This weekend was an awesome training adventure. Chris Eatough and Chris Beck came down to Harrisonburg for some Cape Epic style training. It was my job to play host, and I mapped out some appropriate courses to simulate the rigors of the Cape Epic. Despite doing a pretty good job of this, we encountered some surprise weather conditions. Friday's temps had been in the forty's and we had some rain, I thought we'd splash through some grimy sections in the mountains. But, Saturday morning, as we rolled toward the mountains for a huge mtb ride from town, we could clearly make out the snow caps on the mountains in the distance.
A look at part of the route.
As we rode, a front was blowing in a fierce headwind. We eventually met the edge of the George Washington National Forest to start our six mile climb into the high country. At the beginning of our ride the grass was green and the roads clear and dry, but as soon as we turned around a shady corner to go up the mountain, there was snow on the side of the road and we hadn't even begun to climb. After traversing sections of shaded snow, mud and even some dry sections up the climb, we were ultimately greeted by winter. The farther we got into the ride, the more vast were the sections of snow.
We descended into West Virginia via Riffle Range, surely one of the day's highlights, this trial reminds me of some trail sections in The Collective, with small rock drops, loamy black earth and much warmer temps. At the bottom of the mountain and in the middle of nowhere, Erin met us with hot tea, fresh water bottles and food. After we refueled, we departed northward into previously untraveled territory. Thankfully it was easier going than the snow and leaves we'd left behind. The dirt road was dry and fast, wtih almost desert-like ground, we quickly made our way toward the final climb of the day up Rough Run. The 2,000-foot ascent and the previous five hours of riding took their toll on our legs, after 55 minutes we topped out once again in snow country. At that point we decided to get out of there before dark, changed the route to make a b-line for home on dirt and paved roads. We sped along racing the sun back the Harrisonburg city line. I'm pleased to say we made it home before dark.
Day Two's recap coming soon.
JeremiahLabels: Epic Adventures, The Elements, Training
The past week was a planned rest week, and I did ride less than normal, but time off the bike presents an oppourtunity to schedule some things that I'd put on the backburner for such an occasion.
Erin helped me by taking care of a lot of paper work. In preparation for various events, the Cape Epic, the Olympics, UCI, USADA, USAC and others all want the who, what, when, where, why and how.
I caught up with my equipment and supplies. It's amazing how much CytoMax I've gone through, plus I replaced two tires - one for my road bike and one for my mountain bike, and two worn out chains. After a big 3-week training block, this is all good because it means I'm working hard.
Midweek, I made a trip over to Bedford, VA for a scheduled lactate test and meeting with my coach Hunter Allen. Scotty Curlee dropped in and we talked about his filming plans for the coming year. See Red Cloud Productions for more about MaxVO2.
I woke up early on Thursday to drive over to Charlottesville to fit my new Shimano M300 shoes using the state-of-the-art motion analysis laboratory at the University of Virginia Speed Clinic. There, Jay helped me pedal straighter than I've ever pedaled before - no kidding. Jay has and extensive exercise physiology and physical therapy background, and helped to mobilize my thorasic verebrae and ribs that are stuck together from years of exercise and a few good crashes. The good news is that my body seems to be in very good shape, and my pedaling form is the best it's ever been.
It was another early morning on Friday, because Erin and I were headed to meet a film crew at Mr. J's Bagels. With a cameraman, a photographer, producer, lawyer and sound man, it seemed like quite an entourage as we headed to the trails at Massanutten to film some action shots, and later transformed SBC into a studio for an interview. This all sounds exciting, but it can be exhausting, too. The day went great and we captured some very cool content. I'll tell you more about this later. For now, it's top secret.
Saturday I finally got in a decent ride. I shook the cobwebs from my legs and road over two mountains to Erin's parents' house in the country. It was a nice adventure with blue skies and temps in the 5o's. It was also nice because no matter what it is that you do all week, getting on the bike gets you away from your busy thoughts.
The End,
JBLabels: A Day in the Life, Training
My Mom used to say, "Do as I say, not as I do." I guess the reason she said that is because all things in come in good time. First you have to learn how things work before you can experiment. I've learned a lot in 16 years of bike racing, but it seems it's just in the last few that I've been able to put it to use!
