Crossing The Line

Reforestation Ramble WORS mountain bike race up in Suamico (north of Green Bay) this past weekend. The closest thing to a WORS race I have previous experience with, as I attempted to race this course last year on my cyclocross bike. That ended badly with a DNF as a result of a stupid crash resulting in a damaged bike. So coming in this year, with an actual mt. bike, and some actual mt. bike competence, I was looking forward to some retribution.
I came up a day early with the Marchewka boys to get a good pre-ride in on the marked out course, and to just get a refresher as to what I was in for. The pre-ride went very well. I felt awesome. I was fast in the flowing single track, and blasting up the hills. I was very confident for the next day. I wanted to, and I honestly thought I could have a hell of a race.
RACE DAY: Morning of was good, didn't have to wake up too terribly early since we were already up there in a hotel, had a nice breakfast, and again, felt really good on the bike during the warm-up. Race description was two laps on a 12 mile course consisting of a lot of open, extremely fast double-track, with the rest, fast- flowing single-track in the woods. Hills were minimal, but the occasional, steep one or grinder thrown in there would make you feel the burn. Pretty muddy in some sections with all the rain that had fallen in the previous week, but overall not too bad otherwise. Weather was hot. Low to mid 80's.

10,9,8,7,6..................GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Great start, I was picking off people left and right. From the start, it stays wide open for a while before we'd finally get to single track where passing would be problematic. So I wanted to move up and make up as much ground as I could right away. Which I did. Actually found myself with a group of four other riders who opened a gap, and I was content to sit in with, and ride quickly with. I'd yo-yo off the back of them occasionally, but was always able to bridge back up, and keep the pace high. I didn't feel as great anymore as I did the previous day, but I chalked it up to being the fact that it was race-pace, and I just needed to suck it up, and keep hammering, and maybe my legs will come around more as I get further in. Well that's what I was hoping for at least.
Lapping through, after what looked (and felt) like a pretty solid first lap, I took on another water bottle and was ready for the next 12 miles. During that feed section, the little group we had, subsequently broke apart, with people grabbing bottles, and others not and pushing ahead. I imagined since we were all riding so similarly, I wouldn't panic, and we'd most likely come back together sooner than later. And then I felt the faint twinge in my left hamstring. Cramp. Just a twinge though, so I started sucking on my bottle a little more regularly. Unfortunately, it only got worse. Next came the right hamstring, then both quads joined in. At this point it was intermittent, so I kept plugging away, but at only probably 3 miles in, my second lap wasn't looking like it was going to be all that fun. I stayed seated and just spun as hard as I could, to try and maintain some as-semblance of speed, and as to not upset my already very angry legs, but then my calves would join the party, and start knotting up too. And though now, I was technically a damaged rider out there, I did everything I could to suppress the pain, and just stay in attack mode. Getting to the steepest hill on the course, I didn't know how my legs would react, but I knew I had to get up that hill. So I attack it, jump out of the saddle and hammer. Both of my legs. Instantly. Lock. From my hips, down to my toes. They went absolutely stiff. I just lost complete control of the lower half of my body. With both legs locked the way they were, I kinda tipped over off my bike, and duck walked up the rest of the hill, every muscle straining, trying to rip themselves from the bone. Be it shock, or straight up adrenaline, I don't remember the pain, so much as I remember the fact that I was genuinely frightened by the fact that "I can't bend my fucking legs!"
And somehow, [I really don't know how, but in fact I do remember having the retarded thought, "Well they won't bend as I'm walking, maybe they will back on the bike? Get back on the damn bike!!" Of course combined with the "GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!" That's going through my head during a race anyway...] I remounted, and I kept on going. And oddly, after that full shutdown I'd just experienced, the cramps mildly subsided for a while. OR, they were actually still there, and just not as bad as that hill experience. Either way, I was back on, riding again, and back to attack mode.
Pre-riding implanted into my head exactly when and wear I'd come out of the last section of single-track and onto the open, long, flat, perfectly straight, all out, leave nothing left in your body, time-trial sprint to finish. And here I was. Just as a fellow Sport age-grouper went by me. Nothing left in my body? Ok. I spun out gears until I had none left. Both of my legs were completely cramped. My quads felt like they were coming through my shorts, my calves were petrified. But I pushed harder. With tears of pain streaming from my eyes, gritting my teeth, I sprinted as hard as I could towards the line.
Toppling over in pain onto my bike after stopping, barely able to walk, barely able to move, I promptly began hyperventilating. In a haze, I knew I felt bad, but pretty much thought, 'post race, you're supposed to feel like this...' But thankfully. For as bad as I felt, I must have looked even worse as I quickly caught the attention fellow riders. Anthony Dombrowski, Bob Zimmerman, Rob Willmas, and guys I don't even know, right after them themselves just got done suffering, helped me. Cold water over the head, down the back, all over. Slowed my breathing down. Took me into the air conditioning and sat with me. My appreciation for these guys is hard to express. THANKS GUYS, SERIOUSLY.

