Ygduf

Pretty good! It was great and you rode it perfectly. I think 30 more seconds and I've have caught you, but there weren't 30 more seconds and I couldn't do it, so nice work.

My power data saddens me a little too, because when I look at the pictures of my rivals they have bf% like this



where as I have bf% like



and then I think about how fast I would go if I could get my **** together in regards to diet as well as I do for my training.

*pics so blurry because we climb so fast.

Ygduf

also I seem to have missed one of those yellow stickers. damn.

scheibo

yeah, but look how big and strong your legs are in comparison - each one is like twice as big = twice the power, right?

also, i didn't even have great BF% when I did a dexa scan last fall - IIRC my arms and head(!) had a disappointing amount of fat in them which ruined my average. i wasn't sure how actionable the results were, so i haven't gone back and got another scan to check to see if i've improved any, but i remember at the time trying to calculate how much weight i'd save if i could just cut off my head and still ride.

tetonrider

for a few seconds, at least.

not to mention that pesky brain wouldn't be there like, 'damn, this hurts.....stop!'

i think there's some inverse relationship between intelligence and ability to pedal really, really hard.

hack

At first i read bf% as bikeforums% and was like wut? Then realized it was really bf% and thought about what I ate today and how that negatively affects my bf%.

Ygduf

5th last week.

6th today. much better 6th, though. Was too far back to try and stick with the lead group, but reeled in the 2nd group and actually won out of that one, in front of stars and stripes and a guy I don't like in a state-champion skinsuit.

satisfying. Kicking myself for not being near the front when I knew it would get hard.

tetonrider

fwiw, i was traveling to visit a friend who found a 'body fat center', which claimed to have a DEXA scanner. he was curious and i'm always up for it, so i had a scan done.

it had me at 14 or 15% when i knew (5 years of DEXAs will do that) that i was more like 7, 8%. he (skinny bike racer type) was nearly 20%. for sure he was higher than me -- skinny-fat if you will -- but my point here is that some facilities who do not use the machine properly or calibrate it the right way can be off.

maybe that happened with your scan?

the one i use most (~1x/year) and trust is a university hospital.

revchuck 

I need to print this and pin this up somewhere and look at it every time I whine about how I can't get as fast as the younger guys. Overend is only about two years younger than me. I know he's an outlier, and that I'm genetically mediocre on a good day...but damn, he's a badass.

Hermes

@Ygduf Congrats on a great finish and beating Metcalfe and Profumo.

TheKillerPenguin

I guess this is sort of a race report? We have this ride called the Gunks 10k where there are 10 timed climbs totaling about 10k of climbing in about 75 miles, and then you beat the tar out of each other for the last 20 miles which are rolling downhill and then eat burritos and stuff. Some fast guys show up, some are there for the ridiculousness of the ride. Unsanctioned but sagged, it's an excellent time and the dudes that organize it are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

I started coming down with something on Saturday and yesterday woke up with a lot of congestion and janky legs, but given it is October figured the worst case scenario is I DNF and eat a burrito so I went out to play. I almost dropped out after the first climb but was shamed into continuing, and was able to pretend to be in contention for the overall on the first 4 climbs but my legs went dead and I couldn't fake it anymore on the 5th, gave up and sagged it up the 6th, and got pissed at myself for giving up and attacked #7-10 with what little I had. The 10th climb is 5mi @ 7% and I was able to hang with the top 2 guys up it because we were basically doing tempo while they tested each other so I didn't have to much worry about breathing deeply, and I was reasonably happy I was able to stick with them all things considered.

Anyway I came in third overall and I think doing it while subpar was a valuable lesson. I think my limiters are generally more mindset related so it was probably good that I had to do the thing where you know you're not gonna win but you grit it out and do what you can. I climbed into the sag wagon after the final timed segment though, because I had no business playing bikes yesterday but had already ridden about 5 hours. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

rankin116

Post hurricane cross races are both fun and stupid as hell. Another 5th place for me, working on grabbing those upgrade points one by one!

Racer Ex 

Been one of those years where it felt like I kinda sucked all year and never really got going. Seemed like I was always duct taping my training and bits of my life together. Maybe two rides all year where I felt really good. Mostly that was a lot of life interruptions, unplanned events I got sucked into and the fact that I went November to November without a real break.

Didn't look so bad on paper once I totaled things up. End of the year synopsis:

Race Total 28
Win Total 8
Podium Totals 14
Top Ten totals 22
State Champ 3
State Medals 4
Out of State Champ 0
Natl Champ 1
National Medals 6
National Records 0
DNF 3

Broke the 150 all time win mark this year in July...didn't realize that till I just filled out the spreadsheet. And the 600 race mark a bit later in the year.

All time:

Race Total 609
Win Total 154
Podium Totals 267
Top Ten totals 414
State Champ 22
State Medals 40
Out of State Champ 3
Natl Champ 4
National Medals 14
National Records 1
DNF 83

It's break time....

revchuck 

Glad you're on the other side of the country, I get my ass handed to me badly enough here!

tetonrider

25% win rate & 70% top 10 = pro contract in the mail!

aaronmcd

Teach me to win as much! But it would most likely entail some biological wizardry. I haven't counted but I probably have as many wins total as your one year. And now that I'm racing p12 I'll be lucky to get any more ever unless I go back to the track (where I'm still a 3 and could do 3/4 races on occasion).

Racer Ex 

@tetonrider I'd be taking a pay cut if I went pro. Plus my guess is the market for a soon to be 57 y/o Cat1 is somewhat slim.

Even Trek might think twice

Heathpack 

Technically you did have a National Record this year, I believe. It just happened to get broken 4 min later. Out of your control.

Nice racing, Ex. Racing well despite the swirl of life. Something I aspire to.

Kudos.