I managed to do one good thing the whole race. Chain came off while I was racing and I managed to reach down, grab it, and (very quickly) throw it back on whilst staying on the bike and without injuring myself, crashing, or losing any time. Though the saving of time was negated by my just falling over (once), sucking at getting clipped back in, and my inability to run.
Cross if fun- maybe I should actually practice some cx skills, but I probably won't
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Thater
I suffered at the back
I closed way too many gaps
I finished near last
but better than the 75 other dudes that got gapped
(the preceding was a prime example of why I did not major in the arts)
I closed way too many gaps
I finished near last
but better than the 75 other dudes that got gapped
(the preceding was a prime example of why I did not major in the arts)
Monday, August 10, 2009
page valley
Fun, hard, hot, too long. Trying to build for cyclocross season and seems like I'm finally getting some form back, but page valley was just a touch too long for me. So ready to have only 1 hour of suffering.
Nat was in the move of the day so I got to sit in the pack if you can call it that. Coming into the last lap it (the field of like 12 guys or so) shattered up the long gradual climb. Mckinney put in a big attack and guys were all over the place. I think that reduced the field to like 6 guys over the top- jose, barrie, githens, bax, mckinney and maybe 1 or 2 others. Over the top they had a little 5 second gap on me and it was game over, I looked back and there was nobody.
Needless to say it was a long last lap out there by myself. I kept looking back sure a few guys would come rolling up, but nobody. Then coming up the climb on the last lap I saw Nat ahead, he was pretty fried too, but at least he had a good excuse since he was in the break all day. Not a great day, but hardly anyone finished and I think the two of us were around 10th, which is where I seem to finish in every race.
Nat was in the move of the day so I got to sit in the pack if you can call it that. Coming into the last lap it (the field of like 12 guys or so) shattered up the long gradual climb. Mckinney put in a big attack and guys were all over the place. I think that reduced the field to like 6 guys over the top- jose, barrie, githens, bax, mckinney and maybe 1 or 2 others. Over the top they had a little 5 second gap on me and it was game over, I looked back and there was nobody.
Needless to say it was a long last lap out there by myself. I kept looking back sure a few guys would come rolling up, but nobody. Then coming up the climb on the last lap I saw Nat ahead, he was pretty fried too, but at least he had a good excuse since he was in the break all day. Not a great day, but hardly anyone finished and I think the two of us were around 10th, which is where I seem to finish in every race.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
boring ramblings, burnout, cool races
Was stoked that I finally got my cat 1 upgrade earlier this week after nabbing the last couple points I needed the other weekend up in PA at renfrew ras.
Fun course, and hard day in the saddle when 25 miles into an 88 mile road race my teammate Nat and I ended up getting away with no one else in tow. We Caught the GPOA guy that had been solo away, we wanted him in the break since they had 6 guys in the race, but he was fried and went backwards fast. Next 30-40 miles Nat and I (mainly Nat towing me as he is riding like an animal right now) worked up the gap to about 2 minutes, but it was not to be. GPOA chased us down, but spent most of their guys and half the field in the process. Then we rolled around at like 15 mph the next two hours since everyone was gassed, though it went hard up the climb every lap.
After all that Nat won the field sprint, and I nabbed 5th. We also got 2nd and 3rd in the k.o.m. points, and Nat almost pulled off the bonus prize of first and kom which would have netted us a 1 hour plane ride at night over pittsburgh.
I still don't think the 88 miles was as bad as the 50 miles of Nebo the day before which was the Nick Bax show- attack from the gun and continue until he just rode away and crushed everyone. On the second to last lap I got shelled from the field which was down to 10 riders, then I probably rode a 12 mph average (seriously, I was going pathetically slow) the last lap and a half just to finish, 2 guys ended up passing me, but luckily 12th was still in the money
Been a little burned out, but still a few good races left I'm gonna try to do as I usually seem to have good form in August if I manage to race. Seems like every year the same thing happens: I come out strong in April/May, kinda suck around the start of june, get a little better form in July, and if I can avoid burnout and keep going into August I have good form.
