We had been planning on going to DS&G all spring…clearly we didn’t make it out to TN this year. There have been enough curveballs of late to make a rigid schedule not so alluring or practical. Notwithstanding, I still had the urge to put down a race effort. It’s been awhile since...

We’ve been looking forward to RimRide for a long time. The plan from day one was to ride it SS, not hard, and together. After Vision Quest, 1/2 of 2 Epic had a tendon injury that made riding SS impossible…there were a few weeks when we just didn’t know what we’d do. Gears? Skip...

I’d set my bike up to race this one. From all the locals I’d heard it was a challenging and fun event. It was challenging and ironically it was the Vision Quest part that was the challenge not the racing part. A vision quest is a rite of passage, similar to an initiation, in some Native ...

VQ is done and I’m alive to tell the tale. The race wasn’t too bad but the bozo driving near 80 mph to the race’s finish, losing control, knocking a full-size pickup into mid-air for 3 rolls and then careening directly into us made it a full on epic day. But you’re here for the...

It used to be so simple.  Train, get as fast as you can, go to races, hammer yourself into a pulp, rest, repeat.  Bike choice was more about HT vs. FS - the gearing always included an 11-34 on the back.  There were some nutz riding bikes with only one gear, but man that was [...]

We’ve had some requests. What about the “burning one down and ripping around the woods for five or six hours” approach? Anyone want to see my data? Well no woods here in the desert, but lotsa hills. 70 miles, 5:50, 360 TSS, 0.783 IF. Route: 2.5 Blakes climbs. Uh huh… The juicy...

Wouldn’t it be nice to know what sort of training you need to do and when in order to hit that elusive perfect form when and where you want to? I’ve been pursuing this magic bullet of knowledge for years. TSS was a huge step forward in quantifying load, rolling TSS took it a step forward...

Extreme geek alert! More than I can recall there have been suggestions that I just toss the gears away once and forall. Finit. Single is simple. Liberating. But…it ain’t gonna happen. Here’s why. Like all of us spokeheads, I often learn via the sensations that come with training on...

A few weeks back I posted a this QA scatter plot.  I’d been riding the SS about 2-3 weeks at this point. Here’s the latest.  Both rides were on the 2:1.  The “Blakes” data is from a ~ 2500′ climb with sustained grades well over 10% while the other ride was...

Ah, holiday time.  I always get a bit retrospective this time of year… Using all sorts of resources I’ve been trying to piece together that optimal picture of the perfect training and racing year.  No matter how many studies, theories, or blogs I read, it always comes back to my...