Biking Back To Health By Ed Nolan

Recovery is Hard-January 2, 2012

bikeslave — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:40:21 +0000

I just finished the toughest week of CYCLO90 HIT Training System: “Recovery Week”. Maybe a strange thing to say, but I bet the majority of cyclists and other athletes doing your workouts don’t know the benefit of letting your body rest and have a hard time in recovery mode.Let me add a little more credence to what happened to me after a week off. I got back on my bike this past weekend and did my absolute PB on a route I have been riding for thepast 20 years. I have never been able to sustain 26mph by myself for more than a few minutes, yet I kept that pace for three miles and managed to ride 5.5 miles at 24.4 mph. I can’t explain it any other way except that I allowed my body to recover and have reaped the benefits I only dreamed about in the past, but have never been able to achieve. I can’t wait to see what happens in block 2. I will be 62 next year and have never ridden better my entire life.

90 day HIT Plan- Week 1

bikeslave — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:09:38 +0000

I knocked off week 1, 11 to go. It was not too demanding, which means I can up on the dumb bell wt. a little. Big gear tension today was a little tough, as I picked some terrain with a combination of a moderate short hill and flats. Have to watch those knees though and not go too deep. Lets see how week two unfolds. I had been using Graeme’s original pre-season 90day workout with Cyclo-Core/Speed. There were days on that plan that I simply didn’t have enough time to fit in all the phases. I will see if the less is more paradigm works this year.

A few other interesting occurrences:
-Meeting a surfer from Equador in an apartment building in the Bronx.
-Meeting a biker from Vancouver on 9W in NJ. We talked about crashes and if it is better to go limp or be proactive during a crash.

Bike or Die?

bikeslave — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:03:21 +0000

Started Graeme’s 90 Day hit plan Tuesday. It really hit hard at first after being off the bike for a month. So I’m still standing and ready for more. This is readily adaptable for crits since they usually are under an hour at max tempo. If I stick with this I will see improvement. My son opened a fortune cookie today which pronounced: “Little and often bring great results”. Try and beat that!

Share your experience with others, be passionate about something. Try a new beer.

March 24, 2011

bikeslave — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 02:48:42 +0000

I have been neglecting my blog. Like a plant needs water, a blog needs words and I had run out of them. I scarcely know what to write or how to put my thoughts into order. Writing about my training and what I am doing now seems horribly trivial and not very interesting. I would like to get down to the molecular level of things and hear the whirring of atoms and particles and raw emotion. Could that be possible without going insane and having to learn how to live with all that charged noise in my head 24×7? I once had a button that I liked to wear: “Does the noise in my head bother you?” Who is insane: the listener to the noise, or the one who produces it? Besides, things are very complex these days. Uprisings and natural disasters are on the rise. How can we continue living as we have always done and not notice anything? What wisdom can I impart to my children that will give them solace? Does anyone know how to fix this mess? many questions, but only partial answers. Right now my solution is to swing my leg over my crossbar and pedal on, pedal on. Maybe I will come up with something the next time I’m out on my bike. Be compassionate and most of all, love yourself.

Just Pedal On!

bikeslave — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:04:35 +0000

Is your motivation flagging just about now? Just listen. Guaranteed to lift your spirits:

If you can’t understand the lyrics:

The Acoustic Motorbike
by Luka Bloom

The day began with a rainbow in the sand
As I cycled into Kerry
Cattle grazing on a steep hillside
Looked well fed, well balanced
Close to the edge

Pedal on, pedal on, pedal on for miles
Pedal on
Pedal on, pedal on, pedal on for miles
Pedal on

I take a break, I close my eyes
And I’m happy as the dolphin
In a quiet spot talking to myself
Talking about the rain
Talking about the rain
All this rain

Pedal on
Pedal on, pedal on, pedal on for miles
Pedal on

You see whenever I’m alone
I tend to brood
But when I’m out on my bike
It’s a different mood
I leave my brain at home
Get up on the sattle
No hanging around
I don’t diddle-daddle

I work my legs
I pump my thights
Take in the scenery passing me by
The Kerry mountains or the Wicklow hills
The antidote to my emotional ills
A motion built upon human toil
Nuclear free needs no oil
But it makes me hot, makes me hard
I never thought I could have come this far
Through miles of mountains, valleys, streams
This is the right stuff filling my dreams
So come on, get up on your bike
Ah go on, get up on your bike

Pedal on
Pedal on, pedal on, pedal on for miles
Pedal on

Finally
With my face to that bitter wind
I bombed it into Killarney
Skin raw like a sushi dinner
And an appetite
That would eat the hind leg of the lamb of God
Even though you know
I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing
Then settle down for a quiet night
Think about what I’ve seen and done
And wonder

There’s a reason for this
Now is the time
To speak of the problem troubling my mind
Sick of the traffic choking our towns
Freaking me out, bringing me down
Knock down houses, build more lanes
Once was a problem, now it’s insane
My solution it’s one that I like
It’s Muddy
The Acoustic Motorbike
So come on, get up on your bike
Ah go on, get up on your bike

Pedal on
Pedal on, pedal on, pedal on for miles
Pedal on

Ah go on
Ah go on
Get up on your bike
Get up on your bike

Sunday Bloody Sunday

bikeslave — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:17:24 +0000

I have to admit, I was not feeling the best today. Having turned 60 has burdened me with all kinds of shit of my own making. Why do I ride? So I won’t get old. What will happen if I get old? I might loose my memory and have to rely on others. Eventually someone will tell me I have to stop driving before I kill someone. Meanwhile I go out and ride to squeeze the endorphins out and keep my mind sharp while I still have it. I keep in mind the adage: I didn’t stop riding because I got old. I got old because I stopped riding. Yes that’s right, that old man with a leaky bladder and bad teeth is just right behind me and he’s not getting tired. I can’t keep going at this pace forever. Sooner or later, I’ll just have to let him catch me and merge his body with mine.

