Livin' the Dream!

An Old Post I Didn't Post

2011-01-05T12:18:00.003-06:00

Off the front, laying it down in Evanston

NOTE: This entry was initially posted back in July but not to this blog. Here you now have my Evanston GP recap.

Superweek is a 21 day series of races that occurs every July in the Chicago and Milwaukee area. The racing is fast, hard, aggressive and incredibly exciting. The Evanston Grand Prix has been a part of the series for a few years now and has probably become my favorite event - a tight, technical .8mi hourglass shaped course in downtown Evanston, IL that suits me well. The crowd is always huge and the fan support is amazing.

Racing got underway a little late for our 35 lap race due to some strong thunderstorms that moved through the area earlier in the day. I knew the field was full of some quality sprinting horsepower so it was my plan to attack and hopefully get away with a small group. My first attack at 32 laps to go was hauled back in within a lap. When I was caught, I immediately counter-attacked my own move and was alone, off the front, for the remainder of the race. I caught and lapped the field!

A lot of things went through my mind as I fought fatigue and dehydration on a very hot day - this is insane! You're going to get caught! My legs hurt so terribly bad! I can't believe I did this to myself! As my gap grew and I settled into a sustainable pace things changed and my head came around to a more positive place. In the end, I allowed the peloton to roll away and contest the sprint for second place and I crossed the line alone, hands in the air, tears in my eyes. It was an amazing and wonderful feeling to work so incredibly hard and achieve something I've always wanted.

My ride is dedicated to my best friend and training partner who was nearly killed by a truck while training on his bike nearly seven weeks ago. He is my motivation, inspiration and reason for living. Mike - I love you with all my heart and I am here for you as you suffer, struggle and fight to regain your life. My mind was filled with thoughts of you as I suffered and dug deeply into that painful and uncertain place called 'off the front.' It's a place you introduced me to and you are there with me every time I visit. Thank you for being you - I am here for you, always.

Yep.

2010-11-16T09:04:00.000-06:00

Don't want to be an actor pretending on the stage
Don't want to be a writer with my thoughts out on the page
Don't want to be a painter 'cause everyone comes to look
Don't want to be anything where my life's an open book

A dream it's true
But I'd see it through
If I could be
Wasting my time with you

Don't want to be a farmer working in the sun
Don't want to be an outlaw always on the run
Don't want to be a climber reaching for the top
Don't want to be anything where I don't know when to stop

A dream it's true
But I'd see it through
If I could be
Wasting my time with you

So if I'm inside your head
Don't believe what you might have read
You'll see what I might have said
To hear it

Come waste your time with me
Come waste your time with me

So if I'm inside your head
Don't believe what you might have read
You'll see what I might have said
To hear it

Come waste your time with me
Come waste your time with me
Come waste your time with me
Come waste your time with me

Come waste your time with me

Back from the Edge But Still at the Zoo...

2010-09-28T10:12:00.004-05:00

It's been a while and I will make no guarantees that I'll be back for long but after a bit of a hiatus I'm offering today's 5min VO2 effort playlist. I'm on sabbatical on a lot of levels, working through some personal, athletic and professional issues that have consumed my time and attention for a few months now.

Here's what we're massaging our eardrums with this afternoon:

Keep the Car Running - Arcade Fire
Dakota - Stereophonics
Emerge - Fischerspooner
Wrong Way - Sublime
Cuttooth - Radiohead
Let My Love Open the Door - Pete Townshend
Fortune Teller - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Up Tight - The Hives
No Cars Go - Arcade Fire
Breakaway - The Detroit Cobras
Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
Trouble - Coldplay

Then I'm heading out to do some tasty bump repeats on the LFP on this gorgeous, sunny autumn day before coffee with my best friend. That makes me happy and at the moment, that's all I really want and the only thing that matters.

Superweek - The Homewood International Cycling Classic

2010-07-12T05:12:00.003-05:00

Homewood is a new Superweek location for 2010. I was especially psyched about this because my hometown, Thornton, is situated immediately east of Homewood. I was able to ride to the race venue from my parents' house 3mi away. The course was excellent - 8 turns, completely flat, running through downtown. Some of the pavement was bumpy but not too bad and there was a nice headwind to deal with on the long backstretch between turns 4 and 5.

We got underway with maybe 30 starters. I didn't count how many of us there were so I could be wrong on that but the field wasn't huge which was nice - it made for much smoother cornering in tight spots. Stacy and I were pretty active early on with a few short stints off the front and some work to bring in a couple of early flyers. A break of 3 managed to get away at some point and build an 18-20sec gap. I was tremendously frustrated that everyone seemed pretty content to just let it go. I and maybe 3 or 4 others worked to bring the gap down to 8sec and then everyone sat up and let it go back out with about 10 laps to go. Negative. Even more negative were the riders who literally tailgunned the entire race and then suddenly appeared in the front with 2 laps to go.

As things started to get twitchy in the last two laps I worked very hard to keep decent position. I lost a bunch in turn 6 but was patient, moved up before the last turn, was able to hit it up the left side and finish 3rd in a close field sprint. Not the way I wanted things to turn out - I really wanted to haul that break back in - but not a bad way to finish a long crit. Unfortunately, Stacy hit the fencing on the last lap and lost some skin. She's going to be okay and she rode like a champ - I love racing with her and she learns more every time. The ride back to Thornton was a little wet but there were Chips Ahoy cookies waiting there for me which made it all okay in the end.

Up next is Evanston next Sunday for sure. Maybe something else before then but who knows - trying to balance work and life right now and with good reason, work and life are winning. And I'm totally okay with that!

Thanks so much for reading. If any photos surface, I'll be sure to post them.

Tour de Villas - Bow Wow Wow!!

2010-07-03T19:47:00.008-05:00

The brilliant plan for the day involved riding 15mi to Des Plaines, doing two crits (women open and men 50+) then riding home. I'd not slept well the night before and wasn't feeling the love when I rolled out but once I got moving things seemed to open up a little. I connected with my teammate Stacy beforehand for some pre-race planning, got a good warm up and hit the line for the women's race nervous as hell. There were (I think) about 20-25 starters with Alberto's and Project 5 having strong representation with multiple riders. Not sure why but I'm an absolute anxious wreck before small local races. Lots of pressure for no good reason, I guess.

The course was simple enough - one big oval, no turns just curves, a long sprint, lots of bumpy pavement and a face full of headwind on the back stretch. I was tickled to see Channel 7's Paul Meincke doing some color commentary at the start/finish - a celebrity!! I wanted to be patient but just couldn't stand the parade-speed of the group so I attacked early. In fact, Stacy and I attacked and counter attacked repeatedly but weren't able to escape thanks to the wind. I didn't count how many times we tried to break things up but it was absurd mostly because we'd get hauled back in and everyone would sit up, look at each other and go 13mph. Frustrating and negative for sure.

I think I was away for 2 laps or so at one point but with 2 to go it was clear that we were setting up for a field sprint. Stacy did an awesome job of ramping up the speed on the last lap. I was sitting in third position, jumped hard and waaaay early but managed to take the win with Stacy coming across 4th - a great showing for the Bulldogs!! Special thanks to Stacy who kept the pace high at the end - she did it perfectly and still secured a strong finish, nice work!

The men's race was surprisingly not very animated most likely because a lot of the guys were doing multiple races. We rolled with 31 starters - Stacy and I were just planning to do some motor pacing. I executed an early 'glory' attack that got me off the front for a couple laps but that was brought back in just in time for Mark Shay to hit it and spend a fair amount of time alone off the front. Of course when Mark was caught (idiot that I am) I countered and ended up spending probably another 6 laps alone in the wind, dying a slow death and thinking to myself, "how the hell are you going to ride home after this, fool?" Sure enough, I was sucked in with 1/2 a lap to go. I stayed near the front and found a hole which enabled me to punch through for a 4th place finish - I think. I left before final results were posted and it's possible that one of the guys ahead of me was 55+, which would leave me in 3rd. Regardless, I worked very hard and had a lot of fun on a beautiful sunny day. Interestingly, I was stung by a bee during my second solo stint. It was a little swollen and itchy but as I sit here and type my ankle and foot are now freakishly edematous and sort of gross looking...

UPDATE: I did indeed finish 3rd in the men's race. Very cool....

Quote of the Day from Bill Cassidy: "Next time you're alone and coming through the start/finish on the last lap, go faster if you don't want to get caught."

I did ride home and probably ended up getting back faster than I would have if I'd driven there. Shower, lunch and good company for some HD TdF occupied the rest of the afternoon. Big thanks to Project 5 for organizing a great event on short notice - you guys did a super job!

And yes, I am still at the zoo.....no estimate on when that will change.

Tunes

2010-06-30T11:33:00.003-05:00

Eddie. The man speaks to me.

I'm very fortunate in that I get to play 'adult gym class' for a living. The money isn't super great but being able to work part time with cool people and have fun doing it makes up for whatever downside exists. This morning in spin we did some tasty LT/Vo2 work to the playlist below.

Walking in Your Footsteps - The Police
Devil in Me - 22-20s
I'm not Your Man - Doughboys
The Fixer - Pearl Jam
Walk Idiot Walk - The Hives
Where are we Runnin' - Lenny Kravitz
Think I'm in Love - Beck
Let My Love Open the Door - Pete Townshend
12:51 - The Strokes
Low Rider - War
Good Times, Bad Times - Godsmack
Albatross Joe - Cocktail Preachers
This is Your Life - Dust Brothers with Tyler Durdin
Whipping - Pearl Jam
Trouble - Coldplay

Looks like I''l be retiring to the beach again on Friday after finishing at work. It's a good place to spend time and decompress when your head is at the zoo. I finished 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' and have begun 'Lunar Park' by Bret Easton Ellis. He's a very troubled guy but his writing style makes for easy reading. Up next is 'American Psycho.' I may or may not race this weekend. There's a local crit I'm considering that looks like a good opportunity to stretch the legs and lungs a bit with the boys. And I might even do the women's race too.

Apache 40K

2010-06-26T17:53:00.006-05:00

This little pig-gay is in the window at an interesting place I ride by most days of the week.

When I asked, they refused to sell him to me.

Is it a good sign when you see windmill farms on the way to a time trial? Hmmmmm.....for those of you who don't venture out past DeKalb very often, there are a lot of windmill farms out there in corn country so it's a pretty safe bet that any time trial you do out that way is gonna be a real windy mother. I was hoping the corn would be sort of 'up' to break things up a bit but a strong WNW kept things interesting the entire 40K out in Paw Paw. Cupcake and I rolled out west after a line of strong thunderstorms passed through on what turned out to be a really hot though very nice sunny (windy) day.

