March 25th...Tuesday

Off day. Went to foot doctor over right foot pain issue that's been on-going since i injured it in racquetball last September. Doctor took three additional x-rays and and gave me an injection of cortisone at the ventral base of my 2nd toe. Recommended no riding today though tomorrow, Wednesday, was a 'green light' day but to take it real easy. Indicated it could take up to a week to get maximum relief and healing from the injection.

March 24th...Monday

Out to Harrisburg and back for a total of 48 flat miles. Rough chip seal was a real drag to ride on. There was little if any wind.

Tried to keep heartrate at race pace around 112-115 just to see what my speed would look like. Speed was only 17-18mph at that HR. Out of the 48 miles, about a total of 12 was smooth pavement where my speed jumped up a real 2mph to 19-20mph due to good pavement.

On the way outbound, had a rear flat tire. On the way inbound, had another rear flat. I'd just as soon put this ride behind me.

It's going to be interesting to see how my body absorbs the exercise I've been throwing at it. So far...I'm not impressed. I'm also anxious to get my race bike back together and am waiting on a stem from Easy Racers to finish off the bike. It think it suits my body better than the Carbent. Time will tell.

I head off to the foot docotor tomorrow to see about some help/ideas with hot foot, which has been another concern.

The Stats:

48 miles

17.6 mph avg speed

Heart-Rate: 113 avg.

March 23rd...Sunday

      It's been a difficult 18hrs. Pookie was having a difficult time last night with major failing health. He quit eating/drinking yesterday afternoon and we suspected he was short on time. Since Carol was leaving  this morning for San Francisco, I decided to sleep on the floor next to Pookie to provide some comfort to him. He was restless much of the night and I woke up on the floor cold, tired, and mentally exhausted. Pookie wasn't doing so good. It is with great sadness that I report he died at 9:30am with his head nestled in the palm of Carol. I buried him shortly thereafter in his special spot picked out on our property. He will be missed...

Today's ride was a recovery ride of  just 20 miles. Route was flat and my HR rarely exceeded 102.

Stats:

Distance: 19.97

Avg speed : 16.4 mph

Avg HR: About 102

Note: Today was the first day in 13 years that I came home after my ride with no Pookie cheerfully greeting me at the door :)  I'll really miss him. I already do.

     

      

March 22nd...Saturday

A beautiful day though it wasn't until later in the afternoon the temp passed the 60F mark.

Took out the Carbent around noon today to start racking up the miles for my endurance training.

Got a late start due to some wheel and tire changes and a flat tire before I left the house. I must be a little on the slow side but figured out that the Carbent's Tufo tires were sewups of sort and they had to go. That took a while.

      The stock front wheel was replaced with a 20-count bladed spoke wheel I had sitting around. in addition, I added my fabric disc wheel cover to the rear to see what affect if any it will have. Perhaps a coastdown test is in order tomorrow down Decker Ridge.

      Wouldn't you know it but during the first 20 miles or so I had a headwind which slowed my forward progress down a good 1-2 mph. As it turned out, I didn't get quite the push I was hoping for on the return trip home.

      The route took me across the valley floor and into the foothills of the coastrange. Did I say there were lots of climbing opportunities throughout the ride? As it turned out, I aggressively attacked at least 50% of all the short climbs...50-200 yards...I encountered. It was a great workout! I hesitated on pushing my average pace past my "race" pace of 125.

      About 3months ago, and prior to my cuff surgery, I took the socked GR out over the same course. It was cold out. I was cold. And I had poor nutrition for the 75mile ride. But my average speed was a respectable 19.5mph! Not bad considering the climbing involved. Compare that with today's average of 17.1mph with the Carbent. So what's going on?

I'm in better shape now. And I have the best climbing bent available. I don't have an answer other than to say the socked Rush must be faster. 

Stats: 

Distance: 81 miles

Time: 4:43:00

Average speed: 17.1mph

March 21st.... Rested up for tomorrow's ride

March 20th...Thursday

Just loosened up the legs on the trainer for about 30 minutes.

