James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

There is some really good local cheese.
Valley Shepard Creamery is excellent -
I stopped by one on the hunterdon farm ride two years ago - i need to find it again.
looked like a dump of a farm, made fantastic hard cheese.
mmmm cheese.
 
Using Zwift is the first time I've ever measured wattage in riding. I got one of those notices yesterday, too, but my total wattage is lower than yours. I purposely set my weight a little higher than it actually is because I wanted to make the ride harder, but that probably inflates my actual wattage (while probably not impacting my watts/kg all that much.)

This is the first year I've ridden inside with any regularity, and it's kind of been my saving grace because of the issues I mentioned in the thread yesterday. But I'm curious to see if Zwift does translate to outside in any way - I'll find out in two weeks. I'm racing for 12 hours down in Florida on the 17th. So I'm kind of thinking that will be an interesting experiment. If nothing else, I think riding inside forces me to keep pushing without any break a lot longer than I normally might because I really never coast (even though you apparently can coast going down if you have a smart trainer.) So between the smart trainer controlling the resistance, and the fact that I pretty much stay in a 50:11 for the majority of my ride every time, I figure I should be getting something out of it. Hell, I climbed Mount Watopia or whatever the hell it's called yesterday and never went below a 50:17. It certainly leaves me a sweaty pool of exhaustion when I'm done. I just hope that means something. Otherwise, the 17th is going to be a long day. Of course, I've got other variables at play there (the course is punchy with only short power climbs since it's in a quarry, I am really just hoping I don't start coughing up my lungs an hour into the day, and as always I'm on a SS) but I'll be looking to see how long I can sustain an effort after not having my usual build-up to something this long. I figure if it doesn't work out, I'll have a decidedly crampy flight back on the 19th, but I'll have gained knowledge. And isn't that the real victory?
 
We only buy quality blocks of cheese. None of that mozzarella/cheddar junk. NY/NJ needs more cheese shops like Europe, or Montreal.
 
jShort said:
Indoor training definitely translates to outdoor racing. My legs can't tell a difference between my basement or singletrack.
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Yeah, I hope so. I'm a little curious to see how well the endurance holds up. That's my biggest open question. Because, at least in my experience, it's a different animal altogether in terms of what does and doesn't work. I'm sure there are guys who can keep the hammer down for a full day, but I'm not one of them. What I've learned to do (over a really long period of time) is "average" my way to a good day. Every endurance race I've ever won or done well in has had one stat in common that at this point is one of my only goals anytime I do one of them: my lap times are always more tightly distributed than anyone else's. Always. That pretty much always means I'm behind the leaders early and moving faster than they are at the end. And to that end, this is all I look for in "training". That's why I don't often do intervals, hill repeats, whatever. And it's why I tend to do a lot of big mile rides throughout the year - familiarity with riding a tight pace becomes muscle memory for me. I have very limited skills, but I've noticed this is one thing I can do - I don't tend to get slower from being tired deep into a long ride. So for me, success seems to be a function of how boring I can be over the course of a longer ride. If a race is long enough, I'll outlast them. If not, I probably have very little chance to win. Intervals and hill repeats and that stuff is great, but they don't matter in my final equation unless something has already gone wrong - I don't want to deviate into a higher pace and possibly put myself in a spot where my distribution starts to fluctuate, if that makes any sense. I know this kind of approach is really atypical, but it really is about the only thing I've ever been able to do that seems to put me on a podium. I'm not naturally fast, I'm not especially good at knowing how to read the people I race against for weaknesses, and I'm certainly not built for cycling. I'm just able to keep going at one pace for a very, very long time without slowing down.

But that does require maintenance, and I'll be curious to see if riding inside at least kept me from losing the base I had at the end of November last year. Then again, I'm also going outside my comfort zone this year by doing the one type of race I'm probably least suited to do when I line up for TSE. That's kind of four out of five days of slightly longer-than-usual XC distances (and the other day is the Enduro day, when I anticipate actually dying), so speed will matter. I anticipate that being a pretty big struggle, and maybe the indoor training will help more in that prep ... ???? ...
 
