I'll warn you up front I'm feeling lazy and too stream-of-conscious to do the linky thingy tonight... sorry.
So it's been a pretty killer weekend. Thursday I rode to work and then had to race the thunderstorms home. Went ok and it was good to be riding. Friday we intentionally planned to not be committed to go anywhere. Me and the wife slept late and the boys were super good. No idea when they even got up. Then they brought me coffee in bed. I could get used to that. Worked my butt off around the house Friday and did a whole lot of this and that. Then I met 3 others for some night mountain biking. I had never ridden at night before. We hit Stow Town Forest for almost 2 hours and finished around 10:30. It was so insanely fun I can't wait to go again. Now if I could just get my chain skipping issues figured out... Saturday morning was some more sleeping in (sort of) a little playing and running around in the morning, then off to Landry's to work on the skipping issues. Worked on it for a while with the guys in the shop but we were stumped. Had to leave it and hopefully they can come up with something tomorrow. Always tricky when nobody in the shop is big enough to test ride. Friday afternoon/evening was a cookout with friends, many of which we don't see anywhere near often enough. It was good to hang and chat. The oldest had silly fun because he managed to shatter 6 generic wiffle balls the guy had picked up for the party... kid can hit I tell ya. Today I got up too late again and then puttered around a little. Had to hook up with a friend to pick something up so I decided to ride there. His house is effectively uphill from here, 30 miles away (need to create map). Ride there suuuuuuuuuuuucked. Ride home was awesome. Total for the ride I banged out 60 in 2:56 ride time... that made me happy. Happy is good. Sadly rest of the day has been mostly homework. Have I mentioned school may kill me?
Ok, so that was a big mess of run on nonsense... if it helps at all I feel better from rambling.
Oh, and how could I forget... the boys rocked Fitchburg and took 2nd and 4th in the 4's. Kid who took second is 17 (I believe)... he is a stud. 3's did well also and rode tough against some horses. Bud of mine in the masters scored a second in the circuit race and third in the crit, both behind Mahk and finished 13 on GC... dude is a stud. If things go right I get to have my ass handed to me by him this coming weekend up in the White Mountains. Should be fun.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Story time
So some may remember me claiming a while back that I was retiring from running (too lazy to go back and link the post). Since that assertion I have become a casual runner at best. There may have been a week that I ran 3 times, but I'm pretty certain it was no more than 2 in any week and some weeks it was zero. Knowing that I had the Marathon Cup Relay coming up I stepped it up a little and ran about 11 miles last week, but only in 2 runs. So I basically went into this event with my goal being not to blow a hamstring.
Last year I surprised myself by busting out a 5:16 at this thing. It was pretty shocking considering the horrible mangled-groin injury from Sturbridge and various other episodes of throwing my body into the pavement. This year I figured I'd put myself down for a 5:20 and this should be a reasonable goal. Did a couple miles of warmup and felt reasonably ok in that I at least didn't feel sloppy like I have been from not running regularly. Then I hit the track to do some 100m efforts just to remember what fast felt like and I remembered that fast hurt. Oh well... hold onto your hamstrings and see how it goes down.
My leg came up and there was lots of roadkill up the track so at least I had targets. I hit 200 and checked the watch... 33... aw shit... slow down idiot. 400m came in a slightly more reasonable 71 and I didn't want to puke yet. I tried to keep dialing back a little, but I think I dialed back too much because I believe I hit half in about 2:28 (can't quite remember). We had talked on the drive down about how much lap 3 sucks no matter how in shape you are so I just tried to hold it together and pick it up a little going into it. I can't for the life of me remember what my 1200m split was, but I remember thinking 2 things: 1) I don't quite feel death setting in yet, and 2) Holy shit, I could almost break 5. First 200 of the final lap was a tad too slow and I waited a little late to go all in on the finish sprint so I crossed the line in 5:02.
Now to put this in perspective, my PR (from way back in the day) is about 35 seconds faster than this, I was only 6th in my age group, and I don't even know if I hit top 20 overall at the event. On the other hand, my racing flats still had Hampton Beach sand on them from the final leg of Reach the Beach last September since that's the last time I ran against a clock and I think my long week since I declared myself retired has been maybe 12 miles. For a while I was almost embarrassed that I had somehow pulled this off on no training, but then of course the competitive side of me took over and I was pissed I didn't squeak out another 3 seconds :) Apparently this whole biking thing does make running a bit easier. Good thing since running every day is too painful anymore.
Last year I surprised myself by busting out a 5:16 at this thing. It was pretty shocking considering the horrible mangled-groin injury from Sturbridge and various other episodes of throwing my body into the pavement. This year I figured I'd put myself down for a 5:20 and this should be a reasonable goal. Did a couple miles of warmup and felt reasonably ok in that I at least didn't feel sloppy like I have been from not running regularly. Then I hit the track to do some 100m efforts just to remember what fast felt like and I remembered that fast hurt. Oh well... hold onto your hamstrings and see how it goes down.
