New Toy -- I got a powertap!

Well, I finally did it. After much extensive research and waffling I finally bought a power-tap! This thing is amazing and I don't know why I didn't get it before (ok, I know why -- they are expensive!). Rob at Kisslers built me a new wheel using the Powertap hub and it rocks! My first ride with the Powertap system was a hill interval workout - how fitting! Having the power right in front of you makes you push harder and realize where your weaknesses are.

Fraser took it out for a spin a few nights later and also did hill intervals ... he said I wasn't allowed to lend it to him anymore - he'd gone too hard (max watts of 1458!!!!). It is an awesome tool!

The software the comes with it is pretty cool too as you can see everything; including your average power for various time intervals (5 sec, 10 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, 5 min, 20 min, etc ...). It's a great way to gauge fitness. It also measures cadence -- I did not get the special cadence tool that comes with it but it tries to gauge cadence anyway and is almost bang on (I haven't removed my cateye computer yet). Amazing.

The Coast for a weekend

Fraser and I made a trip to the Coast on Saturday. It was beautiful ... I was sooo excited to see, touch, hear, and smell the ocean. mmmmmmmmmm

We went to Long Beach .. the beach is about 500 m wide and 30 km long .. and you can DRIVE on it! We arrived late Saturday afternoon and after exploring the town on foot we decided to take a drive ... on the beach! I've never driven on a beach before so bear with me. It was pretty cool!

Sunday we ventured out on cruiser bikes for a ride on the beach. The cruiser bikes were an adventure of their own ... one gear fixies with super wide handle-bars that made it impossible to turn! We had a great time playing in the sand and then ventured home.

Test of Endurance - 3rd, 50 miles of mud and hills

As you can see from the photo to the left (me at the finish), it was a muddy day ...

So I decided to do the 50 miler this past weekend as part of my training ... it was my long 'interval' workout for the week.

The race was in Corvallis, which, i have decided (with my admitedly limited exposure to the area) is ALWAYS muddy. The course extended the Mudslinger course and was 2 laps of 25 miles each. I woke up at 5am, made some quick breakfast and made a break for the door ... it always seems to take so long to get anywhere in the mornings -- I was in the car and on the road by 6am.

On the drive down to Corvallis it rained off and on - the drive accurately predicted the weather for the remainder of the day. It was over-cast and rainy ... and overnight they had gotten a downpour which had turned the once-dry course into a mud slog. I was excited to be at a race - ok, I'll admit it, i wasn't too inspired to ride in the rain alone on Sunday so was glad to have company -- and was happily chatting away with the few people i knew at the start. The start was a neutral lead out so I casually drafted off of some bigger guys, not worrying about my speed. I thought that we were gong to arrive at the start area (like at the mudslinger), and then start in earnest. Not so. When we arrived at the 'start' area they said ok guys, go race. Have fun. The race had really started at the school!!!

Not much I could do at that point so I turned it up a notch and settled in at my own pace. Eventually the race became a combination of pace, climb, pace, eat, climb, pace, run, climb, repeat. Now is a good time to mention that there was 7600 feet of climbing in the 50 mile course. Up, up, up. The climbing was mostly just a constant hill, which was good for me but hard on the back after a while ... the hills got as steep as 25% and were on average about 15% grade. most of the climbing was on double-track and was ridable. There were some climbs that were 'walks' because they were so steep and slippery. I always find myself woundering when i get to those if ANYONE was able to ride up ...

Not sure when it happened but somewhere in the 1st lap I realized that my back breaks were really soft ... I'd close them the whole way but the back wasn't grabbing. Uh ohhh .. this could make for some interesting downhills! The single-track was a rollercoaster of mud ... there were some sections that I would nail exactly and pass several fallen riders on the course and other sections whereI would fall 5 times in a row; joining the fallen riders on the side of the trail. I was covered from head to toe in mud (see attached photos)! There was one sketchy downhill that I had fallen on and opted to run ... and on the steepest section I did the splits ... ow! I am still sore - how do you train for that???

It took me a while to warm up but by 1/2 way around the first lap I was feeling good and starting to pick up the pace a bit. I caught a girl and her husband who were working together but they pulled a roadie trick on me and dropped me. I decided they weren't worth the chase and that we had loads of miles left to go ... little did I know she would beat me by a mere 5 minutes!

At the half-way point I stopped to re-stock all of my supplies and was on my way. My 2nd lap was so much better than the first lap (30 minutes faster) as i was feeling fully warmed up and was climbing much better.

I enjoyed hammering in my big ring for the ast 5 miles ... it was fun and very different to have so much left at the end of a 50 mile race!!! It took a while to get all of the mud off and i swear I am still finding mud ... but it was a fun race. next up is another 24 hour event!