40K time trials are the most challenging for me - I much prefer and do better in 20K and 30Ks. After the debacle that was Champaign, I asked MetLifeGuy WTF I should do to improve my 40K time trialing. His response: do more 40Ks. Thanks for that...though he was exactly right. We don't have many 40K opportunities each season - maybe 4-5 at most - so when one rolls around on the schedule I tend to sit on the fence and get anxious about whether I'll actually do it or not.

The course in Paw Paw is out and back, shaped like the big dipper with some nice rollers on the southernmost stretch and a fair amount of false flat/rolling terrain elsewhere. I felt really strong til the last 10K (no surprise there) and really had to dig to finish well. At about 8K to go I really wanted to just get off my bike and lie down on the side of the road - a good sign that I was riding it the 'right' way. In the end I managed to post my fastest 40K time ever - by a minute - I was very pleased. And yes, it was sub-hour by a substantial amount. Definitely a good day and a good test of fitness as Masters Nationals approaches. I am definitely stronger than I was at this time last season.

I finished 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' and am nearly done with 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.' A great piece of classic lit and I'm loving it. Not sure what's up next.

I didn't have a lift to Peoria today so I didn't do the state crit. Sigh. Though opting out may have been a good thing in the long run. Looking at the race calendar I'm planning to do some of Superweek and will be spending a lot of training time on the TT bike. I will not be denied this year.

I am indeed still at the zoo but have settled in here and don't plan to leave for a while - so if you think I'm acting strangely, you're probably correct.

USA Crits Giro d'Grafton

2010-06-20T17:16:00.005-05:00

Solo flyer taken at some point when I was feeling good.

I was pretty psyched to head up to Grafton, WI for the USA Crits/Tour of America's Dairyland Giro d'Grafton crit yesterday. Val and I loaded up the truck and hit the road after being able to sleep in! One thing I really like about racing at national caliber events - women P1/2/3 typically race in the afternoon. That's good for me since I normally suck in the morning.

We arrived and were promptly informed that our teammate Stacy had won the W3/4 race earlier in the day - very exciting for our team! There were about 65-70 women lined up for the P1/2/3 event. I'd had a good warm up and was feeling great. I knew that if all went well, I could probably place well. Things were pretty aggressive from the gun with a fair number of primes and point sprints. I even won some USA Crits points. For a while I was away with Kori Seehafer from TT1 but we were reeled in at about the 30min mark of the 60min race. Her teammate countered and managed to stay away, being joined by a Metro-VW rider not long after.

Stacy in the P1/2/3 race. She did a great job and rode smart in a big, strong field.

There were a few bridge attempts and some efforts to reel the break back in but nothing ever got organized enough to make any kind of impact. With about 8 laps to go I had a conversation with a Vera Bradley Foundation rider about chasing things down but they weren't interested and were content to take their chances in a field sprint. At that point my main objective became maintaining position going into the long final sprint. The last turn on the 6-corner course is less than 90 degrees and somewhat off-camber so I knew it was important to be near but not in the front. Things got a bit bunched up coming out of the turn but I didn't panic - I knew that I'd have time and space to make up any ground lost early on.

Val, playing it smart.

As things wound up a hole opened and I went through, straight to the front and moving fast as hell. On the line I was third in the field sprint, fifth overall. I was very pleased with my result - there was a lot of horsepower in the field and a fifth place finish is a strong result. Val had good position in the end but got caught up behind some junk that caused her to roll across 22nd with Stacy a little farther back. In all, a darn fine showing for the Bulldogs! I'm really looking forward to doing more racing with my team - such great girls and excellent racers.

Special thanks to Grafton native John Walker for his fine camera work! Thanks for coming out and cheering for us, John. Always good to see a familiar face in the crowd.

Beyond that, I guess this helps my head get back on track a bit. I'm still at the zoo but at least I'm seeing things that I like. Not sure what the plan is for next weekend. There's a 40K TT and the state championship crit in Peoria. I held the crit title a long time ago and it might be nice to wear the jersey again....

Hearing and Reading

2010-06-17T10:31:00.003-05:00

We'll be doing some threshold/hard tempo zigzag stuff in class today. Here's our playlist:

Not an Addict - K's Choice
White Palm - B.R.M.C.
Salvation - The Cranberries
Wong Way - Sublime
Berlin - B.R.M.C.
Burnout - Green Day
Pretty Vegas - INXS
Fire - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
I'm a Believer - Smashmouth
Hang Fire - The Rolling Stones
Beautiful Day - U2
Isn't She Lovely - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Don't Change - INXS
Awake - B.R.M.C.

We listened to this yesterday:

Slave to Love - Brian Ferry and Roxy Music
Breaking the Girl - Red Hot Chili Peppers
World Wide Suicide - PJ
Demolition Man - The Police
Backwards Down the Number Line - Phish
Forever Yellow Skies - The Cranberries
Mr. Jones - Counting Crows
Sabotage - Beastie Boys
Morning Glory - Oasis
Trouble - Coldplay (yep, my favorite Coldplay tune...)

I finished reading 'The Pacific' by Hugh Ambrose. Wow. Compelling stuff. That's all I can say. I started 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' by John Berendt last night. Very good so far.

Not a whole lot to say. Still in a tentative place. As I like to say, 'fuck it - sometimes you have to go to the zoo.' I'm at the zoo. Don't know when I'm coming back or what I'll be like upon re-entry.

Bong 1.5 30K TT

2010-06-14T11:03:00.006-05:00

Jim and Tom after racing but before a shower. They have nice faces, too.

Admittedly I am having a hard time feeling the love for racing right now. Or really much of anything, to be honest. But I guess grinding things out might be a good way to maybe find some sense of structure and normalcy so yesterday I rolled to Kansasville, WI for the Bong and a Half. We had a decent day weather-wise with some wind in a few places and some damp pavement spots but it was otherwise pleasant. Turnout was good with the usual suspects showing up to have some 'fun.'

I had a solid warm up and ended up posting a personal best time for 30K at the Bong by 20sec and first in the Open women's category so I'm pleased. My power file looked solid, too. It was nice to see a bunch of my teammates and other characters of interest at the TT - sorry I didn't bake this time, guys. I'm always good for some brownies or cookies but I just didn't have the motivation.

Up next it looks like Grafton on Saturday with my teammates, Val and Stacy. It's an NRC race that's part of the USA Crits series and I'm looking forward to it. I did Grafton and finished third a couple years back so I'm confident that I can do well with the heavy hitters who show up. I think we'll have a good time and a strong showing.

Til next time, be safe out there....

What a Week and Some Tunes

2010-06-11T16:31:00.004-05:00

Don't know that I can articulate exactly how I feel at the moment. Imagine that - I'm stymied! For the most part, I can express myself freely when it comes to unimportant conversation, but the past week has been difficult. Or maybe it's just that this particular diatribe isn't unimportant. Once in a while stuff happens that, to some degree, can tend to dictate the direction of your future. I think that maybe this past week has proven to be the precursor to a shift of things for me.

I'll say it here, right now, that during this past week I have seriously pondered retiring from the bike at the end of this season. I entertained doing that about three years ago then decided that I wanted to get stronger and still had more to accomplish, so I kept going. Of late, too many of my good friends have been seriously injured on their bikes and I'm having a really hard time wanting to continue exposing myself that risk day in and day out. I still love to train hard and race but the environment within which I ride (the city and north shore) has become incredibly dangerous and hostile. I've always said I'd walk away on my terms - when it's no longer fun and I get nothing positive out of it. Racing and riding is still enormously fun and positive for me, which is why I am so conflicted.

To consider eliminating an activity so central to my very existence is deeply difficult. Racing bikes does not pay the bills, support my lifestyle or make me who I am in this world. Nor will it ever determine the quality or size of the impact I have on the existence of others. That said, I'm not sure what I will do with myself if I decide that I'm finished. Go back to running marathons? I don't know if I can do that. Work more? Maybe a little bit but not much - I start to hate if I work too much. Get a life and meet some men? Terrifying. The prospects aren't so great!

Until I have a more clear idea of what I'm going to do, I have fully committed myself to the goal of winning a jersey at Masters Nationals in 2010. Time trial or criterium - I owe it to myself to throw everything I have into making that a reality. I'll re-evaluate at the end of the season and hopefully a bit of clarity will have come to me by that time. The end of the season will be in December, after 'cross ends. Til then, I will work my ass off (or rest) every single day and when the smoke clears, hopefully I will know what I want to do.

Up next is the Bong and a half TT on Sunday and I am ready! I considered the Sherman Park crit on Saturday but decided against it. I think I may head down to Kankakee for Cobb Park next weekend. I won that race many many years ago and would like to maybe try it again, as it might be my last time :)

Thanks so much for reading. To all my friends out there who are recovering, stay positive and be patient. This will pass and things will get better. You are in my thoughts. And to everyone else, be careful out there. You just never know what's around the next corner.

What my ears are hearing, in no particular order or importance. Just put the ipod on shuffle.

Backward Down the Number Line - Phish
Four Sticks - Led Zeppelin
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - Eddie Vedder
The Step and the Walk - The Duke Spirit
Get on Your Boots - U2 (God that song kicks ass!)
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
If I Can't Change Your Mind - Sugar
Jerry Was a Racecar Driver - Les Claypool/Primus
Cult of Personality - Living Color
Fade into Me - Mazzy Star
Right Now - Mocean Worker
Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Can't You Hear Me Knocking - Rolling Stones (might be my favorite 'stones song)
Spring and By Summer Fall - Blonde Redhead

Spring Prairie, WI Road Race

2010-06-06T16:40:00.009-05:00

I haven't done a road race, much less raced with women in a really long time so I was actually a little nervous about racing today in Wisconsin's state road race championship. In fact, I hadn't renewed my USAC license til last night - with my women's team, Bouledogue Tout Noir. In my absence from the women's peloton, a bunch of new, strong riders have arrived on the scene and I am unfamiliar with the present dynamic of things. I do know that I am riding well right now so the plan today was to observe and respond appropriately with my teammate Stacy. The course is one that sorts things out on its own so being more reactive as opposed to proactive was a smart strategy.

I've never done this race before so I made sure to take a lap of the 6.5mi course before start time. It's a big rectangle with some rollers and one steepish hill before the start/finish that pretty much determines how things shake out. We had great weather and some stiff cross/headwind between turns 1 and 2. The P1/2/3 field was only 13 and comprised mostly of Wisconsin riders save a few of us so I was content to watch some friendly smackdown til the field shrunk down to 7 by the end of the third lap. Stacy took a great flyer at one point and was away for about a lap - it was well-timed and properly executed. I did a whole lot of sitting while the chase ensued.

