Compex - Active Recovery post True Grit

I ran a Compex active recovery session on Saturday evening after the True Grit 50.  After spending over 5 hours on the bike during the race I figured this would be the litmus test to determine the efficacy of the e-stim unit.   Up until the True Grit, I had not spent more than 2 hours on the bike so the jump up in time in the saddle to over 5 hours was significant and there was bound to be some soreness and stiffness.  I felt the usual achey body and stiffness for a few hours after the race.  Once I ran the active recovery session my legs did seemingly feel better immediately after.

The pleasant surprise was that upon waking up on Sunday the legs felt much better than they usually had (and better than the prior evening) over a long push in the saddle.

Normally, I would just let the legs rest the day following an event but vacation days are precious and I did not want to miss a day of exploring/riding while in the desert.  I decided it would be a good idea to get on the road bike and spin somewhat lightly.  The local bike shop provided the beta and map and it was off to ride around Squall Hollow Lake.

Affirmation (and no, not one of those Stuart Smalley SNL affirmations 'I am good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me'') #2 of the Compex active recovery having done its work:

I fully expected my legs to feel heavy and having to coax them into riding.  Surprisingly, the legs felt pretty good (relatively speaking considering the prior day).  It was a 2 hour ride that was at a brisker pace than the leisurely stroll originally planned and the legs complied.  There was no 'heaviness' in the legs.  They did not have a lot of snap (did not try to hammer but made the legs work) but they responded well.

They responded so well in fact that I rode the following 2 days too (more to come on the Gooseberry rides later in the week) and ended up riding 4 days on...and the legs felt really good on the 4th day!

I am an e-stim believer!

The ride proper was amazing.  It was a road biker's paradise...smooth road, amazing scenery, huge shoulder, little traffic...mmm mmmm gooooood!

True Grit 50 Observations

What a weird transition over the last 24 hours.  This time yesterday I was riding the Gooseberry trail just outside of Zion National Park by Hurricane, Utah and it was sunny and downright warm in the low 70's.  Fast forward 24 hours and I am back in the winter wonderland of Montana where the forecast calls for snow over the next few days.  There will be more about the rides in Utah but first, time to wrap up some thoughts on the True Grit 50:

Observations about the Course / Race:

• I had no idea of the level of 'epic-ness' of this event until we got an email update after the race from the  organizer indicating the issues with rider safety and rescues due to conditions.
• There were 9 Epic (50 mile flavor) official finishers 
• 148 signed up for the Epic (an additional 30 or so signed up for the Challenge course of 26 miles)
• The race turned from 'race mode' to 'rescue mode' for some (including volunteers)
• Hypothermia was a real issue for all
• Rescue vehicles could not get to Aid stations due to conditions!
• A dry course would make for a super fun and super fast 'fiddy'
• There were some fairly tekkie sections - nothing too crazy
• The course forced you to stay alert with enough tekkie to keep you focused.
• The mud riding up to Barrel Rolls was just MEAN - it clumped up and wreaked havoc!
• The scenery was spectacular
• Race organizers made the right call by shutting down the race.
• Race organizers did a great job in following up and ensuring everyone got off the course and was accounted for.
• Thanks to all the volunteers
• It would have been nice to have known what was going to be at the aid stations
• I hope to ride this again next year!

Observations about my day:

• I rode 45 of the 52 miles before getting pulled...would have been nice to have been allowed to finish but I totally support the call the officials made.
• I had little to no brakes left due to the mud eating up my brake pads...made descending a little exciting!
• The legs felt surprisingly good (good being relative for the little training and prep)
• I love the new bike build!
• 29r fully rigid singlespeed Vs 26 fully rigid singlespeed....26 and smaller wheels beat you up a lot more!
• Happy about the gear ration for the first event (32X20)
• Yes I was cold, but so was everyone else...deal with it!
• The race trail conditions were not ideal to break in the new bike!
• Maintenance required after the race - bottom bracket removed and serviced
• My body deals much better with cold than with heat (I only drank 1 1/2 bottles of liquids through my 5 hour adventure and was not de-hydrated).
• I have never worn so much mud!
• The body did not crave protein while riding (have always tried to include protein starting at hour 3 of longer rides/events)
• The fully rigid ride really forces you to pick good lines and make you use your upper body to absorb the hits.
• Despite the craziness and adverse conditions, it was FUN...it is what we do and what we signed up for.

