Huron River Drive repairs continue

A few notes below from the Washtenaw County Road Commission prove updates about work on Huron River Drive. If you're out enjoying the great November weather forecasted in the next few days, you might want avoid the road work. If the weather holds much longer, though, you'll soon be able to enjoy some great improvements!

The road work along Huron River Drive between Zeeb Road and Tubbs Road is progressing nicely. This past week specific trees were removed, the bank stabilization work just west of East Delhi Road was completed, a cross-road culvert in the same area was replaced, many of the cross-road culverts were extended in preparation for the shoulder widening and all of the culverts were cleaned out to improve drainage.

Today, the road surface was milled up in two areas. The first area is from the easterly entrance of Loch Alpine to east of Boyden Creek. The second area is east of East/North Delhi Road to Tubbs Road. The purpose of the milling is to remove bad material prior to paving and it was necessary to perform this work prior to the shoulder widening. Currently, the shoulder widening work is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday and the final paving is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday of next week. All work, of course, is weather dependent. In the meantime, traffic will be maintained on the milled surface. The milled surface is uneven and will support vehicle traffic but may be difficult for cyclists using Huron River Drive. Unfortunately, with the limited number of construction days remaining this season, it was necessary to take advantage of good weather days and schedule this work accordingly.

Meet John Herlihy, author of cycling books

From Nicola's Books...

Nicola's Books in the Westgate Shopping Center invites area cyclists to meet John Herlihy at 7:00 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5th.  His new book The Lost Cyclist: The Epic tale of an American Adventurer and his Mysterious Disappearance chronicles the remarkable story of two American cyclists, one who disappeared as he was about to complete a global circuit, and the other who bravely set off halfway around the world to unravel the mystery. John Herlihy is also the author of Bicycle: The History.  Book discussion and signing.

Dirt Road Washtenaw

If you haven't heard about the book out by club member Rob Pulcipher, Dirt Road Washtenaw, you're missing out. Based on Rob's love of the back roads and lots of riding over the years, he's compiled a great guide to exploring Washtenaw County by dirt and gravel roads leading you to find some spectacular sights, quiet places, and a few adventures.

It's available in most (if not all) area bike shops and online (via the book's website). The book website has a few excerpts and some updates, plus a review giving some more details about what you'll find inside the book is available on the Tree Fort Bikes blog.

Officials Clinic in East Lansing, Sat. 11/13/10

From MBRA News...

The Michigan Bicycle Racing Association will be holding a C-Level (introductory) officials clinic on Saturday, November 13, 8:30-12:30 p.m., in the Michigamme Room at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing (directions and map).

If you are interested in becoming a licensed USA Cycling official, this is the clinic to attend. To become an official you need to attend an officials seminar, take an open book exam, and purchase an official's license.

The seminar is called a Level C clinic (or introductory clinic) and gives a basic introduction to road, track, and mountain bike officiating. The Introduction to Officiating” Clinic will be followed by an open book exam.  Following the seminar and passing the open book test (70% correct) and you will have completed the requirements and be licensed as a Level C USAC road, mountain bike, and track official.

The cost for the seminar is $35 per person and will include your 2011 USA Cycling Level C Official license fee.

Register online for this event. Additional information is available on the USA Cycling website under the USA Cycling Officials Program.

Club Trainer Rides Begin Nov. 2

Like last January and February, we will again have club indoor trainer rides at the Two Wheel Tango on Jackson Road (map). The rides will start next week: Tuesday, November 2nd at 6pm. We'll continue having them each Tuesday and Thursday throughout the fall and winter. There may be a few exceptions around the holidays which we'll announce as they're determined. Check the club calendar for updates.

The schedule will be similar to last year with set up starting at 6:00 p.m., riding from 6:30 to 7:30, then pick up and depart by 8:00. Bring your own trainer or rollers, a towel to keep sweat off the floor, a fan to keep you cool, and your own workout. We'll have sound, video, and other people to ride with, but it won't be an organized group workout.

USA Cycling Coaching Summit

From Lucas Wall...

It's always fun to visit the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs with its beautiful Pikes Peak backdrop. After 15 years I made a trip back October 13-17 for the USA Cycling Coaching Summit. Lots has changed since I was there as a junior rider. It was great to see a number of new facilities on the campus, but apparently my tolerance for dorm beds has decreased since my last visit. That didn't take away from five excellent days focused on coaching.

The Coaching Summit included presenters and attendees from around the US and a few foreign countries. Some familiar names from popular cycling literature included Dr. Andy Coggan and Dr. Kristen Dieffenbach. A number of the other presenters shared research and experience from their work with elite athletes, Olympians, ProTour teams, and developing young athletes in cycling, triathlon, and running.

