Mike's Bike Blog

Here's some links I found interesting this week. The majority of them deal with sports nutrition and gluten free. About 2 months ago I started changing my diet, I started to cut out gluten, I wasn't planning on going 100% gluten free. This meant no bread or cereal. The bread part wouldn't be that big of deal as I had maybe a sandwich once or twice a week for lunch. Cereal on the other hand would be harder as that's what I typically ate for breakfast. I found great alternatives with grits and quinoa, in fact I created a creamy quinoa pudding recipe that has become a hit at our house. I make a batch of it the night before and it lasts for a couple breakfasts.

Going gluten free wasn't a big jump for us, although Jennifer might have a different opinion on that. It has meant added work for her as she has to make bread and tortillas on a daily basis. Since we typically ate healthy anyway it was easier on us to make the switch. I was discussing gluten free at Ethan's Cub Scout party as they were partaking in a pizza party, Ethan ate beforehand and we brought an apple/walnut salad and gluten free brownies. They were quizzing me on how hard it was and kept asking me what I eat when I go out to eat, to restaurants and fast food. They couldn't grasp the concept that we rarely eat out and do NOT eat at fast food establishments. If/when we do eat out it's typically a sit down restaurant and it's usually mexican, so when we cross that bridge we'll have to see.

I'll be covering this a bit more so if anybody has any specific questions on a gluten free sports nutrition angle post away or if you have good gluten free links I should know about send them as well.

Eat Like a Pro With a Low Gluten Diet
Protein Carbs and Endurance Performance Finding the Right Balance
gluten free whey protein miracle
science of bike fitting
core training for cyclists

As you may recall from a recent post for preparation for the Tour das Hugel I wanted to go from 177/174 pounds to 165/170 pounds. I'm happy to report on yesterday's weigh in I tipped the scales at 168. That aspect of my training is coming along perfectly.

I've been able to do this by cutting out not necessary calories. Since I already eat fairly healthy to begin with I cut some calories out of each meal. For instance at breakfast I would have 2 bowls of cereal and a skim milk latte. That would be about 500 calories. I've cut the latte out and on a recovery day or a complete rest day I only have 1 bowl of cereal. Actually I look at what my training for the day will be and that will dictate how many calories I will consume. If I know it will be a lighter day than I try to pull back the calories a bit.

Other ways I've cut calories is by watching the amount of bread that I eat. An example is we had tacos one night and 1 flour tortilla is 130 calories. I can eat 2 easy if not 3 tacos. After 1 taco instead of having another tortilla I opted to wrap it in lettuce. 15 calories for the lettuce versus 130 for the tortilla, plus I cut out other crap that is processed in with the flour.

I believe it is these 2 combinations of cutting some calories overall plus cutting back on days I don't need to consume a full plate of calories is having the effect I'm after. It hasn't been that hard either, I'm not walking around hungry.

The other side of Hugel training is riding up as many hills as possible and I've been doing that as well. I've got my 11x23 cassette on for an added resistance training. I've been doing repeats up Far West and Mesa along with some sweet spot intervals in between. Last Sunday Dan and me did a little hill ride. We started off on the road between Hippie Hollow and Bullick Road and climbed that one and then took the LCRA access trail off of 620 down to the river and up and back up 620 to Steiner Ranch Road. Back up Steiner Ranch Road and ended the day with some hard pulls back on 620. We finished with about 2800 feet of climbing in 2 hours.

Popped into the Hugel site to find it's been renovated and the first thing that caught my eye is that the date has been "officially" set for 11/14/09.

I feel better going into it this year, last year I just wanted to get through it, which I did. I'm not going to put any time goals for the ride, however I want to not suffer as bad and at least beat my 8 hour 24 minute time.

My training plan for the next 2 months for Hugel will focus on hill repeats and endurance. I did a tune up route to gauge where my legs were at today with Andy Webb. We did Smokey Valley, Ladera Norte, Far West, Mesa and Mountain Climb. Plus the ride with Jeff through Bastrop State Park entailed 3300 feet of climbing. Both of these rides my legs felt great and is hopefully a good indication of where my training is at. I'm confident if Hugel was tomorrow I'd be able to get through it again, with probably less suffering. Since my legs are up to the challenge there's one thing I want to focus on and that's to drop some weight. Right now I go from 174 to 177 pounds. If I can get down to 165-170 for Hugel that will help my power to weight ratio and not carrying the extra weight up the hills will be a good thing.

