly ramp up the speed because I’m still very far out. I take it up to 34.2mph and that manages to unhitch Bob. I pop before the line myself, but manage to crawl to the sprint point at 25mph.

We hit a light, and Bob comes up to me and says, “ You made me Vurp”, and we both laugh. I think a Vurp is a combo of Burping and Vomit. I kind of took it as a compliment that the effort was intense, but I was given a leadout and he was trying to bridge to the leadout and win the sprint so I had the upperhand. We are opposites as I can’t stay with him on the mtn bike, and on the road he can’t pulls as hard or fast as me, and he has never beaten me in a sprint. In that respect, we are both a half of a circle. As we are working hard to get what the other rider has to close that circle of being equally strong on the mtn and road bike.

I finish up the ride without contesting the sprint at all. My goal was accomplished, and that was to flush out the rest of the lactic acid from Santos.

Wedneday, Sept 12th
I’m really anxious to get out and ride because I now know that my legs are back. I was assuming that doing the 6-hrs of Santos would jumpstart my program, and maybe it has. But not without setting me back a week and playing with my confidence. Doing that type of race is a lot different than recovering from a tough XC race. I get out at Markham and, No Bob, No Diaz, but Andres and his son do show up. We go in and I felt like I did on Monday, but I hold back on the legs because I’m in for 4 laps today. At the gun range I’m about 20 secs off my time from Monday and I have gapped Andres. I keep things going at that clip and finish out the lap at a 35 min lap. We take a recover ride around the park and chat as we ride. Andres is a smart rider and has been riding a long time. I met him at the first State Race I have ever did at HardRock back in 1999, where he finish 2nd place in the Series to Luiz from B&J in the 30-39 Sport Category.

We go into the second lap and I feel even better than I did the first lap, but I want to be slightly faster at every checkpoint, and I am. I have over 40 seconds on Andres now and I’m not suffering at all. 4 minutes later he is back on my wheel. Man, this guy is cutting out Crime Scene and Jet Ski Hill. How can anyone get back 40 seconds in 4 minutes in the most technical jagged part of the course? I keep that same pace going and finish out the lap 35 seconds faster at 34 mins, and 25 seconds. We take another ride around the park, and he says he is finished. I’m in to do these last 2 back to back, so I top off my bottle and drink water out of the jug before I hit the trail. This lap I want to do a 36 min lap, then do a 35 min lap for number 4.

I keep it smooth and I’m holding back so I can have something in the tank for the last lap. I bring in the 3rd lap at 36 mins, and 29 second and go right in for number 4. It’s too dark at this point but I decide to ride until I can’t see, and it doesn’t even take 10 minute as I go into a section that is covered and it practically goes pitch black. That is when I pull out of the lap and give myself a well deserved pat on the back.

I’m going to ride the trainer for 25 minutes in the morning, and in the afternoon I’m going to do a recovery ride to the Vista View road ride, then sit in and not take one pull. When I get home I’m going to take another Ice Bath. Yeap! Another Ice bath, as it has quickly turned into my pre-race ritual to get the legs ready for Tom Brown this weekend.

See you at the Race this weekend

Pacer Out!

Santos 6-hr Race Report

I got on the box! I got on the box! I’m sorry to be reporting so late but I have been up to my neck in work since the event. I actually ended up leaving really late to the event because my brother Reggie who is a truck driver had just drove into town as I was loading up. He wanted to go to Wholefoods to get some things, and his truck would not fit in the parking lot. So I drove down to N. Miami with the Mrs. P and picked him up. He stocked up on teas, mangosteen, acai, goji, and noni juices. I dropped him back off at his truck, which put me hours behind and jumped on the road.

I was pretty exhausted, and Mrs. P took the wheel and got us there at 6:55pm. I jumped out of the car got changed and went into the course with 2 riders from Higher Ground Bike Shop out of Tallahassee. The male rider took over for the first 10 minutes, then he gave it to the young lady and she was tearing it up. The course was wet, but extremely fast. The “John Brown” section was taken out because the Berger’s expected the rain to come during the race and that section would have been under water and dangerous because it’s so steep and slick when it’s wet. The course only had one section that was up and down to tax the heartrate. We finished the course in 45 minutes and 10mph, which I knew was slow, but because the course was not technical I did not need to really go that fast.

Bob McCarty had got in 10 minutes before me and he and Oscar Camacho had went in for a lap. We all changed and went to Carrabba’s for dinner. We had a good dinner and great conversation as Oscar, Bob and I are all married now. We said good night, and left. Bob said he would be at Panera Bread at 7am, and I knew I would not be there that early. I don’t have anxiety that makes me get to the race venue early. I’m an extremely seasoned athlete and typically show up 1hr before the race. Getting there over 2 hrs before the race is just over the top for me. I get home, and totally clean the drive train to a point that there is practically no dirt on the chain, cassette, or derailleur.

