Pointway Performance

I try not to pimp any products or services on this site unless I truly believe in them. This is a perfect example of a service I believe in. Tim O'Shea has recently started his own coaching business.

Many people have put up a shingle, taken a test and declared themselves a coach. It doesn't take much quite frankly. With that said, Tim is the real deal.

I've written about the benefits of being coached on a few occasions. In short, a structured training program provides FAR more value than new wheels, a carbon frame, or the latest gizmo. Getting dropped while rolling on new Zipp's is not cool. Trust me, I know. In a perfect world, get the wheels and hire a coach. In an imperfect world, hire the coach first and get the wheels/frame/gizmo's later.

Many may already be aware of Tim's racing credentials. Cat 1 Road racer, kicked Lance Armstrong's ass by over a minute in the NYC Marathon by running a 2:45:20, sub 10 hour Ironman at Lake Placid, 6th place in the Vermont 100 running race AFTER making a wrong turn. He races, road, MTB, CX, runs and swims. I've known Tim since 5th or 6th grade, and despite being one of the smaller kids, he routinely held his own arm wrestling the biggest kid in our class. As an aside, I was the second smallest kid in our entire school. Thankfully there was at least a Filipino girl that was smaller than me, although I'm pretty sure she could have kicked my ass. In sixth grade, Tim would run to and from school carrying his books under his arm. It was probably 6-8 miles round trip. I digress though, because I'm not selling Paul Bunyan. Tim also knows what it's like to suffer and get dropped. You don't become a success without knowing what it's like to fail.

Racing credentials and experience are nice, but that's only half of the package. Being fast doesn't qualify one to be a coach, and being a good coach doesn't mean that you need to be fast. In Tim's case he is well positioned to address every side of the equation.

I've spent countless hours training with, car pooling with, eating with and sharing hotel rooms with Tim. If you spend enough time with someone, you really start to get a sense of what makes them tick and their core values. Tim is built for coaching. He's fascinated by the data, the process, the diet and most importantly the psychology of a racer.

Without harping on the technical side of coaching, which Tim clearly understands, I'd like to address the psychological aspects of training. I think this aspect of coaching is largely ignored, and I think this is what really sets Tim apart from the average coach. Watts, max heart rate, resting heart rate, blah, blah, blah. It all means nothing if you're head isn't on straight. When things are going well, we train. Sometimes over train. When a race goes bad, it's easy to get in a funk and lose a few days of training or lose interest in bikes and racing all together. I've experienced all of this first hand. Tim has a knack for helping to keep everything in perspective. Additionally, he does a great job of explaining things in real world terms using spot on analogies that anyone can relate to.

The bottom line is that Tim spends at least as much time thinking as he does training. I've purposely taken some time off from fully structured training, but I've been reaping the benefits of Tim's dietary knowledge and "attitude" support. If you've ever thought of working with a coach, or if you've worked with a coach that only provides data for work outs, but little else, get a hold of Tim.

You can call him at 315-655-4620 or e-mail him at cxnationals5 (at) gmail.com

As I said last time . . . Love to Ride Your Bike.
Skinny Phil

Mint Condition

There is a phrase you'll never read when I'm selling a bike. "Pictured is my Mint Condition Trek Superfly." Last Thursday it was in mint condition, but now it's used, just like a bike should be. One weekend, and 6 and half hours of riding later and there are already some scuffs, and the finish is already worn down to silver on the drive-side crank arm.

Here's the back story . . . Tim O. starts talking about the Wilmington/Whiteface 100K and I say there's no way I'm interested. After MUCH thought, many e-mails, and hearing that Drumm, Haight (aka Bob) and local CX'er Ormsby are already signed up, I pull the trigger on a new bike. In the process of debating, both Tim and I looked at every conceivable MTB option on the planet. Resurrect an old 26'er, convert the current single speed 29'er, new geared 29'er, eBay, craigslist, turn to a life or crime, shake my money maker for dollar bills, you name it.

At the end of the day, I went with a new Superfly from Syracuse Bicycle. Those guys are awesome and between Paul K. and some, actually a lot of guidance from Brian K. it was a no-brainer. What really struck me though was the number of "mint condition" bikes that were for sale used. "I bought this bike with intentions to ride it, but never did." "I never rode this MTB off road or in the rain." "I built up this bike and only rode it once while wrapped in pillows and wearing oven mitts."

I seldom sell bikes because I usually like to keep them around, but when I do sell them they have been used for 1,000's of miles in their intended purpose. If I were to try and sell my bikes, it might sound like this:

Steven's #1: Head tube scratched from shouldering the bike up numerous run-ups. Paint on fork scratched, couldn't tell you why. Crank scuffed with extreme prejudice. Crashed in CX races more than once.

Steven's #2: See above and add that the protective sticker to prevent chain suck damage was removed during actual chain suck.

Cervelo S1: Frame only. Small paint chips everywhere from racing, training in all manner of weather and some cable slap.

Cervelo SLC-SL: Frame looks awesome. There is some scuffing from cable rub. Oh yeah, I put a hole in the frame last year at Hollenbeck and had it repaired by Calfee. Looks good, rides as good as ever, but selling a frame that had a hole in it is a little tough.

Trek X01: This bike has been raced for CX, MTB'd at Highland, loaned out to countless friends to test the CX waters, raced in Black Fly a couple of times, ridden through two winters, blah blah blah.

I could go on, but I'm starting to feel like a jerk for owning this many bikes. The bottom line is this: my bikes are clean, very well maintained and all of them see A LOT of action. Like I said last time, Love to Ride Your Bike . . . and then actually ride them. I suspect that most people reading this already are.

