Friday, March 30, 2007
Cleared for dirt
Kinda sorta maybe. What the doc said is "if it hurts, don't do it". Therein lies the problem. My shoulder still hurts. Not as much, not as often, but it definitely lets me know when I'm doing something it doesn't like. Which is in the form of pain. Now refer back to the doc's statement. See my conumdrum? But she didn't tell me to specifically stay off the MTB like she did before, so in my eyes that means I'm cleared for the trails. So who knows. I'm gonna play the next week or so by ear and wait and see. But at least if the weather cooperates I may give it a shot.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Demented Rambling
I've had enough. I'm tired of this whole shoulder thing, I want to ride my MTB. I did a fast road ride yesterday with some guys from Team Louisville, we got in 38 miles and it's the first time in a while that I really pegged it. Amazingly, I seem to be slower than I recall. I need to work harder. I logged 57 hilly miles on Saturday on a nice ride with my buddy Sean in a visit to the tiny burg of Westport. That was followed up with a leisurely 26 miles on the Tandem with my wife on Sunday. All good time on the bike, but I feel really slow. I need to work harder. If not, this upcoming race season will be very disappointing. I've looked the the times put up by some of the guys I've raced against and I'm not sure what to make of them. I won't really know how pathetic I've become until we can go head-to-head. I am still planning on Park Mammoth or DINO Warsaw on May 5th being my debut.
I see my doc again in 2 days and hope to be back on the trails after that. Too bad it doesn't look like the weather is going to be cooperative, so even if I get the green light it looks like I won't see any trails for a little while longer. I'm 6-weeks post injury and I think my recovery should be further along than it is. It may be that the damage was worse than thought. Everything I read says 6 weeks recovery for a grade 2 AC joint separation, and that's up on Friday. Grade 3 recovery is listed as 12 weeks - that would not be good.
I was looking at the pics below of Anthony and Rowbear - those boys are dead sexy on their Scalpels. That motivated me to go down into the basement and mount the new Kenda Karmas on my cooler-than-rowbears' Scalpel. I liked Karma's in the past but had problems flatting with them. I hope the tubeless version holds up a little better. I skipped adding some Stan's to them as the Kenda website says not to, but we'll see. First time I flat, bam - it's Stan's time. They're 1.95's and look really skinny. I hope they hold up as well as I think they will.
Just in case you have missed it, this is what my Scalpel looks like:
I see my doc again in 2 days and hope to be back on the trails after that. Too bad it doesn't look like the weather is going to be cooperative, so even if I get the green light it looks like I won't see any trails for a little while longer. I'm 6-weeks post injury and I think my recovery should be further along than it is. It may be that the damage was worse than thought. Everything I read says 6 weeks recovery for a grade 2 AC joint separation, and that's up on Friday. Grade 3 recovery is listed as 12 weeks - that would not be good.
I was looking at the pics below of Anthony and Rowbear - those boys are dead sexy on their Scalpels. That motivated me to go down into the basement and mount the new Kenda Karmas on my cooler-than-rowbears' Scalpel. I liked Karma's in the past but had problems flatting with them. I hope the tubeless version holds up a little better. I skipped adding some Stan's to them as the Kenda website says not to, but we'll see. First time I flat, bam - it's Stan's time. They're 1.95's and look really skinny. I hope they hold up as well as I think they will.
Just in case you have missed it, this is what my Scalpel looks like:
Is that hot or what? Click the picture to see a larger version
I'm really not worthy, but I plan to ride the heck out of it anyway. Red hubs and black frames are just too cool.
Tour De France history regarding doping
I'm currently reading Between Myth and Modernity: A Cultural History of the Tour De France written By Christopher Thompson (whom I may have the pleasure of studying under next year at Ball State University). All of the information below comes from that book (pp. 232-6).
In the last chapter on doping I found this interesting:
On June 28th 1966 the first drug tests of the Tour racers took place in Bordeaux. Mainly it sounds like the tests consisted of looking through racers stuff, checking out their bodies for needle marks and making them pee in a cup that was then sent of to a lab in paris and police headquarters. Reactions to the tests were mixed, some people saying they were welcome and others being outraged like Jacques Anquetil (five time tour winner). Anquetil was more of the opinion that it would be okay for the older professionals to talk to the younger guys about the potential harmful side affects but that they shouldn't have to do anything further because they had proven themselves (the seasoned pros) to be responsible enough to accept any possible negative repercussions and to dope responsibly, if they were doping.