True Grit Fall Out

The mind is still processing the mud fest that was the True Grit yesterday.  A more detailed race report to follow later in the week.

The immediate fallout was to do some maintenance on the bike before dirt started to make things creaky and cranky!  I took the bike to a car wash and did a quick power rinse to get all the mud off.  I don't like to power wash a bike as it tends to embed dirt in areas where it shouldn't be.  Being that I was on the road and had no idea where to go, there were few options.  Once rinsed it was time to get the bike to a shop and have them remove the bottom bracket and clean and re-grease it.  It is a good thing I did because the bike wrench told me there was some dirt in there.  I also had to replace the brake pads - the pads were almost down to metal.  The chain is probably still salvageable but it will take working lube into each one of the links to make sure the lube prevents the chain from seizing.

A couple of quick pics of my clothes after the race:

Shoes caked, knee warmers caked, jersey caked, socks caked, shorts caked....note that the shorts in the picture above were turned inside out so all that mud was on the inside of my bibs!

And another one with the shorts rightside-out:

I forgot to take a picture of the bike before hosing it off but suffice it to say that it had substantially more mud on it than my clothes!  

True Grit Quickie

What a whack day on the bike!  This will be a brief update with a more encompassing race report to come...

As per the weather forecast this morning, there was a 10% chance of rain and highs of low 60's for the day.  Suffice it to say the forecaster were way way WAY wrong!  It never got above 45 during the race and it rained all day!  The clouds were full of moisture and the longer the race was, the wetter and colder everyone got.  It was not noticeable until you stopped at an aid station, etc.

The trail conditions were absolutely horrendous!  There are a couple places one the course where the mud/clay just collected on anything and everything.  My tires had over an inch thick coat of mud coated on them at certain points...and it was the kind of mud that does not wash off, it clings and collects.

The race organizers eventually called the race off at a certain point and told everyone to pack it in...only about 10 people (out of 175)  beat 'the race is called off' and finished the race - no single speed finishers....the bummer was that I only had one more short loop to do (all the hard stuff was behind me already!) and then a few miles of fire road and about a mile of pavement.  They pulled us off the course and gave us the option to ride back via the road or get a lift back...I opted to ride the 6 miles back...I still put in a 43 mile day and the legs actually felt better than I expected.  The new bike handled well but unfortunately due to conditions, I will have to replace a few things like the chain, brake pads (both sets of NEW brake pads done in 1 ride due to conditions....I have no pads left on the disc brakes - crazy!).

It took my hands a while to un-claw from the bar grip position and it took a couple of hrs until I could get feeling back in the hands.  I don't think I have ever had that much mud on my bike or myself...I might very well have had more mud in my shorts than on them.

Of all things that I was trying to manage, rain in the desert was not one of them...still a good day and a good barometer of where the legs are.

Couch per-Taper

I woke up to a resting heart rate of 36 this morning.  My norm is somewhere between 38-42 in the morning so just maybe (wishful thinking) the 'taper' off the couch is doing something.  It could also just be that the body is relaxing now that it is officially on vacation!

The plan is to get an early start this morning and try to hit the road.  I might split the drive into two days depending on how it goes.  The tentative plan is to hit an REI around Salt Lake and look at all the temptations for the REI dividend that we got last week...hmmm...

I am taking the road bike and the mountain bike just in case there are good options for the roadie while down around St George.  I might no-tell motel it for a night or two based on location and availability of camping options prior to race day on Saturday...after that it is full on camp mode and find some warmth mode!  It has been a long cold winter in Montana and the thought of the desert in Southern Utah all of a sudden sounds just pretty sweet! Riding, camp fires, nice long days, riding. sunshine, riding...what more can you ask for?

Rhetorical Taper

Theoretically, a taper is supposed to be a period of time in which you let your body recover and rest for an upcoming race.  The big ASSumption is that you have something to rest from...some sort of base, or hard efforts, or anything...I am not so sure anything during the training regimen in the off-season qualifies as such so far.

So what exactly do you do if your body is already rested?  The Montana winters don't exactly let a guy put a lot of mileage in prep for an early season biking event.

