Posts Tagged ‘Cleveland Park’

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Got me a personal best

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

I was a little discouraged as I headed out for a ride last evening.  It all happened because of my mistake of looking back at my training time since January.  In that month I had several weeks with 10 hours of training time.  That changed in February and most weeks since that time I have not exceeded 5 hours in all but two of the weeks.

No wonder  I have had such a hard time finishing strong in any of these races.  So, I went out tonight determined to turn over a new leaf and work a little harder at finding the time to get on the bike.  Tonight’s ride was to be 2 hours in Cleveland Park with some tempo riding and sprints.

My Cleveland Park ride

My Cleveland Park ride

My discouragement started to melt away as I began to turn laps in the park.  My legs felt good and the climb along Woodland Way almost seemed flat.  The first hour seemed to slip by quickly.

During that hour I did several all out sprints along the flat section from McDaniel to the Vietnam Memorial.  Yes!  I got a new personal best maximum wattage – 1300 watts.  My 5 second peak at 1245 watts was also the highest I’ve recorded since using WKO+ to track my power.  The 10 second peak was still over 1100 watts.

WKO+ Power Management Chart

WKO+ Power Management Chart (Click to enlarge)

Notice the large orange line on the graph near the top.  That is the 5 second peak power line.  Also the TSB has now moved into positive territory.  If I play this smart and keep training hard and then taking some time off, I could start learning how to manage my effort and peak at just the right times.

I also have to bring out the old Power Profile.  With my new 5 second power peak, I’ve moved that category of the graph into the cat 3 level.  Of course, you can guess I sacrificed my 10 to 20 minute peak times in order to get that high reading.  I realize it is kind of meaningless, but one of my goals is to try to move all of the bars into the cat 3 section before the season ends.

The latest Power Profile

The latest Power Profile

Then in my second hour my teammate Sam came out to the park.  I caught her as she was coming from the Y into the park.  I sat on her wheel for a bit waiting to see if she would notice me.  She glanced back and then did a double-take.  Then she turned to acknowledge me.

We both had iPods going and she appeared to be out doing some fast spinning as well.  So, we didn’t talk much but just traded off leading the other around the park.  After my efforts in the first hour, I have to say that there were a couple of times I thought she was going to drop me.

Then that wonderful thing happened.  I started to feel strong again.  It is as though I had gone through a wall.  My legs still felt a little tired, but it felt as though I could ride right through the tiredness.  I probably could have gone on for an hour more, but Sam peeled off and I needed to get home for supper.

My frame of mind is much more positive now.  The way I figure, I’ve been finishing just outside the top ten in every criterium I have been in – except my DNF in Spartanburg.  Those finishes came with 2 to 5 hours of riding (including the races) per week over the last couple of months.  Hmmmm, who knows what might happen if I got some more time in?

By the way, once again the average power reading on my Garmin 705 from the Quarq CinQo was about 20 watts higher than the actual readings that ended up showing up in my WKO+.  On the other hand, the maximum power reading was about 20 watts lower on the Garmin than on WKO+.  This seems to be consistent every ride I make.  Not a big deal, just interesting.

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Posted in Racing, Training | 3 Comments »

I’m a spandex stalker

Friday, May 8th, 2009

After riding yesterday, I Tweeted about my time up the mountain.  I commented on how I seemed to be stuck on 12 minutes.  One of my teammates responded saying that maybe I should take a break from the climb and come back later.  “It seems like every ride ends up over the mountain,” he said.  I probably need to explain.

Last year I set three goals for myself. 1) complete a century every month between March and August, 2) finish the Assault on Mt. Mitchell in under 7 hrs 30 mins, and 3) climb Altamont Road in under 12 minutes.  Well, I completed numbers one and two.  However, I never managed to get under that barrier.  So, I am somewhat obsessed with completing that one goal hanging over my head.

I also had an embarrassing moment on my ride.  As I was going through Cleveland Park, I looked over and saw a girl running on the path below me.  I did a double-take.  It looked like it might be my sister-in-law, Erin.  This person’s hair looked a little shorter and Erin works in Greer.  However, I know that she is training for a marathon and she does sometimes cut her hair shorter, so perhaps it was her.