Fun course, and hard day in the saddle when 25 miles into an 88 mile road race my teammate Nat and I ended up getting away with no one else in tow. We Caught the GPOA guy that had been solo away, we wanted him in the break since they had 6 guys in the race, but he was fried and went backwards fast. Next 30-40 miles Nat and I (mainly Nat towing me as he is riding like an animal right now) worked up the gap to about 2 minutes, but it was not to be. GPOA chased us down, but spent most of their guys and half the field in the process. Then we rolled around at like 15 mph the next two hours since everyone was gassed, though it went hard up the climb every lap.
After all that Nat won the field sprint, and I nabbed 5th. We also got 2nd and 3rd in the k.o.m. points, and Nat almost pulled off the bonus prize of first and kom which would have netted us a 1 hour plane ride at night over pittsburgh.
I still don't think the 88 miles was as bad as the 50 miles of Nebo the day before which was the Nick Bax show- attack from the gun and continue until he just rode away and crushed everyone. On the second to last lap I got shelled from the field which was down to 10 riders, then I probably rode a 12 mph average (seriously, I was going pathetically slow) the last lap and a half just to finish, 2 guys ended up passing me, but luckily 12th was still in the money
Been a little burned out, but still a few good races left I'm gonna try to do as I usually seem to have good form in August if I manage to race. Seems like every year the same thing happens: I come out strong in April/May, kinda suck around the start of june, get a little better form in July, and if I can avoid burnout and keep going into August I have good form.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Fitchburg eats cables
I did Fitchburg in 2005 and 2006. One of those years when I went up there with Matt Cooke his rear shifter cable came apart at the head inside the Dura-ace lever during the road race and he somehow finished and made it up the mountain in his 39x11/12.
I think one of those years when I was up there with Kris Auer the same thing happened to him.
This year it was my turn, yep 7800 DA levers. End of the circuit race shifting seemed a little off, figured it was from all the grit/sand on the roads. Get to the road race, hop on the bike and shifting is really fucked up in the rear when I'm in my little ring. Run it to Sram support to adjust it, at this point I was thinking it might be the cable, but dude adjusted it and seemed okay.
Start the road race, get to the climb and won't stay in a cog when I'm in the little ring, could get it to say in the 39x25, but that was about it, lets just say that sucked. Since it was okay in the big ring I did the crit without checking it, plus if something went wrong I could just take a lap and get a pit bike
Luckily my cable didn't completely come apart inside the shifter, but cable was the first thing I checked when I got home. The head almost broke off inside, but it was hanging on by like 2 strands.
I knew I should have replaced it before the race, so remember to replace your shifter cables before the time fitchburg rolls around.
THE ACTUAL RACE
TT: didn't put in a horrible time, but I definitely think I could have gone at least 20 seconds faster. Was in the mid 20's with like only 1.5 seconds between me and the five guys in front of me. Figured this was gonna pretty much decide gc since no moutain climb
Circuit: My teammate Nat got in an early move the suprisingly stayed away as it dangled out front of the field the whole race always between 10-20 seconds. He got 3rd and also picked up the green (points) jersey which he lost in the rr, but did a great job of killing it in the crit to get it back.
Road Race: first or second lap a 6 man move went. I think with 4 or 5 to go I went with one other dude on the climb and we got a good gap, but field reeled us in on the descent. A few K before the climb a dude in black attacked and both Nat and I were on it and we had a break. Railed it up the climb and the gap was established. Some guys fell off and then some bridged up after the descent. We ended up with a group of about 6 guys and we all were working well. The earlier break had come apart and only one solo guy was away. I thought for sure this was the move.
We worked well the next few laps (@ 11 miles each), but then on the last lap the field ( or what 35 guys that were left of it) came out of nowhere and caught us on the descent, that really sucked. It had the race leader and bunch of guys high on gc so they had the horsepower and apparently the organization to chase us. After that all I could do was finish 27th and lost some time to the guys in the front half of the field, but somehow moved from 27th in gc to 19th.
