After reading about cyclists getting injured/killed a few times this past week I decided to review what statistics I could readily find:

• About 3 out of 40,000 bicyclists will sustain an injury while riding on road each day in Wisconsin (.0075%).
• 1/2 of those will be kids, and most cycling accidents occur in urban areas. 
• An upside (if there is one) is that about 39,997 will ride accident free each day.
• Another upside is that these statistics have been steadily improving (less injuries and more people cycling).

The somewhat morbid facts:

• I personally have about a 1/200 chance of getting injured on a road bike each year based on how many days I ride, where I ride...
• 8/100,000 chance of dying from road cycling related injuries, on an annual basis.
• 4/100,000 chance of dying from injuries sustained while driving or being a passenger in an automobile, on an annual basis.
• Looks like my risk of injury or death is about double (2X) when I choose to ride my road bike vs. in an automobile.

The goal now becomes to reduce the associated risks by doing both safely. And, to promote the same safe habits with friends, family, and society in general. Thoughts for the day. 

Please learn more by clicking on this link:  Bicycling Federation of Wisconsin Safety Tips & Videos

Didn't know if I'd be doing this race because of it being our one and only Team Pedal Moraine fund raiser for 2012. But, because I mentioned it to Brittany a couple weeks prior and we got enough TPM volunteers, my participation was granted. I was very grateful for the opportunity. Seems like I perform better when not under much stress. Iola didn't get its own post because of no pictures, and I don't want to bore anyone with a post for every race. A one sentence recap = the rain and mud might have dampened my spirits but somehow I made it to the starting line and raced consistently well enough to finish 18th overall, 5th in Cat 1, and 1 in age = success! So back to Greenbush and my recent love affair when riding this trail on the Superfly 100. The rocks and roots are significant enough that I just wasn't digging it on my hard tail last year. One year later and a new bike made a huge difference. By being part of the trail crew I also grew a new appreciation for this course, along with having a bike that didn't kick my ass in the process!

The race started in typical Leman/running WEMS fashion. I got spanked in the run getting me on the bike in about 10th out of 40. It wasn't bad though because I really enjoyed the group ride for lap #1. Jesse Shoemaker and Mike Curtis were leading it out and setting a nice Tempo pace. The entire first lap was like being on a hugh off-road group ride. Then the open climb came up at the finish and I decided to get the passing done there so it would remain friendly and WEMS like in the singletrack. I think there were 5 guys passed during my uphill sprint putting me in 4th for the descent down the grassy chicane. I went deeply in the red there making the 2nd lap start with a little pain. Found my groove and slowly reeled in Mike Naughton & Scott Vogelmann. I rode the entire 2nd lap with these guys because they were also riding a Tempo pace that felt good. During lap #3, Mike and I chatted more while I continued to see my average power falling off making it feel like it was time for another dig. We had a rider coming up from behind, and I didn't want the group to become 4. Something happened to Scott while climbing on loop #4 allowing the trail to opened up on the right. I took a pretty quick unannounced pass around Mike and him to move into 2nd place. I didn't know if they would chase me down or not because we still had 33 miles to go. I rode WORS pace for about 1/2 lap to secure the gap. It was a good move that had me seeing red again. Then came lap #4 which was my fastest of the day. Laps 5 and 6 had me riding a little more cautiously because of the legs starting to twinge whenever pedalling hard. I was thrilled to cross the finish line with the following stats:
Distance = 58 miles, finish = 2nd place, award = $20 + Brittany Nigh coffee mug, speed = 12.9 MPH, time = 4:25, Apwr = 225, Ahr = 148, Npwr = 255, kCal 3584, fun factor = about a 9 on a 1 - 10 scale. Nice

Evolution. It's time to step back from coaching in order to make additional income by working in the Quality field once again. The last 4 years of primarily coaching & bike fitting have been great! No regrets!! I've had the pleasure of working with over 30 different athletes in the pursuit of their personalized goals. Additionally, I've completed approximately 130 bike fits while achieving a high degree of customer satisfaction. All good stuff. But, change is inevitable.

For 2012, I'll be keeping a couple of coaching clients to stay in the coaching game along with bike fitting when time permits. I'm also considering a program for competitive cyclists that want to improve their ability to self-coach. There would be a fee for each step, pay as you go...

Step 1: Coaching 101 Seminar focused on explaining basic coaching theory relative to how to prioritize workouts based on the time of year, goals, time constraints, strengths and limiters. I'd also cover how to integrate a Power Meter, WKO, and/or Heart Rate into the program along with my Excel based training log.