Nothing too exciting to report :)

March19th....Wednesday...The Rockett Rides

The Rockett Rides is not about Johnnyrocketman but rather about a good friend of my son's named Ben Rockett. Ben lives and works in the city of Bath, U.K., where my son is going to school. With Ben into ultra-racing/adventure events, and with the real name of  "Rockett", we've had a bit in common and have corresponded a time or two. So what's the big deal?
Today, March 19th, Ben attempts the first ever bike crossing of Baffin Island near the North Pole. Baffin Island is that big island on the map we saw as kids but never really gave it a second thought. Here's a link to his blog, short on info initially now, that I hope you'll take a good look at and follow. His bike, hopefully with pics to follow soon, sounds amazingly high tech considering it's a snow bike. How about tungsten studded tyres to start with?

http://www.rockettrides.com/?page_id=2022
You can follow him on Twitter/FB as well.

Today's training.
      My legs were slightly sore from riding the hills yesterday and so thought a recovery ride sounded like a good idea. Since the weather looked real "iffy" Wednesday afternoon, I decided I'd get the day's training indoors rather than out. So I remounted the Carbent on the trainer and commenced my ride. I was planning on a one to two hour recovery ride depending on how things went. In addition, it was my first indoor ride with my new heart monitor so was curious to get a look at some exact numbers of what was going on.
      Almost immediately my foot pain returned to the toe section of my foot. What was going on, here, as this isn't good? Over the next ten to fifteen minutes, I started adjusting the boom distance outward about 1/4" at a time. As it turned out, my toe pain all but went away.
      Looking back on Tuesday's ride with Dave Miller, my X-Seam distance was a little on the short
side. Part of the problem...I hate to admit it...is that I just can't get very comfortable on the Carbent's seat. I think it's as simple as the seat is too small and doesn't cup my body the way I expected it to.
      Back to the ride. With the HR monitor, my steady state HR at 225W was 115-116 with the fan on the lowest setting. On high, I might of been able to drop a few more beats but it did seem to stabilize at that rate regardless.  When I bumped the watts up to 235W my HR display was at 121 and holding. 245-250W for five minutes and HR was at 128 generating a tad more heat in the process.
Upon stopping, my HR dropped to 87 in the first minute and continued descending quickly.
I did throw in the mix an 800W...pretty much spun out...and what I found interesting is that after shooting up to a 137 HR my heart quickly returned to 116 at my steady state of 215-225W. In other words, it didn't linger around 130 and then take it's sweet time to drop. Of all the things I enjoy about training, data wise,  it's that my recovery HR seems to be as good as it ever was. Maybe better. On a 30 second climb/sprint yesterday with Dave, I noticed my heavy breathing came back to normal in short order. That's a good thing.

Stats:
Purpose? Recovery ride
Distance: 25.6 miles
Time: 1:22:00.   which included some time off the bike
Calories: 1000
Wattage: 150W + w/probably 190-200W being average.
Sprinted up over 800W once just to blow out the cobwebs.

Another home-built concept bike.

It's a fwd with a 54gal RubberMaid tote on the bike. Btw, ignore the temporary

fabric wrap on top as tote has a sturdy plastic lid as standard.

I originally built it with the idea of riding it in a race such as the TransAm

However, I didn't like the seat height or foot accessibility to the ground

On a coast down hill, however, with my feet tucked up, it rips!

The next build will have above seat steering with a Rans seat and

will finish off the inside on the tote with a removable flooring/fender arrangement.

I finally figured out how to attach the tote so that it doesn't budge on the bent 

from pedaling side forces yet can easy be unfastened from the bike to transport to your campsite or ?

within 20 seconds. Advantages? Cheap, replaceable, water-proof storage, crash-proof and somewhat streamlined tucked in behind the rider. Like I said, it really does rip down hill, and cruising speed is 

remarkably little affected by the box. There's room for streamlining improvements with soft connections made between the rider and tote. The overall intent was to build a fast, inexpensive, touring bent w/large storage capacity. 

