Warmup: 1 hour of zone 2 shoveling. Then do 3 one-minute high cadence, low-load shoveling intervals with 2 minutes of easy shoveling in between. Then, do 10 minutes of tempo shoveling followed by five minutes of easy shoveling.

Test: 5 minutes of shoveling all-out. Start out hard and hold it. Try and clear an entire driveway covered in two feet of snow in this five minutes. This will get rid of that “fresh” feeling to be sure the FTP test is accurate as well as stimulate the lactate clearance systems (in the shoulders and back.) Follow this five minutes with five minutes of easy shoveling. Then, do a 20-minute shoveling-trial. Try and clear an entire neighborhood in those 20 minutes. Really dig deep (literally).

Cooldown: 10 minutes of zone 2 shoveling.

Your shoveling FTP will be 95% of the volume you cleared during the 20-minute shoveling trial. Oh, and at this point you should probably have someone drive you to a hospital.

Chris “Sittin’ In” Hall showed the team why he is normally found at the back of the peloton, chatting with the moto ref and waiting on the sprint: he can absolutely fly from the 200 meter mark.  He spent the past weekend proving this with a win at the Nittany Cup Track Races in Trexlertown, PA.

Hall, who has spent the season focused on track events competed in the Sprint, the Kilo, the Points Race, and the Scratch Race.  While he posted respectable results in all events, it was in the Match Sprints where he really made his mark by winning the Cat 3/4 overall.

Hall sailed through the initial qualifying rounds by posting personal best times and still saying that he was “certain to do better next time by trying one gear smaller.”  As he entered the match sprint rounds he bested riders from several teams with a combination of power and sound tactical decisions.  In the championship round, however, things got interesting as he was paired up against former teammate and regular training partner Bo “Robster Craw” Lee.  Chris was not worried and said, “I beat Bo before and was feeling confident against him.  I knew what he had to do to beat me so I would just have to do my best to prevent that from happening.”  The two played a nerve wracking game of cat and mouse until Chris decided the moment was right.  He said, “I hit the inside and just put my head down and went and Bo was right on my wheel.  Of course I never looked back so I didn’t realize until afterwards that he was right on my wheel.  We stayed that way the rest of the lap and he couldn’t come around me so I took the win.”  From his description, it all sounds so easy.

Though practically every member of Whole Wheel Velo Club will freely admit that they don’t understand track racing or the various track events, the team is proud of Hall’s win, especially as it comes over such a respected opponent and friend of Whole Wheel.  They will now be looking forward to seeing Hall once again sit in the back of the off-season group rides, pretending to have something wrong with his shoes until the next sprint point comes around…

Caveat Lector: Though this review appears on our team website, it was reviewed by only one of our members.  The views represent those of WWVC President, Gus Grissom, and are most certainly correct.

When Gamjams asked for volunteers to review this product, I was initially very excited.  “Let me get this straight: you will send me a free cooling device and all I have to do is try it out and write about it?  Sign me up and bring on the schwag!”  When it got here, I was more than a little disappointed.  In fact, my initial impression was something more akin to “is it too late to send this back so I don’t have to write a report?”  Let’s be honest; out of the package the collar is just a small handkerchief that has velcro on it.  It’s nothing.

But because I am a sucker for anything free, I went ahead and followed the instructions.  I put the collar in some ice water and let it soak for about thirty minutes.  When I returned a magical transformation had occurred and all the mysterious “crystals” had expanded to the point that this collar now was as thick as a golf ball and ice cold.  The Luddite within cried out “what manner of devilry doth this be?”

I then tested the collar in two basic circumstances: during- and post-workout.  Since I do most of my structured training indoors, I thought the collar might be the perfect device to keep me comfortable in my hot, humid basement.  It worked, but not all that well.  I put the collar on during my roller workout and, despite an initial sensation of cool water on my neck, I found the collar to be too loose and soggy to be really comfortable while riding.  Plus I think the principle at play is evaporative cooling and there just isn’t enough air flow on my neck to accomplish this.  It might have cooled me off a little bit but I really couldn’t tell any difference.  Perhaps it works better outdoors?

