Race: Altolab Lakefront Road Race
Where: Milwaukee, WI
Length: 75 miles
Course: 4.5 mile loop with 2 decent climbs
The last race I did of this length was Spring Prairie. And that one flat out sucked.
But today I felt stronger, faster, and more confident than 2 months ago, but still launching into a breakaway in a 75 mile race with hills would be suicide. The plan was to just hang around, mentally act like I'm riding a long weekend ride with friends and see if I felt good at the end to make a move.
I played my plan to a 'T'.
The race started and immediately there was a decent hill. Like always, I climbed it faster than most of my peers leaving me with less 'catch-up' work to do after the hill. The breakaway guys (typically non-sprinters) like to attack up the climbs, so theres usually always some sort of catch-up work needing to be done. That 'catch-up' work is what destroyed me at Spring Prairie. The hardest part of any road race in my eyes, is the 200 meters after a climb. Mentally, you check out at that point thinking"you made it over the climb, time to relax" when in reality the guys up front aren't letting up and you have to get back in your racing groove at a heart rate of 175 instead of 125.
The race continued through residential areas and through a feed zone where I recognized a fellow rider who opted not to race today, but rather get piss drunk and hand out bottles/food to select riders. It was a much needed laugh to start a 3.5 hour race as he was shirtless and hollering every time around the loop. We continued on the course to a fast snake-like descent that we certainly reached speeds in the 40mph range while curving. The first few times down I was rather hesistant with thoughts of Jens Voigt's crash in the TdF the day before in my mind, but gained a lot of comfort in the laps following.
After the descent was one of the more trying parts of the course as the leaders hammered it knowing there was a massive crosswind as we were now almost flush with the lakefront. The pack was always completely strung out for that quarter mile section before everyone gathered up and got ready for the second climb. This climb was much tougher than the first. It was longer with a touch of steepness at the end; still not much to write home about. Immediately following the climb, we actually raced over well paved sidewalk through a park which was rather interesting going 2 and 3 wide through. The rest of the course was fast. Very fast. And straight. Certainly my favorite part as we rarely dipped below 30mph on this false flat descent with a tailwind all the way through the start/finish line.
The race continued, the usual breaks got off and were immediately reeled in. That is, until a seemingly hopeless break of 2 shot off, and the P/1/2 race decided to pass us at that moment neutralizing the peloton of our race, giving the breakaway quickly a 90 second lead without thought. No one was ready to give a huge effort at the front, so the race for the win was already over. A few more guys were able to get off in small efforts to bridge the gap as no one really cared to chase them down either.
The last lap straightaway came, I positioned myself poorly, stuck on the inside with little room out, so I slowed up to the back of the peloton and gunned it to the front, literally taking first wheel. I looked around to see when the first guy to start his sprint would launch. Off to the right I saw somebody begin to wind up and BOOM! Off went the field. I gunned it instandly and felt amazing. Every stroke was as powerful as the last all the way to the line. No one came close to coming around me. Sure it was for 9th place, but had the pack come back together, there's no way I would have lost today. It was a great finish to a race that I had low expectations for and was primarily using as a tune-up for the Chicago Crit.
Stuck to the plan today, felt good, and gave it a go. Next up: Chicago Criterium.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Superweek - Whitnall Park Road Race
Date: 7/20/2009
Race: Whitnall Park
Course: Gorgeous course through a forest and golf course with one decent climb. 35 mile race.
Lets try to break the Wisconsin Curse: Spring Prairie 36th and a Schlitz Park DNF don't bring back very good memories north of the border.
Today I decided to hang with the pack, just like I always used to do, and wait for the right moment near the end to pounce. The course went through a golf course and forest; it really reminded me of a longer Eagle Creek course. The only real noticable trait of this venue was that at the end of the lap there was one big climb...but it was far easier than it appeared.
I had two teammates who kept trying to get off in breaks. None were successful as this course was fairly easy to real in those jumping off. I relied today on everyone else pulling back breaks as I just wanted to finish today and have a decent result to boost my confidence rather than 'go-for-broke' for the win.
Everything worked as planned. The last lap came, I felt great, I followed a wheel of one my guys up front and unfortunately had to pull a little bit on the last lap. This took a few ounces of energy out of my sails and may have cost me a few spots. A breakaway of 2 was way off at this point, though they were finally in sight with around 200m to go. We hit the hill and I jumped with everything. Just like Vernon Hills, this was a move to place in the top 10, not to win. It worked. A few guys passed me on the line, but I held on for 7th, yielding me 4 upgrade points.
I now have 9 official points with several very big point awarding races on the horizon. By placing well there, I now need to merely finish in the top 10 at either the Chicago Crit, the Tour of Elk Grove, Downers Grove, or the Tour of Oak Brook in order to meet the 25 point upgrade minimum from a 3 -> 2 (as 16 points are awarded for 10th place in all of those races).
Each race throughout the year is given a prestige category between A and E. Most races throughout the year are either D or E's which mean you have to place in the top 10 or 5 to get any points respectively (Whitnall Park was a 'D' race). More prestigious races, including state and national championships are awarded points as high as 60 points for first, while awarding points all the way through 30th place! So, the bottom line is finish top 10 in one of the next 4 races (9+16=25).
Each of the 4 races coming up award points as follows:
Next up: Lakefront Road Race in Milwaukee. It's supposed to be a crit-like course with lots of turns...but its 70 miles long. I'm just going to use it as a training race for Sunday's Chicago Crit and simply hold onto the pack. If I exert any energy before mile marker 60 I'm toast. It's supposed to be one of the best venues in all of amatuer racing in the U.S...but I'm not looking forward to it...
Race: Whitnall Park
Course: Gorgeous course through a forest and golf course with one decent climb. 35 mile race.
Lets try to break the Wisconsin Curse: Spring Prairie 36th and a Schlitz Park DNF don't bring back very good memories north of the border.
Today I decided to hang with the pack, just like I always used to do, and wait for the right moment near the end to pounce. The course went through a golf course and forest; it really reminded me of a longer Eagle Creek course. The only real noticable trait of this venue was that at the end of the lap there was one big climb...but it was far easier than it appeared.
I had two teammates who kept trying to get off in breaks. None were successful as this course was fairly easy to real in those jumping off. I relied today on everyone else pulling back breaks as I just wanted to finish today and have a decent result to boost my confidence rather than 'go-for-broke' for the win.
Everything worked as planned. The last lap came, I felt great, I followed a wheel of one my guys up front and unfortunately had to pull a little bit on the last lap. This took a few ounces of energy out of my sails and may have cost me a few spots. A breakaway of 2 was way off at this point, though they were finally in sight with around 200m to go. We hit the hill and I jumped with everything. Just like Vernon Hills, this was a move to place in the top 10, not to win. It worked. A few guys passed me on the line, but I held on for 7th, yielding me 4 upgrade points.
I now have 9 official points with several very big point awarding races on the horizon. By placing well there, I now need to merely finish in the top 10 at either the Chicago Crit, the Tour of Elk Grove, Downers Grove, or the Tour of Oak Brook in order to meet the 25 point upgrade minimum from a 3 -> 2 (as 16 points are awarded for 10th place in all of those races).
Each race throughout the year is given a prestige category between A and E. Most races throughout the year are either D or E's which mean you have to place in the top 10 or 5 to get any points respectively (Whitnall Park was a 'D' race). More prestigious races, including state and national championships are awarded points as high as 60 points for first, while awarding points all the way through 30th place! So, the bottom line is finish top 10 in one of the next 4 races (9+16=25).
Each of the 4 races coming up award points as follows:
| 1 - 40 | |||||
| 2 - 35 | |||||
| 3 - 30 | |||||
| 4 - 28 | |||||
| 5 - 26 | |||||
| 6 - 24 | |||||
| 7 - 22 | |||||
| 8 - 20 | |||||
| 9 - 18 | |||||
| 10 - 16 | |||||
| 11 - 15 | |||||
| 12 - 14 | |||||
| 13 - 13 | |||||
| 14 - 12 | |||||
| 15 - 11 | |||||
| 16 - 10 | |||||
| 17 - 9 | |||||
| 18 - 8 | |||||
| 19 - 7 | |||||
| 20 - 6 | |||||
| 21 - 5 | |||||
| 22 - 4 | |||||
| 23 - 3 | |||||
| 24 - 2 | |||||
| 25 - 1 |
Next up: Lakefront Road Race in Milwaukee. It's supposed to be a crit-like course with lots of turns...but its 70 miles long. I'm just going to use it as a training race for Sunday's Chicago Crit and simply hold onto the pack. If I exert any energy before mile marker 60 I'm toast. It's supposed to be one of the best venues in all of amatuer racing in the U.S...but I'm not looking forward to it...
Superweek - Schlitz Park
Date: 7/18/2009
Race: Schlitz Park Crit
Course: 44 laps with a good hill on a .8 mile course.
This race sucked.
If you weren't going uphill, you were flying downhill, or going 25 into a turn, or advancing position, or getting jacked up by the 1000's of bumps in the road.
I can climb faster than 95% of the guys out there, but I concede at this point, without proper training, at around hill repeat 25 my legs begin to haphazardly lock up quicker than most.
Bottom line of this race: I saw a group of 10 attack. They were stronger than the rest of the field. I tried to bridge (ride by myself trying to advance from one group to the next) for around a mile. I connected at the top of the hill with that group and severely tightened up. Race over. To make matters worse one of the bumps jarred my glasses off. I went back to find them, and someone had already taken them.
Leg strength will be priority #1 in one month.
Race: Schlitz Park Crit
Course: 44 laps with a good hill on a .8 mile course.
This race sucked.
If you weren't going uphill, you were flying downhill, or going 25 into a turn, or advancing position, or getting jacked up by the 1000's of bumps in the road.
