Bike legs…Check!

Mountain top show down

For the last month I have been focusing on one date.  No not the Charleston S.C. Half Ironman, not Ironman Coeur d’Alene.  April 22-25 Iron Camp!  Races don’t worry me I know what to expect from those but Iron Camp…God only knows what will happen there!  The best way to check my fitness and really know where I’m at in my training cycle is to go to the mountains and ride, hard! The only problem is I know how bad that can sting!

There is no better way to check current ability than a Time Trial.  All that’s needed is a set course and consistent conditions.  The conditions are the toughest factor so, I prefer to Time trial up hill.   By using a climbing TT (10% avg grade) I am able to limit the effect of wind.  My course of choice is Beech Mountain. The same climb Lance Armstrong used to access his fitness for his come back to the Tour de France. The hard part of a TT for me is sustained intensity (lactate threshold).  Riding at the hardest sustainable effort takes real focus the kind of focus I have trouble finding motivation for on my own.  That’s why for the last few years Nick and I have turned it into a race. Nothing motivates either one of us more than watching the other suffer, greatly!

On the close of last season Nick life changed…for the better.  He and wife Jen started a family.  Nick, after a very successful season as a working Pro triathlete.  Decided he had new and exciting challenges he wanted to focus on and retired from racing.  Nick is a good friend so I was happy for him but disappointed to lose a training partner.  There are plenty of people to ride and run with but no one pushes me to my limits like Nick.  We both have ego’s and neither one of us likes to lose.

Nick and I run Iron Camp together and this year would be no different except for a bet.  Nick bet me that he could out ride me on 5hrs of training per week. I on the other hand would lay down the largest bike volume I’ve ever held, 400 miles per week.   I’m not a shit talker or at least that’s not how I see myself.  Nick on the other hand loves to stir the pot.

For the last year I’ve been trying to find motivation.  Not to train but to train at the level it takes to be at my absolute best. That kind of training can be a grind and takes long months of focused effort.  This year I found it. I found it with the bet.  For some reason out of the blue I started calling Nick and leaving him messages taunting him and telling him each day how I was going to destroy him at Camp.  I said the most outrageous things I could think of and we would both find ourselves laughing hysterically.  Well, even in fun we both put ourselves on the line and Camp would become the showdown. We both blew it up so big that people  were asking us each week heading into camp, how do feel?   How are your legs? Is Nick ready…are you ready? Honestly, I was nervous.

Campers cresting Snake Mountain

Camp started and our main concerns were that the campers get the best experience possible.   We would put the bet on the back burner and only if the opportunity arose would we test each other.  On day one we led out 17 campers over a very challenging course. Nick and I spent most of the ride trying to keep the group together, riding back and forth from back to front.  We were both spent but did manage to fire a few salvos at each other.  Nick led out one 15 minute climb up the back side of Snake Mountain.  He put me under pressure from the start. The lead in was a 2-3% false flat that we hit at LT.  I was in a bad spot, at the moment and never found my rhythm.  Nick stuck it to me and put a sizable gap on me by the top, about 50 seconds.  Later in the day we volleyed again on Big Hill, a short winding climb the averages around 5%.  By this time I was feeling much better and attacked off a long lead out.  I made a big mistake by not realizing I was still in my big ring and while I fumbled to shift Nick came over the top and secured another 15 seconds. Even after giving up time again I felt good about the effort.  During the first climb I was unable to find a rhythm and unable to access high heart rates, not this time I literally stood until I became dizzy then sat on LT  plus 5 beats. The effort stung us both and Nick was surprised at how hard he had to ride to stave off the attack. We finished the ride on friendly terms and both wondered what kind of legs we would have the next day.  Day 2 and the Loop of Truth.  This day has all the big climbs and finishes with Beech.  We rolled out playing nice letting the campers set the pace and using the opportunity to access the damage to our legs while we warmed up.  I felt ok at best.  On Clarks Creek, a short steep climb I felt bad.  Unable to get my heart rate up my legs were crap…I was worried.  Once we hit the Parkway I was getting grumpy and feeling very uncomfortable.  I was not even sure I would be able to get up Beech let alone race it.  I was hoping Nick felt the same, but judging by his upbeat attitude I knew better.  As a last ditch effort to right the ship I tossed in double my normal calories and chased it with a ton of water.  15 minutes later a miracle happened, I felt great!  Evidently, I had missed my nutrition and that is all it took (good lesson for race day).  We strolled easy over to Beech told the campers to ride their own pace and then, it was game on! Nick stood up an immediately rode away from me. I settled into my rhythm and tried to limit the gap.  It stopped at about 70 meters.  We seemed to be going the same speed for a while after that but then I noticed the gap coming down.   By the half way point I closed it down completely and we rode side by side.  I was completely at my limit. Nick stood up and grew the gap to 20 meters.  After a another 4 minutes or so I had closed it again.   I could tell by the look on his face that he felt under pressure. He said something about not being able to finish but I was breathing too hard to even talk.  We both thought that we were cracking and that we were riding terribly slow.  With two turns to go he again stood and gaped me. This time it would stick and by the top he had a 25 second victory.  The showdown was over and Nick is the undisputed King of the Mountains but it took a P.R. to do it.  We have raced that climb numerous times but this was the closet battle in quite a while.  It was upon reaching the top that we both set our personal best times.  Even after losing I feel great.  I was able to hold LT for the entire climb, I set my fastest time,  and I’m not close to race weight.  All this means is, my legs are ready.  I’ve still got time to come up for race day but the ground work is done.

Thanks to Nick KOM, I have trained hard and focused.  I feel good about my bike and looking forward to race day.  Nick better stay fit because if I sense any weakness I will attack him again! Now swim and run focus and watch out m40-44 age group, I’m feeling good!