There were small attacks here and there but nothing beyond Stacy's hit really went anywhere which set things up for a field sprint. There were times along the way where this 'race' was more like a freakin' goat rodeo...7mph with women wobbling around and nearly falling over. Sheesh. In fact, at one point, I looked around and asked, 'now ladies, do we really want to go...8?' NOTE TO READER: This is why I race with the men. They just don't tolerate this kind of crap. Of course, once we had a tailwind the speed was more like 35mph. Maybe it's just me, but speed fluctuations like that tend to suck the life out of my legs. Must be my inner time trialist begging for steady, strong, pacemaking.

Per some pre-race coaching from Stacy's studly boy, Chris, I exercised restraint when a hard attack went up the hill and got a gap at the end. He told us, 'they'll blow up and you'll reel them back in before the line.' When the attack went I remembered what Chris said and went up the hill steady, anticipating that I could swing around and go by them on the way to the line as they died...only it didn't come back!! Ugh - I ended up third. That sort of sucked because I felt really strong and surely could have finished better. Ah well, live and learn.

Stacy and I had a blast racing together and I'm looking forward to a lot more of that! Val will also be coming out for some road stuff. We're all excited about our new arrangement which will surely lend a bit of fresh aggressiveness to the local and regional scene.

In other news...I want to send my most deeply heartfelt love and support to one of my very best friends in this world who is going through some serious and difficult shit. I just want you to be whole again and am here for you, whatever you need, anytime and always.

ABD Masters Weekend

2010-05-31T17:24:00.009-05:00

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.

2010-05-26T12:43:00.000-05:00

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

Barstow 20K - A New Course Record!

2010-05-25T10:27:00.010-05:00

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

2010-05-21T05:09:00.004-05:00

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...

2010-05-20T11:15:00.002-05:00

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

2010-05-10T10:23:00.006-05:00

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

2010-05-07T18:09:00.004-05:00

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...

2010-05-02T19:14:00.009-05:00

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?

Two Hits on the Bong

2010-04-25T17:51:00.004-05:00

It was an early get-up this morning for the Single Bong 20K TT in Wisco and the weather was looking iffy. We'd had rain all night and the forecast was for more of the same. After training in the rain so much it really doesn't bother me to race in it anymore so I was ready for anything. We sort of lucked out, I think. The pavement was wet, there was no precip but there definitely was wind. There appeared to be a fair number of no-shows and given the weather, I was not surprised.

I like the Bong course - a mostly flat to rolling 20K circuit with three right turns. I'd registered to do two rides and while I briefly pondered only doing one, I took a big bite of HTFU after my first ride and lined up for number two. It seemed that the wind was a little stronger the second time but the pavement was drying out so my feet were just cold, not cold and wet. Turned out that I had the first and second fastest times on the day for women and improved upon my previous personal best time by about 30sec. I'll take it. It was a good day for me and while I wasn't feeling so super, I am definitely pleased. It was my first race with the SRM and I love it!

PACT/DishNetwork was well represented and scored some excellent results today - nice job, guys. Bob, Ziggy, Krystian, Dan, Richard and Mike - you boys are the best! I also have to send a shout out to Peter who had a fine performance today - well done.

Some exciting news - I am building a new 'B' (bitch) bike! I scored a sweet aluminum/carbon Blue frameset and while I briefly thought about stripping the Cannondale to build it, I changed my mind. The new ride will be almost entirely new and will become my primary training bike. I really love my RC-7 but it is getting tired (30,000+ miles on it) so it'll be used mainly for racing and only in good weather. I'll post pictures after Alex finishes building it at Roscoe Village Bikes.

Up next, probably a crit next weekend. Best of luck to Wakes who's playing in the dirt next weekend. Beyond that - Blackhawks, Sox and Cubs, oh my!!! Keep winning, boys!

And!! Congrats (?) to my 5 year old niece Elise who lost her first tooth the other day!!

Cherry Valley 30K TT

2010-04-18T17:06:00.007-05:00

PACT Power Tools l to r: (interloper) Bob Beck, Ziggy, Mark, Richard, Dan, Bob and Mike

I saw no reason to do the Leland Kermesse yesterday. Riding/racing on a course that includes 6mi of gravel roads in a small, unanimated women's field isn't a fun way for me to spend a weekend day. Don't worry Illinois women, I will be coming out to play soon enough. I have some time trials to do first.

Not sure whether I like or dislike the roughly 30K course at Cherry Valley. It's curvy, rolls a bit and is always windy. I like the first part for sure but the second part is decidedly unscenic as it passes through a wide open, windblown stretch of fields until the corn is up. A set of railroad tracks is a nice bonus feature provided that you don't pinch flat - it's not a very smooth crossing. Seemed to me that we had a cross-tailwind out and cross-headwind back today, so really not a whole lot of relief to be found.

I was feeling decent today during warm up and ended up riding my fastest time ever on the course by nearly a half minute, though it wasn't as fast as I would have liked. I paced my effort just about perfectly with the stretch back being about 20sec faster than the way out. It turned out to be the fastest women's time on the day - hard not to be pleased with that! My SRM still hasn't returned from battery service so I was using a less than optimal aero setup though it wasn't terrible. Hopefully it will be back this week and I'll be able to run both tri-spoke wheels at the Single Bong next weekend.

My PACT/DishNetwork teammates nailed down fast times in the 60+, 55+, 50+, 40+, cat 3 and P1/2 categories today. I don't recall everyone's results but Bob won the 60+, Mike ended up winning the 50+, took 3rd in the P1/2 and had the second fastest men's time on the day. Mark, Mariusz, Jim, Dan and Richard were also at or near the top of their categories. Way to go guys, you rock!! I also have to send out congrats to Peter who did his first TT today completely 'naked' - no aero equipment. In fact, he did TWO!! Nice job Peter!

Beyond that, I'm finishing 'The Bullpen Gospels,' managed to read 'Anthem' by Ayn Rand last week and up next is the classic 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte. I read it in high school but my level of comprehension back then was admittedly lacking. After that I'm thinking it's time for some Chuck Palahniuk (he has a new book out!) or maybe 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley.

As always, thanks for reading.

Tunes

2010-04-15T09:31:00.003-05:00

Robert.

I felt like doing some old-school classic rock for today's playlist and this is what I came up with. After warm up we'll be doing this loop twice: 2X2min Vo2 (hill efforts) on 2min rest then a 5min LT with 3min rest between loops.

Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - AC/DC
LaGrange - ZZ Top
White Room - Cream
You Really Got Me - Van Halen
I Can See for Miles - The Who
Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin
Fire Woman - The Cult
Angel - Jimi Hendrix

I really wanted to include 'Whipping Post' by The Allman Brothers but I don't have a quality digital copy that does that song any justice. It's one of the most ass-kicking classic rock tunes ever, in my estimation anyway.

Game On!!

2010-04-11T18:13:00.006-05:00

The outdoor TT season has officially begun with today's John Frasier Memorial TT. My goals for today were pretty manageable - finish top 3, have two good rides and most importantly, have fun. Weather in Maple Park was decent this morning - temps warmed up nicely and the sun came out while the wind blew like a mother. Headwind out, tailwind back made for a tedious grind on the way out but allowed for some big speed on the return trip.

I was feeling good during warm up and ended up having a strong first ride. Good enough to take the Women Open category and the fastest women's time on the day. My second ride was just cake - another interval, really. That time was third fastest so I guess I had a pretty good day. In fact, it was a great day for all of PACT/Dish Network - lots of solid placings in all categories - well done, boys! That would be: Mike, Jim, Andy, Ziggy, Mariusz, Krystian, Richard, Dan, Mark, Bob and Marian. Extra special congratulations go out to Mike who clinched the 50+ overall indoor series title and took 2nd in the P1/2. Mark, Krystian, Dan, and Richard also placed well in their respective categories overall. You guys are the best!

It felt great to get out and rip the legs and sear the lungs a bit but I think the best part was catching up with friends I've not seen for a few months, especially Wakes and Preston. I need to send a shout out to Bill (cupcake) who did his first ever TT - and loved it! Great job!

Up next is a 30K TT in Cherry Valley. Undecided as to whether I will do one or two that day - though I'm leaning toward just one. After that is the legendary Single Bong. I plan to do a 'double' Single Bong that weekend. Hopefully my SRM will be back from battery service by then and I'll be able to use a full aero setup.

Other than that, I'm reading 'Anthem' by Ayn Rand and 'The Bullpen Gospels' by Dirk Hayhurst. All good so far!

More Random Ponderances (is that a word?)

2010-03-31T15:46:00.020-05:00

Every once in a while I just have to post a list of random thoughts, observations and other things I ponder in hopes that someone will respond to any of those that resemble a question with an intelligent answer. Are you ready? Here goes!!

* Why is it that the category 3 men seem to be crashing all the time of late? I get wind of all the race wreck craziness and feel fortunate that I opt to race instead with the masters boys.

* Have you seen the dude dressed as the Statue of Liberty promoting a nearby tax service on Ashland? I'm talking about the guy with a full beard who's wearing a turban at the same time. Indeed.

* I missed the boat when reality TV was born. Seriously, why does anyone watch that crap?

*Call me picky (or maybe a masters degreed elitist) but seeing repeated misuse of the apostrophe and improper grammar to indicate plurality drives me apeshit.

* It fascinates me how otherwise intelligent, good-hearted friends of mine can become so terribly ugly as soon as they open their mouth and talk politics. FYI, the sky didn't fall and the seas didn't boil when the healthcare bill was passed. If you really lived up to your so-called values about loving thy brother, you'd shut your trap and see the importance of it all. What every happened to all that good will your 'god' expects you to exhibit toward your fellow man? All I see is bitterness, selfishness and especially, ignorance - deliberate ignorance in many cases.

* From my friend Anne: If 4 out of 5 people suffer from diarrhea, does that mean one enjoys it? If you have an answer, let me know and I'll pass it along.

*When you're on your bike and your ass hurts, nothing else matters.

* Attention runners and triathletes: Armwarmers are meant to be worn with a short sleeved jersey, not a sleeveless tank top or singlet. You've taken our accessory and bastardized it. Even renamed it the 'running sleeve.' Please, cease and desist. You look like an idiot.

* And furthermore, stop stop STOP wearing the knee high black compression socks. Again, you look like an idiot.

* While I'm still on the accessory subject: legwarmers....any color other than black or maybe blue is just wrong. Saw some big dude sportin' white the other night - not pretty. I won't mention patterned legwarmers (like jungle or flower motif - yikes!).

* Riding in 30mph crosswinds sucks. Period. Anyone care to argue that point?

* There are things in this world I will never understand. There are people in this world whose motivations, thoughts and actions will always escape me. While this may frustrate me from time to time it's clear that I will just never 'get' certain things/people. Carry on.

* Road construction 'furniture' doesn't ever make it's way to any so-called place for storage. It's merely moved from site to site as projects are finished and new ones are begun.