I am still taking the taper approach this week for the upcoming True Grit this weekend.  What do I have to lose?  Any hard efforts might just tire out the legs for Saturday and if there is nothing to taper off of, then there is no harm done...hmmmmm

The course profile looks like:

There don't appear to be a lot of long hill climbs but given the elevation gain (almost 7K) of the event, there must be a lot of short climbs and descents which usually translates into some tekkie terrain which is only confirmed by an excerpt of the course description on the True Grit site:

"The total course is 51 miles in length with 46 of it on dirt. The course is very technical and should be pre-ridden, especially the Zen and Barrel Ride trail section.  There are several steep drops, climbs, and turns that may require riders to get off their bike.  ( please watch the videos )" 


So far my formula looks a little sum'n sum'n like:

sub par fitness + single speed + first time on recently built bike + first long ride on a 29'r + tekkie terrain + 50 miles + 7,000ft of elevation gain + not many places to 'recover spin' + never ridden trails = recipe for 'UH OH'

yo' Charlie, hook me up with some of that 'Tiger Blood'...

Flock Of Seagulls

As I roused myself out of bed this morning I took a look in the mirror and a Flock Of Seagulls hair-do was looking right back at me...WHOA!  My hair is getting long and as a result the morning hair experiment always proves to be good for a laugh or two after it gets all matted down, up, & sideways from sleeping.  I kid you not...it really was a blast into the past with a serious Flock Of Seagulls coif (be fore-warned....pic of old dude having just woken up and striking a pose):

The best part was no hair spray was used, nothing, nada, zilcharoonie, zero - this work of art is just all natural thanks to the mysteries of tossing and turning.

The only elements missing were a keytar to strap over the shoulder and some big loud fluorescent colored glasses and a crazy tuxedo shirt (ala Seinfeld) and a pair of pants that came up to the sternum.  I might be guilty as charged on some of these transgressions (to a certain degree) but the coif was more the hockey hair for me back in the 80's.
If you are not a child of the 80's then you are probably can't appreciate the references, but you might be able to relate to the mullet!   Here in Butte the she-mullet is still in vogue...the chicks that rock the she-mullet around here would kick my ass so I will refrain from talking too much trash about the she-mullet, other than the she mullet here is not so much about biz-nass up front and pahtay in the back, but more like pahtay in the front and pahtay in the back - it is a 24 hour pahtay!

Now that the flashback is over, it is time to fast forward 20 years and get back to reality - although that alternate world of the 80's was bubble-gummy fun and light hearted....and I rannnnnnnnn, I rannnnnn so far awayyyyyyy

Singlespeed Bling

I spent some time fitting the new bike on Sunday.  I took my measurements from my bike fit back in 2008 and applied them to the new addition to the quiver.  The build came out really well and I can't wait to get on it and ride.

Unfortunately our weather is forecasting more of that white stuff so any hopes of hitting local trails are pretty much nil for another month or so (at least).

I added pedals to the build on Sunday and then tweaked the geometry (combo saddle height, position, cleat position, etc) so that it fits and feels good and feels like 'home'.

The best part of the build is all of the subtle nuances like matching the headset color to the spoke nipples (red), along with a little red from the carbon fork.  The build will still get a couple of updates when the bars get switched out and the saddle gets switched out (once inventory is in at the shop)...but in the interim, here is some bike bling:

The remaining upgrades/swap outs will still lower the weight a little (will lose about 100 grams on the seat, maybe another 100g if I swap out the seat post at some point, and the bars will also drop a little).  Once totally done, it should still come in at sub 19.  That just blows me away for a 29'r running tubeless tires and sealant...guess I will have to wait to get into some warmer weather later this week to take it out and play...come on out and play sun!

Lynskey Buildsky Completsky

Just picked up the new beast from Helena and mannnn ohhh mannnn is it purdy!   The build turned out awesome and actual weight will be around 19 lbs once all the tweaks are made.  I am still waiting on the bars to come and I will swap out the seat once I have done the True Epic next weekend (don't want to break in a new saddle on a 50 mile mountain bike race)...
Fuzzy pic of current weight (sans pedals)

Once the pedals are added and the lighter bar and saddle installed, it should be right around 19lbs (that includes heavy UST tires and sealant)!  That is crazeeee!

more to come....need some time to bond....

