toona: well I finished everyday and even made the split on blueknob, but still got essentially last place because I got no points and then tied for last with everybody else who didnt get points. Lame.
Zoar RR:
Wow what a course. Rolling hills, trees scenery picnics. Awesome. There was even a little kid on the course dressed up as the devil guy who ran along with us when we passed. 2 hills, one was kind of steep, but couldnt really separate stuff too much. It was an attacker's course, hard enough that somebody could stay away if they went.
First lap there were a few moves and I went with one and then THE move went and I bridged up with Jake . Jake dropped his chain, and left us a group of 7. It was kind of lame cause I think every team was in the break, so then the field just sits up or whatever. So we drove the break and eventually got a 2 minute gap. I did my token attacks on the big hill, but of course couldnt stick it because there was a 1/2 mile descent right after the hill.
Last lap I managed to get 20 seconds or so over the top, and only 4 others were able to come back up to me, which put me in the money. sweet. Crap part of the race was when we caught the 4 field WHILE WE WERE FINISHING and had about 2 feet to sprint, meaning the leadout order was the finish order. I got 3rd. I maybe would have done worse had the 5 of us had a field sprint, but it would have been better than sitting behind the winner across the line not being able to even be able to TRY to come around him.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
multiple stages of screwing up. owasco.
Friday: First massage I have ever gotten. I didnt realize how much there was to this. I mean, what do I wear? How do I get undressed. What if she goes for the release? So I get there and figure she will tell me what to do and she just says "get comfortable".. What the hell does that mean? So I just laid on the table above the sheets in my underwear. I had a clean pair that dont have giant holes (for those of you not in the know, "cheap" boxer briefs are up around 2.50-3.00 a pair).. Well it felt good regardless of me not knowing the formalities.
We packed up the car with all of our junk and set of. 5.5 hours. Mike Stubna is the first person I have ever seen haggle at a sbarro on highway and get 5 bucks off his meal. "that is too much I cant pay that much"... "ok is this better?"
Got to our host housing and hung with the dudes. Half of the team went to the "the crumbling of Mt Holly" for the weekend and half went to NY.
Sat:Pouring rain. Pancakes and an "Americano" at Wegmans grocery store.
Lets just say that I am so good at time trialing that I had to show up over a minute late to even the score some. Ok real story, im a pussy and didnt want to get wet, so I put of leaving the house as long as I could and got lost along the way. Im a douchebag. Pouring rain, couldnt see, went slow despite massive aero gear.
It cleared up for the circuit race. 21 miles. Brutal 21 miles. Sprints along the way, 1 field split. I managed to hang on for dear life pushing my 50x12. Spinning anybody? Last lap I gave a half hearted attack after the climb and got a good spot for the leadout. We rivaled the Rite Aid train some and managed to get Geronimo a good spot in the sprint, but he was blocked and got a bitter sweet 3rd. He thought he could win, but was happy with a podium spot.
Sunday: went with the percolator. Giant bowl of raw oats. Stubna bought soy milk and blueberries. sweet. Bagel and Peanutbutter too!!!
Brutal road race. Walters vs. Bell from rite aid battle for the yellow. Me sitting in 25th 5 minutes down on GC. I liked the ohio stage race better with a 4 mile TT where I only lost 40 seconds! 2nd KOM field split into 3 or 4 groups and rite aid chased down the yellow jersey. Stubna and I aided some. Geronimo said they were getting some flack for not helping chase our group but was like "these guys work their butts off for us in crits all year, we want them to have their chance." Yeah, sitting dead last holding on for dear life with my eyes crossed really helped them a bunch I bet. haha. When the got to us, they chased the 2 man group up the road really hard, hoping to bring it back.
Anyway, when Walters went, I was supposed to go with him. Easier said than done. The start of the KOM was right after a sprint and I was way far back, I tried getting up to him and another guy on the climb, but couldnt. I stayed with that group and geronimo get 5th, winning the field. We caught a group of 3's with like 500 meters to go. I could have done better in the field sprint (up a hill) but I got boxed out by a bunch of cat 3's sprinting for 43rd or whatever.
