Thursday Night at NBV and a Sub Hour 40K TT

My sweet little Gandalf killing the ALLVOI stuffed shark, Upchuck

HAPPY 40th STEVE!!!

Thursday was a fantastic weather day which made for an even better evening at Northbrook Velodrome. I wasn't really feeling the track love after riding for a while but Manfred talked me into contesting the 30 lap Amy Tremelling Memorial points race. So I tossed him my twenty bucks, muttered an insult, put on my skinsuit and sat on the trainer while I watched my teammates race in the Pro 1/2 points race.

Dan took a crazy flyer from the line, lapped the field (getting 20 points in the process) and then was unceremoniously dropped a little later (losing the points...). Up til then Mike and Ted stayed with the group then with maybe 15 laps to go Mike went off the front with VQ's Dave Sachs, accumulating enough points along the way to take 5th - it was a very fun race to watch. Nice job Mike! It was after that particular race that we named the shark Upchuck. It just sounded good. Later on Ted took second in the masters scratch race - while Mike and Dan sat back and controlled the pace in the field. It was another great showing for PACT/Dishnetwork at the track.

The women's field for the 30 lap points race was pretty small - I think maybe 10? They rang the prime bell on the second lap and I took off with Francine in tow. We shared the work for the next 28 laps and actually lapped the field, picking up points all the way. With two to go they rang the bell again for a big prime so I accelerated on the back stretch, lost Francine and soloed to first place (no one else in the picture). It was a very satisfying win.

Today I rolled with MetLifeGuy at stupid-early-o'clock to scenic Paw Paw for a 40K time trial - my final race before heading to Louisville for nationals. I felt good warming up and was able to score a sub-hour time (59:44) for the distance. I felt decent the entire ride - there was a fair amount of cross wind and a bit of headwind in some areas on the very rolling course. I was pleased with my effort and it was the fastest women's time on the day. Mike scored the second fastest men's time on his first effort - he's a strong boy. Mike, thank you for your company and congrats on an excellent ride today. Also - a shout out to the WDT/ALLVOI guys. See you in Louisville!

I finished 'Pygmy' (so very sick and twisted - it was great!!) and have started 'Are You Kidding me?' by Rocco Mediate and John Feinstein. It's a very easy, entertaining read. Next up is 'American Lion' by John Meacham about the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Should be a dense, compelling read. I'm looking forward to starting it.

Suburbia and Beyond

Lots of this on my ride yesterday - The Old Plank Trail

After a long day at the track on Saturday I decided to get the heck out of the city and headed to the South burbs to visit family for Father's Day. Not only did I get to see my dad, I visited with both of my brothers - also dads. The added bonus of it was that I also managed to get in a near 70mi ride on the day, traveling from my parents' place in Thornton out to my brother's in Manahttan(tucky) - it's very rural out there!

Most of the journey was completed on the Old Plank Trail, which I believe is a former railroad through-way that's been converted into a paved multi-purpose trail. This trail is NOTHING like the lakefront path. There were times on my ride that I didn't see another person for 10-15min at a time. Just a steady, straight, shady, smooth ride. Nice as it is, it was also a little boring - I much prefer to ride with (specific) company, so I took along my ipod for eardrum massage purposes.

It turned out to be a very nice day - warm sun, not a lot of wind and no rain, though it was intensely humid. That necessitated a few stops for fluid which enabled me to see some interesting things. It strikes me that no one in suburbia trains their dog to walk on a leash. I can't tell you how many poor owners I witnessed being dragged along having their arm yanked out by a hyper, choking dog. Oh, and the tandem and recumbent bikes - they're everywhere. The one thing that took the cake - a tandem recumbent. Yes, really. I'd love to see them maneuver through Friday evening lakefront path traffic on that sled. Indeed....

After my visit I was kicked in the head upon re-entry to urban life as I crept along on the moving parking lot known as the Dan Ryan/Kennedy combination. I hate driving and I hate traffic even more. Someday things will change but I'm not ready to leave this rat race of urban life just yet - so I'll keep my complaining to a minimum and make my own happiness until that day arrives.

Allvoi Cup #1

Dan, Cory (work it!), and Jim before the 4K team pursuit.

