In one of my somewhat recent posts, I mentioned being absent from racing and blogging but that I was hoping to make a change. Well apparently that hasn't happened yet. I'm not really sure what is going on right now but I can't seem to get out of this rut of not being able to do any riding, let alone racing. Apparently, Life doesn't understand that this mediocre Cat4 racer needs substantial time on my bike to be at least somewhat competitive. With what used to be 4 or 5 days of riding per week has now trickled down to maybe one day...if I'm lucky.
At the end of last season, my goal for this year was to be riding well enough to upgrade to Cat 3.....maybe next year. I'm not complaining here (well, sort of I guess) as my ride time seems to have been replaced by more family time, working with my co-director at Elves & More on the upcoming bike giveaway and of course...work. I hope to somewhat salvage something of this season shortly but there are two races that I am committing myself to race in. One is the Orrville Smith's Dairy Milk Race in Mid-August and the other is Allied Decal's (Summit's) Fall Challenge. The guys at Orrville always put on a good event and since the route is mostly flat, I have a chance of at least hanging onto the back of the group. The Fall Challenge race course is about 5 miles from my house so it's hard to turn that one down, even considering all of the climbing that will be involved. Again, the guys at Allied Decals do so much for the sport in terms of all the events that they hold, that I like to make as many of their events as possible.
In addition to planning on racing in those two events, I'm currently back into training to compete in a 10k leg of the upcoming Akron Marathon. My office always has two teams in this fun event and for the past several years I have run the leg that goes from the University of Akron down to Sand Run Parkway. The last time I ran, I completed it in just over 43 minutes. This year my ambition is to run it in sub 40 minutes. Not sure how feasible this is but because of that aggressive goal, I've been doing a lot more running the past month then I typically like to do (which by the way, I don't really enjoy running). It's always at this time of the year when I always ask myself, why am I doing this and why didn't I just continue running throughout the year as then it wouldn't hurt so much. I never seem to learn my lesson because now I am trying to come back after not running for almost two years. Ouch.
Well, I'll do my best to keep my blog updated with some relevant info over the next few weeks until I can post another race report. Here's hoping that your season is going much better than mine.
brian
7.30.2007
7.16.2007
Boonen & Bettini Video
Are these guys kidding me? This is just too good not to share. I found this at http://www.velocitynation.com/
7.12.2007
Chapel Series - Race 1
Thursday night began the first of a three race series hosted by The Chapel of Green. Having done this race the past two years, I looked forward to coming back out for a bit of good training as knowing where my fitness level is at, I had no ambitions other than working on raising my overall FTP. This race is a lot like the TOP series that I described in my last blog in that with a cheap entry fee, everyone seems to ride a little more relaxed and a little more tactfully. If nothing else, everyone knows that at least they’ll get a good picnic dinner at the end of the series for all of their hard work.
As has been my experience, the race usually consists of a majority of the peloton having riders from the three local teams, Stark Velo, Orrville and Rainbow Inks (Summit) with a handful of independents and first time racers sprinkled in there for good effect. Thursday night was no different with these three teams making up the majority of the field. Because three teams essentially control the race, the pattern has typically been in the past that somewhere during the first few laps (the race is 30 minutes + 5 laps) a break occurs with riders from all three in it which allows the field to settle down to let the break establish. I figured that would be the case once again for this race but I figured incorrectly. This race became a race of attrition where it was a fast and furious pace from start to finish. I was doing my best to keep myself upfront and attentive, trying to join moves, when I saw them happen but in no way was I going to initiate them as I that burns a whole lot of matches. I knew I was in trouble for the evening when I was trying to follow Paul Kinney’s (Orrville) wheel and I was struggling not to open up gaps. He kept looking for me to come around and help out but all I could do was shrug my shoulders, it was an effort just to stay in his draft. Man, how far had my fitness really fallen? With a soon to be small gap opening up in front of me, Doug Williams (Rainbow Inks) asked if I had anything left in the tank, and not having enough left to close it, I said no and moved over so I wasn't forcing all the guys behind me to burn unnecessary matches to close it back up. I think this came between 20 and 25 minutes of racing. We started the race with I believe 33 riders (some of those where riders who would be competing in the ‘A’ race who wanted to use this race to be noncompetitive and to warm up) and when it came time to contest the finish, I think there was only 6 left. At the time I fell off, I counted 9 other riders in front of me. If I could finish the race with nobody passing me, at least I could say I came in 10th pace…whatever good that does me. Although I didn’t finish with the group, I got out of the evening exactly what I wanted….good training. I’ll keep focusing now on my training which will hopefully get me a little closer to the finish line next week.
Duration: 40:05
Work: 620 kJ
TSS: 62.7 (intensity factor 0.969)
Norm Power: 281
VI: 1.09
Distance: 15.414 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1002 258 watts
Heart rate: 96 205 168 bpm
Cadence: 32 141 98 rpm
Speed: 2.9 28.7 23.1 mph
Pace 2:05 20:59 2:36 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 320 75 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 948 225 lb-in
As has been my experience, the race usually consists of a majority of the peloton having riders from the three local teams, Stark Velo, Orrville and Rainbow Inks (Summit) with a handful of independents and first time racers sprinkled in there for good effect. Thursday night was no different with these three teams making up the majority of the field. Because three teams essentially control the race, the pattern has typically been in the past that somewhere during the first few laps (the race is 30 minutes + 5 laps) a break occurs with riders from all three in it which allows the field to settle down to let the break establish. I figured that would be the case once again for this race but I figured incorrectly. This race became a race of attrition where it was a fast and furious pace from start to finish. I was doing my best to keep myself upfront and attentive, trying to join moves, when I saw them happen but in no way was I going to initiate them as I that burns a whole lot of matches. I knew I was in trouble for the evening when I was trying to follow Paul Kinney’s (Orrville) wheel and I was struggling not to open up gaps. He kept looking for me to come around and help out but all I could do was shrug my shoulders, it was an effort just to stay in his draft. Man, how far had my fitness really fallen? With a soon to be small gap opening up in front of me, Doug Williams (Rainbow Inks) asked if I had anything left in the tank, and not having enough left to close it, I said no and moved over so I wasn't forcing all the guys behind me to burn unnecessary matches to close it back up. I think this came between 20 and 25 minutes of racing. We started the race with I believe 33 riders (some of those where riders who would be competing in the ‘A’ race who wanted to use this race to be noncompetitive and to warm up) and when it came time to contest the finish, I think there was only 6 left. At the time I fell off, I counted 9 other riders in front of me. If I could finish the race with nobody passing me, at least I could say I came in 10th pace…whatever good that does me. Although I didn’t finish with the group, I got out of the evening exactly what I wanted….good training. I’ll keep focusing now on my training which will hopefully get me a little closer to the finish line next week.
brian
Here's the data...Duration: 40:05
Work: 620 kJ
TSS: 62.7 (intensity factor 0.969)
Norm Power: 281
VI: 1.09
Distance: 15.414 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1002 258 watts
Heart rate: 96 205 168 bpm
Cadence: 32 141 98 rpm
Speed: 2.9 28.7 23.1 mph
Pace 2:05 20:59 2:36 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 320 75 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 948 225 lb-in
7.08.2007
TOP Series - Franklin Twp. Road Race
I've been absent lately. Not riding much and certainly not blogging much. Here's one of the reasons why: Jen and I found ourselves in a position a few weeks ago where we had found a house in the area that we really, really liked. It had everything that we decided the 'next' house should have. To make the story somewhat short, we knew that there were a lot of projects around our house that had been neglected for the past few years that we needed to quickly finish up in order to get our house ready to be put on the market. So for the past several weeks, I've been busy doing things like hanging and finishing drywall, painting, etc. instead of riding. Well, we put an offer on the new house, a fair offer I might add, but they didn't accept it....so, with that we decided we liked our house well enough that we wanted to hang out here for awhile longer (unless the Owner of the for sale property comes back to reality)and get back to living life.
Barely even seeing my bike the past few weeks, I decided it was time to dust it off if I wanted to salvage something from this season. Normally when I take a big chunk of time off the bike, I like to ramp back into my training but instead I thought it would be nice to do a test on where my current fitness is(or lack of fitness). I decided what better way to do a test than to jump into a race. Today's TOP race would be the perfect place. This race also fell on the same day as the State Road race so figuring all the heavy hitters would be down south battling it out, I figured that the pain level for today would be somewhat tolerable (somewhere between watching reruns of "The Simple Life" and "The View". Summit Freewheelers do a great job of putting on these local races. If you have the opportunity to fit these into your schedule I highly recommend it. First off, they only cost $5 which is a bargain in today's world and secondly because they only cost $5, the field is usually a little more relaxed and willing to play and try tactics which makes the races that much more enjoyable.
