by Arlyn on April 26, 2009
The idea of spending the next 3 hours climbing the big hills of the Alpine Challenge all by myself was not particularly appealing, but that’s what I had ahead of me. I had been part of the 20-person lead group that hammered over the first climb of the day to create a safety zone for the long descent ahead. I stayed with the leaders as we rocketed the next 14 miles down, down, down – creating an altitude deficit we would have to pay back in spades.
The race exploded as the road turned up and the leaders decided it was time to distinguish themselves. I was about 15-20 places back, and all by myself. I was one of 13 Descenders racing (ok, riding!) the 2009 Alpine Challenge. It was very cool to be part of such a big group. We had riders ahead and behind. At the start line, we had lined up together and took the first two rows.
Speed. Photo © 2009 Barry Munson. All rights reserved.
Looking up the road, I could see some blue Descenders jerseys and the distinct pedaling style of Mike. They were not far and after pacing them for a while I could tell we were going about the same speed. Instead of spending the day alone, I decided to use a little gas to join them. Mike, Scott, Jeff and I became a group of four that would spend most of the day together.
Mike became our Captain on the road. He regulated our pace; steady tempo on the hills so we wouldn’t drop each other and fast pacelines on the descents to make up time on the leaders. A flick of his hand could mean, “Slow down just a touch to let someone rest a little”, or maybe “Hurry, hurry and pull through – get the paceline moving!” At one point, just as I was feeling tired and not looking forward to my next pull, he waved me out of rotation, sending me to the back to draft and rest. At the pee stop, he was full of, “Come on boys, let’s not stop for tea, time to GO!”
We gobbled up a few of the leaders along the way. One guy in an Ouch/Maxxis jersey took a terrific pull for us, which proved to be too much for Scott and Jeff. It was also too much for Ouch who faded over the top and Mike motioned to wait up for him since he’d worked so hard. We were just a few miles from the finish and my competitive juices were really starting to flow. On an incredibly steep highway overpass we dropped Ouch again and Mike said it was just us now so we hammered it. We traded very strong pulls a couple of times and then Mike started having difficulty keeping my wheel. I yelled encouragement to him and kept the hammer down as we sped the final mile. Mike stayed on and we finished strong together – I was really stoked cause my family was at the line, waving cowbells and cheering for riders.
Voris, Mike, Rick, Seba, Me and Sofia.
In the post ride analysis, Team Descenders took 8 of the top 20 spots, including first and third. Mike and I came in somewhere between 10th and 15th. What a kick-ass day on a bike – made all the better by riding with an awesome team.
Go Descenders!
by Arlyn on April 20, 2009
It’s hard to remember why I didn’t finish the Julian Death March now. Isn’t that funny? It was so clear Saturday afternoon, but all I’m left with now is, “How could you quit?”
Mark makes his way. Photo © 2009 Barry Munson. All rights reserved.
The mind is an interesting machine; it forgets the painful stuff and leaves us wanting more. Forgotten is the way my legs felt after 63 miles and 8,600 feet of climbing. It’s hard to recall the way my stomach revolted against energy bars and how I had to force myself to swallow a GU packet to finish the Three Canyons climb. The memory of how bad my back hurt and how sore my whole body was as I pedaled back through Julian are completely gone.
All that’s left is the certain knowledge that I tried to do 85 and only got 63.
Find the thorn. Photo © 2009 Barry Munson. All rights reserved.
I’m supposed to be proud of myself. It was only a month ago that I rode my first 40-mile MTB ride, so getting 63 is pretty good. And I’ve just completed a tough block of work for Coach Colin who warned that this race was going to be tough and my power would be hard to find.
I am happy with finishing 63 miles. It was a tough day of climbing and I felt pretty good until the final 10 miles or so. But there is an asterisk next to my name – I didn’t finish the entire course.
I’ve got a lot of work to do between here and Leadville.
by Arlyn on April 14, 2009
You might remember my rock throwing incident riding my mountain bike in Elfin Forest last December. I blamed a lot of my problems on an ancient set of pedals I was using so I immediately set about replacing them with whatever was “best”. I chose Speedplay Frogs, partly because I love the Speedplay X/2’s on my road bike.
Well, last week I replaced the Frogs with a set of Shimano SPD-style pedals. Here’s the letter I sent to Speedplay about my experiences.
Hey Speedplay,
I wanted to write to tell you guys why I’m bailing on my Speedplay Frogs and going with a set of Shimano pedals instead.