So. Dehydration was obviously a factor in this race. As far as I knew my preparation was sound, but it obviously wasn't enough. Lesson learned there.
But furthermore, other than the finish line, I crossed another line in that race. Cycling is all about thresholds and how far you can push your body. My body hit it's limit in that race, and I tried to go beyond it. Not the greatest idea in the long run. Seemed like the right thing to do at the time, the manly thing to do even. But I pretty much hobbled myself and am going to need at least a week for my legs to recover from that said act of manliness.
But what I will do is. Work harder to get that line further out there, so I don't have to cross it. And that seems like a good plan.
Cycling, ain't it great? :)

Tri Hard with a Vengeance

August brought me my last two triathlons of the season. August 1st was the Ripon Medical Center Triathlon in Green Lake, and August 8th was the Oshkosh Triathlon in Winneconne. So yea, Ripon tri in Green Lake, and Oshkosh tri in Winneconne...
The RMC triathlon is a smaller triathlon, not part of the Midwest Sporting Events Series, yet still a very well run, pretty fun course, and well worth it being my fourth year of participation. The course is moderately challenging, with a little longer swim than usual, around a third-mile with no touching the bottom, a rolling to hilly, twisty at times, 15.5 mile bike course, finished with a hilly 5k run.
Leading up to this race, well... Friday included a hard-effort 50ish miler in a driving downpour. A nice character building ride with cyclocross on the horizon. Saturday morning was another CK sponsored time trial, this one a two lapper, for a total of 20.3 miles all-out. Did pretty well with the TT, was happy with how I felt and with my results. Feeling really comfortable and happy with my TT position lately. I feel fast, I feel powerful, I feel slippery. Plugging along through the course, tucked down on the aero-bars, I actually do feel the aero advantage. It's a swell feeling. Later Saturday night, I had my High School reunion... So night before a race, instead of relaxing, and hydrating, and going to bed on time, I was standing around, getting my brains blown out by unnecessarily loud music, drinking beer, and going to bed waaay too late...
RMC TRI- Race day... Got kind of winded on the pre-ride... Got even more winded on the pre-run, and my arms were sore as heck on my swim warm up... Shit.
Into the lake we go, I find a good stroke, a good pace and start hitting it. Actually didn't feel too bad, so I went with it. Drafting behind suckers for as long as I could, till my long arms started feeling their toesies and I'd go around them. I was indeed the 8th person out of the water, a good swim. Onto the bike. Exiting the 'Ripon Medical Center grounds' to get out to hwy 23 actually consists of about a 2 mile climb, which right out of the water, trying to get your breathe, kind of hurts. So I had decided prior that I would spin up it in the little ring, and then start blasting once out onto the open road. Spinning along up the hill, I was getting passed. I stayed calm and thought, I'll see you guys soon. Out onto road, hammer-time. I quickly dispatched the guys who got me up the hill, and was off to find the 7 who got out of the water before me. I felt GOOD. I was fast, I was smooth, attacking up hills, out of saddle sprinting out of turns, I was killing it. Turns out, my bike leg moved me up to 2nd place overall. Then came the run. The 3rd and 4th place guys came out of transition right with me, seemed like it was going to be a great race! Then my legs decided to go home. Hardly a couple hundred yards into the run, BOOM, my legs exploded. They felt like cement. Like from my pelvis down, I had nothing. Shit. So what do I do?? I wanted to walk. My legs were that gone, I could barely move them. But as I'm hobbling along, I just think, "Geez I'm in like 5th place, I can't walk! How terrible would that look?!" So with something slightly less terrible looking than walking, I painfully labored my way, for what felt like an eternity to the finish line, being passed a few more times along the way... Good swim, Great bike, topped off with what felt like the worst 5k of my life. But in a slightly ridiculous twist of fate, thanks to my swim and bike, still pulled off an 8th overall place and won my agegroup! haha
Gonna need a little better prep for Oshkosh I think...

OSHKOSH TRI- A race I have had success with in previous years, being better than previous years, I wanted to destroy this course. Plain and simple. Last tri of the season, and from as far as I could tell, could wrap up my agegroup ranking for the five-star series, I had lofty goals for this race. First place in my agegroup - top ten overall - and improve on my time last year from a 1hr 14min to a 1hr 10min, were the goals on the chalk board. Driving up there, my goals didn't look good... The race didn't look good... Thunderstorming, pouring buckets the whole drive up there, gave me a very empty feeling in my stomach. But upon arriving, still plenty of rain, but no lightning made it look like we'd be racing. Game back on! All of my stuff in transition, my bike, and of course I, was soaked. But oh well, so was everybody else, and they'd all have to deal with it too. RACE ON! Into the lake, water was actually calm and really nice and warm, didn't feel like a superstar, but did what I could and had a fairly solid swim. Onto the beach, into transition, the moment I'd been waiting for, training for. The bike leg. However I knew I couldn't just go out and crush it, I had to race it smart this day, which sucks for only 15 miles, but with as wet as the roads were, the swirling winds, and with as many twists and turns as there are throughout the course, I knew I had to be careful or I'd end up on my butt. So the plan: little to no risks taken through turns and obliterate the straights. Immediately into it, I knew it was a good plan, as I babied around the first 90 degree turn and heard a huge crash, glanced behind me to see a guy and his bike sliding off the road... No problems for this gentleman though, I took it easy on the turns, and the rest of the time went like hell. I felt good. The head-wind from every direction never really made me feel great, but I was fast. Battling with and eventually dropping a guy on a $10k bike feels good. Onto the run, legs don't fail me now! Out of transition, College was there cheering for me, and yelling to me my overall position "You're in 5th!!!!!" (huge props to Mr. Marchewka for coming out and spectating, I sincerely appreciated him being there!) This day my legs felt good for the run. Good enough to keep up with the guys who got by me, apparently not, but I ran my fastest 5k of the season, and did all I could do. They were just faster runners than me. Crossing the line, I knew I did a good race, it felt good. Saw the clock, I saw the magic 1hr 10min I was shooting for. Sweet. Turns out the 2nd place guy overall was in my agegroup, so I got 2nd. I'll take it. Sweet. A strong later wave finisher knocked me from 10th overall, back to 11th overall. Not quite a top ten, but I'll take it. Sweet.
So I suppose these two snigglets are there to give me motivation for next year? Oh yeah, Oshkosh, I'll be back next year, you better believe it.