This morning's race in Franklin Twp. is part of one of my training routes, the Portage County White Trash Ride (PCWTR) so I knew the route extremely well. The course is deceptively difficult because there are so many rollers out there. Nothing too big that they can't be powered over, but considering the race would be a minimum of 6 laps, it would take careful planning, conservation and strategy to maintain some power for the end of the race should it end in a bunch kick. My only ambition for the day would be to just ride wheels and hang onto the group. If I finished with the field, than I would consider that a victory for me. The only heavy hitter to join us that I was familiar with was Ed Delgros from Summit. I've heard a lot about him from reading Thor's race entries so I knew he would be tough and would make it much more than a normal training ride for us. My hope was that he would decide early on that he wanted some TT practice and take a solo flier off the front and leave the rest of us for a casual ride back to the finish line. Well, Ed did try several times but there were always interested people in the group willing to bring him back, bringing my pain level closer towards the "simple life" on my scale.
Half way into the race, I lost touch with the group and found myself dangling a few meters off the back. Slowly I saw the selective group leaving me behind. I tried and tried to catch back on but could never find the extra little oomph to do it. Funny thing is I can remember thinking that ok, at least I hung on this long and I was happy to ride the remainder of the race solo. After half a lap of riding solo, I noticed that they were coming back to me. Great! They slowed up just enough and I had maintained my tempo enough that they were well within a distance that I could bridge back up to them. So, pushing my tempo that much more, I finally managed to bridge back up to the group. Down to the last lap and a half, I decided to suck wheel, recover and see what can happen. As we were coming into the finishing stretch, I started to move myself up the right hand side of the group to make a move. I was sitting third wheel and was just about to go for it off the front when another rider beat me to it. The group chased hard and I was left with me legs telling me....see what would have happened if you tried to do that? Yep, my legs were done but I'm glad that I finished the race exactly how I had hoped to, with the group, sort of.
Here's the data for the day:
brian
Road Race:
Duration: 1:37:30
Work: 1365 kJ
TSS: 146 (intensity factor 0.948)
Norm Power: 275
VI: 1.18
Distance: 37.321 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 898 233 watts
Heart rate: 102 184 166 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 91 rpm
Speed: 8.6 37.4 23.0 mph
Pace 1:36 6:57 2:37 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 343 71 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1231 216 lb-in
Barely even seeing my bike the past few weeks, I decided it was time to dust it off if I wanted to salvage something from this season. Normally when I take a big chunk of time off the bike, I like to ramp back into my training but instead I thought it would be nice to do a test on where my current fitness is(or lack of fitness). I decided what better way to do a test than to jump into a race. Today's TOP race would be the perfect place. This race also fell on the same day as the State Road race so figuring all the heavy hitters would be down south battling it out, I figured that the pain level for today would be somewhat tolerable (somewhere between watching reruns of "The Simple Life" and "The View". Summit Freewheelers do a great job of putting on these local races. If you have the opportunity to fit these into your schedule I highly recommend it. First off, they only cost $5 which is a bargain in today's world and secondly because they only cost $5, the field is usually a little more relaxed and willing to play and try tactics which makes the races that much more enjoyable.
This morning's race in Franklin Twp. is part of one of my training routes, the Portage County White Trash Ride (PCWTR) so I knew the route extremely well. The course is deceptively difficult because there are so many rollers out there. Nothing too big that they can't be powered over, but considering the race would be a minimum of 6 laps, it would take careful planning, conservation and strategy to maintain some power for the end of the race should it end in a bunch kick. My only ambition for the day would be to just ride wheels and hang onto the group. If I finished with the field, than I would consider that a victory for me. The only heavy hitter to join us that I was familiar with was Ed Delgros from Summit. I've heard a lot about him from reading Thor's race entries so I knew he would be tough and would make it much more than a normal training ride for us. My hope was that he would decide early on that he wanted some TT practice and take a solo flier off the front and leave the rest of us for a casual ride back to the finish line. Well, Ed did try several times but there were always interested people in the group willing to bring him back, bringing my pain level closer towards the "simple life" on my scale.
Half way into the race, I lost touch with the group and found myself dangling a few meters off the back. Slowly I saw the selective group leaving me behind. I tried and tried to catch back on but could never find the extra little oomph to do it. Funny thing is I can remember thinking that ok, at least I hung on this long and I was happy to ride the remainder of the race solo. After half a lap of riding solo, I noticed that they were coming back to me. Great! They slowed up just enough and I had maintained my tempo enough that they were well within a distance that I could bridge back up to them. So, pushing my tempo that much more, I finally managed to bridge back up to the group. Down to the last lap and a half, I decided to suck wheel, recover and see what can happen. As we were coming into the finishing stretch, I started to move myself up the right hand side of the group to make a move. I was sitting third wheel and was just about to go for it off the front when another rider beat me to it. The group chased hard and I was left with me legs telling me....see what would have happened if you tried to do that? Yep, my legs were done but I'm glad that I finished the race exactly how I had hoped to, with the group, sort of.
Here's the data for the day:
brian
Road Race:
Duration: 1:37:30
Work: 1365 kJ
TSS: 146 (intensity factor 0.948)
Norm Power: 275
VI: 1.18
Distance: 37.321 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 898 233 watts
Heart rate: 102 184 166 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 91 rpm
Speed: 8.6 37.4 23.0 mph
Pace 1:36 6:57 2:37 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 343 71 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1231 216 lb-in
6.27.2007
My Cervelo Video
Well, since the fine folks at Cervelo have apparently missed my genius in regards to my video entry, I am no longer in the running for the grand prize. For those who may have missed it...here it is.
brian
brian
6.21.2007
Vote for Brian!
As everyone knows by reading my regular blog entries, I’m a somewhat avid cyclist who sometimes takes my love for riding bikes somewhat too far (i.e. trying to find bike races to compete in while I was in Mexico with Jen on our 10 year wedding anniversary trip for instance). Anyway, the bike that I’m riding (Cervelo) is holding a competition entitled “Tell us why you like your Cervelo.” Always loving a competition and not wanting to let a sweet opportunity go by without at least entering, I have put together a quick 15 second commercial stating why I really like this bike. My commercial has been chosen by Cervelo as one of their finalists so if you all don’t mind helping out, I’m begging you for your vote. Here is the link to the website where you will find the screen shot below. Just click on my entry (highlighted in red in this image on the far right and you’ll be able to see my high quality production as well as vote that you absolutely love it….hopefully that’s what you vote for. The winner of the competition gets of all things; the video played during the three week Tour de France on Versus (formerly OLN) as well as a one week trip to this years tour. Together, we can make this poor boy from Hartville’s dream of going to France a reality! I've also seen here in the office that the playback is a little choppy based upon how much bandwidth we have. I'll post the video shortly on the blog but in the meantime, lets pretend this is American Idol and vote and get all of your friends, family and coworkers to vote!
brian
brian
6.11.2007
Summer Solstice (Sunday's Stage)
After I blasted this stage race for the lack of organization and safety, I thought it would be awhile before I did another OVR race let alone come back for this series. If it wasn't for some teammates who were doing it and the fact that I was already down in Columbus, I would have been completely satisfied staying home for the weekend doing a little training ride and working with Nicholas on riding his bike without training rides. Regardless, I was happy to be joining Darrin Kert and Chris Smith this morning on the stages longest race, 64 miles. I have yet to try a road race this long in my short career, and in fact I only have one ride of that length all year long back in April when we were down in Boone. Although a little short on training miles for the year, I was feeling confident that I had plenty of fitness in my legs to help Darrin keep his third place in the overall GC. Darrin and Chris both brought me up to speed on who to watch and how the race would probably play out. They mentioned that the PH+B team? (not sure who they are or what that means) would most likely start things off fast but after a few miles settle into a comfortable rhythm. Sure enough, from the start line these guys lit it up and I’m beginning to think I hope these guys slow down a little bit because this is not my ideal way of warming. Sure enough, they did and I was able to recover.
