While I was out training today I ran into one of the areas top cyclists - Jeff C. Jeff is the kind of guy you'd love to have racing for your team -but because of his business - he may not have enough time to compete with our team on a regular basis. He did however mention that he was training for a nice century ride coming up soon and granted me permission to pass the flyer out to all of you!
So if you are not ready for racing- this looks like a very nice event!!!
woodland calhoun century
The following is a copy of an email that Dave G (owner of the London Bike Shop) sent out to his crew last week regarding the organization of the 2007 Tour De London - I have copied it here for our crew with Daves permission -
Tour de London 2007 • London, Kentucky
The Bike Shop, London, Kentucky
Everybodys Bike Coach - A Professional Online Training Program
Hello Paceliners
Well, this years Tour De London planning is in full swing. We have a monthly meeting to continue our organization efforts and plan the race and the events surrounding it.
This year we wanted to try and build more community involvement in the race. One of the ideas proposed was a Challenge Race, to be held about 2 weeks BEFORE the actual Tour De London.
Here is how it would work:
We would go out to say, North Laurel High School and set up a single lap race around their large parking lot. Its probably about a half mile circle.
We would then line up any 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 people from different civic groups, organizations, schools, clubs, businesses, you name it, and have them race.
So it might be something like; Radio Station 107.3 employee John Doe takes on Radio Station 96.1 employee John Public in a 1 lap race.
Or say, South Laurel High school student Joe Somebody vs. North Laurels Fred Smith.
Or even more fun, Laurel County Sheriff dept. deputy vs. a London P.D. officer.
Or Kiwanis club member vs. Rotary club member,
Or Laurel Cookie Factory vs. Aisin,
The Mayors office vs. the County Judge Exec. Office
Manchester FCC vs. Laurel Co. Jail.
The possibilities are endless.
What we need is a person to help organize this challenge race and contact lots of different groups and individuals about participating in the challenge race. We could get media coverage and all the participants would help bring attention to their companies or departments. It would be great fun, a very upbeat atmosphere, and mostly tongue-in-cheek as far as the actual racing goes. But it would be the perfect attention grabber to increase interest in the real race, the Tour De London.
Well, how bout it. Anyone out there interested in stepping up and taking on a fun assignment. We only need some of your time and your contacts to get the ball rolling. A single challenge could start a snowball effect. What say you? Shoot me an e-mail or a phone call at 606-877-2453.
Thanks to any and all who want to help make this years Tour De London the best it can be.
And please, pass this e-mail along to any and all who might want to jump in and help on any level.
Thanks so much,
- - - goes to Aaron Denny! With out a doubt!!! Wow!
here is his blog:Aaron’s Blog
Cumberland Cycles Crew Team held it's first Club time trail of the 2007 season today at Barnsburg (eight miles) and the turn out was very good! We'd like to thank everyone who came out to participate!!!!
We also owe a special thanks to Jane Evans - Charles Senters and Jenny Denny for timing and orcastrating the event!
The weather conditions for the time trial were marginal! It was partley cloudy and 61 F at the 2 PM start time with a steady 20 MPH SW wind (perfect tail wind out - head wind back) with gusts up to 28 MPH. Everybody's split times were very high for the first half of the course but once the turn was made at the four mile mark - the head wind stopped everybody in their tracks! To give you an example - I was able to get out to the turn around in 40 percent less time than i was able to get back!!!! Wow what a tough and windy trime trail! Thanks again to everyone who participated! Here are todays results in alphabetic order -
Rider time pace(mph-avg)
Aaron 25:13 19.0
Adam B 22:09 21.7
Dave H 25:34 18.8
Dave S 24:13 19.8
DR 25:01 19.2
Jack E 23:47 20.2
Jeff P 21:34 22.3
JT 20:38 23. 3
Rick Rice 25:06 19. 1
Wayne R 27:08 17.7
Course Record: 20:04 23.9
This is the sixth time this time trial event has been held since 2005 and the course record is a time of 20:04 set by Jeff Parmelee in August of 2005. Jeff has also posted another time faster than todays fastest time. Roger Whitock was unable to attend todays event due to sickness but he has posted two times faster than todays fastest time in the past!
