That's impressive! What do you think has contributed to your cycling improvement?

Mentally: I set goals. Get in shape. Increase average speed to 20+ by the end of this year. Enter a Cat 5 race by June, 2008, and be competitive in my age class. Enter an olympic length triathlon by the end of next year, finish it and be competitive in my age group.

Physically: I ride a lot, currently 50 - 100 miles / week, soon to be 150 miles / week. In addition, I have now gotten to the condition where I can do intervals and have recently started them. I also run some, swim some (soon more) and I do weights because I do not want to look like a road bike racer like this:

You mean you won't sneak off to Mexico to train and not tell anyone where you are???

Chicken!!!

Did you ride out of the Penn Cycle shop in Eagan? A friend I lift with rides with them on Wednesday nights.

Drex, the next time you speak to your biking friend, please give me the details, time and location, and if that bike shop rents bikes. I would like to ride with them on Wednesday evening when I go there in May. If they don't rent bikes, I may ship one of mine.

If you see my pics, you can tell I am not trying to avoid a steroid urine test...

I play volleyball with him tonight, so I will get you that info.

I have set a big goal of riding with the fast boys on Sunday. If you look back in my journal, I rode with them on 10/21 for 8 miles until the tempo picked up to 25+ and I dropped off. In a pack, I thought I could hang indefinitely at that speed, but I have set a goal of hanging for 10 miles on Sunday. I was real sore Wednesday after a spinning class (HIIT) for cardio followed by a 52 mile ride for endurance. Yesterday, I took my first swimming lesson (aiming for an Olympic length triathlon in 2008) and, otherwise, took the day off. This morning, I did a spin class but that's it for the legs. Tomorrow, I am doing easy mountainbiking. Hopefully, I'll be all juiced up for Sunday.

that's right--- ol GR8 here takes his steriods in the open andmakes no bones about it!~!!!!

you bettah be taken something, cuz I am coming after you man!!! get on the horse, or get the heck out of the way!!!! ROLLIN ROLLIN ROLLIN....

oh, and can I get a hug....

great work lately!!!

They head out at 5:30 on Wednesdays from:

Penn Cycle
2290 Cliff Rd
Eagan, MN 55122
(651) 882-1241

He doesn't think that the store rents bikes.

I get up early and get ready to ride. I strip my bike of all unneccessary stuff.

I ride to the meeting place, getting a 1 mile warmup along the way, but with 100m to go, I flat. I replace the rear tube, but I realize my pump was shot and I threw it away yesterday. A nice chap, Jan, loans me his and I'm good to go. I look around and there are about 30 - 40 riders, including about 6 women.

We take off and go really slow, 15 - 17 mph for a couple of miles, and then slowly pick it up to about 22 after about 5 miles. But no more! There was a nice peloton of 2 abreast and the slipstream was great. There would be occasional surges to 26 - 27, but I hang with them just fine. We finally settle into a pace of about 24 - 25mph and I go past the location when I dropped off 2 weeks ago, feeling great, with a very reasonable heart rate of 120 - 125 at this time. We go about 2 more miles at this pace when pffffffffffffffft - my rear tires flats again! Apparently, when I changed the tire, the tube must have been caught under the tire bead. Oh well. Jan stops to assist and to offer his pump, again, and we ride together another 20 miles.

I had so much fun today, I am gonna make this a weekly ride.

Total for the day: 32 miles at 18.6 mph.
Total for the week: Road: 84 miles, averaging 18.3 mph. Mountainbiking: 4 hours. 2 spin classes: 1.5 hours. Stationary bike: 1/2 hour. 1 hour swimming lesson. 2.8 miles running: 27 minutes.

The really good news is my deep breathing when using the intercostal rib muscles, injured from my collision with a rock on Monday, did not hurt today!

I'm going to Columbus Ohio tonight and am gonna take it easy next week. I'm going to focus on running and swimming this week while out of town. In two weeks, I am doing the Horrible Hundred bike ride, so I need to start preparing for it.

that is quite a bit of bike-- very impressive.

I realize 'you feel' there is little to be learned about the run... BUT- I hope you will realize your brain needs the training BIG TIME. Run more in preperation for becoming the athlete you are striving for.

Not all runners are athletes... BUT- ALL, yes ALL, complete athletes are runners.

my two cents for today. Have fun on your trip and recovery week.

Awesome job! Impressive rides and mileage! I second the running thing FF said. Its really a hard mental game at that point and you need the toughness trained into you to be prepared.

I didn't do much the last two days - resting up from my hard week last week. Worked for about 1/2 hour each day on my swimming stroke and trying to get used to that bilateral breathing stuff. Not easy for me.

Today, I ran 4 miles on the treadmill (too cold to run outside) for 43 minutes (11 minute miles). I was disappointed with the time, but I am pleased I don't get winded, I just leg tired. That will come with time and training, hopefully sooner than later. Also, 15 minutes on the elliptical.

Thursday, I didn't do anything.

Friday, I do a 45min. spin class (true HIIT) that takes my breath away numerous times. At one point during a sprint, the instructor, an early 30's hottie with implants, looks at her wrist HRM and says, "Oh, my, 200, I need to back off!" Her heart rate was 200 and she was able to talk! Above 145, I can only blurt out single syllables and have never hit 160 since my angioplasty last year - partly out of fear but more so because I am completely anaerobic at that point. Unfriggingbelievable.

Today, I go out on my weekly 52 base miles ride. I get there and the only other fast rider is Glenn and he is the only one who can lead the 10 newbies who show up with new bikes. So, I ride the 19 miles by myself and meet up with the others at the restaurant. At breakfast, I realize two of the newbs are hot and I decide to ride with them. But, they are soooooo slow - 14 - 15 mph. I decide to not push it as I'll be riding with some racers tomorrow but decide to maximally use my time and do sprints. I sprint for as hard as I can and as long as I can before hitting my lactate threshold and dying. I hit 28 mph on the flats twice, 27 4 times and 26 twice. My heart rate hits 148 - 152 during these sprints and I am totally winded and need a minute or two to recover. A good workout.

There is another group closer to my house that rides 52 miles on Saturdays that I will try out in a couple of weeks.