Just the tales of a girl and her bikes and the adventures that follow!
Author: The Adventuring Heidi
Hi world, I’m Heidi! Adventurer, road trip fanatic, photography geek, waterfall chaser, geyser gazer, Iceland obsessed, Wyoming native, outdoor lover. I travel a lot personally and for work, and love capturing the awesome and awkward moments along the way.
A few months ago I saw requests on social media for participants for a research study on bone density over the course of a competitive cyclist’s race season. Since it was just a quick jaunt down to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, I sent off volunteering to be a subject in the study and was accepted as a participant.
Wait, now why would bone density be decreased in cyclists? We’re crazy active and have crazy big leg muscles, right? That got my curious scientific mind thinking, and I realized that cycling probably doesn’t count as a weight bearing activity in the sense weight lifting would be… and competitive cycling eats away at you over the course of a season, mentally AND physically. And then aren’t we all about carbs? (Well, at least I am, though I do drink a lot of cow’s milk, which is actually not seemingly popular among cyclists.)
From the official research blurb:
Bone Mineral Density (BMD) has been shown to be drastically decreased in competitive cyclists. Lower BMD can lead to an increase in risk for broken bones, fractures and other serious skeletal system issues. This study’s purpose would be to asses the associated BMD changes over a competitive cycling season. A few things that we are also interested in looking at is dietary calcium intake and other physical activities cyclists engage in during the competitive season. A DEXA scan would be used to look at BMD, body fat %, lean body mass % and other body composition measures. The dietary analysis is a food log that would allow us to investigate calcium ingestion and other nutrient needs.
Today I had my first visit to CSU’s Human Performance Clinical Research Laboratory for my initial DEXA scan and to pick up my food log.
Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA or DXA, depending on source) is the standard for measuring bone mineral density (BMD) and to help diagnose osteopenia and osteoporosis. The scan itself is easy-peasy. You are position on a comfy table and aligned correctly. Then the scan begins and lasts about 8 minutes, and the table and x-ray emitter moves around to scan your whole body. The total radiation received is far less than a typical chest x-ray (or even hanging out in our thin-atmosphered mountains here in WY and CO!). Usually these scans are recommended for healthy women beginning at age 65, or younger if there’s suspicion or risk factors for osteoporosis.
Along with BMD, the DEXA scan also measures lean and not-so-lean body mass. Those results from today were not discussed with me as they did not want to influence the test subjects’ activities (oh us silly cyclists), but will be discussed at the August/Septemeber follow up appointment.
So how did I fare?
My T-score was -0.3, so slightly low for my age (30), but still within the normal range. I was kind of surprised at this, as I do intake a lot of calcium products and have been very to fairly active all my life. But… my mom has severe osteoporosis (she’s nearly a foot shorter than me and very very petite), and there is a genetic link with all of this, so that could be a factor (I have her small bone structure) along with the fact I’m a CYCLIST. Oh noes! Using the little graph thingy, if I continued on my current path, I wouldn’t be at an increased risk for thinning bones until age 55-ish.
T-score explained:
T score shows how your bone mineral density compares with women in their thirties, the peak bone density years. Scores of +1.0 are good. Numbers between +1 and – 1 show normal bone mineral density.
Scores between -1 and -2.5 indicate Osteopenia (thin bones).
Less than -2.5 indicate Osteoporosis (porous bones) , eg. – 2.7, -3.0 etc. And -3.0 shows greater Osteoporosis than does – 2.7.
BMD scores explained:
BMD gives your bone mineral density – the number of grams per centimeter of bone. Numbers of +1.0 or above are good.
The only BMD’s of mine that are not above +1 are thoracic spine, ribs, and arms. I have scrawny weak arms (yay cyclist), so not very surprised. Also, all my right sided BMD scores are higher than left side scores. Guess what? I’m right handed and right legged, so no surprise there!
The fun thing to see…
Seeing my skeleton is so cool!!!!
Next up to complete is a 4 day food log. I hate food logs because it makes me super conscious about what I am eating! And since I work nights, I’m sure there will be some weird eating times in there…
I’m super excited for my follow up appointment later this year to see how things changed and to learn all my full results. I’m super happy I had this volunteer opportunity and look forward to seeing the results of the study as a whole, as well.
Anybody whose done some reading of my long-winded “training is so awesome” blog posts the past few months has seen my love of TrainerRoad and how I think it’s almost as awesome as deciding to start training in general! Well, my love of the site/program has lead me to be chosen as a TrainerRoad Brand Ambassador!
How freakin’ awesome?!
Now I get to spread my obsessive love of TrainerRoad in an official capacity, mahahah 🙂 What’s even better is I have a whole load of promo codes to give out to those interested. They’re good for $10 off… and since TrainerRoad is $10/month, that means a free month to try it out and see how it changes your training, or gives you a taste of power numbers, or just keeps you on your path! If interested in a promo code, please reply in the comments with your contact info so I can send you a code! (As of the end of March I am out of free promo codes. Sorry everyone!)
Another awesome perk I am discovering from being a TrainerRoad Brand Ambassador is getting to connect with my fellow Ambassadors and follow their lives. A good majority of them are triathletes, and reading their blogs and race reports are both inspiring and putting bad ideas in my head! Good thing I have that whole fear of open water thing going on… but I digress 🙂 I’ve added a few links to their blogs over on the right side under my blogroll!
And how’s my Phase 2 training going? Horrible, but that’s for another post for another day…
Well, I mean I do eat. Lots. I’ve always been on the “see food, must eat it” diet my entire life. Which worked when I was younger, made me chubby when I was older, and something I can “get away” with now since I’m on a bike a lot. But as for having a good, nutritionally balanced diet? That’s been a struggle… and something I feel I need to work on since I’m putting in hours training.
