Sunday, April 25, 2010
upgrade: reapplied for pending approval
No race report or stories until I receive word on my upgrade. . .
88 klicks of racing . . .
Well I had another interesting week that just ended. A strong build week, hectic week at work, awesome training on my loop setting a new fast time and some unfortunate news, all followed up by one kick ass Saturday racing.
With over 15 hours this week of training my are feeling a few recovery days coming up in anticipation of Wintergreen Ascent TT. On Thursday I had another opportunity to go take the day off and invited Chuck Hutch out for a ride on my training loop through Chantilly, Centreville and mainly through Clifton. Well that should be a separate story in and of itself but I ended up pulling him for about two hours until his legs felt good and my like garbage and him taking off the last twenty minutes. I tried to stay on his wheel as much as possible with him encouraging me to dig deep and this is where I needed to train, pushing the last few miles of a long ride. We did 51 miles in 2:20:27 with 21.9 mph average. We did run into Joe D. of Haymarket/Homevisit and Chuck introduced me to him as they joked I was competing in the Cat 5 world championships .
Which leads on the to unfortunate news. I a long with a teammate submitted for our upgrades Monday, with a very similar race resume, we both had nine, all the same races except for one which I did in a previous season. Well his was approved and mine was denied for lack of experience, although it wasn't mentioned I can only assume that was the reason because why else would a 5 to 4 upgrade be denied.
At first I bummed out, I am not going to lie, this is me being honest, as I was scheduled to race in the Farmersville Road Race this weekend as a Cat 4, a course that suited my riding style, hilling, very technical turns, and of course longer than a crit ;) . But as the saying goes when one door closes another opens, in this case two. I immediately got in contact with the race director and switched my entry to the later 11:35 Cat 5 race, he said no problem and did so.
This meant I got to sleep in an extra three hours before I had to make the trip to PA, sweet. But at looking at the confirmed riders page I saw the first race only had 34 riders in it. If figured if I drove up an hour earlier I could try to get into both races, would give me 11 total races, hopefully more than enough.
So off I went for the boring drive up there, and first time going solo to a race this season. I did have another teammate racing the first race and two in the second race and no real game plan except to have Lance do well in his race has it was his hometown.
I arrive, say hello to my teammates and register. The folks at registration were great, the understood my story and were more than happy to work with me. I was able to get into the early race as well for only four bucks more, not bad two races, 44k each for 40 something bucks. On top of that the weather was prefect up there, mid 60s, sunny, and a little breezy at the start but that died down by race time.
With no time to warm up and barely enough time to get kitted up make my way to the start area. There Luis finds myself and teammate Bob and tells us about the course, very technical turns and try keep away from the pack as there is a lot of braking, he also mentioned there was a guy who managed to get away but the course marshal directed him in the wrong way and he had to fight to come back.
Well off our race went, I could from the get go the turns were going to be interesting as the race started out with a tight right hand and then a left about a hundred meters down the road. Almost all of the turns were tight right handed turns, many in a chicane like fashion hitting the apex in one and setting yourself up the for the next was imperative to navigate this course correctly and efficiently. I start noticing after every turn I was gaping the group and they would have to sprint to catch back up or I would lighten up and the let them reel me in so I would burn myself out at the start of the race.
On the second lap I pickup the pace a bit and start hitting the turns even fast, and have a gap form of a few seconds. Well then there were more turns followed by a false flat into a head wind. I pick up my pace here and have a good lead on the pack, which for the most part is still together. Well I take the left turn and there is a course marshal a just down the road for the turn pointing for me to turn right, so I turn right. Before the first turn I could no longer see the lead car, it went off in the distance so I had to listen to the course marshal.
Well I know in the end is the riders the responsibility to know the course. Well it turns out I went off course. Over 4 tenths of a mile before I turned around and the trailing ref caught me and asked me what happened. I said the course marshal told me to turn. I can only imagine he thought I was one of the riders warming up on the course and wanted me out of the way as he could see the pack approaching the turn. At this point I didn't know what to think, should I case back, should I finish this lap and call it a race, should I just do a work out, I don't know.
I thought back to some advice or a story Chuck told me, it was about one his Cat 3 races. I think he said he got a flat, changed it, chased the group caught them and still won the race. I was thinking how bad ass would it be if I had a similar story, but in reality after being back almost a mile on a hilly course I didnt think even catching them was possible. I just start my time trial.
There were times where I was feeling like I could catch them, and there were times where I felt like I should sit up and just finish the race, I have my excuse I went off course. But I continued to bust my ass to try and catch the group. I started to see the trailing car at the start of the final lap. I picked my pace up and worked to get closer and closer, making up most of my time in the turns and keeping as aero as possible.
I caught up to the ref and let him know that I was the rider that went off course and I just caught back on. He was surprised he said thought I was done for. I worked my way though the group, trying to optimize my lines through the turns trying to get what little rest I could before the last mile which had some complex turns. I know in these I could get some distance and try and fight for a placing if only my legs had any energy left in them.
In the last kilo I was in the front, I was hitting my lines, and the last turn I hit it well, a sharp right turn, up hill and banked at the apex. Every one else took it wide and sprinted to catch up to me. At this point I get out of the saddle and into the drops and pick up my pace. With an up hill finish and the sprint to catch me the turn my goal was to wear them out before they could sprint for the finish.
Well there was one rider who was approaching on my left. He was a bigger guy making some massive power, his front wheel passed mine yet I kept pushing, I saw I was catching back up to him, I pushed until the line, gave it everything I could, missing first by what was probably just mere inches it felt like. Luis who watched the finish said had the race been a few more feet I would have taken it, oh well. I was just happy I was able to catch back on to the group and work my way up to contest the sprint, that part had me feeling the happiest, in a way my own personal victory.
The race was suppose to 26.95 miles, my first race was 27.77 miles, .82 mile handicap and still get second.
On to the second race, not as eventful. Lance helped me change out my number, and Luis was kind enough to give me some water out of his bottle as this race was suppose to start right after the finish. I told me story of the last race and all of the other racers in the second race just stared at me, they could tell I was exhausted and I told them I didnt have much left in me.
As the race started I stayed in the pack, infact at the back of it, just taking my own line through the turns as they slowed down I was able to keep with them. There were a couple surges but nothing too bad. I did end up making my way to the front a few times some how and again started to separate myself from them.