As I passed over the trail as it goes beneath Cleveland Street, the girl was going under it.  From even that distance I thought so much that it was Erin that I called out her name.  She went under just about that time.  I kept riding and turned around to come back to see her.

Oops.  It wasn’t Erin.  The girl looked at me and I then knew it wasn’t my sister-in-law.  She kind of gave me a weird smile and I imagine she picked up her pace a little.  I rode on as though nothing had happened.  My guess is she didn’t really think she was being stalked by a guy in spandex.

It was a good ride overall.  I had to get out at lunch because my schedule is so packed this week.  No evenings were available for riding.  This was the first time on the bike since Sunday.  I need to get in some miles… Mount Mitchell is right around the corner!

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Posted in Life, Rides | 1 Comment »

First video from Donaldson Center

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

This is my first video from Donaldson Center.  I’m almost embarrassed to put it up.  Not only was it a terrible night for me, it was also a terrible night for my camera.  It didn’t end up recording what would have been the best video of the night.

Well, here it is.  I hope you enjoy it for what it is.  It does give me reason to show up again to see if I can do better.

I felt so bad about my ride Tuesday night that I went out during lunch for about an hour just to work out my frustrations.  Turned out to be pretty good for me.  About 30 minutes into the ride I was averaging 21 mph in Cleveland Park.

The excitement came when I was making a right hand turn at a traffic light.  It was green so I started my turn.  About the time I was entering the apex of my turn I realized sport utility vehicle was turning left across my path!  If one of us didn’t alter our path we would meet as we both tried to enter the same lane. I tapped the brakes and fishtailed.  Thankfully, I missed her – or she missed me – and I was able to gather my bike up without further incident.

Ironically, the license plate was a “Share the Road” plate.  I learned later who it was because she sent out an apology on the Spinners’ Yahoo Group.  No hard feelings M******* J****.  I could tell you didn’t see me and it was obvious from your face that it scared you more than it did me. :-)

Thanks for reading… and watching.  Now, go ride your bike.

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Posted in Rides | 2 Comments »

Simple things and random sites

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Last night was one of those times when you learn to enjoy the simple things. I was finishing up my day expecting to get home, grab a bite to eat, and then head out to a meeting. However, my wonderful redhead decided that I would stay with the kids while she went to the meeting.

That allowed me to rush home from work and jump on the bike for a 40 minute ride with some of my teammates. Samantha, Joey, Matt, and I had a good time making several laps around Cleveland Park. I even had a chance to uncork a couple of time on two of the climbs and clocked a power max of just under 1200 watts.

But mostly it was just a pleasure to spin around the park at about 120 watts. I would hate to do that by myself, but when you are with good friends it makes all the difference. Thanks, ya’ll!

And… now… for… RANDOM SITE OF THE DAY!

I have a horrible time remembering all the parts of a bicycle. I’m sure I’ve made my mechanic friends chuckle more than once when I called a part something other than what it was… “It is the dohickie that is making the rattling sound.”

Well, no more… I happened upon “The Parts Of A Bicycle Nomenclature Names.” Say what? Oh, just go look at this page: http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/bicycleparts.html.

You cyclists have fun out there at Donaldson tonight. I have the meeting and the wife is staying with the kids. I won’t be able to join you.

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Posted in Life, Sites | 2 Comments »

I took a ride with Craig’s bike

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

After work Friday, I headed out on what I thought would be an easy spin around Cleveland Park.  Saturday was to be a long day in the saddle as I was to ride 5 hours in a fund raiser ride.  That isn’t too bad, except this five hours would going around in a one mile circuit.

While easily spinning along I came to a stop sign to turn right.  I thought I saw the shadow of a rider coming up behind me.  I made the turn and then the following turn onto Woodland Way to begin the climb.  That is when the rider came up beside me.

I glanced over and heard him say, “Nice bike.”  That, of course, made me look at his own bike.  It was a Giant and looked like a TCR Advanced frame.  However, there were numerous other markings on it that I didn’t decipher at the time.  “Yes, these Giants are very nice.  I love mine,” I replied.