My biggest roadblocks to eating better are:
Laziness: It’s just so easy to eat out, or microwave something weird and sketchy out of the freezer isle.
Lack of desire to cook: My mom is an AMAZING cook and LOVES cooking. She often laments about how I didn’t pick up on this trait from her. It’s not that I’m a bad cook that burns houses down or ruins food, it’s just that I lack a desire to cook anything. My cooking range is making spaghetti, a few crock pot soups, and a veggie/angel hair salad. Oh, and mac n’ cheese and potatoes. And instant rice. yeah…
Work: This is probably just a bad excuse, and really just falls into the laziness category. I work night shift, and between 11pm-12am I wander down to the cafeteria, order me up a buffalo crispy chicken wrap, and then proceed to grab whatever else I can find while that’s cooking. And then I seem to just eat to pass the slower morning hours.
Impulse eater: See work cafeteria! Ooo cake, oooo soup, oooo parfait, oooo candy, oooo everything in sight, must eat!
“Good” food goes bad: Veggies and fruit start to rot if you don’t eat them. A box of Cheese-Its does not. Not that that is a problem, I’ll eat a box in two sittings…
My solution!
I decided to order me up some cookbooks for endurance athletes, and to try my luck. I was looking for easy recipes, and stuff that I can cook and then refrigerate/freeze for meals for work (or just when I’m home) so I can avoid the cafeteria. The cookbooks both talk about nutrition strategies and also ways to make cooking easier, such as cooking some foods ahead and freezing so they’re on hand.
I browsed the books and made a shopping list for some of the stuff I wanted to try right away. It was the most stressful shopping trip I’ve made, LOL!
Yeah yeah, there’s Tombstone Pizzas in there. Coach T and I talked about nutrition, and he told me it’s about moderation and addition of healthy items, not necessarily elimination. What I probably need to work on is eating only half a Tombstone at a time instead of an entire one!
Once I hauled my bounty into the house I took to cooking 10 boneless chicken breasts for freezing. I hit a good sale for $1.99/pound, which made them a whole lot cheaper than the pre-cooked/pre-frozen varieties you can buy. I’m not the biggest fan of chicken; honestly, it grosses me out, especially uncooked. Quick phone call to consult with my mom (help, I don’t know what I’m doing with my chicken!), and tips from Facebook friends (yay social media in times of crisis), I successfully ended up with 10 cooked chicken breasts flavored with various combos of spices (4 with Italian seasoning, 1 with Italian and red peppers, 1 with chili powder and then sliced, and 4 with salt/pepper).
Process: put on a baking sheet with foil. Seasoned how preferred. Filled baking sheet with about a 1/4″ of water. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.
Ready for the oven! Next time I plan on buying organic ones, because these “normal” ones are just way too big and unnatural.All my chicken wrapped with plastic wrap and then foil in the freezer!
I bought the ingredients to make some sweet potato & egg burritos that I plan on freezing for work and home, but then I fell asleep. These past few days I’ve been exhausted, and sleeping only a few hours at a time (thank goodness it’s a recovery week on my training plan, so I haven’t been having to force myself onto the bike or skip any workouts), so the fact that I fell asleep at 3pm until 11pm wasn’t too strange. So I took to cooking my planned dinner at 11:30pm since I figured I’d be up (I work the next 3 nights, so I need to sleep all day tomorrow anyway!).
I didn’t choose a recipe from the cookbooks, though it is similar to one found in Feed Zone Cookbook.
Italian Orzo and Beef Stuffed Peppers (from delish.com)
Serves 4
Total Time 35 minutes
4 large bell peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded (I used yellow ones as I’m not a fan of green)
Non stick spray
1/2 cup orzo pasta
8 ounces lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons each fennel seeds and oregano
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes with garlic
1/2 cup diced mozzarella (I subbed in grated cheddar and mozzarella)
Garnish with chopped basil
1. Heat broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick foil. Put peppers cut side down in pan; coat peppers with nonstick spray.
2. Broil 12 minutes, turning once, until lightly charred and tender. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees.
3. Meanwhile bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add orzo and cook as package directs; drain.
4. While pasta cooks, coat a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray; heat over medium heat. Add beef, onion, fennel seeds and oregano. Cook 6 minutes, breaking up meat, until beef is browned and onions are tender. Remove from heat.
5. Add orzo, tomatoes with their juices, and mozzarella to skillet; toss to mix, then fill peppers. Bake 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle with basil.
Broiled and “lightly charred” peppers! Um, I’m pretty proud of this, as I’ve never broiled anything in my life!
Boiling the orzo (I vastly overestimated the size of pan needed) and cooking the hamburger with spicesI realized the orzo would fall through my normal strainers, so I used this across the sink one I have!
Stuffing ingredients combinedI used this kind of diced tomatoes
Ready for baking!Finished product!!
My thoughts? Yummy! I’ve only had my mom’s Mexican-style variant of stuffed peppers, so this was a nice change. And since I used yellow peppers, I actually ate the pepper, too! One thing I would change for the next time I made them is using only 2 peppers since I am just cooking for myself. Then I’ll have extra stuffing to go on the side. I ate two halves, and then packaged up the rest in the fridge for my meals at work this weekend!
What I am struggling with right now is the portion size. My brain feels like I didn’t eat nearly enough food, yet my stomach is satisfied. At this moment I want to raid the brownies in the kitchen and scour the fridge. So I do have baby carrots and snap peas on hand for moments like this, but I think it’ll be a process of mentally untraining myself from just eating tons and tons.
