$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.

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...

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...

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.

I must be crazy

There... you happy now?

Sterling Road Race Report

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...

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 don't get it...

So despite a reasonable amount of experience in a few years and effectively no success to speak of in that time period, I clearly still don't get this whole road racing thing. There are a number of things that I just can't seem to get my head around:

1. The strongest and best trained rider has very little guarantee of winning. Maybe if you're Marky Mark you do, but I'm not, and neither are you.

2. You're at the liberty of the other 99 bozos in the race (completely accepting that I'm a bozo too). Past history tells me that the clowns are out to get me.

3. Everyone is just too freaking high strung. You so much as brush a guy's hand and it's like "Oh my God you touched me... hold your line asshole... I must swerve... ah a crash... OH THE HUMANITY!" Relax guys... ride rollers for a while, you'll learn how not to over-react. Better yet, have kids... you'll learn that overreacting makes things worse and just wastes your energy.

4. The amateur peloton is like the high school prom... look my bike is prettier than yours and I have the wheels you can't get. Kudos to the guy in Sunday's race who was riding a bike that was obviously not that new and not very shiny. And he was riding the crap out of that bad boy too.

5. The line between a good move and a bad move is so subtle and unpredictable. Maybe it's because I don't know enough or because everyone else doesn't either so we all just act like we know what we're doing.

6. There's too much thinking involved. I do this stuff to relax and not think. The simple fact that I've been thinking about yesterday's race enough that I bothered to write this proves that I'm not able to turn my brain off. Again, maybe it becomes easier/more relaxing when you know more and/or suck less.

7. My instinct is somewhere else. I'm more of a fastball throwing closer... I'm going to give you all I've got and you just try and beat me. Never was real good at strategy. I won most races in high school and college by just taking off and running away from everyone. Sit and kick... no thank you.

Anywho... ironic that Solo posted a comment about sucking others into the roadie scene. I think someone's going to have to try and keep me. Then again, it could just be the beer talking...

Palmer Report (or something)

If I had somehow managed to bring home the huge first W at Palmer yesterday you all would have gotten the gory blow-by-blow that would have dwarfed anything G would normally put up (ok, almost anything), but I'll spoil the ending and say I did not. Let's instead go with the Palmer edition of Good-Bad:

Bad: It started raining while I was out on my recon/warmup ride
Good: That was the end of the rain and the race weather was quite comfy (with long sleeves and knee warmers)

Good: I was moving forwards while most were moving backwards on the uphill sprint
Bad: I had a LONG way to go forwards because I was way far back coming around the last corner

Very bad: There's a lot of cat 4's out there who need some bandages and new wheels/bars/derailleurs today
Very good: I'm not one of them (for a change)

Almost Pro: We nailed back the break of the day with 800m to go
I feel cool: I feel like I definitely did my part to help bring it back
We still suck: Cat 4's apparently still can't sprint in a straight line (that much hasn't changed since last year)

Bad: There was a mini incident maybe 10 miles in due to general inattention and nonsense
Worse: There was a much bigger incident that took out maybe 6-10 guys (who can tell with that much flying carbon and aluminum) about 5 miles later.
Worser: There was carnage right in the middle of the road during the sprint
Worserer: To polish it off 2 or 3 more guys got together and went flying in the aftermath of the first mess
Awesome: The gods were smiling on me for a change and I was positioned away from said carnage

I get to try my luck again at Sterling for sure. Not sure if I'll get out again before then. Might try to sneak out west for some off-road fun on Sunday.

Executive decision

I got home from class at 8 p.m. I was all pumped on the ride home to come home and head right out for a run... until the second I pulled in the driveway. I have no idea what flipped the switch, but it was gone. And at 8 p.m. when you haven't had dinner, you're exhausted, and you have s-loads of housework and homework to do, once it's gone, it's not coming back. I convinced myself that there was no fitness benefit to going out for a 3 mile run tonight anyways... some may call it rationalizing... I'm going to go with smart training decision. So rather than run I'm waiting for some tilapia to cook. Food over low-return activity that I don't have time for is a no brainer.

