Felt A Little Like Spring

Saturday was supposed to be the Ripon Charity Ride. It was cancelled at the last minute and I wanted to get that mileage in if the weather would cooperate. So, I put together a route/ride myself. Granted there were not a lot of people that showed up. The ride started in Thiensville at Extreme at 8am. I knew there was going to be 3 of us for sure. The temperature was low 30's and windy. We had about 12 guys that started with us but they only stayed with us for a bit and then ventured out back on there own. There was 4 us that kept on going.
The course was a challenging one and the winds didn't help. We went from Thiensville to Holy Hill then up towards Hartford then Allenton then New Fane then Newburg and finally back to Thiensville. It was 98.95 miles, 6 hours 25 minutes in the saddle. It was a tough day, but it was well worth it.
Sunday I wasn't planning on doing much. I thought I may just go out for a short easy spin. This wasn't the case. I woke up at 7:45am brewed some coffee and thought to myself, my legs actually don't feel terrible. The sun was shining and looked pleasant out with a real feel in the low 30's but was supposed to warm up nicely. I knew Extreme had a ride starting at 8:30am. There was no way I could get my stuff ready in time to make the ride. I call John T. from Extreme and asked him what the route was going to be. At this time he didn't know, but would call me when he knew. I got ready and headed out the door. He told me the route but I wasn't quit getting it. I ended up going to far south then coming back towards them and I saw them cross a road. OH SHIT! I now had to try to time trial to catch them, but my legs were not having none of that. I pushed as hard as my body would let me and I screamed a few times hoping they would hear me. They didn't! They did finally stop at a stop sign and I was able to catch up. I rode back to the shop with the group and from there, some others wanted to keep riding and they were headed east towards the lake and then north then west into Newburg and then south. I broke off eventually and headed home. At this point I was feeling exhausted. This ride was 74.23 miles and another 4 hours 6 minutes in the saddle. What a great weekend!
My first race is going to be this Sunday. GDVC #1 is held in Madison. I am looking foreword to it. I am racing M1,2,3. I feel I have plenty of endurance but no top end. I will know after Sunday how my winter training has gone.
As for the rest of the week I will be weight training tonight. Tomorrow night I have to pick my wife and mother in law up from the airport. Wednesday I may ride for maybe 1 hour each with some intervals. Thursday is a Team only ride, we will see if it happens. The weather doesn't look to promising. Friday will be a rest day. Saturday I am hoping to practice some criterium cornering.

Garmin 510

My Garmin 705 computer took a shit and without warning. But first I am going to tell you about this past weekend.
Saturday late morning I went to Zillmer to go skiing and was meeting up with others. I started on my first loop of red/yellow and by the time I reached the green cut off I had decided to head back and call it a day on the skis. In the shade it was really icy and in the sun the snow was good. I don't like ice at all so I called it a day. On my way back home I called my buddy Ryan to see if he wanted to ride bicycles outside. He said yes, so a little later I met him on the road. When I left my house I noticed that my power meter wasn't working and I didn't have time to mess around with it and figure what was wrong with it. When I met Ryan I had power, but it wasn't from my power meter, it was coming from Ryan's. Anyways we ventured north a bit and then west and then back south towards home. Roads were fairly good for the most part, we did run into one road that had some built up ice on it. We rode for 2 hours or just over. It sure was nice to ride outside. When I was home I tried putting a new battery in the power meter and yippee, that was it, so no big deal. Oh, I used my older Madone by they way, just incase you were wondering.
Sunday was supposed to be the nicer day of the weekend, but that surely wasn't the case. Anyways, I went on another ride outside. This time I met at Jeff's house and he had two others that showed up. Four of us on this cool, cloudy and very windy day. Still better than riding in the basement by myself. Jeff had a great route with some hills and it changed directions quit often. This helped break up those winds, plus we were able to take turns with our nose in the wind. We rode two by two for the most part. Again another 2 hours outside and again I rode the older Madone. I am still waiting for the day to get the new one out. No rush though, it's day is coming.
Monday night I picked up Ryan and we headed to P3 for a TTT practice for a charity competition this coming Saturday. We met Brian and Todd their, this competition is a 4 person, 10k race. Anyways I went to turn my Garmin 705 on and nothing it wouldn't come on. Okay, bummer. We did our practice and then Ryan and I grabbed some grub and then I took him home. I went home after that and plugged my Garmin in and it showed a empty battery, so I thought well maybe it turned on some how and drained the battery. I checked it in the morning and it was the same thing on the screen empty battery, I wiggled the usb cord a little then it showed being connected to the computer, okay good. I then took it with me to work and plugged it in and kept checking to see if I could turn it on and nothing every time. So, finally I called Garmin and asked them to help me and the final outcome is that the battery is junk.
Now I am running a Garmin 510 and so far it seems nice. There is a lot of set up to get started though, but I think I have it all set up so I can use when I get home tonight. I will be riding the trainer tonight and tomorrow night. Friday I will be off, Saturday is the TTT and Sunday I have a small house project that needs get done. C'mon spring, bring us some nice weather!  

C'mon Spring!

I did a power test last week and it went a little better than expected. I am very pleased with that. I went skate skiing last Saturday at Zillmer. I had my personal record so far. I am still looking to improve, but not sure how many more times I will be going out. I do plan on skiing on Saturday again if the conditions are good. Sunday I might venture out on the road. No, not with the new bike, I will ride the older one till the salt is washed away.
Monday I will be going to P3 to do a practice TTT for a fundraising event on the 15th. The team consists of Brian P., Ryan P., Todd S. and myself. Other than that, nothing new here.
With daylight savings coming this weekend all I need now is for the weather to cooperate. Looking forward to see all my cycling friends again.

More Pictures

Here are a few more pictures of the new bike.  I have swapped out the crank with my power meter and put the Bontrager 7 wheels on. These pictures show the metal flakes in the green.  There is also metal flakes in the black but isn't visible in the pictures.
I have lowered the stem a little more. I rode it yesterday on the trainer and I will be riding it again today. I now have extra motivation for going on the trainer.
I should have gone skiing yesterday.  Instead I put the power magnet on, the other wheels and took some pictures.  I love my new bicycle and can't wait to ride outside.
I have a recovery/power test week coming up. I am currently at the same point as last year and hopefully I will be able to keep that trend going. If so I should be in good shape.
Unfortunately with the winter that we are having makes it seem that I won't be riding outside any time soon.

New Bike

Here is a picture of my new Trek Malone 7 series project one.  I picked it up last night.  I need to change the crank out with my Quarq and of course put pedals on.  I will take more pictures when that is done.  I will also take a picture with the Bontrager 7 wheels. I can't wait to ride this thing outside.
Otherwise my training is going okay. I'm still enjoying skate skiing.  With the long winter we have been having, it is at least getting me outside and off the trainer one day a week.

Skate Skiing

My bicycle training has been much of the same as December.  The only thing that is different is that I am doing a little more time.  I also added a little more intensity.
I have been skate skiing one day a week on the weekends.  I am going to try to keep that going as long as the conditions are good.  I am having a great time doing it and I can't believe I haven't started doing it a long time ago. I have been improving a little each time so far.  I can't wait to go next weekend. I have been going to Zillmer.