I can't wait for the never ending plane ride across the Alantic.
It will be the first time I'll be able to rest.
The flight over always hold an air of excitement among the team.
Everyone is so giddy they over analyse every possible siutation that may arise.
This year the team has to rookies when it comes to international racing but the bulk of the team
knows the routine and know what to expect (for the most part)
A comforting factor is that when we roll up to the line I'm likely to know
3 quarters of the field. Over the past 5 years the same core group
continue to qualify and race at this level. The event is the World Championships
yet when your racing side by side with guys you have known for years
it's less intiminating. These details will talked about on the plane.
The flight over also offers time to reflect on the process. The work that has been put in to on the plane. Cycling is fast and aggressive but it's also requires patience and finding the inner drive.
I give myself time to think of most misrable workout that I suffered through.
Repeats up a mountain road when the snow is falling and your limbs freeze as you turn around at the top. The desire I had on those days I have to be bubbling to the surface come race day.
Outside of the jetlag and the desire to lay down the team will feel an itchiness to race.
It what everyone does the most and what we do the best.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
two days!
So many thing to do any only a few hours left.
But don't feel any sort of pity for me, it's self induced and
remember I'm heading off to a far off land to ride my bike. Not too bad.
This 6-7am window is the only calm time- a cup of joe in my hand and 4 cats running around me.
Waking peace.
Yesterday I was asked to join my team in a dry run of a Time Trial race effort.
The race was held east of town near M. Sheffel and Bradley Rd.
Riding my new carbon and legal Areobars for the first time I rode the 3 -5km loops
setting negative spilts wishing I drilled it from the gun.
On the back side of the course on a slight upgrade into a wind a moto came up next to me.
The man yelled out "your at 30mph" the man then rode up to Greta yelling
your at 27, the guy behind is at 30mph"
Nice to know difference in speed. Even with the I was maybe 2 km short of catching Greta.
She was off 2 minutes before and was my rabbit.
Overall I felt strong during the effort and brought about some confidence.
I'm heading into work soon to try and finish a few things and get things straight for two weeks away.
Then it's packing two bikes, luggage,wheels ext... tonight.
But don't feel any sort of pity for me, it's self induced and
remember I'm heading off to a far off land to ride my bike. Not too bad.
This 6-7am window is the only calm time- a cup of joe in my hand and 4 cats running around me.
Waking peace.
Yesterday I was asked to join my team in a dry run of a Time Trial race effort.
The race was held east of town near M. Sheffel and Bradley Rd.
Riding my new carbon and legal Areobars for the first time I rode the 3 -5km loops
setting negative spilts wishing I drilled it from the gun.
On the back side of the course on a slight upgrade into a wind a moto came up next to me.
The man yelled out "your at 30mph" the man then rode up to Greta yelling
your at 27, the guy behind is at 30mph"
Nice to know difference in speed. Even with the I was maybe 2 km short of catching Greta.
She was off 2 minutes before and was my rabbit.
Overall I felt strong during the effort and brought about some confidence.
I'm heading into work soon to try and finish a few things and get things straight for two weeks away.
Then it's packing two bikes, luggage,wheels ext... tonight.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Happy Birthday Chris
Above all else to today
It's my friend's birthday.
Chris Malatesa -my childhood friend is celebrating
a day I feared he may never reach.
Earlier in the year I read an e-mail from a friend saying that he was hospitalized
with a serious head injury.
Not to go into details - Chris has fought like no one I've ever seen fight.
A daily battle that I thought of when I rode and suffered in training.
Chris and his strength gave me that extra toughness to push through.
So Chris - Happy Birthday and thanks for being such a friend.
It's my friend's birthday.
Chris Malatesa -my childhood friend is celebrating
a day I feared he may never reach.
Earlier in the year I read an e-mail from a friend saying that he was hospitalized
with a serious head injury.
Not to go into details - Chris has fought like no one I've ever seen fight.