I think these are fantastic results and I am personally very pleaesd and very grateful to everyone who braved the brutally windy conditions to tackle this early season marker!
Please print a copy of your time so you can compair it to future 07 events at Barnsburg!
The Cumberland Cycles Crew has been featured in the February Edition of Southern Kentucky "Home and Family" Magazine. It appears to be a very nice article about our team and also our club and our shop - Cumberland Cycles. The Magazine will come out in this Saturdays Weekender CJ but they are available NOW at the CJ office. A great photo of Jack Evans and JT is right on the cover! Be sure to pick up a copy as soon as you can and hopefully we might be able recruit some new riders/racers from this publicity.
I have published a race Schedule from now to the end of March - please visit my team blog for details!
I will publish a General CC News within the next 48 hours - stay tuned -
Unusually cold weather continues to soak our area and everybody's miles are down! That is going to have to be ok because many things are out of our control. Thanks goes out to Jeff Parmeley for hosting a weekly indoor training session at Total Rehab every Thursday night at 830 PM. In weather like this - indoor miles are really important! I have never had the temper to spend much time on an indoor trainer and that is to my demise! Instead of training indoors- I have either forgone training altogether or I have ridden in insanely cold temps. Neither of these courses are favorable to my overall fitness it seems!
Brad Herman and I rode 27miles on Friday morning and the temps never broke thirty. As a result- all of our water bottles froze and we were unable to drink without stopping to actually open the bottle cap! Saturday was a bit warmer as me Harvey Jack and Mark H rode a new loop over KettleHead Road. The temp over the course of the ride was just over thirtyF but it was still fridgid. Riding along the creek- seeing it frozen over was fascinating! How insane we can be!!!
But as cold as it was- the Godzulla Race was held today and I have heard the temps up there were never out of the 20s and there was six inches of snow over the landscape! Nobody from Cumberland Cycles opted to participate and I have not heard how good or bad the turn out for the race was.
Several of our team/club members have been training through the winter and this places them all in striking distance for good finishes in of our early season races. There are many many more club riders who have chosen not to train in this miserable weather. While these riders may not be in good condition for March and April races - by May and June - July August and September- there will be no significant difference between those who have trained all winter and those more intelligent riders who have chosen to take the winter off - personally I have always loved the early season races but as we all know- the more important races usually come later in the year. We are less than four weeks away from blooming Daffodils - so the weather is going to improve very soon. It is time for us to begin to cultivate our new riders and those who have chosen to take the winter off. We need to institute some intermediate/lowkey-fatburning rides - we need to establish at least one "foundation ride" every weekend. We also need to provide fast rides for our riders who hope to do well in early races.
Many of our riders have spent the winter running and swimming in training for triathlons. It would be a mistake for me not to include our tri-geeks in this blog but since i can not run or swim and I have never done a triathlon - I will ask a triathlete to update that fraction of our club here in this blog.
For those of you who have not been able to train this winter - I am personally interested in getting some rides organized for you. This cold weather will break very soon and it will be time to get everybody on the road! Please let me know if you are interested in organizing an intermediate ride and I will post it here -
NEXT CYCLING ROAD RACE -
KY/IN ROAD SERIES (race #1) - March 3
L'Esprit Road Race
NEXT TRIATHALON
As soon as our tri-geeks give it to me
CLUB TIME TRAIL (8 miles)
Jack E has been hosting a club time trial for the last several years and he will be conducting the first TT event sometime before Feburary is over - Stay tuned!
ONLINE TRAINING LOG
Try this: It is very neat! http://www.bikejournal.com/
IN GENERAL
If you have any questions about bicycle road racing or training - please feel free to contact me or any other active cyclist that you know. We have a great bunch of people riding for us and we are having a lot of fun!!!! It doesn't take very long to get good on a bike - just a few weeks; the miracle of the human body!
