Sunday, June 29, 2008
1 + 1 = 5,439
I just woke up and it's 10am. I haven't slept in that late in a long time. The rest of the family is still in bed. We do have something of an excuse...
Friday, June 20, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Anything else?
I rolled down below the 45 this weekend for the state road race, and realized why I like mountain biking.
First some guy decides he needs to be four feet to the right, except that I'm about two feet to the right. Somehow I stay up, but now my front wheel is out of true and hitting the brake. I open it up and hope it lasts, but it doesn't. So I head back to our wheel car, manned by a single guy in a sling, and manage the worst change ever before chasing back into the wind.
Then some 250lb punk kid that apparently knows more about cycling than I do tells me to "shut the f--k up." My sin? Telling him that if he wants someone to pull through, he has to pull off. We had a short discussion after that. Mostly me saying, "are you serious?" followed by him going off on me for a minute or so. By the time he's done and I say, "ok, have a nice race" we're about 50m off the back. I get on easily; he has a bit harder time.
Then we manage to force a split, and there are 5 of us with about a 2 or 3 minute gap. There's two guys on one team, but it looks like I'm the best combo of legs and brains, so I'm feeling pretty good about my chances. There's no way we're getting caught. So what do we do? We take the wrong turn on a slightly confusing corner and by the time we figure it out and get headed back the correct direction, we're a half mile behind the rest of the group. We catch back on pretty quickly and roll through the detritus, but now the lead group is 8 or 9, including the teammate of a guy that was in the original lead group, which means he probably hasn't seen the wind and hasn't worked in 20 miles. Oh yeah, the wind was blowing about 20mph, so it wasn't a Sunday stroll to force the split and keep it open.
With about 5k to go, I feel the first twinge of a cramp. It passes quickly, and I'm still rolling ok, so I try to ignore it. With 1k to go, we finally pick up the pace. I mark the first move at 500m, and then mark the second. With 200m to go, I start to move around him. He actually looks over, sees me, and swerves three feet to the right. I hold him off with my arm, manage to stay out of the gravel, but lose a lot of momentum. Right as I start it up again, a guy goes hard up the left. I can't catch his wheel, and he takes first by a bike length or so. I take 2nd easily, well ahead of any of the guys in the first lead group. The guy that won was the teammate of our initial companion. Other than me, none of the first group were anywhere close.
Had we not gone off course, I probably would have walked away with the win by 20m.
Perhaps the most amusing, annoying, and in some ways simplifying aspect of the race was the guy that marked every single move. Every one. He would mark each move and then just sit on. I tried twice and we had big gaps, but he just sat on. I got a bit pissed once because he was obviously strong and we could have stayed away, but he'd just mark and sit. So I stopped doing anything. He was in the lead group with me, and he marked every move and I just followed. Then he was the guy that almost took me out in the sprint and ended up well back.
In any event, I shouldn't be too upset with 2nd. But I'm starting to wonder if I'm just not meant to be a roadie.
First some guy decides he needs to be four feet to the right, except that I'm about two feet to the right. Somehow I stay up, but now my front wheel is out of true and hitting the brake. I open it up and hope it lasts, but it doesn't. So I head back to our wheel car, manned by a single guy in a sling, and manage the worst change ever before chasing back into the wind.
Then some 250lb punk kid that apparently knows more about cycling than I do tells me to "shut the f--k up." My sin? Telling him that if he wants someone to pull through, he has to pull off. We had a short discussion after that. Mostly me saying, "are you serious?" followed by him going off on me for a minute or so. By the time he's done and I say, "ok, have a nice race" we're about 50m off the back. I get on easily; he has a bit harder time.
Then we manage to force a split, and there are 5 of us with about a 2 or 3 minute gap. There's two guys on one team, but it looks like I'm the best combo of legs and brains, so I'm feeling pretty good about my chances. There's no way we're getting caught. So what do we do? We take the wrong turn on a slightly confusing corner and by the time we figure it out and get headed back the correct direction, we're a half mile behind the rest of the group. We catch back on pretty quickly and roll through the detritus, but now the lead group is 8 or 9, including the teammate of a guy that was in the original lead group, which means he probably hasn't seen the wind and hasn't worked in 20 miles. Oh yeah, the wind was blowing about 20mph, so it wasn't a Sunday stroll to force the split and keep it open.