This is probably a duh to most people. Put work in = get more out. Yet a few months ago I was very hesitant on how much structured training could help me, and if I could stay motivated (I lose interest in things quickly sometimes) and if I would see a lot of improvement.
Back in November I took the plunge and did a preliminary Functional Threshold Power (FTP) test and started the CritFit 18 week pre-season training plan. I had a good initial two weeks, and then life got crazy. I started working night shift and bought/closed/moved into my house, which ate up a lot of time. Training plan went out the window, but I knew I would refocus around the time of the Colorado state cyclocross championships in mid-December. And that I did!
Suddenly I went from being the girl who treated the trainer as a torture device not to be ridden more than 30 minutes to a girl that appreciated what it would do for me and a device meant to be ridden for at least an hour or more. Every week I met my CritFit Score goals with my threshold intervals, even if it meant sacrificing an extra hour of sleep before work. Finally giving TrainerRoad a shot, I fell in love with training with power, and finally felt myself getting a bit stronger week by week. TrainerRoad also provided a good format for me to create custom workouts around my CritFit Workouts of the Day, and also provided me structured workouts for recovery and endurance days, AND even better, a nice structured way to do Sufferfest videos around my power levels. Whew. So much good in a mere 6 weeks!
The #1 best thing I did for my 2014 season was start a training plan in general. But nearly #1 as well was making the switch to power-based training. I’m a number nerd, and once I actually figured out power (which really isn’t bad), I was just flat out in love. I struggled with my 2-3 weeks of heart rate training, as I figured out I could control my heart rate in a myriad of ways and I struggled with my threshold heart rate being 165, which feels like nothing to me on a bike, especially after a season of racing cyclocross at 190+ bpm for 40 minutes at a time. It just didn’t feel like I was working out. Better than nothing? Sure! But with the awesome tools provided by TrainerRoad, which uses trainer type, an ANT+ stick, and my Garmin speed/cadence sensor to determine power, I could easily revamp my training to make myself think I was doing something in a manner than isn’t as easily controlled as heart rate.
Ways in which I realized heart rate based training wasn’t for me:
1. If I sit up on the bike or drink water, heart rate jumps. And my heart rates are naturally lower while in the TT position than on the road bike.
2. I often mentally picture races in my mind during intervals, coming across the finish line in a good sprint and taking the win. This won’t change my power output, but it makes my heart rate get all crazy out of excitement. Luke Bryan songs on Pandora also has this effect.
3. I can control my heart rate through breathing scary well. I discovered this while being hooked up to a telemetry (aka heart) monitor at work one day and focusing on the screen. I can will myself into a 40 bpm resting heart rate as well as will myself to make it higher through breathing.
Anyways, I digress. Enough with that tangent….
So my 6 weeks of Phase 1 Threshold training seemingly flew by, and my last 3 cyclocross races actually fit in well with the plan, with a lower CritFit score week falling on the week of Nationals so I could “take it easier.” Last week was the final week, and I was feeling like an utter beast – so much so I found myself riding my 12-minute length threshold intervals in the bottom of my VO2Max power range with a smile on my face. Who smiles on a trainer?! Fast forward to this week, which was a recovery week. Something mentally challenging as I got so use to a routine of two days a week doing CritFit WODs, and fitting in rides in between for endurance. And… it also meant my FTP re-test to check in on how training has been going.
Gulp.
I was nervous going into last night. I had a fear I would put out less power, or the same. Irrational, perhaps. But it was nerve-wracking. This time I chose the road bike, which I had been doing all my training on (instead of the TT bike), and Coach T decided we should use my trainer as well instead of his. Painful as always, but yet the first 8-minute block immediately showed an increase in power. I had a slight slip of will-power/shut up legs moment around 6 minutes in, but finished strongly. The second 8 minute block didn’t go so well. Legs were dead, though I did keep it above the power put out in my original FTP test in November. Once again 6 minutes in I faltered, and came close to not pedaling a few times as Coach T urged me to stop doing that. It was painful. Was it more mental than physical I do not know. I had the strangest feeling of claustrophobia come over me for some reason, and Coach T’s coaching was actually really distracting me. Weird, I know. But because I was so cooked, I couldn’t form words to tell him and my legs to shut up, so I took to waving my right hand all weirdly at him every time he tried to get me to up my power. Spastic, I am. I’m sure he had no idea what the hell I was doing (sorry, Coach T, haha). Not that I didn’t appreciate it, as it’s helpful, I was just in odd place mentally. I mean, there’s nothing weirder than grunting awkwardly on a bike for 8 minutes way into your VO2Max power levels in a middle of a busy bike shop.
All animal grunting noises and awkward right hand waving aside, I upped my FTP by 10 watts!!!!! HOLY CRAP TRAINING ACTUALLY WORKS, and even better, CritFit coaching is the best! Just six weeks of focused training, and I accomplished that increase, woohoo! Coach T remarked that I probably did not increase my FTP over the entire course of 2013, so to pull off that increase this early in the game is awesome. My threshold heart rate also went from 165 to 170bpm, showing a gain in fitness.
So what’s coming up next… Phase 2. Another 6 week long block, but this time focusing on VO2Max training and more pain. I’m a bit of a guinea pig for a mixed phase of CritFit Billats for VO2Max, and threshold intervals workouts my other WOD day. (The PSP 18 week plan is billats + VO2Max intervals.) I’ll retest at the end of Phase 2, and then head into the final Phase 3, which is focused workouts based on my primary discipline (Cat 2 XC).
Braving the snow and cold at Altitude Adjustment Cross
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve wrapped up ‘cross season and I think I’m still feeling the hangover from it. Bittersweet end where it finally felt like I was actually racing, all cut too short by the mere fact cyclocross isn’t a year around sport. I’ve also gone through feeling like I don’t really want to write down much about the events that occurred because I’d rather savor the goodness in my mind? Yeah, I dunno, haha. I need me a year around ‘cross season, clearly.
