Between work and travel it has been a challenge to keep on the bike and maintain any semblance of fitness. I had gotten into good form over the summer, but a new job that has taken me out of town really threw a monkey wrench in my training plan. After finally getting my CompuTrainer set up in New Orleans, with all the latest software up and running, I hit the bike hard for a couple of weeks. It felt good to be training again.
Unfortunately, one weekend I hit it a little too hard, and managed to wind up with a knee injury (a torn meniscus). After two weeks of exams I went in for surgery on Friday Feb. 11th. It's been almost a week, and I'm walking around with minimal pain, but my range of motion is still very limited. My physical therapist said that I should regain enough range of motion to pedal by the middle of next week.
For me, the lesson goes back to that of the value of a coach. My intent was to get back into some reasonable shape on my own, and then get Rich Wharton to start me back on a training plan. Frankly, I was embarrassed at my lack of fitness! That was backwards thinking though. Had I started with Rich, I'm sure he would have taken my "come back" at a more gradual pace, and I would have avoided injury.
But, as they say, it is what it is. I'm certainly a month away from being able to ride in any serious manner, but at least the weather will be good and my CompuTrainer will be working. Rich--I'll be calling you soon!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Training with Liam
Liam is a cyclist from Newport Beach, CA who has ridden some of the most famous cols of Europe with his father, Bill. While there, they happened upon Lance Armstrong training and had a chance to ride alongside him and have a little chat while being photographed by a French news reporter. This year they followed the tour, and climbed Mont Ventoux together a couple of times.
Most recently, they rode Levi Leipheimer's GranFondo in Sonoma, and are soon headed to Austin, TX for the LiveStrong Challenge where they will ride the 65 mile course.
That in itself would be cause enough for the average cyclist to feel pretty pleased with himself, but Liam and Bill's story becomes more interesting when you reveal one other small fact:
Liam is 9 years old.
After exchanging a couple of Tweets and emails, Bill and Liam made the drive up to our house in San Gabriel for lunch and a ride with my son Ryan and me. It was a real pleasure to spend some time with these two very nice people. I'm always amazed at the fascinating and wonderful people that the world of cycling brings together. Ryan and Liam hit it off like old friends (kids are amazing that way!).
After lunch on our patio, we packed up the bikes and headed off to Pasadena for a pleasant ride through the quiet tree-lined streets around the Rose Bowl. Well--our timing couldn't have been worse. A UCLA game was letting out just as we rolled up towards the Bowl, and traffic was jammed in all directions. We attempted a little detour, but 50,000 cars take up a lot of road. We kept to the sidewalks and made the best of it, but our quiet ride was more a game of urban assault, so we decided to cut the ride short. Ryan did get a little taste of some small hills, which of course Liam blazed up like an old pro.
The boys seemed to be kindred spirits, and I think future rides together are in the cards. The following link is to a little interview I did from our dining room. At nine years old, to hear Liam talk about riding to raise awareness for Cancer is just amazing.
Thanks for spending time with us Bill and Liam. LiveStrong!
Ken & Ryan
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Training with Ryan
This weekend my son Ryan decided he wanted to get serious about riding. He was inspired in part by a video he saw of a young boy named Liam and his dad Bill, training for Levi's GranFondo. Liam is 9 years old--here is their latest blog entry:
At 7 years old, I was pretty sure that Ryan would fit on his older sister's Trek Jr. road bike. Ryan has been on two wheels since we pulled off the training wheels when he was three, so he is very confident on a bike. We pulled the bike out of the garage and lowered the seat, and he just fit on. We did a little practice starting and stopping on the safety of our sidewalk, and Ryan was off and riding like a champ in no time!
Our first official "training ride" was on Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. This seemed like a good place to ride in a relatively car-free environment, with no stop signs or traffic signals to deal with. Ryan was able to comfortably complete 4 laps of the Bowl--about 13 miles--in just over an hour. He really had a great time! Here is a little video of that ride:
Today, we had a little time after homework, so we took to the streets. It was Ryan's introduction to stop signs, traffic lights, cars (moving and parked!), and a few short hills. We ventured out from our house in San Gabriel via side streets to South Pasadena. The fading sunlight and cooling temperature kept our ride to about 45 minutes, but it was a great time. A couple of fellow cyclists even joined in for a bit to cheer Ryan on.
