A few of the riders come to Southern New Mexico for winter training in January.  Ruidoso has a climb well over 10,000ft, along with thin air and cold weather.  Good time to practice some climbing while the snow has retreated.  Three warm weather guys and one from up north. Guess who is smiling in this weather.

To begin in this preparation it was decided that I should train in the trainer and downhill skis for some solid warm climate training and maybe some racing while I was at it. Thankfully with a smattering of teammates across the country the options are pretty limitless as to what type of riding I wanted to do. Emiliano happens to live in Tucson, AZ which is ground zero for off season training for professional athletes from runners to baseball players. Not to mention a hefty populous of professional and amateur cyclists. Emiliano was gracious enough to offer his place as a base camp for a two week informal training camp that would include a weekend warrior race and a super early stage race: Valley of the Sun.

In an effort to keep this post manageable for the reader I will summarize the training portion of this trip in a few sentences: Cloudy, raining, or sunny, the riding was fantastic. The sun was comparatively always warm, and I have the sunburns to prove it. The wind was strong enough to tare the roof off a house and this is apparently the norm. The mountains are absolutely amazing providing an infinite amount of upward rising roads to suit any workout. All in all I managed to get in a little over 50 hours of great riding and enough to coax the tan lines back into place. I can’t thank Emiliano enough or allowing me to stay with him and share his kitchen as it was a much needed vacation from the trainer and all things ice and snow related. Thankfully he provided enough beta on any rides that I wanted to do which allowed me to avoid getting too lost on my own and to find rides like the “shootout,” a group ride requiring another post for another time.

Before heading North to Phoenix for Valley of the Sun we were met by our new teammate Justin Makka who is a soon to be minted category 1 racer as well as being a professional mountain biker; a solid resume indeed. He brought with him what would probably be the most attention grabbing item of the weekend: a decommissioned police car. If it weren’t for the logos on the rear fender of the car and the 4 bikes hanging off the back people might have brake checked even more than they already were when seeing it in there rears. It was pretty hysterical watching people double take at the 3 tiny bike racers in the car just about every time we passed a car. For sure an experience not be passed up. With top notch host housing setup as mentioned by Emiliano, we were ready to get some race miles in.

After the previous two weeks my only goals coming into this stage race were to put out consistent efforts and keep to the front of things to stretch the legs out further and keep my nose out of trouble. The race started off with the Time Trial where my goal was to keep a hard effort but not completely blow out, as well as getting a couple extra hours of riding to finish off the day.  I was able to borrow a bike as our bikes are still in the building stage and not yet needed as the team does some early racing before the season gets underway. Overall I was satisfied with the effort I put out for my first time trial of the year but it was certainly nothing to write home about.

The road race looked like a good opportunity for us to do well, with Emiliano having had a good tt ride and it being a race that better suited my natural abilities. The race course itself was nothing too crazy with a drag of a climb that kicked a little at the end – a head wind on the descent – and a flat long stretch. The riders were really the only ones that were going to make the race more difficult. After a couple of slow laps things finally picked up a little to make the climbs a little tougher and the windy stretches single file. The race was kept under control for a good portion by Ouch (formerly Healthnet) as they held the GC lead. Emiliano flatted at one point, thankfully during one of the early slow downs and with a little help from an ad-hoc teammate, J. Ferry, a strong New Englander, he and I were able to catch up. Cutting to the chase, the last lap was steadily fast with an even faster kick during the finishing climb. With a few groups splitting apart Emiliano and myself managed to stay tucked into the first group and I am confident to say we would have faired well – if it weren’t for the fact that the race was neutralized 1 kilometer out due to a previous field’s crash. All opinions aside the day from a workout point of view was great.

Lastly we had the criterium. With some very strong regional teams and pro squads like Rock Racing, the racing was sure to light up more than the previous days. Given the previous day’s results, more than a few people were going to be looking to make an impact. With a good starting position the race started without hesitation, splitting groups off all over. I managed to keep myself planted in the front group and and closed all the gaps I needed to in order to stay in the thick of it. There was a little hill in the race that provided a great staging ground for single file racing and attacking which gave way to losing more than a quarter of the field (being pulled due to being lapped). Coming into the last lap I was further back than I would have liked position-wise but happy with the effort I was making. I made a mistake of letting myself get gapped off the lead group when two pros sat up in front and I sat in for a top third finish. Given the amount of groups on the road and riders that had not finished I managed to move up about 30 places in the overall which was pretty amusing.