I can climb faster than 95% of the guys out there, but I concede at this point, without proper training, at around hill repeat 25 my legs begin to haphazardly lock up quicker than most.
Bottom line of this race: I saw a group of 10 attack. They were stronger than the rest of the field. I tried to bridge (ride by myself trying to advance from one group to the next) for around a mile. I connected at the top of the hill with that group and severely tightened up. Race over. To make matters worse one of the bumps jarred my glasses off. I went back to find them, and someone had already taken them.
Leg strength will be priority #1 in one month.
Soldier Field Criterium #3
Date: 7/15/2009
Race: Soldier Field Crit #3
2 crashes in 3 races leaves the confidence with something to gain…
So, let’s try this again...only with one arm that’s fully functioning…
I arrived to the race and focused on nothing but cornering in my pre-race ride; I literally just spun in circles trying to get a feel for the bike. Quickly, I noticed that my gears were jumping around from gear to gear without me even shifting. I thought I’d try my hand at utilizing that SRAM Neutral support tent (why else would they be there?) and within 30 seconds my bike was in pristine shape. Some mechanics can just blow your mind with their skills.
Anyways, in pre-race Christian Vande Velde’s dad, John Vande Velde (a two-time Olympian himself) spoke in support of Chicago’s 2016 bid. Very cool to bring out someone like that during the Tour. His speaking style is just like Christians, pretty quick and in short bursts. This whole Olympics thing is working out really well for Chicago cyclists: first the Chicago Criterium, now the Soldier Field Cycling Series, next a new Velodrome in the city?
I positioned myself on the start/finish line in front of the field as I wanted to be at or near the front of the pack so that I didn’t get extremely burned out by the start/stop nature of being in the back end of a crit. Teammate Seth Meyer was quick to point out the 2 pros in the field. I had never raced against pros before. The race started out fairly quickly with Seth doing some heavy pulls and I quickly drifted back from the front to the middle of the field.
Every turn I gained more confidence, gingerly entering them and exploding out of each to make up for the time loss.
Each lap went by and I was quickly running out of steam. These guys were fast. By lap 15 (of around 50), I coughed and up came some food I ate an hour and a half ago. By this point half the field had been dropped. I focused on trying to maintain solid position. Every time I looked at the race clock, I was more discouraged as the clock hardly seemed to tick towards 0:00...so I stopped looking...and buried my focus on nothing but the back wheel of the guy in front of me, sometimes to the extreme of, "If this guy gets dropped, I'm getting dropped" banking on his ability to hold onto the leaders. This was the first crit I've done where there really wasn't an accordian effect. It was strung out single file the entire race.
At one point the pro drifted back and I jumped onto his wheel. You could just see how fast, smooth, and calm he was in the pack. That boosted the adrenaline a little bit. I remembered quickly back to my days of Little 5, and whenever I was riding one-on-one with the studs of the field, I always found that little extra. You forget about the pain and finally begin racing. We were under full lights by this point as the sun had gone down. The crowds around the start finish line had begun to gather. This was a 1/2/3 race. People cared about this race. Our team cared about this race as many teammates from other catagories stuck around to watch.
And I was still there.
With 5 laps to go I gained some energy and moved towards the front of the pack. One falty move can lose you 15 spots as I had found out earlier in the race, so I made sure to stick to the wheel in front of me. The last lap came and Tom Brinney, one of our guys, attacked and I let him go hoping he could stick it out for a 2nd place finish (as the first place guy was long gone). A chase ensued within 10 seconds, but by that point Tom himself was gone. The pace of the race flew and I was decently positioned. I negotiated the last corner 50 meters from the finish and thought "My god, I'm going to finish this thing". I started my all out sprint, gained some room on the guy ahead of me and crossed the line in 9th.
I was happy to finish.
Ecstatic to finish in the top 10.
I found out later that I had actually crossed the finish line in front of one of the pros. Not that if he wanted to, he couldn't beat me, but it felt good regardless, especially since I thought I was going to have to pull over 20 minutes into the race.
Something that happened in that race was the reason I train, the reason I still want to do something competitive. I don't know if it was the lights, the crowd, competing against the best..whatever it was, there was something there that was incredible. On the way home the Wednesday night fireworks at Navy Pier went off. It was one of those surreal moments of exhaustion coupled with complete satisfaction. I just sat on my bike and watched. What an evening.
Superweek - Elgin Cycling Classic
Date: 7/12/2009
Where: Elgin, Illinois
What: Elgin Cycling Classic (50 mile road race)
Course: Gorgeous course, a few big ring climbs, negotiable turns, one 180 degree turn
The race started and I positioned myself up front as immediately a 180 degree turn occurred where Katie and I saw several riders take spills in previous races (one of the reasons I stayed up front). Surprisingly, the turn wasn't difficult at all, but seeing as the race split up within one lap of it starting, I'd argue being in the back exiting that turn must have buried some guys who had to deal with the accordion effect.
There were a few long straights, a few long fast descents, and 2 decent big ring climbs and I felt great, scratch that, amazing the entire time. An attack shot off comprised of about 5 guys and one of ours was in it. Again, this reduced my role to helping let the breakaway last.
Lap goes by.
Lap goes by.
Unorganized chase occurs.
Nothing happens.
Last lap.
Wait, who's that up the road? F#$&! It's our guy! He popped and got dropped from the break. The speed at which we passed him and another dropped rider was like passing a cyclist in a car. All of the sudden xXx and a few other cyclists made their way to the front and started hammering, but it was too late and within a few short minutes of effort, the pack destined itself with a sprint for 4th. I positioned myself near the front, but this effort was crazy. Everyone was trying to outposition the field and by the time you found your spot, someone else was whizzing by, dropping your slot back. I found a spot about 7th wheel back entering the last sequence of turns. Negotiated the first well, maintain speed. Negotiated the second well, maintain speed. Negotiated the thi....my wheel slips, I catch.
At this point I'm going 25 miles an hour. I can either try my best to turn...thought over. BAM! Curb. Down.
The bike was fine. My arm and wrist really hurt, but they were fine. It just sucked again, because I was set up very well for a good run at another top 10 finish and lost it. Oh well. There are bigger fish to fry.
Where: Elgin, Illinois
What: Elgin Cycling Classic (50 mile road race)
Course: Gorgeous course, a few big ring climbs, negotiable turns, one 180 degree turn
The race started and I positioned myself up front as immediately a 180 degree turn occurred where Katie and I saw several riders take spills in previous races (one of the reasons I stayed up front). Surprisingly, the turn wasn't difficult at all, but seeing as the race split up within one lap of it starting, I'd argue being in the back exiting that turn must have buried some guys who had to deal with the accordion effect.
There were a few long straights, a few long fast descents, and 2 decent big ring climbs and I felt great, scratch that, amazing the entire time. An attack shot off comprised of about 5 guys and one of ours was in it. Again, this reduced my role to helping let the breakaway last.
Lap goes by.
Lap goes by.
Unorganized chase occurs.
Nothing happens.
Last lap.
Wait, who's that up the road? F#$&! It's our guy! He popped and got dropped from the break. The speed at which we passed him and another dropped rider was like passing a cyclist in a car. All of the sudden xXx and a few other cyclists made their way to the front and started hammering, but it was too late and within a few short minutes of effort, the pack destined itself with a sprint for 4th. I positioned myself near the front, but this effort was crazy. Everyone was trying to outposition the field and by the time you found your spot, someone else was whizzing by, dropping your slot back. I found a spot about 7th wheel back entering the last sequence of turns. Negotiated the first well, maintain speed. Negotiated the second well, maintain speed. Negotiated the thi....my wheel slips, I catch.
At this point I'm going 25 miles an hour. I can either try my best to turn...thought over. BAM! Curb. Down.
The bike was fine. My arm and wrist really hurt, but they were fine. It just sucked again, because I was set up very well for a good run at another top 10 finish and lost it. Oh well. There are bigger fish to fry.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Superweek - Blue Island
Race: Blue Island Criterium - Superweek
Length: 35 Miles
Course: Fairly clean roads, just under a mile long standard rectangle, pretty good crowds
Blue Island, the first amatuer race of the 2 week long Superweek series, would unnofficially kick off the true cycling season in Chicago with Superweek, Chicago Crit, Elk Grove, and the state and national championships in a months time.
We arrived at Blue Island with around 40 minutes until the race started. Katie and I got everything together, started walking our stuff to the start/finish line and pop...my front tire began to deflate, not something you want to deal with just before a race (not to mention my tire pump exploded no more than 5 minutes before). A mad scrambled ensued trying to find a pump and anything else needed to change out the tube. Luckily SRAM neutral support had a tent with pumps that I could borrow. Fastest tire change of my life. All this meant was no warm up, but in a 90 minute crit you can hope to warm up during the race.
The race began, I was at the back at the start/finish line and stayed near the back trying to get warm for the race. In retrospect, it may have been too far back as the accordian effect of the crit seemed to start taking its toll more quickly than I would have hoped over the hour and a half. We had a few breaks jump off and quickly get reeled back in until two of our guys, Peter and Jacque, jumped into a new break of around 9 riders.
Having two guys in a break is a massive advantage. In the waning moments you can attack with one and force the rest of the field to chase. As soon as the chase reconnects, the other can attack forcing everyone else again to chase wearing out the field. So needless to say, this was a break the team wanted to see stick.
This reduced my roll significantly. Essentially to let a break go, your team stops pulling altogether because the last thing you want to do is use any of your effort to pull back a break you want to see go. So, you sit back and let everyone else waste their efforts. A nice side-product of this is you typically get fresher, but for whatever reason I was feeling terrible. Maybe it was just a longer crit or I made too many efforts early, but I just felt like hell. In any case, we did such a good job of letting the break go, they lapped us with 1.5 laps to go.
