TD 2011 Training Entry #1: Ain’t No Tailwinds In Texas

Dang…less than three measly months to go before the TD and I’m just now getting around to my first real training post for 2011.  I’ve let my gajillions of faithful readers down.  What would Charlie Sheen say?  I bet it would be something along the lines of:

“I’m tired of losing all my gold into the fucking ether-sphere of fucking stupidity. My thing is fucking gold and platinum and diamonds and every other precious fucking gem that falls out of fucking losers buttholes.”

Thanks Charlie.  That is my absolute favorite quote from your crazy ass.  Well the truth is that even though I haven’t been posting much, I’ve sure been training as much as a full time job and family will let me.   However, since this is my second time around the block, I seem to have lost that former desire to detail every training excursion while taking loads of pictures to document them.  I mean, I’m a big bad Veteran now, so I suppose things that seemed monumental to me before no longer seem worthy of detailed, individual analysis.  Or maybe I’m just type-lazy. 

Whateva the case, I’m just gonna kinda mash together everything I’ve done, training-wise, up to this point.  My next post will detail my changes in gear/components.   If you’re a starry-eyed Tour Divide noob reading my site for the first time, and you’re wondering how you might build yourself up from a bacon-jacket wearing couch fixture to Tour Divide competitor, read my 2010 training posts, for I was once a top model for Bacon Wear Unlimited. 

If you don’t already know, I live in a town called Deer Park just southeast of Houston, TX.  It’s FLAT.  No, dude, I don’t mean that the climbs are short and/or not very steep.  I mean there ARE no climbs.  At all.  It’s FLAAAATT.  You can stand anywhere you want and still see things 20 miles away with the naked eye.  That is, if the smog is not irradiating your eye holes that day.  This is the worst environment you could ever train in for a race like the TD.  Besides being ultra-flat, it’s also eye-wateringly polluted, searingly hot, heavily humid, and chock full of obese, angry drivers.  It is a steamy cesspool of land that I like to call The Armpit of America (Florida is the arm).  And I live here.  Are you weeping for me yet?   

As much as I’d love to get away from here for some “real” TD training, I simply don’t have the vacation time to travel somewhere “good” and get in hundreds of miles of elevation riding.  Just like last year, I must save every bit of vacation time for the actual race.  So what’s a fella to do?

The Texas Hill Country is my answer.  I make the 3+ hour drive out there on weekends anytime I get the chance so I can take advantage of the rolling terrain.  It’s not much in the way of elevation, but at least there is some decent climbing, clean air, and lots of lonely country roads.  And WIND.  Holy hell, is there ever wind! 

A quick word about Texas wind:  it hates me.  It loathes even the imperceptible recesses of my soul.  When I ride North, it blows from the South.  When I turn back South, it blows from the North.  Yep, it spontaneously changes direction based on MY heading, defying the laws of nature specifically to pulverize my sanity.  And if you think I’m kidding, then you have not peer-reviewed my highly scientific analyses of the situation, whereby clumps of grass and loogies are hurled into the air and their flight patterns are observed and cursed at.  Doesn’t matter where in Texas I’m riding…Austin, Houston, Dallas, Big Bend…the wind cares not.  It is always in my face, and its ferocity increases when I’m least in the mood for it.   Check out the video below…it’s from a recent trip to the country east of Austin when the winds were blowing at 30 mph all damn day:

That was a fine day indeed.  I was woken up that morning at 4:30 AM by a rain storm that should not have existed, according to various meteorologists.  Based on their stellar predictions, I hadn’t set up a rain cover over my bivy, and I got soaked real quick.  So I got up and began riding, only to be assaulted by relentless headwinds, which persisted all day long.  And there I was, pushing against it with all my might, because I’m trying to get faster.  After 103 miles of that, I was toast.  Just absolute toast.

And that brings me to my main topic of the day: gettin’ faster!  That has been my focus since late last year, and I’ve had mixed results.  Before TD 2010, my training was focused more on endurance than speed.  Back then I just wanted to make it for the long haul in one piece.  But then I raced the TD and found that, physically, I held up extremely well.  I felt that I had more to give.  I felt that, assuming I could lose some gear weight and some body weight, I could push a little harder and move a little faster.  So that’s exactly what my training has focused on.

