Alabama Cycling Camp -- The story so far

So I've been in the south at Alabama Cycling Camp since Saturday after a particularly gruelling journey. too far on too little sleep. Things have been so far so good, but I would jack up the temperature a little if I had a choice! I have kept a log of sorts which I will cut and past below for your viewing pleasure!

Entry 1: I'M JUST AS GUILTY
Training for cycling has changed over the past ten or fifteen years, so I'm told. there used to be a thing called etiquette. Even if you were a junior riding on a long country ride with a bunch of pros, the chances of you getting dropped were slim to nil. Now, it seems the object of the game is to see how many people you can drop, especially if they are new to the sport. How that translates at Alabama Cycling Camp this week, and the fact that it translates at all, is a source of great frustration for me. And as the title of this note suggests, I am JUST AS GUILTY. for those non-cylcists, perhaps I should explain the term "dropped". In cycling, we ride in a group. usually we ride in a line in pairs of two. This way, only two cyclists at a time are forced to ride into the wind. They are said to be pulling, because the rest of us are literally pulled along in the slipstream of the cyclist in front of you. Riding in this way allows you to cover more ground at a higher speed because you are working together. Getting dropped then is when the speed of the lead cyclists gets too high to keep up with, despite being sucked along their slipstream. in an instant, you lose contact with their back wheel (meaning you drift too far back to get the suck) and then it is as though you too are riding into the wind. This tires you out fast and you can either fall off completely and ride alone, or else you are forced to spend a bunch of energy working to get back on. THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING at a camp where we're all just doing base miles. we should not be getting back to camp feeling like we left it all out on the road. But what happens is the famous pissing match I alluded to in a previous post. No one wants to be the one to say "my heartrate is too high--back it off" or "i'm hurting at this pace, let's slow it down". Hence, the vicious cycle. the most frustrating thing is that afterwards, at lunch or stretching, if you mention it, everyone will agree but no one will take responsibility. and as I said, I am just as guilty. It is the competitive drive that makes us into racers that makes us into horrible trainers. For crying out loud, today i was pushing gears in my big ring!! that is BAD because at this time of year, for the sake of your legs and your capillaries and your joints, the bike should feel like it doesn't have a chain on it at all. Use your finger to save your legs! as aldo says. I have been a very bad girl and aldo had it out with me today about it so that's it. From now on I promise to do my best and do my duty. now onto more interesting things....

Entry 2: the Weather
Last year, when I was down in Alabama I must have been spoiled. every day it was perfect cycling temperature (about 17C) and the sun was out. Last night I went to bed fearing I would be blown off to Oz by the tornadoes threatening to blow away Aldo's 100 year old house! On top of the church next door there are sirens that go off simultaneously with the ones in Montgomery to alert the county of tornadoes. they went off three times last night. off in the distance, the night sky was ablaze with the wildest lightening I've ever seen. It went up down and across and was constant. You could see the clouds swirling around when they were lit up. The men of course all pretended to be macho while Michelle and I scurried around getting our shoes on just in case we had to run across the yard to the only basement in the county: the church next door. Big C told us that afternoon that once the sirens go, you've got only three minutes to make it to safety lest you get a one-way-ticket to the Emerald City. the thunder started up and the rains too and this morning we woke up to temperatures at almost freezing. we suited up and went for a ride anyway and everyone was in awful moods. that's what happens when your feet turn into clubs and your fingers and hands are aching. All I could think about was "why am I out here doing this to myself?" But then we stopped at subway and had a sub and I felt better. The sun came out for the ride home at least so it wasn't all bad. 65 miles today to add to the total.

entry 3: Who let the dogs out?
Sorry for the campy title, but seriously: if one more yappy half-wild mongrel attacks my ankle, I am going LOSE IT. One got a little too close today and coach Aldo only convinced him to abort mission by squirting gatorade in his eyeball. It seems most people in Alabama have a mutt or two. If not a half-breed then a full fledged pitbull. I don't know what it is about a pack of lycra clad cyclists spinning by that can rouse even the laziest dog from where he lies, but it never fails. Maybe there is a high-pitched sound associated with spinning gears? Maybe they hate lycra? maybe we don't get special treatment at all and they in fact chase any old thing? As a pet owner though I have to say I don't understand how people can let their chase-happy dogs just roam free. I mean we ARE riding around on the roads which do occasionally have cars on them as well. Not that a pack of cyclists poses no threat either. Last year, a fellow camper Ed ran over a nice Weinheimer. The thing took a chain ring to the gut and was off running in the other direction yelping all the way. Lucky us, his owner was actually at the end of the driveway getting the mail and saw the whole thing. she wasn't even upset. that attitude seems apparent in most places around here. I have seen two or three dead dogs hit by cars just lying in the ditch. I mean, these are peoples' pets! How can they just leave them there for the turkey vultures? Actually it is the same with all roadkill around here. I can't tell you how nice it is to ride by a fresh deer carcass and take in a big oxygen depraved breath of DEATH smell. anyway, in our own neighbourhood there is a pack of dogs as well. I can't figure out which goes with which house, but the one across the street is home to a couple anyway. I saw the owner kick one the other day just because it wanted to come in and was whining about it. When it wouldn't stop whining, she came out with a shotgun and told it "i'll shoot you". It sulked away. the things you witness reading on the porch!!

Entry 4: aren't we in the south?!
The worst ride of my life was about this time two years ago while I was living in the Netherlands. I was new to the area so I didn't want to risk getting lost. I settled on just doing an "out-and-back" style ride. I only had my mountain bike with me, but rode on the road. I went 25km out to a town in Belgium. The weather was warmish, or at least I was dressed properly. I had lots of food and water. Then all of a sudden, it started to rain. The temperature dropped and it turned to snow. My feet turned to clubs and my chainrings iced over leaving me with useless gearing. My water leaked and as I was wearing a camel-back, i had to ditch it or else freeze to death. By the time I got back to where I was staying, I was in tears for the pain and I couldn't walk. It took an hour in the shower before I felt human again, and for the next 24 hours I had a persistent chill. yesterday was the third worst ride of my life. Today the second. It is FREEZING! and we went far -- another 70 miles today. My blood must have frozen in my veins because I couldn't get my heartrate up any more at one point. I even bonked, lucky me. Bonk is that awful feeling of "running on fumes only". Your body literally runs out of fuel and just starts to shut down. It has been a long time since I was that overjoyed to be home again!! at least I didn't cry....Tomorrow, Renee and I are going shopping. Screw this