Speaking of storage...The concept of the tote was that heavy items would be packed

low in the tote. Light bulky items, like your tent or sleeping bag/pad would

be strapped down on the lid. There's also plenty of room to lay/attach

your hydration unit on top. I think there might be something to the overall

concept and would welcome your "Yeas or Nays" w/suggestions and ideas

under  the comment section. Thanks again for looking.

March 18th...Tuesday...On the road again.

      Felt good to get out on the open road with the Carbent today. No fast blistering speeds to report today as met with with Dave Miller..."Startle" on BROL...at Starbuck's to catch up on the latest. It's a 10 mile ride into SB's and then, after perhaps 90 minutes, I rode back w/Dave to his house. BTW, he commutes 30 miles daily in every imaginable weather condition on his Rans Stratus.
      Dave lives in the foothills south of Philomath, OR, and there's a number of good bumps in the road along the route. We arrived at his house where he switched bikes from his Stratus to his Challenge Fiero. We then left to tackle the infamous Decker Ridge route. It's pretty much just 10 minutes of climbing 5-7% with a real sweet downhill on the other side.
      Dave and I took it pretty easy on the  climbing disregarding our competitive instincts to drop each other. I noticed the Carbent, even weighted down to a 26lb. rolling weight climbed better and easier than any bent I've ever ridden. That says something right there. On the the last 200 yds of the climb, which had settled down to 3% or so, Dave and I sprinted. A well regarded climber in the bike club, it felt good to walk away from him in that stretch where I topped out at 20.2 mph. Faster, by far, than I'd ever gone on that stretch. Seriously, thinking back, I'm good if I manage 14mph through that part.
      OK....the downfall of the Carbent, IMHO, is the top-end speed in comparison with other bents I've ridden over the years. Example: The Carbent's spun out top speed on this infamous hill was 43.9 mph. Granted it didn't have a rear disc in all fairness. But it was an honest 43.9.

Other bents on the same hill under similar conditions for a ball park comparison:
Faired GR w/head tucked down: 45mph
Socked Gr: 53mph!
Home-built luge bent: 54mph
Quest: 56mph w/braking before reaching terminal speed as there's a sweeping left hand curve at the base of the hill. Did I mention the road was also we
      Like I said, nothing climbings like the Carbent and perhaps it would be the fastest TransAm bike?
However, it's going to be the socked Gold Rush. I feel i'd just be giving up too much in cruising speed and cockpit access not to mention the choppy stiff ride. With the Carbent, I'd probably be looking at an 18-20mph cruising speed on the flats under favorable conditions. With the socked GR I'm thinking 22-24mph might be possible. With a 9mph difference in descent speed between the CB and GR, some of that has to translate into cruising speed enhancement. And then there's the added speed benefit of riding into headwinds. I'm just saying...
I'm currently assembling the GR back together with some really sweet high performance but reliable parts. Hope to have it finished by this weekend possibly.
Stats:
56 miles
Easy pace w/some intervals in the mix
New HR monitor worked out well

Splitting wood with my brother can be dangerous;)

March 17th...Monday...rest day

Nothing to report over than my wife and I went out for a big carbo breakfast Mondy morning.

Body weight is now a lean 158lbs which is my lowest since 1977. Rather than bench pressing 275lbs. back in '77 at that body weight I've now got my strength focused in my legs. The cool part of dropping 10-12 lbs since Christmas has been, like I said, the increase leg/heart power at the same time.

Pic below:

At the end of a good run in the Quest...2005 RAO. Was able to put the hurt on other team racers as most of the run was directly into a 15-20mph headwind ;)

March 16th...Sunday

Believe it or not, did some interval training of a different sort.

