Attached, you will find the Recreational Calendar for March 2010.

Mar10EdgeRecRides

The following are the times and dates for the Edge City Time Trial Series. The series will be held at Hwy108 & 71 with the familiar 8 mile ITT course. The events will be held the first Sunday of each month, starting in March.

There will be a prize for the following; Absolute best time, Points top3, and Most Improved. All these categories will be seperated into men’s and women’s.

There are 7 time trials in the series with your top 4 finishes counted to the series. In case of a tie on points, the time of your top four times will be summed to determine the winner of the series. If weather is bad, but the event starts , IT WILL FINISH! If weather cancels the event, there will be no points given out.

The dates and times are as follows: 3/7/2010 @ 5pm; 4/4/2010 @ 6pm; 5/2/2010 @ 6pm; 6/6/2010 @ 6:30pm; 7/04/2010 @ 6:30pm; 8/1/2010 @ 6:30pm; 9/5/2010 @ 6pm

We look forward to a VERY exciting series! Tell everyone because everyone’s invited!

Team Edge was well represented in the Twin City Cyclists ITT & Crit in Monroe, LA on February 21st. Antoinette Riley started the day for the team as she competed in the 20K Individual Time Trial and came back later in the day to race in the Women’s Cat 4 Criterium. Ant had a very respectable finish in both races especially considering the fact that she had hip surgery last month! Way to be Team Edge Tough Ant!!

Next up was the Men’s Cat 4/5 40+ Crit in which John Ashby and Kale Magness raced for Team Edge. Kale had mechanical problems which pretty much took him out of the race in the first lap. After several attempts to recover from the recurring problem, he finally gave into the inevitable which left John alone to race with no Team support. Ultimately this didn’t deter Ashby who ended with a very strong 5th place finish in his first official race with Team Edge!

Dee Bell, David Magness and Chris Ross represented Team Edge in a very strong field that included the LSU Tigers Cycling Team in the Men’s Cat 4/5 39U race. The Team Edge racers were in the hunt for the better part of the race only to succumb to the strength of the Tigers in the final few laps.

Overall, we are very pleased with the Team in it’s first competition of the year. It’s only February and we’re looking forward to a very strong 2010! GO TEAM EDGE!!!!

Lately, the subject of base training is becoming more and more scrutinized, debated, and rejected by many cyclists and even a few coaches. I am going to try and explain a few of the reasons why this has occurred and why even Chris Carmichael still believes that base training is ESSENTIAL!

One of the biggest reasons for the dissention is the “(mis)information super highway”. The information out there is overwhelming and it would take considerable time to read everything printed, e-mailed, journaled, or blogged on the subject of training. Unfortunately, this has resulted in many cyclists, as well as a few coaches, taking pieces of info. they have read and assembling them incorrectly.  With all the training advice out there and all the trainers trying to get attention, some have resorted to the quick returns approach. They will tell you that you can get results without all the base miles, all the hours, and all the sacrifices of the Pros. Well DUH! ANY program that challenges your energy systems, your strength, endurance, and allows for recovery will result in improvements.

Another reason for the incorrect advice is, unfortunately, greed. It is so easy for someone to put out their ideas and make a quick buck without fear of recourse. Whether it is nutritional products, training procedures, or training aids, the truth is there is a LOT of money to be made in the fitness industry. I am NOT saying that most misinformation is the result of greed. A lot of times, though, people are a little hasty in printing studies that have not been peer reviewed, or the studies were not preformed by independent labs. The material, then could be very subjective.

Base training is and always will be an essential part of a training program that takes you to your absolute peak of fitness. So what constitutes base training? I can tell you it is not just riding at very low heart rates for hours on end. The best way to implement base training in your program is to look at your racing year, then back up about 4 to 5 months from YOUR most important race of the year. Look at your current training time and longest average weekly ride. Increase your weekly hours by 1 to 1.5 a week while increasing your longest ride from 15 to 30 minutes a week. Keep this up for three weeks in a row, then as a recovery week reduce hours to 60% of last week. Week 5 would have you back at week 3 levels and increase from there. This would have you doing 4-week blocks of training. 3 to 4 blocks is great for anyone as a base training plan.

 One common mistake with base training is going too hard or too easy. In a 5 day training week, you would want 3-4 days to be mostly at 80 to 90% of your lactate threshold. 1 day should be devoted to some high intensity and/or skills development. Tempo workouts are the foundation of this period. The physiological adaptations from this type of training are extremely important for your development. Especially in any events lasting more than an hour. These adaptations include, but are not limited to, increased mitochondrial densities(think more energy factories in each of your cells), and increased efficiency in using fat as energy. These changes in your body will result in your being much more efficient at higher levels too.

Ever gun an interval real hard only to have the next one come no where near the same intensity as the first? Base training!

 Any questions? Feel free to e-mail Dee Bell at edgetraining1@yahoo.com

It is that time of year again! Time to renew your membership with Edge City Cycling! We look forward to a VERY exciting year! We plan to have many oppurtunities for cyclists of ALL levels to do group rides and other activities. As cycling continues to grow in the Texarkana area, Edge City Cycling will continue to try to fill the needs of all local cyclists!

I found an article on Velonews on yearly planning. It struck me as odd that people might not know that you should plan your year ahead of time. You can only truly peak about 3 times a year, so you should have an idea of what time of the year you want to be a top condition. Anyway if you do not have your yearly plan check this out..

www.velonews.competitor.com/2009/12/coaches-panel/designing-your-own-training-plan-for-2009_86341

Below is the recreational ride calendar for February. These rides are for relaxed pace enjoyment. Distances vary, but speed is usually below 15mph average.  Most rides are between 15 and 30 miles. No one gets dropped and there are spots where we regroup. Come and enjoy the fun!

Feb10Rec