We continued on talking about riding and racing.  Around one turn I asked him if the bike was an SL model.  Clay responded that indeed it was.  We went back to talking about various training methods and our plans for the year.

He asked me if I had raced any this year and I told him that I had only been able to do the River Falls race because of my broken pinkie.  He then asked me about the accident.  I told him the story and finished up by telling him that I rode up to the top of the mountain after the wreck with Craig Lewis.

He looked over at me and said, “This is his bike.”  I took a little closer of a look and realized those markings I couldn’t make out on the front fork were Team Highroad stickers.  Sure enough I looked closer and saw other sponsor logos.

Turns out Clay Jones is a member of the Hincapie Triathlon team and had taken a look at some of the Giant bikes that the local Hincapie Barkley team were releasing because of the bike sponsor change.  None of them worked well (the SL bikes have the integrated seat post).  There was another bike there that fit him perfectly.  It was Craig’s.

Craig was willing to sell and Clay got a pretty good deal on a very sweet bike.  There really wasn’t that much of a difference in the look of the two bikes.  The SL had the integrated seat post.  Our components were different and the SL was about a pound lighter.

Clay said that the bike pretty much had fallen in his lap and maybe he had spent a little more money than he had originally planned (that is not to say he didn’t get a VERY good deal), but it was worth it.  I told him that not only did he get a great bike, but he got a really cool story to go along with it.

By the way, Clay wore me out.  And so, that is how I ended up riding with Craig Lewis’ bike.  Hey, Craig, when you get ready to get rid of that Scott… give me a call!

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Posted in Bicycles, Life, Rides | No Comments »

Over the mountain and through the wind

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Nothing unusual for today’s post. Last night I went out on a ride by myself that started at my house and headed out over Paris Mountain, down Old Buncombe, through downtown to Cleveland Park, and then to home.  I made it back just as it started to rain.

I was a little disappointed because I left the house and headed over to the university before going to the mountain.  I wanted to do a lap of the course I will be riding Saturday during the fund raiser.  As I finished the circuit, I pushed what I thought was the lap button on the Garmin.  It was the Start/Stop button.

I didn’t realize I had done that until I was near the top of Paris Mountain.  All the power data of the climb was lost!  I put it out of my mind just to enjoy the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful day.

As I started along the back side of the mountain I was very fearful.  It was the first time going down the Furman side since my accident.  To make matters worse, there was a level of fine sand in the turns along the top.  The fun finally started once I got below the sandy turns.

I forgot all about the computer issues as I looked out over northern Greenville county from the top of the mountain.  Out over Travelers Rest there was a thunder storm.  I could see the dark clouds and the wall of rain out in the distance.  There were flashes and the rolling sound of thunder, but it was so far away I had no concerns that it would reach me before I got home.

Old Buncombe introduced me to a headwind.  I saw my teammate Blair heading the other direction.  I envied him because he was enjoying the tailwind.  Finally, I made it through downtown Greenville and to Cleveland Park.

Once there I connected with Chris Hartzler.  We did several laps together.  There were a good number of cyclist out.  Some were just spinning along and others were hammering it pretty hard.  Just as we were finishing up, I saw Kirk Flinte with, I believe, his brother.

A lot of times you can learn riders by the clothing they wear.  It also helps to learn their bike.  However, with Kirk it is a little harder.  He is always showing up with some cool Hincapie clothes that are probably not even on the market yet.

The wind really picked up as I neared home and the temperatures dropped a bit.  I figured the rain would arrive soon.  After taking my bike to the garage, I went inside to change before eating some homemade enchiladas.  As I exited the bedroom, the rains arrived.

What a wonderful feeling to site with happy muscles, eating a delicious meal while nice and dry, and the rain falling outside.  Life is good!

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Posted in Life, Rides | 2 Comments »

First date and I’m in love

Friday, March 13th, 2009

As I watched John turn the wrench to loosen the heart of my Tarmac I felt a tinge of guilt for the action I was about to take. My Specialized Tarmac Pro had been a wonderful friend. We had climbed Mount Mitchell together and crossed the finish line as winners for the first time. Now another would take its place.