It's been a great introduction for Ryan, and we are really enjoying our time training together! Our goal is to enter Ryan in an organized ride this Spring--maybe something in the 25-35 mile category. It is going to be a fun adventure.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Red Light Green Light
I'm gonna step up on my soapbox for a second...
I know this is probably a sensitive topic, but one that I have given some thought to and feel strongly about. As cyclists on the road together, people form opinions about us based on the few seconds that they come in contact with us on the road. When we blow through red lights and stop signs, drivers look at us and assume we have no regard for the rules of the road and lose respect for cyclists in general. That is why I stop for red lights and wait until they are green to continue (usually pushing a "walk" button takes care of stubborn lights that don't sense bikes). I slow for all stop signs to check for cross traffic, and stop completely if another car is in the intersection. It is a small inconvenience, but so is stopping in my car. Why should stopping on my bike be different?
I've had police ask me why cyclists have no regard for the laws of the road. They are loosing patience with "cyclists" and don't want to ticket us, but think they may need to as complaints from motorists mount. I even had a police officer hand me copy of the California code that applies to cyclists. If we want motorists to treat us with respect, we have to do the same. In my mind that means reasonably obeying the laws of the road, and not assuming that because we are on a bike we are exempt. It doesn't take that much effort, and I think the message it sends is worth the trouble.
Stepping down now.
Ken
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Etape du Tour Report
To my Friends and Supporters,
Finally, after much needed rest and time with my family in Provence, here is my update on the Etape du Tour:
FIRST: I firmly believe that I would not have completed this event without my coaching and the training program I did. THANK YOU Rich Wharton (www.onlinebikecoach.com)!!
Also, the equipment modifications (compact crank, 12/27 cassette, and the PowerTap) were vital. I never had a single equipment problem (other that a seat post that started to creak for some odd reason).
Etape Stats: Distance: 170k (106 miles), Climbing 11,927 feet, Cals burned: 2915 kJ, Avg Speed 13.1, Avg Power 136.3 watts, weight lost on ride: 4 pounds, time on bike 08:07:27
My official Etape time was 9:44:33, but that included about 1/2 hour wait at the start, and 1/2 hour wait for water at Chalet Reynard (see story below), plus water, food and "nature" stops.
I placed 2099 in my age category, out of 2717 people in that age group. I placed 5900 overall out of 9500 entries. About 2100 people did not finish. So I didn't exactly tear it up, but I was at least somewhere in the middle. FYI--there were about 235 women who finished the event (I'm not sure how many started). The winner finished in 5:11:31, and the last place to finish was 11:05:38. Anyone after that was disqualified and picked up by the broom wagon (or else had abandoned).
So the story....
The day before per my coach's plan I had a 45 minute ride with a 3 minute interval followed by a recovery drink. I had a good dinner and was in bed by about 10pm. I was up at 4am for a light breakfast, and on the road to the start in Montelimar by 4:30am with a tour group called "On Your Bike" out of Ireland. I had made arrangements to share a ride on their bus, and had done a group ride with them earlier in the week. They are a nice bunch of guys and run a very nice cycling tour operation. Check them out (www.onyourbike.ie). We parked and were at the start at about 6:40am.
The start was at 7am, but being 7000 people back it took about 30 minutes to get out the starting line.
I had a gel at the start, and carried 2 bottles of Hammer Perpetuem. I was carrying about 7 gels, 2 more packs of Perpetuem and enough Heed for 3 bottles. Also had a couple of fig newton bars--one was crushed beyond eating so I tossed it.
The first few climbs were nothing much, but a warm up. They averaged 4-6 kilometers at about 4-5% grade. That said, the "peleton" was thick and very nervous. There were several crashes and one rider went down just in front of me on a descent. I swerved around him and narrowly missed going into the dirt shoulder. I saw at least one person who was in pretty bad shape and numerous ambulance vehicles came by over the course of the event. There were also many flats, broken chains, and god knows what other kinds of equipment failures along the road.
I got into a few moderately paced groups, but even that was tricky because some dope was always trying to squeeze into the paceline. Along the route I stopped to refill water twice before Bedoin, mixing the Perpetuem and then Heed. I was careful to drink a bottle and a gel every hour, plus a bit of fruit at the stops (a banana ad an apricot).
