I think I'm having road season post pardon syndorme.
Saturday afternoon...I didn't ride this morning and I'm not going to ride tomorrow (I figure a week of to heal the wounds is warranted). No races on the schedule until March. The road bike is upstairs for the first time in over a year.
Thank god for College Football.
Corn is for Donkeys...Go Hokies.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Are we going to keep going?
Jim Wilson, as always, was there taking shots...they are great.
http://images.jamesrwilson.com/p64036947
ING Direct Capital Criterium
I was going to name this one "Amateur Hour", but Mike said not too...so here it goes:
Joel, Brigham, Esmonde, John (borrowed from Pennsylvania), and I all towed the line on Sunday with the intention of getting Mike to the last corner with a shot at the finish. We were definitely the underdogs in this one, as NCVC, Artemis Elite, and Battley HD all had some serious firepower and the numbers (1's) to back it up, but Mike felt fast and we felt like suffering a bit...so game on. 57 pre-registered, but it felt much larger at the start.
From the gun, Mike was off the front setting initial tempo. The group was responsive though and never really let anything go. We rode a pretty defensive race and were always in a pretty good position to cover anything that looked promising. At one point, with about 15 or so to go, a move that had NCVC, Artemis, Battley, and a Kenda rider got a couple of seconds on us and the pack lost some impetus. I was sitting about 18th or so and Mike was sitting 5th or 6th. NCVC and Artemis were all over the front and looked to be slowing things down and Mike starts yelling "Jesse! Move...get things going..." Or something along those lines. So I went across with the intention of dragging the group across with me. It was cool because it was going into the start finish and I got some "face time" on the front and a shout-out for the club from Joe Jefferson (always a good thing). With about 10 to go, Brig and I were sitting top 15. I mentioned that with 5 to go we should be all over the front and ready to go. The next 9 laps I fought to keep my position and with 2 to go I was sitting third overall. Held the position and going into the bell lap I was sitting second. The guy leading the group started to look over his shoulder and slow down (waiting for someone to come through) and no one behind us wanted to be the sacrificial lamb that took out the last lap (Everyone is a sprinter in the 1/2/3 too I guess)...so when in doubt, lead it out. I jumped hard going through the start/finish to start up the last dig (Joel has a great picture of this moment). It was going to play out either two ways:
1) They would let the cat 3 go thinking that he wouldn't make it all the way around by himself (this scenario had a 0.01% chance of success)
2) I was going to set the pace high enough that Mike would be in good position coming out of the final turn as I was hoping that he was in a good position in the pack already (this scenario was the 99.99% probability).
So #2 happened. I held the lead through turn 1 up the hill and through turn 2 with the entire group in tow. I gunned it down the S turns of 3,4,5, and 6 all out and was out of the saddle seeing stars as I headed towards the final 180 degree turn before the final stretch. I was thinking, "pull off now", but figured if I could get through the turn and could do 3 or 4 hard pedal strokes, maybe it'll help. Problem is while I was thinking this, and starting to black out, turn 7 started coming up a little faster than I expected. I had been taking a good line through there all day, but dove in to quickly this time. I wasn't able to hold the turn at that speed and slid out into the barriers...luckily not taking anyone else down with me (I know, f&#$ing amateur cat 3's...locusts of the 1/2/3 race)...so I laid there for a second or two, moved all the extremities to make sure nothing was seriously broken and got myself up...did a one over on the bike to see whether or not I my convincing of Kari that I was going to need the new '09 Tarmac Pro was going to be easier (nothing serious..dang)...and rode down to the finish (Joel also has a great shot of this one too). Off the back, bruised badly, but happy.
Even with the crash, I had the best time in this race. The course was unreal and the backdrop was awesome. ING Direct/CycleLife and all the other sponsors are awesome for putting it on and I really hope they continue to support it. Thanks to everybody that showed up and cheered us on, it really helps a lot to hear your name while your suffering to hold the wheel in front of you. I think Mike got 9th in the sprint...he's going to have to confirm as he told me after I help down 8 pitchers of beer while watching the Pro race... :) A great day.