It was incredibly confusing and the last thing you want to do is interfere with the leaders in a sprint, so I took it easy, put in a little effort and simply finished with the pack in 19th. Peter ended up winning the sprint for 1st, so the team was rather happy afterwards.
For whatever reason today was extremely tough, but the more I think about it, the more its because of poor positioning. Starting from the front would have saved me some effort and given me a shot to jump into the break as these days breakaways seem to be more popular than field sprints.
Up Next: Elgin Road Race tomorrow...
Length: 35 Miles
Course: Fairly clean roads, just under a mile long standard rectangle, pretty good crowds
Blue Island, the first amatuer race of the 2 week long Superweek series, would unnofficially kick off the true cycling season in Chicago with Superweek, Chicago Crit, Elk Grove, and the state and national championships in a months time.
We arrived at Blue Island with around 40 minutes until the race started. Katie and I got everything together, started walking our stuff to the start/finish line and pop...my front tire began to deflate, not something you want to deal with just before a race (not to mention my tire pump exploded no more than 5 minutes before). A mad scrambled ensued trying to find a pump and anything else needed to change out the tube. Luckily SRAM neutral support had a tent with pumps that I could borrow. Fastest tire change of my life. All this meant was no warm up, but in a 90 minute crit you can hope to warm up during the race.
The race began, I was at the back at the start/finish line and stayed near the back trying to get warm for the race. In retrospect, it may have been too far back as the accordian effect of the crit seemed to start taking its toll more quickly than I would have hoped over the hour and a half. We had a few breaks jump off and quickly get reeled back in until two of our guys, Peter and Jacque, jumped into a new break of around 9 riders.
Having two guys in a break is a massive advantage. In the waning moments you can attack with one and force the rest of the field to chase. As soon as the chase reconnects, the other can attack forcing everyone else again to chase wearing out the field. So needless to say, this was a break the team wanted to see stick.
This reduced my roll significantly. Essentially to let a break go, your team stops pulling altogether because the last thing you want to do is use any of your effort to pull back a break you want to see go. So, you sit back and let everyone else waste their efforts. A nice side-product of this is you typically get fresher, but for whatever reason I was feeling terrible. Maybe it was just a longer crit or I made too many efforts early, but I just felt like hell. In any case, we did such a good job of letting the break go, they lapped us with 1.5 laps to go.
It was incredibly confusing and the last thing you want to do is interfere with the leaders in a sprint, so I took it easy, put in a little effort and simply finished with the pack in 19th. Peter ended up winning the sprint for 1st, so the team was rather happy afterwards.
For whatever reason today was extremely tough, but the more I think about it, the more its because of poor positioning. Starting from the front would have saved me some effort and given me a shot to jump into the break as these days breakaways seem to be more popular than field sprints.
Up Next: Elgin Road Race tomorrow...
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Soldier Field Cycling #2
So it finally happened...
I crashed.
Dozens of races and even more near misses; I had always found a way to stay rubber side down. Today was different.
I came into the Soldier Field Criterium skeptical of the course as its in a parking lot and rumors swirled of a pothole-filled turns. It had rained most of the morning and the course was still moist, but nothing serious, so I decided to sign up and give the 1/2/3 race a whirl.
I rode the course hard in the pre-race and it was beyond managable, nothing too difficult. If a turn was too tight entering, it had plenty of space on the exit to make up for any worries. It wasn't a 4 square typical crit course, rather resembled more of the letter 'C' riding around the outside of the letter. Anyways, I had several teammates in the race with me and we decided to send waves of attacks at the field in hopes of having one stick.
So the race kicked off, my first 1/2/3 race, my first race back after California, and my first race after the dreaded Spring Prairie failure...and I felt awesome. We sent a few guys out on attacks and they were brought back within a lap or so each time. I noticed some people had already been dropped, but the pace wasn't difficult by any stretch, my training ride with Matt Neibler and Drew Kushnick the night before was infinitely harder. Lap 10 of around 55 came around and I felt great. An attack launched on the front stretch containing about 3 guys. I was up front, felt great, no teammates were represented in the attack, so I decided to do my share. I went with the break. I caught the break. I entered turn 2 just as I had entered turn 2 nine times before...
And I'm down.
My wheel had slid out from under me. My carbon pedals ignited sparks as I slid through the exit of the turn similar to how you would see an IndyCar wreck at Indianapolis, but in this case, the left side of my body was on the ground sliding out, not the underside of a car.
First thoughts:
1) "The pack's coming! Get the bike out of the way!"
2) "Is my bike ok? Did I break my collarbone? Is everything still in its place?"
3) "There goes the pack, I think I can still get in this race! Handlebar looks busted..."
Quick Bike Scan: I get up and think about rejoining the pack, look down and quickly recognize my handlebars look bent. Who knows what else could be broken...FAIL
Quick Body Scan: I hear the medical staff yelling asking me "Are you alright?!"...I'm numb at the moment with adrenaline...so I ask them.
I check the collarbone area and feel some slight soreness, but its certainly in the muscle on the front of my shoulder so I'm safe there. I look at and literally feel all of my joints and limbs as I still can't really feel anything yet (though I know its coming - this is around 10-15 seconds after the crash, just as the pack passed) and luckily everything's still in its place. No medical bills or time will be wasted at a hospital! Just simply a painful shower following: PASS
Full Bike Scan: I take a full look at the bike and the only thing glaring is the bent shifter and some severely torn handlebar tape. I spun the wheels in an effort to diagnose if I had bent a $1000 rim, and both spun true, thank god. After sitting down for about 30 seconds, I jumped back on the bike, shifted around, put a little effort into the pedals, and everything checked out fine. I was able to physically move the shifter back into its place and the bike looks good as new, hardly a scratch on the $4000 carbon frame. MASSIVE PASS
I always knew that I was going to crash at some point or another, and knew that I didn't have quite the backup plan if either those scans failed, but luckily my bike and I live to fight another day. It's the risk of bike racing and I think all the riders in that race gladly accepted it...we're racing in a parking lot with wet pavement for god's sake!
I felt far less disappointed with the Soldier Field Crit than Spring Prairie for one outstanding reason: I felt amazing. I could see myself winning in a 1/2/3 race. I was hanging on for dear life in the 3's at Spring Prairie, but was in a break with the 1/2/3's at Soldier Field. That's promising. If I had felt terrible and crashed out, that might be my breaking point in cycling, but I felt awesome and it has renewed my energy towards the sport. I didn't think that would be the takeaway after my first crash.
I met some nice people after the crash. Talked to two people who knew Christian VandeVelde in high school and even rode with him in his hometown of Lemont, they said he wanted to be a golfer at the time. Very cool. Also met someone named Carter on the ride home. He did triathlons and looked like a pretty decent athlete. He stated he may be interested in bike racing but was worried about crashing...I think my hands dripping of blood and my white underarmor and bibs now stained red my have deterred him no matter how hard I endorsed it...
Anyways, I'm fine, the bike's fine, and we're going to be riding today down lakeshore trail, just laced with some scratches and bruises for a change. In terms of my next race, I'm debating about the UWW road race this Saturday. It would be good training if nothing else. So, we'll see. It just means it'll be tough to watch THE START OF THE TDF! I'm pumped.
Until next time...
I crashed.
Dozens of races and even more near misses; I had always found a way to stay rubber side down. Today was different.
I came into the Soldier Field Criterium skeptical of the course as its in a parking lot and rumors swirled of a pothole-filled turns. It had rained most of the morning and the course was still moist, but nothing serious, so I decided to sign up and give the 1/2/3 race a whirl.
I rode the course hard in the pre-race and it was beyond managable, nothing too difficult. If a turn was too tight entering, it had plenty of space on the exit to make up for any worries. It wasn't a 4 square typical crit course, rather resembled more of the letter 'C' riding around the outside of the letter. Anyways, I had several teammates in the race with me and we decided to send waves of attacks at the field in hopes of having one stick.
So the race kicked off, my first 1/2/3 race, my first race back after California, and my first race after the dreaded Spring Prairie failure...and I felt awesome. We sent a few guys out on attacks and they were brought back within a lap or so each time. I noticed some people had already been dropped, but the pace wasn't difficult by any stretch, my training ride with Matt Neibler and Drew Kushnick the night before was infinitely harder. Lap 10 of around 55 came around and I felt great. An attack launched on the front stretch containing about 3 guys. I was up front, felt great, no teammates were represented in the attack, so I decided to do my share. I went with the break. I caught the break. I entered turn 2 just as I had entered turn 2 nine times before...
And I'm down.
My wheel had slid out from under me. My carbon pedals ignited sparks as I slid through the exit of the turn similar to how you would see an IndyCar wreck at Indianapolis, but in this case, the left side of my body was on the ground sliding out, not the underside of a car.
First thoughts:
1) "The pack's coming! Get the bike out of the way!"
2) "Is my bike ok? Did I break my collarbone? Is everything still in its place?"
3) "There goes the pack, I think I can still get in this race! Handlebar looks busted..."
Quick Bike Scan: I get up and think about rejoining the pack, look down and quickly recognize my handlebars look bent. Who knows what else could be broken...FAIL
Quick Body Scan: I hear the medical staff yelling asking me "Are you alright?!"...I'm numb at the moment with adrenaline...so I ask them.