Most notably on the second lap shortly after the start of it, I had a good gap, then 6 riders bridged up to me, Lance being one of them. He encouraged up to work together to get it to last. We did, short pulls and sprinting up hills. At that point we pretty much shattered the pack as everyone attempted to sprint up to us, a few made it as I began to fall off. Two other guys and myself try to work together but some how in a downhill descent before the highway one of the guys goes off into the gravel. I am not sure how as he was behind me and not right on my wheel as I felt he was getting burnt out from the pace.
Soon enough the other guys fades as well and I am by myself. I have no clue where the rest of the field is, I know there at 6 guys in front of me. The next two laps again became a time trail. I get down and low and keep hammering. Every time I got out of the saddle my calves began to cramp and I could feel it in my quads as well.
I would look back every now and then for other riders, but no one, I was in no-mans land soloing between the break and pack. My only hope at this point was to hope some one would fade from the break away but with the race almost over I was happy with 7th.
In the last turn I was able to see 6th finishing and I just finished on my own. At my own pace, another great work out digging deep and earning another top 10 spot.
At the end I caught up with Lance who finished fifth and Bob, who dropped out because of cramping, I dont blame him as it was getting painful for myself. With a quick check of the official results I made my way home. 10 races so far this season, 11 total, hopefully enough experience to satisfy my requirement for my upgrade.
With over 15 hours this week of training my are feeling a few recovery days coming up in anticipation of Wintergreen Ascent TT. On Thursday I had another opportunity to go take the day off and invited Chuck Hutch out for a ride on my training loop through Chantilly, Centreville and mainly through Clifton. Well that should be a separate story in and of itself but I ended up pulling him for about two hours until his legs felt good and my like garbage and him taking off the last twenty minutes. I tried to stay on his wheel as much as possible with him encouraging me to dig deep and this is where I needed to train, pushing the last few miles of a long ride. We did 51 miles in 2:20:27 with 21.9 mph average. We did run into Joe D. of Haymarket/Homevisit and Chuck introduced me to him as they joked I was competing in the Cat 5 world championships .
Which leads on the to unfortunate news. I a long with a teammate submitted for our upgrades Monday, with a very similar race resume, we both had nine, all the same races except for one which I did in a previous season. Well his was approved and mine was denied for lack of experience, although it wasn't mentioned I can only assume that was the reason because why else would a 5 to 4 upgrade be denied.
At first I bummed out, I am not going to lie, this is me being honest, as I was scheduled to race in the Farmersville Road Race this weekend as a Cat 4, a course that suited my riding style, hilling, very technical turns, and of course longer than a crit ;) . But as the saying goes when one door closes another opens, in this case two. I immediately got in contact with the race director and switched my entry to the later 11:35 Cat 5 race, he said no problem and did so.
This meant I got to sleep in an extra three hours before I had to make the trip to PA, sweet. But at looking at the confirmed riders page I saw the first race only had 34 riders in it. If figured if I drove up an hour earlier I could try to get into both races, would give me 11 total races, hopefully more than enough.
So off I went for the boring drive up there, and first time going solo to a race this season. I did have another teammate racing the first race and two in the second race and no real game plan except to have Lance do well in his race has it was his hometown.
I arrive, say hello to my teammates and register. The folks at registration were great, the understood my story and were more than happy to work with me. I was able to get into the early race as well for only four bucks more, not bad two races, 44k each for 40 something bucks. On top of that the weather was prefect up there, mid 60s, sunny, and a little breezy at the start but that died down by race time.
With no time to warm up and barely enough time to get kitted up make my way to the start area. There Luis finds myself and teammate Bob and tells us about the course, very technical turns and try keep away from the pack as there is a lot of braking, he also mentioned there was a guy who managed to get away but the course marshal directed him in the wrong way and he had to fight to come back.
Well off our race went, I could from the get go the turns were going to be interesting as the race started out with a tight right hand and then a left about a hundred meters down the road. Almost all of the turns were tight right handed turns, many in a chicane like fashion hitting the apex in one and setting yourself up the for the next was imperative to navigate this course correctly and efficiently. I start noticing after every turn I was gaping the group and they would have to sprint to catch back up or I would lighten up and the let them reel me in so I would burn myself out at the start of the race.
On the second lap I pickup the pace a bit and start hitting the turns even fast, and have a gap form of a few seconds. Well then there were more turns followed by a false flat into a head wind. I pick up my pace here and have a good lead on the pack, which for the most part is still together. Well I take the left turn and there is a course marshal a just down the road for the turn pointing for me to turn right, so I turn right. Before the first turn I could no longer see the lead car, it went off in the distance so I had to listen to the course marshal.
Well I know in the end is the riders the responsibility to know the course. Well it turns out I went off course. Over 4 tenths of a mile before I turned around and the trailing ref caught me and asked me what happened. I said the course marshal told me to turn. I can only imagine he thought I was one of the riders warming up on the course and wanted me out of the way as he could see the pack approaching the turn. At this point I didn't know what to think, should I case back, should I finish this lap and call it a race, should I just do a work out, I don't know.
I thought back to some advice or a story Chuck told me, it was about one his Cat 3 races. I think he said he got a flat, changed it, chased the group caught them and still won the race. I was thinking how bad ass would it be if I had a similar story, but in reality after being back almost a mile on a hilly course I didnt think even catching them was possible. I just start my time trial.
There were times where I was feeling like I could catch them, and there were times where I felt like I should sit up and just finish the race, I have my excuse I went off course. But I continued to bust my ass to try and catch the group. I started to see the trailing car at the start of the final lap. I picked my pace up and worked to get closer and closer, making up most of my time in the turns and keeping as aero as possible.
I caught up to the ref and let him know that I was the rider that went off course and I just caught back on. He was surprised he said thought I was done for. I worked my way though the group, trying to optimize my lines through the turns trying to get what little rest I could before the last mile which had some complex turns. I know in these I could get some distance and try and fight for a placing if only my legs had any energy left in them.
In the last kilo I was in the front, I was hitting my lines, and the last turn I hit it well, a sharp right turn, up hill and banked at the apex. Every one else took it wide and sprinted to catch up to me. At this point I get out of the saddle and into the drops and pick up my pace. With an up hill finish and the sprint to catch me the turn my goal was to wear them out before they could sprint for the finish.
