6 - days
1 - crit
5 - road races
328 - miles
14 - hours 45 minutes of racing
4 - bottles carried on me most days
97 - degrees on the hotest day
1 - stage win
1 - day in the yellow jersey
2 - days in the KOM jersey. Kept it
2 - second overall
3 - dudes riding together that weigh under 140
3 - nights we had pizza for dinner
2 - nights we had bob evans for dinner
1 - flat tubular
1 - broken shifter
1303 - tss for 6 days
4 - bottles in my jersey at the finish of one stage
7 - years since last sleeping in a dorm.
Awesome time with Bad Andy and Fouche. Must do race.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Skinny Euro making me look fat.
Skinny Euro dude making me look fat in a very short lived break on Sunday.
Next week is the Tour of Ohio.
Next week is the Tour of Ohio.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Win.
No, I am not talking about the oval.
First 100 people into the new Performance Bike in Pittsburgh today got 20 dollar gift cards. Then they gave you $5 per FLAT TUBE you brought in (limit 3). Then Clif Bars
and Gu were buy one get one. Plus other sales and coupons.
I walked out with 50 Clif bars, 48 Gu's, and a water bottle for 12 bucks.
Goes Saturday and Sunday too.
First 100 people into the new Performance Bike in Pittsburgh today got 20 dollar gift cards. Then they gave you $5 per FLAT TUBE you brought in (limit 3). Then Clif Bars
and Gu were buy one get one. Plus other sales and coupons.
I walked out with 50 Clif bars, 48 Gu's, and a water bottle for 12 bucks.
Goes Saturday and Sunday too.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Art. Mohican.
Amy and I happened past the Pittsburgh Public at Arsenal art show last week. My favorite Somali buddy had some art up. STOKED.
After last year's debacle, I headed back to the Mohican 100 to try again to win the 100 kilometer race.
Rob and I rolled out Friday with our mountain and road bikes, with the intention of racing a circuit race in Ohio on Sunday. On the way we hit sun, rain, hail, wind. Things did not look good. We arrived at Mohican campground and put up our tents while watching the clouds roll in again. Don, Montana, Rob and I all had to work to hold the canopy down as the wind picked up and the driving rain pelted us. Then the town's TORNADO SIREN went off. Awesome.
The flame was not burning for the race the next day. No flame. No stoke. No burn or want. Just bleh. The only feeling I had about the race the next day was utter indifference.
Woke up at 5. The sky was gnarly, it was drizzling, there was thunder and lightning all night, and screaming kids. It was going to be messy. I put more A&D ointment on my tender spots than I thought was humanly possible (too much info?)...
I talked to Gunnar Friday night about where the town limit sign was. There is a 200 dollar preme at the town limit sign (like 4 minutes into the race, up a big hill)...
A few things I am good at:
- starting a race too hard
- going hard for 3 or 4 minutes at a time up hill
They start the race, I figured that I am too far back, as there are clearly 4 rows of people in front of me. My super mediocre road skills put me like 3rd wheel at the bottom of the hill. I got the $200, but attached is the stipulation that YOU HAVE TO FINISH THE RACE.
I rode 4th wheel for the first 10 miles or so. Jeff Schalk, Mike Simonson, and Steve Twining were in front of me and were racing like it was a short track race. It was ridiculous. I didnt "back off," I just could not keep up. One of the three was doing the 100k. At mile 9 or so I gave up on thinking that I could win. Brad Wilhelm came up on me, and I followed him for while. Got dropped. Chased back on. He was also in the 100k and would be who I raced against most of the day.
Caught Steve Twining, who was riding with the leaders, passed him. This means I went into aid #1 at mile 16 in 3rd overall, 1st 100k. Got 20 seconds past it and realized I had a flat. Mistake #1 was not putting a tube in it at the aid station. I just put air in it and kept rolling. It was flat again in less than 20 minutes. Ugh. I went Gerry Pflug on it and hid in the woods to change my tire. He does this so people dont know that they passed him. It worked.
At one point I passed the brightest orange wild mushroom on a tree. It was phenomenal. It is rare that in the middle of a bike race I notice anything, even course markings, but this mushroom was probably a foot in diameter and was the only color in the woods besides mud and green.
