Sufferfest - A Very Dark Place...

Went to my brother Nick's 'Barn' yesterday to do an indoor ride.  I wanted to do "A Very Dark Place" I call "The Dark Side".  We set up the "Torture Chamber" upstairs, here is the picture:

Nick's Torture Chamber

This was only the beginning of the pain to come.  As this was our last indoor ride of 2011 together, I thought I would mark it with a photo.  As you can see the Sufferfest flag flies to remind ourselves why we punish our bodies so...IWBMATTKYT...The Dark Side as I call it, has 4 X 4 minute intervals of intense agony at or above threshold.  Working out with Nick always gets me motivated to work at a higher level, add to that the sufferfest challenge, and bam....PAIN!
Well here is my Gamin file to prove my pain...

Year's End...Time to start a new...

Well this year is about to be over, and last night's ride at Nick's was the final ride of the year for me.  Nick and I did a Sufferfest video - The Dark Side, which was a very HARD workout indeed.  I nearly reached my personal best MaxHR of 167 bt/min with a 166 bt/min burst in the second interval.  My goal for this years indoor rides is to build a tolerance for both higher heart rates and higher riding cadences.  I tried very hard yesterday to stay at the recommended cadence, but by doing so worked a bit harder than the recommended perceived exertion.  Here is my Garmin File:



This ride capped off a very tough year for me, and I look forward to a new one.  I am not going to dwell on the difficulties of the past, but set goals for the new.  Here are my stats from last year:

My Goals for 2012

1. To get over 3000 total mile for 2012 by doing over 200 activities.  
2. To average over 14 mph for 2012
3. To beat my Personal Best Max Avg Speed by 1 mph to 18.5 mph
4. To improve my average cadence from 70 rpm to 80 rpm.

To achieve these goals I need to have good luck with the weather, but ride indoors even on inclement weather days.  Also to improve my average cadence from 70 rpm to 80 rpm I will need to gear up a bit using larger rear cogs or the small front cog more often.  This will also take a higher tolerance for higher average HR as push my pedals faster is harder for me to maintain.

To achieve a higher tolerance for both HR and Cadence is going to require a concerted effort during this years indoor training season to keep my cadence over 90.  I must be diligent when working on the trainer to work at or above my threshold for sustained period of time to change my fitness level and tolerance.  

In addition, I need to watch more carefully what I eat and cannot eat pizza with my son Ben.  I need to pre-make my meals ahead of time for the evenings during the week, so temptation is not as likely to overcome my will power.  

I will also have to work a bit harder on my recovery rides and make sure to average at least 14 mph on all rides outdoors.  I will need to work a bit harder during rest intervals indoors to keep my avg speed higher for indoor rides.

I must also start keeping track of my weight again on the WiScale.  This helped a great deal this summer, and I should begin again a new.

So basic strategy:

• Work at higher cadences (90+ rpm) at or above my anaerobic threshold (150+ bt/min).
• Ride on all scheduled dates weather permitting or not.
• Track my Weight and prepare my meals ahead of time on workout nights.

This will hopefully yield better results in 2012 so I can reach my goals.

Wish me luck!

2 Hours Indoors at Newington Bike...

2 hours indooors at Newington Bike...Garmin File > by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

So I went to Newington Bike this Sunday Morning at 8:30 am for a 2 hour ride while watching the A-Team...Nice! I road real easy, and just wanted to get the time on the bike. 2 hours is a long time in the saddle indoors...Ouch! My legs felt great, but coming of a resent illness I was somewhat uneasy about pushing it, so I went for a light spin and mixing the ride up when I got board. The movie kept my interenst for most of the ride, and kept me focused off of how miserable my behind felt.

I do feel I could have road harder, but wasn't sure whether I could do the 2 hours if I road hard in the 1st hour. Now that I have done a 2 hour indoor ride, I know what my body can handle, and will try to work at an avg HR of 130 bt/min on the next Sunday Ride. That is well below my anaerobic threshold (some 20 bt/min) and within tolerance for a long ride indoor for me.

Tomorrow is an active rest day with some weight training and abs mixed into the workout.

Are you ready for some football...getting my ride in and a shower before the Sunday games is awesome! Now I can sit back and enjoy the afternoon knowing my work is done for the day...

Just keepin'em turnin'!

Washing Machine...Fixed!

I love the internet!  You can learn just about anything on the internet these days.  Last weekend while working on my new Mobile ready web application, I looked into the laundry room and found that the washing machine was spitting out water from the laundry detergent fill drawer.  Panic immediately set in, but after a minute I went upstairs and got on my Media Center Computer and looked up my washer.  Low and behold on one of the websites that caters to DIYers I found the exact problem I had, and was provided the Manual on how to fix it.  Thank you fixitnow.com and the Samurai Repair Man.  I did not have time all week to get to it, and figured I do it Saturday morning. 

Well Saturday came, and was a bit sick still, so I did not get to it until noon, and will my trusty pdf displayed on my iPad, I got the job done in about 1 1/2 hours.  Had to take the top off the washer, then the control panel, and the door gasket, and finally the front panel to get at the fill tube.  Took of the fill tube and found 2, yes 2 silver coins from Big Y stuck in the tube...Big Y strikes again.  I was wondering were they went!

I am now washing the dirty towels from  the mess from last weekend..Sanitary Cycle!  I am hoping this will get rid of the stink, but most likely I will have to wash them twice.

Job done with no COST to ME!  Ya buddy!

New Mobile Enhanced Web Application Online...

I have been writing web applications for years using asp.net, along with other earlier technologies.  This time around I thought I would tackle new languages and strategies for optimizing web applications for multiple scenerios including mobile devices, asp.net's mvc 4 with jquery mobile. 

There was a bit of a learning curve, as I also switched languages from vb.net to c#.  In addition there were other language syntax that needed to be learned, like; jquery, javascript and razor.  Not to mention having to learn the whole MVC strategy for seperation of concerns without the application itself.  Since MVC is a code driven language instead of controls, more code meant more time upfront in development, but less in actual page creation.  However, enhancing sites through code was more difficult, the MVC templates and available documentation made it tolerable. 

I also took my time to view many web casts and tutorial on the require technologies.  The research took time to learn but I think the end product will be worth the wait. 

The first mobile enabled web application is a "Test Bed" for the technology to demostrate its usefulness to the final product.  Activities, as it is called, is simply a web application that displays physical activities from the compedium of physical activity numbering more than 800 entries.  Right now the application list them both as a whole, and by type.  Both application have CRUD functions, (create, read, update and delete), while the mobile application has the ability to search dynamically the various activities and types.  The jquery Mobile environment is only an extention of the regular browser app instead of having to be its own application.  Thanks to MVC I did not have to recreate the logic for the pages data, but just the view for the page in HTML 5.

Next steps will be create a "My Favorite Activities" app where users can create a list of their own favorite activities from the compedium.  This will be useful in the first stages of create an activity plan later on in Fitness 1st.

As of 12/7/2011 you can view the application at :  http://fitness1st.net/activities

On the Dark Side - Sufferfest!

Tonight Dave and I did the Sufferfest's On The Dark Side training video, and it Rocked!  But literally the sound track had some pretty great rock tunes, and it was a great workout at the same time.  I love the sufferfest videos (http://www.thesufferfest.com/).  They are all great, one workout at a time, making new art of suffering on the trainer.  The great thing about Sufferfest video's is that they keep you entertained while maximizing your effort, check out my garmin file:


If you view the details, the ride was a great interval training session with enough rest to allow me to maximize my work intervals.  My Anaerobic Threshold is about 148, and if you look at my Heart Rate Graph, you will see HR's in the 150's peaking out at 160 during most intervals.  What this means is that my legs were butter when I got off the bike!  But it also means I might gain some power on those hills I dread so much in the spring when I reamerge on the road again...
I have done most of the sufferfest video, and have equally enjoyed all of them.  You can arrange their use by interval types in if you want.  Some are shorter bouts with pyramid type workouts, while others have longer sustained intervals.  Check them out for yourself, you will never go back to instructor lead video again.
Thank you sufferfest!