Some shots from the race: Here
Cheers
Joel, Brigham, Esmonde, John (borrowed from Pennsylvania), and I all towed the line on Sunday with the intention of getting Mike to the last corner with a shot at the finish. We were definitely the underdogs in this one, as NCVC, Artemis Elite, and Battley HD all had some serious firepower and the numbers (1's) to back it up, but Mike felt fast and we felt like suffering a bit...so game on. 57 pre-registered, but it felt much larger at the start.
From the gun, Mike was off the front setting initial tempo. The group was responsive though and never really let anything go. We rode a pretty defensive race and were always in a pretty good position to cover anything that looked promising. At one point, with about 15 or so to go, a move that had NCVC, Artemis, Battley, and a Kenda rider got a couple of seconds on us and the pack lost some impetus. I was sitting about 18th or so and Mike was sitting 5th or 6th. NCVC and Artemis were all over the front and looked to be slowing things down and Mike starts yelling "Jesse! Move...get things going..." Or something along those lines. So I went across with the intention of dragging the group across with me. It was cool because it was going into the start finish and I got some "face time" on the front and a shout-out for the club from Joe Jefferson (always a good thing). With about 10 to go, Brig and I were sitting top 15. I mentioned that with 5 to go we should be all over the front and ready to go. The next 9 laps I fought to keep my position and with 2 to go I was sitting third overall. Held the position and going into the bell lap I was sitting second. The guy leading the group started to look over his shoulder and slow down (waiting for someone to come through) and no one behind us wanted to be the sacrificial lamb that took out the last lap (Everyone is a sprinter in the 1/2/3 too I guess)...so when in doubt, lead it out. I jumped hard going through the start/finish to start up the last dig (Joel has a great picture of this moment). It was going to play out either two ways:
1) They would let the cat 3 go thinking that he wouldn't make it all the way around by himself (this scenario had a 0.01% chance of success)
2) I was going to set the pace high enough that Mike would be in good position coming out of the final turn as I was hoping that he was in a good position in the pack already (this scenario was the 99.99% probability).
So #2 happened. I held the lead through turn 1 up the hill and through turn 2 with the entire group in tow. I gunned it down the S turns of 3,4,5, and 6 all out and was out of the saddle seeing stars as I headed towards the final 180 degree turn before the final stretch. I was thinking, "pull off now", but figured if I could get through the turn and could do 3 or 4 hard pedal strokes, maybe it'll help. Problem is while I was thinking this, and starting to black out, turn 7 started coming up a little faster than I expected. I had been taking a good line through there all day, but dove in to quickly this time. I wasn't able to hold the turn at that speed and slid out into the barriers...luckily not taking anyone else down with me (I know, f&#$ing amateur cat 3's...locusts of the 1/2/3 race)...so I laid there for a second or two, moved all the extremities to make sure nothing was seriously broken and got myself up...did a one over on the bike to see whether or not I my convincing of Kari that I was going to need the new '09 Tarmac Pro was going to be easier (nothing serious..dang)...and rode down to the finish (Joel also has a great shot of this one too). Off the back, bruised badly, but happy.
Even with the crash, I had the best time in this race. The course was unreal and the backdrop was awesome. ING Direct/CycleLife and all the other sponsors are awesome for putting it on and I really hope they continue to support it. Thanks to everybody that showed up and cheered us on, it really helps a lot to hear your name while your suffering to hold the wheel in front of you. I think Mike got 9th in the sprint...he's going to have to confirm as he told me after I help down 8 pitchers of beer while watching the Pro race... :) A great day.
Some shots from the race: Here
Cheers
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Attack!
Joel got a good shot of me leading it into the last lap of today's 1/2/3 race...
Looks promising right? Problem is that there was also this shot...note the shorts.
Great race, and worth a "great" write up, but I'm too sore and tired to do it now.
Looks promising right? Problem is that there was also this shot...note the shorts.
Great race, and worth a "great" write up, but I'm too sore and tired to do it now.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Celebrity Sighting
From the 7:00 am Ride this morning:
Not that ugly dude looking back..That's Rahsaan Bahati sporting the Rock racing gear and totally custom painted frame and what looked like a one-off tour of london saddle.
I asked him about Tour of London...seems like a pretty chill dude.
Not that ugly dude looking back..That's Rahsaan Bahati sporting the Rock racing gear and totally custom painted frame and what looked like a one-off tour of london saddle.
