Week Ending July 29- Harding

After Big Bear and with just three weeks until Leadville, I normally would have tapered more, but because of my time off in May, I thought it would be good to get another good training week in, then taper the last two weeks.

Did the usual Del Cerro on Tuesday and PV road ride on Thursday, then decided to do Harding to the peak on Sunday.  I thought Harding would be the closest thing we have here in So Cal to the Columbine climb.

The whole Leadville crew joined in for the Harding climb.  We started up and I felt pretty good. Charlie gapped me, but I put a gap on Israel and Susan.  I decided to push the pace up to Four Corners and made it up in 1:24.  Here's the obligatory bike shot up at Four Corners.

Though I felt pretty good during the climb to Four Corners, once we started climbing to the peak my legs soon reminded me that I would need to pace myself at Leadville.  I think most of my base fitness was back, but I was not ready to maintain higher intensities.  The good thing though was my back was holding up nicely.  All the yoga, stretching, massage and chiropractic work was paying off.  We all made it up to the peak and celebrated our last semi-big training ride.  Leadville was almost upon us!

  

Week Ending July 22- Big Bear

After the big road ride, it was really time to step it up for the biggest training ride yet.  Three weeks out from Leadville, we wanted to get a good 8-9 hour ride in.  Charlie and Israel and I met and decided to ride on the 50 mile marathon course in Big Bear.  It was ideal because it was at elevation, would be cooler than our typical riding spots (90+ that weekend in the Saddleback area), and it was actually a 25 mile course where we go back to the car to refill water and refuel.

Israel picked up Susan and I and we headed out to meet Charlie in Big Bear.  We parked near a golf course driving range, got ready and headed out for the first lap.  Israel was navigating on the Garmin, and we headed up the Fern trail, which was a bit technical, steep and difficult in spots.  We then caught the main 2N10 fireroad which was nice and steady.  On the backside of the loop there was a pretty difficult singletrack climb which looped us back on to to fireroad.  Susan was having a difficult time with a cold, so Israel and Charlie and I were doing some up and backs to keep moving and get more ride time in.  There was some fun singletrack on the way back, which made the loop even more enjoyable.  We got back to the car in about 3:45.  Susan was also having a difficult time with her hand, so she chose to do her own thing for the remainder of the day.  Israel, Charlie and I did a second lap, though this time instead of climbing up Fern, we climbed the road next to Bear Mountain (steep) which turned into fireroad and eventually got us back on the loop.  I was actually feeling pretty good at this point, which was encouraging.  We finished the loop this time in about 3 hours.  We needed about 2 hours to get in 8 hours of ride time, which we were determined to do.  This time, we headed up the road again and the fireroad, and decided to keep going until we hit 7:30 of ride time, then turn around.  When we made it back, we ended up with 8:15 of ride time.  It was a great training ride, and by far was the best  I'd felt since my back went out in May.  Super encouraging three weeks from the race.

Week Ending Sunday, July 15- Angelus Crest

After having fun, but struggling a little bit with my fitness in Mammoth, I knew I had to be patient and keep training, and hopefully things would come around.  After all, it had been just 4 weeks since I started riding again.

After riding 3 days in Mammoth, I took it easy at Del Cerro on Tuesday and had a good road ride on Thursday around PV, though it rained a little.  Neal was there at the ride, and he mentioned he and his club were doing a big ride out at Angelus Crest.  Israel and I agreed this would be great training, so we joined him.

We met Neal and his club out in Duarte and it was a good turnout, with a good 20+ riders ready for a big day.  I brought the Crosscheck, but switched the cross tires to regular road tires.  There was about a 20 mile flatish warm-up through Sierra Madre and Alta Dena before we hit the Angelus Crest Highway and the long 35 mile climb.  The climb started a little steeper at about 8%, but quickly it settled into an easier grade and seemed to stay between 4-6% for the majority of the time.  I felt pretty good, but knew I wasn't as strong as I would've liked to be.  My legs were glad there were no steeper sections, but were feeling good enough to keep spinning along.  We had a long rest stop at Newcomb's Ranch, which is a nice biker stop on the highway.  After lugging up a third water bottle for most of the climb that I  didn't even touch, I decided not to fill all 3 bottles there, which turned out to be a mistake.  There was another 5-6 mile climb after that and it started to get hot.  Here's a pic of Israel, Neal and I near the top.

The descent down HWY 39 was interesting, especially the first several miles, which were unmaintained.  I was glad I had the Crosscheck here, because even with road tires, it seemed stable and the steel seemed to smooth things out.  After awhile, the road was more maintained, then we dropped in next to the San Gabriel reservoir.  I was already out of water and the terrain began to roll a little, requiring more pedaling effort.  I finally made it down, but made a wrong turn into a residential area.  I was hoping to find a drinking fountain there, but no avail.  I made my way out to the river trail and it was only a few miles back to the car.  A really good training ride with just under 90 miles and 9K feet of climbing, and though I  didn't feel awesome, it was a step in the right direction.