I check the collarbone area and feel some slight soreness, but its certainly in the muscle on the front of my shoulder so I'm safe there. I look at and literally feel all of my joints and limbs as I still can't really feel anything yet (though I know its coming - this is around 10-15 seconds after the crash, just as the pack passed) and luckily everything's still in its place. No medical bills or time will be wasted at a hospital! Just simply a painful shower following: PASS
Full Bike Scan: I take a full look at the bike and the only thing glaring is the bent shifter and some severely torn handlebar tape. I spun the wheels in an effort to diagnose if I had bent a $1000 rim, and both spun true, thank god. After sitting down for about 30 seconds, I jumped back on the bike, shifted around, put a little effort into the pedals, and everything checked out fine. I was able to physically move the shifter back into its place and the bike looks good as new, hardly a scratch on the $4000 carbon frame. MASSIVE PASS
I always knew that I was going to crash at some point or another, and knew that I didn't have quite the backup plan if either those scans failed, but luckily my bike and I live to fight another day. It's the risk of bike racing and I think all the riders in that race gladly accepted it...we're racing in a parking lot with wet pavement for god's sake!
I felt far less disappointed with the Soldier Field Crit than Spring Prairie for one outstanding reason: I felt amazing. I could see myself winning in a 1/2/3 race. I was hanging on for dear life in the 3's at Spring Prairie, but was in a break with the 1/2/3's at Soldier Field. That's promising. If I had felt terrible and crashed out, that might be my breaking point in cycling, but I felt awesome and it has renewed my energy towards the sport. I didn't think that would be the takeaway after my first crash.
I met some nice people after the crash. Talked to two people who knew Christian VandeVelde in high school and even rode with him in his hometown of Lemont, they said he wanted to be a golfer at the time. Very cool. Also met someone named Carter on the ride home. He did triathlons and looked like a pretty decent athlete. He stated he may be interested in bike racing but was worried about crashing...I think my hands dripping of blood and my white underarmor and bibs now stained red my have deterred him no matter how hard I endorsed it...
Anyways, I'm fine, the bike's fine, and we're going to be riding today down lakeshore trail, just laced with some scratches and bruises for a change. In terms of my next race, I'm debating about the UWW road race this Saturday. It would be good training if nothing else. So, we'll see. It just means it'll be tough to watch THE START OF THE TDF! I'm pumped.
Until next time...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Stationary Bikes and California
So I didn’t get to ride up Mount Diablo like I had hoped. Instead, it was a trip to Napa Valley and San Francisco that trumped the sketchy ‘buy the bike and sell it to me when you get back’ tactics of the California shops (and at a price of about $120/day for an entry level off-brand road bike). California was a great time, but I certainly lost some cycling fitness although I did manage to spin for about an hour each day there.
Oh the dread of a stationary bike at 5:30 in the morning. Wake up in the city (office park) of Pleasanton, roll out of bed, put on the same workout clothes you wore the day before, stroll outside into a crisp morning twilight, walk into the 14x14 jam-packed exercise room, say hey to the same guy that’s there every morning, pop on ESPN, spin, spin, zone out, spin, wait until SportsCenter repeats itself, and leave. Not a lot of thought goes into it, but I suppose that’s the key.
I’ve realized that I’ve become a stationary bike snob. When I started riding, I didn’t suspect riding on a trainer or a stationary bike would be any different. My biggest peeve with the stationary bike is that the resistance is so inconsistent. If you put it on setting 3 (a low setting), it takes a surprisingly large amount of effort to turn over your first few strokes but becomes incredibly easy soon thereafter. With minimal effort you quickly begin over-pedaling as if you should start shifting into a higher gear. If you put it on setting 8 (a higher setting), it takes a ton to turn over those first few pedal strokes, but its resistance becomes manageable to sustain once you start going. 1) It doesn’t react like a normal bike, but more importantly 2) it makes it near impossible to do intervals unless you’re fine with tearing up your knees turning over the pedals to start every burst. I can’t do intervals on a 3 setting as I’ll fly off the bike, but I don’t want to do intervals on an 8 setting because I want to be able to walk when I’m 30.
Going to California also gave me the opportunity to get some reading done. I finished up the book ‘The Rider’ by Tim Krabbe. It’s a quick read about the intricacies of one fictional bike race. Very poetic and very well done. I have a date this weekend on my new balcony with ‘A Dog in a Hat’ by Joe Parkin.
So, anyways, I need to get my fitness levels up. I’m going to take the weekend off from racing and will go on a beast of a training ride on Saturday morning. The rest of this week will be riding with some quick efforts. So, that means my next race is this Wednesday, the Soldier Field Criterium #2. I hear it’s fairly technical and important to be near the front. There’s also apparently a pothole in one of the more dangerous turns. Have to do it. So, we’ll see what happens.
Until next time, here are some pics from the trip:
Oh the dread of a stationary bike at 5:30 in the morning. Wake up in the city (office park) of Pleasanton, roll out of bed, put on the same workout clothes you wore the day before, stroll outside into a crisp morning twilight, walk into the 14x14 jam-packed exercise room, say hey to the same guy that’s there every morning, pop on ESPN, spin, spin, zone out, spin, wait until SportsCenter repeats itself, and leave. Not a lot of thought goes into it, but I suppose that’s the key.
I’ve realized that I’ve become a stationary bike snob. When I started riding, I didn’t suspect riding on a trainer or a stationary bike would be any different. My biggest peeve with the stationary bike is that the resistance is so inconsistent. If you put it on setting 3 (a low setting), it takes a surprisingly large amount of effort to turn over your first few strokes but becomes incredibly easy soon thereafter. With minimal effort you quickly begin over-pedaling as if you should start shifting into a higher gear. If you put it on setting 8 (a higher setting), it takes a ton to turn over those first few pedal strokes, but its resistance becomes manageable to sustain once you start going. 1) It doesn’t react like a normal bike, but more importantly 2) it makes it near impossible to do intervals unless you’re fine with tearing up your knees turning over the pedals to start every burst. I can’t do intervals on a 3 setting as I’ll fly off the bike, but I don’t want to do intervals on an 8 setting because I want to be able to walk when I’m 30.
Going to California also gave me the opportunity to get some reading done. I finished up the book ‘The Rider’ by Tim Krabbe. It’s a quick read about the intricacies of one fictional bike race. Very poetic and very well done. I have a date this weekend on my new balcony with ‘A Dog in a Hat’ by Joe Parkin.
So, anyways, I need to get my fitness levels up. I’m going to take the weekend off from racing and will go on a beast of a training ride on Saturday morning. The rest of this week will be riding with some quick efforts. So, that means my next race is this Wednesday, the Soldier Field Criterium #2. I hear it’s fairly technical and important to be near the front. There’s also apparently a pothole in one of the more dangerous turns. Have to do it. So, we’ll see what happens.
Until next time, here are some pics from the trip:
Mount Diablo in the distance
Groth Winery in Napa Valley
Golden Gate Bridge at sunset
A really awesome picture I took (And yes, I emailed it to the couple, I was proud)
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Laketrail TT
There's nothing like riding in the rain. My most memorable days training for the Little 500 were doing hill repeats alone in a warm 80 degree shower. Maybe it was the feeling that I was Lance Armstrong ascending the French Alps into the town of Sestriere. Maybe it was knowing that I was getting better while everyone else was inside on the couch watching tv. Maybe it was knowing that I'm the only one simply crazy enough to be out in this weather. Whatever the case was, I loved it.
It's raining out today.
Which means its a gorgeous day for a post work ride. The path will be empty which will make for a great workout (though I'd rather be climbing in Bloomington). The only downside to the rain is I can't ride to work as I get absolutely drenched - great when in cycilng clothes, terrible when in work clothes. Speaking of, today was the last day I'd be leaving for work from our current place. Crazy to think about since we don't move in for another 9 days. From now on it will be either a one minute bike ride or a brisk 15 minute walk from our new place. I was really getting used to that extra 30 minutes a day marked on my training log!
Anyways, yesterday I did another Laketrail South Time Trial. Recently, I marked out a down-and-back course that takes me around 45 minutes to complete and ride pretty much to exhaustion. I've always been a terrible time trialer and really want to get better at it. If you can't TT you can't win a solo breakaway, something a really powerful road rider can accomplish. So what better way than to race down a path filled with bike riders, pedestrians, and the occansional vehicle. I live in Chicago, do you have a better idea?
The course has a slight incline to start and one 'hill' in the middle that makes you shift down a gear or two to efficiently get over. Beyond that its flat terrain with a lot of bumps. The goal for me is to do this on my road bike so that it simulates what I would be able to do in a race. Of course I could be far faster on a Time Trial specific bike, but I'm not sure that'd be quite legal to bust out in a road race (plus everyone would know exactly what your plan is).
Mentally this is what goes through my head during each stage of the TT...
-0:30 - "*sigh* this is going to hurt"
0:00 - "Hit the stopwatch!"
0:02 - "Missed the button, turn around"
0:00 - "Hit the stopwatch!"
0:02 - "Ok, we're rolling"
0:05 - "Get over this bump and find a nice hard rhythm.
0:20 - "Found my rhythm, now move, cut corners, and dodge pedestrians"
0:50 - "Look right, left, clear, cross, go."
2:30 - "Ok, there's a clear tailwind here, I'm going to need at least 3 minutes at this point on the way back to get a personal best.
3:00 - "Wow, this hurts, no way I can hold this for another 40 minutes..."
5:00 - "Zone Out"
10:00 - "Really my legs are the only part that hurt"
10:35 - "Just got over the climb, keep pushing after the climb just as hard, you'll lose significant time otherwise"
12:30 - "Ahh, smoothest terrain yet, put your head down and punch, you are Dave Zabriske"
20:00 - "Approaching the turn-around point, about 40 seconds off your pb split, must not have been a big enough tailwind...right?...right!?!?"
20:15 - "Turn, turn, turn, turn, accelerate!!!"
20:30 - "H.E.A.D.W.I.N.D...ugggghh"
20:31 - "Keep cadence and move"
26:00 - "Everythings starting to give out, numbing in places you don't want numb"
26:30 - "Pedestrian, no way they're just going to stand...
26:35 - "...in the middle of the bike path..."
26:38 - "...MOVE!!!!!..."
