The start of the Cat 1,2,3 field.
5.31.2006
5.28.2006
Snitger's Classic
When setting up my training plan and goals for the year, the first event that came to mind was this race, the Snitger's Classic located in Beaver, Pennsylvania. Last year when I raced here, it was my first time racing as a Cat four and although I had some decent results in the fives, I was in no way prepared for this race as I was shelled on lap 1 of 11. This year I vowed to do better and to help get me there, I started working with Charles Howe of Velodynamics to try and plan my first peak for this race.
I should start by saying that my goal for the race was to finish in the field. Don't get me wrong, I don't enter any race not wanting to win and with all the work I've done I wasn't going to just sit in, but knowing how difficult this race is I knew just finishing in the field would be a big accomplishment and anything more than that would icing on the cake. Today racing with me in the 4 field was Tim House, Jim Flesher, Carl Peshoff, Marshall Leininger and Don Bunker. Just getting to the start line turned out to be an adventure for me. While doing a warm up, my front tire blew. Unfortunately, I was as far away from the course as possible, so I quickly gave my wheel to Jim along with instructions on where to find my car key so he and Tim could get started working on my wheel. I looked at my clock and it said 1:45; our race was scheduled to start at 2:00 and I was a mile or so down the road. So facing a little bit of a crisis, I decided to start my marathon training a little early and I picked up the bike and started running back to the car. By the time I made it back, my cleats were a little shorter and Tim and Jim just about had that tire changed. Thanks guys for taking care of that for me. Not quite the warm up that I was expecting but I was ready to do some racing now.
Last year, I remembered the start being a sprint to the first turn. This race seemed to be the same way but knowing what to expect, I started off in the right gear and was ready to move up into position quickly. I tried to keep remembering that "if you're not moving up, you're moving back" which are some words of advice that Rick Parr gave to me earlier in the week. With that in mind, I constantly tried to keep myself in the top 10 positions in the field. This strategy seemed to be working well because as the laps ticked down, the field kept getting smaller and smaller but I was still sitting roughly where I wanted to be. Through the race, small groups of one or two guys would try and get off the front but each attempt was brought back. This race would come down to the guys in the front shelling everyone down to the last race and then fighting it out from there. Hopefully I would be one of those guys.
Turns out, with three to go I lost my place in the final selection. A small gap opened up a few riders in front of me and as I tried to get around them to get caught back on, I found I didn't have enough left in the tank to close the gap on my own. This was the product of two factors, the heat and the tremendous pace, especially climbing up the "hill" on the backside of the course. The problem with riders who get shelled are that they are too tired to work so it was left to me to chase. If nothing else, I wanted to race for my own bragging rights and not have the main field catch me, whatever was left of them. The last two laps were my own individual TT, slowly catching and passing riders who were falling off the pace up front.
Coming into the finishing straight for the last time, I thought I was clear but I had a rider from MVC who came around me at the last minute to snag 16th place, putting my in 17th.
I have mixed emotions about today's race. In one hand, I did better than my goal of finishing in the field as I finished in the top third in the race. On the other hand, I can't help but to think what would have been if only I had made that last split. Would of, could of, should of I guess, that's bike racing.
brian
Here's some data numbers on the race:
Duration: 59:04
Work: 879 kJ
TSS: 107.1 (intensity factor 1.045)
Norm Power: 293
Distance: 24.118 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 939 249 watts
Ht Rate: 155 186 174 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 97 rpm
Speed: 0 34.7 24.5 mph
Torque: 0 272 70 lb-in
I should start by saying that my goal for the race was to finish in the field. Don't get me wrong, I don't enter any race not wanting to win and with all the work I've done I wasn't going to just sit in, but knowing how difficult this race is I knew just finishing in the field would be a big accomplishment and anything more than that would icing on the cake. Today racing with me in the 4 field was Tim House, Jim Flesher, Carl Peshoff, Marshall Leininger and Don Bunker. Just getting to the start line turned out to be an adventure for me. While doing a warm up, my front tire blew. Unfortunately, I was as far away from the course as possible, so I quickly gave my wheel to Jim along with instructions on where to find my car key so he and Tim could get started working on my wheel. I looked at my clock and it said 1:45; our race was scheduled to start at 2:00 and I was a mile or so down the road. So facing a little bit of a crisis, I decided to start my marathon training a little early and I picked up the bike and started running back to the car. By the time I made it back, my cleats were a little shorter and Tim and Jim just about had that tire changed. Thanks guys for taking care of that for me. Not quite the warm up that I was expecting but I was ready to do some racing now.