Confidence Builder

I rode to work today. I rode the fully pimped fast bike because my other bikes are in all sorts of disarray. The way in I averaged just a bit under 20 and didn't feel super for the first half of it. The way home I averaged 21.5. The ride home is a net positive elevation gain... and I was wearing a backpack with my work clothes in it... and I was dodging traffic... and pedestrians... and annoying little dogs on those frickin extenda-leash things. I had a killer ride just before Sturbridge last year and we know how that turned out so let's try to not relive that.

Oh, and the world is in balance in case you were wondering...
This morning, a friend of mine was riding to work on a not very busy street with plenty of room for him and the few cars. Two idiots in a crappy old Crown Vic drove up next to him and the passenger yelled out "Get a car."

Tonight, I was going through Watertown and there was a line of cars at a light that turned green. I was going up the side of the line (in a bike lane) and the guy just in front of me throws on his blinker to turn right. I had visions of bad things when suddenly he looked in the side mirror, saw me, and stopped to intentionally NOT cut me off. I very cheerfully thanked him through his open window and had faith in drivers again for a second... then I remembered that a friend's wife got tagged while riding this morning. She'll be ok, but is a little banged up. Keep your heads up kids...

A different kind of pain

While much of the NE biking world was torturing themselves at BKR today, I saved myself that pain and instead got a new tattoo. That's #5. They're addictive... I can't possibly try to explain it. I'll post pictures once it heals and looks more awesome than it already does.

Need sleep... maybe I'll dream about what kind of ride I want to do tomorrow.

Off Day

Today was an off day (from athletics at least). I rode 187 from Sunday to Saturday last week. Between Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday of this week I did 150. I also did about a 3.5 mile run Monday. I needed an off day. Back at the commuting gig tomorrow. Friday may be another run. Weekend is up in the air. Next week will be easy-ish in prep for Palmer.

So in the rarely covered work topic here... do you work with that person who's the intimidator (thinks they can get things done just by intimidating people and throwing their weight around, a.k.a. the "don't you know who I am?" guy)? How about loophole guy... tries to find away around everything? I work with several of both, but one in particular IS both at the same time. He's a real treat. He visited me 2 minutes before I had to walk out for school today. Now the beauty is that I've only dealt with him twice so there's very little history to go on, I don't give an eff who he thinks he is, and I'm not easily intimidated. I know it drives him nuts to have to deal with me. I can only hope it drove him as nuts as he was making me. If I'm lucky, I'll get to drive him nuts again tomorrow.

Need sleep...

Math is cool

Especially when that math tells you that you rode 187 miles this week. 14 off-road Sunday (7 as fast as I could), 113 commuting, 60 today. Threw a 5k run in there for an added bonus. Looks like Wells tomorrow... should be interesting.

There you go CCC... even more to read.

Make up your damn mind

I had a very schizophrenic week... First I didn't think I'd be racing. Then I was trying to convince people to go to Turtle Pond. Then I was iffy about Turtle Pond because the weather looked sucky. Then I was re-looking at all the races this weekend. Then my wife suggested I go to Wells. Then I thought I decided I would go to Hop Brook tomorrow. Then I tried to get home in time Thursday to pre-reg for Hop Brook, but got home late, so I figured I'd just pay the extra 5 bucks. Then tonight I was 5 minutes away from packing the car for tomorrow and rechecked the directions. I discovered that Hop Brook Dam is 115 miles from here. Then I reconsidered. Now I'm not going to Hop Brook. As of now I'm riding with the team tomorrow and then racing Wells Sunday. That is until whatever happens next...

Good and Bad

I felt good and I dropped Paul which made me feel bad that I dropped Paul... Ah well, he got dropped close to home :) I don't even have a link to the aforementioned Paul. Here's the closest I have... you'll have to settle for Mrs. Paul. So nice to ride in the warm weather. I didn't even mind the headwind (much).

