Training Camp 2013

No one had to twist any arms once it was decided the western contingent of the Zanconato Racing team was going to do it's inaugural training camp in Moab, Utah.  There are few settings (at least in this half of the lower 48) that would have been more ideal. 

Itinerary, Highlights, Training, etc

Rides: Dead Horse Point, Arches, along the Colorado River, and all throughout Moab

Two Zanconato Team frames (for Aaron and Dave) delivered to Moab waiting for us. Steve, with token assistance of the rest of us goofs, built 'em up completely Friday evening at our rented Condo in Moab. Steve did an excellent job with the build and they were on the road the next day! Thanks to Mike for making it happen...the frames are beautiful and the bikes are perfect!

"Casually Deliberate"

"No Lance, it IS about the bike"

Learning the Art of The Descent...prefaced by an excitting run in with a series of steep hair pin turns in Canyonlonds / Dead Horse Point State Park.

Steve introduced us to the essence of Training with Power, using the power meters provided by our team sponsor, SRM. This is a whole new world of training for most of us. I think we're all excitted and a bit overwhelmed at the same time to get into it.

The thought of 4 guys cartwheeling down sand dunes in cycling bib tights...gahhh!...bad image!....bad image!

There are few times in life when you can enjoy such generous quantities of good food, guilt free.

Moab in the spring is cycling heaven.

L-R: Dave, Mark, Steve, Aaron, Wayne

Warm-Up, Warm-Up, Warm-Up or SRM to the Rescue (More RMR crit action)

Here's another great race report from Dave Baker:

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This week I was the lone Team Zanc member at the RMR Crit series in West Valley City, UT.  Since our team training camp over the weekend was exceedingly instructive and motivating (details in an upcoming post), my primary objective for the crit was to do things differently.  In reviewing my recent races and camp performance, a common theme emerged: I tend to begin with little to no warm up, push myself to stay with the group, start to over-cook, panic, blow up, and get shot out the back of the peloton.  Based on the PLE scale (Perceived Level of Exertion), when trying to keep a race pace I'm usually between Level 9: "I am probably going to die" and Level 10: "I am dead". 

The training camp was my first chance to use the sponsor-provided SRM Training System.  This included the Campagnolo PowerMeter cranks, heart rate monitor, and PowerControl 7 computer.  I am still establishing the "training zones" to determine my Functional Threshold Power (FTP), so I first focused on gleaning insight from my heart rate and cadence.  Using the imprecise formula of 220 minus age (44), my maximum heart rate (HR) should be about 176 beats-per-minute (bpm).  During most of the climbs my HR was in the 140s, and I felt I could barely hang on.  When the pace picked up, my HR would drift into the 150s, then jump into the 160s, and I was cooked.

Further, my cadence tended to be high--apparently a little too high.  You see, I don't have an abundance of what you might call "muscle".  In fact, my arms have the tone and definition of half a Schleck brother.  So my thinking for some time has been, "What I lack in power, I should make up in efficiency by spinning a high cadence."  Although this makes for a smooth pedal stroke, I tend to look like a hummingbird on wheels.  Even when drafting, my cadence can hover between 90-100 revolutions-per-minute (rpm).  That's not exactly soft-pedaling in the slipstream. 

Given these realizations, Steve (as Directeur Sportif) offered some suggests for this week's practice crit.  First, move up from the D Flight to the C Flight - although a bit faster pace, there will be more riders to work with.  Second, make sure I have time for a good, focused pre-race warm-up.  Next, since the flat course is susceptible to strong crosswinds, find a good position to stay protected.  Finally, bring down my cadence. 

I arrived 1 hour beforehand to make sure I had plenty of time for a warm up.  After getting the bike ready and registering I did 15-20 minutes of spinning, 3 or 4 sprint intervals, then 5-10 minutes of cool down to let the heart rate settle a bit before rolling up to the start line.

This was a 30 minute race, so I anticipated about 10 laps.  We had a crosswind along the straightaway, so I focused on staying protected on the leeward side of the group.  My HR stayed around 160bpm (91%), but felt sustainable.  My cadence was around 70 rpm – decidedly slower for me, but I wasn't mashing the pedals by any means.  About 15 minutes in, I found myself on the outside against the crosswind and could feel the difference in my legs.  Toward the end of the lap I was in about 6th place and took the hairpin turn so properly I was catapulted into 2nd place.  The lead rider pulled off and I found myself up front.  Not where I wanted to be.  My HR hit 171bpm (97%).  On the backside I fell back fast.  The last rider of the main group passed me and I knew I had to catch his wheel before we headed back into the wind.  I dug deep to catch him, but was back on.  Soon after, the HR was back to the 160s and holding.

Going into the last lap I was in about 8th position.  I was moving up on the outside when a rider ahead and to the left of me braked abruptly AND veered into my line.  I knew we were going to touch, so I yelled, rubbed my front tire on his rear derailleur body and kept a left-leaning pressure on my bars to keep myself upright.  He accelerated and chased the leaders.  I was a bit rattled.  Realizing I almost went down, I sat up and composed myself.  I took it easy around the back and finished out of the saddle on the final straight. 