Well there was one rider who was approaching on my left. He was a bigger guy making some massive power, his front wheel passed mine yet I kept pushing, I saw I was catching back up to him, I pushed until the line, gave it everything I could, missing first by what was probably just mere inches it felt like. Luis who watched the finish said had the race been a few more feet I would have taken it, oh well. I was just happy I was able to catch back on to the group and work my way up to contest the sprint, that part had me feeling the happiest, in a way my own personal victory.
The race was suppose to 26.95 miles, my first race was 27.77 miles, .82 mile handicap and still get second.
On to the second race, not as eventful. Lance helped me change out my number, and Luis was kind enough to give me some water out of his bottle as this race was suppose to start right after the finish. I told me story of the last race and all of the other racers in the second race just stared at me, they could tell I was exhausted and I told them I didnt have much left in me.
As the race started I stayed in the pack, infact at the back of it, just taking my own line through the turns as they slowed down I was able to keep with them. There were a couple surges but nothing too bad. I did end up making my way to the front a few times some how and again started to separate myself from them.
Most notably on the second lap shortly after the start of it, I had a good gap, then 6 riders bridged up to me, Lance being one of them. He encouraged up to work together to get it to last. We did, short pulls and sprinting up hills. At that point we pretty much shattered the pack as everyone attempted to sprint up to us, a few made it as I began to fall off. Two other guys and myself try to work together but some how in a downhill descent before the highway one of the guys goes off into the gravel. I am not sure how as he was behind me and not right on my wheel as I felt he was getting burnt out from the pace.
Soon enough the other guys fades as well and I am by myself. I have no clue where the rest of the field is, I know there at 6 guys in front of me. The next two laps again became a time trail. I get down and low and keep hammering. Every time I got out of the saddle my calves began to cramp and I could feel it in my quads as well.
I would look back every now and then for other riders, but no one, I was in no-mans land soloing between the break and pack. My only hope at this point was to hope some one would fade from the break away but with the race almost over I was happy with 7th.
In the last turn I was able to see 6th finishing and I just finished on my own. At my own pace, another great work out digging deep and earning another top 10 spot.
At the end I caught up with Lance who finished fifth and Bob, who dropped out because of cramping, I dont blame him as it was getting painful for myself. With a quick check of the official results I made my way home. 10 races so far this season, 11 total, hopefully enough experience to satisfy my requirement for my upgrade.
Friday, April 23, 2010
new title and a reason why
Ever since I started this blog, which was originally for family and friends to keep up with and know the excitement that can go on in a race, I try to pass the feeling of the race on through words as best as I can describe and offer a little peak into the world of racing when it is you and 49 others making your way around a small course at high speeds with only millimeters of lycra protecting your skin from hitting the ground in a descent, sprint etc.
In the course of my writings I have been carried away with some of my feelings about how others ride. I am confident in my ability to handle a bike well, even though I have ridden for only two years this May 1st I have ridden just under 18,000 miles this includes time riding in the city in rush hour traffic to riding Skyline Drive or at training camp in the hills of West Virginia. This also includes riding in all types of weather, as a year round bike commuter I havent driven to work since July 13th 2008 and only 5 times between and when I first started May 1st 2008. Snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain, everything, I have ridden it all, the hottest day 102F and the coldest 0F.
I would like to apologize to my teammates, my team and our sponsors for any misrepresentation, ill publicity or any other negative attention I have brought to them. Yes this is the internet and I should feel free to write my feelings as I did toe the line and stand with an M16 after 9/11 to defend such freedoms but I also have the responsibility to everyone I race with to show them an equal respect as a cyclist.
I was recently told my upgrade to Cat 4 could have been denied because of a possibility that there were complaints lodged against me as a rider. I am not sure how true that is or if there is any weight that could be held to that statement, as others who I have raced with completed the same number of races as I have, to request and receive their upgrade in an extremely quick manner. If my racing style or my writing style has any affect I apologize for that as well. From now I will focus more on being more courteous and more sportsman like.
see you on the tarmac and keep the shiny side up.
-jeremy
In the course of my writings I have been carried away with some of my feelings about how others ride. I am confident in my ability to handle a bike well, even though I have ridden for only two years this May 1st I have ridden just under 18,000 miles this includes time riding in the city in rush hour traffic to riding Skyline Drive or at training camp in the hills of West Virginia. This also includes riding in all types of weather, as a year round bike commuter I havent driven to work since July 13th 2008 and only 5 times between and when I first started May 1st 2008. Snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain, everything, I have ridden it all, the hottest day 102F and the coldest 0F.
I would like to apologize to my teammates, my team and our sponsors for any misrepresentation, ill publicity or any other negative attention I have brought to them. Yes this is the internet and I should feel free to write my feelings as I did toe the line and stand with an M16 after 9/11 to defend such freedoms but I also have the responsibility to everyone I race with to show them an equal respect as a cyclist.
I was recently told my upgrade to Cat 4 could have been denied because of a possibility that there were complaints lodged against me as a rider. I am not sure how true that is or if there is any weight that could be held to that statement, as others who I have raced with completed the same number of races as I have, to request and receive their upgrade in an extremely quick manner. If my racing style or my writing style has any affect I apologize for that as well. From now I will focus more on being more courteous and more sportsman like.
see you on the tarmac and keep the shiny side up.
-jeremy
Sunday, April 18, 2010
It isn't a matter of if but a matter of when. . . that and people learn how to freaking corner
After yesterday I awoke with my legs feeling on empty, yesterday's pace really put a hurt in the legs and I tried anything I could to get them to recover some for a descent showing today, after we had an 8am Cat 5 race and the Cat 4/5 race at 2:15, our final Cat 5 race.
Luis arrives a few minutes late after having a random nose bleed and not getting it to stop. But after that we are on our way, it was chilly, mid 30s with surprisingly little wind. We arrive on time and start setting up and get registered.
You know I thought the Ipod printing off the registrations was neat that we had yesterday and thought we did a great job of hosting the event but man I really have to give it up to DC Velo, these guys put on a top notch program. The course was marked excellently, with 1km, 500m, 300m, 200m, 100m and i think 50m signs up the hill. Also they had every single little manhole spray painted with arrows leading up to them so you knew where they were. They had a tent with breakfast, for all racers, coffee, bagels, nutella, cream cheese, the works. Superb jobs guys.
