Don't put those snowshoes away yet

March 2nd and holding true to the old adage, I woke up to over a foot of snow today. I should really look into cross country skiing like Hilljunkie so that when it snows, I'd actually get pumped up. Snowshoeing will have to do in the interim to make the best of what Mother Nature throws at us.

I got sick for the first time in over 3 years last weekend and boy was it a doozy. I think maybe the rides of DTV (that's dubious training value for those of you at home) caught up with me to the point where my immune system was supressed enough to allow for something to get a hold of me. Basically it was several bouts of fever, the runs, and achy muscles. Yeah it wasn't fun. I believe it lingered through this past weekend as I was waking up with a stiff neck/headache and so I diagnosed myself with viral meningitis. It's not even in the same ballpark as its evil twin, bacterial meningitis. Viral meningitis is also referred to as aseptic meningitis. Whatever the case, I'm feeling better and:

A Weekend of Dubious Training Value

What was I thinking you ask? I wasn't. Because if I had, I most definitely would have thought twice about doing either of these rides, particularly with fixie extraordinaires Rocket and Manimal. But ah, life is about adventure and what better way to journey than on your heavy winter bike-up monster climbs, in a ridiculous gear, in the middle of February?

After taking Thursday off, Friday I decided to sneak a quick leg workout in at the gym. It was tame enough but the problem was that I hadn't been in the gym in a week and a half so yup, I was going to be sore. And sore I was. I woke up Saturday morning and was in a major "spot of bother" when I went to put my socks on. This was going to be a long day. I was to meet Manimal and maybe Rocket at noon for what would be a low-key ride- I hoped. But "low-key" or "keeping it mellow" are not phrases that neither of the aforementioned abide by.

Thankfully Rocket was tied up with work so it would just be Manimal and I meandering through the hills of Litchfield County on yet another windy February afternoon. These two have a habit of going at each other and I unfortunately get caught in the crossfire. Besides that, the only problem around these parts is that you really can't go on a flat ride unless you drive down to New Preston, pop your beach cruiser off your car, and do laps of Lake Waramaug.

Manimal and I "decided" that we were going to hit Warren Hill Rd. (Rte. 45) which takes you from Rte. 7 in Cornwall back up to Warren. Manimal was going on vacation so he seemed to feel he needed to go away with a good ride under his belt. Wonderful. He had me video him at the bottom of Bunker Hill on our way out to Warren Hill attempting to break his max cadence PR of 210 something rpms. I'm not sure if he hit it, but it's really something to see someone pedal that fast. I'd post the video but I'm sure he'll use it as fodder for his next post here. It actually is quite unnerving watching these types of descents.

I pulled when I could when we got down to scenic Rte. 7 because my legs were about a -2 out of 10 and we were still five miles from the base of the climb. When we got to the turn (at a hair over 20 miles on the left profile), I basically told James to go at his own pace as I wouldn't be much company given my current state of affairs. The climb isn't terrible by any means, but it basically maintains between 7 and 11% gradient for almost 3 miles. Watching Manimal out of the saddle in the 42x17 was inspiring so I had to at least do it in the 19, right? Given that I just had to pre-fatigue my legs the day before and I "couldn't" down shift to the 23, this was perhaps the worst pain I've ever experienced in my legs while on a bicycle. I called on any available fiber in my lower limbs to turn the pedals over. The only other time my legs felt like this was when I was in high school and I would ride my old 10 speed to a neighboring town, run hill repeats on the ski slopes, and ride home. It's funny how you don't remember self-induced pain because who would honestly do half the stuff we do on our bikes?


So 10-15 minutes later it was over and the rest of the ride went off without a hitch, though every riser we hit on the way back to the shop felt like I was one of the horses being whipped by Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur. Of course, when we got back to the shop, we just had to tell Rocket of our exploits or shall I say, idiocy, if you're not into climbing huge hills in way too hard of a gear. I think something in us likes to defy the common training logic of "base miles" in winter.


Well, that was Saturday. I took my lovely Valentine out to eat that night where I downed my favorite recovery meal- steak, garlic mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. I was hoping my body would pull whatever it could from what I ate and when we got home I was tired of being tired so I drank a quart of FRS. I swear this stuff works. I went to bed early that night hoping for a good night's rest because Sunday was a date with the Rocket. Before I fell asleep I wondered where I could get some EPO.


