and I am ready to put a stamp on winter. I survived. Yep, I was able to keep up with my training regime without any major misses in workouts. Last was the only week that I missed a couple workouts. One 4 hour endurance ride and a shorter endurance ride but I hit all my hard interval workouts.
This weekend I will test my legs down in Kansas at the Perry Dam race. The plan is to get down there early for the Master's race and then ride the Cat 1/2/3 race. I believe I am ready to do this race. The distance is no problem with the Master's race being only 20 miles followed by the 30 mile Category race. I am a bit worried about the hill. Just the one hill to the dam but we hit it once every 5 mile lap. I can sit here an tell ya that it is only a training race but if I don't do well it will affect(effect?) my mood. I am not going to taper for this race either. Tomorrow is a long endurance ride.
Let the road racing begin!!
Friday, March 1, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Celebration & Spring Fever
I am having a little celebration today. I have my weight down to 175lbs, Yay! This is a goal that I set for myself 2 years ago. Finally, I am there... Yay!!
I am getting spring fever too. Mostly because I am anxious to see if I have lost any of my speed on the bike.
I am getting spring fever too. Mostly because I am anxious to see if I have lost any of my speed on the bike.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
EVCC Weekend - June 2nd, 3rd
I had so much fun last weekend. It was great to see many of my teammates from all over the state up in Norfolk to race and to help put on such a fantastic two days of racing.
Saturday, I made an early drive up to Maskentine Lake to help with the Mtb race. I didn't help much. I spent most of the morning walking the course with Dennis. We walked most of the course stopping at some of the more interesting technical sections e.g. the man made berm, and the "Rock Garden". I should have brought a bike to ride it.
After the Mtb race, a few of us got together for a easy ride in the country side around Norfolk. For the most part it was a social ride only flexing our speed from time to time. It was perfect, not to hard or easy.
Luckily I got to stay at Karen's and Dan's place. Dinner was nice and later helped with registration. I blame Dan for any issues with the Bib numbers. :)
Sunday was all about the Criterium in downtown Norfolk. Up at 5:30, then I downed some breakfast and coffee, which magically appeared in the kitchen, then off to the crit course to help with setup. I had the dubious honor of sweeping the course. Spent most of the time sweeping turn 2. There was sand all over. Jerry and I spent a good 1/2 hr with push brooms sweeping it off the course.
more to come...
Monday, May 21, 2012
Crit, Crit, and another Crit?
Why do so many crits? Because I can? Because it is good training? More endurance for a 3 day stage race?
After this weekend I am questioning my reasoning for doing so many criteriums in a weekend. This weekend it was 3 crits (technically one was a circuit race) and last weekend it was 4 crits. No stellar performances from either weekend.
I won't go into much detail but I was actually happy with my riding in Des Moines 2 weekend ago. On a flat 1.5 circuit race, I was able to stay with the pack 'till the end. When it came to the sprint I finish down the result list. With half a lap to go, I was way out position. I had a lot of work to do to even think about a sprint finish. I was able to get into position but the legs were not primed for a sprint.
Later that Saturday, I competed in the Cat 1/2/3 race, same course for 75 minutes. It was fast and fun. Once the race started all the fatigue I thought I had, from the previous race, went away. It was like a whole new day. At the end if the race, I was with the bunch for a big field sprint. Just looking to get around the corner safely. No legs or nerves to sprint, with plenty of people easily riding past. I didn't stand up to attack the sprint.
Sunday, it was a hilly crit and again 2 crits that day. Well, the crit had only one major hill. I pulled the plug halfway through the Cat 3/4 which was the first race. The second race the Cat 2's Masters got off the front and I was by myself. I am actually happy with this race. I kept plugging away like I was the lead rider being chased by the pack. Eventually, a couple other riders bridged to me and only one of them could hang onto my wheel. He was able to get the better of me on the uphill sprint by a wheel. In the end he was the only Cat 3 to beat me in the Master's race everyone else was a Cat 2.
This past weekend. Happy to be with the pack but not able to finish strong. I did the masters race at 1:15pm Saturday. I had thoughts of not doing this race but talked myself into it. More training and a better chance of doing well by doing this race. Also, I had planned to not go hard and save myself for the main event, the 3s race. The race started fast. Everyone was together until the first prime. That is where the first bunch got away. On the next sprint Brady got away. I expected that. So I spent the next couple laps trying to bridge up to Brady. My first attack was hard an fast. I got away for awhile but was reeled by the chase group. I had one last hard effort to hang with the pack. Recovered, I tried to get away. This time more of a sustained effort. I stayed there for a few laps. I felt the speed was good and I like being on the front out of trouble. Two laps to go, I had one last dig to do something. I should have talked to Kevin Murry because he was on the front of the group about to do something. I went flying by and signaled for him to delay the "Murry Fury". There was no getting away from the group. I dropped off an finished outside the bunch sprint.
