Yesterday, July 28th was the one year anniversary of me gettin off the couch and back on my bike. My oh my what a year its been. Endless hours over the winter in my basement on my trainer and finally too late rediscovering cross country skiiing (just in time for Chapin Forest to thaw). The anticipation of my first race at Mid-Ohio in April.
Also, joining Snake Bite Racing team and our team dominating a couple events at RATL with team tactics and strong riding. Then barely 8 weeks after starting racing I upgraded from Cat.4 to 3 and in one of my fist Cat3 races I missed the break, but my group lapped the field in a crit at Mill Creek.
After the spring races my coach and I started to concentrate on the State Time Trial and Road race. Both were the ultimate challenges as the State TT was on an ever rolling course on a wet morning. IT was hard to find a rythm, but I went faster than I expected. The State road race was a 73 miler on a 90+ degree humid day on open roads and 5500' of climbing (some think it was even more than that). I dehydrated and then bonked on the last lap after making the winning break of 4 guys, but managed a 5th. Next year I wiill bring a suport person for bottles like when my brother did it for me at the 114 mile State Road race so many years ago.
Now as the anniversary has come and I feel my form is at the best its ever been I am looking forward to some hilly road races and a winter of Cyclocross (I have never done it before) and some more cross country skiing.
I cannot wait for this building year to become the base and build from it for 2008. I hope to be lighter, stronger and even faster.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Hampton Hills-TRuxell-Akron 2-man TT
Thomas Domonic of Color Me Safe Racing (a Cat2) and I hooked up for this 2-man Time Trial hosted by WWW.SUMMITFREEWHEELERS.ORG The race was very short at 7.45 miles (I had 8 miles on my odometer and have read others had 7.85) with 5 flat fast miles then a fast turn onto Truxell road and then steadily uphill and rolling uphill to the finish.
Warm-up went well and I finally remembered to bring my trainer and stayed warm till our start time. Ahead of us were about 6 teams consisting of 2-man teams (on seperate bicycles)and Tandems and one team behind us. The Spin team DNS's due to tire problems.
Technically we didnt use any aero equipment, except I wore a skinsuit and td stayed in a tight undershirt. I also taped over my watts on my bike computer and forgot my heart rate strap, not that I care about HR over such a short distance. It worked out great too-more on that later..
We rolled off with td taking the lead. What an idiot I am-I rolled out in my small ring, but I got it sorted and we were off. We decided on longer pulls and just come around when your rested or pull off when your tired. td is in my mind one of the best riders in the area soI knew it would go smooth. td said he wasnt feeling his best afterwards, but he was still pulling at 27mph and then I'd take my turns and as soon as he was in my small draft I would try and step it up and usualy had it about 29 to 30. Its funny when I guy doesnt have his best day-but can still pull at 27 to 28mph!!
Unfortunately I left td to pull the rollers so I started to make shorter pulls on rollers and let momentum take me past. The first 5 miles flew by in my mind and we averaged 27.5mph and I averaged 271 watts. We made the fast turn onto Truxell where the pavement was brand new and we immediately could feel the uphill, though gradual starting to slow us down. There were actually some pretty steep short rollers on truxell and I started to pump up them knwoing that we only had about 1 mile to go.
I gapped td a bit over one of them and soft pedaled a short bit and we were back together. 7.45 miles went by and no sign of the finish. Luckily I still felt great and just kept hammering while td came by over the last roller and the finish was in sight. td was pulling hard now and I sprinted to get along side at the line so wed maximize our time.
The last 3 miles uphill we still averaged 21.9mph and 315 watts. We crossed the tape with the fastest 2-person team time of 19:29 and 25.0 mph. The only one faster was a Tandem team and they clocked in at 19.25 seconds...only 4 seconds! The course record was set in 1997 by Rudy Sroka in 19:08 (solo) so I think our time was very respectable and if I am not mistaken, this was the first 2-man TT event so maybe td and I hold the course record (for now) for a 2-person team?
