2012 Burlingame Criterium E4

     Well I've been a CAT4 for a year now and it doesn't seem I'll be a CAT3 anytime this season. There's a good reason why but it's also due to the mishaps in the beginning months of the year. I brought that up because last year was the first time I did a Criterium as a CAT4 and it was at the very same race - the Burlingame Criterium. So for this year, I decided that I would target it as an A-race. I sacrificed a lot of hill climbing time to work on my sprint, speed, and anaerobic endurance.
     However, last week I was planning to do one more criterium to sharpen me up one final time, but I woke up with a sore throat and didn't take any chances to make it worse. Unfortunately, it got worse because my mom was already sick and I must've caught it from her. I ended up with a chest cold and was out the whole week prior to Burlingame. I knew that losing time off the bike from sickness had more of an impact on fitness compared to losing time off the bike due to another reason.
     I was right- I felt ready to ride on Saturday again but definitely did not feel 100%. My legs felt terrible and my heart rate was high and recovery was slow. I wasn't even sure if I would be able to race the following day, because I still had some congestion in my chest.
     So I gave it a night's rest and on the morning of Burlingame I felt pretty good, way better than Saturday. I got to the race at 6AM and got ready. It took me a while to get ready, I got on my bike at 6:42 and my race started at 7:00. So I just warmed up on the course, and I was feeling pretty good and even threw in a hard effort to see how my breathing was and it wasn't bad.
     The race started off steadily, it took us nearly 2 minutes for the first lap. The race really started when the first prime was announced, and this is when I began to notice it was harder to breathe then usual. But a lap after the prime I was able to catch my breath, and I noticed that became a pattern and the change in pace and effort was pretty obvious - at least to my legs.
     But at around 16 minutes I was ready to drop out because of my breathing dilemma, which at that time was a prime lap. So I decided to give it one more lap - the 'recovery' lap after the prime, and I ended up staying the whole race. As far as positioning goes, I tried to stay at the top third and held positions or gained them by going on the outside of the corners (which I recently learned from a previous Crit).
     I was looking forward to the final surge, even though I had worse-than-labored breathing. In the end I finished in the pack of about 46 guys in 30th place. I was happy at that, I mean, I would've been happy with last place as long as I finished with in the pack.

    Hopefully next year I can avoid a mishap like this and perform at my fullest. I'm looking forward to becoming more serious next season.

--D

2012 Race Schedule

These are the races that I'm planning to compete at, for 2012:


February
February 5 - Cherry Pie Criterium/ Criterium ; C Priority
February 12 - Early Bird Criterium/ Criterium ; C Priority

March

March 3 - WCCC Stanford ; B Priority


April

April 7 - WCCC Davis ; B Priority
April 14 - WCCC Championships UC Berkeley ; B Priority 

April 15 - Santa Cruz Classic/ Criterium ; C Priority
April 19 - Sea Otter Classic/ Road Race or Criterium ; B Priority
April 28 - Wente Road Race/ Road Race ; B Priority 

May
May 5 - Mike's Bike's Cat's Hill Classic/ Criterium ; C Priority

May 13 - Berkeley Hills Road Race/ Road Race ; B Priority
May 27 - Mt. Hamilton Road Race/ Road Race ; B Priority


June

June 2 - ICCC Dash for Cash/ Criterium ; C Priority
June 9 - Campbell Criterium/ Criterium ; C Priority
June 17 - Empire Park Criterium/ Criterium; C Priority
June 23 - Pescadero Coastal Classic/ Road Race ; A Priority
June 24 - Burlingame Criterium/ Criterium ; A Priority


July

July 1 - Foothill College Circuit Race/ Circuit ; B Priority
July 7 - San Rafael Twilight/ Criterium ; C Priority
July 22 - Menlo Park Grand Prix/ Criterium ; C Priority
July 29 - Berkeley Bike Club Criterium/ Criterium ; C Priority