First, I’m a fan of Speedplay and have run X/2’s on my road bike for years. That’s why I got the Frogs for my brand new MTB in January. I started having problems with my foot coming out almost immediately, but I guess kinda hoped the problem would go away. The problem came to a head last Saturday when I was climbing a long technical jeep road near Julian. My foot would slip off the pedal, I’d lose momentum and scramble to get my foot clipped back in before needing to stop. Super frustrating to say the least.
So this week I called your tech support dept and left a message. They called me back the next day and I have to say I received excellent service. I actually ended up calling and speaking to two different people, both of whom had a real commitment to me being successful with the pedals. On the service front, I have to say you guys are top notch. I got some advice on how to trim my shoes to allow the cleat base to lie flat and to shim the little pad that is the effective clip on the cleat. I followed direction and the cleats did get a little tighter and a little less prone to unclipping. I’m sure if I kept at it, I might get them even a little bit tighter.
But here’s the rub – I’m standing in my garage examining a millimeter lip of metal, trying to get it to stick out another half-millimeter and I realize I can’t afford to ride with gear that is this sensitive or just a millimeter away from failure. I’m training to ride this year’s Leadville 100 and I need gear that is 100% reliable, no questions asked – all the time, rain, mud, rocks, whatever. And Frogs are just not there.
Today I installed a set of Shimano SPD-style pedals and they work perfectly, right out of the box. I wish that my Frogs had worked like that too.
Still A Proud Speedplay X/2 Customer
Arlyn Asch
http://www.adventuresonabike.com
by Arlyn on April 12, 2009
I dig Twitter, but maybe not why you think.
First, I detest distractions, they are truly in opposition to doing anything well. Secondly, I’m not into “tweeting” about all my daily events like, “Writing a blog post!” or “Smearing a bagel!” or “Watching my cat chase a bird!” and am certainly not into reading anyone else’s random blatherings.
But I am a huge fan of pro cycling. I have been for years and I follow all my favorite riders. I devour VeloNews and have my TiVo set to auto-record Versus for anything remotely cycling related. These media are great, but only provide the “official view”. Except for a rare interview, you don’t get many glimpses into what it’s really like to be a pro cyclist.
As it turns out, many pro cyclists are on Twitter and regularly share directly with their fans. All of a sudden, I’ve got an insider’s view into what it’s like to be a pro cyclist – a view previously unavailable unless you happened to know these guys personally.
Here’s a sampling from today Twitter feed. Any of those names sound familiar?
mcewenrobbie just had a guy on the phone saying his dog has a headache. well my knee hurts! you do the math
mickrogers Hard day at Pais-Vasco today. Lost a little bit more than I would of liked on the finish climb. Oh well. I’ll have a go in the tt Saturday
CadelOfficial Another day of Vuelta Pais Vasco done, my third second place for the year :o(
lancearmstrong hear they arrested 2 guys 4 stealing my bike at the ToC. These guys musta been @ the back of the line when they were handing out the brains.
ghincapie 305 average Watts today for 5 hours. Epic day. Legs were good though. Very happy my roomate won.
johanbruyneel Happy to hear that Kurt Hovelynck (Quick Step rider) who crashed heavily on march 17 and has been in coma since, is doing better. Good news!
I’m arlynasch. I plan to post about specific workouts I do to prepare for Leadville and stuff that’s too short for a full article. Follow if you’re interested.
by Arlyn on April 10, 2009
Last weekend, Mark, Andy and I rode the Fages Monument Loop near Cuyamaca. Actually, we did it combined with the Cuyamaca Grand Loop and it was totally hard and epic. Six hours on a mountain bike with 7,000 feet of climbing – zowie! One exciting moment was when I crashed in a steep section while descending a rocky canyon. It was the typical crash formula:
Uh Oh: Those rock steps look steep, but I can do it if I just go slowly.
All of a sudden: Front tire locks up at the bottom of a big rock and my back tire came off the ground. Yeah, this is going to suck…
Slow-mo part: I’m going over the handlebars, where should I land?
Did anyone see? I was basically OK, but damn - I cracked my Gamin computer!
It still worked, but had a big crack in the display. So, on Monday, I called Garmin and they’re shipping me a new unit for not very much money. They even figured out a way to send me the new unit before I send the broken one back so I won’t miss any training days. What great service! I’ve been using the cracked unit this week while I wait for the new one to arrive.
