Tuesday was another very hard kermese. I prefer not to bore you with the details, but I was popped after and hour and a half. There were 20 turns within a 7 km distance and they threw in a cobble section for good measure. No hills, no wind, so not my kind of racing. I went with so many attacks I thought I was going to die. I didn't die, but I did pop myself after an hour and a half. I just worked too hard, and was a bit too aggressive. Good thing is that I WAS aggressive, but I need to tone it down a notch and allow myself to recover at times. I know I can finish these races, I just have to pick the right moves and ignore the others.
In other news I had a professional bike fit done by Franz, the same guy that fits Axel Merkx, and a number of other top pros. I had heard incredible things about this guy. He had one of our guys buy a new frame because his wasn't even close to correct, another guy he raised the seat 4 (that's right I said 4, four) cms, and then put on a 130 mm stem instead of a 100 like he had. Those are the most extreme cases, but most have huge changes. I was expecting bad things.....and after an hour of measurements, tests, and movements he sat down with his numbers to create my perfect bike. After all that, it came down to my frame was almost perfect. The headtube is too long by one and a half cms (which I can't change) and the seat angle is of by 3 degrees (another thing I can't change). The top tube was perfect, and my seat tube is perfect too, so the major things are ok. My stem was 5mms short, but with my handlebars, it works because the reach from the tip of the seat to the shifters is perfect. The only thing he changed for me was he raised my seat 1 cm, and moved the seat forward by 1 cm, meaning I was pretty close to perfect on my own measurements. My shoe cleat placement was correct too (a huge accomplishment considering that 99% of people get it wrong).
I have a copy of my measurements for when I'm retired from cycling and decide to buy my full custom steal frame I will have that part already done. It was really cool to experience that. I had never had a bike fit done before, I always calculated everything on my own using the Edmund Burke system, and apparently that's close. I'm glad I did it here, it cost me 60 Euros instead of $150 back home. A savings of almost $75.
In other news I think I have found the perfect ride food. I downloaded the recipe for Chocolate-peanut butter no-bake cookies. After they solidified they held their shape, didn't melt even when it was over 30C, and went down easy after 2 hours of sprints. I'm going to have to play with the recipe a bit, I need to eliminate some of the simple sugars (it called for 2 cups of suger), yet still remain solid and non-melting. It's a work in progress to find the perfect ride food, but I'm determined to do it.
Next race is Tuesday. A UCI 1.2 in Hoboken (no not New Jersey). This will be my hardest race so far. It's 180 kms and the field will be top level. We're talking pro-am racing. Think NRC but 4 notches higher. So check back for that update in a few days.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Makin' money
Yesterday was the best race I've had since I got here. I told they guys as we were pulling up "Let's make some money today". Well I wasn't about to walk away empty handed. Not only did I finish the race, all 14 laps (114 km) of it, but I snagged up some money in a prime sprint. I really didn't know it was a prime, all I knew was that a move was going up the road and I wasn't going to let that go without me, well I came through 2nd place at that point. When I came through, they were waiving the white flag and shouting over the PA system about a prime, then my name, and the guy in front sat up. Usually I would attack at that point, but I didn't exactly know what was going on, so I waited for the peloton too.
After that it was a series of attacks and counter attacks. Our team made sure one of us was in the move. If I wasn't going with something, someone else was. It was a lot more fun playing an aggressive role than just waiting for the race to finish. It hurt, don't get me wrong. There a few times I thought I done for. On one of the laps I had to push so hard to keep the field together that I started to crack. This was an hour and a half into the race. As I was fading back a bit, my teammate rode by and said "Don't quit now, stay with it" and that was all it took. I jumped back into shelter, and rested for a lap or two, then I was back to attacking.
When the split happened at 5 to go, I was in no shape to jump with it, but I had two teammates that were so they got away. I relaxed and hung on for the finish placing 56th of 125 (at least) starters. Not too shabby. I at least know now that I am fully capable of a result, and now I just need to make that split and get into the top 10. UCI races are just around the corner, rumor has it that I will be selected here very soon.
After that it was a series of attacks and counter attacks. Our team made sure one of us was in the move. If I wasn't going with something, someone else was. It was a lot more fun playing an aggressive role than just waiting for the race to finish. It hurt, don't get me wrong. There a few times I thought I done for. On one of the laps I had to push so hard to keep the field together that I started to crack. This was an hour and a half into the race. As I was fading back a bit, my teammate rode by and said "Don't quit now, stay with it" and that was all it took. I jumped back into shelter, and rested for a lap or two, then I was back to attacking.
When the split happened at 5 to go, I was in no shape to jump with it, but I had two teammates that were so they got away. I relaxed and hung on for the finish placing 56th of 125 (at least) starters. Not too shabby. I at least know now that I am fully capable of a result, and now I just need to make that split and get into the top 10. UCI races are just around the corner, rumor has it that I will be selected here very soon.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Learning to relax
As my time carries on, I find that more and more I have to rethink how I relax. In the past I would go out to spin to calm myself, cycling was more of a stress-reliever than anything else. Even when I was a kid I would ride to relieve the mental strain of being a teenager. When I was in the military it took more of a different feel, it was a career desire, but it was still a kind of passtime.