The 4th climb from Sault to the Col de Notre Damn des Abeilles is longer and steeper at about 9 kilometers and averaging 7-9%. I could have easily gone up these first climbs faster, but I tried to learn from Solvang and I monitored my wattage and HR to always stay out of the red. I don't think my HR ever went over 175, which for me is a moderate tempo rate.
The descent from the Col de N.D. is blazing fast. Straight down with broad sweeping curves. With so many people though it was a bit nervous going all out, plus I was kind of trying to recover, which is tough to do at 40-50 mph on a bike.
At Mormoiron there is another slight climb into and out of town (5-6%) for a couple of K before reaching Bedoin. I saw someone stretching out his leg and thought that seemed like a good idea so I unclipped and bent my leg back and up. Bad idea. My leg immediately started to cramp from this new unwelcome position. I stopped immediately and it subsided.
In Bedoin I had arranged for my family to meet me with cold water, ice and some snacks. I refilled my bottle with those, added the last of my Heed to one bottle and kept the other with plain water (I didn't want to squirt Heed on my head). I ate some more fruit, took a few photos with the family and headed out. In retrospect I should have grabbed an extra water and maybe some more food. The gels were getting harder to stomach.
The climb up Ventoux looked like a death march. Half the people were walking their bikes up, and a lot still riding were weaving around, barely keeping upright. It was an effort not to hit someone. The sun was blazing straight down and shade was hard to find and only at the sides of the road, which of course is where all the walkers were.
I tried to duck into the shade when I could, though I don't really know if it had any actual physical effect--but psychologically it felt good!
I was feeling the hints of some cramps again but nothing terrible. At some point in the forest about half way up I stood on the pedals through a steep bit and my right calf cramped up pretty good. I had to stop for a second and massage it, which helped. My left foot was also very sore right on the ball of the foot. I've had that before, and I had bought some new insoles which I thought were helping. It seems to crop up on that foot after about 60 or 70 miles. I may need to look at the cleat position on that shoe.
Back on the bike I just kept a steady pace--if I stood on the pedals I made sure not to stomp--I just maintained steady power--and the leg cramps never came back, but I did feel a bit nauseous and the thought of throwing up entered my mind (oh yes, there were people throwing up--happily I never did).
After what seemed like an eternity I reached the rest point at Chalet Reynard. And they were out of water. Riders had to line up at the gift shop where there was one little drinking fountain. It took about 1/2 hour to get water, but I was out and didn't want to face the final 6k without any.
Back on the bike and did the last 6k by counting down every K to the finish. The first bit is actually not bad at 7%, then the last 1K is at 11-12%, but at least you know at that point that the finish line is in sight!
At the Ventoux summit I had 1/2 a Coke (I was craving it for some reason, but could only drink half), and some bad cookies from a vendor. I took some video and photos, called my wife, and recovered. I also vowed that I would never climb that damn mountain again! Okay--I feel better now and am planning to do it again on Friday with Rich, but I certainly meant it at the time :)
Finally, there was a long 25K descent to Malaucene, followed by an easy slight downhill ride back to my car about 10k away in Vaison la Romaine.
I rolled into home with my car at 8pm (I had to take a detour route home because of the traffic on all the roads around Ventoux. A good dinner and I was in bed by 10pm.
Last, but not least, together we raised over $1,500 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation-- a special thanks to all who donated.
That's it! It was an exhausting but epic day. Thanks for letting me share the story. Video and photos will be posted soon!
Ken
Finally, after much needed rest and time with my family in Provence, here is my update on the Etape du Tour:
FIRST: I firmly believe that I would not have completed this event without my coaching and the training program I did. THANK YOU Rich Wharton (www.onlinebikecoach.com)!!
Also, the equipment modifications (compact crank, 12/27 cassette, and the PowerTap) were vital. I never had a single equipment problem (other that a seat post that started to creak for some odd reason).
Etape Stats: Distance: 170k (106 miles), Climbing 11,927 feet, Cals burned: 2915 kJ, Avg Speed 13.1, Avg Power 136.3 watts, weight lost on ride: 4 pounds, time on bike 08:07:27
My official Etape time was 9:44:33, but that included about 1/2 hour wait at the start, and 1/2 hour wait for water at Chalet Reynard (see story below), plus water, food and "nature" stops.