1speed said:
Yeah, I hope so. I'm a little curious to see how well the endurance holds up. That's my biggest open question. Because, at least in my experience, it's a different animal altogether in terms of what does and doesn't work. I'm sure there are guys who can keep the hammer down for a full day, but I'm not one of them. What I've learned to do (over a really long period of time) is "average" my way to a good day. Every endurance race I've ever won or done well in has had one stat in common that at this point is one of my only goals anytime I do one of them: my lap times are always more tightly distributed than anyone else's. Always. That pretty much always means I'm behind the leaders early and moving faster than they are at the end. And to that end, this is all I look for in "training". That's why I don't often do intervals, hill repeats, whatever. And it's why I tend to do a lot of big mile rides throughout the year - familiarity with riding a tight pace becomes muscle memory for me. I have very limited skills, but I've noticed this is one thing I can do - I don't tend to get slower from being tired deep into a long ride. So for me, success seems to be a function of how boring I can be over the course of a longer ride. If a race is long enough, I'll outlast them. If not, I probably have very little chance to win. Intervals and hill repeats and that stuff is great, but they don't matter in my final equation unless something has already gone wrong - I don't want to deviate into a higher pace and possibly put myself in a spot where my distribution starts to fluctuate, if that makes any sense. I know this kind of approach is really atypical, but it really is about the only thing I've ever been able to do that seems to put me on a podium. I'm not naturally fast, I'm not especially good at knowing how to read the people I race against for weaknesses, and I'm certainly not built for cycling. I'm just able to keep going at one pace for a very, very long time without slowing down.

But that does require maintenance, and I'll be curious to see if riding inside at least kept me from losing the base I had at the end of November last year. Then again, I'm also going outside my comfort zone this year by doing the one type of race I'm probably least suited to do when I line up for TSE. That's kind of four out of five days of slightly longer-than-usual XC distances (and the other day is the Enduro day, when I anticipate actually dying), so speed will matter. I anticipate that being a pretty big struggle, and maybe the indoor training will help more in that prep ... ???? ...
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I think this may be a learning experience for you then. Being an XC guy, short intense intervals definitely help. I'm not sure what you do indoors for endurance racing. But LMGTFY
 
Haha...holy shit I got on my trainer again today and Swiffered it up for 90 minutes. Stupid thing is getter better every day. I'm not going to say more about it though.

Goals/Topics

So it is the end of the month. At the end of every month I take some stock of how I am doing with the various things I am trying to do. I don't really set goals in this fashion, per se. It is more of a life-balance thing. So here are some basics that I track on a daily basis:

1. Minutes of exercise.
2. Did I write/blog?
3. Did I do something outside the normal/standard of "everyday life"?
4. Weight
5. Did I finish a book? This is obviously more of a monthly total but you finish reading on a day.
6. Consecutive non-drinking day number.

This is intended to cover what I consider a reasonably well-rounded lifestyle right now. I think you could make an argument for amount of sleep, but I am not interested in tracking that. Back in the day I would have put over/under on calories in there. But right now that's too much work. Work takes care of itself - I have a very challenging work slate right now so I do not need to make sure I am challenged enough. I originally wanted to chip in on this theoretical French learning this year but that lasted a week and went to 0 every day. I think there's too much going on at work to be able to pick up learning things right now.

The list of things brings me back to 2 things I have written about this past month. The first being goals. While I have not set any goals on this stuff, the totals give me an idea of how well I am doing. It gives me a 10,000 foot view on what I think are the important things in life. Obviously, exercise is an important one and I have yearly goals set in Strava which tells me if I am ahead or behind those goals. I also want to read and write. It's obvious that I enjoy writing but I also enjoy consuming it. As a general rule, I want to write 5 times a week, and read 2 books a month. The 3rd point above is meant to ensure that weeks don't go by and all I do is wake up, go to work, ride the trainer, and watch TV at night. Finally, I want to track my weight and keep the non-drinking streak going.

This all seems reasonable...I think. Not too much, but just enough that I can keep a high level. Some totals, just for @Mitch because I know he loves this shit.

1. 41.67 hours
2. 24 times
3. 23 things
4. Still too much
5. 4 books finished in January
6. 297 as of last night

This also brings me to the more recent topic of lifestyle. To put it realistically, I want to read and write and have a life outside of just working & biking. @Dominique said it well before which is why her post got a bunch of likes. Regarding all of the stuff above, I am not at all happy that my weight has not followed suit and dropped like I would hope - but I am in it for the long haul. At the same time, I am stoked at my total amount of exercise, as well as the amount I am reading and writing and doing "non-standard" things. I feel that by any objective measure, I am doing reasonably well balancing things, and maximizing my enjoyment of life.