So on the night of the 28th racers seemed divided about whether to submit to the tests or not, some for it, some against it. The next morning though there were supposedly all in agreement that they would protest the drug tests and that protest was led by Anquetil. He said they were unanamious in the protest although some people said they didn't agree to protest and were not even consulted. So anyway, I guess the protest lasted for a few days in which the peloton was riding the stages but not racing. The strike was ended when a racer who opposed the protest took off on an attack. Naturally, others took off after him thereby ending the protest. His manager said, "To take the start of the Tour is to sign a moral contract. You accept the rules and all their implications, or you don't enter race." That racer that ended the protest was Tom Simpson and it was his manager that spoke of the "moral contract." A little over a year later July 13th, 1967 Simpson died on Mt. Ventoux. I haven't gotten through that all yet but I think it was because he had taken some amphetamines and possibly had a heart-attack.
Just thought that was interesting and pretty ironic.
In the last chapter on doping I found this interesting:
On June 28th 1966 the first drug tests of the Tour racers took place in Bordeaux. Mainly it sounds like the tests consisted of looking through racers stuff, checking out their bodies for needle marks and making them pee in a cup that was then sent of to a lab in paris and police headquarters. Reactions to the tests were mixed, some people saying they were welcome and others being outraged like Jacques Anquetil (five time tour winner). Anquetil was more of the opinion that it would be okay for the older professionals to talk to the younger guys about the potential harmful side affects but that they shouldn't have to do anything further because they had proven themselves (the seasoned pros) to be responsible enough to accept any possible negative repercussions and to dope responsibly, if they were doping.
So on the night of the 28th racers seemed divided about whether to submit to the tests or not, some for it, some against it. The next morning though there were supposedly all in agreement that they would protest the drug tests and that protest was led by Anquetil. He said they were unanamious in the protest although some people said they didn't agree to protest and were not even consulted. So anyway, I guess the protest lasted for a few days in which the peloton was riding the stages but not racing. The strike was ended when a racer who opposed the protest took off on an attack. Naturally, others took off after him thereby ending the protest. His manager said, "To take the start of the Tour is to sign a moral contract. You accept the rules and all their implications, or you don't enter race." That racer that ended the protest was Tom Simpson and it was his manager that spoke of the "moral contract." A little over a year later July 13th, 1967 Simpson died on Mt. Ventoux. I haven't gotten through that all yet but I think it was because he had taken some amphetamines and possibly had a heart-attack.
Just thought that was interesting and pretty ironic.
chickasaw pictures
Here are a few pictures from the Chickasaw Trace/Serc 2 race last weekend.
the first two are of me. In the middle I'm making a weird face. I don't look like I'm trying to hard or maybe I'm just getting ready to cry. If you'll notice the kid that got airlifted to Vanderbilt is laying on the ground just behind me. I didn't hit him.
the last one is of anthony, I think he had already quit by this point and was just doing a cool down lap.
Pictures were taken by www.f-8photography.com
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
the doctor says im allowed to suck
cuz i have a fever (not of the boogie-woogie variey either) and bronchitis. why cant i get some illness that requires pain killers cuz phlegm drugs an antibiotics dont pack much of a punch.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Early spring blow out/blow up
Chickasaw Trace, yesterday, S.E.R.C. #2. I raced sport 19-29. There were around 35 of us on the line, sport juniors were going off the same time as us and there were 6 of them. I was on the line. He says go, I have a good start, get out front but it's a long way to the single track. after a minute two guys come around, I get on a wheel and we head down the gravel section, make the sharp turn and it's onto the pavement. One or two more come around at that point but I'm still content. With about 40 yards to go about 5 dudes make a charge on the left and get in front of me so I'm entering further back than I want too but there really wasn't anyone in front of me holding me back too much, at least not in my class. One of the wood-n-wave riders went down at the bottom of a steep descent but I had enough time to see it all and react he ended up having to be taken away in an ambulance. I think he is okay though. I didn't really have a good idea of how many were in front of me. I tried to watch Ryan Woodall's little brother because I knew he would do well. he was a few people in front of me and it wasn't long before he was slipping away. I was hoping to catch people on the second lap because I thought everyone was going a little too fast. :)
The weather was hott, in comparison to what I'm used to and the start was fast. I had my heart pegged for most of the first lap. It was hard to settle into a rythm cause there were so many people catching up and passing even though most were from other classes, it's hard to know especially when there behind you. Towards the end of the first lap I was in bad shape. I was going a bit too hard and had to take it easy for a while. I ended up spending 10 minutes in my zone 3, just trying to drink and eat some gu, recover etc. A couple miles into the second lap I was able to get back into a good pace and maintain it, for the most part till the end. I finished with a time that was a few seconds slower than last year but a better placing. I got 7th and a free pair of socks, woo hoo.