First weekend of January I braved the crappy roads (one of the rare times the weather got worse upon entering Colorado from Wyoming) to race at Altitude Adjustment Cross – touted as a warm up for Nationals starting a few days later. This was the first race where I realized I had a legitimate chance at the podium, but I kept telling myself to stop thinking about that so I wouldn’t be disappointed if it didn’t work out that way.
We lined up in the snow and cold (~20 degrees!), all seven of us brave ladies! I knew Renee and Darcy would be my main competition. I had a rather bad start, maybe partly due to not knowing how well I’d grip on the pack snow and maybe partly due to the fact it was just a crappy start. I came through the pack by the time we hit the grass section. Darcy was gone from the start and distanced herself quickly, and I was riding about 3rd behind Terri when she took an unfortunate spill on an off camber corner. Barely missing running over her rear wheel, I took the chance and took over 2nd. And that’s how it pretty much stayed. I felt strong and I could tell where my training had helped. I ran the run ups, hopped on my bike without stopping, and handled the technical corners quite well. There was large packed snow sections that felt like pavement so I could lay down a decent speed.
However, on the third and final lap was I was a mess. I started stumbling on the corners and Leslie managed to catch my wheel about halfway through the lap. I managed to hold her off until about the final few minutes of the race where we come out onto the pavement (at least I think it was, it was all snow covered) for a high speed climbing loop and down to the finish. Right in the way was a junior rider and their father. And they would… not… move. Leslie called out to them, I called out to them, and spectators called out to them. Ugh, so frustrating! Finally they got the idea that some people were trying to race on the course and moved, but Leslie managed to slip around easier. I tried to chase, but she got away. I rolled across the finish in 3rd place about 6 seconds behind Leslie. Woohoo, my first ‘cross podium and upgrade points for me!!
Darcy on top, me in 3rd.
Unfortunately I won a box of Clif bars I can’t eat because they have almonds in them, doh! But overall it was an awesome day and felt that the course played to my technical skills well, and I could feel how my training helped me mentally push harder.
I returned for the second day of racing, hesitant to play in the now 10 degree temperatures. Turns out, some people decided to stay warm, so I was the only SW4 racer, so they combined me with the two SW3’s (yay for getting to race against Suzie!), and the one JW 15-16. Heck, we didn’t even line up on the starting line and the official restricted us to two laps due to the temperatures. For the race? Well when you’re racing no one and the course turned to ice since the previous day… I kinda just goofed off, haha. I still managed to score the sweet winner’s prize for my “win,” which was a big bag of steel cut oatmeal, water bottle, multi tool, and 6 pack of Dan’s Pale Ale.
I’m not sure what I was doing, but I managed not to fall on my face doing it! And yes, it was cold enough to forgo cycling gloves for big ol’ skiing ones.
I had 2 days off, and then we headed back to Boulder for the US Cyclocross National Championships! So exciting to have a nationals event in my backyard so I couldn’t pass it up, even though all I could race was the “non championship” class due to still being a Cat 4. Pre-ride on Tuesday night was a combo of mud and snow, but by Wednesday morning for my race it had turned into a frozen skating rink. My pre-ride had me really hesitant and worried. I knew it would be carnage on the course, and since I had a last row call up out of 51 racers, I pretty much decided I would hang back and not get into anything crazy. I just didn’t want to get lapped or pulled.
Woohoo!
Like the weekend before, I didn’t have a spectacular start, but jumped up a few spots as we all fought for the single non-icy line around the first corner. It was horrible. Girls were off their bikes, falling or walking all over the place on what is a rideable climb. It became just a matter of choosing good lines and avoiding those who were having trouble. At one point in the first lap I just picked up my bike and sprinted a good 200meters or so just to get around people struggling on an icy flat. Once I got around traffic I felt more secure and once again put some technical and ice-riding skills to work. Second lap went much better and the third even better! On my second I was so worried I get pulled, but I was sent through for the final third lap, which plastered a smile on my face. Each lap I improved by 1-2 minutes, which is usually the opposite of what happens in a ‘cross race for me. Coming to the finish I tried to chase down the girl in front of me, but lost it by one second. Considering how much ground I made up for that to happen, I could handle that!
Waiting for results I had the awesome WD40 Bike guys wash my bike, which didn’t get too dirty since things were still very frozen during my race. I was shocked once I finally saw the results. USAC’s “Race Predictor” said I would finish 50th or so, and I started at about that position, and managed to pull off 29th place!! Oh man, imagine what I could’ve done with a 4th lap, eh? Took me awhile to get into race mode, but I can’t really complain! I credit this also to my Flash Gordon lightning bolt socks 😉
5280 Run Up during the first lapManaging traffic in the 1st lapGetting sideways on the icy straight that I had to run the first lapUnlike during MTB Nationals, I think I made Flash Gordon proud of my socks during this race!Coming around the switchback to head towards the lower part of the courseDown into the frozen sand pit (Photo by Visual Focus)
Whoa, still shocked about these results!
And that’s that… now the long depression until September…
This is a product from Specialized that caught my eye a few months ago, and I was eager to get my hands on one. Oddly enough, the Specialized website offers up no product description, so I really had no idea what the jacket was like until I could see one at my local bike shop, the Bicycle Station, that the owner had ordered in.
My own product description:
A hoodie jacket that has a knit sweater-like fabric along with nylon-y type shell. Features two large front pockets, and a small zippered pocket on the upper left sleeve. Sleeves are extra long in length and have thumb openings. The hood is lined in either hot pink or teal material and wraps around to a high collar. The inside of the jacket has fuzzy lightweight thermal material.