CONCLUSIONS-This was easily my most successful season of triathlon racing. I was in the mix at probably all but one race. I'd said early on I was probably done with tri's after this season, due to my new love affair with mountain biking. BUT, I think there is always going to be at least a little time devoted to triathlons. Probably not a full season again, but I think I'll come out and kill a couple of my favorites. So that's that.
Furthermore, in these last two races. I don't generally toot my horn, but... The bike is strong. At RMC, out of the 200 or so, I was the 4th fastest on two wheels, essentially tied for 2nd, we were all within 10sec. And at Oshkosh, out of 800, I was the 5th fastest. How about them apples?

Cyclocross, here I come.... :)

It's July!

That means it's Tour de France time!! Oddly enough, I realized I care a great deal more about this international biking spectacle than than pretty much any other sporting event at this point... Baseball? Meh. Basketball? Ha. Football? The Packers, that's about it... Don't get me wrong, I still consider myself a 'fan' of all of these sports, but be it for whatever reason, I'm finding pro cycling to be where it's at as far as my interests are these days.
So going into this year's tour, the level of competition and number of possible GC winners, was making it look like this could be one of the best tours ever!
And now we're only a week in, but it seems we're down to only a two horse race. Contador and Schleck. With all the other GC riders either crashed out, getting hurt, or not having the legs they were supposed to have, here we are, not that epic anymore...
Furthermore, Lance Armstrong's chances for his eighth tour victory, anti-climatictally came to an end after a terrible stage 8 where he crashed three times, and gave up eleven minutes to the leaders... This scenario really does sadden me. Bad luck took him out of contention. It's just really too bad. That's all you can say. But that's the sport I guess. I just sincerely hope now, that with time, this 'comeback' of his doesn't tarnish everything he's accomplished. Oh well. Lance is still my hero. I know every time I get on a bike, and every time a peddle turns, he will be the one I'm trying to emulate, and that will never change.

JULY 11th-Pewaukee Triathlon
So if you hadn't heard (it was all over the news) Pewaukee lake was closed for a couple weeks due to unsafe levels of E. Coli... Thanks impart to massive amounts of sewage being dumped into the lake... Lucky us, bacteria was back down to "safe levels" come the day before the tri, so RACE ON... hahaha, seriously?
Well anyway, claiming the first two waves were the 'elite' waves, I still didn't get to be in the first wave, but got to start 30 seconds back in the second wave... Swim underway. Trying not to think about the little bacteria trying to give me explosive diarrhea, I actually found the swim going very well. This is one race where you actually have to swim 99.9% of the swim leg. Running won't work here, as once out of the sandy area, sea weed takes over everything, and it gets deep too. But anyway, the water was nice and warm (sewage tends to be) and there was little to no wake, and I actually had a really good swim.
Onto the bike! Made a change with bike leading into this race. Looking for some more speed, I swapped out the super-light, pseudo-aero 40mm Lew wheels, for my little heavier, more aero 60mm Hed wheels. Only a 15 mile course around the perimeter of the lake, I was looking to crush the bike leg. Unfortunately, I didn't feel great out on the road. It seemed like I was never really able to push hard, or hold a strong effort for more than a short while. So I needed content myself with spinning out each gear, and taking risks through turns. Funny instance: totally zoned out riding down a long, straight frontage road. Next thing I knew I was off the shoulder riding in the gravel... haha. I didn't correct immediately because I probably would have crashed coming back onto the road, but rode the gravel for a good 50ft, dodged a cone, and then bunny-hopped back up onto the road... Yeah, I'm good. But with not feeling that strong, pulled out a 22.6mph avg. Not too shabby.
Running out of the transition area, past the beach, I was confused to see that they were indeed still starting waves of people?! WIth over 1200 people, and a short bike, I guess that'll happen. Still caught me off guard though... About a mile into the run, the E. Coli hit me. Ok it wasn't E. Coli, but all at once, my breakfast and the last nights dinner no longer wanted to be inside me. So similar to a N. Carolina experience I had, I had to do everything I could do to not make a mess of my shorts... But, it made me run fast at least, haha. And what is usually a 3.1 mile run, ended up being about a 3.25 miler for me, as I ran straight through the finish line and straight to the bathrooms...
Not believing I did that well, I packed up my stuff and was on my way. Turns out I got 3rd in my agegroup and 40th overall. 3rd in my agegroup of 88!? wow. (and 40th of 1200 for that matter) So I guess I'll see if I can have that trophy mailed??
So, pretty good race for really not feelin' it.
Interestingly: a little research showed me that with my 9th, 5th, 2nd, and now 3rd place finishes in my age group over the races I've done in the 5 star series, I'm on track to, in fact, win my age group. And promisingly, Oshkosh is my next and final 5star race, a race that I crushed last year. This year, August the 8th, it's ON. I'm absolutely going for it. First place age group, top 10 overall. YES you should come and watch, I'd like that.

Racin' through the month

I realized that this last month I've done quite a bit of racing. May 30th: Wausau WORS race, June 6th: Green Bay triathlon, June 13th: Sunburst WORS race, June 19th: High Cliff triathlon, June 25th: Fond du Lac Grand Prix Criterium, and lastly June 27th: Mt. Morris WORS race. Three different disciplines of cycling, three different kinds of racing in one month, cool.
I've already previously touched on the first three races I listed, so what's there to say about the rest of the month?