Oh this was awesome, one of the 3's that got messed up in his spring raced for "organic athlete" and it says "go vegan" across his ass and all this. He is freaking out and trying to fight some dude after the race. Burn on bro, eat some tofu or something, but come on.
The way home Denny used his UCI chauffeurs license to get the "road warrior" discount at sbarro. All "professional drivers" get a discount. haha. awesome.
Props to : Zac Bell for chasing his heart out. Denny D for driving 11 hours to watch us and give us bottles. Stubna for yelling at me and buying soy milk and blueberries. Geronimo for sprinting with the sprinters and climbing with the climbers, then doing the full toona race. the rest of the team for actually being fun guys to eat and hangout with as well as racing with.
We packed up the car with all of our junk and set of. 5.5 hours. Mike Stubna is the first person I have ever seen haggle at a sbarro on highway and get 5 bucks off his meal. "that is too much I cant pay that much"... "ok is this better?"
Got to our host housing and hung with the dudes. Half of the team went to the "the crumbling of Mt Holly" for the weekend and half went to NY.
Sat:Pouring rain. Pancakes and an "Americano" at Wegmans grocery store.
Lets just say that I am so good at time trialing that I had to show up over a minute late to even the score some. Ok real story, im a pussy and didnt want to get wet, so I put of leaving the house as long as I could and got lost along the way. Im a douchebag. Pouring rain, couldnt see, went slow despite massive aero gear.
It cleared up for the circuit race. 21 miles. Brutal 21 miles. Sprints along the way, 1 field split. I managed to hang on for dear life pushing my 50x12. Spinning anybody? Last lap I gave a half hearted attack after the climb and got a good spot for the leadout. We rivaled the Rite Aid train some and managed to get Geronimo a good spot in the sprint, but he was blocked and got a bitter sweet 3rd. He thought he could win, but was happy with a podium spot.
Sunday: went with the percolator. Giant bowl of raw oats. Stubna bought soy milk and blueberries. sweet. Bagel and Peanutbutter too!!!
Brutal road race. Walters vs. Bell from rite aid battle for the yellow. Me sitting in 25th 5 minutes down on GC. I liked the ohio stage race better with a 4 mile TT where I only lost 40 seconds! 2nd KOM field split into 3 or 4 groups and rite aid chased down the yellow jersey. Stubna and I aided some. Geronimo said they were getting some flack for not helping chase our group but was like "these guys work their butts off for us in crits all year, we want them to have their chance." Yeah, sitting dead last holding on for dear life with my eyes crossed really helped them a bunch I bet. haha. When the got to us, they chased the 2 man group up the road really hard, hoping to bring it back.
Anyway, when Walters went, I was supposed to go with him. Easier said than done. The start of the KOM was right after a sprint and I was way far back, I tried getting up to him and another guy on the climb, but couldnt. I stayed with that group and geronimo get 5th, winning the field. We caught a group of 3's with like 500 meters to go. I could have done better in the field sprint (up a hill) but I got boxed out by a bunch of cat 3's sprinting for 43rd or whatever.
Oh this was awesome, one of the 3's that got messed up in his spring raced for "organic athlete" and it says "go vegan" across his ass and all this. He is freaking out and trying to fight some dude after the race. Burn on bro, eat some tofu or something, but come on.
The way home Denny used his UCI chauffeurs license to get the "road warrior" discount at sbarro. All "professional drivers" get a discount. haha. awesome.
Props to : Zac Bell for chasing his heart out. Denny D for driving 11 hours to watch us and give us bottles. Stubna for yelling at me and buying soy milk and blueberries. Geronimo for sprinting with the sprinters and climbing with the climbers, then doing the full toona race. the rest of the team for actually being fun guys to eat and hangout with as well as racing with.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Nationals
When people ask me if I am racing Nationals this year (which are an hour away from Pittsburgh) I say "Im either too young or too slow.".. meaning not a master and not a Cat 1. Today I wished I was 3 years younger while I sat in the COM car behind the race. Sweet position.