My leg came up and there was lots of roadkill up the track so at least I had targets. I hit 200 and checked the watch... 33... aw shit... slow down idiot. 400m came in a slightly more reasonable 71 and I didn't want to puke yet. I tried to keep dialing back a little, but I think I dialed back too much because I believe I hit half in about 2:28 (can't quite remember). We had talked on the drive down about how much lap 3 sucks no matter how in shape you are so I just tried to hold it together and pick it up a little going into it. I can't for the life of me remember what my 1200m split was, but I remember thinking 2 things: 1) I don't quite feel death setting in yet, and 2) Holy shit, I could almost break 5. First 200 of the final lap was a tad too slow and I waited a little late to go all in on the finish sprint so I crossed the line in 5:02.
Now to put this in perspective, my PR (from way back in the day) is about 35 seconds faster than this, I was only 6th in my age group, and I don't even know if I hit top 20 overall at the event. On the other hand, my racing flats still had Hampton Beach sand on them from the final leg of Reach the Beach last September since that's the last time I ran against a clock and I think my long week since I declared myself retired has been maybe 12 miles. For a while I was almost embarrassed that I had somehow pulled this off on no training, but then of course the competitive side of me took over and I was pissed I didn't squeak out another 3 seconds :) Apparently this whole biking thing does make running a bit easier. Good thing since running every day is too painful anymore.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Spicing things up
And no not just the tasty bowl of turkey chili I've got here...
Usually my commute rides are very uninteresting. Same exact route, generally the same time of day +/- a few minutes, generally the same crowd of other uninteresting routinized folks seen along the way. Well this morning I got a nice treat... some change of scenery and some brief company. There's this one road which is key to the relaxing ride to work in that it avoids major chunks of route 117 and route 20. They've been doing construction to totally repave the road which is a good thing. Well this morning apparently they decided they wanted to be done early for the weekend because the road was closed for paving when I got there. So we got to do some wandering and sightseeing. Fortunately I avoided getting lost as I wandered past the multi-million dollar neighborhoods of Wayland and Weston (how can every house in a neighborhood have a private tennis court?). So then a bit later I was chugging along and I heard something behind me. I peeked back to find that it was the Crack-O-Dawn crew out for a little hammer-fest and they were bearing down on me. Couple quick down shifts before they caught up and I decided to try and sit in for a couple minutes just for the sheer comedy value. There's me, commuting to work on the cross check with panniers on it, in a paceline on a hammer ride. Good fun if only for a few minutes. Oh, and not to start pissing people off, but if anyone out there knows anyone from the crack-o-dawn crew... it may be early, but there are still cars on the road. "Car Back" typically means move the eff over...
Usually my commute rides are very uninteresting. Same exact route, generally the same time of day +/- a few minutes, generally the same crowd of other uninteresting routinized folks seen along the way. Well this morning I got a nice treat... some change of scenery and some brief company. There's this one road which is key to the relaxing ride to work in that it avoids major chunks of route 117 and route 20. They've been doing construction to totally repave the road which is a good thing. Well this morning apparently they decided they wanted to be done early for the weekend because the road was closed for paving when I got there. So we got to do some wandering and sightseeing. Fortunately I avoided getting lost as I wandered past the multi-million dollar neighborhoods of Wayland and Weston (how can every house in a neighborhood have a private tennis court?). So then a bit later I was chugging along and I heard something behind me. I peeked back to find that it was the Crack-O-Dawn crew out for a little hammer-fest and they were bearing down on me. Couple quick down shifts before they caught up and I decided to try and sit in for a couple minutes just for the sheer comedy value. There's me, commuting to work on the cross check with panniers on it, in a paceline on a hammer ride. Good fun if only for a few minutes. Oh, and not to start pissing people off, but if anyone out there knows anyone from the crack-o-dawn crew... it may be early, but there are still cars on the road. "Car Back" typically means move the eff over...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Bike-ology
I keep getting cross-eyed looks from my wife and non-biking friends when I make mention of another bike. Heck, I'm sure even a reader or two (i.e. one of them or the other one of them) has muttered under their breath that I must fall into the "deep-pocketed-mofo" category with several mentions of "new" bikes (don't I wish). I try to constantly refer back to the man with 43 wheels , but then again he does have a number of distinguished years on me so it doesn't seem to help. In any case, it got me thinking I could kill some quality case-analysis homework time by listing out the bike history (if for no other reason than to get that infamous head-shaking look from the dear wife).