A daily battle that I thought of when I rode and suffered in training.
Chris and his strength gave me that extra toughness to push through.
So Chris - Happy Birthday and thanks for being such a friend.
Monday, August 31, 2009
crossing T's/dotting the eye
Monday morning and I'm facing a busy 4 days.
A few more hard rides to squeeze that fitnees level and a mad dash to get
everything packed up. Traveling to races always requires the equipment
everyone would expect - 2 bikes, 2 helmets, jerseys, racing skinsuits, raceshoes
ext...
But the stuff I'm most likely to scramble for is the extra cleats, tubes/tires,
race license w/ID, photocopies of license and passport.
the little things that are in the house but never thought of.
I finally was able to spend a few days training with the team.
Friday - 6x 5 minute max efforts up a favorite climb of mine (Gold Camp rd)
This was done on the TT bike and almost made me vomit on myself.
Saturday - The local group ride. I was feeling strong at times.
I took a flyer of the front of the group of 30 to create a short lived breakaway.
Two other times I covered gaps created by a couple local pros.
Those efforts were race like moments and got my head and body ready to Italy.
Sunday - Sprint intervals w/ motor pacing. On a flat 3 mile loop myself and 5 teammates would be drafting off my coach who was driving a moto. We would rotate around untill the final home straight. This is where everyone would set up for the sprint and race to the line.
In cycling the smartest sprinter wins. It was a drill of tactics and effort. The ones I won
were the ones I had the most patience with.
A 3 day day block justifies an easy day. for me it's a full day of work.
With four days remaining I'm feeling like me fitness is here. a few loose ends and
I'm off to Milan, Italy.
I'll be writing more once over there. We are regulated to our bedrooms for most of the trip so
you may see more posts.
Thanks for reading.
-mike
A few more hard rides to squeeze that fitnees level and a mad dash to get
everything packed up. Traveling to races always requires the equipment
everyone would expect - 2 bikes, 2 helmets, jerseys, racing skinsuits, raceshoes
ext...
But the stuff I'm most likely to scramble for is the extra cleats, tubes/tires,
race license w/ID, photocopies of license and passport.
the little things that are in the house but never thought of.
I finally was able to spend a few days training with the team.
Friday - 6x 5 minute max efforts up a favorite climb of mine (Gold Camp rd)
This was done on the TT bike and almost made me vomit on myself.
Saturday - The local group ride. I was feeling strong at times.
I took a flyer of the front of the group of 30 to create a short lived breakaway.
Two other times I covered gaps created by a couple local pros.
Those efforts were race like moments and got my head and body ready to Italy.
Sunday - Sprint intervals w/ motor pacing. On a flat 3 mile loop myself and 5 teammates would be drafting off my coach who was driving a moto. We would rotate around untill the final home straight. This is where everyone would set up for the sprint and race to the line.
In cycling the smartest sprinter wins. It was a drill of tactics and effort. The ones I won
were the ones I had the most patience with.
A 3 day day block justifies an easy day. for me it's a full day of work.
With four days remaining I'm feeling like me fitness is here. a few loose ends and
I'm off to Milan, Italy.
I'll be writing more once over there. We are regulated to our bedrooms for most of the trip so
you may see more posts.
Thanks for reading.
-mike
Monday, August 17, 2009
Team Training Camp
The 09 Worlds prep camp begins offically tonight with a team meeting at
the Olympic Complex.
It's always gives me a spark when I see the team roll into town.
A few weeks ago they were the ones I focused on beating. Some I did
and some reminded me that there is still room to improve.
The meeting will go over training schedules for the nest couple of weeks and
the goals that we as a team will shoot for when in Italy.
Our head Coach - Craig Griffin - expects our best and at our best we win.
This year the team consists of 7 men and 5 women.
two tandems, three handcycles and 7 tradition bicycles.
Within the team comes gold medalists, World Champions,
and many National Titles as well.