Enter the new Giant TCR Advanced. It arrived just yesterday and I got the call to bring my Tarmac to the shop so I could switch out the crank and wheels. The crank had to go with me because it houses my Quarq CinQo power meter. The wheels were my better ones so I wanted those on there for my first ride.

2009 Giant TCR Advanced

2009 Giant TCR Advanced

Looking at the two bikes, I wasn’t so sure what I thought. The Tarmac is a very elegant looking machine. The curving top tube and narrow carbon fiber frame of pearl white and blue is very appealing. The Advanced is the dark color of graphite. The header and bottom bracket are over sized and the down tube is huge. The look isn’t elegant. The look is solid and fast.

Of course, you can’t judge a bike by its looks. John finished the construction and told me to hop on and take it for a ride. The first thing I noticed was that it was lighter. When I rolled it out the door for the test ride, the bike weighed 15.5 pounds. That is nearly a pound less than the Tarmac.

John did an excellent job moving my measurements over to the Giant. The bar was slightly lower but the hoods were in the same position. He said I now had the “racer boy” setup. My quick spin around the block showed some promise.

Now it was time to give the bike a better workout. Not too much… I didn’t want to stress the cables and connections too much. Just a bit of a test to see how my body worked on the new setup.

I met up with my friend Chris Hartzler at Cleveland Park and we began to make some laps. I’m not here to say that I could notice all the nuances of difference between the two bikes. I could obviously tell I was using new components. The shifting was crisp and responsive.

The ride was very similar and I’m sure a lot of that had to do with the fact that I was using the same wheels. However, there were some differences that I could feel. These changes had more to do with the geometry of the frame.

The Advanced frame is slightly smaller. So, there was a bit less bike beneath me. I noticed this mostly when I would come out of the saddle to sprint. The top tube was much lower as I rocked back and forth. The center of gravity was lower still. This gave me the feeling of the bike being more nimble.

The setup is different, but I like it. The TCR Advanced gives me confidence. Diving into the corners was enjoyable. Coming out of the saddle on a burst up a climb was exhilarating. What a ride!

There is still a soft spot in my heart for the memories I made on the Tarmac, but the way I figure I’ve got more time ahead to make some new ones. If the next rides on the Advanced are anything like the first one, I’m pretty sure my future memories are going to be great ones. Let’s go!

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Posted in Bicycles, Review | 2 Comments »

My bike, the psychiatrist

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

My mind was feeling the strain of one of those days when the various aspects of my life come pushing in from all sides.  So many responsibilities and obligations were beginning to pile up around me.  Opportunities were presented with expectations from those offering and yet the future seems so uncertain it is hard to know what to grab hold of and what to let go.

I needed to ride.

I put on my POA Cycling kit for the first time, prepped my bike, and then pushed it out to the driveway.  It was around 35 degrees, but the Hincapie leg and arm warmers had me feeling just fine.  It might be cold, but the wind wasn’t bad and the sun was shinning.  This could be therapeutic.

The ride could only last an hour because the beautiful redhead needed to head to play rehearsal and it was my job to watch the kids.  So, I set out at a fast clip to get in an hour.  That would give me time to ride to Cleveland Park, do several laps, and then home.

At first it really did feel great.  I have to say, with my new kit, I looked pretty good as well!  Before long, I was doing my laps.

That is when things changed.  Once again my legs started to feel tight — just as they did the last time I rode.  Then I found it hard to breathe.  It was as though I was gulping in loads of air, but not getting much oxygen.  Of course, the fact that it was nearly freezing might have had something to do with it.

To compound things, there was phlegm in my throat that I just couldn’t seem to clear causing me to not be able to get a good rhythm for breathing.  I felt as though I had no power at all and was sputtering to a stop.  This therapy was about to send me to a therapist!

The thing that was coming to my mind was the negative thought about how the time off the bike due to my surgery was putting me way behind where I thought I would be right now.  How was I going to be able to compete if I was riding like this?  I was going to be spit out the back and embarrass myself in my first Category 4 race.

