slapshot - watch me bleed (eastpak resistance tour)

Deer Trail part 2

The following is a race update I sent to a friend who won his cat. in sanpete in southern UT(i think). I think it captures how I felt after this mornings fun, plus I'm lazy and can't think of to much original to say about a 2 hour bike race. Except for I need to learn to SPRINT!

I raced Deer Trail again today. It was a different course than spring time because of road construction, but same general idea, a couple of out and backs ,45 miles over rolling/flat terrain in the wind. My plan was to stay out of the wind and hide, and try to go in a late break away. I didn't follow my plan! I didn't go in an early break because I figured it would just get ran down, but after 20 miles the early escape artists were still away. None of the teams would go to the front, so being pissed off I went to the front and buried myself, not smart, not part of my plan but I didn't give a fuck! I drug the group with in striking distance to 3 of the 4 escapees, when some others started to work. Still after catching them we wouldn't/couldn't organize to chase down the last survivor. Everyone seemed happy and content to race for 2nd place and we did. After the last turn around our group was still had 25 players and no one was going to get away, I tried to no avail. With a little more than 1 K to go things got a little "Argy-Bargy" and I let a gap open and my day was done! Another skinny climber and I sprinted (insert joke about climbers sprinting here) for 18th. So I finished in 18th today, and it became painfully clear what I need to work on. Once again the mind being primary was driven home until I can learn to be comfortable in the build up and in a field sprint I will continue to be shot out the back with in the last mile of these flatter road races.

I want to be a Rouleur not just a Grimpeur. I hope this all made some kind of sense, I'm still in a bit of a haze.

side note: if you have 6+ man team why not send some to the front to chase down a break. You should have enough bodies to impose you will on the race and not settle for 2nd. Three of the top five were from one team, but no winners. I don't understand the tactics.

This sounds a little negative, maybe I've been listening to too much "SLAPSHOT". just kidding that is impossible.

The Rare update

Just thought I'd post a note on today's race. I did the Colorado Senior Road Race Championship at the Air Force Academy. It was 3 laps on a 9 mile course with about 600' E.G. each lap. Today's race had a bonus feature of a block head wind on the finishing straight. I lived at the front today I set a lot of tempo on the flats and every time we climbed the hill I was on the front trying to asphyxiate the field or start a break away. Each lap I shelled more and more folks off the back until on the last lap we were a group of 5. I was thinking we were going to stay away but it became very obvious only two of us had any plans of working. With less than 2 miles left in the race a group of 8 bridged up to us. I was fucking demoralized, I couldn't believe we couldn't make the break stick. I made one last attempt to get away but attacking into a head wind on a slight downhill is just plain stupid. With about 1/2 mile to go things started to get real twitchy for the sprint and I pulled the plug not even contesting the sprint (like I can sprint). I finished in 13th place and few seconds behind.

I'm psyched that I can be competitive in a race that might not suit me the best but still I'm bummed I couldn't stay away. I wished I had one more lap.

Update? It's true!