Continuing to work on my positioning in the field, I quickly made my way up front to safer grounds and also to keep an eye on things. Several moves were made but it being the first lap of the race, they were destined to come back. It wasn't until the second lap of the race where things began to heat up. I had just come off the front of the field where I had been pulling them for several miles. (I don’t like pulling everyone around and it’s not that I wanted to do that much work, it’s just that nobody else was interested in doing anything. At one point I was literally riding at 16 mph but nobody had any interest in coming around, lazy bastards they were stuck to my wheel like Paris Hilton is now stuck to her cell mate. Anyway, it was just after we made the right hand turn onto the one lane road that a rider from Team Anthem made a move off the front. Being the closest, I made the move to grab his wheel immediately. I figured that the field was on us but when I looked back, we had a little gap on the field. It was at this point that I looked and this guy and made the decision not to put any effort into holding onto his wheel or making the move stick. I can’t believe that I did it because normally I’m all about the breakaways but he didn't seem strong enough to stay away for another 3 ½ laps and I didn't want to burn my entire match book trying to make this move stick so with the field only a few seconds behind me, I sat up and waited for them expecting a hearty chase effort. I expected a chase, but it would take awhile for it to develop. Turns out there were a ton of these Anthem guys in the field and the other team I mentioned (PH+B?) was working with those guys. So essentially, out of a field of about 45 guys, 10 of them were racing as one team. I suspect that there were a few others who joined into this alliance but that’s bike racing I guess. Normally being a quiet guy, I started running my mouth to see why people weren't working. One guy responded back to me with a “Why do you care?” My response was I’m hear to race to win, not for second but what I was thinking was that I’d like to know how large of a team or alliance was working together. Was it 5 guys, 10 guys or 15 guys? (As a side note, I can also be somewhat spiteful so I was happy to see that this guy would roll in to the finish at the back of the field). Not knowing where the breakaway rider stood on GC, I felt that it would probably be a smart thing to bring him back into the group. I was really kicking myself now because here I was burning matches like they were going out of style to bring him back where I really could have been burning that energy trying to make the break work if only I had stuck with the earlier move. So, with determination not to get burned by this possible poor decision, I tried to make a bridging move up to him. When I looked back to see if I had made a dent, I had the entire field on my wheel. Here I was, trying to get someone to work and all they could do was follow. It was beginning to tick me off so pulling my best Mary Ellen move, I put my head down and began hammering. If they were going to ride my wheel, I was bound to make them suffer. Darrin tells me that when I did this, the group was all strung out and working hard to stay with me. I’m glad I did my job well.
Doing that burned a few matches but I was bound and determined to bring him back. I got him back to within 10 meters and then figuring someone would pull it back since we were so close, I pulled over. Funny thing, those guys sat up as well and what was at that point only a few seconds worth of a gap, opened quickly back up to 40 seconds. So running my mouth once more, I think I said something like “Lets have some fun, lets work hard to pull him back to within a few seconds again, and then let him go.” People just stared at me. I think next time I’m going to start foaming at the mouth and sing some Partridge Family tunes so I become known as “The crazy kid” in the peloton, that way people will give me some space in the field. It took a solid lap and a half for that rider to come back. I don’t think it was that we were trying to bring him back, because we weren't, it was just because he had cracked. The rest of the race became fairly uneventful in the sense that several moves were tried; some by me but all came back. It looked like unless there was a miracle, it would come down to a bunch sprint. Rolling into the final few hundred meters, I tried making up some position as I had begun drifting backwards in my tired state. Standing up and moving forward reinforced that my legs were done for the day, I had nothing left in the tank to contest the sprint.
Although I rolled in near the back of the group, I’m really pleased in how I raced today. First off, I helped to protect a friends place on GC. Secondly, the fact that I was able to finish this race after how active I was in the group, made me feel really good about where my fitness is currently at. If how I felt physically after the race was any indication, than this was by far the hardest race that I think I have ever done. Sitting here at 9:30 at night, my legs still ache, I still can’t quench my thirst and I want to get some sleep.
Here’s the data from today’s race:
brian
Duration: 2:39:35
Work: 2124 kJ
TSS: 220.9 (intensity factor 0.911)
Norm Power: 264W
VI: 1.19
Distance: 60.516 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1240 222 watts
Heart rate: 114 185 161 bpm
Cadence: 30 141 93 rpm
Speed: 10.3 35.9 22.7 mph
Pace 1:40 5:51 2:38 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 380 65 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1309 201 lb-in
Continuing to work on my positioning in the field, I quickly made my way up front to safer grounds and also to keep an eye on things. Several moves were made but it being the first lap of the race, they were destined to come back. It wasn't until the second lap of the race where things began to heat up. I had just come off the front of the field where I had been pulling them for several miles. (I don’t like pulling everyone around and it’s not that I wanted to do that much work, it’s just that nobody else was interested in doing anything. At one point I was literally riding at 16 mph but nobody had any interest in coming around, lazy bastards they were stuck to my wheel like Paris Hilton is now stuck to her cell mate. Anyway, it was just after we made the right hand turn onto the one lane road that a rider from Team Anthem made a move off the front. Being the closest, I made the move to grab his wheel immediately. I figured that the field was on us but when I looked back, we had a little gap on the field. It was at this point that I looked and this guy and made the decision not to put any effort into holding onto his wheel or making the move stick. I can’t believe that I did it because normally I’m all about the breakaways but he didn't seem strong enough to stay away for another 3 ½ laps and I didn't want to burn my entire match book trying to make this move stick so with the field only a few seconds behind me, I sat up and waited for them expecting a hearty chase effort. I expected a chase, but it would take awhile for it to develop. Turns out there were a ton of these Anthem guys in the field and the other team I mentioned (PH+B?) was working with those guys. So essentially, out of a field of about 45 guys, 10 of them were racing as one team. I suspect that there were a few others who joined into this alliance but that’s bike racing I guess. Normally being a quiet guy, I started running my mouth to see why people weren't working. One guy responded back to me with a “Why do you care?” My response was I’m hear to race to win, not for second but what I was thinking was that I’d like to know how large of a team or alliance was working together. Was it 5 guys, 10 guys or 15 guys? (As a side note, I can also be somewhat spiteful so I was happy to see that this guy would roll in to the finish at the back of the field). Not knowing where the breakaway rider stood on GC, I felt that it would probably be a smart thing to bring him back into the group. I was really kicking myself now because here I was burning matches like they were going out of style to bring him back where I really could have been burning that energy trying to make the break work if only I had stuck with the earlier move. So, with determination not to get burned by this possible poor decision, I tried to make a bridging move up to him. When I looked back to see if I had made a dent, I had the entire field on my wheel. Here I was, trying to get someone to work and all they could do was follow. It was beginning to tick me off so pulling my best Mary Ellen move, I put my head down and began hammering. If they were going to ride my wheel, I was bound to make them suffer. Darrin tells me that when I did this, the group was all strung out and working hard to stay with me. I’m glad I did my job well.
Doing that burned a few matches but I was bound and determined to bring him back. I got him back to within 10 meters and then figuring someone would pull it back since we were so close, I pulled over. Funny thing, those guys sat up as well and what was at that point only a few seconds worth of a gap, opened quickly back up to 40 seconds. So running my mouth once more, I think I said something like “Lets have some fun, lets work hard to pull him back to within a few seconds again, and then let him go.” People just stared at me. I think next time I’m going to start foaming at the mouth and sing some Partridge Family tunes so I become known as “The crazy kid” in the peloton, that way people will give me some space in the field. It took a solid lap and a half for that rider to come back. I don’t think it was that we were trying to bring him back, because we weren't, it was just because he had cracked. The rest of the race became fairly uneventful in the sense that several moves were tried; some by me but all came back. It looked like unless there was a miracle, it would come down to a bunch sprint. Rolling into the final few hundred meters, I tried making up some position as I had begun drifting backwards in my tired state. Standing up and moving forward reinforced that my legs were done for the day, I had nothing left in the tank to contest the sprint.
Although I rolled in near the back of the group, I’m really pleased in how I raced today. First off, I helped to protect a friends place on GC. Secondly, the fact that I was able to finish this race after how active I was in the group, made me feel really good about where my fitness is currently at. If how I felt physically after the race was any indication, than this was by far the hardest race that I think I have ever done. Sitting here at 9:30 at night, my legs still ache, I still can’t quench my thirst and I want to get some sleep.