Crit: Pretty much everyone in the group I was in the day before was suffering and near the back. The field pretty much stayed together, but I moved up 1 place in gc because I think one of the guys I was in the move with the day before got lapped.
Fun race, was hoping to finish top 10 in gc, raced well, just didn't play out right, but managed a top 20 and still in the money.
I think one of those years when I was up there with Kris Auer the same thing happened to him.
This year it was my turn, yep 7800 DA levers. End of the circuit race shifting seemed a little off, figured it was from all the grit/sand on the roads. Get to the road race, hop on the bike and shifting is really fucked up in the rear when I'm in my little ring. Run it to Sram support to adjust it, at this point I was thinking it might be the cable, but dude adjusted it and seemed okay.
Start the road race, get to the climb and won't stay in a cog when I'm in the little ring, could get it to say in the 39x25, but that was about it, lets just say that sucked. Since it was okay in the big ring I did the crit without checking it, plus if something went wrong I could just take a lap and get a pit bike
Luckily my cable didn't completely come apart inside the shifter, but cable was the first thing I checked when I got home. The head almost broke off inside, but it was hanging on by like 2 strands.
I knew I should have replaced it before the race, so remember to replace your shifter cables before the time fitchburg rolls around.
THE ACTUAL RACE
TT: didn't put in a horrible time, but I definitely think I could have gone at least 20 seconds faster. Was in the mid 20's with like only 1.5 seconds between me and the five guys in front of me. Figured this was gonna pretty much decide gc since no moutain climb
Circuit: My teammate Nat got in an early move the suprisingly stayed away as it dangled out front of the field the whole race always between 10-20 seconds. He got 3rd and also picked up the green (points) jersey which he lost in the rr, but did a great job of killing it in the crit to get it back.
Road Race: first or second lap a 6 man move went. I think with 4 or 5 to go I went with one other dude on the climb and we got a good gap, but field reeled us in on the descent. A few K before the climb a dude in black attacked and both Nat and I were on it and we had a break. Railed it up the climb and the gap was established. Some guys fell off and then some bridged up after the descent. We ended up with a group of about 6 guys and we all were working well. The earlier break had come apart and only one solo guy was away. I thought for sure this was the move.
We worked well the next few laps (@ 11 miles each), but then on the last lap the field ( or what 35 guys that were left of it) came out of nowhere and caught us on the descent, that really sucked. It had the race leader and bunch of guys high on gc so they had the horsepower and apparently the organization to chase us. After that all I could do was finish 27th and lost some time to the guys in the front half of the field, but somehow moved from 27th in gc to 19th.
Crit: Pretty much everyone in the group I was in the day before was suffering and near the back. The field pretty much stayed together, but I moved up 1 place in gc because I think one of the guys I was in the move with the day before got lapped.
Fun race, was hoping to finish top 10 in gc, raced well, just didn't play out right, but managed a top 20 and still in the money.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
sick?
Wow, I really need to post more often been a long time.
Last week I went out to tour of tucker county in WV. I was feeling great up the climb that was all of 3 miles in. Nice 10K climb, not too steep, we were railing up it and was feeling good at first, but then it felt like my heart rate skyrocketed and I couldn't breathe and was done about 3k from the top- really weird for me as climbs are never a problem.
Okay, bad day, my type of course, but didn't have it, got dropped, oh well.
Took a little rest, felt okay on my training rides this week. Broke out the TT bike a few times and drilled it and felt fine, then Thursday afternoon at work I start feeling sick, a little nauseous and like my head was thumping.
Feel kinda crappy friday morning, had to go into work early at 8, but was out of there by 12, not feeling so good, went home tried to rest some and took a nap.
Saturday, felt a little better, called into work, same thing as last weekend on the bike (probably should not have gone out, but I thought I felt okay). 45 min at a good pace feeling okay but can tell not 100%, then go hard, legs feel fine, breathing isn't good and heart feels like it is going crazy= done for the day.
