The Road to BGI

The name's Toby, and I'm one of the managers of Bicycle Garage Indy.  I'm here to talk about road biking, but I'm interested in lots of other things as well.  Ask me about bikes, books, baking, and my beautiful wife and daughter.  Get in touch anytime:

tholsman@bgindy.com
317-842-4140 x572
Bicycle Garage Indy

Decent weather + morning daylight = let's ride tomorrow.  Meet at the shop at 7:15, rolling at 7:30.  Mild Indianapolis mornings are hard to come by in March, so grab the opportunity!

Chances are that we'll get a little wet, so you might need a fender, like this one from SKS.  Or you can just wrap up with your favorite rain gear, like Pearl Izumi's Zephyr vest.  I wear the Cannondale Morphis jacket all the time during the spring.

In other news, the pro racing season is well underway, and my favorite, the Tour of Flanders, is fast approaching on April 4th.  It'll be followed directly by my racing debut at Ceraland on April 17th.  I haven't been using the power meter much lately, in favor of just enjoying the sensation of being outside, but I'll be sure to get that fired up again soon and start posting my eletronic self-worth for all to admire/scorn.

But the bottom line is:  let's get riding.

Goal:  to win at least one Cat 3 criterium this year.
Winter plans:  determine what would be needed to do that and implement it.

Two components to winning races:  fitness and skills.  Unfortunately, during the winter in Indianapolis, it's hard to practice the race skills that are needed for this goal.  So this is the time to focus on fitness.  

I'm a big believer in maintaining high-intensity workouts all year long.  Here's an article from Pez Cycling News discussing it in more detail.  So right now I'm trying to develop sustained high intensity, but not too high--just trying to stimulate my aerobic system a bit and get ready for higher-intensity efforts later on.

Tomorrow I'll be doing this workout on my Cycleops JetFluid:
My standard warmup (20 minutes)
10 minutes at 270W, followed by 5 minutes easy.  Repeat twice more.

65 minutes, short and sweet.  The interval pace should be hard enough to make you breathe fast and deep.  You could talk if you had to, but you'd rather not.  If your breathing gets ragged and short, back off.

One other note:  most people are hesitant to disclose their power numbers.  I can understand that if you're a pro who has a serious disadvantage if the competition knows how strong you are, but I don't think I care whether my cat 3 competitors know.  Bring out the measuring sticks and let's compare, says I.  It's better motivation for the winter, and after all, we don't really know until we get to the finish line, do we?  Bring it on!

If you're like most Indianapolis cyclists, you've been stuck indoors to on the trainer lately (you do have a trainer, don't you?  Good).  My last post was about indoor cycling training strategies, so let's take a look at how we can apply those.

I've found it very helpful to have a standard 20-30 minute warmup that you have memorized and can do without thinking.  Here's my standard warmup.  It seems complicated, but once you do it a few times, it'll be easy to remember:

start with light, smooth pedaling, gradually increasing cadence and gear.
3:30:  1 min of fast pedal (>110 rpm) in an easy gear)
4:30:  easy pedal at 90 rpm
6:00:  1 min in a big gear, starting at a hard intensity and increasing to very hard by the end of the minute.
7:00:  easy pedal at 90 rpm
8:00:  1 min in a big gear, standing pedaling slowly.  This is to stretch the back, give the butt a break.
9:00:  easy pedal at 90 rpm
10:00:  30s pedaling at 100rpm with one leg in an easy gear.
10:30:  repeat with the other leg.
11:00:  30s in the same gear with both legs.
11:30:  30s pedaling at 100rpm with one leg in an easy gear.
12:00:  repeat with the other leg.
12:30:  90s in the same gear with both legs.
14:00:  30s pedaling at 100rpm with one leg in an easy gear.
14:30:  repeat with the other leg.
15:00:  30s in the same gear with both legs.
15:30:  30s pedaling at 100rpm with one leg in an easy gear.
16:00:  repeat with the other leg.
16:30:  90s in the same gear with both legs.
18:00:  1 min in a big gear, standing pedaling slowly.
19:00:  easy pedal at 90 rpm
20:00:  ready to start the rest of the workout.

