Back to Normal

Things are getting back to normal around here. Tour of Hermann buzz is wearing off and my focus is getting back to training.

I had to do some fancy estimations to my training load chart so not to let it think I was just sitting back in a lawn chair sipping margaritas during the days of the Tour. Otherwise my CTL would have dropped like a rock and my training stress would show positive which I know for sure it is not.

So here is what I look like right now. Running a 67.8 training load after today's workout and a (-6.1) Training Stress score. Feeling good about this, last year my peak CTL was 57. My focus is to keep adding to my fitness and not forcing too much intensity for now.



Plan is to hit up Greensfelder on Sunday, however I don't think that will happen due to the rain, so my back up plan is to join the Red Wheel guys for a long gravel ride.

Next week is a rest week, I'll get fully on top of recovery then next month things take off, three MTB races, finally!

Tour of Hermann year 3 in the books

This year goes down as the best of the three in my opinion. Weather was perfect, volunteers were awesome and from what I could tell from rider feedback all weekend long the racing was perfect for them too.

It was a blast putting this race on. Seeing so many from all over the place come to Hermann to enjoy the town and races is just awesome. I even get to see old friends from up in Iowa where Dawndi and lived before moving here.

My thanks goes out to all that helped me put this race on, my wife especially; she gets to see the race from in side the ropes all year long, she really shined this weekend as my right hand go to person, she is amazing!

There are others that help too for the majority of the year, Michelle and John, volunteer and vehicle coordinators along with the Baumstark brothers who spent countless hours helping me put up and take down a storage shed full of hardware all weekend long. Great job!

Big thanks to Montagues B&B/ BBQ for letting us stage our meetings all weekend long at your place, great to have a spot like this to meet with officials and conduct other pre race meetings... thanks Louie!

And to the 88+ volunteers in yellow shirts, you did an excellent job! Everyone gets better and better at this year over year, the volunteer team is becoming more and more experienced and it shows. Well done, and thank you!

And finally the residents of Hermann who put up with the street closures and inconveniences to there normal routine, thank you, it is much appreciated.

Today is clean up day, paper work and listing the things to help make the race better next year, and there are things that will change to help make thing smoother from an execution perspective. Dawndi and I have already started talking about how we can make Sunday prize payout work better along with many other items.

Again thank to all and we'll do it again next year!

Tour of Hermann - Behind the scenes part 4

Day got started with marking the road race - co-pilot and I made quick work of direction arrows so no one gets lost. Say hello to Hadley, she loves a good drive.



MODOT has done some work on the RR course, many of the winter pot holes have been filled. The views are awesome this year, so much has filled in.




Next, Dawndi and I canvased the crit course neighborhood with no parking and street closure notices. This is always a good time, some like the race and some are not a big fan. That's normal, we all can't be cycling fans.

We had one near catastrophe with a weeding that takes place on Saturday. I won't go into details but lets just say things go heated for a bit.

There will always be one or two things you just can't control that makes life interesting when you put on a race like this. Today that was crit course street cleaning. The city did sweep but the sweeper was not working like it should and ended up breaking down. So that meant it had to be cleaned with brooms. Dawndi and I spent the better part of the day sweeping corners and straights along the majority of the course.

Take a look at this photo, we swept the entire thing like it was your kitchen floor from one to another. Then whent to the next street and did it again and again. So if you see a small rock or two, well that is just the way it is, we did the best we could. Today we have two more blocks to get done then it's ready.

Say Hello to Dawndi, without her help today I may still out there sweeping.

Today is straw bails, no parking signs, street closure equipment placement then pre-packet pick up at Stone Hill Winery tonight.

This will be it for behind the scenes till Monday.

To all the riders and your families/friends, have a great race and enjoy Hermann!

Tour of Hermann behind the scenes part 2

Started the day at 3:30am, hard to sleep when you know you have an inbox full of new registrations to process. Plus I like to see who has signed up. The Cat 4/5 road race is about to fill up and most of the 9 to 10:15am Time Trial slots have been filled.

Part of the event is street management. Many months ago I contacted MODOT to have the bridge and shoulders cleaned for the TT. Monday I made the follow up call, things went OK but they made me nervous as to when they would clean it. I started forming back up plans just in case. My worries were over this afternoon on my ride as I found they had been there that AM, all clean and ready to go.