I'm gonna try to race Murad tomorrow, see how my body reacts. If it's bad I'll just bag it and drive home, but hopefully I'll be okay. I think I just might need some rest before ToWC.
Last week I went out to tour of tucker county in WV. I was feeling great up the climb that was all of 3 miles in. Nice 10K climb, not too steep, we were railing up it and was feeling good at first, but then it felt like my heart rate skyrocketed and I couldn't breathe and was done about 3k from the top- really weird for me as climbs are never a problem.
Okay, bad day, my type of course, but didn't have it, got dropped, oh well.
Took a little rest, felt okay on my training rides this week. Broke out the TT bike a few times and drilled it and felt fine, then Thursday afternoon at work I start feeling sick, a little nauseous and like my head was thumping.
Feel kinda crappy friday morning, had to go into work early at 8, but was out of there by 12, not feeling so good, went home tried to rest some and took a nap.
Saturday, felt a little better, called into work, same thing as last weekend on the bike (probably should not have gone out, but I thought I felt okay). 45 min at a good pace feeling okay but can tell not 100%, then go hard, legs feel fine, breathing isn't good and heart feels like it is going crazy= done for the day.
I'm gonna try to race Murad tomorrow, see how my body reacts. If it's bad I'll just bag it and drive home, but hopefully I'll be okay. I think I just might need some rest before ToWC.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
turkey hill, ft rtichie, and CANCELLED races!!!
So I'm kinda bummed right now, I was all set to do the Conestoga Challenge Road Race this sunday up in lancaster- 1,200 ft climbing/lap for 5 or 6 laps. Go to register tonight, and wtf, the 1/2/3 race disappeared, but THREE races for cat 4 men to choose from not including the masters categories and also NO womens race at all either (not sure if they originially had one though).
Hate that they advertise a 1/2/3 and then a few days before they just eliminate it, I didn't even think they were allowed to do that since the flyer was approved and all, but I don't know.
So looks like no racing for me this weekend, Wilmington and Bike Jam are full. I had been on the edge deciding if I was going to do Wilmington, but decided against it since I have something else going on that day and I figured I could just save it for the road race sunday.
Could really care less about BikeJam, a course I really don't like and only 20 miles.
Fort Rtichie- pack fodder
I really like this course and doesn't hurt that It's only 15-20 miles from my house with a nice 15 minute climb over the mountain. Got in a few moves, thought the one I got into with about 4 or 5 to go was gonna stick with chuck,fuentes, 2 dc velo and me, but after a lap or two it was together again like everyone of the other 50 gazillion breaks that day. Was sitting in good position, 3rd wheel in the field with 1 to go, but hesitated on the backside and didn't go when the attack went and got swarmed and rolled in with the field like I typically do.
Turkey Hill- 2nd (finally a good result at a real race)
I was trying to sit in and wait for the first time up the wall about halfway into the race (5 times up it). Rest of the team made sure to be up front and get in a few early moves and Yanni made sure to yell at me to get my butt up to the front.
Just before the S/F with 5 to go (first time up the wall) Jason Meidof (dcvelo) and Sean Barrie (harley) had a big gap on the field. Rick Norton (lsv) went and I went with him. He was hauling to try and close it and I was doing a little work, but he was hurting me. We finally made it up to the duo just before Gamber Wall. Made it over, and then a little after the descent three more bridged up to us (steve-o cummings (indiana regional), andy shaw (ncvc), and mark warno (artemis)). We had 7 srong guys, 7 different teams and we were all working well, but most pa teams were left out including alliance.
Our gap hovered around 1 minute. then at the S/F with 1 to go it looked like we might get caught, everyone was hurting and moto came up and said 25 seconds, looked back, and field was right behind us. We made it up the wall and 2 guys bridged up to us just after- Dewald (harley) and a Champion System guy. There were a few little attacks but it was staying together. We made the final right turn which is a few miles out from the finish with some rollers. I was around 3rd wheel, and I didn't even know this until after the race, but when we made that turn 2 or 3 more guys had bridged up to us- a kelly pro rider, an alliance (miller?) and maybe a pa guy.