High Cliff triathlon- This was the first race I've ever done for the fourth time. By last year I already had a pretty good game plan going into it, how to race it smart, where to conserve and where to push. But this year I had the legs to really put the plan into action. Very windy day out there. Had big swells, whitecaps, the whole shebang for the swim. Luckily, the water was pretty pathetically shallow throughout. I could have run the entire thing... But, after running for a while, decided my legs were getting tired, so it was time to swim then, gotta save those babies for the bike after all. Onto the bike, climbing the High Cliff right away. In the little ring, just spinning up it as to not blow up early, and to wake my legs up for the abuse ahead. (Yes, spinning up the hill instead of all-out attacking it is something I learned through trial and error over my last few races here) Felt like I was flying out on the road. The tail-wind helped that, but I pushed as hard as I could when that wind was with me to make the most of it. Coming back into the wind, sun at my back, I tucked down as low as possible, and tried to get super slippery to slice through the wind. My shadow in front of me helped me monitor how tightly tucked I was. Almost a 23mph average over 21 miles with a large hill and a strong wind, I'll take as a successful bike leg. The run hurt, as it does at High Cliff. They send you right back up the hill fresh out of transition. Ouch. But after everything, a good, heck, a great day was had. I finished 2nd in my agegroup and 24th overall.
Fond du Lac Grand Prix- Part of the Tour of America's Dairyland series, this was the first and only race of the series I did. I've had some issues when it comes to criterium racing. Be it the fact that I've got hang ups about going through turns at speed with people around me, or that pavement hurts, or that I'd tend to get popped off the back the first time the road pitched up, this was going to be interesting. Thankfully, in the two years since the last criterium I participated in, cyclocross has helped my turning with others issues, I've encountered the ground once or twice, it still hurt, but mind over matter, and I'll try to avoid it. And as for popping off the back, my motor has grown exponentially since then, and a bonus, this course is flat as a pancake. Race underway, I'm sitting in the peloton, taking it all in, hearing cheers around the course, experiencing what road racing is actually like. Learned I much prefer the inside line through the turns, learned other people don't carry enough damn speed through the turns, and though I actually enjoyed the heck out of those 50 minutes of pain, I've got a lot to learn, but certainly do see more criteriums in my future. As for results, I totally succeeded in my two goals going in, stay in the pack, and keep the rubber side down. I finished at the rear of the main pack in 30th, but an extremely positive feeling 30th.
Subaru Cup, Mt. Morris- The plan was to race the cross country race on Saturday, and see how I can hang against Comp riders who I'd be directly racing against per UCI rules (combining sport and comp). But as plans tend to go array, I found myself with no bike Saturday morning, and thus unable to race... (bike had no brakes, bike went to shop to get brakes, bike was not being easily fixed, bike was to be picked up the next morning on the way to the race, bike was unavailable for pickup...) Thankfully WORS was nice enough to switch my registration over from the XC course to the short course the next day. So I played spectator Saturday, which was awesome considering this weekend of races was on the pro schedule, and therefore we got to see all the pros in action. Simply amazing to see these guys & girls earning there money out there. Really put me on a mt. biking high!
Race day- The short course consisted of a short hammerfest of only around 15-20 minutes of all-out pain around a short loop. I had a really good start, jumped off the line and was near the front for about a lap, but then other riders showed me why they were a category above me, and I slowly but surely, worked my way further and further back. Then if that wasn't bad enough, last turn of the last lap, I got taken out by a guy who came out into my line. Down I went, sliding on my arm and arse. So that sucked. Big time road rash (off-road rash I guess).
But a day can be salvaged. During the pro men's race, I found myself spectating next to a certain Heather Irmiger (pro mt. biker, member of Subaru/Trek team, national champion, and hottie) who was cooling down on a trainer and watching the race. And what do yah know, I ended up talking racing with her for most of the race, awesome! And then who should walk up into the conversation, but fellow Subaru/Trek teammate, and hottie herself, Willow Koerber. After talking with them for a bit, even then got to meet and talk to the one and only Katie Compton! Katie Compton being the multi-time national champion in cyclocross, and probably soon to be WORLD champion as well. AND I got to meet and greet another one of my cyclocross heros, multi-time national champion, 6'6" Ryan Trebon. So though sore and bleeding, I went away from that event totally happy and totally star-struck. How many other professional sporting events can you go to and just hang out with and shoot the proverbial shit with the athletes after the event? Awesome, cycling is AWESOME.

Not gonna Tri anymore...

May 30th I had my first 'official' WORS mountain bike race out in Wausau, the "Trek Big Ring Classic." I say first official as it's the first one done on a mt. bike, and I'd prefer to forget my experiment on my cross bike at the Suamico race last year...
With a jammed packed schedule leading up to the race, I hadn't exactly ridden with any consistency, but race weekend shaped up with an easy 60 miler Friday to remind my legs how to ride, another CK time-trial on Saturday to really wake my legs up, and easy hour recovery ride afterwards. And so though I literally hadn't ridden the two previous weeks, my legs felt pretty good, and I was fairly confident going in. It was sort of like cramming like crazy for an exam the night before, haha.
Race underway, it was very hot, and very dry. All the bikes flying over the ultra-dry dirt kicked up dust clouds and we all ended up looking like combination miners/ chimney sweepers by the time we were done.
In the Sport class, I was set to do two, nine mile laps over a mostly flat, mostly wide open course, that had only the occasional very steep climb, or very technical single track. I had a very solid start, moving up quickly and as far as I could tell, hanging right in a group with fellow agegroup leaders. It wasn't until we got to an extremely rocky, technical section, where passing was basically impossible, that our group had caught up to a younger rider who had started a few waves in front of us. The rest of my group smartly got by him before we got in there, but I got pinched behind him, and had to sit in behind him, barely moving. I didn't want to be a dick and yell at him, as it was my first myself, and Lord knows, he woulda let me by, and I'd have probably crashed then. So I was patient, and waited for the course to open back up. It felt like it took FOREVER, and unfortunately, by the time I got by him, that lead group I had been with was long gone. So as simple as that was, that instance pretty much shot my chances for doing exceptionally well my first time out, but all in all, I was still very happy with my race and my result. I felt strong throughout the race, felt fast, didn't make too many dumb mistakes, didn't crash, didn't hurt myself, kept my bike in one piece, and had a hell of a good time! Results: I got 6th in my agegroup and 53rd overall out of around 200 Sport men riders.