Here’s the data from today’s race:
brian
Duration: 2:39:35
Work: 2124 kJ
TSS: 220.9 (intensity factor 0.911)
Norm Power: 264W
VI: 1.19
Distance: 60.516 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1240 222 watts
Heart rate: 114 185 161 bpm
Cadence: 30 141 93 rpm
Speed: 10.3 35.9 22.7 mph
Pace 1:40 5:51 2:38 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 380 65 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1309 201 lb-in
6.03.2007
Race for Alex
This was the first opportunity I have had to participate in the Race for Alex held by MVC. Not knowing much about the race, I asked everyone I knew what their thoughts were. I kept hearing good things like good roads, lots of rollers, decent sized fields and well marshaled corners; everything I like to hear about a race I'm going to jump into. After a rainy, story drive over to Crestwood, the skies settled down as we drove into the parking lot in time to register, change and get a few moments start up. Normally when you have a chance for bad weather, the race attendance drops off significantly (I’m guilty of hitting the snooze button when I see its raining outside as well) but not today. Today’s Cat4/Cat 5 field had around 60 riders in it, by far the largest race I’ve been in for the year. Racing for Stark Velo this morning was Tim House, Marshall Leininger, Chris Smith and our honorary Velo from Chicago, Patrick Papczun.
Between work, vacation and family the past few weeks or maybe even month now has been crazy in terms of getting enough training in. With the exception of the team's Tuesday night training rides, I haven't done any high intensity training and I've noticed that my legs haven't been responding the way they have in the past so with no great expectations for what I could do, I went into this race just wanting to put in a good test for where my current fitness level stands and work on my positioning in the field. Someone once told me “If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving back.” I’ve been trying to keep those words in my mind recently as I’ve been racing because I’ve been guilty more than once of finding myself quickly in the back of the group and then not being able to get myself back up to where I should really be racing. So with those words in my mind again this morning, I worked hard to keep myself within the top 10 positions for the majority of the race and was for the most part, successful. Only at one point mid-race did I get squeezed to the back and with wanting to obey the “yellow line” rule, it took me nearly an entire lap to get myself back up to the front.
So enough about my strategy thoughts and more to the race. Thankfully the race started off slowly this morning as I didn’t nearly have enough warm up time. It was Joel from Orrville who threw down the first glove as we made the right hand turn onto Kelly Park Rd. and started climbing back up the small succession of rollers halfway through the first lap. My legs responded nicely in the chase effort and in no time, we were all back together. After two trips around the course, it became apparent that the breakaway attempts would play out like this: at the one spot where Joel previously tried to and also on Crestview Road just after you pass over the railroad tracks and start climbing back up towards Fairfield School Road. I know that this is bike racing, but I’m not sure how I feel about attacking at railroad tracks. Maybe if they were as smooth as butter it would be one thing, but tracks where it’s safer to bunny hop over than ride because they’re in such bad condition is another. In any case, I don’t think we had any incidents other than a few lost water bottles in the effort. Safely in the race and maintaining my position well, I decided that if the opportunity arose, I’d try and make a move of my own. My decision however was not to try it where everyone else was going, but instead to try it over on the climb on Middleton Road. I liked this location was because it was gradual it was one of the longest climbs. I also liked that at the top of the hill there was an immediate right hand turn onto Kirk Rd. and then another right hand turn shortly after onto Crestview Road. I figured if you could get enough of a gap on the hill, the momentum going into the turns along with the fact that the group would slow down there might be enough to get away. Unfortunately, I never found myself in the right place at that point of the race to try it, usually I was back around 8th or 9th or I was leading the chase, two of the places that aren’t really all that ideal for attacking as I’d be blowing too much energy to get away. So, with me not making an attempt it came to sitting in until the finishing sprint. (This is somewhat out of order, but there was a nice breakaway attempt by a rider and team that I’m unfamiliar with. He lasted out there for just over a lap but with a lot of effort by mostly Stark Velo riders, he came back). Going into the right hand turn onto Kirk Road, I heard Tim behind me saying drill it on the inside of the corner and lets move a little further up, which is what we did. Only one more turn left. I tried the same tactic and was somewhat successful but I found myself somewhat trapped as I approached a rider who didn’t have enough left in his legs to contest the win. By the time I got around him, I found myself once at 5th or 6th now back around 13th place. I was able to pull a few of those guys back to finish in 11th place.
It was a good day for Stark Velo riders. We worked really well as a team and were active near the front for a lot of the race. Chris took another win for the year, Patrick took third place in only his second race Tim took sixth place and of course I took 11th. I achieved my goals for the day, worked hard to keep good positioning and tested my fitness. Although I’m still a little off from where I’d like to be at this time of year, I’m happy in knowing that my fitness isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was. I guess I have no more excuses but to just get out and ride more.
Here are the stats for the day. Once again my normalized power is getting close to 300 watts. I will start to throw in much more intensity now into my training to push that up to try and get ready for some key races this month.
brian
Between work, vacation and family the past few weeks or maybe even month now has been crazy in terms of getting enough training in. With the exception of the team's Tuesday night training rides, I haven't done any high intensity training and I've noticed that my legs haven't been responding the way they have in the past so with no great expectations for what I could do, I went into this race just wanting to put in a good test for where my current fitness level stands and work on my positioning in the field. Someone once told me “If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving back.” I’ve been trying to keep those words in my mind recently as I’ve been racing because I’ve been guilty more than once of finding myself quickly in the back of the group and then not being able to get myself back up to where I should really be racing. So with those words in my mind again this morning, I worked hard to keep myself within the top 10 positions for the majority of the race and was for the most part, successful. Only at one point mid-race did I get squeezed to the back and with wanting to obey the “yellow line” rule, it took me nearly an entire lap to get myself back up to the front.
So enough about my strategy thoughts and more to the race. Thankfully the race started off slowly this morning as I didn’t nearly have enough warm up time. It was Joel from Orrville who threw down the first glove as we made the right hand turn onto Kelly Park Rd. and started climbing back up the small succession of rollers halfway through the first lap. My legs responded nicely in the chase effort and in no time, we were all back together. After two trips around the course, it became apparent that the breakaway attempts would play out like this: at the one spot where Joel previously tried to and also on Crestview Road just after you pass over the railroad tracks and start climbing back up towards Fairfield School Road. I know that this is bike racing, but I’m not sure how I feel about attacking at railroad tracks. Maybe if they were as smooth as butter it would be one thing, but tracks where it’s safer to bunny hop over than ride because they’re in such bad condition is another. In any case, I don’t think we had any incidents other than a few lost water bottles in the effort. Safely in the race and maintaining my position well, I decided that if the opportunity arose, I’d try and make a move of my own. My decision however was not to try it where everyone else was going, but instead to try it over on the climb on Middleton Road. I liked this location was because it was gradual it was one of the longest climbs. I also liked that at the top of the hill there was an immediate right hand turn onto Kirk Rd. and then another right hand turn shortly after onto Crestview Road. I figured if you could get enough of a gap on the hill, the momentum going into the turns along with the fact that the group would slow down there might be enough to get away. Unfortunately, I never found myself in the right place at that point of the race to try it, usually I was back around 8th or 9th or I was leading the chase, two of the places that aren’t really all that ideal for attacking as I’d be blowing too much energy to get away. So, with me not making an attempt it came to sitting in until the finishing sprint. (This is somewhat out of order, but there was a nice breakaway attempt by a rider and team that I’m unfamiliar with. He lasted out there for just over a lap but with a lot of effort by mostly Stark Velo riders, he came back). Going into the right hand turn onto Kirk Road, I heard Tim behind me saying drill it on the inside of the corner and lets move a little further up, which is what we did. Only one more turn left. I tried the same tactic and was somewhat successful but I found myself somewhat trapped as I approached a rider who didn’t have enough left in his legs to contest the win. By the time I got around him, I found myself once at 5th or 6th now back around 13th place. I was able to pull a few of those guys back to finish in 11th place.
It was a good day for Stark Velo riders. We worked really well as a team and were active near the front for a lot of the race. Chris took another win for the year, Patrick took third place in only his second race Tim took sixth place and of course I took 11th. I achieved my goals for the day, worked hard to keep good positioning and tested my fitness. Although I’m still a little off from where I’d like to be at this time of year, I’m happy in knowing that my fitness isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was. I guess I have no more excuses but to just get out and ride more.
Here are the stats for the day. Once again my normalized power is getting close to 300 watts. I will start to throw in much more intensity now into my training to push that up to try and get ready for some key races this month.
