Blue Star
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Training Update and Racing Calendar
Not much happening these past few weeks other than lots of training. I'm averaging just shy of 15 hours a week including my gym work. I'd like to bump up the hours closer to 20, but it is really hard with bad weather and 4pm darkness. There is only so much trainer time a guy can take no matter how focused. 120 minutes is my usual limit doing mostly zone 2/3 efforts, occasionally I can go a full 180 minutes, but that takes a lot of mental stamina.
Last week, I started my Max Strength phase in the gym. I've been throwing around almost 500lbs on the leg sled in an effort to get some more horsepower under the hood. The Christmas holiday will bring a few days of desert training on the MTB and then in January I'll transition to some build phase stuff on the bike with one day in the gym to maintain my strength gains.
I'm still planning out my 2008 race calendar. It is going to be similar to year's past with a focus on NMBS events, Sea Otter, the one-day National Championships at Mt. Snow (assuming I qualify), and various local and regional events to fill in the gaps. I'm waiting to publish a post with a complete list until some more details come out regarding the NMBS series. Of course, the big addition to the schedule this year is the 7-day BC Bike Race that kicks off in late June. I also know I'll be starting my season down in Phoenix at an Arizona State Championship series race. The strategy there is to get some sun (i.e. Vitamin D replenishment) and hopefully earn an early qualification to Mt. Snow. We'll see though as the body won't have much intensity yet, so a race effort is going to hurt.
On the 2008 sponsorship front, things are still getting dialed in. I'll pull together a post revealing my sponsors once all the deals are inked. As the saying goes, I don't want to count my chickens too soon. However, as I've alluded to in previous posts, next year's lineup is going to look a little different. Change is good though.
No pics today. Sorry. I know my loyal readers like imagery.
Blue Star
Last week, I started my Max Strength phase in the gym. I've been throwing around almost 500lbs on the leg sled in an effort to get some more horsepower under the hood. The Christmas holiday will bring a few days of desert training on the MTB and then in January I'll transition to some build phase stuff on the bike with one day in the gym to maintain my strength gains.
I'm still planning out my 2008 race calendar. It is going to be similar to year's past with a focus on NMBS events, Sea Otter, the one-day National Championships at Mt. Snow (assuming I qualify), and various local and regional events to fill in the gaps. I'm waiting to publish a post with a complete list until some more details come out regarding the NMBS series. Of course, the big addition to the schedule this year is the 7-day BC Bike Race that kicks off in late June. I also know I'll be starting my season down in Phoenix at an Arizona State Championship series race. The strategy there is to get some sun (i.e. Vitamin D replenishment) and hopefully earn an early qualification to Mt. Snow. We'll see though as the body won't have much intensity yet, so a race effort is going to hurt.
On the 2008 sponsorship front, things are still getting dialed in. I'll pull together a post revealing my sponsors once all the deals are inked. As the saying goes, I don't want to count my chickens too soon. However, as I've alluded to in previous posts, next year's lineup is going to look a little different. Change is good though.
No pics today. Sorry. I know my loyal readers like imagery.
Blue Star
Monday, December 03, 2007
Project One Speed
This evening I just about wrapped up work on Project One Speed. I converted my Ellsworth Enlightenment into a singlespeed. The cool thing is it cost just a few bills to do it in addition to a couple of parts from the the storage bins in the Blue Star shop. I'm using a Soulcraft Convert tension device and I converted a FC M960 XTR crankset using a Blackspire Mono Veloce ring and Ring God guard. The only thing left to do is dial in the position and cut the steerer tube on the Fox F80RLC fork.
Why singlespeed? Sheldon Brown says, "Many cyclists are rebelling against the excessive complication, fragility and weight of current mountain bikes. More and more cyclists are discovering the joys of simple, one-speed bicycles." Others practice the art of singlespeeding as a way to eschew the norm. See, e.g., Singlespeedoutlaw.com
My reasoning was a bit more practical than merely an aversion to the complexity of the modern bicycle or a form of rebellion. Rather, I wanted a rig that could take the punishing winters that are served up here in the Pacific Northwest. The mud is brutal and it reeks havoc on cog stacks and skinny 9-speed chains. Also, pushing the 32x16 up the Cascade foothills will give me some solid bike-based force workouts to supplement my strength work in the gym.
The beautiful thing about this particular build is the entire bike weighs in at just about 20lbs even with some heavy mud tires. Swap out the tires for some light weight racing rubber, cut the steerer to length, and it will definitely come in under 20.
The rig and the happy mechanic.
The rig up close.
Yep, just one 16 tooth cog back there.
Blue Star
Why singlespeed? Sheldon Brown says, "Many cyclists are rebelling against the excessive complication, fragility and weight of current mountain bikes. More and more cyclists are discovering the joys of simple, one-speed bicycles." Others practice the art of singlespeeding as a way to eschew the norm. See, e.g., Singlespeedoutlaw.com
My reasoning was a bit more practical than merely an aversion to the complexity of the modern bicycle or a form of rebellion. Rather, I wanted a rig that could take the punishing winters that are served up here in the Pacific Northwest. The mud is brutal and it reeks havoc on cog stacks and skinny 9-speed chains. Also, pushing the 32x16 up the Cascade foothills will give me some solid bike-based force workouts to supplement my strength work in the gym.
The beautiful thing about this particular build is the entire bike weighs in at just about 20lbs even with some heavy mud tires. Swap out the tires for some light weight racing rubber, cut the steerer to length, and it will definitely come in under 20.
The rig and the happy mechanic.
The rig up close.
Yep, just one 16 tooth cog back there.
Blue Star
Saturday, December 01, 2007
And then there was snow
Today's two-hour recovery spin, turned into a mini-epic. I left the house and it was cold, but there was spots of intermittent sun. A little after the one hour mark, some small flakes started to fly. I thought to myself, "how beautiful." Soon after, however, it was a full on white out. I trudged home, gingerly taking corners in an effort to keep the rubber side down. The streets were covered in slush and the snow started to stick almost immediately. It was very hard to see, because my glasses were getting coated with snow and I couldn't take them off because the big flakes hurt my eyes. Once home, I was coated from head to toe in snow and SLR snapped a couple of pictures as she laughed at my appearance. Note the accumulation on the bar and post.
It is still coming down at a good clip as I type this post. We've got over an inch in the yard. Seattle does not deal with snow well, so the roadways are going to be a mess until the rainy weather returns tomorrow. If I was still in the saddle, I'd surely look like Andy Hampsten in the 1988 Giro Di Italia on the Passo Gavia.
Blue Star
It is still coming down at a good clip as I type this post. We've got over an inch in the yard. Seattle does not deal with snow well, so the roadways are going to be a mess until the rainy weather returns tomorrow. If I was still in the saddle, I'd surely look like Andy Hampsten in the 1988 Giro Di Italia on the Passo Gavia.
Blue Star
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