Mike's NEW COHO

Mike Dayton is proudly displaying what will soon be his new COHO bicycle. He has some pictures sent from Chuck of the frame, fork and rack as they are completed.

I have to say, it is almost as cool as hearing about my COHO during the build process. It is very exciting! I'm sure I will see Mike's bike on several rides this year. It will be fun to see 3 (or more?) of them lining up for a brevet in North Carolina. The Coho is quickly becoming as common as Rivendell...at least on this coast!

I thought I would post a before and after of my Coho Randonneuse.

Day 1 No. 2

Need a little motivation? Check out Sr.RKC Kenneth Jay's blog. It has a link to the Denmark Olympic team. The first part on this video features Kenneth training wrestler Mark O. Madsen

Today was workout day 1 no. 2. It seems like form is coming back very quickly. I felt like I could snatch all day. The best part? I didn't feel back pain in the normal spot (left lumbar) at all! I decided to keep the volume low to ensure my legs are recovered from Saturday's ride. I will add 2 more sets later in the week.

warm up:
Jm, Pull ups x 10, swings

3 rounds, 1 min rest between
L/C&J 24K: x 10/10
Row: 10/10
Snatch: 10/10
Front Sqt: 5/5

Then:
Snatch 24K 2x10/10

Hanging leg raise: 3x5

Frostbite Tour

On Saturday I enjoyed a day riding the Frostbite Tour hosted by the NCBC. When I began, I had every intention of riding the century route. Somewhere around the 40 mile mark, I decided to stop at the 100k mark. The day became another day of character building and lesson learning. Ok...they were lessons I already knew. I guess I needed a little reinforcement.

Ride 60

Kettlebell Practice

Why practice your lifts?

Practice separates the resilient people from those that get injured every time they attempt something.
Practice leads to longevity in sport and in life.
Practice helps make you bullet proof.
Practice helps your body find its groove.
Practicing thousands of repetitions of a lift will build efficiency and strength
After thousands of reps, your joints are ready to handle heavier weight.
Practice because Pavel said! Now go practice...Carry on!

Today we worked on technique. We practiced swings, cleans, press, and snatch. These are the basics of lifting. Before we did even 1 repetition, we did some joint mobility and some Z. Practiced BW squats and did some pull ups.

Practice:
Swing 24K 3x10/10, (2)24K 2x10
Clean 2 x 5
Press 24k 3x5 + (2)24k 2x5
Snatch 24K 5x10/10
Swing 24k 3x10/10

Bottoms up holds: 24k 2x30sec

GG:
same as above with 16 k. more clean reps and many many more swings!

We will do initial strength testing next week to get a base fitness level; enabling us the ability measure effectiveness down the road.

Commuting - - a story

My spouse had meetings at a site close to home today. It's a mile or so from the house. She decided to she would commute. It was an adventure for her but she had a blast.

She has a wire basket mounted to the handlebars of her beach cruiser. The basket was loaded with her book bag and everything else she needed for the day. A few blocks from the site, the mount on the basket snapped and everything dumped on the street.

This is where it gets funny. There is a book club at the school where she is teaching. The book they are reading right now, was under the rear tire when she slammed on the coaster brake. This book has a hole in it where it skidded for a few feet. It's fitting and funny because she is not enjoying the book at all.

She didn't take my advice with what to wear with temps in the 30s. She wore her thin leather driving gloves and the fingers were frozen. Lesson learned.

All Systems Go

Today my new training partner and a few other began training. After a brief warm-up and a quick demonstration of the exercises, we were off. Of course we will have to do some tweaking on double G's form. He is doing well for a few 5 minute lessons. Today was a trial by fire.

The common thought after the first round was, "oh yea, that is what it feels like."


Workout: -- I kept the reps low today. I want to be able to train again tomorrow. 10 reps and 30 sec rest is the end goal with this workout.

5 rounds, 1 min rest between
L/C&J 24K: x 5/5
Row: 5/5
Snatch: 5/5
Front Sqt: 5/5

Double G - same with 16K.
Adrian - 24K with 3 reps per set.

Prep for the weekend ride

I'm back from the short break from this blog. I get a little tied up completing the requirements for school. Mission accomplished...for now.

Yesterday I took a plunge and registered for the Frostbite century on Saturday. It is a charity ride and the proceeds go to finding a cure for cancer. So, my lack of real preparation will be worth it in more than one way. The second benefit of the ride will be as preparation for upcoming longer rides.