Our 1+ acre homesite backs up to 300+ acres of fertile farm land and at this time of year  the land is unplowed with this year's crop...mint...bent over for a relatively smooth surface. I had orginally planned to ride with "Startle" today but it was raining in his part of the county and said it's coming my way. So scratch that. Besides, the wind had really picked up and was blowing a steady 18-20mph not exactly ideal for pulling the bent out.

Anyway, I noticed my neighbor was trying to surf his kiteboard w/his 1M kite and it wasn't going to well. I ran out to the field...150yds or so...and offered him the use of my 3M 4-line kite. He took me up on it. To make a long story short, my neighbor got yanked and dragged around in every direction imaginable and I was laughing my head off. After a while I sprinted back to the house in my boots and grabbed a smaller 1.5M I had. Did I mention I like power kites? Had great fun w/smaller kite with caution toward reinjuring my shoulder. I even got airborn once with the smaller kite it was that windy.

Airborn? OK...I got yanked off the ground ever so slightly and put my foot down about 8 feet away.

Workout: darting around the field...sprinting....mulitple times to/from the kite. From the controls to the kite. Back and forth. Yep...sprinting. Felt so good!

I figure at least 5 sprints of 150yds up/down our hill out to the kite flying zone. One slow trip walking back carry Pookie who tried but was too weak to walk on his own. Had great fun and it was cool to notice that my recovery from the sprints was very quick. Winter training pays off! Thanks JV.

Stats: 

Running/sprinting

Total time: est. 12-15 minutes

A very cool and fast racing recumbent...The "NoCom"

I believe this is Thom Ollinger...a legendary recumbent racer.

He's a killer on pacelines!

(Correct me if I got the rider wrong ;)

March 13th,14th, 15th...Thursday-Saturday

This past Thursday and Friday I took off from training. Yeah...I felt guilty about it but there's a few

things going on.

1. I'm definitely not feeling 100%, actually pretty crappy, due to coming off my pain meds this week...hydrocodone. I've been on them the past two months since my January 16th surgery. Though I'm tapering and the worst will be over in several more days, it's not what I'd call a fun experience. This is a contributing factor to my 2nd reason below.

2. I didn't feel like suffering w/my Thursday interval workout.

3. Third reason...I knew the forecast for today, Saturday, was for temps in the 60's and dry. I planned to take out the Carbent for my 2nd ride to see if it goes any better than my first ride. This would replace the previous two indoor workouts.

4. Finally, I've been busy chasing parts, literally and figuritively, getting my Gold Rush reassembled so I can start piling up the miles on the road. 

So what's going on with the GR?

The Ultegra crank and new BB are back on w/addition of a 58 chainring. Did I mention I've stripped the frame and polished the bare aluminum?

Yesterday I drove up to Terracycle and picked up 12' of new chain as well as a new TC return idler(ceramic bearings). Pat Franz, owner of TC, loaned me a box of carbon fiber roll ends to use to fabricate my new Rotator fairing. I'll pick up some epoxy resin soon and get started. 

Also, picked up a new XT 11-32 cog set to complete the new drivetrain. In addition, new XT pedals,


new Sram Attack shifters, a new headsett , and really great news...a new carbon fiber fork for the GR compliments of Robert Johnson of Terra Cycle.

My goal w/the GR is a lighter bike. A more reliable bike. A faster bike.

Speaking of lightness...and this is important. I'm down in body weight a solid ten pounds since Christmas. I'm now 158 lbs. first thing in the morning. One trouble that's exasperated by this weight loss is a heightened sensitivity to cold. I'm almost always cold. On today's ride with the Carbent, it was 65 F, some wind, longsleeve jersey, and I about froze my butt off. 

So today I took out the Carbent out on its second ride. My first road ride earlier in the week, if you remember, was disappointing. I felt awkwad and uncomfortable and not particularly fast on it.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A FEW DAYS CAN MAKE!

