Restart and Rebuild

So I just finished a ride on the trainer and went to input my ride data into an online training log that I've been using for years.  On a whim I decided to click on the link that displays the entire months ride data on a calendar.  Much to my horror I was confronted with the fact that today(the 23rd of December) was only my 8th ride this month.  Following this I selected the link to display the previous months information and saw that I only rode 11 time the entire month on November.  On the positive side of things I have been running so at least I've been staying active but with riding this little I am having a real identity crisis.  I pride myself on riding long and often but life and holidays and cold weather have been getting in the way.  I guess it's time to start rebuilding now.  Oh what fun it is to ride.......................

What a year!

2010 has been quite a year for biking.  I've done a ton or racing but my blogging about the races and bike maintenance have really suffered.  I started racing in January because I was trying to get in a race every month.  Everything was going according to plan until I managed to wreck my car off of the road while traveling to the December race and my goal was cut short.  I work the rest of the weekends this month so I won't be making it to any unless a miracle occurs.  It has been a really good year.  Thanks to all who have helped it happen.

Murrysville CX

What a great weekend!  Not only did I get to do an awesome CX race but I also got to help build the course the day before and most importantly; I got to spend the weekend with the Maher family and go to Casey's 13th birthday party.  It was a great weekend that ended too soon.  It was great to be racing in western PA and see all of my old friends.

Cincy UCI#3 Friday

It was a beautiful day out.  Hot and dry!  It also happened to be my worst day in a race EVER.  I went into the race already knowing that I was out of my league.  It was a Cat 2/3 race and the only reason I was even a Cat3 was because I upgraded specifically for this weekend so I could have a better race time. It would allow me to be cleaned up and rested when the PRO race kicked off.  Then the race started; I had repeated asthma attacks the entire race.  I think it was breathing all of the dust that threw my lungs for a loop.  I ended up getting pulled just before I got lapped by the leader.  It was still a really good time and I enjoyed it.  Racing again tomorrow and Sunday.  Weather is looking like hotter than today and sunny.  Hopefully my lungs hold out.

Another early end to my season?

20 minutes into a relatively easy CX practice I decided to (try to) bunny hop a curb and ended up flipping over my handle bars.  At first it appeared nothing was wrong but that appearance soon ended when I remounted my bike and found I couldn't even hold my right shift lever without excruciating pain.  End of CX practice.
I packed up (with one hand) and drove home.  I immediately iced my hand and took some Motrin to try and control the swelling.  What really scared me was that the last time my hand felt like this was after I crashed in February and it continued to hurt until June:(  I talked with my Mom and she convinced me to go to the hospital to get checked out.  I was there and got and X-ray in no time at all. After some waiting for the doctor to read the X-ray I got the good(?) news, not broken.  I had no fractures but it was still killing me.  I was splinted and told to consult an orthopedic doctor if it didn't stop hurting in 5 days. 
My hand felt good in the splint because it was unable to make any of the movements that caused it pain.  It wasn't until hours later when I took the splint off to readjust it that I realized that my hand pain still hadn't gone down. 
This morning I took the splint off to check the swelling and readjust it again and was pleased to find the swelling had gone down quite a bit, most of the pain was gone except when grasping things and my range of motion had returned to normal. 
Hopefully after a week of resting it and using the splint I'll be ready to race next Sunday but only time will tell.

Nittany Lion 'Cross

120 people in a Cat4 CX race?  That's crazy!  I started 1/3 of the way back the pack so there really was no sprint from the line.  More like a steady roll out.  For the first 2 laps I was steadily picking off riders and improving my placing.  For the next 3 laps I pretty much held my position without passing or being passed.  In the middle of the final lap(in 15th place) I hit a large hole and my right shifter slid down the handlebar pulling my rear brake tight and making my bike unridable.  I ran almost half of the course to get to the pit and then grabbed my other bike and sprinted to the finish.  While running I fell from 15th to 33rd.  'CrossFail

Notice anything wrong with this picture?  NO GLOVES!  Ask Zach how that worked out for him?

Devil's Backbone 2010

It was an awesome event.  67 miles and 6700ft elevation gain on a mix of pavement dirt and gravel.  It was a lot of fun and the ice cream afterwords made it all worth it. Here are the results(if you care)

CX time? and 2011 Specialized S-Works Road Shoes

I got my new shoes from Specialized. I cracked my old ones in a wreck early in the season and by the time I realized it my size was sold out for the year. So I had to wait for the 2011 models and boy am I glad I did. I got the limited edition neon yellow and they are awesome.


Today I did my first cyclocross practice of the year(and ever). Of course as soon as someone said cyclocross our recent drought was broken and the rain let loose. It was good just to get out on the CX bike and ride around a park. I spent about an hour working on barriers. Much more work is needed but not all in one day.
My new bike was pretty nice also. I really like Sram for CX use. Just in case you were wondering. I designed the paint job on my new bike and did the prep work. Stevie B. did the actual painting. I think it looks pretty good so far. Still needs decals of some kind.

Friday Night at the Track: 25 mile TT

I put in a 57:59 at the 25 mile TT at the Washington Bvld. Track. Normally this would be nothing special but I did it Mercx style. It wasn't a record or anything like that but I was proud of it considering my road position looks kind of like a sail boat.

