The Rest of the Story

Or is it the story of the rest? For that matter, is it a rest week, or just an easy week? So far I have worked out every day except Monday, and gone to "work" every day (which has been neither restful nor easy). Perhaps a politically correct sounding "Reduced Training Load Week" portrays the distinction of this week from all the others best. You be the judge.

Today also marks the final day of March, the first quarter of the year. With New England experiencing a rare spring (typically we go straight from winter into summer within a 4 hour period), April arrives on the heels of some pretty darn hospitable training weather, making it hard to believe that we still have over four more weeks before the real fun arrives in May. I have made peace with daylight savings time too, as the sun is rising early enough that the clock change won't unduly cramp my morning style.

Many topics beg for blogging today. We have year over year training comparisons, oscillations of instantaneous velocity of bicycles on steep climbs and the implications this has on choosing rims, why I love Big Blue Hill, how to survive end of the month poverty by cleaning out your cupboard, and a host of other topics. And beg they shall, because today I need to get to work early to give the man a little extra in his time of need. A short, easy run looks like it will be the only workout on the agenda this morning. This must commence shortly, but first let me attempt to produce something here. Should I divide and conquer, or try to roll all this up and tie it together? Hmmmmm.

Yesterday afternoon marked my first 2006 ascents of Big Blue Hill. At least one of you is now saying "WTF? you are on an easy week!" While this is true, Monday and Tuesday were off the bike, and Wednesday held only an hour spin for the enjoyment of the favorable weather. Big Blue is my power meter. Timing myself on this climb has provided me with an accurate gauge of my cycling fitness for the past 20 years. Having noted a strong correlation between the number of times I climbed the hill and the quality of the race results I produced in the following weeks, it is safe to say the hill has not only gauged my fitness, but had a marked impact on it as well.

There are a number of other reasons I love this hill. Cars are not permitted, except for an occasional service vehicle heading up to the weather observatory at the summit. Nostalgia is another, as even as an 11 year old my friend and I would ride over from Stoughton, walk our bikes up (even with gears, I never rode back then), and bomb down the serpentine asphalt strip dreaming of being Kenny Roberts. When I got back into cycling as an adult, one of the first races I heard about was the Dedham Stage Race. This was 1986, and that year the queen stage did 100 miles worth of laps around "the short loop" (save that story for another post) and finished with a climb to the top of Big Blue. I headed over to spectate from the steepest part of the narrow climb; here I saw my first bike race, including some participants who are now my teammates.

Days like yesterday are what the hill is really all about to me. In the summer, lots of mountain bikers, walkers, and casual hikers use the road and surrounding trails. In the winter, the ski area trucks rumble up and down, and the road is covered with dirt and ice, not so useful for road bikes. Occasionally though, on days like yesterday, on a ride near dusk, I will find the entire area completely deserted. All mine. This was a surprise on such a pleasant day, even at 5:45 pm. The coolest part was the trees and vegetation are still quite thin, yet the road has no leaves or sand on it like it might in the fall. The twisting of the road normally conceals from view what lies ahead, but yesterday there were sight lines I had never before experienced. This enhanced the joy of the ride up, as you could look ahead at the switchbacks like Hampsten on the Stelvio, but it really made the ride down cool, as for once I could let go of the brakes and not fear a ranger coming around the next turn in a Chevy Blazer.

So what was I doing up here anyway? As noted before, I needed a test of my fitness. I figured one or two climbs at 80% wasn't going to cause any muscle damage. Besides, I have my 38x27. This season I have almost 70 hours on the bike, and 19 running. Contrast that to last year's 60 and 5 hours respectively, and one might not expect a dramatic improvement in form. I guess I have been taking better care of myself this year, as I feel awesome, and wanted to find out if it is all in my head or what. Knowing daylight was so short, Thursday morning I spun on the trainer for 15 minutes before loading up my stuff in the car. At 5:25, I made an Office Space early exit and got to Blue Hill and on the bike within 20 minutes. There was precious little daylight, and the insane traffic on 138 restricted my warm up to a few laps of the museum parking lot. I rolled up the hill the first time trying to stay under control and not have too much lactic acid build up in my stone-cold muscles. I felt fine though, even cruising up the steep parts I held my HR to an unheard of on this climb 150 bpm. Without a sprint, I reached the weather station in a respectable 5:56. Hmmmm, maybe I am fit.

Last year on March 31, me and a few mates took some time off from work and rode "The Three Days of da 'Pan." This was a 3 day festival in commemoration of the Driedaagse van De Panne professional race in Belgium, which takes place at this same point on the calendar. For the uninitiated, the Blue Hills lies in Milton, right next to the Mattapan section of the shitty of Borston, so part of our 3 days training was to swing through the 'Pan each day for some homey sprints on Blue Hill Ave. In 2005, which did not turn out to be my worst season ever, my times that day on Big Blue were a not so stellar 6:53 and 6:42. Now this was on my flexi-flyer 'cross bike with fenders, but the wheel/tire combo was not much different than what I used this year (Open 4's and 25/28 Contis). This year I was on my new bike though, but last year I had company to provide a little friendly incentive.

My original intentions were just one test ascent, but since this was done without warmup, and the hill was so enticingly deserted, I headed down and rolled around the parking lot for a few more laps, then made a slightly more focused effort to see where I stood. Certainly not full gas, but probably 90%, starting out on the fairly steep lower slopes standing in the 38x19. I sat through the "flat spot" in this same gear, noting a decent pace at the first time check. From there to the switchback marks a critical area, as for a few hundred meters the grade steepens quite a bit, but you have to stay seated on this part to do a good time. I went to the 21 cog, but kept it rolling well. I stood through the switchback, sat for a few strokes, then stood over the first of the walls next to the guardrail. Where it levels out a bit, I went to the 24, and sat all the way past the ski slope. A second time check revealed a damn good pace. This was an easy week though, so there would be no sprint. I stayed in the 24, standing over the last hump, but keeping up a decent cadence. Yes, there was clearly some speed oscillaition with each pedal stroke at this juncture, but this represents a rare and isolated set of conditions. Rolling through a few upshifts over the final stretch, I stopped the clock at 5:19, just 31 seconds off my all-time record, and this on a 90% effort during an easy week in March. Yowza.

After circling the tiny weather station lot for a few laps of cooldown, donning my vest, I flew down that mofo faster than any time in the recent past. Way cool. It was now dark, so if there were any cars coming up they would have had their lights on. A few more laps of the lot at the bottom for cooldown and it was on to home, where I spun the trainer for another 15 minutes to shake out the legs before dining on Annie's mac and cheese with peas, white beans, spinach, and salsa thrown in there (because this was ALL I had). I think I covered it all. Please excuse any typos or incomplete thoughts. No revisions right now. 6:40, time to run.