Today's ride was just the opposite of my earlier ride in the week and I can't explain the "why" of it all. Today...I felt connected to the bike. I felt like I was putting on a good pair of shoes. My aches and pains were minimized. I felt comfortable and I felt fast! The bike just wanted to leap into speed. I easily assaulted hills with speed as opposed to lumbering up the gradient just as I did three months ago with the Gold Rush. The bike felt light and responsive.

Though I didn't get into long sustained climbs I know the Carbent won't be slowing me down. I did


manage some all out VO max intervals. Perhap not three minutes each as in Thursday's training schedule but I did manage to get in at least six explosive speed assults up hills or across the flats.

Compared to riding my GR over the same course three months ago, I was looking at a 20lb reduction in bike/rider weight WITH more power on tap!  A HUGE THANKS goes out to JV for setting me up with a training schedule that works:) JV knows how to train and my results are credited to him directly. My training indoors has definitely transfered to the road. What  I particularly noticed in today's ride was my quick recovery from VO max efforts. I can't wait to mix it up with some of the local riders on the Tuesday/Thursday rides as well as the club rides on Saturday. 

Stats:

Only stat I have is ride was approx. 20 miles

Brisk wind

Time: About an hour

An old, old pic. Believe it or not, I did two double centuries in this configuration.

Below:

Early configuration of my "adjustable-seat-on-the -fly" bent.

In photo, bike is shown with seat in the "up" position.

In seat down, it became a paceline destroyer. A simple yet seriously fast bike!

March 12th... Wednesday. And will it be the Carbent or the Gold Rush for the race?

Today was my first ride outside on the Carbent which I made into a recovery ride of about 12 miles. Temp was 62F, a little wind, sun was out. A beautiful day!

My perceived level of exertion was higher than I was anticipating for my speed though, honestly speaking, I don't  yet have a speedo on the CB. The bent handled well with no issues in that regard.

What I found interesting, however, is that certain body parts...knees/feet/shoulders/quads, that were almost a non-issue on the trainer, got my attention once I hit the road. Right off the bat my lower quads, near the knee, began tightening up on me. It was as though I had little to no training miles in this position and my body felt ackward producing power. I was orginally thinking of hitting the hills and taking in some climbing routes today but am glad I didn't. Also, I found myself spinning much higher on the roadway than on the trainer.

So...where do I stand at this point?

Right now, I'm proceeding as originally planned with my socked GR as my race bike. I just can't see making the CB work for the TransAm as much as I'd like it to. Century rides? Sure. Double centuries, day after day? No. If I can get the Gr seat dialed in at low-moderate wattage output, I'm there. 

To compare and contrast the Carbent with the socked Gold Rush:

Speed wise? On the flats, it's probably a wash. Rolling hills or descents? The socked GR

Climbing? Carbent

Ease of starting/stopping especially in wet conditions? GR

High speed handling(50+ mph)?  The GR

On bike nutrition? GR

Easy on the shoulder? GR

Weather protection? GR

One item on the CB I didn't like? Thumb shifters. I think I'll stick w/new grip shifters on the GR

Stats:

Estimated distance:12-14 miles

Time: Est. 45 min.

Calories: ?

Est. Wattage: ?

March 11th...Tuesday...Intervals

I just accidentally deleted today's posting 2 min. ago just prior to saving and publishing so here it is in its simplest form.

Stats:

Calories: 1091

Distance: 24 miles

Time: 1:20:00 including a few minutes off the bike making adjustments, removing the headrest, etc.

Warm-up: 20 min. at 175W average

6X5 min. intervals w/1 min. rest between sets

Wattage varied between 245-290 though managed to keep it somewhat on the lower end. I wanted to save something because I'm planning on actually riding the Carbent OUTSIDE later today! It's suppose to be the warmest day of the year...64F...and I'm pumped about hitting th road for the first time with the CB and the first time for months on any bent:)

Misc. Observations:

After last nights workout I was down to 158. That's about ten pounds since Christmas. Waist is small, upper body smaller...surgery didn't help that, and my legs are larger. All good.