Now if you take into consideration each discipline of cycling that I've taken up as it's own entity (I know it doesn't work that way... shush), it's really not that bad:
Road:
- First real road bike - Bianchi Eros. Purchased used off some CRW guy with a laundry room converted into a bike workshop. Once I realized how too small this was for me and I had a few bucks I stripped it for parts and sold the frame.
- First new real road bike - Lemond Buenos Aires. Later doubled as an intro to cross bike and a commuting bike. Ultimately run over by some guy who shouldn't have a license.
- Second "new" real road bike - Leader LD735R. Used the parts from the Bianchi and a few new bits to build my first racing bike when I decided I wanted to race. Later doubled as a commuting bike. Ultimately sold to some dude in Michigan when I accepted this was also too small.
- Current road bike - Old Skool lugged Guerciotti (model unknown). Frame purchased on ebay and the insurance money from the Lemond incident paid for parts. Later had custom fork added. Still in action
Mountain:
- First "mountain bike" - 24" Trek 820, fully rigid. Purchased for about $300 while in college. Later sold to a guy for his dad to ride bike paths.
- First real mountain bike - Nashbar 853 steel frame, hand-picked build kit. Just recently stripped and a few bits being sold (anyone need some wheels or a frame?)
- New (as in not yet ridden) mountain bike - Kona Kula 29er, everything usable from first bike reused, new wheels and fork.
Cross:
(Let's not count the Lemond)
- First cross bike - Bianchi San Jose SS. Purchased off ebay when the Lemond got wrecked and I wanted to race cross. Later sold to some college kid who was bringing it to Chicago
- Current cross bike - THE ANT (need I say more). And for the record, you can pry this one from my cold dead hands.
Commuter:
(Again skipping the Lemond and Leader)
- Surly Cross Check. Purchased this year to save abuse to the ANT and because wearing a backpack for 3 hours a day while commuting was getting old. Bonus double-duty as a pit bike if needed.
So there we are. One could say I need to make up my damn mind and ride the effin things instead of swapping them in and out constantly. Ok, maybe now that I read this she has a point shaking her head at me...
Now if you take into consideration each discipline of cycling that I've taken up as it's own entity (I know it doesn't work that way... shush), it's really not that bad:
Road:
- First real road bike - Bianchi Eros. Purchased used off some CRW guy with a laundry room converted into a bike workshop. Once I realized how too small this was for me and I had a few bucks I stripped it for parts and sold the frame.
- First new real road bike - Lemond Buenos Aires. Later doubled as an intro to cross bike and a commuting bike. Ultimately run over by some guy who shouldn't have a license.
- Second "new" real road bike - Leader LD735R. Used the parts from the Bianchi and a few new bits to build my first racing bike when I decided I wanted to race. Later doubled as a commuting bike. Ultimately sold to some dude in Michigan when I accepted this was also too small.
- Current road bike - Old Skool lugged Guerciotti (model unknown). Frame purchased on ebay and the insurance money from the Lemond incident paid for parts. Later had custom fork added. Still in action
Mountain:
- First "mountain bike" - 24" Trek 820, fully rigid. Purchased for about $300 while in college. Later sold to a guy for his dad to ride bike paths.
- First real mountain bike - Nashbar 853 steel frame, hand-picked build kit. Just recently stripped and a few bits being sold (anyone need some wheels or a frame?)
- New (as in not yet ridden) mountain bike - Kona Kula 29er, everything usable from first bike reused, new wheels and fork.
Cross:
(Let's not count the Lemond)
- First cross bike - Bianchi San Jose SS. Purchased off ebay when the Lemond got wrecked and I wanted to race cross. Later sold to some college kid who was bringing it to Chicago
- Current cross bike - THE ANT (need I say more). And for the record, you can pry this one from my cold dead hands.
Commuter:
(Again skipping the Lemond and Leader)
- Surly Cross Check. Purchased this year to save abuse to the ANT and because wearing a backpack for 3 hours a day while commuting was getting old. Bonus double-duty as a pit bike if needed.
So there we are. One could say I need to make up my damn mind and ride the effin things instead of swapping them in and out constantly. Ok, maybe now that I read this she has a point shaking her head at me...
Monday, June 23, 2008
Mini rut
The worst thing that could have happened was Wells not sucking yesterday. Friday I had hoped to pick up my MTB and come home and ride it but it wasn't ready. In the mean time I got a call from a college friend to go drink beer. So I did. Saturday I was supposed to get up at 5, eat some breakfast, and then go get tortured by GD for 3 hours. But I rolled back over, realized at 5:35 that I was still in bed and I had about 5 minutes to be on my bike or in my car with the bike on it. So I went back to bed. I then did house work all day and finished off the day by playing golf. Sunday I met Danny boy for a great ride down to Wells and capped it off by not sucking. I even initiated a break that sort of lasted for maybe 4 laps. And I had someone tell me I did a good job starting the break. And I got to chat with CTodd. And it was a fun morning. Today I meant to run. Then I rolled the dice and guessed it would rain during the time I had to run. So I ate free lunch instead. And it didn't rain. Then I came home and didn't run. I didn't bike either. 1 out of 4 days not being a slug drinking beer is not a good training plan. Very soon I could be spinning the granny gear down the complacency highway to sucksville. I'm going to try again tomorrow to not do that.