Note, this is a VERY different design than the Men’s Podium Jacket, which is pretty much a standard zippered hoodie of the same fabric and price point.
My initial reaction is that once I put it on, I didn’t want to take it off! It was warm and cuddly, and the fit was spot on (I had to special order mine, so I had to guess on size). I ordered a Large. As a reference point, I am 5’8″ with long long arms, 34″ bust, and about 150 pounds. The jacket is not meant to be skin tight naturally, and I feel like it has enough of a relaxed feel without being tight or baggy in the wrong areas.
I especially like the high collar, which is something not found on any other hoodie-type items that I own. However, this is not the warmest jacket out there! Then again, I don’t think it’s intentioned to be a winter jacket. I have worn it in some 20 degree (with wind chills in the single digits) weather and the wind cut right through the fabric and didn’t leave me too warm and cuddly feeling. I think in milder spring/fall temperatures it will be quite perfect, along with perhaps chilly summer mornings (I suppose this just comes down to where a person lives!).
I don’t necessary anticipate wearing this jacket while riding a bike, though certainly the sleeve length and fit would work well in the riding position. So far I’ve worn mine to a Christmas party, out running errands/shopping, and nonstop around the house. I can see it in rotation with most of my other light weight jackets for every day use, and maybe wearing it to bike related events when not in team gear.
The main downfall: Retail price: $130.
Ouch. I cannot really say this is worth anything near $130. My favorite Columbia shell jacket only cost me $20 at an outlet store, and is actually waterproof and windproof, and my full on poofy winter sub-artic jacket was only $140. Then again, I may be missing the point of this Podium Jacket. It is a cute cuddly jacket that has some nice features. And no one ever said Specialized’s clothing was reasonably priced, though it is better priced than other cycling brands. If you’re a brand loyal cycling nut, or have a big preference for teal or pink items (like me!), this might be for you!
Front view of Podium Jacket in Carbon/PinkBack view of Podium JacketHood and thumb holes!Inside thermal fabric and print on inside of hood
(Sorry for photo quality… I decided to do this at night, and my house is pretty dark)
Disclaimer: I purchased this item at a discounted retail price (due to team sponsorship) for my own personal use. All comments and opinions are my own and I was in no way compensated for the review.
Wow, here we are, the end of 2013! Last weekend I raced my final race of the year, the Colorado state cyclocross championships aka Castle Cross, in Castle Rock. Oddly enough, it felt like my strongest ‘cross race effort of the year and ended up one of my racing highlights for the year. I felt a bit sad, knowing it was too little too late in terms of a halfway decent cross effort, and the fact that it meant the year’s season was over.
2013 Cheyenne Cycling Club Broken Spoke Award
States Raced In: Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wyoming # of Races: 14 mountain bike, 4 road/time trial, 11 cyclocross, 1 triathlon, 1 running # of Wins: 3 # of Top 5: 9 (including the triathlon, excluding the 5k) # of Bags of Granola I Won That I Can’t Eat Due to Allergies: 1
# of photographers who I almost ran over: 1, shotwilliam during Castle Cross. Eek. My face says it all.52 minutes… the length of suffering I endured during the first race of the Cheyenne Cyclocross Series.
Shawn Curry… 1 badass race photographer… which leads into # of barriers tripped over in ‘cross season: 2.# of bushes mowed over during the start of cross country MTB Nationals: 3 or 5. Maybe 10. # of pairs of wheels I was envious of on my rivals bike: 1 pink set.
4: the number of badass ladies I shared the podium with at Nationals! 3: the number of silver medals I earned this year (actually, the only color I earned…)# of times I wore the badass alien helmet: 2.# of hole shots won: Far too many, especially in ‘cross. I suppose that’s my talent, 1st or 2nd place to 20th place in a half of a lap!
The # of DNF (did not finish) results: 3. Deer Trail Road Race, Laramie Enduro, Lory Mountain Challenge #3. # of DNS (did not start results): 3. IHBC Time Trial, Stone Temple 8, Boulder Cup.The # of times I tried to look like the badass that Georgia is and post up on the finish line: 1. # of times I was successful at such a task: 0. The promoter of the Cheyenne Cyclocross series managed to catch me as I was falling over. Oh, and I was posting up for finishing last. Ultra cool.
Count down to 2014 Rumble at Road 18: 17 weeks.
I, along with my Spradley Barr Wind Chill Cycling teammate Joe Dailey ,were awarded the 2013 Cheyenne Cycling Club Broken Spoke Award, which is for most improved cyclists. Nice icing on the cake, and I am honored they thought of choosing me! Though my season had some super highs (winning the Gowdy Grinder unexpectedly) and super lows (the burnout period of July and August), I am thankful I got to race and have the experiences that I did!
2014 training got a little messed up about the time I closed on my house, so last week I restarted. I also restarted by training with power instead of heart rate. Trainerroad.com is an amazing tool for this. My time during Castle Cross, which included a Saturday ‘cross skills clinic with Georgia Gould, my awesome race during Sunday morning, and spending the afternoon reconnecting with my camera and photographing the women’s open race, where I finally got to see Georgia race in person and see her earn the CO state champ title!