Last year, I remembered the start being a sprint to the first turn. This race seemed to be the same way but knowing what to expect, I started off in the right gear and was ready to move up into position quickly. I tried to keep remembering that "if you're not moving up, you're moving back" which are some words of advice that Rick Parr gave to me earlier in the week. With that in mind, I constantly tried to keep myself in the top 10 positions in the field. This strategy seemed to be working well because as the laps ticked down, the field kept getting smaller and smaller but I was still sitting roughly where I wanted to be. Through the race, small groups of one or two guys would try and get off the front but each attempt was brought back. This race would come down to the guys in the front shelling everyone down to the last race and then fighting it out from there. Hopefully I would be one of those guys.
Turns out, with three to go I lost my place in the final selection. A small gap opened up a few riders in front of me and as I tried to get around them to get caught back on, I found I didn't have enough left in the tank to close the gap on my own. This was the product of two factors, the heat and the tremendous pace, especially climbing up the "hill" on the backside of the course. The problem with riders who get shelled are that they are too tired to work so it was left to me to chase. If nothing else, I wanted to race for my own bragging rights and not have the main field catch me, whatever was left of them. The last two laps were my own individual TT, slowly catching and passing riders who were falling off the pace up front.
Coming into the finishing straight for the last time, I thought I was clear but I had a rider from MVC who came around me at the last minute to snag 16th place, putting my in 17th.
I have mixed emotions about today's race. In one hand, I did better than my goal of finishing in the field as I finished in the top third in the race. On the other hand, I can't help but to think what would have been if only I had made that last split. Would of, could of, should of I guess, that's bike racing.
brian
Here's some data numbers on the race:
Duration: 59:04
Work: 879 kJ
TSS: 107.1 (intensity factor 1.045)
Norm Power: 293
Distance: 24.118 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 939 249 watts
Ht Rate: 155 186 174 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 97 rpm
Speed: 0 34.7 24.5 mph
Torque: 0 272 70 lb-in
5.25.2006
New Cervelo
Here's my new Cervelo Soloist Team that I picked up last week. Thanks to Rick Parr for helping, well actually building it up for me. The Klein frame and fork will be for sale so anyone who may be interested feel free to drop me a line. As for this bike, I'm still breaking it in but with several 2 hour rides in on it, I'm absolutely loving it. It was definitely well worth the purchase which can now be backed up with a total of 5 of us on the team now riding these bikes.
For those interested, the picture is taken in my office here at work. We have 20' exposed concrete ceilings so it makes for a great piece of suspended artwork in the space. As a point of reference for how high the bike is off the ground, my wheel is just below the door height.
brian
5.17.2006
5.13.2006
Race at the Lakes #4
The weather this morning came to no surprise as it's the same weather we've been having for the past 3 days. I figured the cold and rain would keep some people away and I was right. What was nearly a field of 50 last weekend in the Cat 4 field only had a little over 20 this morning. The good news is I was nearly guaranteed a top 20 placing today just based upon mathematical probability, the bad news is that there would only be serious riders out there braving the weather so the race wouldn't be a walk in the park.