Everyone has the ability to medal if not win. So the expectations are high
and our training camp will reflect our desire to win.
Most days will consist of a hard AM training ride that may be 3-4 hours long
but have a series of intervals to overload the system. Every few days we'll get a
rest day to let the adaption to training take place.
So that what my life will conist of for the nest few weeks.
I'll add that I'm tossing in work hours just to make things harder on me
than on everyone else.
Life goes on even when you want to win.
The 09 Worlds prep camp begins offically tonight with a team meeting at
the Olympic Complex.
It's always gives me a spark when I see the team roll into town.
A few weeks ago they were the ones I focused on beating. Some I did
and some reminded me that there is still room to improve.
The meeting will go over training schedules for the nest couple of weeks and
the goals that we as a team will shoot for when in Italy.
Our head Coach - Craig Griffin - expects our best and at our best we win.
This year the team consists of 7 men and 5 women.
two tandems, three handcycles and 7 tradition bicycles.
Within the team comes gold medalists, World Champions,
and many National Titles as well.
Everyone has the ability to medal if not win. So the expectations are high
and our training camp will reflect our desire to win.
Most days will consist of a hard AM training ride that may be 3-4 hours long
but have a series of intervals to overload the system. Every few days we'll get a
rest day to let the adaption to training take place.
So that what my life will conist of for the nest few weeks.
I'll add that I'm tossing in work hours just to make things harder on me
than on everyone else.
Life goes on even when you want to win.
Friday, August 7, 2009
The balancing act
The past 5 days I have been completely off the bike which is something I haven't done since thanksgiving. I've turned my attention to my work which I almost consider a seperate life from my bike racing world.
For the last 5 years I've done social work here in Colo. Springs. Without details
I'll just say I take care of adults with developmental limitations.
My work life has always offered me a world away from cycling that
challenges me in ways that's hard to even convey.
This balance keeps me fresh and away from any burnout in both fields.
Balancing these two jobs has pros and cons like everything but they
showcase two parts of my personality and do have a way of balancing eachother.
For the last 5 years I've done social work here in Colo. Springs. Without details
I'll just say I take care of adults with developmental limitations.
My work life has always offered me a world away from cycling that
challenges me in ways that's hard to even convey.
This balance keeps me fresh and away from any burnout in both fields.
Balancing these two jobs has pros and cons like everything but they
showcase two parts of my personality and do have a way of balancing eachother.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
National Championships
This year the Paralympic Road National Championships were held in Bend OR.
The event ran in conjunction with the the US elite and Junior National events which made for
a huge event in a great location.
Getting off of the plane in nearby Redmond I thought I was back in Colo. Just did not think of the central part of the state being high and dry. My taxi driver explained that 95 degrees was a bit warm but Bend is 3,000 plus feet and on the dry side of the mountains.
With 3 days to prepared before the race I rode the course each day in the morning and then went on an evening spin to keep the legs fresh. Most of my teammates stayed at the same hotel so we ate meals together discussing the course, our fitness levels, everything bike geeks get excited about.
During one ride I came across a giant sign "Mike Farrell U R Wicked Good"
Didn't know I had a fan base in OR but it turns out that I do. So I must thank Cyndy and the
Cahill clan.
On friday morning, myself and two of my teammates rode down to the course to start the 1 hour plus warm up for the 30 minute race.
Some people ask about the warmup and prerace routine for Time Trialing. The thing that must be know is that a Time Trial is a violent assualt on you system. For most of the ride I'll be just under a hyperventalation state. My legs will be collecting lactic acid because of the strain which is what creates that leg pain everyone feels when riding or running hard.
So to prepare I will ride to get my body warm and loose and then start to do race like efforts to stretch my muscles so that there ready to go when the time is ready.
Without a warm up the race is already lost.