PowerBeam Pro by CycleOps Review

The PowerBean Pro Trainer by CycleOps

On my way home from work today, I remembered that winter indoor training was about to begin at Newington Cycle.  So I stopped by to see if they were still holding the session, and if I could try out the new  PowerBeam Pro trainer by CycleOps  that combines the smoothness of a CycleOps Trainer with the power meter in a PowerTap Sensor.  Since I was there so early Dave said I could give it a go, first come first served.

Photos

I went home and got my bike cloth on under my sweats, put my Tommaso on the back of the truck and was back at Newington Bike to meet Jon Lewis from Seris Cycle Group (CycleOps Rep).  He was as excited to have someone trying the unit, and I was to test it.  For a techno geek like me, this was heaven. He and Dave set up my Tommaso on the trainer and set up the PowerBeam head unit next to my Garmin 800. This set up the perfect situation for that geek in me...information overload.

The PowerBeam has many optional modes which you can set on the head unit, or control through the desktop software provided. A very cool feature is that you can send Garmin files to the units desktop software and link prior ride dynamics for simulated rides,  AWESOME! You can also set up your own interval workouts manually in the software. , However, since I was doing a Spinerval Training Video with Coach Troy, I decided to use it manually.
In manual mode you use the toggle button provided to adjust the power target.  The trainer automatically adjusts the tension of the fly wheel accordingly.  The PowerBeam Pro Trainer increases the tension if your power output is lower than the setting, and decreases the tension when you go above the setting.  I set it for 120 watts. On a bike watts or "Power" = Torque X Cadence (You can learn more about power at PowerTap's website: http://www.cycleops.com/en/getting-started/why-train-with-power.html ).

We were watching the Spinerval Workout: Recovery and Technique, so there was a lot of spinning.  No matter how fast my cadence, the tension adjusted to always provide 120 watts of resistance.  So when I pedaled slowly, the tension increased, and when my cadence increased above the 120 watt threshold, the tension decrease until 120 watts was achieved.  Working this way leveled my Heart Rate during the workout somewhat, never allowing it to dip to low during recovery bouts.  This provided for a great workout even when spinning.  For you monsters out there, you would need to set your threshold much higher.  I adjusted mine so that during hard spins my Heart Rate did not surpass my anaerobic threshold.

A plus for the PowerBeam is that it is Ant+ compatible, so I worked great with my Garmin 800.  I merely enable power in the setup, and it automatically detected the PowerBeam...Nice!  The Garmin then recorded my power curve, and after adding Power to my main screen, displayed my current power output in watts.  You can view the Garmin Connect file below and if you view details you can see the power curve that the PowerBeam provided. For us data junkies this is an outstanding addition.


The PowerBeam Pro trainer was silent and smooth, and was a joy to ride on.  It is basically the same unit as a CycleOps Pro with Power variable resistance.  It require a power to the training unit via wall plug, not a big issue for most situation.

PowerBeam's head unit is quite large, but has small font size on it readouts, making it hard to read while riding.  There is probably a font size adjustment somewhere, or should be.  This is a downer, but not a deal breaker, as I could read the power output through my Garmin 800, thanks to PowerBeam's Ant+ compatibility...HUGE!
The only other down side to the unit was the cost.  Like most Power Meter units, it has a heavy price tag, which for the recreational cyclist might be a deal breaker.  For the serious enthusiast looking for a leg up, the PowerBeam Pro would make a great addition to their arsenal. According to the CycleOps website, the PowerBeam Pro will set you back $1,199.00.

The good new for the rest of us looking to get into the power meter game is that CycleOps is coming out with a low cost alernative, the CycleOps PowerStrap Heart Rate Strap that is also Ant+ compatible for around $200 dollar sometime around January.  I know that I'm in.  The down side to this alternative is the accuracy. However if calibrated and used with the other Ant+ tools from Garmin, (speed and cadence sensor), this will provide a good alternative for the recreational cyclist.  Thank you CycleOps!
The advance club racer, olympic athlete and pro cyclist/triathlete may opt for the more accurate PowerTap Hub, or PowerBeam Trainer, but I vote for the PowerStrap HR Monitor.  Some say I'm cheap, I say I'm frugal!
Pictures of the new PowerStrap: (Jon I want to test one!)

Funny Animation by Various Seagulls

Just thought you might get a kick out of an animation Brian Z. made for my son Ben's band "Various Seagulls". Just ignor the F words here and there...


GoAnimate.com: Various Seagulls promo by bzagaja

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!


or alternatively

GoAnimate.com: Various Seagulls promo by bzagaja

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!


--

Scott Tomassetti

Winter Workout 2011-12

Just finished creating my winter workout schedule on google calendar. You can check it out at:
https://www.google.com/calendar/render?hl=en&tab=wc

It includes only weekday workout with weekend open for now.  Two days of Healthtrax workouts bookending the week on Monday's and Friday's, with three consecutive indoor cycle workouts on Tuesday's, Wednesday's and Thursday's.  Ambitious I know, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Started my Monday routine today at HealthTrax with 20 minutes of Elliptical, followed by an ab workout and then two sets of Nautilus upper body exercises.  Felt good to workout after three days of riding.  The best part was that the hot tub was working, and was able to stretch for the first time in a month...Awesome!  Check it out on Garmin Connect:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/131614074

So it begins...Another chapter in the Thinning of a Fat Man...

Celts are back...

Sitting on Friday night last week without my Celtics to watch was a tough thing to do, but no worries mate...The lockout is over.  I know most of you don't care about the NBA Lockout and with good reason.  For me the Celtics are a staple of existance, one I care not to live without, even during the ML Car years.  I am glad they are back, and hope Danny can do some magic with the lineup to make this a banner year, and with the year being shortened this give us a slight advantage, especially in the beginning of the year.
This will be undoubtedly KG and Ray's last season with the C's and I intend to enjoy it.

Saddle height adjustment...back to normal..

Whatever that is...I decided after feeling rear knee pain after my last ride to move my saddle height back down to where it was before the Roman.  I got ready for my ride, and went out to the garage to adjust the saddle height.  I was really excited to try my new spin doctor torque wrench, but as it turned out this was a mistake.  The wrench was calibrated incorrectly causing the bolt on the seat post clamp to fail.  Luckily I went to CC and got a new bolt and was still able to get a full ride in.  It is just the thought of spending good money for something to be as precise as you can, and then have it turn out to be the cause of failure...Not good Performancebike.com.
When I was at the shop Sondre and I calibrated it against a giant torque wrench at 6 nm.  The spin doctor wrench was at about 4.5 nm, and that is unacceptable.  I will see what I can do about re-calibrating the tool.
Once on the road, moving the saddle down helped with knee pain and ride comfort.  I felt much more relaxed in the saddle.  The ordeal turned out to be no worse for wear.  Live and learn, as the saying goes.
Tomorrow I want to do a bit longer ride, maybe into Middletown, or down to Lymann before the cold winter hits.
This Wednesday, indoor training start in earnest at CC, so I will be changing to Tomasso tires today.  Bring on the Sufferfest, I am ready.(www.thesufferfest.com )

First Ride after the storm...

Got back on the bike yesterday after the storm.  It has been some 2 weeks since my last ride, and it felt great to be turning my peddles again.  A bit windy on the way out, and it was a cold wind, but it was great coming in.  Mostly tried to spin free and easy, not pushing big gears today.  My legs felt great afterward.  Was awesome to be out there again.  Going to ride again today, I hope.

No Power, No internet, but...