Joining me from the team was Tim House, Jim Flesher and Marshall Leininger. Today being the last of the series, I wanted to mix it up a little bit and see what kind of results I might be able to get. I was unfortunately racing without the power meter today but in all honesty, I never look at that thing during races and I only use it afterwards to help analyze my race. Last week I determined that I conserved a lot of energy by hanging in the field and came to the finish feeling fresh. Today, I would want to race a little more aggressively and see if I could get myself into a good position or help setup one of my teammates. The organizers must have had a lot of merchandise left over gear because at the start line it was announced that there would be a total of 6 primes. I decided I might try for one this week, what do I have to loose. As we started rolling, I settled into a good position in the front of the field. The pace was brisk but that was most likely to keep everyone warm in the damp conditions. Rolling through the the finish/start line for the first time, they announced the first prime, wow that came early. I had no intentions of going for one so soon but I was sitting in second position on Pete Baughman's wheel (October Lake Effect) and what better time to test yourself than on lap two as there would be plenty of time to recover from any hard efforts. As we crested the top of the climb, I hear someone yell "Go Brian!" At the time, I thought it might have been God, but I later learned that it was actually Tim. I went around Pete on the far right and hammered through the S curves. Its nice going through there solo because you can take those things as fast as you want to and not worry about the guy in front of you. Through the final curve and I was hammering on the pedals trying to get to the finish line first...All for some sweet merchandise. I'm sad to say Pete grabbed it by a half-wheel length but it was fun trying. I had a good laugh with Pete and sat up to start my recovery. I later learned after the race that Tim and Marshall blocked the field from catching us which helps explain why it was only Pete and I up there. It took what seemed like a few laps to recover and during that time I was dangling dangerously near the back of the field. History has shown me that this is the worst place to be in a race so I fought to get myself back up near my teammates. While in the process, I noticed that Jim had managed to get himself into a little breakaway. I was still working my way up to Tim in the front to help try and slow things down in the field but never made it in time as they were coming back quickly. The breakaway either never worked well enough together or our pace never slowed down enough because a lap later, we were all back together. As we were catching them, I decided to give Jim a little "well done" pat on the back for a good effort. As I did it I was thinking, man I hope I didn't scare him and cause him to crash. I'm not sure I even finished that thought when I heard a loud noise coming from behind me. Oh man, oh man please don't let it be Jim......Sure enough I look around and I see Jim with his feet on the ground doing his best Scott Hamilton impersonation. Augh, please don't let it be me, please don't let it be me that caused that! I felt bad and contemplated sitting up and waiting for him, but Marshall said he was ok and I could see the field moving up the road without me. If I was going to get caught back on, now would be the time to go. Figuring that if I had taken Jim down, I at least owed it to him to finish the race I made the bridge back up to the field. Laps ticked down and the race was animated, much more so than last week which made this race so much more fun than the previous three. I think I was either on the front of the race working or on the back recovering from my efforts. With two to go, I was sitting on Pete's wheel again rolling throughout the start/finish line when he said lets go. Pete, a guy named Jeremy (unattached) and I made our move through the tight 90's hoping that this would give us a little bit of an edge to get a gap. The field wasn't going to let us go easily so we were working hard. So hard in fact that this effort, combined with everything else I had previously done had caught up to me, I was suffering so much I couldn't get around them to take my turn to pull. I could see Tim working to try and bridge up to us so I thought that once he got here, I'd sit up, let him take over and I'll go back to the group to try and slow things down a little bit. It's hard for one person to slow things down so I was pretty ineffective in my efforts. This would mean it was coming down once again to a sprint finish. Try to recover was my main goal, but it didn't happen quick enough as I sprinted for somewhere near 10th place.
At the end of the race, my only thought was to find Jim and find out what happened. Catching up with him, he assured me that I was in no way responsible for what had happened. I figured he was just being nice so I kept asking to make sure. Finally, it took an email from him later in the day to convince me that I wasn't involved. Sorry about your race Jim.
Hats off to the Summit Freewheelers/Allied Decals for once again hosting another great event this year. I look forward to your upcoming races this summer and fall and look forward to this event again next spring.
