Long and Winding Road

Last weekend I finally completed a ride that I started 2 years ago. I say that I started it 2 years ago because that is the 1st time I completed a leg of this ride going from Ramapo to Waywayanda and back. The ride was not too long but involved quite a bit of climbing and I felt strong throughout the ride. The following Spring I rode with a friend from Paramus over skyline drive but we made a diversion and did not go to Waywayanda instead we climbed up and around Mount Peter. and avoided going back over Skyline on the way back.
This year I decide I would do a century over the 4th of July weekend to help get ready for the Livestrong 100 in August. I put out an invite to see if I could have some company on the ride (I didn't get any takers). The 1st 5 minutes of the ride is met with a 1 mile climb that at times has a 14%. While riding on 9W I still was not sure what ride I would do. I narrowed it down to 2 routes Waywayanda or 9W to Bear Mountain. Both rides have quite a bit of climbing, pass some bike shops and have some more remote sections. While riding on 9w I turned left onto E. Clinton Ave that basically set my route for the next 30 miles but I still wasn't a 100% sure that I would make the trip to Waywayanda or if I did would I ride all the way back home. I had a bunch of different options in my head. The day was hot and humid with T-storms in the forecast. I got hit with the T-storms on the way back but only for a 45 minute patch. However my rain jacket was fulfilling its other function as a portable sauna which wiped me out a bit right before I had to climb Skyline Drive again. I completed the full ride and did not take any easy ways I hit all the climbs I knew of on the route. The final stats were over 25k of Elevation and 104 miles of road covered. The pace was slow just under 15 mph and the ride took a total of 7 hours and an additional 1.5 hours that were stops for Lunch, Pickup Drinks, Say hello to a friend at the top of Skyline, and a much needed stop at Starbucks where I spent over $15 refuelling with some "quality" sugar and caffeine. Next weekend I will shoot for Bear Mountain.

My Time with CTS

I originally started training with CTS in the summer 2002 While recovering from a broken collar bone during the time of the tour I had seen an Internet advertisement for CTS (I didn't have OLN back then so went to the web for my daily dose) I decided that it would be a good way to get my training back on track, and salvage the remainder of the season.
(I was racing sport)
The training began with a field test to determine my fitness level, set a base line, and determine Heart rates for the various rides and intervals that make up the workouts. My 1st few weeks were primarily base miles with some tempo rides and a little bit of steady state. I went to Mt. Snow in August feeling pretty good and took 12th place I continued to progress thru the remainder of the year and the last race of the NJSCS season I took 1st. This left me pretty motivated and I trained diligently throughout the winter. During this time my coach had been promoted so I was assigned a new coach he was later promoted and again I was assigned a new coach It was at this time that I upgraded my coaching level and locked in with Coach Darcie. We finished out the 2003 season with a few back to back podium finishes and decided that the following year I would move up to expert a raced expert during 2004-2005 and part of 2006 but limited training time and waining motivation helped me to make the decision to downgrade to sport in the middle of 2006. 2007 was a great season marked with a few top 5 finishes and only one finish below a top 10.

The training with CTS is not easy the field test alone are pretty rough you ride all out for 3 miles for approx. 7 min at about 200 watts then after a 10 min break you do it again.

Looking at ride volume in time as opposed to miles was different for me as well. The 1st week of training I logged about 12 hours of Endurance miles and rides that I would normally do on the weekend because they were 40 miles or so became part of my daily training rides that were between 2-3 hours. I spent more time than I can remember riding the same hills over and over, the same stretches again and again. However it was mostly fun because although it was the same terrain the workouts would vary. A hill that you spin up can be quite different when performing Muscle tension intervals. During the time that I rode competitively my body changed quite a bit most notably my Weight I went from a high 168 to a low before Nationals of 135 with an average weight of 148. At 168 my workouts were with weights and incorporated very little aerobic activity. Food was focused around limiting fats and getting enough protein. With CTS I still did some weight training (more during the winter months) but mostly aerobic conditioning. Nutrition focusing more on Carbs and replenishing Glycogen stores (Ah the glycogen window bring on the milano cookies). I would recommend Chris Carmichael's book Food for Fitness.

Training with Darcie and CTS definitely improved my fitness, my knowledge of how to train,

and my enjoyment of cycling I have and will continue to recommend CTS for individuals looking to step up their training and become a better athlete.

Thanks

Mike