I got to the shop late Sunday because yes, I was filming a commercial. It turns out that Em's cousin Karl works in the advertising department of a local cable company and he needed people on film stating what cable station(s) they watch. I was able to wear my cycling kit and of course, my line was "Cycling, on Versus." I'm kicking myself for not bringing my camera to capture this because Karl said I was quite good. This is reassuring in case I go pro and have to peddle useless products to the American people.


Not to be outdone by the Warren Hill Climb Saturday, the Rocket threw down the gauntlet and boldly stated that "We should do Carter." For those familiar with this climb, it's usually one we reserver for July, not the February. It is absolutely brutal. Carter winds up the same ridge as Warren Hill and attains the same vertical in about a mile or so less distance. When you take the left off 7 onto Carter you immediately strain your neck if you dare to look up. Not 20 feet past the stop sign you're hit with the first of two "steps" that average between 15 and 18%. The only problem is that the space between the steps "levels off" at 10%. Beyond that it gets worse in sections, particularly the switchback at aptly named High Watch Farm where you're a tick below 20%.


Given what I had done the previous 2 days and in particular, the pain I experienced just yesterday, I began to wonder on our way out to Carter if in fact I could do it without walking or even dying. Before the dreaded turn skyward, I pretty much did everything short of bribing Rocket to not do Carter. "We could do 341 (a less steep climb back to Warren)", I begged, tears streaming down my face. Ok, maybe not quite like that but his reply was "341 will be worse." He wasn't budging, so Carter it was.


Once we hit the turn we were committed. Getting over the first two humps really tenderizes the go-go sticks and I honestly thought the Rocket was going to pack it in. To his credit, he kept churning over that 17 as if he was a marionette being controlled by a 92 year old arthritic puppeteer. I was doing my own Mauricio Soler imitation. I stopped looking up after a while as not only was I fighting my own pain, watching the Rocket suffer seemed to exacerbate mine. With each pedal stroke I was only traveling 49 inches. So as you can imagine, at 20 or 30 rpms, this one was going to take a while. I remember almost dipping below 3 mph at one point and I began to wonder at what minimum speed I could "achieve" before I tipped over.


So we crested the climb nearly together as I was able to sit and turn the 23 over as the grade came down to single digits. We looked like a couple of sopping wet bath towels slung over our bikes at this point and admittedly I took a perverse pleasure in witnessing Rocket breathing laboriously as I came up to him. He always seems to mask his pain or maybe he figured he'd let it out for once seeing that he just pushed a 42x17 up freakin' Carter. My average HR for the climb was 171 with a max of 183 covering about 850 ft in 1.7 miles that took about 12 minutes. I wasn't setting any speed records with that gearing for sure and I was hovering around my LT the entire time. I guess maybe I'm getting stronger because the suffering was nearly as bad last year in a 39x25 with a lighter bike, body, and fresher legs. To my surprise, Rocket did later suggest that we do repeats on this climb at some point with our better geared bikes. Ouch.


It's funny how at a certain point you become one with the pain and it becomes this transcendent experience. That's what I felt Sunday. I kept remembering a line from one of my favorite books, The Long Walk: "The limits of human endurance are far beyond what you they think they are." Not particularly profound, I know, but testing those limits is what I've always enjoyed. The bar keeps getting raised and the next adventure awaits.

How to gain 1.8lbs in 8 minutes by Alex Combes

Work yesterday was busy to the point where my dietary intake consisted of 7 cups of coffee. I had my usual Kashi mixture with ground flax (great by the way) at ~6:15am and I didn't get out of work 'til 7. Needless to say I had a glucose headache from hell and I was ready to eat myself into a food coma.









Pre-food orgy, 7:18 pm



The last thing I felt like doing was cooking so ABC pizza it was- 1 whole meatball grinder with a small Greek salad.

Post-food orgy, 7:26 pm

I honestly felt like a lion that hadn't eaten in a week (well in my case, 13 hours). I don't think I really enjoyed it as my only sole purpose was to inhale as much food as possible to quell the hunger pangs asap. Breathing was optional.