Today I gave a lecture for one of Mike Saunders' (A.K.A. Dr Saunders) classes at James Madison University. He's a professor of kinesiology and an accomplished athlete. I think it went pretty well, no one threw any trash at me and I think I kept everyone's attention. I was pretty fun actually. I thought to myself, 'if you can make a few points stick, and make people laugh then you've used your time well.' I really dig the science aspect of the sport of cycling, and I'm always reading up on the latest training articles and studying my training files.
The basics of the lecture were about my applied use of periodization in managing my fitness for a packed racing schedule. I showed my power meter graphs from Cycling Peaks, a few of my latest workout files and gave some examples of how workouts I do this time of year differ from race time. I also talked about the timing and type of training used to produce my best results.
Good luck to the students!
May all of use what we learn, once we figure it out.
Jeremiah Bishop
Trek/Volkswagen Racing Team Athlete
StudentLabels: A Day in the Life, Training
Sunday we had a great time riding Z's Backyard Torture Loop, a route that Zdenek has created with 7,000 feet of climbing in about 45 miles. The climbs are all steep punchy hills from 10 seconds to five minutes long. Z does this route on a single speed, so I decided to do it in one gear, too. Jeff pulled off after riding with us for four hours, and Z, Bryan and I continued the rest of the loop. At the end we met with other riders who did The Toughest Loop in Clemson ride, and enjoyed a BBQ with bratwurst, beer, pasta salad, and chili. On Monday, Andy and Jeff headed home, but Bryan and I decided to head up the climb to the high mountains of western North Carolina. The ride was huge!
A good gap, though not the day's highest point
Scott shuttled us nearer the base of the mountains so we could make the round trip ride in decent time. We headed up Bob's Place, for the first climb of the day, after just five minutes in the saddle; which hurt for Byran because he decided to climb in the big ring. When I caught him, I told him that he'd just set the pace for the day and I continued to throttle it. Since I was pushing the pace across the flats and downhills, it was almost like one climb all the way to the top of the Blue Ridge Parkway some 35 miles away.
We climbed up the Continental Divide, dropped down a quick two kilometers into Rosman and then started the massive climb up route 215.
I was thinking that the climb was maybe a tough 6 miles from the turnoff, so I put the gas on and gave Bryan some pushes. Little did I know that we were nowhere near the top after 6 miles, and I had to dig into the bag of courage when, after one turn, I could see miles of road ribboned into the side of the mountain ahead. In all, we continued to climb for an hour and ten minutes.
There was deep snow lining the roads, and the giant fir trees made it look like we were about to enter another climate zone... or another planet! It was sick, because we were so high up, the water coming out of the side of the mountain was freezing into thick blue columns of ice at least 40 feet tall. There were huge rocks, ice falls and cavernous views. We could look out over three states from where we were, there was a lake far away that looked like a sliver of ice in the distance. It was hard to believe that it was 5000 feet below us.
Our climb was followed by an amazing descent! The payback was incredible. We chased down a big pickup truck and hugged its rear bumper. The driver pulled over and let us take the lead down the wild curves and 180's.
We stopped in Rosman for some snacks, and I CHOWED down! Two frappuccinos, one big sports drink, half a cream pie, an oatmeal cereal bar, trail mix... I was an eating machine.
It was a great ride, and another great adventure at Tiger Camp. It was amazing to get out into the high mountains since the weather and snow melt finally allowed.
Happy Adventures,
JeremiahLabels: Epic Adventures, Training
Yesterday's forecast called for early dense fog with afternoon clearing. Dense it was, like a soaked-full rain cloud. It was strange because our eyelashes and the fuzz of the fabric on our cloths were covered with little droplets of water. This was making us extremely cold, because we were wet and clamly, and we sort of struggled to get the ride going. But once we did, it was great.
We planned to go up and do the Ceasar's Head loop counterclockwise, but got lost on the way becase we couldn't see where we were going or our familiar landmarks. After about 15 miles of going in circles, we got back on track with the route and started up the climb known as Bob's Place. There we were surpirsed to see snow on the roadside after climbing only 600 feet. Once we reached the Continental Divide, at over 3,000 feet, there was a ton of snow - probably 6-7 inches in the shade. As we dropped into North Carolina, the air was cold. Luckily, we had a break from the cold when we got down in the valley near Rosman.