The next morning I get to the venue, and it’s packed. I park behind Bob, grabbed my wallet and went over to get in line. It was 9:15 and the line was over 1 hour long. It was hot, and no sign up rain so I made sure to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

A pic before the race with Bob and Oscar

The chaos ensues as we switch over from running to riding.

Lap 1
We had a Lemans start, and I got to my bike in the top 15, and there was only one other rider that I knew would be strong competition, and that was Greg Derosa. He came on strong at the end of the State Series, and has been riding good all year long. I got into the singletrack after Mark Gerard that was on a team, and he was directly behind Greg D. He passed us both and we didn’t mind, because we would be out here 6 hrs anyway. We passed a couple of riders that were great runner, but not strong mtn bikers and things calmed down. A rider asked if he can come around and I let him, and he is in the 800 series number which means he is a 6-hrs Solo Series. Before I could even react, he was asking Greg if he could get around. Greg let him by and surged, and so did it. This guy was freaking drilling it big time, and I was not sure if he was this strong as a rider, or if he was trying to drop us. The pace was high, and the problem was my heartrate monitor was not showing my heartrate, so I changed it to Avg Speed, and it was showing 13.4 after about 18 mins so I knew we were smoking it. I knew that was fast, but I was not in any danger. Tattooed up dude kept drilling it as Greg and I paced him around the first lap, and we came in at 36mins. Add 1 minute to that for the Lemans starts, but 36 minutes of single-track.

Lap 2
I pulled in, and asked Mrs. P for 2 water bottles because at this pace and heat, it was going to get rough after a couple of hours. I came through the start finish and Greg was getting his water bottles. Tattoo Guy (Andres) was putting on a Camelback. I thought, “Man, this is going to be a long race”, as I left mine at home. Andres kept hitting it hard, but he was only making things easier for Greg and myself. I turn my heartrate monitor off, then back on and it starts working again. It says 169bpm, and I hit the start button. That is way high for a 6-hr race, but this is the group that is going to be on the box so I can’t let them go. After 10 minutes into the course Shawn Smith rolls up on us, and he has an 800 number on his leg. He moves to the front and the pace picks up even more. Greg is in second, Andres is 3rd, and I’m taking up the rear. I hear another bike, and it’s Bob McCarty that has just joined our party. Now we have 5 riders, and having that kind of group together improves moral and speed. In on of the technical sections Andres and Greg go down, and Bob and I pass them and bridge to Shawn that has gapped up a little. Shawn, myself, and Bob bring in the 2nd lap at 36 minutes also.

Lap 3
I grab 2 more water bottles and I’m back in the singletrack with Shawn leading it, and Bob and myself in tow. About 5 minutes into the course Greg bridges back up to us, and Andres is not with him. “He’ll be back “I thought , especially at the speed he was racing. Shawn has it going at practically the same speed and I’m starting to get a handle on how to shift with 34 teeth chainring from Rotor. It was only my 3rd time riding on the new drivetrain, but a great course to do it on. I mastering it in a couple of minutes and I’m wasting less effort coming out of corners. On the fireroad to John Brown Shawn lets Bob take over the pace-making and he immediately forms a gap. No one reacts as he is doing the 13-hr. But Drew Edsall bridges up to us, and he attacks off the front in pursuit of Bob. When he gets to Bob, he then attacks Bob and they are off. Gutsy move to attack off the front 1 hour into 13 hour race. Shawn then gives the pace making to me and I actually take it down a notch. I ride on the front for about 10 minutes, and give the pace-making to Greg. He keeps it at that pace. As we go through a technical section I take a bad line and I here my chainring hit a rock. A moment later I hear a clicking when I pedal and I back off. Shawn passes me and I’m off the back. I quickly find out that I can’t use the bottom 2 cogs on my cassette for some reason, so my cadence picks up. I am able to finish that lap with the guys in my sight. I finish at 37 minutes, but I’m going to let them go this lap, as it is time for me to ride “Solo”.


Lap 4
This lap I can feel that little tingle in the legs that lets me know that cramping is not long away. I have been drinking my 2 bottles per lap, but not eating. So I eat 2 bags of shot blocks that Mrs. P has put in a small cup and into the back my jersey and wash it down with one bottle of water with organic maple syrup. I can tell that my pace has gone down, but I still feel like I have power in my legs so I keep it right at that speed, and finish out the lap at 40 minutes.

Lap 5
I grab 1 banana, 2 more water bottles and tell Mrs. P to keep the water and maple syrup coming and I’m off. I don’t feel the tingling and pick my pace back up, and I’m riding a little bit stronger than the last lap, but I’m mindful that I do have a long day and I actually back off on the fireroads. There is a section where there is 3 back to back climbs that are really steep, and after I hit the last one I feel the cramp pull in the inner thigh of my left leg. Shit!! I’m at the 23 minute mark and I had been feeling so good that I forgot to drink all together. I slam one entire bottle but the cramp is still there. I back off a bit and eat 1 packet of shot blocks, and wash it down with the other water bottle. The cramp is still there and I can only hope that topping off the body will make it go away. It does as I pull in to pit and Mrs P has 2 more bottles waiting. That lap was 41mins, 45 seconds, which would have been much faster has I not backed off for the last 18 minutes. I’m at the halfway point and I’m officially in “ No Pacer Zone”, as I have never rode this hard for this long. I still have 3rd place in the bag, and it’s my race to lose.