I placed 2099 in my age category, out of 2717 people in that age group. I placed 5900 overall out of 9500 entries. About 2100 people did not finish. So I didn't exactly tear it up, but I was at least somewhere in the middle. FYI--there were about 235 women who finished the event (I'm not sure how many started). The winner finished in 5:11:31, and the last place to finish was 11:05:38. Anyone after that was disqualified and picked up by the broom wagon (or else had abandoned).
So the story....
The day before per my coach's plan I had a 45 minute ride with a 3 minute interval followed by a recovery drink. I had a good dinner and was in bed by about 10pm. I was up at 4am for a light breakfast, and on the road to the start in Montelimar by 4:30am with a tour group called "On Your Bike" out of Ireland. I had made arrangements to share a ride on their bus, and had done a group ride with them earlier in the week. They are a nice bunch of guys and run a very nice cycling tour operation. Check them out (www.onyourbike.ie). We parked and were at the start at about 6:40am.
The start was at 7am, but being 7000 people back it took about 30 minutes to get out the starting line.
I had a gel at the start, and carried 2 bottles of Hammer Perpetuem. I was carrying about 7 gels, 2 more packs of Perpetuem and enough Heed for 3 bottles. Also had a couple of fig newton bars--one was crushed beyond eating so I tossed it.
The first few climbs were nothing much, but a warm up. They averaged 4-6 kilometers at about 4-5% grade. That said, the "peleton" was thick and very nervous. There were several crashes and one rider went down just in front of me on a descent. I swerved around him and narrowly missed going into the dirt shoulder. I saw at least one person who was in pretty bad shape and numerous ambulance vehicles came by over the course of the event. There were also many flats, broken chains, and god knows what other kinds of equipment failures along the road.
I got into a few moderately paced groups, but even that was tricky because some dope was always trying to squeeze into the paceline. Along the route I stopped to refill water twice before Bedoin, mixing the Perpetuem and then Heed. I was careful to drink a bottle and a gel every hour, plus a bit of fruit at the stops (a banana ad an apricot).
The 4th climb from Sault to the Col de Notre Damn des Abeilles is longer and steeper at about 9 kilometers and averaging 7-9%. I could have easily gone up these first climbs faster, but I tried to learn from Solvang and I monitored my wattage and HR to always stay out of the red. I don't think my HR ever went over 175, which for me is a moderate tempo rate.
The descent from the Col de N.D. is blazing fast. Straight down with broad sweeping curves. With so many people though it was a bit nervous going all out, plus I was kind of trying to recover, which is tough to do at 40-50 mph on a bike.
At Mormoiron there is another slight climb into and out of town (5-6%) for a couple of K before reaching Bedoin. I saw someone stretching out his leg and thought that seemed like a good idea so I unclipped and bent my leg back and up. Bad idea. My leg immediately started to cramp from this new unwelcome position. I stopped immediately and it subsided.
In Bedoin I had arranged for my family to meet me with cold water, ice and some snacks. I refilled my bottle with those, added the last of my Heed to one bottle and kept the other with plain water (I didn't want to squirt Heed on my head). I ate some more fruit, took a few photos with the family and headed out. In retrospect I should have grabbed an extra water and maybe some more food. The gels were getting harder to stomach.
The climb up Ventoux looked like a death march. Half the people were walking their bikes up, and a lot still riding were weaving around, barely keeping upright. It was an effort not to hit someone. The sun was blazing straight down and shade was hard to find and only at the sides of the road, which of course is where all the walkers were.
I tried to duck into the shade when I could, though I don't really know if it had any actual physical effect--but psychologically it felt good!
I was feeling the hints of some cramps again but nothing terrible. At some point in the forest about half way up I stood on the pedals through a steep bit and my right calf cramped up pretty good. I had to stop for a second and massage it, which helped. My left foot was also very sore right on the ball of the foot. I've had that before, and I had bought some new insoles which I thought were helping. It seems to crop up on that foot after about 60 or 70 miles. I may need to look at the cleat position on that shoe.
Back on the bike I just kept a steady pace--if I stood on the pedals I made sure not to stomp--I just maintained steady power--and the leg cramps never came back, but I did feel a bit nauseous and the thought of throwing up entered my mind (oh yes, there were people throwing up--happily I never did).