Fort Follies ‘cross skills clinic with Georgia. Who knew, I magically could run and jump on my bike the first time I tried at this clinic. Way to pull it together at the end of ‘cross season, Heidi.(Photo: Christi Leong)
So what’s up for 2014? First off, I am uber excited to announce that I will be racing as a Specialized Ambassador through the Bicycle Station here in Cheyenne! Specialized has been my go-to for bikes and gear since pretty close after I started riding, and the Bicycle Station has helped me so much throughout the season so I am excited to be racing for and representing these two great companies in 2014. 2014 will kick off nice and early on January 4th & 5th at Altitude Adjustment Cross, and follow soon with the US Cyclocross National Championships in Boulder on January 7th. Road season (which my road season is never anything big or special) starts February 22nd with the Carter Lake Road Race, and follows soon with the Frostbite Time Trial on March 1st. And finally, the biggie, mountain bike season and the road to Cat 1 starts on April 19th in Fruita at Rumble at 18 Road! Here’s to making my goal of Cat 1 by age 35… at age 30 😀 And cyclocross season… well, never too early to start planning, and September can’t come soon enough, LOL!
Gotta get stronger to herd the wild turkeys better.
Wow, the day has come. I finally got off my butt and made an effort towards this odd thing called a training plan. You know, those things with weird acronyms like FTP and things with heart rate zones and interval thingies. Heart rate zones, what the hell are those?! I thought the point was to ride at 190bpm so I could show off my scary heart rhythms to nursing coworkers, right? Power? That’s the thing that costs a lot and I get a monthly bill for, right?
But seriously, this is needed. Considering I have my heart set on a Cat 1 mountain bike license upgrade in the near future (aka before I’m 31), and people don’t get slower when you race higher categories, and I’m not getting faster spinning random circles on a trainer and riding only when I’m not distracted by the couch, it is very much needed. So my teammate and cycling coach Coach T stepped up and un-lazy-ing my lazy butt. He is one of the coaches for CritFit, and is going to set me straight!
First up was doing a Functional Threshold Power test. I’ve never paid attention to power stuff, as stated earlier, to me it means a big monthly utility bill and not much else. But alas, the test would set my fitness baselines and provide my Strava/number happy loving self with more numbers to focus on.
The testing process was quite easy. Coach T strapped my Shiv down to his trainer, had a program opened up, and we were off! Lots of warm up and then two 8-minute long blocks of the maximum effort I could sustain for those 8 minutes. Mathematical magic figures out the rest! It all seemed a lot easier than it actually was. It was brutal. Not quite tabata interval brutal (which I tend to cry during), but brutal enough. Coach T was there, pushing me along, which helped because otherwise I think I would’ve faded pretty quickly.
So what is functional threshold power (FTP)? I had to google it, I admit it. Easy enough, it is the “highest mean average power you can sustain for one hour.” What’s the neat part that unlike heart rate which can remain the same over training, FTP can change and is a good way to see improvements over training and getting ready to race. I’m sitting at 195 watts as of last night. I can’t wait to see how a few months of training will bring that number up (and hopefully will help me crush the people that crush me).
The final results:
Functional Threshold Power: 195 watts
Functional Threshold Heart Rate: 165 beats per minutes
Coach T prescribed me the CritFit PSP 18 week training plan. Usually training plans have sent me screaming and running in the opposite direction, but I am very excited to begin this one. CritFit is nice, because unlike other coaching services, they aren’t delusional and think people have no life except riding a bike. The weekly training plans are moldable around my crazy 3-day, 12-hour night shift nursing schedule. They don’t require being on a bike every day, and incorporate functional strength training and recovery in very nice ways. This means that I won’t feel guilty about adding in yoga classes (yeah yeah, gotta get that gym membership first set up… shhh) as it fits in. Twice a week I will have Workout of the Day (WODs… luckily not crossfit style, haha) to complete. They’re interval sets that can be repeated as many times as you want. All WODs are given a points value, and each week you’re suppose to complete so many points. So say a WOD is 25 points, you can do two rounds of it, and have half of a weekly 100 points done. Pretty easy – so easy I understand it! I will be training by heart rate since I have no desire to buy a power meter, or the money for that matter.
Though I’m excited now to try it (who doesn’t like new things), I know ongoing motivation is always a hard thing for me to maintain. That’s why I’m finally happy to have someone – Coach T – to keep me on track and accountable for my actions.
And that’s that! Finally getting this whole bike riding thing on track 😀
Considering I did race reports for nearly all my mountain bike races, I do find it odd that I haven’t been blogging about my cyclocross season. I suppose there can’t be too much to say: “I rode in circles, had to jump off the bike and run, and finish mid to bottom pack every time. And had fun!” Seriously! I’m at a lack of words the past couple of months…
Zero Gravel Cross – September 14th
This race I pre registered for before Colorado started flooding. Night before the race the WY-CO border was still closed until 8pm, until they opened Hwy 85 south out of Cheyenne. So I got up hella early, and hit the road in the fog, not knowing what I’d find in Colorado. Everyone told me I was crazy for going, but dammit, I pre registered and it was still on. I picked up a racing buddy in Greeley, and we discovered that getting to Littleton (south of Denver) was really easy. And we were way too early to the race! But what glorious stuff did we find? MUD MUD MUD!!!! YAY for true ‘cross weather!
I finished the race in 16th one lap down. The sun had turned the morning’s runny mud into peanut butter thick stickiness, and it was the most power robbing experience I ever had. Every pedal stroke was effort and my bike picked up several pounds of mud and grass as well. I made it my goal to ride a steep hill every lap that some were treating as a run up, and I did just that 4 times over!
Mud… the preferred bike lubricant.Playing in the mud on a bike is the perfect girly thing to do amid flooding, right?
Cyclo X Valmont – September 21st
I journeyed to the People’s Republic of Boulder to have a go at Valmont Bike Park for my first time. Parking? It sucks, and feels like it’s in a different zip code. Bathrooms? They rock because they’re not porta potties! This was my first race on my 2013 Specialized S-Works OSBB Crux frameset built up with the components from my ’12 Crux Apex. I did a quick shake down at North Park the previous day, but otherwise I was indeed racing on a brand new bike.