Observations:
The Nat Comm knew way more about bike racing than me, despite having never raced. One time up the climb, she said "why are they not climbing in the shade, the whole road is open?" ... and eventually they did.
A 140 man peloton is giant vortex of piss, garbage and bottles. When the field was mostly together, they were lucky to go 200 meters without a wrapper, bottle or urine spitting out of the group. I wonder why people dont want bike races in their neighborhoods?
That course is freaking brutal. My job was to write down the numbers of the riders as they got dropped. I wrote down like 120 numbers.
Standout performances so far: Bart Torre for trying to bridge the 6 (yes six) minute gap to the 3 leaders (winning move) and sitting around 2 minutes back for like 30 miles.
alvaro arnal 4th in the TT. gnarly.
Observations:
The Nat Comm knew way more about bike racing than me, despite having never raced. One time up the climb, she said "why are they not climbing in the shade, the whole road is open?" ... and eventually they did.
A 140 man peloton is giant vortex of piss, garbage and bottles. When the field was mostly together, they were lucky to go 200 meters without a wrapper, bottle or urine spitting out of the group. I wonder why people dont want bike races in their neighborhoods?
That course is freaking brutal. My job was to write down the numbers of the riders as they got dropped. I wrote down like 120 numbers.
Standout performances so far: Bart Torre for trying to bridge the 6 (yes six) minute gap to the 3 leaders (winning move) and sitting around 2 minutes back for like 30 miles.
alvaro arnal 4th in the TT. gnarly.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Raccoon Rally RR
Well I had 3 choices.
Do the Rochester Twilight Crit and not finish.
Do the Tour of Grandview and maybe not finish, or head to the Raccoon Rally and hope to do well. I took the easy road.
25 mile laps. 2 climbs of 3 -4 miles per climb each lap. Lots of climbing at around 4% or 5%.
There were some strong guys there from Ohio, NY and Canada.
After 1 lap our group was down to 12 people. Brian Batke from Team Torelli kept attacking on the 3rd climb, so Glenn just went to the front and did a 10 minute time trial up the hill. He kept the pace really high and drafting made it easier for people to hang on. The hills lacked the steep pitches that would hurt people enough to really pop them.
At the top of the climb, chris Ciaccio attacked pretty hard and I jumped on to go with him. We got a good gap and tried holding it on the descent. I suck at going fast so I think I was just slowing him down. He is a monster time trialist and was keeping the pace really high.
We got caught at the worst spot, right at the bottom of the last climb. Not sweet, cause it left little time to recover before going up. The attacks started pretty quickly and thankfully I had Glenn to go with them while I tried to recover some.
I managed to hang onto the lead group up the hill, and there were 6 of us when Glenn got a gap on the false flat at the top. He kept the pace high, allowing me to suck wheels for the next 8 miles while he managed to fend off the 4 others chasing him.
Of course he got caught with about 100 meters to go. I really thought he would stick it, but a few attacks within the chase group closed the gap a bit too much. I managed to come around the chasers for the win, and Glenn got 6th.
It was a good race and hopefully was good training for Nationals for Glenn, he looked crazy strong.
Do the Rochester Twilight Crit and not finish.
Do the Tour of Grandview and maybe not finish, or head to the Raccoon Rally and hope to do well. I took the easy road.
25 mile laps. 2 climbs of 3 -4 miles per climb each lap. Lots of climbing at around 4% or 5%.
There were some strong guys there from Ohio, NY and Canada.
After 1 lap our group was down to 12 people. Brian Batke from Team Torelli kept attacking on the 3rd climb, so Glenn just went to the front and did a 10 minute time trial up the hill. He kept the pace really high and drafting made it easier for people to hang on. The hills lacked the steep pitches that would hurt people enough to really pop them.