My only question is the course distance. Were previous records set at a distnace of 7.45 miles and if so-we crossed the 7.45 mile marker in under 18 minutes. But I would assume the start finish have not changed and its just the difference in odometers.
I also equalled or improved some of my best average power figures from 5-minutes to 20 minutes without using Power or HR so even though this was a 2-man effort, I still think I went very well on percieved exertion. I looked at only speed and distance on my computer. I was averaging about 300 to 318 watts on my pulls on AP road so exceeding my FTP a bit, but considering there is coming out of the draft to pull which spikes the power a bit-I 'd say I was about perfect. A bit high is okay because one,you get a short rest in the draft and two the race was very short.
Anyways, its always fun to win and although we didnt win the Fastest Time of Day, we were still very fast tonight. Thanks td!!
Warm-up went well and I finally remembered to bring my trainer and stayed warm till our start time. Ahead of us were about 6 teams consisting of 2-man teams (on seperate bicycles)and Tandems and one team behind us. The Spin team DNS's due to tire problems.
Technically we didnt use any aero equipment, except I wore a skinsuit and td stayed in a tight undershirt. I also taped over my watts on my bike computer and forgot my heart rate strap, not that I care about HR over such a short distance. It worked out great too-more on that later..
We rolled off with td taking the lead. What an idiot I am-I rolled out in my small ring, but I got it sorted and we were off. We decided on longer pulls and just come around when your rested or pull off when your tired. td is in my mind one of the best riders in the area soI knew it would go smooth. td said he wasnt feeling his best afterwards, but he was still pulling at 27mph and then I'd take my turns and as soon as he was in my small draft I would try and step it up and usualy had it about 29 to 30. Its funny when I guy doesnt have his best day-but can still pull at 27 to 28mph!!
Unfortunately I left td to pull the rollers so I started to make shorter pulls on rollers and let momentum take me past. The first 5 miles flew by in my mind and we averaged 27.5mph and I averaged 271 watts. We made the fast turn onto Truxell where the pavement was brand new and we immediately could feel the uphill, though gradual starting to slow us down. There were actually some pretty steep short rollers on truxell and I started to pump up them knwoing that we only had about 1 mile to go.
I gapped td a bit over one of them and soft pedaled a short bit and we were back together. 7.45 miles went by and no sign of the finish. Luckily I still felt great and just kept hammering while td came by over the last roller and the finish was in sight. td was pulling hard now and I sprinted to get along side at the line so wed maximize our time.
The last 3 miles uphill we still averaged 21.9mph and 315 watts. We crossed the tape with the fastest 2-person team time of 19:29 and 25.0 mph. The only one faster was a Tandem team and they clocked in at 19.25 seconds...only 4 seconds! The course record was set in 1997 by Rudy Sroka in 19:08 (solo) so I think our time was very respectable and if I am not mistaken, this was the first 2-man TT event so maybe td and I hold the course record (for now) for a 2-person team?
My only question is the course distance. Were previous records set at a distnace of 7.45 miles and if so-we crossed the 7.45 mile marker in under 18 minutes. But I would assume the start finish have not changed and its just the difference in odometers.
I also equalled or improved some of my best average power figures from 5-minutes to 20 minutes without using Power or HR so even though this was a 2-man effort, I still think I went very well on percieved exertion. I looked at only speed and distance on my computer. I was averaging about 300 to 318 watts on my pulls on AP road so exceeding my FTP a bit, but considering there is coming out of the draft to pull which spikes the power a bit-I 'd say I was about perfect. A bit high is okay because one,you get a short rest in the draft and two the race was very short.
Anyways, its always fun to win and although we didnt win the Fastest Time of Day, we were still very fast tonight. Thanks td!!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Bad Night at Euro Hill Circuit Race
There was a bad crash at Euro hill on the neutral rollout tonight. A bad shimmy took a guy down on the descent and he took down a bunch of guys behind. Some sliding into a concrete culvert and one guy who went over the bars and clocked his head hard went in an ambulance. Suffice it say it was race over. Lots of bent wheels, broken forks, dented frames and road rash!! I was going 42mph down the hill so it was a hard crash for them. It all happened behind me and I didnt even hear it, but Tom did and said it sounded bad.
