But wait – look below at the summary of grades for each climb according to Google Earth (and verified by my Garmin 705), looks like 16% is indeed worthy. Personally, I think the traditional “Bakers Dozen” that equates to 13 has just been upstaged by the “Pittsburgh Dozen” that now represents 14. Way to go Danny, you’ve just added to the Pittsburghese language!

The “Plus Two” also refers to my 2 training buddies pictured above also – my daughter Nina to my left, and her husband Paul on the other side of Danny. It was a perfect final training ride since it was completely unplanned. As we approached our first climb of what would be the most attempted since training started almost 3 months ago (10 hills was our target for the day), we see two others on bikes starting their ascent about 2 blocks ahead of us. In all the training rides we’ve done so far, we’ve only seen one other person training on these inclines of insanity, so we were keen to catch up and see who it was – it was Danny and Laura who happens to be on the cover of the DVD just released from last year’s race. We knew at that point, it was going to be a good day.

I’m thrilled to report that I had no cramping through all 10 hills by the time we finished almost 4 hours later. This has been the number one concern for me throughout this entire training. This brings me to my third “Plus Two” reference. My two artificial hips have given me new life, allowing me to do everything and more than I did when I was in college. However, with my recent attempts at road racing, and now training for the Dirty Dozen I’ve finally come face to face with some of the real fallout or limitations that result when you take two of your most vital joints and “modify them”.

I’ve tried to research the topic, but both time and expertise have kept me from confirming my suspicions definitively. I suspect that the weakness developed in my abductors and glutes as a result of the 10 years of favoring one side over the other, in combination with the damage done by an “L” incision that cut across both of those areas in about a 12 inch span, is to blame for my quad, hamstring and calve cramping tendencies. I believe my continued over-dependence on these three muscles have created a level of muscular stress that is not normal, and thus the tendency to seize up.

Grade taken from Google Earth and power based on Avg. 5mph speed

The Plus Two I really want to emphasize though, is that this training was done in two environments – in keeping with the mission of Cycling Fusion; to wit – the bringing together of indoor and outdoor cycling. What lots of outdoor cyclists may find even more unusual though, is that I did 75% of my training INDOORS for this event. I rode one day per week outside on the steepest hills I could find around my house and the office, and 3 days indoors. Once every two weeks my two training buddies and I did a few of the actual climbs of the Dirty Dozen (starting with just 4 hills and working up to 10 by the end). After all, that was part of why I did it – to continue to demonstrate, under real world situations, that indoor training can be incredibly effective and efficient to the outdoor rider.

Finally, the Plus Two that has become a central driving concept in all my training, is the value of Heart Zones® Training as a part of the overall plan. At first blush, when you look at the range of grades and required Wattage numbers to just get up these punishing Pittsburgh hills, you would think of how power training would be top of mind. Of course, it was very power specific training, with regular 3X3 Climbing Power tests performed on the Keiser m3 power bike. However, without getting into several volumes of discourse on how your cardiovascular system is your chief limiter for all power generation, let’s just suffice it to say that I simultaneously was working on cardiac efficiency along with increased power generation.

The table below shows how both increased throughout the training. However, particularly noteworthy is the comparison to the overall numbers and comparing those to hills that I did early in the sequence and those that come later. Danny is famous for harping on how every hill is different if you put them/climb them in a different order. This is due to the significant effect of fatigue on both the muscles involved, as well as the depletion of glycogen stores and the increased dependence on the anaerobic energy system at the continued and repeated time being spent over threshold (high or L2 threshold).

Top line summarizes training rides comprised of 50% or less of DD

But notice how that while power decreased by almost 10% (9.93), my efficiency decreased by only 2% (1.95). Consequently, it will be the Heart Zones® training that will save my ass at the end of the day… literally. As I try to complete 4 more climbs than the most I have ever done, it will not be my new bike (yes, I was “forced” to buy one), my improved power, or my shrewd cunning (as substantial as it is ) that will get me to the end. It will be the cardiac efficiency and my concentration on increasing my time spent over threshold during training, that will be responsible, right behind the prayers offered up, at the bottom of each hill.

Way back in January when our annual Winter Training Program kicked off, each participant was required to have a goal to train for. Goals ranged from doing a 50 mile charity ride to having 2 separate peaks during the race season. For me however, having just finished filming the Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen as a charity project for Livestrong, and watching some of the strongest riders I know struggle just to finish, that event seemed to be the logical choice. So I said it, I would train to complete – NOT COMPETE – in the Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen Race.