I asked him about Tour of London...seems like a pretty chill dude.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Off the front...Part 2
Turkey Day 2008. Not the most exciting course. Usually, at least in the 3/4 and 5 ranks in years past, it has been a parade followed by a long run in on the last lap leading to a mass sprint that is contested by all. I was a little bit worried that the meltdown from Coppi on Saturday would take a toll on me physically on Sunday. There were a bunch of us in the race, so I figured at a minimum it would be fun.
Pre-race: We decided to take the dogs with us to the race. The wife had a pretty miserable drive over as the dogs both urinated and puked all over the car and on her on the way. That lady with the shorts that were obviously too big for her...that was my baby sporting the stylish post-dog-pee "man" shorts. So, mentally I was upset about that and wasn't able to get much of a warmup for the race.
Race: 3/4 race started as it always does...parade with minor pickups for the early primes. I went for one of the primes and missed it by a tire. An ABRT rider who rolled through in third asked if we wanted to keep rolling since we had a little gap, so we gave it a go. Initially the three of us had about a couple of seconds till two more bridged across to us. We got pretty organized quickly as I think everyone knew what was needed to make this thing stick. We each took real short pulls, very similar to down at HP at lunch or down MacArthur early Saturday morning, and were able to hold 24 to 26 mph average on the course. The rest of the R1V guys in the field said that the field organization just wasn't there. A couple of individual flyers here and there, but nothing that was going to bring the break back. Anything that did look good was immediatly jumped on and "shut down" by solid tactics...great job guys. Anyway, with 4 to go we were still working well together and even rolled through a prime without attacking each other...impressive...to make sure it stuck. On the last lap, on my last pull, I noticed nobody pulled through. Let the games begin. An attack went up the right side and we all jumped on it. Everyone was hurting and I was feeling the heat and Saturday's effort in the legs. Another move happened (eventual winner) with one turns to go and nobody initially jumped for it. It was a solid effort as it was far enough away to create doubt in the rest of us, but close enough to hold on. With one turn to go the four of us left started attacking each other. I had nothing left, so I played my one card up the right side on the slight downhill leading up to the sprint finish right after a move on the left and gave it my all. I was caught by two and rolled in for fourth.
Post Race: I was happy with getting in the winning break. I'm not too pleased with my closing speed and the power I had left at the end. It is something that I've suffered from in the past. Twenty minutes of sustained effort followed by intense bursts usually end up in the intense bursts not really being all that intense. Maybe more intervals following long rides. Maybe more sustained efforts to get used to the effort of staying out in the break. Maybe a little more heart and larger cojones. Who knows. Anyway, the season is almost over and it is probably for the best. One more to go on Sunday.
Cheers...
Pre-race: We decided to take the dogs with us to the race. The wife had a pretty miserable drive over as the dogs both urinated and puked all over the car and on her on the way. That lady with the shorts that were obviously too big for her...that was my baby sporting the stylish post-dog-pee "man" shorts. So, mentally I was upset about that and wasn't able to get much of a warmup for the race.
Race: 3/4 race started as it always does...parade with minor pickups for the early primes. I went for one of the primes and missed it by a tire. An ABRT rider who rolled through in third asked if we wanted to keep rolling since we had a little gap, so we gave it a go. Initially the three of us had about a couple of seconds till two more bridged across to us. We got pretty organized quickly as I think everyone knew what was needed to make this thing stick. We each took real short pulls, very similar to down at HP at lunch or down MacArthur early Saturday morning, and were able to hold 24 to 26 mph average on the course. The rest of the R1V guys in the field said that the field organization just wasn't there. A couple of individual flyers here and there, but nothing that was going to bring the break back. Anything that did look good was immediatly jumped on and "shut down" by solid tactics...great job guys. Anyway, with 4 to go we were still working well together and even rolled through a prime without attacking each other...impressive...to make sure it stuck. On the last lap, on my last pull, I noticed nobody pulled through. Let the games begin. An attack went up the right side and we all jumped on it. Everyone was hurting and I was feeling the heat and Saturday's effort in the legs. Another move happened (eventual winner) with one turns to go and nobody initially jumped for it. It was a solid effort as it was far enough away to create doubt in the rest of us, but close enough to hold on. With one turn to go the four of us left started attacking each other. I had nothing left, so I played my one card up the right side on the slight downhill leading up to the sprint finish right after a move on the left and gave it my all. I was caught by two and rolled in for fourth.
