So, after two days of recovery, I cut loose again this morning, with mixed results.
Speed-wise, it wasn't great, at 17.0 mph. But my power numbers were very good. The 500W 20s peak was very close to my record (actually, though, that was according to cyclemeter. I found a 20s stretch on Strava that claimed an average of 574W), while the minute number was a bit further off (429W, vs a record of 458). I would bet that both numbers are still my second best.
Anyway, the five-minute number was 326W, which was a record, as was the 293W ten-minute peak. The 277W twenty-minute peak is also a record (and theoretically raises my FTP by a few, though I might not bother to program that in), while the 242W hour peak is a couple Watts off.
Of course, my power meter did cut out at least four times, for a total offline time of at least three minutes. And I'm sure that would have at least affected my hour peak (possibly the 20-minutes as well, though that doesn't seem terribly likely).
But all this definitely begs the question of how my speed could be so much off my record. Unfortunately, I don't have power data from that day, but I averaged a full mile per hour faster with a lower average heart rate (no cadence data either). The temperature certainly had nothing to do with it; it was colder that day than today. There was a lot of rain today, which might have factored in (especially as I had my rear fender on, to cut down on dirty water on my back). I suppose, too, the rain clothes aren't as tight-fitting as the other stuff. But I have a hard time believing those would make that much of a difference.
Overall, I wonder. My speed was frequently way off; why? Just not enough time in the drops? Not enough time standing on the pedals? Color me confused, for sure.
Anyway, biking is all about sustained power, and I feel good about having made improvements on that today. Easy rides tomorrow (actually, with Christmas, I'm going to have trouble getting in any kind of ride tomorrow. But I'll find a way; I don't want to break my streak) and Friday. Saturday remains to be seen.
Update: I just noticed that there's a bit more than a hundred feet of elevation difference between the two runs as well, although I can't see any differences in where I went. Dunno what to make of that, either.
20141223
Poor-fingered Frodo
This morning was a mixed-feeling ride. I did twenty miles, and I kept my heart rate within my newly-realized zone (barely, a couple times). So that was all good.
But I tried using my rain gloves with liners, hoping that'd be warm enough to keep me out of trouble. Well, technically it might have, with the temperature in the mid-thirties (36F for most of the ride, with the last bit at 34F), but they managed it rather painfully.
I don't think it's the coldest my fingers have ever been; I had less feeling and movement, for sure, at times on the ride to Purcellville a couple weeks ago. But man, were my fingers hurting when I got home and they started warming up. I normally insist on eating breakfast before taking a shower, but when my wife heard me and said to get in the shower, I went.
Further to that point, I normally take shoes/helmet/gloves/booties/etc off in the garage when I get home, then bring everything in immediately. This morning, I brought almost nothing in. I didn't even take my helmet off until I got to the bathroom. Oof. I need a better solution for cold and wet. I might just need to go to the ski gloves around 36F when it's wet. That's warmer than I should need to do, but maybe that's what it takes.
In any event, I'm feeling fine for now. Oh, and I should point out one good thing. At least the gloves kept my hands dry. In fact, I was completely dry when I got inside, so that was definitely a good thing.
Tomorrow's supposed to be even wetter, but also warmer, so I think it'll be much easier. I might even try using just the rain gloves; we'll see. Just jersey and rain jacket up top, for sure.
But I tried using my rain gloves with liners, hoping that'd be warm enough to keep me out of trouble. Well, technically it might have, with the temperature in the mid-thirties (36F for most of the ride, with the last bit at 34F), but they managed it rather painfully.
I don't think it's the coldest my fingers have ever been; I had less feeling and movement, for sure, at times on the ride to Purcellville a couple weeks ago. But man, were my fingers hurting when I got home and they started warming up. I normally insist on eating breakfast before taking a shower, but when my wife heard me and said to get in the shower, I went.
Further to that point, I normally take shoes/helmet/gloves/booties/etc off in the garage when I get home, then bring everything in immediately. This morning, I brought almost nothing in. I didn't even take my helmet off until I got to the bathroom. Oof. I need a better solution for cold and wet. I might just need to go to the ski gloves around 36F when it's wet. That's warmer than I should need to do, but maybe that's what it takes.
In any event, I'm feeling fine for now. Oh, and I should point out one good thing. At least the gloves kept my hands dry. In fact, I was completely dry when I got inside, so that was definitely a good thing.
Tomorrow's supposed to be even wetter, but also warmer, so I think it'll be much easier. I might even try using just the rain gloves; we'll see. Just jersey and rain jacket up top, for sure.
20141222
Ride diary
I was rather disappointed with my ride Sunday. I planned to do a 35-mile course, and go, more or less, all out. I felt like I did a pretty good job of it. I had my average heart rate up over 160, quite a bit higher than I've managed recently. My power numbers looked pretty good for most of the ride (when I was riding, at least), and I had some really good short stretches of power.
The best stretch was a half minute or so, where I hit 450W, and then kept pushing harder (I saw 600+ for a little bit after that).
But I was considerably disappointed at most of the data for the ride as a whole. Starting off, it was my second-fastest time for that course, and was more than an entire mph below my highest. I still can't fathom that. I suspect cadence works into it somehow, but I'm not sure exactly how.
I don't have power or cadence data for the record run, unfortunately. It was a day where I got a mile from the house and had to turn around because I'd forgotten something, but I can't remember what. Maybe it was my hat (not the helmet, the hat under the helmet).
In any event, I wish I knew how I managed to do so well that day.
This day, I felt like I was in good shape to do well, and I did ok, but I'm very disappointed with how much off of my best I was. I did manage 300ft more ascent this weekend, and I have no idea how that would be possible. The only difference in the courses, I think, is that loop-back in the previous run. That certainly wouldn't decrease ascent. But 300' could easily make that much of a speed difference.
In any event, my power numbers weren't that great this weekend. That power spurt I remembered from the foot of Lorcom Ln wasn't the 450-600W power over the hill I'd thought. I managed only in the high-400s in 20s sustained power. That's not bad, but it was also off from my best (which is a shade over 500W).
My longer-term numbers were even further off from my best numbers, with the full-ride weighted avg power about 220W, with my record (admittedly, over a slightly shorter ride) being just shy of 240W. Both are well short of where I want to be, though; I'd like to get to around 300W, sustained. And yes, I know that's going to take a while, if it's even possible.
One other bit of good news. I managed over half an hour of zone 4+ on the whole ride. That might be the most I've yet managed (I wish I had real power data for all of my rides), and my max heart rate was definitely the highest I've managed (only by a few, though).
Moving on to this morning, I had a hard time getting out of bed; I really wanted to sleep in. But I pushed out, and got going. Remembering Saturday, I dressed considerably more warmly, and even ditched my biking jackets. I went with my North Face shell and fleece liner, put my booties on over my boots, and wore an extra pair of pants.
With all of that, even with it being a recovery day, I was quite comfortable. Maybe a hair warmer than perfect, but pretty close to ideal.
I also did a good job of keeping my heart rate down to about where I wanted it. Still not perfect, but pretty close (I maxed at 132bpm, instead of the 140 that I've hit the last couple times).
I did get one bit of good news today, though. It seems that, in keeping with that video, I need to keep my heart rate only down to 130-ish, instead of the 110-115 I've tried to maintain the last several times, on my recovery rides. That means I should be able to do a lot more miles, since it increases speed from 12-ish mph to 14-15mph. That's a big difference.
Anyway, we'll see how it goes tomorrow. It's going to be relatively warm (right about 40F, supposedly), but probably rainy. I'm going to try to take it fairly easy, and cut loose again on Wednesday. Hopefully with better results.
The best stretch was a half minute or so, where I hit 450W, and then kept pushing harder (I saw 600+ for a little bit after that).
But I was considerably disappointed at most of the data for the ride as a whole. Starting off, it was my second-fastest time for that course, and was more than an entire mph below my highest. I still can't fathom that. I suspect cadence works into it somehow, but I'm not sure exactly how.
I don't have power or cadence data for the record run, unfortunately. It was a day where I got a mile from the house and had to turn around because I'd forgotten something, but I can't remember what. Maybe it was my hat (not the helmet, the hat under the helmet).
In any event, I wish I knew how I managed to do so well that day.
This day, I felt like I was in good shape to do well, and I did ok, but I'm very disappointed with how much off of my best I was. I did manage 300ft more ascent this weekend, and I have no idea how that would be possible. The only difference in the courses, I think, is that loop-back in the previous run. That certainly wouldn't decrease ascent. But 300' could easily make that much of a speed difference.
In any event, my power numbers weren't that great this weekend. That power spurt I remembered from the foot of Lorcom Ln wasn't the 450-600W power over the hill I'd thought. I managed only in the high-400s in 20s sustained power. That's not bad, but it was also off from my best (which is a shade over 500W).
My longer-term numbers were even further off from my best numbers, with the full-ride weighted avg power about 220W, with my record (admittedly, over a slightly shorter ride) being just shy of 240W. Both are well short of where I want to be, though; I'd like to get to around 300W, sustained. And yes, I know that's going to take a while, if it's even possible.
One other bit of good news. I managed over half an hour of zone 4+ on the whole ride. That might be the most I've yet managed (I wish I had real power data for all of my rides), and my max heart rate was definitely the highest I've managed (only by a few, though).
Moving on to this morning, I had a hard time getting out of bed; I really wanted to sleep in. But I pushed out, and got going. Remembering Saturday, I dressed considerably more warmly, and even ditched my biking jackets. I went with my North Face shell and fleece liner, put my booties on over my boots, and wore an extra pair of pants.
With all of that, even with it being a recovery day, I was quite comfortable. Maybe a hair warmer than perfect, but pretty close to ideal.
I also did a good job of keeping my heart rate down to about where I wanted it. Still not perfect, but pretty close (I maxed at 132bpm, instead of the 140 that I've hit the last couple times).
I did get one bit of good news today, though. It seems that, in keeping with that video, I need to keep my heart rate only down to 130-ish, instead of the 110-115 I've tried to maintain the last several times, on my recovery rides. That means I should be able to do a lot more miles, since it increases speed from 12-ish mph to 14-15mph. That's a big difference.
Anyway, we'll see how it goes tomorrow. It's going to be relatively warm (right about 40F, supposedly), but probably rainy. I'm going to try to take it fairly easy, and cut loose again on Wednesday. Hopefully with better results.
20141220
Ten miles of pain
The forecast for this morning, as of my going to bed, was for 30F, and dry.
So I dressed in a light base-layer shirt, softshell jacket, bib shorts, leg warmers, socks, skullcap, and boots. That is, normal clothes for right at freezing (actually, a tad warmer, as I sometimes just wear a summer jersey under the jacket at that temperature). It turns out it was only 23F (which I didn't find out until I returned), plus the group ride wasn't happening, so it was supposed to be an easy day of riding today. The intersection of temperature, clothing, and exertion level was just not right.
It didn't start out too bad. I was pretty sure it was colder than thirty, just based on the amount of frost on car windows, but it didn't feel bad.
After a couple of miles, I got on the bike trail at the normal place, and things still didn't seem too bad. I was feeling it a little on my lower torso when I sat upright, but that's about it. After getting a mile or two down the trail, it started feeling even colder, and that's when things went downhill. Next, I had to zip my jacket all the way up to the top (which doesn't sound like much, but I hadn't been doing it recently). Then my fingers started getting chilled (ok, that was no unexpected).
When my legs started getting cold, I decided I needed to cut things short from my planned 20-25 miles, even if only to go home and get more clothes on. So I turned back on the roads, and even cut it a mile or so shorter than my original turn-back plan. But it was still painful; I needed to speed up, just to keep myself warm.
I noticed the roads were a little bit warmer, but probably only a couple degrees. It certainly wasn't enough to stay out longer.
And going home turned out to be a longer trip than I'd expected; by the time I got home, I was almost at eleven miles. But after getting inside, I didn't even slightly feel like going back out. I came in, got my daughter to go back to bed, and then got breakfast.
Digesting breakfast was enough to leave me shivering from cold; not a pleasant feeling at all. I've been ok since taking my shower, but it wasn't fun.
Now I know: for an "easy" day, I need an extra layer, top and bottom, to do it. The fingers are still an unknown, but I think they'll be decent if the rest of me is warm. Unpleasant, but decent.
The next two days are supposed to be right around freezing when I ride. If one is colder than projected, I'll do a harder ride that day. If both are, I guess I'll need to go back more quickly, and add that extra layer on Monday.
So I dressed in a light base-layer shirt, softshell jacket, bib shorts, leg warmers, socks, skullcap, and boots. That is, normal clothes for right at freezing (actually, a tad warmer, as I sometimes just wear a summer jersey under the jacket at that temperature). It turns out it was only 23F (which I didn't find out until I returned), plus the group ride wasn't happening, so it was supposed to be an easy day of riding today. The intersection of temperature, clothing, and exertion level was just not right.
It didn't start out too bad. I was pretty sure it was colder than thirty, just based on the amount of frost on car windows, but it didn't feel bad.
After a couple of miles, I got on the bike trail at the normal place, and things still didn't seem too bad. I was feeling it a little on my lower torso when I sat upright, but that's about it. After getting a mile or two down the trail, it started feeling even colder, and that's when things went downhill. Next, I had to zip my jacket all the way up to the top (which doesn't sound like much, but I hadn't been doing it recently). Then my fingers started getting chilled (ok, that was no unexpected).
When my legs started getting cold, I decided I needed to cut things short from my planned 20-25 miles, even if only to go home and get more clothes on. So I turned back on the roads, and even cut it a mile or so shorter than my original turn-back plan. But it was still painful; I needed to speed up, just to keep myself warm.
I noticed the roads were a little bit warmer, but probably only a couple degrees. It certainly wasn't enough to stay out longer.
And going home turned out to be a longer trip than I'd expected; by the time I got home, I was almost at eleven miles. But after getting inside, I didn't even slightly feel like going back out. I came in, got my daughter to go back to bed, and then got breakfast.
Digesting breakfast was enough to leave me shivering from cold; not a pleasant feeling at all. I've been ok since taking my shower, but it wasn't fun.
Now I know: for an "easy" day, I need an extra layer, top and bottom, to do it. The fingers are still an unknown, but I think they'll be decent if the rest of me is warm. Unpleasant, but decent.
The next two days are supposed to be right around freezing when I ride. If one is colder than projected, I'll do a harder ride that day. If both are, I guess I'll need to go back more quickly, and add that extra layer on Monday.
20141219
Movie spoilage?
Been meaning to write this for a while, but I keep forgetting. Gruber quoted a piece by JJ Abrams not long ago, giving Abrams' thoughts on movie spoilers.
That might be Abrams' opinion, but it isn't backed up by evidence. As a careful study reveals, it generally does not ruin the experience. Changes it, but not ruins it.
I generally avoid spoilers, myself, but I can certainly understand what they're saying.
As an avid fan of movies and TV myself, I completely understand the desire to find out behind-the-scenes details in a nanosecond. Which, given technology, is often how long it takes — to the frustration of the storytellers. Efforts to gather this intel and the attempts to plug leaks create an ongoing battle between filmmakers and the very fans they are dying to entertain and impress. But the real damage isn’t so much that the secret gets out. It’s that the experience is destroyed.
That might be Abrams' opinion, but it isn't backed up by evidence. As a careful study reveals, it generally does not ruin the experience. Changes it, but not ruins it.
It's pretty standard these days for people to offer up "spoiler alert" warnings when revealing a surprising twist in a story that some might not have read/seen/heard. However, a new study, that tested a variety of books both with and without key points "spoiled," found that people actually seem to prefer a book if they've been told a spoiler ahead of time.
I generally avoid spoilers, myself, but I can certainly understand what they're saying.
Riding chill
This morning was pretty chilly, right around the freezing point. For a recovery ride, that was pretty tough. My torso actually got a little bit cold, towards the end, which was a first (light base layer and rain jacket, only. Not quite enough). Fortunately, my fingers and toes only got a little cold in the process.
The hard part was to keep my heart rate down low enough. I ended up doing a lot of back-and-forth across the road in a couple places where there were unavoidable hills. Outside of those hills, I did a great job of keeping things relaxed.
I'm hoping this will help me to be able to improve my "base", so that I can get my recovery speeds up to 14-15mph. That's a ways off, alas, but I hope this is the right path to get there as soon as possible.
The hard part was to keep my heart rate down low enough. I ended up doing a lot of back-and-forth across the road in a couple places where there were unavoidable hills. Outside of those hills, I did a great job of keeping things relaxed.
I'm hoping this will help me to be able to improve my "base", so that I can get my recovery speeds up to 14-15mph. That's a ways off, alas, but I hope this is the right path to get there as soon as possible.
Streak-busting
The Caps went into last night's game looking to avenge being on the losing end of the longest shootout game in league history. Again.
Meanwhile, Columbus had finally gotten most of their players healthy, and were riding a seven game winning streak, and a four-game overtime winning streak (tied for the longest in league history).
Well, the first period played out about as you'd expect, with a very hungry team and one that might be a tiny bit complacent. The result? The Caps took a 2-0 lead on the back of a 15-5 shot lead (with Columbus leading in blocked shots by 7, so it was even more unbalanced than that appears). It is true that part of that edge came from both power plays being in the Caps' favor, but they were plenty dominant at even strength as well. In fact, Ward's and Chimmer's goals were both at even strength.