Now, this is my job. I get up, eat, train, race, clean my equipment, eat again, put my feet up, and read. That's it, no job, Heather is not here to help, nothing. This is now my job. So that creates an issue, what do I do now to relieve stress? While there are a myriad of things that I could do, there is really only one thing I enjoy and that's riding. I thought for the longest time I was a rounded individual, that I enjoyed lots of things, even though my focus was the bike. Now I see that things are different. I need to do something other than ride. I know that sounds crazy. This is my life now, and in order to live at piece I can't restrict myself.
What does that mean? That means I need to go out, enjoy myself. I need to have a few things I've been restricting myself. I haven't had a chance to taste the pastries here, even though they look awesome, I have yet to have Belgian chocolate, and (this may be the biggest sin) I have yet to have a Belgian beer. I think that if I'm to relax and enjoy myself I need to loosen up some of these restrictions. I don't mean go crazy and hit the town, but one or two of these aren't going to kill me, if anything they may even help.
So it's time to enjoy myself, it's time for me to enjoy riding. I made a decision awhile ago, and I will follow it whether it takes 15 years or 15 weeks. I will quit racing seriously the second I dread riding the bike. The day I wake up and my first thought is "Crap, I have to go train" I'll hang up my race wheels. I don't intend on that happening now.
Now, this is my job. I get up, eat, train, race, clean my equipment, eat again, put my feet up, and read. That's it, no job, Heather is not here to help, nothing. This is now my job. So that creates an issue, what do I do now to relieve stress? While there are a myriad of things that I could do, there is really only one thing I enjoy and that's riding. I thought for the longest time I was a rounded individual, that I enjoyed lots of things, even though my focus was the bike. Now I see that things are different. I need to do something other than ride. I know that sounds crazy. This is my life now, and in order to live at piece I can't restrict myself.
What does that mean? That means I need to go out, enjoy myself. I need to have a few things I've been restricting myself. I haven't had a chance to taste the pastries here, even though they look awesome, I have yet to have Belgian chocolate, and (this may be the biggest sin) I have yet to have a Belgian beer. I think that if I'm to relax and enjoy myself I need to loosen up some of these restrictions. I don't mean go crazy and hit the town, but one or two of these aren't going to kill me, if anything they may even help.
So it's time to enjoy myself, it's time for me to enjoy riding. I made a decision awhile ago, and I will follow it whether it takes 15 years or 15 weeks. I will quit racing seriously the second I dread riding the bike. The day I wake up and my first thought is "Crap, I have to go train" I'll hang up my race wheels. I don't intend on that happening now.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Finally a checkered flag
I raced again yesterday, in Da Haan, near the coast. The whole day started out really bad. First we almost leave without one of our guys, then we get 50 meters down the street and my cassette starts to stick. Upon inspection, the freehub needs to be fixed (American Classics, go figure). I run back to the house to change the wheel out and ask the guys to wait, only to return to an empty street. Luckily I had another guy go back to the house with me so we knew the way to the race.
The entire ride we (there were 4 in total) were trying to chase down our other teammates. We were going hard too, around 40 k and hour in a head wind, and I might add I had a 7 kilo bag on my back to make it just that much harder before a race. We eventually get to Da Haan, and no team is in sight. I sign in, get my number and sit down to attach the frame number and pin my number to my back. As I'm doing this along comes the rest of the team. Little punks took a different route, so we weren't going to catch up no matter how hard we had gone. Little did they know the guy they ditched (me) had the foreign permission letter for the whole team, so without me there would have been no race for them.
Enough of the antics, lets get down to racing. I was able to get a great starting position, right at the front, literally on the line. At the whistle I quickly settled into a top 10 spot and there I would stay through the first lap. On the second lap (each one being 9.8k long) the initial break happened, and guess who was there to go with it.....that's right I made the break. Unfortunately it would be short lived, I took a conflicting line through a corner and locked up my rear wheel destroying my momentum, and even though I chased to get back on I was cooked when I finally caught up. When you're cooked in the break and can't make your pull without a bit of faultering they get rid of you, and that's exactly what they did.
I was able to catch onto the chasing group after the break ditched me, but that group was very small (4 guys) and I was having a hard time recovering from my last efforts in the break, so after I picked a bad line through the decent, I was gapped off that.
I sat up and had to wait to get caught by the peloton, so depressing when you're in the break at the start, but alas I have a lot to learn still. After I was caught I jumped into the front and found my teammates. I finally got a chance to recover, and after about a lap or so I was able to work again. Two teammates made it in the split when it went up the road, and I am proud that I allowed them that chance, I was able to get on the front and sit up to allow the gap to happen. The commisaire allowed us to go another few laps before they had us finish, and with most of our team in that field we had to sit back and watch as two guys were able to continue until the end. Our best placing was a 37th, but out of almost 150, so........