Duration: 56:29
Work: 789 kJ
TSS: 99.2 (intensity factor 1.027)
Norm Power: 298
VI: 1.28
Distance: 21.962 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1175 233 watts
Heart rate: 80 188 167 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 98 rpm
Speed: 2.7 39.3 23.3 mph
Pace 1:32 22:27 2:34 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 350 71 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1091 201 lb-in
Work: 789 kJ
TSS: 99.2 (intensity factor 1.027)
Norm Power: 298
VI: 1.28
Distance: 21.962 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1175 233 watts
Heart rate: 80 188 167 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 98 rpm
Speed: 2.7 39.3 23.3 mph
Pace 1:32 22:27 2:34 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 350 71 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1091 201 lb-in
brian
5.09.2007
5.05.2007
Race at the Lakes #3
This morning was the third race of the Race at the Lakes series presented by Allied Decals. Lining up for Stark Velo in a field of just over 30 riders was Matt Turi, Erik Lesco, Marshall Leininger, Darrin Kert, Tim House, Jim Flesher and of course myself. The plan for the day was to sit in for the first five or six laps, and let others control the race. After five laps, we'd wait to see what would happen, most likely not initiate any moves but try to cover, go with them or when brought back, counter attack. My idea was that the only way a breakaway was going to work here is if the attacks were relentless and the field became too tired to chase them down. Early into the race the need to implicate the plan almost wasn't necessary when a very good looking breakaway of four riders, one of them being Darrin occurred. Since the majority of the well represented teams for the day were present, I figured this was as good as gone. My suspicion was reinforced when you could feel the tempo of the field begin to slow to give the breakaway a fighting chance. And then....one rider, lets just say his first name rhymes with Lug decided to chase down the break, even though he had a teammate in it. Not sure if he didn't trust his teammate to stick with the move, he was greedy and wanted to get up there as well or just didn't know it was sort of bad form to chase down your teammate, but in no time, we were all chasing this rider down and therefore bringing the breakaway riders back.
A lap or two later, I decided to test the waters a little bit, not by attacking, but slowly riding off the front of the field. I didn't have any expectations of getting away, but just wanted to speed things up as the field seemed to be slowing down. I was brought back by the time we reached the start/finish line. Once back in the protection of the group, I decided to really try to attack again and hope this time that someone comes with me. Once we reached the parking lot, I attacked off the right side of the group just like I did in the first race of the series. And just like the first race, they would catch me on the climb. Needing to recover for the upcoming finish, I quickly found a wheel I could hold onto with the hopes of recovering fast enough to try one more attack. My goal for the day was to attack, attack and attack. I'm not able to race next week so I didn't want to leave anything in my legs today. Turns out, I wouldn't get that other opportunity to attack as my mind was telling me to sit in for the finish and try my luck then. I should have tried to make another move because that last lap became really sketchy with people fighting for position and I ended up getting pushed off the road. At the end of the day, I was satisfied that I finished upright which in the end is the most important thing but still I felt a little disappointed that I didn't leave it all out on road. Next race I guess.
Here's the stats for the day:
Duration: 49:01
Work: 725 kJ
TSS: 85 (intensity factor 1.02)
Norm Power: 296
VI: 1.2
Distance: 19.845 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1040 246 watts
Heart rate: 30 188 168 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 99 rpm
Speed: 4.1 34.8 24.3 mph
Pace 1:43 14:38 2:28 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 363 70 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 982 208 lb-in
A lap or two later, I decided to test the waters a little bit, not by attacking, but slowly riding off the front of the field. I didn't have any expectations of getting away, but just wanted to speed things up as the field seemed to be slowing down. I was brought back by the time we reached the start/finish line. Once back in the protection of the group, I decided to really try to attack again and hope this time that someone comes with me. Once we reached the parking lot, I attacked off the right side of the group just like I did in the first race of the series. And just like the first race, they would catch me on the climb. Needing to recover for the upcoming finish, I quickly found a wheel I could hold onto with the hopes of recovering fast enough to try one more attack. My goal for the day was to attack, attack and attack. I'm not able to race next week so I didn't want to leave anything in my legs today. Turns out, I wouldn't get that other opportunity to attack as my mind was telling me to sit in for the finish and try my luck then. I should have tried to make another move because that last lap became really sketchy with people fighting for position and I ended up getting pushed off the road. At the end of the day, I was satisfied that I finished upright which in the end is the most important thing but still I felt a little disappointed that I didn't leave it all out on road. Next race I guess.
Here's the stats for the day:
Duration: 49:01
Work: 725 kJ
TSS: 85 (intensity factor 1.02)
Norm Power: 296
VI: 1.2
Distance: 19.845 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1040 246 watts
Heart rate: 30 188 168 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 99 rpm
Speed: 4.1 34.8 24.3 mph
Pace 1:43 14:38 2:28 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 363 70 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 982 208 lb-in
5.03.2007
And the winner is....
A few months ago, I wrote a post looking for some assistance in determining the final location for our vacation this year (choices were New York City, Canadian Rockies, Grand Canyon and Nor Cal). With an outstanding turnout in the polls, reminiscent of any election, 2 out of the 4 votes received indicated that the Canadian Rockies would be the place that we would be heading to. So with that, I am pleased to announce that this year, the Miner's (sans children) will be heading to.......Riviera Maya, Mexico! I know, I know, that wasn't one of the original choices but I did throw in there a little disclaimer that I reserved the right to change my mind at any time, which is what I am doing now.
Why the change you may say? Well, why would we want to celebrate 10 glorious years of marriage by hiking and swatting at mosquito's, running from bears, etc. in the mountains when we can spend it by simply laying on the beach just "Maxin and Relaxin" as Billy Dee Williams used to say on those Colt 45 commercials.
brian
4.29.2007
Covered Bridge Series (Team Akron)
This race series has always been one of my favorites. It's hard to turn down a road race that's only a few miles from my house and that's on some of my favorite training roads, so when I saw Brad Hanson was bringing the series back, I knew I would do my best to include as many of these races as possible on my calendar. This morning I was joined in the Cat 4 field (B race) with fellow Velo's Marshall Leininger, Chris Smith, new velo Jason Leaman and honorary member from Chicago, Pat Papczun. This was Pat's first race but anyone who's gone to Boone with us the past two years will tell you that this guy can ride and I would put him up against anyone in our field and probably most people in the A race if he had a little bit of racing experience.
Our field had about 40 people which from what I hear was a little smaller than the field size last weekend. I told Pat that the first lap would probably be pretty mellow but I turned out wrong as a couple of Orrville riders opened up a small gap early into the first lap and it was an all out chase from there to bring them back. With them safely back in the group, it would be one small attack after the other, but nothing would get away for the day. There was a strong wind coming out of the west, probably a little too strong for the small groups of two or three riders trying to get away to really make any progress so it looked like this race would come down to a bunch sprint. Going into the bell lap, I decided it was time to make my way back up front and keep myself there. Shortly after, a PDQ rider made a strong move off the front and quickly opened up a decent gap on us. Pat made a great effort and in no time he bridged up to the rider. Pat then went past him and started a solo effort with a half lap to go. Once on Riverview, the strong winds took their toll on him and we slowly started to bring him and the PDQ rider back into the group. As we neared the little climb on Riverview Rd, that PDQ rider from the breakaway exploded in front of me which caused me to get stuck behind him and allowing everyone behind me to come around. Just a few seconds earlier I was riding in the top 8 positions, now I was finding myself at the back of the field, trying to chase hard to work my way back up the front of the group. Not wanting to be one of those riders who exploits the yellow line rule to make up position, I decided not to go left of center and wait until I found an opportunity and an opening to come up through. That opportunity didn't happen until only a few hundred meters before the finish line when I was able to go on the far left and make up some spots, not enough to contest the wind but enough for me to at least finish in the top 15 places and to see Chris Smith sprinting for the victory.
At the end of the race, I was satisfied with my performance, disappointed that I couldn't have kept myself in better position for the finish, but happy that I felt decent with what seemed like an entire week off the bike.