Battery Replacement - Powertap Hub

The inaugural roadie ride of the season came with a slight hiccup as the powertap (a hub/device that measures the power output as you pedal) was not working.  After a little investigation I realized that the batteries in the hub probably needed replacement.  I had replaced the battery in the head unit (the little computer that has the readouts for wattage, mileage, etc) but replacing batteries in the hub proper was a new one for me.

Thanks to technology we can look up just about anything on the internet and sure enough there were some instructions out there.  The only problem was those instructions were for the newer models and my older wired version of the powertap was not as readily available.  It was easy enough to figure it out though.

It entailed removed the rear wheel off the bike and then removing the yellow cap on the non-drive side of the hub.  An allen wrench was the only tool needed:

Once removed, it looked like:

Then it was a function of replacing the batteries and putting it all back together.  The only trial and error portion of all this included making sure the batteries were set correctly.  As you can see on the right side of the hub, it shows a + sign for how to install the battery on that side.  I originally tried placing the left battery in the same position but got no transmission to the head unit.  Once I flipped the battery so it looked like the above picture, everything worked as expected.

Insta-Reaction

As I was watching the stock market melt yesterday it dawned on me once again how the information age has become a tool that shapes how we interpret the world.  It is almost like the chaos effect where a butterfly who flaps its wings in Chile and sets off a chain of events from its wing flapping that creates a hurricane.  This butterfly came in the form of a Euro talking head (and it could have been anyone anywhere) making a comment about the tragedy in Japan.  His comment was along the lines of how things were 'out of control' in Japan.  The sensationalist media latched onto this comment and within minutes it was circulating world-wide and caused a 2% drop in the stock market!  As it turns out, the comment was of course taken out of context and the 'out of control' was meant as a general statement of how unfortunate the circumstances are, as opposed to a comment directed at the radiation issues they are trying to control - which the stock market is particularly twitchy and nervy about.

I think 'out of control' is what the media is.  They have no ability to filter pertinent information and they focus  on to anything that will create headlines and web-site hits.  This sensationalism has gotten so bad that news outlets can't objectively tell the news anymore - even NPR leans a certain way, and they are supposed to be the ultimate objective news outlet.  Everyone has their spin on it and we sheeples follow along ...bahhhhh

We have become used to getting information instantly and we really are trying to drink water through a fire hose. Our puny little brains don't have the capacity to process everything going on.  Technology has out-paced our ability to process the consequences (think kids sexting without realizing the downstream impacts as an example)...this has actually fascinated me as a social study/impact (not the sexting!! but our ability to process how quickly technology is changing and how it impacts our society as a greater whole)

I try to refrain from getting all cereal on the posts but alas my fingertips were a little 'out of control' themselves today as they tickled the keyboard.  It is time for this little butterfly to go back to flapping his wings at work...

Odds & Ends

The Lynskey bike build was not quite ready when I went up to Helena on Friday.  Unfortunately they needed to order a couple of parts (bar and mechanical brakes) to complete the build.  It was good to spec everything else out so we are definitely getting closer.  With a little luck the bike will be ready by this weekend and I can start tinkering with the fit.

I hope to get it so I can at least ride it around a little bit before the True Grit next weekend - there is nothing like getting on a brand new build and geometry for the first 50 miler of the season...Red flags are going up everywhere in my mind but what the heck...life is an adventure so let's see how it all plays out.  My big red flags are being on the bike for the first time during the event, and not exactly having the best fitness going in.  It is what it is and at the very least, it will be good to get into some warmer weather and get on the saddle for a bit.  

Compex - Active Recovery

This past weekend's rides were a step up from the usual mellow 1 hour spins on the trainer.  They were not the long back to back 4 + hour sessions yet but they were back to back 2 hour days which is more than what I have put the legs through in a while.  I ran an active recovery session each evening wondering how it would help to flush out some of the buildup.  The legs felt OK on Sunday, but I figured the better barometer would be on Monday morning after back to back pushes.

My initial thoughts are that it seems to work!  The legs feel decent (not snappy but relatively decent) this morning.  The tell-tale sign is that my calves & hamstrings are a little sore, but the quads feel pretty good.  I ran the active recovery on the quads (and not the other areas) so it makes sense and it provides a point of reference too.

