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

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

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

State Road Race, an Epic day

There is an old saying that says what doesnt kill you just makes you stronger. Although compared to someone lost at sea or climbing mount everest, I suppose my race day doesnt compare, but it was very hard, hot and long day of sport that I will remember as true suffering.

The State course was a very tough 18.7 mile (done 4x for us Cat.3's) rolling course that starts with a gradual climb about a mile from start finish with two signifcant climbs per lap (both under a mile) that climb steadily with steeper pitches at the top. The toughest being at about 14 miles that climbs, pitches up steeply and then levels out and climbs again at a steep pitch. Heres the course profile per Scott Thor: http://picasaweb.google.com/drpdhmr/Maps/photo#5082926178046645570 The final 4 miles are the toughest with deep roller after roller all the way to the start finish. But the course never lets up as its always up or down.

Starting my race report on Lap three of four. Dave Steiner my teamate for this race hit it on the head by saying this was a race of attrition. Even though only one attack and breakaway had gone (a solo rider in a green jersey) the course had stripped us of 15 of the 30 starters by L3 even with a relaxed pace. Finally after the climb at about mile 5 a rider showed his card by jumping effortlessly away form us on a climb. He looked like he was just dancing on the pedals. I think he was a Saturn of Dayton rider. An Amcon rider bridged to him and then UPMC (whom I was informed midrace to key off as the strongest rider in the group) jumped and I went across with him.

Finally a group off the front and we started to work together. A Breakaway rider also made the move while I think the Amcon rider mistakenly faded back to the peleton. Now we had a group of four and moving away from the peloton was going to be easy work because the group never worked the first 40 miles. Sadly Dave dropped his chain and never got back on even though he was having a strong race!! I felt great as I prefer a higher sustained pace then the sow/fast/slow. We had a big gap in no time and this remained till we hit the hardest climb at 14 miles. The climber jumped hard and Breakaway went with him. I stayed at my pace even though I wasnt suffering too much and the UPMC rider made a comment he wasnt going to kill himself this early (we still had 22 miles to go). But when we got over the second steep pitch the gap had grown too much to close quickly on the descent and I rolled over the top to wait for the UPMC rider, but damn, I had dropped him and as he came over the top he was slumped over his bars.

SO now theres the solo rider up the road, the two then myself and UPMC spread across the course. I started to chase at Threshold for 5 or 6 miles and got damn close to the two, but never got back on. I was chasing hard too and not letting up hoping for any chance to bridge up. As we crossed start finish and started the gradual climb I could see behind easily a minute and noticed no one was behind me. I had dropped the UPMC rider and consigned myself to finishing 4th and solo. I could still see the two guys up the road, but now just specks.

But then it happened and it happened in a split second. I blew up hard core. The kind of leg sapping, mind weakening blow up. And on this course with no relief I knew it was going to be a long last lap. I didnt think that was going to happen after being just fine chasing and strong all day. Reason? Well one comes to mind which I'll talk about later-dehydration!! So the course went like this, barely turn the pedals over on the hills (I went as slow as 4.5mph on the last lap), just trying to survive. Then over the top, big ring and drop gears down to the 12 many times and just push as hard as I could till the next hill, small rings it at just the right moment to have leg speed to get me as far up the climb.

I had suffered and slowed so much that over the climb at 5 mile mark I saw the UPMC rider coming back at me. He finally passsed me on the descent and I tried to stay on his wheel. That barely lasted a mile and I said goodbye to 4th place. Then later another rider came from nowhere and passed me and he and the UPMC rider looked to hook up-there went 5th place. I was so cooked that even the idea of shelter from two other riders couldnt motivate me to ride harder. Lap 3 had been done at 21.6mph ave speed while my last lap was 17.7 mph and took 9 more minutes to complete the lap!!

I really suffered physically and mentally when we hit 514 the toughest stretch. I thought every single negative thought I could and almost listened to them all. I thought about passing out on the side of the road in a clump, I thought about flagging down a sag vehicle for a ride in and I almost got off my bike to walk up the leg buster at mile 14. But I kept thinking to myself of that brown sign that said 1-mile to go and that kept me motivated even though the rollers were killng me. My back hurt, I had a headache, my right big toe hurt (???), my right knee hurt, my butt hurt and of course my thighs and other muscles were killing me, my triceps were tired from being in the drops trying to stay aero not to mention I was having involuntary muscle twitches here and there.