I just keep rolling on.  Since the early winter storm took down trees all over CT, there is no hope of getting power back anytime soon. So here I sit at McD's ordering coffee and recharging all my Internet connected devices.  I love wifi enable restaurants with power.  McD's might not be the healthiest place to eat, but it sure does things right for us internet junkies.  Here I sit with my PC Laptop plugged in charging from 5%, now at 20%, my iPad connect to it via USB charging at 50% with my iPhone 4S on the other USB port at 35%, and my MacBook charging from 0% after coding all night last night on XCODE, (my new learning initiative).  Soon I will be all charged up on all my devices ready to venture into another night without power.
The snow is quickly melting so the depression of early termination of my cycling may yet be halted. I haven't riding in a week and a 1/2, so soon I will have to hit the trainer.  For now I am content to rest.  I did get quite a workout in today clearing big branches from the driveway and the yard, and shoveling snow.
We went out once to find gas in Rocky Hill or Wethersfield, without luck, so I sent my son Ben to find it, anywhere.  We found gas, in of all places, Hartford, about a 1/2 mile from my house...Nice!  I knew since the gas station had power, that there must be power at McD's nearby.  I headed to Ron's place fort wit. 
I plan to finish editing my video on Windows Live Movie Maker, then do some downloading of movies to my iPad.  Then start up my MacBook with newly acquire Lion, and begin my project with XCode again creating an iPhone/iPad App. 
So here I sit waiting for the devices to charge...

Made it---2000+ Miles

Well as of Sunday, I made my goal of 2000 road miles this year.  Although I still have a few more to ride outdoors this season it feels good to have accomplished at least a bit of something, and here is the proof!

Well time to made a new goal...Just keep them wheels turnin' I guess.

63.6 Miles to go to 2,000....

Checking Garmin Connect today I found that I had only 63.6 miles to reach 2,000.  That is just miles on the road this year.  If I including indoor cycling I would have more than 2500 this year.  That is about 500 less than last year.  This might be due to poor weather conditions, and my stint in the Hospital in June which laid me up for about 2 weeks all totaled. 

Although I am not satisfied with doing less than last year, I am happy that I am finally getting back into form after a terrible spring.  Last spring not only came late, but brought raining conditions and lots of pollen.  I suffered greatly from some kind of setback that caused asthma like conditions.  This in turn caused me to seek medical advice, which then landed me in the hospital for all kind of cardiac testing.  This turned up nothing, but helped me feel more confident to work harder during subsequent workouts.  Now I am feeling strong, and ready to ride, except that the season is winding down. No matter, I enjoy winter indoor training, and with a new year bring new hopes of speed and adventure...

New saddle - the Romin Evo

The Specialized Romin Evo - "The Perfect Saddle" Improved...

Since I found the Romin for my R5, I wanted to change the saddle on my Tomasso. I went to Berlin cycle to see if they had the new Romin Evo that Scott had suggested when I was looking earlier. The nose of the Evo is a bit narrower and dipped downward. I decided to get the chromoly version that has a gel pad that adds weight. This I felt was a good idea for winter training, and the added weight on the Tommaso is not an issue.
Yesterday was the first ride on the Evo, and I was extremely impressed. The Evo's cutout continues to re eave pressure on vital area of the anatomy, while the dipped nose provides room for others. The raised rear gives support when extra power from the hamstrings and backsides are required.
The end result is added speed and comfort providing me with a personal best speed over a common course in complete comfort The perfect saddle improved!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Saddle Height Goes Up

Since I put the Romin saddle on my R5, I have felt that my saddle height was to low. So when my rear brake that wad out being fixed came back, I asked Dan to check it against my fit chart, and it was 7mm too low. Today was the first ride after the change and I felt like I had more power on the hills, providing me a better average speed.
When I first noticed the discrepancy, Dave, Scott, and Dan said that the saddle height from my Fi'zik Aliante and the Romin were the same. Lesson learned, always check saddle to peddle length when changing saddles.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

"The quest for the perfect saddle" continues...

The perfect saddle - continued...

Being here without power and Internet, I thought I would continue my ramblings regarding the quest for a perfect saddle. here using my IPad to dribble down a rough idea of the current state of affairs.

Thursday I returned the Selle SMP Saddle to Central Wheel with some trepedations, as although I did not feel 100% comfortable on it, I did have added power, (More on this later). I then went to Berlin Cycle to find out that my Specialized Romin was not in yet, and that it would arrive on Friday. As it was raining I did not mind that much.

Friday came and it was a beautiful day for a ride, but I had to work. After work I again went to Berlin Cycle to find that my Romin was in. Not the SL model that I ordered, but the new 2012 version they called the PRO. The Pro has carbon rails that are 8mm thick, and would not fit on most seat posts. Scott asked me what seat post I had, and told him the Thompson Masterpiece. The Thompson clamps from the top so there was no problem. I then stopped off at Cycling Concepts to pick up my headbands that I had ordered the day before, and we weighted the saddle. The SL was quoted at 209 grams, but the Pro turned out to be only 162 grams...NICE! The only downside to all of this is that the carbon rails might not hold my large frame...but it gave me a lighter bike by some 100 grams...Ya baby Ya!

I took the saddle home and put it on my bike at my fit coordinates. The saddle is curved both in the rear and in the nose, so it is tough to get it just right. It was now nearly 5:30pm. I decided to ride toward CC, and adjust it there. On the ride to CC, the saddle felt good, no hotspots or pain emerging anywhere. It felt remarkably like the aliante from Fi'zik. The difference was that I could feel that my sit bones definitely were supporting my body on the bike. The Romin has very little padding, but I did not feel any discomfort.

When I got to CC, Dave leveled the saddle a bit, placing the nose downward a bit. I measured the SMP at 3in from rail to where your sit bones rest. Although I have not yet checked the Romin, my quess is that it is somewhat lower. Maybe if was fatigue from being a Friday after work, but I could definitely notice less power on the bike that with the SMP, so some tweeking is in order. I road back down route 3 to do a hill or two to see if the saddle caught upon returning from standing effort, but it nicely has a slightly downward turned nose that does not catch. On the ride, the best thing I can say is that I barely noticed the saddle. I forgot about it, and road comfortably. The only caveat would be that I only road 13 miles, and need a longer ride to judge better the long distance effects on my backside. For now though it looks promising...

Another adjustment that was made was that Daniel from CC road with me on Wedneday, and noticed that I need to go up on the steering tube to get a more relaxed position in my shoulders, as they were hunched when riding normally. Danny move the stem up 1 cm on the steering tube by moving the 10 mm spacer below the stem. On the ride I did notice more comfort, but think it may need to go do about 5 mm, and maybe get a 10mm shorter stem...We shall see.

The Specialized Romin Pro deserves a longer ride to truly test its medal, but with luck with be the saddle for me moving forward...For now the quest for the perfect saddle has landed on the Romin steps.

The quest for the perfect saddle...

A bit of background to this story:

