Dear Miles

Dear Miles,

When you were first born people asked me if I felt any different, and I told them "Nothing is different. I am still the same person." Little did I know how much my life was going to change.

Miles on his first picnic

Shortly after you were born I decided to stop racing bikes professionally. For the last two years (the 2017 and 2018 racing seasons) I was out of town roughly 120 days per year. I decided that was too much time away from home while you were growing up. I wanted to watch you grow, and I did not want to miss a thing. I also had a few friends who were dads tell me they wish they had spent more time with their children when their children were younger. I used this information to make my decision. I am thankful to those friends for their honesty.

Miles Bouncing in his Bouncer

Another thing that changed is I took on a job as a driver at FedEx. This was a very tough job at first, but I got the hang of it and became very efficient at it.

Miles Roaming Around the Kitchen in the Chihuahua

I kept doing my coaching work. That is one thing that remained constant besides my family life. I am glad I kept doing my coaching work because I kept learning more and more about it. This year I helped my athletes improve more than I have ever helped them improve before. It is fun that this part of my life remained constant. It was also fun for me to improve at this part of my life while growing in other ways. It comes as a surprise that as I was more busy I became better at something too.

Miles Cruising

With the FedEx and the coaching work I have remained highly busy. However, I have been able to spend at minimum about 2 hours a day with you every week day. On the weekends we get to spend even more time together. I got exactly what I wanted by stopping racing. I got to see you every day! The moments I spend with you and your mom are the best moments of my life! You are now 9 months old. I have watched you go from a blob who did not eat too much. After only a few months you were drinking 40-50 ounces of formula a day! I think you have my metabolism. You love to jump in your bouncer, and you love to walk around the house in your walker. We call it the chihuahua aka the ankle biter. You took a long time to show us you could sit up (roughly seven months), but after you sat up you got on the move quickly. You did not stop moving. At first you rolled over across the room. Then you began to crawl. When you started to crawl you almost immediately started pulling yourself up on your feet. Now you are trying to climb over things and are walking while you hold onto things like your crib or the walls of your play pin. I imagine you will be walking soon. It is so exciting to watch your development! One thing that has also never changed is how much you smile. You are the happiest baby ever. You always smile and always have smiled at everyone. Your smile is the greatest! You make me so happy when you smile. You have taught me that I can accomplish much more in a day than I previously thought was possible. You have made me a better man, and you make me feel a completeness I never knew existed before your mom and I had you. You are the greatest thing that ever happened to me!

Love,
Dad

What it Took to Finish the USPro Road Race

Two days ago Conor rode the USPro Road Race National Championship, one of the toughest races in terms of power demands on the US circuit. Conor weighs 145-147 pounds. Below are some of the power demands it took for him to finish the race:

An interesting thing looking at the race is that the power demands of the U23 race nine days ago were higher. At the U23 Nationals Road Race Conor normalized 313 watts for 280 minutes, and for USPro Conor normalized 303 watts for 283 minutes. However, the temperature at USPro was consistently 93-95 degrees Fahrenheit according to Conor's Garmin. In Hagerstown his Garmin read around 80 degrees the entire time. I feel the USPro was probably a harder race because just 10 watts less in 15 degree warmer temperature is probably more difficult. 

It was a scorching day for USPro!

Looking at the peak power demands for the race Conor had to average 473 watts for 2 minutes, normalized 376 watts for 5 minutes, normalize 369 watts for 10 minutes, normalize 334 watts for 20 minutes, and 331 watts for 30 minutes. These watts may seem large, but for Conor these are normal figures he can produce often. For the final hill and sprint Conor was still able to produce 604 watts for 30 seconds. That's a good effort after 5 hours in the saddle! 

Peak Power Demands for USPro 

Conor was efficient during the USPro Road race. He spent 54.5 minutes not pedaling out of 282 minutes or 19.25% of the race. Hunter Allen suggests to shoot for a minimum of 15% not pedaling in a race. As Conor did not pedal for 19.25% in the race he conserved energy well. 

 

Conor did not pedal for a lot of USPro!

Conor spent a lot of time above lactate threshold for USPro. He spent 30 minutes at tempo, 30 minutes at lactate threshold, 20 minutes at VO2max, and a staggering 40 minutes at anaerobic capacity power. That's a total of 90 minutes at lactate threshold and beyond!

Power Zone Distribution Chart

The main obstacle in the USPro Road Race was the Sherrod Rd climb. It's 0.36 miles long and averages 11% with peak grades of around 20%. It is a brutal climb! I highlighted the climb to check out how difficult it was each lap. Conor had to consistently average over 400 watts for 2.5-3 minutes up this climb. It seems the race took the climb easier laps 11-14. Conor told me he went for it on the last lap averaging 397 watts for 2:52 on the final ascent.  

The Power Demands on the Sherrod Rd Climb

At the end of the day Conor ended up finishing 17th. It's a great ride for a 20 year old. In the years to come he will keep improving because he is talented and works hard every day. Here is a link to Conor's ride on Strava, and here is a link to his Strava profile. Follow him if you want to check out his epic rides.