Bong and a Half: Not Every Day is a Good Day

We rolled to Kansasville, WI at the butt-crack-of-dawn for the 30K Bong and a half - sure to be enormous fun as always. The Bong course is one of my favorites - a few turns, small rollers, a small rise on one side, downhill a bit opposite the rise and usually some wind. Today was fantastic weather-wise: temps in the 60s and sunny skies at go time. I had a solid warm up, not great but good enough. While I was feeling okay I can't say I was terribly confident - I've always had problems with early morning performance and today was no different. I was somewhat dehydrated, didn't plan my pre-race nutrition well and I paid for it.

After about the halfway point it was clear that I was not on a good day. I definitely went out too hard and never felt like I got into a groove. I found myself searching for the right gear, the right cadence, the right mindset - nothing felt smooth and it was a fight the entire time. In fact, at one point I felt like just getting off my bike and lying down on the side of the road. I suffered a lot - mentally and physically - and was very frustrated with my effort today. Retrospective review of my file shows that my average power was off by about 12 watts. There you have it.

So I ended up as first loser to a much better rider today, for the fastest time on the day anyway. Fortunately my time was good enough to win the women's open category - just not the overall. While it burns my ass to lose it also lights a fire under it to get my act together and be more disciplined, especially when it comes to recovery. Really, I ride a bit too much and too hard without enough rest - it caught up with me today and I just plain sucked. So it goes. A few of the PACT/Dishnetwork guys also posted fast times today though I don't know how they placed - turnout was big and a lot of strong riders showed up. We left before all the times were posted. I also have to throw a shout to Mike Wakeley and Tim Glinski - nice work! Update - thanks to Mike, here are some team results (way to go, boys!!):

Bob Burke 4th in 55+, 10th in Cat3
Jim Host 4th in 50+
Mike Jones 2nd in 50+, 4th in P1/2
Andy Tschampa 7th in 40+

Next up, I think I might do a criterium next weekend. There are a couple more TT's to do before nationals so the plan is to have solid performances in Harvard and Paw Paw, be smart and rest so I can be ready to go on July 1.

I just started reading 'The Great Mortality' by John Kelly. It's an intimate history of the black death and while it's morbid and gross, it's also fascinating.

Arriba!!

ABD Masters #3 - Old? My A$$!!

Through turn 1 Photo: R. Delgado

Why do I like to race with the Masters men?

* Lots of them are really good. Like state, national and world champion good. It always helps to race with faster company - it makes you better, and I want to be better.

* There's no drama (well, not really). They all realize that while dedication and commitment are a huge part of doing well, they don't lose sight of the fact this this is supposed to be fun.

* They are all fiercely competitive yet respectful of each other both on and off the bike.

* They're smart, talented, experienced racers - I always take something positive away from racing with them.

* They all call themselves 'old' but I like to think of them as 'of fine vintage' because many of them are stronger than guys who are much younger. How does the saying go? '50 is the new 30?' Indeed.

Me and Andy Kerr - Turn 1 Photo: R. Delgado

So we lined up for 50min +3 laps of fun in Wood Dale today. The course was a combination of Saturday and Sunday's courses - 1.6mi long and essentially flat with a small rise on the back side and another just after the start/finish. There was a fair amount of wind to contend with but temps were comfortable and the pavement was dry. I had a good warm up and was representing for PACT with Jim Host and Mike Jones.

Mike, off the front again Photo: K. Kerr

We'd done a fair amount of standing/rolling around before start time so I was compelled to light things up a little from the gun - just to get my legs open again. Not too long after that the attacking and counter attacking started with Mike eventually getting away by himself - early. Jim moved to the front and controlled the tempo well, pulling things in and sitting on surges. I tried my best to help him while Mike built a sizable lead. There was a lot of firepower in the field but I know a lot of those guys were tired from two days of racing (all of them doing multiple races each day) so while things got pretty hot from time to time, it was pretty manageable. I even scored a prime (thanks, guys - they just let me go).

My favorite quote of the day? Tom Doughty, making an observation as Fabio Orlandi attacks and opens a sizable gap, 'That's not good...'