During my 100+ miles rides in the Hill Country, I’ve been pushing harder, taking fewer breaks, and eating less food (because I suck at eating while riding).  The results…yeah I’ve definitely increased my speed, routinely finishing my hundys 1-2 hours faster than last year.  But I feel much more fatigued afterwards, too.  The legs and knees are crying for a day or two afterwards.  As it stands now, I couldn’t imagine keeping a pace like that for multiple days.  Hopefully, if I keep ballin’ out, it will get easier and easier.  If not…screw it!  I’ll just race TD 2011 at a much more enjoyable pace for longer hours per day.  Hell, I can barely sleep out there anyway.

 So here’s a good week’s training for me right now.   It’s not ideal, but it’s pretty much the best I can muster up with a full time job and family to consider:

Monday
12:00 PM – Spin cycle for 40 minutes during lunch break
6:00 PM – 25-30 mile ride, full TD kit

Tuesday
12:00 PM – Spin cycle for 40 minutes during lunch break
6:00 PM – 25-30 mile ride, full TD kit

Wednesday
12:00 PM – high intensity weight training for 40 minutes during lunch break; upper body

Thursday
12:00 PM – Spin cycle for 40 minutes during lunch break
6:00 PM – 25-30 mile ride, full TD kit

Friday
Off
8:00 PM -  drive 3 hours out to the Hill Country and bivy up

Saturday
5:00 AM – Begin 100+ mile ride, drive back home when finished

Sunday
Off

Sometimes I will substitute a 6-ish mile run for a ride so I can spend time with the wife.  And sometimes I get lazy and don’t do shit.  Such a day is usually accompanied by an entire Meat Lovers Pizza forcing its way down my unwilling throat. 

My buddy and former TD aspirant Pat Smith accompanies me on some of my Hill Country ventures.  What I love about his company is that 1) he’s a funny guy and a cool friend and 2) he makes me feel like Flash Gordon on wheels.  Ha!  Thanks Pat!  I know you’re just pretending that I’m way faster than you to boost my confidence!  One thing Pat doesn’t know yet (but will after reading this) is that I am grooming him for 2012…we will be riding a tandem.  We’ll be known as “The Tony & Pat Experience.”  Or, for short, “The TP Experience.”  Heh.  Heh heh.   

One last thing I want to mention is the “staggering” number of Texans signed up for this year’s race.  I was honestly a little shocked to see so many of them appear on the Start List, because, well, Texans in the TD has been a rarity up to this point.  I mean, hell, this ain’t Colorado.  Here’s all of us:

Cadet Bryant (V) – Big Springs, TX
JP Evans (R) – McKinney, TX
Yours Truly (V) – Deer Park, TX
Vance McMurray (R) – Austin, TX
Ray Porter (V) – Dallas, TX
Dale Shadley (R) – San Antonio, TX
Steve Moore (R) – Wimberly, TX (South to North)
Shelia Reitner (R) – Austin, TX (not on Start List yet)
Sheila  Torres-Blank (R) – Austin, TX (not a typo..there are two Shelias are not on the Start List yet!)
Sandra Musgrave (R) – Austin (not on Start List yet)

And I know of at least two more dudes who may yet sign up.  Hey, I’m beginning to think my forthcoming title of “First Texan to Finish the Tour Divide” is in serious jeopardy!  There are some folks on this list who are “The Real Deal”…I’m gonna have to up my game to even have a sliver of a chance!  Some of us are meeting in Austin at the end of April for pre-TD note comparison…I’m lookin’ forward to an exciting exchange of ideas.  If you’re one of the folks on the list who hasn’t heard about this meeting, email me! tony at gdrquest dot com. 

In my next post, which I am really looking forward to, I will be introducing you to my new and improved BACKPACKLESS configuration.  Yeah, buddy…I’ve eliminated some gear and achieved my own personal Holy Grail of bikepacking setups.  You’ll be amazed at what you see!  (Not really…I suspect you’ll just be “interested,” not “amazed.”  I’ve been conditioned by capitalist media, what can I say)  See you soon!

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