Ultimately this stage race capped off a great two week block that should provide a good base for some of the bigger professional races in the year. Back in Vermont with the ice and snow I am already getting excited looking ahead to March when the team gathers for the first time together. If you made it this far in the post, then congratulations! Stay posted as the adventures begin to happen more frequently and other teammates begin introducing themselves.

-Adam

The Time Trial

I had a good warm up, but found out later I drank a little bit too much while sitting on the trainer. Getting to the start line, things were different from last year the wind was coming from the south if at all and it was sunny. The minimal wind would make the slight false flat out a moot point as it wouldn’t be too much faster on the way back. The way out for me was good and I was meeting my power goals. Right at the turn around I realized my mistake with my liquids. My stomach started to cramp and I was feeling the aero tuck. I was dropping power hopping to not cramp to the point of ruining my ride. At the end I crossed the line a little bit slower than hoped (but isn’t that always the case), but made my somewhat modest power goal.

That's How I Roll.

Road Race

The Valley of the Sun road race is a little bit bland. There is one big ring hill and other than that it’s a lot of pack sitting. Ouch was working on the front to keep John Chodroff’s 45 second lead. Cresting the climb for the first time of the day just as the pack was picking up speed into a very slight head cross wind I flatted. The wheel van did not have spare wheels organized so after helping find the right wheel for me, that I was forced to put on myself, I took of very unceremoniously, without a push, towards the pack I could barely see. After chasing for almost 8 minutes in full TT mode I was safely on J Alian Ferry’s and Adam’s wheels who both saved my life by dropping back to pull me to the pack.

The only other point worth mentioning is the fact that the entire stage was for not as it was completely neutralized with 1k and no results counted at all. I hope that leaves you flat as it did me.

Training Ride

On Saturday after the road race, I was chatting with our host mother and figured out that where we were staying was right off one of my favorite Arizona road race courses. Figuring I’d like to ride it since the race is no more, I set my alarm clock early and got ready to go train. I went out for about 2 hours and had a great ride. Figuring it was early season and training is always good I let myself have fun on the climbs and got a really good workout in.

Criterium

The only right hand turn...

Due to the NBA All-star game the Crit was moved from a very bumpy and dangerous course to a fun 6 corner single file ride. After sitting in all day, and watching fairly impressive power spikes in my watt meter as we went up the hill I finished safely in the pack. It seems the Crit had taken it’s toll on some and 3 of the riders in front of me had been pulled. So over all I landed in a personally very solid 16th place for the weekend.

Thanks

I’d like to thank our host family for the weekend, Mike and Kathy, who made things a lot easier on the three of us and who insisted (much to my delight) that we eat some good food with them in the evenings that made the racing a lot easier. Hopefully next year they’ll have the time to come watch us race.

Ten Speed Dive, Training in Tucson, AutoPhoto!

***Note, I meant to publish this a while ago, say the beginning of fall… But here it is.***
With many disciplines and even more schedules based on regional weather, and culture, cycling at times can be a varied and diverse sport. As a national team with no regional base Colavita NM has riders participating in an assortment of cycling activities. Josh L. is in Portland, and staying true to the Cyclo-Cross crazy North West he is running jumping and riding his way through the mud, thoroughly enjoying himself. Garrett W. just wrapped up his road racing season in Florida and is taking a well deserved rest before preparing for next season.

I have just completed a rest that included some Mountain Biking in Santa Fe and a lot of hiking around the Sandia mountains in New Mexico. Off time for both Garrett and I involves a break and an opportunity to step away from training to contemplate the previous season and plan for the future. Time Trialing is high up on our list of things to improve as it’s always a sure way to increase General Classification, and can always be worked on.

For now though, I’m just putting on base miles, long relatively slow miles. I will be working to improve on the overall amount of work my body can handle. So that when I start on more specific workouts for the 2009 season I can handle an increased load. And therefore reap more benefits for my racing. The increased capacity for work will also increase my ability to stay fresh during stage races and handle longer more intense blocks of racing. Admittedly October is early to start training and planning for a season that begins months from now. But I feel my motivation is high and a longer slower peak will allow my form to carry longer. So for now I’m spending a lot of time riding a local Tucson ride, “big square” and heading up Mt, Lemmon.

Cheers,

Emiliano Jordan