Friday, December 25, 2015

Looking Ahead To 2016

As 2015 slowly whimpers to an end, I'm once again in a retrospective mood. Let's take a quick look back at the high, lows, and meh's of 2015.

Highs!

The year started off well with a one spot off the podium performance at the Sub 9 Death March. Considering the huge mechanical Aaron and I had right at the beginning in the form of Aaron's tire blowing off the rim, we managed a solid rally and likely would have been 2nd or 3rd if Aaron's tire had not been such a jerk. 

Things continued going well at the Barry Roubaix with a solid 5th place podium finish. Too bad it appears I will be missing this year's iteration. Have to aim for 2017.

In terms of pure mountain biking, I teamed up again with Aaron for the Tr-State 6 Hour Series at Versailles State Park. Not only did we manage a second place in the two man team competition, but the high drama of an extremely close race was very thrilling. Looking forward to doing more of these races next year!

Cyclocross went very well this year. Consistent top ten finishes in my Cat 4 races, which improved into several top 5 finishes as the season closed out gives me hope for next year when I can upgrade to Cat 3 and never see myself get within the top 40 again. And yes, I will continue to ride my mountain bike. Not giving in to peer pressure now.

Lows!

The Gravel Grovel. Nothing more needs to be said.

The Mustcatatuck DINO XC race has turned into my white whale. In 2014 I crashed badly, sheered my saddle off of my seat post and my body hit a tree. First ever DNF in a DINO race. This year, I was bonked before the race was even 10 seconds old and had nothing in the tank and struggled throughout. Breaking a chain on the last lap and running the last 2 miles in to the finish seemed like a fitting end to altogether shitty race.


Meh!

The DINO season as a whole was one big Meh. Cat 2 Open wave was a eye opener, as I expected it would be. I failed to podium for the first time in a DINO season (I'm not counting the 2nd place in the STXC race) and was never able to break into the top half of the wave, always lingering in mid- to back half of the field. I allowed muddy conditions to stymie my best chance of a podium at Potato Creek, and then my own stupid navigation error robbed me of a strong finish at Ferdinand. May not have been a podium, but it would have likely been a 4th place finish. I already mentioned the debacle at Muscatatuck. Certain issues have to be addressed prior to the next DINO season.


Which leads me to.....

THE PLAN FOR 2016!

2015 fell short in many areas. In terms of training, I tried a plan with more steady, longer miles and did little to no interval work. Part of this was a have fun while out riding and the fitness will come with the miles kind of attitude. While I lost weight doing the miles, and felt good generally endurance wise, I did not have the extra spark of intensity needed for a DINO race.

So, the plan for this year is to incorporate more interval/intensity training in addition to the normal base and endurance work. I'm taking most of December off (still riding to work, doing for fun rides) but come January 1, I will set into my plan for 2016. Nothing spectacular at first....standard base miles, still some cross training, as well as some high intensity work. If we ever get snow I'm hoping my base miles will be done on the fatbike. If not....may stick to the road and standard mountain bike. 

What I think will be different are the workouts after the weather gets nicer. When riding inside on the spin bike, I was forced to do high intensity/interval workouts by doing various Sufferfest workouts. I would also simulate hill repeats on the bike when I was watching non-Sufferfest content, such as recorded bike races, etc.

In 2015, once I got outside, I didn't really continue the intensity. I settled into doing my morning 18-20 mile loop before work, but those were fairly mellow rides. Further, I did very little hill work. A staple of my training in past years, I think I only had two or three days when I went out to specifically work on charging up hills.

For 2016, my morning rides around the city will likely continue, although I will identify certain areas for interval work, in addition to selecting days for hill work. Weekends will remain reserved for longer rides on the road and trail.

I would also like to participate in some CIBA group rides. There are several of these rides which start near my home from early spring on forward. While known for at times being dangerous (running signs etc.) these rides also have good training potential and it is always good to ride with people who are faster than you.

So....for training purposes, When January begins I will begin to work on maintaining a good base for cycling. I will also toss in some strength work (twice a week) and running, along with some swimming. The cross training will continue into February, at which point I will begin to increase intensity, particularly hill repeats in anticipation of the Death March on March 14.

Another important component in my plan of attack 2016 is my bike. I have been riding a Orbea Alma Hydro 29er for the past two seasons. This past year I joined Matthews Racing, which has a grass roots discount program which applies to Specialized bikes, including their Epic line (not S-Works). My plan is to order a new Specialized Epic (specifically an Epic Elite Carbon....hence the For Sale post from a few weeks ago) with the team order in early spring. I'm hoping for a push of speed due to the carbon frame, as well as some assistance on descents (traditionally my greatest weakness) from the full suspension.

In terms of races, I will try to focus on the DINO series again, as well as at least two of the Tri-State 6 hour races. There is movement afoot to set up a mid week short track race series. If that happens, I will definitely be there as well. Limiting factors right now are the two trials in April and May. These have the potential of really disrupting the training regimen, while also forcing me to miss the Barry Roubaix, and possibly missing the first DINO race at Winona and a race in northern Michigan called the Arcadia Grit and Gravel that I had hoped to race. I'm also looking into a possible race in northern Michigan in October called the Peak 2 Peak. We'll see how things in 2016 shake out. 







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