At the top of the climb, chris Ciaccio attacked pretty hard and I jumped on to go with him. We got a good gap and tried holding it on the descent. I suck at going fast so I think I was just slowing him down. He is a monster time trialist and was keeping the pace really high.
We got caught at the worst spot, right at the bottom of the last climb. Not sweet, cause it left little time to recover before going up. The attacks started pretty quickly and thankfully I had Glenn to go with them while I tried to recover some.
I managed to hang onto the lead group up the hill, and there were 6 of us when Glenn got a gap on the false flat at the top. He kept the pace high, allowing me to suck wheels for the next 8 miles while he managed to fend off the 4 others chasing him.
Of course he got caught with about 100 meters to go. I really thought he would stick it, but a few attacks within the chase group closed the gap a bit too much. I managed to come around the chasers for the win, and Glenn got 6th.
It was a good race and hopefully was good training for Nationals for Glenn, he looked crazy strong.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Summer Solstice Stage Race
I guess this is a stage race report.
Dougie and Glenn Drove me and Stubna to Ohio for the summer solstice stage race.
Friday night was the Crit. 50 minutes. It started late and involved weird turns into parking lots. It was dark when we finished and there were no street lights. I was so stoked when a break got away so it slowed down enough for me to know I was going to finish. I got the same time as the field.. Sweet.
Stubna and I drove with johnturn back to his parents house, hitting up the waffle house on the way down. Double stack with 2 scrambled eggs. Sweet.
Saturday AM came really quickly. The race was a 76 mile road race, all flat. During neutral roll out I talked to some dude who has an Asian Tree Leopard as a pet. If you want one, he said the humane society had 2. He said it can jump 8 feet high, so I asked if the cage had a roof. He said it just walks around his house all day.
Oh yeah the bike race. Early break away. Texas roadhouse chased it, we got caught by the 3's, there were a million crashes all right in front of me it seemed. I pull my brake cable out of the caliper and skidded my tire bald avoiding it. I got the same time. Stubna pulled off 7th in a flat field sprint, Johnturn got 4th I think. Dougie flatted in the Cat3 race. I had just glued his tubular on for him that week, and my stomach sank when I saw him in a turn with a flat, thinking he had possibly rolled the tire. And of course he kept saying that is what happened to make me nervous.
We went back to Glenn's room and watch the world cup and played with our TT stuff getting ready for the time trial. 4.5 milesish flat with lots of wind. It was delayed without any definite start times. "6:25 ish" was my start time. I was stoked to have Stubna as my minute man. He was doing it merckx style and set a brutal pace for me, despite my TT bike and borrowed Troxel helmet. Paul Martin had some profile clip on bars and posted some insane time, but was beat by Andy Apllegate.
Super sweet Mexican food for dinner.
Stage 4 was a road race, which was shortened due to a triathalon on the same roads at the same time. It was cut to 56 miles. Big hill and brutal winds. I remember the break going and I was right there, but just couldn't do it. I didn't have enough to jump up to it. We were going like 32 on a narrow road in the gutter with cross winds. Johnturn made it. 5 guys including Paul Martin. Abercrombie chased for a whole lap and I attacked on the hill and got a good 6 man group. I think they were told on the radio to stop working with our chase group and come back to the main field and chase, so what was left of the field reintegrated. Next time up the hill I end up in a group of 7 or so again and we just kept it together for the last lap and last time up the hill. It is so cliche to sit on a breakway and win the bunch, but this guy had no problems doing it. I did as little work as a could, figuring I could win the bunch finish (cause it finished on top of the hill). The guy who sat on took me though, and I ended up 7th and 8th on GC.
The way home included:
-A car blowing a tire out right in front of us
-A jeep breaking what we believed to be the tie rod, causing his wheels to wobble like crazy and forcing him to gradually just slow down
-A desk blow out the back of a truck into the middle of the highway. Im glad we didnt stick around to see the eventual outcome of that, maybe it made the news.