Takeaways:

1. Moving up to the C Flight was a confidence booster (even with the close call).
2. Purposeful warm-ups are essential.  I was able to sustain a much higher HR than expected.
3. Reading the wind before a race makes it easier to act purposefully during the race.
4. I felt the lower cadence kept my legs fresher and it was easier to keep pace when the  group accelerated.
5. I like racing.

I’m also eager to dive into the PowerMeter features of the SRM system.  Definitely more to follow.

Ride on.

Dave
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WB:  here's a little preview for the next post (team bike photos, and a Moab Training Camp report)

East Canyon / Echo Road Race...the weather lived up to expectations

Click here for race day pictures

A fine day for racing to be sure. We started off in the small town of Henefer, with overcast skies and reports of pouring rain at the top of the first climb at East Canyon. It's tough to plan your weather gear for a race like this; with a mixed forecast of snow, rain, wind, and dry spells. You overdress and get cooked going up the climbs but when the nasty weather hits you're already so sweaty that the extra layers don't help much.  Anyway, I ended up racing with a thin base layer, full length roubaix tights, and a winter racing jacket over my jersey. In my rush to get ready in the minutes before the starting bell, I left off my water resistant shoe covers, which I would later regret (I couldn't feel my feet at the finish line).

We started with the rest of the group at 10:40 AM. There was no warm up before the race hit the hills of East Canyon. Let me be clear. This is not the type of start that I'm suited for. I'm more of an endurance guy - there's probably not a fast twitch muscle in my body.  ...I quickly realized the pace at the outset was not realistic so I backed off a bit. Dave and Aaron stayed with the group until I was able to rejoin Dave halfway up the climb. Aaron stayed with the front group - he's a great climber and I knew he'd do well this race.

That group stayed together until the top of East Canyon when mother nature decided to unleash her fury. First light rain..then pouring rain...then sleet/snow...then stinging hail with strong winds. Nothing like a little sand blasting to the side of your face as you try to make contact with the guys in front of you.  Good times. 

At that point Aaron got isolated between a couple guys off the front and a group behind him.

I plugged away through the nasty weather, glasses fogged up, just trying not to loose sight of 3 guys up ahead that I wanted to join. Part way up the first climb Dave told me he was going to bump his pace down a bit to recover for subsequent climbs. I kept going and Dave eventually rejoined me just before the decent back into Henefer. We rode the rest of the race together, with the exception of the final miles of the last climb.

Anyway...Dave and I traded pulls for the next 45 miles, back down into Henefer, along Highway 89 and up Echo Canyon. Echo canyon was a very gradual, rolling climb - nothing very difficult at all. At the top of Echo, just as we felt like we were finally drying out from the wet weather in East Canyon, the storm hit us again. More rain, more wind, more cold. All Dave and I could do was do our best to trade pulls at the front, keep our heads down out of the wind and rain, and soldier on.

Finally we passed back through Henefer (again) for the final summit finish at the top of Hogs back. At that point I was just focusing on turning the cranks and keeping some form of momentum. I had long since lost any hope of looking 'proper' or catching anyone from the front group. Not sure if it was the wind, cold, or wet weather, but you get isolated in that stuff and it's hard to maintain a good average speed. I was soaked, cold, and couldn't feel my feet.

Finally, with the summit in sight I unzipped my jacket and limped across the finish over 20 minutes behind Aaron. Dave, who gave me the benefit of some monster pulls for a good part of the race, came in a moment later. I haven't checked the race results yet, so I'm not sure how I placed, but I do know there weren't too many that came in after me.  Aaron put in a solid race, staying with a very strong group of climbing specialists for a good part of the race, finishing somewhere in the middle part of the field.

The interesting thing about races like this: you're out there in miserable weather that no sane person would consider exposing themselves to while riding a bike; you're counting the miles to the finish, forcing yourself to eat, ignoring the cold, the wind, and the numb feet. Yet when you finish, suddenly all those sensations turn into a feeling of satisfaction at having done a solid day on the bike with good friends to share the experience with, through epic weather conditions. At the end of the day, it turned out to be an incredible day at the races, with some excellent learning experiences:

- Smart pace up the climbs. I am not a climbing specialist, but once I get warmed up, I can stay with the pack on the moderate stuff. I burned my candle too early in this race.

-Being very much a climbing race, I could have lightened my load a bit. My winter jacket is heavy, I packed too much food, and I could have lightened my repair kit pre-race.

-Even though the race had several climbs there were still lots of flats and rollers - saving some energy on the first climb could have given me the opportunity working with Dave and perhaps a few others to regain some time on the flats (or at least maintain any gaps that formed)

-Gotta 'spin' more on those climbs! Lower gear, faster cadence. I'm an old guy and my knees don't enjoy climbing in the 39/23 any more. Why on earth does my ego get in the way of downshifting?!?!!