Winding Down

For the first time ever in my short cycling career, I'm still working hard in the middle of August. In the past I've burned out by this point...a phenomenon that was probably more mental than physical. After a short down period after finish the Cascade Classic, my last big goal of 2010, I got right back into training similar to what I was doing before the race with some gym work and mountain bike riding thrown in to ease the transition into the off season and keep me excited about going out to ride every day. According to my coach, I'll probably continue this pattern well into September before taking a couple of easy weeks towards the end of the month and the beginning of October. The logic behind this is twofold: First and foremost this is how the pros operate. Riders in Southern California tend to be out of touch with our racing calendar more or less wrapped up by July. But the ProTour doesn't finish until October. Those guys only get a handful of weeks of downtime before they are on the bike again tuning up for the next season. Because of this they are able to build on their fitness year after year, which is why older Pros tend to have the upper hand on younger guys in their early 20s. In the past, although I have stayed active throughout my off-season, I've had too long of a gap between my last race in August and the beginning of base training at the end of October/beginning of November. This caused me to lose most of the fitness from the season before. The thought behind staying in racing shape for longer is to lose less in the off-season and thus be able to build to a higher level throughout December, January and into the new season. The second reason is more personal. When given long periods of time without structured training, I tend to go a little crazy. This leads me to push myself too much too soon and reach my peak sometime in February rather than April/May. For example, about halfway through November of 2009, after training since the end of October, I put in a couple 4-day blocks of 5-7 hour days (basically shooting for an average of 6 hours a day over 4 days...24 hours...1 whole day on the bike out of 4!). So hopefully, come October I'll be mentally ready for a good rest and willing to take it easy.

So with only a handful of minor races left, I've reached one of my favorite parts of the off-season, planning for the next year! I sat down today and mapped out every single race between now and September 2011. Obviously everything is very tentative as dates change and races get canceled. One of my new goals for 2011 is to race Collegiate Nationals in May, which of course means I have to race as many collegiate races as possible to build up the points to qualify for nationals (the USC Cycling team is weak and has no hope of qualifying as a team). What's ideal about nationals is they are located conveniently the weekend after the Tour of the Gila (at least that was the way the calendar was structured in 2010). The Gila will again be a major goal for me in 2011 and these two goals being so close to each other means I will be able to target this period to peak and carry over all my fitness from the Gila to race nationals. Living where I live there are 3 big stage races (not all NRC, although they should be) within reasonable traveling distance: Gila, Mt Hood and Cascade Classic. This year illness and injury scuttled my plans for the first two forcing me to focus on Cascade. However, in 2011 I'd like to race all 3 if possible. However, whereas in the past they each would have merited a major peak in form (and thus it would have been impossible to do all 3 in one year) I hope to use Mt Hood and Cascade as prep races for even bigger goals. Don't get me wrong, I still want to be in the best shape possible for these races but you always come out of a 5-day stage race with better fitness than what you went in with. On that note...Cascade is only 5 days/6 stages for the Pro/1 category...I'm shooting to get my upgrade at Gila. So...Mt Hood and Cascade are already extremely difficult and prestigious stage races; what could they be preparation for? After a mid-season break in May, Mt Hood will be a tune-up for U23 Nationals (British Nationals!) at the end of the month. And while I'm over in Europe I'd ideally like to race on the continent. Back in the US, Cascade, at the end of July will be a final tune-up for a big race or two in September that I won't name for fear of seeming pretentious. And then it's onto planning 2012...hopefully a plan that will include the words "Europe" and "espoir."

Obviously these plans are very tentative. As 2010 proved, shit happens and plans can be completely destroyed in a split second...especially when much of those plans rely heavily on the plans before them. For now, the most important this I can do towards making 2011 extremely successful is keeping pushing myself in 2010...at least for another month.