As I was reading my latest Bicycling magazine I read an article about tough road races. The author was focusing on how he goes to the Tour of Battenkill every year despite the fact that he is dropped almost immediately. He said that he just loves the course and that despite finishing over 40 minutes behind the winner he will probably do it next year.
The article got me to thinking about races that I would like to do at some point even if I can’t win. It’s not that I wouldn’t suspect that I could win, but these are races that I would do even if I didn’t win. I go into every racing thinking that I could win. Even when I know somewhere in my head that it is not a good race for my abilities I still think that I can win.
So these are the races that I plan to do at some point in my career. Some are more realistic than others right now but I am sure that in the future I can plan for them.
Tour of Battenkill- Billed as the hardest one day stage race in the United States it is 62 miles, as a Cat 4, of hills, dirt, and pain. It falls on the same day as Paris-Roubaix, which for you non-cyclist is one of the best one day races in Europe.
Tulsa Tough- A very tough series of criterium (crits) races. 3 races in 3 days around downtown and from what I understand they are fast, and highly charged fields. I need to wait until I am a Cat 3 to do this because Cat 4’s aren’t able to race the Friday course.
The Valley of the Sun Stage Race- Located near Phoenix Az, this is a stage race that often has some good pros. This race is more reasonable since I could drive there and it is a true stage race requiring every rider to complete each stage to start the next.
SRAM Tour de Gila- This is another race that is close enough to drive to but still a little far. It is a true stage race just like the Valley of the Sun and it has some challenging rides. It has a time trial, tough road race, a crit, and a circuit race.
California State Championships- In all skills, crit, road, and time trial. I have done the crit race and plan to do it again this year. It would be nice to compete in all three and see where I rank in my state.
US National Championships- They consolidated them all to one location in Georgia. I would like to try my hand against the best in the US or at least the best people that can afford to go to Georgia.
Cascade Cycling Classic- This is a tough mountain race. I don’t know why I want to kill myself but I want to give it a shot. This will most likely be a long term goal. I definitely need to work on my climbing before I make that attempt.
The Ironman World Championships- Once again I am not sure why I want to do this but going to Kona would be an amazing story. Finishing the race would be even better.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Race Report April - May 2011
Time to catch up with all the races since March. Most of my posts are detailed recounts of everything that happened leading up to and including race day. Getting ready for Gavin to be born, school work, my job, and trying to get things done around the house has pushed reporting to the wayside. So to get up to date I am going to do a race report similar to what you would get on a team website or in a journal.
Redlands Classic- Fresh off my crash at the TdM I lined up at the Redlands Classic. Anne was sick that weekend so I was racing with no supporters. The race was very fast, as expected with a national race calendar race. Last year I think I made 5 laps before I was way off the back and maybe 7 before I was pulled. This year I stayed near the middle of the field for the whole race. There were a number of crashes especially on the sharp corner after the uphill finishing straight. There was a big crash in the final corner that almost caught my teammate and I but we managed a 27th and 28th place finish respectively.
Cyclevets Classic- Fun course, only one turn and then the rest was a big oval. There was only a small hill on the back side so it was fast. I started near the front of the field. I was in the top 10 for the first 30 minutes of the race. With 5 laps to go I started to fall back some. I couldn’t figure out why I was falling back. With one lap to go there was a huge crash at the finish line for some reason I decided to swing out to the left on that lap. Every other lap I moved to the inside at the start finish line. Luckily for me the crash was on the right and I missed it. My teammate went down and was knocked out. I finished 26th and realized after I finished that my tire in the front was flat.
Dana Point Grand Prix- I was really looking forward to this race. I had fun at the course last year and it was the last race that I was pulled from. I knew that I would be able to finish this year as a CAT 4. It was the biggest starting field that I have ever been in, 143 people. I was sitting around 30th with 5 laps to go. I was trying to move up on the outside when I noticed someone go into the hay bales in turn one. I locked up the breaks but there was a second crash in the middle of the road. Everything happened very quickly and all I remember is that my back tire was locked on and bouncing off bikes all over the road. I don’t know how I stayed upright. I remember bouncing off a couple different racers and then my rear derailleur caught on someone’s frame and locked up my chain. I had to stop fix the chain and then I was way too far back to catch up.