To lose weight I'm not going to significantly cut calories as that will more than likely leave me without the energy to complete my training. Instead I'm going to create a small caloric deficit of 200-300 calories per day. I already eat pretty good so at first I thought this would be hard, but it seems like it will be doable. For example I did not have a Latte in the morning. By cutting it out that's about 180 calories right there. For dinner we had pork tacos and spinach salad. By not having tortillas I was able to cut 330 calories there (110 calories per tortilla).

Using the daily plate, it says my daily intake goal is 2599 calories to lose 1 pound a week and 2,099 calories to lose 2 pounds a week. Whose with me for this year's Tour das Hugel?

Due to the recent rain my game plan going into today's Chappell Hill Bank Classic Road Race was to show up and hopefully the rain would keep the other 49 riders in my category away. At the very least it would dwindle the numbers down and hopefully then I could out sprint everybody at the finish. Of course the weather in Chappell Hill didn't cooperate, as the start approached the sun was coming out and there was very little signs of the rain the days prior. With that plan out the window I'd have to saddle up and go with the plan B.

Plan B was to stay up near the front and see what happens between the last 20 to 5 miles. My main goal was to finish ahead of the wheel truck. Let me get to the meat of this post, what mistakes I made and in the process hopefully it will detail the race.

Mistakes:
1. Didn't hydrate properly: I brought 3 bottles. 1 bottle of Heed (Strawberry), 1 bottle of Perpetuem (Cafe Latte) and 1 bottle of water in my jersey pocket. I also had Endurolytes for electrolye replacement. The plan was to start with the bottle of Heed to get me thru the first hour. At the 1 hour mark take the Endurolytes. The next hour I'd consume the Perpetuem, that should get me pretty close to the finish and if I needed more to drink I would drink the water.

This has worked for me on other races and group rides, but like a dote I got caught up in the race and didn't finish the 1st bottle till around the 1 hour 30 minute mark. I also forgot the Endurolytes until it was too late. At about the 1:45 point as I was countering an attack my left quad started to cramp. Luckily I caught onto the back of the group and was able to sit in and take my Endurolytes. A few miles later I felt fine and thought the worse was behind me.

2. I did too much work at the front. When I was walking my wheels up to the wheel pit before the stop I ran into Scott Dalhover(AT&T/Brain & Spine). He gave me some pointers on the course and some good advice. He said to stay near the front but don't do too much work, he pointed out that the guys that are doing the work early usually don't finish there. He also said I should try to break away somewhere on the last lap.

As it turns out I think I did too much work as I was up front the first 45 miles. I took my share of pulls. There were a few guys that wouldn't pull through at all. They got chastised for their lack of work but still just sat in. I did try to let Bike Barn pull me around as best I can. They had the highest number of riders in the field and seemed to be the most organized. I don't think this was a big mistake I was able to stay with all attacks and gave it a shot at the end.

3. Missed the winning break. I stayed with any attacks and attempts as not to get left out. I especially paid attention whenever a Bike Barn rider would initiate the attack as I knew they were working for someone, I just wasn't sure who they had designated to watch for. Around mile 30 a rider got away and had a 1 minute lead. I tried to initiate a few attacks to see about bridging the gap but I couldn't get anybody to go with me and found a little head wind, more than what I wanted to attempt solo. After one attempt a Bike Barn rider went and he had the legs to get up to the guy who was soloing. I'm pretty sure he caught him. As I saw him go I knew that I missed my opportunity. With the 2 off the front the paced slowed down a bit as Bike Barn wasn't going to pull the pack up to their breakaway rider. It was soon after this point that my quad cramped.

With 5 miles left I felt pretty good and had a decision to make, I could sit in and go for the pack finish and if I was lucky get in the top 10. The other possibility was to leave it all on the course and see if I could go for 3rd place and maybe even catch the 2 that had the minute lead on us. I moved up as the front was still not putting out a hard effort so I easily got to the front. I then stepped on the gas as best I could.