After a long delay by the side of the crash Tom and I decided to ride till we got tired and to ride the hill a few times for future races, but on the first lap it started to sprinkle, then rain then a deluge of rain, hard cold wind hit and we were soaked. We were determined to continue, but when we got to the turn there was fast moving traffic and horrible visbility-We would have been crushed by a big truck so we turned around and gave up. I logged 17 miles mostly on warm-up.
It would have been a great race with Delgros, Sroka, Shawn Adams, Moskal, Tris, Tom and I. Some more fast guys , but I dont know there names. But, I dont want to sound indifferent because theres some banged up riders and thats too bad. I do hope they feel alright tomorrow and the guy who went to the hospital recovers without anything major broken.
After a long delay by the side of the crash Tom and I decided to ride till we got tired and to ride the hill a few times for future races, but on the first lap it started to sprinkle, then rain then a deluge of rain, hard cold wind hit and we were soaked. We were determined to continue, but when we got to the turn there was fast moving traffic and horrible visbility-We would have been crushed by a big truck so we turned around and gave up. I logged 17 miles mostly on warm-up.
It would have been a great race with Delgros, Sroka, Shawn Adams, Moskal, Tris, Tom and I. Some more fast guys , but I dont know there names. But, I dont want to sound indifferent because theres some banged up riders and thats too bad. I do hope they feel alright tomorrow and the guy who went to the hospital recovers without anything major broken.
Tid bits
So July 18th has come and gone. Whats so special about July 18th you say?? Why it was my 15th wedding anniversary!! Is it a coincidence that I quite racing 15 years ago....hahaha!! I wont even go there.
Today is yet another race I ve never been to, but it has a fast descent and a Euro style switchback climb. Man, if you ride bikes thats got to sound good and it sure does to me. But alas it wont stop raining and the threat for continued rain is strong. I for one have no problem racing in the rain (karts or bicycles), but the bike clean-up that night or next day always sucks. This being an evening race means the bike will more than likely sit overnight. Poor, poor old drivetrain.
The chains got close to 4000 miles on it so maybe its time to think about a replacement. I must say Ive never taken such good care of a chain before. I'll try a SRAM chain next and see if it shifts better than an ultegra one. Watching how quickly John was able to fix Bretts broken chain Sunday with a SRAM link was nice too.
But rain is not a bad thing. My wife has grown a green thumb these last few years (whew-she finally has a hobby of her own) and she tells me that rain si good and more the better. Maybe I can teach her to clean a chain??
I recommend if your on your winter or spring chain to get it checked for stretching and bad links. Seems guys are snapping them left and right here and if it snaps at the wrong time, well-it hurts!
What about you-whats your take on rain riding? This is it for me. I'll start a ride knowing it will rain and I'll keep plodding away when it starts, but I just cannot get myself to ride down my driveway in the rain. I never have been able to. Weird thing.
Rain, rain go away, come back another non-race day...
Today is yet another race I ve never been to, but it has a fast descent and a Euro style switchback climb. Man, if you ride bikes thats got to sound good and it sure does to me. But alas it wont stop raining and the threat for continued rain is strong. I for one have no problem racing in the rain (karts or bicycles), but the bike clean-up that night or next day always sucks. This being an evening race means the bike will more than likely sit overnight. Poor, poor old drivetrain.
The chains got close to 4000 miles on it so maybe its time to think about a replacement. I must say Ive never taken such good care of a chain before. I'll try a SRAM chain next and see if it shifts better than an ultegra one. Watching how quickly John was able to fix Bretts broken chain Sunday with a SRAM link was nice too.
But rain is not a bad thing. My wife has grown a green thumb these last few years (whew-she finally has a hobby of her own) and she tells me that rain si good and more the better. Maybe I can teach her to clean a chain??