From what I understand a rider in the back of the field crashed the lap before. Two motorcycle cops stopped just after the turn and blocked the rider. No one notified the riders that there were two vehicles blocking the road right after the turn. The field was traveling at about 33MPH. The leader of the middle line hit the bike in the middle of the road. It broke his frame in half and he was pretty scraped up. The guy that hit the hay bale was trying to get around the second motorcycle. All I saw were bikes flying and riders squeezing together. There was no damage to my bike thankfully but I was disappointed to not finish the race for the second year in a row.
Overall the races went good. I have made huge gains since last year. I talked to a guy that I met last year in the CAT 5’s. Last year he was able to finish races when I was getting spit off the back. We both moved into the CAT 4’s this year and he is now getting spit off the back. I am finishing in the top 25 at most races. I am looking forward to continuing in my improvement and turning my focus towards triathlons in the future.
Redlands Classic- Fresh off my crash at the TdM I lined up at the Redlands Classic. Anne was sick that weekend so I was racing with no supporters. The race was very fast, as expected with a national race calendar race. Last year I think I made 5 laps before I was way off the back and maybe 7 before I was pulled. This year I stayed near the middle of the field for the whole race. There were a number of crashes especially on the sharp corner after the uphill finishing straight. There was a big crash in the final corner that almost caught my teammate and I but we managed a 27th and 28th place finish respectively.
Cyclevets Classic- Fun course, only one turn and then the rest was a big oval. There was only a small hill on the back side so it was fast. I started near the front of the field. I was in the top 10 for the first 30 minutes of the race. With 5 laps to go I started to fall back some. I couldn’t figure out why I was falling back. With one lap to go there was a huge crash at the finish line for some reason I decided to swing out to the left on that lap. Every other lap I moved to the inside at the start finish line. Luckily for me the crash was on the right and I missed it. My teammate went down and was knocked out. I finished 26th and realized after I finished that my tire in the front was flat.
Dana Point Grand Prix- I was really looking forward to this race. I had fun at the course last year and it was the last race that I was pulled from. I knew that I would be able to finish this year as a CAT 4. It was the biggest starting field that I have ever been in, 143 people. I was sitting around 30th with 5 laps to go. I was trying to move up on the outside when I noticed someone go into the hay bales in turn one. I locked up the breaks but there was a second crash in the middle of the road. Everything happened very quickly and all I remember is that my back tire was locked on and bouncing off bikes all over the road. I don’t know how I stayed upright. I remember bouncing off a couple different racers and then my rear derailleur caught on someone’s frame and locked up my chain. I had to stop fix the chain and then I was way too far back to catch up.
From what I understand a rider in the back of the field crashed the lap before. Two motorcycle cops stopped just after the turn and blocked the rider. No one notified the riders that there were two vehicles blocking the road right after the turn. The field was traveling at about 33MPH. The leader of the middle line hit the bike in the middle of the road. It broke his frame in half and he was pretty scraped up. The guy that hit the hay bale was trying to get around the second motorcycle. All I saw were bikes flying and riders squeezing together. There was no damage to my bike thankfully but I was disappointed to not finish the race for the second year in a row.
Overall the races went good. I have made huge gains since last year. I talked to a guy that I met last year in the CAT 5’s. Last year he was able to finish races when I was getting spit off the back. We both moved into the CAT 4’s this year and he is now getting spit off the back. I am finishing in the top 25 at most races. I am looking forward to continuing in my improvement and turning my focus towards triathlons in the future.
Tour De Murrieta
The Tour de Murrieta, the beginning, where everything started for my life as an amateur cyclist. I still remember signing up last year thinking that I would finish with the pack and could possibly have a shot to win the race. I signed up for a circuit race not understanding what that meant and had no idea what a big ring roller meant.
I have learned a lot in a year. I learned that racing is a lot faster than the average person thinks. I learned that average speed is useless. Most races surge repeatedly so it doesn’t matter if you can ride at 23mph for an hour. The question is can you jump up to 28mph then slow down to 20mph for a minute before jumping back up to a high speed.
I was pretty confident going into the TdM this year. I signed up for all three events. I got in touch with all my teammates to see if they wanted to develop a plan of attack. I went and pre-rode all three courses and felt really confident. I did pretty well at Ontario the week before and I thought it was going to be a good weekend.