The next race was the Cat 1/2/3 race combined. I was hoping for a 3 only race. Got off to a good start at the whistle. I was right in the mix hanging out with the pack. I was hanging tough until a wreck happened in front of me. I could write a whole blog on this but the memories of my last high speed crash went through my head. Luckily I was close to the grassy center median. I missed hitting anyone. Then looked back to see others crashing from behind. Robert Greigg and Jon Vondracek suffered the most damage to their bodys. Found out later that John V. broke his shoulder blade and some ribs. Robert G had a type 1 shoulder seperation. All painful stuff. My bike was ok. My right brake lever was pushed in but otherwise fine. I was with the main pack nearly to the end but through some in attention got out the draft. I had no motivation to get back onto the group.
Sunday, another combined 1/2/3 race. Pioneers park GP, which has a hill that usually seperates who is strong and who is not so strong. I seemed to climb the hill pretty well. It was hard work yet I was able to get recovered before the next time up it. Last lap, I hit the bottom of the hill in good position on the outside of the turn. The hill is less steep on the left side but more exposed to the wind. I was hoping that someone else in front of me would take the same line. Not much help there. Granted there were about 8 people up the road so wee were sprinting for 9th.. With good speed to the top, I let off the gas as the hill flattened. I let at least 2 other riders easily pass me.
Wow a little more race description that I thought I had in me. Maybe some analysis next blog
After this weekend I am questioning my reasoning for doing so many criteriums in a weekend. This weekend it was 3 crits (technically one was a circuit race) and last weekend it was 4 crits. No stellar performances from either weekend.
I won't go into much detail but I was actually happy with my riding in Des Moines 2 weekend ago. On a flat 1.5 circuit race, I was able to stay with the pack 'till the end. When it came to the sprint I finish down the result list. With half a lap to go, I was way out position. I had a lot of work to do to even think about a sprint finish. I was able to get into position but the legs were not primed for a sprint.
Later that Saturday, I competed in the Cat 1/2/3 race, same course for 75 minutes. It was fast and fun. Once the race started all the fatigue I thought I had, from the previous race, went away. It was like a whole new day. At the end if the race, I was with the bunch for a big field sprint. Just looking to get around the corner safely. No legs or nerves to sprint, with plenty of people easily riding past. I didn't stand up to attack the sprint.
Sunday, it was a hilly crit and again 2 crits that day. Well, the crit had only one major hill. I pulled the plug halfway through the Cat 3/4 which was the first race. The second race the Cat 2's Masters got off the front and I was by myself. I am actually happy with this race. I kept plugging away like I was the lead rider being chased by the pack. Eventually, a couple other riders bridged to me and only one of them could hang onto my wheel. He was able to get the better of me on the uphill sprint by a wheel. In the end he was the only Cat 3 to beat me in the Master's race everyone else was a Cat 2.
This past weekend. Happy to be with the pack but not able to finish strong. I did the masters race at 1:15pm Saturday. I had thoughts of not doing this race but talked myself into it. More training and a better chance of doing well by doing this race. Also, I had planned to not go hard and save myself for the main event, the 3s race. The race started fast. Everyone was together until the first prime. That is where the first bunch got away. On the next sprint Brady got away. I expected that. So I spent the next couple laps trying to bridge up to Brady. My first attack was hard an fast. I got away for awhile but was reeled by the chase group. I had one last hard effort to hang with the pack. Recovered, I tried to get away. This time more of a sustained effort. I stayed there for a few laps. I felt the speed was good and I like being on the front out of trouble. Two laps to go, I had one last dig to do something. I should have talked to Kevin Murry because he was on the front of the group about to do something. I went flying by and signaled for him to delay the "Murry Fury". There was no getting away from the group. I dropped off an finished outside the bunch sprint.
The next race was the Cat 1/2/3 race combined. I was hoping for a 3 only race. Got off to a good start at the whistle. I was right in the mix hanging out with the pack. I was hanging tough until a wreck happened in front of me. I could write a whole blog on this but the memories of my last high speed crash went through my head. Luckily I was close to the grassy center median. I missed hitting anyone. Then looked back to see others crashing from behind. Robert Greigg and Jon Vondracek suffered the most damage to their bodys. Found out later that John V. broke his shoulder blade and some ribs. Robert G had a type 1 shoulder seperation. All painful stuff. My bike was ok. My right brake lever was pushed in but otherwise fine. I was with the main pack nearly to the end but through some in attention got out the draft. I had no motivation to get back onto the group.
Sunday, another combined 1/2/3 race. Pioneers park GP, which has a hill that usually seperates who is strong and who is not so strong. I seemed to climb the hill pretty well. It was hard work yet I was able to get recovered before the next time up it. Last lap, I hit the bottom of the hill in good position on the outside of the turn. The hill is less steep on the left side but more exposed to the wind. I was hoping that someone else in front of me would take the same line. Not much help there. Granted there were about 8 people up the road so wee were sprinting for 9th.. With good speed to the top, I let off the gas as the hill flattened. I let at least 2 other riders easily pass me.