August

August 5 - Fast & Furious Criterium/ Criterium ; C Priority
August 11 - CAT4 Stage Race/ Stage ; A Priority 
August 19 - Taleo Criterium/ Criterium ; C Priority 

August 26 - Vacaville Grand Prix/ Criterium ; C Priority


September
September 3 - Giro D San Francisco/ Criterium ; B Priority
September 15 - Mt. Tamalpais Hill Climb/ Road Race ; B Priority
September 23 - Oakland Grand Prix/ Criterium ; C Priority


Visit Northern California's Cycling Association: http://ncnca.org/allevents for a complete list of races across the NorCal district

2011 Reflection

     For cycling, 2011 was quite odd. This was the first year I carried out with an annual training plan, but towards the middle of summer I ended it due to a crash (I'll explain that later). I didn't count how many races I did, but I think I did over 10 because I upgraded from a CAT5 to a CAT4 in the summer. Now that's nothing to be proud of really, but that ended up being my highlight of the year.

     The beginning of the year started with the usual base miles. I started going hard at March, but that's also the time I began focusing more on school, getting ready for the Senior Graduation Requirements. Looking back at the numbers throughout the whole year, it's easy to tell that I didn't really try that hard when it came to training. That said, for 2012 I'll know how hard to go by looking back at this along with having a new LTHR value to work with.

     It was the first year I raced with a team, but also my last year of a Junior (the sad thing is, I will never get the chance to do that again...be a junior, but I'm glad I got to race as one for two years). I was coached and involved in a team, Peninsula Velo, and I learned a lot of valuable information that I can tell will keep for the rest of my life.

     Then there was the crash. Yes, a physical crash. For some reason my tire flatted upon impact with ramp leading to a bike trail. Sounds ridiculous, but it took me off the bike (starting first week of July) all the way until the end of august, hence the low mileage in both months. After that, my season was over and I was also a bit traumatized to ride at specific speeds. The following months, I took it easy especially since I started classes at San Francisco State University. At this point, cycling wasn't much of a top interest and I put it away for about a few weeks. I don't know if it was burnout, but I didn't feel bad about it, I actually thought it was a good decision.

     After putting cycling away for a while, I met a new friend, Eric, who was the friend I've always wanted to meet. After learning about his interest in cycling, I got back on the bike and did regular weekend rides with him. I showed him places like Sausalito and San Bruno Mountain. I had forgotten how much fun cycling was in the off season, but by this time, November, the rain had started and I had to wait a while, until the end of the month and early December, where it was once again time to start the training year and get into full gear as I prepared for the 2012 San Bruno Hill Climb.

At a glance:
My mileage and hours were very low for this year. I usually get most of mileage in the summer, but the crash prevented that. Normally, my mileage wanes a bit in the last 3 months of the year. I can tell that I went really easy because of my HR averaging in the 140's. I'm definitely going to bring those averages up this year.

Although I'm unhappy with my 2011 Totals, I understand that there's a lot to learn from that, and I understand there's plenty of room for improvement, and those improvements should be developed steadily.

And as I anticipate what's ahead of me for 2012, I will aim to make these improvements deliberately.

(Click the Picture to view the Totals and averages of the year)

-D

January 2 - January 8 Week Report

     I always start my training season the first week of December so that the San Bruno Hill Climb lands on the end of the 4th week, meaning that the first week of January becomes an entire week devoted to Recovery rides. I honestly hate these weeks because they're boring and they give me so much non-cycling free time, but I only do it because I do a little training for the Hill Climb which is not really recommended for December, so I like to think it balances out (even though, in reality, it doesn't really.)