-The worlds fastest busboy. Words cannot describe it and I regret not pushing mike to get his camera to video it. People would have thought footage was doctored. His hands moved so fast you could hardly see him. Glenn timed him and his fastest time clearing a table, moving all the salt and peppers and little dessert menus then wiping it down was 29 seconds.
I got home at an OK time and went to the park where they show free outdoor movies and laid in the grass watching the new Charlie and the Chocolate factory. I was less than impressed.
Dougie and Glenn Drove me and Stubna to Ohio for the summer solstice stage race.
Friday night was the Crit. 50 minutes. It started late and involved weird turns into parking lots. It was dark when we finished and there were no street lights. I was so stoked when a break got away so it slowed down enough for me to know I was going to finish. I got the same time as the field.. Sweet.
Stubna and I drove with johnturn back to his parents house, hitting up the waffle house on the way down. Double stack with 2 scrambled eggs. Sweet.
Saturday AM came really quickly. The race was a 76 mile road race, all flat. During neutral roll out I talked to some dude who has an Asian Tree Leopard as a pet. If you want one, he said the humane society had 2. He said it can jump 8 feet high, so I asked if the cage had a roof. He said it just walks around his house all day.
Oh yeah the bike race. Early break away. Texas roadhouse chased it, we got caught by the 3's, there were a million crashes all right in front of me it seemed. I pull my brake cable out of the caliper and skidded my tire bald avoiding it. I got the same time. Stubna pulled off 7th in a flat field sprint, Johnturn got 4th I think. Dougie flatted in the Cat3 race. I had just glued his tubular on for him that week, and my stomach sank when I saw him in a turn with a flat, thinking he had possibly rolled the tire. And of course he kept saying that is what happened to make me nervous.
We went back to Glenn's room and watch the world cup and played with our TT stuff getting ready for the time trial. 4.5 milesish flat with lots of wind. It was delayed without any definite start times. "6:25 ish" was my start time. I was stoked to have Stubna as my minute man. He was doing it merckx style and set a brutal pace for me, despite my TT bike and borrowed Troxel helmet. Paul Martin had some profile clip on bars and posted some insane time, but was beat by Andy Apllegate.
Super sweet Mexican food for dinner.
Stage 4 was a road race, which was shortened due to a triathalon on the same roads at the same time. It was cut to 56 miles. Big hill and brutal winds. I remember the break going and I was right there, but just couldn't do it. I didn't have enough to jump up to it. We were going like 32 on a narrow road in the gutter with cross winds. Johnturn made it. 5 guys including Paul Martin. Abercrombie chased for a whole lap and I attacked on the hill and got a good 6 man group. I think they were told on the radio to stop working with our chase group and come back to the main field and chase, so what was left of the field reintegrated. Next time up the hill I end up in a group of 7 or so again and we just kept it together for the last lap and last time up the hill. It is so cliche to sit on a breakway and win the bunch, but this guy had no problems doing it. I did as little work as a could, figuring I could win the bunch finish (cause it finished on top of the hill). The guy who sat on took me though, and I ended up 7th and 8th on GC.
The way home included:
-A car blowing a tire out right in front of us
-A jeep breaking what we believed to be the tie rod, causing his wheels to wobble like crazy and forcing him to gradually just slow down
-A desk blow out the back of a truck into the middle of the highway. Im glad we didnt stick around to see the eventual outcome of that, maybe it made the news.
-The worlds fastest busboy. Words cannot describe it and I regret not pushing mike to get his camera to video it. People would have thought footage was doctored. His hands moved so fast you could hardly see him. Glenn timed him and his fastest time clearing a table, moving all the salt and peppers and little dessert menus then wiping it down was 29 seconds.