September 12-A Good Day to Ride

bikeslave — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 21:23:25 +0000

Finally the heat lifted and it was my kind of day in the Northeast: Cloudy with a threat of rain and temps in the high 60′s. How I love this weather. I pushed off from my front door and opened myself to whatever might come my way. As I was crossing the George Washington Bridge I caught up to a guy with an interesting rig: MB frame, drop handlebars with bar end shifters, water bottle holder on the front fork, front and rear disk brakes , and big knobby tires. As I came by his side when traffic permitted, I chatted a bit. I asked him if he set it up himself. He said it was a off the shelf Salsa Fargo. Just before we hit 9W and parted ways he added as a footnote: “you know, an adventure bike.” That’s just what I had in mind today, an adventure on the roads of Northern New Jersey and Rockland Co. Lots of bikers out today. I was looking to ride to the the top of State Line hill and then jam it back to the bridge. I was feeling good and riding a nice pace of 22-24mph, when I was passed by a rider in full Ceverlo Time Trial Kit. I shouted: “way to go!” as he passed me and jumped on his wheel. He had huge calves and pressed on over a few risers. I lost contact until he hit a light and had to slow. We had a brief chance to chat. He was a down to business Brit, who really just wanted to ride. I left him alone with my silly chatter and slotted in behind him until the bridge. As I pulled up to my house, it was just another episode of bicycle time travel where I could not recall how quickly the time passed.

February 26, 2010-Some Literary Pushes For Turning 60

bikeslave — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:40:51 +0000

Yes it’s snowing again and I’ve become well acquainted with my trainer. I’m the biking champion of my living room. It has been paying off and I’m feeling I’m in the best shape ever just two weeks before racing season. I’m looking to jump into my first race on March 13, providing the weather cooperates. Not having to concentrate on the road has given my mind plenty of time to wander about a bit. I have been thinking a lot about turning 60 this year. I look to Dylan Thomas for inspiration on this, except for the drinking part:

“Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage, rage to the dying of the light.”

George Carlin also had some good advice on the subject as well: “Making it to 60 before hitting 70.”

For a full treatment of the subject, follow this link:

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/aging.asp

Saturday, January 30, 2010-Here Comes 60

bikeslave — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:36:19 +0000

I have found lots of excuses not to write: the holidays, too busy, nothing to write about, and more. Well it’s about time I stopped babbling and got down to something useful. Lying in a fetal position at the end of the bed does no good. I still have to get up, go to work, so we’re not evicted. You know: “Baby Needs New Clothes”. Aging is a funny thing, it comes before you are ready and then doesn’t want to leave; just like an unexpected and unwanted guest. Sixty years is closing in and I can’t get out of the cross hairs. What should I do? Lay down and hope it goes by or stand up and take it like a man. Ok, I’ll stand up and see what I can take. As a patient of mine well past 80 once told me: “Ed, getting old is not for wimps!” Good news is that I crossed over to the next age bike racing age category: 60+. I figure I have a solid chance this year since there will be fewer and fewer fit racers still standing.

I finished the 90 days of P90X and that really ramped up my overall fitness. I am now continuing to see improvement in my speed and endurance. Let see how this translates into actual racing when I start the first weekend in March. I have a few races picked out then that have a 45+ field. Whatever the outcome, I will sure enjoy being inside the peleton again.

Oh, by the way, I no longer have to deal with loss of testosterone. Damn, now that feels great. See you on the road. You’ll be surprised when I tell you how old I am.

November 17, 2009-Everything is Connected, I Think

bikeslave — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:19:26 +0000

I have not been able to write anything coherent since my last posting. Thoughts have been swirling around my head like falling leaves blowing about trying to find a resting place. The contingencies of daily life have been battering me against the lee shore and I have been struggling to find the right drift to fill my sails again. So now I’m on this tack and the wind has shifted, pushing me away from the rocky lee shore, so I think I will stay with it and see where it goes. I have been watching some movies made in the far North. Two quite different themes, but both with a unifying connecting lattice that joins them together in my mind. “The Fast Runner” tells the story of jealousy, infidelity, murder, and survival among the Inuit people in an indeterminate time. The other movie: “The Snow Walker” is about a bush pilot in Canada’s Northwest Territories that crash lands his seaplane with a lone Inuit woman passenger that is seriously ill. Ultimately the two stories bind themselves to the unifying theme that survival in harsh conditions often depends on relying on others. This is in direct conflict with the myth of the highest achievement of a hero in western civilization is to conquer the elements alone. At this time in history with the survival of the planet at stake, we don’t need solitary heroes doing it their way a la Sinatra, what we need to learn is how to cooperate. Just like Mick Jager sings: “We all need someone we can lean on.” This point was made quite clear many years ago when I was an orderly at St. Rose’s Home for the Terminally Ill. One of my patients was a big Greek named Mike, who spoke very little English. One day he asked me: “What is stronger?” He then crossed his arms across his chest in a very proud way and said: “this?” Next, he joined both my hands to his outstretched hands and said: “or this?” There was no doubt about the right answer. Stay tuned tomorrow for another exciting edition of “Everything Goes Better with Cooperation”