I've been having bike hate/the big suck for the past week so I took some easy days. I felt good Saturday morning so I headed to Northbrook Velodrome for a day of suffering also known as the Allvoi Cup. It's the first year for this event that includes a scratch race, some short TT's as well as individual and team pursuit stuff. I haven't done any type of pursuit specific training but I figured it was a better option than driving really far for a crit. I was torn about doing the America's Dairyland series - supposedly good racing - but the time, money and energy it would require this close to nationals made it an unappealing option.

PACT dudes (and one stand-in) on the Team Pursuit start

The women's turnout was especially small but the nature of pursuiting and the 500m TT is such that you suffer anyway - it's just up to you how much. I'd completed my pursuit bike set up the evening before with some electrical tape and a Hello Kitty band-aid. Seriously. When I went to the start for my 2K pursuit, Jim was kind enough to carry my bike over - his comment about the absence of pads on my aero-bar armrests: 'you're not really going to ride it like that, are you?' I just smiled and proceeded to ride my guts out to a respectable time, all things considered.

In the 500m TT I learned that I'm riding a gear that's MUCH too big which lent itself to a very sluggish start - but I managed the win, albeit much closer than it should have been. Later we did a scratch race to finish the day (for me anyway) and after a well-timed attack I stayed away for the last 3 laps or so for the win.

The dudes, keeping it tight out of turn 4.

Jim informed me that the appropriate way to refer to them (the boys) at the track is 'dudes.' So there you have it. Jim, Dan and Cory all did a great job representing for PACT - all had impressive individual strong finishes and the 3rd fastest team pursuit on the day. Hanging out in the team tent with them all day really was a blast - and I learned a lot too. The next Allvoi Cup event is July 18th. Hopefully by that time I will have gotten my pursuit bike together and my 500 TT gear dialed in.

Up next is a 40K TT out in Paw Paw, IL where the wind is oppressive and ubiquitous. 40K is a bit long for my taste at this point so my plan is to ride the first half as I would at nationals, then scale it back a bit on the second 20K. It's the final tune up before nationals and then I head out to Louisville a couple days later for the TT and criterium.

I've started 'Pygmy' and it's great - albeit difficult to read as it is written in deliberately broken English. Also - I have to send 'feel better soon' wishes out to Corie who's anticipating surgery for a bad ankle fracture sustained while mountain biking in Alaska last week. Yikes! Hang in there, dirty girl....

The Big Suck

I think 'The Big Suck' is a meteorological term used to describe persistent, lousy weather patterns. I think it's a good description for my time trial performance of late. Because I have no desire to talk about my first loser finish from yesterday, I'm going to let you know what we did in Spin class this morning and afternoon:

Warm up: Gradual build of intensity followed by a few hard opening kickers
Work: 3X8.5min hill efforts done at threshold. Included in each hill effort: 2X40 pedal stroke accelerations and 2X40 pedal stroke efforts out of the saddle.
2.5min rest and repeat followed by easy spin to cool down

Soundtrack:
What it' s Like - Everlast
One World - The Police
I Will Possess Your Heart (long one) - Death Cab for Cutie
Heroin Girl - Everclear
Nobody Told Me - Puddle of Mudd
Fake It - Seether
Brass Monkey - The Beastie Boys
There There - Radiohead
Vertigo - U2
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - Eddie Vedder

I need some rest and a few more hard days to prepare for Masters Nationals. The good thing is that the TT course is shorter than last year and suits me perfectly. It's 24K and my 20K TT performances have been outstanding this season so far. The other good thing is that the person who won the jersey ahead of me in 2008 has moved to the 40-44 age group. I may also stick around and do the criterium - my crit racing has also been good (especially my sprint: +900w) so I think I can do well if I race smart (and ride stupid).

Up next: maybe some track racing in Kenosha tomorrow (weather dependent) and then some easy days in prep for the Allvoi Cup at the track on Saturday. Still reading "The Great Mortality" but I'm almost done. Next up is 'Pygmy' by the very sick Chuck Palahniuk. I can't wait to start it.

I have to send a big shout out to one of my favorite Spinheads Dan who had a great performance at the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon last weekend. Also - nice job to Tim Glinski at the Liberty Tri and Beth at the Elkhart Lake Tri (3rd in her age group!!). Nice job everybody!

Thanks for checking in....