brian
Joining me from the team was Tim House, Jim Flesher and Marshall Leininger. Today being the last of the series, I wanted to mix it up a little bit and see what kind of results I might be able to get. I was unfortunately racing without the power meter today but in all honesty, I never look at that thing during races and I only use it afterwards to help analyze my race. Last week I determined that I conserved a lot of energy by hanging in the field and came to the finish feeling fresh. Today, I would want to race a little more aggressively and see if I could get myself into a good position or help setup one of my teammates. The organizers must have had a lot of merchandise left over gear because at the start line it was announced that there would be a total of 6 primes. I decided I might try for one this week, what do I have to loose. As we started rolling, I settled into a good position in the front of the field. The pace was brisk but that was most likely to keep everyone warm in the damp conditions. Rolling through the the finish/start line for the first time, they announced the first prime, wow that came early. I had no intentions of going for one so soon but I was sitting in second position on Pete Baughman's wheel (October Lake Effect) and what better time to test yourself than on lap two as there would be plenty of time to recover from any hard efforts. As we crested the top of the climb, I hear someone yell "Go Brian!" At the time, I thought it might have been God, but I later learned that it was actually Tim. I went around Pete on the far right and hammered through the S curves. Its nice going through there solo because you can take those things as fast as you want to and not worry about the guy in front of you. Through the final curve and I was hammering on the pedals trying to get to the finish line first...All for some sweet merchandise. I'm sad to say Pete grabbed it by a half-wheel length but it was fun trying. I had a good laugh with Pete and sat up to start my recovery. I later learned after the race that Tim and Marshall blocked the field from catching us which helps explain why it was only Pete and I up there. It took what seemed like a few laps to recover and during that time I was dangling dangerously near the back of the field. History has shown me that this is the worst place to be in a race so I fought to get myself back up near my teammates. While in the process, I noticed that Jim had managed to get himself into a little breakaway. I was still working my way up to Tim in the front to help try and slow things down in the field but never made it in time as they were coming back quickly. The breakaway either never worked well enough together or our pace never slowed down enough because a lap later, we were all back together. As we were catching them, I decided to give Jim a little "well done" pat on the back for a good effort. As I did it I was thinking, man I hope I didn't scare him and cause him to crash. I'm not sure I even finished that thought when I heard a loud noise coming from behind me. Oh man, oh man please don't let it be Jim......Sure enough I look around and I see Jim with his feet on the ground doing his best Scott Hamilton impersonation. Augh, please don't let it be me, please don't let it be me that caused that! I felt bad and contemplated sitting up and waiting for him, but Marshall said he was ok and I could see the field moving up the road without me. If I was going to get caught back on, now would be the time to go. Figuring that if I had taken Jim down, I at least owed it to him to finish the race I made the bridge back up to the field. Laps ticked down and the race was animated, much more so than last week which made this race so much more fun than the previous three. I think I was either on the front of the race working or on the back recovering from my efforts. With two to go, I was sitting on Pete's wheel again rolling throughout the start/finish line when he said lets go. Pete, a guy named Jeremy (unattached) and I made our move through the tight 90's hoping that this would give us a little bit of an edge to get a gap. The field wasn't going to let us go easily so we were working hard. So hard in fact that this effort, combined with everything else I had previously done had caught up to me, I was suffering so much I couldn't get around them to take my turn to pull. I could see Tim working to try and bridge up to us so I thought that once he got here, I'd sit up, let him take over and I'll go back to the group to try and slow things down a little bit. It's hard for one person to slow things down so I was pretty ineffective in my efforts. This would mean it was coming down once again to a sprint finish. Try to recover was my main goal, but it didn't happen quick enough as I sprinted for somewhere near 10th place.
At the end of the race, my only thought was to find Jim and find out what happened. Catching up with him, he assured me that I was in no way responsible for what had happened. I figured he was just being nice so I kept asking to make sure. Finally, it took an email from him later in the day to convince me that I wasn't involved. Sorry about your race Jim.
Hats off to the Summit Freewheelers/Allied Decals for once again hosting another great event this year. I look forward to your upcoming races this summer and fall and look forward to this event again next spring.
brian
5.10.2006
Thomas, he really is a useful engine
For those who have little boys who are into Thomas the Train, you will completely understand where the title of this entry comes from. For those who don't, go ahead and head down to your local library to immerse yourself in some true literary classics.
Last year, I was taking a ride down in the Valley and when I was came up to Boston Mills Ski Resort, I noticed off to the side on the railroad tracks there was a working, big blue engine with a big smiley face on the front. At the time, Nicholas wasn't into this scene so I thought..."What the???" It wasn't until later in the summer when the trains started coming home that I was able to put two and two together. Well, this year I'm proud to say that I will be taking my first official train ride on Thomas. I say official only because Nicholas thinks he's already ridden on him in the past (i.e. the 'L' in Chicago and the train ride earlier this year on the Cuyahoga Valley Railroad). If you see Nicholas, play along please.
Thomas has become really useful to me because it just so happens the day that we have tickets for this magical ride, is the same day as the Chippewa Creek Road Race. Normally I try to support all the road races in the area as its hard to turn something down when it's in your own backyard but in all honesty I won't be terribly let down by not being able to attend considering all the climbing this course has to offer and given the fact that I am in no way a climber. I will be a little disappointed though because as I'm nearing peak fitness it would have been fun to see just how well I could do out there. There's always next year I guess.
