Aug 31, 2026
5 month after surgery i finally start pushing a bit endurance training on the weekend. Cool about it .. being triggered by a cool double century training ride from 2025 I wanted to see if I am ready to do that again. So a year ago I did 200 miles on a Saturday followed by 130 miles on Sunday. I decided to push for a 200 mile ride on Saturday but weather changed the strategy. Heavy thunderstorms with lightning made me stop and cancel the ride. I had to give it a few hours and started again completing 131 miles. Due to weather again I had to switch after 131 miles from my TT bike to indoor trainer bike on my lanai. Not worth the risk in a heavy thunderstorm. Still … my second ride on Saturday was 100 miles getting me two solid centuries. However I admit the second ride was tough and I had some issues that required lots of drinking to make sure I stay hydrated. After the 231 miles on Saturday I was not sure if I could even ride on Sunday. Woke up later than planned hitting the road shortly after 3am. Crazy as is … warmed up ok and joined the Sunday morning ride group for 40 miles after 65 miles solo. Finished the ride going home solo with total Sunday ride of 114 miles. Thats a crazy 345 miles on a 2 day weekend. Ok … average speed was not impressive. But I was able to make it showing my endurance level is ok again. Power and therefore speed still requires work. But 5 month after surgery I am on the right track. Important info … any cycling coach would tell me that what I have done is not efficient. And I fully agree. But I enjoyed and had fun. Its a hobby and I do not make money. I only want to get my power back somehow even I am well over 60 and was down for a bit too long for my liking. So I have my own strategy trying to pay attention how my body responds to certain situations. The Sunday 231 miles was important to me because I wanted to test myself in a safe way for a long ride to prepare for 24 hours. Thats why a mix of road and trainer ride. Today (Sunday) was done based on how I felt and how my legs responded to Saturdays abuse. Am I ready for the 24 hour race? Mhhhh as ready as possible during the recovery process. I do not expect to do the 400+ miles on that race yet but 350+ shall be doable. It would take me another 2-3 month to get back in shape. The races I do this year is more like training races and not serious ultra-distance racing yet.
Aug 24, 2026
Great milestone on my recovery. Since End March surgery this was the first weekend that I could pull off two centuries on a weekend on road bike on the road. I was able to mix road and stationary trainer bike but always afraid of being strong enough to do a Sunday century after Saturday and a test did proof I was not ready before this weekend. Cool thing … Saturday was my longest ride on road bike since surgery and performance was better than last two weekends. And for Sunday ride I joined a group ride after 45 miles solo and finished with a few more solo miles. It was cool 40 miles with the group and glad I pushed for that challenge. Feels like a good step forward. Average speed still far away from my performance before surgery but its improving. Biggest holdback is pain in left thigh muscle because that a bit damaged. Step by step I am preparing for an interesting test 24 hour race. There is one more big test before that race but after this weekend I am a bit more positive that I can manage it.
Aug 17, 2026
What is my current motivation for cycling training and racing? Crazy as is … After having the broken hip/leg plus issues with blood circulations and proper surgeries I got an ok from all my doctors to do my training. In addition, we got the announcement that lots of ultra-distance races are on pause until end 2027. OK ... I started training on my HPV an on stationary trainer bike. It’s seriously tough to stay motivated since I still have muscle issues in left thigh and it’s hard to get up early morning for a training ride on weekends. I had to consider stopping racing completely or find proper motivation. Cool thing … a few weeks ago I did sign up for a bit race in 2027 … Race Around Poland. It’s over 2200 miles and I will do it again solo self-supported … That’s a good way to stay cost efficient for me. As many may have realized since November 2024, I do all my racing self-supported since I am not wealthy enough to cover cost for support crew and I want to show it’s doable. I hope some of the adjustments on races going forward will include also self-supported options. Having signed up for Poland in 2027 means I have a new target to work for. It’s almost like 2022 after the hit and run putting me down a while and I start training for RAAM Solo 2023. I can reflect a bit to my training I have done in 2022 and 2023. In addition, I start signing up for some races to use them as training races. Funny about it … I purchased an HPV (Human Powered Vehicle) - the Velomobile Bulk Distance. Did a 12-hour race with it to test my condition. Cool thing with the HPV … it has 3 wheels and is safer for me to ride since I am laying in it and cannot fall. So funny as is for 2026 I have 2 races scheduled for the HPV and one for my regular race bike. Right now, training is on regular race bike since I am planning to do 24 hours on it in September. It means full focus on that. In addition, I made a few adjustments on the HPV and tested those. Once the September race is done, I am planning to shift training mostly to the HPV. My bicycle fleet may get reduced this year. Main reason is to keep an eye on the bikes I am using. Most likely I will use my Madone allrounder and my backup Emonda bike. The Emonda setup for climbing and my Speed concept may have to go. Self-supported racing does not offer much of an option sitting bikes since there is no crew handing it to me at specific spots. Poland in 2025 I dod on the Madone and plan to do the same again. If participating in 12/24 hour racing the Madone shall be ok even it’s not perfect in flat land routes. With reduced fleet and focus on Poland I am sure it will be an exciting time for 2026 and 2027. Not getting younger means I may have to re-adjust my goals ongoing anyway … and the goal for June/July is far out already. What training races are planned for 2026? I am signed up for the 24 hours Georgia TT on my regular race bike. In October I will try the Psycho48 on my HPV and in November the Sebring 24 hours on my HPV as well. Also 2027 is tough since I like to use the Longhorn500 race as preparation race … That’s not happening now, so I have plans to possibly move myself for a few weeks to Helen GA area and stay at the campground there for good climbing preparation for Poland. I may have to see to get to Europe a few weeks before the race in Poland to train those climbing sections because some of them as seriously tough (up to 20% steep). Ohhhh … I added last weekend training pictures … my biggest issue now is to get up earlier morning and get on the road for endurance training. Must work on that myself a bit. Issue is not to do the ride on the road by itself. Issue is because after the rides I may get a bit dizzy and need to lay down for recovery, so I still mix a bit road and stationary trainer rides to keep it safe … and if I feel odd in a training ride … I just stop and sit down a while.