Bike Poker

It's difficult to win a sprint when someone gets a 1/2 bike length on you from behind within 200m of the line. At least I made it close. Photo: B. Cassidy

Not a whole lot to say about round 2 in Winfield. Damp pavement, small field, early break thanks to a prime (which I snagged) and then me and two others playing bike poker on the last lap. I'd been more than happy for nearly the entire race to tow my two break companions from just before turn 3 all the way to turn 1 from where the two of them split the small remainder of the work. Then on the last lap I was shamelessly isolated in the front, nearly track standing to make it happen. It's hard to win a sprint that way, especially over a darn bumpy surface where a smooth line to the finish was hard to find. So my back wheel skipped me along to a very close first loser finish. Boo. But that's racing and it just comes with the territory. As stated very plainly by Linda Mastrandrea, Paralympic gold medalist (multiple times), "silver sucks." Indeed.

PACT/Dishnetwork had a decent showing on the day with Mike taking 5th in the 50+ race after being off the front solo for a long time. Mariusz, Jim, Dan and Andy also came out for the fun and results can be found here. Well done, gentlemen.

I also need to send a shout out to Leah from the Chainlink who just arrived home after doing the California AIDS ride - she killed the hills and had an awesome ride. Way to go!

Winfield Twilight Crit - A 'W'

Photo: Luke Seemann

UPDATE: Wow!! Check this out! And these! Thanks Luke!!

I can't possibly express how much I dislike traffic and we got a sizable dose of it today on the way out to Winfield. What should have taken 45-60min tops took more like 90min - creeping along on the interstate as our warm-up time disappeared. I was co-pilot for MetLifeGuy who was kind enough to chauffeur me and my bike to the race venue (thanks Mike!). When we arrived it was hurry up and register, get dressed and somehow manage to wake up your legs before start time. In the end it turned out okay - we had about 30min to get in a couple hard efforts before lining up.

The Winfield course is maybe a mile long with a gradual rise on the backside and a descent with a few turns before the start/finish - nice smooth pavement and lots of neighborhood peeps hanging out partying. The 50+ men and Open Women's categories were run at the same time, separated by maybe 20sec at the start. I was doing my first crit with the women this season and was actually a little nervous - Kristen, Christy and Jessi are all strong riders so I knew it was not going to be easy. The field was pretty small - like maybe 10 - and things became separated on an early prime up the backside rise. I sort of sat on the first prime - to see who was feeling spunky - and then when the second one was called I decided to take a chance and got it.

The break group of 4 did a nice job of working together, taking pulls up the hill and keeping things smooth - thanks for that, ladies! Jessi executed a couple of nice attacks and I pushed on the hill a little bit a few times (nothing serious) just to see what would happen. It was clear that things would stay together so I had to turn my attention to the sprint. My legs weren't feeling very good until about 5min to go but I was able to get good position on the last lap and sort of waited for the right time to take off, just before the final turn on the downhill section. I accelerated hard, got a gap, held good speed through the turn and then just kept hitting it all the way to the line. Kristin is a very talented sprinter - I kept looking under my arm, just waiting for her wheel to come by but in the end I was able to cross the line first.

Mike takes the 50+ win Photo: Luke Seemann

It turned out to be a great team showing for PACT/Dishnetwork - Mike broke away solo about three laps in and took the 50+ masters race. It was almost funny - at one point I heard the pace car behind us beep the horn and I said, 'that's Mike.' Sure enough, he came through alone and held it to the end - nice job!!

If I happen to see any pictures from today, I'll be sure to post them or post a link. Thanks for reading!

Play. List.

I haven't posted a Spin soundtrack for a while so here's what we're doing today:

Warm up - gradual intensity build with some openers in the third song.

Loop - Three times: 2X1min AP on short rest followed by 4min threshold/VO2 (I'm not a Spin Nazi - I give options...) then a short break and repeat.

Rocket - Smashing Pumpkins
Hollow Man - The The
Black Math - The White Stripes
The New Pollution - Beck
Love Burns - BRMC
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend - The Ramones
You Know My Name - Chris Cornell
She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
Brown Eyed Girl - Reel Big Fish
Saving Grace - Tom Petty
Far Behind - Social Distortion
Walking on the Moon - The Police