I talked to Saul Rasin on the phone for a little bit about how to attack the weekend. He is a former pro cyclist and is full of knowledge. I decided to park near the start house on Friday and warm up on the trainer. The other option was to park near the finish line so that you didn’t have to make the 20 mile ride back to the start line.
I decided to take the advice of several riders and I started warming up earlier than I did last year. I used to warm up for about 15-20 minutes. Lately I have been warming up for about 30 minutes. I decided to warm up for about 45 for the Time Trial because I expected to be finished with the course in about 13 minutes.
I felt like I had a good workout and I was ready to go. I started to head house but you had to go through some water to get there. I had just got over the hill and I managed to flip over the handle bars and face plant into the road. It felt super slow going down but I was moving pretty quick. There was another rider right there and I jumped up and asked him if the cut was bad. He gave be a shocked look and then said yes.
I quickly rode to the ambulance and had them put a bandage on my face. I looked at my bike and there was blood everywhere, my gloves were bloody, and I could see blood drops on the ground near the ambulance. I kept yelling for them to hurry because my start time was coming up.
They finished and I sprinted to the start line. I heard them calling my number and I was trying to yell to let them know I was coming. I got to the start line and they were already counting me down. The holder grabbed the bike and I got both feet clipped in and it was time to go. I started out fine but after the first small hill I realized that the tape restricted how much I could open my mouth to suck air.
Halfway through the course I started to feel the sting from the sweat running across the road rash. Everything started to hurt but I just pushed on. There was a 1 mile dirt section that was very steep. I sat up and pedaled but it wasn’t as fast as I know I could go. I was passed by two guys that started after me on that dirt section. I pushed as hard as my body would let me. The bike felt off but I couldn’t tell if it was the bike or me.
I got to the finish line and I was relieved to be done with that course. I rode to the dirt section and started to look at the bike. It was at that point that I realized that the fork was broken. It was cracked all the through and most likely was the whole way up the hill. I don’t know how it didn’t snap off on the off road section. I got a ride back to the start line since there was no way I was going to chance riding it back. This was my team’s race so I decided to put off the hospital and I worked my shift for the rest of the race.
After the finish of all the races I drove down to the start line and found Matt, the owner of I.E. bikes, to get my bike fixed. He put it in his truck and drove it to his shop. After I knew that the bike was going to be taken care of I drove over to urgent care. They cleaned me up and gave me 5 stitches, 2 in the crease of the lip and 3 in the lower part of my chin.
I immediately went to the bike shop from there to check on my bike. They replaced the fork with one from a women’s bike. They primered it white for me because the original colors were silver and purple. I tried to race on Saturday but everything hurt. It hurt to get out of bed that day but I wouldn’t admit it. I warmed up but way shorter than normal because I wanted to save the pain tolerance for the race. The race didn’t go well. I had a bruise on my chest that made it hard to breath, one on my knee that made it hard to stand and pedal and bruises on both wrist that caused me to cringe with every bump in the road. I only made it half of the race before I was spit out the back and pulled off the course.
I have learned a lot in a year. I learned that racing is a lot faster than the average person thinks. I learned that average speed is useless. Most races surge repeatedly so it doesn’t matter if you can ride at 23mph for an hour. The question is can you jump up to 28mph then slow down to 20mph for a minute before jumping back up to a high speed.
I was pretty confident going into the TdM this year. I signed up for all three events. I got in touch with all my teammates to see if they wanted to develop a plan of attack. I went and pre-rode all three courses and felt really confident. I did pretty well at Ontario the week before and I thought it was going to be a good weekend.
I talked to Saul Rasin on the phone for a little bit about how to attack the weekend. He is a former pro cyclist and is full of knowledge. I decided to park near the start house on Friday and warm up on the trainer. The other option was to park near the finish line so that you didn’t have to make the 20 mile ride back to the start line.
I decided to take the advice of several riders and I started warming up earlier than I did last year. I used to warm up for about 15-20 minutes. Lately I have been warming up for about 30 minutes. I decided to warm up for about 45 for the Time Trial because I expected to be finished with the course in about 13 minutes.