* What ever happened to the movement dedicated to removing the penny from circulation? Just wondering. I thought it was a dumb idea anyway.

* Easter = candy for breakfast. For days.

* Life is indeed too short to be unhappy but every once it a while it's almost therapeutic to be sad for a little bit. It gives you perspective you might otherwise not have if you're always happy. Just sayin.'

I suppose that's enough for now. In other errata, I'm still reading 'The Fountainhead,' it's a long book but really very good. Up next is something called 'The Bullpen Gospels' by Dirk Hayhurst (of Toronto Blue Jays fame). While it's been called one of the best baseball books ever, apparently it's also just a really good book so I'm sort of excited to start it.

Up next racing-wise is a short time trial next weekend. No, I will not be at Hillsboro the following week - got that ladies? One less wheel to watch for/suck.

Til next time....

Kenosha Velosport Training Crit #3

2010-03-28T16:34:00.009-05:00

Why did I forego racing the two USAC crits this weekend? The first 'big' races of the ICA Cup? Lots of reasons but mainly because I have no desire to race a bike on a course designed for auto racing. That would mean it's just like a big track race, untechnical and probably pretty boring. Couple that with small, unanimated women's fields, tasty headwinds and the high probability of negative racing, I opted instead to do the third and final Kenosha Velosport Crit with the masters men. Good choice.

Weather was typical for late March in Wisco - chilly, windy, mostly cloudy with the sun trying really hard to poke through. I was again held out of the 50+ masters race (until such time that the rule is changed) while Mike, Ziggy, Victor and Richard raced. Mike was off the front early and ended up lapping the field and winning by a ton. Not sure of final places for the other guys - I believe Richard took the 55+ sprint - nicely done, boys!

I was feeling good in warm up and we had a large contingent representing for PACT/DishNetwork in the 40+ masters race - me, Dan, Mark, Mike, Victor, Richard and I think maybe Ziggy did the 40+ as well. I'm not certain how many starters there were on the line - maybe 20? Fabio and Brent Emery were on the line as well - very strong guys that need to be watched. Things rolled off nicely enough but nothing was very animated so I threw out a couple of weak little attacks to see if anyone would bite. After about the third or fourth hit, we had a break of maybe 8 guys with me, Dan, Mike, Richard, Mark and a couple others including Fabio and Brent. I again hit it (though not really hard) and found myself with Dan, dangling precariously off the front.

We worked together for a bit and were joined by Fabio and apparently another rider from the original break - and it seemed to be sticking so we continued to rotate and keep a safe distance. I'm sure that Mike, Mark and Richard were helping us back there, controlling stuff. At some point we lost our hanger-on and were about to lap the field. There was a decision to be made - do we stay behind or attempt to pass? My feeling was that I didn't want to be caught from behind so with 3 to go, we opted to go around the field. I really wasn't in a position to sprint against the likes of Fabio and Dan - I pretty much let them go to fight it out between themselves and rolled in a bit behind, taking 3rd. Mark ended up 4th and Mike 5th - a really strong showing for the Dish today!

It was great to race with the guys today and hang out a little while post-race, eating brownies and drinking some kind of cherry-flavored alcoholic concoction that Victor surely ferments/distills in his bathtub. For the record, not a good idea for me to be drinking any kind of alcohol after a race.

I started reading 'The Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand and am loving it - again, amazing stuff. The best way I can describe it is that it's as if every sentence is 'crafted' and the entire book is intricately 'connected.' Maybe you have to read it to understand.

Not sure what's up next - I have to take a look at the schedule. Maybe a time trial? Dunno - we'll see! Right now I'm feeling pretty good and the plan is to continue to train hard, rest and get stronger as we get into the race season proper. If any pictures surface from today, I'll be sure to post them.

Slapped by the Big Hand of Johnny Law

2010-03-24T12:19:00.006-05:00

Wonderful afternoon killed at the Cook County Courthouse yesterday. The short story is we were found 'guilty' of 'willfully disobeying a crossing guard' on our bikes a few weeks ago. Nevermind that the Glencoe cop (name: Peterson) lied MULTIPLE TIMES while under oath about the happenings that day, and nevermind that we truly did not 'willfully disobey' her. The judge was immune to the lying and felt that we should have actually gone back and apologized to the crossing guard/cop when we realized that we'd honestly missed her presence. Seriously. The big black hand of Johnny Law bitchslapped us with a $195 fine and four months of supervision for our transgression.

The big beef for me here is the whole dishonesty thing - lie to me, lie about me - enormous no-no. That might be the quickest way to win yourself my disrespect. That, and making me look bad. Another huge no-no. Last but not least, don't mess with my money. Officer Peterson did all three things and for that she's achieved my eternal damnation. Hopefully Karma will come back soon to bite her in her sizable ass.

This blog post is as far as it will go, as spending any more time and energy on these pathetic happenings serves only to piss me off and deepen my mistrust and distaste for all things 'cop.' Sure, there are good, honest, hardworking police officers out there - it is a difficult job that I could never do. But seeing people in court yesterday who were inconvenienced and made to appear over things like a non-working tail light is insane. Is this truly what North Shore police officers are looking for? Cracking cyclists skulls? Pulling over teenagers with too many passengers? Writing citations for faulty headlights? Come on... As N.W.A. said it best, "F*** tha Police!'

Kenosha Velosport Training Crit #2

2010-03-22T16:03:00.010-05:00

After a day of snow, rain and freezing coldness that saw me stay indoors pretty much all of Saturday, we rolled once again to Wisconsin for some early spring crit fun. It was snow/sleet/raining in Chicago but as we traveled north things dried out and racing was 'on,' nevermind the snow on the course. I was pretty tired after a hard week of training and a minor bug of sorts that made for some not-so-super moments during the week. That said, I wasn't feeling terrible and was decidedly optimistic about my chances for doing well. Again there was a killer headwind on the back stretch that made for quite a grind at times, just like last week.

Unfortunately I was told that a rule governing women participating in masters men's races is now going to be enforced so I was locked out of doing the 50+ race. Bummer too, Pink and Mike got away and took 1-2 at the end. Impressive performance, guys! I sat around and froze my ass for a while then jumped in with the 40+ guys. The first 30min or so was frustrating - every time someone attacked, three guys from a certain team would chase it down then sit on it, no counter, nothing. It was like racing with the women's field - ride around and wait for the sprint - negative and no fun. Finally with probably about 15-20min to go, Wayne attacked up the left on the tailwind section and got a sizable gap going into the first turn.

I was stuck on the right behind a bunch of guys who rode the brakes through the turn letting gaps open up, effectively preventing me from doing anything to bridge. That was the race, right there. I watched as five other guys jumped up the left side and made it across, while I sat there boxed in and helplessly screwed. Fortunately three of the guys in the break were Dan, Mark and Mike - all smart, strong and very competent racers. In the end Mark took the win with Dan and Mike 3rd and 4th. I ended up 7th with Richard taking 10th. Again, a strong showing for the Dish - well done, boys! I was sort of bummed - I really want to be doing 2 races at this point in the season so hopefully something with the rule can change in the near future.

Next up I suppose is the final Kenosha crit. I know there are two other options next weekend but I'm not really into the idea of doing crits on auto racing courses - boooooring and un-technical = no good for me. After that, maybe some time trials. I'm stoked about the SRM I acquired during the offseason (thanks Guz!!) that's now on my TT bike which will help with motivation, to some degree.

I just finished 'Death of a Salesman' but I haven't decided what's next. I've not visited a bookstore (in the traditional sense) for a few months. There's something to be said for browsing on the nook, selecting and dowloading a book in 20 seconds while lying in bed. Makes me giggle every time - so very cool.

Beyond that, it seems like spring is sort of here. Stepping out the door last week in short sleeves and shorts I saw the neighbors playing catch. My thought, 'I would love to do that!' For those of you who aren't aware, I was a pretty decent ballplayer before discovering the bike. So, any time someone wants to swing by and play some catch, let me know! Softball, baseball, football - whatever, so long as you don't throw like a girl :)

Kenosha Velosport Training Crit #1

2010-03-14T19:08:00.007-05:00

Mike with Don Lowe in tow.

Just so it's clear, I do not pay to do indoor time trials on someone else's computrainer. I know the Midwest 'season' has already somewhat officially kicked off with the ABD and VQ indoor TT's but no, I will not be making a cameo appearance any time soon. The closest I'll get to that is showing up to meet my date(s) for lunch after they race and I've already ridden outdoors for at least 80mi.

Now, on to what matters. I headed North of the cheddar curtain for the first Kenosha Velosport training criterium on Sunday. Weather was pretty sucky (40ish with a 20mph headwind on the back stretch) but it sure beats the rain we rode in on Saturday. I raced with the 50+ and 40+ masters men's fields. They don't really like it when I beat them. But the women don't really like it when I race with them either, so to clear the air on the subject, I race where I will be challenged and where I have a teammate that I spend a lot of time training with. That helps a ton - we know each other's abilities well and can key off each other very nicely to take control of a race and make things happen.

In the 50+ race I covered an early attack by Jeff the Planet Bike guy and we managed to open a sizable gap. We stayed away for a long time but were eventually caught by a group of 4 that included another Planet Bike guy (Bob, owner of Planet Bike) and my teammate Mike along with Don from Mack and a hanger-on. A lap or two later I took a pull on the windy backstretch and moved over right for someone to take over - no one did and Mike attacked up the left. It was perfectly timed and only Bob was able to grab his wheel. I yelled for him to go while most of us (except for one lazy, self-proclaimed 'sprinter') settled in and worked together for a few laps before the bell was rung to indicate one to go. I attacked hard coming out of the headwind section, got a sizable gap and carried it to the line. Mike and Bob had just finished ahead of me after a bit of cat-and-mouse with Bob taking the sprint.

I wasn't loving the feel for the 40+ race but we rolled out soon after the 50+ race finished. Things broke up pretty quickly when Mike attacked and took 4 guys with him. In retrospect, I should have gone with that move but it was too late to do anything when I realized it wasn't coming back. It turned out that that group broke up further with 2 guys distancing themselves later on. When it was clear that they were away the pack slowed down to like 12mph on the backstretch. It was ridiculous. So I decided to just roll off the front and was surprised to see that I had a gap. Within a lap I was joined by my teammate Dan and Brent Emery. Yes, that Brent Emery - former US Olympian Brent Emery!! We worked together for a while and then my legs started to get pretty sucky. The guys were so nice - they let me basically sit on for the remainder of the race. Dan caught a fast wheel coming by from the break (the eventual winner) so Brent and I just rode hard to turn 3 when he accelerated away and I ended up finishing 8th. Mike took 5th, Dan was 6th. Not a bad day for PACT!