During the first week of July, I was on a long ride to Cedar Lake in Chester Connecticut, which is about a 85 mile ride for me from home, when I was struck from behind by a car just after an intersection.  Although I was not hurt at all, my Cervelo R3 was retired due to stress fractures in the frame.   This meant that I needed a new bike, which the insurance company was nice enough to provide, so I choose to upgrade to an R5.  Dan at Cycle Concepts had one on the floor in my size, and offered it to me at a discount for just the frame. I went to look at it, and it was mostly black with some grey, but it was the Celtic Green that caught my eye!  At that moment I knew my destiny...R5. 
The only thing was that my White and Red Fizik Aliante saddle does not go with black and green, so that meant a new saddle.  Well, since I had to get a new saddle anyway, the Aliante worked for rides under 40 miles, but gave me a bit of soreness in my soft places after that.  I decided to at that point to go on the "Quest for a Perfect Saddle". 
Having had a Brooks Pro Leather Saddle for quite some time on my old steel bike, 35 years or so, it was briefly in the mix.  The problem is weight and style.  Although the Brooks Pro is a beautiful work of art, atop the R5, not so much.  It also weigh as much a my frame, so the bike would be a bit top heavy if you catch my meaning...Most people would say that I am already top heavy, and that shouldn't matter, but one can dream can't they...Therefore my brother Nick and I came up with a few criteria for the saddle:
1. It must be under 300 grams, preferably under 200, but beggar can't be choosers.  2. It must look good atop the R5 frame.  3. It must not hurt my tender back side on long rides.
The first time I decided to venture away from Brook was 2 years ago when riding indoors, so Dave had me go onto the Fi'zik site and read about their philosophy on saddle design and fitting. Their's is an anotomical effort to fit people by spinal flexibility, body type and riding style. I was a Bull, as most of us know already, so the Aliante was the choose.  It works perfectly fine for all rides under 40 miles, which to be honest are most of my ride, except events and summer jounts.  The quest continued...
Dan at Cycling Concepts in Rocky Hill, CT put me on the A...O'Meter to check my saddle width using my sit bone width.  We had tried this once before, but could not get a reading as my back side has too much padding.  This time it indicated about a 140 mm width saddle or Medium would suffice.  Dan was convinced through prior testing and research that Bontreger had come up with the perfect saddle with the Inform RL.  I happily tried this saddle there wider version as it had a 90 day return policy.  So we put the saddle on and I road about a 40 mile loop around the reservoir.  The first thing I noticed on the 148 mm saddle were the wings rubbing against my back side.  This was unacceptable, so Dan suggested the smaller 130 mm saddle, bad IDEA.  I had never been in so much pain as after my first ride with the narrower saddle.  Today, after two weeks have lapsed, it still hurts.  So the Inform was mis-informed, and history. The quest continued.
On my ride back to Cycling Concepts I took a ride by Berlin Bike to check out the Specialized Saddles, as Nick has a Toupe that he loves.  When I got there I had a discussion of my needs with Scott, as he said he was trying the new Romin Evo, which is very light and he liked it, but he keeps swithing back to his Fizik Arione.  Everyone had their favorite saddle, some like the flat seat that they can have more than one position on, and some like a more saddle like seat that only provides 1 position and you sit down in, while others need a releaf cut in the middle.  Well when I went back, Scott was ocupodo, and I dealt with the owner, who did not know my story, and put me onto an Avatar, which Nick had already loaned me from his stock to try.  I have a hard time with saying no, so when he said I could bring it back and exchange it, I said what the hay, and just went along. 
The Specialized Avatar is a nice saddle and very comfy indeed, but weight over 300 grams, "Outside acceptable rance", and has two elevated pads where you side bones are for cushioning.  The problem for me was that after a bit, those bumps would force my body forward on the saddle so I was siddle on the nose with the saddle going up my soft area...NOT GOOD.  So I have been back there now 3, maybe even 4 time, trying to get them to order me a Romin SL.  Which is what Scott was riding in the Evo model (Evo meaning very light).  I like the Romin because of its shape.  It has a saddle shape with a large cutout and a dipped nose in the front. I like the idea of the nose dipping downward in the front a bit to keep from catching my shorts on the nose after standing, which is very anoying a energy robbing. It is very similar to the Aliante design with a cutout.  It comes in today....So the quest continues on...
In the mean time, I have several riding buddies, both indoor and outdoor who ride the Selle SMP.  Sondre the Wrench at Cycling Concepts ride one, and I thought I would give that a try.  Well, it cost almost $300.  This is not something that I am going to buy to try, so I needed a fitting center, or a shop that lends out test saddle's and has the SMP's to try.  I found that Central Wheel in West Hartford was on the list of Test Centers on Selle's site, so I went and picked one up.  I tried to Glider model which is designed for medium to wide pelvices.  The SMP had a large center cutout with a saddle shape and pronounced dip in the nose.  This saddle provide on sitting position like the Aliante.  I road it for about 60 miles in 2 days, and enjoyed it, especially when I moved in forward by 1 cm.  This slight move provided a lot more power on the hills and I wound up with a 1 mph increase or better in my avg speed...NICE!  However after the initial 20 miles or so, I notice that with saddle had a narrow band to sit in between the rear peaks and the middle hump.  This must fit some euro gents bottom, but not my Bull butt.  It was very noticeable.  If the SMP was not $300 buck, I might try it over time, but cost prevents me from making the leap.
Today is the day my Romin comes in, so we shall see what that brings.  If that doesn't work, Fi'zik has a new to 2011 saddle series called the Versus.  The Versus version of most of the Fi'zik line had a center channel with no foam their.  So the Aliante Versus, will be my next attempt if the Romin SL does not make the grade...The Quest Continues....

2nd ride is a charm - First impressions of the Cervelo R5

R5 2nd ride is a charm - Middletown to Berlin by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

On my second ride with the R5, I decided to do a small bit of climbing, so I went to Middletown and then back through East Berlin. It was a relief that the bike did not have that clunking noise from the BB anymore, so I was able to get out of the saddle today. This gave a better impression of the bike than my shorter ride on Saturday.
Yesterday I went to CC to have Sondre fix the BB, so he pressed the bearings in some more, which fixed the issue. I also adjusted the handlebars upward which put me in a great position for today's ride. The new saddle is going to take some getting used to, but I like the way it has a slim nose allowing me to pedal with my knees more inward. I do however feel I need the next size down, as it rubs on my a.. cheeks a bit causing soreness.
First real impressions of the R5 is that it is very "stiff" in the BB. All power goes straight to the wheels without any loss in the frame. I also feel that the R5 is more "Rigid" than the R3 making it so that you can feel the road under you a bit more. This may be due to the higher modulous carbon fiber. It is analogous to the R3 being a Catalac CTS and the R5 being a Porche 911.  The R3 is fast and smooth, but the R5 is fast and nimble.

Road Tubeless Tire Installation notes...

I again went with the Dura Ace 7900 C24 wheels, which are tubeless.  I thought I would write down the install technique Sondre came up with to make the job go smoothly and less messy. 

• First we put on the tires using thin Mavic levers that are notched nicely in order not to damage the rims. 
• When mounting around the stem, loosen it up and push it gently into the tire to allow the tire bead to nestle into the rim properly. (Key bit here)
• Once mounted you seat the wheel with compressed air to seat the tire.
• Let the air out, and lift one edge of the bead adjacent to the valve stem up just a bit with the mavic tire lever. 
• Using a drip bottle insert latex sealant, (40 ml).  Insert the tip of the squeeze bottle, (small 100 ml bottle will due), under the bead.  With area you are working with at the about 2 o'clock position, you squeeze in the sealant. 
• Re-seat the tire with compressed air. 
• Use a hand pump go take the tire to max pressure, then let out the air and pump up to your desire tire pressure.
• Done!

R5 Build and Adjustments...

Pictures of the R5 build

Yesterday I finished the R5 build at Cycling Concepts in Rocky Hill after my R3 was hit from behind crushing the rear wheel, and damaging the frame at the rear seat stays.  I decided to move up one level to the R5 because the frame was in Celtic Green, and I did not have to wait until October to get the new one.  Changing color schemes meant that I had to change a few parts as well, which made the build a bit more money, but tied the bike together nicely.  Love the new look
I still have one or two more changes to go, as my pedals are still red which clash a bit, I am going to look into getting a rebuild kit or used black pair of Zero's so round out the look.  I also have to get new cams for the brakes, but they will due and are more long term changes.
After the build I went for a short 10 mile ride, and found a couple of fit changes I need.  I had to tip the nose down on my saddle a bit, and level the bars, Done and Done.  The one thing that worries me though is the bottom bracket made a bit clunk when I stood up and laid the weight to the pedals.  This could be due to the bb being a bit loose, but more likely the BB needs to be press in a bit more.  I will take it back into CC today for this fix. 
It is raining out today, so I will have to wait to check it on the road until Monday morning.  I a later ride on Monday after shop hours, and then ride a moderate ride 20-30 miles to check for any other adjustments before embarking on my Shop ride on Tuesday, and long ride Wednesday...
Wish me luck!

Cyntergy Rules..

Only workout today, due to the fact that I needed to change my front tire, was going to cyntergy for the first time in Months.  Man I needed it too.  Felt great to work my whole body, and stretch, specially my hips.  I need to get back into doing it two to three times per week.  I can really feel it working and helping a great deal when I am on the bike.  I was shaking when I was done...

