[GRRiders] Now I've gone and done it.

[Zach Kaplan]

on 2005/4/13 9:35, Joe Gross at jgross-dbc at stimpy.net wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 13, 2005 at 09:15:50AM -0700, timothy bartoe wrote:

>> All, this has me wondering about a couple of things.  If your riding a brevet
>> pretty much every other week what type of riding do you do in between?  I
>> know this week I'm taking it rather easy to help get over a cold, but I
>> wonder if it's best to do that between each long weekend?  Anyone know of any
>> tricks of the trade?
> 
> I've found that it takes me more than we week to recover completely
> from a really difficult event. It's less about the legs as it is my
> butt healing. Last year I did the ToTF double followed by the
> Knoxville double and my performance on the Knoxville was abysmal,
> mostly due to not being able to get comfortable in the saddle and
> still being tired.

I've done doubles two weekends in a row a number of times and haven't had
saddle pains as I ride a recumbent. I have had knee pains when I do too many
hard rides back to back but the knee pains have been greatly reduced since I
started using Rotor Cranks last year a week prior to the Terrible Two. I
didn't have any knee pain on the TT, a first for me. Now I just need to
figure out a way of doing long rides on hot days without getting nauseated.
I hope the weather is cool on the GRR.

> I once asked Dave Evans of California Triple Crown fame how does so
> many doubles in a row week after week. His answer was that he pretty
> much sleeps all week.

I guess he is retired or unemployed.

> I'd recommend taking it "easy" the weekend before an event that
> matters. What that means could be different for different types of
> riders. For me taking it easy means nothing more than a 200k, and
> certainly not a difficult double. I've planned all my brevets and
> doubles this year with at least one off week between. All my training
> is a 60mi round trip commute to/from work on Tuesday/Thursday plus
> weekends. I find that if I take it easy on Thursday I'm still fresh
> for whatever event I have planned on the weekend.

That sounds like a good plan but my plan hasn't worked out that way. I'm
signed up for the Tour of the Unknown Coast on 7 May, Santa Rosa 400 km on
14 May, Davis Double on 21 May and Santa Rosa 600 km on 28 May. I'll have to
not go particularly hard on any of these rides and focus on just finishing
them at a moderate pace. I should also sign up for the SF 600 km on 4 June
in case I don't finish the Santa Rosa 600 km. Then I can just slack off and
recover the rest of the month of June except it is tempting to try the
Terrible Two again as it will be the original longer course this year.

--------------------------------------------
Zach Kaplan Cycles
Alameda, Northern California, North America
510-522-BENT (2368)
zakaplan at earthlink.net