The racing was fun and I had a great time hanging out with the boys afterward. I was introduced to Culver's and ate the nastiest hamburger and fries - I was starving and almost didn't even taste it. Can't wait to do it all again next weekend (maybe....).

A shout has to go out to Scott Knoepke of PSIMET Racing. Scott got wrecked in the 3s race and is pretty sore - hang in there Scott!

Since finishing 'Atlas Shrugged' I've read 'The Turn of the Screw' by Henry James, 'Shutter Island' by Dennis Lehane and am almost done with 'Flawless' by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell. Fascinating true crime stuff.

Andy Kerr!! Are you out there????

Le Suck

2010-03-04T09:11:00.008-06:00

For lots of reasons, I really do not like law enforcement. Imagine my contempt at being dragged down from behind on the North Shore yesterday for - wait for it - disobeying a crossing guard. WTF? The verrrrrry short story is that supposedly I and my riding companion willfully disobeyed a crossing guard and were subsequently made to wait an hour (yes, an hour - my power file proves it) in the freezing coldness while Glencoe five-oh wrote out violations. An hour. A freaking hour. We were never asked what happened nor were we offered a warm place to wait, like the back seat of the SUV that sat there idling for the duration.

The real kicker with me is that I was never asked what happened - did you see the crossing guard? No, there was a car in front of us obstructing my view not to mention that I was sitting behind 6'3" of fine humanity that was in the way as well. There were no signs in the street indicating that it was a school zone. The crossing guard was not wearing or holding any sort of bright green, yellow or orange indicator of any sort. There was no traffic control at the intersection - no stop sign, no traffic light, nothing. We were passing a car that was sitting in the right lane, going nowhere. Only after going around the car did I even see the crossing guard as she was stepping off the curb - there were no kids in the street, she used no audio or visual indication that I was to stop til she screamed, 'what's the matter with you?' How about, 'I didn't see you at 30mph and couldn't stop in ten feet or less.' Yes, there was a killer tailwind, we were doing an interval and again, there's a power file to prove it.

My big beef is that I was never treated fairly and never given the opportunity to explain that I was powerless to stop - it was an honest mistake. Had I seen her, I would have stopped - no doubt. I know that cyclists get a bad rap for behaving badly on the North Shore but in this instance we weren't willfully being disobedient. We got lumped in with the prevailing shit attitude on the North Shore about people on bikes. They wasted an hour of my time and will now waste even more of my time when I go to court where I will hopefully be given a chance to defend myself and be listened to - fairly.

So to blow off a little steam here's a happy happy playlist:

Everything in It's Right Place - Radiohead
The Day I Tried to Live - Soundgarden
Passive - A Perfect Circle
Burn - Nine Inch Nails
Cryin' Like a Bitch! - Godsmack
Don't You - Candlebox
Drift & Die - Puddle of Mudd
Rise or Fall - BRMC
Famous - Puddle of Mudd
Firestarter - The Prodigy
Landslide - Smashing Pumpkins

I finished all 4001 e-pages of 'Atlas Shrugged' this morning. Might be my most favorite book of all time. 'Shutter Island' by Dennis Lehane starts tonight - have to read it before seeing the movie.

Not. Gonna. Happen.

2010-02-19T14:52:00.005-06:00

More and more every day I find myself lusting for a new bike. I've been on the same (very nice) SRAM equipped Blue RC-7 for 3 years and well, it's tired and I'm ready for something new. It's totally great having a wheel sponsor but I'd really really really - really - like a new frameset and gruppo. Of course I've spent some time drooling over all the fine looking bling in the various online and print publications and after careful consideration I think I want another Blue. Their bikes fit me well, handle nicely, are decent looking and afford an owner good value - if you actually have any money to make a purchase, which I do not because well, this economy sucks. Then again, I'd ride most anything right now if the price were right!

A consequence of no longer being part of a formal supported team situation is that 'at cost' and below retail pricing (or free - I remember those days too) is just not an option for me. So much of my race budget is earmarked for travel and race entry expense that I simply can't justify paying full price for a new bike. Not to mention that it seems the price of new bikes has EXPLODED of late. The level of equipment I demand seems to begin in the $5000 range for a complete bike. Not to mention that framesets start around $3000. That is insane!!! I don't need a complete bike - just a frameset and gruppo. I can come up with the rest, somehow.

So I'm open to fundraising suggestions. Calendars? Candy bars? Establish my own charity (of which I am the sole benefactor)? Beg and shake an empty cup on the Jackson Blvd. bridge every morning? Suck it up and save my loose change for ten years? Shovel snow? Mow lawns? Dog walking? Car wash? Or better yet, bike wash? I already work enough so that's not going to change.

As much as I like being a solo act, it does have it's bad points. I've manged to secure some individual sponsorship for a few things but a new bike still evades me. Missing out on some of the perks I had back in the day is sort of a bummer and my middle child tendencies hold me back when it comes to asking for anything. Sigh.

What I've been reading on my nook (Coolest. Toy. Evar.): 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' which was surprisingly great! I'm about 1/3 through 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand and loving it. Up next is 'Shutter Island' by Dennis Lehane - it seemed like a wise choice to read something mindless after I finish the very heavy and long 'Atlas.'

Other than that, still grinding it out every day in the freezing coldness. My goal was to keep the total number of indoor training days to 10 or less and I'm happy to report that it stands at 3 right now. Daylight savings starts in less than 4 weeks so I'm pretty sure I'll make it. Aside from that 8 inches of snow we got hammered with last week (which has since melted a lot) we've had a decent winter here, as far as Chicago winter goes. Still getting 18-22hr of saddle time in every week, sometimes more. I'm pleased with that!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

2010-02-02T10:09:00.009-06:00

Photo from Rob at PSIMET - my custom training wheelset is ready!!

No real rhyme or reason to this post so I decided it'd be one of my famous bullet point random observation lists with today's spin playlist at the end. One cool piece of info, my custom PSIMET training wheelset is built and ready to go so that has me psyched. My race wheels are being built and I can't wait to get them.

* This Groundhog Day thing is crap unless you make a movie of it, which somehow legitimizes it.
* Chicago drivers suck and they especially suck when there's precip of any sort.
* We've had a mild winter so far. I really hope it stays this way. Maybe I should shut up.
* I can handle cold temps with small precip totals - keeps me outside and staves off trainer hate.
* I still haven't renewed my USAC license. Not sure what that means yet.
* I may need to run another marathon before I turn 40 in a couple years. There. I said it.
* I have an incredibly diverse, supportive network of friends and family. I am thankful for that.
* The NFL Pro Bowl is ridiculous in every way.
* I've been a Blackhawks fan for +15 years and it's awesome to have them playing so well.
* People who anonymously criticize on the web are lame. Own up to your opinions if you feel moved enough to say something. Just sayin'.
* I miss eating stuff like ice cream, pizza, pastries, burgers and fries, etc during the off-season. But I don't miss the hugeness of my ass that is a consequence of eating said items during the off-season.
* Animals and little kids should never have to experience pain, illness or hunger. Even the little bastard ones.
* It's no one's job to make me happy - I alone am responsible for my happiness in this world.
* You should use the little plastic cap thingys on your valve stems in the winter. That way the presta valve top won't break off in your hand from salt corrosion when you go to inflate. Indeed.
* As much as I would like it to be, a new bike is not on my radar any time soon.
* Corn syrup be damned I still love fierce melon Gatorade.
* Sometimes it's good to catch up with old friends you've not seen for 20 years.

We rode to this at mid-day:
Rocket - Smashing Pumpkins
Doesn't Remind Me - Audioslave
Up Tight - The Hives
Hello Conscience - The Zutons
Authority Song - John Mellencamp
A Tisket a Tasket - Stevie Ray Vaughan
I Predict a Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
Read My Mind - The Killers
Danny's Song - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Longview - Green Day
The State of Massachusetts - Dropkick Murphys
Warning Sign - Coldplay

There you have it.

True Winter Has Finally Arrived, Exited and Returned

2010-01-08T14:50:00.007-06:00

I am indeed still riding outside every day, though it's not really very fun mainly because I have to clean my bike after every foray. At this point I've combined outdoor mileage/intervals with some solid indoor work on the rollers at work during class. It's about the only way I can stave off indoor training hate. So far just 2 days of indoor stuff and I hope to keep that under 10 total for winter. I typically end up with 18-22hrs per week right now. I think that's pretty good for January in Chicago. My hope is that I can carry as much fitness into spring as possible and keep the intensity at a level where the hole doesn't get too deep. The older I get the tougher it becomes to lose fitness and rebound, so I'm keeping things rolling and resting as needed.

To all my friends (and frenemies) who did the indoor TT last weekend - nice job!! I'll keep my $ and do my threshold intervals on the rollers....see you on the road for real in a couple of months. Indoor TTs don't motivate or benefit me - the advantage goes to those who can put out big power, period. Some racers get a lot out of doing them but I'm not one of them. Things are different outdoors.

Here's a playlist we're working with this week. Warm up, 12min@tempo, 8min@threshold and 5min@VO2 with short breaks between (we only have 45-50min for class).

Crush With Eyeliner - R.E.M.
I Got Shit - Pearl Jam
I Will Possess Your Heart (radio edit) - Deathcab for Cutie
Hail Hail - Pearl Jam
Devour - Shinedown
1901 - Phoenix
My Wave - Soundgarden
Fake It - Seether
Just Breathe - Pearl Jam
Uprising - Muse
The Great Beyond - R.E.M.

What else.....I've secured individual sponsorship with ZYM for 2010. This is most excellent- the product works well for me and it's a locally owned company run by a very cool guy (thanks Brian!). More stuff floating out there waiting to be nailed down. I'll fill things in as stuff falls into place.

What I just finished reading, 'Heaven Help Us All' by Fred Vargas (a woman). It was shared with me by a client who acquired it while traveling in New Zealand. Just a crime novel, nothing crazy. I'm in a bit of a holding pattern until my nook arrives next month. I'm so excited! Y'all need to get one of those!

Oh - and my state championship jerseys are arriving. New look for 2009/10 - thanks ICA!

2009 - A Season Post-Mort

2009-12-18T15:36:00.006-06:00

In the sand pit at the state 'cross championship photo: J. Wrzyca

Wow - where did it all go? Here we find ourselves riding in the same wet, cold weather that we did some of the early April TTs in. As much as it seems like so long ago it's really not that far gone and many of the memories made along the way will stick with me for a long time. Looking over my race resume for 2009 I logged 45 race days, not including time spent at the track. That's a lot of racing - on some of those days I even doubled up and did two events.