I think a steady ride would have worked out better for me than balls to the wall for 40 minutes, chill for 10-15 minutes then steady for the rest. I forgot to look at my lap times but it will be interesting to see lap 1 compared to lap 2. I think it was the lungs more than the legs that held me back but I haven't been focusing on anaerobic stuff in the training so I expect this area will improve in the future.
avg hr 176, max 189, speed was like 11.98 mph or something like that. I was about 7 minutes off of second (I think), first place was a good 3 or 4 minutes off the front.
The weather was hott, in comparison to what I'm used to and the start was fast. I had my heart pegged for most of the first lap. It was hard to settle into a rythm cause there were so many people catching up and passing even though most were from other classes, it's hard to know especially when there behind you. Towards the end of the first lap I was in bad shape. I was going a bit too hard and had to take it easy for a while. I ended up spending 10 minutes in my zone 3, just trying to drink and eat some gu, recover etc. A couple miles into the second lap I was able to get back into a good pace and maintain it, for the most part till the end. I finished with a time that was a few seconds slower than last year but a better placing. I got 7th and a free pair of socks, woo hoo.
I think a steady ride would have worked out better for me than balls to the wall for 40 minutes, chill for 10-15 minutes then steady for the rest. I forgot to look at my lap times but it will be interesting to see lap 1 compared to lap 2. I think it was the lungs more than the legs that held me back but I haven't been focusing on anaerobic stuff in the training so I expect this area will improve in the future.
avg hr 176, max 189, speed was like 11.98 mph or something like that. I was about 7 minutes off of second (I think), first place was a good 3 or 4 minutes off the front.
craptacular
"i know i shouldnt have, but i did anyway." how many stories that end bad start with that line? well, at this point in history, the answer is at least one, this one. my throat was sore and had a little cough since thursday, but nothing bad. i hoped that racing sunday would blow it out - i mean, i knew better - and now it is worse. i'm an idiot. if youre gonna be hanging out at the doctors office today, i'll see you in a few.
Friday, March 23, 2007
little stalins
This life is full of people who love a particular sport or activity but have one little problem; they are not good at it. Their solution? They insert themselves in a role of some sort of power and rule like a little Stalin. Local and national cycling clubs and orginizations, as well as shops, seem to be a haven for these people. They may not be good at it, or do it much, but by God, if you want to be a cyclist in this area, you better give them their due. When you look at the sports world as a whole, I suppose ownership/management is the ultimate no talent revenge. A buncha guys who never could do, but have arrived at a place in their lives that they can now dictate how the game is played.
Fortunately, many of these sparkle and fade. They find some other shiney object to pursue and a new group of people that will be made miserable by their presence. The bad part is, while they are around spreading their misery and mucking things up, they sour people on the sport or set it back years. The point? I dont know. I guess like liars and cheats in life, I just dont understand the motivation. Didnt mom give them enough attention, or did the priest give them too much? Or maybe it was the humiliation of never being picked or riding the pine when they were finally picked. Why cant people let others be? Why is it so important to be, well, important that you'll take the whole shabang down with you if thats what it takes to prove it is indeed your ball and you can take it home if you want.
If you think I am talking about you, I guess I am. Probably didnt write this with you (whoever you are) in mind, but if the shoe fits, it can be yours. In the meantime, I'll support those clubs, shops and individuals who are doing their part to make the cycling community a better place.
Fortunately, many of these sparkle and fade. They find some other shiney object to pursue and a new group of people that will be made miserable by their presence. The bad part is, while they are around spreading their misery and mucking things up, they sour people on the sport or set it back years. The point? I dont know. I guess like liars and cheats in life, I just dont understand the motivation. Didnt mom give them enough attention, or did the priest give them too much? Or maybe it was the humiliation of never being picked or riding the pine when they were finally picked. Why cant people let others be? Why is it so important to be, well, important that you'll take the whole shabang down with you if thats what it takes to prove it is indeed your ball and you can take it home if you want.
If you think I am talking about you, I guess I am. Probably didnt write this with you (whoever you are) in mind, but if the shoe fits, it can be yours. In the meantime, I'll support those clubs, shops and individuals who are doing their part to make the cycling community a better place.
Monday, March 19, 2007
a good weekend
Saturday was chilly. Arm warmer and knee's covered kinda chilly, but it was nice as the sun was out and the trails at Youngers Creek for the Toyota Tundra Switchback Attack were dry and fast.