Thursdays are typically my only night off of the week... I have class Monday and Wednesday which means I have homework Sunday through Tuesday. Wednesday is class, Thursday is nothing, Friday starts the weekend. So I try to cram everything into Thursday. Oh wait... that's right... I should be cramming.

Friday yet?

Maybe wishing for Friday isn't such a good idea right now since it's so damn nice out and I think Friday will be less so. Rode in today for the second time this week and didn't feel so awful this morning despite going for a spirited 5k run last night at around 8:15 and then hopping on the bike this morning at 5:45. It was bearably cool with just a double short-sleeve and arm warmers, but I get to leave all kinds of stuff here for the shorts and short sleeves ride home (woo hoo!). I couldn't buy a freaking green light this morning so lets hope for better luck.

I'm 95% sure I'm headed to way the eff out CT Saturday for the Root 66 mudfest. I was going to do Turle Pond, but 30's and wet at the start didn't sound so appealing. Chris Hinds will be a swim meet so that didn't sound fun either. Lets hope I got all the mud out of the gears from last weekend... I should probably check that before Saturday a.m.

I'm hoping this ride home wakes me up... sooooooooo sleepy.

KOB

This will be the short version of the KOB race report since 1) I should be working, 2) I already typed the long race report for the team so my fingers are tired, 3) I'm sleepy.

Overally a wicked fun day. Me and my bike came home functional and covered in mud so how bad could it have been. My goal was sub 40 minutes. I really strolled through a warmup ride of the whole course in 45 so I figured that was do-able. I know I told G that I'd upgrade to sport if I beat him and I could argue either way that I have to now. On one hand, he obviously left out his post about the secret training camp he attended and he smoked his time from last year by like 2 minutes (if I read the results scribbles correctly). On the other hand, I did come in at almost dead even with his time from last year. Who knows... I have to decide if I should keep sandbagging or jump up and take a beating from those who know how to ride a mountain bike.

The goods and bads:
Bad - The guy 30 seconds behind me was already in sight in the first technical section about 5 minutes in.
Good - I never let him go and ultimately finished maybe 10 seconds in front of him
Better - I think I passed 4 of the 5 guys who started ahead of me

Awesome - I somehow had a revelation and figured out my cross remounts yesterday. Many noticed last season that I had this awful clumsy stutter step thing going.
Not so awesome - I had to practice it way too many times since I sucked over some of the tricky stuff

Good - I took home a new Hutchinson tubeless tire as a prize
Less good - I just bought new tires last week
Still good - My new tires kick ass.

Ok... I'm over my goofing off quota for now. More later.

Planning

When you're married with kids and in grad school, you tend to plan things well in advance and put them on the calendar on the wall at home which makes them almost unchangeable. If you do not, there's a risk that these plans get trumped by something. Truth be told, even when they're written down, they could get trumped by something, especially when they are non-required activities like racing. Now the hardcore types will argue that I just committed blaspehmy by calling racing non-required, but the family guys will get it. In order to minimize my chances of getting trumped, I'm trying to put together a race schedule or something that looks like it. In short, it's hard. I think what's going to happen is that I'm going to put as few stakes in the ground as possible, but have a lengthy B list which will get used whenever the opportunity presents itself. As part of this plan, I've determined there's a non-zero chance I may go against everything I've said and do that big stage race thingy that's all the rage around here in July. We shall see...

And in non-bike racing notes (proud dad alert)... my kids are brilliant. Last night was this fair that the elementary school puts on to display their work. Each grade level covers some theme and the kids do a number of projects on that theme. I discovered that my first grader can write, read, and understand words like 'metamorphosis' and 'chrysalis' (yes, I had to check my own spelling on those) and my kindergartener can write complete sentences with near perfect spelling with no assistance (I knew about this one, but I got to see it displayed). At least I know the tuition payments are being put to good use :) Now if the two of them could just keep themselves out of trouble too... boys have a knack for creating ways to get in trouble.