Got to aid #2 at mile 35 or so, and saw Brad again. It blew his mind when I was behind him! He was chasing a ghost. Attacked him a bit and got into a group of guys AND FLATTED AGAIN.
Unfortunately keeping air in your bike tires is apparently a huge part of racing bikes. Got passed by a bunch of people.
Rolled out of aid station # 3 at mile 46 (this is where the 100k and 100m separate) and I think young Robert told me that I was still in third, and only a minute off of 2nd. I caught second plac and attacked him on one of the hardest climbs.
I cracked super hard in the last 6 miles and lost like 8 minutes to Brad from what I can gather. It would have been a really good race had I not flatted. I think he would have passed me in the final single track, or would have come really close.
Oh well, second is good too.
Mad props to anybody who finished Saturday. It was really really gnarly.
Cycling News Coverage
Pic on Cyclingnews. So messy.
After last year's debacle, I headed back to the Mohican 100 to try again to win the 100 kilometer race.
Rob and I rolled out Friday with our mountain and road bikes, with the intention of racing a circuit race in Ohio on Sunday. On the way we hit sun, rain, hail, wind. Things did not look good. We arrived at Mohican campground and put up our tents while watching the clouds roll in again. Don, Montana, Rob and I all had to work to hold the canopy down as the wind picked up and the driving rain pelted us. Then the town's TORNADO SIREN went off. Awesome.
The flame was not burning for the race the next day. No flame. No stoke. No burn or want. Just bleh. The only feeling I had about the race the next day was utter indifference.
Woke up at 5. The sky was gnarly, it was drizzling, there was thunder and lightning all night, and screaming kids. It was going to be messy. I put more A&D ointment on my tender spots than I thought was humanly possible (too much info?)...
I talked to Gunnar Friday night about where the town limit sign was. There is a 200 dollar preme at the town limit sign (like 4 minutes into the race, up a big hill)...
A few things I am good at:
- starting a race too hard
- going hard for 3 or 4 minutes at a time up hill
They start the race, I figured that I am too far back, as there are clearly 4 rows of people in front of me. My super mediocre road skills put me like 3rd wheel at the bottom of the hill. I got the $200, but attached is the stipulation that YOU HAVE TO FINISH THE RACE.
I rode 4th wheel for the first 10 miles or so. Jeff Schalk, Mike Simonson, and Steve Twining were in front of me and were racing like it was a short track race. It was ridiculous. I didnt "back off," I just could not keep up. One of the three was doing the 100k. At mile 9 or so I gave up on thinking that I could win. Brad Wilhelm came up on me, and I followed him for while. Got dropped. Chased back on. He was also in the 100k and would be who I raced against most of the day.
Caught Steve Twining, who was riding with the leaders, passed him. This means I went into aid #1 at mile 16 in 3rd overall, 1st 100k. Got 20 seconds past it and realized I had a flat. Mistake #1 was not putting a tube in it at the aid station. I just put air in it and kept rolling. It was flat again in less than 20 minutes. Ugh. I went Gerry Pflug on it and hid in the woods to change my tire. He does this so people dont know that they passed him. It worked.
At one point I passed the brightest orange wild mushroom on a tree. It was phenomenal. It is rare that in the middle of a bike race I notice anything, even course markings, but this mushroom was probably a foot in diameter and was the only color in the woods besides mud and green.
Got to aid #2 at mile 35 or so, and saw Brad again. It blew his mind when I was behind him! He was chasing a ghost. Attacked him a bit and got into a group of guys AND FLATTED AGAIN.
Unfortunately keeping air in your bike tires is apparently a huge part of racing bikes. Got passed by a bunch of people.
Rolled out of aid station # 3 at mile 46 (this is where the 100k and 100m separate) and I think young Robert told me that I was still in third, and only a minute off of 2nd. I caught second plac and attacked him on one of the hardest climbs.
I cracked super hard in the last 6 miles and lost like 8 minutes to Brad from what I can gather. It would have been a really good race had I not flatted. I think he would have passed me in the final single track, or would have come really close.
Oh well, second is good too.
Mad props to anybody who finished Saturday. It was really really gnarly.
Cycling News Coverage
Pic on Cyclingnews. So messy.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Levi, did you screw your teammate?
(Warning: only bike racing content.)
(also: I dont like Levi. I do like Horner)
Last stage of the ATOC. Horner bridges up to the lead group. Why? Horner Leads out the sprint... why?