The reality is that these were still relatively short days in the saddle so I will reserve full analysis until the back to back long days in the saddle are part of the training regimen again....so far, so good though.

Elk Park Roadie

I finally got the road bike out this weekend!  The weather played nice, the streets were clear enough of debris and it was time to get out and spin.  I headed up to Elk Park for an easy ride.  For those not familiar with Elk Park, it sits at about 6,300 ft and there is flat meadow for about 9 miles where I-15 runs through it.  The beauty is that it has an access road that hardly gets much traffic and can make for some great early season rides as the itch to get out needs to be scratched.

In the grand scheme of things it is a long, straight, flat ride that can get boring pretty quickly but it beats the heck out of sitting on a trainer for any period of time.  The other bennie at this time of year is that the rest of the roads that are thawing out usually have a ton of dirt on them or are in really poor shape with serious potholes from the winter freezing and thawing cycles.

The ride is always a funny ride because you feel like you are just crushing it heading north for 9 miles and you start to tell yourself you are riding strong...It was relatively easy to maintain a 22-24mph speed heading north without having to put a lot of effort in.  The reality check is when you turn around and head back south on the access road and realize you had the benefit of a nice tail wind...the 22-24 avg quickly drops to the 14-17 range and you are battling the wind the whole way back.  It is a funny thing about this particular geography...the wind is always blowing, and always blowing in the same direction from the south to the north.

It was still a little chilly but good to test the legs and see how they did after putting in a good day on Saturday too.  The back to back pushes are usually a decent barometer of just how in shape or out of shape the legs are in the early season.  I ended up doing a couple of laps on the Elk Park access road circuit and it ended up being around 38 miles in a little under 2 hours.  I would have liked to have ridden longer but ran out of motivation to turn around again for a 3rd lap up there.  The wind beat me down enough to discourage such thoughts...guess the upcoming True Grit will have to not only be a physical smack down but also a gut check to dig deep and push through some mental pain too - "Gee Wiz" (as my old stats prof used to say.  We all hated that SOB as he was just a horrible teacher: more accurately,  he was incredibly smart but did not have the ability to dumb it down enough for us!  I remember the long long formulas and how he would start to erase the formulas as he ran out of space and we would just be left with un-legible scribbles from trying to copy the board at mach speed - and at the end of these rambling formula erasing sessions he would say 'Gee wiz, it is that simple'...mold all of this frantic writing and speaking with the fact that he had a really strong Belgian accent which made his Anglais difficult to understand and we were all just at a total loss).  Whoa, off on a tangent there...back to the ride:

I was not able to get the powertap working on the ride but at least came away with some data points via the Garmin Forerunner.  I will have to spend a little time fine tuning the power-tap and computer to make sure it reads for the next ride.

Come Home To Papa

Today should mark the return of my latest fetish in bikes.  After breaking the old Blur frame from ten years of abuse, it was time to step up.   The bike of choice was a Lynskey Pro 29'r which has been built up as a singlespeed.  It does have the option to swap up hangers so that you can go the geared route too, but considering that it is being built up as a fully rigid setup, I am guessing the geared alternative might just not happen. One of my requirements on the frame was to have horizontal sliders so it would be easy to adjust chain tension.  I wanted to stay away from Eccentric Bottom Bracket design.

I am supposed to head up to Helena at some point to pick up my baby...There are still a few unknowns (mostly due to fit - things such as stem length, etc...) but it is close!  I am anxiously awaiting the reunion.

The build includes DT Swiss hub with Stan's Crest rims for a nice and light tubeless wheelset.  I even matched the spoke nipples color to the headset color: red.  It will be a little 'blinged' out but without going over the top.  For a fork, I went with a DT rigid carbon fork which comes in at a nice and light sub 600 grams.  The thought process was that I pretty much rode a fully rigid bike all of last year since I locked out my fork (since it was such a POS).  As for brakes...nothing fancy - straight up Avid mech BB7's.  Cranks will be the SRAM stylo action - nothing sexy but it should be just fine for now...the cockpit is TBD as is the seatpost and saddle (hopefully my Thompson posts will work size wise).