Threatening skies today prompted me to grab my jacket on the way out for my ride. Sure enough, with two intervals left to go, rain drops began splattering down. And that’s when I realized that my normally waterproof Garmin would probably die since the crack in the display would allow water to get inside the unit. Uh oh – that means no data for Coach Colin!
I remembered the ziploc bag where I keep my wallet and iPhone and got an idea - I could use the bag to protect the Garmin and put my jacket on to protect my unshielded iPhone in my jersey pocket. Except the jersey I had on was just enough longer than my jacket that iPhone would still get wet… Crap, now what do I do?
- Let my Garmin die a watery death and fail to submit numbers to Coach Colin?!?!
- Risk having my iPhone, arguably the coolest piece of technology ever get fried!?!?
It started to rain harder. What would you do?
I took this photo with my iPhone - got lucky I guess 
by Arlyn on April 8, 2009
I have been working with Coach Colin from CTS for a month now and I’m starting to understand why this was such a great idea.
How it works
Working with Coach Colin is super easy. He publishes my workout schedule for the next 2-3 weeks online. My job is to perform each workout to spec and email him my data file so he can see my power, heart-rate, cadence, etc. He emails me feedback after every workout and we chat via phone 1-2 times per week.
Here are the three big reasons why this coaching program will have a major impact on my fitness for the Leadville 100.
1. Coach Colin is Big Brother
The number one benefit of working with a coach is accountability. I know that Coach Colin is patiently waiting for my data file after each and every ride. He goes through my data with a fine toothed comb and gives feedback on how I did - every single time.
When I was self-trained, it was too easy to skip a day because I was tired or busy or whatever. Since working with Coach Colin, I have not missed a single workout. Also, when I was only accountable to myself, it was too easy to do the fun workout instead of the best workout for my fitness. I can always find a reason to turn a workout into “hill day” – yeah, I like hills that much.
2. Coach Colin is Cruel
It’s really easy for Coach Colin. With just a few clicks of his mouse, I’m off grunting out big chain ring intervals or ripping my guts out trying to generate 320 watts for 15 minutes – three times in a row. I would never in a million years have tried that while self-training. The first couple of minutes are ok, then it gets harder and harder until time slows down to where seconds become minutes and then I’m just wishing I could sell my damn bike and quit!
But then I remember that Coach Colin is patiently waiting for my data file and it better be perfect so I get mad and keep pedaling – and get stronger for it.
3. Coach Colin is Really Smart
Try asking Coach Colin something like, “Hey, how does that power meter thingy help with my training?” He loves this stuff and gets all excited explaining it to you. The first few minutes are interesting and then it just starts to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher – “wah wah wah-wah wah…” I’m glad all I have to do it pedal, because what he does sounds really hard.
Coach Colin lives for graphs like this.
The Verdict (so far…)
Overall, I’m riding fewer hours and fewer miles but get way more fatigued. I train five days a week, but since the rides are shorter it fits better into my family and work time. I feel like my fitness is higher than ever, but we’ll wait for Coach Colin to prove it with data.
I thought about coaching for a long time before I pulled the trigger, now I wish I hadn’t waited. This is way worth it.
by Arlyn on March 31, 2009
Dear Lexus Driver,
Hello, my name is Arlyn and I’m 39 years old. My wife and I have been married for eighteen years and we have two wonderful children; a seven year old daughter and a five year old son. I have many great friends and enjoy spending time with my parents.
Have you ever seen It’s a Wonderful Life – that Jimmy Stewart movie where he gets to see what the world would be like without him? I wonder sometimes what my family’s life might be like if you had killed me today.
Now, I know you would not choose to kill me. You’re probably a very decent person, maybe with a family of your own. But you did choose a moment of inattention while driving your car that could have resulted in my death or grave injury.
Please keep an eye out for us cyclists. We’re people, just like you.
Best,
Arlyn Asch
Father, husband, son, friend and cyclist
by Arlyn on March 29, 2009
Splashing through a creek, I looked over my shoulder to see how far back Virtual-Arlyn was. My Garmin said he was just 52 feet behind me and coming fast. I was racing a virtual version of myself, using a feature of my Garmin GPS that lets me race a previously recorded workout.
Around the next bend, I startled a small herd of mule deer whole bounded off into a stand of oak trees and brush. The sky was deep blue, the sun bright and the air cool. I picked up the pace and increased my lead over Virtual-Arlyn slightly. My plan was to hold my slight advantage to the base of the first climb up Soapstone Grade and then drop the hammer and my virtual opponent.