That period certainly left me feeling a bit complacent, and contemplating going to sleep early, but I didn't.
And Columbus didn't either, coming out firing in the second. Nine minutes in, they scored on the power play on a nice passing play giving Jack Johnson a slam-dunk of a goal. Three minutes later, Foligno tied it, also on the power play, and then all hell broke loose.
First, Wilson was manhandled by Dalton Prout (never seen that happen before), then Boll and Latta went at it two seconds later. Half a minute later, the penalty boxes filled up as Brouwer and Tyutin exchanged a few niceties, resulting in roughing minors for each. Almost a minute later, Carlson was hit hard, and responded by going after the first Blue Jacket he could reach. A bit of a dive there, I think, but Carlson also went off for roughing (yeah, it was mighty crowded in the box at that point).
The Caps did kill the penalty successfully (finally), but Brouwer decided he wasn't done, as he and Chaput fought only a minute after that (it didn't go terribly well for Brouwer, but he wasn't hurt). Chaput got the extra call for instigation on that, but the Caps weren't able to convert.
That finally got us to the end of a period that saw the Jackets outshoot the Caps, 15-9, and left the score knotted up.
The third started very poorly for the Caps, with Foligno scoring on the rebound of Morin's shot from a sharp angle.
It took a bit over six minutes for the Caps to answer that, and the answer came in the surprising form of Karl Alzner. He found a busted clear in the high slot, skated out to the left, and shot back across the goal, sneaking it in off the inside of Bob's arm.
That left things very tense, and they got more so for the Caps, when, eight minutes later, Chaput got his first NHL goal off a rebound near the net. He put it over the sprawled Holtby to give Columbus the lead with only a few minutes left.
A minute and a half later, Green got the puck in his end, and did his old "one-man breakout" routine when he saw Columbus changing. He took it all the way into the zone, cut across to the opposite side, then threw it back across the rink where he perfectly hit Troy Brouwer, who was making a back-door cut to the open net. I really wish Green would do that sort of thing more often; it's a lot of fun to watch.
The last three minutes passed in anxious waiting for something to happen, but things were quiet.
That sent the game into overtime again, where Columbus' record is far better than Washington's.
But things worked out well. Half a minute in, Green got it back in his own end and saw a lot of open ice in front of him. He took it all the way up, staying on the same side, and threw it to the front just before he passed behind the net. Fehr was charging in, there, and put a one-timer between Bob's legs for the win.
It was quite an exclamation point for a roller coast of a game.
The win leaves the Caps in third place in the division, and hanging on to the edge of playoff position.
Next up, the road trip continues in New Jersey, Saturday evening. Go Caps!
Meanwhile, Columbus had finally gotten most of their players healthy, and were riding a seven game winning streak, and a four-game overtime winning streak (tied for the longest in league history).
Well, the first period played out about as you'd expect, with a very hungry team and one that might be a tiny bit complacent. The result? The Caps took a 2-0 lead on the back of a 15-5 shot lead (with Columbus leading in blocked shots by 7, so it was even more unbalanced than that appears). It is true that part of that edge came from both power plays being in the Caps' favor, but they were plenty dominant at even strength as well. In fact, Ward's and Chimmer's goals were both at even strength.
That period certainly left me feeling a bit complacent, and contemplating going to sleep early, but I didn't.
And Columbus didn't either, coming out firing in the second. Nine minutes in, they scored on the power play on a nice passing play giving Jack Johnson a slam-dunk of a goal. Three minutes later, Foligno tied it, also on the power play, and then all hell broke loose.
First, Wilson was manhandled by Dalton Prout (never seen that happen before), then Boll and Latta went at it two seconds later. Half a minute later, the penalty boxes filled up as Brouwer and Tyutin exchanged a few niceties, resulting in roughing minors for each. Almost a minute later, Carlson was hit hard, and responded by going after the first Blue Jacket he could reach. A bit of a dive there, I think, but Carlson also went off for roughing (yeah, it was mighty crowded in the box at that point).
The Caps did kill the penalty successfully (finally), but Brouwer decided he wasn't done, as he and Chaput fought only a minute after that (it didn't go terribly well for Brouwer, but he wasn't hurt). Chaput got the extra call for instigation on that, but the Caps weren't able to convert.
That finally got us to the end of a period that saw the Jackets outshoot the Caps, 15-9, and left the score knotted up.
The third started very poorly for the Caps, with Foligno scoring on the rebound of Morin's shot from a sharp angle.
It took a bit over six minutes for the Caps to answer that, and the answer came in the surprising form of Karl Alzner. He found a busted clear in the high slot, skated out to the left, and shot back across the goal, sneaking it in off the inside of Bob's arm.
That left things very tense, and they got more so for the Caps, when, eight minutes later, Chaput got his first NHL goal off a rebound near the net. He put it over the sprawled Holtby to give Columbus the lead with only a few minutes left.
A minute and a half later, Green got the puck in his end, and did his old "one-man breakout" routine when he saw Columbus changing. He took it all the way into the zone, cut across to the opposite side, then threw it back across the rink where he perfectly hit Troy Brouwer, who was making a back-door cut to the open net. I really wish Green would do that sort of thing more often; it's a lot of fun to watch.
The last three minutes passed in anxious waiting for something to happen, but things were quiet.
That sent the game into overtime again, where Columbus' record is far better than Washington's.
But things worked out well. Half a minute in, Green got it back in his own end and saw a lot of open ice in front of him. He took it all the way up, staying on the same side, and threw it to the front just before he passed behind the net. Fehr was charging in, there, and put a one-timer between Bob's legs for the win.
It was quite an exclamation point for a roller coast of a game.
The win leaves the Caps in third place in the division, and hanging on to the edge of playoff position.
Next up, the road trip continues in New Jersey, Saturday evening. Go Caps!
20141218
Riding right as rain
After about a week of my legs feeling pretty dead, they felt pretty good this morning. So I decided on my first up-tempo ride in a week. And while my speed wasn't great, my power numbers were up, much closer to where I want them to be (plus, I have yet to have problems with my replacement power meter. *fingers crossed*).
My one surprise was that I didn't set any PRs on Strava. I was feeling good, so I thought it likely (and was certainly hopeful).
The closest I came was tying my PR on one segment down near Shirlington. In a way, it was surprising I was close, as I wasn't standing up for any of that. In another, it wasn't, as I was going faster than a car on the road below me.
The point of all that is that the gentler rides I've been doing for the past six or seven days finally paid off. And my heart rate was well up (avg 160, which is 9-10 bpm faster than I'd managed over the last couple weeks). Rock on!
I'll definitely be coddling myself tomorrow. Saturday, it'll depend. I'd like to do the group ride where I always get my butt kicked, but we'll have to see if the timing works out. If it does, I'll go as hard as I can. If not, I'll do an easy (if long) ride, and maybe push it a bit more on Sunday.
Either way, the plan is for easy rides Monday and Tuesday, then another hard one on Wednesday. Let's hope I feel up to that.
One interesting thing about the ride this morning is that I put down my camelbak, finally. I got a little under-seat bag for my tools, and was going to use a water bottle (but forgot).
I have mixed feelings about it. My left shoulder definitely appreciated not having the pack up there (it never even occurred to me that that could be a factor in that chronic problem), and I certainly felt more aerodynamic. But it's certainly tougher to get a drink from a water bottle, so that might be enough to push me back that way. For sure, I'll keep using the camelbak on very long rides (where, so far, I've used the camelbak for water, and a water bottle for gatorade, to good effect).
I should also point out that I recently ran across this video on training polarization. The idea is, instead of pushing as hard as you can, as often as you can, you mostly go at jogging pace, or thereabouts (I wish he'd discussed it in different terms than lactate concentration. I'm sure it's less ambiguous, but it's not terribly helpful if you don't have a way to measure that). And then, a couple times a week (10-25% of your overall training), you go as hard as you can.
The goal, I think, is to be well-rested when you want to go hard, so you can go really hard. That way, you get your heart rate more elevated, and get more benefit out of your hard workouts.
For me, that was a real eye-opener. And that's why I was willing to do five or six easy workouts in a row and keep resting my legs. I'm certainly going to be thinking about this for a while (I wonder about a couple factors related to the studies mentioned), but I won't be trying to hit zone four every day now, for sure.
Trying to do that had led me into what is described, at the end of the video, as the black hole. Where your "easy" rides aren't easy enough, and your "tough" ones aren't tough enough. I'm hoping it'll help me get over a hump. Plus, I need to start doing intervals; that one's mostly a question of figuring out the mechanics.
My one surprise was that I didn't set any PRs on Strava. I was feeling good, so I thought it likely (and was certainly hopeful).
The closest I came was tying my PR on one segment down near Shirlington. In a way, it was surprising I was close, as I wasn't standing up for any of that. In another, it wasn't, as I was going faster than a car on the road below me.
The point of all that is that the gentler rides I've been doing for the past six or seven days finally paid off. And my heart rate was well up (avg 160, which is 9-10 bpm faster than I'd managed over the last couple weeks). Rock on!
I'll definitely be coddling myself tomorrow. Saturday, it'll depend. I'd like to do the group ride where I always get my butt kicked, but we'll have to see if the timing works out. If it does, I'll go as hard as I can. If not, I'll do an easy (if long) ride, and maybe push it a bit more on Sunday.
Either way, the plan is for easy rides Monday and Tuesday, then another hard one on Wednesday. Let's hope I feel up to that.
One interesting thing about the ride this morning is that I put down my camelbak, finally. I got a little under-seat bag for my tools, and was going to use a water bottle (but forgot).
I have mixed feelings about it. My left shoulder definitely appreciated not having the pack up there (it never even occurred to me that that could be a factor in that chronic problem), and I certainly felt more aerodynamic. But it's certainly tougher to get a drink from a water bottle, so that might be enough to push me back that way. For sure, I'll keep using the camelbak on very long rides (where, so far, I've used the camelbak for water, and a water bottle for gatorade, to good effect).
I should also point out that I recently ran across this video on training polarization. The idea is, instead of pushing as hard as you can, as often as you can, you mostly go at jogging pace, or thereabouts (I wish he'd discussed it in different terms than lactate concentration. I'm sure it's less ambiguous, but it's not terribly helpful if you don't have a way to measure that). And then, a couple times a week (10-25% of your overall training), you go as hard as you can.
The goal, I think, is to be well-rested when you want to go hard, so you can go really hard. That way, you get your heart rate more elevated, and get more benefit out of your hard workouts.
For me, that was a real eye-opener. And that's why I was willing to do five or six easy workouts in a row and keep resting my legs. I'm certainly going to be thinking about this for a while (I wonder about a couple factors related to the studies mentioned), but I won't be trying to hit zone four every day now, for sure.
Trying to do that had led me into what is described, at the end of the video, as the black hole. Where your "easy" rides aren't easy enough, and your "tough" ones aren't tough enough. I'm hoping it'll help me get over a hump. Plus, I need to start doing intervals; that one's mostly a question of figuring out the mechanics.
Shooting out the lights
I wasn't able to watch Tuesday's Caps/Panthers match-up, that night. I wasn't able to start it before the kids were in bed, and then crashed right after putting them in bed. Ugh.
But that's why we have DVRs, so I watched it last night. And man, was that a game.
Until it started, I didn't realize how closely matched the teams were likely to be. I assumed the Caps were way ahead of the Panthers in the standings (just based on past history). Well, if so, then one point is the definition of "way ahead".
It didn't start especially well for the Caps. Through the first half of the first period, they weren't allowing a bunch of shots, but also weren't taking them. And they spent entirely too much time in their own end. It was a game featuring a heavily-clogged neutral zone and a lot of hitting.
The Caps weathered the storm after bending a bit on a rough forecheck, though, and by the end of the first, things had evened out a bit. The Caps were ahead on shots (9-6), though I was guessing they were also ahead on blocks. Not so, after checking: Florida was ahead there, 9-2. For those who want to figure full Corsi or Fenwick, missed shots were even, at five a side (WSH CF% 64, FF% 56. Great numbers!).
The second period also didn't start great, with Florida getting an early power play, but the Caps killed it off (painfully; three shots plus one blocked). The Caps got a chance back a minute later when Wilson drew a hooking call on Flash. They weren't able to really get set up, though, and got only two shots off (both by OV).
A few minutes later, the Caps got another chance when Backstrom drew a hooking call. This time, they quickly cashed in. Brouwer's first shot was blocked, and went out to OV. Sasha put it back to Troy, whose second shot was blocked as well, but Brouwer got another shot immediately with the puck right next to the blocking defenseman, and this one not only got through, but went over Luongo and into the top of the net.
It looked like the rest of the period would be played at evens, but Orpik was called for slashing with 2:06 left, forcing an end-of-period kill with a regular PKer in the box. Despite that, it went well, with a successful kill, allowing only three attempts (one wide, two blocked) against.
For the period, shots were even at ten (even at seven, at evens), WSH CF% 46, FF% 48. At evens, 46% and 47%. Not disastrous, but not good.
The third period had a ridiculous amount of cloggage and hitting (hits for the game were 50-48, in favor of Florida), with no penalties or scoring. Play was heavily in favor of Florida, though, with shots 11-3 in their favor. Yuck.
Going to full Corsi or Fenwick doesn't really make things look better for the Caps, either. WSH CF% 27, FF% 29. Wretched numbers. Truly wretched.
The only thing that made it look better was that, at one point, Laich appeared to score. But it was ruled to be kicked in (though I feel like pointing out that it was not a dangerous kick, being sideways by a trailing foot), so it was disallowed. And man, was that a pig-pile in front of the net when it happened. I think there were seven or eight players inside, or next to, the crease.
So, it went into overtime, where the Caps looked a little better. Shots were even, with Washington having the only missed shot (and there were no blocked shots, by either team. Very weird. Makes me wonder how much the percentage generally goes down at 4-on-4).
Overall, WSH ES CF% 49, FF% 46. Definitely a "needs improvement" rating on both of those.
And that's when the game really got interesting. It didn't seem like much when all three shooters, by both teams, were held scoreless. It didn't even seem like much when the fourth shooter from each team scored (OV and Jokinen). It started to seem a little weird when the next two shooters from each team were held out.
And quite a bit weird when the next two from each team scored (Ward and Carlson vs Mackenzie and Bergenheim).
Then things turned downright bizarre as the next five from each team all failed. Surely, someone wants to win, right?
Orpik and Olsen both did, so they cancelled each other out.
Alzner completed the list of options for Trotz, and was kept away. Mitchell (ironic, picking the captain last), similarly.
Backstrom and OV went next, and were each denied (OV beat Lu, but put it over the net). Jokinen was stopped in his second attempt, but Bjugstad ended it with a snap-shot that Holtby couldn't follow.
Yeah, twenty rounds. The Caps have now been involved in both of the longest shoot-outs in league history. I say they should have given the goalies a chance (at least the back-ups) before starting through the line-up again.
I'm not a fan of the shoot-out (I think it's a terrible "solution" to the problem of preventing ties, and playing for ties), but that was an interesting one.
The one thing I can't figure out is how Holtby didn't end up one of the stars of the game. For that matter, why wasn't Luongo first star?
Next up is the rubber match against Columbus, tonight at seven. Go Caps!
But that's why we have DVRs, so I watched it last night. And man, was that a game.
Until it started, I didn't realize how closely matched the teams were likely to be. I assumed the Caps were way ahead of the Panthers in the standings (just based on past history). Well, if so, then one point is the definition of "way ahead".
It didn't start especially well for the Caps. Through the first half of the first period, they weren't allowing a bunch of shots, but also weren't taking them. And they spent entirely too much time in their own end. It was a game featuring a heavily-clogged neutral zone and a lot of hitting.
The Caps weathered the storm after bending a bit on a rough forecheck, though, and by the end of the first, things had evened out a bit. The Caps were ahead on shots (9-6), though I was guessing they were also ahead on blocks. Not so, after checking: Florida was ahead there, 9-2. For those who want to figure full Corsi or Fenwick, missed shots were even, at five a side (WSH CF% 64, FF% 56. Great numbers!).
The second period also didn't start great, with Florida getting an early power play, but the Caps killed it off (painfully; three shots plus one blocked). The Caps got a chance back a minute later when Wilson drew a hooking call on Flash. They weren't able to really get set up, though, and got only two shots off (both by OV).
A few minutes later, the Caps got another chance when Backstrom drew a hooking call. This time, they quickly cashed in. Brouwer's first shot was blocked, and went out to OV. Sasha put it back to Troy, whose second shot was blocked as well, but Brouwer got another shot immediately with the puck right next to the blocking defenseman, and this one not only got through, but went over Luongo and into the top of the net.
It looked like the rest of the period would be played at evens, but Orpik was called for slashing with 2:06 left, forcing an end-of-period kill with a regular PKer in the box. Despite that, it went well, with a successful kill, allowing only three attempts (one wide, two blocked) against.
For the period, shots were even at ten (even at seven, at evens), WSH CF% 46, FF% 48. At evens, 46% and 47%. Not disastrous, but not good.
The third period had a ridiculous amount of cloggage and hitting (hits for the game were 50-48, in favor of Florida), with no penalties or scoring. Play was heavily in favor of Florida, though, with shots 11-3 in their favor. Yuck.