Things in 2009 were a departure for me in lots of ways. After spending many years with the same women's team, I moved to PACT/DishNetwork and downsized my travel tremendously. Interestingly, I rode more, was stronger, faster and more fit in 2009 than ever before. Go figure. Maybe it had something to do with being part of a low-pressure, mellow group of racers who only wanted to race drama-free and have fun doing it. That change was exactly what I needed to revive my tired legs and burned out, anxious head. Changing teams was the single, best thing I could have done for my racing in 2009. Huge thanks to my awesome teammates and congratulations to all of them on the fine season they all had. You guys ROCK.

I'm not going to sit here and bask in my 'glorious' results. While I did manage to score a lot of wins, five state titles (Keirin, Points, Pursuit, Road Race and Cyclocross), two medals at Masters Nationals and overall titles in MATTS and ROTY, I worked very hard every day to make those things happen. Not every day was good. In fact, many were not at all good but thanks to a solid training partner who motivates me like no one else can and the determination to be better every day while keeping things fun, I ended up having one of the very best seasons I've ever had. Bottom line - hard work in a good environment brought good results for me.

So looking forward to 2010, I'm not yet certain what my plans are. I definitely want to return to Masters Road Nationals and do a cyclocross season. Not sure about my plans for track racing and I don't know how much local stuff I'll be doing, nor do I know how much travel I will or will not be doing. It's all very 'up in the air' right now. The one thing I know for sure is that whatever I do the most important thing is that it's low-stress and fun. Seems to me that I do best when I'm in that kind of situation :)

There are so many people to thank that I cannot possibly list them all here in this post. I suspect I'll leave many out and that would be uncool. So, let me say that to every person who helped me train and race better, supported me, listened to me, helped me understand myself better and basically was a positive influence on me and my 2009 season, thank you so very much. Your efforts will never be forgotten.

Thanks so much for reading - now and always.

'Cross Season Finale/State Championship @ Montrose Harbor

2009-12-07T16:32:00.015-06:00

Reclaiming the State Title
Photo: Mary Wakeley

At long last the finish of the 2009 'cross season (and the season in general) arrives, and none too soon. The state championship was held at Montrose Harbor on Sunday and for the first time in a few years, it wasn't snowing. The last time I did/won this race was in 2006 - I'd chosen to sit it out since, deterred by really really cold, snowy weather and 'cross hate. It wasn't so super warm this year either but temps in the 20s were pretty tolerable, and abundant sunshine made it seem much better.

I'd done a bit of recon in the harbor area the preceding few days though the actual course itself wasn't unveiled til race day. I was on the fence about doing any pre-riding but I opted to head over early and was glad that I did - got in maybe 8-10 easy laps before the first race started and I think it made a huge difference by the time we lined up. I liked the course design, for the most part. I don't mind riding sand - I'm typically pretty good at getting through it, but there was a LOT of it at Montrose. Note to organizer - just because there's a lot of sand in the area doesn't mean you have to use it ALL... The course itself was pretty straightforward and included most every element a decent 'cross race should have - off-camber stuff, short punchy stuff, some technical bits, a little pavement, some gravel, a couple sets of barriers and a nice hill. Thankfully there was no mud and not a run-up to be found. Mercifully there was no goat-rodeo swirly thing.

The field ended up to be around 15 I think, with good representation. I was particularly concerned with Holly's presence - she's always strong and I'd not raced with her all season. I had no idea what to expect but I knew she was the one to watch. To say that I was having some pre-race anxiety was an understatement, following a night of insomnia.

Exiting the sand pit

photo: J. Wrycza

Things rolled off in a hurry and I was not ready. Holly snagged the hole shot and I spent the first 100 yards getting to second position - NOT clipped in. In fact, I didn't clip in until after the first set of barriers. I had some sticky mud in my cleat from standing around in the staging area. Soon enough we hit the big sand pit for the first time and Holly bit it - to my advantage. I made it through clean, hit it hard for the remainder of the lap and basically was away from there to the end. That was the whole race - right there. I was able to see Holly behind me at various points for the next two laps or so (of 6) but after that I was alone and just riding steady. I bit it 2 of the 6 times through the sand, which I though was pretty good all things considered. The entire pit got deeper, slower and more treacherous the more it was ridden through - I wasn't at all pleased with wiping out but in the big picture it turned out not to be an issue.

Crossing the finish line solo, hands in the air, was pretty exciting. I have to send huge thanks to all the cool kids who cheered and encouraged me on as I suffered through the race - copious snot and drool everywhere. In fact so much snot and drool that I fear I may never live that down. I heard each and every one of you and yes - you all helped me keep my head together and my legs pushing. Thanks also to PSIMET.com for taking a chance and sponsoring my 2009 'cross adventure. It worked out pretty well, I'd say!

It would be wrong of me to not include a congrats not only to my Roscoe Village Bikes teammates who raced so well, but also to everyone who came out all season and raced hard. Special congrats to Pony Shop and Verdigris who ended up 1-2 in the series team competition - nice job by all. Wakes - not the greatest day for you but I'm so happy that you made the trip. The sand made it all worthwhile, didn't it? MetLifeGuy - you worked your ass off and earned every bit of your podium spot, congratulations. Mr. Pink - top of the podium again, well done! June - on the podium at last, and you belong there. Feels good, doesn't it? Holly - your being there made me sweat...thanks for the post race Rumple Minze. Holy crap...

The 2009 season wrap post is in the works. It's all in my head, just needs to be typed. The highlights, the lowlights and all the fun we had along the way...give me a week and check back. Til then, thanks for reading!!

El Bandido Finale

2009-11-29T18:00:00.015-06:00

I've been pretty burned out on the regular group ride and wet weather of late so the opportunity to do some bandit cross over the long weekend was pretty appealing. I was stuck working on Friday but made it out to the 'burbs for rounds 2 and 3 of the Bandido Finale. NOTE: If you are squeamish about humorous misogyny, don't follow that link...and realize that no one really cares how you finish. It's the fun we have along the way that makes it what it is.

I was bummed to miss round 1 but there was plenty of mud, obstacle jumping, mud, wet grass, mud, quality handups, mud and all the other fun stuff that 'cross is on days 2 and 3 (did I mention the mud?).

Day 2 was someplace out near Bartlett, the same place as day 1 but the course was run in reverse. Part of it was an equestrian competition site which made for some interesting obstacle hopping... There were parts of trees laid sideways four feet high - no, we didn't have to jump those. But we did have to jump over some triangular thingy that required me to actually hop on top of it first then leap over (with the bike). Then there was 'the trench' that had to be about 2.5ft wide and the drop off that was probably between 2-3ft down. Oh, and after that the mud started. I was happy at the end to have survived without falling off my bike, adding to my bruise collection or being lapped by the likes of Boundy and Mr. Pink. The added bonus? Andy Kerr appeared on his vintage mountain bike to say hi - SO great to see you Andy!!

Sunday's course at Poplar Creek Woods was completely different - mostly very wet grass, some muddy sections, a couple barriers, a small stretch of pavement, no sun and a fair amount of wind. Sunday was especially awesome because it was the final Bandido for the year - and there were hand-ups everywhere.

Somehow I managed to not be lapped by the always super strong Mr. Pink, seen here accepting a hand-up from one of the pushers.

When all was finished I'd scored three 6pk boxes of GU, a dozen individual Chomps and GUs and (wait for it) a 2lb cannister of GU2O. Where did I put said hand-ups during the race? Why, in the front of my too big skinsuit of course!! It was so full that my knees were knocking into it all when I pedaled. The best part of the whole race? I still finished on the lead lap even though I stopped at least twice every lap to snag some schwag - we were required to keep whatever we took.

Thanks so much to Rich for all his organizing and course design efforts all season - and all the hand ups!! BC has been the ideal thing for my road-hating head since the weather went south. Over the winter I'll definitely miss the 'racing' itself but even more I'll miss the group of racers that show up to get dirty, work hard and have fun for 45 minutes. Thanks to all of you for your positive attitudes and energy - always so great to be around y'all.

Woodstock 'Cross Report

2009-11-23T14:23:00.007-06:00

Photo: J. Wryzca

If conditions were always as they've been the past two weekends, I'd LOVE cyclocross. Unfortunately the mild weather is more of a freak thing so my love/hate relationship with 'cross endures... We had most excellent weather for Sunday's race in Woodstock - sunny skies, minimal wind, and no mud except for a few soft places here and there. I was hating a little bit before warming up but chose to HTFU, get on the bike, suffer through warm up and head to the starting area.

The Woodstock course is very straightforward - 2 miles or so with lots of bumpy grass, some short, punchy hills, a nice dirt singletrack downhill, some off-camber stuff, a double barrier obstacle, single barrier run-up, and one of those stupid-as-hell swirly goat rodeo thingys. I can't really describe it any other way - a course feature where we sort of go in smaller and smaller circles, change direction and corkscrew our way back out. Stupid!! To those who design courses, please...STOP IT!!

I lined up with about 12 women for 45min of fantastic fun. I got the hole shot off the line and managed to get a gap that I held all the way to the end, adding time as I went. We ended up doing 5 laps which was just about enough for me. It was very cool to have a bunch of cheering friends everywhere on the course - seems to take the edge off the suffering just a bit. Special thanks to Brian Akers who lives nearby and came out to say hi and supply much-needed post-race Snickers bars. Thank you Brian!!

The Roscoe Village Bikes Crew

Special thanks also to whomever it was that handed up a bunch of turkey jerky on the run up...ick. That was kind of gross. Note to hecklers: those of us who race early also appreciate quality handups like beer, dog smooches, spam and twinkies - don't just save it all for the later races, okay?

To all my RVB teammates who raced yesterday - well done! You guys are the BOMB. As always, huge congrats to the Pony Shop and Verdigris 'cross teams on their fine finishes - they're duking it out for the team championship and representing well every weekend. Also - Wakes raced somewhere in Iowa or some such place and managed a top 10 finish. Way to go Mike! Best of luck to you at Jingle Cross!

Lastly, thanks as usual to Rob at PSIMET - another victory on Carbon 50s!

What I'm reading at the moment - 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde. Up next, 'Slapstick' by Kurt Vonnegut. Tunes-wise I've been groovin' to The Black Keys and some old school Metallica (before they sold out with the black album...).

Montrose Harbor is 12/05. If it's not snowing, icy, muddy and disgustingly cold, I'll be there...

Indian Lakes 'Cross and Something Very Cool

2009-11-15T13:31:00.011-06:00

Exiting sand pit #1 - pic stolen from Rob Curtis
Check out the bitchin' wheels...

Saturday offered my kind of 'cross weather - warm, dry and sunny - so I was happy to head to Bloomingdale for only my second 'cross race of the year. Have I re-caught the bug? No, not really but it was a good workout. The course at Indian Lakes was nicely designed - a few barriers, a run-up, two sand pits, a bumpy section (didn't like that), some twisty grass stuff and a very small mud puddle that fortunately shrunk a bit before we headed out for 45min of enormous fun.