It'll help you get mentally and physically ready, and then you only have to do another 40 minutes or so to get an hour total.  Seems more attainable already, doesn't it?

Next time:  we'll talk about my goals for the year, and how I'm planning workouts around them.

This is the first of what will be a winter-long series about what trainer workouts I'm doing.  When I first bought a trainer, I always felt a little unsure about what exactly I should be doing with it, and over the years I've come up with some strategies I feel pretty confident about.  So I hope they help!

A few keys for success:

1)  VARIETY.  In every workout, you should be doing lots of different things.  This is partly for skills development, but mostly because it helps deal with the #1 trainer obstacle:  boredom.  Do lots of different things, and boredom will take much longer to set in.  Get some high-cadence, low-cadence, single-leg, sitting, standing, etc.

2)  INTENSITY.  The classic philosophy is that you should use winter for steady, low-intensity aerobic base training.  However, this really only works if you have a high training volume, 15 hours or more.  If you only have 6-8 hours a week, like me, you need a higher-intensity stimulus to get the desired result. 

3) PLANNING.  Never get on the trainer without knowing exactly what you're going to do.  If you try to improvise your workout, or "ride how you feel," I can tell you now what you're going to do--you're going to go 20 or 30 minutes, decide that this is boring, and that your butt hurts, and you're going to decide that you really should get around to doing the laundry.

4) ADAPTATION.  The trainer is the most controlled cycling environment you'll ever have, so as the weeks go by, pay attention to what's happening to you, and make changes as necessary.  Then see how your respond to the changes, and tweak as necessary.

5) GOALS.  What exactly do you want out of this winter?  For most people, that's pretty simple:  ride faster.  But the details matter.  Do you want to win a bunch sprint?  Improve your 40k time?  Complete your first triathlon?  All those goals call for somewhat different approaches.

Next time:  my goals, and the workout I'm doing this month to start getting ready for next year.

Bike racing is a tough sport for kids to get started in.  A lot of parents worry about the startup cost and the risk of injury.  Fortunately, the fastest-growing race category in the US is also the most kid-friendly:  cyclocross!


Most kids' bikes are not well-suited to road or mountain bike racing, but a cyclocross racer can use just about anything--as evidenced by these fellas trying to negotiate the sand pit.


The Ohio Valley Cyclocross Series has put a strong emphasis on encouraging kids' participation.  They frequently get junior-aged fields of 30 or more.  Many of the stronger junior riders compete in the senior categories and put a hurt on them (myself included)!


Cyclocross races are generally much friendlier to kids or other inexperienced racers.  There are no high-speed packs of riders to negotiate.  The consequences of a fall are generally much less than in a road race or on a rock-strewn mountain bike descent.  And you get to do lots of different fun, playful things on your bike--like trying to leap back onto the seat after running up a hill!


BGI has several riders who participate in cyclocross races in Indianapolis and surrounding cities.  This picture is of Josh Prater, assistant service manager, en route to winning the Category 3 state championship in 2008.


You can also get cyclocross advice from some of our other riders:  the South store has Shane Meadows, Daniel Bartholomew, and Bob Locke; the North store has Mark Trousdale, Josh, and yours truly.


The cross season is over for this year, but keep an eye on www.ovcx.com next year as the summer winds down--there'll be plenty more muddy, sandy, snowy, awesome action to be had.

Well, I did a couple of cross races.  Not too much to report other than
1) if you do it right, it hurts, and you want to quit halfway through
2) the second it's over, you want to you want to do it again tomorrow
3) 44x18 is a great gear for commuting, but as a cross race gear, it causes next-day back spasms.

And this is the most flattering picture I could find. 