Week Ending Sunday, July 8- Mammoth!

On Tuesday, we went to Del Cerro and my main intent was to dust off the Mojo and get used to it again, as I'd be riding it all weekend in Mammoth and I hadn't been on it in some time.  I was really glad I did, as I immediately noticed the positioning was uncomfortable and put pressure on my back.  I moved the seat forward and it definitely helped.  It also just took some time to get used to the 26" wheels, the different geometry, and even the dropper seatpost.  For the ride it turned out to just be Israel and I, and we got a few good laps in.

Mammoth was an opportunity to test ourselves in altitude, but also to have some fun with some awesome trails.  Matt, Israel and I drove up Thursday to meet Charlie, while Susan was arriving late that night.


When we arrived on Thursday, we met Charlie at the campsite.  It was a really nice campground called Coldwater next to a stream and not far from Twin Lakes.  We did a short ride from our campsite into the Mammoth Mountain park to show Israel and Matt around.  We did a steep loose climb from Lake Mary Road called Lakes Trail, did some of Paper Route, then descended a fun trail called Juniper, then headed back to camp.
   
On Friday morning we decided to ride Lower Rock Creek.  Most people ride this trail downhill, some ride up the adjacent road then descend it, but of course we had to climb up it, then head down.  Charlie gave a really good description of the climb.  Steep and loose sections along with some technical rock garden areas to get across in the first half, with the trail smoothing out for the second half.  It was a tough climb, but it was a beautiful trail with varying terrain and surroundings.  I recall there even being an Aspen grove we cut through.  The downhill was awesome.  Unfortunately Susan's hand was hurting so she took the road down while the rest of us had a great descent.  There were a couple of pretty technical rock/boulder gardens.  Charlie was the only one to clean the first one, but he skipped the next one and Israel, Matt and I cleaned that one.  In any case, a great ride and highly recommended if one wants to venture outside the park for a day.


On Saturday, Charlie did his own thing early so he could ride with the family afterward.  Susan also decided to ride a combo of road and mellower trails due to her hand.  Israel, Matt and I set off to do a fairly big ride in the park.  The plan was to try and ride to the top.  We parked at the Village and started up Uptown, which was a very nice climb.  I wasn't used to riding consecutive days though--let alone three days in a row--and my legs were making this very apparent.  We heard from Charlie that the park officials told him not to climb all the way to the top due to too much traffic coming down from the Gondola.  We continued up with the idea of finding an alternate route across.  We caught Beach Cruiser and thought we could then catch Bearing Straits across the mountain, then catch some fun single diamond DH and climb some more blue trails.  The problem was, we couldn't find the entrance to Bearing Straits.  It looked pretty clear on the map, but after circling around for awhile and doing an extra fire road climb, we finally ended up back at the same place and realized Bearing Straits is a one-way trail that ended where we were looking for an entrance--hence, no sign.  At this point we were a little frustrated and decided to head up Off the Top (where Charlie was told not to ride), but not climb the whole thing, just enough until we could cut across Gravy Train.  Well, we climbed up to the junction of Gravy Train and saw a couple of fast looking guys in spandex who told us we really should just climb up Off the Top all the way up.  They assured us there was ample visibility, so we could just pull over if people were descending.  We all liked the idea of climbing to the top, so we went for it.  By this time, my legs were feeling pretty fried, but fortunately my back seemed to be doing okay with the consecutive days, so I soldiered on.  Israel was feeling good, so he pulled way ahead, and I also let Matt pass me and he started to gap me as well.  About this time, I saw a family up ahead descending down the trail.  Turned out, it was the Gilmores.  I just think it's so cool Charlie can ride with his wife and kids at the bike park!  I said hello for a brief moment, then continued up the climb.  We were above the tree line and could see the huge switchbacks ahead of us.  I had trouble pedaling anything that required above minimal power, but luckily the climb was pretty tame.  I did walk a few concrete switchbacks.  Soon enough (or not!) I reached the top and met up with Israel and Matt.

Time for some fun descending!  The plan was to take Skid Marks (single diamond) to Bridge the Gap (blue) then down Follow Me (single diamond) all the way to Canyon Lodge.  Somehow though we missed Follow Me and found ourselves on Bullet (double black!).  Some of it was challenging in a fun way, but there were a few sections that just seemed impossible to us.  When we had the chance, we cut across Big Ring, then finished the descent with Shotgun (single diamond).  Overall, the descent was super fun.  I brought along the GoPro and got some pretty cool footage.  Here are the ride stats:

Week Ending Sunday, July 1

After Sundays ride, I started to feel more hopeful but still wish I had more time to train.  Less than 7 weeks until Leadville!