When I tested the collar after a workout, however, I think I found the perfect niche for this device: recovery tool.  Basically I soaked the collar in ice water during my workout and put the collar on when I was finished and enjoying my recovery drink.  Under these circumstances, where I could sit down on the porch or walk around, the cooling sensation on my neck provided an instant relief.  It might have been psychosomatic, but it really did feel like my whole body was cooling down quicker.  I stopped sweating more quickly and I felt very refreshed.  It was a very pleasant sensation (and I didn’t feel like a freak riding my rollers with a wet tube around my neck.  Instead I was “recovering smartly with a cooling device while sipping Ovaltine.”  It’s all about image.).

So, why would I buy this?  I think this is a great and inexpensive tool for post-effort recovery.  It is, essentially, no different than having some cool towels for after a race but it stays cold much longer and gives you plenty of comfortable recovery time.  It would be a great way to cool off after an interval session, the Tuesday Night World Championships, or another Page Valley Road Race if you took it with you in a cooler with some ice water.  Riding with it on, however, seems to me to be much less effective or comfortable.

The collar can be purchased at www.theaspencoolcollar.vpweb.com.  But you should probably get to the site by clicking the banner on gamjams.net so the good folks who run that site get credit for their advertising efforts (and we get more free stuff to review!).

Thanks for reading!

540 Cycling Crit Series #3, Cat 4 from Brian on Vimeo.

The past few weekends have given Whole Wheel Velo Club several opportunities for success.  Led by Peter “What Valley?” Warner and Tom “Ride Lots” Draffen, the team has scored victories in the local 540 Developmental Criterium and a second place in the Tour of Lancaster.

Warner captured his first criterium win in the 540 Developmental Series.  Knowing that he was supported by Brian “Now in HD” Stefanish, Warner said his strategy was simple.  He “wanted to attack the p*ss out of the first few laps … to get the guys tired of chasing.”  The strategy eventually worked and Warner found himself in a small breakaway group.  Once the field gave up the chase with about five laps to go, Warner said that “was all she wrote” and he “simply played it smart and took the sprint.”  Stefanish, who had spent his energy disrupting the chase in the peloton and thinking about his new helmet camera, said he “was toast and just pulled out to watch” Warner manhandle the breakaway group.

Tom Draffen took the Whole Wheel show on the road to capture second place on GC at the Tour of Lancaster (Cat 3/4).  Draffen started his assault by working hard  in a small breakaway group during the road race.  Notching a fifth-place finish for the day, he moved into first place on GC after his stellar time trial performance.  Going into the final event, the criterium, Draffen said “I was keeping a good eye on the #2 and #3 GC guys.  Finally a break went up the road that was going to stick … [it] didn’t look like anyone close was in it, so we let that ride.”  Unfortunately Draffen’s math skills aren’t quite as sharp as his riding and one rider from that break was able to edge him out for the GC win by one point.  Draffen, who did recently graduate from college and normally ciphers pretty well, took second overall.  Unfazed by the surprise ending, he summed up his entire racing philosophy by saying “Ahhh… c’est la vie.  For a race I really expected to just kinda roll up and do a TT, I’m pretty stoked.”  He will, undoubtedly, be even more stoked when he grabs the final point necessary for his Cat 2 upgrade.

Several riders from Whole Wheel Velo Club successfully made the long trip to West Virginia in search of the Lost River and a soon-to-be classic race on the MABRA calendar.  The team is pleased to report two things: they found the Lost River and it did in fact live up to the hype.  The race was epic, the course was spectacular, and the team’s results were solid.

In the Cat 5 event, Phil “The Phunk” Bracken simply wanted to test himself in a road race featuring gravity as a main competitor.  By positioning himself well on the climbs, however, and staying focused on maintaining contact with the lighter climbers who were setting the pace, Phunk found himself able to make up a lot of ground on the descents where he says “I wanted to use my weight to my advantage.”  It was mission accomplished for Phunk as he found himself making the selection and, in the end, “sprinting as good as a big guy can on an uphill” to take 6^th place.  He looks forward to upgrading by the end of the year and working with the Cat 4 squad very soon.

