Lynda

November 2007 - Posts

• SS analysis: strength or power?

  Pure single speeders are a passionate bunch.  After doing a bit of  lurking on the mtbr SS forum and observing the SS related comments here it’s obvious the top reasons SSers do what they do come from the heart.  As it should be. Perhaps I will find that happy SS nirvana in time, but right now I’m [...] Posted Nov 30 2007, 11:31 AM by 2 Epic Filed under: Training, Single Speed

• Binge Over

  My four day single speed binge is over and it was splendid fun. Ride times were 4:44, 4:24, 4:37 and err 1:35. I got distracted the last day with an invite to go goof around on Gooseberry Mesa. We spent half the day up there but ride time only tallied up to 1:35... Not so much pedaling goes on up at the Goose but lots of playing about on bikes. Nice one Lucas. not so many folks make this wee steep one Eddie the dog made the Goose loop smiling the whole way. After the ride we went down into Hurricane to visit Quentin and DJ Morissette's new bike shop. Set to open next month and called Over The Edge Sports. Yep just like the Fruita one. Here is Quentin on the deck of the new shop. It is on the right just before heading out of Hurricane up the big hill to Gooseberry and Little Creek. 76E 100S, Hurricane. They are good folks and I wish them luck with their new business. Now Thanksgiving is over we can start the yuletide fever. Is it really still only November? Posted Nov 26 2007, 11:11 PM by Lynda

• Guinea Pigs

  One gear, one GPS, one Power-Tap, one rider... One baggie of mashed potatoes and carrots - post Thanksgiving ride food - yum... Yesterdays ride food was a baggie of Mac n' cheese. That went down very, very well too - yum. I'm experimenting with new ride foods. If it fits in a baggie, I'll give it a go. Stuffing - check that one off the list... yummy dinner food does not always make yummy ride food. I'm my own best guinea pig. When I have the urge to learn something I find the best way is to leap in with my own two feet and do it. It's not only new ride food I'm teaching myself about - I jumped on the single speed learning curve 9 weeks ago and have only pedaled gears three times since then. Some adapting and lots of learning happening. Lots of pouring over power files and playing with data. Apart from it being heady fun, I wanted to learn what this single speeding is really all about - the nitty gritty. What it does for you? What it does to you? How to train myself for it? How to coach single speeders? How to use the single speed riding as a training tool for my gearie athletes? Roadies have been claiming the benefits of single and fixed gear winter training for years. Now with coaching, I have a belief never to schedule a workout or a block of training I have never tried at least one time myself. I've raced all kinds of events from Ironman triathlons to Trans Rockies, 24-hour team events, duos and solos, supported and unsupported, 100 milers, cross country, downhill and short track. Nothing beats a good dose of experiential learning. I believe the best coaches have done what they are teaching you to do. How can you really appreciate the full love of a 24-hour solo until you have kissed that angel yourself? Sooo right now I am in the middle of a 4-day single speed binge. About 4-5 hour per day - lots of climbing. He, he, when I have ticked this off without killing myself that gives me permission to schedule it for one of my athletes should the opportunity arise ;-) But really, one of the ideas floating around the bubble is to do Trans Rockies single speed this year. Currently having only a vague idea of what kind of impact that would have on my body I thought I'd spend 4 days educating myself. I'm halfway there...   Posted Nov 23 2007, 10:09 PM by Lynda

• Square top denial

  North and a bit west of St George is a range of mountains snuggled up against the Nevada border.  They haven’t hit my radar at all yet ’cause they don’t lie between here and St George, not even by way of my jagged thinking.  I’ve put the trans utah obsession on temporary hold and saddled up [...] Posted Nov 20 2007, 11:35 AM by 2 Epic Filed under: 2 Epic, Exploratories

• Single Power

  My Single Speed got a new rear wheel today. With a Power-Tap hub in it. It's gonna kick off some data and tells us all what all this one gear pedaling stuff actually looks like. I don't think the powers seen are as high as others do. Shortly we will know... One of the fun things before Trans Rockies was working with power meters to figure out how to be faster as a team than two individuals. Dave and I rode together, looked at power files, figured out what speeds and powers were good for towing. Discovered above about 12 mph drafting was more efficient - and a lot safer than towing. We learned distributing weight makes a huge difference and crunched all the power numbers to come up with a strategy that won us that stage race. The whole discovery process was a lot of fun and made me a better coach along the way. I do love a learning curve. Now it starts over again with power meters going on the single speeds and more single speed racing on the horizon. So far I have only raced cross country distances on my SS. Maybe we can go back to Trans Rockies next year and race it single speed?? How about that... Posted Nov 11 2007, 12:17 AM by Lynda