Results after the TT
1 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC-Columbia 29:46:06
2 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Transitions 0:00:09
3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack 0:00:25
4 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:12
5 Rory Sutherland (Aus ) Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis 0:01:26
6 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack 0:01:32
Last 10 minutes of the race.
-Horner needs 1:32. He has 45 seconds with 5.7 to go.
-Langeveld is on the front of the chase group. Im sure Rogers put some money in his pocket.
- 50 seconds at 5k
-4.4k to go POPOVICH is on the front
-3.7k to go Radioshack has 2 guys on the front!
-3.5k to go Horner is riding like a guy not interested in a stage win.
-3.3k to go Does Hincappie have a freaking pink back wheel?
They do not show the yellow jersey group from here.
@7:10 Rogers pulls off and the Radioshack train is chasing full charge.
-Horner looks back, sees nobody and drills it from 1k.
Results of the stage
1 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Transitions 3:21:56
2 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
3 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step
4 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack
5 Oscar Pujol Munoz (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 0:00:05
6 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:28
7 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack
Final GC
1 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC-Columbia 33:08:30
2 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Transitions 0:00:09
3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack 0:00:25
4 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack 0:01:04
So the question is, if Radioshack sat on Rogers could Horner have gotten the 25 seconds to take the podium form Levi? What about the 34 to take 2nd from Dave Z or even the 1:04 to WIN THE RACE OUTRIGHT?
So much for the "dark horse" strategy.
Also from a strategy point of view. If Ryder H still won, Horner would have beaten him on GC even with the bonus time. Ryder would have finished 2nd, same as Dave Z his teammate. I think Garmin hates Columbia or whatever, so maybe they would have liked to have seen them not win.
(also: I dont like Levi. I do like Horner)
Last stage of the ATOC. Horner bridges up to the lead group. Why? Horner Leads out the sprint... why?
Results after the TT
1 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC-Columbia 29:46:06
2 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Transitions 0:00:09
3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack 0:00:25
4 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:12
5 Rory Sutherland (Aus ) Unitedhealthcare Presented by Maxxis 0:01:26
6 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack 0:01:32
Last 10 minutes of the race.
-Horner needs 1:32. He has 45 seconds with 5.7 to go.
-Langeveld is on the front of the chase group. Im sure Rogers put some money in his pocket.
- 50 seconds at 5k
-4.4k to go POPOVICH is on the front
-3.7k to go Radioshack has 2 guys on the front!
-3.5k to go Horner is riding like a guy not interested in a stage win.
-3.3k to go Does Hincappie have a freaking pink back wheel?
They do not show the yellow jersey group from here.
@7:10 Rogers pulls off and the Radioshack train is chasing full charge.
-Horner looks back, sees nobody and drills it from 1k.
Results of the stage
1 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Transitions 3:21:56
2 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
3 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step
4 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack
5 Oscar Pujol Munoz (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 0:00:05
6 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:28
7 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack
Final GC
1 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC-Columbia 33:08:30
2 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin-Transitions 0:00:09
3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack 0:00:25
4 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack 0:01:04
So the question is, if Radioshack sat on Rogers could Horner have gotten the 25 seconds to take the podium form Levi? What about the 34 to take 2nd from Dave Z or even the 1:04 to WIN THE RACE OUTRIGHT?
So much for the "dark horse" strategy.
Also from a strategy point of view. If Ryder H still won, Horner would have beaten him on GC even with the bonus time. Ryder would have finished 2nd, same as Dave Z his teammate. I think Garmin hates Columbia or whatever, so maybe they would have liked to have seen them not win.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
bike racing. bike racing. bike racing.
Real bike racing:
If you have not been watching the Giro, you should catch up. World Cycling Channel 2 on youtube is amazing. Stages 7 and 8 had the excitement of the classics, but were in the middle of a grand tour. Amazing.
Other bike racing:
Saturday
Did the legendary Poolesville race near DC. The race is characterized by a 1.4 mile dirt road every lap, for seven laps. By dirt, they mean gravel. Note to self: when a race is "characterized" by something, whether its a hill or a certain stretch of road, it would make sense to check that bit of the course out beforehand. The first lap I was kind of amazed by the road that we were on. Pretty awesome.
