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.