P-Town Time Trial

Bad roads and bad luck
The bad luck started early when I was on my way to the start line and fell over because I couldn't get unclipped from left pedal. I managed to scratch my bike in two places and scratch my crankset also. Bad Roads- Next the race started and everything seemed to be going well enough except the roads were terrible. People talk about the bad road conditions of western PA but they've got nothing on Delaware. These roads were graded, had pot holes and we must have crossed 6 sets of train tracks. Which brings me back to the bad luck. About 12 minutes into the race I came up to one of the many railroad crossings with a stopped train sitting there. We waited there while a group of 15 riders or so congregated. Then it was a mass start for the second part of the time trial. I just continued to ride hard and put down the best ride I could and see what happened. The USAC officials had no way of knowing who waited at the train or for how long so they just gave everyone their real times. I ended up finishing the flat time trial in 38 minutes and some seconds at 23.?? mph. Looking at the results I'd have to call that a very poor effort. I really don't know who to blame for all of this nor do I really want to blame anyone. I just feel that all of this could have been avoided with better planning. From picking more well maintained roads with less railroad crossings to finding the train schedule and planning accordingly(I'm told they did this and the railroad was going to hold this train until later in the day). Oh well, now I have a reason to never go back to Delaware(as if I needed a reason).

Friday Night at the Track 15 mile TT

Lots of pictures, not much content

Weekend in the dirt

Saturday MTB Race
Richie and I showed up at Yellow Creek Saturday morning. It was just about perfect weather for a race. Sunny and temps in the 70s. The race started of at a good pace and things seemed to be going well. About 2 miles in I had a bobble and 5 guys came past me(including Richie). I worked the rest of the race to pull them back. For a while I was stuck behind a 3 man group because I can barely ride a Mt bike let alone pass on single track. Eventually I got to a short uphill double track section and I made the pass and continued in that position for the rest of the race. It was a fun day to play in the dirt. I ended up in 14th place and Richie was just in front of me finishing in 12th place.
Sunday at Raystown
Early on Sunday morning I set out of the trails at Raystown lake. Originally I had planned to ride all 32miles of trail but had to cut my ride in half because I needed to get home. These trails are a blast to ride even though they are not challenging in any way. There are no climbs to speak of just lots of short ups and downs. The trails are sorted like ski trails from blue rectangles to black diamonds. The only real difference in the difficulty lever is the amount of elevation change. Definitely worth the trip but it may only be a one time experience.

Summer Presque Isle TT

It was a really nice day. I had stone legs. Finished 3rd. Not much else to say. It was good to see everyone out that day.

2010 PA State TT Championship

Steve M. and Henry came over today for the race.

I did my best and my best wasn't good enough.

It's hard to look at average power on a up and down course like the one at Clark's Valley because the course rarely allows you any time at one specific power before you have to change completely. Knowing this I just rode as fast as I thought I could sustain for the duration. In the end I was extremely happy to lower my PR for the course by roughly 45 seconds. Unfortunately it was only good enough for second place.

Philadelphia Amateur TT

It was a short 8 mile, flat, out and back TT. Ever so slightly up hill on the way out but with a small head wind on the way back made both ways about even. I extended my trainer warm up from 20 minutes to 30 minutes and really felt good. The weather was beautiful and a perfect day to put down a fast time.
I started out fast putting out alot of effort but I felt good. At the turn around my average power was at a new high but I was still feeling really good so thought I might just be able to hang on to the end. I was OK until about 6.5 miles and then the pain in my legs really started. The last 1.5 miles were agony and afterwords I felt like vomiting for the next hour so I knew I put out my hardest effort.
I ended up losing Cat 3 by 15 seconds. I take solice in knowing that my training is going well and I'm hoping to peak in 2 weeks. I hit a new high for average power and found that a longer warm up may benefit me. All seems to be On schedule.
As for Steve...............................He told me that he dropped his chain at the start line and then got some early cyclocross practice when he put his chain back on and got a running mount on his TT bike. As if that wasn't disappointing enough the timers lost Steve's time. After his name wasn't listed in the finish sheet he asked them about it. They told him they didn't have a time recorded for his number. Then moments later a new time for his number appeared on the finish sheet but it was far slower (15-25%) than Steve's actual time that he had recorded on his Garmin bike computer.
On a positive note 2nd place in Cat 3 was good for $50 so we got to stop to eat on the way home and I had money for the turnpike(easy come, easy go)

Also, this was my first race that I got to travel to in my new Honda Fit. It was great and super easy to load. Unfortunately once fully loaded with gear, trainers 3 people, a canopy, and 2 TT bikes on the back the gas mileage for the trip dropped from the 35mpg that I was getting to only 27mpg for the this trip:(

Carlisle TT

Mike, Steve B. and I showed up to race in Carlisle on Sunday. Mike opted for the 20k option while Steve and I went for the 40k.

Mike was trying to show us how real men race and arrived at the start line on his road bike with clip-on aerobars. He really threw down and even with his minimalist aero setup finished with a time of 30:50

Steve and I did the 40k. Steve did his first sub 1hour 40k and finished in 58:12.

