GTC Nation Quiz Answers

1.Name 3 Gins and 3 Dosters on our riding routes.

Manning Gin, Bradley Gin, and Gin Rd, Emmett Doster, Eliza Doster and Doster.

2.On what road/street is the wooden Indian located?

Bethany Church

3.On what street is Grandaddy’s Crack House located?

Smith Mill

4.On what made up street is Charlene’s Trim Shop located?

Studabaker Ave.

5.On the GTC Winter Ride, how many County line sprints are there?

None, its winter.

6.What is Ima Cool Lover and where is its home?

It is a horse and the stables are located on Michael road just past Bunk Tillman.

7. What is written on the Good Hope Store bumper sticker?

I’d rather be fishing.

8.What does the store at Fairplay not have that is very important?

An available bathroom. But, they will let you have free ice. It is in the fridge freezer.

9.What movie used a house structure located along the Bethlehem-Fairplay ride?

My Cousin Vinny.

10.On what road is the Day Lily Farm?

Joneswood

11.What violent act of history happened on Moores Ford road?

A lynching.

12.Name 3 roads with church in their name on which we ride.

There are so many. I already listed Bethany Church. There is Bethel Church, Harmony Grove Church, Mt. Etna Church, etc.

13.How long (km) is Bunk Tillman?

1.6km

14. How many sections of dirt are there in the L�enfer du Walton ride?

Depending on what version, 15 right now.

15.On what hard short climb could you stop off and eat some goat cheese?

Tapwood.

16.What small town that we ride through has the same name as 1970�s prison riot?

Attica, Attica!

17.What are the names of the 2 reservoirs we ride over each year (not on the same ride)?

Willamson lake and Green County. Not sure of the name of the one in Statham since it is so new.

18.What is the name of the cobbled street on the Athens ride and what unique object is at the top?

Finley. The tree that owns itself.

19.On what street/road is Bones restaurant located in the GTC nation?

Panell Rd.

20.What ride has the longest climb we do and what is it called?

Ride of the Fallen Leaves and it is called Maberry.

21.Where is the Trestle located?

Alcovy.

22.How many of our current GTC rides actually start in Gwinnett County?

Any ride out of Harbins, N. Gwinnett Ride, and Grayson rides.

23.What are the names of the streets that intersect at Gratis?

Gratis Rd, Simms Bridge and Mt. Vernon

24.In the spring, it is the only road on which we always turn around.

Maple Ridge.

25.What is the name of the subdivision at the end of the La Primavera spring classic that usually decides the sprint?

Kendall Park.

26.Name 4 stills as part of a road/street name we usually use.

Callie, Randolph, Ralph and ??

27.There are 2 mountains listed on the maps in the GTC Nation. What are their names?

Turkey and Alcovy

28.Which Cross Lane is paved?

N. Crosslane

29.Name the roads that each have a functional wooden bridge.

Old Thompson Mill Rd, Hightower Trail (cars only) and Jericho Rd (I think. Wherever Ming crashed)

30.Name the road in the GTC Nation that was the title of an R.E.M. album.

Chronic Town (near Auburn)

Sub-Max Intervals and some Cyclocross Play

I headed out to the "secret" GTC 'cross spot today early and did 6 sub-max intervals before the rest of the folks got there. I did a descending interval set of 60-30 seconds with 5 minutes rest in between. I would like to do all of them at 60 seconds but they would have been too taxing on me for a 'cross workout after. On Tuesday I will resume the 60 second pattern.

The cyclocross practice was good but next week I think I will head over to my "super secret" spot that no one knows about and practice some hot laps. I am afraid that any form I may have might come too early since last year it was right on time and I am way ahead of last year.

In the set that I did I was able to hold some decent averages and set PRs on the 1 minute power. But, I don't do too many of these throughout the year so a PR is no big deal. We also did some starts and I was able to hit 1316W in 12 seconds, which was pretty good. Of course there is no way I could keep up that effort at the start without blowing soon after.

The power to weight ratio for the intervals were: 6.96, 7.34, 7.45, 7.61, 8.36 and 8.27W/kg respectively. I am still considered a high Cat 4 in terms of my 1-minute power, but a low Cat 3 for everything else. Like it matters?

Here are the interval curves:

Threshold Intervals

On Thursdays for the next 3 weeks I will be trying to do blocks of 15-20 minutes at threshold. This week I was a little crunched for time but managed to get both of them in. The large blips in each graph reflect the turnarounds I had to do on Riverside Drive where my course is only 5 miles one way. Both of the intervals went well but the second was a bit better than the first because it included the long hill on Eves Road up from the river.

I was satisfied with the results and my average power for each was 277w and 286w respectively which was in my training zone of 267-310w.