One word for this race: AWESOME! The big stair run up sucked, but otherwise I enjoyed the ever living crap out of the course! I felt it was very “mountain bike-y” and lots of power sections which tend to be my advantage, along with a longish climb near the start. If there’s anything I’ve learned over all my races is what my course advantage is, and it’s power/mountain bike-y. Grass and mud, not so much. Anywho, the goal of this race was to chase down Jen and hang with her. Which indeed I caught her, and passed her. On the last lap I went into frantic mode trying to stay ahead of her. During the second stair run up I sprinted up those suckers so fast you’d have no idea I can’t run and ride a bike at the same time! The previous lap I had fumbled a bacon hand up, and my friend was there again trying to give me bacon and I blurted out “No, I must beat her!” And off I went, baconless. 16th Place again, out of 27. I was jazzed 🙂 Jen told me she’d get me next time, and I accepted the challenge (I love her to pieces!)
I do occasionally have a rare smile during the hell that is a ‘cross race!Pig tail helicopter, engage! Dropping 2 pounds on my bike really helped when I had to carry it!
Cyclo X Flatirons – September 27
This race had been rescheduled due to the floods. It was unique in the fact it was at Flatirons Mall, so unlike Valmont, the parking was awesome. It was nearly all grass with a small bit of mud and paved walking paths. It was a weird race experience. At the start I took off like a bat out of hell, and everyone else started really slow. Thinking that it’d be better to be in front when the course turned off the road and onto the grass, I just stuck with my awesome sprint moment and hit the grass in 1st place, and settled into second for about 1/3 of the first lap. Odd, and I felt like a rockstar for brief moments, at least until after the first run up where a guy was yelling to the girl behind me “come on, get second place and beat her!” I spent the rest of the 5 laps working backwards to 22nd place. LOL. At least I had the holeshot, right?
Once again, I put myself ahead of Jen and Celeste. Celeste got around me on the 4th lap, and about halfway through the last lap Jen got around me. Woe is me. I was absolutely spent (grass SUCKS, that’s all) and since there was no one nearby me on the rear I accepted where I was and suffered onto the finish. Not my best effort, and even Jen was like what the hell in regards to us going 21st & 22nd in the results. Then she told me my new bike made me a lot faster. Yay! 😀
The Holeshot rockstar enjoying my brief 2nd place stayI channeled Chris Froome and stared at stems a lot during this race…
I also tried to channel Captain Picard and my warp drive, but alas it didn’t work
Primalpalooza – October 6
This was indeed my best race so far this year for cyclocross! Unfortunately, it also showed my last lap bonk that happens way too much. Endurance? Who needs stinkin’ endurance…
This race seemed to be a disaster from before the start. During warm up some girl ran into my rear derailleur and bent the hanger so I had a “I’ll shift whenever I please” drivetrain. Second warm up lap I got the brilliant idea to try bunny hopping the short barriers. Cuz you know, I’ve never bunny hopped anything in my life, so it was a perfect time to try. Can you say deep tissue injury to my left thigh, crunchy noises in my shoulder, and re-cracking my left elbow along with ripping my pretty bar tape and bending my left brake hood all the way over? Yeah, it was a great time. So I rolled up to the start expecting a horrible race.
I didn’t have the best start, but placed myself well into the Top 10, and avoided the massive crash that happened behind me. The bike behaved for the most part, and once again the course was my preferred mountain bike-y style with climbing followed by a long descent to help me recover my heart rate before technical parts and a run up in the grass. I toppled over on one of the steep switchbacks, but otherwise had no other mishaps. I rode in 11th place until halfway through the final lap where three girls caught me out of nowhere and I couldn’t put in a solid chase. 14th out of 31, which is still great, but I had bits of sadness knowing that if I just had that much more fitness during my last lap it could’ve went better.
Mmmm, deep tissue injury!During my ill fated warm up right before I decided I could hop over barriers
Look, I had a front row call up! 😀
I also did another smart thing and wore my brand new Lake shoes that I got as a homie hook up from BOA. I didn’t tighten my cleats down super tight, so they turned as I tried to unclip. Wasn’t really an issue during the race, though the BOA dials were as they are the “pop up to release” kind, and when I had my one topple over my left shoe released and loosened up. One day I’ll learn not to try brand new equipment during a race. But all in all, considering all my disasters it was a great race!
Colorado Cross Classic – October 12th
Due to this being a UCI race, the SW4 women had a 8am start time (versus our usual 10:45am start). Double yuck, and I pulled into the parking lot and it was still dark outside. And cold. Very cold. Held at Boulder Reservoir, there was an unacceptable amount of sand. It was mostly a grass race (with lots of goatheads apparently – I survived just fine) besides the sand.
This was a race that just was crappy from the start. Bad start, and back of the pack almost immediately. I settled into for a battle for 16th place essentially. So I concentrated on clean cornering and good dismounting. Sometimes when my placing is going to be that hopeless I just have to fight the personal goals more than anything! Due to the time line and putting the SW35+ women in with us, I got pulled before even being lapped. Kinda annoyed at paying $40 for 5.8 miles and less than 40 minutes of racing, but oh well. I just wish that I would’ve known my last lap was actually my last lap so I could’ve fought for my position a bit better.
Turns out that afternoon the killer sore throat kicked in, and the fever, stuffiness, and cough. I picked up my first cold I had in years, so I’ve decided that is what I’m blaming, haha. I was suppose to do the Boulder Cup the next day at Valmont, but instead laid on the couch all day super sick. Sad I missed a Valmont race, but happy I was smart and didn’t go out and race sick like that!