Before it was over a few guys had taken late flyers off the front (including Jim) and stayed somewhere in the abyss between Mike and the field, all finishing ahead of the field sprint. I managed to finish a respectable 10th, same as Saturday. When you're racing with the likes of Tom Doughty, Wayne Simon, Stuart Grinnell, Jim Host, Fabio Orlandi, Andy Kerr and Bob Downs (oh, and Mike) I think that's a decent finish. I'm pleased with my effort and also with my file from the race - my best 1min and 5min power to date. Ever. No way I could have done that in a women's field.

Me and Jim - in the middle during a slow period Photo: K. Kerr

I want to thank all of the Masters men who welcome my presence on the start line - they encourage me when it's obvious that I am suffering, they respect me on and off the bike and can appreciate that I have talent enough to race with them. Thank you for helping to make racing fun and positive for me. I also need to give a shout out to Mike who a year ago sustained very serious injuries in a racing wreck - you work harder on the bike than anyone I know. You earn and deserve all good things that come to you.

Up next, the Bong and a Half 30K TT. This whole crit thing was a nice change from the steady grind of time trialing but I'm ready to get back on the Cervelo - Masters Nats is about a month away and I have a big goal sitting out there to accomplish.

ABD Masters #1: Oh, Are We Sprinting Now?

For the first time in way too many years I am home on Memorial Day weekend - and I'm loving it! I decided to race close to home this year and am happy to have made that choice. Too many years of Quad Cities high drama has burned my brain. I headed to Wood Dale for the first of 3 weekend races specifically for masters racers (30 years old or older). I did the men's 50+ race this morning and ended up finishing with the field (10th) but it was a good race - and fun!

I'd say there were at least 20 guys on the start line (update: 35) and lots of them are very strong, smart racers - some current and former national and state champions, so it was definitely going to be hard (fine with me!). Things stayed together the first 20min or so with the occasional move getting sucked back in and then following a prime a break of 5 exceptional boys got a gap and held it - Tom Doughty, Wayne Simon, Fabio Orlandi, Andy Kerr and Stuart Grinnell. Old. Man. Strength. Indeed....

Unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the road and boxed in when the separation happened or I suspect I might have been able to make it up to them - though surely dead on arrival, hanging on by the skin of my teeth and quite likely shelled at some point later on. When it was clear that they were away for good I decided that the field sprint was my next order of business so I just sort of stayed near the front, pulled from time to time and waited. The break came through us with somewhere between 5 and 10min to go and all the guys in the field started to co-mingle and screw things up. I wish they'd just let the break go through us - it would have made things much more simple.

I was mistakenly under the impression that the break and the field would finish on separate laps, since the break was up a lap. Guess not. I had no idea we were all finishing together and therefore didn't sprint at the end or I surely could have finished better. It didn't matter - they were only paying out 3 places but I always like a solid sprint finish for a crit, so I was sort of bummed to not have that chance. C'est la vie I guess. I don't know who ultimately won but I have to give a huge shout of congrats and 'well done!' to the break - Tom, Andy, Stu, Wayne and Fabio - impressive work, freakin' animals....

I may or may not race tomorrow and if I do, it will likely be the women's event as I'm planning to do the 50+ men's race on Monday so I'd like to have decent legs for that. MetLifeGuy will be back so I'll have a teammate to support. Either way I'll be happy because at last I get to sleep in my own bed on Memorial Day weekend. If I happen to find any photos from today, I'll post them later.

Barstow 20K TT Double - Perfect

Barstow is situated near the Illinois/Iowa border and provides the perfect locale for a flat, fast 20K course. I abstained from racing Monsters the day before because I wanted very badly to break the course record in Barstow on fresh legs. The weather conditions were essentially perfect - winds were 6mph, no clouds and tons of sun with temps getting into the low 60s after a chilly morning. I knew I could break the record if I had a good ride - the course is completely flat, out and back with a few curves. The race director was kind enough to mark the 1K and 5K points on the way out and back - that helped my head a ton.

Fortunately I was assigned a start time a minute behind MetLifeGuy - having him behind me is a major mindf*ck because it's not a matter of IF he will pass me, just a matter of WHEN. Starting a minute behind him is a good place for me - I could see him on the way back after the turnaround. For some reason, that helps my focus.