26:39 - "BREAKKKKKKKKKkkkkk"
26:40 - "(Expletive) and accelerate"
26:45 - "Wow I just lost about 10 seconds there easily, and now I'm shot from accelerating..."
32:00 - "I can see McCormick's Place, 10 minutes and you're there, push"
38:00 - "I feel like I'm flying just keep moving and you may be on pace"
40:30 - "Just crossed my last checkpoint, I'm definately behind pace by 15 seconds"
42:30 - "So Close!"
43:20 - "(Expletive), 7 seconds off"
43:30 - "Good workout nonetheless, begin high cadence spin, I'm sleepy"
Last few weeks times:
5/20 - 44:36
5/27 - 43:13
6/04 - 43:22
6/10 - 43:20
I can't wait to see what I could do on a real TT bike. The standard for a 1 hour time trial is doing 40k in an hour. Right now I'm doing about 36k/hr with a poor course, wind, and absolutely nothing aero, which is positive. Pretty steady times thus far; I missed my mark by under 10 seconds for the last two weeks which means I'm pretty much keeping fitness / may need to take a rest and recovery week soon. Perfect time for a California trip I suppose. Originally I thought this trip would be quite the hinderance on my season as I will miss several local races, but it may really be a blessing in disguise as it will allow me to mentally and physically regroup after a rough training and racing week as July is going to take everything out of me. As long as there are excersise bikes in Cali, I will be golden.
And hey, I may be able to climb Mount Diablo on the weekend! First 'real' climb ever. Pretty excited if I can make it happen.
But until then, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the Chicago rain.
It's raining out today.
Which means its a gorgeous day for a post work ride. The path will be empty which will make for a great workout (though I'd rather be climbing in Bloomington). The only downside to the rain is I can't ride to work as I get absolutely drenched - great when in cycilng clothes, terrible when in work clothes. Speaking of, today was the last day I'd be leaving for work from our current place. Crazy to think about since we don't move in for another 9 days. From now on it will be either a one minute bike ride or a brisk 15 minute walk from our new place. I was really getting used to that extra 30 minutes a day marked on my training log!
Anyways, yesterday I did another Laketrail South Time Trial. Recently, I marked out a down-and-back course that takes me around 45 minutes to complete and ride pretty much to exhaustion. I've always been a terrible time trialer and really want to get better at it. If you can't TT you can't win a solo breakaway, something a really powerful road rider can accomplish. So what better way than to race down a path filled with bike riders, pedestrians, and the occansional vehicle. I live in Chicago, do you have a better idea?
The course has a slight incline to start and one 'hill' in the middle that makes you shift down a gear or two to efficiently get over. Beyond that its flat terrain with a lot of bumps. The goal for me is to do this on my road bike so that it simulates what I would be able to do in a race. Of course I could be far faster on a Time Trial specific bike, but I'm not sure that'd be quite legal to bust out in a road race (plus everyone would know exactly what your plan is).
Mentally this is what goes through my head during each stage of the TT...
-0:30 - "*sigh* this is going to hurt"
0:00 - "Hit the stopwatch!"
0:02 - "Missed the button, turn around"
0:00 - "Hit the stopwatch!"
0:02 - "Ok, we're rolling"
0:05 - "Get over this bump and find a nice hard rhythm.
0:20 - "Found my rhythm, now move, cut corners, and dodge pedestrians"
0:50 - "Look right, left, clear, cross, go."
2:30 - "Ok, there's a clear tailwind here, I'm going to need at least 3 minutes at this point on the way back to get a personal best.
3:00 - "Wow, this hurts, no way I can hold this for another 40 minutes..."
5:00 - "Zone Out"
10:00 - "Really my legs are the only part that hurt"
10:35 - "Just got over the climb, keep pushing after the climb just as hard, you'll lose significant time otherwise"
12:30 - "Ahh, smoothest terrain yet, put your head down and punch, you are Dave Zabriske"
20:00 - "Approaching the turn-around point, about 40 seconds off your pb split, must not have been a big enough tailwind...right?...right!?!?"
20:15 - "Turn, turn, turn, turn, accelerate!!!"
20:30 - "H.E.A.D.W.I.N.D...ugggghh"
20:31 - "Keep cadence and move"
26:00 - "Everythings starting to give out, numbing in places you don't want numb"
26:30 - "Pedestrian, no way they're just going to stand...
26:35 - "...in the middle of the bike path..."
26:38 - "...MOVE!!!!!..."
26:39 - "BREAKKKKKKKKKkkkkk"
26:40 - "(Expletive) and accelerate"
26:45 - "Wow I just lost about 10 seconds there easily, and now I'm shot from accelerating..."
32:00 - "I can see McCormick's Place, 10 minutes and you're there, push"
38:00 - "I feel like I'm flying just keep moving and you may be on pace"
40:30 - "Just crossed my last checkpoint, I'm definately behind pace by 15 seconds"
42:30 - "So Close!"
43:20 - "(Expletive), 7 seconds off"
43:30 - "Good workout nonetheless, begin high cadence spin, I'm sleepy"
Last few weeks times:
5/20 - 44:36
5/27 - 43:13
6/04 - 43:22
6/10 - 43:20
I can't wait to see what I could do on a real TT bike. The standard for a 1 hour time trial is doing 40k in an hour. Right now I'm doing about 36k/hr with a poor course, wind, and absolutely nothing aero, which is positive. Pretty steady times thus far; I missed my mark by under 10 seconds for the last two weeks which means I'm pretty much keeping fitness / may need to take a rest and recovery week soon. Perfect time for a California trip I suppose. Originally I thought this trip would be quite the hinderance on my season as I will miss several local races, but it may really be a blessing in disguise as it will allow me to mentally and physically regroup after a rough training and racing week as July is going to take everything out of me. As long as there are excersise bikes in Cali, I will be golden.
And hey, I may be able to climb Mount Diablo on the weekend! First 'real' climb ever. Pretty excited if I can make it happen.
But until then, I'm going to sit back and enjoy the Chicago rain.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Goal 1 And The Rest of the Season
So I just saw the point totals awarded for Spring Prairie and let me tell you, had I known they were going to be that inflated...
1st place was awared 60 upgrade points and then equally distributed down through 30th place.
To put that in perspective: for placing 4th in Vernon Hills, I received 2 points. I could have placed 29th in Spring Prairie to equate that! 29th!
Makes the loss sting all the more.
Typically to upgrade a Cat 3 rider needs to accumulate 25 points over the course of the season. Technically, I only have 3 points, because USACycling only counts USCF races (most of the races I will be doing). ABR, USCF's competitor if you will, sponsored the Monsters of the Midway Criterium, so I won't technically be awarded those points for placing 4th. (And for reference, I keep saying 'technically' because anyone can apply to upgrade at any point regardless of how many points they achieve. When upgrading, a rider can list all the races they've done that didn't show up in rankings, other past results, or other considerations that they deem valuable in considering an upgrade.) I have never met points when upgrading, but am a Cat 3. Why? Because I placed well in pretty much every Cat 4 and Cat 5 race I had done, so I applied and they recognized that I was ready to move on.
But, after seeing the amount of points awarded at Spring Prairie (note Road Races count far more than Criteriums for points, and apparently State Championships double your point totals for the race)...I just want to meet points.
So, I'm 22 points away with 18 races left on my schedule.
Here are the remaining races.
6/28 - Tour of the Dairyland: Downer Avenue (Crit)
7/1 - Soldier Field Criterium 2 (Crit)
7/4 - UWW Road Race (RR)
7/11 - Superweek: Blue Island (Crit)
7/12 - Superweek: Elgin Cycling Classic (RR)
7/15 - Soldier Field Criterium 3 (Crit)
7/18 - Superweek: Schlitz Park Cycling Challenge (Crit)
7/19 - Superweek: Evanston GP (Crit)
7/20 - Superweek: Whitnall Park Road Race (RR)
7/22 - Superweek: Lakefront Road Race (RR)
7/26 - Chicago Criterium (Crit)
7/29 - Soldier Field Criterium 4 (Crit)
8/1 - Tour of Elk Grove (Crit)
8/2 - Tour of Elk Grove (Crit)
8/12 - Soldier Field Criterium 5 (Crit)
8/15 - National Criterium Championships: Downers Grove (Crit)
8/16 - National Criterium Championships: Downers Grove (Crit)
8/23 - Illinois State Championships, Tour of Oak Brook (RR)
Other Possible Races:
7/21 - Cedarburg Cycling Classic (Crit)
8/8 - Grayslake Cycling Classic (Crit)
8/9 - Glencoe Grand Prix (Crit)
Yeah, pretty much a month and a half of all out cycling and it will be a challenge (almost more mentally than anything: see Spring Prairie post). Logically, upgrading will pretty much boil down to placing well (top 3) in a road race or consistently placing well in criteriums: 2 things I feel like I should be able to do. If everything else fails - the last race of the season will be a massive point opportunity as it is a state championship race.
But the bottom line is: just ride hard, win, and the rest will be history.
Anyways, I'll be going to California for 10 days starting this weekend for work. Luckily it sounds like they have excersie bikes at the hotel, so I will be riding everyday to keep fitness (but god do indoor stationary's suck). Also we're located very close to Mount Diablo, a decent sized mountain in California. I may try and rent a bike one morning from a local shop and see what a true hill feels like.
As for this week, I will be doing hard intervals from Tuesday-Thursday. One day will be shorter pyramids and sprints, another day will be mid-range intervals in the range of 3-5 minutes each, and one day will be a 45 minute time trial (my personal best on the course - 43:13).
So we'll see how that goes. I'm hoping to break myself down as much as possible this week and have next week be a rest and recover week. When I come back, that first road race will be more of a fitness gauge/increaser than an actual race. I will approach it similarly to Vernon Hills when I didn't know exactly where my fitness levels were. Hopefully I'll surprise myself again, but who knows what 10 days on a stationary will bring.