On Tuesday, I met Charlie, Israel and Matt at Del Cerro.  Charlie brought his new Tallboy, which I had a chance to ride for a lap.  It definitely felt more plush, especially the fork.  I think the seat was positioned a little further back than my Spearfish, and it put a little strain on my back, but I'm sure that can be adjusted.  In any case, a sweet ride for certain.  We ended up doing more than 2 hours of ride time and nearly 3500 ft. of climbing, which was good for a Tuesday.

It turns out a friend was in town and wanted to get together on Thursday night, so I had to skip the PV road ride and wait for the weekend.

Saturday was a busy day with my nephew's birthday party and a pub crawl planned in the afternoon, so Israel, Susan, Matt and I got an early start with the goal of a good four hour ride.  We went to Santa Monica and decided to do a ride similar to what Israel and I did a few weeks earlier.

We started up Westridge, and I still wanted to pace myself and keep it fairly moderate, but push a little bit harder than I had been.  Israel and I stayed together and Matt was close behind.  We then went across and down Sullivan Ridge to the boy scout camp gate and climbed back up to the top of Sullivan Canyon.  We descended the canyon and it was really fun.  Some of the side singletrack trails connect together well, and the main canyon is in good shape, with some good opportunities for jumps and drops.  Climbing back up was good too, as Israel and I kept a pretty good pace.  We made it over to Hectic and dropped in there.  It's always amazing how many hikers like to come up Hectic.  Luckily, my timing was good this time and people were able to pull to the side as I descended and I was able to clean the whole run.  It just shows the Spearfish is a pretty capable descender.  The last climb out of Caballero Canyon is always tough, but again, I felt pretty good.  Even when I got gassed I was able to recover.  We ended up climbing back up to the start of Broken Arrow (car trail) then back to Sullivan Ridge.  I wanted to get 4 hours of ride time in so we descended Sullivan Ridge down to the big tree, then climbed back up to Sullivan Canyon for a last descent.  I had to get to my nephew's birthday party, so I bombed down and stayed mostly on the main trail.  I made it to the car and the ride time was right at 4 hours.  Felt good!  Israel and Susan stayed to do a little extra, but I found out later that Susan crashed on Sullivan Canyon and hurt her hand.  Hopefully she'll be okay for Mammoth next week.


After the fairly big ride Saturday, then the pub crawl and a few too many beers, it took me all day to rally on Sunday.  I finally got off the couch, ran a few errands, then decided to go for an early evening road ride on the Crosscheck.  I was hoping to get about 3 hours in with some steady climbing.  Didn't quite get 3 in, but almost.  Turned out to be a great afternoon for a ride.  Was overcast for much of it, but good temperature.  Here's a pic along the rugged coast of PV:

Here's the ride info.  First time all year that I rode on both Saturday and Sunday.  We'll see how the back holds up!

Week Ending Sunday, June 24

After suffering a bit on the Sunday ride, I was at least glad my back seemed to be holding up.  Did yoga on Monday and it felt great.  Rode Del Cerro on Tuesday with Charlie, Israel and Matt and felt okay.  I still got a little tired towards the end, even though we weren't going very hard.  I skipped Thursday's ride and instead Israel and I planned a fairly big ride on Friday am.  We decided to do Blackstar Motorway then head up Maple Springs.  Matt decided to join for the Blackstar Motorway part, his first time on it.

The way my rides were going, I was a little worried about doing this ride.  The Main Divide can put the hurt on you if you're not in shape, which I knew I wasn't.  I knew I had to do my best to pace myself and leave some energy for Maple Springs.  Plus, the forecast was for mid to high 80s and I don't do very well in the heat.

We parked at Maple Springs, did the 6 mile fast pavement ride over to Blackstar and started to head up.  I hadn't ridden Blackstar since VQ and it was quite soft and sandy.  Still, I felt decent and kept my HR a little lower than the previous rides.  Israel pulled ahead and I hung back a little with Matt.  We made it to the golf ball in 1:13 which wasn't too bad.  Really impressive for Matt, esp considering how little he rides compared to the rest of us.  The ride over to the Main Divide was pretty tough.  I always consider Blackstar Motorway a true test of where my fitness is: the steady climb up Blackstar and the steep relentless climbs on the Main Divide.  I don't think I passed.  I tried my best to pace myself up the steep climbs and avoid spiking my HR, but I just wasn't in the kind of shape to do so.  Still, I did okay and made it over to the Motorway without feeling too bad.

