What Now?
 

The dearth of anything mass start around here that isn't 35+ or 40+ lead me to a decision to pursue TT's as a competitive outlet. Although I'm purely a sprinter I worked & struggled and over the last couple years managed to at least reach mediocrity. Had a lot of fun along the way. This winter I worked with a great group using a novel mix of some online coaching and group Zwift training sessions. Set 4 year highs for power all the way from 1m to 20m.

In the middle of all this the Zwift Masters TT series I rode last year folded. Pretty cool handicap series. And when the TXBRA schedule came out this year the last local TT series folded. Leaving me with a 1 race season (State TT). Haven't trained hard in about three weeks now, haven't put in my entry yet. Writing up a Craigslist ad for a really nice DA if anyone is interested.:lol:

I don't want to put an end to the gravel bike business :lol:

Golf or tennis...requires a venue to compete and train, much more expensive, more elitist, much greater ass hole factor, dress codes and less welcoming. YMMV

So the Castroville TT series is gone as well as "Joe's" masters racing club.
That just about exterminates masters racing South of Austin.

PS:
@Hermes, you also described today's Austin perfectly:

-Bandera

Yep, that's pretty much the situation.

You can't really describe Austin without talking about the traffic.

Perhaps I'll take up sporting clays, or 3 Gun looks which looks like a blast.

Went out on the TT Bike Saturday and did a couple short 5 min efforts, man did I feel rested & fast. Same Sunday on the road bike, a couple hours with a jacked up SRM reading 0 watts half the ride :lol: So thinking I've got 3 weeks to get ready for the race in Hempstead might as well.

Get an email tonight from the Castroville promoter that they are on for May, July & Aug (I like racing in the heat).

Crushed a VO2 workout. 7x3m, 1:1 which usually kills me. Followed that up with some out of the seat low cadence work. Easy tomorrow then some SS to end the week. I haven't worked as much in the Aero position this year as the last two but I'm settling in w/o issue.

Good news on the return of the Castroville TT series.
Might explain why I saw an unusual number of non-tri TT bike riders out last weekend.
Masters TT racing lives on in S-TX after all....

Have a good race at Districts.

-Bandera

Solid over/under work today, 3x15. That feeling when you are working hard but not struggling or hurting...

Beautiful day in S-TX after yesterday's front came through w/ >1" of precip taking the Mtn Cedar pollen down to "light" and Temps up to the mid-80"s late in the day.
Went out on the winter/wet bike before the roads were dry and did some loops into the hated N-wind for a bit, felt good.
Sat on the covered porch w/ the dog, drank a couple of G&T's and re-read Elmore Leonard's "LaBrava" this afternoon, no one writes dialogue and cooks up the con like EL.

Perhaps I'll drive the roadster over to Castroville to watch the TT and have lunch at Schilo’s Delicatessen.

-Bandera

Track session last night at VSC. Now there are two of us in my age group of 70-74 and we both aged up together. The new guy won the points race at masters track nationals in our previous group at Merrymore by staying in front of the field for the race. So now it is a bit of an Ali /Frazer matchup between us. Last night I got in some solid left jabs with fancy footwork during the sprint lead outs but spent most of the time rope a doping during the 2x40 lap motor games where we had to take laps on the motor. I was down for two eight counts but got back up. However, I am much prettier than he is.

Hermes, envy man. Wish I lived closer to Alkek, I would ditch the road all together. I could live off a weekly schedule of a couple training sessions, a race night and a long road ride. Used to train at the now extinct Dorais in Detroit & even on that cracked up beat up garbage heap riding behind a motor was my favorite way to get spun out.

Early every year I clean up my track bike & get in a couple short rides, just enough to remember how good I feel on a fixed gear. Thinkin this is the year. And every year I realize that I really don't want to spend 6 hrs in the truck to train or race. Back to collecting dust on the hanger along with all the extra cogs/chain rings/chains ...

I raced at the Superdrome in Frisco. I know that track has been taken down. VSC may soon be under siege. LA will host the olympics in 2024. The plan is to build a new track in the soccer field next to VSC or refurbish VSC. You can guess which way the customers and employees of VSC hope it goes. By the time the new track is done, I will age up again...hopefully.

Riding the the Siberian pine at VSC with a tricked out track bike and fast rubber behind the electric motor is a dream. It is like the ultimate Disney ride.

Man I really need to give that a try! That sounds like a total blast. The 300 m concrete oval in San Diego is alright (as you know) but I want to try a fast, short, indoor wooden track.

A little test this morning. Solid 20m building power the whole time with the last half at 240+. Felt like a 90% effort. Riding more by feel/momentum then last year. VI is higher but I think for me it will be faster. 3hrs Endurance on tap tomorrow morning.

I think I'm about as fit as I'm going to get right now so rested = faster. Next couple weeks are going to be speed, a few short VO2 sessions and a longer Z2 ride. Think I'll do another test run next Saturday with the Disc on, race the following Sunday.

The best session for VSC to train in a structured format that includes a motor game is the Tuesday and Thursday 7-9PM session that Roger leads. Roger is an ace on the electric motorcycle and the motor game is 40 laps at the relief line with the first 20 laps at 25 mph and then the last 20 a motor burnout. Participants take laps on the motor during the first 20 laps and of course one can take a lap on the motor during the burnout but the speed increases every couple of laps.

Endurance was on the schedule but I did put some efforts in during the last half. 2 hrs tomorrow then a couple days off for a business trip.

Back to some VO2 work, went pretty well. Going to check my race setup Saturday. Unfortunately both loops I've been timing the last couple years are really beat up due to construction traffic.

Race setup felt OK Saturday, even on the rough roads. Could still feel the Thursday intensity though, legs. Sunday was a solid 3hrs endurance, ended up around 150TSS so not too hard. Micro's Tuesday & no more intensity till Sunday.

The addendum to what now (or the real what now perhaps). Skipped Sunday’s race. I had not been feeling 100% off and on the last couple months, occasionally seeing some unusual HR response (low) in training. All while putting up the best numbers from 1 min to 20 min that I’ve seen in years. So chalked it up to higher training stress.

Long story short a checkup at Primary showed some EKG abnormalities. Initial trip to a Cardiologist who had no major immediate concerns. An ECHO scheduled late this month. I’m just doing some easy rides till this gets sorted. Not mentally in a place where I can go flat out so no sense pinning a number on. State TT this weekend is out, always next year I suppose.

Glad you got checked out.

Well done in monitoring your vital signs, and getting checked out.
A big scare in June from last year that has proven (perhaps) to be Chronic rather than immediately Lethal.
So far, so good.

Be well by keeping at it within reason and Proceed.

-Bandera

Playing the long game

ECHO and Stress tests coming up on Wednesday. Been feeling fine, riding 6 to 8 hrs endurance a week. Keeping it mellow, no intensity. Will be interesting.