Btw, I don't want to lose anymore weight as #1...I need some fat reserves for the race and #2...I'm already too sensitive to cold. I've always have been cold intolerant.

Another observation:

CB seat has never been comfortable for me because the seat feels too small, the seat curvative doesn't match the one God gave me, and I can never  get comfortable with the headrest.

So during last night's cool down, I took off the headrest and moved the bb in a ways. This pushed me further up in the seat, should give me more power, lightened the bike up with the headrest removal, and made it more comfortable. Win, win, win! Not as aero? Probably. Oh well at this point.

And here's several misc pics...

Is this a freeway or paking lot? You decide ;)

I don't recommend this company for shipping your bike

March10th...Monday

This is my last rest/recovery day for awhile. Tomorrow I'll be jumping back into week five of my intensity training after a much needed week off. Additionally, it looks like we've got some decent weather blowing in later this week which will find me out on the Carbent for the first time.

In a related note, I finished stripping and polishing my Gold Rush frameset and will be refitting it with a performance drive train and composite faring/sock combination. Anxious to spend some time w/this setup before too long as it just might end up being my race bike for a number of reasons.

On a personal note, have started PT on my shoulder and so far it's going well.

Here's a few misc. pics...

My wife, Carol, and I last summer. 

She looks so much better, though a bit slower, on a bike than her brother... Ron Skarin.

Be sure to check out:

http://www.usbhof.org/inductee-by-year/101-ron-skarin

And here's a couple young brothers on their daily walk for water. I think Tim, our son, was able to speak a little Kinyarwanda with the elder boy. My vocabulary, shall we say, was a bit weak in the native tongue. Moments like these can be life changing if you let them. How easy it is to return back home and forget about the daily Rwandan hardships such as this. May God bless the little children...

March 8th...Saturday...recovery/easy ride

An easy recovery ride tonight in the 100-110 HR range

Stats:

Distance: 14.62 miles

Time: 45:00:00

Calories: 571

Est. Avg Watts: 170

Tonight's ride...

This young rider's got big shoes to fill

March 6th...Thursday...Recovery ride

Nothing exceptional to report here.
Felt good on the bike tonight other than a sore shoulder
Observation:
175W on the bike yielded 96-102 HR until
heart rate drift started setting in at the 25 min mark.

Stats:
Distance: 9.62 miles
Time: 30:26 min
Calories: 349
Estimated average watts: 160W

2005 RAO finish line with
Team RAO Speedwagon.

March 5th...Wednesday

In keeping with this week as a recovery week...one week ahead of schedule...I had an easy ride.
Felt good to be back on the bike with a freshened body. Right foot pain is better and my body was relaxed with legs moving freely. Rode in sandals as I often do when not cranking out watts.

Also, had my first PT appointment today w/the director of the clinic, Michael Gray. He was also my therapist for my neck pain about a year ago. I think it's a good partnership. Anyway, my shoulder pain was more problematic today than usual being quite annoying this evening. But I can live with it even if it doesn't improve much before the race. But it will so no worries.

Another little milestone today was I finished stripping the paint off my GR today. What a job! Next time I'll take the advice of my wife and have it professionally stripped. Next...polishing it out at least to some degree.

I must be getting in a little better cardio shape as my resting pulse is in the 45 BPM range.
Life is good.

Stats:
Time: 53:00
Distance: 17 miles
Calories: 625
Estimated average watts: 170W

Today's totally random picture:
This is a picture of the actual ship I served on board in 1989 when I was a marine biologist in the eastern tropical Pacific.  The "clipper ship" was  based out of San Diego and my job was to serve as a 'marine porpoise observer'.  In fishing mode, we had six high powered chase boats and a helicopter on board. We fished off the Pacific coast of Central America and as far out as 4000 miles. Our best one day fishing? We caught the equivalent weight of a 747 jumbo jet in yellow fin tuna. All 240 tons! I was privileged to see some pretty amazing sights on that one voyage. Lots of old seafaring stories to tell one day.