Now for the crit course. Crews were out yesterday and will be out today working to make it as smooth as they can. Then they will start to sweet the course. Believe it or not, it takes almost all day to clean the crit course with the big city sweeper. Looks like rain on Friday so all will have to be completed by then. Weekend looks dry, cool and sunny!

Checked on the start ramp for the TT today too, here is what it looks like now before we put it together Saturday early AM.

By afternoon I was caught up so I took off for a few hours to ride. The trees are nearly full this year with leaves, last year it was so cold leading up to and on race day that I don't think there was one tree full of leaves. Many will get sun burns I think this year.

Won $7 bucks at t the lottery today! Whoo Hoo!

The day ended with the appreciation dinner for the volunteers. Montague's BBQ served us up right. Many who attend last night are veterans of the Tour, they have helped the last two years and again on board this year. It's fun to ease drop on conversations as they tell tails of there past experiences.

Last day to register is today (Wednesday)

Tour of Hermann - Behind the scenes Part 1

So what's it like putting on a bike race some may ask? It's allot of work, planning and attention to detail but a whole lot of fun to see it come together.

For the Tour of Hermann it all starts almost right after it ends. First thing is getting city approval. That has been an easy one as the City is 100% behind the event.

Then comes contacting MODOT and county officials to make sure they are OK with all the racers on the roads. They too have been great! The riders make the difference here.

Things really heat up come October when it's time to generate funding for the event in the form of sponsors and race magazine sales plus other marketing related items.

One month before race day it's time to get all the volunteers secured, over 88 volunteers it takes for this one and I'm happy to report that all have been secured. I think some of the volunteers have as much fun as the racers, some really like to do this and look forward to it. Once couple enjoys is so much they have "their" corner/intersection for the road race and crit. They own this spot each year until they no longer want it.

Another group comes out of St Louis, one of the departments for the Bank I work for makes is an annual thing, they help with the crit and love it, even when it rains. Volunteers is what makes this event run smooth.

There is a boat load more not listed, that would take forever to list and bore most, but you get the idea; details, details, details.

This week is super busy, I take the week off work to get everything done and ready.

This is command central for the week as I process each rider and their entry.

Yesterday I finished up making signs.

The shed keeps getting bigger, this is where it's all stored and comes out on race day.

As always I like to end the day with a beer!

Check back on Wednesday for more behind the scenes activities..........

Hillsboro Roubaix on a cross bike

Bit of a last minute decision to head over to Hillsboro for the Cat 3 Road Race. Not having a true road bike I opted to race my cross bike. Why not, bumpy roads, bricks and gravel, seemed like a good idea. Made no changes to it, kept my 32 Fango clinchers and gearing was single 42 chain ring on the front with a a 12x27 on the back. I knew going int I would be over and under geared and had elusions of grandeur that this set up would result in a stellar placing; this was about race miles and race level efforts.

My game was played in the back. I wanted to be forced to respond to the changes in speed that are magnified when you are the last rider in the pack. That coupled with the wind power was all over the place. 10 miles in to the 58 miles race I allowed too much of a gap to open up and I began to lose the group, crap. So I put in a 10 min effort to catch back on, came so close but in the end I lost and had to said goodbye to the field. The best thing about this was that within that effort I put out the best 5 min peak power of all time.

I looked back and there were two riders who had also fell off. I waited for them to see if they wanted to work together for a chance to catch back on, they did not want to play that game so I took off looking for other riders who might have fallen off in front of me who wanted to work.

Came up on Erik Seaver who was willing and we worked our way back into town at the base of the hill just as the filed crossed the finish line. While going up the hill I lost Erik so It looked like a solo 2nd lap.

Couple miles into my 2nd lap a few guys from the 40+ group passed by, looked like a 4 man break away. Another mile or two here comes the 40+ chase. I waited for them all to pass then I latched on the back playing the same game as I did before. Stayed with them till the last 5 miles as I again let too big of a gap occur just as we headed back toward town with a tail wind. I put in a good effort to catch back on but did not have the gears to catch.

Ended the day fealing great and accomplished what I came to do. Overall 59th, 14 min back.

Here are the power number any of you power geeks. I had some crazy cadance at times.