After what seemed like an eternity I reached the rest point at Chalet Reynard. And they were out of water. Riders had to line up at the gift shop where there was one little drinking fountain. It took about 1/2 hour to get water, but I was out and didn't want to face the final 6k without any.
Back on the bike and did the last 6k by counting down every K to the finish. The first bit is actually not bad at 7%, then the last 1K is at 11-12%, but at least you know at that point that the finish line is in sight!
At the Ventoux summit I had 1/2 a Coke (I was craving it for some reason, but could only drink half), and some bad cookies from a vendor. I took some video and photos, called my wife, and recovered. I also vowed that I would never climb that damn mountain again! Okay--I feel better now and am planning to do it again on Friday with Rich, but I certainly meant it at the time :)
Finally, there was a long 25K descent to Malaucene, followed by an easy slight downhill ride back to my car about 10k away in Vaison la Romaine.
I rolled into home with my car at 8pm (I had to take a detour route home because of the traffic on all the roads around Ventoux. A good dinner and I was in bed by 10pm.
Last, but not least, together we raised over $1,500 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation-- a special thanks to all who donated.
That's it! It was an exhausting but epic day. Thanks for letting me share the story. Video and photos will be posted soon!
Ken
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Bonjour from France
I am finally in France.
We are having a lovely time in the Dordogne. The jet lag is beginning to wear off and we've done a bit of exploring around the area, which is beautiful. We've lucked out with some nice cool weather, though it is certainly tourist season--a regular flow of people stroll by our little rental village house on their pilgrimage to the Beynac Chateau at the top of the town.
We took the early tour to avoid the crowd, and were rewarded with a castle almost all to ourselves. Living in a castle was not all it is cracked up to be (unless you like cold stone floors), but the view was spectacular. The French and English battled for a hundred years over the valley that can be seen from the castle walls.
The area is very rural, with lots of rolling hills and forests, corn and sunflower fields, vineyards and walnut groves. Local farms raise geese and duck, which is more popular than chicken here.
Speaking of food--the grocery stores here offer an amazing selection of food--something as simple as yogurt takes up an entire isle in the supermarket. Going to the market is Felicia's favorite form of entertainment.
Yesterday we had an early morning at the Sarlat outdoor market where we met French cooking instructor named Daniele Delpeuch (who is quite famous in France, and one time friend of Julia Child) for a day long traditional Perigord cooking class at her farmhouse. The food, and her stories of cooking around the world, were a wonderful experience for the entire family--and one that I will need a couple of days and bike rides to recover from!
We head to Provence on Saturday--we are all looking forward to seeing our little house again after 3 years away. And on July 20th--the Etape du Tour awaits.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Final Preparations
T-Minus 7 days until my departure for France and there is so much to do!
My training got a little stalled last week as I ended up taking an unexpected business trip to Toronto. A full week of work with no time on the bike, and very little sleep. It took a couple of rides to wake up my legs, but I feel like I haven't lost any fitness. I'm now back in the 4 day a week training routine--a couple of days on the CompuTrainer, and a couple of days outside. This will be my last weekend to get in some good long rides.
My final fitness test before the Etape will be on Tuesday morning. The plan is to take the ErgVideo Threshold Test, then record a Training With Ken spot for the FredCast podcast along with my coach (Rich Wharton).
The purpose of this adventure was always to see how an average cyclist (that's me) could benefit from a structured coaching plan that utilizes the technology that is available to maximize improvement. I always knew that I couldn't train 10-20 hours a week, so I wanted to see what was possible within the limits of my personal life. The reality is that 6-8 hours a week is probably the most I am able to commit to cycling. Is that enough to tackle the Etape?
Here is the Etape profile:
Each of the little climbs is about 4-8km long--and of course, Mont Ventoux at the end. I can say without reservation that I am in the best cycling condition that I have ever been in, but will it be good enough? It is certainly the most difficult ride I have ever attempted, and with potential wind and heat, it could be brutal. But I am excited to test myself!
I'll be recording video along the ride, and I'll try to get some interesting interviews with other riders, spectators, and just about anyone who will talk to me!
Thanks for following my adventure....
Ken
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