With about 5k to go, I feel the first twinge of a cramp. It passes quickly, and I'm still rolling ok, so I try to ignore it. With 1k to go, we finally pick up the pace. I mark the first move at 500m, and then mark the second. With 200m to go, I start to move around him. He actually looks over, sees me, and swerves three feet to the right. I hold him off with my arm, manage to stay out of the gravel, but lose a lot of momentum. Right as I start it up again, a guy goes hard up the left. I can't catch his wheel, and he takes first by a bike length or so. I take 2nd easily, well ahead of any of the guys in the first lead group. The guy that won was the teammate of our initial companion. Other than me, none of the first group were anywhere close.
Had we not gone off course, I probably would have walked away with the win by 20m.
Perhaps the most amusing, annoying, and in some ways simplifying aspect of the race was the guy that marked every single move. Every one. He would mark each move and then just sit on. I tried twice and we had big gaps, but he just sat on. I got a bit pissed once because he was obviously strong and we could have stayed away, but he'd just mark and sit. So I stopped doing anything. He was in the lead group with me, and he marked every move and I just followed. Then he was the guy that almost took me out in the sprint and ended up well back.
In any event, I shouldn't be too upset with 2nd. But I'm starting to wonder if I'm just not meant to be a roadie.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Sucking wheel...
It was a bad week for group rides.
But the frustrating thing about people who don't work, sit in, complain that they are barely hanging on, and then sprint around you at the finish is that the only thing to do is to drop them, kick their ass in the sprint, or otherwise just generally demonstrate that you are a superior bike rider. But you can't always do that, and complaining just makes you feel and look weak.
So just ride harder.
But the frustrating thing about people who don't work, sit in, complain that they are barely hanging on, and then sprint around you at the finish is that the only thing to do is to drop them, kick their ass in the sprint, or otherwise just generally demonstrate that you are a superior bike rider. But you can't always do that, and complaining just makes you feel and look weak.
So just ride harder.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Is it summer yet?
Rolled up to Spokane on Tuesday and got abused in the rain and 45 degree weather at the Twilight Series. When almost the entire field is one team, and their two strongest riders get up the road on the first climb, the two solo guys with legs get to do all the work. I spend more time on the front at 400+ watts than I've ever done in my life, then find myself on the front leading into the field sprint. I try something new but don't get away and have only a back of the pack finish to show for my efforts.
On Wednesday for the mountain bike series, I hang on to the fast guy for a bit longer than last week, but then pop on a climb and see him ride away. I waste about a minute trying to fix a burped tire, and then finish about a minute down. Although I'm slightly slower on the second lap both this week and last week, I run faster second laps than the fast guy both times. Of course, he probably shuts it down after opening the 2-minute gap, but I'll tell myself he's still killing it.
And then last night we roll out in some gray weather and 50 degrees for the first 'Palouse fast ride' of the summer. Then it starts raining and the temp drops even more. By the first hill I'm freezing and need to warm up. Rather than ride away from everyone, the high school kid who never rides (according to his dad) latches onto my wheel as I roll by at 500 watts and proceeds to abuse me for the next 20 minutes or so. So now I'm cold and wet and getting my arse kicked by a kid who showed up for the ride in jeans and a t-shirt, and who had to borrow some clothes so he wouldn't freeze. And he's graduating today, so he's probably been spending the week staying up all night and drinking.
So I'm cold and wet, and now feeling old and slow. But I take the final sprint easily (after letting him pull the last mile, of course).
On Wednesday for the mountain bike series, I hang on to the fast guy for a bit longer than last week, but then pop on a climb and see him ride away. I waste about a minute trying to fix a burped tire, and then finish about a minute down. Although I'm slightly slower on the second lap both this week and last week, I run faster second laps than the fast guy both times. Of course, he probably shuts it down after opening the 2-minute gap, but I'll tell myself he's still killing it.
And then last night we roll out in some gray weather and 50 degrees for the first 'Palouse fast ride' of the summer. Then it starts raining and the temp drops even more. By the first hill I'm freezing and need to warm up. Rather than ride away from everyone, the high school kid who never rides (according to his dad) latches onto my wheel as I roll by at 500 watts and proceeds to abuse me for the next 20 minutes or so. So now I'm cold and wet and getting my arse kicked by a kid who showed up for the ride in jeans and a t-shirt, and who had to borrow some clothes so he wouldn't freeze. And he's graduating today, so he's probably been spending the week staying up all night and drinking.
So I'm cold and wet, and now feeling old and slow. But I take the final sprint easily (after letting him pull the last mile, of course).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