A few of the themes that came up repeatedly by different presenters included:

• Train smarter, not longer
• It takes years to reach the elite level (about 7+ in men, and about 4+ in women)
• Track riding = get faster; regular speed work is important to peak performance
• Riders need to learn to ride by feel -- not just a HR or power
• In women, the menstrual cycle hormonal changes need to be considered for optimal performance
• Sleep is a very important part of recovery, and thus training

The first presenter, Istvan Balyi, specializes in long-term athlete development and shared his ideas about the steps involved in growing a sport and the athletes who participate. It's a common sense model that starts with kids having fun in the sport, learning basic skills, and progressing to learning how to train, training to compete, and training to win, all the while helping people stay active and healthy for a lifetime. While it sounds like a simple progression, it's hard to make happen. For example, when one 14-year-old is 6' tall and another is 5' tall, they are clearly developing at different rates and programs should accommodate for this so kids stay involved. After all, two-thirds of elite athletes are late developers.

The crew at the Velodrome at Bloomer Park seem to be on track with their programs related to this model as their programs develop beginner through elite athletes. Michigan Youth Cycling, the efforts of the Cheryl Olson and others in the state to enhance the racing program for women, and the junior riders who have attended regional and national camps the last couple of years (Hana Berkooz, James Anderson, Alexey Vermeulen, Tony Wieczorek, and Noah Veltkamp) are just a few examples of things going right with rider development in Michigan related to the long-term athlete development.

A few of the other presentations with immediately applicable practices included Dr. Stacy Sims' tips for managing and adapting to exercise in the heat. Some ideas were old, others new, and couple controversial, but overall really got people thinking about how to manage your body temperature in a hot climate. And even how these adaptations might enhance performance at altitude.

Dr. Randy Wilber provided a good overview of the effects, adjustments, and approaches of living and training at different altitudes (i.e. sea level vs. 5000+ feet). Dr. Andy Coggan talked about aerodynamic testing with a power meter. Let's just say you can be very accurate if you're obsessive-compulsive (he described himself that way, then provided it to be true).

Some other presentations included case studies in coaching, properly identifying and managing an athlete with a concussion, communication styles, business opportunities, Paralympic cycling, and an introduction to the USA Cycling sprint track program by the program's new director, Jamie Staff (2008 Olympic Gold medalist from the UK).

The Coaching Summit ended with one of my favorite presentations which was about using technology with runners. I'm not saying that because one of my professors, Dr. Steve McGregor, gave the presentation, but because the approach he shared applied the Performance Managment Chart data (used in WKO+ software and covered in "Training and Racing with a Power Meter" by Allen & Coggan) to running, and it actually peaked my interest in working with runners. That's saying a lot because while I have run a fair amount in the past, I really prefer to watch others run now.

Overall, it was a great event that I highly recommend for other coaches to attend in the future. It's only held every two years, so look for it in 2012. You can look forward to hearing about new research and approaches to improving performance, meet a lot of other like-minded cycling coaches, and see the Olympic Training Center.

The Return of Cyclocross

It's that time of year again. Time to dust of the cross bike and head to some dirt, gravel, sand and grass. The calender has been updated to reflect the change of gears.

6pm Tuesday - Dirt Hammer
Check out the calender for ride details and a course map. This is the favorite ride of the year for many of us. Dirt and gravel roads, riding as fast as you can. If you haven't done the ride before be sure to print out the map and bring it with you. Map: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/mi/ann-arbor/582125288180011027. The ride is fast and people get dropped (like I did last week). A bit of a warmup beforehand is recommended as the pace picks up almost immediately. A challenging ride but it will definitely make you faster.

6pm Thursday - Cross Practice
CX practice is underway Thursday evenings, 6pm at Leslie Park off Dhu Varren. We'll let you know if there is a change of venue.

Leslie's kind of hidden back there behind a subdivision off DhuVarren. Turn on Leslie Park Circle and keep following it back to the park.

We want good relationships with all our neighbors, so please drive safely and slowly through the residential area. Also, please be respectful of other users in the park. Crazy bikers are a bit intimidating.

We'll have barriers to leap over and informal course layouts for high intensity accelerations and anaerobic flagellation. It's a good opportunity to fine tune your skills. The season is upon us. Time to stumble over them barriers.

Dirt Road Washtenaw
AAVC's own Rob Pulcipher has a new book detailing the dirt roads of Washtenaw county. It should be arriving in a few weeks. I for one am really looking forward to finding some new roads to explore this fall/winter. Check it out:
http://dirtroadwashtenaw.com/
http://thingsbike.blogspot.com/