On a roller the champion system guy attacked, and was a lot fresher than the 7 of us who had been in the break all day, and he got a good gap with no one else jumping. Sean Barrie sat on the front for a few minutes to pull him back (since he had Dewald who was fresh) and we finally caught him in the sprint. I was in good position in the last 1k-500 meters and thought the field caught us because I see the alliance and kelly pro guy who I didn't know were there. I was like crap I need to go since I lost a few positions and started to filter back. Saw the left side open up stood, had a little cramp, sat back down and just grunted it out to the finish getting a good gap on everyone else in the group, but early on the Kelly Guy flew by everyone and got a huge gap in the last few hundred meters and there was no closing it.
Hate that they advertise a 1/2/3 and then a few days before they just eliminate it, I didn't even think they were allowed to do that since the flyer was approved and all, but I don't know.
So looks like no racing for me this weekend, Wilmington and Bike Jam are full. I had been on the edge deciding if I was going to do Wilmington, but decided against it since I have something else going on that day and I figured I could just save it for the road race sunday.
Could really care less about BikeJam, a course I really don't like and only 20 miles.
Fort Rtichie- pack fodder
I really like this course and doesn't hurt that It's only 15-20 miles from my house with a nice 15 minute climb over the mountain. Got in a few moves, thought the one I got into with about 4 or 5 to go was gonna stick with chuck,fuentes, 2 dc velo and me, but after a lap or two it was together again like everyone of the other 50 gazillion breaks that day. Was sitting in good position, 3rd wheel in the field with 1 to go, but hesitated on the backside and didn't go when the attack went and got swarmed and rolled in with the field like I typically do.
Turkey Hill- 2nd (finally a good result at a real race)
I was trying to sit in and wait for the first time up the wall about halfway into the race (5 times up it). Rest of the team made sure to be up front and get in a few early moves and Yanni made sure to yell at me to get my butt up to the front.
Just before the S/F with 5 to go (first time up the wall) Jason Meidof (dcvelo) and Sean Barrie (harley) had a big gap on the field. Rick Norton (lsv) went and I went with him. He was hauling to try and close it and I was doing a little work, but he was hurting me. We finally made it up to the duo just before Gamber Wall. Made it over, and then a little after the descent three more bridged up to us (steve-o cummings (indiana regional), andy shaw (ncvc), and mark warno (artemis)). We had 7 srong guys, 7 different teams and we were all working well, but most pa teams were left out including alliance.
Our gap hovered around 1 minute. then at the S/F with 1 to go it looked like we might get caught, everyone was hurting and moto came up and said 25 seconds, looked back, and field was right behind us. We made it up the wall and 2 guys bridged up to us just after- Dewald (harley) and a Champion System guy. There were a few little attacks but it was staying together. We made the final right turn which is a few miles out from the finish with some rollers. I was around 3rd wheel, and I didn't even know this until after the race, but when we made that turn 2 or 3 more guys had bridged up to us- a kelly pro rider, an alliance (miller?) and maybe a pa guy.
On a roller the champion system guy attacked, and was a lot fresher than the 7 of us who had been in the break all day, and he got a good gap with no one else jumping. Sean Barrie sat on the front for a few minutes to pull him back (since he had Dewald who was fresh) and we finally caught him in the sprint. I was in good position in the last 1k-500 meters and thought the field caught us because I see the alliance and kelly pro guy who I didn't know were there. I was like crap I need to go since I lost a few positions and started to filter back. Saw the left side open up stood, had a little cramp, sat back down and just grunted it out to the finish getting a good gap on everyone else in the group, but early on the Kelly Guy flew by everyone and got a huge gap in the last few hundred meters and there was no closing it.
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