I felt like I had a good workout and I was ready to go. I started to head house but you had to go through some water to get there. I had just got over the hill and I managed to flip over the handle bars and face plant into the road. It felt super slow going down but I was moving pretty quick. There was another rider right there and I jumped up and asked him if the cut was bad. He gave be a shocked look and then said yes.
I quickly rode to the ambulance and had them put a bandage on my face. I looked at my bike and there was blood everywhere, my gloves were bloody, and I could see blood drops on the ground near the ambulance. I kept yelling for them to hurry because my start time was coming up.
They finished and I sprinted to the start line. I heard them calling my number and I was trying to yell to let them know I was coming. I got to the start line and they were already counting me down. The holder grabbed the bike and I got both feet clipped in and it was time to go. I started out fine but after the first small hill I realized that the tape restricted how much I could open my mouth to suck air.
Halfway through the course I started to feel the sting from the sweat running across the road rash. Everything started to hurt but I just pushed on. There was a 1 mile dirt section that was very steep. I sat up and pedaled but it wasn’t as fast as I know I could go. I was passed by two guys that started after me on that dirt section. I pushed as hard as my body would let me. The bike felt off but I couldn’t tell if it was the bike or me.
I got to the finish line and I was relieved to be done with that course. I rode to the dirt section and started to look at the bike. It was at that point that I realized that the fork was broken. It was cracked all the through and most likely was the whole way up the hill. I don’t know how it didn’t snap off on the off road section. I got a ride back to the start line since there was no way I was going to chance riding it back. This was my team’s race so I decided to put off the hospital and I worked my shift for the rest of the race.
After the finish of all the races I drove down to the start line and found Matt, the owner of I.E. bikes, to get my bike fixed. He put it in his truck and drove it to his shop. After I knew that the bike was going to be taken care of I drove over to urgent care. They cleaned me up and gave me 5 stitches, 2 in the crease of the lip and 3 in the lower part of my chin.
I immediately went to the bike shop from there to check on my bike. They replaced the fork with one from a women’s bike. They primered it white for me because the original colors were silver and purple. I tried to race on Saturday but everything hurt. It hurt to get out of bed that day but I wouldn’t admit it. I warmed up but way shorter than normal because I wanted to save the pain tolerance for the race. The race didn’t go well. I had a bruise on my chest that made it hard to breath, one on my knee that made it hard to stand and pedal and bruises on both wrist that caused me to cringe with every bump in the road. I only made it half of the race before I was spit out the back and pulled off the course.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Ontario GP
Race two of the season was in Ontario on Sunday February 27th. I felt good about the race because the course was the same as last year’s races. I did ok at Ontario last year, I was able to stay in the pack and not get dropped on the same course.
I was also excited because I had a lot of teammates in the same race. This was a CAT 4/5 race and there are a lot of CAT 5 guys on my team. I tried to organize a plan but they had not raced the course before and were a little hesitant.
The race started out bad in general. On the second lap someone dropped a water bottle right in the center of the pack. It bounced off my tire and several other people rode over it. I made the same mistake on this course last year. I wonder if he went back and got the water bottle? I did and I used it at this race.
A little more than halfway through the race someone went down. I couldn’t see where the person was so I slammed on the brakes and just waited for the sea of racers to split. When they finally did I saw a guy lying on the ground with his hands covering his face. It felt like things were going in slow motion because I literally slid past him, tires locked up, missing his helmet by inches.
The same lap 3 turns later another racer got a flat. Once again everyone was on the breaks expecting to find someone on the ground. Luckily he made it to the edge of the road without going down. The race slowed a little after that and an ambulance was on the course for a lap getting the downed rider to the hospital.
Before I realized it there were only three laps to go. I didn’t even hear the call for 5 laps to go. I started looking for my teammates but couldn’t find any. I started moving closer and closer to the front. I felt pretty good and was getting excited. With one lap to go the speed really picked up. The field started to split and I was in the front group.
There was another increase in speed around corner 4 of the 6 turn course and a few more riders peeled off. When we made the last turn there were maybe 20 of us in the lead group. I was stoked because I was up there. Then I darted to the inside and tried to sprint to the line. Unfortunately I was still about 800 meters from the finish line on a slight uphill with a head wind.