The Cat 4 squad of Chris “ISO Volunteers” Gould, Michael “The Director” Randers-Pehrson, and Gus Grissom also found success at the event.  The teamwork started early as Gus Grissom, having been given permission by the team director to “attack on the first climb,” leveraged Gould’s steady climbing tempo and forced a significant selection at the top of the first climb.  Grissom said “Gould was setting a solid tempo upfront and I heard a lot of gears shifting and heavy breathing, so I jumped hard on the steep part to see what would happen.”  Though the attack broke the field apart and forced a solid selection of competitors, Grissom admitted later that his attack was mostly due to fear.  “I really suck at going downhill and mostly didn’t want anyone around to see how white my knuckles would get on that screaming descent.”  Regardless his motive, the damage was done.  With the field broken apart behind him, Grissom worked hard in the break and captured another top-10 finish in his quest for a Cat 3 upgrade.

On Sunday, Gould was joined by Brian “Bantamweight” Stefanish in the 540 Developmental Series criterium event.  Both riders agreed that the event was a great opportunity to hone their racing skills and used the course to the their advantage, by maintaining their position near the front of the field and staying alert for opportunities.  Though Gould said his “44 year old body didn’t have much left from the Lost River,” he was able to secure a top-10 finish and Stefanish called the day a solid validation of his recent nutrition and fitness improvements.

Phil “The Phunk” Bracken took charge of Whole Wheel Velo Club’s improving Cat 5 squad for the Giro di Coppi and rode aggressively to a top-5 finish, continuing his streak of consistently high finishes.  Supported by fellow Whole Wheelers Jeff “Tree Hugger’” Lange and Noor Qadri, Phunk agreed with his squad that opening phase of the race was reasonably paced and easily handled.  As the miles added up, however, the reality of breakaways played a part in his decision making.  Though he dropped his chain and had to burn a few matches to regain contact with the shrinking peloton, he realized that a sprint finish was becoming increasingly inevitable.  He got himself in position and tried to be as patient as possible with his sprint, holding off until around the 150 meter mark.  Unfortunately, as he said, “even that was too early with the uphill finish, and I blew about 25m out.”  In the end, he was pipped out of the podium spots at the line and was happy to take fifth overall.  It was one further indicator that his fitness is broad, his experience is growing, and his tactical acumen is quickly developing.  The Phunk will, undoubtedly, be ready to compete at the next level the minute his upgrade is approved.

Other categories at the Giro saw Peter “Water Boy” Warner and Gus “That’s Not My Bottle” Grissom working together in the Cat 4.  Though they were supported in the early portions of the race by Chris “USDA Approved” Gould, Dan “Big Wheel” Dineen and Mike “My Tummy Hurts” Flanagan, the pace and hills had whittled the peloton down considerably by the final lap.  As a lone rider broke away from the pack, Warner turned himself into the sacrificial lamb for the rest of the pack and, while trying to give Grissom a long leadout, led the group on a successful chase.  His efforts, however, were for naught as Grissom could not follow up on his blistering pace and the pair were swarmed by the sprinters who, in the end, enjoyed the fruits of Warner’s labor.

Though this weekend was not filled with Whole Wheel podium results, it was filled with good times, safe racing, and great camaraderie among the Whole Wheel crews.  The team collectively wishes to thank Squadra Coppi for hosting such a great event and securing such perfect racing weather.

The Tour of Washington County provided the latest venue for Whole Wheel Velo Club to showcase its “team first” mentality for the MABRA community.  In the Cat 4 event, Pete “Slip ‘n Slide” Warner took the top GC honors while Gus Grissom took 8^th overall.  In the Cat 3 event, Tom “Old Man” Draffen took 7^th overall.

The Cat 4 squad, bolstered by Ryan “Not In Front of My Girlfriend” Callahan and Chris “Horn Tootin’” Gould, was focused on one goal heading into the weekend: protect Warner in the RR so he could take charge in the TT.  To that end, Grissom posted himself near the front of the peloton and marked all the breaks.  Though a few potentially promising groups got away on the short climbs very early, nothing was sticking on the flat, windy sections.  Once the field realized this, the squad became content simply to drive the pace on the climbs and bleed off as many racers as possible.  This tactic worked well as several riders from Bike Rack pitched in to shrink the peloton down to a more manageable level.  As the final lap approached, Warner was well positioned to finish strong with a fairly small group of GC contenders.