I recommend if your on your winter or spring chain to get it checked for stretching and bad links. Seems guys are snapping them left and right here and if it snaps at the wrong time, well-it hurts!
What about you-whats your take on rain riding? This is it for me. I'll start a ride knowing it will rain and I'll keep plodding away when it starts, but I just cannot get myself to ride down my driveway in the rain. I never have been able to. Weird thing.
Rain, rain go away, come back another non-race day...
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
A Biathlon?
I have this problem with running, besides that its just torture on the mind. I get the worst shin splints after just one run. Makes me wonder how I can train for a biathlon and why in the heck do I want to do one anyways? I almost have myself convinced its like cross training for, well Cross (cyclocross). The event I am thinking about is the JCB Biathlon on August 26th http://www.bellefairejcb.org/announcements/events/12th-annual-biathalon-%26-walk/
Its a 3 mile run, which I think I could train for in a month and of course the Time trial portion at 12.5 miles is right up my alley. Of course Ive never tried to ride after running, much less at TT pace!! And, not to make excuses i have two more important bicycle races to shoot for so in actuality I only have a couple weeks to train the run.
I give myself a 3/10 chance in doing this and thats being optimistic for sure. But its always fun to think of new challenges. I am also looking at the Relay (Team) event so I can concentrate on just the bike!! I certainley know the roads and my TT bike is getting dusty!
Ray
Its a 3 mile run, which I think I could train for in a month and of course the Time trial portion at 12.5 miles is right up my alley. Of course Ive never tried to ride after running, much less at TT pace!! And, not to make excuses i have two more important bicycle races to shoot for so in actuality I only have a couple weeks to train the run.
I give myself a 3/10 chance in doing this and thats being optimistic for sure. But its always fun to think of new challenges. I am also looking at the Relay (Team) event so I can concentrate on just the bike!! I certainley know the roads and my TT bike is getting dusty!
Ray
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Back from the Dead???
Here are results from the State Road race. I can tell you that the Gold and Silver medals in Cat.3 (and not just because they dropped me and I couldnt catch them in an all out 6 mile chase) deserved it and congrats to those guy!! One was a Breakaway and another on Saturn of Dayton. The Saturn guy climbs like a mountain goat so keep an eye on him in hilly races. I think his name is David Rich.
http://teamcolumbus.org/results/osrr.pdf
Ray
http://teamcolumbus.org/results/osrr.pdf
Ray
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Fun Facts from the State Road Race
90 degree temperatures
Time in Z3 31 minutes
Z4 58 minutes
Z5 35 minutes
Miles 74.8
Time 3:42
Climbing 5520'
Max speed 53.3 mph
Lowest speed 4.5mph (BONK)
Ave speed 20.0
Fastest lap 21.6mph (52:59min)lap 3
Slowest lap 17.7mph (1:01:58) lap 4
Bottles used: 1 on warm-up, two tall and one short in race.
Gells eaten: 3
Cliff bars eaten: 1/4
Most interesting sight-smoke coming off of carbon rims on the first descent. "Pee-yuwee" the smell.
Best part of race-bombing the s-turn laps 2-4 just because they were awesome banked corners.
Worst part of race-bonking
Time in Z3 31 minutes
Z4 58 minutes
Z5 35 minutes
Miles 74.8
Time 3:42
Climbing 5520'
Max speed 53.3 mph
Lowest speed 4.5mph (BONK)
Ave speed 20.0
Fastest lap 21.6mph (52:59min)lap 3
Slowest lap 17.7mph (1:01:58) lap 4
Bottles used: 1 on warm-up, two tall and one short in race.
Gells eaten: 3
Cliff bars eaten: 1/4
Most interesting sight-smoke coming off of carbon rims on the first descent. "Pee-yuwee" the smell.
Best part of race-bombing the s-turn laps 2-4 just because they were awesome banked corners.
Worst part of race-bonking
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