With the wind staying calm I decided to put the deep section wheels on as I didnt have to worry about the wind as much today. I then get on the trainer for about 15 minutes just to get the blood flowing my legs were still feeling relatively numb and my HR was low, a sign that I could be exhausted, which I knew I was feeling from the moment I woke up. While on the trainer he I yelled over to Luis, 9 and 10, all we have to do is stay up right, he said yup, but I would love to get another top 5. Honestly I was thinking the same thing, it would pretty sweet but I knew there were some fresh legs and being a circuit race it wasnt suiting my long course style.
As we go to line up I caught up with a Matt from NCVC, I have talked with him at previous races and he said he has read the blog. I was joking with him how I just wanted to sit in and not do anything he kind of laughed it off as other times I have said that I always went off the front. Well the whistle was blown and the race was off. Luis attacked right off the line, I lead out the group keeping a cautious pace as I wasnt sure what Luis had in mind. We made our way around the course and as I was pushing on the pedals it seemed like my heart didnt want to respond, hard to describe but just wasnt feeling it.
As we rounded the course we came to the downhill part, again people part of the title learn how to corner, watch some freaking F1 races, rally car, ALMS, speed world challange, rolex, anything besides NASCRAP learn how to hit an apex of a turn.
So I was leading the race at this point, I had no problems as I was told that some people dont like to take this turn at speed or take it at the wrong angle. Well jesus people it doesnt take much rocket science for you to follow the man in front (me) who is obviously taking the turn the fastest as any one in our race. It honestly seemed like I was putting a gap into the field every time I took this turn and people would have to sprint to catch back up to me, no issues I was honestly wasnt trying anything today I just dont like wasting energy and time.
On the third lap I think it was, Matt Davis from NCVC goes off the front, the same guy that won yesterdays Chantilly crit, and he rides solo for a few laps until our teammate Lance decided to bridge up to him. We kept them in our sights for most of the race but Luis and I along with a couple other NCVC guys kept the field under control and letting them stay out there. There would be a few attempts but they would all get reeled back in within a lap.
So it comes down to the final lap, approaching the start of the lap my legs werent feeling it, every lap we had to do the climb they just werent putting out like they usually do and the entire field would pass me on the up hill as I would just take my time, although its kind of funny how I made my way back to front at the end of every lap for the turn.
Well the pace definitely picked up the last lap it felt like, we pretty much knew that Lance and Matt were away for the race and there was one other guy in a light blue jersey who tried to go off but couldnt last and we caught right before the turn.
At the start of the hill I watched Luis climb up the hill and make his way all the way up to third then all of the sudden I heard a crash. Well as I crested the hill I saw the silver seven laying on the ground and I could tell it was Luis' bike I got up there to see him laying on the ground. I put my bike on the curb, get his bike, and the other guys, as the medic and plenty of others had already surrounded the two laying on the ground.
After moving the bikes I make my way over there and Luis was getting checked out by the medic after saying his hit his head, and he wanted to be cautious not to move any more. He retained all of his feeling and we help him on his feet. We gather the bike and make our way back to the car slowly.
What I had heard from witnesses was this racer was spent and pretty much slammed his wheel in to Luis' rear triangle taking him out. Luis said all the sudden he felt only his front wheel on the ground and knew this wasnt going to be good so he just fell with it.
Upon inspection of his gear, the bike appeared to be ok except for scuffed saddle and brake lever. His helmet did its job and took most of the impact and busting, he did get some road rash on his arms, collar bone and I think he said hip.
As the old adage goes, it isn't a matter of if but a matter of when in racing. We hung around for the awards to see Lance get his second place trophy and then headed home shortly after. What a weekend, now just to submit my request for an upgrade which hopefully gets approved in time for Farmersville this weekend.
Luis arrives a few minutes late after having a random nose bleed and not getting it to stop. But after that we are on our way, it was chilly, mid 30s with surprisingly little wind. We arrive on time and start setting up and get registered.
You know I thought the Ipod printing off the registrations was neat that we had yesterday and thought we did a great job of hosting the event but man I really have to give it up to DC Velo, these guys put on a top notch program. The course was marked excellently, with 1km, 500m, 300m, 200m, 100m and i think 50m signs up the hill. Also they had every single little manhole spray painted with arrows leading up to them so you knew where they were. They had a tent with breakfast, for all racers, coffee, bagels, nutella, cream cheese, the works. Superb jobs guys.
With the wind staying calm I decided to put the deep section wheels on as I didnt have to worry about the wind as much today. I then get on the trainer for about 15 minutes just to get the blood flowing my legs were still feeling relatively numb and my HR was low, a sign that I could be exhausted, which I knew I was feeling from the moment I woke up. While on the trainer he I yelled over to Luis, 9 and 10, all we have to do is stay up right, he said yup, but I would love to get another top 5. Honestly I was thinking the same thing, it would pretty sweet but I knew there were some fresh legs and being a circuit race it wasnt suiting my long course style.
As we go to line up I caught up with a Matt from NCVC, I have talked with him at previous races and he said he has read the blog. I was joking with him how I just wanted to sit in and not do anything he kind of laughed it off as other times I have said that I always went off the front. Well the whistle was blown and the race was off. Luis attacked right off the line, I lead out the group keeping a cautious pace as I wasnt sure what Luis had in mind. We made our way around the course and as I was pushing on the pedals it seemed like my heart didnt want to respond, hard to describe but just wasnt feeling it.
As we rounded the course we came to the downhill part, again people part of the title learn how to corner, watch some freaking F1 races, rally car, ALMS, speed world challange, rolex, anything besides NASCRAP learn how to hit an apex of a turn.
So I was leading the race at this point, I had no problems as I was told that some people dont like to take this turn at speed or take it at the wrong angle. Well jesus people it doesnt take much rocket science for you to follow the man in front (me) who is obviously taking the turn the fastest as any one in our race. It honestly seemed like I was putting a gap into the field every time I took this turn and people would have to sprint to catch back up to me, no issues I was honestly wasnt trying anything today I just dont like wasting energy and time.
On the third lap I think it was, Matt Davis from NCVC goes off the front, the same guy that won yesterdays Chantilly crit, and he rides solo for a few laps until our teammate Lance decided to bridge up to him. We kept them in our sights for most of the race but Luis and I along with a couple other NCVC guys kept the field under control and letting them stay out there. There would be a few attempts but they would all get reeled back in within a lap.