Starting this weekend, September 4th, I will have exactly 12 weeks to prepare for The Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen. I’m going to post my training plan (both Heart Zones® as well as Power Training), and pre-ride schedule on this blog for others in the Pittsburgh area who would like to train along with me. The training plan will provide some structure to follow even though we will train in different areas. Every 2 weeks I will take on at least 2 (or more) of the 13 climbs as part of the overall training plan as well. Exact times and dates will also be posted here so riders who want to share the pain can join me if they like.

Point of fact is: this IS a race. Point of reality is: only about 10 to 15 of the 180 riders that rode last year were strong enough to garner any points at all. The format of this “race” is that the entire field is together at the bottom of every hill, and then the organizer, Danny Chew blows the whistle (by the way, someone needs to buy him a new whistle this year, it was sketchy at best last year), and the first 5 riders to the top get points.

While a few supermen and wonder women surge to the top like they have hidden motors in their bikes, the rest of the field climb at varying speeds, with an inevitable group on every hill pushing their way if they can’t maintain at least 4 to 5 mph. In surveying the group last year, it was clear that a lot of the field were experienced amateur racers, and that this was not bringing out the average casual rider. So when I say people were pushing, and there are always people pushing, it does not mean they were weak or inexperienced riders.

The graphic above is from the training DVD we created (Global Ride Productions) from last year’s race. It is slated to be released in 2 to 3 weeks, just in time to mix up some great indoor cycling with the outdoor application. Stay tuned, as I will endeavor to keep this updated once per week as we head towards this epic event.

This is why, when I win and place in my age class (the one and only thing to look forward to in the “golden years”), and finish in the top 3rd of the rest of the field, I feel pretty darn good about myself. I do indeed train for these races, but I never had the opportunity to do serious training indoors. My training indoors has always been one of desperation – where I desperately fight to keep my fitness level from being decimated by too many Christmas cookies and the winter insulating blubber that always seems to wrap itself around my waistline.

Opening Global Ride Training Center has changed all that. Not only did we build the facility specifically for indoor training, but for the last 3 years I’ve been soaking up knowledge about cycling training, Heart Zones, power meters, metabolic testing and all the tools readily available to any athlete that cares about their progress. This combination has probably been partially to blame for my first blog post here – where I made the insane decision to ride the first 5 stages of the Giro (provided that Lance agreed to give me a head start on the road ahead of him).

So naturally, I’ve been hard at it for one big reason – I don’t want to fail the Livestrong foundation, and I don’t want to fail myself. Oh yeah, and one other thing… the natural desire to avoid pain. Having ridden in the dolomites in ‘06 before I had this facility and the knowledge about real training, I know what it feels like riding there without being properly prepared. At the time, I thought I was ready. But after day 1 in the Italian Alps, it was abundantly clear – I was in deep doo-doo… the word clueless came to mind quite a bit. Even though I appeared to be suffering less than many of the others, the sufferage was stellar.

That was just 3 years ago, and those memories are like it was 3 days ago. I did indeed finish the rides, and it clearly made me stronger – to the point where I was crushing my training routes at home with 20% improvements in time or speed. For two weeks after my last foray in the dolomites I rode like Superman – it was the closest to an “out of body” experience I have ever had. It was like I was watching myself kill climbs that used to make me cry for my momma. There was however, a steep price to pay for these results. We climbed 7,000 to 10,000 feet per day – it was like a crash course in mega-climbing. Now I know why the pros live over there during the race season.

I know that the only way to avoid a repeat painfest (especially considering we will be covering almost twice as many miles) is to train smarter and harder. The more pain I endure here, the less I will meet out there. I usually say “train smarter, not harder”… good advice for the average cyclists and athlete in general. However, if you’re going to the Giretto, and you have less than 2 months to get it together, you better do both!

The picture above is of my Garmin Edge 705. This is one of two display screens I use while I’m riding. This one sort of shows the ride totals and averages, while the other one I normally keep set to show the “real time” data while I’m riding. This unit is the bomb, and I don’t know how I’d train without it! I have maps for both Italy and the US… and well, I’ll cover that more on another post. The pic above shows the stats from our ride on Sunday.

Getting back to my fatigue factor, as I looked at our time, I realized that since we didn’t originally plan on more than 30 miles, we did bring anything to “refuel” with during the ride. Having something to eat 1.5 hrs prior to the ride, put me at 4 hrs since the last fuel break – not advisable for endurance riding. I should have taken something with me to eat at about mile 25 or so.

So, given a fueling mistake (apparently the same mistake made by Contador during this weekend’s Paris Nice race), I was pretty happy with how we did, and how we felt. Now I’m trying to decide if I should rest a few days before I start hammering for the next 6 weeks or not. I’ve not had more than 1 day off since around Christmas, so I would probably benefit from a few days off from training.

Oh yeah, the best news of all.. NO HIP PAIN!!!!