Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I'm crooked

Feb 22 - 5:20, 98 miles.
Feb 23 - 1:40, Recovery pace.

This will be short because I've been busy and I'm tired.

I'm crooked because I got fit for some custom cycling shoe Orthotic insoles today by Bill Peterson and Sara.  Bill is fairly famous in cycling circles for having done insoles for the likes of Lance, Levi, Big George, Dave Z, a lot of domestic pro teams, etc etc.  I'd been having IT Band issues a lot, so while I was in Tucson it only made sense to see the man who IS the authority on fit and feet.  Well Sara measured my limbs and feet, and it turns out my left leg is longer than my right by a significant amount, my arches are out of whack, and some other things are out of alignment.  All of this led them to both, almost in chorus, proclaim, "Well no wonder you have ITB issues!"  So the insoles will be done Friday, and I'm excited to get them.  Because they eliminate toggle inside the shoe, they also increase efficiency which equals increased power.  Always a good thing.  More watts = Better.

Here's Sara measuring Jerry's feet for his insoles:

Yesterday was a great day.  98 miles from Benson, AZ through Tombstone to Bisbee and back.  The ride out is pretty much gradually uphill the entire way, with a moderate 3 mile climb before reaching Bisbee at the halfway point.  We had a nasty headwind the entire ride out, which just beat us incessantly.  But myself and the rest of my Pedal Power Training Solutions fellow riders sucked it up and enjoyed the fantastic weather while making watts and getting stronger.  Thankfully the wind didn't pull a 180, and we had what has become known around here the last 24 hours as "the hand of God" pushing us back.  It took 3 hours on the way out, and only 2:18 on the way back.  We were doing 28-32mph for miles and miles while barely pushing the pedals.  Freakin awesome.

(The Pedro's Van all loaded up to bring us to the start of yesterday's ride in Benson.  Big thanks to Pedro's for the support at camp!)

Due to a mixture of cramps, flat tires and fatigue only myself and Bob survived all the way back to Benson, where I took the sprint to the Benson town-line. (see picture below)  Bob was a great riding partner, and was kind to me climbing up to Bisbee earlier.  We all know "Matt doesn't go uphill fast" so I did appreciate his friendly gesture and choice to ride up with me.  Unfortunately I don't play well with others, and thus the option to not sprint, well, was not an option at all.  Plus, I had Kyle Wolfe and Sara Bresnick-Zocchi in the Pedro's van yelling at me 500m from the sign!  It was ON.


Here's a pic from our stop in Tombstone, AZ.  Thankfully the law wasn't in town, so we all made it through without a trip to the town jail. (the near miss with the law came on Wednesday at Saguaro National Park...more on that later)


Ok well tomorrow is a big day, and I need rest.  I'll fill you in on today's recovery ride (which was possibly more eventful than the longer days in the desert) later.

Finally, We have the "Rule Violation of the Day" (RVD).  Sara in bib shorts over a T-shirt. A pro being "So Not Pro".  What can ya do...

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