Riding the Beaches of Boulder.If I look fast, that’s all that matters, right?
I like this photo a lot for some reason… the derpy face just says it all!
So that’s my midterm report! With starting my new job in Cheyenne I am not sure how the rest of the season will shape up. I am very conscious about not burning myself out, and it’s hard to look at every weekend being a day I have to wake up early, drive to Colorado, race, drive home, etc. I do like racing for keeping me in shape and honing in some skills I get away with being sloppy at while mountain biking. But I know I gotta be careful. Essentially when ‘cross ends in January at Nationals I’ll really only have two months off before road season starts, and another month after that before mountain bike season starts again. It’s really non stop racing… this week I gave myself time off the bike to kick this cold, and probably won’t ride until my race on Saturday. Which I’m really only doing because I have to go to Fort Collins to buy cat food, and the race is also in Fort Collins, haha. Good excuse, right? I also know I need to start some basic training as I don’t want to get my ass kicked all summer long in mountain biking (ain’t driving to PA again unless it means a podium spot, dammit!).
I mostly write this silly little blog for myself and my BFF Kim, as I’m not sure I have a lot of other readers. However, there is one post that generates traffic for me, and it was my review and unboxing of my Garmin Edge 510 back in February. Since it gets a lot of traffic, I decided I should do a follow up post with my impressions of the device and how my last 7 months of usage have been going.
Garmin Edge 510 still going strong!
Accuracy: Spot on! This device has yet to fail me in this department, whether it be straight, long road rides, tight and curvy cyclocross courses, or in the heavy tree cover of the eastern U.S. on a mountain bike. Where my Edge 500 would be having me make crop circles in a field on a straight road, the Edge 510 keeps me straight as an arrow. I have mine set to generate data points every one second, which is crucial when mountain biking and for cyclocross. I have yet to have erroneous data! The 510 also connects to satellites very quickly, usually within seconds of being turned on! My 500 would take sometimes 20+ minutes to get satellites, so the 510’s speed still amazes me. Usually I can roll the bike outside, turn on the 510, and be on my way within a minute.
Elevation: I have noticed a big difference in elevation readings between mine and Matt’s 510’s, and can’t figure it out. Matt’s usually reads several hundred, if not more, feet higher in elevation gain. Mine tends to be within a few feet of most of my buddies using their smartphones with the Strava app. I have only had one occurrence of wacky data, and that was earlier this month during a cyclocross race where on one of my laps it looks like I climbed a mountain peak. The GPS data for the course was spot on, so not sure what happened with the elevation reading. I know elevation data is not perfect, so it is not a major worry of mine.
Water Resistance: I’ve done my share of playing in the rain, snow, and mud with my 510. Once again, it has not missed a beat and the touchscreen still works when wet. I do not have a silicone case on mine, and covered it in mud at a cyclocross race a few weeks ago even, and no harm was done!
Touchscreen: The biggest annoyance of the touchscreen is if I put it in my back pocket of my jersey it will change screens. Hasn’t really messed up any settings. Just a minor annoyance. Otherwise I am still finding that the touchscreen works well with gloves, muddy fingers, sweaty fingers, and when wet, as mentioned above. Some reviews mentioned that the screen is hard to read in bright sunlight. I haven’t really had any issues with this that I am acutely aware of. Sure, I can get a glare depending on the angle I have it mounted, but that’s more my fault, right? Anyways, I can read it, though sometimes I’d prefer not to see that my heart rate is 200 and I still have 30 minutes to go on a ‘cross race…
Bluetooth: This is one feature that I have abandoned. The few times I synced the 510 to my iPhone 4 with Bluetooth my phone’s battery drained way too much for my liking. I rely on my phone as one of my “I’m in trouble” lifelines when out riding alone, so I don’t want my battery draining just so my ride uploads to Garmin Connect automatically (I plug the 510 into my computer anyway after rides to upload to Strava). I also turned off the weather alerts, as I don’t need to be reminded of “High Winds” in WYOMING every 5 minutes. Thanks Garmin, but I am well aware of what the wind is like here 😉 The Live Tracking I have used once so Matt could watch me mountain bike in Curt Gowdy State Park (where cell service can be sketchy). He enjoyed watching me slowly make my way around. However, it drains the phone battery. Instead I am just very particular about texting my ride plans to him before I leave. Sure, won’t help if I’m kidnapped, but a kidnapper would have to catch me first, right?
Arghhh Strava: Still the #1 downfall of the Edge 510 is lack of 3rd party site support for uploading. Garmin Connect is great, but I only use it to back up my files. I’m a Strava-geek, and sometimes it’s painful to have to wait to see my Suffer Score, LOL. Granted, I’m sure this would require use of the Bluetooth connection, which above I said I didn’t like. Go figure.
Battery Life: … is awesome! I did a century ride this summer, and it was about 7.5 hours start to finish, and from fully charge the battery dropped to about 75%. Unlike using a phone, no worries about battery drainage here! Most of my normal rides will only drop the battery 2-3%.
Accessories: I use the GSC-10 cadence sensor and Garmin premium heart rate monitor and have never had any issues with connectivity to the 510. The heart rate monitor is always accurate for me. I know a lot of people have issues with it, but both of mine always give reliable data.
So… 7 months later and I am still very pleased with the purchase of my Garmin Edge 510! Follow up reviews are good, because often something seems good right out of the box, and only starts to disappoint months down the road. Hopefully my follow up will help others who are curious how the 510 performs once the box collects some dust in the corner and the device is covered in bugs and mud 🙂
Disclaimer: I purchased this item at full retail price for my own personal use. All comments and opinions are my own and I was in no way compensated for the review.
Heidi Rides Bikes 