Tuesday, February 15, 2011

First Strike, Still Deadly

Sunday night Marco called me.  Wants to go riding.  It was above the freezing mark so I agreed.  We rode mountain bikes around our usual road riding loop and then hit the crit course and then a few hills up Eglinton .  Not a great hill, but in a big gear and on knobby tires I guess its ok.  I wish I would have worn shoes covers or thicker socks.  My toes were feeling pain that I haven't known before.

I guess the qualifying race for the World Masters Championships is in less than 3 months.  Somewhere in New York.  I have to do some more research on that, and by 'some research' I mean 'research'.  As I have really done shit sandwich.  But apparently its a 100 mile Grand Fondo , but they are only timing you on the climbs.  So it seems like we can take it easy throughout the race and then just torch the climbs.  Seems like a stupid way to gauge how fast someone is overall.




I am ordering a new pair of 2011 Zipp 202's this week.  Their service will be invaluable at that race.   I wonder where the whole team will stay down there.   I hope sub 15lb bikes are ok at this race.   Mine will be pushing  14lbs.

The other night with Marco I tried a new energy and vitamin chewable.  I am not sure exactly if it worked  or not, but last night  I had one of the best training rides downstairs that I have ever had.  Luckily my Guerciotti is stiff as hell or I may have snapped something off of  it.   I can only assume that the accompanying Energy drink was the cause.  It looks and tastes more like frozen concentrated orange juice, and is nothing like a Red Bull or Monster.  The 4 ingredients listed after water are basically all sugar or some variation of sugar.  So that would explain the burst of energy I felt.  The label states it is a 'Healthy Energy' dietary supplement, also a power antioxidant.  So I can only assume they have researched this and determined it to be true.

My honest take on this tasty beverage is as follows.  Yes, you will most likely experience a period of increased energy.  I imagine it would be on par with a can of Red Bull, a Hammer Gel,  or a donut and a Coke.  You may even get a small shot of vitamins.   I don't fully  see the benefit to taking an energy shot before a ride as the crash may come sooner rather than later.  I like to think you can complete a ride based on the nutrition already stored in your body, and the food and water you eat while you're riding, if you eat right.  Not a huge fan of the sugar blast.  But it will work for some quite nicely.  Eat 2 bananas before your ride and save some money, but I will repeat this stuff tastes pretty good.


I have to go drop $150+ on a new blender today.  All the frozen pineapple I throw in my current blender has ruined it.  I need to somehow hook up a blender up to my bike .


Word.