Warner took control by dominating the TT and posting a 27:35 to seizing the GC lead by over thirty seconds.  Moving from the TT to the Crit, the squad’s plan again was simple: protect Warner and contain his main GC threats.  While Gould and Grissom patrolled the front of the pack during the opening phases of the race, Warner was able to relax and focus on staying out of trouble.  When the time bonus primes came along, Warner said, “I didn’t need to contest any of the bonus points throughout so I bowed out of the Bike Rack rampage for those.”  Going into the last turn of the last lap, Warner seems to have lost his head for a moment and took a bad line which resulted in a quick trip to the pavement.  Though he said he “was embarrassed, sad and absolutely ripping myself up for the stupidity,” the officials consulted the rule book and awarded him the same time as the field.  His well deserved GC lead was protected and the team could not have been more excited to have been a part of his success.  Grissom, even after working for Warner all weekend, moved up to 8^th overall and called the weekend his “best ever.”

The Cat 3 squad, consisting of Draffen, Chris “I Hate TT’s” Hall, Rusty “I Hate ‘em More” Williford, and Dave “Hey, That’s My Mom” Harrell, didn’t experience the same level of drama and was able to rely on their higher experience levels to relax and keep Draffen out of trouble on the RR.  Posting a 27:28 in the TT, Draffen moved up from 26^th to 6^th in the GC.  He was able to ride comfortably in the Criterium, confidently supported by his team who did what was necessary to keep him out of the wind.

Overall, Whole Wheel Velo Club enjoyed a solid weekend of team racing.  Every member of both squads played a part in securing three top-10 positions in two categories of this tour and, as Gould noted, the team’s performance was “proof-positive that it’s possible to work hard to help a teammate get a win and still do quite well in your own right.”

This past weekend Whole Wheel Velo Club was well represented at a variety of events both in and around the MABRA District.  While Peter “Hey, That’s My Wife” Warner and Tom “Ride Lots” Draffen took top honors at the Church Creek Time Trial, Melissa “Pete’s My B**ch” Tallent made a solid return to the triathlon circuit after a long injury hiatus and Chris “Buttah” Gould and Gus Grissom travelled down to North Carolina for the Road Race Championship Weekend.

At Church Creek Warner and Draffen took first and second place in their respective categories.  Warner rode the course in 57:23 to post the best time among the Cat 4’s.  Calling the event “a good mental test” he complained that his power data was not as consistent as he had expected but would help him prepare better for his next time trial.  Draffen, on the other hand, worried that his numbers were much lower than his previous best efforts.  The effort, however, was solid enough to put him in the second spot on the Cat 3 podium.  His self-assessment shows what he called a “very rookie mistake” in his ability to pace himself.  But, “all things considered … I have a great benchmark to work for the next eight weeks going into Church Creek #2.”  Yes, both Draffen and Warner are already looking forward to improving their times and distancing themselves even further from their competitors.

Melissa Tallent took her soigneur “Twinkle Pete” Custer to test her fitness at the Eagleman Half Ironman.  Though she was plagued by jellyfish stings on the swim, Tallent put in a solid effort on the bike, the longest effort she has had in recent memory due to her injuries over the winter, and “pulled sub 9:00 miles the whole way through, never blowing up, just steamrolling through the half-marathon.”  To understate the obvious challenges facing her, Tallent gave these words of wisdom: “I definitely recommend many more miles on the bike (and not breaking your pelvis) before you attempt this race.”

The master’s racing combo of Gould and Grissom took a road trip down to NC to participate in that state’s Road Race Championship Weekend.  Racing 80 miles on Saturday in the Master’s Championship and and additional 50 on Sunday in the Senior’s Championship, Grissom felt that he definitely got his money’s worth but was only able to get 15^th in the 35-39 category.  Gould, whose 40-44 age group raced  67 miles on Sunday found himself wishing he was a bit older.  When the results of the combined 40-44/45-49 field were posted he realized he would have taken second place in the 45-49 field but had to settle for his top-20 finish.  He plans to contest the details of his date of birth.

Overall it was a solid series of performances for Whole Wheelers in several disciplines.  As the summer begins heating up and big events like the Tour of Washington County approach, Whole Wheel Velo Club seems to be well poised to capitalize on a long early season of building fitness and gaining experience.

Ride Sally Ride 2009  Results posted here: http://wwvc.org/events-rides/

In the Cat 4 race, a horrible crash led to the race being neutralized. The officials indicated the race would end early due to medical equipment being on the course, but the equipment cleared in time to restart the race. Some racers left the course so we have published the neutralized and final results.  Bar points will be split between the two results. Upgrades can use the best finish.