Tour Del Sol

First stage race of the year!

The first day up was supposed to be a Time Trial in the morning and an afternoon Crit, but mother nature had other plans. The morning Time Trial went off with out a hitch the course was all right I guess. I am not the fore most expert on TT courses. It was an "L" shaped out and back with a small climb. I still bled time to the fastest guys in our class but felt like I raced better than the previous week.

The Crit ended up being cancelled do to weather. Wind with gusts up to 58 mph with rain, hail, and snow are not considered good conditions for bike racing!

Day 2 the road race. With the cold weather, driving winds, short steep climbs and chip sealed roads gave the race a very spring classic feel! On the line I was thinking the group would easy into it and take the first few miles as a warmup of sorts. I was wrong! The pace jumped through the roof as soon as the neutralized start ended. Guys attacked to every little climb the group was like an ameba at best and a mosh pit at worst. I put in an attack at the base of a short very steep hill when i noticed a big group went with me I eased up. Big Mistake! That turned out to be the decisive break. I tried to chase and get back on, but with the wind and other peoples unwillingness to help it turned out to be an individual Time Trial. It still baffles me that people will enter a race and not try, they won't work with someone if they think that person might be able to beat them later, so they just sit in and become a spectator in their own race. I road pretty much by myself for the better part of 20 miles until I caught a guy on the short little climbs leading up to the finish. I think he was spit off the leading group, he looked kinda rough, he has the Salvador Dali snot mustache mixed with the dead elvis grin. When I passed him he made no effort to stay on my wheel.

My base fitness is where I think it should be for this time of year and I realize I don't have my top end form yet which I all ready knew. The race made it painfully clear I need to work on my 5 min power. So all in all a good weekend of racing and it let me know where I stand and what I need to Work on.

Frostbite Time Trial

I suck at Time Trialing! I knew this going into the race but for some reason it did not sink in to me what a complete suck fest this race would be! The wind! Holy shit the wind! It was howling out of the north east, making the way out to the turnaround point crazy fast (32+mph) and then the turn around a low grade climb back to the finish life got real interesting. Guys the size of football players started passing me. My new lower handlebar position that seemed to work well on shorter distances seemed to screw me when trying to produce power bucking a 30+ mph wind. So I guess it is back to the drawing board for bike position, I think I'm going to raise the aero bars a little and see if a more open hip position might help. That said I know I need to eventually stop messing with position and just open my mouth and pedal hard.

Thanx Ross for the photo, for going and listening to me bitch!

Yeah Racing!!!

Did I wake up in Belgium?

Cold, overcast, and windy! Yeah! Just did a short tempo ride today. After an A.M. gym session I was not in the mood to ride the trainer so I put on my Belgium knee warmers and did what other roadie worth his or her salt would do. RIDE! I am getting used to riding in the wind as it is always windy here but grey and overcast with hints of rain WTF.

Shameless pug: Mad Alchemy Rules.

What amazes me is how that stuff keeps working even after you shower. I don't get it, it must be magic. Well I've spent enough time on the magic internet porn machine.

1-31-10

I thought I better get back in the habit of updating this thing. I't just a pain in the ass to come up with something witty or inspiring about a trainer ride or a gym workout. That said yesterday Keith, Laura and I road out to the test track and then Time Trial back. I just fucking suffered. My leg were shelled from the front squat/jump combo I did yesterday, and I don't like being in the time trial position anyway. I don't seem to generate much power from a closed hip position. I can't wait till the snow melts and I can start riding in the mountains again.

I am still waffling on my focus of the year do I want to try to become a better all around racer or still focus on races with just a ton of climbing. The easy way would be to just do what I am good at, but what is the fun of not evolving. Plus a we all know the path of least resistance is mined!

PLA

Jan 8, Training

2x (15 yrd Forward Lunge + 15 yrd Backwards Lunge)

4x 15 yrd 1 hand OH Lunge w/ 30# db

2x 30 yrd Farmer Carry w/ 12 10" hurdles w/ 2x70# dbs

Then: 6x3 "The Exercise" @95#

Then: 5x (1 Power clean + 2 each Lunge) @135#

Then: 5 Rounds of:

5x DL @ 255# + 10x Split Jumps

Today the playlist made it Possible I wasn't in the mood and the people in the gym were listen to top 40. (I'm not sure that is music, but I don't know what it is.) My playlist consisted mainly of Redemption 87 and A-18, For me nothing beets straight edge hard-core for the soundtrack of suffering.

Jan 7, Training

2x20 BWS

2x10 JS

2x5 TJ

3x5 KJ

Then: 6 way Barbell Complex 3 sets 65#, 75#, 95#

6x DL

6x Row

6x Hang Clean

6x FS

6x Push Press

6x BS

6x Push up

Then: Work up to heavy front Squat

Then: 5 Rounds of:

2x Fs@ 175# + 4x TJ

Then: 5x5 JS @ 65#

Later Ride the Trainer 1 hour 20 min w/ 30 min Zone 3.

Top Ten Records of 2009

Everyone does this so I guess I'll do a top ten list. Plus it's way to cold outside to ride right now!

This list has no real order just 10 records I listened to a lot and were released in 2009. So here it is:

1) Nothington- Roads, Bridges & Ruins (BYO Records)

2)NOFX- Coaster (Fat records)

3)Yesterday's Ring- Diamonds in the ditch (Suburban Home)

4) Frank Turner- Poetry of the Deed (Epitaph)

5) Psyched to Die- Year One (Dirtnap Records)

6) Future of the Left- Travels with Myself and Another

7) Hatebreed- s/t (E1)

8) Dear Landlord- Dream Homes (No Idea records)

9) Teenage Bottle Rocket- They Came from the Shadows (Fat Records)

10) Gallows- Grey Britain (Reprise Records)