Love to ride your bike . . .

It figures that after very few posts, Drummroll and I were both inspired to write posts on the same day. It must be that time of year again. I'm four races into my season. All in all it's been a mediocre start to the season at best. I'm fairly certain that unless I get bitten by some sort of radioactive spider and gain some superpowers, I'm destined to remain a Cat 4 on the road. Frankly at this point, I'm fine with that. I have average genetics, a full time job, a wife that I enjoy hanging out with and two labs that require lots of hiking.

This time of year is always interesting. Most racers have a new lease on life. Their cycling life anyway. Everyone hopes that "this was the winter." This year I'm going to be the hammer instead of the nail! It's easy during the winter months to forget how much racing hurts. After my first race 4 weeks ago, I very seriously contemplated buying a new pair of running shoes. I rode all winter for THIS? To get dropped in the first 11 miles???

After a few days of reflection, I realized that I didn't ride all winter to be faster in spring. I rode all winter because I love riding my bike. If I really wanted to be faster, I would have ridden the trainer more and outside less. I'm not entirely sure that this post will make complete sense, but it's a blog, not a publication, so bear with me.

I'm going to reference some names, but keep in mind that I'm assuming they are thinking like this, and haven't spoken to any of them about it . . .

I'm sure there's some local Cat 5 or OCC member that would love to be as fast as I am, which is to say they'd be thrilled if they could simply hang in a Cat 4 race and not get dropped for a few laps. I on the other hand would love to be as fast as Tim O. or Wayne B. I'd assume that Tim and Wayne would love to be as fast as New England strongmen such as Justin Lindine or Roger Alpholm. Justin and Roger would probably love to be as fast as Jeremy Powers. Jeremy Powers would probably love to be as fast as Dave Zabriskie, and Dave Z would probably like to be as fast as Fabian Cancellara.

At the end of the day, the key is to love what you do and to work with the potential that you have. I'm not saying that we shouldn't strive to train better, eat better or collect more sweet cycling gear. I'm simply saying that very few of us has the potential to collect a decent paycheck based on our bike racing potential, so do it because you love the sport, love the lifestyle, love the people and love the bike.

You see a handful of racers move from a Cat 5 to Cat 3 overnight and then all of a sudden winning becomes a lot tougher. In a year or two, some of those guys get burned out and quit the sport. What came so easily early on became much tougher as they moved up and the playing field was leveled some. Maybe they loved the bike, and maybe they didn't, but ultimately misplaced expectations or ego drove them from the sport.

At the risk of sounding like I'm on my soap box, all I know is this . . . guys like Drummroll, Jason H. (aka Bob), Dave F. and I will be at this a long time and doing so for the love of the game. Hopefully everyone else will too. Cheers, and here's to everyone having the opportunity to be the hammer instead of the nail this season.

Sucktion

Definition of Sucktion: 

suck.tion (noun), suk-shun

(1) The act or art of sucking during a cycling endeavour or competition.
(2) A technique or means to be unprepared (mentally or physically) for a challenging circumstance.


Ex:  Drummroll demonstrated a mastery of sucktion at the Check Your Legs Road Race this past Sunday.

I Think it's Spring

Is It Spring Yet -- Part 2

Eight days, 80+ deg F, gobs of SPF 100, and bright sunshine every freakin day while on the Gulf Coast just west of Sarasota, FL.  That was my week -- it was pretty damn nice and selfishly deserved on some levels after a not so great year on the non-cycling front .... and it makes up for all the rain and cold we had in AZ last winter/spring.   But getting off the plane in SYR was a rude reminder of my reality and once again begged the question .. is it spring yet?

So the riding consisted of some group rides, some solo rides , and some combos of both but always flat as can be flat.  The big climbs consisted of getting over the draw bridges.  Hooked up with the Sarasota Manatee Bicycle Club for some great group rides and routes.  They were good folks who more than welcomed an out of towner into their ranks.  The bike lane network was really good in many areas but you were almost always around some traffic.   On the other hand, there were usually lots of people out  riding nearly all the time so drivers could not but help to remain somewhat diligent of the cyclists.  And there were all sorts out cycling too which was refreshing ... young, old and everything in between on about every type of bike imaginable.

All in all, I can't call Sarasota (and the nearby "keys") a big time cycling training destination like Tucson, Asheville, or San Diego but hey, it worked considering I had a non-cycling sig-other to consider as well.  We had the beach, good eats, decent shopping and I was able to solidify the base miles and work in some initial intensity in short sleeves and shorts every day.  

Yehuda Moon

http://www.yehudamoon.com

My curiosity got me .. what the he!! is Yehuda Moon? ...  a new psychedelic drug from the root of some rare Amazonian plant?, a whiskey?, a coffee?, a cheese?, a celestial event celebrated in India that I never heard of?

After purchasing a Walz Cap recently (a grey wool 3-panel w/black stripe - awesome btw), I was back on their site looking at their other offerings.  I  noticed a special "Yehuda Moon" edition cap link.  So in true internet lemming fashion, I clicked on the link to satisfy my web-induced Yehuda Moon curiosity.   I think I found a keeper -- I will add this to my daily cyclo-based browsing routine.  

If ya got a few, check out Yehuda .... it will go good with your morning coffee ... chances are it will grow on you as you relate (with a knowing grin) certain aspects of Yehuda Moon to yourself, other cycling geeks, and this mini-bizarro world thing we call cycling culture.  Now go get yourself some Yehuda ....