We arrived around 1:30 after many of the days times had already been posted. I did a warm-up for my time trial feeling ok, at best. The day before's workout was horrible, so I didnt really know what to expect. After the initial climb and brief chat with B.C. taking snaps of the action (http://holzking.net/photography/sportsphotos.htm) I rolled through the course taking time checks at a couple landmarks to reference during my actual run. I set out moments after getting back from the warm-up not wanting to give myself a chance to think too much about the pain that was coming. Dustin Greer was on the line before me. He was able to beat my time last year, I like the idea of having a carrot out there to chase. I rolled out calm an shot up the long climb blowing the first switchback. I started to get down on myself, but put it out of my mind just as fast, I had to. The rest was easy. I didnt worry, I didnt think, I just did. When I got to the bottom of the downhill my computer read somewhere in the 14 minute range. I knew from previous time mark I had 2-3 minutes left. I was stoked as the fast time for the day was 18:58. I mean heck, I had time for a crash and still roll across in first. But, that wasnt what I wanted. I rolled across with a 17:34 and felt like I could have gone faster. I was happy. I wish some more of the other area fast guys woulda shown, but still, I was satisfied with what I did.
Saturdays cool conditions turned to a freezing Sunday morning and worse yet, freeze thaw. Nano led out the climb. I had no interest in pace-making yet as this was also my warm-up. Once we arrived at the top, Kevin Atkinson and myself quickly seperated ourselves from the pack and stayed away for the next hour and forty-five minutes. Being a roadie, he was content to sit on my wheel the whole time until I finally dropped him when he slid out around a corner and jammed up his derailure trying to force his gears to go places they didnt want to be. I finished with a winning margin of almost 5 minutes and most importantly, the $100 bonus for winning all 3 events (I was the only Pro in the short-track and thats the kinda odds I like).
Thats the way I like to start a season. The next few weeks will tell if this moral victory translates to more real ones, but for now I am 2 for 2 and feeling good.
Race, color nor creed
Not really a fitting title. Here's what happened this weekend.
Time Trial: I didn't warm up as well as I should have so I felt like I was going to shit my chamois the whole time I was climbing up the ridge. Other than that it was pretty non-eventful. I finished with a time of 21:38 or something like that, good enough for next to last place, but it wasn't last so I was content to not try another run. I was also content with my time because it was faster than all of the sport times I saw posted aside from the one posted by that hummer driving preacher man. I didn't try another run and I didn't do short track because I knew the cross country race on Sunday was going to hurt.
XC: It was freaking cold while we were warming up. The sun hadn't made it to the valley of the shadow of doubt yet so the grass was still frosted and I knew there was going to be some freeze thaw in effect on the trails. After rolling around for a while we lined up and went, the start was relatively slow only a couple guys were up front really working to get the hole shot. There were 20 guys on the line for the expert race. There were quite a few of us that were content to sit back near the back. I got into the woods with a few people behind me and more up front. I was riding really conservatively because I knew it was going to be a long race I think quite a few others were doing the same. When we got to the wagon trail Bo, Tom and some other guy went around. I rode their wheel for a while but then let them slip off because I didn't have much confidence that I could keep that pace for the whole race. I think their gap opened up the most when I stopped to take off one of my shoe covers. Towards the end of the first lap I was catching back up with Bo but Tom and the other guy were nowhere to be seen. I stopped in the field and took of my other shoe cover. Some little girl ran through the finishing area without looking both ways and I nearly plowed her. Second lap involved some serious granny ringing so that I could save enough in my legs to make it to the finish. On the switchbacks I was catching up with a couple other guys like John Grant and the guy I didn't know that had previously passed me. When we got up top they got away from me some but were still within site until I dropped a gu on the wagon road. I stopped to pick it up (because I wasn't in a hurry) but I couldn't unclip so I fell over, one of the screws in my cleat had come out so the cleat was spinning around and I couldn't get out even while I was laying on the ground, so I had to take the shoe off and get it unclipped with my hand. Then I stood in the middle of the trail with one shoe on waiting for the guy behind me to catch up so I could bum a tool. He let me borrow one, I tightened the cleat up and eventually caught back up with him and passed him back. A few miles later I stopped again to add some air to my front tire, it was too squishy in the turns. With a little over a mile to go, I finally caught back up with Bo because he broke down. Apparently he was doing something with his skewer and the end shot off of it to be lost in the leaves of the woods. I finished feeling pretty wiped out, I fell over again at the car, almost on top of dustin greer because the cleat in my other shoe had come undone and I couldn't unclip. Guess I should check my cleat screws before the next race.
Goal for the race: Don't finish DFL. Accomplished. Avg heart rate 168, max 184. That's a pretty low average hr for me. Maybe next time maybe I can be a little more aggressive.
Time Trial: I didn't warm up as well as I should have so I felt like I was going to shit my chamois the whole time I was climbing up the ridge. Other than that it was pretty non-eventful. I finished with a time of 21:38 or something like that, good enough for next to last place, but it wasn't last so I was content to not try another run. I was also content with my time because it was faster than all of the sport times I saw posted aside from the one posted by that hummer driving preacher man. I didn't try another run and I didn't do short track because I knew the cross country race on Sunday was going to hurt.