There was a section on East 4 that was so steep and has wicked switchbacks and close to a 20 percent grade. Well, Bryan didn't see it up ahead in the fog, and sprinted into the bottom of if like it were a rolling hill. He was in for a suprise! Otherwise, he did really well yesterday, he held his own pace; and Andy was markedly stronger than last year and able to hang tough even at the end of a monster ride like that; and Jeff was hammering. It was a good time, the descent on the front side of Caesar's Head was nuts! Six and half miles, sneaking switchbacks, the road covered in sand. It was still a sweet descent that kept going and going, top to bottom it probably descends 2,500 feet. At the bottom, we stocked up on cookies, muffins, and coffee; we burned so many calories up to that point, from riding in the cold and doing the Blue Mountain climbs.
Due to our taking too long of a route on the way out and still committing to what was a really long ride made for 120 miles for Bryan and I, and close to 130 miles for the suckers who are staying on the other side of the bridge that is out and has a detour route around it.
To quote Bryan, he says "that ride was epic! I got nervous when they started talking about eight hours. I mean, I know I can suck it up and survive through seven hours, but when they said eight, I was like 'oh man.'"
This is all part of the big adventure and why we come back to Clemson each year; having a great group to ride with makes the miles go by and lets us laugh even when we get lost.
Having fun in Clemson,
JBLabels: Epic Adventures, The Elements, Training
Yes, it's that time of year for the slush-bottle rides.
Yesterday Chris and I met up for an awesome mountain bike ride at Gambrills State Park in Maryland. It was a classic winter day. The sky was streaked gray with high cirrus clouds. It was 28 degrees and the ground was frozen like hardened concrete with rocks sticking out of it. The fallen leaves and dusting of snow added an element of skill to the already super techi trails.
Got a chance to spin on the prototype 2009 full sus race bike. "HOLY CRAP" is all I have to say. Sorry, no pictures... you'll just have to dream of bat mobile meets mountain bike! The ride was just awesome; we chased each other around and rode different lines thru the maze of prehistoric rocks, berms, turns, boulder rides and drops! It was sweet!
Thanks for the comments. I was thinking of another good cold weather trick. Some days we head out under dressed and have hit the big road ride with just a pair of shoes covers when full booties are called for. One day my feet were burning from the cold, so I stopped and got a grocery bag that had blown to the side of the road. I tore it in two and covered my feet with it and put the covers back on. Works like a charm. I have also used tinfoil, it works even better. There was another less proud moment when I was caught off guard by a winter cold front and the temperature dropped like a rock. I used a piece of roadside trash as a wind block for my chest. It's amazing the difference a piece of cardboard can make. If you are unlucky enough to resort to this type desperation remember never call some one to pick you up, it is a sign of weakness. Just kidding. ;)
Go prepared, tell someone where you're headed and when you will expect to return.
Thanks for reading and keep the cold weather riding ideas and tricks coming...
JeremiahLabels: The Elements, Training
It's me, Erin, stopping by JB's blog again. You might have noticed the new photo gallery. If you've yet to explore this, click on the Gallery link to the left. There should be some new albums added today, and frequently throughout the year. Also, be sure to check out the Sponsors page, it's been updated with links to some of the great companies and organizations that have teamed up with Jeremiah for 2008.
In the coming weeks, there will be great new features coming to JeremiahBishop.com, including an awesome promotion with long-time team sponsor JBL. It's going to be so cool, I'm having a hard time not spilling the beans right now. (In the meantime, JBL has a special portal where cycling fans can access discounts on products. This helped me out when I was doing my Christmas shopping. Now, instead of blasting his iPod headphones while riding on the trainer, Jeremiah can pump out great tunes courtesy of a new JBL Radial.)
Lately, there's been a lot of excitement in Harrisonburg. We've hosted family and friends, including some of Jeremiah's favorite training pals. Our local crew enjoyed celebrating at the annual solstice party. If you're talented at Boolean searches, you might find some photos online. Christmas and New Year's Eve were both enjoyable holidays for us, and hopefully for you, too.
Now, it's time to make plans for the year ahead. The coldest days of winter are about to move into the 'Burg and I see a trip to Clemson in my near future.
It seems like most people have a few little tricks to staying warm, or at least fooling themselves out the door on the coldest days. Other than the usual warm winter wear, I treat myself to those tiny foot warmers and mix my Cytomax with warm water. Sometimes, Jeremiah will use Climitts over his handle bars. Do you have any special tricks? Do tell!