I wasn't feeling super after wrecking a few times in pre-ride/warm-up, being a little too aggressive. I have a lot of pretty bruises that still haven't surfaced completely. I'm sure they'll be rockin' by mid-week and serve as a fine reminder of why I am a 'roadie.' Because I've only done one race, I haven't accumulated enough series points for good start line position but since the field was only about 15 I was able to sneak into the front row after call-ups. This proved to be crucial as I was able to snag the hole shot before the first hairpin and managed to stay out front for the remainder of the race, adding to my lead along the way.

Bikes, post race - Mine on the Left, Wakes's on the Right. Mud. Ick.

I suffered a lot the first two laps before settling in and more or less just kept on the gas the entire way. Sure, I slowed down but got smoother and was able to keep putting time on the chase enough so that I could take a mouth-to-mouth Twizzler hand-up from Scott at the exit of the second sand pit. There were a bunch of 'hecklers' on top of the hill which made for some interesting back-and-forth each time up - of course, all in good fun. From a technical aspect I didn't ride so well - my cornering was sort of sloppy early and my barrier hopping was wanting at times but on the whole it was a decent performance.

VERY COOL: Huge thanks to Rob Curtis from psimet.com for providing me with a set of 50mm carbon tubulars to race on - they're great!! Rob is a local wheelbuilder who has stepped up to support me with training and racing wheels for 2010 and the remainder of the 2009 'cross season. That, and he's a mechanic - since I am a girl with fingernails, this is a good thing. After yesterday I can say with confidence that the carbon 50 wheelset worked just as nicely as my 404s. I'm really excited about this partnership and am looking forward to representing psimet.com in 2010 - thank you, Rob!!

Wakes came out to race the 3s yesterday and ended up with a solid finish in a tough field - he headed to Iowa to race again today. Better yet - he brought post-race Oreos!! Thanks Mike! Congrats to all of the Verdigris and Pony Shop 'cross team racers who came out - they're always at the top of the results page. I'm especially appreciative of the generous prizelist offered by the South Chicago Wheelemen - I was able to actually cover my entry fee and gas expense, always a big plus. Special thanks to Scott and Roman for their quality hand-ups by the sand pit - love you! Mean it!!

I'm sore today from being bounced around so much and decided to just do the Judson ride. Wise choice - my feet are up and I'm watching the PIT/CIN game. Next week's race is in Woodstock. As of right now I am planning to do it but if the weather gets ugly, well...we'll see...

Yes I Am...

2009-11-09T18:24:00.002-06:00

...racing at Indian Lakes this weekend. I hate mud and dirt but somehow manage to get on and off a bike pretty well. For a girl. The 14th is my XBF's birthday. No better way to manage the hate than racing hard enough to taste blood.

Yeah baby - bring it on...

Spin Heads

2009-11-04T09:31:00.003-06:00

Last post I said there's not much to talk about at the moment. There still isn't. But I'll post the playlist for this morning's class anyway. We had a solid, hardworking group that I divided into 2 teams and assigned names to (On the Left! and The Pillowheads). We warmed up and then alternated efforts at or slightly above threshold with hard tempo for about 30min. Enormous fun.

In the Air Tonight - P. Collins
Dancing with Myself - Billy Idol
What You Need - INXS
Pressure Drop - The Specials
Sell Out - Reel Big FIsh
Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
Desire - U2
Burnout - Green Day
Form a Straight Line - Sugar Shack
Genepool Convulsions - The Hives
Ca Plan Pour Moi - Plastic Bertrand
Shut Your Eyes - The Shout Out Louds
That Great Love Sound - The Ravonettes
Natural One - Folk Implosion

Not Much to Say

2009-11-03T10:58:00.002-06:00

I know - imagine that.... The only interesting thing to share is that I'm planning to race this weekend in Northbrook. Other than that, things are pretty much status quo. That's not necessarily a bad thing, is it?

Oh - I did manage to make it to the pages of the 2010 Chicago Bike Racing calendar. Thanks to Luke for selecting the photo. He gets some really great racing shots so I'm flattered that he chose one that includes me from so many others.

I'm reading 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess but managed to also read 'Catcher in the Rye' by J.D. Salinger and 'Stranger than Fiction' by Chuck Palahniuk since I last posted. 'Orange' is a slower, more involved read so it's going to take a while to finish.

Skip It

2009-10-19T11:15:00.005-05:00

RVBR 'cross team kit finally arrived - killer design! I love it!

First of all - congrats to my RVBR teammates who raced at Carpentersville yesterday. Way to go, guys! Thanks to all of my teammates who came out last night to kill some time at Village Tap - it was good to meet you and I'm looking forward to seeing you all at the races. Most of all, thanks to Alex and Lesley from RVB for supporting the team - you guys rock!

Didn't race this past weekend - the Jeep was sick with a dead battery and my racing partner in crime was hurting so I opted for the 'double Judson.' Saturday was a day for full fenders and Sunday turned out to be really nice, though the temp at go time was in the low 30s. It was an especially important weekend in the sense that it marked the last time we'll get to ride with Ted as he's moving to Florida at the end of the week. I will miss him, his sense of humor and the pain he so happily dished out on the ride. I've already claimed a week or so of time to live in his screen porch when the weather gets really sucky here.

I've spent the last few weeks trying to be mellow, riding for fun and remembering what it's like to not be consumed by power numbers and mileage. It's been liberating but at the same time boring in a way. 'Cross is a good substitute to some degree but I'm feeling like I'll be ready to get back to work in a few weeks. After all, the holidays will pass and January will be here before I know it. Until then I'll bomb around at the occasional 'cross race (bandit and sanctioned) and the weekend group ride.

I've been reading 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess. Interesting indeed - I'm learning a whole new language and getting a fine introduction to 'ultra-violence.' Not sure when I'll get a chance to post again so I'll send wishes of good luck to Wakes now - he's heading to Louisville for the USGP next weekend. Go get 'em Mike!!

Bar B 'Cross at Dan Ryan Woods

2009-10-11T18:00:00.008-05:00

I'm entering this 'cross season with no expectation but to have fun. I've heard this part of the year likened to golf's 'silly season' which is exactly what I am trying to make of this. I did a relatively serious 'cross season 2 years ago that sort of burned me out on the whole dirt/mud/cold thing - lots of travel and expense for not a whole lot of fun. Last year I did maybe three races and this year, who knows? I'm planning to do some more of the Chicago 'Cross Cup but probably not anything beyond that and as soon as the snow flies, my bike changes from race rig to dedicated commuter.

Today's race at Dan Ryan Woods on the South Side was VERY cool - great course and even though it was disgustingly cold to start, things warmed up to a balmy 40 degrees at go time. I rolled to the venue early with MetLifeGuy in order to get in some pre-race recon laps. Good thing - there was a fair amount of twisty stuff, a gnarly run up, a very cool off-camber downhill stretch and some barriers on a course where laps ended up taking about 8min. I wasn't quite sure how I was feeling - hating the freezing coldness for sure but also relatively mellow. My warm up was pretty useless and I toed the line essentially cold for the start after watching Mike take 2nd in the 50+ masters race (nice job Mike!!).

First, the details for those of you who think this is important: Gearing-wise my bike had a 40t single front ring and 12/27 cassette. I was running about 30psi front and rear in 32mm Challenge Griffo tubulars. This was ideal for me, weighing in at about 118 currently, maybe 123 fully dressed in 'cross gear. The tires hooked up and carved everything perfectly through all the loose stuff, the small amount of sticky mud and the off-camber. The grass was wet early on but things dried out nicely as the course was ridden on and the sun (yes, the sun!!) came out.

We got off the line in a hurry and I was able to manage 2nd wheel behind Sam Schneider (Team Type 1) by the time we hit the run up. Things got sort of backed up and the two of us emerged with a small gap that we kept adding to for the first 3 laps. At the top of the run-up on lap 4 I wasn't able to clip in - my toe spikes were caked with mud and grass. Sam knew it so she hit it hard and got a small gap into the off-camber while I struggled to clear my cleats and clip in. That was when I had a decision to make - chase or just let it go? By that point 3rd place was nowhere in sight and I was pretty content to roll the last lap and a half at a mellow pace so that's exactly what I did. Sam never got too far away but I wasn't feeling like a rock star at that point so first loser was just fine with me. For not really giving a rip how things ended up, I'm pleased with 2nd. Sam is a very talented young rider and it was great to have her down from Wisconsin for the race today.

Thanks to the Beverly Bike Vee-Pak guys for putting on a great event and laying out a solid course. I have to send a shout out to my old teammates at Verdigris on all their fine finishes today and also to the Pony Shop team - well done, everyone! Next up is Carpentersville. I've done this race lots of times and am very familiar with the various course layouts that have been employed in the past. Hopefully the temps will be a little warmer.

What I'm reading: 'Survivor' by Chuck Palahniuk. So far it's good. I made a trip to the used book store with Steve yesterday and acquired numerous little treasures. The queue is full of classics and some newer stuff that I'm excited to get through over the next few weeks.

One last shout out to Mike Wakeley who travelled to Cincinnati for a 3 race weekend - nice job racing with the heavy hitters! I miss having you around here on the local scene but I know how much you love investigating muddy stuff in other places...keep it up!

Too Much Coffee

2009-10-08T09:42:00.003-05:00

I knocked off the coffee for a while and was feeling pretty good then the warm weather went away and here I am again - powerless, addicted and working on the soundtrack for today's lunch hour class. The very cool people who attend noon class have high standards which keeps me on my toes - new music, challenging workouts, different cueing, etc. They make me work hard. Then the morning class gets the same special treatment. Here's what I came up with for today - It's basically a warm up followed by three separate 'pyramid' intervals that are three tracks each, intensity increasing with each song. Rest is short and we repeat.

Can't You Hear Me Knocking - The Rolling Stones
Fall Back Down - Rancid
On the Dark Side - John Cafferty (yes, really)
Brianstorm - Arctic Monkeys
Get it Hot - AC/DC
Wrong Way - Sublime
Genepool Convulsions - The Hives
Superman - Goldfinger
Brain Stew - Green Day
Mediate - INXS
Someday I Suppose - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Everything Sucks - Reel Big Fish
The Fixer - Pearl Jam (new, and I like it)
I Want You - Kings of Leon

Not much else to report - first legit 'cross race this weekend on the South Side. I'm trying to be un-serious about the entire thing so hopefully I can have some fun and get a good workout without hating. Looks like a wet ass for this afternoon's ride. So be it - in a month I'll be wishing we had weather this 'good.' The white socks and shoes have been retired for the season and replaced by icky black. Hopefully we'll have a mild winter - last winter kicked my ass and my brain!