Headed down the Motorway, which was fun, then refueled at the car.  Matt took off, and Israel and I headed up Maple Springs.  It started to get warm, but I felt okay at first.  Still, knowing I wasn't at my best I told Israel that if he got ahead we could regroup at Four Corners.  That last mile or so of the pavement when it gets steep is where I started to suffer.  Israel was riding strong and gapped me here and I figured I just needed to get past the steep first mile or so of the dirt, then I should be okay up to Four Corners.  Was I wrong!  I suffered really bad at this point.  In hindsight, was definitely experiencing some mild heat exhaustion brought on because I was out of shape.  My HR wouldn't come down below 180 and I felt really fatigued all over.  I had to stop several times but at least wanted to make it to Four Corners.  Up near the top Israel came down and met me.  I told him later that if it was much farther from the top when he met me, I might have just headed down.  I did tough it out and made it up to Four Corners in 1:38, almost 30 minutes slower than my VQ split.  A very humbling experience and now I was truly concerned for Leadville, which was only 7 weeks away!

On Saturday, I decided to do a recovery ride and took the Crosscheck to the beach and headed north to Playa Del Rey.  It felt really good to spin the legs at a steady, but moderate pace.

On Sunday, I wasn't sure how I would feel but decided to go to Santa Monica and do a similar ride to what Israel and I did the week prior.  I parked at Amalfi and headed up Sullivan Ridge.  It took awhile to warm up, and some guy on a singlespeed dropped me right away, but I still felt decent and kept my heart rate in the mid to high 160s.  A definite improvement.  I got to the top and decided to go straight to Hectic, wanting to do the climb out of Cabellero Canyon while it was still cool.  My HR spiked up a bit on this climb, but I was encouraged that it recovered quickly.  And what a difference a week makes!  On the fireroad climb back up towards Sullivan Ridge a week ago, I was in granny gear and couldn't get my HR to drop below 180.  On this day, I was in the big chain ring as I should be, comfortably in the 150s and 160s and probably going 7mph vs 4.  I went down Sullivan Canyon, climbed back up and still felt good.  Got to the top and decided to go do the car trail.  Felt equally good on the return, which was really encouraging.  Finished the ride and was really happy.  I knew I still wasn't primed for Leadville, but it sure looked significantly better than just 48 hours earlier.

On a side note, I was over at my sisters house and she wanted to get rid of what was my first mountain bike: a 1991 Trek 950 I sold her about 10 years ago that she probably only rode a handful of times.  A true classic and my latest project!  I immediately removed the huge bar ends, the big comfort seat and kickstand and put some new rubber on it.  Next I need to work on the drivetrain, but that may take a little time.  I think I need to install new cables and housing and see if I can get the shifters working right.  It's a 7 speed, so the parts I have lying around won't work.  To be continued, but here's a pic so far:

Week ending Sunday, June 17

After the big Maple Springs ride, I was a little concerned about my fitness, but then realized it was perfectly normal to have lost some fitness after relative inactivity for the past month.  Still though, the back injury certainly put me behind schedule for Leadville.  I thought hard about how to ramp up the miles and take care of my back at the same time.

I decided to join the Thursday night road ride and brought the Crosscheck.  It turned out to be Dave, a new friend he met on his Saturday ride, and Israel, who was riding his old Trek mountain bike.  Interesting looking group for sure.  Dave's friend was pretty strong, and we did a pretty good pace up the first climb and took turns on the way over to the switchbacks.  Israel took some turns too, which was impressive since he was on a mountain bike!  I got more tired than I expected and again my heart rate was up pretty high.  I remembered from before that I estimated my anaerobic threshold HR to be somewhere around 170.  It exceeded that on most of this ride.  Still, it was fun to be out riding on a Thursday night in beautiful Palos Verdes.

After a much needed massage and adjustment on Friday, Israel and I went to Santa Monica on Saturday and did a pretty big one: we rode up Westridge, down Sullivan Canyon and back up, down Sullivan Ridge and back up, then down Hectic, up Caballero Canyon, then down the car trail, and back down Sullivan Canyon.

Sullivan Canyon was really fun and so was Hectic.  It was climbing out of Caballero where I started to feel really tired.  Again, tried to keep it nice and steady, but my heart rate reached the mid to high 180s!  In hindsight, I think it was a combination of the heat and being out of shape.  Doing the fireroad climb back to the car trail afterward seemed to take forever, and my HR would not come down from the high 170s and low 180s even though I was in granny gear going much slower than usual.  Did the car trail and really suffered on that same climb on the way back to Sullivan Canyon.  Still, was a good ride and hopefully just at the beginning stages of getting my fitness back.