I didn't get the gap that I was hoping for and as I looked back the front of the pack was just a few seconds back. Then it happened, my left leg was in a total knot. It was like my cub scout was practicing his knot tying on my leg. My hamstring felt like it was twisted around my leg, my quad and calf muscle seized up. I was quickly engulfed by the pack and spit out the back. I couldn't apply any power. Everyone dangled just in front of me. The next few miles was absolutely painful, the rollers that I was able to power up with no problems in the big ring had regulated me to shifting down to my 39 and gingerly crawl up. I tried to stand up on one and that was no help, everything started to tighten up, even the arch of my foot was getting into the action.

Luckily I was able to fight through it and maintain 22 mph through the ordeal, but the grandiose notion of a podium finish was dashed. The wheel truck behind me was breathing mercilessly down my neck. The roar of the engine kept me going. I had to push on to stay in front of it. When I got my second wind I started making up time and passed 4 or 5 guys that were getting spit off the back as the pack geared up for the finish.

This was by far my best race to date. I could have sat in and probably made it all the way with the pack, but where's the fun and glory in that. A lot of guys were doing that already, I wanted to give it a shot, lay it all out there. Now I know, I just didn't have it today, but more importantly I learned a hard and painful lesson.  More importantly though I feel really good with my number pinning . In past races the numbers have been too loose and flopping in the wind or a corner came unpinned. At registration I snuck off with an extra 4 pins and used them on each of the numbers. The extra pins might weight me down a little but the added aerodynamics of not having floppy numbers makes up for it.

In a surprising announcement today it has been revealed that popcorn can enhance your recovery time after an endurance event like cycling. My sources also tell me that for the most benefit the popcorn sold by Cub Scouts offers the most benefit. I'm also told that in some people that consumed the microwave light version they lost 5 pounds.

Just by chance my 2 cub scouts are selling popcorn as a fundraiser for their pack.

You can order your popcorn online at orderpopcorn.com, be sure to use TEQ1FWG as the affiliate number.

DISCLAIMER: These claims have not been evalulated by the FDA nor is there any scientific evidence to show any superhuman benefits to consuming Cub Scout popcorn after endurance events or at any other time.

It goes without saying that endurance athletes need to keep a watchful eye on what they are eating. For what you eat today will affect your ride tomorrow or the next day. It seems the old thinking of carbo loading the night before a race is being dissproven. The meals in the days prior to the start are the important ones.

I thought I'd share one of the blogs I read, VO2MAXXED. VO2MAXXED is the chronicals of James and Beth, two triathletes and mainly covers their cooking and nutrition. The site has some great recipe and cooking ideas. I haven't made anything from the site yet, but I plan to try their fish tacos at some point.

I love me a Recoverite shake after a long ride. I even have them for breakfast occasionally. On the Hammer list Steve Born from Hammer gave an approximate recipe for making your own. For my shakes I use 2 cups Skim Milk a single serving of Recoverite and 1 frozen banana. If you are a first time Hammer user I invite you to use the affiliate link below for 15% discount on your first order.

Here's the recipe from Steve Born: 

Every 2-scoop serving of Recoverite contains 32.5 grams of carbohydrates (30 grams complex carbs + 2.5 grams xylitol) + 10 grams whey protein isolate + 3 grams of glutamine.
Every scoop of Hammer Whey contains 18 grams of whey protein isolate + 6 grams
of glutamine. Every scoop of HEED contains 25 grams of complex carbs.

To get a fairly close replication of a one 2-scoop serving of Recoverite (a 3:1
ratio of carbs to protein) you'll need 1/2 scoop of Hammer Whey + slightly over
1 scoop of HEED (the typical "heaping scoop" should be sufficient). To replicate
a 4-scoop serving of HEED use 1 scoop Hammer Whey (18 grams of protein) +
slightly more than 2 scoops of HEED (50+ grams of carbs).

Sincerely,

Steve Born
Senior Advisor
Hammer Nutrition
www.hammernutrition.com