AS ALWAYS
Support Cumberland Cycles
I would like to thank Bob Brooks for composing tonights team/club entry: Please feel free to email Bob at altrdstats51@yahoo.com
Who is Bob Brooks?: He is currently acting as my cycling coach
Profile:
mtb racing 1990-1996
Road Racing since 1994
Coaching since 1995
Personal Training since 1997
Spinning instructor since 1999
Current USA Cycling Level 3 (Club) Coach
Road: Category 2
Track: Category 3
A smattering of wins through the years. Larger
successes have been in season long points
competitions.
4th overall Indiana Race Series Masters 35+ in 1997
3rd overall IRS Masters 35+ in 2000
2nd overall IRS Masters 35+ in 2004
1st overall IRS Masters 35+ in 2005
Currently work as an environmental consultant by day
and a fitness consultant by early morning and evening.
Also occasionally take on freelance writing
assignments.
JT was instrumental in my becoming a racing cyclist.
for it was he who first showed the way toward
organized training and overcoming suffer-induced self
doubts. JT and his father, Walter T, are two of my
very best friends. Thanks guys.
Cumberland Cycling Crew- An Address From Bob Brooks:
JT asked me to write some training tips for your blog. Thanks JT and thank you all for reading this and subsequent entries. I am honored to share training tips with such an enthusiastic group. If this weather ever breaks, I plan to come down your way for a weekend of riding. Your area is one of my favorite areas in the entire country. You are blessed with fine terrain and low traffic. I'll remind you to appreciate those great cycling benefits.
While coaching other cyclists, by far the most questions I receive from athletes revolve around how to train in the fall and winter; the 'off' season. In today's world of cycling however, there really is no 'off' season. While it is good to take a week or two away from structured training after a long season of racing, experts such as Chris Carmichael advocate getting right back to your training routine no later than November 1. With career, family, church, volunteer and other responsibilities tugging at our time, we simply don't have the luxury of taking extended periods of time away from training. In middle age, maintaining and building on the fitness you have is much easier than letting it all go, only to re-establish the same fitness level by the time the following season ends. In that scenario, you never get any better. So this first entry will offer suggestions on how to get better from season to season.
Many struggle with what to focus on during the winter months and end up training with no focus and no end goal in sight. It's been sort of a haphazard, go-with-the-flow type of
approach to merely get through the winter. Here's my take. Winter is the time to make improvements (gains) for the coming year.
For most of us, time is such a constraint that we do the group rides or track (velodrome) training through the meat of the season and then race on weekends. And let's face it, we all have egos the size of Texas, so none of us are gonna push hard enough on the group rides to blow up and get dropped. Blowing up and getting dropped means riding beyond our limits, which in turn, pushes us to new levels of fitness. So with our egos
anchoring us to the pack, specific training for improvement is very limited during the race season. I hope this makes sense to everyone. In this scenario, it is critical to take advantage of the winter months, to not only maintain, but to improve your strength and power, your fitness level on the bike. Now is the time you make gains.
Many coaches, including Eddie Monnier at http://www.velo-fit.com, Rick Stearn at http://www.cyclecoach.com, among so many others, suggest that while VO2 Max is largely genetic, bike racers can improve the most important indicator of success, that being power output at lactate threshold. Monnier states, "Lactate threshold is an important indicator of endurance cycling performance. Put simply, the bigger your engine, the less taxed you will be at a given effort and the more you will have left when it comes to crunch time in the race."
You can build a bigger engine by doing lactate threshold intervals twice a week. It's a simple protocol. You don't even have to be on the trainer for more than 60 minutes. You warm up for 15 minutes, then ride in your zone 4-5a for 30 minutes, and finally, cool down for 15 minutes. If you are just starting out, you may want to break up the interval into 2X15-min. with 3-min. recovery between each interval. For those uncertain of their zone 4-5a, email me at altrdstats51@yahoo.com and I'll help you establish your training zones. I'm an email away.
