Now, this is some great science

In the current issue of Wine Spectator.

"Red wines made from Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Shiraz make for potent bacteria killers, according to recent research."

"Not all varieties were found to be helpful, but those that were did not destroy useful probiotic bacteria, such as those that aid in digestion"

"the drier the wines, the higher the acidity and levels of polyphenols"

"These polyphenols are believed to be the main compounds responsible for killing the pathogens"

WWJVD: After today, I'd tell him to go F'himself

Over the past couple of weeks, other bloggers have posted their comments on "what would Jen Voight Do (WWJVD?) when questioned about how hard to train, where to train, in what conditions to train in... etc.

Well, after today's ride in the rain, in 40F temps, I'd tell JV to go F' himself. Today's ride was the coldest, harshest conditions I've ever experienced. I'd take dry temps below 20F any day after riding for an hour in the rain. Plus, JV gets paid big bucks for riding in all conditions. What do I get?

OK, granted I was not dressed for rain since our esteemed weatherchannel.com wasn't calling for ran until after 2pm today. So, I dressed for dry temps in the 40's. I don't know if I would've been warmer in my winter windx jacket, kick ass Assos winter tights and winter lobster claw gloves. But, I'm sure it didn't help wearing knee warmers, bibs, long sleeve jersey, wind vest, wind breaker and two pairs of cotton gloves. Dry temps in the 40's I would have been perfectly protected and ventilated. But, with the downpour we rode in today, I was an igloo.

After the ride I sent out the following email to my fellow riders; Randy, Paul and Harry.

"Ok, now that I'm thawed out and can use my fingers again. Why is it that we road today in 40F and rain? Oh, yeah, that's right our motto is "What would Jens Voight do?" Well, here's what I have to say about that "F... Jens, he's get paid big bucks to ride"

But, I should have really read a previous email from a couple weeks ago, I had sent out to the Thrasher riders;

"We don't take any performance enhancement substances."

"We get strong cuz we train hard.

We train in all weather conditions.

We train all year round.

We don't take vacations because this would ruin our fitness.
You'll never hear us say it's "too cold" or "too wet" or "there's snow on the ground".
We train because we can."

OK, I'll take my skirt off now and I won't complain again of being cold and wet

Good Weekend of Tempo

Sat 7am Ride.
For once, I was up early and ready for the 7am ride, although getting up at 5:15am is way too early. Since I was really early, I rode Mass twice and then caught the ride coming down Sangamore. Clara Barton wasn't too bad, but once we got back onto MacArthur Agent Hulk (AKA Agent PromoNight Party Guy) and Josh set a pretty wicked pace of 27-18 MPH before we started up Anglers. Lots of folks were commenting on the up tempo set before the climb. Any how, I just missed the main group breaking away about halfway up Anglers and I was in a the second group of about 5 riders. I was thinking about trying to bridge up, but I'm not really ready yet this time of year to but in major efforts. Our little group stayed together going down GF Park, and we were maybe 15 seconds behind the lead group. We stayed together almost the entire way out of the park, I was trying to maintain a constant output. I attacked near the VFW Bldg, and went hard up the last section coming out of the park and was first. The rest of the ride was at a good tempo.

Sun (Missed the BP Shop Ride)
My nephew, Jess, was down from NJ for for hockey games on Sat and Sun. I got up at 6:50 to go to his 7am game at Rockville. Got there around 7:25. Game was about halfway through. Got to see Jess score a goal (althought, puck never completely crossed the goal line, I was right behind the goal, and had the perfect view).
I was finally able to get out on the road about 1pm. My plan was to do some 4-8m intervals at threshold, but was undecided about going to HP or GF Park. I decided on GF Park since its closer and I can get some good hill intervals in. My plan was to the following intervals: up Mass Ave, two intervals on MacArthur, up Anglers and then several intervlas up GF Park. The intervals along MacArthur hurt since these were into a stiff headwind. I also saw a bunch of teams out riding south of MacArthur. And, I think I saw Jessie on his new bike. I wound up doing 5 intervals on GF Park and two intervals on Mnt Gate. I did these in my small ring and tried spinning as high a cadence as I could. My speed wasn't as high as I know I can go, but because I was spinning, they really hurt.

On the way home, I stopped at the gym for a quick core workout.

Where's Randy?

Did the Thrasher ride today, sans Randy. Where were you today?

It was a pretty large group, maybe about 12 riders. Shout out to some local talent that braved the cold and joined us; Greg Vadas and the Wrob. Good to see you guys on the ride.

I lost track of time cleaning up and re-0rganizing my basement this morning and almost missed the ride. At 12:17, I quickly changed into my cold weather gear, which includes my bad-ass Assos winter tights, and I was out the door by 12:29. I headed straight out Burning Tree and a right on to Bradley until I saw the group coming the other way.