I am actually updating this thing! Since Deer Trail I've actually been racing a lot. On April 19 I won the Wednesday night TT up Gold Camp road in the "b group", brad gave me shit that I was racing with the "b"s but there is no way in hell I can even be competitive with him. The Wednesday night TT series has been a lot of fun, and I am I little bummed not to be able to do them all. Not much really interesting about them, just ride as hard as you can for about 20 minutes, no strategies no tactics just embrace the pain.
My next race was the Pueblo crit the course was down town and part of it even ran right in front of my house. The day's racing was fun and I had one of my better crits to date. I finished in 7th place, but I was most happy about the way I rode I lived at the front collected a prime, andd just raced well. On the finial lap I went on a flyer (i figured I can't beet a guy like Rodney in a sprint) and was swept up with half a lap to go. The other cool thing about the race was it was the first time my mom has ever seen me race.
Next on my agenda was the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. I signed up for the omnium with is like a stage race but instead on cumulative time it works on a weird point system.
The first day was the road race from Durango to Silverton, About 47 miles with 5500' of climbing. Our group was nervous and a little twitchy from the starting gun, we hauled ass across the false flat catching the pro women group surprisingly fast. I went to the front on the start of the first climb to Purgatory ski resort I guess my tempo was hard enough because a small break away group formed around me and we worked pretty well together and we shelled off all but one on the "passengers" by the time we reached the base of Coal Bank Pass. On the way up Coal Bank we dropped everyone else until it was just five of us remaining. I was caught a little off guard on the descent before Molas pass and was dropped. I fought my way back into 4 th place on the climb but the 3 leaders remained just out of my grasp. On the final descent the guy who hadn't done any work attacked and went on to win, I was passed again on the descent to finish in 5th place. My best finish so far in a road race.
Day 2 Downtown Crit. the race started bad when I missed clipped and racked my self on the top tube and thing just kinda continued down that path. I got dropped on the third lap by being stupid and following the wrong wheel, the guy let a gap open and I was chasing the rest of the race. I tried to help Kieth at one point but to no avail. It was educational! Finished in 21st place, a rough day in the saddle.
Day 3. Time Trial my nemesis. This had to be the coolest TT course I have ever ridden. Rolling, twisty, scenic and would be a great place for just a fun road ride. What can one say about any TT you just go out hard and hope it's good enough. Icaught a few guys on course and didn't get caught by anyone so for me that is always a good thing. I finished 10th or 11th which put me mid pack in the TT.
We started with a 125 guys lined up for the road race and 20+ at the end of the TT. I understand you don't have to do all the events to do well in an omnium, but I thought more people would do all 3 events but a lot of folks kind of picked and chose what events they wanted to do. But after some weird ass math I think I ended up 7th overall. If it would have been on time I would have been in the top 5 maybe top 3, but those are the rules and I should have understood them better going into this thing. Not like it would have changed anything.
Last weekend I raced the Rist Canyon Hill Climb race. The race is not you normal hill climb race, were it is on hill/mountain and it's mostly up hill. This race starts in Masonville and loops about Horsetooth Lake and then finishes on top of Rist Canyon. So the race is more like a spring classic with the prerequisite short/steep power climbs and then ending with a mountain top finish. I like this course a lot, it is just a fun ride and the backside back to Masonville is one of the best rides in the state. For the first half of the race I just stayed near the front and tried not to lose too much time on the descents so I wouldn't have to chase back on, a lesson I learned the hard way last year. On the start of the final climb the lead group was about 20(we had all ready dropped over half the riders), I went to the front about a mile into it figuring I would rather dictate the race than have it dictated to me, I also thought if I set a hard tempo it would discourage any attacks. My hypothesis held until I let up just a fraction to let someone else do the donkey's work and the eventual winner attacked. I thought some of the other contenders would cover the move but no one responded right away so I started chasing again and a few other guys started to pitch in but it was to little to late so about 2 miles out I attacked on a steep part and a dude from blue sky went with me, he counter moved me with about 3/4 of a mile to go and I was slow to respond, I was reeling him in but just ran out of road. I finished in 3rd, 45 sec behind the winner 10 sec from 2nd. I just suffered the last 3 miles of the race, with 1/2 mile to go I questioned if I could finish. Pain and Discontent!
On a totally different note I really like the new Against Me! record and the new Off with their Heads record. Both bands put a lot of hard work in these albums.

Deer Trail

I raced the Deer Trail RR yesterday. I went to the start line very mentally distracted. My grandmother is in the Intensive Care Unit in the hospital trying to recover from a stroke and complications from said stroke. I thought about not racing but my family insisted that I lined up. I started half way back of the 80 man field, I felt that I wasn't attentive, and I was not holding wheels. I fell further and further back into the group. When the main contenders lifted the pace I was no where near the front nor could have I moved up because of the field congestion. I was dropped! I wedged my head out of my ass and finally started to race. It sucks be brought back into the moment in about 70th place. So I chased and I fought. I tried to organize a small group of guys and well actually worked together for a while. After the second turn around guys started sitting in and not working, this just pisses me off. Why enter a bike race and refuse to work? I just don't get it. So I raise the pace on a small climb, and spit off the hangers on, my chase group is now down to 4, but guys are taking shorter and shorter pulls and soon 2 of the 3 fall off. Mean while we are catching remnants of the main field and just blow by them. At the 1 KM left to go sign we catch a guy that looks like a football player and he jumps the other guys wheel (who at this point isn't working at all), I attack again dropping my chase partner but "football dude" nips me on the line. I finished 34th, about 4 minutes behind the winners.

The mind being primary lesson was hammered home again. A bike race with a large field size, narrow roads and crazy wind is not were one should be if you are not fully present in the moment. If I was in the moment from the start whose to say what might have been, it just sucks to learn some of the say lessons over and over again.
Thanx Ross for the pics.

Weekly Hill climb Series Pics

These are pics from the weekly Hill Climb series in Colorado Springs (some from this week some from last week). The pictures are from Pikespeaksports.us. Thanx! Last nights race didn't go as well as I would have liked it to, we were running late so I got next to no warm up in. That is a shitty lesson to be reminded of! My time was less than 30 sec off my PR, but still disappointing. I was still psyched on the race, it was like riding in one of those cool Ralpha ads, overcast with light snow falling. Not much else to say about a 4.5 mile and a 3.1 mile Hill Climb. It is a style of racing that doesn't have much tactics, Just open your mouth and pedal Hard!

Lookout Mountain Pics

Some Pics from Saturday's Lookout Mountain Hill Climb Race. I finished in 12 place in a very full field of 100 riders. The race went well except for the start, too many people crammed into a very small place. I could see the leaders the entire race and the gap between them and I did not change after the first 3/4 of a mile. There was so much field fodder at the start that when gaps between the main players were established not much changed.

Laura had a very good ride she finished 17th out of 50. She also beat her PR on the course by three and a half minutes.

Also this weekend we road with our dear friend Steve up Lee's hill and down Left Hand Canyon. The ride was a little epic but everyone had fun. It rained, snowed and we even got some every small but very painful hail! It was worth the price of admission.