And part of that is writing at night, or staying up to read and not being able to get up at 5am to ride. Some of that is sacrificing outside biking to spend the afternoon with the kids and to bring them to the YMCA so they can do yoga or the kid's fitness class, like I did today. And in order to do that, sometimes I need to ride in my basement while the kids get their homework done. Sometimes that is going to the gym after work so I can spend time with the person I love.

Add it all up, and this is what life is for me right now. At the end of the day, we're all just trying to enjoy ourselves as much as we can, from the cradle to the grave. We would all do well to simply try and appreciate what others do to make the most of what they have. On that note, I'll go change Kevin's name back now.
 
I think that we also shifted as a racing team to a promoting team. Yes we still have some awesome racers but I have seen them give up their racing to help with promotion end. There is a ton work that goes into each and every race.
Also with tweeners and teens they eat a ton load of time and money. You want to take those years and pour every effort in finishing that final mold of your pre adult. Very important step in parenting. So you put YOU at pause and just start and go when your there is an small window. So I get it.
Ride on!
 
Ethan turns 6 tomorrow. Collin is 2 years behind. I know I'm about to be tied up for the next 15 years or so. I'm holding out some hope that I'll be able to stay a competitive racer and indoor workouts are basically the only way to make that happen.

I'm listening to the second book in the Stormlight archives by Brandon Sanderson. It's an awesome epic series with a ton of story lines and characters. I'm actually re reading the first two because I read them so long ago and I'm realizing that I missed so much and really had no idea at the time. But when i started the 3rd, I was lost so I decided to re read.
They may be more @gtluke 's style, but I recommend them if you're looking for something new.

I'm glad to see you keeping up with the blog. I think you can change the title soon though.
 
I agree with this, as you well know.

Oh, sister, am I not a brother to you
And one deserving of affection?
And is our purpose not the same on this earth
To love and follow his direction?
We grew up together
From the cradle to the grave
We died and were reborn
And then mysteriously saved
 
11 and twin 3 year olds, yeah, I get it, we all have shit. 70% of my riding happens before 7am, so unless one of my kids takes up gymnastics or ice hockey or one of these other fringe things that practice at 6am, I plan to continue to tap the dawn patrol vein.

I don’t bend time or Anything like that, simply have the alarm set for 4:29 and it basically
Impacts my family time 0% percent.

I know it isn’t for everyone, especially the ones that always need to ride with someone, but it is a time of day worth looking into.

AND WHO CAN DENY THIS STUFF
D1248909-536F-468D-AE48-173F2793E106.jpeg
 
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jShort said:
I'm listening to the second book in the Stormlight archives by Brandon Sanderson. It's an awesome epic series with a ton of story lines and characters. I'm actually re reading the first two because I read them so long ago and I'm realizing that I missed so much and really had no idea at the time. But when i started the 3rd, I was lost so I decided to re read.
They may be more @gtluke 's style, but I recommend them if you're looking for something new.

I'm glad to see you keeping up with the blog. I think you can change the title soon though.
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Hey...serious question...im off from Grad school next week and can cram fun reading for a few nghts til next class...I love Mitch Rapp type stuf,
 
Outer and Inner expectations need to be met for me. If I fall short on either, the imbalance does get to me. To achieve this I don’t set goals but use a systematic approach.


My kids are 10, 8 and 1.5 years. Now that I have one more and the two others have activities, I have that much more outer expectation on me.

To meet my inner expectation of staying active, I try to get out on the bike 3-4 times a month and Play in Trenton/Ewing men basketball league.
 
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rottin' said:
Hey...serious question...im off from Grad school next week and can cram fun reading for a few nghts til next class...I love Mitch Rapp type stuf,
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I've read a few Mitch Rapp stories. These books are on a different level. Slower moving, less action.

You should definitely read the Joe Ledger books by Jonathan Maberry. Way better than the Vince Flynn stuff. Just my opinion.

And btw. When I say read, I mean Listen.
 
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