Cross season ends once again, too quickly after it begins, with a "you know, I should have done more than two of those races, they're really pretty fun."  Mmmaybe next year.

The winter is setting in.  The Friday morning rides are essentially done in by darkness and cold.  Not a lot of people are test riding bikes.

Which means it's time to get next year started.

Every spring, you can instantly tell who's put in a strong winter of training and who hasn't.  You roll out with your friends, you get to the first bit of challenging terrain, and right away you know the answer:  "Hey, I'm going to have a good year!" or "Uh-oh, this could be a rough start."

My theory is that everybody rides a lot during the summer--it's easy.  The winter is your opportunity to make progress against your rivals, your 40K time, you average speed.  Don't give up the progress you made this summer.  Come out of the winter STRONGER than you are now.

Get yourself a trainer, like the Cycleops JetFluid I got last month.

Get some way to measure your performance, like the Trek Incite 11i, or the Cycleops Powertap.

Get motivated--by a video like Robbie Ventura's Race Day, by watching Lance's return to the Tour De France (in stock now), or by some particularly humiliating moment from the past year.  Man, do I look plump.  Getting caught by Tracy Tolson is not as shameful as getting caught by some less-accomplished rider, but still.

Now get on the trainer!

It's just winter!  It's not that long!  It's the perfect opportunity to do low-distraction, extremely focused training!  You can do it!

Well, thanks, Daylight Savings Time!  The forecast looks favorable for the first time in weeks, so we've got a group of people riding from the shop at 7:30.  Bring your road bike and we'll be back at 9. 

Just reloaded my winter clothing wardrobe.  My new Pearl Izumi jacket and booties are winners.

Looks like I'll finally be able to pop the cork on my cyclocross season at the Major Taylor Velodrome!  Nice to go into a race with no expectations.  Or preparations.  I also hear that there's a hill which might not be rideable on my singlespeed rig.  If the race is decided by my running prowess, it might get ugly. 

One of the nice things about this time of year is that one has an impetus to seek out different types of bike rides. 

Town Run too muddy to mountain bike?  Find an off-road alternative that isn't as sensitive to wet weather.

Not enough daylight to get your long ride in?  Get a new trainer, like I just did, and add some intensity to get maximum results out of a shorter workout.  Robbie Ventura's videos are the best I've seen.

Too cold and wet to ride fast on the road?  Consider some fat tire options that will bring the speed, and the wind chill, down.

Ride your MTB on the road.  You'll go a little slower, and maybe notice some new detours.  Or you'll ride a bumpy or gravelly road that you'd normally avoid.

After a summer of goal-oriented riding, it's time for exploring.

It's rained the last few Fridays, and it's in the forecast again for this week.  Still, I'm not quite ready to give up.  8 AM, at North, on road bikes.  Just an hour or so.  Come ride before it's too nasty!

Rain has kept the attendance down the last few weeks--it's been just me!  This week I'll be at the shop at 8 AM, and we'll get a good hour and change in before it's time for work.  Come on out.

First of all, the Friday ride is ON for 10/9/09.  Start at 7:45, back at the shop at 9.  Daylight is definitely getting scarce in the morning, so come out and ride while we still can.  There are some showers in the forecast, so plan road biking.

Second, I did a ride I've been looking forward to for the last couple of years.  My inlaws are participants in a battle reenactment north of Marion, and I rode from their house to the battleground on the morning of.

One encounters lots of interesting things while riding the bike.  For example, I saw two deer at 106th and Hazel Dell on Sunday, but they weren't the usual does or young bucks--these were big guys with eight-point antlers.  Neato!

Lots of these sights pass without comment.  Another blue heron!  A Ferrari!  A racing rival riding the other direction!  But every once in a while, there's something worth stopping and recording for posterity:


This caught my eye because of its relation to my friend and BGI mechanic JB Musselman (whose name itself is also hilarious for obvious reasons).  So I stopped and snapped it for him. 