So it comes down to the final lap, approaching the start of the lap my legs werent feeling it, every lap we had to do the climb they just werent putting out like they usually do and the entire field would pass me on the up hill as I would just take my time, although its kind of funny how I made my way back to front at the end of every lap for the turn.
Well the pace definitely picked up the last lap it felt like, we pretty much knew that Lance and Matt were away for the race and there was one other guy in a light blue jersey who tried to go off but couldnt last and we caught right before the turn.
At the start of the hill I watched Luis climb up the hill and make his way all the way up to third then all of the sudden I heard a crash. Well as I crested the hill I saw the silver seven laying on the ground and I could tell it was Luis' bike I got up there to see him laying on the ground. I put my bike on the curb, get his bike, and the other guys, as the medic and plenty of others had already surrounded the two laying on the ground.
After moving the bikes I make my way over there and Luis was getting checked out by the medic after saying his hit his head, and he wanted to be cautious not to move any more. He retained all of his feeling and we help him on his feet. We gather the bike and make our way back to the car slowly.
What I had heard from witnesses was this racer was spent and pretty much slammed his wheel in to Luis' rear triangle taking him out. Luis said all the sudden he felt only his front wheel on the ground and knew this wasnt going to be good so he just fell with it.
Upon inspection of his gear, the bike appeared to be ok except for scuffed saddle and brake lever. His helmet did its job and took most of the impact and busting, he did get some road rash on his arms, collar bone and I think he said hip.
As the old adage goes, it isn't a matter of if but a matter of when in racing. We hung around for the awards to see Lance get his second place trophy and then headed home shortly after. What a weekend, now just to submit my request for an upgrade which hopefully gets approved in time for Farmersville this weekend.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
You get out what you put in. . .
What a week... with two days off work; I met Chuck Hutch, and we did an awesome ride, set a new high hour FTP and was able to get in some nice hill repeats before work on Wednesday, all of which you can read about in previous postings. With all that done I took it easy Thursday on the way to work and Z3 on the way home, same with Friday except I had some leg openers planned for the afternoon.
Well Friday morning after getting to work my boss told me I needed to go to another site to go work on some servers. Well not only was it software but hardware, we ended up having to move quite a few severs and equipment around, not my idea of taking it easy but oh well. I am trying to find words to describe the ride home but am coming up short. The wind we have this weekend came in Friday afternoon, and I was headed southwest, well the wind was blowing from the southwest, it was a head wind the entire 18 miles home. There were times I had to check my wheels to see if a brake was rubbing or if i had a flat, it was horrible.
After getting home using more energy than I had planned my legs were actually exhausted. With a combination of hard riding all week and that ride this was definitely going to be a C weekend for me, just survive and be safe.
When the alarm went off this morning I hopped out of bed and did the routine, pretty much everything was ready just had to take it down to the car. My wife then told me she felt like she was having another kidney stone. This would be her 8th one, and third in the last 12 months. I asked if she wanted to go to the hospital but she declined saying we can go after the race if need be. Although she did tell me she wasnt going to be able to make the race because the pain was pretty damn bad. I was a little sad because this being a local race I wanted to see her and Christian there at the finish line, but I knew she was in a terrible amount of pain.
I arrive at the course at 6:30 so I can help setup and volunteer as our team was hosting this race. I helped with the setup and the first hour or so of registration, holly cow I never realized how hectic it is. I generally always try to make it to the table with everything ready but for some that doesnt seem to be a priority for most and the line grew very quickly as we had to wait for people to unscrew themselves.
After that I made it over to the car to start my warm up, planned on doing close to an hour or so but only managed 25 minutes after deciding to swap wheels and use my aluminum wheels with the Conti Supersonic tyres, mainly because of the wind and the deep section wheels being prone to getting blown around.
At the start it was Evo all up front, since we were hosting out title sponsor paid for our entry and we had 15 Evo riders in the cat 5 field, that was almost a third of the field right there, NCVC had a big presence along with WWVC with Nick Taylor. We've been keeping an eye on him lately as he has proven to always be there at the end.
We didnt have a real strategy in this race except to do well and with the wind and past experiences racing into the the wind no one really wants to do much work, everyone wants to sit in. This happened last week at Walkersville and odds were it was going to happen again today. I kept that in mind and let all of my teammates know that.
From the bell, horn, or whistle whatever the hell it was we were off. Luis off the front like a bat out of hell, he was saying he wanted to do well and he was certainly putting himself in a position to for that. One thing about this course, it is short, .85 miles and dead flat, 14ft of elevation gain per lap, this didnt suit our body style as most bigger guys can produce more raw watts than us which matter in this type of race. Also being so flat and short it is very rare for a breakaway to stick on this course especially in the Cat 5 since no one wants to work together.
Shortly after Luis took off I was up front, a little freaked out by the people riding next to me and not being able to judge their handling skills especially in turns I wanted to get the hell away from them. On the second lap I think, I cant remember I took off and caught up to Luis and passed him, he was exhausted after his lap. I spent the next 6 or so laps riding by myself, setting my own pace and taking my own lines at speeds I was comfortable with.
I was then caught by two NCVC guys and Luis who bridged the gap as well. The two NCVC guys and myself worked to keep the breakaway alive and I kept Luis in the back so he didnt have to tire himself in case he need to sprint. At one point one of the NCVC riders let a gap form from the lead and we had to sprint to catch back up, he was toast, used everything he had. From that point on we knew we had to work together for this to last. Later I was told it was Matt Davis who we riding with, the dude was a freaking power house. On the back straight with the tail wind he was crushing almost dropping us and then we would rotate every 20 seconds or so, Some how I usually ended up pulling down the front straight into the wind, never really getting a chance to recover.
As hard as I would try to take my lines through the turns Matt would always seem to be in front and I would have to slow down or not be able to hit the apex. Again it is crucial to always hit the apex people learn how to corner / turn what ever the hell you want to call it, read about how race car drivers drive. Time and energy can be saved in the turns it is crucial. After a couple close calls with Kristopher it came down to the last few laps.
My legs were burning with every pull but I knew if I didnt bust my ass out there and put in a good effort it would be all for naught. I used the same mindset at Walkersville last week, if you give it your all you will get results, it may take time and it may not be first or hell even top 10 but if you truly give it everything you have it will pay off. With that in mind we kept the breakaway alive.