Lap 6.
I’m back off and shortly into the lap the cramp comes back, but it is weak, and I can ride with it. It is the first time that I have ever manage a cramp while racing. I drink the entire first bottle and it goes away. I make sure and not get to excited about riding too fast because the cramps have gone away. I drink the entire second bottle on the main fireroad, and 15 minutes into the course I have no water, but the cramps are gone. At the end of the lap I had gone unconscious and had a nice flow going when a sharp cramp rips up the right inner thigh. This one is very strong and I have to almost stop pedaling to see if I can get it to go way. “Do have to take 3 bottle next lap?” I slow down but the cramp is still there, and I’m changing positions with my legs to see if I can stretch it out. It does weaken, but the left leg cramps back up. I know I have slowed down, but my heartrate is still high. Now I’m overheating, so as I pull into the lap at 42 minutes and 50 seconds, and the first thing I do is dig into the cooler and fill up 2 bottles of water with ice in it. I put one on my head, and one on my legs. I dip it back in and put 1 in the front of my jersey, and 1 in the back, and I’m off.

Lap 7
I’m back in the trail and things seem better for me at the moment. My cramps are gone, and my body has cooled down. I have not been caught by any rider ahead of me, but another 2 problems arise. I’m starting to have a problem with my stomach not wanting anything on it. The maple syrup is starting to bother me, and I have told Mrs. P to keep them coming. The second problem which is just as critical is I have had a serious lost of power. I have hit the wall as far as speed. It takes me the entire lap to drink the 2 water bottles, and I manage to get down 1 packet of shot blocks. I roll into the pit at 44 mins, which is only 1 min and 10 seconds slower than the lap before, so it’s not that bad. Mrs P. hands me my water bottles as I pour water all over my head and legs and I’m off.

Lap 8.
I go at the lap at practically the same speed as the lap before, and at the 15 minute mark as I’m on the fireroad I make an attempt to have a gel. As soon as I drink it, I half spit/half vomit it out. That is when I decide that drinking and eating is over for me. I keep the same pace and now my heartrate is in the 140’s, and the laps before it was in the 150’s and 160’s. I know I’m in 3rd place, but I can’t confirm it because I have not asked, and they have not looked at the list for my number. I actually stop to start my ipod over because after around 5 hours of riding all my good motivation music has passed. I stop for 30 seconds, and get my flow back. I finish the lap at 44 mins and 50 seconds. This time in the pit I’m slower and more methodical as I put water on my legs and head. As I pull off I look at Mrs P. and say “One more!”

Last Lap
I’m at 5 hrs, and 21 minutes going into this lap, and as I pass through the start/finish Dave Berger says, “You can stop if you want to”. I say to him, do you think I want to keep going. I know I have to because I’m not sure how far behind the 4th place guys is, and I want to cement this last lap with a good effort. I now understand that it’s really about how you finish this type of race. Starting is really fun, and easy. At the halfway mark, the pretenders are gone or running on empty, and at the end you are only dealing with the real “ Men of Steel”. I keep my pace going and it’s practically the same speed as the last 2 laps. Then it gets dark in the trail, and the temperature drops about 10 degrees. Then Russell Hagen rides up on me, and it is perfect timing. He gaps me a little and I slowly bridge to him. We chat a little and the rain starts to sprinkle and I feel even better. I’m more than past the halfway point of the last lap and ready to let it all hang out to finish the lap strong. Russell really starts to drill it and I feel ok, then the God opens up the sky and the rain comes down so hard that I can’t even see 10 ft. in front of me. I keep hammering and about 2 minutes later, both legs lock up. At this point I back off the pace, take off my glasses and bring it in really slowly.

I was very impressed that I could pull off this 6th place finish considering I had only rode my bike 5 times since June. This was my first 6-hr event, so I am the rookie even though I did not perform like one. This is exactly the kind of result and effort I need to jumpstart my program for the State Series. I’m going to continue to build up to the State Series and not force my form. I’m going to take the next week by ear and see how the body feels. Here are a couple of pictures from the race

Bob McCarty was in the lead by 42 seconds over Drew Edsall when they called the race. He is the primary person that I train with on the mtn bike

These are 2 faces I will get used to seeing for the next 3 months. My goal is for them to look at my back as I ride away.


I huge thank you goes out to my wife Fabienne as it was our first event of this magnitude and she did a fantastic job of having water bottles topped off and ready, snacks in my small cups to go in the back of my jersey, and overall positive attitude. Hey, I think she may have some potential to work for Nascar.

Pacer Out!