Post Race: I was happy with getting in the winning break. I'm not too pleased with my closing speed and the power I had left at the end. It is something that I've suffered from in the past. Twenty minutes of sustained effort followed by intense bursts usually end up in the intense bursts not really being all that intense. Maybe more intervals following long rides. Maybe more sustained efforts to get used to the effort of staying out in the break. Maybe a little more heart and larger cojones. Who knows. Anyway, the season is almost over and it is probably for the best. One more to go on Sunday.
Cheers...
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Off the front...part 1
Theme of the weekend. One positive (more on the positive later), one negative. 50 miles of Coppi on Saturday. 22ish miles of Turkey Day Sunday.
Scott puts it best: We all spent a good portion of the weekend in our own personal pain caves. Personally, I revisited a dark portion of the inner suffering that I have not been to in a while. I was faced with a wall that I've cleared in years prior, but when attempting to clear it on Saturday, I ended up short and hit it face first.
On to Saturday:
Coppi. It was hot, the distance was far, the terrain was brutal, and my strategy was not in my personal best interest. 60 to 80 some guys at the start, we rolled out easy and the first lap went by without any kind of excitement. I looked down and we were averaging around 24 mph (it might have been 22mph, I'm having a hard time remembering). Either way, I was unimpressed with the pace. I saw 11mph on several of the climbs that should have been about twice that. Looking back, this was inexperience with road races and a little too much anticipation. I was antsy for action. On the second lap, on the rise to the left on Slidell Rd (here is a map if you want to follow along) I moved towards the front and upped the pace. I gapped the field (no great feat since we were going 12 mph at the time) and just decided to keep going. Boy genius (listen carefully and you can hear the sarcasm) decided that with over 30 miles to go he was going to go off the front by himself and ride away from the 3 field at Coppi. I stayed away for about 11 to 12 miles, and at one point the pace car yelled back that I had over 2 minutes (I don't think that was right though...as Travis thought at most it was just over a minute). For the first 5 or 6 miles of it, I felt good. I felt strong on the climbs, I was holding decent pace on the flats (there aren't that many flat sections) and I was descending well. The second 5 or 6 was a different story. Doubt stated setting in. I was getting tired. The engine wasn't firing on all cylinders and fatigue was setting in. I was holding decent pace I think, but the climbs got a little harder and I wasn't holding the tuck on the downhills quite as well. I got caught just after the right turn from Shiloh Church Rd to W Old Baltimore Rd. The pack came by, and I fell back into the group. Now the field had whittled down a bit, so there was a little positive spin to that effort. But there I was, 1.5 laps from the finish and right back to where I was a lap ago, in the field, but now I had 11 miles of solo time in my pain cave in the legs...not wise. I stuck it out on the back for another lap, but on the final lap right before the left on Slidell Rd, the legs, mind, and heart said "enough"...I was off the back and on a solo journey of introspection. I remembered at that point a saying that everybody and their mother says regarding bike racing. "Have a purpose for every move you make". What was my purpose for going off the front with 30 miles to go? Dumb. I had nothing left. The climb up the finish was me versus my 27 and the 27 had the best of it. Glad I finished, but not too happy with how the race unfolded. We talked in the beginning of sitting in, watching the front for the first couple of laps and then going with anything that looked promising in the last two laps. Had we (I) followed that plan, I think the outcome could have been different...could have been the same, but at least there may have been more of a chance for it to be different. I guess you learn from those moments of pain and suffering. Anyway, here is what I took out of it:
1) Road races are races of attrition and should not be raced like crits. This is obvious to most, but to me (with only three under my belt in the last three years) this is a hard lesson learned.
2) I don't like road races. Maybe if I was smarter racing them I would...but even then I doubt it.
3) Take more water and food next time. I had two bottle and I could have used at least one more. Also, food that is easier to get at then a power bar would be nice.
4) Those thoughts you get when you're off the back ("I hate cycling"..."this is stupid, why am I doing this?"..."who am I kidding, I'm better at sitting on the couch drinking beer anyway") are just for that moment. That negative-ness will pass.