I past almost every rider, I had my head buried and I was digging deep. I looked up looking for the finish line and saw that it was still 200 meters away. I dug a little deeper and pushed harder. I could see the pack passing on the right. I tried to get behind someone but I couldn’t do it. I finished 15th out of what they claimed to be 80 starters. The placements went to 64 but from my understanding a lot of people were pulled out for being off the pace.
I am excited about the finish and disappointed at the same time. I knew that I needed to sit in as long as possible. I knew that I couldn’t make it to the finish line on my own from that far out. I told myself that I needed to race smart. Yet I saw that straight to the finish line and couldn’t contain myself.
I am excited though because I was right there, I was with the lead group on the bell lap. I know deep down that can compete with these guys. Given the chance to be there again I know that I could race a little smarter and finish in a better position.
A person has to earn a lot of points or have 28 pack finishes to move from CAT 4 to CAT 3. That is a lot of racing. That is at least 2 years of racing and a full schedule at that. Most people train for a year before they start racing. That means realistically they have 2 or 3 years of race training compared to my 1. Yet I am still up there challenging at the end of the race.
I was also excited because I had a lot of teammates in the same race. This was a CAT 4/5 race and there are a lot of CAT 5 guys on my team. I tried to organize a plan but they had not raced the course before and were a little hesitant.
The race started out bad in general. On the second lap someone dropped a water bottle right in the center of the pack. It bounced off my tire and several other people rode over it. I made the same mistake on this course last year. I wonder if he went back and got the water bottle? I did and I used it at this race.
A little more than halfway through the race someone went down. I couldn’t see where the person was so I slammed on the brakes and just waited for the sea of racers to split. When they finally did I saw a guy lying on the ground with his hands covering his face. It felt like things were going in slow motion because I literally slid past him, tires locked up, missing his helmet by inches.
The same lap 3 turns later another racer got a flat. Once again everyone was on the breaks expecting to find someone on the ground. Luckily he made it to the edge of the road without going down. The race slowed a little after that and an ambulance was on the course for a lap getting the downed rider to the hospital.
Before I realized it there were only three laps to go. I didn’t even hear the call for 5 laps to go. I started looking for my teammates but couldn’t find any. I started moving closer and closer to the front. I felt pretty good and was getting excited. With one lap to go the speed really picked up. The field started to split and I was in the front group.
There was another increase in speed around corner 4 of the 6 turn course and a few more riders peeled off. When we made the last turn there were maybe 20 of us in the lead group. I was stoked because I was up there. Then I darted to the inside and tried to sprint to the line. Unfortunately I was still about 800 meters from the finish line on a slight uphill with a head wind.
I past almost every rider, I had my head buried and I was digging deep. I looked up looking for the finish line and saw that it was still 200 meters away. I dug a little deeper and pushed harder. I could see the pack passing on the right. I tried to get behind someone but I couldn’t do it. I finished 15th out of what they claimed to be 80 starters. The placements went to 64 but from my understanding a lot of people were pulled out for being off the pace.
I am excited about the finish and disappointed at the same time. I knew that I needed to sit in as long as possible. I knew that I couldn’t make it to the finish line on my own from that far out. I told myself that I needed to race smart. Yet I saw that straight to the finish line and couldn’t contain myself.
I am excited though because I was right there, I was with the lead group on the bell lap. I know deep down that can compete with these guys. Given the chance to be there again I know that I could race a little smarter and finish in a better position.
A person has to earn a lot of points or have 28 pack finishes to move from CAT 4 to CAT 3. That is a lot of racing. That is at least 2 years of racing and a full schedule at that. Most people train for a year before they start racing. That means realistically they have 2 or 3 years of race training compared to my 1. Yet I am still up there challenging at the end of the race.
Valentine's Day Massacre
My first race of the season was yesterday, February 13th, in Brea. It was a one mile, 4 right turn criterium. I was looking forward to getting the season started but I was nervous at the same time. I hadn’t really had the time to train like I would have liked. I was in Dallas for super bowl weekend and I had missed a couple of weekend training sessions in January because of school and Ethan’s birthday. Family and school always come first so I was nervous that I would be pulled from the race.
