Air Force academy Road Race

Yesterday I was supposed to the the AFA TT, and Crit but bother were cancelled because of weather, i.e. Fog Rain and Wind. The college kids got to race the crit because many of them need points for nationals. However, It looked fucking miserable! All the USAC races were cancelled.

Today's race went well for me I stayed on or near the front and out of trouble. On the second lap there was a horrific crash splitting the field and sending at lease two guys to the hospital. After that it we sat up for a few to recover mentally from what we just witnessed and see if anyone else would catch on a few did and the fun started again. On the third and final lap I went to the front again to set the pace on the climb and to try to break down the more powerful guys. I was successful and caused a split of six guys. I set tempo a little to long and when a couple of guys attacked again I could respond. I did panic because there was a guy behind me and I thought he would work with me. Wrong! when I asked he stated he had a team mate ahead. I understand the tactics so I went again and all I accomplished was dragging him back to the group. So I just kinda road up the the last power climb content with my sixth place.

This was my best race tactically. My biggest mistake was I probably did to much work at the front early on, but my thinking was to try to break people down for the last lap( and I don't want to be the guy who just sits in and never puts his nose in the wind). I would rather climb at my pace than someone else's. So I still need to work on my ability to recover between hard efforts. I still have a lot to learn.

Photos coming soon.

The new leatherface record is badass!

Colorado College Hill Climb

Today Laura, Keith, and I lined up for the Cheyenne Canyon Hill Climb i-TT. It might be in the running for hardest 3 miles in America. OK that is probably a bit of a over statement, but it is definitely not pleasant. 3.2 miles and about 1250' of elevation gain, 8 % average grade with a few sections topping out of 18%. FUN! If your idea of fun is a puke fest.

So the start of my race was a little ominous and reminiscent of yesterdays clipping incident. I clipped in just fine but on my second or third pedal stroke a pulled my cleat out of the pedal.(I need to buy new cleats!!!), So I sat down re-clipped and took off again. The first mile and a half were uneventful, but I could see the guy that started 30 seconds before me and I was closing the gap when the grade kick up I caught the another guy that I didn't even know we were close to, shortly there after I caught my 30 sec guy. I ended up catching 1 more guy with 400 meters to go. I finished in Fourth place today and only a few seconds out of top 3.

Keith had a very good ride today and finished in ninth place, not bad for a guy who doesn't consider himself a climber. Laura had a great ride today and ended up finishing in second place, beating her PR by 3 min. BRAVO!!!

Not much else to say about a race that takes less than 20 min.

Colorado College Classic Ctiterium

"Sometimes your the hammer and other times you are the nail." I don't know who said it first but today I was THE NAIL! Its no big secret that I get nervous in crits, especially when I have to race with the young guys. Today was no exception to that rule and I was a bit of a mess before and during the race.

It is a cool course as far as crits are concerned. It starts with a straight going north on cascade and after a few hundred yards does a 180 degree hairpin turn and head back south on cascade for a few blocks until it makes a right turn down a hill and a cross a short flat section before a steep little climb followed by a left back onto cascade.

As with any day I race this year it was windy no crazy windy just enough to make gaps very difficult to bridge. So at the start I was more than a little anxious and when the starters gun went off I miss clipped and fought with my left pedal all the way through the hairpin turn. By the time I was clipped in I was DFL(dead fucking Last!) I started chasing and catching but the main group all ready had a big gap on the rest of us field fodder. I would occasionally catch stragglers off the back of the main field but they were to tired to help chase, so the race ended up being the Individual Time Trial. I knew going into this race and the wind out of the south east I needed to stay near the front from the word go, but I managed to screw that up.

It also made me realize I need to work on some of my explosiveness i.e. 30 sec power to close gaps. I still have to except this is only my third crit, I totally avoided them last year and if I am going to live by the bullshit I preach I have to start working on my weaknesses. So for now a am content with my base fitness and I realize that if not for a few mental errors I could have been there with the contenders. I just have a lot to learn.

On a happier note Keith had a very good ride and finished in the main group. YEAH!

3/21 Practice Crit

Practice Crit? It felt like a regular crit to me. Except we had a little more diversity it the group, but most of them were dropped after the first couple of laps. The tempo was fast but not insane but there are some sketchy riders in the group. I sat in the first part of the race because my legs were very sore from the squat fest a couple of days prior. About 2/3 of the race I started feeling a little better and went to thee front of the group and did some work. One can only suck so many wheels in a day. With about 3 laps to go I dropped back into the group to recover for a lap before the real fun started. I heard the sound of metal, carbon fiber and bodies colliding, the guy in front of me locked up his breaks so hard he smoked the back tire and it exploded! I saw three guys laying on the ground and one bike still tumbling end over end. This caused a break in the field and I was on the wrong end of it. I chased a little but when I saw the 2 laps togo sign I just sat up and cruised. The poor dudes who were in the wreck looked rough one looked as if the end of his nose had been abraded off! OUCH!!! All in all not a bad day of racing for me, I felt bad but road pretty well. Still need to work on some of my power issues but it is coming around.

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.