Going to full Corsi or Fenwick doesn't really make things look better for the Caps, either. WSH CF% 27, FF% 29. Wretched numbers. Truly wretched.
The only thing that made it look better was that, at one point, Laich appeared to score. But it was ruled to be kicked in (though I feel like pointing out that it was not a dangerous kick, being sideways by a trailing foot), so it was disallowed. And man, was that a pig-pile in front of the net when it happened. I think there were seven or eight players inside, or next to, the crease.
So, it went into overtime, where the Caps looked a little better. Shots were even, with Washington having the only missed shot (and there were no blocked shots, by either team. Very weird. Makes me wonder how much the percentage generally goes down at 4-on-4).
Overall, WSH ES CF% 49, FF% 46. Definitely a "needs improvement" rating on both of those.
And that's when the game really got interesting. It didn't seem like much when all three shooters, by both teams, were held scoreless. It didn't even seem like much when the fourth shooter from each team scored (OV and Jokinen). It started to seem a little weird when the next two shooters from each team were held out.
And quite a bit weird when the next two from each team scored (Ward and Carlson vs Mackenzie and Bergenheim).
Then things turned downright bizarre as the next five from each team all failed. Surely, someone wants to win, right?
Orpik and Olsen both did, so they cancelled each other out.
Alzner completed the list of options for Trotz, and was kept away. Mitchell (ironic, picking the captain last), similarly.
Backstrom and OV went next, and were each denied (OV beat Lu, but put it over the net). Jokinen was stopped in his second attempt, but Bjugstad ended it with a snap-shot that Holtby couldn't follow.
Yeah, twenty rounds. The Caps have now been involved in both of the longest shoot-outs in league history. I say they should have given the goalies a chance (at least the back-ups) before starting through the line-up again.
I'm not a fan of the shoot-out (I think it's a terrible "solution" to the problem of preventing ties, and playing for ties), but that was an interesting one.
The one thing I can't figure out is how Holtby didn't end up one of the stars of the game. For that matter, why wasn't Luongo first star?
Next up is the rubber match against Columbus, tonight at seven. Go Caps!
20141216
Ride of the century?
I mentioned that I was taking a day off, last week, and going for a full century on my bike.
The temperature was kind-of in-between, and I wasn't sure what to wear. I went with my new Assos shorts (T.cento), leg warmers, heavy base layer shirt, jersey (worn just for the pockets), and a windbreaker (mostly ditto, though that's not the only reason I'm glad I wore it).
Things didn't get off to a great start, though, as I grabbed the wrong gloves and turned back after only a minute or two. Unfortunately, the gloves I grabbed instead were also the wrong ones (the first lacked windbreaking ability, the second were ok there but still not warm enough), and that's most of the story of the ride.
But not entirely. I'd alluded to being tired the night before, and that kept on, into the day. In fact, it took about an hour before I started to feel good, and I never did feel great. But to get back to the gloves...
Basically, I was expecting the ride to start at 35F, and quickly warm up to ~40F, and stay there for most of the ride (I did check the forecast, though only for the near end). Instead, it was right around freezing for most of the day, and it felt like it. At one point, getting close to Purcellville (my destination), I came to an intersection and tried to stop, as visibility wasn't great, but there was definitely a car coming. But I wasn't slowing down much, so I tried squeezing harder. After a minute, I realized that the reason I wasn't stopping was that one of my fingers was in the way of the brake. Thank goodness I didn't try to squeeze even harder, and that the car wasn't as close as I thought.
I stopped a couple minutes after that at some benches, just so I could put my hands under my jacket and shirts, and warm them up. Not a pleasant stop at all.
When I made it to Purcellville, I was against extremely cold, and stopped in a local bike shop there to look around. While they were happy to have me there (even though I didn't buy anything), the shop was almost empty because they just fired their distributor, and are waiting for the new one to ship stuff. Weird to see a mostly-empty shop right before Christmas. Not their finest hour.
Nor my finest hour, come to that. On my previous trip out there, I'd averaged eighteen miles an hour all the way (not including stops, of course). This time, I was a bit below 16.5; quite a drop-off. The cold certainly didn't help that, nor did the headwind I was going into just about all the way. Regardless of what caused it, though, I was very disappointed.
In any event, after fifteen or twenty minutes, I turned around and headed back for home. I actually felt a little better, heading back, than I had in my previous trip. In fact, I averaged slightly better time on the way back than on the way out (not much; one or two tenths of a mile per hour, but it was interesting). But the cold was even worse.
I put the liner gloves I'd carried on before I left, and they helped for a while. But not for a long while. By the time I got back to Ashburn, I ended up stopping at a BBQ place there as much to warm up as to eat. Though I did eat a sandwich platter without a problem.
By the time I finished the platter, I was ready to head home, and that's what I did. But by the time I got to Vienna, I was cold enough to seek out another bike shop just off the trail. I didn't buy anything there either, though I thought about it. But I noticed it wasn't quite as late as I thought, so I hurried out after a little warming up, and went to run an errand my wife wanted (that I thought I wouldn't have time for).
I hurried up a little, but still got to the place my wife wanted me to go a couple minutes after they closed. But I was still able to get my errand done, as they were very nice.
After that, I decided to head straight home, even though it was going to leave me a few miles short of a hundred. A disappointing end, but I wasn't feeling terrible.
I did finish the second half a bit faster (and a bit less sore) than my first attempt, but I still definitely wasn't feeling great. In fact, I felt a bit worse the next morning than I had after the first long trip.
It's also left me wondering a bit about my selection of gloves. Especially for the options just above freezing. The PI 3x1 Pro Softshell gloves are good, in that range, when things are dry, but not for wet.
I got some Assos rain gloves, but they're not warm enough to get down to freezing (and my first pair wasn't big enough to make liner gloves an option. I've since fixed that, but haven't been able to test yet). Also, my Black Diamond Guide gloves turned out not to be warm enough for a long ride at 35F a couple days ago (at least part of the problem is that I wasn't riding as hard, undoubtedly). I think I need a bigger size for them, as well. I'm working on that.
Anyway, I've done easy (if long) rides each day since then (except the first day, which was easy and medium length). My legs have not been happy. Maybe I just need a short, easy day to help.
The temperature was kind-of in-between, and I wasn't sure what to wear. I went with my new Assos shorts (T.cento), leg warmers, heavy base layer shirt, jersey (worn just for the pockets), and a windbreaker (mostly ditto, though that's not the only reason I'm glad I wore it).
Things didn't get off to a great start, though, as I grabbed the wrong gloves and turned back after only a minute or two. Unfortunately, the gloves I grabbed instead were also the wrong ones (the first lacked windbreaking ability, the second were ok there but still not warm enough), and that's most of the story of the ride.
But not entirely. I'd alluded to being tired the night before, and that kept on, into the day. In fact, it took about an hour before I started to feel good, and I never did feel great. But to get back to the gloves...
Basically, I was expecting the ride to start at 35F, and quickly warm up to ~40F, and stay there for most of the ride (I did check the forecast, though only for the near end). Instead, it was right around freezing for most of the day, and it felt like it. At one point, getting close to Purcellville (my destination), I came to an intersection and tried to stop, as visibility wasn't great, but there was definitely a car coming. But I wasn't slowing down much, so I tried squeezing harder. After a minute, I realized that the reason I wasn't stopping was that one of my fingers was in the way of the brake. Thank goodness I didn't try to squeeze even harder, and that the car wasn't as close as I thought.
I stopped a couple minutes after that at some benches, just so I could put my hands under my jacket and shirts, and warm them up. Not a pleasant stop at all.
When I made it to Purcellville, I was against extremely cold, and stopped in a local bike shop there to look around. While they were happy to have me there (even though I didn't buy anything), the shop was almost empty because they just fired their distributor, and are waiting for the new one to ship stuff. Weird to see a mostly-empty shop right before Christmas. Not their finest hour.
Nor my finest hour, come to that. On my previous trip out there, I'd averaged eighteen miles an hour all the way (not including stops, of course). This time, I was a bit below 16.5; quite a drop-off. The cold certainly didn't help that, nor did the headwind I was going into just about all the way. Regardless of what caused it, though, I was very disappointed.
In any event, after fifteen or twenty minutes, I turned around and headed back for home. I actually felt a little better, heading back, than I had in my previous trip. In fact, I averaged slightly better time on the way back than on the way out (not much; one or two tenths of a mile per hour, but it was interesting). But the cold was even worse.
I put the liner gloves I'd carried on before I left, and they helped for a while. But not for a long while. By the time I got back to Ashburn, I ended up stopping at a BBQ place there as much to warm up as to eat. Though I did eat a sandwich platter without a problem.
By the time I finished the platter, I was ready to head home, and that's what I did. But by the time I got to Vienna, I was cold enough to seek out another bike shop just off the trail. I didn't buy anything there either, though I thought about it. But I noticed it wasn't quite as late as I thought, so I hurried out after a little warming up, and went to run an errand my wife wanted (that I thought I wouldn't have time for).
I hurried up a little, but still got to the place my wife wanted me to go a couple minutes after they closed. But I was still able to get my errand done, as they were very nice.
After that, I decided to head straight home, even though it was going to leave me a few miles short of a hundred. A disappointing end, but I wasn't feeling terrible.
I did finish the second half a bit faster (and a bit less sore) than my first attempt, but I still definitely wasn't feeling great. In fact, I felt a bit worse the next morning than I had after the first long trip.
It's also left me wondering a bit about my selection of gloves. Especially for the options just above freezing. The PI 3x1 Pro Softshell gloves are good, in that range, when things are dry, but not for wet.
I got some Assos rain gloves, but they're not warm enough to get down to freezing (and my first pair wasn't big enough to make liner gloves an option. I've since fixed that, but haven't been able to test yet). Also, my Black Diamond Guide gloves turned out not to be warm enough for a long ride at 35F a couple days ago (at least part of the problem is that I wasn't riding as hard, undoubtedly). I think I need a bigger size for them, as well. I'm working on that.
Anyway, I've done easy (if long) rides each day since then (except the first day, which was easy and medium length). My legs have not been happy. Maybe I just need a short, easy day to help.
Backstrom bolts Lightning
The first period started out very well for the Caps, if, perhaps, like an extension of the prior game. Bishop was definitely on, and was called on to make a number of good saves.
Tampa didn't get many chances, though one of those found the back of the net, when Stamkos put in a pass from behind the net. But Callahan was called for incidental contact with Holtby (he did remove Holtby from the net, unquestionably), getting the goal (and shot, which would have been their first) called back.
I'd like to say that the relative times on the power play had a lot to do with the massive shot imbalance in the period (12-2 Caps). But I'm not sure it did, since a) the Caps got, I believe, only one shot on those power plays and b) Tampa got a couple of short-handed chances, though I can't remember if those chances resulted in shots on net.
Regardless, it all felt very familiar.
The second period did not get going well at all. First, Green was called on an iffy slash a couple minutes in. No goal allowed, but they did get several shots on net (and, probably, several more blocked). Then, Green got called again, this time for hooking, a couple minutes later. That led to a scrum in which OV found himself called for roughing.
It was the Caps first time on the season, being down two men, and it wasn't fun. But they managed to kill off the whole penalty without damage (with one incredible save by Holtby assisted by Orpik blocking the swing of a shot with his skate. With his back turned), and then proceeeded to take it to Tampa.
It took a couple minutes for that to bear fruit, but Backstrom picked up the rebound of Schmidt's shot from the point, and backhanded it under the crossbar for the lead. Eight minutes later, Wilson's initial shot was stopped, but OV knocked it from under Bishop before the whistle blew, and Backstrom picked up the trash and stuffed it into the net to double the lead.
Early in the third, the top line got a 3-on-2, with Backstrom carrying into the zone and handing off to OV. He continued his rush down the middle, while OV went down the wing, when OV passed back to him. Backstrom fought off the backchecker (by turning sideways to the net), and managed to throw the puck all the way to the edge of the goal on OV's side. Bishop was already down, and covering the near side of the net by the time Backstrom let it go.
And it looked, for quite a while, like that's where the game would effectively end, with Backstrom getting his first regular-season hat trick and owning the scoresheet. I came within a hair's breadth of turning the game off with five or six minutes left.
But Tampa fought back, scoring with 4:21 left and again with 2:31 left, both with Bishop on the bench.
That led to a tense couple of minutes, until Fehr intercepted a pass across the middle at Tampa's blue line, and calmly shoved it into the net to ice the victory.
Despite giving up three goals, Bishop played a hell of a game and probably didn't deserve to lose. But the Caps certainly deserved the win, and it was good to see them bring it home.
Next up for Washington is a date with Florida in Sunrise, at sunset tonight. Go Caps!
Tampa didn't get many chances, though one of those found the back of the net, when Stamkos put in a pass from behind the net. But Callahan was called for incidental contact with Holtby (he did remove Holtby from the net, unquestionably), getting the goal (and shot, which would have been their first) called back.
I'd like to say that the relative times on the power play had a lot to do with the massive shot imbalance in the period (12-2 Caps). But I'm not sure it did, since a) the Caps got, I believe, only one shot on those power plays and b) Tampa got a couple of short-handed chances, though I can't remember if those chances resulted in shots on net.
Regardless, it all felt very familiar.
The second period did not get going well at all. First, Green was called on an iffy slash a couple minutes in. No goal allowed, but they did get several shots on net (and, probably, several more blocked). Then, Green got called again, this time for hooking, a couple minutes later. That led to a scrum in which OV found himself called for roughing.
It was the Caps first time on the season, being down two men, and it wasn't fun. But they managed to kill off the whole penalty without damage (with one incredible save by Holtby assisted by Orpik blocking the swing of a shot with his skate. With his back turned), and then proceeeded to take it to Tampa.
It took a couple minutes for that to bear fruit, but Backstrom picked up the rebound of Schmidt's shot from the point, and backhanded it under the crossbar for the lead. Eight minutes later, Wilson's initial shot was stopped, but OV knocked it from under Bishop before the whistle blew, and Backstrom picked up the trash and stuffed it into the net to double the lead.
Early in the third, the top line got a 3-on-2, with Backstrom carrying into the zone and handing off to OV. He continued his rush down the middle, while OV went down the wing, when OV passed back to him. Backstrom fought off the backchecker (by turning sideways to the net), and managed to throw the puck all the way to the edge of the goal on OV's side. Bishop was already down, and covering the near side of the net by the time Backstrom let it go.
And it looked, for quite a while, like that's where the game would effectively end, with Backstrom getting his first regular-season hat trick and owning the scoresheet. I came within a hair's breadth of turning the game off with five or six minutes left.
But Tampa fought back, scoring with 4:21 left and again with 2:31 left, both with Bishop on the bench.
That led to a tense couple of minutes, until Fehr intercepted a pass across the middle at Tampa's blue line, and calmly shoved it into the net to ice the victory.
Despite giving up three goals, Bishop played a hell of a game and probably didn't deserve to lose. But the Caps certainly deserved the win, and it was good to see them bring it home.
Next up for Washington is a date with Florida in Sunrise, at sunset tonight. Go Caps!
Shooting into a wall
I didn't get a chance to turn last night's Caps game on until nine o'clock or so, but I was able to watch the entire thing. And I was mostly glad I did. It felt a lot like the Buffalo Sabres game the other week. That is, completely dominant performance by the Caps skaters, spoiled by a magnificent effort by the opposing goaltender.
Seriously, stopping 90% of power play shots is quite a good performance; Bob stopped seventeen of eighteen. And yeah, eighteen power play shots on goal is a ridiculously high number; kudos to the Caps on that.
And kudos to Wilson for being quite the magnet for penalties of late. He drew three in this game, and several more in the last several games. If he can keep drawing them like that, then he can stay on the top line forever, in my book.
To get into more specifics, the one power play shot that got through Bob came in the fourth minute, as Fehr deflected Carlson's wrister from the slot over Bob's arm.
It took twelve minutes for Columbus to answer, and it was only on their second or third shot, but Foligno was able to waltz in from the point and deflect the puck off the near post and and in. Terrible defense by the forwards, there, giving him so much time and space. And a beautiful shot by him; Holtby probably should have had it, but he didn't leave a whole lot of room for shooting.
Despite more than doubling up the Jackets on shots in the first, the period ended
The second period looked like it would be much more even, with Columbus keeping Washington from getting a shot on goal for the first eight minutes. But they only got a couple shots of their own in that time, and then they committed several penalties. Although the Caps didn't score in the period, they still ended up with fifteen shots (to the Jackets' four, so it was less even than the first period).
So the game went into the third tied at one. Almost halfway through, Brouwer got his first in a while on a beautiful deflection of Niskanen's pass to the side of the net. I really wish the Caps would try more plays like this, as Bob had no chance on it.
Unfortunately, it took Columbus only a minute and a half to answer (does this sound familiar, if somewhat less so than last year?), as Connauton's point shot trickled through, between Holtby's glove-arm and body. He had a great game, but that's definitely one Holtby would want back.
Over the last nine minutes, nobody was able to find the back of the net, so off we went to overtime, again. Laich and Beagle did get a very nice chance, early on, but Beagle couldn't lift his shot over Bob's outstretched leg. Shortly thereafter, the Caps got whistled for a penalty that was guaranteed to last until the end of overtime. With twenty seconds left, Foligno's one-timer from the half-wall went over Holtby's shoulder, glove-side, putting the nail in the coffin.