Ride: 30 miles

Z
JM
Stretching
and....the evil foam roller. I'm literally working out some kinks. It's a good pain though, right?

I enlisted a new training partner/apprentice so, tomorrow we will begin training. Stay tuned.

Workshop Today and other Ramblings

Today I hosted a kettlebell workshop at CrossFit Virginia Beach. It was a great time; always fun to be teaching something. We covered basic strength fundamentals, how to create tension for more power and other Asian/Russian strength techniques. We also covered basic kettlebell lifts: swing, snatch, squat, press and get up. For me this meant demonstration and correction...for three hours.

I feel pretty good. The only things that hurt have been hurting for 3 days. It is pretty crazy, I am able to do high intensity activities and ride my bike for 24hrs straight but if I walk and stand for more than an hour, my back will hurt for days. On Wednesday, we did an inspection at work which required about 2 hours of walking. That did it!

Food:
An interesting tidbit on organic food and other products is on Sara Cheatham's Blog. She writes, "I've come to the conclusion that if it's produced for mass consumption and makes it to the shopper at a "great price," you get what you pay for: the product will be cheap and do the opposite of what you intend it to do." I tend to agree.

Sara continues with an examination of body soap. "What I thought to be a simple and basic product is in fact, not." This is very interesting.

Lunch time madness

The beautiful weather here in VB has led to a new group of people getting some PT at lunch. I think it is just madness. It is a quick 15 minutes of physical activity. Then it's time to eat.
Today there were 4 of us enjoying the 70 degree heat wave. Next week, I think I will bring out more 'toys.'

Practice
5 rounds
Swing 24k: 10/10, pull up 5, hanging leg raise 5

bear push up 3x10
LC clean and jerk 24k x 3 min (the others did planks)

Taco Tuesday

Yes, I actually had tacos...well, a healthy version. Very tasty and filling! I might be on to something here. Here is what I did:

ground turkey with "taco seasoning" (not the store stuff)
spinach - bowl full
tomato - 1
salsa - 2 tbl
cheddar cheese - 2 tbl

I rode the Motobecane today. It is a completely different experience than the Coho. The time and average speed over the same route is pretty much the same. So I ask, why on earth would someone want to ride a bike that places your body in such an uncomfortable position?

Another way to look at it. On a long trip of 10 - 90 hrs, which would you rather sit in(on)?
Racing Bike (Motobecane) = roadster
COHO = Cadillac


Practice:
Ride: 30
Pull up 12,10,8,6,4,5,5,5,
Bear push up: 10,10,10,10 (started during the last 4 sets of pull ups)

Lexington 200K -- Ground Hog Day

The Ground Hog Day Lexington 200k began with freezing temperatures and promises of a heat wave into the 60s. The adventure really began the evening prior as Dean, Byron and I met at Sridhar’s house and carpooled to Lexington, NC. I arrived at an address provided by Google maps unfortunately it wasn’t Sridhar’s. After a phone call I was back on track and soon we were in the fully loaded Prius and on the road. One note, this little car is very comfortable. We were able fit 4 adults, gear and bikes without feeling cramped.

Byron and Lin at start

Tony giving instructions from truck. Mike Dayton(right)

Saturday morning Tony gave last minute instructions and we were off. In the first couple miles, I looked at my cycle computer and realized it was not registering any data. I had a decision to make. I could hang on with the pack; I realized I would get dropped at some point and I would have no clue how far I’d gone. Not a good combination for navigation. I opted to stop and fix the problem. This meant I would not have any company for hours.


When I arrived at the second control (mile 55) I was surprised to see Dean, Byron and Rob D. waiting. They decided that Sridhar had the keys to the car and they might as well wait there rather than at the finish out in the Lowe’s parking lot freezing for an hour. I was very happy to see them. It is far more fun to ride with a group than solo.

Decal on Rob Dayton's bike

We kept a brisk pace after the control; I felt energized. As we rode the group would be splintered into 4 and regroup at the turns. This pattern continued for 70 miles. At one regroup, Dean had a puzzled look on his face. He said, “I want to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Did you see the camels back there?” He was the only one that saw camels and we told him he was absolutely hallucinating. Actually, it was confirmed at the next control, there are camels at one of the farms. This means Dean isn’t crazy!

Beautiful afternoon

Numbers:
Distance: 126
Ride Time: 9:22
Total Time: 11:30~

Jan Mileage Summary

I see stats like this other places. So, I thought I'd share.

January
Distance: 378mi.
#Days rode: 10