June 6th, first triathlon of the season out in Green Bay, known as the Green Bay Triathlon. Again, leading up to this event, not a whole hell of a lot of preparation. I had the WIAA state track meet in La Crosse from Thursday to Saturday. So a lot of standing in the sun, eating too much, unhealthy food, and not a bike ride in sight. And this time I didn't have any last second cramming, as I pretty much got home from Lax, got my gear ready for the race, and went to sleep. Four in the morning, yes 4am is what time I had to wake up and hit the road shortly after to make it up to Green Bay for the 7am start. What should be an extremely easy swim, being in a man-made 3/4's shallow swimming hole, ended up not being that extremely easy. I made the decision to not wear my wet suit as the water is for the most part very shallow, and you only need to actually swim a short section, and because of the shallowness, I assumed the water'd be relatively warm too. It wasn't. As soon as I had to try and start swimming, all the air would get sucked out of my lungs and I just couldn't breathe. So I modified breast-stroked it until I could touch again... The whole time thinking, "God this sucks."
The bike was pretty solid. Felt fast and felt strong, with only a couple hiccups along the way. Flying along up to an intersection, I saw no turn arrow (which there usually is if you're supposed to turn) and the police officer who was patrolling the road made no indication as to which way I should go, so I went straight. Too bad as I cruised by him, he quick put his arm out for me to turn. After scrubbing off all my speed, throwing out a few choice expletives, and turning around, I was back on my way, having to chase back down three riders I had just worked like hell to get by. The other hiccup being the fact that I had at least one slow leaking tubular. The front was indeed flat by the time I got back to transition. Only ever really noticed that it was feeling awful ornery going around turns. (new tubulars are being glued up as I speak). Furthermore, I won't complain that much about a 22.6mph avg. with a wrong turn and a flat tire... The run felt really good. Not completely sure why, but it just felt like I had a nice tail wind the entire time. In conclusion, I just had a couple more reminders of why I'm moving out of the triathlon business after this season. Waking up that stupid early to drive almost 2 hours to an event that only took a little over an hour. Freezing ass cold fricken water. Results: 5th in my agegroup and 15th overall out of 173 men.

Today, Sunburst! That's right, a WORS race not even 20 miles from my house. I woke up at 8:30am. I had a nice breakfast and watched TV. I liked that. With it's proximity to me, I was able to get out and pre-ride the course a couple days earlier. With mixed results. Lots of rain made the muddy single track climbing extremely difficult, had some tire problems, and plus the day I was out there, it was in the mid 80's with probably 90% humidity. It was brutal. Did not give me the best outlook for the race... But come race day, everything came together. I rode aggressively in the open sections knowing that slick hill climb would still be difficult, and passing would be tough back there. And yeah, out in the field areas, I absolutely put the hammer down. If somebody was in front of me, they weren't going to be for long. The turns were all extremely tacky, it was really easy to fully commit and rail through them at high speed. That is FUN. Yes it hurt and yes I was on the limit for over an hour, but no, I could not wipe the smile off my face after that race was over. It was just a blast. I like mountain biking thoroughly. And yes, I even had some pretty damn good results. I'd call it a great race for me. Results: 5th in agegroup and 25th overall out of around 200 again.

Paper Disco

May 2nd was my first official race of 2010. The Paper Discovery Duathlon up in Neenah. It's a 2 mile run followed by a 19.5 mile bike followed by the same 2 mile run. Mostly flat, overpasses being the only 'hills.'This was my second year doing this race.
Feeling stronger than ever on the bike, and sporting some new 'go-fast parts' on the bike, I was confident and really wanted to hammer it. My goal was to have a good fast, first run, waste myself on the bike, then just see what I had left in the tank for the final run.

As for those new go-fast parts, I upgraded to a really nice 3T base bar/ aero bar setup, resulting in a much more aggressive/ aero position, and a 54 tooth SRAM aero chainring setup. So I'd at least be more aerodynamic and pushing a harder gear. At the very least, the bike looked fricken awesome! haha

Into the race, though I signed up for the Elite wave in every race this year, there I was, starting in the 3rd wave. Whatever. I had two guys running with me to get a good, fast pace going at least. Annoyingly, a fresh crop of 'lake flies' had just hatched apparently and were making their presence known all over the course. There were clouds and swarms of them all over the place. Had to close my eyes, and make sure my mouth was closed a few times...

Into transition, getting to my rack, with the rest of my wave minutes behind, it was still full. Helmet on, glasses on, shoe change, and I'm off. Initially, absolutely flying by all the wave 2 and even wave 1 stragglers, I actually was able to find clear road and not have to broken record repeat, "On your left, on your left, on your left" too many times. Finding my rhythm and settling into my new aero position (which I was only able to test once, one day prior...) I could tell the aggressiveness of it, how narrow my body was over the bike, and how I had to be conscious of my balance. But what really surprised me, was the fact that even as the race wore on, I got no soreness, no lower back pain, or even neck pain. Something that usually happens when tucked like that for an extended period of time. As the old saying is "You can be aero or you can be comfortable, you can't have both..." Now I can't say I was necessarily "comfortable," but I wasn't too worse for the wear. So not having put me on a power meter to test power output before and after, or a wind tunnel to test just how much more aero I indeed was, I'm pretty happy with the new setup. Anyway, race continued on, felt like I was moving pretty good. Got passed occasionally by 2 or 3 riders pace-lining each other, effing triathletes. (By the way drafting is not permitted in triathlons or duathlons. It's supposed to be an individual race against the clock. Drafting gives you an advantage) But beyond those knobs cheating their way through the bike, I was very rarely passed, and again, thought I was moving pretty well. I had an encounter with what was essentially a curb in the road (actually just new pavement transitioning to old pavement), but hit it so hard, I thought I blew my front tire... Scared the bejesus out of me, being in the aerobars, and then to boot, it started the tell-tail hissing of a tire going down. Riding shaken, I inspected to see if the tire was going down, but later found that the impact actually knocked my brake caliper off center and into the wheel. Nice. So I opened up the brake as I rode, and pushed on to the end...