XC: It was freaking cold while we were warming up. The sun hadn't made it to the valley of the shadow of doubt yet so the grass was still frosted and I knew there was going to be some freeze thaw in effect on the trails. After rolling around for a while we lined up and went, the start was relatively slow only a couple guys were up front really working to get the hole shot. There were 20 guys on the line for the expert race. There were quite a few of us that were content to sit back near the back. I got into the woods with a few people behind me and more up front. I was riding really conservatively because I knew it was going to be a long race I think quite a few others were doing the same. When we got to the wagon trail Bo, Tom and some other guy went around. I rode their wheel for a while but then let them slip off because I didn't have much confidence that I could keep that pace for the whole race. I think their gap opened up the most when I stopped to take off one of my shoe covers. Towards the end of the first lap I was catching back up with Bo but Tom and the other guy were nowhere to be seen. I stopped in the field and took of my other shoe cover. Some little girl ran through the finishing area without looking both ways and I nearly plowed her. Second lap involved some serious granny ringing so that I could save enough in my legs to make it to the finish. On the switchbacks I was catching up with a couple other guys like John Grant and the guy I didn't know that had previously passed me. When we got up top they got away from me some but were still within site until I dropped a gu on the wagon road. I stopped to pick it up (because I wasn't in a hurry) but I couldn't unclip so I fell over, one of the screws in my cleat had come out so the cleat was spinning around and I couldn't get out even while I was laying on the ground, so I had to take the shoe off and get it unclipped with my hand. Then I stood in the middle of the trail with one shoe on waiting for the guy behind me to catch up so I could bum a tool. He let me borrow one, I tightened the cleat up and eventually caught back up with him and passed him back. A few miles later I stopped again to add some air to my front tire, it was too squishy in the turns. With a little over a mile to go, I finally caught back up with Bo because he broke down. Apparently he was doing something with his skewer and the end shot off of it to be lost in the leaves of the woods. I finished feeling pretty wiped out, I fell over again at the car, almost on top of dustin greer because the cleat in my other shoe had come undone and I couldn't unclip. Guess I should check my cleat screws before the next race.
Goal for the race: Don't finish DFL. Accomplished. Avg heart rate 168, max 184. That's a pretty low average hr for me. Maybe next time maybe I can be a little more aggressive.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
jealousy
As the title of this entry alludes to, I'm jealous. It's the first day of the MTB race season for 2007 and I didn't race. Not tomorrow either. Instead today's excitement was 50 very slow road miles in scenic southern Indiana to be followed with 60 miles on the road again tomorrow. This sucks. I was reading about todays TT at Youngers' Creek and looking at Big County's pics. Man I wanna ride my mountain bike. Rowbear and Anthony look so cool on their Scalpels that I wanna ride mine, it's way cooler than Rowbears.
The shoulder is still tight and I was feeling it for the last 45 minutes of todays' ride. With that said, I guess it's a good thing I'm not trying to get out there on the MTB. 2 more weeks until my next doctor's visit - I hope I get the go-ahead to return to the dirt at that time. As of now I'm projecting that my first race of the year will be May 5th, at the DINO Warsaw race or Park Mammoth if they schedule it for that date. Either way, its 7 weeks from today, so I better get working on my fitness. Wish me luck.
EDIT: After about 15 minutes on the road bike today (Sunday) it became obvious that 60 miles wasn't in the cards. So I suffered thru 32 chilly miles (I was under-dressed). So after that I'm a little less jealous of the guys that raced this weekend.
The shoulder is still tight and I was feeling it for the last 45 minutes of todays' ride. With that said, I guess it's a good thing I'm not trying to get out there on the MTB. 2 more weeks until my next doctor's visit - I hope I get the go-ahead to return to the dirt at that time. As of now I'm projecting that my first race of the year will be May 5th, at the DINO Warsaw race or Park Mammoth if they schedule it for that date. Either way, its 7 weeks from today, so I better get working on my fitness. Wish me luck.
EDIT: After about 15 minutes on the road bike today (Sunday) it became obvious that 60 miles wasn't in the cards. So I suffered thru 32 chilly miles (I was under-dressed). So after that I'm a little less jealous of the guys that raced this weekend.
Friday, March 16, 2007
With so much drama in the LBC
Snoop was talking about Long Beach City when he said it. I'm referring to the Louisville biking community (not the club). Makes me wonder if there is this much drama in other regions. I wouldn't be surprised to see it in many areas where there are competing shops and interests. Sometimes I just wish all we had to talk about was how awesome some local trails or local riders are instead of speculating about whether this role of the marionette is going to pay off or trying to dance around explaining why there are different factions in the community. Oh well.