Other cycling things on my mind:
- Looking into a Powertap by Saris for training in the fall and next year.
- Tour de France is in one month, getting rather excited
- Sounds like some future DSP L5ers are hitting it hard right now, nice to hear
- I think I'll be doing the Urbanathlon with Andy in October
- I've been looking into some good cycling books, should be placing an order once we move, that 36th floor balcony will have my name written all over it.
1st place was awared 60 upgrade points and then equally distributed down through 30th place.
To put that in perspective: for placing 4th in Vernon Hills, I received 2 points. I could have placed 29th in Spring Prairie to equate that! 29th!
Makes the loss sting all the more.
Typically to upgrade a Cat 3 rider needs to accumulate 25 points over the course of the season. Technically, I only have 3 points, because USACycling only counts USCF races (most of the races I will be doing). ABR, USCF's competitor if you will, sponsored the Monsters of the Midway Criterium, so I won't technically be awarded those points for placing 4th. (And for reference, I keep saying 'technically' because anyone can apply to upgrade at any point regardless of how many points they achieve. When upgrading, a rider can list all the races they've done that didn't show up in rankings, other past results, or other considerations that they deem valuable in considering an upgrade.) I have never met points when upgrading, but am a Cat 3. Why? Because I placed well in pretty much every Cat 4 and Cat 5 race I had done, so I applied and they recognized that I was ready to move on.
But, after seeing the amount of points awarded at Spring Prairie (note Road Races count far more than Criteriums for points, and apparently State Championships double your point totals for the race)...I just want to meet points.
So, I'm 22 points away with 18 races left on my schedule.
Here are the remaining races.
6/28 - Tour of the Dairyland: Downer Avenue (Crit)
7/1 - Soldier Field Criterium 2 (Crit)
7/4 - UWW Road Race (RR)
7/11 - Superweek: Blue Island (Crit)
7/12 - Superweek: Elgin Cycling Classic (RR)
7/15 - Soldier Field Criterium 3 (Crit)
7/18 - Superweek: Schlitz Park Cycling Challenge (Crit)
7/19 - Superweek: Evanston GP (Crit)
7/20 - Superweek: Whitnall Park Road Race (RR)
7/22 - Superweek: Lakefront Road Race (RR)
7/26 - Chicago Criterium (Crit)
7/29 - Soldier Field Criterium 4 (Crit)
8/1 - Tour of Elk Grove (Crit)
8/2 - Tour of Elk Grove (Crit)
8/12 - Soldier Field Criterium 5 (Crit)
8/15 - National Criterium Championships: Downers Grove (Crit)
8/16 - National Criterium Championships: Downers Grove (Crit)
8/23 - Illinois State Championships, Tour of Oak Brook (RR)
Other Possible Races:
7/21 - Cedarburg Cycling Classic (Crit)
8/8 - Grayslake Cycling Classic (Crit)
8/9 - Glencoe Grand Prix (Crit)
Yeah, pretty much a month and a half of all out cycling and it will be a challenge (almost more mentally than anything: see Spring Prairie post). Logically, upgrading will pretty much boil down to placing well (top 3) in a road race or consistently placing well in criteriums: 2 things I feel like I should be able to do. If everything else fails - the last race of the season will be a massive point opportunity as it is a state championship race.
But the bottom line is: just ride hard, win, and the rest will be history.
Anyways, I'll be going to California for 10 days starting this weekend for work. Luckily it sounds like they have excersie bikes at the hotel, so I will be riding everyday to keep fitness (but god do indoor stationary's suck). Also we're located very close to Mount Diablo, a decent sized mountain in California. I may try and rent a bike one morning from a local shop and see what a true hill feels like.
As for this week, I will be doing hard intervals from Tuesday-Thursday. One day will be shorter pyramids and sprints, another day will be mid-range intervals in the range of 3-5 minutes each, and one day will be a 45 minute time trial (my personal best on the course - 43:13).
So we'll see how that goes. I'm hoping to break myself down as much as possible this week and have next week be a rest and recover week. When I come back, that first road race will be more of a fitness gauge/increaser than an actual race. I will approach it similarly to Vernon Hills when I didn't know exactly where my fitness levels were. Hopefully I'll surprise myself again, but who knows what 10 days on a stationary will bring.
Other cycling things on my mind:
- Looking into a Powertap by Saris for training in the fall and next year.
- Tour de France is in one month, getting rather excited
- Sounds like some future DSP L5ers are hitting it hard right now, nice to hear
- I think I'll be doing the Urbanathlon with Andy in October
- I've been looking into some good cycling books, should be placing an order once we move, that 36th floor balcony will have my name written all over it.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Spring Prairie Road Race
Race: Spring Prairie Road Race
Where: Spring Prairie, WI
Catagory: 3
Length: 65 Miles
Description: Hills everywhere with a very steep hill finish with about 100m of flat following. Good course, easy turns.
So Spring Prairie arrived and it would be my first road race since the Summer Solstice last year. It was a very rough weekend preceding the race. A bachelor party Friday night, one hour of sleep, then a 9 hour CFA exam on Saturday, then dinner with said bachelor on Saturday at a very expensive restaurant (settled for the steak burger - by far the cheapest option, but I certainly felt the effects of it today). I had been dreading the amount of tiredness I would feel entering today's race, and every bit of how bad I thought I would feel I felt.
I drove up with two teammates Jauque Cartier and Dave Moyer to the race. It was nice 1.5 road trip to the course and we had a decent warmup. We tested out our legs on the climb and it was pretty steep, though I felt pretty good with it. It was longer than I had imagined but I thought I may have a shot of getting over it 11 times.
The race took off with around 50 or so competitors. I accidently only had one bottle of liquid (far less than you need) and I made it a gatorade half-half mix as it helps for cramping of my lower calf. The race began and we got through the first lap fine. One of our guys jumped off the front and had a pretty decent gap keeping the pace of the race high. But as time went on, this was no Summer Solstice course. Each lap went by and each bump began to feel like a hill and each hill began to feel like a mountain. It was incredibly tough. By lap 5 I was gassed but was still moving up the tough climb faster than others. It was the moments after the climb that I struggled as gaps began to form between riders and we had to chase down groups until the race was finally back together by the middle of the lap. By the time the group was back together we'd approach a backstretch climb and then finally came the time to relax on the decent (reaching 45 mph at times). So for pretty much 4 of the 6 miles of each lap felt like I was going all out. I don't know if this was a product of me not bringing my 'A' game or just being completely beaten today. I'd like to think the former, but I'm not one to make excuses. Bottom line: I need to get better at road racing and if I expect to perform I better be set up for the race. By lap 8 of 10 we approached the hill climb and we ascended it. I was moving pretty well up it, passing literally dozens of people, but 75% up the climb my thighs felt like somebody all of the sudden just squeezed them tight. I was still able to ride but knew I had reached my limit physically for the day. I gave it everything I had to keep up and managed to stay with the pack until the first turn a ways down the road. But after leaving a small 5 meter gap in front of me I looked up and just couldn't make the effort to catch back on. I continued riding and finished the next lap and a half out alone. I caught up with a Cat 1 guy who had been dropped and he told me some stories of times he raced in stage races in Argentina and Mexico and how he's going to start in the Nature Valley Stage Race in Minnesota this year, one of the top 5 biggest stage races in the country. Very cool to ride with a guy like that...and pass him by as he was completely spent. Its amazing, when you bonk, you bonk. I didn't bonk as much as I was just completely physically spent from everything: the weekend, the no sleep, the little preperation riding, the way the gatorade sat in my stomach like a thick wad of ground beef, the actual thick wad of ground beef I had in my stomach from the night before, the no water, etc. But most of all though - I was just beat and beat hard. It was one of those races where the thoughts of "You should just quit", "Why are you doing this, you could be playing volleyball at the beach right now", "You'll never make it to the top", "You're done, just pull over" creep into your head over and over and for miles on end.
One of my teammates won the race and another got 3rd (Luke 1st, Dave 3rd). It was a great day for them and was very happy to hear that.
However, it just sucks when you embarress yourself like that. One of the most valuable things living a life of athletics has given me and that many cyclists have yet to understand - No one really cares about all the excuses you have, they only care about the result. And I didn't bring the result.
However, I finished.
Which is something many people can't say about that race. Yes it may have been 36th and yes I may have been the last finisher, but I finished and fought through the last 10 miles feeling like their were knives in my thighs and rods in my back. One of my goals this season was to have very few, if any, DNF's. Of the 34 bike races I've done in my career, I have never yet quit and that didn't start today.
I got better.
But, I need to get even better. There are no two ways about it.
Superweek, The Chicago Criterium, and the National Championships start to kick off in just over a month. I will be ready. Time to mentally and physically regroup after the month of racing - 3 week hiatus for a California trip.
Then the season really begins.
Next race: June 28th - Tour of the Dairyland Downer Avenue Bike Race
Where: Spring Prairie, WI
Catagory: 3
Length: 65 Miles
Description: Hills everywhere with a very steep hill finish with about 100m of flat following. Good course, easy turns.
So Spring Prairie arrived and it would be my first road race since the Summer Solstice last year. It was a very rough weekend preceding the race. A bachelor party Friday night, one hour of sleep, then a 9 hour CFA exam on Saturday, then dinner with said bachelor on Saturday at a very expensive restaurant (settled for the steak burger - by far the cheapest option, but I certainly felt the effects of it today). I had been dreading the amount of tiredness I would feel entering today's race, and every bit of how bad I thought I would feel I felt.
I drove up with two teammates Jauque Cartier and Dave Moyer to the race. It was nice 1.5 road trip to the course and we had a decent warmup. We tested out our legs on the climb and it was pretty steep, though I felt pretty good with it. It was longer than I had imagined but I thought I may have a shot of getting over it 11 times.
