Calling out Cousin Mikey....

So since Alberto and Lance are already trashing each other in the european press (see link below) i thought i would take this oppertunity to call out my chicago racing nemsis, Mike "Cousin Mikey" Young of xXx racing, i am coming for you this season and it starts at the Burnham Spring Super Crit, will you be ready??? i got a secert weapon this year.......

Hate Hate Hate (you'd think Bert talked to Ken)

Temporary hiatus

I am neck deep I work related stuff at the moment, invest in starbucks I am personally boosting their bottom line over the last week and a half. So I will return with posts starting this weekend, sorry bout that.

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Speed Workout Week 1-3

This was my first real workout of the week, I felt good but i just didnt have enough to finish the three lap race, when i see 203 bpm on the heart rate monitor i know i dont have much more to give. This is the second time i have done workout, i taped a little video after both workouts to see the difference, i think you can tell that i am not as beat the second time, can you? That's got to be a good sign, right? I am pretty sure i am meeting a couple folks at RVB tomorrow at 7am. 35 degrees in January in the chi is riding weather, two January rides, i have officially lost my mind! Big thanks to Dan out at the north shore wheel and sprocket for hooking up my cold weather gear, i will post on what i wear tomorrow, now its time to eat.

Today:



Last Week:

Todays playlist!

This is what I am listening right now doing the speed dvd!

Click on the picture to enlarge. 

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Spoiler Alert: The Big Dog is Back

Not sure if you guys have been watching the Tour Down Under on VS this last week, but a certain former TDF winner has been pretty active, I mean guy went off the front in a crit.... And if you havent heard he takes a shot at a stage win in today's stage, its going to be great season in pro cycling this year!

You can tell things are a little different this year, so are you going to bet against.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstrong-contador-should-not-be-afraid-of-lance

Lance haters (i'm talking to you ken) feel free to write disparanging remarks are the greatest american cyclist of all time in the comments.

Adjusting the Plan

Who's coming out to ride with me tomorrow???? 7am, Roscoe Village Bikes, about 30 miles nice tempo to evanston, then we will up tick the pace a little and end with a sprint up the tower hill, doesnt that sound like fun??

How to Access On Demand Workout on Comcast

I got a question about how to access the ondemand workouts from comcast, so heres a video on how to find them.

Life Happens

I learned an important lesson about training for an amateur bike racing season, life happens.
Work is making it pretty difficult to get the planned workouts in, I missed my Wednesday workout and I am less than optimistic that my workout today is happening.
So what should I do:
Try and make up the workouts this weekend and do a couple two-a-days?
or
Continue with the plan and realize that the season is about 10 weeks away and that missing one bike workout and a yoga workout isn't going to make or break my season? (I am leaning towards this one)
I would love to see some feedback on this in the comments.
Check out the thoughts of bikesnobnyc on the topic, and the guy "andrew from chicago" who emailed velonews about training without a bike, yeah that's me!

Bike Snob NYC

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Workout Suggestion from Andy Daley of Burnham Racing

Andy Daley is a Cat 2 racer on the burnham racing team, he is also helping provide racing advice and insight to the spidermonkeys during the 2010 Season. Not to mention is kind of famous after the 2009 Chicago Crit, he had the loudest cheering section at the race, it led many spectators to ask "who is andy daley?"



"if you are looking for a killer workout, try riding just under threshold for an hour, but stand and stomp on the pedals for 15s every two minutes. The stomp isn't an all out sprint...more like closing the gap after coming out of a tight corner. Its called the hour of power."

The Enemy!

This is my indoor trainer by Cycleops. Its the fluid 2 and I have had it for two years, It took a while but I don't hate riding it anymore. The longest I have made it on the trainer is just over 90 mins, there are tall tales in the chicago cycling community about guys who have done upwards of 5 hrs completing an indoor century, idiots!

Fluid 2 Link

The Prefect Pedal Stroke

When I got my bike fit from Geoff Scott at Get a Grip in November Geoff informed me that I was pulling my heel up at the bottom of my pedal stroke too early causing some inefficiency. The pedal stroke is very important and a focus of my Speed Training DVD's. So before I started working on fixing my stroke I recorded a video of my pedaling as a baseline to see how much I can improve it, hope you enjoy watching my feet go round and round. If anyone knows how to slow down the video on you tube email me at azens3@gmail.com.





This is a diagram of what the pedal stroke should look like, I'm not too far off but I have work to do!

The Ab Workout

Here is a link to a clip of the Ab workout I do daily, its takes about 10 mins and if you live in chicago and have comcast its available on demand from exercise tv.
Ab Workout

Here are my thoughts after the ab workout today:

Why is Ken so grumpy? And what did the DJ do???

Week 1 Training Plan

Week 1 of Ten Week Training Block

Monday - 1/18 -

Light Spin, 30 mins, HR < 130 bpm


Tuesday -1/19-

Rest, possible Yoga session of 1hr

Wednesday  -1/20-

Vision Quest Speed Workout Week 1-3

Thursday -1/21-

Yoga, 1 HR session


Friday - 1/22-

1.5 hr indoor ride, 45 mins @ > 170 bpm


Saturday - 1/23 - / Sunday -1/24-

Possible Out Ride - 45 miles (weather dependent)

If no out door ride:
1hr Tempo Riding
1 Speed Workout Week 1-3

Recovery Drink

I take endurox a recovery drink after workouts, its a 4-1 carb to protein formula and aids muscle recovery. Two scoops after hard work outs and one scoop after light work outs. I have tangy orange flavor now, its old school.

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My Supplements

During the 2009 season I didn't take many supplements/vitamins but after battling the flu twice since november I decided to kick start my immunity. I picked up a standard male specific multi vitamin call "ultimate man". Nothing too special, but I thought it would be good to start taking a multi vitamin again.
I also want to get some extra vitamin C in my body to boost immunity. I also wanted to start taking quercetin which in some studies has shown to boost performance in endurance athletes. I found a supplement that had both.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercetin


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Mission Statement

Big thanks to our team sponsor!

Goose Island is a great supporter of Spidermonkey Cycling thanks for all the support!

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The 2010 Ride

Here is my weapon for next race season. I picked up a pair of zipps this off season from my buddy nate, the wheels have some great karma. I can't wait to finally ride then!

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My Training Room

Well its actually kitchen/ living room / dining room. Its also the mechanic area, its nice to always have the bike set up and ready to go. The giant TV helps too, thanks to the roommate in nyc at the moment. More to come on what I actually am doing with this blog and my first training video blog should be up sometime after midnight.

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