Week of March 3rd

I feel the past four weeks have taken a toll on my body and, even though next week is a scheduled "recovery week", I need to listen to my body and take heed to how I feel. Tonight...not very good. Right foot pain, a deep weariness, and feel on the verge of coming down with something. So, contrary to my workout schedule...high intensity work three days this week, I'm backing way off.

As a side note, I start PT on my shoulder tomorrow morning. And as trivial as it might sound to an outsider, I've been dealing with our dog Pookie in what I would describe as the last month of his life. He's been my best bud for the past 13 years.

One reason I had shoulder surgery, other than my September return

to racquet ball, was fighting 300-500 lb. slabs of oak and 

lining them up with the hydraulic splitter. Sometimes

the oak won 

Here's my best bud...Pookie...taken this past year

when he was feeling his old self.

March 2nd & 3rd...Sunday and Monday

Decided I needed a rest in spite of the great breakfast I had Sunday morning.
Feel my body needs a break from training short it may be. Right now my right foot, toes to be exact, ache and burn. I went to the foot doctor in October for this issue and might need to return. It's cause was a racquet ball injury in September .
Also, I feel stale. Will return with vigor for Tuesdays interval workout.

In the meantime, here's a little something to feast yours eyes on. It's a Milan SL velomobile.
Yeah...it's fast!

March 1st...Saturday

A disappointing and incomplete workout. No doubt. Was planning on a 90 min workout w/60 min of "tempo" pace which should would find me north of 250W for the hour. Tonight I got as far as a 20 min warm-up at the easy pace of 140W average.
I just didn't have it. Will attempt Sunday to make up this workout after a good night's sleep and a solid breakfast. Might just need to fill my empty legs with some pancakes ;)

Stats:
Time: 20 min
Calories: 204

Question:
What's better. A lighter bike or a leaner body?
Check out:     http://youtu.be/5DRQwKREgvI  

Btw...The video was produced at the University of Bath
where our son attends ;)

February 28th...Friday...Recovery

30 min@160W average
HR 100
Distance: 9.31 miles
Calories: 322

Note to self:
Right achilles tendon sore this Saturday morning
as I write this

February 27th...Thursday

      Had good news from the doctor yesterday regarding my shoulder. Said I'm healing up nicely. That I can throw the sling away. All good. Only bummer is I have to wait another month before I hit the road w/bent. Of course I could cheat and he'd never be the wiser but I'm likely not to. Figure that with three separate surgeries on my right shoulder alone, I've got $40K tied up in there.

      The pain level isn't great but I definitely have reduced mobility w/arm which could be a huge problem if I fell over even while sitting on the bike. The other issue I'm dealing with is the tapering  off my pain meds. Do it too quickly and it becomes very uncomfortable. It'll be good to have all of that behind me.

Obviously I'm late here in the posting department. It's a good thing I jot down my ride stats at the end of each  session as the electronic display on the trainer turns off after 5min.

BTW...here's a training clip i use quite often. Enjoy!
http://youtu.be/haGuMkHaJhY


Warm-Up:
20 min. w/last 10min@200 watts
HR 110

5min@200
5min@245
5min@280
5min@175
then...
3X3min intervals...3min on/2min off
1st.....350W for the full 3min.
2nd....350W for 90 secs
          200W for 90secs
3rd.....325W for 2min.
          200W for 1min.

I was hoping for the full 3min intervals at 350W but it didn't happen.
They were a bit on the painful side and definitely got me into some heavy breathing territory.
With fresh legs and a good mind set, I think I'm good for a pull of 350W for five min. It's not great but it's where I am at this point early in my training.

Cool Down:
20 min@160W
HR 100-60 in one min.

Stats:
Total time: 1:10:00
Distance: 23.65 miles
Calories: 971