Then I stopped to think.  Why was I doing this?  I enjoy racing, but I love riding.  Race to have the opportunity to ride.  Don’t ride just to stay fit for your next race.  Just ride.  If you do, the racing and results will come.  With my competitive nature I have to make sure I don’t let the enjoyment of racing kill my love of riding.

I rode out of the park with a whole new mindset.  It actually gave me a spring in my stroke and a calmness in my mind.  I can only do what I can do.  That is true on my bike and off of it.  Do the things I love and let that passion enthuse me during those times when the going gets tough.  Don’t beat yourself up when you sometimes get spit out the back.

Just keep pedaling.

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Posted in Life | 3 Comments »

This amputee inspires and innovates on his bike

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

Saturday afternoon I was enjoying my first ride back on the bike since my surgery.  It was raining just a bit.  However, I was so antsy to get back on the road, I just had to get out for an hour or so.  It turned out to be a good and inspiring ride.

I headed down to Cleveland Park just to do some laps.  My finger felt great at first, but by the time I finished it was pretty sore.  The pain seemed to come more from the cold.  My altered gloves I made to help protect the pinkie seemed to work great, so there was no real stress on the finger.

Of course, I couldn’t just ride around.  The first 30 minutes were actually quite hard.  My legs felt awful.  Finally, I just decided to blow out the crud!  So on two laps I launched up the Woodland Circle climb.  I got two 10 second peaks on those laps over 1000 watts.  Shortly after my legs started feeling more supple and I made it home feeling great.

As I was finishing up, I came behind two riders.  One of them was Bryant Young.  Bryant leaves on the other side of my block.  He is a cyclist.  The only thing different is that Bryant wears a prosthesis.

That fact is never anything to hold him back. I could go into the history of what has brought Bryant to this day, but I’ll let you do that at his Web site.  What I was interested in last night was Bryant’s new crank arm.

Crank adapter for prosthesis

Crank adapter for prosthesis

The above photo shows the crank arm that he has been using.  There are certain rules about how long a crank arm can be when you are competing in paralympics, etc.  On the other hand, you don’t want the crank arm to be too long or it throws the leg around hurting balance.  No, the rider gets no assist from the prosthesis.  Go ahead, try pedaling your bike around Cleveland Park with one leg — or climbing Alamont Road! Bryant’s done it.

New crank arm by Ed Johnson

New crank arm by Ed Johnson

Enter Ed Johnson.  Ed is a machinist extraordinaire. Basically, if you can think it, he can make it.  Ed is also a cyclist.  Bryant and Ed met through Sunshine Cycle Shop. In discussions about the limitations of his old crank system, it was decided to have Ed machine Bryant a new crank arm specifically measured to stay within the guidelines and yet give Bryant the best positioning.  As you can see in the above picture, he did a beautiful job!

I followed Bryant for about half a lap before he headed home.  By the way, he was out there riding after having competed that morning in the Greenville Spring Training Series at Fork Shoals.  You should have seen the smile on his face out there in the rain!  You can tell he loves the sport!

Bryant is out there competing with all the other cyclists in the Greenville area. His goal is to move from training with these guys to participating in some disabled sports races.  Knowing Bryant, he’ll be there… along with his new crank arm.

You can read more about Bryant’s adventures at his Web site: bryantyoung.com. We’ll keep an eye on him here at Low Cadence as well. Thanks for the ride, Bryant!

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Vlog: Traditional Cleveland Park circuit

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

One of the centers for cycling in Greenville, South Carolina is Cleveland Park.  During lunch and basically any time during the day, you will see cyclists out getting some miles in.  Some use the circuit just for a leisure ride and others use it for some serious training.

While we’re here, why not check out this video that I found after uploading this vlog.  There are lots of options to ride in the park from taking your kids on the paved trails or jumping off road on the MTB trails that run along side the park.

Hope to get an update on how UWBL progressed this morning.  Right now I’m headed out for a ride and then coming home to catch some of the Tour of California.  A nice cycling day it is.

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