Step 2: Provide an empty Excel log for 2012 including a goal sheet, all the workouts I use (about 120), and a few completed plans as examples. There would also be supporting screen shots of WKO workouts as visual aids. And lastly, about 20 "Training Tips" that I've accumulated over the last few years.

Step 3: One on one consultation with clients in 1 hour increments if desired. My availability would be limited so first come first served by appointment only.

Give me a message back if you have sincere interest in this program. Cost, date, and location are TBD based on what type of feedback I receive. Thanks!

A monthly review of my accomplishments, lessons learned, and the accomplishments of my clients. So if you're reading, thanks for coming along for the ride!



MTB/WORS Overview:
Top Elite/Cat 1/Pro Overall Position in WORS
Male = 6th and 10th
Female = 7th

Cat 1 Age Overall
Male = 1st, 2nd, and 7th
Female = 2nd

Comp/Cat 2 Overall
Male = 2nd, 7th, 18th

Cat 2 Age Overall
Male = 1st, 1st, 3rd

Bryan F. = personal best finish at WORS Cup Cat 2 Short Track = 2nd overall!
April D. =  personal best finish at WORS Cup Cat 1 Short Track = 5th overall!
Ben M. = personal best finish on a technical ski hill, WORS Cat 2 XC = 7th overall!
Mike H. = personal best finish at WORS Cat 1 Cup Short Track = 8th overall!
Jeff M. = finally in the money in the Pro/Cat 1 class at the WORS Super Downhill = 10th overall!

Bike Fitting: still going strong. Always great to help clients be more comfortable & powerful on their bikes.

Personal Results:  WORS results have been OK with me feeling stronger at each race over the WORS Cup weekend. The Super D finish was 10th overall in Cat 1/Pro race; worth taking that one to the end (best 8 finishes out of 13 count towards the overall).
In road racing, I had my first Time Trial in Masters 1/2/3 with the new Trek Speed Concept 9.5 being put to the test. 27.3 MPH on the twisty 12.2 mile course was good for 4th overall. My watts were a little down making the State TT podium a possibility. WORS #6 is this weekend followed by the State TT. Good stuff!
Thanks for reading

A monthly review of my accomplishments, lessons learned, and the accomplishments of my clients. So if you're reading, thanks for coming along for the ride!



MTB/WORS Overview:
Elite/Cat 1/Pro
Male = 7th, 13th, and 34th
Female = 8th

Cat 1 Age
Male = 1st, 3rd, 5th
Female = 4th

Comp/Cat 2
Male = 4th, 7th, 13th

Cat 2 Age
Male = 2nd, 1st, 2nd

Bryan F. = personal best finish at Wausau = 5th overall!
Bob P. = personal best finish at Wausau = 17th overall!


WCA/Road Overview:
Cat 3
Travis H. = back to back podium finishes at Chiropractic & Sussex Crit's

M 1/2/3
Jeff M. = 4th at State Road Race Championships, 3rd/Bronze for WI racers

Bike Fitting: still going strong. Always great to help clients be more comfortable & powerful on their bikes.

Personal Results:  WORS results have been OK with my best yet to come. The Rhinelander finish was 13th overall in Cat 1/Pro race; worth taking that one to the end (best 8 finishes out of 13 count towards the overall).
In road racing, I've steadily improved with good results at the Whitnall Circuit Race & State Road Race Championships. It's my first year in Masters 1/2/3 so there's been a learning curve. Age group wise I've been finishing consistently in the top 5. Good stuff!

We finish June with some ToAD racing (only one for me) and the National Pro race at Mt. Morris (I'm racing Cat 1). July brings the TT State Championships with the new Trek Speed Concept 9.5 being put to the test. That bike is so fast! Should be a wicked good time!! Thanks for reading

It's been a full month since the last blog post. From a business perspective, I still think it's valuable to highlight my accomplishments, lessons learned, and the accomplishments of my clients. So if you're reading, thanks for coming along for the ride!



MTB Race Results: 

WORS #1 Iola MTB

Elite/Cat 1 = 4 that were somewhat satisfied, better results to come

Comp/Cat 2
Bryan F. = 13th overall
Bob P. = personal best = 21st overall, 1st in age
Ben M. = 22nd overall
Chris G. = personal best = 31st overall

Sport/Cat 2B, Ben L. = 20% off his last year's race time, top 30% of field

Matthiessen MTB, Cat 2, Paul-Brian M. = 4th overall



Road Results:

Leland Kermesse, M Cat 4/5, Mike H. = 2nd overall

Menomonee Falls Criterium, M Cat 3/4, Grant S = 1st overall

Great Dane #1 Criterium, M Cat 4/5, Andrew R. = 3rd overall

Bike Fitting:  business is picking up here. Always great to help clients be more comfortable & powerful on their bikes = pretty awesome!