ErinLabels: E Bishop, Sponsors, The Elements, Training
The ride yesterday was big classic winter road ride over into Page Valley. Our group included Nick Waite, Andy Mac, and Bryan Fawley.
Our planned route was already a tough 5 hours, but Andy insisted on going up over the wicked steep west slope of Massanutten too. About 3 hours in we made an uncommon pit stop at a coffee shop in the bustling bucolic town of Luray. Most known for the tourist cave nearby; Luray is part cowboy town, part old Virginia. Big mountains loom on the horizon and give the place a strange western feel.
Bryan "the bicycle warrior" Fawley is in town from Texas and has been keeping the rides lively. Some is smack talk, but he can deliver on the sprint smack with ease. If you want to know more about Bryan just imagine TEXAS attitude on a bike, he's mostly joking but he is a bad ass so I had to keep him in check the last few days by dropping the hammer on his head. :) see www.BryanFawley.com
Here are some funny photos of cold tired road warriors get their calories and coffee on! Well, I'll add them when they finish uploading. (In other news, you can click on the Gallery link to see some photos. Erin will post some more galleries in the next few days.)
Fueled up and ready to rock we put on the furry for the remaining 2 hours Nick was putting in some TOC up New Market Gap and Andy Mac was revealing the face of pain but hanging tough. Bryan was hoping for some flatter terrain but enjoying the challenge and I was having a blast because I felt like my bike had a motor in it! Zoom.....
Last night we watched Taladega Nights, which has inspired us to Shake... and Bake.
Happy Birthday to Nick and Andy Mac who are turning 24 and 12 years young this week.
Hasta la vista baby,
JeremiahLabels: A Day in the Life, Training
Ok, it can get cold if your trying to train in in the winters of North Dakota. Slush and ice? it can get old. Here in Virginia we get much less snow and when the time is right we put on the fat tires and head for the hills!
SNOW! We had our first real snow last week and Nick and I headed out for some adventure in the high country. The Shenandoah Mtn Trail is some 3000 ft higher and 15 degrees colder than town it can be a winter wonderland!
As we set out for our ride snow was falling and the air was in the 20s. The powerder was great, it was light enough to find some grip at the bottom. Perfect!
This guy has plenty of extra fat so he never gets cold. Good thing! :)
"Me cold? Nahh!"
Have fun out there.
JeremiahLabels: The Elements, Training
The ride I 'm referring to was actually in the back of a pickup truck.
Today's weather was the best of a nice week. Temperatures were close to 60 and there was a brisk wind out of the southwest that could blow your cheeks open, but otherwise a sunny and gorgeous day in the Shenandoah.
You see, I was crancking out some nice tempo south of Natural Chimneys. I was shoveling wind and looking forward to a change of direction for a nice tailwind ride to back to Harrisonburg.
I guess the glass in the road had other plans. I fixed my flat, but in the meantime wasted half of my Co2. No big deal, I thought to myself, it is a big air and can fill 2 tires. Well, just as I got back on the bike I heard a great BOOSH!! All of the air exhaled like the snort of an angry bull. My butt lowered as the bike sank down and rested on the rim… Not good.
I assessed my options. I somehow didn't seem too bothered because it was still a good day for a ride... even if it was on the rim. So, I ripped the valve stem out (that's the part that can wreck any good rim ride) and made a B-line for Bridgewater. The good thing was it was mostly down wind so I was rolling along at good clip. Then the cross wind became a problem. Combined with the camber of the road it made for some nervous moments when the rear of my bike would slide out to the side! In and instant I would go from just riding to fighting to stay upright! On one section that was dead strait (with no cars in sight) I actually rode the left side of the road as the camber pushed the rear of the bike toward the wind. It was nice for a little break but don't do that! Not good for a rim ride. I got back to the right side.
Finally I made it back as far as Bridgewater and scoped out my options. I saw a gas station with few folks filling up. A man who looked like he worked for a living was filling up his pick up? "Hi, are you heading for Harrisonburg?" Yes, he said, throw it in the back. Wow it was that easy. We drove with the window down and talked farm supply and bike racing like old friends.
Indeed a nice day for a ride, even if it was in a pick up.
Thanks Phil!
Thanks for reading,
JeremiahLabels: A Day in the Life, Training