Back to transition, bike back onto an empty rack. Glasses off, helmet off, shoe change again, number belt on, and I'm off out the 'run out.' Oddly, my legs still felt pretty solid, so I said "ok?" and continued at a pretty quick pace that I thought I could hold. Through a few more clouds of bugs, I made it into the finish, even through a little kick in the last 400 yards or so.

I stretched out a little, and oddly felt like I had not just raced...? Seeing the results later I found out why. I didn't push hard enough. My runs were fairly good, I split 6:15's in the first 2mile, and 6:30's in the second. But then the split that I really cared about, I only averaged 21.7 on the fricken bike. Shoulda went harder. Really disappointed me actually.
SO I finished 47th overall and 8th in my agegroup...

My excuses: Having done this one last year, I noticed some big talent shows up to this race, and this year was no exception. I never got to see the really fast guys as they were 2 waves in front of me, but I still at least ended up being in that top 50 (waves are 50 people each). And it's just my first race of the season. I didn't do amazingly well at this one last year either. It takes me a while to find my good form, and therefore it's not going to be on display in the first race.

Having said that garbage: I'm still pissed with the work I've done thus far, and how comparatively well I feel this year to years past, and how I still only finished at what would be the back of the elite pack.
And so, as soon as this track season is OVER, efforts must be increased. I cannot be content with this.
See yah on the road.

Off to the Races

I had my first pseudo-race of the season Sunday. It was a ten mile time trial organized and put on by CK, with I think about eight or so of us taking part in the fun.
For those that don't know, a time trial is a race against the clock. The one with the best time is the winner. Sounds simple enough, right? The complicated part is, in bike racing, that means you have to push yourself as hard as you possibly can, going as fast as you possibly can, for the duration of the race, without blowing up or completely running out energy, by yourself, with no drafting other riders. So go too hard and run out of gas before the finish: slow time. Go slower and conserve energy: slow time. You have to find the happy median, or just have a huge motor and be able to go balls out for the duration of the race... Time trials also give you the opportunity to use a 'time trial bike.' A bike that is made as aerodynamic as possible, to go as fast as possible all by itself.
I have both a regular road bike, and a TT bike (which I use for triathlons, where they are allowed because drafting is not permitted in triathlons). The plan was to, of course, use the TT bike for the time trial, unfortunately, my TT bike happens to be undergoing a semi-major overhaul, and wasn't able to be up and running in time for the TT... Darn it. So I ended up on the Madone (road bike) with some deep section aero wheels. Still a pretty fast set-up, just not as fast as a TT bike. As a bonus, the fastest non-TT bike finisher would win himself some gourmet coffee... So I, a non coffee drinker, was now in the running for that at least...
We started individually, in one minute increments. So the immediate goals were to A: catch your minute man in front of you, and most importantly B: don't get caught by the guy a minute back from you! College was my minute man and I didn't have many aspirations of catching him, but what the hey. More worryingly, Dan was behind me, so I was sure to have him cruising by me sooner than later...
I had a good start, got up to speed very quickly, and got a fast/comfortable rhythm going. The course was shaped like a big square essentially, so as I reached the first turn, a quarter of the way in I was pretty happy to have not been caught by Dan yet. Having turned north, I was going straight into a headwind now. So upon making it to the next right hander, I again, was pretty happy to have not yet been caught by Dan. Half way in now, foaming at the mouth now a little bit, I was still feeling pretty strong, so I kept on cranking. Coming up to the third and final turn, I actually kinda wondered if Dan had encountered a mechanical or something. Because I've ridden with Dan. A lot. He's fast as hell, especially compared to me! Yet he still hadn't blazed by me yet. And yet, my minute man College, was no where to be seen in front of me. Finally approaching the one and only 4-way stop on the course, on very low traffic country road that we had been warned about before heading out to be careful of, I found that this 'low traffic country road' had suddenly, somehow become the most busy intersection in West Bend... As I approached it at speed, there was one car left, on the left waiting to cross the road. I waved to them to get them to get moving and get across the intersection, so as to not impede me, but as I got closer and closer, there they still sat, so I changed my hand from waving them to go, to telling them to stop and wait. And yeah, of course at the last second, they pulled out. I locked up the brakes and slid narrowly avoiding them. Scared the shit out of me too. Shortly there after, CK of all people came screaming by me, and I'm pretty sure he may have started 3 or 4 minutes behind me, Yikes! Then Dan finally got me, and I sprinted the rest of the way up to the finish a little ways behind him.
So in the end, I was really happy with how strong I felt and how I was able to fend off the Dan Schaefer for as long as I did. I averaged 22 something mph, pretty damn strong for this guy, especially on that bike and not the TT bike. I never saw College because that kid was on his way to a 24.9mph avg, as well as the gourmet coffee trophy. He freakin rocked it! From what Dan said for his ride, he may have taken it out a little too hard, and then just couldn't reel me in, till later into the race (and the car fiasco helped). CK, on a TT bike posted the fastest time and averaged like 27 or 28 or something crazy like that.
As for that car fiasco, some may say it was my own damn fault, and I'd agree. I was just unlucky. There happened to be a car there for me, and no one else. The driver of the car had no way to know that we had a little race going on. I could have stopped at the intersection, but when you're racing against the clock, stopping is the last thing you want to do... I tried to do what I could to make them aware of the fact that I had not planned on stopping, but it didn't work. It could have been a lot worse obviously, I could have gotten hit, and yeah, it would have been completely my fault. I didn't stop at a stop sign. And yeah, I'm one who does normally obey the rules of the road, and today showed me what can happen when you don't... So yea, next time, I'll just stop. I wasn't gonna win anyway...

