Creedmoor

Saturday's TEAM training was in Creedmoor, where we did what those that are more familiar with the Austin cycling scene know as the "Tuesday Nighter."  For those like me that are just learning, it's 9-mile loop that was the local "World Championships."  It wasn't a real race, just an opportunity to earn bragging rights.



For our training purposes, we rode the loop 3 times.  Plus 6 miles to and from the parked cars, so we logged roughly 33 miles.  After two loops, we stopped at the SAG vehicle for a snack and I noticed that my back tire was low.  It appeared to be a slow leak, so we pumped it back up to pressure and headed out.

Our Team In Training coach, Prescott, rode with us on the third loop.  He had me do some Muscle Tension Intervals on the long inclines we were riding.  You put your bike into a big gear while you're on the incline and work your way up it pedaling at 50-60 rpm, about a walking pace.  Let me tell you, about 30 seconds into it, your quads start to burn!  And you try to keep this up until for about 8 minutes!  The goal is to teach yourself, and your muscles, that it doesn't matter how long the climb is - just get on, dig in, and get up it.

Chris was having some trouble with his saddle being uncomfortable.  To the point that he almost didn't do the third lap.  Coach Prescott told us that Bicycle Sport Shop has a gel seat, where you sit down and they can measure the width of your sit-bones and make a recommendation from there.  Sounds funny, but it works.  We checked that out Sunday morning and confirmed that Chris does indeed need a slightly wider saddle.  So that's his goal for this week: to find a saddle that works for him.  Any recommendations of saddles to try or places to shop for one?