P.S. That was the most linktastic post evah...
P.S. That was the most linktastic post evah...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I needed that
I've been feeling lately like I had hit a comfortable point in my training where I was clearly doing a good amount and getting some racing in, but I wasn't doing any specific workouts where I was really pushing myself. Despite a lack of time tonight, I still managed to get a short version of one of my favorite workouts in. This loop is a bit over 7.5 miles and has 6 distinct climbs including the water tower climb and "the wall" which is the final one. The breaks in between climbs are pretty short. I'm pretty sure I've done 4 loops of this in a workout before. Tonight I only got in two. First loop felt like I was cold and not warmed up which was true. Second loop rocked. Climbed the whole water tower standing in the 39x19 which I don't think I've ever done before. I need to start doing this ride on a regular basis again. Who's in? :)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Where'd a week go?
Huh, it's been a week already? I think my excuse is somewhere between being outrageously busy and not having much interesting going on. I had to do 2 presentations last week on corporate strategy (contain your excitement, I had to) so that sort of screwed everything up through Wednesday. After that I spent 2 days unscrewing myself. Weekend was normal chaos although the wonderful family did allow me to sleep until the unheard of hour of 9 a.m. and then served me coffee and donuts in bed. As far as training, it was definitely a weekend of less is more. Thursday on my ride home I just felt cooked and then I upped it to well done by running too hard on Friday. Saturday was nada, yesterday was a 1 hour cross ride (aw yeah, it's gettin here folks). Ran again today so just hoping the rain goes away to ride in tomorrow. Oh, and someone needs to decide where they're racing next. Fortunately I got word tonight that the mountain bike will be back soon...
Monday, June 09, 2008
Recipe for success
1. Have a non-descript marginally ok spring of training and racing
2. Do 6800 feet of climbing in 5.5 hours of riding 8 days before race
2. Take endo over a not very big log on a not very big downhill day before race
3. Sit out in sun after endo and get sunburned
4. Sleep poorly for maybe 5 hours
5. Wake up at 5 for race feeling queasy
6. Make multiple pit stops on way to race due to queasiness
7. Win race convincingly.
How that worked I have no idea, but it did. The race story is actually kinda short in terms of back and forth action. I headed up the start hill second wheel, a group of 3 of us got to the first bridge together with everyone else gone, I moved to second a couple minutes later, passed up to first on next climb, juiced it going up the fire-road hill, hey wait, where'd everybody go?
I will openly admit that I mangled the course pretty badly at many times during the race. I was off and on though... rode some sections surprisingly clean and other sections I looked very much a beginner rider. Fortunately I can still run pretty well so that was put to good use on a couple sections. Hopefully I can start collecting some legitimate skills so I don't get destroyed in Sport. Now I have to pick a venue for the first test...
2. Do 6800 feet of climbing in 5.5 hours of riding 8 days before race
2. Take endo over a not very big log on a not very big downhill day before race
3. Sit out in sun after endo and get sunburned
4. Sleep poorly for maybe 5 hours
5. Wake up at 5 for race feeling queasy
6. Make multiple pit stops on way to race due to queasiness
7. Win race convincingly.
How that worked I have no idea, but it did. The race story is actually kinda short in terms of back and forth action. I headed up the start hill second wheel, a group of 3 of us got to the first bridge together with everyone else gone, I moved to second a couple minutes later, passed up to first on next climb, juiced it going up the fire-road hill, hey wait, where'd everybody go?
I will openly admit that I mangled the course pretty badly at many times during the race. I was off and on though... rode some sections surprisingly clean and other sections I looked very much a beginner rider. Fortunately I can still run pretty well so that was put to good use on a couple sections. Hopefully I can start collecting some legitimate skills so I don't get destroyed in Sport. Now I have to pick a venue for the first test...
Sunday, June 08, 2008
And the cries of Sandbagger rang out from near and far
Short version for now until pictures and results are posted and then I can create the in-depth linktastic report. For now let's just jump to the end of the event (for me):
Guy behind me: ... like this guy in the 30's... I mean c'mon, he should be in Sport.
Me (in my head): Whatever buddy... you'll get your wish soon enough.
Stunning 7 minute victory today proving yet again that in lower category mountain biking, fitness CAN beat skill. Now where's that upgrade process so I can start getting my arse handed to me?
