Training like Lance

Len and Lance on the Podium

Len and Lance on the Podium

Our boy Len Zanni from Big Agnes/Honey Stinger had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to race with Lance Armstrong this summer at the 12 Hours of Snowmass race. Len is a typical Roaring Fork Valley sandbagger, so you’d never know it from talking to him that he’s one of the best cyclists in the Valley, if not the state. At the Snowmass race, Len held his own, riding laps just a couple minutes slower than Lance and helping their three-man team to victory.

b-town-marbleAs winter sets in here and the snow starts to fly, Len and I have been trying to squeeze in as much riding as we can, unlike the rest of the Backbone crew, which is solely focused on skiing now. (click photo on right to see our friend B-town ripping some early-season powder grass during a mission in nearby Marble with JLD last weekend).

Len and I were plotting our winter training yesterday, talking about getting in one road ride per week, with lots of gym time and skate skiing to maintain fitness. Then I stumbled across Lance’s winter training plan as explained by Chris Carmichael on Bicycling.com.

Lance’s Training Outline
2 x per week 5-5.5 hrs endurance pace
2 x per week 3-4 hrs endurance pace with 2 x 20minutes at just below LT pace (380-400watts)
1 x per week Tuesday-night ride
1 x per week 3-4 hrs with 2 sets of 4 x 20seconds max effort x 40 seconds recovery
1 x per week–day of for travel, rest.

Uhh yeah, Len, you’re going to have a tough time keeping up with Lance next year.

Here are a few reasons why choosing a recumbent bike can be beneficial for you and your family.

Happy Halloween

It started innocently enough – a bowl of candy and Sue in a Witch outfit. Then Mavis wanted to borrow my West Highland Terrier, Skadi, to be Toto as an accessory to her Dorothy outfit.

Just another day at the office

Just another day at the office

Next thing you know JLD is in a baby blue POC speed suit, with a Julia custom helmet and BD Megawatt skis. Things have settled down now that JLD aka Eddie the Eagle has quit his practice jumps off the sofa.

JLD hard at work

JLD hard at work

Back to work at Backbone – Happy Halloween.

Brad is Bachelor of the Year

Over eight years ago, I met 18-year-old Brad Ludden in Vail. He was a young kid with a big vision…to teach kids with cancer how to kayak. His dream inspired me and small group of committed Vail locals to help Brad start a new charity, which we called First Descents. I served on the board of First Descents for seven years, helping to shepherd the organization through years of exponential growth. What started as a one-week kayak camp in Vail has grown into nine camps, in three states, helping hundreds of young adults with cancer. My board position was term-limited last year but my time with FD remains one of my proudest achievements.

Fellow vertebrae Sarah Hubbard took up the torch last year and served as FD’s camp director for a week of climbing in Jackson Hole. It was the highlight of her summer.

Well, last month Brad was chosen as Cosmopolitan’s Colorado Bachelor and today he was named Bachelor of the Year. This is all a little embarrassing for Brad, but its damn good exposure for First Descents.

Brad on The Today Show.

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Monday Morning PR Quarterback

Busy times at Backbone.

Last Thursday saw Greg and Lindsay attend the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Nate was in Cali on biz and the rest of Backbone hosted the second annual Kickball World Championships in Boulder.

TW rolls in style

TW rolls in style

At Kickball casual, fun times with over 50 in attendance saw Skiing Mag trounce the Team Freelance/Freeload in the first round to meet “The Sons of Pitches” Backbone squad who dismantled the defending Champs Backpacker Magazine. For more pics go to our flickr page .

Pinch hitter and avid baserunner Jake Peruzzi

Pinch hitter and avid baserunner Jake Peruzzi

In the finals, Skiing prevailed with some rumored fuzzy math score keeping and impending darkness. Congrats to the Snow Warriors who take home the king sized trophy. Over the weekend events varied from installation of the new kegerator at Backbone World HQ, the American Alpine Club’s Craggin’ Classic in Golden and the 24 Hours of Moab, where Jess Smith reported Wyoming worthy wind and sand and grit that had a stucco like adherence to any exposed skin.

is this a victory or pray for snow dance?

is this a victory or pray for snow dance?