Pictures forthcoming once I pick up the titanium beast later today...come home to Papa!

Spring Tease

Our weather has warmed up a little as of late and it is hard to tell whether it is the start of a warming trend leading into spring or whether it is just wishful thinking.  Either way, the warmer weather has been a welcome relief.

I suspect that spring might be around the corner as bears in Yellowstone are coming out of hibernation and our pups are starting to shed their winter coats a little.  With a little luck the roads will thaw out and soon enough it will be time to ride outside.  Although our winter has been really harsh on the local roads...lots of changes in temps have led to some scary potholes everywhere that could easily taco a wheel in lickity split time.

Until our weather is consistently warmer and the snow no longer frequents us, I will continue the personal time with the indoor trainer.  It finally dawned on me to switch out saddles on the trainer the other day.  The trainer came stock with a big wide, uncomfy saddle that just did not break in (or break me in) so after 2 yrs of straddling the stock cycleops saddle, it was time to switch it out to something more in line with what is on our real bikes.  The hope is it will make it just a wee bit more comfy to stay on the trainer longer...hope springs eternal I guess  (keeping with the 'spring' theme)...silly puns

Skillzzzz

Thanks Dan-O

love some of the comments on his other videos....  'a bit crackers'

A Hill in Spain from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Bike Alternatives

'nuff said:

a great way to wear your shoes out quickly and whatever you do, don't lay it over!

runbike?

Just in case you can't decide whether to bike or run, there is now an option for you so you don't have to decide...as Rush said 'If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice'.

do we call this new activity ruking?  or bunning?

The only thing missing is training wheels...

http://www.runbike.com/

It is like running on the moon?  

Integrating Compex Into Workouts

As the winter plods along, it is time to start thinking of getting the legs into riding shape for the upcoming warmer months - albeit those warmer months might be few and far between in Big Sky.  For the last couple of years it has usually meant spending some time on the trainer and working on maintaining some fitness for the upcoming riding season.

I have slowly been learning about the Compex e-stim unit and how to integrate the unit into some sort of training schedule (and I use the words 'training schedule' loosely at this point considering the lack of hrs and regular time in the saddle).

The current plan is to do an e-stim session 3 times a week after the regular workout.  The e-stim sessions should be scheduled and or done after your normal workout so that you don't tire out the muscle groups for your primary workouts.  After an e-stim session, I always run an 'active recovery' session on the e-stim to flush out some of the build up in the legs.  So a weekly schedule for me might look like:

Life being what it is, things move around and I often find myself adjusting to a variety of things such as schedule or how the legs feel.  If the legs feel heavy, I will back off and maybe add in extra 'active recovery' sessions on the e-stim if needed.  I have recently be doing 2 weeks on, then a rest week.  During the rest week I will either not do e-stim or do a light version of the scheduled training program.

I am currently running the 'explosive strength' program on the Compex three times a week and after about 4-6 weeks will move to the 'strength' program for 4-6 weeks then the same rotations/timeframes for the 'resistance' and finally the 'endurance' program.  During these phases, I will increase the e-stim around 5-10% a week in terms of numbers during the program.

So it will be a 4-6 week cycle of going from 'explosive strength'-->'strength'-->'resistance'-->'endurance'.
The 4-6 weeks will help the muscles not to 'adapt' to the training.  Our bodies are smart enough to know when they need to adapt and a result it is good to change workouts up and shock them a little (not particular just to the e-stim but to overall training).
I think the biggest bang for the buck will be the endurance training as it relates specifically to cycling.  The key is to manage all these variables so they all synch up to your ultimate 'A' race or taper time frame.  My current schedule is still up in the air because I have not currently signed up for an 'A' race (currently working on a short list).  My first event of the season will be the True Grit in St George (late March) and it will be interesting to see just how much of a suffer-fest it might be considering the lack of ride time and that it will be the inaugural ride on the newly built ride....

At this point it is all just mere speculation on my end and I look forward to seeing if all comes together.  At the end of the day I have to keep workouts fresh or else my mind starts to tune out and get burned out.  Everyone has their own theories based on how their bodies react to certain things so there is constant tweaking, but I have found it is good to have an outline for training.  Having said all this, I am sure there will continue to be a learning curve and am curious to tweak the variables as needed.