I ended up with a 54:05. Not a PR by a long shot but on an imperfect day I'll take it. It was warm and really humid. Not a "fast" day but at least it wasn't cold.

Next up for Mike and I was the South Mountain hill climb. Steve had to go home to do homework and continue on with "Real Life". The hill climb is where I think I really messed up. We started out at a really comfortable pace and I was sitting 4th in line and I believe Mike was on my wheel. After the first, flat 2 miles of the race we hit the climb and as soon as we did Mike dropped his chain. He was able to sprint back on but that effort was too much and caused him to fall back from there. I was still in the front group of 5 and going at a steady and comfortable pace. We continued like this for about 20 minutes of the race until the group surged. I didn't stay with the group because I was worried that my TT effort earlier in the day might cause me to crack in spectacular fashion if I tried to match their pace. So I setteled into my own rhythm and continued on. I eventually caught one of the 4 riders who rode away from me earlier.
I think if I had pushed the pace of the original group of 5 to where I was more comfortable then they may have not been able to surge and I may have fared better. Also, I didn't realize how close to the finish we were when I decided to go into conservation mode. I think I may have been able to stay with them if I had and then who knows how a sprint might have worked out. I guess we will never know. One thing that I do know is that I messed up and missed an opportunity. Oh well, live and learn.

Spring 2010 Presque Isle TT

If a picture is worth a thousand words than this post says alot. I'll try to get some kind of race report up in the next day or two. Until then enjoy these.

NJ Rte 29 35k ITT

Sunday was a supremely nice day for a TT. It started really early (@3:45am) for the 3 hour drive to NJ. I was the driver for the first part of the trip but I had my sister, Lisa, take over the driving for the last 30 minutes so I could catch a power nap. We were at the race with plenty of time for me to spend goofing off beforehand because Steve's start time was an hour before mine. This worked out nicely because I was able to spend some time talking to Skip R. about his RR DQ from the day before.

Steve got his required looooooong warm up completed with plenty of time to spare and then commenced to crush the dreams of many of the Cat4s who showed up at the race.

I started off fast but I was able to limit my first few minutes and avoided spiking my power output to try and save something for end of the race. I ended up setting new high points for power and beat my time from last year at this event. This shows me that things are well on track for the race in Erie (at least that's what I think it means)

I ended up 1st Cat3 and 2nd Overall. I really got destroyed by the guy who one:) Oh well, better luck next time.

Dismal Dash 2010

Steve and I went to Suffolk, VA today to do the Dismal Dash 40k ITT. It was my first race with a power meter so I was looking forward to seeing if it would help or hinder me. It was an eye opening experience to say the least.
Steve went off first (on his brand new TT bike which will not have it's official unveiling until the Presque Isle TT in April). He was set to start over 1 hour ahead of me so I didn't even have to start getting ready until he took off. He was lucky to ride earlier because the conditions got worse as the day went on. He made it to the finish just as I was lining up for my start.
I started as usual trying not to go out too hard at the beginning to avoid blowing up before the finish. The Power Meter(PM) really helped here so that I limited my power output during the first few minutes of the event. There was a head wind on the way out to the turn around so my goal was to hammer the first half of the course and then try to limp home for the return trip with the wind at my back. With the help of my PM I did just that but I ended up hammering the first half just a little too hard which caused me to limp just a little too much on the return trip. I ended up having a full on asthma attack at the 35 minute mark, just after the turn around. After the asthma attack was subsiding just a bit the inside of my thighs started to get that twinge. You know the one I'm talking about, the one right on the verge of cramping. I was able to spin lightly for a few minutes and it eventually passed. I ended up wheezing the whole way through the finish line until I could get my inhaler.

Steve ended up finishing 5th in his first race as a Cat4 only two days after his upgrade and even more impressive is that he was riding a bike that he has only had since early this week.
I ended up finishing 5th overall and 2nd Cat2. Not too bad for the first race of the season. I can tell I definitely need to get some linger TT rides in outside now that we have some nice weather. I could really feel it on the return trip (the asthma and cramping problems didn't help too much either). I'm really looking forward to dissecting my performance looking at the power file later tonight.

Race for Humanity Road Race

I did my first road race of the season today (part of it anyway). It was scheduled for 68 miles but I only made it 7.5. This is the point that I wrecked while going downhill at somewhere close to 30mph. I'm kinda messed up as is my bike. Tomorrow is a planned day off the bike for a trip to Busch Gardens Tampa but I promise I'll be back riding on Monday. The good news is I was hanging in pretty well in the men's combined Pro/1/2/3 field before my crash. This is odd for me since usually during road races I attack off the back soon after the race begins. So I did manage to fine some encouragement in this mess.

AG3R Winter training camp in Florida

So I guess it's just me but that's still the name I'm gonna stick with. I got here yesterday evening and didn't do anything but go to sleep. Today was spent eating pancakes (all you can eat from IHOP), shopping for a new car (to make it easier to get me and my gear to and from races) and going for a short ride in the warm and sunny weather that Southern Florida has to offer.