I ended up doing two 20Ks and both were good enough to break the course record - the first on by 1:08 and the second by roughly half a minute. It was a good day for PACT/Dishnetwork - Mike also won his category and put up one of the fastest times on the day, well done! Not to be overlooked was a fine performance by Mike 'Wakes' Wakeley who WON THE CAT 4!! Nice job Mike!! Looks to me like you are getting the hang of this time trial thing.

Up next - a Memorial Day Weekend at home for the first time in at least 10 years. What ever will I do???

Monsters of the Midway

Ansgar in the 3s race Photo: J. Gray

No, I didn't race it this year - lots of good reasons for abstaining - but I did head down to U of C after my pre-TT ride to watch friends and gladly be the start/finish 'gear bitch' for my teammates. I've done MoM in the past and won it many times so it was fun to just spectate for a change. The course is one big flat, boring rectangle with a killer dose of fierce wind on the backstretch. The corners can be deceptively tight - especially at speed in a large group so as simple as it seems, there is a fair amount of strategy that needs to go into pulling off a good finish - the sprint is LONG. I arrived just in time to see the 40+ masters race. Dan, Ansgar and Andy were representing for PACT/Dishnetwork and all finished safely in the bunch sprint.

Mike (right) looking for a breakaway companion Photo: K. Kerr

I watched the 50+ masters race from just past the start/finish area. They had a good size field - I want to say there was somewhere between 20 and 30 on the line. Things broke up pretty quickly...Mike hit it pretty hard once and got an immediate response but then tried a second time not long after and was lucky enough to get Andy Kerr as a breakaway companion.

The break in the 50+ Masters race Photo: K. Kerr

The two built a 30sec gap over the next 25min or so and ended up holding it all the way to the end. Andy took the sprint and Mike took all the primes along the way - it was indeed an impressive performance by two very strong guys. Well done, gentlemen. The best part was watching a big chase group with some strong riders attempt to organize and chase multiple times and still not find a way to catch them. So cool.

NBV Opening Night

I have to admit that I have not been feeling the track love for a long time - getting wrecked by the cat 3 men's field last season was the final nail in the coffin of my 2008 mass start track season. I did go on to do some individual pursuit stuff last season but I was so traumatized by a crash at +30mph that it was hard to get my head around the idea of doing it again. So I did it anyway.

Last night was the first evening of racing at Northbrook Velodrome so with an ample amount of anxiety, a nervous head and tired legs leftover from a Tuesday track workout, I went with an open mind hoping to just have some fun. The women's field was small - 4 of us and after the first 10 lap scratch race (which I won) I spent the rest of the night bouncing around with the men in the Cat 3, 40+ masters and P1/2 races. Obviously I wasn't close to a respectable finish but I did have fun and got some good top end work out of it all. In doing a lot of TTs I've lost a lot of my sprint and speed but this is just what I need to get my legs fast again - I'm glad that I went.

PACT/Dishnetwork was well represented - Jim, Ted, Dan, Mike and Andy put on an impressive display with aggressive racing and some top placings. Nice job guys - we had a good team night.

Up next, maybe a crit tomorrow and two 20K time trials on Sunday. I've just started 'The Match' by Mark Frost - it's a golf book and pretty fascinating so far.

In the event I get my hands on any photos from the track, I'll be sure to post them.

2 Person 40K TT Double - Enormous Fun

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

Signing up for two 2-person 40K time trials (the TTTT) is something I might not do again for a while - probably until I forget how it all felt. We drove through rain all the way to Garden Prairie but were pleasantly surprised by dry conditions at race time, though there was a huge dose of nasty wind to contend with. My first TT was with National TT Champ Leigh Thompson - I was looking forward to doing the ride with her, she's super strong and tall which translates to a nice draft to recover in between pulls.

Photo: ABD

As far as 40K TT courses go, the Garden Prairie one is fun - some turns, interstate overpasses, smooth pavement - not boring. There was a killer tailwind on the way out and we held +30mph for a long time before having to grind into the cross/headwind on the way back. It was really tough and we both fought to keep our bikes moving straight much of the way back but we managed the best women's time on the day at 58:13. We worked together seamlessly and exchanges became intuitive very early on - Leigh is a great partner and I'll happily do another team TT with her again any time.