Here's the data from today's race:
Duration: 1:09:56 (1:13:46)
Work: 962 kJ
TSS: 106.6 (intensity factor 0.957)
Norm Power: 278
VI: 1.21
Distance: 27.056 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1104 229 watts
Heart rate: 101 200 154 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 100 rpm
Speed: 2.7 35.5 23.2 mph
Pace 1:41 21:57 2:35 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 378 70 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1547 193 lb-in
Our field had about 40 people which from what I hear was a little smaller than the field size last weekend. I told Pat that the first lap would probably be pretty mellow but I turned out wrong as a couple of Orrville riders opened up a small gap early into the first lap and it was an all out chase from there to bring them back. With them safely back in the group, it would be one small attack after the other, but nothing would get away for the day. There was a strong wind coming out of the west, probably a little too strong for the small groups of two or three riders trying to get away to really make any progress so it looked like this race would come down to a bunch sprint. Going into the bell lap, I decided it was time to make my way back up front and keep myself there. Shortly after, a PDQ rider made a strong move off the front and quickly opened up a decent gap on us. Pat made a great effort and in no time he bridged up to the rider. Pat then went past him and started a solo effort with a half lap to go. Once on Riverview, the strong winds took their toll on him and we slowly started to bring him and the PDQ rider back into the group. As we neared the little climb on Riverview Rd, that PDQ rider from the breakaway exploded in front of me which caused me to get stuck behind him and allowing everyone behind me to come around. Just a few seconds earlier I was riding in the top 8 positions, now I was finding myself at the back of the field, trying to chase hard to work my way back up the front of the group. Not wanting to be one of those riders who exploits the yellow line rule to make up position, I decided not to go left of center and wait until I found an opportunity and an opening to come up through. That opportunity didn't happen until only a few hundred meters before the finish line when I was able to go on the far left and make up some spots, not enough to contest the wind but enough for me to at least finish in the top 15 places and to see Chris Smith sprinting for the victory.
At the end of the race, I was satisfied with my performance, disappointed that I couldn't have kept myself in better position for the finish, but happy that I felt decent with what seemed like an entire week off the bike.
Here's the data from today's race:
Duration: 1:09:56 (1:13:46)
Work: 962 kJ
TSS: 106.6 (intensity factor 0.957)
Norm Power: 278
VI: 1.21
Distance: 27.056 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 1104 229 watts
Heart rate: 101 200 154 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 100 rpm
Speed: 2.7 35.5 23.2 mph
Pace 1:41 21:57 2:35 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 378 70 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1547 193 lb-in
4.21.2007
Race at the Lakes #1
This morning started with Nicholas waking up earlier than normal to watch his favorite TV show, Grossology. This gave me the opportunity to spend a few minutes with him before heading over to Munroe Metro Park to race the first week of the Race at the Lakes Series. The only reason I bother to bring this up is because on the way out the door, he says to me, have fun, make sure you win a trophy and that if I win a trophy, he'll be very proud of me. Where does a four year old learn this stuff? Must be from his mother! Time to have a little talk with him about sportsmanship and the thrill of competition.
Riding in the Cat 4's today for Stark Velo were Tim House, Marshall Leininger, Darrin Kert, Matt Turi and of course myself. The plan for today was to let Summit drive the pace as they came to the start line with about a bazillion riders and they are always very ambitious at their home race. This year, Summit made a change in the start finish lines and moved the finish to the hill on the backside of the course. This was done to try to eliminate some of the nasty crashes that have happened on the course. I have to admit that at first, I was a little sceptical of the new layout but after racing today, I will admit that I think this was a good move. (Note that for a truly safe race, I thought it would be better to just eliminate the parking lot section all together and just ride on the park roads).
So back to the race. The race was typical for the Cat 4's at RATL, sit, chase down everything and wait until the final for the sprint. Today's race played out exactly like this with several people trying to get off the front, it coming back, and then waiting until someone would try it again. One of those times was on one lap to go when Noah (Allied Decals) and one of his teammates got off the front. A chase was of course underway which was led by Tim. Coming into the parking lot Tim brought him back and I decided that I wasn't going to let his effort go in vain so at the moment we caught the first rider in the breakaway, I launched off the front. My hopes were to bridge up to Noah and work with him but I shot right past and before I knew it I had a healthy little gap on my hands. Maybe today would be the day I would bring that first place trophy home for Nicholas but at that very moment, all I could do was concentrate on getting to the finish line first. All that stood between me and certain glory, at least in my own mind, was two small little rises in the pavement (After Boone, I can no longer classify this as a climb). With the first rise finished, I was on the false flat section; suffering of course and just as I began the second little climb, I heard and then saw the pack catch me. I was that breakaway rider you always see getting swept up by the field in the final few meters before the finish.
Here's the data from today's race:
Duration: 51:53
Work: 712 kJ
TSS: 89.7 (intensity factor 1.019)
Norm Power: 296
VI: 1.29
Distance: 20.405 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 974 229 watts
Heart rate: 128 189 167 bpm
Cadence: 30 141 99 rpm
Speed: 4.7 34.5 23.6 mph
Pace 1:44 12:52 2:32 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 298 66 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1259 191 lb-in
brian
Riding in the Cat 4's today for Stark Velo were Tim House, Marshall Leininger, Darrin Kert, Matt Turi and of course myself. The plan for today was to let Summit drive the pace as they came to the start line with about a bazillion riders and they are always very ambitious at their home race. This year, Summit made a change in the start finish lines and moved the finish to the hill on the backside of the course. This was done to try to eliminate some of the nasty crashes that have happened on the course. I have to admit that at first, I was a little sceptical of the new layout but after racing today, I will admit that I think this was a good move. (Note that for a truly safe race, I thought it would be better to just eliminate the parking lot section all together and just ride on the park roads).
So back to the race. The race was typical for the Cat 4's at RATL, sit, chase down everything and wait until the final for the sprint. Today's race played out exactly like this with several people trying to get off the front, it coming back, and then waiting until someone would try it again. One of those times was on one lap to go when Noah (Allied Decals) and one of his teammates got off the front. A chase was of course underway which was led by Tim. Coming into the parking lot Tim brought him back and I decided that I wasn't going to let his effort go in vain so at the moment we caught the first rider in the breakaway, I launched off the front. My hopes were to bridge up to Noah and work with him but I shot right past and before I knew it I had a healthy little gap on my hands. Maybe today would be the day I would bring that first place trophy home for Nicholas but at that very moment, all I could do was concentrate on getting to the finish line first. All that stood between me and certain glory, at least in my own mind, was two small little rises in the pavement (After Boone, I can no longer classify this as a climb). With the first rise finished, I was on the false flat section; suffering of course and just as I began the second little climb, I heard and then saw the pack catch me. I was that breakaway rider you always see getting swept up by the field in the final few meters before the finish.
Here's the data from today's race:
Duration: 51:53
Work: 712 kJ
TSS: 89.7 (intensity factor 1.019)
Norm Power: 296
VI: 1.29
Distance: 20.405 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 974 229 watts
Heart rate: 128 189 167 bpm
Cadence: 30 141 99 rpm
Speed: 4.7 34.5 23.6 mph
Pace 1:44 12:52 2:32 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 298 66 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 1259 191 lb-in
brian
4.18.2007
Boone Training Camp
Last week marked the 2nd annual Stark Velo Boone Training camp. Having also been on the trip last year I knew fully what I was getting myself into and still, I was excited to go back and tackle the mountains. This years trip really exploded in terms of the number of riders going which was exciting to see such a big interest from my fellow teammates and hopefully for all the firs timer's, they would enjoy this trip as much as I did.
Thursday's ride was a quick warm up after sitting in a car for 8+ hours. We unfortunately got started a little later than planned which meant we would be chasing daylight to get back to the cabins in time. This day's adventure would be navigating Payne-Branch road to the Parkway. Last year the road was hard pack which made for a fun-off road adventure but this year the road department recently dumped a ton of fresh gravel on the road making it very difficult to navigate through on skinny tires. By the time we got out of the gravel pit and to the Parkway, 5 out of our 25 riders suffered flat tires. Fortunately, I wasn't one of them.