Younger's creek TT, STXC and XC this weekend. Biiiggg weekend. I wish we had the weather we had last weekend for this weekend though. It's supposed to be in the low 50s upper 40s tomorrow and Sunday. Also, it has rained a crap load and I can't imagine the trails are going to be perfect. Younger's does drain well though so hopefully it won't be sloppy. I remember being incredulous a year or two ago when the trail reports were good, because we had had some rain and I was expecting a full on slop fest. Come to find out on race day, it actually wasn't too bad out there. That new section will have to be holding water though, no way around that. I imagine some people might stay home assuming the trails will be too muddy to race. My logic is that the race is going to happen whether I show up or not so I might as well show up and donate my money because some of that will go back to the club so that they can afford to make repairs and do more trail work in the future. The central kentucky wheelmen have done a whole lot of work out there, I mean a whole whole lot and I'm sure they would be disappointed to not have a good turn-out this weekend, that would be more defeating for them than if they had to do trail repair for a weekend or two after the race. So come out and race, just remember to bring some knee/leg warmers and arm warmers and a base layer. Younger's creek is an awesome trail system, my most favorite in the Louisville area. Come check it out.
Younger's creek TT, STXC and XC this weekend. Biiiggg weekend. I wish we had the weather we had last weekend for this weekend though. It's supposed to be in the low 50s upper 40s tomorrow and Sunday. Also, it has rained a crap load and I can't imagine the trails are going to be perfect. Younger's does drain well though so hopefully it won't be sloppy. I remember being incredulous a year or two ago when the trail reports were good, because we had had some rain and I was expecting a full on slop fest. Come to find out on race day, it actually wasn't too bad out there. That new section will have to be holding water though, no way around that. I imagine some people might stay home assuming the trails will be too muddy to race. My logic is that the race is going to happen whether I show up or not so I might as well show up and donate my money because some of that will go back to the club so that they can afford to make repairs and do more trail work in the future. The central kentucky wheelmen have done a whole lot of work out there, I mean a whole whole lot and I'm sure they would be disappointed to not have a good turn-out this weekend, that would be more defeating for them than if they had to do trail repair for a weekend or two after the race. So come out and race, just remember to bring some knee/leg warmers and arm warmers and a base layer. Younger's creek is an awesome trail system, my most favorite in the Louisville area. Come check it out.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Bow before your King
yes. i am the new lord of cat 4-5 road racing. it took 8-9 years before they finally let me do one, i mean who needs that showboaty 1-2-3 crappola? awesome day, very weird organization to the race and any attempts at payout or results. lucky for me, brad nelson was there, a very fast 17 year old from indy, to share the pace-making on lap one and take some short pulls on 2 and 3. the highlight of the day was going through the 3-4 group and saying "cat 5's on your left." so, thats my road race for the year, done and over with. see some snaps taken by the super sexy big country soon to be posted somewhere.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Back on the Bike
After consulting with my doc, I can now ride my bike again. Kinda. Just on the road, not allowed to hit the trail yet. So I made the most of todays fantastic weather and spent an hour on my road bike. 60 minutes of 70-degree bliss in March. Early March at that.
The shoulder was OK, not as good as I had hoped. It was tight most of the ride and a few twinges, but no real pain. I left my house and rode around a little bit before testing on the Sleepy Hollow climb. Things went fairly well and I'm happy to have logged some miles.
It will be at least 3 more weeks (next doc appt) before I'm on the trails again, but I can live with that. There is some catch-up needed fitness wise and the road bike is a fine place to work on that.
The shoulder was OK, not as good as I had hoped. It was tight most of the ride and a few twinges, but no real pain. I left my house and rode around a little bit before testing on the Sleepy Hollow climb. Things went fairly well and I'm happy to have logged some miles.
It will be at least 3 more weeks (next doc appt) before I'm on the trails again, but I can live with that. There is some catch-up needed fitness wise and the road bike is a fine place to work on that.
incoherent ramblings of a...
Let this be a lesson to you all; kids, dont watch LOST and try to write a recap of your last race. at least not without a proofer in the room. Otherwise, you may end up with the long, rambling steaming pile you see below. Thanks!
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Snake creek gap TT
“I need everyone to load their bikes on the trailers by 9:30! If you are in the parking lot and have not loaded your bike, do it now!” Thus began the 2007 racing season. The Snake Creek Gap Time Trial Series isn’t some sissy paved roadie time trial. Nor is this a groomed, shortened XC course either (no offense CKW). This is a 34 mile off-road TT that takes place in the mountains of Northern Georgia, Dalton to be exact, that offers mile upon miles of rock gardens, stream crossings, long stripes of red dirt through bright green meadows, and seemingly endless climbing.