All in all there is still a lot I have to learn. I was finally in the spot to make the move, but I wasn't able to continue the move, or finish it off. That's what I need to learn. I still do too much work in the wind and I still get sucked into working too hard in the break. I'll get it, and it feals good that I finally saw a checkered flag officially ending our race, but I'm not there yet. I'm learning quickly, but there is still a long way to go.
The entire ride we (there were 4 in total) were trying to chase down our other teammates. We were going hard too, around 40 k and hour in a head wind, and I might add I had a 7 kilo bag on my back to make it just that much harder before a race. We eventually get to Da Haan, and no team is in sight. I sign in, get my number and sit down to attach the frame number and pin my number to my back. As I'm doing this along comes the rest of the team. Little punks took a different route, so we weren't going to catch up no matter how hard we had gone. Little did they know the guy they ditched (me) had the foreign permission letter for the whole team, so without me there would have been no race for them.
Enough of the antics, lets get down to racing. I was able to get a great starting position, right at the front, literally on the line. At the whistle I quickly settled into a top 10 spot and there I would stay through the first lap. On the second lap (each one being 9.8k long) the initial break happened, and guess who was there to go with it.....that's right I made the break. Unfortunately it would be short lived, I took a conflicting line through a corner and locked up my rear wheel destroying my momentum, and even though I chased to get back on I was cooked when I finally caught up. When you're cooked in the break and can't make your pull without a bit of faultering they get rid of you, and that's exactly what they did.
I was able to catch onto the chasing group after the break ditched me, but that group was very small (4 guys) and I was having a hard time recovering from my last efforts in the break, so after I picked a bad line through the decent, I was gapped off that.
I sat up and had to wait to get caught by the peloton, so depressing when you're in the break at the start, but alas I have a lot to learn still. After I was caught I jumped into the front and found my teammates. I finally got a chance to recover, and after about a lap or so I was able to work again. Two teammates made it in the split when it went up the road, and I am proud that I allowed them that chance, I was able to get on the front and sit up to allow the gap to happen. The commisaire allowed us to go another few laps before they had us finish, and with most of our team in that field we had to sit back and watch as two guys were able to continue until the end. Our best placing was a 37th, but out of almost 150, so........
All in all there is still a lot I have to learn. I was finally in the spot to make the move, but I wasn't able to continue the move, or finish it off. That's what I need to learn. I still do too much work in the wind and I still get sucked into working too hard in the break. I'll get it, and it feals good that I finally saw a checkered flag officially ending our race, but I'm not there yet. I'm learning quickly, but there is still a long way to go.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Anniversary Post
Today, everyone, is my three year anniversay with my wife, Heather. Since it is such a special day to me, I just wanted to take a few moments and thank my biggest supporter and fan. I can't thank her enough for all that she puts up with, and all that she does without any complaints. This whole trip here to make a dream come true would never have been possible without her undying support. I can't tell you how many times she has been there to hand off bottles, help get food ready, pin my numbers, and even console me at times. She really is my best friend, and the one person who I owe the most.
I love you Heather, and Happy Anniversary.
I love you Heather, and Happy Anniversary.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
My weekend in Hell
Boys and girls, with the Hell of the North quickly approaching I only saw it fitting to make my own pilgramige to the cobbles. A couple of teammates and I were invited to Roubaix with the masters VIPs, and since we were there, with our bikes........that's right, we did our own day on the cobbles.
We started with the infamous Arrenburg Forest. Quick bio on the race for my parents, this race if 260 km, and really the race doesn't start until this section. Of 28 sections of cobbles this is number 10, and it is by far the worst. Literally it is an all out sprint to get to this section and those that are still around after the seperation usually are the big hitters. And the forest really is the worst section. It feels and looks like some farmer thought it would be funny to toss a bunch of stones in the mud, all in a straight line for 2.7 km, and 5 meters wide without any rhyme or reason and call it a road. You have stones sticking out in all kinds of wierd angles and really wide spaces, like a said no reason to the work. By the time I finished that section (less than 5 km into the ride) I had blisters on my hands.
We continued on with the ride and you would think it would get easier, now that we finished the hardest section, right? Think again, it only gets tougher. The sections range from 3.7 km to 470 meters, and they are all tough. It's all about power and lines, pick the good line and even if it's not the best, stick to it. The few times that I switched lines then tried to power back up, it was over and all momentum was gone.
All in all it was a fun experience. Hard, but fun. I suppose my opinion would change if I had to race it. If I was flying into the Forest at 60-65 kph, then worrying about picking a line, that would be a whole other story. The way we rode today, hard on the cobbles then easy on the road is actually the opposite of what really happens. It's a race just to get to the cobble section then maintain position, then race again to the next session. All new respect is definately an understatement to these "hard men of the north".
My hands are now covered in blisters, and rear hurst and I'm exhausted, and I only did 80 kms and 13 sections of 28 of pave. 260 kms is forever and even longer when it rains and is windy (as it usually is). I can't wait to see who wins, my money is on Lief Hoste, so we'll see.