Now, this post is getting long, but one other topic needs discussion. The workout above may seem a little intense. The old myth of doing too much intensity during winter still clings to many amateur racers. Guys and gals, we don't race enough to suffer burnout. We don't race 180 days a year, or whatever it is the pros do. And we don't ride 6 hours every day. Furthermore, from LeMond in his 1986 book to Carmichael today, every coach advocates maintaining some intensity through the winter. With the limited amount of time we have available, we have to capitalize on it with quality, not quantity. Improve speed, build a bigger engine; don't be afraid to push yourself now. On that note, I'll close with a favorite quote:
It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena (on his trainer); whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood (think Paris-Roubaix); who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion and spends himself in a worthy cause (winter improvement); who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits (anchored to the pack on training rides) who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither
victory nor defeat.
Some favorite quotes:
"Rope. The gods have a great sense of humor don't
they? If you lack the iron and fizz to take control of
your own life, if you insist on leaving your fate to
the gods, then the gods will repay your weakness by
having a grin or two at your expense. Should you fail
to pilot your own ship, don't be surprised at what
inappropriate port you find yourself docked. The dull
and prosaic will be granted adventures that will dice
their central nervous systems like an onion, romantic
dreamers will end up in the rope yard.....
"The price of self destiny is never cheap, and in
certain situations it is unthinkable. But to achieve
the marvelous, it is precisely the unthinkable that
must be thought." --- Tom Robbins, "Jitterbug
Perfume."
"Men have looked away from themselves and at things so
long that they have come to esteem the religious,
learned and civil institutions as guards of property,
and deprecate assaults on these, becasue they feel
them to be assaults on property. They measure their
esteem of each other by what each has, and not by what
each is." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
With the cold weather pattern we've been in - it appears to be likely that the Godzulla Race on February 10 will be postponed to February 24. If the current extended forecast for Saturday continues to hold - even if they conduct the race - I do not plan to attend. This early season race just isn't important enough to drive three hours up and three hours back only to race in temps less than 30F. There are many more races within the next few weeks - so this will be no big loss. If - by some Universal Intervention - the forecasted temps for the Cincy Area improve - I will certainly go do the race. For now it does not look good.
We are planning to conduct a club Time Trial on Feb 25 and we will post a flyer soon. So this may be our "first event" as a team and that would be nice as well. With this cold weather - I think everybody's miles have dropped and we don't want to kill ourselves to get to a sanctioned race so early in the season especially when none of us have been training particularly hard.
If the Godzulla race does not work out for us - our next official event will be the first road race in the Kentucky/Indiana Spring Training Series: March 3
Regardless of the weather and/or if some of us get to go to the Godzulla Event - the team will be riding Friday Saturday and Sunday this coming weekend. I will post times later in the week.
YELLOW FLAG CLUB RIDE/FOUNDATION RIDE
If you are a beginning cyclist or simply have not been training for a while - please join us for a foundation ride. We will organize a ride as soon as we get a favorable forecast. If the temps are not predicted to be above 40 F by the start time of the ride - it will be canceled. This will be a completely non-agressive ride consisting of 10 to 15 miles at a tolerable place.
ONLINE TRAINING LOG
Try this: It is very neat! http://www.bikejournal.com/
OUR TEAM GOAL FOR 2007
Start several experienced riders in the 2007 Tour De London
IN GENERAL
If you have any questions about bicycle road racing or training - please feel free to contact me or any other active cyclist that you know. We have a great bunch of people riding for us and we are having a lot of fun!!!! And we ain't even racing yet!
SIX DAYS LEFT UNTIL OUR SEASON OPENER! Godzulla Cycling Challenges
With the arctic weather pattern we've all been in - to think that the average high temperature for this time of the year is 46 F is unbelievably warm!!! 46 F would seem like a heat wave to us now!!!!
Despite the very cold temps- Harvey Jack Brad and JT got out for a club ride on Saturday and rode our hilliest circuit - Piney Grove - White Lilly - Hanyes Knob. The high temp was 30 F and some of the north-facing inclines were covered in solid sheets of ice!!! The hill up to Piney Grove and also the one up to Rock Knob were un-ride-able and saw at least three of the four of us walking up the hills - skating as it were - in our cleats! Only Brad - our Mountain bike guru was able to stay upright on the ice! (at the amazment of the rest of us) Harvey and JT both went down on the ice! The wind was also formidable!!! It almost blew some of us right off the road! But in terms of it being too cold - it wasn't and we all stayed warm - basking in the internal glow of great cycling enthusiasm! Harvey's remark made perfect sense - it wasn't any colder cycling in this weather than it would be skiing! What a great way to look at it!