RACE DURATION: 2:44:20
Work: 1993 kJ
TSS: 209.2 (intensity factor 0.874)
Norm Power: 232
VI: 1.15
Distance: 56.911 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 873 202 watts
Cadence: 34 201 86 rpm
Speed: 0 39 20.7 mph
Pace 1:32 0:00 2:54 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 406 68 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 967 200 lb-in


Peak 5s (677 watts):
Duration: 0:05
Work: 3 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 157 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 448 782 677 watts
Cadence: 76 83 79 rpm
Speed: 19.6 23.2 21.7 mph
Pace 2:35 3:03 2:46 min/mi
Hub Torque: 150 234 205 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 836 629 lb-in

Peak 10s (615 watts):
Duration: 0:10
Work: 6 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 295 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 535 693 615 watts
Cadence: 90 96 93 rpm
Speed: 19.4 21.1 20.2 mph
Pace 2:51 3:06 2:58 min/mi
Hub Torque: 173 222 201 lb-in
Crank Torque: 481 623 561 lb-in

Peak 20s (536 watts):
Duration: 0:20
Work: 10 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 614 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 319 693 536 watts
Cadence: 83 107 93 rpm
Speed: 18.6 26 20.9 mph
Pace 2:18 3:13 2:53 min/mi
Hub Torque: 81 222 173 lb-in
Crank Torque: 273 623 490 lb-in

Peak 30s (472 watts):
Duration: 0:30
Work: 14 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 0.206 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 693 472 watts
Cadence: 83 125 100 rpm
Speed: 18.6 33.2 24.8 mph
Pace 1:48 3:13 2:25 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 222 137 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 623 404 lb-in

Peak 1min (374 watts):
Duration: 1:01
Work: 22 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 0.432 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 257 538 374 watts
Cadence: 85 102 93 rpm
Speed: 24 28.3 25.5 mph
Pace 2:07 2:30 2:21 min/mi
Hub Torque: 68 131 97 lb-in
Crank Torque: 239 459 340 lb-in

Peak 2min (350 watts):
Duration: 2:01
Work: 42 kJ
TSS: n/a
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 0.91 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 4 633 350 watts
Cadence: 85 186 100 rpm
Speed: 23.1 31.8 27.0 mph
Pace 1:53 2:36 2:13 min/mi
Hub Torque: 1 153 87 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 539 300 lb-in

Peak 5min (305 watts):
Duration: 5:01
Work: 91 kJ
TSS: 11.5 (intensity factor 1.171)
Norm Power: 310
VI: 1.02
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 2.045 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 4 633 305 watts
Cadence: 75 186 91 rpm
Speed: 19 31.8 24.4 mph
Pace 1:53 3:09 2:28 min/mi
Hub Torque: 1 157 83 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 539 286 lb-in

Peak 10min (272 watts):
Duration: 10:01
Work: 163 kJ
TSS: 20 (intensity factor 1.094)
Norm Power: 290
VI: 1.07
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 3.698 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 736 272 watts
Cadence: 59 186 90 rpm
Speed: 12.2 31.8 22.1 mph
Pace 1:53 4:54 2:43 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 222 84 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 706 258 lb-in

Peak 20min (251 watts):
Duration: 20:01
Work: 301 kJ
TSS: 34.4 (intensity factor 1.015)
Norm Power: 269
VI: 1.07
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 7.01 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 736 251 watts
Cadence: 59 186 88 rpm
Speed: 11.7 31.8 21.0 mph
Pace 1:53 5:07 2:52 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 227 81 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 706 242 lb-in

Peak 30min (237 watts):
Duration: 30:01
Work: 427 kJ
TSS: 47.3 (intensity factor 0.972)
Norm Power: 258
VI: 1.09
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 10.348 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 787 237 watts
Cadence: 59 201 89 rpm
Speed: 8.6 31.8 20.6 mph
Pace 1:53 6:60 2:54 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 406 78 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 967 229 lb-in

Peak 60min (225 watts):
Duration: 1:00:00
Work: 808 kJ
TSS: 86.6 (intensity factor 0.93)
Norm Power: 247
VI: 1.1
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 20.724 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 736 225 watts
Cadence: 57 186 86 rpm
Speed: 10.2 36.4 20.7 mph
Pace 1:39 5:53 2:54 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 235 77 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 706 225 lb-in

Building

With zero races this year to date and no races till May the season thus far has been about building a training load that will set me up for September through December. Last month was a good month of training with solid hours and improved power week over week. April is again much of the same. WKO+ has a great tool to monitor training load, the blue line is what I keep an eye on.

167 days till cross

169 Days Till Cross Starts!