We started with the infamous Arrenburg Forest. Quick bio on the race for my parents, this race if 260 km, and really the race doesn't start until this section. Of 28 sections of cobbles this is number 10, and it is by far the worst. Literally it is an all out sprint to get to this section and those that are still around after the seperation usually are the big hitters. And the forest really is the worst section. It feels and looks like some farmer thought it would be funny to toss a bunch of stones in the mud, all in a straight line for 2.7 km, and 5 meters wide without any rhyme or reason and call it a road. You have stones sticking out in all kinds of wierd angles and really wide spaces, like a said no reason to the work. By the time I finished that section (less than 5 km into the ride) I had blisters on my hands.
We continued on with the ride and you would think it would get easier, now that we finished the hardest section, right? Think again, it only gets tougher. The sections range from 3.7 km to 470 meters, and they are all tough. It's all about power and lines, pick the good line and even if it's not the best, stick to it. The few times that I switched lines then tried to power back up, it was over and all momentum was gone.
All in all it was a fun experience. Hard, but fun. I suppose my opinion would change if I had to race it. If I was flying into the Forest at 60-65 kph, then worrying about picking a line, that would be a whole other story. The way we rode today, hard on the cobbles then easy on the road is actually the opposite of what really happens. It's a race just to get to the cobble section then maintain position, then race again to the next session. All new respect is definately an understatement to these "hard men of the north".
My hands are now covered in blisters, and rear hurst and I'm exhausted, and I only did 80 kms and 13 sections of 28 of pave. 260 kms is forever and even longer when it rains and is windy (as it usually is). I can't wait to see who wins, my money is on Lief Hoste, so we'll see.
Monday, April 9, 2007
How I love my wonderful toys
It's been a few days since my last post. I'd like to say I was really busy, that I had all kinds of things to do, but that would be lying. The real reason I haven't posted in awhile is that I haven't really been doing anything. Well that's not entirely true, I got my new toy last week.
That's right everyone, I'm finally on MY bike. We picked her up last Friday, and boy was she a beauty. I have had a few nice bikes on my day, the nicest being a De Rosa King, but I think this one may rival that. We picked her up from the LBS (local bike shop for those of not in-the-know) where they don't take any credit cards, can you believe that? I needed a few extra things, like a saddle bag which clips straight to my saddle, and a frame pump just in case the worst happens. Anyway, I fell in love with the frame at that moment. Sadly we have a strict rule about working on bikes after dinner, so I had to wait until Saturday to build her.
That next morning, I had intended on doing my recovery ride on the loner. I was planning on spending the rest of the day working on the Kuota, but I needed the steer tube cut down before the mechanic took off for the UCI 1.2 that afternoon. I asked him to assist me in this endevour before they left and sure enough it was done in no time, the only bad thing is when you start to build a new toy, you usually can't stop until you can ride it....... It was at that point that a steer tube turned into a BB, and you can't have a BB without a crankset, and heaven forbid you leave the front derailleur off now that you've made it that far, and, well I'm sure you get the picture. I spent 6 hours building this thing perfectly, Frank you'd be proud.
My first ride was only an hour and a half, and I wasn't really ready for the ride on this particular machine. It is probably the stiffest bike I have ever ridden, not bad, but I definately feel every bump on my bruised rib. I got home though and I was hooked. No complaints for this being a racers bike.
The next day was a rest day, not touching the bike, so I sadly had to stare at her hanging in the garage all lonely. I didn't spend that much time crying though, as Ronde va Vlandaaran was playing. We had intended on going to the start, it's only 20 minutes by bus, but that fell through. The race start was at 0945, and I didn't get breakfast until 0800, and then no one wanted to go with me. I had to settle for the projected image on our wall. I know it's so depressing to be able to watch these bike races live on national TV, in 3 different languages I might add. It's so hard, I think I'm going to shed a tear. Other than that though, I did nothing for the day.
Today I got to actually train on the bike. A friend and I did a 3 hour ride with 30 sec sprints every 15 minutes, or thereabouts. We mostly attacked each other at loosly 15 minutes forcing the other person to react. We both won an equal amount of sprints. I am quite a bit fast than he is, but he has knowledge of the road so he can catch me off guard sometimes. It really helped building my reaction time, my sprint needs a bit more work, I'm not happy yet. I maxed out at 1166 watts, and at 60 kilos (my weight) that translates into just shy of 20:1, I want it to be 22:1 which means I need another 200 watts. I can get it, but it'll take time. I shattered my previous records for peak power levels, my 5 sec is now at 1066, and my 30 sec is 734. Not too shabby for a tiny guy! BTW, that bike handles awesome, nice and stiff when I need it transfer power, and nice and compliant over the cobbles, that's right I did cobbles today, only one stretch near the house, but I'm still going to brag.
In the next few weeks I'm planning on hitting the climbs of Vlandaaran, you can curse me out later Frank. Until then, ciao.