Hard to be upset with the performance, overall, but the result was certainly disappointing. I'll talk about it separately, but the game after was Saturday with the home rematch against Tampa.
Seriously, stopping 90% of power play shots is quite a good performance; Bob stopped seventeen of eighteen. And yeah, eighteen power play shots on goal is a ridiculously high number; kudos to the Caps on that.
And kudos to Wilson for being quite the magnet for penalties of late. He drew three in this game, and several more in the last several games. If he can keep drawing them like that, then he can stay on the top line forever, in my book.
To get into more specifics, the one power play shot that got through Bob came in the fourth minute, as Fehr deflected Carlson's wrister from the slot over Bob's arm.
It took twelve minutes for Columbus to answer, and it was only on their second or third shot, but Foligno was able to waltz in from the point and deflect the puck off the near post and and in. Terrible defense by the forwards, there, giving him so much time and space. And a beautiful shot by him; Holtby probably should have had it, but he didn't leave a whole lot of room for shooting.
Despite more than doubling up the Jackets on shots in the first, the period ended
The second period looked like it would be much more even, with Columbus keeping Washington from getting a shot on goal for the first eight minutes. But they only got a couple shots of their own in that time, and then they committed several penalties. Although the Caps didn't score in the period, they still ended up with fifteen shots (to the Jackets' four, so it was less even than the first period).
So the game went into the third tied at one. Almost halfway through, Brouwer got his first in a while on a beautiful deflection of Niskanen's pass to the side of the net. I really wish the Caps would try more plays like this, as Bob had no chance on it.
Unfortunately, it took Columbus only a minute and a half to answer (does this sound familiar, if somewhat less so than last year?), as Connauton's point shot trickled through, between Holtby's glove-arm and body. He had a great game, but that's definitely one Holtby would want back.
Over the last nine minutes, nobody was able to find the back of the net, so off we went to overtime, again. Laich and Beagle did get a very nice chance, early on, but Beagle couldn't lift his shot over Bob's outstretched leg. Shortly thereafter, the Caps got whistled for a penalty that was guaranteed to last until the end of overtime. With twenty seconds left, Foligno's one-timer from the half-wall went over Holtby's shoulder, glove-side, putting the nail in the coffin.
Hard to be upset with the performance, overall, but the result was certainly disappointing. I'll talk about it separately, but the game after was Saturday with the home rematch against Tampa.
20141210
Caps update
It might appear that I've forgotten about the Caps lately, but that's far from true. I've watched almost all of every game (I missed a little bit of the Toronto game, I think, and definitely all of the Vancouver game).
And the team's play seems rather uneven. It might seem a bit ungenerous to say something like that after the fantastic effort against Tampa, last night, but it's true. Possessionally, they've been very up and down.
As mentioned, the game against Tampa was great. And most of the Jersey game was similarly (though not quite as) good. Carolina wasn't quite as good either, but was pretty good.
Vancouver wasn't bad, from what I could see, except that the PK died instead of killing.
Toronto was decent, but some terrible luck (at least at the beginning; it did get worse as the game went on. Also, I remember now; I turned it off when they went down 4-1 in the middle of the second). And how often do you see both goalies pulled in the same game?
The two games against the Islanders were mixed; the first wasn't good at all (and I think I missed the first period of that one with DVR problems), but the second was a dominant one.
The game against Buffalo was extremely good, but Enroth stood on his head, and they couldn't solve him.
Colorado, my memories are very vague. I think they didn't play terribly well, but won with a bit of luck.
My memories of the Arizona game are even more vague (though I remember the Erat embellishment call). I believe they did pretty well, given the penalty imbalance and the shots being so close.
And I believe they just had their asses handed to them by St Louis. It was the second half of a back-to-back, and they played like it. And Peters looked pretty bad in net, to boot (at least, after the first. I vaguely recall him having a very good first period).
Geeze, I didn't realize it'd been so many games since my last write-up.
After writing all those down, though, I think the team's been doing better than I gave them credit for, up above. There were a couple stinkers, but they played well to very well in most of them.
Holtby's been coming back to where we expect to see him (outside of the Toronto game, of course).
Peters has been... not good. I have to figure the team is trying to figure out a way to replace him. Play-wise, calling Gru up would be better for the team, but it wouldn't be so good for Gru's development.
MarJo has been shooting a lot more, and getting rewarded for that effort. Brouwer's been pretty decent, though singularly unable to find the net.
Chimmer's been up and down, with a couple very good games, and a number of bad to terrible ones. And has also been unable to find the net. I guess that's why he's been dropped to the fourth line, but I'm still not sure that I agree with it.
Backstrom has remained Backstrom, throughout. OV hasn't been scoring a lot (last night's double aside), but has still been very effective. I do like that he's been playing the walls this year, rather than always looking for a soft spot to take a shot. Wilson... last night's excellent effort aside, I don't see him as really helping that line.
Kuzya's been quite good when he's gotten ice time. I have no idea why he hasn't gotten more. Similarly, I have no idea what's happened to Bura; why he's been a healthy scratch lately.
Ward's been pretty quiet, of late. He definitely doesn't do as well without Chimmer. Fehr has looked excellent; I'd like to see him move back up to the top line. With him, that was a completely dominant top line.
Laich has surprised me since he's returned; he's looked very good. Tenacious and skilled. I'd be very down with putting him, Ward, and Chimmer back together as a shut-down line.
Beagle has managed two pretty goals of late (impressive on multiple levels), but I'm still not sold on him. I don't question his effort, or that he's making the most of his talents, but he seems like a pretty marginal player for the NHL My suspicion is that he's playing as much as he is purely for his face-off abilities. In any event, thank goodness Trotz didn't keep him on the top line; that was a terrible combination.
Latta is also marginal, but I'd rather have him instead of Beagle.
Carlson and Orpik are doing a pretty good job of handling the other team's top lines. They aren't dominating, but they aren't getting killed, either. And there's a lot of value in that.
Niskanen and Alzner have been very good in a more sheltered role. Alzner's been interesting to watch, for me. He's been pinching in and generally attacking a lot more. And it was great to see him open the scoring against the Devils, the other night.
Niskanen can't replace Green on the power play, but he's not half-bad. I was amused at how low he got, playing the point, when he scored last night. He was taking a point shot from just inside the left face-off circle.
Green... I hope he's healthy enough to return. There was some talk that he would, against Tampa, but he ended up not even traveling with the team. In any event, he's been fabulous when he's been healthy, and I love that the D is deep enough to give him the easier assignments.
Schmidt has generally looked very good. Not as good lately, with Hillen instead of Green, of course, but still quite good. I've been amazed at how he's been able to match up to some pretty big forwards, lately. He's taken the body against several of them, and held his own. I guess his skating is a big part of that.
And speaking of Hillen; well, he's been adequate. I'll be glad when he's not on the ice again, but he hasn't been a disaster. And really, that's about the best you can hope for, from a seventh/eighth defenseman.
On the plus side, the team hasn't gotten desperate enough to put Erskine on the ice (of course, he's also been injured for quire a while. Neck surgery from something going wrong in practice, IIRC). Let's hope that's the way things stay.
I'd very much like to see Orlov back. He's a damned sight better than Hillen, and it'd be an interesting call to choose between him and Schmidt. Get well soon, Dima (and yes, I know you're already at the long end of your projected time out from your injury).
All of which leaves us looking to the future. I'm still not sure what I'd like to see, as far as lines, if everyone were available. I'm hoping both Green and Orlov will be back soon. And I hope Peters regresses back towards where we want to see him.
In any event, tomorrow night the team will be hosting the Blue Jackets. I don't know what the state of their team is, if they've recovered from all/most of the injuries they suffered earlier in the season. With the Caps playing them twice in the next week and change, though, I hope not.
And the team's play seems rather uneven. It might seem a bit ungenerous to say something like that after the fantastic effort against Tampa, last night, but it's true. Possessionally, they've been very up and down.
As mentioned, the game against Tampa was great. And most of the Jersey game was similarly (though not quite as) good. Carolina wasn't quite as good either, but was pretty good.
Vancouver wasn't bad, from what I could see, except that the PK died instead of killing.
Toronto was decent, but some terrible luck (at least at the beginning; it did get worse as the game went on. Also, I remember now; I turned it off when they went down 4-1 in the middle of the second). And how often do you see both goalies pulled in the same game?
The two games against the Islanders were mixed; the first wasn't good at all (and I think I missed the first period of that one with DVR problems), but the second was a dominant one.
The game against Buffalo was extremely good, but Enroth stood on his head, and they couldn't solve him.
Colorado, my memories are very vague. I think they didn't play terribly well, but won with a bit of luck.
My memories of the Arizona game are even more vague (though I remember the Erat embellishment call). I believe they did pretty well, given the penalty imbalance and the shots being so close.
And I believe they just had their asses handed to them by St Louis. It was the second half of a back-to-back, and they played like it. And Peters looked pretty bad in net, to boot (at least, after the first. I vaguely recall him having a very good first period).
Geeze, I didn't realize it'd been so many games since my last write-up.
After writing all those down, though, I think the team's been doing better than I gave them credit for, up above. There were a couple stinkers, but they played well to very well in most of them.
Holtby's been coming back to where we expect to see him (outside of the Toronto game, of course).
Peters has been... not good. I have to figure the team is trying to figure out a way to replace him. Play-wise, calling Gru up would be better for the team, but it wouldn't be so good for Gru's development.
MarJo has been shooting a lot more, and getting rewarded for that effort. Brouwer's been pretty decent, though singularly unable to find the net.
Chimmer's been up and down, with a couple very good games, and a number of bad to terrible ones. And has also been unable to find the net. I guess that's why he's been dropped to the fourth line, but I'm still not sure that I agree with it.
Backstrom has remained Backstrom, throughout. OV hasn't been scoring a lot (last night's double aside), but has still been very effective. I do like that he's been playing the walls this year, rather than always looking for a soft spot to take a shot. Wilson... last night's excellent effort aside, I don't see him as really helping that line.
Kuzya's been quite good when he's gotten ice time. I have no idea why he hasn't gotten more. Similarly, I have no idea what's happened to Bura; why he's been a healthy scratch lately.
Ward's been pretty quiet, of late. He definitely doesn't do as well without Chimmer. Fehr has looked excellent; I'd like to see him move back up to the top line. With him, that was a completely dominant top line.
Laich has surprised me since he's returned; he's looked very good. Tenacious and skilled. I'd be very down with putting him, Ward, and Chimmer back together as a shut-down line.
Beagle has managed two pretty goals of late (impressive on multiple levels), but I'm still not sold on him. I don't question his effort, or that he's making the most of his talents, but he seems like a pretty marginal player for the NHL My suspicion is that he's playing as much as he is purely for his face-off abilities. In any event, thank goodness Trotz didn't keep him on the top line; that was a terrible combination.
Latta is also marginal, but I'd rather have him instead of Beagle.
Carlson and Orpik are doing a pretty good job of handling the other team's top lines. They aren't dominating, but they aren't getting killed, either. And there's a lot of value in that.
Niskanen and Alzner have been very good in a more sheltered role. Alzner's been interesting to watch, for me. He's been pinching in and generally attacking a lot more. And it was great to see him open the scoring against the Devils, the other night.
Niskanen can't replace Green on the power play, but he's not half-bad. I was amused at how low he got, playing the point, when he scored last night. He was taking a point shot from just inside the left face-off circle.
Green... I hope he's healthy enough to return. There was some talk that he would, against Tampa, but he ended up not even traveling with the team. In any event, he's been fabulous when he's been healthy, and I love that the D is deep enough to give him the easier assignments.
Schmidt has generally looked very good. Not as good lately, with Hillen instead of Green, of course, but still quite good. I've been amazed at how he's been able to match up to some pretty big forwards, lately. He's taken the body against several of them, and held his own. I guess his skating is a big part of that.
And speaking of Hillen; well, he's been adequate. I'll be glad when he's not on the ice again, but he hasn't been a disaster. And really, that's about the best you can hope for, from a seventh/eighth defenseman.
On the plus side, the team hasn't gotten desperate enough to put Erskine on the ice (of course, he's also been injured for quire a while. Neck surgery from something going wrong in practice, IIRC). Let's hope that's the way things stay.
I'd very much like to see Orlov back. He's a damned sight better than Hillen, and it'd be an interesting call to choose between him and Schmidt. Get well soon, Dima (and yes, I know you're already at the long end of your projected time out from your injury).
All of which leaves us looking to the future. I'm still not sure what I'd like to see, as far as lines, if everyone were available. I'm hoping both Green and Orlov will be back soon. And I hope Peters regresses back towards where we want to see him.
In any event, tomorrow night the team will be hosting the Blue Jackets. I don't know what the state of their team is, if they've recovered from all/most of the injuries they suffered earlier in the season. With the Caps playing them twice in the next week and change, though, I hope not.
Riding update
I've been pretty busy riding, lately. But it hasn't been all that interesting, really.
I've ended up having to send my power meter in to have it looked at (it was mostly working, but occasionally flaky). I might have to do the same with my speed/cadence meter; it's flaked out a few times recently (though that might have been purely a battery issue; it bears further investigation).
I did figure out that having a well-lubed chain makes a big difference. I let it go a little too long (which I knew I had; it was a bit noisy), and was feeling really terrible while trying to push. When I lubed it again, I felt an immense amount better the next day. I was shocked at how much difference it made.
I'm still trying to figure out what's been going on, though, as far as power and fatigue are concerned. Lately, I've been feeling really tired except for the day after recovery days. And I've taken more of them. I feel like I'm doing something wrong, but I don't really know what.
Basically, my climbing has improved (markedly), but I feel like the rest of my riding has gone backwards. Not sure what to make of it, but I don't like that I haven't been seeing 18.5-19mph speeds recently.
In any event, I'm going to try for a full century tomorrow, on the same course where I came up a little short a couple months ago. I figured out that I'd done a hair over 500 miles before that last attempt; now I'm a bit short of 2200 miles. Plus, I've done a number of thirty-five mile rides, at pace, whereas I'd done only one ride that long back then, and that was at a very relaxed speed.
But my legs are a bit tired, so we'll see how it goes. I need to do 18-ish mph when I'm moving, and I haven't been going that fast lately. But I've been doing a lot of hills lately, so that might be part of it (I hope that's the entire explanation, but I suspect it isn't).
In any event, while I still enjoy the riding, it does feel tough, especially afterwards.
But when I'm in the moment, it's fantastic. Almost meditative. I frequently find songs from church going through my head, which is a lot more spiritual than I'd've expected from myself (while I've always been a firm believer in God, my feelings tend more towards deism than more humanistic feelings).
Anyway, wish me luck for tomorrow.
I've ended up having to send my power meter in to have it looked at (it was mostly working, but occasionally flaky). I might have to do the same with my speed/cadence meter; it's flaked out a few times recently (though that might have been purely a battery issue; it bears further investigation).
I did figure out that having a well-lubed chain makes a big difference. I let it go a little too long (which I knew I had; it was a bit noisy), and was feeling really terrible while trying to push. When I lubed it again, I felt an immense amount better the next day. I was shocked at how much difference it made.
I'm still trying to figure out what's been going on, though, as far as power and fatigue are concerned. Lately, I've been feeling really tired except for the day after recovery days. And I've taken more of them. I feel like I'm doing something wrong, but I don't really know what.
Basically, my climbing has improved (markedly), but I feel like the rest of my riding has gone backwards. Not sure what to make of it, but I don't like that I haven't been seeing 18.5-19mph speeds recently.
In any event, I'm going to try for a full century tomorrow, on the same course where I came up a little short a couple months ago. I figured out that I'd done a hair over 500 miles before that last attempt; now I'm a bit short of 2200 miles. Plus, I've done a number of thirty-five mile rides, at pace, whereas I'd done only one ride that long back then, and that was at a very relaxed speed.
But my legs are a bit tired, so we'll see how it goes. I need to do 18-ish mph when I'm moving, and I haven't been going that fast lately. But I've been doing a lot of hills lately, so that might be part of it (I hope that's the entire explanation, but I suspect it isn't).
In any event, while I still enjoy the riding, it does feel tough, especially afterwards.
But when I'm in the moment, it's fantastic. Almost meditative. I frequently find songs from church going through my head, which is a lot more spiritual than I'd've expected from myself (while I've always been a firm believer in God, my feelings tend more towards deism than more humanistic feelings).
Anyway, wish me luck for tomorrow.
20141202
Piles of Miles
Well, maybe not. I'm heading toward an annual mileage of around 7500, which feels pretty good.
Today, though, I was a bit vacillatory. I was feeling quite good when I went to bed (although I did go to bed late), and had decided to tackle the hills. Upon waking (about two minutes before my alarm went off), I wasn't feeling nearly as good; my thighs were quite tight. I did some stretching, and decided to tackle the hills anyway.
I guess it wasn't terrible. I didn't set any personal records, but did feel good about most of my ascents. In fact, I was surprised I wasn't closer to setting PRs in a few places.
I'm still looking for someplace nearby that does better than 80-90' climbing per mile. That stretch of Military is pretty similar to the Williamsburg/Westmoreland/Kirby/Powhatan loop, with both in that range (back and forth on Military is about 3.7m, 300' elevation; the loop is 3.4m, 164' (hmm... thought it was 230-ish)). I tried to do the Everest climbing challenge, and came way short. I'd like to see how close I could get if I could find a 4-5mile, 4-500 ft elevation loop.