North Carolina

I took the first vacation I've been on since middle school I believe...
I went in with some of the Team Pedal Moraine crew and a few other compadres on renting a condo near Asheville, North Carolina, for their annual 'pre-season training vacation.' The plan was to bring along the road bike and a mountain bike, and get as much riding in as possible over the course of a week in the nicer southern weather and the mountainous geography of the area.
DAY 1 As the sun came up on our first full day in Asheville, the weather wasn't looking all too promising. Sorta on the cold side, with scattered showers. But we were there to ride, so we sucked it up and set off from the cabin for our first road ride. The roads were wet from overnight rain, but nothing I hadn't experienced before. After climbing my very first mountain-side, it was time to go back down the other side. This, not being a main road with a higher speed limit, was in fact very technical as far as roads go, with multiple, tight, switch backs. So there I was just a few hair-raising turns into the descent, when I came into the next turn, heavy on the brakes, but still carrying to much speed. As I felt the rear wheel begin to skid, I knew I was about to have a bad time. The rear end fish-tailed out, I went down, butt and arm first, tangled up in the bike and slid across the pavement for what felt like forever. I hated the sound. Relieved to not have flown right off the side of the mountain and into an oblivion, I inspected the damage to my machine. Unbelievably, everything seemed to be in pretty good shape, so though still not feeling any pain (thanks adrenaline) did a body check. My shorts were pretty tore up, but my butt somehow remained unharmed. I found that my Livestrong bracelet had made it's way up past my elbow, and I was in fact bleeding pretty well from my forearm. But otherwise, I was ready to limp the rest of the ride. As the ride continued, my hand started hurting more and more, later finding out because my palm apparently took the brunt of the pavement slide, and had a hole burned into it. Ouch. Yet the scariest part of the ride was yet to come. We were descending another pretty steep grade, Dan and I were taking it very easy, heavy on the breaks, taking no more chances. At the bottom of this descent there was a 90 degree left turn that we really wanted to take it easy around. But while we were breaking hard, Sean comes tearing by us and sticks the turn with no problem. But before we could be impressed, Mark tears by us too, likely following Sean's lead, makes it to the turn, almost sticks it, pulls a foot out of the left pedal to steady himself, but them disappears off the road, off the side... (Picture Jan Ullrich's wild ride) So Dan and I pull up to where he went off to help him. As this was in front of a farmers field, we simply expected that he had gone down into a ditch. Instead to our horror, we look down to see him 6 feet down in a gully, with a small river flowing through it, huge jagged rocks everywhere, and random hill- people's garbage in it. At that point we seriously thought we were gonna need a helicopter retrieval on our first day in the mountains, but thankfully, though feeling like he was in a car wreck, he was able to make it back home, and was all-in-all ok.
WOW, what a first day. (Oh also turns out out my rear derailleur was shot from sliding on the pavement, and I had buy a new one. Sweet.)
DAY 2 My first ride on my brand new Redline 29er mountain bike. It did not disappoint. We ended up doing two loops, up the mountain, then down the mountain, and repeat. Climbing the longest climb I'd ever climbed before was something else. And then descending down, of all things, a downhill riders course was crazy. But I did it. And I did it unscathed. I was pumped, I was shaking. I was hooked.
DAY 3 Back on my road bike, sporting new Dura-ace rear derailleur (grrr). Dan and I set off from the bike shop where we picked up my bike, and jumped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway (which is apparently a federally owned scenic road that runs the length of the Appalachian Mts.). Experienced some sustained climbing on the parkway before we turned off onto the Elk Mountain pass (which is Bill's favorite road) and had some heavy climbing and crazy switch back descents, which we experienced going both ways, having made it an out and back. Happily I was feeling more confident on the descents with the dry roads making it a lot easier going. Worryingly though, on the way up the mountain, I was quoted as saying something like this: "I think I might have to take a crap..." and worse, later: "Ummm, I don't think anymore, I KNOW I have to take a crap!" So yeah, I was literally not thinking about the climb at hand, but only of not crapping myself. Yes, it was that bad. There may also have even been a moment where my bare arse was out, defiling the beautiful scenery. Unbelievably, there was in fact a porta potty up near the top of the mountain. I used it. I felt better. Yikes. Later that day, I bought Pepto Bismol.
DAY 4 In preparation for the upcoming WORS season, four of us went to a Park with trails called Tsali. (I think). Supposedly offering trails that somewhat resemble what we have around here, except on steroids for the fact the climbs go on a lot longer, and with a lot more shear cliff drop offs. I followed Dan around for most of the day, trying to stay with him, and trying to learn as much as I could. Taking it a bit gingerly at the beginning, feeling things, out, getting the hang of it, and I really think by the end of the day, Dan had me really pushing it and attacking, railing through turns, and really becoming one with the bike. I learned a ton, and I can't wait to get to those few of WORS races I'm doing this year. I'm going to bring the pain. Watch out.
DAY 5 What was the hardest ride of the week? What was the best ride of the week? What was your favorite ride of the week? Three questions, all one answer, mine and Dan's ride up to Mt. Mitchell. Almost 90 degree weather and 4 days of hard riding in my legs, I knew this was going to be epic. We started on the Blue Ridge Parkway where it was closed to traffic for "spring cleaning" (getting rocks, trees, boulders, snow, etc, cleared off and away from the road) and took it 20 miles to the Mt. Mitchell State park, and another 5 miles up to the summit, and then all the way back down. The summit being the highest point east of the Mississippi River, around 6600ft I think. Being closed to traffic, we had the road to ourselves, which is awesome to begin with. And with recent rain they had, the road was actually really clean and in good shape. And so we climbed. And climbed. And then climbed more. Dan being stronger, dropped me, so I was by myself a lot of the time climbing this mountain. Going through hell up this thing, by myself. Working through the pain though, I really started to think. All the things in my life that are important to me I thought of. All the people that I love, I thought of. Everything I wish I was, want to, and strive to be I thought of. I thought about my life, where it's been, where it is, and where I want it to be. What I should have done differently, and what I'm thankful for. A glaring truth became evident. Cycling is important to me. It's there for me. It helps me and improves me. It motivates and drives me. I will be a cyclist for life.
DAY 6 Last day riding. Out with the group on the Mt. bike. Climbed the fire service road to get to trail, (still one hell of a climb) and the legs had just finally had enough. I had already been thoroughly dropped by everyone involved, and my legs we just gone, so I turned back, and called it a day. A week that is.