So yeah, I apparently ingested 1.8lbs of food according to Em's Weight Watchers scale. Not that I'm a weight weenie or anything (yeah sure, Alex), but it makes you wonder why people spend so much green lightening their rigs when they can just dedicate a little more energy to lightening themselves. I didn't go crazy with my weight last year. I think I probably averaged 147-148 in the heat of summer and I might have hit 143 after a particularly tough ride. I hoping this year to hold 143-145 and with my rig tipping the scales at ~15, Alex + bike will equal what I weighed at this time last year- 160.

Awesome video

Maybe I need to invest in a helmet cam for when I ride up in the Barkhamsted area where my buddy and I got buzzed a couple weeks ago- blind in the right eye or not.

Go eff yourself, Phil!

That's Punxsutawney Phil, in case you were wondering.

Yesterday I was looking for inspiration anywhere I could find it. Temps never got above 22 degrees here all day and the flag was whipping violently when I poked my head out at 3:15. Unroadbikeable roads meant MTB with Nokians would be the recipe for the day. Shitty weather, 30+lb. bike with studs, and thrashed legs from previous day gym session (yeah, I went to the gym, sue me) would make for a lovely ride, no?

I was in a no-win situation, really. The road conditions meant MTB, weather conditions meant hills to get HR up and keep warm, and legs condition meant go home and watch Family Guy for 2 hours. I managed to get dressed without letting thoughts of not riding steer me otherwise. This was going to be a 2 layer under the jacket ride for sure. I opted for the chemical toe warmers on top of the sock only. Usually a sub 20 degree day would warrant the double dosage (top and bottom of foot) but I figured the new LG 0 degree boots I got the other day would be sufficient. Besides, Bicycling says they're rated to 5 degrees...

I personally think that the Nokians are perfect for roads like these with intermittent patches of frozen slush. I ran higher pressure so that turning them over on the clearer roads wasn't as much of a chore. The one time I took them off road at the Res they just seemed to cut into the snow. I had to drop them to ~25 psi to get anywhere.

One positive I took from the ride was that it was still significantly light out until about 5:10 or so. Yes! I didn't have to throw my helmet light on until about 5:30.

If you look real close at the dirt spot, it looks like Ryan Seacrest. Ok, maybe not.

The last 5 miles of the ride started to really suck as my fingers and toes were numbing with each passing minute. The ice cream headaches were setting in on the descents and my water bottle was reduced to yet another slush puppy. Speaking of slush puppies, I think I may have to start doing some sort of upper body training again. I was getting thirsty at one point in the ride and stopped to drink only to find the top of the bottle completely frozen. I tried forcefully unscrewing the top and I pulled a muscle in my forearm/bicep. Pathetic.

I completely underestimated the length/overestimated the speed of the ride. Given how cold it was, I should have done a better job of mapping the route. I think final metrics were 25 miles, 12.4 avg., 3100 ft. of climbing- not too bad all things considered. I'm happy to report that the LG 0 degree boots held up fine though the last half hour started to get painful. Who's stupid enough to ride for 2 hours in that weather anyway?

Bike Rage Update

No, I haven't exacted revenge on the perpetrator of the buzzing I wrote about the other day. My buddy and I did decide to pursue legal action (he actually made the call) as this guy's antics seem to be a persistent problem in the area. I was particularly troubled as I often do long rides out that way solo in the summer. Anyway, the resident trooper ran the plate and eventually got in contact with the guy. In a rather strange twist of fate, it turns out that the guy is legally blind in his right eye! Are you kidding?! He apparently provided documentation of his poor vision to the investigating officer. In addition, the guy apologized profusely for his transgression and offered to apologize to us in person. I'm assuming the story is legit because the investigating officer has a reputation of being thorough.

I thought this was a case of yet another disgruntled driver who's had it with cyclists. Boy, was I wrong. I don't know if this makes me feel any safer knowing that a guy who's half-blind (literally) is driving around narrowly missing cyclists. Unfortunately, all the guy has to do is pass his driver's tests (both written and practical) and he's legally able to drive. The outcome of this incident made me feel weird; It was the last thing I expected to hear. I liken it to getting punched in the face by a baby. You're pissed for a split second 'cause it hurts and then you're like, oh yeah, you're two. The positive that came out of this is that the authorities were notified of a dangerous driver- whether intentional or not. To all the Rednecks out there I chastised in previous post: my sincere apologies. Can I buy you a Bud?

