Bird Chests are Over-rated...

Well, I have been focusing a lot more attention to upper body workouts this winter... I decided to document my physique situation while it is in good form, as I am most likely going to completely abandon the free weights again this spring in favor of a more efficient power/weight ratio... 

For now, however, I am enjoying breaking up my cycling routines with upper-body 'recovery workouts'.   My legs/lungs/heart rest while I push and pull at resistance weight... 

Maybe I won't end up with the fastest indoor TT time this year, but I sure do feel good trying.

Velosport Roller Race

After three straight weekends of roller racing, I will shift gears and enjoy a brief 'off-season'.  While I was happy to be slowly improving week to to week, my competitors stepped up their game, which made it hard to be completely satisfied with an otherwise good performance Saturday in Davenport for the Velosport Roller Race.  Tracy Thompson edged me out to win the event by 1.3 seconds with a 5:10.7 and Shawn Loomis nearly broke my PR in Fort Dodge the next day with a time of 5:01.9.  I feel a little like I did in the picture below taken while I was awaiting a family bike ride (kid pouting on the right)...

It really is an advantage to go last in these events.  I dialed in a time just above Paul Deninger's 5:12.7 time, hoping that would also be enough to stay ahead of Tracy Thompson, and I am sure he used my 5:12:0 time as his target.  There is a reason why pro time trial events let the leaders go last.  If you know what time you need to win, you can use this knowledge to sometimes give yourself a mental boost, pushing yourself past your limit, rather than guessing how hard you need to push.

 Same grumpiness with Shawn Loomis's time... if he would have set that bar prior to our 'east coast' events, that would have definately effected our perspective.   For example, I have already adjusted my training schedule to include less upper body and more lower body strength building routines.

 Oh, well... basically have February off from racing, so I can bust out some retro workouts to go with my retro photos.

VeloSport IA Roller Race Results 23 January 2010

Senior 1/2/3

1) 5:10.8 Tracy Thompson
2) 5:12.0 Chad Bishop
3) 5:12.7 Paul Deninger
4) 5:36.8 Jeff Bradley
5) 6:01.0 Chris Reed

Senior 4
1) 6:21.7 Jon Sulzberger
2) 6:35.4 Larry Howe

Women
1) 6:00.7 Connie Inks
2) 7:12.1 Nikki Fiala
3) 7:48.8 Kim Topp
4) 7:58.1 Deb Wood
5) 11:02.6 Amie Topp

Senior 5
1) 5:38.9 Jason Rettler
2) 5:48.3 Chris Ervin
3) 7:02.3 Ken Hoffman
4) 7:33.8 Steve Brown

Masters 40+
1) 5:35.3 Mark Beatty
2) 5:48.2 Tracy Thompson
3) 5:59.7 Greg Harper
4) 6:01.4 Mike Thompson
5) 6:13.2 Gary Johnson
6) 6:41.8 Landon Beachy
7) 6:46.2 Larry Howe
8) 7:40.4 Vern Rotert
9) 7:43.2 Bob Hayes

Rolling The Rapids Race Report

I had another successful racing experience in Cedar Rapids.  I was able to improve upon my last week's time and edge out Paul Deninger and Tracy Thompson for 1st place overall.  Here is the podium picture/awards...

 Below are a couple of video clips from the race to give you a feel of the scene at Sunday's event:



Official Results:

Category 1,2,3"
1 Chad Bishop 05:15.7
2 Paul Denniger 05:17.3
3 Tracy Thompson 05:21.2
4 Daniel Galles 05:43.3
5 Chris Reed 05:50.5

Category 4
1 Rob McKillip 05:39.6
2 Jon Sulzberger 06:19.9
3 Tom Treharne 06:20.3
4 Theo Loo 06:21.4
5 Dan Swenson 06:22.1
6 Macklin Scheldrup 06:25.2

"Category 40+"
1 Tracy Thompson 05:42.1
2 Rob McKillip 05:51.1
3 Greg Harper 05:58.0
4 Dave Hammer 05:58.9
5 John Adamson 06:09.2
6 Richard Gilmore 06:27.7
7 Larry Howe 06:33.0
8 Jon Sulzberger 06:36.0
9 Landon Beechy 06:47.9
10 Bob Hayes 07:33.1
11 Vernon Rotert 07:50.7

"Category Junior"
1 Vance Fletcher 06:25.1
2 Rory Loo 07:19.6
3 Dana Loo 10:34.1

"Category Women"
1 Connie Inks 06:07.4
2 Kathleen Porter 08:30.3

I am planning on finishing up the pre-season season with the Velosport Roller Race in Davenport this weekend. Hopefully, I can have another good ride to allow for a high finish in the overall series which averages your fastest three times.

