The road bike I have on order finally got an official review. Looks pretty good. I especially like these couple of quotes......
"The 300 SE is basically what happens when you take the already buff Vitesse 300 and make it wash down a couple Viagra with a can of Redbull."
"But it’s definitely in the category of the type of bike best suited to merciless attacking and inflicting pain on one’s friends. "
Here's the link...... VeloVie300SE
Should arrive here in early February. Looking forward to it.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Welcome 2009.....
I'm pumped for 2009. Like many people, I'm pretty happy to get 2008 done and over with. However, 2008 was pretty good for me in the cycling arena. So, a couple thoughts to cap off the year....
It was my first year road racing. I joined the road race team of Portland Velo and did a variety of races for the experience and training. I was fortunate to stay upright in all my road races - now that's an accomplishment in itself. I won a couple "hot spot" laps during the year on breakaways - one at Sunset Crit and one at PIR. My main goal was to use it to increase my fitness for cross......
Well, the cross season in 2008 was a major improvement from 2007. I raced the same category as last year - Masters C+. My results were much improved, so the road racing plan worked. A highlight was my first ever bike race victory at Krugers Farm Crit #1. That was really awesome to see my name at the top of the results list. I was in the top ten for the other 2 races in that series and got a 2nd place medal.
I was happy with my results in the Cross Crusade series in 2008. In 2007 I was placing 40-60th place out of ~130 riders in my race. In 2008, I placed 11th overall in the series for my category. The highlight was the Astoria Halloween weekend - two races and I place 5th and 6th place.
So, here we are in 2009 - the year of "change" and "yes we can". The PV team has partnered up with a local coaching service, Upper Echelon Fitness. I have no plans to hire a coach full-time, but we have monthly meetings with them to discuss topics. I plan to meet with the coach every 3 months to review my plan for 2009. Having a plan is my big change for 2009. A training plan that is consistent and with training blocks to "peak" for some key races. Talking to the coach just having a plan should help my results a bunch.
Goals for 2009.....
1) Number one goal.... have fun and be safe.
2) Develop and stick with a training plan to measure some results.
3) Training camp in Tucson Arizona - Cycling House. This will be a great way to get in some base miles and get a break from the Oregon winter weather.
4) Willamette Stage Race will be an "A" race for me. Not really to win, but to finish well. It will be my first stage race.
5) B races will be some crits and Mt Tabor throughout the road season. My training time and my interests direct me to the 1 hour races - similar to cross.
6) "A" cross race is Krugers Farm Crit Series. I debated over this series and Cross Crusade and decided on Krugers. It's a fun series, it suits my style, there's about 100 less people in a field, and they have cool medals. I plan to race Masters B+ during cross season.
7) Power goals (us engineers love numbers in our goals).....
5 sec: 1050W (got to break 4 digits on my power meter - really not my thing)
1 min: 540 W (biggest area of improvement, so I don't get dropped like a bag of rocks)
5 min: 400 W
20 min: 310 W (I was 290 peak in 2007, currently at about 285 now)
Here's to 2009. It should be a great "ride". Especially on my new VeloVie that shows up in the next few weeks (I'll post a photo when I have it ready - more sweet wheels and paint job).
It was my first year road racing. I joined the road race team of Portland Velo and did a variety of races for the experience and training. I was fortunate to stay upright in all my road races - now that's an accomplishment in itself. I won a couple "hot spot" laps during the year on breakaways - one at Sunset Crit and one at PIR. My main goal was to use it to increase my fitness for cross......
Well, the cross season in 2008 was a major improvement from 2007. I raced the same category as last year - Masters C+. My results were much improved, so the road racing plan worked. A highlight was my first ever bike race victory at Krugers Farm Crit #1. That was really awesome to see my name at the top of the results list. I was in the top ten for the other 2 races in that series and got a 2nd place medal.
I was happy with my results in the Cross Crusade series in 2008. In 2007 I was placing 40-60th place out of ~130 riders in my race. In 2008, I placed 11th overall in the series for my category. The highlight was the Astoria Halloween weekend - two races and I place 5th and 6th place.
So, here we are in 2009 - the year of "change" and "yes we can". The PV team has partnered up with a local coaching service, Upper Echelon Fitness. I have no plans to hire a coach full-time, but we have monthly meetings with them to discuss topics. I plan to meet with the coach every 3 months to review my plan for 2009. Having a plan is my big change for 2009. A training plan that is consistent and with training blocks to "peak" for some key races. Talking to the coach just having a plan should help my results a bunch.
Goals for 2009.....
1) Number one goal.... have fun and be safe.
2) Develop and stick with a training plan to measure some results.
3) Training camp in Tucson Arizona - Cycling House. This will be a great way to get in some base miles and get a break from the Oregon winter weather.
4) Willamette Stage Race will be an "A" race for me. Not really to win, but to finish well. It will be my first stage race.
5) B races will be some crits and Mt Tabor throughout the road season. My training time and my interests direct me to the 1 hour races - similar to cross.
6) "A" cross race is Krugers Farm Crit Series. I debated over this series and Cross Crusade and decided on Krugers. It's a fun series, it suits my style, there's about 100 less people in a field, and they have cool medals. I plan to race Masters B+ during cross season.
7) Power goals (us engineers love numbers in our goals).....
5 sec: 1050W (got to break 4 digits on my power meter - really not my thing)
1 min: 540 W (biggest area of improvement, so I don't get dropped like a bag of rocks)
5 min: 400 W
20 min: 310 W (I was 290 peak in 2007, currently at about 285 now)
Here's to 2009. It should be a great "ride". Especially on my new VeloVie that shows up in the next few weeks (I'll post a photo when I have it ready - more sweet wheels and paint job).
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