Guy behind me: ... like this guy in the 30's... I mean c'mon, he should be in Sport.
Me (in my head): Whatever buddy... you'll get your wish soon enough.
Stunning 7 minute victory today proving yet again that in lower category mountain biking, fitness CAN beat skill. Now where's that upgrade process so I can start getting my arse handed to me?
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Wednesdays suck
Yes it's Thursday, but I'm still "hungover" from another Wednesday. Wednesdays I have class therefore I end up having about a 19 to 20 hour day. Here was yesterday:
Up at 4:45
Leave for work on bike at 5:45
Arrive work 7:15
Work until 4:30
Grab a sandwich which gets inhaled
Class 6 to 9:30
Drive to 24 hour grocery store to buy laundry detergent, cookies, and wheat thins (hey, what else would you buy at 10 p.m.
Arrive home 10:40
Get my head on straight for a few minutes
Bed at 11:15
And then I started it over again at 5:30 today. This MBA thing better make me the strongest mofo ever because I'm too close to let it kill me.
Oh, and I finished 10th out of 30 Saturday. I'd imagine most/all ahead of me were sport or higher. Maybe time to jump ship on Beginner. Let's see how Sunday goes first.
Up at 4:45
Leave for work on bike at 5:45
Arrive work 7:15
Work until 4:30
Grab a sandwich which gets inhaled
Class 6 to 9:30
Drive to 24 hour grocery store to buy laundry detergent, cookies, and wheat thins (hey, what else would you buy at 10 p.m.
Arrive home 10:40
Get my head on straight for a few minutes
Bed at 11:15
And then I started it over again at 5:30 today. This MBA thing better make me the strongest mofo ever because I'm too close to let it kill me.
Oh, and I finished 10th out of 30 Saturday. I'd imagine most/all ahead of me were sport or higher. Maybe time to jump ship on Beginner. Let's see how Sunday goes first.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
He's got legs...
... he barely knows how to use them.
That's right folks, that's the end result when an adequate-at-best mountain biker rides a 6 hour race on a challenging course. I had said going into this race that I may suck, but I know I can suck at a consistent level for a pretty long time... that turned out to be true. Getting to the punch line, I finished 8 laps of the 5 mile course in 5hours, 37 minutes. I just didn't have it in me to head out for #9, plus 8 was my stretch goal so I was honestly thrilled to do 8 in well under 6 hours. Claimed climbing per lap was 847 feet so that new math thing tells me 6776 feet. And it's a damn good thing I can climb well because I still descend like a pansy. Having already written the race report on the club site, I'll cover the lighter side of the event here:
- They had a lemans start... it never fails to amuse me how much bikers, especially mountain bikers, despise running
- Lap 1, first downhill turn, Bad Brad washes out his front wheel and biffs in front of me. I was not feeling optimistic about my own fate
- As you can see from the pic, I followed Brad's lead... repeatedly. I think the count was 4. You might be able to tell that my right knee is swollen from when I cranked it off the stem. All the rest is superficial and the result of me sucking.
- I don't care in the least about all the skin needing to be regrown. This is in stark contrast to past experiences on pavement. I'm fine with taking myself out because I suck, but I have no patience left for sketchy guys aiming for me.
- At one point I rode by a guy in the camping area and that nice one on the outside of my left knee was bleeding down my leg a little and he commented "Hey, you're leaking". Definitely made me laugh.
- The crowd rocked. Family members and loved ones sitting around all day reading a book just to fill a bottle or get whatever a rider needed every 30 to 45 minutes and cheering the hell out of everyone else who rode by.
- The biggest reason I could never have finished the 12 yesterday: My hands had absolutely no strength left by the end of the 6. Like we're talking my thumb was too weak to shift from the little ring to the middle one. I know it's mostly a result of me sucking on the gnarly downhill, but it was an unexpected problem.
- I came in at the end of lap 7 and Wild Bill Doonan was sitting there relaxing and taking pics. I yelled to him to do me a favor and grab me a Coke. He said "OK, where do you have them." and I had to reply "I don't, I need you to find me one." He very kindly showed up at the tent 2 minutes later with a Coke... now there's teamwork :)
- My distinct level of suck went down progressively as the event went on. I switched from making mistakes because I sucked to making mistakes because I was tired.
- It was lap 3 or 4 that I was telling Art and another guy that I'd pony up some serious money for a giant iced latte. Sadly neither had one on them.
- I downed 160 oz of grape gatorade (plus some good old fashioned H2O) during the event. I don't think I'll be drinking grape again for a little while until I forget the taste.
I'd definitely do a 6 hour again. I could probably even be talked in a 12, but only after I suck less so that my body gets less tired from the crappy riding skills. Right now I just need to replace those 5200 calories with some barley and hops.