The course seems pretty straight forward there was a downhill on one side of the course rolling into the long straight opposite of the finish line. Then one of the short sides had an uphill into a right hand turn. I was a little nervous about the hill, which is still the weakest part of my game and now I am will better climber. I am getting better all the time but I am still behind the curve compared to the people that I am racing with.
My goal for the race was to race smarter. I wanted to sit in and not chase breakaways. I was the only person on my team so there I wanted to find a couple of guys to work with and just stay in the pack. Like I said before I was nervous that I wouldn’t even finish so a pack finish would be great.
When we arrived I couldn’t find the course. There was a street that was blocked off but there were fire trucks sitting on the street. I registered and they didn’t say anything about the course or what was going on. It wasn’t until I got back to the car to start getting ready that I learned there was a crash and they were running about an hour behind because they were cleaning up the wreckage.
I was able to stay in the middle of the pack literally the whole race according to Anne. I stayed in the middle of the field and in the middle line. I didn’t really have a chance to look back often but I felt like I was close to the back the whole time. I think that it is because I am used to racing in fields of 50. There were 102 people registered for this race. So when I was judging how many people were in front of me I guessed about 30 which in a CAT 5 race would put me dangerously close to the back.
One thing that I learned quickly was that people were slowing down on the downhill back stretch and then trying to sprint up the hill. Once at the top they were slowing back down again. It only took about 2 laps for me to figure this out and instead of sprinting up the hill I just rode up at a comfortable pace. I would get passed by a couple of people but as soon as I got to the top I would get back to the same spot in the field and I wasn’t as tired. All the slowing made the race on the edge of being out of control and it got worse with 5 laps to go.
With 3 laps to go I started to work to get closer to the front. My plan was to carry my downhill speed into the right hand turn to the uphill. As we made the right hand turn I found a manhole cover that was sticking way out of the ground. It sent me airborne and close to the edge of the road. I had to slow down and I dropped way back in the field.
With only 2 laps to go I had a lot of work to do, so I started moving up again but this time on the inside. On the last lap I sprinted up the hill and grabbed onto a train of guys moving fast. All the sudden I heard a loud pop and I saw guys in my line going down.
I grabbed the breaks and moved away from the accident. I almost had to stop to avoid it but I got around the wreck without a problem. I got going again and heard more crashing. To my right and a little behind me more guys were going down. I decided to take it easy for the last 100 meters to the finish line.
I finished 26th out of 80 people to cross the finish line. There were a couple of guys that were pulled from the race and then the people in the crash that didn’t finish. I felt like I had a good shot to do better until the guys started going down.
I felt pretty good in the race and really smooth. I am looking forward to my next race which is completely flat in Ontario. I think that I will have some teammates in that race. I am not expecting a win this season in the CAT 4. My goal is to stay upright and use this season to learn how to be a better racer. The goal is always to win but I really want to learn a lot this season.
The course seems pretty straight forward there was a downhill on one side of the course rolling into the long straight opposite of the finish line. Then one of the short sides had an uphill into a right hand turn. I was a little nervous about the hill, which is still the weakest part of my game and now I am will better climber. I am getting better all the time but I am still behind the curve compared to the people that I am racing with.
My goal for the race was to race smarter. I wanted to sit in and not chase breakaways. I was the only person on my team so there I wanted to find a couple of guys to work with and just stay in the pack. Like I said before I was nervous that I wouldn’t even finish so a pack finish would be great.
When we arrived I couldn’t find the course. There was a street that was blocked off but there were fire trucks sitting on the street. I registered and they didn’t say anything about the course or what was going on. It wasn’t until I got back to the car to start getting ready that I learned there was a crash and they were running about an hour behind because they were cleaning up the wreckage.
I was able to stay in the middle of the pack literally the whole race according to Anne. I stayed in the middle of the field and in the middle line. I didn’t really have a chance to look back often but I felt like I was close to the back the whole time. I think that it is because I am used to racing in fields of 50. There were 102 people registered for this race. So when I was judging how many people were in front of me I guessed about 30 which in a CAT 5 race would put me dangerously close to the back.
