WRETCHED EXCESS

Wretched Excess is the exclamatory term we use to describe anything "over the top." This is another non-cycling entry. Our tv cable includes music channels and one of them is Sounds of the Season. Currently, they are into Christmas music. But along with the music, they run some blurbs on screen in addition to the artist and song information. One such blurb last night was "The average family has 75 ornaments on their tree." Wretched Excess: we have 281 (one less than we had yesterday morning, as I dropped one).
I keep a spread-sheet (don't roll your eyes!) on the ornaments. This came about because through the years we acquired additional ornaments, but couldn't remember when or sometimes if given as gifts, who. Now we know.
Coffee is finished, time to get on with decorating. BTW, even if everything in the house takes on a Chrismas theme, we don't think of it as excessive.

TO RIDE OR NOT TO RIDE, NOT REALLY A QUESTION

I am sitting here at 6am contemplating whether or not to drive into Austin to ride with my friends from the Bicycle Sports Shop. With Thanksgiving dinner (and leftovers) still making me loggy, and an extra two pounds sitting on my thighs, I really don't feel like it. But the weather forecast shows a cold, wet front just passed Lubbock and will be here in about six hours. This will be my only chance for a decent ride for the next week.
In addition, we have some early Christmas lunch gatherings scheduled and it will take lots of man-hours to have the house properly decorated. I am feeling (slightly) guilty about biking in these prime-decorating hours. But yes, I'll leave in an hour to ride.

MAMA ROUX

Mama Roux is a restaurant in north Austin (I-35 and Parmer). Why should a restaurant be the title on a cycling blog? Because cyclists gotta eat! Ok, the reason is I haven't been doing much cycling as we move into holiday season, and this is my favorite eatery, even though I've only been there once. But there is more to this story. Mike and Yoli started Gumbo's a few (more like ten) years ago. Mike is the chef. He puts out the best Cajun food this side of New Orleans (and better than most inside New Orleans). Why they were in and out of the restaurant business is their story and not for me to relate, but each time they resurface, Marilane and I make it a point to seek them out. Now, everybody in Austin and vicinity knows this and they do the same thing. Not having to wait for a table takes the luck of the Irish. It doesn't matter, the food is superior, the prices reasonable (even downright low if you get the red beans and rice), so you go and wait. If you live in, or are coming to, Austin, put this place on your agenda (and tell them Jerry and Marilane sent you).
On a cycling note, I managed a 35 mile ride this morning, starting out in the fog, but finishing in nice sunshine with no wind. Cycling will be spotty until after January 1. I checked out the spin classes at Gold's Gym and it looks like the 8:45am once a week will start this coming week. I also began my leg work on the weight machines last Friday. They have yoga on Thursday evening, but I have a difficult time leaving home after 4pm.

GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS

Destiny, whatever. I prefer to attribute my good fortune to my Guardian Angel who guides me in the right direction. What, pray tell, does this have to do with cycling? For the past two weeks I have done a lot of serious lifting and toting of boxes and heavy furniture as we moved my mother-in-law to a retirement apartment. Most of the physical exertion on both ends of the move was mine. There is no doubt that the time spent keeping my body, especially the cardio-vascular systems, in shape allowed me to complete the task in good order, without injury.
Truthfully, the three weeks doing E2E and afterward the time-trial training put me in the best condition since completing the coast-to-coast trip in 2001. Moving took all of my energy, but I must say, the accomplishment borders on the heroic.
So, thanks GA, for pointing me in the direction of cycling to hone my lungs and muscles. As I see my older friends (like, in their 70's) still being strong and active, growing older doesn't seem to be as restrictive as I anticipated it would be back when I turned 60.
PS Massage, Reiki, and Epsom Salts bath are part of the recovery process. The GA doesn't work those type of miracles.

TELL-TALE NUMBERS

Previously I wrote that sometimes perception magnified reality. Sometimes perception is right-on, and the time-trials were a good case-in-point. The Garmin supplied cold, hard facts and it is now up to me to do something about it in order to improve my 5km times. It is set up in 5 zones: zone 1 is 50% of my maximum heart rate, zone 2 is 60%, zone 3 is 70%, zone 4 is 80% and zone 5 is 90%.
The two races break down like this in their respective zones: 2.3%; 9.2%; 70.4%; 16.2%; 1.8% for the 5km and 1.3%; 1.0%; 3.4%; 38.3%; and 56.1% for the 10km. It is very clear that spending 70.4% of a race between 70 and 80% of maximum heart rate does not result in optimum performance. Conversely, in the 10km, I did the whole race (95%) above 80%, and a large majority of that above 90% of maximum.
When you watch the Tour de France pros warm up for their time-trials, they work up a sweat on their trainers and according to the commentators, they spend about an hour on them. When I do my 50 minute Carmichael work-out on the trainer, I also sweat profusely. I have to get serious about perfecting a pre-race routine that gets my heart rate up, with lungs and muscles properly responding. But I hope it won't be an hour on the trainer. That is the goal for this winter.