Wow a little more race description that I thought I had in me. Maybe some analysis next blog
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Joe Martin Stage Race
The previous 2 years I have done cat 3 but this year I raced in the Mens Master's A race which includes categories 1 thru 4. When your a cat 3 it is a toss up on which group to race with. You can ride with Masters A or your Category. Matt O'Donnell signed up for the Master's A so I thought I would give it a shot too.
In the time trial, I was just looking to impove my time. I am riding better this year but I didn't think I could improve 2 minutes to crack the top 10 riders. The goal was simple - ride hard ride fast for 2.5 miles uphill. Last year, a lot of other riders passed me. Talk about de-motivating. This year was different..I didnt catch my 30sec guy but didn't get passed either. Looking at the TT results I was close the slowest time of all the riders. Bummer! On the bright side my time was ~:45sec faster.
The road race I faired better. Like the previous years, the first time I hit "the wall" I didn't have the strength to stay with the leaders. This "wall" is a stretch of road on a 15% grade and I'm guessing about 400meters in length. It is like a huge kidney punch. It can knock you to your knees all by itself or soften you up for the next hill to take you down. Luckily I was not the only one that fell off the lead group. Initially there were 3 riders with me but the group grew in size to about 10 riders. Including Matt O'Donnell from team Kaos. This was the chase group. I felt like one of the stronger riders with this group. I tried several times to go with a break or get one going. I couldn't get away. Sometimes, I got on the front to do some long hard pulls. The group stayed right behind me. Matt told me to get off the front because I was giving the rest a free ride.
With 5k to go there were a couple attempts to break away to the finish. They were brought back. The action started a good 1k to go with the finish visible in the distance. I was on the front just keeping tempo and waiting. If someone attacked, I rode hard to get on his wheel. Then I would grab a quick rest in the slipstream. After a couple more short lived attacks came a stong effort from a OKC rider. He was on the other side of the road. It was so strong and close to the finish... I thought this is the one to get a good result from the bunch sprint. Inside the finish line barracades (barracades - thats so pro), someone else got a good jump. There was no way I could catch him. I resigned myself to second. Then another guy edged me out for second so I got 3rd. I 'll take it. Note: Even though we were the chase group, we finished the road race faster than the lead group of Cat 3s.
The crit was a hard battle too. I was looking to hang on to the group. The one obstacle to that was a short punchy hill. The finish line was right on top of this hill. The rest of the course was mostly downhill with a slightly uphill section leading to the finish line hill. The game plan was work hard on the hill to stay with the group and recover as much as possible the rest of the course. The first 10minutes were torture. I was still in the group but remember hearing 23minutes to go. 23minute?? I thought that I wasn't going to survive this. I don't know when but they switched from time to counting down the laps to go. In my mental state, 6 laps to go was easier to swallow. Down to 2 laps and having a hard time staying with the group. I was thinking to myself - "come on you can do anything for 5 minutes, sometimes twice" The speed was much higher now. Just one more hill to survive then I would be with the group on the final lap. I did it!!! I was already happy with myself. Then I heard Jordan Ross yell for me to move up. It was the perfect time for me to do it too. On the downhill section, there was a gap growing just behind the top 5 riders. I powered to make that gap before the left hand turn at the bottom. The group took the two bottom turns into the slight uphill section. I was able to get a good draft before the final climb. I climbed that hill on shear adrenaline and finished the crit 11th. I am good with that too!!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Race Predictor?
I signed up for the Tour D'Husker race this weekend and after I went to the "View Registrants" to see the other riders that signed up for the race. The page also has a "Race Predicator" link... it shows me 2nd for the Masters Crit and 4th for the 1/2/3 RR. As more and more people signed up, I started dropping in the list. Now, the predictor shows that I am in 12th on the RR. I don't know if I like this "Feature". Some silly programmer thinks that they can predict the outcome of a race. Here is a code review for your program, you logic is all wrong!!
I know it is wrong but I do some predicting myself, looking at the other riders in my race. I say to myself, "I can beat him, no problem", or "yikes, hang on as long as you can". There are many ways I psych myself before races. Like when we are all bunched up for the start, I start looking around to see who "looks fast". When it comes down to racing, I just need to relax and feel the race. I have been riding long enough to know what to do and to know who is riding well and how I match up that day. Bring it!!
I know it is wrong but I do some predicting myself, looking at the other riders in my race. I say to myself, "I can beat him, no problem", or "yikes, hang on as long as you can". There are many ways I psych myself before races. Like when we are all bunched up for the start, I start looking around to see who "looks fast". When it comes down to racing, I just need to relax and feel the race. I have been riding long enough to know what to do and to know who is riding well and how I match up that day. Bring it!!
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