One thing that I learned quickly was that people were slowing down on the downhill back stretch and then trying to sprint up the hill. Once at the top they were slowing back down again. It only took about 2 laps for me to figure this out and instead of sprinting up the hill I just rode up at a comfortable pace. I would get passed by a couple of people but as soon as I got to the top I would get back to the same spot in the field and I wasn’t as tired. All the slowing made the race on the edge of being out of control and it got worse with 5 laps to go.
With 3 laps to go I started to work to get closer to the front. My plan was to carry my downhill speed into the right hand turn to the uphill. As we made the right hand turn I found a manhole cover that was sticking way out of the ground. It sent me airborne and close to the edge of the road. I had to slow down and I dropped way back in the field.
With only 2 laps to go I had a lot of work to do, so I started moving up again but this time on the inside. On the last lap I sprinted up the hill and grabbed onto a train of guys moving fast. All the sudden I heard a loud pop and I saw guys in my line going down.
I grabbed the breaks and moved away from the accident. I almost had to stop to avoid it but I got around the wreck without a problem. I got going again and heard more crashing. To my right and a little behind me more guys were going down. I decided to take it easy for the last 100 meters to the finish line.
I finished 26th out of 80 people to cross the finish line. There were a couple of guys that were pulled from the race and then the people in the crash that didn’t finish. I felt like I had a good shot to do better until the guys started going down.
I felt pretty good in the race and really smooth. I am looking forward to my next race which is completely flat in Ontario. I think that I will have some teammates in that race. I am not expecting a win this season in the CAT 4. My goal is to stay upright and use this season to learn how to be a better racer. The goal is always to win but I really want to learn a lot this season.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Its the little things that make it all better
I suffer from tinnitus or more commonly known as ringing of the ears. It’s not an occasional thing; I have a constant high pitch noise in both ears. It’s kind of like that sound you have immediately after leaving a concert but it never goes away.
I am not sure when it started. I think that the first time I remember it not going away would be in basic training. We were doing a live fire exercise with simulated explosives. The objective was to move under fire and over various objects. We were to stop whenever a flare was shot in the air.
I don’t remember was I was doing but some point throughout the day I lost my ear plugs. It’s not that I wouldn’t have been able to get another pair but I would have been forced to do some push-ups and would have been made fun of for a while. So I just proceeded without them. Just my luck a flare went up, I stopped next to a simulated explosive barrel that went off and I couldn’t hear for about 2 hours.
After that there were several times that I didn’t have hearing protection working on a rifle range, or driving long distances in a truck. Eventually the ringing got louder and it just never went away.
It’s very annoying and it makes it hard to sleep when it is very quiet. I have to have something to drown out the noise at night, normally a fan, or the TV on. I really hate when there is a silence because I just hear that tone endlessly.
I am sure that you are wondering why I would put this on a blog about cycling. Well if you were thinking that then I am getting there.
I noticed 2 weeks ago on a group ride that more than half of the people had ear covers on. It was slightly chilly that morning so I guess that it made sense. Then I started thinking; my ears never bother me when I am riding. I actually enjoy the sound of the wind swooshing past. It is one of very few sounds that drown out the ringing.
It does a better job than anything else that I have tried even headphones. When I ride with headphones there is normally a 3 second transition between songs where the ringing comes back. If it’s a bad song or it pauses accidentally then I have to listen to the ringing because the headphones block the wind.
I guess it’s good to know the little things that you enjoy about a sport. So even when I am dangling off the back of a group of guys way faster than myself I can enjoy the absences of the ringing.
I am not sure when it started. I think that the first time I remember it not going away would be in basic training. We were doing a live fire exercise with simulated explosives. The objective was to move under fire and over various objects. We were to stop whenever a flare was shot in the air.
I don’t remember was I was doing but some point throughout the day I lost my ear plugs. It’s not that I wouldn’t have been able to get another pair but I would have been forced to do some push-ups and would have been made fun of for a while. So I just proceeded without them. Just my luck a flare went up, I stopped next to a simulated explosive barrel that went off and I couldn’t hear for about 2 hours.
After that there were several times that I didn’t have hearing protection working on a rifle range, or driving long distances in a truck. Eventually the ringing got louder and it just never went away.
It’s very annoying and it makes it hard to sleep when it is very quiet. I have to have something to drown out the noise at night, normally a fan, or the TV on. I really hate when there is a silence because I just hear that tone endlessly.
