Alaskan Pack Fodder

I'm still not in the rhythm of the trainer.    Every day I forget something new and have to run back upstairs to get it. Today i was the heart rate monitor. Yesterday was the Garmin. Tomorrow will be something else.    Once I'm in the groove, I can do this all in a semi-conscious state. Of course, by then it will be time for the road again, and I'll start fumbling all over again.    I wrote out a training plan for a month, just to see if I would stick to it. It's not excessively intense, since I am backing away from the fitness edge at the moment. It's more about maintenance than anything else. A gradual return to normal that won't shock my system too much.    I'm not sure I can still stick to a structured plan. Zwift just has too many random squirrels for me to chase. I may have to skip a few days of Zwift a week just to stay on target. Maybe explore some of the other online training resources out there to see if I'd be less inclined to p...

I've been buying a lot of gloves lately. By a lot, I mean just that. A lot.    When I was down in Biloxi doing four or five hour rides, I noticed the padding in my on-clearance Louis Garneau long finger gloves were perfectly positioned to be in completely the wrong place. Nerves got squished after a while, and no manner of hand re-positioning would do the trick after a while. I developed weird callouses.    Before this, my go-to gloves were Bontrager long-finger gloves. Padding in the right spots, good snot wipe, light enough to not be too hot but could also ward off the wind. At one time I had five or six pairs of them, which eventually fell apart or fell victim to crashes. Unfortunatly, Bontrager changed designs on me, and I don't like the new ones as much.    So I went on a glove buying spree. POC, Mavic, Assos, Sugoi... a lot of expensive brands to see if they had a solution for me. I don't mind spending the money, because I was always told to inv...

I couldn't generate any sustained power. My peak was off. Each ride on the trainer was a flail towards the intended duration. Sometimes I didn't make it. I couldn't do any situps or pushups. Something was very, very off.    Then it hit me with both barrels.    I spent the night before Thanksgiving on the couch in a cold sweat. Ice pick headache and muscles tied in knots. Periodically the monotony would be interrupted by a trip to the bathroom to rid myself of whatever was causing this problem, though any available orifice.    Not one of my better nights.    Thanksgiving I pretty much spent in bed napping, which isn't a bad way to spend a holiday when you think about it. I ate, slept, and didn't even consider getting on the bike. It was a rest day anyway, but even if it wasn't lycra was not going to be part of my wardrobe. Soft and warm were the fashion trends of the day.    The next day wasn't much better, but at least I climbe...

The other day I got on Zwift to see Joey had just started as well. I was in the mood to have my clock thoroughly cleaned, so I clicked and magically transported to his location. He was putting out a steady 3.3 w/kg, which for him is 240w. For me? About 280w. Still, I tried to jump on and hang. I got dropped. I pedaled harder. I got dropped faster. I pedaled harder, and nearly came to a stop. Each time Joey did a u-turn and came back, then blew by like I was standing still.    Hmmm...    I was killing myself and the Zwift display only read 250w at best. I knew I was dead, but a relatively short duration effort like that should not be that bad. Something was very, very wrong.    Then I glanced down at my Garmin, which was set for a 30 second average. 320w. Not an astronomical number, even by my weak-sauce standards, but a couple zones higher than Zwift was reporting. Since Zwift estimates speed by w/kg, there was a reason I was dying to go backwards. ...

Now that I'm back, I need to adjust. Everything's so different.    Here in the world, other people make demands on my free time, which makes it considerably less free. Not that I really want to ride the trainer for three to five hours a day, but even if I did, it wouldn't be an option. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does take some getting used to after months of bachelorhood.    It's slightly colder here. I think the temperature differential between Anchorage and Biloxi is something like 50 degrees. Today we were at an outdoor photo shoot with the kids, and I was freezing. Usually temperatures in the low teens don't faze me, but my skin got thinner down there. I gotta toughen up before ski season, or I'm going to be in trouble. I have a few days, so that's plenty of time, right?    The trainer isn't the road. When it comes to road-kill armadillo carcasses rotting in the sun, that isn't a bad thing, but it is different and will req...

I knew it was going to happen. I was planning on it. The whole goal was to have my fitness peak and then crash spectacularly.    Mission accomplished.    I could already see the signs of it happening in Mississippi. My energy on the bike was waning. My enthusiasm on longer rides wasn't there. My kick during short, intense efforts was gone. On group rides, I kept turning to my companions and saying, "let's just ride easy, OK?"    Now that I'm on the trainer, it's even more plainly obvious. There's nowhere to hide. No tailwinds to push you home.    In a relatively short amount of time I doubled my weekly hours and mileage. My Chronic Training Load climbed steadily from around 70 to 105. Usually this time of year it's around 65, so obviously I peaked a bit late.    With the broken collarbone and no Tour of Anchorage, the second half of the season was a wash. The Mississippi trip gave me an excuse to ride. Now that I'm home and on ...

I hadn't ridden in a couple days. One for flying home, then one for spending time with the family. I can't say I missed riding, because I was a little burnt after over 3,300 miles during my trip. Jet lag didn't help much either.    Now that I'm back, I decided my trainer dungeon could use a little sprucing up. A few years ago I laid some recycled Pergo over part of the concrete, which only made the room more depressing and mainly served to collect sweat and dirt. The more I tried to clean it, the worse it looked. Time for a change.    I went to the local home improvement store and looked at all of my options. I was looking for cheap and durable, but they were fresh out of that. After bouncing between the various options and making my lovely wife irritable, I decided on vinyl planks that look like wood but hopefully are more waterproof. I figured it would have to look better than the dingy Pergo.    Problem was, the dungeon was full of ski and bike stu...