In the end, things I will take away from this trip. Beyond the training aspect, the fitness, strength, stamina, and endurance that have been improved, my mental perception of cycling has been forever altered. North Carolina changed me. For the better. I'm bringing the noise this year. Cover your ears, it's gonna be loud.

Stay classy Madison

Earlier in the week, I thought it would be a good idea to do a cyclocross race that was supposed to be part of some 'winter festival' at the capital in Madison. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides it being horribly organized and run, the course that was advertised as being "half pavement, and half snow-covered," in fact ended up being completely snow covered. Six inches of extremely loose, soft, wet, man-placed snow. Essentially unrideable. Even after letting all the air out of my tires, no seriously, they were FLAT, I could [uncontrollably] ride as far as about a hundred yards and then crash. Then be completely unable to get going again. A bike race is bad, when the guy says GO, and it looks like the start of a 5k run. Without exaggerating, a forth of the people entered quit immediately, and the rest ran 80% of the race. I told myself, I paid $20 for this stupid shit, I'm not quitting, and it's a bike race so I'm not running the whole stupid thing either. So I was quickly shuffled straight to last place as everyone ran away while I was trying to ride. It didn't work. So I walked. The stupidest, worst race I've ever been a part of. Period. Something that upsets me the most. There was general public spectating. And now these people, as a result of this shit event, will now associate this with cycling, cyclocross in particular. Unfortunate.

Afterwards, we needed some place to eat. I was with Ben and Danny Marchewka, Ben suggested a sandwich place on State street. Looking at the menu on the wall, it reminded me of one the places Adam Richman (on one of my favorite shows, Man V. Food) had gone to. A place for drunk and/or high college kids to go when they have the munchies. To which I think I even said, "This place reminds me of someplace like on Man V. Food," to which the brothers pointed out, "Oh well they do have a sandwich challenge..." Reading the description, though it was $25, it sounded like a pretty tasty sandwich, and if I finished it in 15 minutes or less, it was free, and I'd get a T-shirt! How could I not do it? Upon delivering it to our table, they played a special inspirational mix cd just for the occasion of people eating the sandwich (haha). Finally seeing the 'sandwich,' I saw what I was in for... This was a SIX pound sandwich, that apparently no one in Madison has ever finished... But I went for it, gave her the ol' college try! And believe it or not, I was doing a great pace, finishing half of it in 5 minutes! Yes, 3 pounds, in 5 minutes. As I tackled the second half, I knew it felt like there wasn't a lot of room left, and I started chewing more and more. The clock started working against me at that point also, and that fast start I had, quickly slipped away. I valiantly choked down about another pound, but that was it. I was out of time and out of stomach. However, I was happy to hear how impressed all the employees were with how well I did (haha). They told me I did "really well, and got a lot further, a lot faster than most everyone they've seen try it." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

But in the end, it but a good spin on a day that was otherwise a complete failure. And it may have ended up being a $25 sandwich, but I'd call that priceless :)

Overhaulin?

So as someone that truly loves cars, I do watch the show 'Overhaulin' on the Discovery Channel every so often. Unlike say, 'Pimp My Ride,' it doesn't completely disgust me, and generally, I do rather enjoy it. Or should I say I enjoy seeing the elaborate plan, the work being done, and of course, the pristine final product. (Yes I do enjoy the female cohost as well...)

Now I, who do not have a rotting old muscle car sitting in my backyard, can't exactly come out and say, "Now if any of you guys decide to have me on that show, and have my car 'Overhauled,' here's what I want, and what I don't want." But, that's what I'm gonna do anyway.

The thing is, to really like the cars they turn out of this show, you have to be a fan of what they call "resto-mods." That is an older car, that essentially still has the body of the original car, but pretty much everything else is completely modern. In essence, it's a good idea. A car that still has the beautiful looks of a 60's/ early 70's car, but that can stop, turn, is reliable, and has even more power.

Problem is, a lot of the time, they end up either going completely overboard ruining the car, or they'll have a pretty sweet car coming along, only to again ruin it, when they put some terrible 'graphics' on the car, or some God awful looking wheels... And then there is of course my biggest pet peeve of this generation of car 'tuners.' Instead of just drooling at what's under the hood, there they go, popping the trunk and checking out the 'mad-tight system, yo.' I absolutely hate seeing huge stereo systems being put into these cars. Not only is it just a lot of dead weight with all the 'custom enclosures' and crap, thus hindering the performance they just spent so much money to increase, but in a muscle car that is now most likely pushing five hundred horsepower through a custom straight back exhaust, I think I would prefer to hear what's coming out of those pipes. Call me crazy.

So in the end, whatever car I may have when I get on that show... Be it a '69 Plymouth RoadRunner or a '70 Ford Torino, or whatever... Give me the all new race suspension, the big caliper brakes, the big (but tasteful) wheels and tires, and of course that huge lump under the hood. But for the love of God, keep the Fast&Furious graphics and stereo, because they do not belong on my car.

Furthermore: Check this out---> http://www.xvmotorsports.com

Oh hey Y'all

Blogging is something I've considering dabbling in for a while now. After all, probably everybody wants to know what's on my mind. Right? And well, here goes...