My Left Foot Kinda Works

Last night I got some one legged pedaling in on the rollers.

These are a really good way to work on the roundness of your pedaling. Because you've only got one foot clipped in to the pedals, that leg is forced to exert effort the entire way around the pedal stroke. There's no longer any opportunity for the opposite leg to help smooth out your stroke.

I've known for a long time that if I really wanted to be able to race well again I needed to be able to do these smoothly with my left leg. I wouldn't say it's all there just yet, but I was able to get 45 revolutions in on my left leg at a time. There's still definitely some smoothing out to do, but it's at least encouraging to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'll continue doing these at least once a week in the hopes that my shin muscles continue to strengthen.

Here's a great video of a guy pedaling with one leg, he just takes it a bit further and also does it with no hands on the bars:

no hands on the rollers

Next Year's Preliminary Plan

Here's my preliminary training plan / racing plan for next year.

For those who may be asking themselves where the heck this crazy spreadsheet came from and what it all means; the training plan is based on the methodologies of the Cyclist's Training Bible. I picked this book up a few years ago when I learned the hard way that riding a weekly Saturday club ride was in fact no way to prepare to race.

At this point I'm choosing to be optimistic. By optimistic I mean that my sciatic nerve recovers to the point that I can legitimately pedal round circles with my left leg by the start of next season. i.e. I can again have the ability to sprint and jump away from the field. Getting back on my bike yesterday (for the first time in a month ) I definitely noticed that I'm better able to pedal while standing up, so that's a good sign.

If things do come out well, I'll definitely be gunning for some good results next year and driving to get the points that are required to get promoted to category 3. I think I have enough races done that I could simply apply for a cat 3 upgrade; however, it doesn't really make much sense to me to be promoted based on riding a certain number of rides. I'd much rather get there by winning races and earning points.

If things go less well, I'm still going to train to my plan as it's a great way to stay in shape and keep myself motivated to train. The less well path would have me probably only doing local races like the Del Mar Crit series, Barrio Logan, Encinitas Crit, and some other flater races. I'd also adjust my training goals and objectives if things do end up going pear shaped.

Back on the Rails

I got back on my bike today. It felt great. I did a 1 hour endurance ride after work. I left from work, headed up Vista Sorrento, north on El Camino, west on Via de la Valle, south on the 101/Sorrento Valley back to work.

The next 3 weeks will be spent doing some hit and miss prep work to get my body back and acclimatized to aerobic exercise. I'll be doing some riding on my bike, riding on the tandem, and any other physical activity that feels good at the time. Riding will be focussed on basic endurance and leg speed.

I've also put together a rough training plan and racing schedule for next year. I'll be adding next season's racing goals to the site tomorrow. I'll probably also post a copy of the schedule on the site as well.