     I don't really have anything to say about the recovery rides themselves. I took a plain, boring route on a bike trail for Monday & Tuesday (The San Andreas/Millbrae Trail) and on Wednesday and Thursday I just rode around South San Francisco and parts of old Daly City. On Friday, I did my loop from Hickey-Westborough, and I had a lot of fun actually. It's a faster route which results in easier spinning and higher RPM's and speed. Oh, and did I mention I'm 1st on the Strava Leaderboards for the red bike lane stretch on Westborough? I had no clue! http://app.strava.com/segments/813210

     Saturday was my most significant day because I did my (Field) Lactate Threshold Heart Rate test. I don't have a power meter (yet?) so I have to rely on this value to set my training zones. I did it at Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park, and did the traditional 20/30min Time Trial. My value was 10 BPM higher than last year's! Last Year's (at this time) was 174, while this time it was 184! And it's pretty accurate as well because an LTHR of 184 typically means a Max HR of 201, and the estimated 220-(age)18=202 gets pretty close (although i'm turning 19 next month). I changed my zones yesterday night and today I cruised comfortably under Zone 2, meaning that my RPE is way more accurate now, considering today was supposed to be a Zone 1 ride.

Total Time: 8:41:40 (hours)
Total Distance: 130.58 (miles)

     Tomorrow I start Base 2, which means a whole lot of new Speed Skills workouts. Can't wait!!

-D

2012 San Bruno Hill Climb Race Report

     I have to say, I just love how my past 3 New Years' always begins with this race. 2 Years ago, the 2010 San Bruno Hill Climb was my first race ever. I got 6th place in the Junior's category, and in 2011 I came back and won on my own playing field.

     2012's Hill Climb was different because I raced as an Elite for the first time. That said, the fitness gap was huge. My competition scored times in the 16's and 17's, and my PR was only in the 18's. Knowing that I wouldn't really have a chance (I wasn't being pessimistic, just realistic ;D) I did it for the fun and because the race is special to me.

     I warmed up for 40 min, and we started about 10:08AM. Everyone climbs the first incline that greets us. As the false flat begins, one rider brings up his rpm, but he wasn't moving as quick as he should have. As a result, it provoked an attack. Krishna Dole (eventual winner) goes off into the front with him, and 2 other guys follow. I'm the 5th man, only being able to maintain about a 10ft gap. By this time I knew I was just going to sit in and try to beat my PR. After the intersection at Carter Street, one more rider passes me and encourages me saying "Come on we're almost there!" I know this climb by heart, we weren't even two miles into the climb...

     From then on I was only passing riders from the Categories that began ahead of us. Once we were on Radio Road, the headwinds became a problem. I was hoping to beat my PR, but I was getting pretty tired and just maintained a steady rhythm, until the end I sprinted to the finish line, and without knowing whatsoever, beat another rider in my category by 1 second!

     I ended up with a time of 18:35, two seconds late of my PR, but 12 seconds faster than last year. The consistent times at these races are a good indicator to crank up my volume for the year, which I will, steadily. I still had a lot of fun suffering, and I look forward to doing this next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and the year after that, and...

Final Result: 5th/12

Official Time: 18:35

Garmin Data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/139226926

Thanks for reading.

-D

Gentlemen, Start Your Planning!

I'm not sure if it was just me, but the NCNCA's calendar didn't show all the events. Last year, all the event dates were available around the first week of December, so my year was planned well in advance. However, since the first few months of the year are very general training, it doesn't really matter much.

Today I checked the NCNCA's website, and all the races were available. However, it won't be until tomorrow that I actually finish my yearly training plan. However, this Monday does mark the beginning of the Base 2 period.

That being said, starting tomorrow I'll begin updating this regularly (hopefully). Not daily, just regularly like at the end of the week or for a race report or any spontaneous thoughts.

I'm looking forward to planning out my year, which will include the list of the potential races I'm going to do. Here's something interesting: my two favorite races, the Pescadero Road Race and Burlingame Criterium, are on the same weekend! Looking forward to that!

And that's all for now, I will write again tomorrow for my training plan, and also my weekly report.

Here's the NCNCA schedule: http://ncnca.org/allevents

--D