After that fine experience I rolled back to the car, basically fell off my bike, wiped the snot and drool off my face, and sat there a few minutes while Leigh pinned on another number and I whined about doing another 40K. I didn't want to disappoint my partner, Brian Akers, so we rolled back over to the start line (shivering) and did it again. He'd already done one TT (and won the cat 3 men's race - rock star!) and was content to let me essentially suck his wheel the entire distance. I felt really bad for having done that but I was just cooked from the first ride - and we still managed to finish respectably. Thank you Brian - you are also a fantastic TT partner who I will happily ride with again any time (maybe for the first/only ride...). I was trashed after that - everything hurt and I felt completely empty. It was very nice to be finished.

My teammates Mike and Jim also did the double - winning the 50+ and taking 2nd in the P1/2 even with a minor mechanical, very tired legs and smokin' fast times. Those guys are strong! I believe there was another PACT/Dish Network team that took 2nd in the 55+ category - well done, gentlemen - another good team weekend.

Up next, track starts this week, maybe a criterium on Saturday and 2 20K TT's on Sunday - I'm looking forward to it! I'm still reading 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' but am almost finished. Not sure what's up next - I have a few things in the queue but haven't decided yet.

Thanks for reading...

Kenosha Criterium Recap

The winning break in the 40+ masters race

I was able to sleep in Sunday morning before heading up to Kenosha for some criterium racing with the guys - we didn't start until 12:15. I spent some time in the back yard sipping tea and enjoying the morning sun before heading out mid-morning - that was nice.

I lined up with the 50+ masters field for a 45min race on a pretty innocuous flat course - three turns, one of which was a nice downwind sweeper that I could take really fast. Things started off well enough. After a couple small attacks Mike took off and got a gap at about 10min in. He stayed out there for 30min as I worked the front, keeping bridge and catch attempts under control as much as possible. We ended up catching him with 4 laps to go, so I put in a weak attack and was promptly hauled back in. Mike tried again and was also brought back. With two laps remaining I decided to jump and actually try to stay away - no one responded!! I got a huge gap and was able to carry it all the way to the line. It was a very cool win!

I watched the 40+ race - Dan, Ansgar and Mike were representing for PACT/Dishnetwork. Within a few laps Mike managed to get off the front with two other guys and built a gap that held at 40sec for the rest of the race. Dan, Ansgar and one other rider formed a chase group but weren't able to catch the break. In the end, Mike was second, Dan fourth and I believe Ansgar took fifth. I snapped a couple pictures with my lame ass camera phone but was only able to get one good shot - that of the break at the top of this post.

That's all for now - thanks for reading. Up this weekend is a 2 person team TT on Saturday. I'm doing two rides - one with National TT Champ Leigh Thompson and the other with Brian Akers, an incredibly strong time trialist and really nice guy. I'm looking forward to it!

JFMTT Recap

Wakes downing a post-race brownie. He finished 10th in the 40+ men's category.
Nice job Mike!!

"The Frasier" was rescheduled to this past Saturday due to poor weather conditions on the original date and it ended up that the weather was pretty agreeable with temps in the 60s and lots of sun (finally!!). We had to roll at stupid-early-o'clock to get out to Maple Park and I was just not feeling the love. I'd signed up to do two TT's and while warming up for the first one I knew that it was gong to be a difficult day - my legs were MIA and my head was directly connected to them which tends to indicate a sub-par performance was on tap for the day.

Mike and Ted getting ready beforehand - they both had excellent rides

I surprised myself with a decent time on my first ride which somehow ended up to be the fastest women's time on the day, though not by much. We had a pretty killer cross/head wind on the way back on the 8mi course which seemed to get worse as the day wore on. I pretty much just rolled the second one and was happy to finally get off my bike. The most interesting part of the second ride was having to come to a skidding halt right out of the first turn when a big truck somehow managed to be on the course. Nice! My PACT/Dishnetwork teammates put in strong performances in the 40+, 50+, P1/2 and 50+ women's categories as well so it was a good day for the team.

Short Weekend Update

I don't have time for a full post right now but I'll quickly say that it was a great team weekend for PACT/Dishnetwork at Saturday's TT and Sunday's criteriums in Vernon Hills and Kenosha. A full report is forthcoming, with pictures this time!