5 High Intervals

Part of my new Intensity phase is doing VO2 max intervals at a high level (311-355w). It is easy to start off too hard and pay for it later (Interval 1), and sometimes the intervals almost end up with an even effort (Interval 2). All of the 5 efforts were 90% in the proper range and I felt worked by the end. For the next 3 weeks I'll do submax intervals on Tuesdays of 1 minute or a pyramid from 1 minute to 30 seconds with 2-4 minutes of recovery between. I will also do 3-6, 15-second sprints, mostly from a standing start. Wednesdays are for these VO2 max intervals with an incomplete rest period of only 4 minutes between each. Thursdays are for straight threshold (267-310w) and my cyclocross workouts come on Sundays until next Wednesday when I will try to work my routine into a second cyclocross practice.

Once I come out the other side I hope that my ftp and high end power willl have followed. Since i am not racing, I have to do these workouts to fine tune.

1 Wasp Was Enough

Johan Musseuw ordered up "wasps" all of the time, but this is the third ride in 2 weeks that I have been stung. This time it was personal since it stung me just to the left of the family jewels. I was two and a half minutes into a block of time trial effort when the son of a bitch stung me right through the GTC duds. Since I did not want to stop the interval, I had to deal with the pulsing pain of the stinger lodged in my thigh for another 5 minutes. As you can see from the graph below, the sting resulted in a major loss of power while I cursed its family and then a nice lift in power as I tried my best to translate my discomfort to the pedals. I am not allergic but an epi-pen would have made the intervals better.


At least it was not the same pain as the time when Mike and I were riding somehwere in the GTC Nation and I took off my sunglasses for awhile only to be smacked dead in the eye by a large bumble bee. It would have made a nice physics problem as the impact to my eye was about 100x that of a glaucoma test.

I also was stung by a inch long "bullet ant" in the jungle of Costa Rica. That really hurt and left a bad welt that needed antibiotics.To start it off earlier this week, my daughter was stung by a wasp at daycare, leaving her with a welt and a black eye. Let me state for the record once and for all that I have nothing against the Order Hymenoptera so STOP STINGING ME AND MY PROGENY.

Good to the Last Drop

I was excited to try the new Jottery Joe's Saturday morning ride since it covered some new roads and journeyed out to Lake Lanier. I had not looked at the profile, only the map, and thought that the route out by the lake would be following the contours. Nope, it was pocked with steep hills and i managed to get dropped 3 times.

The first drop was my own doing as I really had to take a nature break, but it came right as the fornt guys decided to kill it. So, I did not get back on until the group was ready to turn around. The second drop happened soon after when for some reason I decided to do a 3 minute pull on a slight downhill grade and blow up as the grade manifested itself into a leg breaking short climb. I was able to take an alternate route and meet up with the group near the 12% Poplar St. hill that was very fun. The last drop occured on Satellite Blvd. near the end as the road climbed steadily for almost a mile. Eventually the group pulled away but only about 10 seconds.

Since May I had not done a ride with any pace changes similar to a race. My legs really resisted this but these are the efforts I need for the next month so I hope the fast guys keep coming out.

I really liked this ride a lot and hope to do it again very soon. Jittery Joe's in Buford was very accomodating and it was nice to see the owner riding with us.

Hard Playing Summer

Boy, today I was officially beat. The near 100 degree heat took its toll somewhere near Gratis, GA on a tempo ride today.

This summer somehow I managed to bust out some major miles. Since memorial day weekend I've ridden a total of 1635 miles at 95.5 hours. That is a lot for me.

Of this riding, 60 hours Easy, 18 hours Light (tempo), 9.5 hours Middle (at/near threshold), and 2 hours High (includes 15 second sprint efforts).

I have one last week of base, then a rest week, and then 2-4 weeks of intensity. From there it is all peaking for the season.

Since school starts next week I will not be putting in any more than 8 hours per week at most.

Georgia Cyclocross Series 2006

Happily, the new series schedule just came out and it will not be easy...

10-15-06 Dahlonega (new venue)

10-22-06 Augusta (new location--I sucked there last year)

10-29-06 Winder (venue TBD)

11-5-06 Monroe (good results there)

11-12-06 Marietta (good results there)

11-18/19-06 UCI Race in North Carolina (should be nice)

12-3-06 Macon State Championship race (Ouch)

12-10-06 Jackson--Indian Springs State Park (Series Finale) (good results there)

12-15/17-06 Cyclocross National Championships Providence RI (I cannot wait! A good result would be a nice birthday present)

Goals for Season:

1. Stay healthy all season!

2. Have as much fun as humanly possible!

3. Be competetive in Masters 35+ or A's (?)

4. Place higher than 64th at Nationals!