Of rainbows, power data and San Francisco!

... and why I still like my Powermeter and what I have learnt from the past.

Last week I got a bit carried away and ended up riding 270 immensely pleasurable kilometers. Now that would be a pretty average training week - if I was indeed training. But for a fun week of pedalling, it was standing out amongst all those other average kilometer weeks - none of them reaching 200 km.

AMR keeps telling me to dump my Garmin and Powertap and just ride purely on feel. Me? No gadgets? Oh uh! Nah! Especially now that the Powertap is actually working... and I like my data. I like downloading the ride and I like analysing it. I like the hours and kilometers adding up, I like keeping a record and track. And! Probably the most nerdy thing: it gives me historical data.

Because sometimes, when you are there, right in the middle of it, you might look at the data but don't understand. The numbers might stare you right in the face, scream at you "What the hell are you doing?" but you don't get it, don't speak the language. Because you are doing the training and you wanna get to a goal so badly that your brain blocks out what could distract from achieving it. But a year later, and after feeling the pain, it all becomes clear. Because you now know what happened after!

Look at the chart below. That's last year's data. Remember I was struggling with illness and then got the clear from the doctor that I can train again. Why the hell didn't anybody tell me? Right! I was self-coaching ... and probably wouldn't have listened anyway. The need to make up lost time and get back to fitness as quickly as possible - sounds familiar? As you can see, I pretty much doubled my Training Stress Score (TSS) from April to May and then increased load by another 20% in June. And all this on the back of illness - no wonder I crashed and burnt came August!

And since I'm getting up again at the crack of dawn to ride my bike for fun with friends, I just don't want to repeat past mistakes. The Powermeter helps me keeping TSS and saddle time nice and steady and increasing load only gradually.

But there will be no riding for the next ten days because tomorrow I'm off to a city I have been dreaming of visiting since the age of 13. Hello San Francisco! :)

Aquarius in the fish shop

When I handed the money over the tall glass counter with all the pieces of fish laid out underneath, the nice kid behind the register said: "Hey, the guy out there at the table is checking you out!" It was said in a matter fact, amused kind of way with no hint of sleaze. I still felt annoyed. It was an odd thing to say and I wasn’t sure how to react. The kid, sensing he might have crossed a line, confidently added in an attempt to save it: "He looked you up and down, really!" And while handing over the change and receipt, he demonstrated the look, the once-over. It made me laugh.

Still not sure what to think, I couldn’t help scanning the tables on my way out and there he was, the once-over guy, doing it again. The relieved, almost victorious, call came from inside the fish shop “See!” and the confirmation from me, laughingly, and equally loud over my shoulder: “Yeap, saw it!” ... while I walked away with my paper-wrapped fish in my hand and a schmick grin on my face.

I laughed all the way back to the office ‘cause – let’s face it - with another birthday less than a week away, this may as well have been the last time I got checked out by a random guy in a fish shop!

Why am I telling you all this? Well, it was the highlight of my week ... still wondering why I haven't written much lately?

I do ride my bike and could tell you about the Wednesday morning ride! But that wouldn't be as funny or exciting as the fish shop story. Not for me anyway. Oh, what the heck! Here it is: it started with a magpie head-butting me on the way to town (it is February, right?!), then my friend P braking her chain and, after loading her into a taxi, me riding on alone. It started pouring rain and I got soaking wet and if all that hadn't been enough, a vicious little pincher had his day. He saw me and came charging out of a drive way, puffing his little chest and yapping his little bark and snapping his tiny teeth at my Sidis. Or was it my pink socks, which I was wearing with new-found pride and confidence, that had set him off?

... no need to comment on this post by the way ... and if you do, be kind! ;-)