The four of us stayed together and had a very nice and exciting ride. The last ten miles saw Harvey go to the front to give the rest of us a long free ride back in to town with Jack hammering the last significant climb. Brad broke clear in the last 300 meters!
ONLINE TRAINING LOG
Try this: It is very neat! http://www.bikejournal.com/
IN GENERAL
If you have any questions about bicycle road racing or training - please feel free to contact me or any other active cyclist that you know. We have a great bunch of people riding for us and we are having a lot of fun!!!! And we ain't even racing yet!
AS ALWAYS
Support Cumberland Cycles
updated: January 28 - 2007
Cumberland Cycling Crew /Race Calendar
Feb 10 Road Race
March 3 L'Esprit Road Race
March 10 Henryville Classic
March 17 Green River Road Race
March 24 Clark State Forest
April 7 Louisville Fire Fighters
April 15 US Navy Criterium
April 21 Lexington Spring Circuit Race
From Left to Right:
Jonathon Thompson - Mark Henry - Harvey Scheleter - Brad Herman - Adam Borne - Jack Evans - Mark Travis (shop owner/sponser/team mechanic) - David Howard -
Many of our team/club members were unable to make short notice team photo oppertunity and I will list them all at a later time.
The Commonwealth Journal News Paper - Susan Weeldon contacted me Wednesday night and wanted to write an article about our team in the up and coming issue of one of their publications. I suppose those reporters are somewhat overworked because she said that she had a deadline for Friday Morning! So Jack Evans and Marc Travis and I scrambled around to make a few phone calls in order to get a team photo done at the bike shop Thursday evening at 545 PM. I am sorry that we did not have more notice for those who would have liked to have taken part but we had a good turnout with as little as 6 hours notice! Even though the reporters deadline is on Friday - the CJ is sending out their top notch photographer to get some "action" photos of the team for Saturdays ride (weather permitting). The CJ will compose a good article about our team in one of their magazine publications so I hope we get a good turn out for Saturdays ride so Dennis can get some good photos of all of us!
Saturdays ride will start at the Vision Center at 12 Noon and since it is supposed to be cold - we will keep the miles down to about 20 or 30. Please plan to attend wearing Cumberland Cycling clothing (if at all possible) so we can have a good photo session! If you don't have CCC gear - show up anyway as we want all of our riders to participate! This article will be a great way for us to attract new riders to our cause and that is one of our "missions".
OUR FIRST ROAD RACE - FEB 10
A Club Time Trail will be held on Feb 25 at Barnsburg - a flyer will be published soon
The important KY/IN Spring Training Series begins on March 3
YELLOW FLAG CLUB RIDE/FOUNDATION RIDE
If you are a beginning cyclist or simply have not been training for a while - please join us for a foundation ride on Saturday - February 3 at 9 AM from Barnsburg Church. If the temps are not predicted to be above 40 F by the start time of the ride - it will be canceled. This will be a completely non-agressive ride consisting of 10 to 15 miles at a tolerable place.
As the days get longer - we will schedule many more foundation rides!!! But for now - we will have at least one ride every weekend until the weather and daylight time improves! This weeks ride will be hosted by JT - and David Howard.
RECENT RIDES:
With the cold weather - not much as a team has been going on. Thursday nights at Total Rehab has been ongoing
UP AND COMING TEAM RIDES
Friday Feb 2: Brad and JT plan to ride 40 at about noon
Saturday: Feb 3 - newspaper photos- 25-30 miles @VisionCenter at 12 Noon - CCC Jerseys if possible
Sunday:Feb 4 - cold weather - TBA
IN GENERAL
If you have any questions about bicycle road racing or training - please feel free to contact me or any other active cyclist that you know. We have a great bunch of people riding for us and we are having a lot of fun!!!! And we ain't even racing yet!
AS ALWAYS
Support Cumberland Cycles