Heavy rains and tornados Thursday apparently did not See Rock City and the trails were in pretty good shape considering the amount of moisture that hit the ground. The morning was cool, mid 50’s and breezy, a downright heat wave compared to Louisville temps. My shockingly white stumps made their first appearance for 2007 and it felt great to jump on the bike without 10 tons of wind-blocking gear on. So we loaded the bikes on the trailers, got changed and headed to the pre-race meeting. After being assured the trail would eat us alive, we headed to the bus for the 30 minute ride to the start line. Nice spot up front, one of the first off. Grabbed the bike and did a quick roll-around to see if all things were good to go; shifters, brakes, computer, all good.
No warm-up is the order of the day, just line up and go. I got out in the 3rd or 4th wave with four riders per wave. As soon as the starter shouted the order to go, my heart rate monitor cut out. Crap. I don’t want to do a 34 mile TT on an unknown trail without at least knowing how hard I was going. I have raced long enough to have a good idea of how hard to push. The race started on a roller coaster of a trail that shot through a deep creek (wet feet became a theme for the day, I love wool socks) that gradually gave way to a long climb. It was a perfect early climb, not too steep, just settle into a smooth tempo.
After about 40 minutes, I caught the last rider to start in front of me except Thomas Turner. This was good an bad – without any rabbits left in front of me, (I knew catching Turner who started 4 minutes up wasn’t going to happen), and no hrm to remind me to keep it rolling, motivation at times was hard to come by. Three hours is a long solo. All I had to go on was time. I rolled through the 1/2 way point about 1:25 and felt pretty good. I kept hoping the monitor would kick in, but instead it was like a severely autistic kid, every now and again shouting “227!" "55!” and the course kept going up. And up.
I finally started catching some of the 17 mile riders who where able to give me distance to the finish with about 8 miles remaining. At this point the popular barns “See Rock City” popped into my head because the last 8 where nothing but a minefield of rocks. By the time I saw the 5 to go, I was cursing the rocks openly. At that point, they cursed back because from then on the trail just went up. It followed the ridgeline of the mountain, so the end of the climb kept looking like it was just ahead only reveal more. Cruel, cruel trail. Finally a station of some sort appeared in the distance. As I rolled up to it, the trail turned to fire road going straight down. And down fast. It was so sweet, just tuck in tight, feather the brakes for the turns and fly. The road turned from gravel to pavement I realized, this was it. Just a couple ticks over 3 hours, I was charged and began to spin the cranks to try to generate any more speed.
I crossed the line at 3:03 my time, 3:09 their time. They screwed up some results that day, but the 6 minute discrepancy only made a difference to me, not the final standings so wasn’t going to argue. Beer, food and a cover hair band followed. I don’t know which was best, but they all rocked. I am happy with the result for the first race of the season, losing only to two local, and very fast, riders. I felt like I could was capable of more, but all things considered, it did the trick.
Heavy rains and tornados Thursday apparently did not See Rock City and the trails were in pretty good shape considering the amount of moisture that hit the ground. The morning was cool, mid 50’s and breezy, a downright heat wave compared to Louisville temps. My shockingly white stumps made their first appearance for 2007 and it felt great to jump on the bike without 10 tons of wind-blocking gear on. So we loaded the bikes on the trailers, got changed and headed to the pre-race meeting. After being assured the trail would eat us alive, we headed to the bus for the 30 minute ride to the start line. Nice spot up front, one of the first off. Grabbed the bike and did a quick roll-around to see if all things were good to go; shifters, brakes, computer, all good.
No warm-up is the order of the day, just line up and go. I got out in the 3rd or 4th wave with four riders per wave. As soon as the starter shouted the order to go, my heart rate monitor cut out. Crap. I don’t want to do a 34 mile TT on an unknown trail without at least knowing how hard I was going. I have raced long enough to have a good idea of how hard to push. The race started on a roller coaster of a trail that shot through a deep creek (wet feet became a theme for the day, I love wool socks) that gradually gave way to a long climb. It was a perfect early climb, not too steep, just settle into a smooth tempo.
After about 40 minutes, I caught the last rider to start in front of me except Thomas Turner. This was good an bad – without any rabbits left in front of me, (I knew catching Turner who started 4 minutes up wasn’t going to happen), and no hrm to remind me to keep it rolling, motivation at times was hard to come by. Three hours is a long solo. All I had to go on was time. I rolled through the 1/2 way point about 1:25 and felt pretty good. I kept hoping the monitor would kick in, but instead it was like a severely autistic kid, every now and again shouting “227!" "55!” and the course kept going up. And up.