I got home at an OK time and went to the park where they show free outdoor movies and laid in the grass watching the new Charlie and the Chocolate factory. I was less than impressed.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
My new coach
So Danny Chew calls me yesterday morning and said that I was the first thing he thought about when he got up. He told me of his regrets after finishing 12th at USPRO and how he didnt go to worlds, despite the invitation. He said that I need to step up my mileage to about 700 miles a week with about 1/2 of that at intensity. He was totally serious. No seriously, he was serious. It was endearing that he would think of me and whatnot and be concerned about my training, but this is totally insane. Man does he rule.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
I just want to prove that I know how to ride a bike.
Yeah so Saturday and Sunday our team did well. About as well as you could hope for. I am still getting used to so many tactics and whatnot. I wish races were all attrition on brutal climbs. Even if I wasnt in the lead group, I would know that I gave my all instead of wondering why I wasnt in the lead group. Whatever. - that was my story saturday.
Sunday, well, the guys did well against a SUPER stacked field. Im going to say this was about as hard as a field could get in Pittsburgh without Murrysville around anymore. I crashed out after hitting a cone. Yeah a cone that had been there the previous 12 laps. The weird thing is, it was supposed to be the right hand border, and I think Billet was on my right when I hit it. I felt like such a retard.
Proof that I can ride a bike! Steevo circa 1998
Sunday, well, the guys did well against a SUPER stacked field. Im going to say this was about as hard as a field could get in Pittsburgh without Murrysville around anymore. I crashed out after hitting a cone. Yeah a cone that had been there the previous 12 laps. The weird thing is, it was supposed to be the right hand border, and I think Billet was on my right when I hit it. I felt like such a retard.
Proof that I can ride a bike! Steevo circa 1998
Monday, May 22, 2006
Do you want a pull?
Old story, few weeks old anyway, but I forgot about it. Mike and I were meeting Jared and Ben up the hill for food one night. Jared and Ben in a car, Me and Mike
climbing up wilkins ave. Jared goes by slowly enough that I can grab on and skitch
a ride up the hill. Mike was too far back and missed out.
Wel or did he? It turns out this 70ish year old woman wound down her window and said "do you want a pull?" and let Stubna skitch off of her until she floored it and he let go. Think of how many people are going to be super confused when they are riding up a hill and this old lady asks if they want a pull! She said she had never done that before. haha.
climbing up wilkins ave. Jared goes by slowly enough that I can grab on and skitch
a ride up the hill. Mike was too far back and missed out.
Wel or did he? It turns out this 70ish year old woman wound down her window and said "do you want a pull?" and let Stubna skitch off of her until she floored it and he let go. Think of how many people are going to be super confused when they are riding up a hill and this old lady asks if they want a pull! She said she had never done that before. haha.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Pack fodder
Well I was going to write something about Turkey Hill and how awesome it was having
the team do so well. Then I thought about when I was a strong cat 3 and would read other's blogs. I would be like "who wants to read about a dude sitting in the field and missing all the moves." So I figured I would spare the world a write up of me getting 41st or something.
Bear Mountain: Same story. I do owe the world a public apology for having the noiseiest bottom bracket on earth for 4.5 hours. I bet everybody was pissed that I didn't get shelled during that race cause it was one of the few things that would drown out Danny Chew's voice on a 100 mile ride. I did finish a 98 mile road race, which is really really far.
On lap 5, Scotty Z went 28mph up the climb. For real.
Last lap I was hurting to pass a guy on a hybrid who was just cruising around the park, look out, Im a monster. Sorry about the bottom bracket
the team do so well. Then I thought about when I was a strong cat 3 and would read other's blogs. I would be like "who wants to read about a dude sitting in the field and missing all the moves." So I figured I would spare the world a write up of me getting 41st or something.
Bear Mountain: Same story. I do owe the world a public apology for having the noiseiest bottom bracket on earth for 4.5 hours. I bet everybody was pissed that I didn't get shelled during that race cause it was one of the few things that would drown out Danny Chew's voice on a 100 mile ride. I did finish a 98 mile road race, which is really really far.
On lap 5, Scotty Z went 28mph up the climb. For real.