Jul 31, 2026
Race Report Ingolf at 12-hour Mid-West Time Trial in Ohio (Part 4/4) I took everything possible and start pushing as hard as I could to gain enough additional miles. Changed my watch settings to time so I would know when to get the phone out for a picture of the Garmin 1040 data (with timer and milage on screen). First thought 225 miles (362km) would be ok but I gained speed a bit again. After a bit I noticed it’s going to be over 228 miles (367km) and I realized a minor descent helping me to gain speed again. Was almost hoping for 230 miles (370) but ran a bit short. After 11 hours, 59 minutes and 31 seconds I took a picture of 229.70 miles (369.7km). OK the last 29 seconds may have put me on 229.9 miles (19.14 mph/30.8km/h average speed) or even 230 miles (370km), but I was happy as it was. I knew it was another 7.5 miles (12km) to the finish line (total miles about 237.22 / 382km), and I relaxed a little bit. Still could not slow down much because I start running into a situation to need a bathroom stop. I made it after almost 12 hours 30 minutes to finish the lap 12 with 229.7 miles (369.7km) for the 12 hours. It was an emotional moment to me. I moved off the road and stopped next to the porter potty. It was my first stop during the race so 12 hours 30 minutes with zero stops. That was a new experience for me. I got slowly out of my Velomobile holding onto the velo plus my cane. My left leg was very shaky, and I had no intend to fall. Waited a bit for help and was very thankful for Katarina come helping me to walk up on the trailer where the porter potty was placed. Once I finished, we together moved the velo to my car that was not far away. I handed my phone with the pictured to Giovanny who turned it in to the race organizers. I had to sit down for a moment and walked with some help to time keeping spot. Admitting that I almost had wet eyes because that was my first attempt in the Velomobile and first time that long and that distance since my hip/leg surgery. Oh … I checked the next longest distance … and it was 228.94 miles (368.4km) … I am glad I kept pushing. Also, for those wondering … My physical therapist and orthopedic specialist knew I would do it. Not the smartest Idea while in process of recovery but I kept everything like pain level and a few other things under control and if it would have been too much, I would have stopped as I did before. Distance for an HPV may not be much for many but for me it was amazingly cool to get that done already.
Jul 30, 2026
Race Report Ingolf at 12-hour Mid-West Time Trial in Ohio (Part 3/4) Finished first loop ok and was surprised to see that I did ok on time about 52 minutes. Cool thing was I kept the pace going consistent for about 3 laps between 52 and 53 minutes. Unfortunate after 60 miles (96km) my power and therefore speed dropped a bit. I did use water and some soda for drinking and minor sandwiches for food. Reminded myself to drink about every 30 minutes. Mostly water and after 4 laps I start adding soda on every other lap and last 3 laps a soda on every lap. Opening soda cans was an interesting experience while riding, steering and making sure I could use the breaks if needed. Empty soda cans and water bottles I moved behind my seat to make sure they are not rolling around in the mid/front section since I did not want them in the way of my feet. That was a cool experience allowing me to learn for future races with HPV. Power level for laps 4-6 was still below the one-hour mark. That was good for that moment, so I was able to pull about 130 miles (209km) total in the first 6 hours. I gained hope for a distance at least 240-250 miles (386-402km). However, after lap 6 I lost power. Food and drinking did not cover it. My leg was hurting a bit. Not too bad but I had issues and noticed that I must cut power input a bit. In addition, I ran into traffic issues. There is a stop and right turn onto one state road and required full attention since cars came driving fast. It meant full stops often and accelerate from zero … one of the downsides of HPVs. My lap time went from below an hour to one hour 4-6 minutes. I stayed with my strategy to stay as steady as possible on my power inputs. Tried to not push pain level to high. After lap 9 I realized the 12 laps for the 12 hours is not going to work. Start calculating a bit and considered to stop right after lap 11. It’s a bit of a mental game. I was fighting my pain, lack of power and …. I have not stopped at all. I decided if I have only 15-20 minutes left I may ride it to 220 miles (354km) only and turn around to start finish just to have an official 220 miles (354km) in the books. I kept focusing to monitor pain and get the best out of it using every little descent to gain speed that I would loose on the following elevation rise but saving me to add too much power. Again … elevation rise is bad for those HPV’s because you must push more weight upwards. I noticed after I finished lap 11 with about 45-50 minutes left.
