Torturing Others

I feel a little bad taking others on long rides with silly climbs, but Chad Headlee has a coach now, he can take it!

Despite feeling a touch under the weather we rode from my house, out to Red Rocks, up Bear Creek Canyon to Evergreen, up and over Shadow Mountain, over the back side of High Grade and home. It ended up being a 72 mile ride, but I always forget how long a climb Shadow is with the extended false flat once you leave Evergreen.

I am saddened every time I pass the former location of CeeGees . . . that place had some good cinnamon buns.

Tomorrow is the long ride to Winter Park. Hopefully I will be able to breathe with this stupid cold.

Team BBQ

Pictures to follow, but we all got together this evening in Highlands Ranch, ate some burgers, talked about bikes, took some pictures and got some more team stuff!

I have never had tall cycling socks so my tan lines this season are going to be off the hook.

We have Boiron USA as one of our sponsors. I have heard great things about the healing powers of Arnica Montana, now to find out for myself.

You Want to Do What? Why?

That's right . . . missed out on riding the TT bike outside yesterday so today I drove down to Deer Creek with both bikes in the car. I rode the TT bike up High Grade to the top of the steep switchbacks, rode down, switched bikes and cruised around for another hour.

It is amazing how strange the road bike feels after mashing giant gears in position on the TT bike.

States are coming up and I have not had a stellar time trial performance yet, what do you want from me?

Canceled?

No, seriously now! It was raining so hard this afternoon that CCTT was canceled. No chance for me to go out and stick it to the course one more time to see if I actually have TT fitness. The other bummer is that I was really close to taking 1st place in the series, all I needed was to gain 4 stinking points.

What should an aspiring cyclist do in times like these? Go buy stuff. I ordered a new TT bike from Bicycle Pedal'r, my shop sponsor. The new Felt B2 should be in just in time for me to recover from states.

Back on the Trainer

Riding outside is nice, when weather permits . . . when all else fails, there is the trainer. At least it is hard to over train on the trainer, plus I could use the practice riding in TT position. Pray for sunshine.

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Yup.

Suffering with the Pros

Uh, that was not much fun. I got to spend the day with just about every real pro in Boulder racing at the old StorageTek course.

Observation 1: Our new team kits look a lot like BMC, maybe I should start wearing green shoe covers or a yellow helmet.

Observation 2: Multiple attacks off the gun and high pace make Seth go kaboom!

I did everything I could to hang in there and be useful to my teammates, including going out of my way to take a free lap because of a "mechanical". It would have been easier to just have that "mechanical" and quit many laps before I did. When I was re-inserted into the race, there was a break of 8 or so up the road including Scott Moninger who ended up soloing to a victory, "aided" by the wind that whipped up in a 4 minute squall that blew through.

Rolf and Kevin finished respectably with Kevin taking 9th place.

Welcome Back Rolf!

Rolf will do just fine being back at altitude. He finished 2nd at NBP, riding in a two man break with Phil Zajicek. The race started with 80 guys and some 30 odd finished with dudes popping off the back every lap.

Brian Hutchison and I opted for a longer ride in the hills instead of flogging ourselves at NBP. Matt Edwards started out with us but turned around when Brian pushed him into the ditch.



We had a great ride through Golden Gate Canyon Park until the thunder storms forced us to hide in the park pit toilet.



We re-emerged and continued along Peak to Peak, only to get stuck in Rollinsville. I'm not sure what I am looking at in these clouds here, but it doesn't look good.



Fortunately cell phones are the wave of the future, everybody seems to have them so we were able to call in the rescue to Keely and Jessica who were nice enough to drive up to the middle of nowhere to get us.

We still got in 3+ hours, but it would have been nice to be able to enjoy a hippy muffin in Nederland or the descent into Boulder.

Getting the Loot

Nothing like a fresh batch of team clothing to brighten the cycling outlook.



We had our team meeting tonight at Leonard's house. I now have a new helmet, new clothes, new gloves, and more importantly . . . my Tokyo Joe's card. Let the noodle bowl eating begin!

Kevin's new Ibis was on hand and it looks pretty freakin' sweet. I should have mine within the next week or so, whenever I get myself and my old bike in for proper fitting. Hats off to Cimbura . . . dude builds up a bike real nice. I hear my Fizik Arione is silver with a red stripe, can't wait to see that one.

Tomorrow will be Rolf's debut as a rider for the Tokyo Joe's Cycling Team. He got back to town about a week ago and has been riding and getting used to being at altitudes higher than Kentucky. I will be skipping the North Boulder Park race and hitting the hills with Brian Hutchison instead. Call me crazy, but I don't like turning into an alley at full speed, aiming right at a utility pole.

