Volume

Well, I thought last week was a long week on the bike. This week I just kept trucking along and before I knew it had 11 hrs and 14 minutes of saddle time. Looking back I probably over did it with the extra miles and such. There was some good group rides though.

Did the Level Valley Creamery Route on Wednesday with OBC - dropped after a diesel pickup truck seperated some riders on the first climb up Pleasant Valley Route. Lacked the power to get back on with the headwind. That is my biggest goal right now - to hang on for the entire ride with the 'A' group of the OBC ride. I'll take that first over better finishes in races!

Thursday night Pedal Moraine Group Ride was good too. Had to stop a little short because of time due to two riders with flats. One has a sidewall blow out and had to call for a ride home (Jerry). Dave was able to get going again and finished strong. Boy it was cold though on the re-start. But I attacked on some hills to put a strain on my legs. Yep it worked. Legs were feeling a little drained. After I seperated with the group I went into TT mode for the five miles home. That was fun. Good ride guys!

Friday morning Dave, Doug and I rode out from Pedal Moraine for a nice recovery ride / base miles. My intent for it was to be a recovery ride, but the duration was a little too long for that, so I guess base miles. Dave took us on some roads that I haven't been on before around Sunburst into Kewaskum, Town of West Bend, etc. Beautiful route. I achieved my goal for the ride to keep my HR way down - Zone 2 average for the entire ride. Was a little tough with some of the rollers around Sunburst, but I just tried to keep spinning and breathing correctly. Guess it worked.

Saturday morning I got up at the butt crack of 5:25AM, made some coffeee, grabbed my steed and race bag and shot out the door to meet up with the Team as LaSata in Cedarburg for the second stage of the "Tour de Giese." Man Jim Giese can come up with some routes. Nice and flat for the first ten miles down Sherman Road. I mixed it up with a couple Stop Ahead Sign sprints to get my HR jacked up. Fun stuff! Cross Hwy 60 to Lily Road and enter the picturesque scenery. I was able to take some of it in before big climbs - Pleasant Valley Road / Hillside = immense suffering; Sleeping Dragon Road - I think that road ate a few cyclists in its time = immense suffering; Scenic Road north from Little Cedar = immense suffering. Throw in a few more sprints here and there plus trying to keep up with the Extremers after being a not so strong climber = legs toast. Done. Nothing left.

I just hired a coach this past week to assist in developing a training plan and fundamentals. He and I were talking about meeting this morning (Sunday) for an endurance ride. I had to decline the invite after yesterday as all that I can afford to do is a meager recovery ride. I really wanted to meet with him and ride, but I don't want to overtrain. He's supposed to give me a jing today so we can get working on the training plan and figure out goals, race schedule and other priorities for the season.

Lastly, I added another Wheels on Willy pic for your enjoyment. That is all.

Patrick