Oh well, chalk that one up as a "don't do that again" moment. I told Scott to remind me of that moment next time I start talking about doing a road race. Remind me of the suffering and then I can ask myself if I want to put myself through that again. I probably will, but hopefully I'll reread this at some point in the future and I'll have a better plan...
Overall, though, thanks to Coppi for putting on such a race. As hard as it was, having something like that "locally" makes the cycling around here legit.
Cheers
Scott puts it best: We all spent a good portion of the weekend in our own personal pain caves. Personally, I revisited a dark portion of the inner suffering that I have not been to in a while. I was faced with a wall that I've cleared in years prior, but when attempting to clear it on Saturday, I ended up short and hit it face first.
On to Saturday:
Coppi. It was hot, the distance was far, the terrain was brutal, and my strategy was not in my personal best interest. 60 to 80 some guys at the start, we rolled out easy and the first lap went by without any kind of excitement. I looked down and we were averaging around 24 mph (it might have been 22mph, I'm having a hard time remembering). Either way, I was unimpressed with the pace. I saw 11mph on several of the climbs that should have been about twice that. Looking back, this was inexperience with road races and a little too much anticipation. I was antsy for action. On the second lap, on the rise to the left on Slidell Rd (here is a map if you want to follow along) I moved towards the front and upped the pace. I gapped the field (no great feat since we were going 12 mph at the time) and just decided to keep going. Boy genius (listen carefully and you can hear the sarcasm) decided that with over 30 miles to go he was going to go off the front by himself and ride away from the 3 field at Coppi. I stayed away for about 11 to 12 miles, and at one point the pace car yelled back that I had over 2 minutes (I don't think that was right though...as Travis thought at most it was just over a minute). For the first 5 or 6 miles of it, I felt good. I felt strong on the climbs, I was holding decent pace on the flats (there aren't that many flat sections) and I was descending well. The second 5 or 6 was a different story. Doubt stated setting in. I was getting tired. The engine wasn't firing on all cylinders and fatigue was setting in. I was holding decent pace I think, but the climbs got a little harder and I wasn't holding the tuck on the downhills quite as well. I got caught just after the right turn from Shiloh Church Rd to W Old Baltimore Rd. The pack came by, and I fell back into the group. Now the field had whittled down a bit, so there was a little positive spin to that effort. But there I was, 1.5 laps from the finish and right back to where I was a lap ago, in the field, but now I had 11 miles of solo time in my pain cave in the legs...not wise. I stuck it out on the back for another lap, but on the final lap right before the left on Slidell Rd, the legs, mind, and heart said "enough"...I was off the back and on a solo journey of introspection. I remembered at that point a saying that everybody and their mother says regarding bike racing. "Have a purpose for every move you make". What was my purpose for going off the front with 30 miles to go? Dumb. I had nothing left. The climb up the finish was me versus my 27 and the 27 had the best of it. Glad I finished, but not too happy with how the race unfolded. We talked in the beginning of sitting in, watching the front for the first couple of laps and then going with anything that looked promising in the last two laps. Had we (I) followed that plan, I think the outcome could have been different...could have been the same, but at least there may have been more of a chance for it to be different. I guess you learn from those moments of pain and suffering. Anyway, here is what I took out of it:
1) Road races are races of attrition and should not be raced like crits. This is obvious to most, but to me (with only three under my belt in the last three years) this is a hard lesson learned.
2) I don't like road races. Maybe if I was smarter racing them I would...but even then I doubt it.
3) Take more water and food next time. I had two bottle and I could have used at least one more. Also, food that is easier to get at then a power bar would be nice.
4) Those thoughts you get when you're off the back ("I hate cycling"..."this is stupid, why am I doing this?"..."who am I kidding, I'm better at sitting on the couch drinking beer anyway") are just for that moment. That negative-ness will pass.
Oh well, chalk that one up as a "don't do that again" moment. I told Scott to remind me of that moment next time I start talking about doing a road race. Remind me of the suffering and then I can ask myself if I want to put myself through that again. I probably will, but hopefully I'll reread this at some point in the future and I'll have a better plan...
Overall, though, thanks to Coppi for putting on such a race. As hard as it was, having something like that "locally" makes the cycling around here legit.
Cheers
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