The race course was a 6 mile out with a slight uphill grade (2-4%) a turnaround then a straight
run down to the finish. To anticipate the speed of the downhill I put on a 55/11 gear. I have never raced such a big gear and it turned out that I needed all of it. Just so you guys know the Tandem team rocked a 58/11. The downhill was a blast with speeds in the 40 mph range.
I found that pacing a downhill is something of an art. Sometimes putting out the effort doesn't show a real increase in speed. So when ever there was a level point or a slight rise I pounded on the pedals to ramp up mph.
At the end of the day I found myself in 4th position. I was just a handful of seconds of the podium. My longtime roommate and Beijing Bronze Medalist Anthony Zahn kicked me off.
A tandem team took the top step and a triathlete turned cyclist (craig) had the runnerup spot.
After the sting of losing went away - one huge beer at lunch! I figured 4th in the Country was OK and that qualifying for the World Championship Team is a worthy result.
World's will be held in Northern Italy this September. It will give me a chance to do battle with those I saw in China.
To conclude my rambling I'd like to thank everyone that reads this and is interested in my adventures. Cycling can be isolating and your feedback helps me feel connected. I'd also like to send thanks to my coach Tommy Murphy. He's been trying to figure my out since 2004. Tom and everyone at CTS has helped me get where I am today. If you an athlete and needing coaching try http://www.trainright.com/
Thats about all.
The event ran in conjunction with the the US elite and Junior National events which made for
a huge event in a great location.
Getting off of the plane in nearby Redmond I thought I was back in Colo. Just did not think of the central part of the state being high and dry. My taxi driver explained that 95 degrees was a bit warm but Bend is 3,000 plus feet and on the dry side of the mountains.
With 3 days to prepared before the race I rode the course each day in the morning and then went on an evening spin to keep the legs fresh. Most of my teammates stayed at the same hotel so we ate meals together discussing the course, our fitness levels, everything bike geeks get excited about.
During one ride I came across a giant sign "Mike Farrell U R Wicked Good"
Didn't know I had a fan base in OR but it turns out that I do. So I must thank Cyndy and the
Cahill clan.
On friday morning, myself and two of my teammates rode down to the course to start the 1 hour plus warm up for the 30 minute race.
Some people ask about the warmup and prerace routine for Time Trialing. The thing that must be know is that a Time Trial is a violent assualt on you system. For most of the ride I'll be just under a hyperventalation state. My legs will be collecting lactic acid because of the strain which is what creates that leg pain everyone feels when riding or running hard.
So to prepare I will ride to get my body warm and loose and then start to do race like efforts to stretch my muscles so that there ready to go when the time is ready.
Without a warm up the race is already lost.
The race course was a 6 mile out with a slight uphill grade (2-4%) a turnaround then a straight
run down to the finish. To anticipate the speed of the downhill I put on a 55/11 gear. I have never raced such a big gear and it turned out that I needed all of it. Just so you guys know the Tandem team rocked a 58/11. The downhill was a blast with speeds in the 40 mph range.
I found that pacing a downhill is something of an art. Sometimes putting out the effort doesn't show a real increase in speed. So when ever there was a level point or a slight rise I pounded on the pedals to ramp up mph.
At the end of the day I found myself in 4th position. I was just a handful of seconds of the podium. My longtime roommate and Beijing Bronze Medalist Anthony Zahn kicked me off.
A tandem team took the top step and a triathlete turned cyclist (craig) had the runnerup spot.
After the sting of losing went away - one huge beer at lunch! I figured 4th in the Country was OK and that qualifying for the World Championship Team is a worthy result.
World's will be held in Northern Italy this September. It will give me a chance to do battle with those I saw in China.
To conclude my rambling I'd like to thank everyone that reads this and is interested in my adventures. Cycling can be isolating and your feedback helps me feel connected. I'd also like to send thanks to my coach Tommy Murphy. He's been trying to figure my out since 2004. Tom and everyone at CTS has helped me get where I am today. If you an athlete and needing coaching try http://www.trainright.com/
Thats about all.
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