ABD Masters Weekend

The best new chamois cream-evar!!! You should getcha some...

I no longer spend the time, money or effort to go out for the Quad Cities weekend. I have no teammates which means I just get worked over in a women's field - not very positive. Instead, I opt to do the ABD Masters weekend in Wood Dale with my PACT/Dishnetwork teammates. Yeah, the self-proclaimed 'old guys.' The same ones that beat my ass over and over - which makes for fun, positive, hard racing. In addition to some daily payout there's an omnium so it's to one's advantage to work hard and finish well every day. As a team we had a great showing each day with Jim, Andy, Ziggy, Victor, Richard, Tommy, and Mike coming out for at least some if not all of the weekend. To provide every detail of each day would make for a really long post, so I'll do some summarizing, in the interest of keeping it brief.

Day 1: The break got away with PACT representation (Mike) with about 10min and 3 laps to go. Things had been pretty fast to that point. The field sprint developed nicely as Mack led things out into the final two turns. I felt good about my chances in the sprint, sitting fourth wheel when Don Lowe rolled his rear tubular in front of me. I had about a tenth of a second to make a choice: run him over or lean left and hope he sticks to the road. Fortunately for me, he stuck to the road and I finished 8th on the day. Mike ended up 3rd so our work to contain things paid off with a strong finish. I know Don went and had some things sewn back together and he's got to be pretty sore. Don, I'm so sorry you went down - feel better soon. I rode in the back of the 40+race after the 50+ ended and finished safely with the field. Tired legs!

Day 2: It seemed like today was even harder than yesterday and I wasn't really feeling the love. Things were very animated and the usual suspects were killing each other til the break finally escaped, again with maybe 10min and 3 laps to go. We had Mike up there so our work was done. After they were away, nothing much happened in the field except a lot of slow so the break caught us with a few laps to go. Everything got crazy and fast going into the final sprint but I managed to finish well enough to take 7th on the day. Mike did a good job too - taking 4th out of the break. I didn't do the 40+ which was a wise choice given that I felt like ass.

Day 3: Probably the best course of the weekend - a 1.6mi circuit that combines the Saturday and Sunday courses into one loop with a short rise before the final turn. We had three riders (Mike, Richard and me) in good position in the overall so getting strong finishes for all of us was important. I tried an early attack that was covered by two others and we stayed away for a little while but Mike put in the attack that successfully got him away for the remainder of the race. Tom Doughty bridged to him and we put the brakes on anything that twitched in the field. In the end, I was hosed in the sprint by a couple guys nearly bouncing off each other before the last turn so my finish pretty much sucked. It was all okay, though, because Mike took 2nd on the day and secured 3rd overall for himself. Richard's finish helped him to a 6th place overall and I managed to earn enough points for 7th overall.

I'm mostly pleased with how my weekend went. I would've liked to make the break the first and second days but both times I was boxed in on the wrong side of the road when things got hot. Big picture tells me to just be content and look to what's next. Racing with guys like Tom Doughty, Mike, Jim Host, Wayne Simon, Brent Emery, Andy Kerr, Bob Downs, Fabio Orlandi and the Mack boys makes me stronger, faster and smarter. Thank you for killing me, tools - you guys ROCK.

Also, many thanks to ABD and ABR for all they do to make this a great weekend of racing - all of the racers truly appreciate your efforts!

Woof.

Yep....there it is....

Barstow 20K - A New Course Record!

Barstow is one of my favorite 20Ks - completely flat, straight out and back along the Rock River which makes for a fast, fun ride. It's a long, boring drive over to the Quad Cities area but totally worth it - I love the course. I set a new course record last season and this year I really wanted to go faster so admittedly I felt a little self-imposed pressure to perform.

We were fortunate to have great weather on Sunday - it was sunny and warm with a strong cross/cross-headwind. I wasn't feeling so hot after a night of not great sleep and sort of tired legs so the sensations during warm-up weren't providing me with much confidence. That, and I wasn't seeing great numbers on the SRM so I resigned myself to just watching the speedo and going by feel. At certain points along the way in my first ride (I did two) I felt awful and wanted to just get off my bike and lie down. At other times I felt strong while seeing the speedo pegged at +27mph. In the end, the clock stopped nearly a minute faster than last season - a new course record, fastest women's time and a personal best 20K performance for me. Turns out I hadn't zeroed the offset on the SRM so the power numbers I got were crap. Big picture: who cares?

My second ride was cake - I rolled it in comfort for the fourth best time in the 50+ men's field. It was a good day for me. Wakes came out and tore things up a bit as well, taking 1st in the cat 4 field - nice job Mike! Ziggy, Richard and Mark made the drive and posted fast times as well. MetLifeGuy won the 50+ and (I believe) also the P1/2 with the second fastest time on the day. In fact, it was his fastest 20K ever - well done, Mike!

Up next - a couple of crits with the guys over Memorial Day weekend and some state TT course recon. I'm lacking top end lately due to all the TT's so it'll be 'nice' to get some lung searing, sick-hard efforts in my legs. I won't be heading back out to the Quad Cities area, opting instead to stay near home. I've done the QC weekend so many times it just really doesn't hold much excitement for me anymore.

As for my team situation, look for a separate post detailing my new gig...

Cham Pain 40K TT Recap

Snot, drool, a bit of everything.

I don't have much to say about last weekend's 40K TT in Champaign. I'd originally registered to do 2 rides but pissing rain, cold temps and the mother of all headwinds beat me down and made me declare, 'uncle!' after my first (not very good) ride. Down South, the corn is not up yet so as nice as the 25+mph tailwind was on the way out, it was a killer on the way back.