Anyway, not the greatest of rides, but good to get a ride in. Thinking tomorrow or the day after will be a recovery ride; we'll see how I feel.
One other note, strava-related. They have another challenge, currently going. Complete it, and you get a coupon to Competitive Cyclist for 25% off. Was seriously looking forward to that, but noticed the fine print yesterday saying that it doesn't apply to Assos gear. Was seriously deflated by that; was thinking of trying a couple of their items with that discount. Just heard so many worshipful things about their gear that I wanted to try it, but it's way too expensive (I hadn't realized just how much so until a few days ago).
Ah, well. Back to the normal daily rides, and tomorrow's should be nice weather.
Today, though, I was a bit vacillatory. I was feeling quite good when I went to bed (although I did go to bed late), and had decided to tackle the hills. Upon waking (about two minutes before my alarm went off), I wasn't feeling nearly as good; my thighs were quite tight. I did some stretching, and decided to tackle the hills anyway.
I guess it wasn't terrible. I didn't set any personal records, but did feel good about most of my ascents. In fact, I was surprised I wasn't closer to setting PRs in a few places.
I'm still looking for someplace nearby that does better than 80-90' climbing per mile. That stretch of Military is pretty similar to the Williamsburg/Westmoreland/Kirby/Powhatan loop, with both in that range (back and forth on Military is about 3.7m, 300' elevation; the loop is 3.4m, 164' (hmm... thought it was 230-ish)). I tried to do the Everest climbing challenge, and came way short. I'd like to see how close I could get if I could find a 4-5mile, 4-500 ft elevation loop.
Anyway, not the greatest of rides, but good to get a ride in. Thinking tomorrow or the day after will be a recovery ride; we'll see how I feel.
One other note, strava-related. They have another challenge, currently going. Complete it, and you get a coupon to Competitive Cyclist for 25% off. Was seriously looking forward to that, but noticed the fine print yesterday saying that it doesn't apply to Assos gear. Was seriously deflated by that; was thinking of trying a couple of their items with that discount. Just heard so many worshipful things about their gear that I wanted to try it, but it's way too expensive (I hadn't realized just how much so until a few days ago).
Ah, well. Back to the normal daily rides, and tomorrow's should be nice weather.
20141201
Handy device
I got a titanium letter opener on kickstarter a while ago, and just wanted to comment on how useful I've found it. I don't use it as a letter opener all that often; mostly for cutting tape on packages.
But this morning I was tossing out a bunch of boxes we used when we moved in (and haven't touched, since), so I needed to break them down. And I pulled out that letter opener, and it made very short work of everything.
And getting all those boxes (probably twenty or thirty) out of the house certainly put me in a good mood.
But this morning I was tossing out a bunch of boxes we used when we moved in (and haven't touched, since), so I needed to break them down. And I pulled out that letter opener, and it made very short work of everything.
And getting all those boxes (probably twenty or thirty) out of the house certainly put me in a good mood.
Killing it
Went out on my normal ride, this morning. It was a bit colder than advertised (44, rather than 50, according to my phone), but I was still ok without anything beyond normal summer riding clothes (though I did feel a little chill when I started).
I had woken up about twenty minutes late this morning, and was going to do a slightly shorter ride (around 21 miles, instead of 25), but decided I would just try to ride as hard as I could and do the longer route.
I did that, and did get back about ten minutes later than I wanted to, but it all worked out ok. My daughter (who's the driver for not being able to get back later) got up pretty well, and did a decent job of eating breakfast.
Anyway, on the ride itself, I absolutely killed it. My net connection (or maybe Safari) is having fits this morning (irritating, as moosejaw is having a great sale today), so I haven't been able to get more than a(n incomplete) glance at Strava yet. But my overall power numbers for this morning were fantastic. Two-oh-five average watts, with 238 weighted average. Neither of those is way over what I've managed before, but they're both over.
What I found really interesting is that my peak one, five, twenty, and sixty minute power numbers are not records. None of them, in fact (though if it did peak one-second, I'm pretty sure I'd've had one there. On-coming traffic is very motivating). All were close, but I've done better (though not all on the same ride) at every interval. Still, I was psyched about the overall numbers.
I still have a long way to go to get where I want to be, but that was very encouraging.
I had woken up about twenty minutes late this morning, and was going to do a slightly shorter ride (around 21 miles, instead of 25), but decided I would just try to ride as hard as I could and do the longer route.
I did that, and did get back about ten minutes later than I wanted to, but it all worked out ok. My daughter (who's the driver for not being able to get back later) got up pretty well, and did a decent job of eating breakfast.
Anyway, on the ride itself, I absolutely killed it. My net connection (or maybe Safari) is having fits this morning (irritating, as moosejaw is having a great sale today), so I haven't been able to get more than a(n incomplete) glance at Strava yet. But my overall power numbers for this morning were fantastic. Two-oh-five average watts, with 238 weighted average. Neither of those is way over what I've managed before, but they're both over.
What I found really interesting is that my peak one, five, twenty, and sixty minute power numbers are not records. None of them, in fact (though if it did peak one-second, I'm pretty sure I'd've had one there. On-coming traffic is very motivating). All were close, but I've done better (though not all on the same ride) at every interval. Still, I was psyched about the overall numbers.
I still have a long way to go to get where I want to be, but that was very encouraging.
20141126
Avant le deluge
Ok, that's a little bit overstated, but it sure didn't feel like it by the time I got home from my ride this morning.
I mentioned the possibility of taping my boots bottom vents closed, and tried that. Unfortunately, I did something wrong with my pants (pulled them up too high, I think) and got water going in the top. And my gloves ended up letting water in the same way.
So by the time I got home, I was literally pouring water out of both extremity covers. Yuck.
Even worse, those boots don't dry quickly. So I was definitely wishing I'd worn my shoes and booties, since they will dry overnight (and might not have gotten as wet to begin with). The gloves usually do dry fairly quickly, but I've never gotten them nearly so drenched before. Fifteen hours later, and they still feel soaked. Thank goodness I have several (mostly, not quite as good) alternatives.
In future, I think I'll be wearing my shoes (w/booties) in the rain. I'll save the boots for below-freezing days.
I had further trouble with my power meter today. They've agreed to take a look at it, and see if something's wrong (I'm pretty sure there is).
As far as the riding itself, it went pretty well. The roads and paths were basically deserted, which doesn't bother me. Although there was the one pedestrian walking across the path who almost walked right in front of me when I was doing close to 20mph. Glad they stopped at the last second, because that would have been ugly.
And there was the one truck that turned into my lane just as I was getting there. That also was nearly ugly. Good thing I wasn't in the main lane (I go fast enough through that section that I normally am), although that's partly because I was watching the truck all the way.
Regardless of all that, it was good to get my miles in, and I actually didn't feel too bad, despite how wet I was at the end.
Now, I'm just hoping that the rain we've gotten today will dry from the roads before it gets down to freezing temperatures. I've ordered studded tires, but they won't arrive for a while (I was going to say at least a week, but DHL's estimate is actually Friday. Color me skeptical on that estimate). So I'm not ready for icy roads, but I'd hate to break my streak of days riding (now getting close to four months).
Oh, and barring ice, I'll break 2000 miles tomorrow. Was pretty psyched to notice that, earlier today.
I mentioned the possibility of taping my boots bottom vents closed, and tried that. Unfortunately, I did something wrong with my pants (pulled them up too high, I think) and got water going in the top. And my gloves ended up letting water in the same way.
So by the time I got home, I was literally pouring water out of both extremity covers. Yuck.
Even worse, those boots don't dry quickly. So I was definitely wishing I'd worn my shoes and booties, since they will dry overnight (and might not have gotten as wet to begin with). The gloves usually do dry fairly quickly, but I've never gotten them nearly so drenched before. Fifteen hours later, and they still feel soaked. Thank goodness I have several (mostly, not quite as good) alternatives.
In future, I think I'll be wearing my shoes (w/booties) in the rain. I'll save the boots for below-freezing days.
I had further trouble with my power meter today. They've agreed to take a look at it, and see if something's wrong (I'm pretty sure there is).
As far as the riding itself, it went pretty well. The roads and paths were basically deserted, which doesn't bother me. Although there was the one pedestrian walking across the path who almost walked right in front of me when I was doing close to 20mph. Glad they stopped at the last second, because that would have been ugly.
And there was the one truck that turned into my lane just as I was getting there. That also was nearly ugly. Good thing I wasn't in the main lane (I go fast enough through that section that I normally am), although that's partly because I was watching the truck all the way.
Regardless of all that, it was good to get my miles in, and I actually didn't feel too bad, despite how wet I was at the end.
Now, I'm just hoping that the rain we've gotten today will dry from the roads before it gets down to freezing temperatures. I've ordered studded tires, but they won't arrive for a while (I was going to say at least a week, but DHL's estimate is actually Friday. Color me skeptical on that estimate). So I'm not ready for icy roads, but I'd hate to break my streak of days riding (now getting close to four months).
Oh, and barring ice, I'll break 2000 miles tomorrow. Was pretty psyched to notice that, earlier today.
20141125
Headed for hills
I decided to bike for ascent, rather than for distance, this morning. And my legs were feeling good, so I shot right out to tie my PR for the segment closest to my house, then headed downhill a ways to get onto Military Road.
And I started with the same route I did once last week, going up and down Military (which is all hills). I was close to finishing my third trip up when a biking group (a racing team, I'm guessing) passed me on the penultimate ascent. I stayed with them for a couple of miles (setting the pace for the line for at least a mile of that, on a slight incline), then broke off to go up Williamsburg Dr.
I took that to the point where I could easily head home or do a hilly lap going away from home, and decided that I'd do the hilly lap, figuring that'd get me finished with 2k feet of total ascent (and get me home in time to get the kids ready for school).
That worked out about the way I planned, except that I finished 26 ft short of 2000. I was a bit irritated about that. But I was happy to beat my record on that hilly lap (though only by eleven seconds, which was not as good as it felt), and felt like I especially crushed the last hill on that lap (though no PR on it, which shocks me). I did beat my record on the whole uphill leg of that loop, but again, by less than I expected (only four seconds, on a four minute climb).
Still, it's good to see that I'm making progress, in terms of sustained power and climbing ability.
I also had a nice (sort of) teaser, yesterday. I weighed myself right after the ride (before eating), and got 154 and change, which is my target weight. It was a little suspicious, though, as I'd been 160.0 the day before (weighed after riding, but also after eating and showering). And today showed it'd been a bit of a mirage, as my post-breakfast weight was again 158 this morning.
Still, it's again progress. And not quite as cruel a teaser as Strava's power estimates telling me that I was pushing 300W on my hybrid almost from the start (as average, not peak).
The other interesting thing about this morning's ride was the power distribution. To whit, my average power was 150W, which is a bit low for me (I think because there are some long downhills, one of which requires a near-stop at the end). But my weighted average (per cyclemeter) was 205. Still a bit low, but incredibly high, given that average. I had a lot more 400-500W chunks than is normally the case.
[went away for a bit, came back] Just looking at the segment data from Strava, and the power data is pretty suspect. Supposedly, I tied that PR on that first segment while pushing 54W. Not a chance in the world that that's correct. I'm pretty sure I was pushing 3-400 on that stretch (most of it, at least; I might have let up a bit at the very end). And there's some other suspicious drop-outs. Another segment, .3 miles w/84ft ascent, I did in a hair over a minute on 25W of power. Again, not a freakin' chance. Again, probably over 400W.
I have to conclude that Stages is not very reliable via Bluetooth. They tell me that it's better under ANT+ (and I'm glad to have the choice). I hadn't been using that, as ANT+ is not as good for me (further battery burn of my RFLKT+, as we as being a bit dodgy using both systems), but maybe I need to do so. They told me Bluetooth would improve under iOS 8.1 (and it did), but there's obviously some issues remaining.
Oh, and one thing that baffles me a bit. I've gone out twice, this morning (in my car, that is), and seen quite a few bikers. I don't understand why almost all of them have been wearing jackets and/or knee warmers. I had a light jersey, my lightest shorts (the supremely comfortable Santini's), and my lightest gloves (worn for the kevlar palm alone) and I was completely comfortable. And it was a good five degrees cooler when I was riding. Weird.
And I started with the same route I did once last week, going up and down Military (which is all hills). I was close to finishing my third trip up when a biking group (a racing team, I'm guessing) passed me on the penultimate ascent. I stayed with them for a couple of miles (setting the pace for the line for at least a mile of that, on a slight incline), then broke off to go up Williamsburg Dr.
I took that to the point where I could easily head home or do a hilly lap going away from home, and decided that I'd do the hilly lap, figuring that'd get me finished with 2k feet of total ascent (and get me home in time to get the kids ready for school).
That worked out about the way I planned, except that I finished 26 ft short of 2000. I was a bit irritated about that. But I was happy to beat my record on that hilly lap (though only by eleven seconds, which was not as good as it felt), and felt like I especially crushed the last hill on that lap (though no PR on it, which shocks me). I did beat my record on the whole uphill leg of that loop, but again, by less than I expected (only four seconds, on a four minute climb).
Still, it's good to see that I'm making progress, in terms of sustained power and climbing ability.
I also had a nice (sort of) teaser, yesterday. I weighed myself right after the ride (before eating), and got 154 and change, which is my target weight. It was a little suspicious, though, as I'd been 160.0 the day before (weighed after riding, but also after eating and showering). And today showed it'd been a bit of a mirage, as my post-breakfast weight was again 158 this morning.
Still, it's again progress. And not quite as cruel a teaser as Strava's power estimates telling me that I was pushing 300W on my hybrid almost from the start (as average, not peak).
The other interesting thing about this morning's ride was the power distribution. To whit, my average power was 150W, which is a bit low for me (I think because there are some long downhills, one of which requires a near-stop at the end). But my weighted average (per cyclemeter) was 205. Still a bit low, but incredibly high, given that average. I had a lot more 400-500W chunks than is normally the case.
[went away for a bit, came back] Just looking at the segment data from Strava, and the power data is pretty suspect. Supposedly, I tied that PR on that first segment while pushing 54W. Not a chance in the world that that's correct. I'm pretty sure I was pushing 3-400 on that stretch (most of it, at least; I might have let up a bit at the very end). And there's some other suspicious drop-outs. Another segment, .3 miles w/84ft ascent, I did in a hair over a minute on 25W of power. Again, not a freakin' chance. Again, probably over 400W.
I have to conclude that Stages is not very reliable via Bluetooth. They tell me that it's better under ANT+ (and I'm glad to have the choice). I hadn't been using that, as ANT+ is not as good for me (further battery burn of my RFLKT+, as we as being a bit dodgy using both systems), but maybe I need to do so. They told me Bluetooth would improve under iOS 8.1 (and it did), but there's obviously some issues remaining.
Oh, and one thing that baffles me a bit. I've gone out twice, this morning (in my car, that is), and seen quite a few bikers. I don't understand why almost all of them have been wearing jackets and/or knee warmers. I had a light jersey, my lightest shorts (the supremely comfortable Santini's), and my lightest gloves (worn for the kevlar palm alone) and I was completely comfortable. And it was a good five degrees cooler when I was riding. Weird.
20141124
Riding through damp
Things were definitely warmer, this morning, than they'd been. Friday and Saturday, last week, I was needing to take very regular drinks to ensure the water in the tube of my camelbak didn't freeze.
In fact, in one stretch on Saturday, I took a little too long, and found it mostly frozen. I was able to suck warmer water through, by sucking really hard, but it took so much that I was literally gasping for air for a minute or so afterward. (And that was the ride that seriously pissed me off, because my phone ran out of batteries really quickly. The meter kept running for about an hour into the ride, but the phone only had the first 3/4 mile recorded, somehow. Missing out on the other thirty-three and a half miles, or so.)
Today would have been an absolutely glorious ride, because it got so much warmer (started at 61, and actually got warmer), except that I looked a gift-horse in the mouth, and wore my rain gear even though the rain had stopped by the time I got on the road. That meant I got a lot warmer than necessary.
Also, because Saturday and Sunday were so tough (both around thirty-five miles, pushing hard), my legs were still tired, so I tried to make it an easier ride. The downside, there, is that the ride went fifteen minutes or so longer than I wanted.
Despite all that, getting back home without cold fingers was a very nice change of pace
One thing I've been chuckling about a bit, lately, is how empty the trails and roads are, especially of other bikers (there's fewer joggers as well, but a larger percentage of the joggers are still coming out, I think). Today, that was not the case; there were a bunch of people out, even with it having just finished raining.
I suspect tomorrow will be pretty similar; it's supposed to be around fifty, with no rain. I'm looking forward to it. After that, it's getting colder and is supposed to snow on Wednesday. I'm definitely NOT looking forward to snow. One bit of preparation I have not yet done is get tires for snow and ice (and I apparently can't get them for my road bike; I wasn't aware of that. Riding the hybrid is fun, but the road bike is a blast, so that's disappointing).
One bit of weirdness, post-ride, was that my iPhone wasn't working for data connections. It first manifested as trouble uploading the ride to Strava, but after a bit, I realized that other things weren't working either. The IP stack must've gotten corrupted, or something, because rebooting fixed everything, but that was weird. I've never needed to reboot my phone before (although my iPad2, after upgrading to iOS 8, did reboot itself from time to time), so it was entirely unexpected.