That's right folks, that's the end result when an adequate-at-best mountain biker rides a 6 hour race on a challenging course. I had said going into this race that I may suck, but I know I can suck at a consistent level for a pretty long time... that turned out to be true. Getting to the punch line, I finished 8 laps of the 5 mile course in 5hours, 37 minutes. I just didn't have it in me to head out for #9, plus 8 was my stretch goal so I was honestly thrilled to do 8 in well under 6 hours. Claimed climbing per lap was 847 feet so that new math thing tells me 6776 feet. And it's a damn good thing I can climb well because I still descend like a pansy. Having already written the race report on the club site, I'll cover the lighter side of the event here:
- They had a lemans start... it never fails to amuse me how much bikers, especially mountain bikers, despise running
- Lap 1, first downhill turn, Bad Brad washes out his front wheel and biffs in front of me. I was not feeling optimistic about my own fate
- As you can see from the pic, I followed Brad's lead... repeatedly. I think the count was 4. You might be able to tell that my right knee is swollen from when I cranked it off the stem. All the rest is superficial and the result of me sucking.
- I don't care in the least about all the skin needing to be regrown. This is in stark contrast to past experiences on pavement. I'm fine with taking myself out because I suck, but I have no patience left for sketchy guys aiming for me.
- At one point I rode by a guy in the camping area and that nice one on the outside of my left knee was bleeding down my leg a little and he commented "Hey, you're leaking". Definitely made me laugh.
- The crowd rocked. Family members and loved ones sitting around all day reading a book just to fill a bottle or get whatever a rider needed every 30 to 45 minutes and cheering the hell out of everyone else who rode by.
- The biggest reason I could never have finished the 12 yesterday: My hands had absolutely no strength left by the end of the 6. Like we're talking my thumb was too weak to shift from the little ring to the middle one. I know it's mostly a result of me sucking on the gnarly downhill, but it was an unexpected problem.
- I came in at the end of lap 7 and Wild Bill Doonan was sitting there relaxing and taking pics. I yelled to him to do me a favor and grab me a Coke. He said "OK, where do you have them." and I had to reply "I don't, I need you to find me one." He very kindly showed up at the tent 2 minutes later with a Coke... now there's teamwork :)
- My distinct level of suck went down progressively as the event went on. I switched from making mistakes because I sucked to making mistakes because I was tired.
- It was lap 3 or 4 that I was telling Art and another guy that I'd pony up some serious money for a giant iced latte. Sadly neither had one on them.
- I downed 160 oz of grape gatorade (plus some good old fashioned H2O) during the event. I don't think I'll be drinking grape again for a little while until I forget the taste.
I'd definitely do a 6 hour again. I could probably even be talked in a 12, but only after I suck less so that my body gets less tired from the crappy riding skills. Right now I just need to replace those 5200 calories with some barley and hops.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
$5 Does Not Make You an Accomplished Bike Racer...
... but it does make road racing a little more fun.
That's right folks... no stunning double-W to report from Saturday, but I did win my first ever prize in a bike race on pavement. You got it, 5 bucks cash money baby. This stunning payday came as a result of a vicious attack out of boredom and the most fortuitous prime bell ever. As I mentioned Friday, I had plans for the 2 races and I did in fact manage to execute both (sort of). I also learned that I'm still a big skirt wearing pansy so I'm gonna have to do something about that.
4/5 race started the day and the lineup proved it was a cat 4/5 race... people didn't want the line because they didn't want to lead into the wind on the backstretch. Fine by me as my plan for this race was to be one of those guys who gunned it from the word go and tried to make the early laps hurt. They let me roll to the front and I jumped coming out of the sweeping turn onto the track. Several guys followed suit and the result was that a small group was lapped and pulled at lap 5 or 6. Other than getting the hole shot and riding like mad, my other plan was just to attack until I puked, someone else puked, or I got away with some guys who were strong enough to make it work. Well I attacked the crap out of the first half of the race as did a couple other guys, but the whole thing ended up amounting to nothing more than dick waving. Every time a group got any sort of gap, one or more guys decided it was more fun to be there than help. By halfway I had to go take a rest. I threw one more wild and unconvincing shot with 7 to go, but it was pretty lame and the field jumped on. Typical late lap 4/5 sketchiness set in and I decided I didn't feel like sticking my nose in the sprint. Rolled in as pack fill.