Personal Results:  Two races down, two good experiences. 
1) Whitnall Park Criterium was good for learning what to do, and what not to do. Don't waste energy by staying out of the draft. Don't lead the pack with 2 to go in a failed break. M 1/2/3 = 14 overall; 5th in 40+.
2) Iola MTB was more of the same. The start was bad in that I rushed the process and stayed unclipped from a pedal for the first 20 yards or so. Terrible start, good progression through the pack, wonderful experience riding the MTB supported by Team Pedal Moraine! Awesome!!

Once again, a long delay in blog posts. Business has been at a all time high between coaching (20 clients), bike fits (many), and my part time day job. All good stuff though in that the combination allows me to keep doing what I love. Talking about things I love, ascending the 2 hr 15 min climb up the twisty road to the peak of Mt. Mitchell is certainly one of them. Although, going down is an entirely different way of having fun (1:15 by comparison). We have a girl friend that it quick to say that "going down is her favorite" as made evident by her impressive MTB skills. She did that instead of descending Mt. Mitchell. Everyone has their day in Asheville. Anyhow, back to reliving my favorite road ride during our last trip. I'll stick to the short story followed by statistics and photographic evidence.

After an entirely too twisty drive to the start location we proceeding to get the group of 9 on their bikes. It was a sunny day at base camp (elevation 1,200 ft) with temperatures in the low 70's. The ride up Hwy 80 is a steep and twisty affair with about 40% of it being spun in the 39/27. That's about 9 mph for you non-gear ratio thinking people. The Captain took the helm leading up this climb at about the 30 minute mark, and continued to put out a steady but hard tempo that eventually decreased our group ride from 9 to 3. Although not intended to be a race up Mt. Mitchell, there's always a sweet spot relative to cadence and power when pedalling up a challenging climb. I did my best to sick his wheel knowing that there was lots of climbing left once on the Blue Ridge Parkway. And, that became the next separation in that our group was decreased by one more by him deciding that hard Tempo was no longer the preferred way to ride for the next 1:30. I knew that simply sucking my Captain's wheel up this mountain wasn't fair so it was time to go to work. Many of you realize that when averaging 12.5 mph up a undulating ascent, drafting is only somewhat useful. But, there was an occasional head wind along with the psychological factor. Onward we rode with the Captain pointing out the magnificent views, and me chatting about them also as a way to show no pain. Being able to have a conversation while going uphill is merely a method for suggesting that you're feeling no discomfort. We finally approached what I knew to be the last of the Parkway before making the right hand turn up the Mt. Mitchell access road; a 6 mile ascent that has plenty of granny gear climbing to zap any remaining strength. Here's were my morning recon proved to be beneficial. I knew that the Mitchell road was at mile marker 355, but the Captain didn't. He had taken over the pull about two miles beforehand. I just rolled in front to give him some help at mile marker 356. He seemed to be hurting so I did what any true friend/team mate would do. I simply kept the Tempo up and swung on to this last ascent with a 10 second gap. Now the uphill TT portion started. If not because of pride, it was forced on you due to a lack of additional gears for the ever increasing % grade. Although I did crack a bit toward the top of the last 40 minute climb, it felt great to hit the mountain top with the now 60 F air being drawn deeply into my lungs. Upwards I went to the observatory (a last bit of 15% grade) to get to the final destination of 6,600 ft. The highest point east of the Mississippi. The Captain joined me about a minute later followed by Skip and some of the rest of the group. We picked up the others on the fast & crazy descent to base camp. I shocked the observers by my lack of descending skills on a sharply decreasing radius turn about 3/4 th's the way down; brake sliding while going to the final 2 inches of pave into the pea gravel. Saved! That was pretty close. I got better after being humbled back into reality. All gathered at the bottom to share ice cream sandwiches, cokes, and some great stories. Just another day in the saddle in Asheville, NC.