In to the last turn Matt in front goes off and I standup to go after him trying to give Luis some sort of a lead out but he was gone before I knew it. Luis came around me and sprinted to catch him almost at the line but no dice he got second and I rolled across in third.
I was very satisfied with the result, and even happier that our breakaway lasted on a course we were told odds are it wont, I love being able to prove the normal wrong. Right now my legs are killing me and fatigued but that is all apart of the game.
With a quick look at the roster for Carl Dolan tomorrow it appears that there will be a lot of fresh legs and the forecast looks to be just as windy as today, should make for an interesting showing. With no real ambitions for tomorrow except to stay upright as my final weekend as a Cat 5 closes. I just hope my legs get in the car with me tomorrow.
Congrats Luis on your second place, I am glad you were able to hang in there as I was about to fall off myself.
Heather, I hope feel better and thank you for watching Christian this morning as you guys continue to put up with my obsession. Love you guys.
Well Friday morning after getting to work my boss told me I needed to go to another site to go work on some servers. Well not only was it software but hardware, we ended up having to move quite a few severs and equipment around, not my idea of taking it easy but oh well. I am trying to find words to describe the ride home but am coming up short. The wind we have this weekend came in Friday afternoon, and I was headed southwest, well the wind was blowing from the southwest, it was a head wind the entire 18 miles home. There were times I had to check my wheels to see if a brake was rubbing or if i had a flat, it was horrible.
After getting home using more energy than I had planned my legs were actually exhausted. With a combination of hard riding all week and that ride this was definitely going to be a C weekend for me, just survive and be safe.
When the alarm went off this morning I hopped out of bed and did the routine, pretty much everything was ready just had to take it down to the car. My wife then told me she felt like she was having another kidney stone. This would be her 8th one, and third in the last 12 months. I asked if she wanted to go to the hospital but she declined saying we can go after the race if need be. Although she did tell me she wasnt going to be able to make the race because the pain was pretty damn bad. I was a little sad because this being a local race I wanted to see her and Christian there at the finish line, but I knew she was in a terrible amount of pain.
I arrive at the course at 6:30 so I can help setup and volunteer as our team was hosting this race. I helped with the setup and the first hour or so of registration, holly cow I never realized how hectic it is. I generally always try to make it to the table with everything ready but for some that doesnt seem to be a priority for most and the line grew very quickly as we had to wait for people to unscrew themselves.
After that I made it over to the car to start my warm up, planned on doing close to an hour or so but only managed 25 minutes after deciding to swap wheels and use my aluminum wheels with the Conti Supersonic tyres, mainly because of the wind and the deep section wheels being prone to getting blown around.
At the start it was Evo all up front, since we were hosting out title sponsor paid for our entry and we had 15 Evo riders in the cat 5 field, that was almost a third of the field right there, NCVC had a big presence along with WWVC with Nick Taylor. We've been keeping an eye on him lately as he has proven to always be there at the end.
We didnt have a real strategy in this race except to do well and with the wind and past experiences racing into the the wind no one really wants to do much work, everyone wants to sit in. This happened last week at Walkersville and odds were it was going to happen again today. I kept that in mind and let all of my teammates know that.
From the bell, horn, or whistle whatever the hell it was we were off. Luis off the front like a bat out of hell, he was saying he wanted to do well and he was certainly putting himself in a position to for that. One thing about this course, it is short, .85 miles and dead flat, 14ft of elevation gain per lap, this didnt suit our body style as most bigger guys can produce more raw watts than us which matter in this type of race. Also being so flat and short it is very rare for a breakaway to stick on this course especially in the Cat 5 since no one wants to work together.
Shortly after Luis took off I was up front, a little freaked out by the people riding next to me and not being able to judge their handling skills especially in turns I wanted to get the hell away from them. On the second lap I think, I cant remember I took off and caught up to Luis and passed him, he was exhausted after his lap. I spent the next 6 or so laps riding by myself, setting my own pace and taking my own lines at speeds I was comfortable with.
I was then caught by two NCVC guys and Luis who bridged the gap as well. The two NCVC guys and myself worked to keep the breakaway alive and I kept Luis in the back so he didnt have to tire himself in case he need to sprint. At one point one of the NCVC riders let a gap form from the lead and we had to sprint to catch back up, he was toast, used everything he had. From that point on we knew we had to work together for this to last. Later I was told it was Matt Davis who we riding with, the dude was a freaking power house. On the back straight with the tail wind he was crushing almost dropping us and then we would rotate every 20 seconds or so, Some how I usually ended up pulling down the front straight into the wind, never really getting a chance to recover.
As hard as I would try to take my lines through the turns Matt would always seem to be in front and I would have to slow down or not be able to hit the apex. Again it is crucial to always hit the apex people learn how to corner / turn what ever the hell you want to call it, read about how race car drivers drive. Time and energy can be saved in the turns it is crucial. After a couple close calls with Kristopher it came down to the last few laps.
My legs were burning with every pull but I knew if I didnt bust my ass out there and put in a good effort it would be all for naught. I used the same mindset at Walkersville last week, if you give it your all you will get results, it may take time and it may not be first or hell even top 10 but if you truly give it everything you have it will pay off. With that in mind we kept the breakaway alive.
In to the last turn Matt in front goes off and I standup to go after him trying to give Luis some sort of a lead out but he was gone before I knew it. Luis came around me and sprinted to catch him almost at the line but no dice he got second and I rolled across in third.
I was very satisfied with the result, and even happier that our breakaway lasted on a course we were told odds are it wont, I love being able to prove the normal wrong. Right now my legs are killing me and fatigued but that is all apart of the game.
With a quick look at the roster for Carl Dolan tomorrow it appears that there will be a lot of fresh legs and the forecast looks to be just as windy as today, should make for an interesting showing. With no real ambitions for tomorrow except to stay upright as my final weekend as a Cat 5 closes. I just hope my legs get in the car with me tomorrow.
Congrats Luis on your second place, I am glad you were able to hang in there as I was about to fall off myself.
Heather, I hope feel better and thank you for watching Christian this morning as you guys continue to put up with my obsession. Love you guys.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
New FTP and hill repeats at 0430am
So just like Chuck said on Monday my upper body was going to be sore after all of the off road riding we did, I woke up not feeling 100%. I noticed my arms and back were a little tender and it took some time to get going as I needed to get a move on it to drop off my son at daycare and get a ride in before his dentist appointment.