I am sure that you are wondering why I would put this on a blog about cycling. Well if you were thinking that then I am getting there.
I noticed 2 weeks ago on a group ride that more than half of the people had ear covers on. It was slightly chilly that morning so I guess that it made sense. Then I started thinking; my ears never bother me when I am riding. I actually enjoy the sound of the wind swooshing past. It is one of very few sounds that drown out the ringing.
It does a better job than anything else that I have tried even headphones. When I ride with headphones there is normally a 3 second transition between songs where the ringing comes back. If it’s a bad song or it pauses accidentally then I have to listen to the ringing because the headphones block the wind.
I guess it’s good to know the little things that you enjoy about a sport. So even when I am dangling off the back of a group of guys way faster than myself I can enjoy the absences of the ringing.
First post of the Year
It’s a new year and I am ready for the race season. It’s almost that time and I am ready for it to get here already. January has been a busy month. We started the New Year in Las Vegas, then I started school back up, and we had Ethan’s birthday party last weekend. I was sick this past weekend and I have already had one Saturday class this semester with the follow up to that this coming Saturday.
None the less I have managed to get in some descent mileage to date. So far I have ridden 138 miles, compared to just 5.5 miles last January. I joined the race team in Murrieta and I have been training with them at least once per week and I really feel like I am improving all around.’
I have continued to lose weight and I am now down to 189 pounds. That means that I am only 9 pounds away from my goal. I want to add some more muscle and strengthen my core more. I am positive that I will be able to reach my goal this year.
Now the good stuff, the Christmas gifts. I wasn’t sure what to expect for Christmas but I primarily asking for things for my bike. I would have been happy with anything but I asked for the things I have really wanted but just didn’t want to pay for.
I got a Fizik Antares saddle. It’s a great saddle for people like me who move all over the seat while riding. I ride in a lot of different positions depending on the terrain and what I am trying to do. Sometimes I am forward drafting or getting aero other times I am sitting way back sprinting or climbing. The seat is perfect for that kind of movement.
I also got the speedplay zero pedals. I already had the x-5 model but I wanted the zero. You can adjust how much movement AKA float there is on each pedal and you can clip into either side. I really like them a lot, they are a little harder (requires more pressure) to clip in and out of than the lower models. I think that it’s because they are designed for racing where you aren’t clipping in and out all the time.
My first race is February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day. I am a little nervous about the race because I am not getting in the amount of training that I would like to. I have class this Saturday and then the following weekend I am going to be in Dallas for the Super Bowl. The weekend after that is the race. I am sure that I will do fine but I would feel a little more comfortable with some more time in the saddle or TITS as I learned on my ride two weeks ago.
None the less I have managed to get in some descent mileage to date. So far I have ridden 138 miles, compared to just 5.5 miles last January. I joined the race team in Murrieta and I have been training with them at least once per week and I really feel like I am improving all around.’
I have continued to lose weight and I am now down to 189 pounds. That means that I am only 9 pounds away from my goal. I want to add some more muscle and strengthen my core more. I am positive that I will be able to reach my goal this year.
Now the good stuff, the Christmas gifts. I wasn’t sure what to expect for Christmas but I primarily asking for things for my bike. I would have been happy with anything but I asked for the things I have really wanted but just didn’t want to pay for.
I got a Fizik Antares saddle. It’s a great saddle for people like me who move all over the seat while riding. I ride in a lot of different positions depending on the terrain and what I am trying to do. Sometimes I am forward drafting or getting aero other times I am sitting way back sprinting or climbing. The seat is perfect for that kind of movement.
I also got the speedplay zero pedals. I already had the x-5 model but I wanted the zero. You can adjust how much movement AKA float there is on each pedal and you can clip into either side. I really like them a lot, they are a little harder (requires more pressure) to clip in and out of than the lower models. I think that it’s because they are designed for racing where you aren’t clipping in and out all the time.
My first race is February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day. I am a little nervous about the race because I am not getting in the amount of training that I would like to. I have class this Saturday and then the following weekend I am going to be in Dallas for the Super Bowl. The weekend after that is the race. I am sure that I will do fine but I would feel a little more comfortable with some more time in the saddle or TITS as I learned on my ride two weeks ago.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)