Mt Mitchell Stats:
Ascent time = 2:13
Distance = 28 miles
AVS = 12.5 MPH
Npwr = 266 watts
kJ's = 2033
Elevation gained = 6,092 ft

Descent time = 1:10
Distance = 28 miles
AVS = 24.2 MPH
Npwr = 197
kJ's = 596

I was a late entry for the Team Time Trial @ Multisport Expo promoted by our ToAD series friends and founders. The idea was to get as many WCA road teams as possible (up to 8) to race as teams in head to head match-ups until the best 3 teams rose to the top. At stake were bragging rights along with a fair amount of cash. I was contacted by Jeramey to be the 4th man for Team Extreme (along with Brian & Grant). At first I was thinking "who in their right mind would race in the middle of winter on Computrainers?". That line of rational thinking didn't last long as I justified this event as being just another training session: up to 3 intervals of Z4 @ 6.2 miles each. No problem! Yeah, and then there's the fact that this was a race!!

Once we found out that each team's time would be based on the average of all 4 members (not by the last across the line) we set our first strategy. The strategy changed several times as we prepared for the event, and during each TT. Yes, I did say each because there were 5 teams total with us winning round #1 making a 2nd round our reality. We did it by riding together somewhat during the first half (drafting allowed for less power by the draftee) but ground was being slowly lost by doing so (we didn't quite have the drafting figured out, or the best way to rotate the paceline). Then two of us split off because it seemed that two groups of two would be more effective; there was a significant difference in our functional threshold powers; we had two groups of two in that regard. Tactic deployed successfully with us taking the win by about 30 seconds (in a 15 to 16 minute race).

Our 2nd round put us against the newly formed Attitude Sport team. They were comprised of a collection of heavy hitters from various WCA teams. These guys had it all figured out leaving us scrambling from the start. They were all averaging 310 watts +/- 10, taking smooth pulls, and had extended a significant lead in the first 1/4 of this race. We deployed the two by two tactic again but could only hold steady with them for the last 3/4. It was painful as TT number 2 mostly because of being in catch-up mode from the start, but painful in a good way. Our goal was accomplished in that we were hoping to compete in at least 2 rounds with a chance to finish in the money while having some fun. That we did. Team Extreme finished 3rd place overall. Entry fee was returned with a portion of it being donated to the RACC. A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Thanks for the ride guys!

It's been 44 days since my last post. Must be the off-season that has me limiting entries. There is much to celebrate though relative to Cycling Form & Fitness. I reached my 20 coaching client maximum for the first time as of 1/1/2011. That's a pretty awesome achievement! This group consists of:

Triathlete (1/2 and Full IM age group contenders) = 2

Road: Cat 4 = 1, Cat 3 = 4, Cat 2 = 1

MTB: Cat 2 = 7, Cat 1 = 5

Bike fitting continues to go well with a recent surge of interest/sales relative to Cobb saddles. I'm really impressed with the features & benefits of these saddles. Whether you specialize in Road, Tri, or MTB I believe that one of the Cobb saddles will work better for you than anything else you've experienced so far. So if you have seat related issues, give me and one of these a try.

My FedEx package finally arrived bringing this post to its conclusion. Thanks for reading!

I'll start off by saying that it's difficult to get the CX type fitness to stick around for 12 weeks. Without going into details, being a little off in timing (or degree of fitness) can make a pretty significant difference. There's a balancing act between Cumulative Training Load (how long you can go hard), Power at Threshold/Anaerobic Capacity (how hard you can go), and the X-factors (equipment, tactics, technique, desire). Every season I learn something new relative to improving race outcomes. Unfortunately, many times these lessons can't be applied until the next season. Keeps the passion alive though. It's all about the journey!

Results
Masters 35+ Cat 4: Grant took home the gold after battling with a 2 week long cold. Awesome!
Masters 45+ Cat 4: Sean took home the bronze after a month long layoff from CX racing due to a pulled hamstring. Very well done!
Cat 3: Bryan and Ben showed up but were unable to bring all of these factors together for this single race. Glad that both of them have had some great results earlier in the season to validate their personal commitments to training and racing.
Master 35+ Cat 1-3: I took home the bronze. That is what I had this season relative to the aforementioned fitness + X factors. The evolution will continue.

There was a conservative start followed by contesting for the win for 20 minutes against Dave Peters (Brazen Dropouts).



Followed by about 20 minutes of recovering and getting passed for 2nd by Bob Downs (Planet Bike).



Finishing with a 2 lap race to the line with Joe Curtes. I won the sprint over a guy on a singlespeed but anyone that knows Joe understands that even this isn't an easy thing to accomplish.


Photo credit goes out to Brittany Nigh