Oh, and one bit of amusement. I needed to do laundry, and especially with the winter tights (all but one of my tights, plus both sets of knee- and leg-warmers were dirty), there's quite a bit of it. It used to be that I had a little bit of cycling clothes in my laundry. Now the cycling clothes are my laundry, practically. Which means that the dryer is startlingly close to empty, when I run it.
In fact, in one stretch on Saturday, I took a little too long, and found it mostly frozen. I was able to suck warmer water through, by sucking really hard, but it took so much that I was literally gasping for air for a minute or so afterward. (And that was the ride that seriously pissed me off, because my phone ran out of batteries really quickly. The meter kept running for about an hour into the ride, but the phone only had the first 3/4 mile recorded, somehow. Missing out on the other thirty-three and a half miles, or so.)
Today would have been an absolutely glorious ride, because it got so much warmer (started at 61, and actually got warmer), except that I looked a gift-horse in the mouth, and wore my rain gear even though the rain had stopped by the time I got on the road. That meant I got a lot warmer than necessary.
Also, because Saturday and Sunday were so tough (both around thirty-five miles, pushing hard), my legs were still tired, so I tried to make it an easier ride. The downside, there, is that the ride went fifteen minutes or so longer than I wanted.
Despite all that, getting back home without cold fingers was a very nice change of pace
One thing I've been chuckling about a bit, lately, is how empty the trails and roads are, especially of other bikers (there's fewer joggers as well, but a larger percentage of the joggers are still coming out, I think). Today, that was not the case; there were a bunch of people out, even with it having just finished raining.
I suspect tomorrow will be pretty similar; it's supposed to be around fifty, with no rain. I'm looking forward to it. After that, it's getting colder and is supposed to snow on Wednesday. I'm definitely NOT looking forward to snow. One bit of preparation I have not yet done is get tires for snow and ice (and I apparently can't get them for my road bike; I wasn't aware of that. Riding the hybrid is fun, but the road bike is a blast, so that's disappointing).
One bit of weirdness, post-ride, was that my iPhone wasn't working for data connections. It first manifested as trouble uploading the ride to Strava, but after a bit, I realized that other things weren't working either. The IP stack must've gotten corrupted, or something, because rebooting fixed everything, but that was weird. I've never needed to reboot my phone before (although my iPad2, after upgrading to iOS 8, did reboot itself from time to time), so it was entirely unexpected.
Oh, and one bit of amusement. I needed to do laundry, and especially with the winter tights (all but one of my tights, plus both sets of knee- and leg-warmers were dirty), there's quite a bit of it. It used to be that I had a little bit of cycling clothes in my laundry. Now the cycling clothes are my laundry, practically. Which means that the dryer is startlingly close to empty, when I run it.
20141119
Riding for warmth
Freakin' cold, this morning. So cold, in fact, that my iPhone shut itself off half a mile or so before I got back home. The irony there is that the message when I tried to turn it back on was that the phone needed to cool off. Heh.
But I wish the forecast would understate the cold, rather than saying it'll be warmer; that's several days in a row that predicted several degrees warmer than what we got.
The ride itself was pretty nice, though. I debated taking the shorter route again this morning, but I'm glad I didn't. I felt pretty good once I got a little further down the road (or path, as the case may be).
In fact, I only took two gloves this morning, and I think that worked better than the three I used yesterday. Shifting was a little more annoying, but my hands didn't get as cold. I wonder, too, if that had something to do with riding harder this morning.
One thing I certainly noticed was that the inside of my jacket was very sweaty when I got home. I'm thinking that's not a good thing, although I'm not sure what can be done about it. That was the softshell jacket, and I think I'll be going with that anytime it gets below twenty, if for no other reason than that it has an inside pocket for my phone. I didn't like losing part of my ride, and I'd be seriously pissed if it lost a bigger chunk.
One thing that surprised me, this morning, was that there were more people running and biking today than yesterday or (less surprise there) the day before. And I thought I'd get through my whole ride before someone returned my "good morning", but two people (both close to the end of my ride) did end up returning it.
If the weather forecast isn't off, again, tomorrow is supposed to be right around freezing. I'm looking forward to that as a nice change. Then a couple more days around the mid-twenties, and then it gets warmer for several days (if wet).
But I wish the forecast would understate the cold, rather than saying it'll be warmer; that's several days in a row that predicted several degrees warmer than what we got.
The ride itself was pretty nice, though. I debated taking the shorter route again this morning, but I'm glad I didn't. I felt pretty good once I got a little further down the road (or path, as the case may be).
In fact, I only took two gloves this morning, and I think that worked better than the three I used yesterday. Shifting was a little more annoying, but my hands didn't get as cold. I wonder, too, if that had something to do with riding harder this morning.
One thing I certainly noticed was that the inside of my jacket was very sweaty when I got home. I'm thinking that's not a good thing, although I'm not sure what can be done about it. That was the softshell jacket, and I think I'll be going with that anytime it gets below twenty, if for no other reason than that it has an inside pocket for my phone. I didn't like losing part of my ride, and I'd be seriously pissed if it lost a bigger chunk.
One thing that surprised me, this morning, was that there were more people running and biking today than yesterday or (less surprise there) the day before. And I thought I'd get through my whole ride before someone returned my "good morning", but two people (both close to the end of my ride) did end up returning it.
If the weather forecast isn't off, again, tomorrow is supposed to be right around freezing. I'm looking forward to that as a nice change. Then a couple more days around the mid-twenties, and then it gets warmer for several days (if wet).
Fighting off being sick
Wasn't feeling well, last night, and went to bed very early. I felt a little better, though, when I woke up (I also slept in a little bit), so I decided to go for my normal ride.
It was supposed to be about 27 or 28 degrees when I got out, but it turned out to be more like 22 degrees. I was glad for the extra pair of socks and the extra set of gloves (I wore liners, a light glove, and a heavy one).
The extra glove worked great for a while, but I'm not sure it didn't end up backfiring. I was toasty for a while, which was great. And I had no brake/shifter problems, which was also fantastic. But I was getting cold towards the end, and I wonder if it was due to my hands sweating, and the sweat getting cold. Wish I knew.
In any event, I did get ice in the tube of my camelbak, which was annoying. I think the only way to avoid that is to drink with regularity (to keep flushing the cold water out of the tube).
I did cut the ride rather shorter than I'd planned to do; I still wasn't feeling great. But I still got in fifteen miles, so not too bad. There's a strava challenge for climbing, and I'm way behind on that one. I might do something weird tomorrow or the next day, where I do a small loop with a large hill in it, to try to catch up. Not sure how well that'll work, but I've been thinking about it. We just don't have any really large hills around here.
It was supposed to be about 27 or 28 degrees when I got out, but it turned out to be more like 22 degrees. I was glad for the extra pair of socks and the extra set of gloves (I wore liners, a light glove, and a heavy one).
The extra glove worked great for a while, but I'm not sure it didn't end up backfiring. I was toasty for a while, which was great. And I had no brake/shifter problems, which was also fantastic. But I was getting cold towards the end, and I wonder if it was due to my hands sweating, and the sweat getting cold. Wish I knew.
In any event, I did get ice in the tube of my camelbak, which was annoying. I think the only way to avoid that is to drink with regularity (to keep flushing the cold water out of the tube).
I did cut the ride rather shorter than I'd planned to do; I still wasn't feeling great. But I still got in fifteen miles, so not too bad. There's a strava challenge for climbing, and I'm way behind on that one. I might do something weird tomorrow or the next day, where I do a small loop with a large hill in it, to try to catch up. Not sure how well that'll work, but I've been thinking about it. We just don't have any really large hills around here.
20141117
Bad bounce finishes homestand with loss
I just realized I haven't written about Friday's game with the Devils yet, hence the out-of-order posting.
It was a typical Devils game, with lots of clogging, close defensive play, and few good scoring chances. It was also Schneider's seventeenth straight game shouldering the load of the crossbar.
You'd think that'd mean Schneider was tired. Well, if so, he didn't show it. He had one hell of a night, stopping everything the Caps could get through to him (the defense blocked 19).
Holtby had as good a night in stopping the puck. Unfortunately, in the middle of the third period, he corralled the puck behind the net, then failed to get it past Camalleri in the corner, who fired it on a one-timer, into the open net.
So Holtby literally stopped every shot thrown at him, and still lost the team the game. Hockey's a weird game, sometimes.
Because despite the Caps big advantage in shots, that was the only goal in the entire game. Such an anticlimactic way for a tense, defensive struggle to end.
The Caps did well, overall, though. It's hard to get too upset about outplaying an opponent through almost an entire game, and one small mistake losing it.
But make no mistake, the Caps do need to improve. They're still at seventeen points through seventeen games, and that isn't going to get them a sniff of the playoffs.
Their dominant possession numbers should get them there, though. I just wish they were doing a better job of converting those possession numbers into wins. It should follow, so I'm not hugely worried, but it hasn't yet, so I am (a little).
Next up will be Arizona, tomorrow night. Go Caps!
It was a typical Devils game, with lots of clogging, close defensive play, and few good scoring chances. It was also Schneider's seventeenth straight game shouldering the load of the crossbar.
You'd think that'd mean Schneider was tired. Well, if so, he didn't show it. He had one hell of a night, stopping everything the Caps could get through to him (the defense blocked 19).
Holtby had as good a night in stopping the puck. Unfortunately, in the middle of the third period, he corralled the puck behind the net, then failed to get it past Camalleri in the corner, who fired it on a one-timer, into the open net.
So Holtby literally stopped every shot thrown at him, and still lost the team the game. Hockey's a weird game, sometimes.
Because despite the Caps big advantage in shots, that was the only goal in the entire game. Such an anticlimactic way for a tense, defensive struggle to end.
The Caps did well, overall, though. It's hard to get too upset about outplaying an opponent through almost an entire game, and one small mistake losing it.
But make no mistake, the Caps do need to improve. They're still at seventeen points through seventeen games, and that isn't going to get them a sniff of the playoffs.
Their dominant possession numbers should get them there, though. I just wish they were doing a better job of converting those possession numbers into wins. It should follow, so I'm not hugely worried, but it hasn't yet, so I am (a little).
Next up will be Arizona, tomorrow night. Go Caps!
The Caps were blue, too
I didn't watch Saturday's Caps game until yesterday, and almost wish I hadn't bothered. I think it was the first game this season where they never felt competitive.
I thought it was odd to have Peters in net (so far, he's been in for the second half of every back-to-back), although he did more than respectably.
The Caps were just blown out of the water for the first ten-fifteen minutes of the game. The Blues only scored one goal, but that was thanks to Peters and some puck luck. It felt like that entire span was spent in the Caps defensive zone. The shots were only like 12-5, but it felt worse than that. The Blues getting the only power play didn't help that either, although the Caps killed that penalty with only one shot allowed.
The ending bits of the first period felt better, although the shot numbers were really getting closer, so it might have just been in my head that it was better.
The second period certainly started out better, culminating in Ward's goal in the seventh minute that trickled through Elliot's arms and pads. But that was pretty much the high point. There were a few good shifts that didn't result in goals, but it was still fairly well controlled by the Blues (and again, the Blues were helped by getting the only power play). And six minutes after Ward's goal, St Louis re-established their lead.
The Caps held them off, including keeping them shotless in that power play, but still went into the second break down a goal.
And the third opened very quickly, with Peters mishandling the puck behind the net leading to a nice pass (from Berglund, who took the puck from Peters, and probably could have finished himself. But he took no chances) to a finish into the empty net by Backes.
That was enough for me. I usually wait for a larger margin before turning a game off, but I was fairly disgusted with what I'd seen. And I was right; the only remaining score came from Berglund with three minutes and change left.
I'm guessing the Caps got the day off yesterday, and got a bag skate this morning. They just looked outplayed and outclassed six ways to Sunday. I hope we won't be seeing more play like that, because that would make for a very depressing season.
I thought it was odd to have Peters in net (so far, he's been in for the second half of every back-to-back), although he did more than respectably.
The Caps were just blown out of the water for the first ten-fifteen minutes of the game. The Blues only scored one goal, but that was thanks to Peters and some puck luck. It felt like that entire span was spent in the Caps defensive zone. The shots were only like 12-5, but it felt worse than that. The Blues getting the only power play didn't help that either, although the Caps killed that penalty with only one shot allowed.
The ending bits of the first period felt better, although the shot numbers were really getting closer, so it might have just been in my head that it was better.
The second period certainly started out better, culminating in Ward's goal in the seventh minute that trickled through Elliot's arms and pads. But that was pretty much the high point. There were a few good shifts that didn't result in goals, but it was still fairly well controlled by the Blues (and again, the Blues were helped by getting the only power play). And six minutes after Ward's goal, St Louis re-established their lead.
The Caps held them off, including keeping them shotless in that power play, but still went into the second break down a goal.
And the third opened very quickly, with Peters mishandling the puck behind the net leading to a nice pass (from Berglund, who took the puck from Peters, and probably could have finished himself. But he took no chances) to a finish into the empty net by Backes.
That was enough for me. I usually wait for a larger margin before turning a game off, but I was fairly disgusted with what I'd seen. And I was right; the only remaining score came from Berglund with three minutes and change left.
I'm guessing the Caps got the day off yesterday, and got a bag skate this morning. They just looked outplayed and outclassed six ways to Sunday. I hope we won't be seeing more play like that, because that would make for a very depressing season.
And the rain came
Got out at my normal time, this morning. Only did fifteen miles, and I did that in a weird mix of "I'm on a second recovery ride" and "I feel pretty good, so let's push here".
I was a bit annoyed at the air vents in those Northwave boots, though. As suspected, they did let quite a bit of water in the bottom of the boots. So my feet got very wet. Not a really big deal, because this wasn't a super-long or super-cold ride, but definitely annoying. (Really, despite the water, my feet never got at all cold.)
It will end up having been really annoying, though, if they aren't dry by tomorrow morning, because it's supposed to be really frigid. As in, I'll be wearing extra socks (and thinking about booties), if the boots are dry. And if they aren't dry; I'm not sure. It's a certainty that my summer shoes, even with booties, are not warm enough for 21 degrees, which is what's expected.
And I still need to make sure my cold-weather booties fit over the boots (which are a little wider than my shoes; the shoes are already a tight fit for the booties). If not, I might need to get an extra-large pair. Spending the extra money for that would definitely blow chunks.
One thing that is for sure, is that I'll be putting tape over the vents of the boots when going out in the rain, in future. I'll also be wearing my heavy baselayer with my warmest jacket; I won't be wearing the middle layer I just got, though. I think that'll be fine, along with my second-warmest pair of tights (saving the warmest ones for wet weather, mostly).
I was a bit annoyed at the air vents in those Northwave boots, though. As suspected, they did let quite a bit of water in the bottom of the boots. So my feet got very wet. Not a really big deal, because this wasn't a super-long or super-cold ride, but definitely annoying. (Really, despite the water, my feet never got at all cold.)
It will end up having been really annoying, though, if they aren't dry by tomorrow morning, because it's supposed to be really frigid. As in, I'll be wearing extra socks (and thinking about booties), if the boots are dry. And if they aren't dry; I'm not sure. It's a certainty that my summer shoes, even with booties, are not warm enough for 21 degrees, which is what's expected.
And I still need to make sure my cold-weather booties fit over the boots (which are a little wider than my shoes; the shoes are already a tight fit for the booties). If not, I might need to get an extra-large pair. Spending the extra money for that would definitely blow chunks.
One thing that is for sure, is that I'll be putting tape over the vents of the boots when going out in the rain, in future. I'll also be wearing my heavy baselayer with my warmest jacket; I won't be wearing the middle layer I just got, though. I think that'll be fine, along with my second-warmest pair of tights (saving the warmest ones for wet weather, mostly).
20141116
Was warmer, today
After the big dinner last night (and especially after over-indulging in the delicious cake), I wasn't feeling great when I went to bed. I even skipped most of my stretching routine (probably a mistake).
And I slept in, this morning. There was a (long) time where that would mean I got up at noon, or later. These days, it means I got up at 0600. Weird how that works. (In fact, I was talking to a friend later in the day, and mentioned that I'd slept in. He was like, "No you didn't; you answered the phone when I called at 0830. Sleeping in, for you, means noon, at least." Yeah, not so much, anymore.)
Anyway, I had a bit of trouble getting moving, but did get things together and got out the door.
The temperature was a lot warmer; right at freezing, supposedly. I experimented with my knee warmers, and they did fine (though the one-inch gap between them and my socks felt weird). I also wore non-bib shorts, and worried about a gap there. No worries, though; everything was copacetic, as far as warmth was concerned.
Outside of that, lots of things went... not well. My heart rate meter dropped out after half a minute or so. Even more concerning, my power meter dropped out after seven miles (and I only did eight, as this was a recovery ride). This is the third time I've had issues with the power meter; we'll see how they handle it.
And then, the crowning insult came when I got home. The inside door from the garage to the house was locked. To say I was unhappy is understating it rather significantly. Hope that doesn't happen again.
Happily, the rest of the day went pretty well. Well, until I turned on last night's Caps game finally. But I'll talk about that separately.