Stats from Thursday's Ride:
Duration: 2:19:30
Work: 1675 kJ
TSS: 165.1 (intensity factor 0.844)
Norm Power: 245
VI: 1.22
Distance: 36.868 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 631 201 watts
Heart rate: 64 178 153 bpm
Cadence: 30 141 83 rpm
Speed: 0 44.7 15.9 mph
Pace 1:21 0:00 3:47 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 605 117 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 986 212 lb-in
Friday's ride offered two route options, the short route coming in at 64 miles and the long route at over 90 miles. Knowing the difficulty I and several others had last year, I decided early on that I would give myself a fighting chance of completing the day and just ride the short route. Once again, the day started out like the previous day with several flat tires but once those gotten take care of, it was smooth sailing all the way to the day's biggest climb, Beech Mountain. Never having ridden Beech, I had no idea what I was about to undertake. The climb would be by far the most difficult of the trip due to its steepness (average grade of ~11%) but because it was only about 3 miles in length, it wouldn't be difficult. The beauty of my powertap (note that I will not get all PT geeky here) was that knowing what my FTP was, I set a sustained power output goal for each of the major climbs that I wanted to stay near. Knowing that I currently have a FTP of around 290 Watts, I set my climbing range to try to stay between 260W and 280W. This turned out to be a great approach to all the climbs that I did; even as the day went along I never found myself in extreme difficulty but always found myself situated within the group. This was a nice change of pace from last year where I seemed to be continually suffering on each and every climb as well as being the last guy up the hill. On the last climb of the day, Schull's Mill, I even found myself for a while off the front of the group, until Stuart came by and passed me. Even though I got beat up the hill, it was a blast to try and stick with him (and I hear rumors that I even pushed Stuart a little bit as he didn't want to get caught!) and to have been the second one to complete the day's climb. It was almost so much fun that I contemplated for a split second descending it just to do it again. Actually, I just wanted to descend it and I would have called Jen to come pick me up so I didn't have to do it again.
Friday's Stats:
Duration: 4:12:05
Work: 2730 kJ
TSS: 265.8 (intensity factor 0.798)
Norm Power: 231
VI: 1.27
Distance: 60.909 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 540 182 watts
Heart rate: 70 176 145 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 82 rpm
Speed: 0 43 14.5 mph
Pace 1:24 0:00 4:08 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 598 121 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 851 198 lb-in
Saturday's ride saw our large group split into two different areas of the State. The majority of the group decided to pack up the van and trailer and to head 30 miles south. The thought was that the radar showed rain for the day everywhere but if it was going to rain, better to be at a lower elevation where it would be warmer. The other group of riders which was mostly composed of people in my cabin decided not to give up on Boone and risk riding in the area (Note that we also didn't realize what time people were leaving and when we got a phone call to go, most of us were just then rolling out of bed...oops). So, after a good, relaxed breakfast, about 10 of us kitted up and slowly rolled our way out to the main road to find our way to the small town of Todd. Scott did a great job of mapping the routes for us so feeling comfortable with where we were heading to, we didn't think twice about venturing out alone. The first issue came in about 6 miles into the ride when we were supposed to find a parkway connector road off of the small back road we had been traveling on for a while. A few miles and hills down the road, we made the right decision to stop and ask for directions. I rolled up to a gentleman who was out using a weed-whacker to mow his lawn. Finally getting his attention, I asked how to get back to the Parkway. Unfortunately, his response was more like "Parkway, no speak English good." OK, time for plan B, I took two years of French in High School, one year of Spanish is College, one and a half years of Italian in College and I also traveled through Italy so having tackled every one of the romance languages, I was sure I could break through this language barrier and get our group rolling in the right direction. Second problem, native Spanish speakers speak muy rapido mi amigo and all I could translate was, and I'm still not sure about this but it was either we were way off target to finding the Parkway or that he really thought I looked good in cycling shorts with shaved legs and he wanted me to hang out for a cerveza. OK, so I decided for my safety that it was time to roll back up to where we had seen the Parkway and take our chances elsewhere.
Rolling back towards where we had seen the parkway, we finally found that critical turn we needed to make. It was marked with a small broken piece of wood that was hand painted with the word "Parkw" on it. That would end up being the biggest challenge of the day as would find ourselves rolling smoothly on the Parkway back to our turn around point in Todd. We did a portion of this route last year and I really enjoyed it because even though we were still doing some climbing, it wasn't the constant up and down that we did yesterday. Instead, the climbs on the parkway tend to be long, gradual and are very scenic which is why this is a favorite destination for several travelers.
Saturday's Stats:
Duration: 3:26:30
Work: 2084 kJ
TSS: 205.1 (intensity factor 0.775)
Norm Power: 225
VI: 1.32
Distance: 53.84 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 548 170 watts
Heart rate: 73 236 134 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 83 rpm
Speed: 0 42.6 15.8 mph
Pace 1:25 0:00 3:49 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 569 98 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 817 180 lb-in
Well, that raps another successful year for the Stark Velo training camp. I'm left at the end of this year satisfied in how much riding I did and how I felt on the bike. What makes this year different from last is that I'm anxious to go back again, only hoping that I can wait for a whole year. What makes this trip so much fun? Well, for one thing it's the great riding that this area of the country has to offer. The second and most important thing is, it gives me the opportunity to bond with my teammates and friends as this is the only time of the year that I get to ride and converse with almost everyone at the same time.
brian
Thursday's ride was a quick warm up after sitting in a car for 8+ hours. We unfortunately got started a little later than planned which meant we would be chasing daylight to get back to the cabins in time. This day's adventure would be navigating Payne-Branch road to the Parkway. Last year the road was hard pack which made for a fun-off road adventure but this year the road department recently dumped a ton of fresh gravel on the road making it very difficult to navigate through on skinny tires. By the time we got out of the gravel pit and to the Parkway, 5 out of our 25 riders suffered flat tires. Fortunately, I wasn't one of them.
Stats from Thursday's Ride:
Duration: 2:19:30
Work: 1675 kJ
TSS: 165.1 (intensity factor 0.844)
Norm Power: 245
VI: 1.22
Distance: 36.868 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 631 201 watts
Heart rate: 64 178 153 bpm
Cadence: 30 141 83 rpm
Speed: 0 44.7 15.9 mph
Pace 1:21 0:00 3:47 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 605 117 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 986 212 lb-in
Friday's ride offered two route options, the short route coming in at 64 miles and the long route at over 90 miles. Knowing the difficulty I and several others had last year, I decided early on that I would give myself a fighting chance of completing the day and just ride the short route. Once again, the day started out like the previous day with several flat tires but once those gotten take care of, it was smooth sailing all the way to the day's biggest climb, Beech Mountain. Never having ridden Beech, I had no idea what I was about to undertake. The climb would be by far the most difficult of the trip due to its steepness (average grade of ~11%) but because it was only about 3 miles in length, it wouldn't be difficult. The beauty of my powertap (note that I will not get all PT geeky here) was that knowing what my FTP was, I set a sustained power output goal for each of the major climbs that I wanted to stay near. Knowing that I currently have a FTP of around 290 Watts, I set my climbing range to try to stay between 260W and 280W. This turned out to be a great approach to all the climbs that I did; even as the day went along I never found myself in extreme difficulty but always found myself situated within the group. This was a nice change of pace from last year where I seemed to be continually suffering on each and every climb as well as being the last guy up the hill. On the last climb of the day, Schull's Mill, I even found myself for a while off the front of the group, until Stuart came by and passed me. Even though I got beat up the hill, it was a blast to try and stick with him (and I hear rumors that I even pushed Stuart a little bit as he didn't want to get caught!) and to have been the second one to complete the day's climb. It was almost so much fun that I contemplated for a split second descending it just to do it again. Actually, I just wanted to descend it and I would have called Jen to come pick me up so I didn't have to do it again.
Friday's Stats:
Duration: 4:12:05
Work: 2730 kJ
TSS: 265.8 (intensity factor 0.798)
Norm Power: 231
VI: 1.27
Distance: 60.909 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 540 182 watts
Heart rate: 70 176 145 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 82 rpm
Speed: 0 43 14.5 mph
Pace 1:24 0:00 4:08 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 598 121 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 851 198 lb-in
Saturday's ride saw our large group split into two different areas of the State. The majority of the group decided to pack up the van and trailer and to head 30 miles south. The thought was that the radar showed rain for the day everywhere but if it was going to rain, better to be at a lower elevation where it would be warmer. The other group of riders which was mostly composed of people in my cabin decided not to give up on Boone and risk riding in the area (Note that we also didn't realize what time people were leaving and when we got a phone call to go, most of us were just then rolling out of bed...oops). So, after a good, relaxed breakfast, about 10 of us kitted up and slowly rolled our way out to the main road to find our way to the small town of Todd. Scott did a great job of mapping the routes for us so feeling comfortable with where we were heading to, we didn't think twice about venturing out alone. The first issue came in about 6 miles into the ride when we were supposed to find a parkway connector road off of the small back road we had been traveling on for a while. A few miles and hills down the road, we made the right decision to stop and ask for directions. I rolled up to a gentleman who was out using a weed-whacker to mow his lawn. Finally getting his attention, I asked how to get back to the Parkway. Unfortunately, his response was more like "Parkway, no speak English good." OK, time for plan B, I took two years of French in High School, one year of Spanish is College, one and a half years of Italian in College and I also traveled through Italy so having tackled every one of the romance languages, I was sure I could break through this language barrier and get our group rolling in the right direction. Second problem, native Spanish speakers speak muy rapido mi amigo and all I could translate was, and I'm still not sure about this but it was either we were way off target to finding the Parkway or that he really thought I looked good in cycling shorts with shaved legs and he wanted me to hang out for a cerveza. OK, so I decided for my safety that it was time to roll back up to where we had seen the Parkway and take our chances elsewhere.