That's right everyone, I'm finally on MY bike. We picked her up last Friday, and boy was she a beauty. I have had a few nice bikes on my day, the nicest being a De Rosa King, but I think this one may rival that. We picked her up from the LBS (local bike shop for those of not in-the-know) where they don't take any credit cards, can you believe that? I needed a few extra things, like a saddle bag which clips straight to my saddle, and a frame pump just in case the worst happens. Anyway, I fell in love with the frame at that moment. Sadly we have a strict rule about working on bikes after dinner, so I had to wait until Saturday to build her.
That next morning, I had intended on doing my recovery ride on the loner. I was planning on spending the rest of the day working on the Kuota, but I needed the steer tube cut down before the mechanic took off for the UCI 1.2 that afternoon. I asked him to assist me in this endevour before they left and sure enough it was done in no time, the only bad thing is when you start to build a new toy, you usually can't stop until you can ride it....... It was at that point that a steer tube turned into a BB, and you can't have a BB without a crankset, and heaven forbid you leave the front derailleur off now that you've made it that far, and, well I'm sure you get the picture. I spent 6 hours building this thing perfectly, Frank you'd be proud.
My first ride was only an hour and a half, and I wasn't really ready for the ride on this particular machine. It is probably the stiffest bike I have ever ridden, not bad, but I definately feel every bump on my bruised rib. I got home though and I was hooked. No complaints for this being a racers bike.
The next day was a rest day, not touching the bike, so I sadly had to stare at her hanging in the garage all lonely. I didn't spend that much time crying though, as Ronde va Vlandaaran was playing. We had intended on going to the start, it's only 20 minutes by bus, but that fell through. The race start was at 0945, and I didn't get breakfast until 0800, and then no one wanted to go with me. I had to settle for the projected image on our wall. I know it's so depressing to be able to watch these bike races live on national TV, in 3 different languages I might add. It's so hard, I think I'm going to shed a tear. Other than that though, I did nothing for the day.
Today I got to actually train on the bike. A friend and I did a 3 hour ride with 30 sec sprints every 15 minutes, or thereabouts. We mostly attacked each other at loosly 15 minutes forcing the other person to react. We both won an equal amount of sprints. I am quite a bit fast than he is, but he has knowledge of the road so he can catch me off guard sometimes. It really helped building my reaction time, my sprint needs a bit more work, I'm not happy yet. I maxed out at 1166 watts, and at 60 kilos (my weight) that translates into just shy of 20:1, I want it to be 22:1 which means I need another 200 watts. I can get it, but it'll take time. I shattered my previous records for peak power levels, my 5 sec is now at 1066, and my 30 sec is 734. Not too shabby for a tiny guy! BTW, that bike handles awesome, nice and stiff when I need it transfer power, and nice and compliant over the cobbles, that's right I did cobbles today, only one stretch near the house, but I'm still going to brag.
In the next few weeks I'm planning on hitting the climbs of Vlandaaran, you can curse me out later Frank. Until then, ciao.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Every Cloud...
Just when I was having a bad day, things start to look up. I got an email from the DS of the Combined Armed Forces team, looks like I'll be racing for them after I return. I got to talk to Debra and she's going to get my category upgrade done for me. I get to do Nationals this year!!
Her and I will talk more at the race in a few months, and of course we'll be emailing back and forth quite a bit.
Today wasn't too bad. I was able to do 3 hours with the team, doing some drills. We did echelon drills into the wind. It's been a long time since I did that kind of practice and I'm afraid I wasn't the best at it. I need to work more, I know that, I also need to work on just being comfortable riding with handlebars touching, knees, elbows, etc. In a race I can do that, it's all part of racing, but in training it's harder sometimes. I find myself thinking too hard, and I get stiff on the bike. That's the opposite thing that needs to happen. It'll take practice, but I can do it. It's just a matter of doing it over and over.
Not much to write about today. I'll have more in the next couple of days.
Her and I will talk more at the race in a few months, and of course we'll be emailing back and forth quite a bit.
Today wasn't too bad. I was able to do 3 hours with the team, doing some drills. We did echelon drills into the wind. It's been a long time since I did that kind of practice and I'm afraid I wasn't the best at it. I need to work more, I know that, I also need to work on just being comfortable riding with handlebars touching, knees, elbows, etc. In a race I can do that, it's all part of racing, but in training it's harder sometimes. I find myself thinking too hard, and I get stiff on the bike. That's the opposite thing that needs to happen. It'll take practice, but I can do it. It's just a matter of doing it over and over.
Not much to write about today. I'll have more in the next couple of days.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Ah, The Smell of Skin on Pavement
My goal didn't get accomplished, not by lack of energy or anything else. I crashed out on the second lap. This race was a bit scetchier, there was a lot of hard braking today, not loke normal. The last race was very go, go, go; this one was very relax, hit the brakes, sprint, hit the brakes. The one that did me on was after the corner on the second lap.
The course was a triangle shape. There was a long 2 km straight with a head/cross wind, then a right hand turn to a tail wind section with gutters on both sides of the roads, thurn three took you onto an open town road with a couple of speed bumps and a few sections of bricks, then onto turn 3-4 (which were really 1 and a half turns) which spit you back out onto the straight for the finish line.