Last lap I was hurting to pass a guy on a hybrid who was just cruising around the park, look out, Im a monster. Sorry about the bottom bracket
Monday, May 01, 2006
Ephrata.
Logistic nightmare:
Jared's car holds 3 bikes. His TT bike, road bike and Stubna's road bike. Dougie's car takes 3 but only has 2 trays. This leaves me borrowing Kralldiggle's tray, taking my bike and said tray to Dougie's house and hoping I can find him Saturday before the race to get it and warm up and race it, then I also have to get to Jared's girlfriend's house (about a 15 minute bike ride from mine), at 545 Saturday am to catch the ride, but don't have my bike to ride over there.
Well it all worked out and I got a sweet warmup on my Huffy 3 speed. I warned Stubna that I would put it into 3. Oh did I ever.
4 dudes, 3 bikes, 4 sets of spare wheels, and enough gear to really get bad gas mileage I am sure.
The race Saturday:
65 and Sunny, not too windy and very nice roads. It was so sunny out that when the beautiful course took us through the covered bridge I thought we should have to remove our sunglasses! The race started out pretty fast, and there was the longest move of the day with Geronimo, Ramon B and a few others. I really thought that it might stick, but it came back. I was just in the pack, going here and there, but nothing serious or long at all. I did catch a wheel up to Stubna's break and I had to scream at him cause the kid who gave me ride up there was just going to blow past them. I was like "MIKE!!!" cause I didn't want him to miss us. But of course that got caught too. Leech managed to get into a break and got 2nd int he downhill sprint. He was stoked and it was awesome. Jared got 8thish I think. I didn't realize until too late that I wasn't close enough to the front to help with any leadout attempts, and when I did, it was too late. Next time. That last lap was mad fast.
Hotel, Swimming Pool, Hot Tub, Cable, Decaf coffee in the room. Man was that nice. Then we hit up the olive garden for dinner cause we were in strip mall hell and there was nothing else. Of course we were starving so the hostess girl had to skip my name and make us wait like 20 minutes longer. Not sweet. Jared used to sales skills to get us free dessert! oh yes! oh yeah! blackberry/blueberry tart. boom!
Sunday brought panacke buffet for breakfast. I hate buffets cause I usually eat until I am sick. I really tried to refrain and only overate a bit. I am proud of myself, but kind of mad in retrospect knowing I could have eaten twice as much, which would have made the meal cost 1/2 as much, or twice as much for the same price.... whatever.
Pain Mountain TT.
Nice roads to warmup on. I just had aero bars on a road bike. Jared was right, I think a TT bike would have been faster for sure. I had about a 25 minute warmup, which probably wasn't enough. The course was pretty gnarly. My 30 second guy was fast so I just paced off of him most of the time it was too twisty to see him though. My 1 minute down guy was a Rite Aid Pro rider on a full TT bike, so I was waiting for him to come around me after 1:20 or so. Pain mountain was a freaking staircase up a ridge. It didn't fool around with switchbacks or mellow grades, it just went up and over. There was a 1K to go sign like 4 miles from the finish that was just cruel and unusual punishment. My 1 minute guy caught me towards the end, but I was proud that I held him off for so long. Not a bad ride I don't think. I could have done better of course, and with experience my next time will be better.
Crit.
Brutally fast. First lap I was coming out of the last turn and I heard the announcer saying who was already crossing the line. Man I was far back. I was pretty stoked when Jared got in the move and Geronimo got up to it too. The rest of the day was basically just covering attacks and not pulling through when a chase attempt was finally made. They pulled the field after having us sprint early cause we were about to get lapped. It was sweet to watch the finish with geronimo coming up for 1 and hearing the announcer say "Meredith - GPOA does the 1, 2" . sweet. Then we waited for the results. and waited. and waited and waited and ate chinese food and waited until 730 when we got on the road for our 4 hour trip home.
I thought I was tired in the car, but when I got on my huffy 3 speed for ride back from rob's house was when the legs really told me to stop riding for the day. Hacker is just lucky I didn't have that bad boy for the Pain Mountain TT or I would have put some time into him.