Cat 4 race was an hour later so I grabbed a drink and snack and then just rolled around to stay loose. Plan here was to sit in for a while and see what the pace felt like, then see if I could do anything fun. First 10 laps basically felt like a parade with nobody doing much. 12 or 13 laps in I decided to move up on the back stretch where it had been slowing due to the wind so I figured I'd just roll right through to the front when the pace slowed. Well it did, and I did, and then when I got near the front I decided it was time for a test. I went high and wide on the banked turn of the track and then hammered the finish stretch. I get near the tent and aren't they ringing the bell yelling 5 dollars. Well I hadn't checked yet and I figured it hadn't worked so I layed into the first 2 turns and then peeked back on the sweeping right. Amazingly I had opened up about 8-10 seconds. I was able to put my head down and basically pedal hard around for my big prize although one guy did close like a truck and passed me after I was fully across the line. He had come off the front to chase me and now we had about 12 seconds on the pack. Unfortunately he clearly wasn't going to do a damn thing so after 2-3 laps it was back to the pack. I again decided that I was happy enough so I just sort of hung out and moved around before sitting up and rolling in at the finish.
I'm a little disappointed that I never even stood up to sprint or tried to get in position where it mattered. I am happy I had the good sense to stay out of trouble. One of these days I'm going to have to get over last year's trauma and bang bars up at the front to try and take one. Maybe next time out I'll grow some stones.
In other news, boy #2 has cashed in on the "ditch the training wheels, get a new bike" deal. He was rewarded Sunday with a sweet Haro BMX that he's been eyeing for months. I like it too because it's a tank and I can screw around on it :)
Finally, I don't know if tonight's ride home counts as epic or incredibly stupid. I rolled the dice that the first storm had passed and the second would miss me. Well I crapped out and got absolutely pelted for about 10 minutes about 3/4 of the way home. I haven't ridden in the rain in quite a while and it was warm enough, but it still sucked. Better luck next time.
That's right folks... no stunning double-W to report from Saturday, but I did win my first ever prize in a bike race on pavement. You got it, 5 bucks cash money baby. This stunning payday came as a result of a vicious attack out of boredom and the most fortuitous prime bell ever. As I mentioned Friday, I had plans for the 2 races and I did in fact manage to execute both (sort of). I also learned that I'm still a big skirt wearing pansy so I'm gonna have to do something about that.
4/5 race started the day and the lineup proved it was a cat 4/5 race... people didn't want the line because they didn't want to lead into the wind on the backstretch. Fine by me as my plan for this race was to be one of those guys who gunned it from the word go and tried to make the early laps hurt. They let me roll to the front and I jumped coming out of the sweeping turn onto the track. Several guys followed suit and the result was that a small group was lapped and pulled at lap 5 or 6. Other than getting the hole shot and riding like mad, my other plan was just to attack until I puked, someone else puked, or I got away with some guys who were strong enough to make it work. Well I attacked the crap out of the first half of the race as did a couple other guys, but the whole thing ended up amounting to nothing more than dick waving. Every time a group got any sort of gap, one or more guys decided it was more fun to be there than help. By halfway I had to go take a rest. I threw one more wild and unconvincing shot with 7 to go, but it was pretty lame and the field jumped on. Typical late lap 4/5 sketchiness set in and I decided I didn't feel like sticking my nose in the sprint. Rolled in as pack fill.
Cat 4 race was an hour later so I grabbed a drink and snack and then just rolled around to stay loose. Plan here was to sit in for a while and see what the pace felt like, then see if I could do anything fun. First 10 laps basically felt like a parade with nobody doing much. 12 or 13 laps in I decided to move up on the back stretch where it had been slowing due to the wind so I figured I'd just roll right through to the front when the pace slowed. Well it did, and I did, and then when I got near the front I decided it was time for a test. I went high and wide on the banked turn of the track and then hammered the finish stretch. I get near the tent and aren't they ringing the bell yelling 5 dollars. Well I hadn't checked yet and I figured it hadn't worked so I layed into the first 2 turns and then peeked back on the sweeping right. Amazingly I had opened up about 8-10 seconds. I was able to put my head down and basically pedal hard around for my big prize although one guy did close like a truck and passed me after I was fully across the line. He had come off the front to chase me and now we had about 12 seconds on the pack. Unfortunately he clearly wasn't going to do a damn thing so after 2-3 laps it was back to the pack. I again decided that I was happy enough so I just sort of hung out and moved around before sitting up and rolling in at the finish.
I'm a little disappointed that I never even stood up to sprint or tried to get in position where it mattered. I am happy I had the good sense to stay out of trouble. One of these days I'm going to have to get over last year's trauma and bang bars up at the front to try and take one. Maybe next time out I'll grow some stones.
In other news, boy #2 has cashed in on the "ditch the training wheels, get a new bike" deal. He was rewarded Sunday with a sweet Haro BMX that he's been eyeing for months. I like it too because it's a tank and I can screw around on it :)
Finally, I don't know if tonight's ride home counts as epic or incredibly stupid. I rolled the dice that the first storm had passed and the second would miss me. Well I crapped out and got absolutely pelted for about 10 minutes about 3/4 of the way home. I haven't ridden in the rain in quite a while and it was warm enough, but it still sucked. Better luck next time.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Oh boo hoo...
