Wrapping up 2008 & Winding up for 2009

At work, now's the time when we're tightening up the plans for the rest of 2008 (key season for video game retail releases and consumer advertising revenue) and setting roadmaps and budgets for 2009.

My bike season is on the same trajectory. It's time to finish executing for this year, but I'm also actively planning for 2009.

After a moderately successful 10 weeks from late June through early August (4 top 10s, one podium), things have been pretty uneven the last few weeks. That's bike racing. I have to readjust my '08 goals (met one goal already: 3 top 10s), but do think there's enough time to take advantage of decent form and nice weather to eek out some additional upgrade points.

My September plans:

• No pressure for this coming weekend (optional: Benicia crit). First priority is to get my bike fixed and my injuries healed.
  
• Looking forward to the 3/4 SF Twilight race on 9/13 (for fun and experience) and the Folsom circuit race on 9/14 (though I don't know much about the course)
• September target is the Chico weekend: flat 56mi road race on 9/20 and downtown crit on 9/21
• Mt. Tam hillclimb is another target, if only to set a time I can use as a benchmark for future years.

Outline of what the 2009 race season might look like:

• Do occasional time trials and timed hillclimb events in offseason
  
• Start road racing in mid-February
• Get on the velodrome by March (for the training sessions, assuming Tues / Wed races start later)
• Pursue a steady diet of road races, with some crits mixed in. Hit the track a few times a month.
  
• Upgrade to 3s in first half of season (by June)
• Race no more than 3 weekends per month (not the 8-weekends-in-a-row I did in June/July)
  
• Take a real one-week break after Pescadero in mid/late June. (Not the mostly-still-racing break I took this year.) Then ease back into the second half of the year.
  
• Do 2 or 3 stage races. Madera plus one or more events out of the area.
  

October will be a mixed month, with some time off and a good amount of cross-training to kick off 2009 preparation. Today I was setting up my 2009 Annual Training Plan on Training Peaks, and it helped confirm what I'd had rolling around in my head: I have to kick off the easy, learning phase of my winter weight-training program by mid-October. I really ought to start planning out an early October vacation.

Those first weeks will be about learning form and getting a good routine in place. I did a weight program in the winter of 1995 with Cal Cycling and liked how we were coached to ease into it over a few weeks. That and the focus on form and high-reps (over high weight) seemed to help stave off injuries for those who participated. First step is get a gym membership. I'm planning to go to the Presidio Y, but need to get over there and check it out. I'll need a trainer for pointers on form, particularly on the higher-risk elements that are core to cycling programs: squats and dead lifts. Ideally, I'll be doing three weight sessions a week through November (Monday, Thurs, Sat), but we'll have to see if I can get into the routine.

I'm also looking to getting out on the occasional team ride (though maybe not until November). It seems like we've all missed having regular rides while we've been focused on racing, so the group rides these last couple weekends have been refreshing--but also unpredictably paced, giving me reasons to push the pace too hard (up to me, but I follow carrots), then slowing way down to allow regrouping. So I'll probably stick to doing no more than one weekend team ride, likely Saturday. I'm planning to put in regular endurance rides (3-5 hrs) on Sunday starting in November, weather permitting.