Spinners are Winners

. . . or something like that. I headed out for a ride this afternoon with Brian Ellis and kept it pretty mellow. He was mocking me for riding my TT bike, in position, in a huge gear around Wash Park, but the more time I can get in TT position the better. States are only a couple weeks away and I finally got my registration filled out and sent in. Not for lack of motivation, but I'm a huge slacker sometimes.

The highlight of the evening, as it is for many, was food. We headed to El Serape on Colorado Blvd for dinner. It is the sister restaurant to Tacos Jalisco and every bit as tasty. I am a huge fan of the Asada Burrito Deluxe and you can't beat the salsas they give you with your pre-dinner chips.

Another Opportunity at CCTT

Weather . . . check.
Air in front tire . . . check.
Shoe cover zippers safety pinned so they don't work their way down at an in opportune time because the zipper broke on the cheap pieces of trash . . . check.
Warm up completed . . . check.

New personal best . . . not so much. While I did go faster tonight, I still have yet to ride under the 22:00 mark like last year. I was feeling the ill effects of last night's crash a little bit with some pain in the butt and a touch of numbness from the full on effort, but whatever. The time trial conditioning still has a little ways to go.

Meeting Concrete

Over the past few seasons I have used Meridian, much to the chagrin of many a seasoned veteran (at least those seasoned on the Teton forum), as a training ride. Prior to a time trial it is great for opener type efforts and for regular training you can get in quite the interval workout with the motivation being that the ass baskets chasing might catch you. The usual practice is attack, recover, attack, recover, repeat. This minimizes time riding in a group of so so bike handlers, knobs riding aero bars (saw one clown wearing a sleeveless jersey with arm warmers, I kid you not), over amped masters riders unnecessarily fighting for a wheel, etc. It's not that I have anything against said types, but when their equipment becomes flotsam and jetsam in a crash that I cannot successfully avoid . . .

Rear end, meet concrete, concrete, rear end. I don't have quite the padding I used to back in my younger days and bouncing on your bum doesn't really feel so good. It was one of those falls where as soon as I made contact with the ground, I knew it was going to smart a bit. I also knew it was a good idea to try to get back on my bike as quickly as possible before post crash stiffness set in. I noodled around until the group came by, jumped back in, rode around until the last lap and put in one last effort to open up for the time trial tomorrow.

When I got home I could feel the areas I was sure would have a bruise within the next day or so. There are just some muscles you can't seem to stretch out and loosen after a fall. We'll see how this one works out for me.

Hittin the Hills

Another Sunday "off" and another ride up in the hills. Joe Brenner and I headed out from the Wash Park area to Golden, up Golden Gate and through Crawford Gulch. A couple of observations . . . don't stop for water at the Golden Gate Park Visitor's Center, it is terrible tasting water even when delicately aged and mellowed in the finest of water bottles . . . riding bikes is hard.

The truth of the second observation keeps rearing its ugly head time and time again. I guess it is a good reminder that racing takes a bit more than it used to and recovery doesn't happen so quickly. Yesterday's race wasn't too tough, but the legs could feel the efforts involved.

I think I am supposed to be using one of these weekend days without a race to do some yard work or something. I'll have to post a picture of the backyard some time. It has been a disaster and an embarassment for the past few years. Sad when you are afraid of what's back there and can't even let the dog roam free for fear of losing him.

ICCC Dash for the Cash

Wheels of Blunder, Chunder, give it a name. It is usually a race where nothing happens because there is nothing to break up the pack. But first, let's pray . . .



This was a good thing since I rode like I had never ridden a bike. I was jittery in the corners, waiting for people to stack it up around me in the chicanes. I was losing position every lap even though I tried to move up and stay in the hunt. Fortunately I pulled my head out about midway through the race and got to the correct side of things when the wind picked up and split the field.

Kevin made it into an early move that he later said he knew wasn't the one to be in, so he sat on and everything ultimately came back together. The first half of the race looked much different than the second, compare:

1st Half


2nd Half



You can see not only the shift in the wind in how the group echelons across the road, but also the fact that the wind picked up and made the race shatter. Kevin was in a group of 5 further up the road from the smaller group I was in towards the end of the race. I won't lie, I had no real idea what I was supposed to do with 14 laps remaining. I knew I didn't want to put in efforts to drag anybody up to the first group. I knew I didn't want to get caught, but beyond that my best guess was to follow one of the 14 Vitamin Cottage riders still in my group of 8.

