Mastermind Athletic Academy

We got about 8 inches of snow in the last 24 hours. Super fluffy, like cotton, no problem to clear from the driveway, decks, etc. Just the same, we’re kind of hoping this is the last snow of the season. There has been enough to give a decent base at the local resorts, so now maybe it’s time to let the cyclists have their roads back?

Ryon stayed inside at the academy and put in just over 3 hours on the trainer, doing mostly steady state effort with a maximum acceleration in the saddle every 10 minutes or so.

Connor drove down the hill to Lucerne, with Paul Zamoyta going along as well. With great legs, he zipped up the old HWY 18, then Paul got in the car and followed him through the snow coming down to the top of Onyx at 8443′.

The guys will be heading out to Tucson for the Tucson Bicycle Classic Stage Race next weekend.

Ryon Cooke got the academy off to a great start with a 5th place finish in the CAT 4 TT.  He went out a bit hot, but gritted his teeth and hung on for a 10:16.  Based on his power file, we estimate he lost about 20-30 seconds versus ideal pacing!  Ouch.

Next up for the academy was Connor, who bested Ryon’s position by one spot, netting a 4th place finish in the CAT 3′s with a 9:51.  Haven’t seen his power file just yet.

Connor had to skip this race altogether due to a cold, but Devan and Ryon both made it out Thursday afternoon in time to check out the TT course before Friday’s test against the clock.

Ryon went off first and put on an awesome display of pacing, holding 317w on the outbound section and 311w on the way back.  His time was a 33:10 and based on all of my past data being put into the TT spreadsheet I use on Excel it just doesn’t make any sense.  We calibrated our Powertap and everything checks out, but when asking to see the timing sheets we were refused and simply told “it’s right, trust us!”  Still this put Ryon in 9th place, and with a neutralized RR and a pack finish in the crit he ended up in 8th place on GC in the 4′s.  This was a great weekend of racing, but unfortunately for Ryon he didn’t pick up any points.

Devan (Bahati Foundation Elite Team) wasn’t quite as fortunate with his pacing, going out very hard on the outbound section and totally blowing up on the way back.  Still he managed a 30:40 in the 2′s which was good for 4th place.  With some savvy racing during the RR, he picked up 3 bonus seconds and a pack finish in the crit put him in 3rd overall on GC.

Connor Mc Cutcheon of Mastermind Athletic Academy broke away with five laps to go and sucessfully held off the chasing field to secure his season’s first win at the Red Trolley Criterium in San Diego.

With only a ten second lead going into the bell lap, Mc Cutcheon dug deep to hold off  the charging pack as they attempted to close the gap at the finish. But timing was everything, with Mc Cutcheon winning with barely enough time to raise his hands in victory.

Coupled with a strong 4th place finish from the Boulevard Road Race the day before, Mc Cutcheon had a successful first weekend of the racing season. After some rest, Mc Cutcheon will be tuning up for next week’s Valley of the Sun Stage Race in Phoenix, Arizona, the season’s first multi-stage competition.

After getting over 4 feet of snow in the span of a few days, some people have claimed this past storm was the biggest since the winter of ’69.  We can’t confirm this though, we weren’t alive.

Keeping it short and sweet. Weather was a bit on the cold side, mid 50′s, light wind on the outward bound portion.

Connor does a 20:19 for 6th in the 1/2/3

Devan matches his last effort here with slightly less power, slightly more aero, for an 18:11 and the W in the 1/2/3

Ryon knocks out a 20:10 for 2nd in the 4′s

I sat the bench with a sore throat.

Outskirts of Lake Gregory

Today was a big ride from the house for the guys.  I jumped in the trustee Subaru as official ride support and we were off at about 10:45.  From the house we went up to HWY 18 and wound our way over/down to the Crestline cutoff for a short climb.

Over, down, and across highway 138 to the back route into Wrightwood.  Lone Pine Canyon is a mostly straight road climbing about 3000′ depending on where you are measuring from.  It’s the first time the guys have been up and they seemed to really enjoy it.

Bottom of Lone Pine

After scaling the Lone Pine climb into Wrightwood they continued onto the junction of HWY2 and Big Pines.  Down Big Pines over to the Devil’s Punchbowl course.  A seemingly rabid dog chased all the guys and particularly pissed off Ryon, which I found quite enjoyable back in the car.  He really came alive and hit his 20 second peak power after being in the saddle for about 4:00:00.  On the way down the Punchbowl climb we came across a horse on the loose, which was a bit startling.  At 4:35:00 into the ride Ryon called it a day, after amassing 2925kj and about 7000′ of climbing.  15:00 later, with 100kj more, Connor climbed into the car as well.  Devan soldiered on for another hour, climbing another 3000′ up to the top of Big Pines.  At 5:50:00, with just over 4800kj and a bit over 10,000′ of climbing this was Devan’s biggest day in the saddle when judged by kj’s.  These guys are getting in some great miles before the season starts.

The “kids” are still away at their respective houses, having gone down the hill last week to be with their families. Up here at the academy a few post-Christmas presents await them. One of note that our many many fans will be ever so excited to know about is a new head unit that will let us show the world, and ourselves, how much climbing we’re doing and where exactly. Will it be a Garmin….or will it be a Joule? My guess is that it will likely be a Garmin as the Joule, Saris’ new CPU, doesn’t seem to be available yet.

After a well deserved recovery block this past week Devan and Ryon got up early to make it to the Como St. group ride. It’s a group ride that has a long history of accomplished cyclists who will show up. Like any group ride, there are a variety of riders who turnout, from the weekend warrior, to the pro just stretching the legs out, to the off-season workout hero.

Devan led the group up Live Oak, with only Manny Prado hanging on near the end. He too let go and soon Devan shut it down to rejoin the group. As usual there was a select group that kept up a high pace through the canyon.

After yesterday’s freezefest, the choice was easy; go down the hill. Today was the first day that Connor was able to meet up with the guys for some training. Previously he’d been engaged in his senior year of high school cross country, but with a final effort at the state champs held at Mt. SAC this previous weekend, he’s ready to turn the cranks once again. Ryon noted that it was impressive to see Connor stay with him on the first climb, considering he hasn’t been riding since the summer, just pounding the legs in cross country.

Again it was a cold day by our standards, with temps below 40 atop the Oak Glen climb. Ryon took one for the team after the first loop and hopped in the team van to ride support with clothes and a ride down after the final ascent. I was a bit bummed to hear this as he had awesome legs today and next week is a recovery week. If he hadn’t driven support, none of the three guys would likely have done a second loop though, so big thanks to Ryon.

Devan

• Slept 8 hours
• Waking weight 173
• Felt great even after yesterdays 6 hour ride
• Legs hurt but I could make good power
• Once again it was freezing….maybe 40 degrees

Ryon

• Slept 9 hours
• Weighed 162.6
• Felt good, recovered from yesterday
• Legs felt like they were 3 hours in right away though
• Really cold day, wish it was summer