The pace wasn't that bad starting out, quite a bit slower than I thought. My HR was sitting comfortably at 150, and I wasn't having to work too hard. I was just starting to move up toward the front, weaving my way through the peloton. We hit the corner, slowed, then took off again. We sprinted for 10 seconds then steadied, and I started to sneak back through again when someone slammed on the breaks. At that point I don't remember a whole lot, I saw a mass of bikes coming at me the wrong way and then a wave behind me choking me out. I don't know I caused it by getting tangled with a guy (his scewer went in to my spokes) or the wave behind me, but we all went down. There were about 12 of us down. All I could think about was getting my bottles and getting back on the bike. I tried so hard to chase, I could see the chase car, but it kept creeping away. I tried to incorporate a couple of riders into my chase, and I exhausted one guy, then I was working on killing another, but they pulled me out.
The rest of the day, 2 and a half hours worth, I spent rolling around the area. I needed to get more training in , and I didn't want to be near the race because I would just get angry that I wasn't there. I went and explored the Brugge area by bike. I rode a canal road, around the city center area, and then I did laps around the area. Nothing hard, nice and easy nothing over 140 bpm. That's how we train here. I just wanted to race today, that's all.
The team didn't do anything spectacular today. The race actually finished in a group sprint, very uncommon for kermeses, I hear. Out of 9 guys only 2 didn't finish, and one wasn't because they quit. So all in all not a bad day, not a great day either, but not bad. The next goal is to put someone on the podium, very doable if we can pull our heads out and race.
Tomorrow will probably be a spin for a few hours type of day. I need to make sure my legs don't get too stiff, I already feel pretty beaten up. I have some road rash on my arms, my right hip, my left elbow is bruised up, and my rib is bruised (I think someone hit me there). I just feel like I got into a fight with the road and lost. At least nothing is broken and the bike is in one piece. I need to true the front wheel, but nothing is in several pieces. Now my quota for crashes has been fulfilled for the season, no more crashes for this kid.
It's time for bed, so I'll write about my trip to Brugge tomorrow.
The course was a triangle shape. There was a long 2 km straight with a head/cross wind, then a right hand turn to a tail wind section with gutters on both sides of the roads, thurn three took you onto an open town road with a couple of speed bumps and a few sections of bricks, then onto turn 3-4 (which were really 1 and a half turns) which spit you back out onto the straight for the finish line.
The pace wasn't that bad starting out, quite a bit slower than I thought. My HR was sitting comfortably at 150, and I wasn't having to work too hard. I was just starting to move up toward the front, weaving my way through the peloton. We hit the corner, slowed, then took off again. We sprinted for 10 seconds then steadied, and I started to sneak back through again when someone slammed on the breaks. At that point I don't remember a whole lot, I saw a mass of bikes coming at me the wrong way and then a wave behind me choking me out. I don't know I caused it by getting tangled with a guy (his scewer went in to my spokes) or the wave behind me, but we all went down. There were about 12 of us down. All I could think about was getting my bottles and getting back on the bike. I tried so hard to chase, I could see the chase car, but it kept creeping away. I tried to incorporate a couple of riders into my chase, and I exhausted one guy, then I was working on killing another, but they pulled me out.
The rest of the day, 2 and a half hours worth, I spent rolling around the area. I needed to get more training in , and I didn't want to be near the race because I would just get angry that I wasn't there. I went and explored the Brugge area by bike. I rode a canal road, around the city center area, and then I did laps around the area. Nothing hard, nice and easy nothing over 140 bpm. That's how we train here. I just wanted to race today, that's all.
The team didn't do anything spectacular today. The race actually finished in a group sprint, very uncommon for kermeses, I hear. Out of 9 guys only 2 didn't finish, and one wasn't because they quit. So all in all not a bad day, not a great day either, but not bad. The next goal is to put someone on the podium, very doable if we can pull our heads out and race.
Tomorrow will probably be a spin for a few hours type of day. I need to make sure my legs don't get too stiff, I already feel pretty beaten up. I have some road rash on my arms, my right hip, my left elbow is bruised up, and my rib is bruised (I think someone hit me there). I just feel like I got into a fight with the road and lost. At least nothing is broken and the bike is in one piece. I need to true the front wheel, but nothing is in several pieces. Now my quota for crashes has been fulfilled for the season, no more crashes for this kid.
It's time for bed, so I'll write about my trip to Brugge tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Prerace day
Tomorrow is another race day, it's so cool to get the chance to do a midweek race. I haven't been able to do that since I lived in Utah. This one is the same as all the others though, 115 - 140 km, and windy. The goal, once again, is to finish the race. We have 8 guys going including me, so we have a formidable team showing up. That is both a good thing and a bad thing. Being the Americans we are targeted from the gun. Our uniforms are stars and stripes, so we stick out like a sore thumb, and because we are showing up en mass that just multiplies that problem. It'll be fun though.