That said, I loved the decidedly unscenic course and think it would be great to try again when the corn is up. Straight out and back with a couple doglegs through two small towns, pristine smooth pavement and minimal traffic. State championship caliber for sure. Thanks to Wild Card Cycling of downstate Champaign for hosting and promoting the race.

The event wasn't very well attended but I still somehow managed to have the fastest women's time on the day, though I was far from proud of it. The PACT guys were also out - Ziggy, Mike, Mark, Richard and Bob all ended up with strong showings and some of the fastest times on the day. You guys are awesome! Wakes came down with little sleep and had a good ride as well - nice job, Mike!

Up next, two 20K TT's in Barstow, IL. I hope to improve upon the new course record I set there last season. Beyond that, some crit racing and a new women's squad - all good stuff!

Minor Newsflash...

More to come but the short story is that I will finally be renewing my USAC license - with a new team. I will continue to race ABR events with PACT/Dish but will be racing USAC stuff with a small, very talented women's squad. Details will be forthcoming as things evolve...

A No Race Weekend and Some Tunes

Gandalf, killing his ratty stuffed animal thing.

This past weekend saw me do no racing. Bummer in a way but probably not an all-bad thing. I was hoping to do the 2-person 40K on Saturday but plans fell through and I ended up on a group ride that left something (a lot...) to be desired. Sunday was nicer weather-wise which made for a longer, better ride on the new bike.

Here's the playlist for today's lunch hour spin class - after warm-up we'll be doing some tempo/threshold zig-zag stuff.

Bad - U2
The Day I Tried to Live - Soundgarden
Lay Down Your Weapons - Scissors for Lefty
The Fixer - Pearl Jam
Far Behind - Social Distortion
Strange Times - The Black Keys
Spring and By Summer Fall - Blonde Redhead
Lounge Act - Nirvana
Runnin' Wild - Airborne
Salute Your Solution - The Raconteurs
Devour - Shinedown
Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix

I'm reading 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelly and will next start 'The Pacific' by Hugh Ambrose. I caught the HBO series a couple of times and was intrigued, so I figured the book might be interesting. I'm not any kind of war/history junkie but it's a good story. After that, 'Tell All' by Chuck Palahniuk (one of my favorites).

Up next race-wise, maybe Monsters and a 40K near Champaign. I had a weak moment and signed up for 2 40K's. Stupid, stupid, stupid.....

That New Bike Smell

The new B bike - white saddle is on order.

In my small world, there are few things in life more excellent than a new bike - even if it's 'only' a new B bike. I brought it home this afternoon and am psyched about taking it out on it's first ride tomorrow, that being the famed Judson ride. I scored the frameset from Vince at Village Cycle Sport in Elk Grove - thanks Vince! And special thanks to Alex at Roscoe Village Bikes for doing a great job on the build.

My racing bike is old and tired but the expense of a new #1 is out of the question. I'll be logging a lot of training miles on this one - usually 350-400mi a week. It's built with some of my used parts, a fine vintage Syncros post from MetLifeGuy and some new Rival drivetrain pieces. Training wheels (with Power Tap) are compliments of PSIMET. (thank-you, Rob!!) Including pedals, it weighs in at a hair over 17lb. I think that's pretty good for a #2 bike - so exciting!!

The Cannondale has not been retired - it's status has been changed to 'rain and decent winter weather' bike. SKS race blade fenders at all times and of course, a set of old though still functional DT Swiss wheels - with Power Tap.

It's not real blingy - and it's not meant to be. It's going to see lots of hard miles and probably a few crashes in it's lifetime - it will owe me nothing when it's retirement day arrives.

Twice the Thrill in Kenosha AND-A Retirement...

Mike, Dan and Ziggy eating post-race cookies.

We had a great day for racing in Kenosha - mostly sunny, a little wind and decent temps. Fields weren't too big due to the simultaneously held Vernon Hills GP. In 50+ and 40+ masters we had probably around 15-20 riders respectively with a strong showing for PACT/Dish Network. First up was the 50+ and how things would end up was determined about two laps in. On the first and early in the second lap I made a couple small attacks and one somehow actually stuck. Mike bridged up from the group and we were away for the remainder of the 40minutes. We had Richard and Ziggy sitting back in the group disrupting as much as possible. In the end I decided to not contest the sprint for a few reasons:

1 - He towed my ass through the headwind section every lap (except the final lap, thanks for that!).
2 - He gets more TOI/WI and ROTY points for the victory in a series that I don't contend.
3 - He's retiring the six13 and what better way to do that than with a win?

Next up was the 40+. I think we had 6 PACT riders on the line so we basically dominated the race. Dan took off a few laps in, Mike bridged and we basically sat on and disrupted every chase attempt. I flatted with about 15min to go, got a wheel from the pit and was back in on the next lap. When things wound up for the field sprint, my head was somewhere else entirely so I ended up 4th. In retrospect I wish I would have gone with Mike - the 'racing' back in the group was really negative and I felt bad about sitting on so much. I guess that's just how racing goes when your teammates are off the front and it's your job to help keep it that way. In the end, Dan outsprinted a very tired Mike for the win. It was a great team effort all around.

Not sure what's up next - maybe the 2 person 40K next weekend. Or, a non-race weekend. That remains to be seen.

My new B bike should be ready by the end of the week - I'll be sure to post some pics once it's finished. It's nothing fancy but that's the point of a B bike, right?