I headed out shortly before 830 with overcast and 50F and knew I had to go quickly to get my 49 mile loop in and be ready to go at 1115. I didnt have much of a warm up just went out there and started spinning and riding, I was feeling good, hitting great times at all the usual points. I did start to feel some rain and knew if I continued this effort there was no way I could make my time as I would blow up, so I decided to cut my distance in half and do 24 miles which still has some decent rollers and usually takes me about 1:10 or so when I use that loop for leg openers before a race.
Well I hit the 19 mile mark at a record time, almost 2 full minutes quicker than previous efforts. As much as I wanted to coast after that I felt like I should keep pushing to get the most out of the workout. I kept going pushing hard and focusing on staying in pain. In the end I did the 24.2 miles in 1:02:58 with an average speed of 23mph, I think 4 minutes faster than I had ever done that loop before. At home I uploaded the data and check out the numbers and sure enough new 60 minute power record. I was pretty surprised as I was not rested, legs still were feeling it from the two climbs up Blue Mountain and my upper body was rather sore.
And then this morning I woke up early to get to work to make up for some time the past few days. I check out the HRM right before the ride, nice low HR, legs actually felt really good so off for work I went. I started out strong and just kept going, sprinting up the hills and then keeping the power on for the descent or for the flats then resting a bit before the next hill.
Then approaching my office park there is a nice hill that I have done hill repeats in the past on and figured I am feeling good and early so why not. I did five repeats and the last two were just painful but that is the point. After that there is still one more hill not as big but still a pain in the ass when just did repeats and I managed to push my self up that hill and kept the power on all the way to last 1/4 mile to my building.
Nothing to wake you up better than doing hill repeats at 0430 while most people are still sound asleep.
I headed out shortly before 830 with overcast and 50F and knew I had to go quickly to get my 49 mile loop in and be ready to go at 1115. I didnt have much of a warm up just went out there and started spinning and riding, I was feeling good, hitting great times at all the usual points. I did start to feel some rain and knew if I continued this effort there was no way I could make my time as I would blow up, so I decided to cut my distance in half and do 24 miles which still has some decent rollers and usually takes me about 1:10 or so when I use that loop for leg openers before a race.
Well I hit the 19 mile mark at a record time, almost 2 full minutes quicker than previous efforts. As much as I wanted to coast after that I felt like I should keep pushing to get the most out of the workout. I kept going pushing hard and focusing on staying in pain. In the end I did the 24.2 miles in 1:02:58 with an average speed of 23mph, I think 4 minutes faster than I had ever done that loop before. At home I uploaded the data and check out the numbers and sure enough new 60 minute power record. I was pretty surprised as I was not rested, legs still were feeling it from the two climbs up Blue Mountain and my upper body was rather sore.
And then this morning I woke up early to get to work to make up for some time the past few days. I check out the HRM right before the ride, nice low HR, legs actually felt really good so off for work I went. I started out strong and just kept going, sprinting up the hills and then keeping the power on for the descent or for the flats then resting a bit before the next hill.
Then approaching my office park there is a nice hill that I have done hill repeats in the past on and figured I am feeling good and early so why not. I did five repeats and the last two were just painful but that is the point. After that there is still one more hill not as big but still a pain in the ass when just did repeats and I managed to push my self up that hill and kept the power on all the way to last 1/4 mile to my building.
Nothing to wake you up better than doing hill repeats at 0430 while most people are still sound asleep.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Ditching work to go for a ride, you never know who you may end up riding with. . .
After going out to the Tyson's Corner Crit yesterday and looking at the course and then cursing myself for not signing up I wanted to ride some kind of bad yesterday. Weather was perfect, mid 70s little to no wind I am sure it would have been great except I had some other things to take care of. Anyways, congrats to Luis who got his win in an uphill battle to the finish with Nick, not sure of his last name but we have been in some races earlier in the season.
Well with a peek of the weather before bed I knew that the first part of the week was suppose to be very nice, add that to with not sleeping well, when the alarm went off at 4am I really didn't feel like getting ready to head to work and wanted to go for a ride instead. So back to bed I went for a few more hours of sleep and the got up and took Christian to daycare. I had planned on doing my regular Clifton loop but with this kind of weather I made the decision to put that off until tomorrow for a pre dentist ride. So I got everything ready to head out to Marshall to do my regular Naked Mountain / Mount Weather ride, hoping to go sub 3 hours solo...
Well after not leaving as early as I wanted I ended up arriving around 1030, it was starting to warm up and there was a light west wind, which meant a headwind out tailwind back. As arrived to the parking lot though I was looking to see if anyone else was there out for a ride on a perfect day as well. Well I noticed some one getting ready so I walked over to introduce myself and ask what route they were taking. I recognized the kit he was wearing, Batley Harley Davidson, I knew most of their riders Cat 2 and 3's so I ask him if he raced and what cat, we he did and replied Cat 1. He then went on to explain the route he was doing, a lot roads I was familiar with with some climbing, and about an hour longer than I had originally planned to be but thought what the hell this an opportunity to ride a top notch racer.
As we started down Rectortown Rd we started some small talk and he introduced himself as Chuck Hutcheson and went on to talk about his racing background as I asked questions and picked his brain. I am sure that it was getting annoying having a cat 5 n00b like myself ask all the questions I did, but he seemed totally cool about it. We ended up heading down Carrs (sp?) Rd which had a ton of a gravel, no idea how long it was but damn it was almost like rocks instead of gravel in some spots, but Chuck kept insisting that riding on this type of terrain would improve my bike handling and reaction skills as all of the big races have something similar to this.
We eventually made our way to Leeds Manor to head over Naked Mountain, down to 55 and over to Feezeland Rd to go up and over Blue Mountain. I had never been over this way, as the first 1.5s or so was going to be gravel on the descent with some hairpin turns. Going up the mountain the first time Chuck said that he wasnt that good of a climber and more of a crit guy he sure as hell could climb, but I suppose he wouldnt be a cat 1 if he wasnt above par in everything. Well I didnt want to go all out on this climb because we coming right back over it and he didnt either, the climb up was about 3.5 miles he said.