• My SS story

  Well it seems now I have an SS training partner and he tends to like to take things to extremes when an idea takes hold of him. Look out. So far I have just whipped around on wee fast rides on my SS but yesterday manic enveloped me in his new found SS enthusiasm and we went big. This climb totally spanked me on the SS and I was quivering a bit by the time I hit the top. Flamed out... My main goal was to ride everything and that I did - no hiking involved - very pleased about it. Sometimes it is hard to feel fast when my training partner is giddy and 1/2 mile ahead of me after 10 minutes but I was prepared with tunes yesterday and it was such a fab ride. Here is the map visual. Prolly part of day 2 on Camp Lynda So now thoughts of racing stage races, 12 hours and Kokopelli all on the SS are whirling around in the air. 2008 is gonna be some kinda fun. Posted Nov 09 2007, 12:13 PM by Lynda

• Camp Lynda Dates

  Camp Lynda will be January 12-14th. That is a Saturday thru Monday. My kids get out of school early on Friday sooo everybody else must work their schedule around that ;-) The camp will be self supported. No entry fee, no I Survived Camp Lynda t-shirt (unless you make one with your own blood :-) Everyday a route will be planned, a start time and a gps file provided. We will post the gps files well in advance. You set your own pace, ride solo or with a group, carry all your own supplies, follow a gps. Rides will go something like this: Day One 4-6 hours. Day Two 5-7 hours. Day Three 6-8 hours. There are more trails in the area than can be covered in three days so right now I have to decide what we are not going to ride. Day One is most likely gonna be two laps on the Jem trail. Two laps of the same loop seems like a funny thing to do but I really like it. By the second lap I am getting in a groove with the trail and enjoying a second chance at everything. Two laps is a great pacing heads up too. The first lap can seem easy and the second lap you pick up the pace and feel like you are hammering but the clock often ticks off the second lap exactly the same as the first. One lap is about 25 miles and 2 - 2.5 hours. The two lap format gives a halfway bailout option and a halfway refuel at the car point. Nice features to make day one more friendly. The plan for day three is long and hard. Finish it off with a finale you will remember... Here are a few questions I have received so far: What are you thinking about accommodations? Your call. Right next to the five star Green Valley Spa is BLM land you can free camp on. Lots of Motel 8's and Best Westerns in town. Green Valley is a good spot to set up camp. Green Valley Condos are nice and reasonably priced. How well are these trails marked, and are there good maps I could purchase for the areas you plan to ride? Day One, The Jem Trail is marked and mapped beautifully (we will be riding the Gould's Farm/JEM/Hurricane Rim Loop). The Jem gps and detailed trail description is on www.utahmountainbiking.com. Scroll down the left menu bar to the St George area trails. Day Two and Three will be unmarked and on routes not found on maps. GPS required or some serious local trail knowledge. In fact Dave wants to take us up the Hurricane Cliffs and on the first part of his Trans Utah route on some roads I have never been on for the big finale day three. Will we be riding Gooseberry Mesa? No. The Goose is fun for goofing around on but this is a serious training mission. Where should I fly into? Las Vegas is the closest big airport. A shuttle service operates from there to St George. You can also fly directly into St George. The airport is situated on a mesa right in the middle of the city. United and Delta fly into St George. Do I need a gps? Yes. Ask Santa for one or you will be dependant on someone else to know the route and the spirit of this camp is self supported.   Posted Nov 03 2007, 10:37 PM by Lynda

• Halloween Decisions

  Pink is a given. Power Ranger or butterfly. Hard choice... Why not both... Emma has some cool kindergarten teachers. They all dressed as cheerleaders yesterday. They were really funny. Ninjas are hard to catch on film. Except in that moment before the hiiiyyahhhh. Late afternoon candy bonk. Happens to the best of us...Stomping feet and shouting involved here... Posted Nov 01 2007, 12:52 PM by Lynda