The race took off with around 50 or so competitors. I accidently only had one bottle of liquid (far less than you need) and I made it a gatorade half-half mix as it helps for cramping of my lower calf. The race began and we got through the first lap fine. One of our guys jumped off the front and had a pretty decent gap keeping the pace of the race high. But as time went on, this was no Summer Solstice course. Each lap went by and each bump began to feel like a hill and each hill began to feel like a mountain. It was incredibly tough. By lap 5 I was gassed but was still moving up the tough climb faster than others. It was the moments after the climb that I struggled as gaps began to form between riders and we had to chase down groups until the race was finally back together by the middle of the lap. By the time the group was back together we'd approach a backstretch climb and then finally came the time to relax on the decent (reaching 45 mph at times). So for pretty much 4 of the 6 miles of each lap felt like I was going all out. I don't know if this was a product of me not bringing my 'A' game or just being completely beaten today. I'd like to think the former, but I'm not one to make excuses. Bottom line: I need to get better at road racing and if I expect to perform I better be set up for the race. By lap 8 of 10 we approached the hill climb and we ascended it. I was moving pretty well up it, passing literally dozens of people, but 75% up the climb my thighs felt like somebody all of the sudden just squeezed them tight. I was still able to ride but knew I had reached my limit physically for the day. I gave it everything I had to keep up and managed to stay with the pack until the first turn a ways down the road. But after leaving a small 5 meter gap in front of me I looked up and just couldn't make the effort to catch back on. I continued riding and finished the next lap and a half out alone. I caught up with a Cat 1 guy who had been dropped and he told me some stories of times he raced in stage races in Argentina and Mexico and how he's going to start in the Nature Valley Stage Race in Minnesota this year, one of the top 5 biggest stage races in the country. Very cool to ride with a guy like that...and pass him by as he was completely spent. Its amazing, when you bonk, you bonk. I didn't bonk as much as I was just completely physically spent from everything: the weekend, the no sleep, the little preperation riding, the way the gatorade sat in my stomach like a thick wad of ground beef, the actual thick wad of ground beef I had in my stomach from the night before, the no water, etc. But most of all though - I was just beat and beat hard. It was one of those races where the thoughts of "You should just quit", "Why are you doing this, you could be playing volleyball at the beach right now", "You'll never make it to the top", "You're done, just pull over" creep into your head over and over and for miles on end.
One of my teammates won the race and another got 3rd (Luke 1st, Dave 3rd). It was a great day for them and was very happy to hear that.
However, it just sucks when you embarress yourself like that. One of the most valuable things living a life of athletics has given me and that many cyclists have yet to understand - No one really cares about all the excuses you have, they only care about the result. And I didn't bring the result.
However, I finished.
Which is something many people can't say about that race. Yes it may have been 36th and yes I may have been the last finisher, but I finished and fought through the last 10 miles feeling like their were knives in my thighs and rods in my back. One of my goals this season was to have very few, if any, DNF's. Of the 34 bike races I've done in my career, I have never yet quit and that didn't start today.
I got better.
But, I need to get even better. There are no two ways about it.
Superweek, The Chicago Criterium, and the National Championships start to kick off in just over a month. I will be ready. Time to mentally and physically regroup after the month of racing - 3 week hiatus for a California trip.
Then the season really begins.
Next race: June 28th - Tour of the Dairyland Downer Avenue Bike Race
Wonder Lake Criterium
Race: Wonder Lake Criterium
Length: 45 Minutes
Catagory: 3
Description: Fast and narrow into turn one, the rest of the course was very nice and safe.
So I arrived in Wonder Lake, just south of the Wisconsin border. The race was in a neighborhood and as soon as I parked I noticed an old man walking in the race course as riders frantically avoided him, just another obstacle of bike racing, especially in neighborhoods. This was apparently the first time that this race had been held and after talking with some of the residents they were really excited about it. At every turn people were out picnicing and taking in the races, watching riders whiz by at high speeds while having beer on a blanket in the sun. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.
We lined up and to everyone's surpise only 11 guys were at the start/finish line. Maybe it was a because there was another criterium being held at that time within an hour of this one, maybe it was because this was a new race, but for whatever reason the turnout wasn't great for the 3's and immediately I was at an incredible disadvantage. Of the 11 riders - 5 where South Chicago Wheelman, 3 were Burnham Racing and 2 were other independent riders.
This means that these teams could pretty much do whatever they want the whole race. They can attack and make one of the independent riders chase them back and then reattack and reattack until you have burnt up all your matches.
Immediately off the gun SCW and Burnham got guys off the front and the rest of the race was pretty well determined by that move. The independent guys and myself began taking pulls trying to keep them within range. However, when working with independent guys theres an added level of strategy that comes into play. You don't really want to be the independent guy who reels in the break as the SCW and Burnham guys will attack as soon as you reel them in and you just won't have the stamina to keep up with their well rested attack. So optimally you want to be getting pulled when the catch is made so that you can stand a chance of being able to respond to the next wave of their attacks. Because even if you feel pretty good - the team guys behind you who have done absolutely zero work will be feeling better and will put together an impressive jump soon after the catch.
There really wasn't much hope for winning today. With two laps to go we could see that the Burnham guy had dropped the SCW guy (that we quickly caught and passed) and we began yelling at SCW to get to the front to pull back Burnham now that they had zero interest in having a breakaway sustain itself. They moved to the front but it was apparent that for whatever reason SCW just didn't have it. As a group we could tell that it would be a race for 2nd. We lined up for the sprint and I actually started my sprint at the right time believe it or not. I passed nearly everyone for a 3rd place finish. It was amazing that after all that the top 3 finishers in the field sprint didn't have teammates and pretty much worked all race (1st - Burnham (breakway), 2nd - Independent, 3rd - xXx, 4th - Independent). A result that I wasn't thrilled about as I felt like I was very strong that day, but a result that I could live with, because racing against well executed team strategy is just nearly impossible.
Three races, three top 4 finishes - great start to the season I'd say.
Next Race - June 7th, Spring Prairie Road Race
Length: 45 Minutes
Catagory: 3
Description: Fast and narrow into turn one, the rest of the course was very nice and safe.
So I arrived in Wonder Lake, just south of the Wisconsin border. The race was in a neighborhood and as soon as I parked I noticed an old man walking in the race course as riders frantically avoided him, just another obstacle of bike racing, especially in neighborhoods. This was apparently the first time that this race had been held and after talking with some of the residents they were really excited about it. At every turn people were out picnicing and taking in the races, watching riders whiz by at high speeds while having beer on a blanket in the sun. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.
We lined up and to everyone's surpise only 11 guys were at the start/finish line. Maybe it was a because there was another criterium being held at that time within an hour of this one, maybe it was because this was a new race, but for whatever reason the turnout wasn't great for the 3's and immediately I was at an incredible disadvantage. Of the 11 riders - 5 where South Chicago Wheelman, 3 were Burnham Racing and 2 were other independent riders.
This means that these teams could pretty much do whatever they want the whole race. They can attack and make one of the independent riders chase them back and then reattack and reattack until you have burnt up all your matches.
Immediately off the gun SCW and Burnham got guys off the front and the rest of the race was pretty well determined by that move. The independent guys and myself began taking pulls trying to keep them within range. However, when working with independent guys theres an added level of strategy that comes into play. You don't really want to be the independent guy who reels in the break as the SCW and Burnham guys will attack as soon as you reel them in and you just won't have the stamina to keep up with their well rested attack. So optimally you want to be getting pulled when the catch is made so that you can stand a chance of being able to respond to the next wave of their attacks. Because even if you feel pretty good - the team guys behind you who have done absolutely zero work will be feeling better and will put together an impressive jump soon after the catch.
There really wasn't much hope for winning today. With two laps to go we could see that the Burnham guy had dropped the SCW guy (that we quickly caught and passed) and we began yelling at SCW to get to the front to pull back Burnham now that they had zero interest in having a breakaway sustain itself. They moved to the front but it was apparent that for whatever reason SCW just didn't have it. As a group we could tell that it would be a race for 2nd. We lined up for the sprint and I actually started my sprint at the right time believe it or not. I passed nearly everyone for a 3rd place finish. It was amazing that after all that the top 3 finishers in the field sprint didn't have teammates and pretty much worked all race (1st - Burnham (breakway), 2nd - Independent, 3rd - xXx, 4th - Independent). A result that I wasn't thrilled about as I felt like I was very strong that day, but a result that I could live with, because racing against well executed team strategy is just nearly impossible.
Three races, three top 4 finishes - great start to the season I'd say.
Next Race - June 7th, Spring Prairie Road Race
Monsters of the Midway
Race: Monsters of the Midway
Length: 1.1 Miles (40 Minutes +2 Laps)
Catagory: 3
Description: Massive backstretch headwind, 4 90 degree corners, long straightaways, short short chutes, good pavement, one dip in the pavement along the backstretch.
Monsters of the Midway is a well established race around the University of Chicago campus but this one had just a little bit more meaning than other races I will participate in this season. Why? It's my fiancee's school - so I better either do well - or not even show up.
Mailman did the race with me, which is always fun. He raced just before me in the Cat 4 race and placed a very respectable 11th in a massive field. The guy has a ton of talent and will be an unbelievable Little 5 rider next year - could even break all the fraternity records I own.