brian
5.08.2006
5.06.2006
Race at the Lakes #3 - Welcome back old friend
I've been involved with bikes most of my life. My mom brags that I began riding a two wheeler without training wheels at the age of two. Not sure how true that story is but regardless, I've been on 2 wheels for a long time. Like all kids, that freedom of being on a bike became somewhat diminished at the age of 16 when I obtained my drivers license. Fortunately for me, I was only away from the bike for a few years, rediscovering cycling in the form of a mountain bike through a coworker of mine at the time named Tom Cartwright. I credit Rick Parr for getting me into road cycling, but it was Tom who got me back on a bike. That's why it was nice to hear he was getting back into road racing again after a few years away from the scene and would be suiting up in the black and yellow. Today, Tom made his debut at the third of 4 races in the Race at the Lakes series hosted by the Summit Freewheelers/Allied Decals. Unfortunately his race didn't go as he had planned, but in time I'm sure it will.
Stark Velo would be well represented in the Cat 4 field with Tom, Marshall Leininger, Tim House, Jim Flesher, Mike Schiltz, Matt Turi, Carl Peshoff and myself. My plan for the day was to sit protected in the field, keep my position and wait for the sprint at the finish. I decided that there was no way that a group would get away so I wasn't going to spend my energy chasing someone who couldn't stay out there all day. I'll admit I got a little nervous when a group of 6 or 7 riders went away on lap one. We had Matt Turi representing us so I was content to stick with my race plan and sit in the field to see what happened. Normally, I would think that a group that large has a chance of staying away, but not on such a windy day and not when it happens on the first lap. Sure enough, within two laps we were all back together. There were several attacks but like all attacks in the first two races, nothing would end up sticking. I was feeling confident that I had made the right decision today to sit in and wait. Normally I'm not content to sit in and be pack fill, but my legs were feeling surprisingly good and I thought if I could get good position at the finale, I might have a chance for a decent finish today.
Going up the last 'climb' of the day, the pace was really motoring. My legs were feeling great at this point and I was telling myself that I can endure anything for the last two minutes of the race. Coming down the backside of the hill things got really squirrelly as everyone was fighting for position. It's at this point when my plans for the day were cashed in. As I was moving up the side, a rider didn't hold his line came into me and forced me off the side of the road. I was able to safely get back on the road, but only after the field all got by ad I didn't want to jeopardize someone else's race just because someone ruined mine. I was a little upset at this point and decided that I would give it all I had to salvage the race. I think I finished somewhere mid-field for the mass sprint. After several minutes (ok, it was actually an hour or so) of being ticked about this, I got over it as its just part of racing. I'm sure this guy is a good guy and I'll make the assumption he was unaware of his surroundings. Next week though, I'll make sure he stays behind me.
brian
Stark Velo would be well represented in the Cat 4 field with Tom, Marshall Leininger, Tim House, Jim Flesher, Mike Schiltz, Matt Turi, Carl Peshoff and myself. My plan for the day was to sit protected in the field, keep my position and wait for the sprint at the finish. I decided that there was no way that a group would get away so I wasn't going to spend my energy chasing someone who couldn't stay out there all day. I'll admit I got a little nervous when a group of 6 or 7 riders went away on lap one. We had Matt Turi representing us so I was content to stick with my race plan and sit in the field to see what happened. Normally, I would think that a group that large has a chance of staying away, but not on such a windy day and not when it happens on the first lap. Sure enough, within two laps we were all back together. There were several attacks but like all attacks in the first two races, nothing would end up sticking. I was feeling confident that I had made the right decision today to sit in and wait. Normally I'm not content to sit in and be pack fill, but my legs were feeling surprisingly good and I thought if I could get good position at the finale, I might have a chance for a decent finish today.
Going up the last 'climb' of the day, the pace was really motoring. My legs were feeling great at this point and I was telling myself that I can endure anything for the last two minutes of the race. Coming down the backside of the hill things got really squirrelly as everyone was fighting for position. It's at this point when my plans for the day were cashed in. As I was moving up the side, a rider didn't hold his line came into me and forced me off the side of the road. I was able to safely get back on the road, but only after the field all got by ad I didn't want to jeopardize someone else's race just because someone ruined mine. I was a little upset at this point and decided that I would give it all I had to salvage the race. I think I finished somewhere mid-field for the mass sprint. After several minutes (ok, it was actually an hour or so) of being ticked about this, I got over it as its just part of racing. I'm sure this guy is a good guy and I'll make the assumption he was unaware of his surroundings. Next week though, I'll make sure he stays behind me.
brian
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