Champions from last year, Dennis Lewon presents to 08 Champs Skiing mag's Jake Bogoch

Champions from last year, Dennis Lewon presents to 08 Champs Skiing mag

Win a free pair of Black Diamond Skis

Teton based, rando-racer, always motivated skier Steve Romeo, is giving away a FREE pair of BD skis on his blog TetonAT.com

The winner will get to choose the skis of their choice by entering a contest centered around the Best Trip Report submitted by December 1, 2008. The winner will be selected on 12/15.

Rando Steve atop the Prong looking at the NF of the Grand

Rando Steve atop the Prong looking at the NF of the Grand

So, either get out there or get busy writing up the greatest, worst or most hilarious recent trip and share it on TetonAT.com

Big Weekend of Racing for the Backbone Crew

Len on the podium with Lance and Max

Len on the podium with Lance and Max

Well, our downstairs office dweller and overnight cycling celebrity, Len Zanni, along with his teammates Lance Armstrong and Max Taam of Team Aspen, pulled of a huge victory at the 12 Hours of Snowmass yesterday. Len rode strong all day and definitely held up his end of the bargain on the team. At the last minute, Len was forced to ride the race’s final anchor lap and he successfully held off a strong late stage push from world champion Mike Kloser of Team Beaver Creak. Len got a standing ovation when he showed up at the office this morning.

Velo News has a great recap of the race, in which Len, “categorized himself as a B-level pro with a couple of kids” (we know better) and Lance brags about eating Honey Stinger. Quite the endorsement!

We’ll post a Verteblog exclusive interview with the one and only Len Zanni later today.

Ian and his wife Sari also had a good race, winning the co-ed trio division at the 12 Hours of Snowmass. Recap here.

Crystal Mill Falls

Crystal Mill Falls

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Jess Smith, who had a great race at the Glenwood Triathlon last week, strapped on her trail shoes for the annual Lead King Loop, a beautiful but challenging 25K race that starts in the historic town of Marble and rolls through Lead King Basin, through the old mining town of Crystal, past Crystal Mill falls and back to Marble. Jess finished second in her age group and fourth overall!

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And finally, Mr. Scott Leonard, the better half of Mavis Fitzgerald and associate publisher of the Mountain Gazette, had a big weekend of racing at the 2008 Colorado Rally in Steamboat. He races for Team Salta/Checkpoint in Mavis’s old 1986 VW Golf (which now looks nothing like the car Mavis used to drive around town once Salta and Scott were finished modifying it). Scott and his partner had a strong finish against some of the sports’ best drivers, including superstar Travis Pastrana.

Lenny vs. Lance UPDATE

Turns out Lenny was holding out on us yesterday. In his typically modest fashion, he failed to mention that while he raced against Lance on Wednesday, he’ll be racing with Lance on Sunday (along with another local badass, Max Taam). There aren’t too many people who can call themselves Lance’s teammate, especially when they’re from the US, they’re NOT a domestique and they ride a mountain bike.

Lenny was trying to keep all this on the DL so the pressure wouldn’t mount, but then Sari outed him on her blog and then Velo News picked up the story too. So much for Lenny’s nice, little laid back race with the 7-time Tour de France winner on his team. The question is, will Len get spoiled with his access to Lance’s mechanic, masseuse, bikes, supplements, etc. And, will Lance fuel up with Honey Stinger and their awesome new organic chews?

Good luck Lenny. We’ll be rooting for you. Check back on Monday for a full recap.

Lenny vs. Lance

Big Agnes co-owner, local mountain bike legend, and our downstairs office dweller, Len Zanni, got a little surprise at the final race in the Aspen local series last night: Lance Armstrong.

Lance has been hanging around the valley ever since his comeback performance at the Leadville 100 last month. He says he likes training at altitude and that “it’s pretty similar to European mountain towns,” but I hear the reason he’s hanging around is because he’s dating a local girl.

Anyway, Mr. Zanni lined up against Mr. Armstrong last night at the base of Smuggler Mtn for the 10 mile race. According to Zanni he was ahead of Lance for a while but he got blinded by all the paparazzi flashbulbs at the finish.

In the end, Lance beat Len by just 14 seconds. But, Len claimed the overall series title.

Lenny crawling up Lance's muffler

Lenny crawling up Lance's muffler

Read the full race report here (“Lance Strong-Arms Local Field”…the copy editor must be really proud of that headline in the Aspen Times).

I just found out I’ll be lining up against Lance at the 12 Hours of Snowmass on my single speed this weekend. At least the SS gives me the perfect excuse when Lance yells “Passing on Your Right” behind me. And I’ve got a secret weapon on my team, my wife.