We lined up to take off for my race and noticed an ambulance jumping on the course. Apparently there was a massive crash on the backstretch during the Cat 4's last lap and someone seriously needed tended to. I decided to just keep my legs warm and ride around near the start/finish line as I figured it would take a few minutes to sort it all out. And time kept passing...it seemed like 20 minutes before we actually took off. I started from the back as I was keeping warm and hung around there all day. One of the things spectators may not notice is that the riders really never know how far back in the field they are rather just how forward they are. I felt like I was in the middle-front of the race all day as I could easily eye the front of the pack and make a move to jump around if needed. Afterwards though, I was told I was in the back of the field all day. I suppose its tough to turn around and see the amount of people behind you when racing in a pack. From a spectators point of view, I think there's a common awe about how close riders race towards each other in extremely large packs at extremely high speeds. But it reality its pretty similar to driving - you look at the guy in front of you and the guys to your sides and stay in your imaginary lane and thats all you care about, not knowing in the slightest who or how many guys are behind you.
But anyways - the race went on as a usual large criterium would. Breakaway attempts were quickly sucked up and everyone would wait for a field sprint. The course was pretty solid. Pretty good pavement, only one dip that would throw you off your seat at times, and very large riding lanes.
The last lap of the race came so I zipped around the field to get position into turn one. I got my position and as soon we entered turn 1, 2 guys in front of me hit the deck going around the turn. It appeared that there bikes slid out from under them. I stayed up having cleared them by more a margin than some of my previously avoided wrecks and found myself and two others exiting turn 2 with about a 5-10 meter gap. I was 3rd wheel and wanted with all my heart to attack then and there with .75 miles to go. But today I held back. The headwind was far too much to handle on this day, 20mph directly into your face on the backstretch - no way I'd make it. So I stayed put and the rest of the field caught up. I stayed well positioned exiting turns 3 and 4 and
started to wind up. As soon as I exited turn 4 I started my sprint. There were several guys in front of me and a whole pack behind me. One guy had gotten away at the tail end of the backstretch as was assured a win. Another guy zipped by me on the right side near the line and I held on after passing a few in front for 4th place again. Another solid finish that paid out twenty bucks. Another race, another solid result. The last two races were technically the best results I'd had ever gotten as they were top 5 Cat 3 results - something I hadn't done in the past.
Next weekend was the Indy 500. I had to miss out on some unbelievable racing in Iowa, but no way I'm missing the 500.
Next Race: May 31, Wonder Lake Criterium
Length: 1.1 Miles (40 Minutes +2 Laps)
Catagory: 3
Description: Massive backstretch headwind, 4 90 degree corners, long straightaways, short short chutes, good pavement, one dip in the pavement along the backstretch.
Monsters of the Midway is a well established race around the University of Chicago campus but this one had just a little bit more meaning than other races I will participate in this season. Why? It's my fiancee's school - so I better either do well - or not even show up.
Mailman did the race with me, which is always fun. He raced just before me in the Cat 4 race and placed a very respectable 11th in a massive field. The guy has a ton of talent and will be an unbelievable Little 5 rider next year - could even break all the fraternity records I own.
We lined up to take off for my race and noticed an ambulance jumping on the course. Apparently there was a massive crash on the backstretch during the Cat 4's last lap and someone seriously needed tended to. I decided to just keep my legs warm and ride around near the start/finish line as I figured it would take a few minutes to sort it all out. And time kept passing...it seemed like 20 minutes before we actually took off. I started from the back as I was keeping warm and hung around there all day. One of the things spectators may not notice is that the riders really never know how far back in the field they are rather just how forward they are. I felt like I was in the middle-front of the race all day as I could easily eye the front of the pack and make a move to jump around if needed. Afterwards though, I was told I was in the back of the field all day. I suppose its tough to turn around and see the amount of people behind you when racing in a pack. From a spectators point of view, I think there's a common awe about how close riders race towards each other in extremely large packs at extremely high speeds. But it reality its pretty similar to driving - you look at the guy in front of you and the guys to your sides and stay in your imaginary lane and thats all you care about, not knowing in the slightest who or how many guys are behind you.
But anyways - the race went on as a usual large criterium would. Breakaway attempts were quickly sucked up and everyone would wait for a field sprint. The course was pretty solid. Pretty good pavement, only one dip that would throw you off your seat at times, and very large riding lanes.
The last lap of the race came so I zipped around the field to get position into turn one. I got my position and as soon we entered turn 1, 2 guys in front of me hit the deck going around the turn. It appeared that there bikes slid out from under them. I stayed up having cleared them by more a margin than some of my previously avoided wrecks and found myself and two others exiting turn 2 with about a 5-10 meter gap. I was 3rd wheel and wanted with all my heart to attack then and there with .75 miles to go. But today I held back. The headwind was far too much to handle on this day, 20mph directly into your face on the backstretch - no way I'd make it. So I stayed put and the rest of the field caught up. I stayed well positioned exiting turns 3 and 4 and
started to wind up. As soon as I exited turn 4 I started my sprint. There were several guys in front of me and a whole pack behind me. One guy had gotten away at the tail end of the backstretch as was assured a win. Another guy zipped by me on the right side near the line and I held on after passing a few in front for 4th place again. Another solid finish that paid out twenty bucks. Another race, another solid result. The last two races were technically the best results I'd had ever gotten as they were top 5 Cat 3 results - something I hadn't done in the past.Next weekend was the Indy 500. I had to miss out on some unbelievable racing in Iowa, but no way I'm missing the 500.
Next Race: May 31, Wonder Lake Criterium
Vernon Hills Grand Prix
So, after the Zionsville Grand Prix last year I told myself I was done. The work-world awaited and I'd have no time, energy, or passion to train to get to the next level as increasing your abilities only takes more and more time the better and better you get. That all changed while watching Tom Boonen stomp over the cobbles at Paris-Roubaix. That all changed while watching Levi rip up the mountains of California. And that all changed while watching a 37 year old man show the young guys a thing or two in prologue time trial in front of a crowd of millions.
I had to get back. I had to get better. I had to make my comeback to the sport.
So 7 months after laying down my bike for good - I started lightly training. One thing lead to another and I kept finding more and more time to ride and sure enough I decided to not only put another cycling season together, but a bigger season than I've ever attempted.
I joined team xXx Athletico after going on a training ride with them in the city. They were strong and they pushed me beyond my abilities, but I got better. They always have a good contingent of riders presented at races which is always good when you're just trying to get introduced into a new cycling scene.
So I mapped out my season - 20 guarenteed races with 13 more in sight.
I set my goals:
1. Upgrade to Cat 2 by season end.
2. Place well in the Chicago Criterium
3. Finish Most/All Races
4. Gain Comfort Riding and Racing in Technical Criteriums Again
5. Increase Cycling Fitness Beyond Last Year
6. Become a USA Cycling Certified Level 3 Coach
And I began racing in the town of Vernon Hills on May 3rd.
Race: Vernon Hills Criterium
Catagory: 3
Length: 1 Mile (45 Minutes +2 Laps)
Description: Gentle corners, wind plays a factor, backstretch is a little thin, slight uphill through the 4th turn, excellent pavement, gutters and sidewalk curbs on straightaways.
We arrived in Vernon Hills and I had little knowledge of where my form was, but presumably had very fresh legs relative to the rest of the field. The race took off as usual and it all pretty much came back to me. At first I found that I was leaving gaps going into corners and I made it a goal during the race to minimize those gaps (when entering a turn - I tended to let the rider in front grab some space on me as I wasn't as comfortable negotiting corners at high speeds as others). But, after about half the race was over I felt completely comfortable nose diving into the corners and finishing them off with some hard pedal strokes to minimize the acceleration/deceleration effect that the common criterium is best known for (and I'm naturally best suited for).
It was an exellent race, very well put together, a great course and relatively safe as there was only one major crash involving about 10 people that I narrowly missed on the backstretch as a guy got run into the gutter by the crosswind effect. I couldn't be happier with the result. It was a great way to start off the season.
Goal 4: Check.
Next Race: May 16th, Monsters of the Midway Criterium
I had to get back. I had to get better. I had to make my comeback to the sport.
So 7 months after laying down my bike for good - I started lightly training. One thing lead to another and I kept finding more and more time to ride and sure enough I decided to not only put another cycling season together, but a bigger season than I've ever attempted.
I joined team xXx Athletico after going on a training ride with them in the city. They were strong and they pushed me beyond my abilities, but I got better. They always have a good contingent of riders presented at races which is always good when you're just trying to get introduced into a new cycling scene.
So I mapped out my season - 20 guarenteed races with 13 more in sight.
I set my goals:
1. Upgrade to Cat 2 by season end.
2. Place well in the Chicago Criterium
3. Finish Most/All Races
4. Gain Comfort Riding and Racing in Technical Criteriums Again
5. Increase Cycling Fitness Beyond Last Year
6. Become a USA Cycling Certified Level 3 Coach
And I began racing in the town of Vernon Hills on May 3rd.
Race: Vernon Hills Criterium
Catagory: 3
Length: 1 Mile (45 Minutes +2 Laps)
Description: Gentle corners, wind plays a factor, backstretch is a little thin, slight uphill through the 4th turn, excellent pavement, gutters and sidewalk curbs on straightaways.
We arrived in Vernon Hills and I had little knowledge of where my form was, but presumably had very fresh legs relative to the rest of the field. The race took off as usual and it all pretty much came back to me. At first I found that I was leaving gaps going into corners and I made it a goal during the race to minimize those gaps (when entering a turn - I tended to let the rider in front grab some space on me as I wasn't as comfortable negotiting corners at high speeds as others). But, after about half the race was over I felt completely comfortable nose diving into the corners and finishing them off with some hard pedal strokes to minimize the acceleration/deceleration effect that the common criterium is best known for (and I'm naturally best suited for).
It was an exellent race, very well put together, a great course and relatively safe as there was only one major crash involving about 10 people that I narrowly missed on the backstretch as a guy got run into the gutter by the crosswind effect. I couldn't be happier with the result. It was a great way to start off the season.
Goal 4: Check.
Next Race: May 16th, Monsters of the Midway Criterium
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