The course is a 4 corner race with a roundabout, a couple of speed humps, and a few cobble spots, and don't forget the wind. The goal for me for this race is to stay hidden, don't go with anything if I don't have to, and finish the race. It sounds like an easy thing but as I saw Sunday it's not like home. I know I can do it, I just need to race smart and not use my energy where I don't have to. It's all about staying hidden for me.
Today, as a pre race day, we did 3 hours easy pace. Mixed in a few sprints for fun with the guys. Nothing too hard, and we always recovered completely from each effort. I really just needed to hit the ATM for some cash and that was kind of an afterthought. We did that on the way home, except that the ATM isn't on the way. It's more like a half hour out of the way. It's no big deal, just how things are.
Today I also had to get my race food together. I tried the rice cakes from the bakery last time, and while they were good, they weren't exactly what I needed for a race. This time I'm making my own. As this is my first time doing this I kept it simple, just a cup a flour, a cup of rice, 2 eggs, half a cup of applesauce, some honey, peanut butter, bananas, and jam. We'll see how they turn out. The bars will have everything I need for a race in them, so even if they taste terrible at least they are good for me. Who knows, maybe I'll find something that really works and then market it? I'm just determined not to cramp again at this race like I did Sunday, so I'm pounding water and eating right.
The Navigators are doing '3 Days of De Panne' so the house is empty without them around. Last night as the mechanics were getting everything ready they had Colnago after Colnago lined up, race bikes, TT bikes, spare bikes, and wheels 15 deep (Boras I might add). I thought about getting a picture, but I thought the better of it. I don't want to make everyone (including me) cry when they crash. Definately a lot of money involved.
Well the race is on TV and I need to check on my cakes so I'll wrap this up. I'll repost tomorrow with details about the race, as well as a few details about my rest day in Brugge (yes I did the tourist thing for a day).
The course is a 4 corner race with a roundabout, a couple of speed humps, and a few cobble spots, and don't forget the wind. The goal for me for this race is to stay hidden, don't go with anything if I don't have to, and finish the race. It sounds like an easy thing but as I saw Sunday it's not like home. I know I can do it, I just need to race smart and not use my energy where I don't have to. It's all about staying hidden for me.
Today, as a pre race day, we did 3 hours easy pace. Mixed in a few sprints for fun with the guys. Nothing too hard, and we always recovered completely from each effort. I really just needed to hit the ATM for some cash and that was kind of an afterthought. We did that on the way home, except that the ATM isn't on the way. It's more like a half hour out of the way. It's no big deal, just how things are.
Today I also had to get my race food together. I tried the rice cakes from the bakery last time, and while they were good, they weren't exactly what I needed for a race. This time I'm making my own. As this is my first time doing this I kept it simple, just a cup a flour, a cup of rice, 2 eggs, half a cup of applesauce, some honey, peanut butter, bananas, and jam. We'll see how they turn out. The bars will have everything I need for a race in them, so even if they taste terrible at least they are good for me. Who knows, maybe I'll find something that really works and then market it? I'm just determined not to cramp again at this race like I did Sunday, so I'm pounding water and eating right.
The Navigators are doing '3 Days of De Panne' so the house is empty without them around. Last night as the mechanics were getting everything ready they had Colnago after Colnago lined up, race bikes, TT bikes, spare bikes, and wheels 15 deep (Boras I might add). I thought about getting a picture, but I thought the better of it. I don't want to make everyone (including me) cry when they crash. Definately a lot of money involved.
Well the race is on TV and I need to check on my cakes so I'll wrap this up. I'll repost tomorrow with details about the race, as well as a few details about my rest day in Brugge (yes I did the tourist thing for a day).
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Race Day, the first of many
Well it's getting late, and I'm just getting to this post!
We, a teammate and I, rolled to the race (that's right it was close enough to ride to!!) about 2 hours prior to the start. Lucily we gave ourselves plenty of time as a 15km preride turned into a 43 km preride, not too bad though nice little warmup. I was warned about the starts, that they are all out from the gun, so get a good line position. I thought I had one, right at the line, but I realize now the line is more of a guideline than a rule. I started closer to the back than to the front, not good.
The start was a little disappointing, yeah they went hard, but it wasn't like a full on sprint, more like a crit start. The race felt a lot like a crit too, the way everything moved, but the biggest difference was that it's 2xs longer than a crit, so imagine the amout of intensity required to do a crit and double that, and it never really lets up. Whenever I got to sneak a peak at my HR it was in the red (196, 187, 182 etc.). The lowest I EVER saw it drop was 166, and that was when I was eating and losing position at the front for a short while.
I did get to show my hand a bit, the break that stuck took off on lap 3, like I expected it to, and I wasn't in any position to go with it. When a guy tried to bridge, I was in position for that, I just wasn't ready for him to attack me when we were half way to the goal. Because of that I gave up that effort, but not before being in no man's land for a half lap not getting anywhere. After that I needed to recover so I moved to the middle and tried to relax. Not much of that happening, let me tell you. There were more than a few times I thought my heart jumped into my throat, I wanted to puke so bad. I did everything I could to stay with it, I dug as many times as I could, but after 10 laps of 15 I was cooked. I had to pull out, I just couldn't physically go that hard again. I tried so hard to dig one last time, and my brain was yelling at me body, but my legs just said "No".