SENIOR GAMES STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

This weekend Houston hosted the Texas State Championships for the Senior Games. I scrambled to find time-trialing form after my fabulous three weeks cycling from one end of Great Britain to the other. First I had to find attitude. Plan A, mapped out prior to taking the tour, called for me start some medium-pace time-trialing (just to starting bending in all the right places) immediately upon my return. The second week I would go for speed. In actuality, it took two weeks before I was ready to get on the tt bike, leaving two weeks before racing. We went to Plan B, generally a panic-mode set of practices, and I did two days each at the 5km and 10km distances (3 sets of 5km, and two sets of 10km, three days apart). Then I went to my acupuncturist for some pre-race needles (stress-relief).
Saturday at 9am, give or take, the 5km began. The morning started in the mid-40's, no wind. By race time it had risen to maybe 60, still very little wind. I just can't seem to warm up properly for the 5km. Even though I rode on the road for at least 30 minutes, including sprinting to increase my heart-rate, and 10 minutes on the trainer to again get the heart-rate up and the body used to getting rid of lactic acid, I didn't feel really loose.
The organizers called us to the staging area much too soon, thus we had at least 30 minutes of waiting and allowing the body to cool off. We rode around a bit and up and down a side street, but it wasn't the same. Anyhow, eventually my time came.
Like a lot of previous time trials, I started off quickly, settled into a rythym, and found my heart and lungs complaining at the load I put upon them. My legs refused to apply power to the pedals. Although I kept a good rpm, I knew I should have been in a higher gear and going faster. This is a short race, straight and flat, so the suffering lasted 8 minutes and 7 seconds (pay no real attention to the time, the race was a smidgen over 5km).
As it turned out, the winning time in my age group (65 to 69) was 7:54 and my time was good enough for second place. Comparatively, I tied for eigth place overall. Age groups are in five-year increments starting at age 50 (50-54;55-59;60-64-65-69 and so forth).
We had maybe an hour and a half before the 10km time-trials started. I used the time to stretch, re-hydrate and fuel myself, rest and relax, and do more warm-up on the trainer. I also didn't report to the staging area until shortly before my start time.
The temperature had increased another ten degrees and was quite comfortable. I felt quite relaxed and ready. I moved quickly away and settled onto the aerobars within twenty pedal strokes. The 10km race course was again straight and flat, but also about .4 of a mile short of 10km (due to traffic concerns). Unlike the 5km, I felt strong and comfortable the whole way and the legs supplied proper power, giving me a nice high gear. When I caught sight of the finish line, about a half mile ahead, I pushed hard and achieved an even higher gear, more rpm, and a really fast finish.
The preparations paid off, as I posted a first place in my age group, with a time of 13:20. This was seventh overall. Interestingly, my average speed for the 5km was 23.6 and the 10km 24.3.

Sunday I did the 40km (actually 28 miles) road race, more for fun than anything. I managed to stay with the group until the last 50 meters, possibly because I tried an ill-timed breakaway and ran out of steam at the end. We averaged 20.3mph.
This marks the end of this year's cycling season. Training for next year starts Nov 1.

ESCHEW STRETCHING AT YOUR PERIL

I've been back now for two weeks and it is almost time to move on to other stuff. There is a book titled I Always Look Up the Word Egregious. If you like words, you should have this close at hand. At the moment I am hung up on Eschew. It's a good word, meaning to shun. I considered using Ignore, and that is possibly more precise, but Eschew keeps rattling around my brain, so like the squeaky wheel, it got the grease.
I arrived at Land's End in race-ready form. Part of my at-home exercise routine includes daily: six sets of sun salutations; bi-weekly: a half hour of abdominal exercises (Suzanne Deason tape); back and leg stretches after cycling. There are others. Well, strenuous cycling or not, this trip was a vacation so I also arrived in vacation-mode. Attitude plus change in routine (and perhaps a Guinness or two) conspired to have me take six weeks off from stretching.
Earlier this week I resumed my stretching routines, and I am hoping my hamstrings will stop yelling at me by Sunday. I sprayed them with BioFreeze last night, hoping to placate. My gastrocnemius and soleus muscles feel at least an inch shorter and are refusing to stretch and my left arch either cramps or threatens to cramp at the drop of a hat. I was doing a hamstring stretch and my abdominal muscle cramped, for crying out loud.
This morning the sun was shining, finally, and I jumped at the chance to get in a 30 mile ride. Ah, my brain jumped; everything from the head down was dragged kicking and screaming. The whole body finally warmed up and got the job done and I can report no injuries. All of this could have been avoided with a couple of simple stretches as part of my post ride warm down.
But I have a caution, learned the hard way: If you deplete your energy stores (like have a really long, hard workout), don't jump off the bike and start stretching. Delay that until you have replaced electolytes and let the body recover. But don't skip it, just delay. Your muscles will thank you for it.