Training Day #1 with the TEAM

Although yesterday was actually training day 2 for most of our team, it was my first day with them.  Last week I was off in Miami (but we wont talk about that experience).  It was great to meet everyone I had not had a previous opportunity to meet.  I must say, we have a pretty ROCKIN' team heading to Tahoe.

So for the first few sessions, Coach Brian (nicknamed BIG MAC - will explain later) takes us through drills to help us feel more comfortable on our bikes, and to instill basic techniques to helps us improve.  Here is how the day went...

We arrived at the meeting place at 6:45ish AM.  We were supposed to be wheels down at 7; however, we did not quite make that time. No worries.  As a group we head out to the training grounds.  A nice 5 mile warm up at about 17-19 mph.  Easy ride, easy warm up.

The ride out to the training grounds is pretty nice... great views.  We have been meeting out in Wellington in Polo Country.  Horses everywhere, nice houses, big fields, a light fog settled down... would have made for some incredible photography.  Anyhow, back to training...

So we arrive at the training grounds... basically about 5-6 miles of open roads with almost no traffic to worry about.  This gives us the ability to focus on riding and not on the cars around us.  So we immediately start off with a drill:  Big Mac tells us to peddle with 1 foot out and switch on the way back.  So clipped in with one foot (my uncomfortable left foot) I begin to peddle out.  I quickly learn my peddle rotations are not smooth: click click click is all I hear.  Big Mac tells me to try to find the optimal gear and full rotation to eliminate the gaps.  Much easier said than done. At the end (about 1/4 mile), we turn around and switch feet.  Clipped in with my right foot this time, much better results, but still click click click... So I have some work to do.  (I must say, in addition to the idea of smooth peddle strokes, this exercise will be building my muscles in my hips and upper legs... I felt that immediately...)

Now for the buddy drill.  Ride along side someone at the same pace and with one arm at a time, reach out and hold their shoulder.  One arm riding is one thing... one arm riding when keeping pace and within arms distance of someone else was challenging.  I quickly found out that one side was better then the other... Oddly though, it was when I was only steering with my left (my right arm stretched out holding on to Leanne) that I was most comfortable and my bike stayed straight.  This drill was much harder with my left arm out and my right arm steering.  Weird since I am right handed.

After the buddy drill we did some short distance sprints with quick stops unclipping from the "uncomfortable" foot.  First to explain clipping-in if I have not already...  Like most distance or competitive riders (and even trail/mountain bikers) I wear special shoes that clip or lock on to the special peddles on my bike.  In essence my feet are locked into my peddles.  Why would I do this??  Lots of reasons: speed, endurance, functionality mostly.  For some people, and even for me a year ago, this was a scary thought, being locked into my peddles, what if I have to stop really quickly??  Hence the reason for this drill.  I always clip out with my right foot when stopping.  What if that is not possible?  I should be able to clip out from either foot and stop without falling.  So back to the drill...  From hydrant to hydrant (about 100 feet or so) we would sprint on the bikes, then stop clipping out with (in my case) the left foot.  Although weird at first, I got the hang of it really quickly, and no falls.  Not falling when first trying this is key.  You see, your body is comfortable clipping out one way and automatically will lean that way.  You have to conscientiously tell your body to lean the other way. Thinking and biking is like chewing gum and walking... ok, not really!!

Next drill was Jumps... LOVE but at the same time HATE these....  Jumps are short sprints from a dead stop  in the highest gear (toughest gear) out of the saddle (seat) using the knees and not feet to pump.  This is a very quick way to get your heart rate up.  When we started I was OK: I was able to pump out an 18-19 mpg sprint, stop short, and start again.  From short distance to longer distance, back to short distance, then the longest distance.  Fun, but hard on my lungs.  Half way through the first set I had to stop for the inhaler.  But once my breathing settled, I was much better.  The second set was much better.

This pretty much wrapped up our training for the day.  We headed back the five miles to our meeting spot where we parked our vehicles.  All in all we knocked out about 20 miles... 5 out to the training grounds, about ten miles of drills, and then 5 miles back.  Great training day!!

Today, we went back out to the training grounds for another round of training drills.  Actually we started our day off with a photo shoot and interview for next weekend's edition of the Sun Sentinel Community Section for Palm Beach.  This was fun.  We got about 5 miles in just zipping up and down Lake Worth Road out west while we were photographed as a team for the article. (Make sure you check it out!!!)

Since we had a little bit of time, we headed back out to the training grounds for some more drills.  This time, we worked on a few different things.  Although we did some jumps, we also worked on cornering.  I have this fear of scraping my peddle on the ground as I turn so I have a tendency to stop peddling when I hit a turn.  So with this work out, I started at turns at 15 mph and by the last one I was at 20+mph...  Yes, you can say it... I ROCK!!!  (ha ha ha)

After a short day of drills we headed back to our cars.  Everything was going great.  We were holding a line at about 19-20 mph when POP Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.... Yes..... FLAT!  On MY bike.  JOY!!!  Rear tire at that!  So, what do we do when we flat on a ride, we CALL A COACH...  Coach BIG MAC to the rescue!!  ha ha!  I was more than willing to do this on my own, but also very willing to allow Big Mac to change the tire too!  So a quick tire changing clinic and off we go back to our 19-20 mph ride back. 

Oh so I almost forgot to explain the nickname....  After training yesterday we had a fund raising clinic for the team.  This is where we help team members write letters, organize events, brainstorm ideas....  we did get a ton accomplished.  At the LLS Office, Nicole (our Fun-Sized Campaign Coordinator for Tahoe) told us this story about our fearless coach.  At Tour de Tuscon Team in Training had several slow riders.  As a coach, you are on the hook to stay out with the riders until they ALL cross the finish line.  Well, this group was maybe around 11-12 mph so Coach Brian stopped for a few cheeseburgers.  (Hey, he needed the fuel to finish the race.)  At the next stop, Nicole was there and Brian asked if she was hungry.  Of course she was, she had been out there for 7 hours.  So he pulled a cheeseburger out of the back pocket of his Team Jersey and handed it to her.  So now and forever more, Coach Brian will be known as Coach Big Mac!  Let's hope there are no McDonald's stops in Tahoe!!!