Sunday, March 29, 2009

Today's race

3 laps of a 10 mile rolling course...one minor hill; short. Doesn't seem that bad.

i think a combination of a few things happend:

  1. didn't eat and drink enough before hand
  2. shouldn't have spent all my energy bridging up to the break on the first lap right before a long gradual uphill only to be caught in no man's land and then dropped like a rock off a cliff.
  3. bad week of riding.
i finished probably in 30 or 40-something place.

The fact that the 1/2/3 field lost half of its field is a little reassuring. the 35+ started with 120 and ended with 50...geez.

next sunday is another race. Fawn Grove Roubaix.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Welcome to NOVA cycling

This Sunday the Jeff Cup 2009 will happen down in Charlottesville. I had heard this was a big deal around here, but i was unaware of just how excited everyone gets around here for this one race. Pretty much everyone in a 100 mile radius of this race will show up. Every field, for the most part, max's out. In fact I've been on the wait list for a month now and I am finally the next one off.

Everyone is making "predictions" for the 1/2/3 field and Bobby Lea is one of those contenders. I'm not sure how Floyd Landis's teammate is a 1/2/3 but again, I'm new here.

I have a bit more confidence now in my riding ability, which is right on time for this "prestigious" event. 3 laps on a rolling 10 mile course, one slight climb and an uphill finish.

With that said, my ankle recently has been giving me problems and the last 3 days have been nearly void of bike riding because of funeral/family stuff going on. I did say nearly, so not entirely. i did what i could.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Mt Weather and more...

I rode up Mt Weather this past Saturday with John and Zach....it looks something like this:I learned I'm not the strongest climber. While I'm obviously not the greatest rider either and that may have a larger factor, it seems that everyone has their specialty...something they are good at. I'm thinking mine is not ascending and that's fine. I'll continue to find ridiculous climbs and pursue them. I like it.

Tonight the Caps play Toronto and playoffs are just a short period away. That may be a corny way of saying it, but its true and the Caps better start playing stronger or they'll end up in a positioning far less favorable come the first week of playoffs.

Jeff Cup is this Sunday. The course is fairly up and down 30 miles on a 10 mile lap with a single moderate climb and a false flat finish. Its also supposed to rain. I'm excited for that.

adios!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Vint Hill Crit Series

Yesterday was the 540cycling.com group ride (I'm not sure why everyone includes the ".com" at the end of anything 540cycling, but oh well...I'm new).

It was a little rainy yesterday, and by that i mean it rained all day and weened off around 330-4. So by 530 it was nice out. The road had dried up a bit and it was low 50's. I still figured the group ride would be less than 5 people and i was right. It was John, Zach and myself. I was a tad happy about this because i knew that meant they would want to go hard being that they are both strong riders and they know i can at least hang.

We headed over to the Vint Hill Park where we are organizing a local crit series. We did one lap just chatting and then the fun started; we started attacking each other. One of my biggest weaknesses is my inability to go hard for very long. Which obviously comes with a lot more riding/racing/training. maybe next year...Anyway, it was a ton of fun.

So from now on we are going to use Thursday night group rides as interval/crit practice at that park. it was a ton of fun. A nice mix up for the week.

In other news, my wife's Grandfather died two days ago. and the funeral is on Wednesday. I watched him literally die slowly, and its an experience I'll never forget. I kept thinking about the Death Cab for Cutie song "What Sarah Said", as we watched his blood pressure slowly but surely lower. He died in his sleep sometime after we left the hospital.

Go Caps!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Nothing exciting.

Nothing awesome happening. Not that there really ever has been. But especially not now.

I had a nice 40 mile bonk through the plains last Saturday (don't be deceived by the town name...a few little hills there).

Mentally trying to recover after multiple bad rides.

Road towards the plains via the fixie (46x15) up short sections of 10% or more. Finally bailed on the switchbacks and continued on towards the plains after i almost wrenched my handlebars off the bike. decent ride all-in-all.

Beautiful day yesterday (over 60 degrees), the white legs are starting to get some sun. 30 miles.

Registered now for 4 races in April. I'm aiming for 5 in May which would make me Cat 4 by June.

Riding with some guys from the team Sat up Mt Weather. I'm excited to test myself, but not excited at the probability of getting dropped.