And I slept in, this morning. There was a (long) time where that would mean I got up at noon, or later. These days, it means I got up at 0600. Weird how that works. (In fact, I was talking to a friend later in the day, and mentioned that I'd slept in. He was like, "No you didn't; you answered the phone when I called at 0830. Sleeping in, for you, means noon, at least." Yeah, not so much, anymore.)
Anyway, I had a bit of trouble getting moving, but did get things together and got out the door.
The temperature was a lot warmer; right at freezing, supposedly. I experimented with my knee warmers, and they did fine (though the one-inch gap between them and my socks felt weird). I also wore non-bib shorts, and worried about a gap there. No worries, though; everything was copacetic, as far as warmth was concerned.
Outside of that, lots of things went... not well. My heart rate meter dropped out after half a minute or so. Even more concerning, my power meter dropped out after seven miles (and I only did eight, as this was a recovery ride). This is the third time I've had issues with the power meter; we'll see how they handle it.
And then, the crowning insult came when I got home. The inside door from the garage to the house was locked. To say I was unhappy is understating it rather significantly. Hope that doesn't happen again.
Happily, the rest of the day went pretty well. Well, until I turned on last night's Caps game finally. But I'll talk about that separately.
"It'll be warmer tomorrow"
[note: wrote this yesterday, but forgot to post until this morning]
That's what the weather forecast said when I checked it last night. Of course, it still listed a low of 29 degrees, and the up-and-down temperature chart that Weather Underground does (and which I love) went down to 27 degrees.
I put a bunch of warm stuff together for the ride, and got underway at 0530. Roughly at which point, I discovered that it was actually twenty-four degrees. Oof. I was very glad I brought the liner gloves in my jacket pockets. I got seven miles in before I needed to pull those out and put them on.
By the end of my ride (2:06 duration), my fingers were getting close to numb, and my toes were distinctly cold as well. So, high twenties is the limit for those boots with my normal socks; will have to put another layer of socks underneath. And I guess I need warmer gloves.
Aside from the cold, though, not a bad ride. It helped a lot getting me ready for the huge dinner at my step-mom's birthday party.
That's what the weather forecast said when I checked it last night. Of course, it still listed a low of 29 degrees, and the up-and-down temperature chart that Weather Underground does (and which I love) went down to 27 degrees.
I put a bunch of warm stuff together for the ride, and got underway at 0530. Roughly at which point, I discovered that it was actually twenty-four degrees. Oof. I was very glad I brought the liner gloves in my jacket pockets. I got seven miles in before I needed to pull those out and put them on.
By the end of my ride (2:06 duration), my fingers were getting close to numb, and my toes were distinctly cold as well. So, high twenties is the limit for those boots with my normal socks; will have to put another layer of socks underneath. And I guess I need warmer gloves.
Aside from the cold, though, not a bad ride. It helped a lot getting me ready for the huge dinner at my step-mom's birthday party.
20141114
Feeling a chill
The mercury rolled a little colder today, hitting the 20's for the first time this "winter". My biking boots didn't arrive Wednesday, as I'd mentioned they were supposed to, but were still here yesterday for use this morning.
And boy was I glad of that. They're made by Northwave, and I was in love when I first put them on, yesterday. I was lucky in that they fit perfectly, but I also love the closure. I have high insteps, so it's not unusual to end up with my circulation being cut off at the top of them when tightening laces really tight. No issue with these SLW2 closures. Awesome.
When I got outside, my opinion didn't go down, as I didn't feel the cold there at all. In fact, I didn't feel it even at the end of the (hour:forty-five) ride. A very nice feeling. I don't know how cold it'll be before they aren't enough, but I still have the options of booties and more socks. I'm thinking that it's unlikely it'll get cold enough around here for that to be insufficient.
One bit of weirdness is that I needed to adjust my pedal width, as the boots are a bit wider than my shoes. I did that (glad that I have pedals that allow that), and we'll have to see how that works.
My remaining question relates to how waterproof they are. They're GoreTex-lined, so they should be pretty good. There are air vents on the bottom, though, and I don't know if that'll ruin things. If not, then I'll be over the moon, I think.
My other experiment was on the top half. When I went for a long ride last Saturday at around the same temperature (ok, technically a couple degrees warmer), I wore a Pearl Izumi Transfer baselayer and Pro Softshell jacket, which did well. Today, I went with my colder weather baselayer, and my normal windbreaker.
And those worked just fine. I felt the chill a little bit, when the wind was blowing and I was doing 20-ish mph, but it was sporadic, and never enough to bother me. And there was a bit of sweat on the shirt when I'd finished; definitely not overly cold.
The one downside to the ride was that I think I rode too far. My wife's alarm woke me a bit early, so I decided I'd ride a bit further than I'd originally planned. But my legs were a little tired when I started, and a lot tired when I finished (and my power was down a lot, too, which is probably a sign of overdoing things lately). And Friday is not a good day for that to happen; I want to do more riding tomorrow and Sunday, not less. We'll see how I feel, I guess, but I definitely should have taken it easy today.
And boy was I glad of that. They're made by Northwave, and I was in love when I first put them on, yesterday. I was lucky in that they fit perfectly, but I also love the closure. I have high insteps, so it's not unusual to end up with my circulation being cut off at the top of them when tightening laces really tight. No issue with these SLW2 closures. Awesome.
When I got outside, my opinion didn't go down, as I didn't feel the cold there at all. In fact, I didn't feel it even at the end of the (hour:forty-five) ride. A very nice feeling. I don't know how cold it'll be before they aren't enough, but I still have the options of booties and more socks. I'm thinking that it's unlikely it'll get cold enough around here for that to be insufficient.
One bit of weirdness is that I needed to adjust my pedal width, as the boots are a bit wider than my shoes. I did that (glad that I have pedals that allow that), and we'll have to see how that works.
My remaining question relates to how waterproof they are. They're GoreTex-lined, so they should be pretty good. There are air vents on the bottom, though, and I don't know if that'll ruin things. If not, then I'll be over the moon, I think.
My other experiment was on the top half. When I went for a long ride last Saturday at around the same temperature (ok, technically a couple degrees warmer), I wore a Pearl Izumi Transfer baselayer and Pro Softshell jacket, which did well. Today, I went with my colder weather baselayer, and my normal windbreaker.
And those worked just fine. I felt the chill a little bit, when the wind was blowing and I was doing 20-ish mph, but it was sporadic, and never enough to bother me. And there was a bit of sweat on the shirt when I'd finished; definitely not overly cold.
The one downside to the ride was that I think I rode too far. My wife's alarm woke me a bit early, so I decided I'd ride a bit further than I'd originally planned. But my legs were a little tired when I started, and a lot tired when I finished (and my power was down a lot, too, which is probably a sign of overdoing things lately). And Friday is not a good day for that to happen; I want to do more riding tomorrow and Sunday, not less. We'll see how I feel, I guess, but I definitely should have taken it easy today.
20141112
Columbus feeling blue from OV/MarJo double-team
I didn't watch all of the Caps game last night; I was putting the new wheels on my bike (finding that I didn't have enough vertical clearance for the 28mm tires meant I had to put the tires on twice, so it took considerably longer than it should have). Anyway, I had watched the first period live, but that delayed me until late enough that I was too tired to watch the third period on delay.
I didn't miss much, though. In fact, I wouldn't have missed much skipping the second period.
The game opened decisively, with MarJo putting the Caps on the board. The goal was a bit of a weird one; Brouwer had gotten the puck up top, in the middle, and threw it towards the goal, where MarJo was headed. The puck bounced around a bit between defenders and goalie, with MarJo swooping in, kicking it across the net to his stick, and calmly sliding the biscuit into the basket.
It took only six minutes for the Caps to strike again, this time on a 5-on-3 advantage (hey, another advantage of Trotz over Oates; the Caps can score 5-on-3). It was a normal OV PPG one-timer.
The Jackets cut the advantage in half two minutes later, when Atkinson took a one-timer shot off a clean face-off win, but the Caps still seemed fully in control.
And they asserted more of that control several minutes later when OV intercepted the puck in neutral (hey, he's playing defense now... how about that?), facing his own net. His second touch was a pass backwards to Backstrom cutting across the ice, who sent a one-touch back-pass to Beagle, charging up the other side. OV, meanwhile, has skated around behind Beagle and took the very nice drop pass (I don't take back any of what I've said about Beagle and scoring chances, but this was a beautiful drop pass) for a quick slap shot to the upper corner. Gorgeous play from start to finish. The Jackets never came close to recovering from the turnover.
So the period ended with the Caps ahead 3-1, and leading in shots 13-5 (and frankly, it felt less even than that). So there was definitely some temptation to head straight to bed after finishing with the bike.
But I did turn on the second, and though Columbus scored the only goal for the period, and even though play was much more even than in the first, it still didn't feel like Columbus had any chance of winning (especially not the way they've been brutalized by injuries). So I went to bed there.
Therefore, I missed Hartnell's breakaway (off a steal from a Beagle pass. Making up for the nice drop-pass earlier, I guess) that rang off the crossbar, and, with five minutes left, MarJo's insurance goal. He broke into the zone, dropped to Bura, kept skating around, and Bura hit him with a return pass as he was going behind the net. He carried it around and scored on a wraparound (looking much like one of a couple of goals he scored two seasons ago). Nice eyes by Bura to see it developing.
A couple of notes of interest. I've noticed the Caps, this season, have gone to a different configuration on a 5-on-3. They lay it out like a big X. OV and Green at the points, Brouwer at the apex, Backstrom on the goal-line, right, and Ward on the goal-line, left. I hadn't realized that was the configuration at the time, but this is what Ward scored one of his power-play goals on, several games ago. I had wondered how he got that pass in that position, and now we know. It's just a set position.
And to get back to MarJo a bit. It was hard not to see last season as a disappointment, even though most of his lack of scoring was due to an abysmally low (unsustainably so, especially accounting for where the shots were originating) shooting percentage. This season, he's shooting more, and scoring on a higher percentage. There was no reason to suspect he'd be tied for the team lead in goals at this point (nor is there any reason to expect him to sustain that position) in the season, but there was certainly room for a lot of optimism. Especially when he compared favorably, at the beginning of the season, to several eventual Hart Trophy winners at that age.
Anyway, he's looked fantastic so far, and not just on those goals. He also drew one of the penalties (the second, I believe) that led to the 5-on-3. And it's certainly fair to attribute some of his success to being centered by Bura (conversely, MarJo is a significant factor in Bura looking so good, as well).
All that said, next game is Friday against New Jersey. The Devils aren't nearly as hot as they were the last time the two faced off, but they're certainly not ones with whom to be trifled.
I didn't miss much, though. In fact, I wouldn't have missed much skipping the second period.
The game opened decisively, with MarJo putting the Caps on the board. The goal was a bit of a weird one; Brouwer had gotten the puck up top, in the middle, and threw it towards the goal, where MarJo was headed. The puck bounced around a bit between defenders and goalie, with MarJo swooping in, kicking it across the net to his stick, and calmly sliding the biscuit into the basket.
It took only six minutes for the Caps to strike again, this time on a 5-on-3 advantage (hey, another advantage of Trotz over Oates; the Caps can score 5-on-3). It was a normal OV PPG one-timer.
The Jackets cut the advantage in half two minutes later, when Atkinson took a one-timer shot off a clean face-off win, but the Caps still seemed fully in control.
And they asserted more of that control several minutes later when OV intercepted the puck in neutral (hey, he's playing defense now... how about that?), facing his own net. His second touch was a pass backwards to Backstrom cutting across the ice, who sent a one-touch back-pass to Beagle, charging up the other side. OV, meanwhile, has skated around behind Beagle and took the very nice drop pass (I don't take back any of what I've said about Beagle and scoring chances, but this was a beautiful drop pass) for a quick slap shot to the upper corner. Gorgeous play from start to finish. The Jackets never came close to recovering from the turnover.
So the period ended with the Caps ahead 3-1, and leading in shots 13-5 (and frankly, it felt less even than that). So there was definitely some temptation to head straight to bed after finishing with the bike.
But I did turn on the second, and though Columbus scored the only goal for the period, and even though play was much more even than in the first, it still didn't feel like Columbus had any chance of winning (especially not the way they've been brutalized by injuries). So I went to bed there.
Therefore, I missed Hartnell's breakaway (off a steal from a Beagle pass. Making up for the nice drop-pass earlier, I guess) that rang off the crossbar, and, with five minutes left, MarJo's insurance goal. He broke into the zone, dropped to Bura, kept skating around, and Bura hit him with a return pass as he was going behind the net. He carried it around and scored on a wraparound (looking much like one of a couple of goals he scored two seasons ago). Nice eyes by Bura to see it developing.
A couple of notes of interest. I've noticed the Caps, this season, have gone to a different configuration on a 5-on-3. They lay it out like a big X. OV and Green at the points, Brouwer at the apex, Backstrom on the goal-line, right, and Ward on the goal-line, left. I hadn't realized that was the configuration at the time, but this is what Ward scored one of his power-play goals on, several games ago. I had wondered how he got that pass in that position, and now we know. It's just a set position.
And to get back to MarJo a bit. It was hard not to see last season as a disappointment, even though most of his lack of scoring was due to an abysmally low (unsustainably so, especially accounting for where the shots were originating) shooting percentage. This season, he's shooting more, and scoring on a higher percentage. There was no reason to suspect he'd be tied for the team lead in goals at this point (nor is there any reason to expect him to sustain that position) in the season, but there was certainly room for a lot of optimism. Especially when he compared favorably, at the beginning of the season, to several eventual Hart Trophy winners at that age.
Anyway, he's looked fantastic so far, and not just on those goals. He also drew one of the penalties (the second, I believe) that led to the 5-on-3. And it's certainly fair to attribute some of his success to being centered by Bura (conversely, MarJo is a significant factor in Bura looking so good, as well).
All that said, next game is Friday against New Jersey. The Devils aren't nearly as hot as they were the last time the two faced off, but they're certainly not ones with whom to be trifled.
20141111
Don't watch the flashlight, or something
A friend just sent me this video, and I'd heard of the problem before.
And this report is very misleading, to put it mildly. First, they never say it's android-only (though they do say you have to download via Google Play store). Second, all their pictures of phones are of iPhones.
Finally, I'm a little amused that they keep saying that everyone uses a flashlight app. I've never downloaded, or used, one. When I need light, I just turn the screen on. If that isn't bright enough, I get a real flashlight.
And man, finishing the video, this is quite the scare-fest. I wonder how much business Miliefsky got out of it.
And this report is very misleading, to put it mildly. First, they never say it's android-only (though they do say you have to download via Google Play store). Second, all their pictures of phones are of iPhones.
Finally, I'm a little amused that they keep saying that everyone uses a flashlight app. I've never downloaded, or used, one. When I need light, I just turn the screen on. If that isn't bright enough, I get a real flashlight.
And man, finishing the video, this is quite the scare-fest. I wonder how much business Miliefsky got out of it.
How big was the bubble?
I just noticed, randomly, the other day that the Nasdaq index is now sitting roughly where it was at the peak of the late 90's bubble. Yes, it took about fourteen years to recover from that. Wow.
20141110
POTUS stops hemming and hawing...
on net neutrality. I got a pleasant shock, today, to hear him call for broadband classification until Title II, which would require making internet access about nothing but dumb pipes. And that's as it should be. Either that, or going after Comcast, Verizon, AT&T (and maybe RCN and Time-Warner Cable) under anti-trust laws is needed. I think Title II is the better approach of those two.
So I was very glad to hear him make such a public comment. I hope it has the desired effect; the change is definitely needed.
Oh, and it was pointed out to me, earlier today, that Ted Cruz tweeted something like "Net Neutrality is Obamacare for the internet. The internet shouldn't run on government time". I really wish I knew how effective that tweet is for its intended audience, because it's a completely moronic thing to say. I guess we can hope that the people for whom it would be effective do not have twitter accounts.
So I was very glad to hear him make such a public comment. I hope it has the desired effect; the change is definitely needed.
Oh, and it was pointed out to me, earlier today, that Ted Cruz tweeted something like "Net Neutrality is Obamacare for the internet. The internet shouldn't run on government time". I really wish I knew how effective that tweet is for its intended audience, because it's a completely moronic thing to say. I guess we can hope that the people for whom it would be effective do not have twitter accounts.
Feeling pretty good
Feels like a good day, without a lot going on. Got a good ride in, this morning (despite the temperature being five degrees colder than predicted, the night before). And got an amazing amount of stuff tossed out of the house (mostly huge amounts of recycling).
For whatever reason (and things having warmed up a lot since getting up didn't hurt), I was feeling really good after putting all the recycling out.
For whatever reason (and things having warmed up a lot since getting up didn't hurt), I was feeling really good after putting all the recycling out.
"The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind..."
I don't have a whole lot to say about the Caps win over the 'Canes on Saturday. I missed the '+' in the channel indication beforehand, and didn't get the game recorded (plus, I was really tired that night, and probably wouldn't have watched nearly all anyway). So I turned it on to see the Caps up 3-1. Being that tired, I was tempted to turn it off immediately, and the goal scored eleven seconds later did nothing to disabuse me of that notion.
But I held on long enough to see them cough up the rest of the lead, but turn up the intensity in overtime enough to win it.