Even though I didn't finish the race, it wasn't a complete failure. The race director was please with my efforts, and that I could fight my way to the front and hold my position. He said that he's seen guys get popped of at lap 2, lap 3, but to make it through more than half on you first Euro race, that's very good. So maybe I'll have a chance after all.
I definately learned my lesson about position. I've always known to stay at the front and those that have raced with me know that's where I like to be, but here it's of even greater importance to get up there and stay up there. These guys have the hardest time with corners, when I was on the front I would rail through the corners, and get a gap pretty quick, but when I was in the group, the euros are all over their breaks into the turn, then they drop the hammer out of them. Nothing new for NC crit racers, but different.
They town it was in Wajdaam, was pretty cool. The whole town, it seemed, came out to watch this local race. We had people selling seating on their front lawn!! Racing was cheap, it cost 8 Euros to enter, and when you turn your number in you get 5 back, so it really only cost 3 Euros. They had a awesome smelling bbq, with brats and beer, but of course, I can't partake right now. That smell was killing me every lap we went through there, I was just thinking about how good those brats probably were. The only real frustrating thing was that the race was all in dutch, not french, so I couldn't understand a word. I had no idea how many laps remained or how many were up the road. Guess I'm going to have to learn dutch just to know what's going on in the race.
Ok, well I need to go to bed. It's almost 10pm here and I'm awfully sleepy. Tomorrow is another day of living the dream!
BTW, I didn't see any faux-hawks, but I did see a handful of mullets. I'll look for the hawks next time Jonathan.
Also I'm trying to figure out how to put pics up, as soon as I figure it out I'll let everyone know.
We, a teammate and I, rolled to the race (that's right it was close enough to ride to!!) about 2 hours prior to the start. Lucily we gave ourselves plenty of time as a 15km preride turned into a 43 km preride, not too bad though nice little warmup. I was warned about the starts, that they are all out from the gun, so get a good line position. I thought I had one, right at the line, but I realize now the line is more of a guideline than a rule. I started closer to the back than to the front, not good.
The start was a little disappointing, yeah they went hard, but it wasn't like a full on sprint, more like a crit start. The race felt a lot like a crit too, the way everything moved, but the biggest difference was that it's 2xs longer than a crit, so imagine the amout of intensity required to do a crit and double that, and it never really lets up. Whenever I got to sneak a peak at my HR it was in the red (196, 187, 182 etc.). The lowest I EVER saw it drop was 166, and that was when I was eating and losing position at the front for a short while.
I did get to show my hand a bit, the break that stuck took off on lap 3, like I expected it to, and I wasn't in any position to go with it. When a guy tried to bridge, I was in position for that, I just wasn't ready for him to attack me when we were half way to the goal. Because of that I gave up that effort, but not before being in no man's land for a half lap not getting anywhere. After that I needed to recover so I moved to the middle and tried to relax. Not much of that happening, let me tell you. There were more than a few times I thought my heart jumped into my throat, I wanted to puke so bad. I did everything I could to stay with it, I dug as many times as I could, but after 10 laps of 15 I was cooked. I had to pull out, I just couldn't physically go that hard again. I tried so hard to dig one last time, and my brain was yelling at me body, but my legs just said "No".
Even though I didn't finish the race, it wasn't a complete failure. The race director was please with my efforts, and that I could fight my way to the front and hold my position. He said that he's seen guys get popped of at lap 2, lap 3, but to make it through more than half on you first Euro race, that's very good. So maybe I'll have a chance after all.
I definately learned my lesson about position. I've always known to stay at the front and those that have raced with me know that's where I like to be, but here it's of even greater importance to get up there and stay up there. These guys have the hardest time with corners, when I was on the front I would rail through the corners, and get a gap pretty quick, but when I was in the group, the euros are all over their breaks into the turn, then they drop the hammer out of them. Nothing new for NC crit racers, but different.
They town it was in Wajdaam, was pretty cool. The whole town, it seemed, came out to watch this local race. We had people selling seating on their front lawn!! Racing was cheap, it cost 8 Euros to enter, and when you turn your number in you get 5 back, so it really only cost 3 Euros. They had a awesome smelling bbq, with brats and beer, but of course, I can't partake right now. That smell was killing me every lap we went through there, I was just thinking about how good those brats probably were. The only real frustrating thing was that the race was all in dutch, not french, so I couldn't understand a word. I had no idea how many laps remained or how many were up the road. Guess I'm going to have to learn dutch just to know what's going on in the race.
Ok, well I need to go to bed. It's almost 10pm here and I'm awfully sleepy. Tomorrow is another day of living the dream!
BTW, I didn't see any faux-hawks, but I did see a handful of mullets. I'll look for the hawks next time Jonathan.
Also I'm trying to figure out how to put pics up, as soon as I figure it out I'll let everyone know.
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