I finally started catching some of the 17 mile riders who where able to give me distance to the finish with about 8 miles remaining. At this point the popular barns “See Rock City” popped into my head because the last 8 where nothing but a minefield of rocks. By the time I saw the 5 to go, I was cursing the rocks openly. At that point, they cursed back because from then on the trail just went up. It followed the ridgeline of the mountain, so the end of the climb kept looking like it was just ahead only reveal more. Cruel, cruel trail. Finally a station of some sort appeared in the distance. As I rolled up to it, the trail turned to fire road going straight down. And down fast. It was so sweet, just tuck in tight, feather the brakes for the turns and fly. The road turned from gravel to pavement I realized, this was it. Just a couple ticks over 3 hours, I was charged and began to spin the cranks to try to generate any more speed.
I crossed the line at 3:03 my time, 3:09 their time. They screwed up some results that day, but the 6 minute discrepancy only made a difference to me, not the final standings so wasn’t going to argue. Beer, food and a cover hair band followed. I don’t know which was best, but they all rocked. I am happy with the result for the first race of the season, losing only to two local, and very fast, riders. I felt like I could was capable of more, but all things considered, it did the trick.
Monday, March 05, 2007
L'Esprit Road Race
quick race report:
I stayed up front most of the first lap. Pulled back a break on accident the first lap, I was acutally just trying to bridge up to John and some other dude but I accidentally brought the peleton with me. Second lap I pulled back another break, on purpose. I attacked on the third lap but that didn't last very long, the wind was killing and the group wasn't really letting anyone get away. I did stay up with the front group the whole time. With about a mile to go a dude in front of me touched tires and went down, he was immediately in front of me so I hit his bike and went down. i think my bike is okay and my body is alright, except two of my fingers feel jammed, also a couple sore spots on my legs. I got up as quickly as I could after the wreck and finished. I was the first person to finish after the bunch sprint which also had some carnage going on. There were about 14 guys in the lead group, and probably at least another 30-40 starters. I got 12th. I'm happy with the way I rode but really frustrated by the crash.
It was a big week for me. Biggest I can ever remember doing, high volume, steady intensity, not high intensity though. I ended up getting in 13 hours and close to 180 miles. I won't have another week with this type of volume till May or so. I'm looking for this week, only 6 1/2 hours scheduled. I don't even have to excercise at all on Tuesday or Friday. Oh man, what will I do with myself?
Anthony went down to Georgia cause he was looking for a soul to steal, actually he went down there to do a mtb time trial. He did well, I'm so proud of him.
Here are a couple pictures that duane took of the 4/5 finish.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
On The Mend
So it's not all bad news. I suffered a minor (grade 1 or 2) separation of the AC joint in my left shoulder. Its getting better every day, and hopefully this coming Friday I'll be cleared to start doing weight-bearing exercises. That will be 3 weeks after my wreck. I have a lot less dull-ache-annoying-pain and pretty good range of motion. It's still a little tender but the ugly bruise is almost totally gone.
Most of the info I've been able to find says an injury like this usually takes 6 weeks for full recovery, so I'm optimistic. Optimistic I'll be out on the road bike this coming week-end and optimistc I'll be back on the trails in late March. So at this point it looks like my first MTB race of the year will be Park Mammoth, depending on when they actually decide to schedule the race. I'm somewhat dissappointed that I'm probably gonna miss the entire Spring Road Race series. I had also hoped to race at Chickasaw Trace and LBL but expect to miss both due to my shoulder and another conflict.
So I have a new Mountain Bike sitting in my basement that I haven't ridden in 3 weeks. And yeah, it's still cooler than Rowbears. But at least I've ridden mine; he has a brand-spanking-new bike that's never seen a trail. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for him and give him the opportunity to get it dirty.
Most of the info I've been able to find says an injury like this usually takes 6 weeks for full recovery, so I'm optimistic. Optimistic I'll be out on the road bike this coming week-end and optimistc I'll be back on the trails in late March. So at this point it looks like my first MTB race of the year will be Park Mammoth, depending on when they actually decide to schedule the race. I'm somewhat dissappointed that I'm probably gonna miss the entire Spring Road Race series. I had also hoped to race at Chickasaw Trace and LBL but expect to miss both due to my shoulder and another conflict.
So I have a new Mountain Bike sitting in my basement that I haven't ridden in 3 weeks. And yeah, it's still cooler than Rowbears. But at least I've ridden mine; he has a brand-spanking-new bike that's never seen a trail. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for him and give him the opportunity to get it dirty.
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