The announcers kept saying that the Caps had dominated, earlier in the game, but they definitely weren't doing so when I was watching.
Still, hard to get upset at a win, even if it wasn't the clean one that it should've been.
Looking at the box score, does look like the Caps impressively dominated the first, did well in the second, went to sleep for much of the third, and then dominated the OT. And that's certainly in line with the Caps history over the OV era. Which is not a good thing.
What is a good thing is that they kept shots against below thirty again. If they can keep doing that, and stop taking periods off, then they'll be more than fine on the season.
Next up is Columbus, on Tuesday, who have been hammered by injuries. Hopefully the Caps can keep the win streak going.
But I held on long enough to see them cough up the rest of the lead, but turn up the intensity in overtime enough to win it.
The announcers kept saying that the Caps had dominated, earlier in the game, but they definitely weren't doing so when I was watching.
Still, hard to get upset at a win, even if it wasn't the clean one that it should've been.
Looking at the box score, does look like the Caps impressively dominated the first, did well in the second, went to sleep for much of the third, and then dominated the OT. And that's certainly in line with the Caps history over the OV era. Which is not a good thing.
What is a good thing is that they kept shots against below thirty again. If they can keep doing that, and stop taking periods off, then they'll be more than fine on the season.
Next up is Columbus, on Tuesday, who have been hammered by injuries. Hopefully the Caps can keep the win streak going.
Caps bounce Hawks in Windy City
I can't say as I thought it was nearly the Caps' best game of the season, and their possession numbers certainly went down (playing the number one-possession team in the league, though, I don't see that as a large set-back), but the Caps managed to come away with the victory Friday night.
It actually started out looking like the Caps were going to dominate the game. In the first five minutes, Chicago was getting nothing without a lot of work, and the Caps were getting chances (especially the top two lines).
But Chicago kept pushing Washington, and it seemed like the Caps couldn't keep up with that push. It took a while for the chickens to come home to roost; a failed keep-in attempt by Niskanen led to a two-on-one with Hossa and Saad. Alzner couldn't keep position to block the pass (some canny skating by Saad, not skating his hardest, there), and Saad buried it, five-hole, in the eighteenth minute.
A bit over a minute later, OV got called for an elbow (not sure I agree with the call, honestly; it looked to me like it was only on the follow-through that his elbow came up). The Caps kept it out for the rest of the period, but Duncan Keith stuck home a rebound a minute into the second. At that point, things were looking very bleak, as the Hawks were carrying a sub-one GAA (terrible stat to judge a goalie on, but not so bad for judging the team) at home.
But the second line, after being torn up by that Hossa/Saad line (and not just on the goal), started to push back, hard. Fourteen minutes later, they got a two-on-one with Bura and MarJo, and Bura took it all the way himself, pounding a quick wrister into the far, top corner to bring the Caps back into contention.
Four minutes later, the same line scored on some sustained pressure. MarJo got the score, with Bura and Niskanen getting the assists, but the whole side touched the puck in the last five seconds before it went in. Very nice play, all the way around (literally, since the puck circled the zone before finding the net).
It looked like the Caps would count their blessings to go into the break all tied up, but Ward deflected in a Niskanen shot, forty seconds later, to give the Caps their first lead of the game.
In the third, there was no shortage of pressure from Chicago, and Washington wasn't doing a lot more than defending, but they managed not to break, breaking the five-game losing skid.
It certainly wasn't a pretty game, and those last two goals were some fairly lucky bounces, but no complaints about the results. I'd like to see the Caps get to the point where they can hang with Chicago possessionally, but they're definitely not there yet.
I'd like to say something about the power play, but they only got 53 seconds and did get a shot off in that time. Not bad, but too short a time to say much definitively.
The short-handed unit had much more time (4:38), and only allowed two shots (taking two of their own). That's very good, but they did allow a goal, which isn't. Still, they did well with what they could control.
If it wasn't Chicago (or one of a couple other teams), I'd be very down on them getting taken to town on shot attempts. I don't have missed shots, still, but Chicago had forty on net and another eighteen blocked, compared to Washington's twenty-four and four. That's one hell of an imbalance, especially with almost all of that at even strength. Plus, I believe that's the most shots they've allowed, all season (by quite a bit, I'm pretty sure).
So I'm a bit ambivalent, overall. The teams will play again on New Year's Day, at Nationals Stadium, and this game is certainly not portending a victory for Washington there. On the other hand, getting off the losing streak is worth quite a bit, even if only to keep the players from trying to ignore the system and freelance. Because if that happens, the possessional numbers will go down, and their odds of winning more games will, too.
Washington also played Carolina on Saturday, but I'll talk about that one separately, even though I don't have a lot to say.
It actually started out looking like the Caps were going to dominate the game. In the first five minutes, Chicago was getting nothing without a lot of work, and the Caps were getting chances (especially the top two lines).
But Chicago kept pushing Washington, and it seemed like the Caps couldn't keep up with that push. It took a while for the chickens to come home to roost; a failed keep-in attempt by Niskanen led to a two-on-one with Hossa and Saad. Alzner couldn't keep position to block the pass (some canny skating by Saad, not skating his hardest, there), and Saad buried it, five-hole, in the eighteenth minute.
A bit over a minute later, OV got called for an elbow (not sure I agree with the call, honestly; it looked to me like it was only on the follow-through that his elbow came up). The Caps kept it out for the rest of the period, but Duncan Keith stuck home a rebound a minute into the second. At that point, things were looking very bleak, as the Hawks were carrying a sub-one GAA (terrible stat to judge a goalie on, but not so bad for judging the team) at home.
But the second line, after being torn up by that Hossa/Saad line (and not just on the goal), started to push back, hard. Fourteen minutes later, they got a two-on-one with Bura and MarJo, and Bura took it all the way himself, pounding a quick wrister into the far, top corner to bring the Caps back into contention.
Four minutes later, the same line scored on some sustained pressure. MarJo got the score, with Bura and Niskanen getting the assists, but the whole side touched the puck in the last five seconds before it went in. Very nice play, all the way around (literally, since the puck circled the zone before finding the net).
It looked like the Caps would count their blessings to go into the break all tied up, but Ward deflected in a Niskanen shot, forty seconds later, to give the Caps their first lead of the game.
In the third, there was no shortage of pressure from Chicago, and Washington wasn't doing a lot more than defending, but they managed not to break, breaking the five-game losing skid.
It certainly wasn't a pretty game, and those last two goals were some fairly lucky bounces, but no complaints about the results. I'd like to see the Caps get to the point where they can hang with Chicago possessionally, but they're definitely not there yet.
I'd like to say something about the power play, but they only got 53 seconds and did get a shot off in that time. Not bad, but too short a time to say much definitively.
The short-handed unit had much more time (4:38), and only allowed two shots (taking two of their own). That's very good, but they did allow a goal, which isn't. Still, they did well with what they could control.
If it wasn't Chicago (or one of a couple other teams), I'd be very down on them getting taken to town on shot attempts. I don't have missed shots, still, but Chicago had forty on net and another eighteen blocked, compared to Washington's twenty-four and four. That's one hell of an imbalance, especially with almost all of that at even strength. Plus, I believe that's the most shots they've allowed, all season (by quite a bit, I'm pretty sure).
So I'm a bit ambivalent, overall. The teams will play again on New Year's Day, at Nationals Stadium, and this game is certainly not portending a victory for Washington there. On the other hand, getting off the losing streak is worth quite a bit, even if only to keep the players from trying to ignore the system and freelance. Because if that happens, the possessional numbers will go down, and their odds of winning more games will, too.
Washington also played Carolina on Saturday, but I'll talk about that one separately, even though I don't have a lot to say.
20141108
Ride north, young man
I haven't gotten much riding in, the last several days, for various reasons (two of them mechanical problems). So I wanted to get an early start, this morning, and ride a bit further than is my wont. To make things more complicated, I needed to be back at the house by 0800 at the latest, because of my daughter's piano lesson.
Things did not start out well. I thought I'd gotten ready last night, but overlooked two things. One, I put the lights on the charger, but forgot to get them off until after I'd put my shoes, booties, and RoadID on. So I went back to the bedroom to get them, clomping a bit (we do not wear shoes in the house).
Then I went out, and realized I'd forgotten one other thing: my hat. I got half a mile down the road before I realized it, but knew I couldn't ignore it. I went back (clomping, again, which woke the baby a little), and couldn't find the skullcap I've been wearing. So I grabbed my balaclava, which I'd never worn before. (Also, I didn't realize it for a while, but in pulling my zipper back up while doing this, I got it tangled with the thing underneath that's supposed to keep it from tangling with other clothes. This made a mess when I got back.)
To make things worse, when I got a little ways in, I discovered two things. One, the balaclava (I had it down below my chin, which surely made a difference) started humming very loudly when I got over about seventeen miles an hour. And two, I wasn't getting any signal from my power meter.
The latter had me really pissed when, at the furthest point of my ride, I was able to power up a very long hill that I'd died on, the last two times I'd climbed. In fact, I was able to finish the climb by getting out of the saddle and pushing hard. I felt really good about that, and I suspect I'd have a new FTP if the power meter were working.
Other than that, it was fairly uneventful. It was very nice, though; I enjoyed myself immensely. And I was glad I opted for the heavy-duty gloves (without the liners). A bit of a pain on the right shifter, but I didn't get cold (I definitely would have, after a while, with the lighter-weight gloves I normally wear). Also, the leg warmers did just fine. No sagging, and no cold (though as someone who normally doesn't wear pants until it gets well into the twenties, maybe they were overkill. Not sure, though, being outside for two hours).
I wasn't wearing my coldest-weather combinations, but I was close. I can wear tights that are probably a tad warmer on the legs, wear a warmer base layer (after reading reviews, I got one size bigger than the size guide, and was glad I did; it's still skin-tight), maybe wear a second base layer (a Pearl Izumi one) or jersey over that, and have liner gloves to go in the heavy-weight ones. What I haven't figured out is what to do about my feet. Maybe I can wear a second pair of socks. But I was feeling the chill in my toes towards the end of the ride this morning.
When I got back, it took about ten minutes to get the jacket off. And that didn't involve getting the zipper fixed, just down half an inch or so. I was amazed, though, that it only took half a minute or so to fix the zipper once the jacket was off. Otherwise very happy with the jacket, though; I was more worried about being too warm (sweating too much) than too cold. Which is good, since I don't know what I'd wear that's warmer when the temperature gets even lower.
Things did not start out well. I thought I'd gotten ready last night, but overlooked two things. One, I put the lights on the charger, but forgot to get them off until after I'd put my shoes, booties, and RoadID on. So I went back to the bedroom to get them, clomping a bit (we do not wear shoes in the house).
Then I went out, and realized I'd forgotten one other thing: my hat. I got half a mile down the road before I realized it, but knew I couldn't ignore it. I went back (clomping, again, which woke the baby a little), and couldn't find the skullcap I've been wearing. So I grabbed my balaclava, which I'd never worn before. (Also, I didn't realize it for a while, but in pulling my zipper back up while doing this, I got it tangled with the thing underneath that's supposed to keep it from tangling with other clothes. This made a mess when I got back.)
To make things worse, when I got a little ways in, I discovered two things. One, the balaclava (I had it down below my chin, which surely made a difference) started humming very loudly when I got over about seventeen miles an hour. And two, I wasn't getting any signal from my power meter.
The latter had me really pissed when, at the furthest point of my ride, I was able to power up a very long hill that I'd died on, the last two times I'd climbed. In fact, I was able to finish the climb by getting out of the saddle and pushing hard. I felt really good about that, and I suspect I'd have a new FTP if the power meter were working.
Other than that, it was fairly uneventful. It was very nice, though; I enjoyed myself immensely. And I was glad I opted for the heavy-duty gloves (without the liners). A bit of a pain on the right shifter, but I didn't get cold (I definitely would have, after a while, with the lighter-weight gloves I normally wear). Also, the leg warmers did just fine. No sagging, and no cold (though as someone who normally doesn't wear pants until it gets well into the twenties, maybe they were overkill. Not sure, though, being outside for two hours).
I wasn't wearing my coldest-weather combinations, but I was close. I can wear tights that are probably a tad warmer on the legs, wear a warmer base layer (after reading reviews, I got one size bigger than the size guide, and was glad I did; it's still skin-tight), maybe wear a second base layer (a Pearl Izumi one) or jersey over that, and have liner gloves to go in the heavy-weight ones. What I haven't figured out is what to do about my feet. Maybe I can wear a second pair of socks. But I was feeling the chill in my toes towards the end of the ride this morning.
When I got back, it took about ten minutes to get the jacket off. And that didn't involve getting the zipper fixed, just down half an inch or so. I was amazed, though, that it only took half a minute or so to fix the zipper once the jacket was off. Otherwise very happy with the jacket, though; I was more worried about being too warm (sweating too much) than too cold. Which is good, since I don't know what I'd wear that's warmer when the temperature gets even lower.
Wave good-bye
I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the election that just passed, several days ago. I knew I was voting, and I knew for whom I was voting, but wasn't thinking about it much beyond that.
I had seen some encouraging articles in the lead-up, and did expect things to go a bit (well, ok, a lot) better than they did.
The whole thing largely blows my mind, though. One group does everything it can to prevent anything substantive from happening (including shutting down the government), and is rewarded with control of both houses of Congress.
I'm thinking the over/under on another government shutdown is three months. If Ted Cruz maintains the influence he's somehow gotten, then it'll be shorter. If not, then it might not even happen for the foreseeable future.
So the big question is, are Republicans ready to actually govern. So far, with one house of Congress, they have shown no interest. With both houses, they'll need to do so.
I had seen some encouraging articles in the lead-up, and did expect things to go a bit (well, ok, a lot) better than they did.
The whole thing largely blows my mind, though. One group does everything it can to prevent anything substantive from happening (including shutting down the government), and is rewarded with control of both houses of Congress.
I'm thinking the over/under on another government shutdown is three months. If Ted Cruz maintains the influence he's somehow gotten, then it'll be shorter. If not, then it might not even happen for the foreseeable future.
So the big question is, are Republicans ready to actually govern. So far, with one house of Congress, they have shown no interest. With both houses, they'll need to do so.
20141105
Playing with fire
Last night's game against the Flames was a weird one to watch, for me. It kept feeling like the Caps were comfortably dominating, then I'd blink and Calgary would score.
Both teams got some really lucky scores. For Washington, there was MarJo's shot that deflected off a defender, hit the back wall, then got pushed into the goal by Hiller's leg pad when he tried to find it. Ward's goal went off both of Hiller's legs before going in. For the Flames, there was Giordano's backhand shot through a wall of defenders that slipped through Holtby's legs when he didn't see it coming. And there was MarJo's attempt to play the puck to the corner, from in front, that deflected off Brouwer's skate and over Holtby's shoulder. (MarJo, I guess, got karma coming and going.)
Through it all, Washington kept coming, getting edges in shots for all three periods, while Calgary was leading in blocked shots throughout.
I don't have numbers on missed shots, so I don't know exact numbers on Corsi or Fenwick, but the Caps did improve their full-season CF% and FF%.
Hiller certainly had a good game (other than that MarJo shot), to keep Calgary in the game. A number of the Caps looked very good; OV, Schmidt (and not just on the one play that got highlighted late), Alzner (who made several very good pinches). The fourth line also did well, although I still think Beagle should be off the line. He's where scoring chances go to die (for both teams, which can make him a useful player). Despite that, he looked pretty good, last night.
Wilson also had a good night, even if he failed to bury a gift-wrapped chance from OV or Backis. I loved it when he goaded Giordano into matching minors; too bad he couldn't arrange it to be majors.
Anyway, it felt like a good game, but the game ended when a nice passing play from Calgary, in OT, got behind Holtby. So the ending was quite disappointing. But I was pretty happy with the game, overall. I just hope results start matching process, soon.
Both teams got some really lucky scores. For Washington, there was MarJo's shot that deflected off a defender, hit the back wall, then got pushed into the goal by Hiller's leg pad when he tried to find it. Ward's goal went off both of Hiller's legs before going in. For the Flames, there was Giordano's backhand shot through a wall of defenders that slipped through Holtby's legs when he didn't see it coming. And there was MarJo's attempt to play the puck to the corner, from in front, that deflected off Brouwer's skate and over Holtby's shoulder. (MarJo, I guess, got karma coming and going.)
Through it all, Washington kept coming, getting edges in shots for all three periods, while Calgary was leading in blocked shots throughout.
I don't have numbers on missed shots, so I don't know exact numbers on Corsi or Fenwick, but the Caps did improve their full-season CF% and FF%.
Hiller certainly had a good game (other than that MarJo shot), to keep Calgary in the game. A number of the Caps looked very good; OV, Schmidt (and not just on the one play that got highlighted late), Alzner (who made several very good pinches). The fourth line also did well, although I still think Beagle should be off the line. He's where scoring chances go to die (for both teams, which can make him a useful player). Despite that, he looked pretty good, last night.
Wilson also had a good night, even if he failed to bury a gift-wrapped chance from OV or Backis. I loved it when he goaded Giordano into matching minors; too bad he couldn't arrange it to be majors.
Anyway, it felt like a good game, but the game ended when a nice passing play from Calgary, in OT, got behind Holtby. So the ending was quite disappointing. But I was pretty happy with the game, overall. I just hope results start matching process, soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)