I empathized with this guy's unique bike fitting problem right up until the part about them cutting a custom mold to make him a bike...
Yes, I'm just bitter and should go train more instead of writing this...
Yes, I'm just bitter and should go train more instead of writing this...
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Hangover
Well apparently my dear wife's trip was so good and my 6 days as solo dad were so tiring that it's been some time since I said hi to all 3 of you that check in :) Her detox and transition back to real life along with me trying to catch up on everything along with me starting up summer semester (blech) have made for a hectic week. Let's see... is there anything good to report... you know, I'm coming up empty. Saturday I'm heading down to Stafford for the speedway crits and since I'm making the trip I decided 80 laps wouldn't kill me. 4/5 race is first and 4's is later. I have some ideas on how to approach both, but I'll keep that a secret until I see if it works. Weekend after is Pats Peak which should be interesting. I have done absolutely nothing specific to get ready for a 6 hour off-road race so we'll see if natural talent and conditioning get me through... Come to think of it if that's my plan, I might as well stay home. It'll be a fun day anyways as I think the club has at least 4 going. If you're going to suffer, might as well suffer with friends. Anywho... like I said, not a whole lot going on so I'll just get back to eating which is what I seem to do more than riding these days...
Friday, May 16, 2008
Daddy, Sam called me Poopie
My desired response was "I'm going to call you much worse if you don't get your arse back in bed", but my actual response was "Ignore him and go to sleep". Such is about the excitement I get these days. My dearest lovely wife is currently strolling down a street somewhere in Key West with a fruity adult beverage in her hand. By tomorrow night she'll be doing the same in Cozumel Mexico. By Monday night when she returns I may be waiting at the airport with the kids and my own ticket to Vegas. We're hanging in there though... no trips to the hospital or things to repair in the house. I think we're even all wearing clean socks today. Did I mention I'm doing the Pats Peak 6 hour? Yes, there's a connection.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
This is so weird I had to share
I have finals this week so I'm in grad school hell. Because of this my lovely wife agreed to bring all three boys to the oldest's baseball practice so I could get a jump on some homework. So I biked home (in shorts and short sleeves which was weird enough), came home to a quiet house, took a shower without being interrupted, and now I'm sitting in a silent house with all the windows open, listening to the birds and doing homework. THIS NEVER HAPPENS!!! Fortunately the baby next door is crying so at least I feel a little more normal.
Oh and my ride home rocked. I was putting in relentless attacks on the hills against the invisible guy sucking my wheel. He never had a chance...
Oh and my ride home rocked. I was putting in relentless attacks on the hills against the invisible guy sucking my wheel. He never had a chance...
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Blatant Plug for the Sponsors
Here's just another reason why I think we're sponsored by a super LBS:
I recently bought a Surly Crosscheck for commuting to work. For $850, you just can't go wrong. Well, maybe you can a little. After maybe 4 or 5 round trips to work I found that the rear wheel was way out of true. I found that one spoke had just come completely loose. It's a very basic no-name wheel build so not a huge shock, but a nuisance anyways. I dropped it off at Landrys, they fixed it up quick, no charge. Well I rode it one more round trip to work and find that it's out again (another loose spoke). I called them up and was told to swing by with it whenever I could. Drove by there today, they grabbed a wrench, and changed my cassette over to a Ksyrium SL they had in the shop... here, use this wheel that's 5 times nicer than yours until we get this thing fixed up properly. Uh, ok.
And my wife isn't going to let me ride with the guys anymore... they were trying to convince me this morning that I need a 29'er. The problem is I WANT a 29'er, but have been convincing myself I don't NEED one. The mere conversation this morning is forcing me to remind myself over and over I don't need one...
I recently bought a Surly Crosscheck for commuting to work. For $850, you just can't go wrong. Well, maybe you can a little. After maybe 4 or 5 round trips to work I found that the rear wheel was way out of true. I found that one spoke had just come completely loose. It's a very basic no-name wheel build so not a huge shock, but a nuisance anyways. I dropped it off at Landrys, they fixed it up quick, no charge. Well I rode it one more round trip to work and find that it's out again (another loose spoke). I called them up and was told to swing by with it whenever I could. Drove by there today, they grabbed a wrench, and changed my cassette over to a Ksyrium SL they had in the shop... here, use this wheel that's 5 times nicer than yours until we get this thing fixed up properly. Uh, ok.
And my wife isn't going to let me ride with the guys anymore... they were trying to convince me this morning that I need a 29'er. The problem is I WANT a 29'er, but have been convincing myself I don't NEED one. The mere conversation this morning is forcing me to remind myself over and over I don't need one...
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