Weather I like it or not

It's funny the things that I really never thought twice about before I started riding. These include but are not limited to the following: wind, rain, sleet, snow, light (lack thereof), road conditions, and idiot drivers (previous post).

The wind Saturday was atrocious. I swear some wind gusts topped 35 mph. On top of that, every turn Brian and I took the wind was directly in our face. What's up with that?! I looked down at my computer at one point on the flats and I think I was managing a whopping 13.5 mph! I'll bet we had the wind at our backs for a total of 15 minutes of the 2+ hour ride. We were coming over the top of this one riser and we immediately dropped over 5mph of speed- kinda like when you land on a runway and the pilot hits the retro thrusters. Saturday's ride was eerily reminiscent of a ride he and I did last winter where it was in the 20s with comparable winds. The route over Mt. Riga Rd was unrideable so we ended up riding around the mountain thus equating to a nearly 4.5 sufferfest. I needed over a week to recover from that one. Suffice to say it was the hardest ride I've ever done. Also suffice to say, Brian was scarred from said sufferfest and refuses to ride with me in anything less than 30. I can't say I blame him. He did come out Saturday; I'm sure my "C'mon, the sun is really warm" helped my cause.

So why ride outside in the Winter? I guess theres a bunch of answers to that question. While I realize that there is inherent training benefit to riding on the trainer, I can't stand it. I believe that the trainer in a way gives a false sense of fitness: There's no substitute for the feeling of pedaling your ass up a climb. I don't want to ever lose that "oh, this is weird, haven't been on a bike in a while" feeling. I think alot of it for me is the whole adventure thing. When I go outside in whatever Mother Nature throws at me, I often think to myself whether I'm going to make it back alive. A little extreme, I know, but sometimes it's almost true (previous post). I guess I feel like a warrior braving the elements, though the "fixies" should probably receive that title. I'll settle for warrior-in-training.

Sunday was 20+ degrees warmer and I had the "luxury" of hooking up with the Rocket. When you're used to riding in 15-20 degrees and all of the sudden it's over 40, it kinda throws a wrench in the whole what to wear process. Rides are never easy with the Rocket so if I dressed on the light side, warming up wouldn't be too difficult. We "kept it mellow" for most of the ride so the pace was actually quite comfortable. Everything was fine until the hill addict in me had this bright idea of exploring this road we'd never been on. Here's the profile of the ride:



You can see at about the 24 mile mark where shit inevitably hit the fan. It was really a shame because Angevine Road started out tame enough- a nice, mellow serpentine road laced with intermittent rollers and beautiful views of the surrounding farmland. Unfortunately, I didn't take in alot of my immediate environs as I kept my eyes straight ahead and when Rocket says, "Oh look at the guardrails going up the side of the mountain," I knew we were in for a boatload of pain. As we rounded the corner he continued, "Do you have your camera? 'Cause this one could be a walker." I didn't have my camera so I wouldn't be able to catch the Rocket falter if he decided to bail but he has too much pride to give up anway and was putting everything he had into turning over that 42x17. When he thought of paperboying it, and I did glimpse him having a notion, he continued on his path as if he knew I was watching him. I was fighting my own battle. I started into the climb in my 42x19 (to stay close to his 17 and feel like a man) and about 10 pedal strokes the woman in me rationalized that there was no way in hell I was going to make it. Hey, I'm new to all this gear-mashing business. I somehow shifted down to the 21 without snapping my chain and continued up the 17+% grade at ~5 mph. You really learn how to pull up on the pedal at times like this as you're doing anything humanly possible to turn the pedals over. Funny thing is that my HR was only about 170 during this crisis on wheels- the 10 minute tea party with Mr. Anaerobia, however, was not enjoyable. We crested the climb together when the grade lessened as I was able to turn the 21 over at a "reasonable" cadence- "reasonable" meaning 30 rpms. We looked at each other as we were recovering, shook our heads in disgust of the suffering we just put ourselves through, and continued on. The pace up the ensuing climbs was rather calm by Rocket standards. He would later admit, "I wasn't the same after that climb." Rocket, neither was I.