Jared's car holds 3 bikes. His TT bike, road bike and Stubna's road bike. Dougie's car takes 3 but only has 2 trays. This leaves me borrowing Kralldiggle's tray, taking my bike and said tray to Dougie's house and hoping I can find him Saturday before the race to get it and warm up and race it, then I also have to get to Jared's girlfriend's house (about a 15 minute bike ride from mine), at 545 Saturday am to catch the ride, but don't have my bike to ride over there.
Well it all worked out and I got a sweet warmup on my Huffy 3 speed. I warned Stubna that I would put it into 3. Oh did I ever.
4 dudes, 3 bikes, 4 sets of spare wheels, and enough gear to really get bad gas mileage I am sure.
The race Saturday:
65 and Sunny, not too windy and very nice roads. It was so sunny out that when the beautiful course took us through the covered bridge I thought we should have to remove our sunglasses! The race started out pretty fast, and there was the longest move of the day with Geronimo, Ramon B and a few others. I really thought that it might stick, but it came back. I was just in the pack, going here and there, but nothing serious or long at all. I did catch a wheel up to Stubna's break and I had to scream at him cause the kid who gave me ride up there was just going to blow past them. I was like "MIKE!!!" cause I didn't want him to miss us. But of course that got caught too. Leech managed to get into a break and got 2nd int he downhill sprint. He was stoked and it was awesome. Jared got 8thish I think. I didn't realize until too late that I wasn't close enough to the front to help with any leadout attempts, and when I did, it was too late. Next time. That last lap was mad fast.
Hotel, Swimming Pool, Hot Tub, Cable, Decaf coffee in the room. Man was that nice. Then we hit up the olive garden for dinner cause we were in strip mall hell and there was nothing else. Of course we were starving so the hostess girl had to skip my name and make us wait like 20 minutes longer. Not sweet. Jared used to sales skills to get us free dessert! oh yes! oh yeah! blackberry/blueberry tart. boom!
Sunday brought panacke buffet for breakfast. I hate buffets cause I usually eat until I am sick. I really tried to refrain and only overate a bit. I am proud of myself, but kind of mad in retrospect knowing I could have eaten twice as much, which would have made the meal cost 1/2 as much, or twice as much for the same price.... whatever.
Pain Mountain TT.
Nice roads to warmup on. I just had aero bars on a road bike. Jared was right, I think a TT bike would have been faster for sure. I had about a 25 minute warmup, which probably wasn't enough. The course was pretty gnarly. My 30 second guy was fast so I just paced off of him most of the time it was too twisty to see him though. My 1 minute down guy was a Rite Aid Pro rider on a full TT bike, so I was waiting for him to come around me after 1:20 or so. Pain mountain was a freaking staircase up a ridge. It didn't fool around with switchbacks or mellow grades, it just went up and over. There was a 1K to go sign like 4 miles from the finish that was just cruel and unusual punishment. My 1 minute guy caught me towards the end, but I was proud that I held him off for so long. Not a bad ride I don't think. I could have done better of course, and with experience my next time will be better.
Crit.
Brutally fast. First lap I was coming out of the last turn and I heard the announcer saying who was already crossing the line. Man I was far back. I was pretty stoked when Jared got in the move and Geronimo got up to it too. The rest of the day was basically just covering attacks and not pulling through when a chase attempt was finally made. They pulled the field after having us sprint early cause we were about to get lapped. It was sweet to watch the finish with geronimo coming up for 1 and hearing the announcer say "Meredith - GPOA does the 1, 2" . sweet. Then we waited for the results. and waited. and waited and waited and ate chinese food and waited until 730 when we got on the road for our 4 hour trip home.
I thought I was tired in the car, but when I got on my huffy 3 speed for ride back from rob's house was when the legs really told me to stop riding for the day. Hacker is just lucky I didn't have that bad boy for the Pain Mountain TT or I would have put some time into him.
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