Intervals in RI by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

Intervals in RI by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

Short hard ride in RI with Nick. Started poorly as I had to change my wheel and use Nick's Cosmic Carbone front wheel. Mine had a flat, so I need to get a new tire for the Dura Ace Tubeless tomorrow. Road hard during portions of the ride, but still had to recover twice after harder bouts. Hopefully I can sustain a longer hard effort in the weeks to come.

RI Ride with Nick...NICE!

RI Ride with Nick.  Love the flats and drafting with Nick.  Fun!  My legs were a bit sore after Walking/Jogging yesterday, but was not an issue.
Rest day tomorrow.

Walk/Jog and New Lifting Routine...

Today I did a fast walk/jog on my normal route trying to keep my HR above 120 by doing short intervals of running/jogging followed by power walking.  This was followed by going to the gym to do a quick ab and lifting routine.  HealthTrax changed to a nautilus circuit, which I do not like as much as the cybex that they did have, so I changed up to a new routine on the Universal Machine and freeweights trying to do a whole body circuit 3 times.
3 X Pull down at 100lbs
3 X Chest Fly at 55lbs
1 X Upright Row and 1 X Pull Down Row and 1 X Bend over Row 90lbs
3 X Tri Push Downs 55 lbs
3 X Dumb Bell Hammer Curls - Dumbell  25 - 35 progressive
3 X Short Press dumbell 15 - 25 progressive.

This will be done 3 X per week M-W-F followed by my hot tub streching routine which felt awesome.

HIlls repeat workout #1... by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

HIlls repeat workout #1... by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details
My first hill repeat workout in years...Did a short warm up to the hill I wanted to try near the WCC, as traffic is not too bad there.  1/2 mile hill done 5X.  I was a bit tired from the prior days ride, but wanted to get the hills in today, to rest tomorrow, so I could ride hard on Saturday with Nick..
Going to swim this afternoon and then Cyntergy...Maybe.

Middletown-Berlin Ride... by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

Middletown-Berlin Ride... by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

This is a modified ride through Middletown, similar to the ride to Lymann, but went around through East Berlin instead. Took the last couple of miles to ride easy to burn some lactate, as I added an additional HARD loop through Cromwell while waiting for my brother Nick at the shop. It was like doing double sessions - Hill ride with a sprint at the end...


My knees hurt a bit now, but I am enjoying the fatigue as apposed to lack there of...Although it was somewhat slower today, allot more hill here, and got lost and took a detour up a steep hill loop around a neighborhood at the top of the Middletown climb, just what I needed...
 
Walk/Ran this morning using my new Garmin FR60 HR Monitor.  I cannot upload that data yet, as I am waiting for the USB Ant+ Stick to come in. 

Summer Training Begins in Earnest.

Fartlet Training Session with Garmin Connect File - by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

Feels good to be able to work out maximally again without coughing up a bunch of Flem. Got a quick unstructured interval workout in, called Fartlet Training. I worked to fatigue and then rested trying to keep my efforts hard and between 75-85% HR Max, and then rest until I felt strong enough to continue another bout. 18 miles with a few hills mixed in were good. Tried to keep my hill efforts to over 10 mph, which I did all but once. Got my maxExHR to around 160 bts/min which was awesome. I did not feel any tightness in the chest at all, NICE!
Need to stick to my diet, and loose weight so I can ride faster. Not ready for longer hills yet, but need to do some hill training. Friday is my scheduled day for this. Tomorrow is long ride day of 40+, not really going to worry about speed but keep my HR under 150 bts/min.
Received my Garmin FR60 HR Monitor for walk/jogging yesterday and am anxious to see how it works. I like the fact that I can now use 1 site to track all my workouts...NICE!
Going to HeathTrac to swim but I must first buy some silicone ear plugs, goggles (unless I can find the ones in my car), and a new bathing suit. Going to try Dick's first, then wally world.
Here I go...

Summer 2011 Training Schedule - Modified

After talking with my brother, and looking over I modified my training to reflect a some more thought about recovery.  I moved my hard days to Monday-Wednesday-Friday with made Tuesday and Thursday recovery/cross training days. 
Have a look:

Mon

9:00am – 10:00am Run/Walk - 2-3 Mile Loop Outside



10:00am – 12:30pm Ride - Hill or Intervals - Home


2:00pm – 3:00pm Circuit Weight Training - HealthTrax


Tue

10:00am – 2:00pm Ride - 10-15 Mile Recovery Ride


4:00pm – 4:30pm Swim Laps - HealthTrax


5:30pm – 6:30pm Cynergy - HealthTrax


Wed

2:00pm – 3:00pm Circuit Weight Training - HealthTrax


6:00pm – 8:30pm CC Group Ride - Cycling Concepts


Thu

10:00am – 2:00pm Ride - 10-15 Mile Recovery Ride


4:00pm – 4:30pm Swim Laps - HealthTrax


5:30pm – 6:30pm Cynergy - HealthTrax


Fri

9:00am – 10:00am Run/Walk - 2-3 Mile Loop Outside


10:00am – 12:30pm Ride - Hill or Intervals - Home




2:00pm – 3:00pm Circuit Weight Training - HealthTrax


Sat

10:00am – 11:00am RI Ride with Nick - RI

Sun - Off

2 mile walk and 18 mile ride...Nice to be off for the summer!

After a two week layoff and two days in the hospital for cardiac testing, it was nice to be back working out and on the road again...  Took a two mile walk/jog this morning followed by an 18 mile bike ride!  Nice!  Didn't really feel any lingering after effects from the hospital stay, and didn't have my usual wind issue. ..  (not farts).  Felt good to work hard outside for the first time this year.  Now I need to work on my weight and fitness.  If I stick close to my training regime I should see results by mid July. 

Summer 2011 Training Schedule

Well here goes - After getting my heart checked and rechecked at the Hospital this week, I am now ready to start my summer training regime in earnest knowing that I won't die doing it...Hopefully.  Well here it is:

From June 24th to August 21st
Saturdays
10:00am – 11:00am RI Ride with Nick - RI

Sun Jun 26 All day Forecast for Wethersfield, CT (81°
61°)

All day Newington Group Ride - Newington Bike

Mondays - Wednesdays - Fridays
9:00am – 10:00am Run/Walk - 2-3 Mile Loop Outside

10:00am – 2:00pm Ride - 20-40 Mile Loops

2:00pm – 3:00pm Circuit Weight Training - HealthTrax

Tuesdays - Thursdays

 10:00am – 1:00pm Ride - Hills - Hill Repeats various

4:00pm – 4:30pm Swim Laps - HealthTrax

5:30pm – 6:30pm Cynergy - HealthTrax


Although rather ambitious I think it will get me where I need to go...

Essex and back by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

Untitled by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details -

Went to Essex and back to Wethersfield today just to see if I could. I haven't been feeling all that great, so I decided to push my luck a bit in the dry weather. Lately I have had trouble breathing, which has effected my fitness a bit, as I cannot go hard without having an asthma attach. Today was clear sailing...:)
After about 54 miles or so, I began to cramp because of the dry weather and windy conditions. I was well hydrated and used electrolite pills along the way every hour or so. However this did not help. At times I had to slow down quite a bit, as the soreness set into my seat! Ouch! My butt hurt bad the last 15 miles or so. Could barely sit down.
Anyway, I made it! That was my goal! Now I have to pick things up a bit to get ready for summer riding...Go long!

Hutchinson Fusion 3 Tubess...Way Awesome!

As you can see, when out on a short ride in RI with my brother Nick, I got a puncture about 3mm long.  The glass actually stuck in the tire for a while, until I stopped and picked it out.  The tire sealed itself with only nominal pressure loss, about 10lbs.  I then road another 15 miles or so without an issue.  Tubelss technology is the bomb.  On another bike, I would have had to stop and change tubes.  In this case, I just stopped to check the tire, and road off again without a hitch....NICE!