The twisting jeep trail kept my attention as I maneuvered for the best line. Around another corner waited a small flock of turkeys. I gobbled at them to get off the trail and then flew past to the big hollow oak tree where the climbing begins.
I was racing my previous fastest time for the Grand Loop of Cuyamaca, set last November with Mark. We had hammered the course without many stops and agreed it was our best lap ever. That was the day we hatched the idea to do the 20-mile Grand Loop multiple times. Today’s plan was to ride it twice – my first multiple loop attempt. Unfortunately, Mark couldn’t join which was why I was racing a virtual version of myself instead.
My legs finally warmed up on the Soapstone climb and as predicted, I expanded my lead to about a quarter mile. Racing myself was a great idea – it got all my competitive juices flowing and I kept the hammer down all day long. My instructions from Coach Colin were to “rip it up” and I was happy to oblige.
By the time I finished the first lap of the Grand Loop, I was 10 minutes and 2 miles ahead of Virtual-Arlyn. I started the second lap slow and reset Virtual-Arlyn, who grabbed an early lead. I executed the same plan from the first lap with similar results. I really suffered coming up Middle Peak Fire Road the second time, but it was worth it, I had maintained my lead. As I started the descent, I calculated that it might be possible to beat my first lap time so I hammered the downhills too. The dust flew and the rocks scattered as I bombed the downhills faster than ever.
I sprinted the last bit on pavement and came in with my fastest lap ever - 2:09. After a couple of cool-down laps through the parking lot, I leaned my bike against my car and sat down in the sunshine, appreciating the warmth and the ability to push myself really hard.
by Arlyn on March 22, 2009
The first time Mark’s chain broke, we laughed and joked around while we fixed it. We were enjoying pristine weather on a beautiful desert loop which will be part of the Julian Death March next month.
It was a beautiful morning to be riding my orange bike.
Stopping to adjust Mark’s front derailleur took awhile, but was fairly straightforward. We never did figure out how it got out of whack in the first place. We had stopped next to this old ranch with what looked like a mining operation going on out back. What would it be like to have a mine in your backyard?
Mark makes the repair.
The second time Mark’s chain broke, we still laughed and made jokes about how these things come in threes. We were on the back side of a loop trail, it would have been a long walk without a chain tool.
The third time Mark’s chain broke, we fixed it quickly without saying much and were on our way. Mark was getting really good at fixing his chain.
The fourth time Mark’s chain broke, we wondered how many links you can remove from a chain before you start walking. The desert flowers were in full swing and really pretty.
Desert wildflowers had their game on. It was startling to see so much color.
What was making us both pretty nervous was the knowledge that we had been descending all morning. Our altimeters told us that a 2,500 foot climb was approaching. It was still a long walk back to the car if his chain kept breaking every few miles.
Luckily, it did not. It held together as we slowly climbed up a steep and rocky jeep trail. We passed two groups of four-wheelers who were descending. They were nice and pulled off to the side to let us pass without stopping. We got several cheers and appreciative comments. A little girl said we were inspiring.
Imagine if you missed the turn and landed in this thing.
My guts became sore from working to balance my bike as it stumbled over the rocky terrain at less than 3mph. It was a great workout in very dramatic scenery.
The Pacific Crest Trail passes by not far from here.
We headed back to the car after 23 miles, cutting our ride in half. We managed to climb almost 4,000 vertical feet so it was still a pretty good day. Next weekend we’ll have a do-over and preview the last 20 miles of the aptly named Julian Death March.
It was disconcerting to spend the first 15 miles mostly descending. We knew we’d have to pay for it and justice came in the last seven miles.
by Arlyn on March 20, 2009
For whatever reason, the little computer for my brand new PowerTap SL+ lost its grip with the handlebar mount on its maiden voyage. I can’t be sure, but it’s possible that it let out a little electronic scream as it fell slowly toward the pavement below, which was rushing by at over 35 mile per hour. I like to think that the little guy did not suffer much, dying instantly instead of lying there injured, listening as my power signals faded slowly into the distance, waiting for the big truck that would inevitably smash it to smithereens.
We’ll just never know though, will we?
These are the only pieces I could find.
What I do know is that I called Saris, the manufacturer of my delicious new power meter and explained my predicament. Brynn listened carefully and then shipped me a brand new unit and mount. Her only request was that I mail her back whatever pieces I have of the old unit so she doesn’t get in trouble for shipping me a bunch of free stuff.
Duuuude! Dude. Seriously, I think this deserves a triple-Dude. Go buy something from Saris, cause they rock.