Rolling back towards where we had seen the parkway, we finally found that critical turn we needed to make. It was marked with a small broken piece of wood that was hand painted with the word "Parkw" on it. That would end up being the biggest challenge of the day as would find ourselves rolling smoothly on the Parkway back to our turn around point in Todd. We did a portion of this route last year and I really enjoyed it because even though we were still doing some climbing, it wasn't the constant up and down that we did yesterday. Instead, the climbs on the parkway tend to be long, gradual and are very scenic which is why this is a favorite destination for several travelers.
Saturday's Stats:
Duration: 3:26:30
Work: 2084 kJ
TSS: 205.1 (intensity factor 0.775)
Norm Power: 225
VI: 1.32
Distance: 53.84 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 548 170 watts
Heart rate: 73 236 134 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 83 rpm
Speed: 0 42.6 15.8 mph
Pace 1:25 0:00 3:49 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 569 98 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 817 180 lb-in
Well, that raps another successful year for the Stark Velo training camp. I'm left at the end of this year satisfied in how much riding I did and how I felt on the bike. What makes this year different from last is that I'm anxious to go back again, only hoping that I can wait for a whole year. What makes this trip so much fun? Well, for one thing it's the great riding that this area of the country has to offer. The second and most important thing is, it gives me the opportunity to bond with my teammates and friends as this is the only time of the year that I get to ride and converse with almost everyone at the same time.
brian
4.01.2007
Malabar Farms Road Race
With the Boone Training camp only a week and a half away, I had debated on whether I wanted to race this weekend or not. On one hand, I haven't raced since last August at the Milk Race, but on the other hand I have yet to do anything longer than a two hour ride outdoors and with big days down south right around the corner, I was contemplating putting in a long training ride. In the end, it came down to a simple question from Scott Thor that settled my dilemma...."What's your power meter telling you?" Oh yea, I almost forgot about that thing. Scott said if I was within 10% of what I was producing last year, than he suggested going ahead and racing. Well, my power meter was telling me to race because I'm consistently producing more power on all of my workouts. So with that decision made, it was time to pack the bags and get ready to race!
This was my first time ever racing at Malabar but knowing that the State road race was going to be held on the same course, I figured what better way to preview it than during an actual race. All I knew was that there was supposedly one big hill that was the real killer. No one remembered to mention that there were a ton of little rollers scattered throughout the course, that was something that I found during a preview lap with John, Scott and Rick. Knowing that I was no where in the same league yet to race with those guys to race in the Cat 3/4 field, I opted to race with the Cat 4/5's. Joining me from Stark Velo were Matt Turi, Tim House, Marshall Leininger and newcomer to the team, Josh Troche. The Cat 4/5 field was big, I would have to guess somewhere between 40 and 50 people racing. That was a shocker for me to see so many people so early in the season but maybe that's because I don't typically race until mid April.
The race started off somewhat mellow, all taking the first climb as directed...neutral. After that, it picked up as we started making our way through the rollers. I was feeling fairly good but I remembered at this point that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and that was only one waffle. I guess this first race through me off schedule and I had forgotten to follow my usual pre-race routine. Time to down a little gel and drink to help me get through. The first two laps were fairly uneventful, I was hanging comfortably within the group but didn't feel comfortable to try anything, but neither did anyone else. The last time up the 'big' climb and I let a small gap open up between me and the main field. Time to chase and chase and chase. Unfortunately, all my chasing was in vain because I never caught the group. There were times where I could still see them, but there was no way that I was going to catch them. My only hope was to catch a few of the stragglers ahead of me and at least make it back to the finish a little sooner. First I picked up an Orville rider, I think it was Joel but I forgot to confirm...sorry. Next it was a Team Echelon rider and finally a team breakaway rider. That was actually the most fun part of the race just flying back with those guys to the finish in a nice working paceline. Made me wish we were working that well off the front of the group instead of at the back of the field.
At the end of the day, yes I didn't finish with the group but I did finish with both wheels upright which in my book is a good day. Check out my power stats below. I took a look at my race data from last year and there were only two races that had numbers higher than this. One was a time trial I did during the Summer Solstice stage race and the other was at Snitger's. Ouch, this was a tough day but I was happy to see that I was able to produce these types of numbers.
brian
Malabar Farms Race:
Duration: 1:31:30
Work: 1263 kJ
TSS: 152.1 (intensity factor 0.999)
Norm Power: 284
VI: 1.23
Distance: 31.192 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 819 230 watts
Heart rate: 78 203 163 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 89 rpm
Speed: 0 38 20.5 mph
Pace 1:35 0:00 2:56 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 409 95 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 925 221 lb-in
This was my first time ever racing at Malabar but knowing that the State road race was going to be held on the same course, I figured what better way to preview it than during an actual race. All I knew was that there was supposedly one big hill that was the real killer. No one remembered to mention that there were a ton of little rollers scattered throughout the course, that was something that I found during a preview lap with John, Scott and Rick. Knowing that I was no where in the same league yet to race with those guys to race in the Cat 3/4 field, I opted to race with the Cat 4/5's. Joining me from Stark Velo were Matt Turi, Tim House, Marshall Leininger and newcomer to the team, Josh Troche. The Cat 4/5 field was big, I would have to guess somewhere between 40 and 50 people racing. That was a shocker for me to see so many people so early in the season but maybe that's because I don't typically race until mid April.
The race started off somewhat mellow, all taking the first climb as directed...neutral. After that, it picked up as we started making our way through the rollers. I was feeling fairly good but I remembered at this point that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and that was only one waffle. I guess this first race through me off schedule and I had forgotten to follow my usual pre-race routine. Time to down a little gel and drink to help me get through. The first two laps were fairly uneventful, I was hanging comfortably within the group but didn't feel comfortable to try anything, but neither did anyone else. The last time up the 'big' climb and I let a small gap open up between me and the main field. Time to chase and chase and chase. Unfortunately, all my chasing was in vain because I never caught the group. There were times where I could still see them, but there was no way that I was going to catch them. My only hope was to catch a few of the stragglers ahead of me and at least make it back to the finish a little sooner. First I picked up an Orville rider, I think it was Joel but I forgot to confirm...sorry. Next it was a Team Echelon rider and finally a team breakaway rider. That was actually the most fun part of the race just flying back with those guys to the finish in a nice working paceline. Made me wish we were working that well off the front of the group instead of at the back of the field.
At the end of the day, yes I didn't finish with the group but I did finish with both wheels upright which in my book is a good day. Check out my power stats below. I took a look at my race data from last year and there were only two races that had numbers higher than this. One was a time trial I did during the Summer Solstice stage race and the other was at Snitger's. Ouch, this was a tough day but I was happy to see that I was able to produce these types of numbers.
brian
Malabar Farms Race:
Duration: 1:31:30
Work: 1263 kJ
TSS: 152.1 (intensity factor 0.999)
Norm Power: 284
VI: 1.23
Distance: 31.192 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 819 230 watts
Heart rate: 78 203 163 bpm
Cadence: 29 141 89 rpm
Speed: 0 38 20.5 mph
Pace 1:35 0:00 2:56 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 409 95 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 925 221 lb-in
2.28.2007
Another pic from the Arizona campers.
Thanks to Scott for sending me this picture of an Arizona local that they met yesterday on the rest day. Ladies, this guy is apparently looking for a little lovin'. His interests are long romantic walks on the beach, reading his comic books and braiding his mothers hair.
2.27.2007
Dreaming away...
Ever wondered what people are dreaming? Here's a look at what Rick has going in his mind at this moment. Sugar plums have nothing on the Double Whopper!
Behind the Scenes at the Arizona Training Camp
Apparently, Dan's fellow campers didn't appreciate him winning the KOM yesterday on Mt. Lemmon and have resorted to some mighty cut-throat tactics to level the playing field....
2.26.2007
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