Walk/Jog....What the hell...Walk

I have been thinking about cross training for a while now, but I hate to run.  In addition, with my poor riding lately due to loss of lung power because of the unusually high polin count, I thought I needed another training avenue.  So off I went this morning on a 2 1/2 mile walk, and although I did jog a bit, it was only that, a bit.  I did not wear my HR Monitor or watch, so time and HR are not available.  I know the distance, because I used to run this route every morning back in the late 90's.  My lungs did tighten somewhat along the way, but then opened up somewhere after the 1/2 mile hill on this route.  I am hoping to get in 2-3 walk/jogs per week, to break up the riding.  I need something else now that I am not going to the gym as much.
I like walking in the AM.  It bring some contemplation to the mix, much like my morning commute used to last year.  I miss my bike commuting.  I will do a training schedule to the last day of school sometime today and post it for you.  I am going to try to be somewhat ambitious in my schedule, as I have a long way to go, and short time to get there.

East Berlin from Home... by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

East Berlin from Home... by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

Went on a bit of a medium length ride (31 miles) with a few longer hills through East Berlin today. Stopped at CC on the way out and back, then finished by cruising through the South End of Hartford and Goodwyn Park, which messed with my avg speed a bit. But I felt better about my ride today, as my health was a bit better and there was less wind. I need to stop smoking cigars, as I think that is a major deterrent to getting faster. Have to control my eating as well, which is also very difficult. I have felt like I cannot ride with any group right now, as I am sooo slowwww. But I will just keep my cranks spinning as I see what comes. I wanted a few more miles out of this week off, but got in over 100 miles, which I will take.
Yesterday, the weatherman said there were going to be sunny skies into the weekend, then when I checked back today, it will be raining till Wednesday...Lord hear my prayer.
With a bit more work, I think I can get back to where I was last year, but not sure I can go much beyond that point.

Recovery ride by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

Untitled by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details Road a recovery ride on the flats of Cromwell into Old Wethersfield today, although I really wanted to ride big again, I didn't have it in me. Wanted to ride to Chester today, but when I got on my bike, my body said NO. I had absolutely no legs, wind, or much energy to even ride to the shop and back, but once I got there, I thought I would just as well ride the flats as anything. 20 mile at about 12 MPH isn't very impressive, even on a recovery ride, but was enough to give me a good workout after a hard ride yesterday. The wind and damp raw weather really had an impact on my outlook. I was looking forward to the warm ride, and only put on a thin thermal top under short sleeves and my bib shorts. I was quite cold for most of the ride, but not too cold. I still had my long fingered gloves and beanie so my head and hands were warm, which helped quite a bit. Tomorrow I ride in my old haunts of Essex, and I am excited about that. Love that ride along Cedar Lake down through Ivoryton, and my favorite, River Road! Then I am going to have dinner with Brian, so let the weather be grand.

Lymann orchards and back... by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

Lymann orchards and back... by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details Today I road out to Lymann Orchards and back. Just trying to get a moderately long ride in before the 100K May Day Ride in Glastonbury with Cycling Concepts. I went 38.2 miles up some slightly longer hills in Middletown, but nothing the likes of Marlborough. Kept a slow pace to try to moderate my output. I got lost twice trying to find the right road to take to connect to Lymann and wound up climbing a huge hill for my efforts. I felt pretty good and refused to push the pace except on a few rollers. The wind was pretty strong and was a cross wind most of the time. Man, when I turned into the wind, it was tough going. Actually found myself slowing down on a downhill when I was coasting, wow. Did not really mind the wind too too much, as it was nice to get a longer ride in the books. Stopped by CC on my way back to see the Brakes the guys are going to buy, to see if I wanted to change out my Dura Ace Brakes I have now. They were extremely light, but single pivot. Would have to see them on a bike first before I make the plunge at 400 bucks. The up side is that I can customize the look with anadized alum parts with custom colors that would match my bike white/black/red scheme. I can sell the 7900's for around 300 so that leaves around 100 dollars to swap out the two. Again, I will have to see them on, and how they stop first. Tomorrow I have mapped out a ride through Chester and back, which should be around 60 miles or 100k with some moderately big hills as a test for May 1. Hope I have the legs for it. Since I have the week off, I want to get in as many miles as possible. 38 miles in the books!

Magical mystery tour....CC by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details

Magical mystery tour....CC by scott_t_ct at Garmin Connect - Details Choose to ride on the Rollers and flats of Berlin, Cromwell, Rocky Hill and Wethersfield totalling 28 miles or so. First part of the ride were roller in Berlin, which I took my time with as I did not feel great this morning. My original plan was to ride with Nick today in the Hills of Marlborough, but I woke up with a bit of a sore throat and did not feel up to an average HR in the 140's. This part of the ride wound up on the flats in Cromwell, where I picked it up a bit, but tried to keep my HR down under 150. Total for first part of the ride was 18 miles or so, not bad at around 14 mph.

Stopped by the CC to have Dan check my fit numbers against my seat angles to see if the seat slipped because I keep slipping forward on the saddle, especially on hills. Dan put the numbers to work and all was fine. I also check my wheel to see if it remained true after Sondre had put spoke freeze on the loose spoke, and it was...NICE!

The second part of the ride was from CC to Old Wethersfield, around the park and past the DMV to Nott Street on the Silas Deane. My average HR was around 134, about the same as the first part of the ride, but I was able to do the 8 miles at 16.5 mph. Mostly down hill with some rollers in between which I cranked over. Felt great during this part of the ride. Hit a deep pot hole near the park with no ill effect, rear tire is still true...NICE!

At the Silas Deane I hit the lap timer again, as I knew it was a short uphill ride home, and wanted to see what I had done the previous part of the ride in. Nott Street is straight uphill, and a tough one at that. I have walked it at times with my sirrus. Tried to think of the Bicycling.com article about hill climbing, and was able to make it up the hill just fine, albeit very slowly. Hit my peak HR at 160 bts/min. Took a bit of recovery upon arrival home, but felt good to get some miles in, about 28 miles or so total, with an average speed of about 14 MPH, AvgHR at 134 or so. Not bad for a lazy day in the saddle.

Side note, it pays to have a good relationship with you bike shops Mechanic, as he or she will provide good service, and put that little bit extra into your bike so that you can roll on. Thanks Sondre!

Hutchinson Tubeless Review and First Impressions....

Road a quick 12 mile loop to Cycling Concepts and back yesterday as I only had about an hour to spare, but I really wanted to get to check out my new Hutchinson Tubeless Fusion 3 road tires.  I road them at 95 lbs. front and 100 lbs. rear. 
Just want to thank Dan for leveling my seat, as I was slipping foreward on the saddle, this made all the difference on the ride back home!

First Impressions of the Hutchinson Fusion 3 Tubeless Tires:
1.  The are more supple than I expected.  When I first got them they appears hard out of the box, but on the wheels they ride softer than I expected. 
2.  They are soft, but not mushy.  This may be due to the lower tire pressure, but if you did the same thing with regular tube clinchers you would get mush. This is a good thing. 
3. They spin up quickly, not super fast, but not sluggish either.  They also accelerate when standing on climbs well.  They are not as responsive as my old Vittoria Open Corsa's, but much faster than Gatorskins.
4.  The ride is smooth, as smooth as the Vittoria's, but this is hard to say as this was also my first ride outside this year on my R3.  As compare to my Specialized Sirrus and my Tommaso Team Custom, the R3 ride is incredibly SMOOOOOOOOTH!  I could be riding on bricks and the R3 would feel smooth.  Since I have only ridden it a half dozen times altogether with the Vittoria's I can't really give the Fusions all the credit here.  However going over rough beat up roads as I did yesterday, the lower tire pressure sure felt good absorbing the bumps, and left me wanting to ride longer, all good things.  With the Open Corsas, I use much higher pressure and they tend to bounce more leaving them to jar ones kidneys a bit, but not as much as Gatorskins.
5.  Cornering is responsive and feels sturdy.  As compared to gatorskins which I purposely slow down around corners with, the fusions are great, but compared to Open Corsas they are equal or just a shade below.  Although again I have not ridden them on any tough fast corners as of yet, the fusions appear awesome, might be the lower pressure and thick side walls allow more tire to be on the road making it grip better.
Overall I am glad I made the switch, and depending upon durability, these will remain in the foreseeable future.  If you have tubeless ready tire, like the Shimano Dura Ace 7850's on my bike, then go for it, you will not be disappointed.