Rowley looked good, and I think the course suited him. So where do you ride to avoid crashes? At the front right? There was break right in front of us, some super strong dude started drilling it, then totally stacked it. He was on the front and he crashed. Bummer. Killed the chase a good bit too.
Otherwise the race was cool. It is not fun being up against teams of super strong dudes when they all have 5-9 guys. It is almost as unfair as deep carbon wheels.
Anyway.
I dont want to talk smack on a stupid blog, but Joe Whitman rode like a total stud. He almost brought the break back on his own. I did some chasing and attacking, but Joe bossed that. There was a PRO dude who missed the break who did not see wind until 3 miles to go. I dont really care, but he yelled at me at one point to close a gap. Maybe it is a game he plays with himself to see how long he can go until actually seeing wind (even after missing the move) and I forced him to lose against himself. Whatever.
yeah we stopped at mother truckers
Sunday
Went to Ohio for an OMBC mountain bike race at The Wilds. I got second there last year and thought that I could maybe win. I would really like to win a bike race at some point. Anyway, it was for sure not my course. Tons of roots and rocks. Like afterward, dudes who are like mountain bike racers with hairy legs and stuff were saying that it was technical, which made me feel better about myself.
Anyway, rode with the front group for most of the race. Me and another dude, Ben Ortt. I dab, he rides away. He had the place dialed and was riding way smooth. I had to ride alone for like 5 miles maybe, and hit maybe 45% of the trees during that time. I was just trying to chase him back, and was trying in a way that was not smooth, and not successful. Oh well. Lost by 12 seconds or so. The dude that beat me was a good dude. At one point I took the long way where a trail split, and he took the short, he totally waited up for the 5 seconds I had to bridge up.
If you have not been watching the Giro, you should catch up. World Cycling Channel 2 on youtube is amazing. Stages 7 and 8 had the excitement of the classics, but were in the middle of a grand tour. Amazing.
Other bike racing:
Saturday
Did the legendary Poolesville race near DC. The race is characterized by a 1.4 mile dirt road every lap, for seven laps. By dirt, they mean gravel. Note to self: when a race is "characterized" by something, whether its a hill or a certain stretch of road, it would make sense to check that bit of the course out beforehand. The first lap I was kind of amazed by the road that we were on. Pretty awesome.
Rowley looked good, and I think the course suited him. So where do you ride to avoid crashes? At the front right? There was break right in front of us, some super strong dude started drilling it, then totally stacked it. He was on the front and he crashed. Bummer. Killed the chase a good bit too.
Otherwise the race was cool. It is not fun being up against teams of super strong dudes when they all have 5-9 guys. It is almost as unfair as deep carbon wheels.
Anyway.
I dont want to talk smack on a stupid blog, but Joe Whitman rode like a total stud. He almost brought the break back on his own. I did some chasing and attacking, but Joe bossed that. There was a PRO dude who missed the break who did not see wind until 3 miles to go. I dont really care, but he yelled at me at one point to close a gap. Maybe it is a game he plays with himself to see how long he can go until actually seeing wind (even after missing the move) and I forced him to lose against himself. Whatever.
yeah we stopped at mother truckers
Sunday
Went to Ohio for an OMBC mountain bike race at The Wilds. I got second there last year and thought that I could maybe win. I would really like to win a bike race at some point. Anyway, it was for sure not my course. Tons of roots and rocks. Like afterward, dudes who are like mountain bike racers with hairy legs and stuff were saying that it was technical, which made me feel better about myself.
Anyway, rode with the front group for most of the race. Me and another dude, Ben Ortt. I dab, he rides away. He had the place dialed and was riding way smooth. I had to ride alone for like 5 miles maybe, and hit maybe 45% of the trees during that time. I was just trying to chase him back, and was trying in a way that was not smooth, and not successful. Oh well. Lost by 12 seconds or so. The dude that beat me was a good dude. At one point I took the long way where a trail split, and he took the short, he totally waited up for the 5 seconds I had to bridge up.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Cheating.
Worse than doping? A denver post story about a 36 year old who raced in place of a 40 year old to sandbag the Women's 40-49 age class of the Leadville 100. Apparently the woman was injured and could not race, so she gave the entry to her friend. However, in the end, the (injured non racing) woman took the award.
What the hell is wrong with people?
What the hell is wrong with people?
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