The ride was pretty tame along Bradley, although Harry took his obligatory hard pull and upped the pace as we neared Seven Locks. My legs were feeling really good after taking a rest day on Sunday so I set a good tempo up the short steep section on Kentsdale. The rest of the ride was at a good tempo through Potomac and along Oaklyn. I went hard on the last uphill before Falls Rd and then kept tempo until the stop sign. Legs felt really good.

I was pretty tapped out along Clara Barton, just never felt like I was getting a good recovery after my pull. I drafted in the back for the last section before making our left hand turn to get back on to MacArthur. My legs were just feeling pretty heavy, and hard to turn them over.

Greg Vadas and I did another lap, although at a slower pace, and we also made a trip down and up GF Park.

Even though the temps were in the 20's, if you wear the right stuff, it's not that cold.

A Rare Day Off

I took a rare day off the bike on Sunday and went hiking with Justina and friends at Sky Meadows State Park (VA). And, of course, we stopped off at some of the regional wineries for some tastings.


Sky Meadows State Park

After parking, we were standing around, the wind was howling and with the temps in the 20's, it was really cold. I was all bundled up in my down parka and kept warm.

We took the North Ridge Trail up and to the right from the parking area. The hike up through the meadow was steep, and exposed to the wind. After about 5 minutes I was heating up and took my parka off. Key to winter hiking is modulating your body temp so that you dont' start sweating. Getting wet is your enemy. I was able to stay warm just by hiking up this steeper section. In about 20 minutes, we stopped at these benches for a quick group photo.

We continued hiking along the North Ridge Trail up and down through the woods for another maybe 1.5 miles. We connected onto the South Ridge Trail for our return trip, which was mostly downhill. What a great place to hike, and if you love running trails, this would be a great place to run.




Fox Meadow Winery

After our hike, we headed to Fox Meadow Winery and tasted their wines. Lots of fun tasting and eating cheese and crackers over our favorite bottle. Wines were good. There was a loud, drunk group of 50+ers, and they were really annoying.

I took this pic from their balcony patio.













Linden Vineyards
"Linden Vineyards is a reflection of this… simple, tranquil, and thoughtful. Linden is a place where people can taste and learn about wines, and engage in conversation in a quiet, beautiful setting."


Our last stop was Linden Vineyards, one of our favorites. They have the best view and some of the best wines. We have many older vintages dating back to the early 90's in our cellar. And, we've always been impressed with their tasting room, wines and overall ambiance. Unfortunately, we've not been their in a while, and they've posted some rules, which I'm really glad they did in order to maintain the small, quaint, relaxing atmosphere. Not sure how many of you have gone to wineries for a tasting and there are huge bus loads, lots of noisy drunks. Not a lot of fun.



I'm really glad they've posted these rules in order to maintain the "zen like" atmosphere:

What we do not do at Linden:

In order to keep Linden small, focused, peaceful and in harmony with farming and our community, we have limited activities that are commonly associated with other wineries. I hope that you understand and respect our reasons for this. We are unable to accommodate:

• any groups larger than six people
• limousines or buses
• parties (weddings, birthdays, showers)

In keeping with our “quiet and calm” philosophy, beginning in 2008, on the weekends, our deck and grounds will only be available to members of our case club. We would be happy to recommend other neighboring wineries that have an open policy on their deck and grounds.

Turning 45

Today is my BDay. Happy BDay to me. Hurray for me. I turned 45. Shit, seems like yesterday I was in my 20's living large backpacking throughout Europe. I really need to convert my old 35mm slides to digital so I can post them.

It was really cool seeing all the snow today.

My wife cooked a great Italian dinner and my friend, Bob came over. We had a great time, and Bob gave us a slide show of his Croatia and Greece sailing trips.

Enough life stuff, what have I been doing training wise?

Yesterday, the Hill Ride kicked my ass. I felt good until about half way coming out of GF Park. My legs just never loosened up and I finally popped trying to stay with the group led by NickB and Simon. I still had a lot of fatigue in my legs after my heavy leg workout on Monday. I'm hoping all these winter leg workouts improve my strength later in the season, because right now, I really feel the after affects for up to 3 days, and they sure make my legs feel heavy when I ride.

Today: I went to the gym, rode the trainer and then a high rep/med weight leg workout.

Trainer:
10 min warmup
5 min @ 205W
4 min easy spin
5 min interval (2min @ 315W, 3 min @ 205)
5 min easy spin
5 min interval (1min @ 425W, 1 min @ 325, 3 min @ 245)
3 min easy spin

Legs Extensions
2x 30 reps @ 50 lbs
2x 25 reps @ 70 lbs

Leg Curls
2x 30 reps @ 40lbs
2x 25 reps @ 60 lbs

Leg Presses
30 reps @ 170lbs
25 reps @ 210lbs
20 reps @ 250 lbs

What I was

This is was taken during a company awards trip to Jamaica in 2004. Definitely before I started cycling. I probably weighed about 148.