The descent down was quick the gravel wasnt too bad as I was getting more comfortable with my handling on such surfaces. And then the descent on pavement was awesome makes the climbs worth it. We stop at a store at the bottom to grab something to drink and eat, and after a few minutes we head back up the mountain. We started a little quicker as he said after this climb its pretty much downhill from there, we would just be taking an off road route that cross the Appalachian Trails at times.
Well Chuck set the pace pretty high going up and I was with him most of the way but then he just took off and I would try and hang and he would just pull away again as I would get closer there would be times where I was sitting and spinning and he standing and I would think I could catch him. As we approached the top he waited for me and said that he said no matter what he wasnt going to let a cat 5 beat him up that climb and then complimented that I can climb pretty well.
We then head down this grass, rock, dirt, rut filled, branches thrown all over the place, thorn vines road for the next 20 minutes or so. We had to jump a couple fences to make our way down there but I swear part of me thinks it was the longest 20 minutes of my life. He kept looking back to make sure I was still upright and would then ask me if I was having fun. I tell you what I was, it was scary as hell but it was an eye opening experience in handling skills. I mean he was flying down this hill just riding around huge rocks and boulders in the ground and I was following his trail. We eventually made our way down, we got to route 50 right at the bottom of route 601 which goes up Mount Weather.
With our climbing done we head down 50 to Paris and back over to Carrs rd. Again more gravel, yay. I was actually feeling very confident in my skills at this point. Even though I was cringing as I totally didnt have the right wheelset for this, riding carbon wheels, I had a good clip going then all of the sudden ppppssssssssssssssssssssss. Front flat after I hit a rock. Well Chuck offered to change it for me and did a hell of a job in a very fast time.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful as we headed back to Marshall and he kept giving me pointers and sharing his experiences in racing. Truly awesome, one of the best rides I have done and right up there with training camp.
Heh the interesting thing is, he actually heard of my blog, not sure if he read it though but hey, just pretty cool how quickly the word can spread in a couple weeks. Well Chuck it was nice riding with you today and thanks again for putting up with all of my questions, hope to see you on the tarmac.
Well with a peek of the weather before bed I knew that the first part of the week was suppose to be very nice, add that to with not sleeping well, when the alarm went off at 4am I really didn't feel like getting ready to head to work and wanted to go for a ride instead. So back to bed I went for a few more hours of sleep and the got up and took Christian to daycare. I had planned on doing my regular Clifton loop but with this kind of weather I made the decision to put that off until tomorrow for a pre dentist ride. So I got everything ready to head out to Marshall to do my regular Naked Mountain / Mount Weather ride, hoping to go sub 3 hours solo...
Well after not leaving as early as I wanted I ended up arriving around 1030, it was starting to warm up and there was a light west wind, which meant a headwind out tailwind back. As arrived to the parking lot though I was looking to see if anyone else was there out for a ride on a perfect day as well. Well I noticed some one getting ready so I walked over to introduce myself and ask what route they were taking. I recognized the kit he was wearing, Batley Harley Davidson, I knew most of their riders Cat 2 and 3's so I ask him if he raced and what cat, we he did and replied Cat 1. He then went on to explain the route he was doing, a lot roads I was familiar with with some climbing, and about an hour longer than I had originally planned to be but thought what the hell this an opportunity to ride a top notch racer.
As we started down Rectortown Rd we started some small talk and he introduced himself as Chuck Hutcheson and went on to talk about his racing background as I asked questions and picked his brain. I am sure that it was getting annoying having a cat 5 n00b like myself ask all the questions I did, but he seemed totally cool about it. We ended up heading down Carrs (sp?) Rd which had a ton of a gravel, no idea how long it was but damn it was almost like rocks instead of gravel in some spots, but Chuck kept insisting that riding on this type of terrain would improve my bike handling and reaction skills as all of the big races have something similar to this.
We eventually made our way to Leeds Manor to head over Naked Mountain, down to 55 and over to Feezeland Rd to go up and over Blue Mountain. I had never been over this way, as the first 1.5s or so was going to be gravel on the descent with some hairpin turns. Going up the mountain the first time Chuck said that he wasnt that good of a climber and more of a crit guy he sure as hell could climb, but I suppose he wouldnt be a cat 1 if he wasnt above par in everything. Well I didnt want to go all out on this climb because we coming right back over it and he didnt either, the climb up was about 3.5 miles he said.
The descent down was quick the gravel wasnt too bad as I was getting more comfortable with my handling on such surfaces. And then the descent on pavement was awesome makes the climbs worth it. We stop at a store at the bottom to grab something to drink and eat, and after a few minutes we head back up the mountain. We started a little quicker as he said after this climb its pretty much downhill from there, we would just be taking an off road route that cross the Appalachian Trails at times.
Well Chuck set the pace pretty high going up and I was with him most of the way but then he just took off and I would try and hang and he would just pull away again as I would get closer there would be times where I was sitting and spinning and he standing and I would think I could catch him. As we approached the top he waited for me and said that he said no matter what he wasnt going to let a cat 5 beat him up that climb and then complimented that I can climb pretty well.
We then head down this grass, rock, dirt, rut filled, branches thrown all over the place, thorn vines road for the next 20 minutes or so. We had to jump a couple fences to make our way down there but I swear part of me thinks it was the longest 20 minutes of my life. He kept looking back to make sure I was still upright and would then ask me if I was having fun. I tell you what I was, it was scary as hell but it was an eye opening experience in handling skills. I mean he was flying down this hill just riding around huge rocks and boulders in the ground and I was following his trail. We eventually made our way down, we got to route 50 right at the bottom of route 601 which goes up Mount Weather.
With our climbing done we head down 50 to Paris and back over to Carrs rd. Again more gravel, yay. I was actually feeling very confident in my skills at this point. Even though I was cringing as I totally didnt have the right wheelset for this, riding carbon wheels, I had a good clip going then all of the sudden ppppssssssssssssssssssssss. Front flat after I hit a rock. Well Chuck offered to change it for me and did a hell of a job in a very fast time.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful as we headed back to Marshall and he kept giving me pointers and sharing his experiences in racing. Truly awesome, one of the best rides I have done and right up there with training camp.
Heh the interesting thing is, he actually heard of my blog, not sure if he read it though but hey, just pretty cool how quickly the word can spread in a couple weeks. Well Chuck it was nice riding with you today and thanks again for putting up with all of my questions, hope to see you on the tarmac.
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