"Angels" - Indoor Hills

Angels, a sufferfest Video, at Cycling Concepts at Garmin Connect - Details. The ride was hard but felt strong even after working hard last night in Newington. Angels is a hill workout with the main set being 3 intervals of 8 minutes long with 4 minutes in between as recovery. I actually enjoyed the work, and felt great, giving me hope going into the new outdoor season. Maybe the indoor work is finally paying off after a lack luster beginning to the indoor season.

Riding with no data is better....What?

Funny how you get used to having Data when you ride indoors, or even outside.  Last night I did my usual indoor ride at Newington Bike without my trusty Garmin at my side, I left it attached to the computer.  The upside is that I found myself riding by feel, as I always used to, and liked it.  I just wish I had the data to analyze the difference between knowing my HR, and not knowing during indoor workouts.  I am curious to know whether I road harder with data or without. 
When I ride with the Garmin, I feel I watch my HR and regulate my effort to reach certain HR's zones, which as an old fart I do liberally. When I ride without the Garmin I ride by effort and fatigue.  When I get tired I slow down, (Dah).  However last night I did not get tired often, so I just kept raising the bar a bit. 
The problem now is that I don't have any data to compare to show how I felt translates into reality.  I would love to compare HR's on Garmin's Training Center software.  This would provide me with real information about whether I bumb down my rides based on my HR and that Data watching is not always a good thing. 
I also loose the miles on my yearly goal of 2500 total miles for the year.  This year I have only not had my Garmin twice on rides of 10 and 15 miles for a total of 25 miles.  This is insignificant now, but last year I lost a bunch more, as I did not ride with the Garmin on all my commutes, loosing 10 miles a day 3 times a week for about 3 months, (A guestimation).  Since this year I do not commute, as I change job locations, and am now too far to commute regularly, this loss will not be significant.  The answer may lie in placing my Garmin in a rear pocket during 1 ride per week, and comparing the results...A sort of lab experiment on myself...KEWL. 
Stay tuned for the results of this experiment to be posted sometime later this summer.

Mounting Hutchinson Fusion 3 Tubeless on the R3...

I had to take a personal day today due to a flooded basement from the rain and melting snow of last night. I finished around 10:30 am with the cleanup, so I decided to go to Cycling Concepts to have Sondre help me with the install.  Good thing, because there were several errors I would have otherwise missed. A good reason to have a relationship with your LBS is their expertise and experience with these things.  Sondre is a very good mechanic and is always very helpful to me, and knows I like to do most of the work myself.  CC allows me the luxury of doing my work there on new things with their help. 
I took off the old Vittoria Open Corsa I had on, but forgot my tubeless stems that came with my 7850 wheels, so I went back home to get them.  Had to have Sondre show me how they went on, as they were directionally different.  I would have put them on wrong, and maybe messed the install up completely or had leaks otherwise. 
Sondre took on wheel and I the other, and began mounting the Hutchinson Fusion 3's to the rims.  We had to partially unscrew the stems to get the bead to mount correctly to the rim, but the most difficult part was getting the last bit of tire over the rim without levers.  It took both of us to get it over the lip.  We used Stan's in the wheel to give it added flat protection, in the manner viewed on the video by Stan himself, by pouring it into the tire, and slowly turning the wheel until it was at the bottom of the rim.  After mounting the tire on the rim, we inflated it with compressed air.  The rear leaked a bit at first, but the front went on without any leakage at all.  I then inflated to 120lbs with a hand pump, and rear snapped into the rim with a thunk.  Sondre said to leave it a 120lbs until I ride and then reduce the tire pressure to around 100lbs in the rear and 95 in the front.
I brought the wheels home and put them back on the R3, and now I am ready to roll, hopefully without a flat!
Bought Sondre and Dave a pizza for their efforts from Michael Angelo's next door.

Indoors again at Nick's

Recovery Ride at Nick's house today doing "The Hunted" a www.thesufferfest.com video -Garmin Details.

Worked very easy for the first part of the ride, but picked it up a bit near the end. Was the first time Nick and I have ridden together for 2 weeks or so, as he was traveling. Most of the time we were chatting about his travels and his vacation and riding in Florida. Must be nice!...
This time of year I always get a bit lougy from allergies, and it hit me today. After the ride I felt much better though, as riding always makes me feel. We did get the outdoor bug, and am looking forward to riding outdoors again...Soon!

Winter Outdoor Ride!

Went for a short ride OUTSIDE today, and it was grand!  Bundled up in all my winter riding attire, and off I went to Cycling Concepts to say hi to Sondre after his trip to Sweden. 
It took me a good hour to prepare my Specialized Allez for the trip, as I have not ridden it for quite some time, probably since the Tour of Hartford.  It was really grimey and I had to clean and lube the chain.  The front wheel had spider webs running through it, and the brakes were all messed up.  I lubed everything, even the cables and adjusted the D's. 
The ride to CC was short only about 10 miles round trip and flat, but I love the road.  It allows my mind to wonder, and enjoy the day, even in the cold. 
At Cycling Concepts, Sondre saw that I had a Specialized, and he quickly taped the iz, so now my bike pronounces me as: "Special ed" , something we all recognized anyway.  The Sirrus weights in at about 40 lbs or more, but a joy to ride as it has 32mm tires, and a straight upride handlebar setup.  Perfect for the chore at hand. 
Now I have ridden in Januray and February this year and well on my way to riding in each month this year.  NICE!  Last year I got to ride outside all but February, so I am ahead of the game.
Pre-ride I got to the gym to lift and do a bit of an ab workout before hitting the hot tub for a stretch.  I then went to Bob's Furnature to check new recliners, but didn't want to wait for delivery or go to norwich to pick it up.  I am now headed to Puritan to see what they have at their close out store...Maybe I'll get lucky. 

Sufferfest's Fight Club Indoor Cycling Workout!

thesufferfest.com 's Fight Club Garmin Details
Nick and I did another one of www.thesufferfest.com 's ultra hard indoor cycling videos in the barn yesterday. These video's are extremely difficult, but will definitely help with longer sustain hill efforts later this spring and summer. Although each of the sufferfest videos matches a training technique used in Spinervals, sufferfest goes that one degree farther with attacks and increases in intensity over the course of each interval in a set. For example, Spinerval "Putting the Hammer Down", which we did at CC on Wednesday, compares to the Sufferfest video "The Fight Club". Both had 6 minute long intervals with longer rest intervals, but where The Hammer was a hard sustained effort the the entire 6 minutes, Fight Club was 4 minutes of TT training at 75 to 80 % with a cadence of 90 - 100, with a 2:00 hill climb at the end of 80-100 % with a cadence of 75-80 with attacks of 100% mixed in and a sprint at the end....Man. IWKMATTKYT! This changing interval keeps you alert and in the moment working harder than you thought you could otherwise on a trainer.
I think I will do a recovery ride today watching another one the sufferfest videos - Revolver...

Sufferfest - Downward Spiral ...

No training at CC tonight due to weather, so I road at home to a new Sufferfest ( http://www.thesufferfest.com/) video - Downward Spiral...start at 2:00 and work your way down to 15 seconds by subtracting 15 seconds each interval.  Rest and work intervals were equal.  There are two sets of these and I did but one, as I shoveled twice today.  Not as good as the Angels video, as I like longer intervals with bursts in them.  Felt good to get a ride in even though it be a short one.

Sufferfest - Angels in the books....Ouch!