Also of interest was the following gem that requires a little explanation.  Around these parts, the accepted method of informal bike route marking is known as a "Dan Henry:"


You find these all over the roads around here.  They're generally very helpful, except when routes intersect, and then it can be a little difficult to make sure you're on the one you want.  It is also easy to confuse with another common symbol: 

Luckily, this confusion only occurs at specific types of intersections.


You also find the occasional attempt to introduce a higher level of artistry to the Dan Henry:


The white symbol above is not uncommon, and it has the same role as a Dan Henry, except more specific:  if you have a bike with two disc wheels, and a transparent frame, then you want to go this way.  Also:  no helmets allowed.

The yellow symbol is far less common, for obvious reasons:  most robots don't bother with a bike route, since they have other means of propulsion.  Unfortunately, the artist left their message a little unclear.  Does this mean "robots go this way?"  "Danger:  Robots ahead?"  "This route only for cyclists with a robot sidekick?"  I lean toward that last explanation, since a cyclist with an invisible bike frame would probably also have access to robot technology.

We'll be riding as usual this Friday.  Meet at 7:30 and start shortly thereafter, and we're mountain biking this week.  Just for the sake of change.  Back at the shop at 9.

The Friday ride is on for 9/18.  However, we do have to make the melancholy adjustment of starting at 7:15 rather than 7.  The route will be modified accordingly to get us back to the shop by 9.

I've been riding a little less now that race season is over, and spending some quality time on the mountain bike.  I'm compensating for my lower number of miles by accumulating far more skin abrasions.  Give and take.

We've had some truly beautiful riding weather lately--grab as much saddle time as you can!

Some things happened in the last few weeks:

Did my last race of the season at the Marion Classic.  Recorded my first ever "DNF--crash."  It was my fault--I had gotten stuck at the back of the field on a super-twisty crit course, and got too aggressive trying to pedal through a corner.  Ouch.


The photographer was a little too excited about being able to photograph the wound.  Hey, whatever gets you up in the morning.

The rest of the day was pretty great.  The viewing venue is probably the best of any crit I've been to.  Since the course straddles the river, you can see almost the entire lap as the field makes its way around.  That made it pretty fun to watch the pro women and men do their thing. 

The most impressive rider was Tina Pic, who was the only person all day to successfully make a pass during the short sprint from the last corner to the line--and it wasn't close.  She completely destroyed the rider in front of her.  I guess that's why she's the US National crit champion!

Went to San Francisco to visit my family, and attend a friend's wedding.  This photo is outside a bike shop near my grandmother's house:


It's a little hard to make out, but that bike has S&S couplers and an old set of Zipps--it's not a cheap bike.  However, the owner had it repainted with gaudy nasty paint to make it look cheap, and the wheels have decals from at least five different manufacturers on them.  Someone really went out of their way to make this bike look like you don't want to steal it.

Here's where the wedding took place:



One of the Bay Area residents I met at the ceremony had this to say in response to my complaint about the traffic on the drive up from San Francisco:  "Yes, sometimes it's a bummer that there are so many people crowded in here.  That's the downside.  The upside is that you get to live in paradise."  Well then.

We also had the Labor Day sale.  600 bikes in three days, hopping like a frog the whole time.  I'm almost recovered.

Now it's late summer in Indiana.  What a great time.  Made gazpacho last night with tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden.  Maxin' and relaxin'.

I'll skip the usual "boy, I sure haven't blogged for a while" and get right to the point:  the Friday ride is ON for 9/11/09.  Still starting at 7, and we'll see whether we need to wait a little bit for sufficient light.  Still back by 9.  Still rolling along into the fall.

Here's a picture from Trek World last month:



Chromed-out cruiser with a moto-style handlebar, belt drive, electric pedal assist, needle speedometer, and freshly shined patent leather shoes with SPD cleat.  Don't expect this to be on a shop floor any time soon!

Start getting excited for cyclocross. . .

Taken from the flickr page of |J|.