The first effort didn't pan out with about four laps to go. I followed Ang Sheldrake with Tarkington in tow. After that got pulled back I decided to try to get rid of a few more people. I threw it in the gutter and put in a hard 20 second effort to see if I could gap anybody off. I don't know if that worked or not, but shortly thereafter Joey Pinkerton got a small gap and I followed. When I looked back, we were clear, all we had to do was hang on for a couple laps and then "sprint" it out for 6th place.




I didn't win that sprint and ended up 7th. Kevin took 5th place . . . not a bad day for a team of two.

Cruisin'

Sometimes there is something quite enjoyable about the pre-race day cruise around town with the occasional ramp to max effort as an opener. I headed west with Brian Ellis who I haven't ridden with since Parker last season. He was sitting on some pretty impressive fitness at that time. More impressive is how much "off the couch" fitness he has. Ah to be one of the genetically gifted . . .

Tomorrow is Wheels of Thunder. The best part of that race is the prayer before hand, oh yeah and the $100 prime every other lap. I have no desire to make the dash for the cash as it would result in me getting spit out the back in short order. We'll see what the plan is when Kevin and I convene shortly before the start.

$25 Meridian

Riiiiiiiiiight. I rode down to Meridian with the intention of touching a wheel to the course and riding right back home. I wouldn't pay money (again) for racing that course. It is silly, nobody lets anything get away, and it's well Meridian.

On the plus side of things for the evening, I met Matt, Craig, and Brian K. at Pasquinis for some cheap beer and pizza. When in doubt, there's always cheap beer and pizza.

Which is Faster?

A pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

We usually don't see weather this good for Cherry Creek . . . warm, not windy. I guess there is a cloudy lining to every silver purse. Without the wind the mosquitoes were out in full force. They were the size of helicopters and instinctively flocking like the Salmon of Capistrano (I really hope somebody gets this one). All we need is a few more plagues, the separating of the Cherry Creek Reservoir and it would be straight up biblical!

Warm up went well, didn't miss my start time, legs felt fast and using the splattered bugs on my helmet as an indicator, I'd say I was going fast for at least part of the time trial. Unfortunately my front tire had other plans. I flatted somewhere before the turn around. Not only did that slow me down, but I got extremely distracted in the corners where it felt like my front tubular was going to roll right off the rim.

I finished in 23:15 which is somewhat respectable. Since speculation is fun, how much faster could I have gone?

Buuuurrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiitttttttttoooooooo!!!!

I feel like I have an endless supply of free burritos from Chipotle, when will it end? I was slightly horrified by this one:

Burrito Nutritional Info Calculator

I usually eat half a burrito and wrap the rest up for another meal at a later date. I think I am going to start eating the whole thing to feel the mixed emotions of pride/accomplishment and shame/disgust.

Tonight's ride was the free version of Meridian. Thursday they are running it as a practice race for a mere $25. I'll be skipping that one although I might head out and ride the opposite direction out of spite. The goal for the ride this evening was to get nice and open for tomorrow night's CCTT. This involved putting in two efforts that would ramp up to max and then back off. I got in a couple extra, but nothing too extreme. The legs felt nice and tingly after which is usually a good sign, better than heavy and lifeless.

Matt and I hit the Chipotle, him with his free burrito coupon, me with mine. Should be all fueled up and ready to go tomorrow.

AR

Sitting on the couch is good, sitting at Whole Foods and eating Ben and Jerry's Cinnamon Bun ice cream is even better. Matt Edwards and I went slumming in Cherry Creek and I picked up the spoon as my active recovery for the day. Cinnamon Bun is a new flavor to the B&J's family and I like it, I like it a lot.

Rocky Mounts-Izze Crit

DISCLAIMER: While the Colorado P/1/2 field is always strong, there are a lot of really fast guys out of town right now at Gila, USA Crits, etc.

That being said, Kevin and I had a fine day of racing Sunday at the Rocky Mounts-Izze Crit. The expectation was that the Al's guys would drill it from the start like they did last year when a group of eight got free and lapped the field. That didn't really happen and the first half of the race ended up being pretty mellow with the expected accelerations here and there, but nothing major. I followed wheels early on and tried to stay close to anything that looked threatening heading up the road.

With about 35 minutes to go, I punched it going over the hill to catch up to a couple riders just off the front and we ended up getting clear of the group. I had to shake my head and laugh as I saw Jon Tarkington in my little group, wearing his grandmother's over the glasses shields. Rumor has it he's getting Lasik this week, personally I think it is an expression of his individuality. I have started using Jon as my worthy effort indicator. He's crafty, so if he's there, it's a good place to be.