After having read about the sufferfest.com collection of indoor training videos on Cyclingnews.com, I downloaded two of them; Angels and Downward Spiral.  Today I decided to try the 60 minute Angels video, and man what a workout.  Average HR of 143bts/min with a MaxExHR of 163, this video was awesome.  The Angles video features Hills from various top level cycling events including the last climb of the Alpe D'Huez.  The video starting with a 10 minute over/under threshold with 70/80 RPE efforts.  Then 3 minutes rest before 3 X 8 minute efforts of 8+ RPE efforts with 4 minutes rest between sets.  My average HR during the climbs was over 150 and the last 4 minutes of each effort was around 157 or higher.  Wow!
This was a great workout after taking the last 3 days off.  Felt great and was one of my best max effort workouts to date.  Definitely a sufferfest!  I would recommend this video as a change to the normal spinervals workouts any day of the week.  Both are good for various reasons, but I felt this made me challenge myself more than the others when by myself.  Maybe not so much in group, but wow!

Big Gear Spinerval Workout at CC...Ouch!

Tonight at Cycling Concepts we did the Spinerval Indoor Trainer workout - Big Gear Madness...Man!  Big Chain 12 most of the night, but my bike has an 11 in the rear so when standing I did 11.  Was an extra hard workout on the thighs, but not to tough on the heart and lungs as most intervals were less than a minute long, although there were two sets of standing for 45 and 50 seconds and 10 seconds hard for 5 and 3 minutes respectfully that taxed the aerobic system a bit.  I can definitely tell the difference between this year and last years indoor training sessions.  I am working harder and longer out of the saddle, as well as working at a higher HR for longer periods without fatigue...Nice! 
Since I quit smoking cigars on a daily basis, my aerobic capacity has seen a big jump, but so has my waste line.  Have to learn to resist the temptation to pig out, but not sure I can.  I think I need a hypnotist or something.
Tomorrow should be a good day, and I hope I get to ride a recovery ride of some kind as I will need it.  I may go to the gym in the AM for a hot tub stretch, but that will depend upon how I feel then. 

Active Rest day workout...Short ride, ab workout, and lifting...

Today was my active rest day where I road for 30 minute submaximally on the trainer, and then went to the gym.  At the gym I did 10 minutes on the rowing machine before doing my usually ab workout, and circuit on the weight machines.  Feeling very strong lately, maybe it is the fact that it has been about a month since I stopped smoking cigars daily, and about 2 weeks without any.  Although I think this is keeping my weight higher, I feel much stronger, and thus working harder both on and off the bike.  Although I still have the occasional urge to light one up, I have not done so.  After working out, I hit the hot tube for an extra long stretching routine.  As I was walking to the truck from the gym, all I could think off was how great my legs felt.  Not sure if without the weight loss I can improve my cycling any during the outdoor season, but I sure feel better.
Tomorrow, I am going to do a spin class instead of workout at Newington Bike, so I can get a cynergy class in.  I feel I need the extra body workout to strengthen my core.  I have missed my once a week cynergy class.  I wish they had spin on Thursdays before cynergy, as that would be my preferred day to do it in my current routine.  This will also give me a two hour workout, as apposed to just cycling that day...nice! 

Base Building and Repacking of my open pro/ultegra wheels...

Yesterday I road indoors doing half the Spinervals Based Building Compelation CD which is 2 hrs long.  Felt good to ride somewhat easy after 3 weeks of hard indoor intervals.  I will most like do the other half this afternoon, but am not going to push it.  I can now begin to feel the workouts effecting my body, as my legs are strong and my body type is changing a bit.  I think I am going to head to the gym to get in a hot tub stretch to loosen by bones a bit.
Today while watching "I Spy" on Hulu, I repacked my Open Pro Ultegra wheels that I use on my Tommaso for training.  I have been meaning to do this for some time now, as I had a full season on them between maintenance.  Nick read on some forum somewhere that Slick 50 grease is the best stuff for hubs, so he bought us both a tube, so I decided to use that today in the ultegra hubs.  The stuff is very "slick", and is clean to the touch.  Once I got the wheels together though, I think it creates air pockets between the bearings, as a popping kind of sound was created when spinning them on the bike.  I repacked the front twice, but still made the same weird noice.  I then repacked the rear, and it did a similar thing until I removed, spun and replace the wheel on the bike.  The noice then went away, and the wheel rolled incredibly smoothly.  I will have to repack them after indoor season to see how the grease held up. 
OK headed to the gym to sit in the hot tub...

Lean and Mean...again!

Tonight, before tomorrow's big storm, I thought I would work really hard at Newington Bike's indoor training session to make up for the lack of a ride tomorrow at Cycling Concepts.  We did Spinerval's Lean and Mean, a 60 minute interval workout on and off the bike.  Variable gears and variable interval lengths made for one tough workout.  I will definitely need a recovery ride tomorrow.  I don't usually push my Tuesday workouts as I know I have two more days to go.  I usually use it as a warm-up for Wednesday night's ride with Nick at Cycling Concepts, as I know I have to work hard with him there.  I will try to do the two hour base builder tomorrow at a seriously slow pace to burn the lactic acid from my muscles. 
Leftover pasta primavera tonight. Yummy!

Another hard week on indoor training down....

This weeks training consisted of 3 interval session with high intensity intervals.  Tuesday's ride was "No Slackers Allowed!"  Spinervals that I thought might leave me tired for what I knew was going to be a hard workout on Wednesday, but no. 
Wednesday at CC we had a big turnout for Graeme Street, as guest trainer, from Cyclo-core.com, and he did a threshold workout at or above 90% of HRMax.  I enjoyed this session a great deal because the intervals were hard and longer than normal without so many rest periods.  I feel I need this kind of training more than the shorter bouts to get me to be able to maintain a higher intensity level to get all the way over the hills on group rides without quiting.  Once a week in my 4 sessions a week plan will work with two intervals and one aerobic base session.  Graeme, as he was last year, was a great help cognitively as well.  He helps you mentally as well as physically understand the rigors of cycling.  I wish we had two or three more sessions with him.  Maybe if we talk to Dan, and all chip in for the live sessions he would come again.  Pictures of the session are on Cycling Concepts home page on Facebook.
Brian is coming up to ride indoors with Nick and I today.  I have to take Brian to get him his bike that I bought him for Christmas and Graduating fitted.  This should be fun.  Once we are done, we are planning to go to Nick's to ride in the barn, that should definitely be interesting.  Our first indoor training session in Marlborough.  Oh boy, riding in Marlborough without the hills....NICE!

Winter Outdoor Ride - Marlborough Hills...Ouch!

New Year's Day outdoor ride in Marlborough with my brother Nick.  22 miles of hellacious hills...Ouch!  After a very hard week of riding indoors, with the Threshold test my legs and body was beat.  My average exercise HR for the ride was 139 bt/min, while my max was a whopping 162 going up the hill on rt. 66 going into Hebron.  It was a very warm day for January, and nice to be outside.  Although I felt I road hard, we only managed 11.2 mph, which is the slowest pace thus far on that ride...NOT GOOD!  This may have been due to the bad road condition slowing me down on the flats and downhills as I was worried about crashing.  I felt I really held back on the most of the ride, except the hills, this may have been the reason for the slower than usual avg. speed, not going slower on the hills.  A great workout just the same at just shy of 2 hrs in the saddle. 
This morning I mounted a new Aliante saddle on both the Tommaso and the R3, as Nick gave me a new Aliante Saddle for Christmas, a nice White saddle with red trim and black letters.  I put that one on the R3, and put the saddle that was on the R3 on the Tommaso.  My old Aliante had bit the dust, the middle completely caved in, although not broken.  I bought it used, and it worked for almost a year, so I got my money's worth. 
My son Brian moved down to Groton from Maine today to start his new job at EB as an electrical engineer.  I look forward to having him around.  I bought him a bike for a Graduation/Christmas Gift hoping he will want to ride with Nick and I, but if not, it will make a great tool around bike. 
Having Chinese for Dinner tonight, as I am too whopped to cook.  My legs are so sore right now.  It feels like I have never ridden those hills at all.  Man I hope this gets better.

New Year, New Goals...

A new year brings many of us to create a new year's resolution, so hear goes:
Goal 1:  To ride at least 3-5 times per week
Goal 2:  To stop smoking cigars daily, and only when with my brother Nick
Goal 3:  To stop eating unhealthy snacks at school and home.

I think that should do it.  The above should also make me healthier and happier in the new year.