I forgot to say that I also went flying by the green jersey guy who had been solo for 3 laps and when I went by he turned around and stopped. Amazing so I was now elevated to 5th. Finally the last rider (RGF) passed me coming onto 514. So now I had gone from making the decisive breakaway of 4 to getting dropped by two, passing one and getting passed by three others. IN my head I made myself happy knwoing I was still top 10 in a brutal race, but the math was undeniable. Had I dug deep up the climb and stayed with the two (which I could have, but didnt) I had a bronze in the bag and a shot at the win.

Now its possible to say that I would have blown and I even admit they would have dropped me the last time up the climb on 514, but you never know. My solo chase was all out and without anyone to draft over the rollers, I burned every match!! I rolled into the finish and thankfully Gary Burkholder was standing with a bottle of water. IT was a brutal last hour of racing and possily the worst suffering I had experienced on a bike.

Now not to gross anyone out, but I was a covered in white salt meaning I had stopped sweating. I drank three bottles on the bike, two bottles afterwards, recovery drink, came home downed a beer and another two glasses of water and when i finally went to the bathroom (7 hours after the last ) I barely peed!! Now thats dyhydrated!!

So I rolled in after 22 miles of solo chasing and then unbelievable suffering and beat down every demon thought and thats my victory. And as an added bonus, one rider was from PA so I got 5th place!! SO although I had positioned myself for a shot at the win, I still managed to get 5th while flat out bonked for 14 miles. I have been telling my teammates this last week the harder the race is, the better it suits me, but this was definately stretching it.

Red dress or Blue dress?

I have definately been in touch with my female side this week. All week I have been trying to decide on climbing wheels or aero wheels (read-Heavier). Ive been out all week on my FP60 (60mm deep clincher) front and my usual Zipp 303 (38mm deep clincher) with Power-tap. I got to tell you that even up small grades and short hills like Berkshire and Shaker, I dont feel the extra weight. What I do feel is that they are always "wound-up". Thye have that feeling like they want to go and go faster all of the time. But, the race I am testing for is a non-stop rolling course with a 1 mile climb and what looks like a short steep climb on an 18 mile lap (done 4x). ON the flip side are my beloved DT240/DTrr1.1 clinchers. At less than 1500 grams for the wheels they easily take 1 lb off my bike. Inertia changes aside from lighter rims, thats 1 lb less to drag up every roller and climb for 72 miles.

Seems simple right? Go with the lighter wheels, but this darn internet and all its armchair scientists makes this a very tough decision. Some say the aero trumps weight everytime (except maybe a hill climb TT) while others say aero only trumps weight over 30mph. The people in favor of aero can calculate how insignificant a large change in rim weight is to wattage, but how large a % of savings an aero rim is. Its goes like this, a rims weight as a percentage of the overall weight of a bicycle and rider is too small to worry about-in laymans terms. The Weight weenies argue that the aero advantge is of no help while in the group and then only if your solo off the front going above 30 mph. I feel its a combination. Ideally if you were to add 1 lb to your bike with aero wheels, you should take a lb off your bike to compare apples to apples, but thats not possible.

The solution is of course to have a light weight set of aero wheels. For the time being, does this dress make me look fat?

ice cream

I was riding with John Reade last night and we confessed our mutual love for ice cream. Its funny how with my ride schedule of only 9 to 11 hours a week I dont feel like I have the caloric burn to afford to cheat much. Add to that I now prefer a cone over a bowl, ohhh yummy. Anyways, with the State Road race this weekend and an ice cream filled July 4th I still was able to hit my lowest weight of 142.5 lbs this morning (umm...that was pre-ice cream). I did ride to fireweorks tonight, not that I think I burned off the two ice cream sandwiches, Dortmuner Gold, two hamburgers, beans and weenies, potatoe salad, Ben and Jerry's, etc. I consumed today. Considering JUly 28th, 2006 I weighed 175 lbs and how few LSD miles I put in I am amazed at the weight loss. BUT, I'll take it!!

Ray

Velodrome in Cleveland?? Bring it on!!

If your like me and stumbled onto the fact that there is a small group of Clevelanders trying to establish an Indoor/Outdoor Velodrome and cycling venue in Cleveland, youve got to be totally excited by this. What a great way to spend the winter blahs. At least once or twice a week you'll be on the track and not sitting in front of your almost worn out VHS (or Beta?!?!?) tape of the 1989 TdF.

I must admit that they need help and I havent done a darn thing so maybe I need to be kicked in the butt and volunteer!! Heres a link if your not aware of the homepage: http://fasttrackcycling.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

And a blog: http://blog.cleveland.com/earlyedition/2007/06/wheeling_and_dealing_to_build.html

Sorry about having to copy and paste my links-I'll figure out all this blogging html, blah, blah someday, for now I just like to talk about cycling!!