While i used to be good at climbing and ITT's , I'm slowly realizing I'm bigger now and these skinny guys have a decent advantage over me going up these tough slopes. I still could be decent at ITT's though. I haven't attempted to out of fear of not being as good as i used to be.

I'm apprehensive to try the local Wednesday night ride. A bunch of 1/2/3's show up and pound it out.

Milan-San Remo is 300km? wtf?!

Hiking Season is over for me. I didn't get to go at all. Dan bailed on the only trip we had planned (mind you, it was a good excuse). I did do the daks with him back in Sept though...Looking at two trips for next winter. Also planning on trail running/Fast packing the Pen-Mar Section of the AT (40+ miles) in September with a buddy that is currently in Iraq.

Friday, March 13, 2009

OD on Vitamin C

I went to the group ride last night. It was nice. We didn't set a hard pace. Mostly a get to know everyone/the route ride. It was only 25 miles. All in all i got in 50 yesterday.

I was planning on 40 this morning because my wife is picking me up from work to go meet Dan, but i was hacking up a lung this morning (still sick) and it was snowing out. So i settled for 25, which seemed to be about right. I thought it was going to be 30 but i miscalculated part of the route. It was a terribly miserable ride...wet, freezing, feeling like crap, pitch black darkness. ugh.

I'm going to try and get in 50 before work(bike shop) tomorrow. Shouldn't be a problem.

riding everyday with a backpack is a bummer.

Paris-Nice

Thursday, March 12, 2009

blahg.

Free Chick-Fil-A continues on the morning commute. tomorrow is the last day. The chicken biscuit.

I'm still losing weight. down to 176. 160 here i come!

I'm also still sick.

Pounded out 30 miles last night. horrible headwind and crosswind. nearly blew me off the bike at one point. huge head wind on a fixed is lots'o'fun.

Supposed to snow tomorrow morning. what? i just packed my winter gear up for the 2nd time.

Bought two new pairs of bibs during my lunch break after having worn the same pair this entire week so far...i know ew gross. i take two showers a day, only because of the shorts issue. Really i just have bad hygiene.

I'm enjoying "watching" Paris-Nice every morning this week.

Caps will probably lose to the Flyers tonight.

I'm meeting up with Dan for dinner tomorrow. He's in Rockville.

Group ride tonight with 540Cycling.com

i often confuse A with 4. weird.

I'm registered (in-time, opposed to wait list) for Fawn Grove Roubaix.

My ankle is doing a tad better.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Ankle Problems

Today has started off great. i dropped my car off at the auto shop across town, pulled my bike out of the back and left for work. On my way my ankle was giving me a ton of problems. About 3 weeks ago i slipped on my stairs and jammed my foot into the floor sideways in order to prevent myself from falling down the stairs. At this point i think i would have rather fallen down a flight of stairs, mostly because i think the resulting injuries wouldnt be as bad, but its hard to prevent a natural reaction (not that sideways was a natural response).

It actually was giving problems last night post-ride. I took ibuprofen and put an ice pack on as i went to bed. it may have helped a bit, but who knows.

On top of all that i woke up with sinus problems, which isnt uncommon but usually the ride clears that up, except for this instance. ugh

Oh, not to mention i missed another registration opening for another race. So i'm probably not racing till the 29th when i attempt my first road race. This is probably a good thing due to my current ankle issue. Now only if i could convince myself to take it easy for a little.

Any chance it could be caused by a poor cleat placement on my road shoe? idk.

i had a great 40 mile ride last night. new route.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Racing

I didn't make it off the wait list yesterday, so i stayed home while my team travelled up to MD to race in the Trade Zone Series. They did pretty good apparently too. They raced the 3/4 and the 1/2/3 groups. All 3 received top 10 finished in the 3/4 race and top 20 finishes in the 1/2/3 race immediately after. They must have some sick stamina to pull that off. I think John said 65 miles of Crit racing yesterday. That's a stark comparison to my 4 cupcakes and 2 cheeseburgers. haha and still somehow i didn't really eat that much yesterday, but i also didn't ride.

