Crystal Lake.

Three hard laps, two tired legs and one orange sports bra.

 

The level of unzip must be proportional to ones lack of fitness and rate of overheating...that's my theory anyway.  Note to self: Keep the jersey zipped up for all future photo opportunities.  

I wasn't really ready to race, but I made the long drive to Rhinelander, WI.  The lead out was faster than anything that I had ever experienced at any race.  I won't lie.  It broke me.  I blame Adventure 212.  They are even faster this year.  Is that possible?  Apparently it is....

But those types of experiences are good for the soul.  You can waive the white flag, make excuses and DNF or you can suck it up and finish the race.  So I gutted it out for just over two hours.  One pedal ejector crash in the first lap reigned in my ego.  I spend the next few laps perfectly carving singletrack and racing within my fitness ability.  In the process I got acquainted with my new friend.

A carbon frame given to me by a teammate, a few new parts and a few old ones too.  Total weight is 24 lbs.  There is room to bring the weight down but I'll work on that later in the summer.  Right now the focus is on the engine.  My old bike was in the 29 pound range so this new set-up feels like I'm dancing on air.  And hopefully, by mid-summer, I will be.

Spring is Usually Not a Time For Rest.

April is always the busiest month in my calendar.  Lots of training, projects at work, getting bikes dialed, managing sponsorship for the Chain Smokers MTB Team, topped off with lots more riding.  Not this past April.  I've spent the whole month (and then some) not riding my bike or even exercising.  This is a very strange place to be.

My new nightly routine.

Prior to this bump in the road, base training was movin' right along.  Instead of upgrading the bike, I spent most of my efforts upgrading the rider.  There were tons of focused trainer workouts for which I utilized the new toy to the best of my intellectual ability.

Putting out 3.7 watts/kg on a 30 minute test early on seemed like a pretty good start to the spring training season.  But realizing that I have no clue as to what good power numbers would be for a female Cat 1 WORS racer, I thought I'd figure it out when the rubber met the road.  I'm still waiting for that to happen.....stupid knee.

Body recomposition has been a priority in the off season.  After all, your best racing weight is both a weight and body composition that you perform best at.  The goal had been to bring the body fat down to 15-16% while keeping the power to weight ratio in mind.

Measuring body fat is mostly an inaccurate science, but there are a few methods that are considered to be the gold standard.  One is the DXA scan.  It has a high degree of accuracy but is very expensive.  Instead of paying for one, I jumped into a UW study for female cyclists and got one for free.


Participating in this study brought me to a few important realizations:

1.  I've achieved my body fat goal and then some.  Region (%Fat) is the soft tissue + bone while Tissue (%Fat) is just the soft tissue.

At 13.1% body fat, I have returned to my regularly scheduled program of consuming dark chocolate and red wine daily.


2.  I have normal bone density.  Which is always a good thing.  Osteoporosis is nothing to fuck with.

3.  I now understand why I have problems with sciatica and my right knee.

Mmmm pelvis tilt.  Fighting genetics is an uphill battle that you probably won't win.

While my knee feels like a major set back, the season is long.  May will be the month of recuperating, resetting, re-strategizing, rebuilding (the engine), repeating (base training) and hopefully racing.  Crystal Lake?  Most likely...

Living a Holistic Lifestyle: The Year Of The Bike

Chef Jeff (aka the Bachnessmonster) and I are always trying to life a healthier, simpler life.  Thus I have decided to label the summer of 2011 as the Year Of The Bike.  Well, how is that different from any other year, you ask?  We have decided to set aside our cars as much as we can.  And ride our bikes to work as much as the weather and our schedules will allow.

While I have a substantial number of bikes for every occasion, Jeff does not.  A recent trip down to Willy Bike's Mega Sale increased his bike stable 100%, from one bike to two.

A large sized Cannondale Quick 5.

I will be commuting on my winter bike. Rolling some pretty meaty tires isn't optimal but never know when you might want to ride your commuter bike on some sweet singletrack.

I ordered Shimano two sided road pedals to put on this beast.  One side for clipless and the other for tennis shoes.  Having options is a good thing.

Roughly totaling up all the money that I've spent on bike parts, components, cycling clothing and gadgets in 2011, I'm up over 3000 bucks.  Yikes!  And that doesn't include the new, shiny, spectacular, titanium, custom race bike that I won't be purchasing.  But I did make a very important purchase that will make the Year Of The Bike a success.

Meet our new grocery/errand running wagon.  It can be pulled behind a bike or used as a hand cart.  Non-race weekends will be spent pedaling down to Willy Co-op and the Farmers Market, attaining all of our food needs for the week.  Don't be jealous.  You too can own your very Croozer Cargo Trailer for $149.99 from bike Nashbar.

The decision to purchase lots of extras for commuting, parts for Jeff's race bike and parts that I've needed for all my other bikes has most likely delayed the purchase of my glorious titanium racing stallion.  Although, don't count me out.  There will be a few upgrades in store for the good ol' 2006 Trek Fuel Ex TANK that I've raced on for the last few years (as in a new frame and wheel set).  More importantly there have been a few significant upgrades for the rider as well.  But that is a different blog post.

Overwhelmed but Making Progress.

 I've been a pretty lazy chick for the last few weeks.

 This whole knee situation has been a major irritation.

After a month off, I started riding again this week.....like a grandma.  That's O.K.  You have to take each moment as it comes.  I did get to rip my first singletrack of the season today.  I'm happy to report that CamRock is in fine shape.

As usual the projects have been piling up round me.


I'm no bike mechanic, but I play one every spring.  As the stable of bikes in the Bach household grows, so does my stress level.  Too much to do, too much to fix, too much to upgrade.

Some fairly substantial tasks were undertaken this weekend.

Out with the old.

In with the new.

Who knew that wheel bags were multi-purpose?

I have Beautiful VMO's.

That is what my physical therapist tells me.  Unfortunately my right Vastus Medialis Oblique is very upset with me right now.

 

This problem is generally not common in cyclists (more so in runners), but lots of force intervals on the trainer and skipping my usual wintertime gym routine has brought me to my current condition.  90 days of fitness was fun, but next year I'll return to lifting heavy in the gym.

If you are a cyclist, you probably have beautiful VMO's too and they are probably currently working better than mine.  And you probably are racing at Iola today.  This would have been my 8th Iola in a row.  Sitting on the sidelines is not one of my strong suits but bike maintenance, grocery shopping and laundry are top priorities of the day.  I will be eagerly looking at WORS results before I go to bed tonite.  I'm like a sad puppy that was left home alone all day.  Pitty party for one, please.

Good luck to all those racing at Iola.