A few laps later, a group of 8 or so including Kevin was bridging to us so I quit pulling through until they got there. I had hopes that everybody would pull through smoothly and real friendly like to ensure that we remained well clear of the main group, but there were little attacks here and there. We lost a few people prior to the finish, but the group that remained had some guys with good finishing speed, Gibson, Pearce, Friel . . . Apparently Tarkington missed the "1 lap to go" indicators, both visual (I'd blame the glasses) and the bell and sat up about 1/3rd of the way up the hill the last lap. Instead of waiting to try to match somebody else's effort, I put my head down and went for it.

Think Charlie Brown here, "I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it . . ." When Dirk Friel came flying past with 15m to go I had to switch to "I'm NOT gonna make it." I got caught just short of the line by Dirk and Ang Sheldrake, but held on to 3rd and Kevin took 5th.

Just after our race, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and the rain started coming down. I was happy to pack up and head home, knowing we put in a respectable weekend of racing. Next week could be a different story.

Lookout!

http://www.markwoolcottphotography.com/racing-page-index.htm

A picture is worth a thousand words and Mark Woolcott has some great looking photos from a variety of races. I especially like the series from Lookout Mountain Hill Climb where I'm at the front, wielding the beatin' stick. The plan was to keep the pace high for the first 10 minutes and then let Kevin do his thing. A few eager riders did a few moments of tempo and puttered out at the beginning. I just kept it in the 53x19 and held a steady pace. Not too long after the spot where the photos were shot, Ang Sheldrake attacked and took Kevin, Tarkington, and Dan Porter with him . . . never to be seen again.

The race report from up the road as reported by Kevin was quite amusing. He has a certain intensity about him when it comes to races that his otherwise very calm, polite manner does not indicate. It is something on the order of take no prisoners and leave no survivors. He said he heard heavy breathing and gears being shifted. When he realized that his partners up the road were in the small ring he knew they were done for. He rode away to a sure victory, a good 30+ seconds up the road from 2nd place.

I shifted once or twice during the race . . . into the 53x17 where the road levels off a bit just past the giant 'M' and into the 53x21 on the steeper switchbacks towards the top. I kept Tarkington in sight for the most part, but couldn't quite catch up to him. My time was my fastest recorded climb of Lookout to date, but I have done better on a couple training rides. So it goes, but 5th place scored some good BAT points for the team.

Dan and I continued on for a couple more hours, hitting some of the lovely climbs the foothills have to offer, Grapevine, Bear Creek, Kerr Gulch. Post ride we took advantage of our free Chipotle coupons and then stopped by the Sampson shop (the HART shop/bike sponsor) so he could pick up a couple things. Not a bad day, not bad at all. The weather held off and we stayed mostly dry, hopefully the same can be said tomorrow.

Sports Optical

Keely and I went out to Wash Park this afternoon to ride, her to get a good spin in, me to do some openers for tomorrow's race up Lookout Mountain. The place was pretty dead not only because of threatening weather, but also because tomorrow is the Furry Scurry. There are all sorts of tables, booths, and port-o-potties throughout the park . . . and very few cyclist, joggers, rollerbladers . . . kind of nice.

After we went up to Sports Optical to visit Bret and pick up Keely's new glasses so she could be more aerodynamic delivering babies. Bret got her set up with some sweet Rudy Project glasses with clear prescription lenses that give enough coverage for protection as required while operating and no distortion or fogging like the bio-hazard shield the doctor usually have to wear. Bret does great work, if you ever need glasses of any kind, pay him a visit. Showing up armed with burritos never hurts. It was also First Friday up on Tennyson so there were beverages and snacks to be had.

We headed over to Tacos Jalisco after for dinner. Is it really a good idea to eat Mexican the night before a hill climb? Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, what could possibly happen?

FSA

Oh yeah, yesterday was CCTT. It went pretty well even with the constant wind.



I am going to have to go with "wind from the south east" on this one. With everybody out of town for Tour of the Gila I had nobody within in a minute in front of me or behind me. There were also only three people racing P/1/2 so while winning is nice, eh.

I forgot to mention that I noticed Friday before Deer Trail that my pedal was loose in my FSA K-Force MegaExo crankset. This has happened before and fortunately they are very good on turning around their warranty replacement, especially when you pay a deposit on your credit card to have them send it out right away!

I got the crank arms in the mail today and put them on, sticking to the exact torque specs using my Park Tools hex wrench set and some serious praying that I was at least close to the range I was supposed to be in. Keep your fingers crossed.

Trainer Weather

With rain coming down I opted to hit the trainer as opposed to driving down to Meridian to participate in the festivities. It was a lovely trainer ride, a 40 minute AT interval with some bursts at the end.

Working and riding make me tired. At least there are free burritos at the end of the tunnel.