Bring the Pain!

Well it is a few days until Feburary, and the Podium Quest Workshop is begining to ramp up production. I feel that January went well. I did not miss any days on the bike, but I did miss 1 day of stairs. Also, I decided to incorporate a week of rest after every 4th week for the rest of my training months until race day. But during these off weeks I am still spinning in a light gear at 90 cadence, with my heart rate between 120-140 3 days a week. Gotta stay moving! So after each rest week my plan will be to ramp up a little more each month. Again each training day will include some resistance upper body and core strength time. So this is what I got in store for Feburay....

Feb 4 CTS Cycling for Cadence
Feb 7 Spinerval Aerobic Base
Feb 8 Spinerval Mental Toughness
Feb 11 Spinerval Have Mercy
Feb 12 Spinerval Recharge
Feb 14 Spinerval Aerobic Base
Feb 15 Spinerval Mental Toughness
Feb 18 CTS Cycling for Cadence
Feb 21 Spinerval Aerobic Base
Feb 22 Spinerval Mental Toughness
Feb 25 Spinerval Have Mercy
Feb 26 Spinerval Recharge
Feb 28 Spinerval Aerobic Base
Feb 29 Spinerval Mental Toughness

March 1-9 I will be on a week off. (1hr spins at 90 cadence, easy gear. HR around 120-140.

Wish me luck!
CD

Why Drive a 4X4 Truck In The Mud When You Can Do It In A Ferrari!

Well the cross bike is all dressed up and ready for racing. Here are the upgrades and changes made over the past few months.

Dura Ace 10spd shifters

Dura Ace 10spd Rear Derailleur

Dura Ace 10spd Front Derailleur

FSA Gossamer Crank set up for CX (36tX46t)

IRD 10 spd Elite Cassette 12X28 (1 more tooth for the hills)

Mavic Ksyrium SL3 wheelset

Sram PC 1090 chain

TSB Team Party, WOW what a Ride!

Well this past Sunday was the TSB team party. And boy what a blast! This year it was held closer to home at Quay Street Brewery. They have some of the best beer around, and the food was great also. We were able to have our own private room which was a lot better than in the past. The Ugly Duckling was cool in the past, but I give my thumbs up to Quay st. I hope we can bring them on as a sponsor for 2008! It was great to see all the folks on the team especially why most of us have been staying indoors and out of the cold. We got to see the highly anticipated Masher's Media TSB 2007 Year End Video, and it did not disappoint. What a great job again Mike. It is amazing how those videos can make you want to pee your pants one second and hold back tears the next! I was also honored by the team with the Most improved racer award for 2007. Man what can I say. This really means a lot to me. And it makes me feel good knowing that my team mates recognize the hard work and commitment I put into making 07 the best I could. THANKS TO ALL!!! And Congrats to Jason (Mtb_Jay) for picking up the sportsmanship award. I feel you truly deserve it. Finally, 2007 was a great year for TSB in general. Several members achieved their goals and improved their results from the year before. So in reality You all deserve the Most Improved Bike Team and Team Sportsmanship award! I can't wait to start tearing up the dirt on the race course with you guys (and gals) in 2008!!!!! GO TEAM SANDBAG!!

Podium Finishes Don't "Just Happen"!

Yeah that's right. If you want to sit a top the podium, it just don't happen on it's own. You got to work at it and earn it. For the next few minutes, I am going to let you into lower depths of the Osgood Podium Workshop, where production has already begun. We plan on assembling some of the finest podium positions for 2008. But it is not going to be easy! With increased competition, higher quality standards, and tighter market (race field), now is the time to act if you want to get ahead of the game. So here it is, the tools, plan and location for OPW with unclassified photos from the workshop itself.

For 2008, I want to focus on 3 main areas and I want my training to fall in line within the same concept. So the 3 areas of focus are, balance family life, focus on certain race events or series, improve training practices to become faster and stronger or train for specific events. With that, lets discuss them in more detail.

In 2007 I got a little wrapped up in wanting to race every race. This caused a little strain on the family at times, and I also had no real training plan other than ride my bike as much and as long as I could when I was not racing. This worked OK, but I know I could have been faster. So starting in Jan 08, my plan is to focus on planned training with the family in mind. My goal with this plan is to ride the trainer to specific CTS Train Right and Spinerval videos 3 days a week for 1 hour and do core strength training on the same days. In addition, every other week I plan on running 1/2 hour of stairs to increase exercise time for the month and work different muscle groups off the bike. As I said in previous post, running stairs made a big difference for me in 2007 for the start of MTB racing and again for CX racing in the fall. I feel this approach will give me some good disciplined training and maximize my efforts. At the same time, I am at home, spending about 5 hours a week tops training, and have freed up my weekends for the family. So lets look at a macro level view of training for January.

Every Monday -- CTS Train Right "Mountain Biking" 1 hr, Core strength training

Every other Tuesday -- Run 1/2 hour of stairs at McMorran Arena/ Or rest day

Every Wednesday -- Rest day

Every Thursday -- CTS Train Right "Climbing" 1 hr Core strength training

Every Friday -- CTS Train Right "Time Trial" / Spinerval " The Up Hill Grind" I plan on switching off every other week with these 2 videos because the both are intense and both work different areas. 1hr/45min each. Finish off with core strength training.

Every Saturday -- Rest day

Every Sunday -- Rest day

I will see how this goes. And make adjustments as needed. Furthermore, as I get closer to race day, I plan on adjusting the schedule to better suite specific events. I feel that this focus combined with proper diet will get me to the top of the podium at least a few times this year.

Happy New Year! Itching for the Pedals!

Well I think TSB is on to something long lasting. "The New Year's Day Ride". And there is one already organized in our area that has been going on for several years. The ride starts in Lexington and makes it's way 6 miles West to Croswell. The day is not complete without hanging out at Wimpy's for some grub, hot coffee and to shoot the s**t with the boys. Check out the day's event below...CD