Muscatine Roller Race

The 2010 racing/training season is officially underway, as I competed in a roller race today, in my hometown of Muscatine, Ia.    We had a decent turnout, especially for the Master's 40+ division.  There were four entrants in the Cat 1/2/3 division:  Chris Reed, Paul Deninger, Tracy Thompson and myself.  I was able to post a solid time of 5:16.8, which was good enough for 1st place overall.  I also got a chance to test out my new internet video camera... you can anticipate some more video clips in my 2010 race reports.
Below is my entire race...



...John Sulzberger finishing up his Cat 4 race, just over 6 minutes.



... Tracy Thompson during the middle of his Cat 2 race... his effort was good for second place overall.



... Fellow team mate Greg Harper and Bob Hayes tearing it up on the rollers during Saturday's race...



Full Results:
Senior 1,2,3

Chad Bishop 5:16.8
Tracy Thompson 5:26.6
Paul Denninger 5:42.9
Chris Reed 5:59.2

Senior 4
Travis Jass 5:32.1
Jon Sulzberger 6:03.4

Senior 5
Mark Beatty 6:25.1

Women
Kathleen Porter 8:51.8

Masters 40+
Mark Beatty 5:46.4
Tracy Thompson 6:02.4
Greg Harper 6:09.1
John Adamson 6:15.6
Dave Hammer 6:28.6
Richard Gilmore 6:43.3
Larry Howe 6:44.4
Randy Catron 6:58.0
Terry Grapentine 7:19.3
Bob Hayes 7:38.1
Vern Rotert 7:48.3

Upper Body Workouts

I have been focusing more on upper body work this winter.  I understand that the added muscle mass could be a liability with respect to cycling this spring, but for now, I am motivated to 'look' as healthy as a feel. 

Maybe this training approach will actually be better than last year, as I have more recovery between cycling workouts... not sure, but we will soon find out as I have a series of roller races over the next three weeks.

Below is a clip from my attempt at benching 220 pounds. My form was horrible, and this was actually sort of dangerous to do without a spotter.  A can attribute the whole lapse of judgement to a case of 'cabin fever'.

2010 - Let the blogging begin

Welcome to the new year!  Still a long ways before winter is over, but the days are getting longer and the Iowa Indoor TT season is getting underway.  (Ok, I guess they are technically called 'roller races', but Indoor Time Trials sounds cooler).

I plan on doing 3 or 4 indoor races this year, as preparation for the 2010 spring racing season.  General information can be found on our team website.

Last year, I was able to post the fastest 2 mile race time to date, using the current set-up (5:01.4).  Bikeworld does a good job of keeping track of the fastest times.  Yeah, I am sort of proud about that, but no worries, my ego took a beating as the spring season began.  I wasn't able to translate strong fitness into racing success.  However, last year's disappointments will serve as motivation for this year's schedule.  I am even thinking about 'training my weaknesses' this year, as opposed to focusing on my strengths.  Should be interesting.

I wouldn't mind earning enough points this year to upgrade to cat 2.  I can race as a master in events that have pro/cat 1's, so really wouldn't change my racing schedule much, just make my USAC license a bit more prestigious whenever I bust it out to impress the ladies.  (yeah, I know, busting it out in public usually doesn't go over so well.)  I am only mentioning this, so any reader's can have a story/sub-plot to follow. I currently have 13 points of the 25 needed.  Not sure how Ric Paulos retiring as Iowa USAC rep may effect that.  He seemed pretty generous with the upgrades.  Thanks for his past work, he did a great job.

Check back for midwest race reports, training motivation, and random mental mayhem as I continue to 'chase life' one race at a time.