This morning it was a brisk 62 degrees. awesome. Also, chick-fil-a just opened up a few miles from here and so i did a detour and picked up a *free* breakfast...its happening there all week.

I'm waiting to register for the Trade Zone this weekend. If i don't race this weekend (3 weeks since i raced) then it will be possibly another 3 weeks till i race again. I might upgrade by June despite my lack of racing. April and May I'm racing nearly every week. I'm 4th on the wait list for the Jeff Cup so i think I'm likely to get in. SICK!

I'm also racing at Fawn Grove Roubaix in PA. It will be my second road race for the season. and over my two laps i believe its 8 miles of gravel/dirt road. i happen to enjoy that type of riding, but we'll see how it is when it comes to racing on it.

And finally, my team (specifically John and Dave i think) are trying to organize a race in Vint Hill business park, which is all of 5 or 6 miles from my house. A weekly crit series to be more specific. It looks like my bike shop will provide technical support and help with sponsorship. And i believe it will have multiple lower CAT races. to help alleviate the demand for races in those CAT's.
awesome.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Yesterday and Today

One of my favorite parts of my day is the 10-20mins after i get dressed at work. I grab a big bowl of cereal and a Vitamin Energy drink (the caffeine version of Vitamin Water) and i sit at my desk, eat and check email along with some of the other sites i check daily (or hourly).

The past two weeks I've been taking the super short route to work (6.5 miles), partly because its been so freaking cold in the morning (today: 6 degrees), partly because I'm tired and lazy in the AM, and lastly because I'm doing longer rides in the evenings now. Not sure whats better, two moderate distance rides (15-20miles) or a short and a bit longer than moderate (6.5 + 30 miles).

I've been watching Pro cycling since for the past 9 years. I know that Lance won his first tour 10 years ago and i watched as he won #'s 2-7. It was very exciting as each tour got increasingly faster with stronger attacks, longer breakaways, and more dominant wins (from every winner). So up till the past two years, this was all i knew. The past couple of years have been very important for cycling, with 90% of the top 15 finishers during Lance's heyday being caught, implicated, or investigated for doping, the creation of a "dope-free" squad (Garmin-Chipotle), the slowest tour in 10 years (2008), and a no-tolerance attitude from the cycling community, "a change is a'coming". Or its already happened, but it doesn't leave me without doubt. Childhood hero's crushed by deceit. Who can you root for?

Its been proven the continental scene isn't impervious to idiots like Ivan Stevic and Kayle Leogrande either, and I'm sure there are more out there.

I had a good ride last night after fixing my bike. I dropped off the car at my wife's school at 7 and set out to do 30 (really its a 27 mile route...but whatever, i try hard not to be OCD). It was super cold and pitch black, and the first 10 into the wind, but somehow i still enjoyed it. I was actually disappointed no one honked at me until about 4 miles from home a giant SUV blared its horn in anger. nice!

This morning i got a pat on the back at the convenience store from some stranger that "is a cyclist too", he called me a brave soul for venturing out into the frigid cold. that was a nice encounter, few and far between.

Monday, March 2, 2009

training and racing = cluelessness

Another snow day to ruin cycling.

I took yesterday off to rest, and i tried real hard to stay away from my bike. Unfortunately if i had gone out like i'd wanted to then i could have taken a proper rest day today when cycling is near impossible (outdoors that is).

Also, another great disapointment is that the Jefferson Cup (CAT 5) filled up in "5 mins". Leaving me to do nothing that weekend except sulk or train. probably the latter or maybe both. Regardless i have to rethink what races i'm going to do.

Fawn Grove Roubaix?
Tysons Corner Crit?
Tour of Walkersville?

i dont know. Certainly not all 3. Fawn Grove sounds like a lot of fun, Tysons is a big event nearby, and i know nothing about Walkersville except its a Road Race that is 40 miles for my CAT.

Honestly, i feel clueless as to what i'm doing. My training is random at best, consistent but random as to the workouts. My plans for racing are also random. I have no idea what i'm good at. And while i feel like i'm training hard, i dont feel that strong. I'm really hoping that working with the guys from 540 Cycling will help immensely. We'll see.

Now i have to go an email to my Uncle, telling him to leave my political convictions alone. ugh.

intervals on the rollers tonight. best i can think of.