What We're Doing in Spin Today

2009-10-06T08:13:00.007-05:00

Today's gloomy weather has motivated me to make a new playlist for noontime class. We'll be doing a 3/4min tempo/threshold zig-zag workout. Here's the soundtrack:

Blow Up the Outside World - Soundgarden
I Got Mine - The Black Keys
Cochise - Audioslave
The Fixer - Pearl Jam
Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll - BRMC
Strange Times - The Black Keys
I Woke Up This Mornin' - The Mooney Suzuki
Leash - Pearl Jam
She Builds Quick Machines - Velvet Revolver
Runnin' Wild - Airborne
Devour - Shinedown
Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix

It's not likely that I'll post again til after the weekend so I want to send good luck wishes to Mike Wakeley who's heading to Cincinnati for a weekend of 'cross racing. Go Mike!! Have a great time and race your ass off!

Now that 'cross is where my focus (sort of) lies, the plan was to do some riding at Jackson Park. Depending on the degree of weather hate I experience, that may turn into a (gasp!!) strength workout at the gym. That's right - you heard it here first. I might actually pretend that I'm 'lifting weights.' And my co-workers will probably (justifiably) make fun of me for it.

Fall Fling #3 and #4

2009-10-04T16:54:00.007-05:00

So we've arrived at the finish the 2009 road season - a low-stress weekend TT and circuit race to complete the second half of the ABD Fall Fling series. I was sitting tied for first overall in the series after a criterium win and 'second' in the road race (refer to previous post about Fall Fling #1 and 2). I knew I was going to have to win out in order to take the women's overall and at the same time, help my teammate Mike in the 50+ masters circuit race - no small task with the heavy hitters in the men's field.

Saturday's time trial was held in Maple Park and used the same 8mi out-and-back course as last season. I was feeling good after warming up but with Leigh Thompson and Jessi Prinner both racing I knew I would have to have a solid ride to regain the series lead. Jim was kind enough to schlep along his tent for warm-up (thanks Jim!) as the forecast included a threat of rain but fortunately things stayed dry though a bit cool. I had a really strong ride, ended up taking first place points on the day and moved into first overall for the series. The guys also did well with Mike finishing the day tied for first in the overall and Jim taking 5th. Of note was Tom's killer performance - the guy had the third fastest time on the day overall. Interesting here is the fact that he races 55+. Old-man-strength. Indeed.

I have to send a special shout out to Andy Kerr who rode over to say hello - it was so great to see you, Andy!! We've missed you!

Sunday's circuit race was held on a 1.8mi loop in West Chicago. My job for the day was to cover/be in any break that contained the guys Mike was in contention with for the overall and make sure he had good position for the sprint. After Tom and one other rider (who shall remain nameless for a good reason) got away early, Mike tried to further break things up with numerous hard attacks. I was dying but able to cover everything and unfortunately the two 'marked' guys (Fabio and Fleck) were there with every hit. After about 8 attempts it was clear that nothing would stick so the focus had to change and I had to start planning how I'd get Mike in optimal position for the sprint. Everything was going according to plan in the end - Mike was on my wheel out of the wind and the two primary 'targets' were pretty much pinned to the curb on the inside. It seemed perfect and then someone moved...Fabio and Fleck broke hard up the inside (too) early and Mike had to go - NOW. If that hadn't happened, who knows how it would've finished but I tend to think the outcome would have been different.

It was frustrating to have done everything I could possibly do to help Mike to a better finish but because bike racing is far from being 'a perfect world' things didn't quite turn out the way we would have liked. Congrats to Tom for taking the W and to Fabio and Jon for their fine finishes. I was able to cross the line ahead of the other women and so secured first overall. It was a great way to close out the 2009 road season. Special thanks to ABD and ABR - the racing was hard and fun, the courses were good and the entire 4 race series was well-organized and ran smoothly.

Cyclocross season is here! I've missed the first couple of Chicago Cross Cup races but that's okay - I'm just doing it for fun. I haven't checked the schedule so I have no idea what's up next but I'm pretty sure I'll be there.

Spintunes and 2016 Thoughts

2009-10-02T11:03:00.004-05:00

The room was full this morning! Lots of good, positive energy as we did the following:

Warm up followed by a 7min threshold effort, 20min of hard tempo with spikes to threshold every 4-5min then an 8min threshold effort to finish. When properly executed, the end is killer.

Not Enough Time - INXS
Poundcake - Van Halen
Black Math - The White Stripes
Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
No Quarter - Led Zeppelin
The Impression that I Get - Might Mighty Bosstones
Isn't She Lovely? - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Are You Gonna Be My Girl? - Jet
My Kind of Girl - The Forty-Fives
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter.... - PJ
Twilight Zone - Golden Earring
The Wind Cries Mary - Jimi Hendrix

Now, a little message from me to all the negative, nay-saying, anti-Olympic creepos: rather than gloating like a bunch of overfed pigs, go find something else to bitch about. Seems like that's what you are best at and surely you won't have to look very hard. Happy people? Carry on - be positive and get the most out of life. There are plenty of negative people who will gladly shoulder what you leave behind. You choose to be an optimist or pessimist. That's right - negative or positive, you have a choice.

I will now step down off the soapbox....

Fall Fling #1 and #2

2009-09-28T09:21:00.007-05:00

Judging by the fine headwind and coldness I endured on this morning's commute, fall has definitely arrived. That said, we had a nice weekend for some road racing and it turned out to be mostly good. The organizer has been kind enough to combine the womens and 50+ masters fields (sorting out results separately) which makes for much better racing - especially when the number of women racing is small.

Saturday's criterium went down pretty well - I ended up finishing 4th in the sprint, first woman. Sunday's road race was less satisfying. As usual, I began to see a bunch of guys I'd not seen all day as the final miles wound down and the sprint was looming. Yep - the very same guys who sit on, chase nothing and think they should just be given carte blanche to the front at the end. In the final sprint I was clearly ahead of the 2nd place woman but was bumped by one of the men which caused me to sit up. The 2nd place woman crossed the line just ahead of me and my protest for interference was basically ignored.

I'm not happy because I was not beaten - I got screwed. If I get beaten fairly, fine - I'll take it and move on. Being unfairy impeded and then having a protest ignored is not cool. What is it they say? Revenge is a dish best served cold? I'm looking forward to next weekend...

MetLifeGuy had a great ride yesterday - he rode away in the beginning of the 4th of 7 laps and stayed away to take a well-deserved win. Nice work, Mike. Other fine performances included a win by Brian Harris (PYOC) yesterday and a strong showing at the USGP in Wisconsin by Mike Wakeley - way to go, guys!

Up next is the Maple Park TT on Saturday and a circuit race Sunday. Hopefully we'll get some slightly warmer temps on the weekend - it'd suck to close the road season with soggy or cold weather.

Not 'Crossin' Yet

2009-09-23T18:57:00.003-05:00

I still have a few weekends of road stuff to do before busting out the 'cross bike. Yes, I've practiced a couple times but I'm stubbornly holding onto the last bits of the road season before shifting focus to 'cross. Last weekend's Verdigris 40K TT and Kenosha Crit were decent - I posted my fastest 40K time ever (as did most everyone else) and managed to win the field sprint for 3rd overall in the masters 50+ men's race at Kenosha. I've been extremely tired and just 'off' lately - not very punchy, sore, tight legs - typical end of season stuff.

Coming up the next two weekends is the ABD Fall Fling. I'm particularly excited to do the road race in Crete. I grew up not far from there and spent lots of time in the early years of my racing career training on the roads in that area. It'll be good to go 'home,' I miss the open, rolling pavement of the far South 'burbs.

I just finished reading 'Deliverance' by James Dickey which I truly enjoyed. Up next is 'The Rum Diary' by Hunter S. Thompson. Not sure what's coming after that - maybe some John Irving or another classic. We'll see what's on the shelves next time I visit the used bookstore.

Best of luck to all the crazy people heading to Wisco this weekend for the Planet Bike 'cross races, especially Wakes. He loves to get dirty and play in the mud - enjoy it, Mike! Can't wait to hear the post-race recap...

More Tunes

2009-09-18T16:01:00.002-05:00

This morning's playlist for class was decidedly old school - some solid classic rock for a hard tempo session that included trips to threshold along the way and finished at or above threshold for the final 10min. Killer - it all seemed easy until the last two songs...

In the Mood - Robert Plant
In Hiding - Pearl Jam
Nice Guys Finish Last - Green Day
Baba O'Reilly - The Who
Dreams - Van Halen
Legs - ZZ Top
Have Love Will Travel - The Black Keys
Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin
Hail Hail - Pearl Jam
Kickstart My Heart - Motley Crue
Althea - Grateful Dead (yes, really - for cool down)

I took out the 'cross bike yesterday for some easy miles and technique work. I'm surprised how much the skillz have stuck around - dismounting/remounting was pretty easy but I definitely need some new pedals. Three gnarly winter's worth of commuting have pretty much frozen the bearings which makes clip-in nearly impossible. This weekend will be the final 40K of the season and then a crit or two on Sunday.

I finished 'One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest' and loved every page - it was an excellent read. Just started 'Deliverance' by James Dickey and have 'The Rum Diary' by Hunter S. Thompson in the queue.

2009 FIAC TTT Nationals

2009-09-13T20:39:00.003-05:00

Mike, Tom, Stan and Jim

I think the 4man team trial might be my favorite race of the season - and I don't even touch my bike that day. For the third time I chose to be the 'directeur sportif' for the PACT/DishNetwork 50+ masters team and had a blast doing it. For those of you who don't know, the DS is the person who pretty much spoils the riders all day - pins numbers, inflates tires, fills water bottles, drives the follow vehicle, and basically does whatever the riders need to make the day as stress-free as possible. After being on the receiving end of said treatment for so long, I'm happy to return the favor and I know it's appreciated.

On the start line

This year's team members included 2 PACT guys (Mike and Jim) and two guest riders, Tom Doughty and Stan Watkins - beasts, all of them. I knew that they'd have an impressive ride and be among the top teams on the day. After an hour fog delay, things rolled off the start and the guys settled in for 60K of TT bliss.

Positively machine-like...

Ladies, if you had this view for an hour and twenty minutes, would you complain? Me neither! It was a beautiful day and the guys looked great. Early on we passed by an unfortunate crash in the second turn (hey! those guys aren't even bleeding yet!) and later learned that several others had also gone down in the same place. Fortunately we made it through safely on the way out and coming back.

Post ride - waiting (forever) for the results

It always takes a long time for results to be finalized which allows for ample time to socialize and eat whatever a good DS bakes for her team (brownies and cupcakes, on this occasion). It's also when the ride post-mort happens - always an insightful discussion full of observations and commentary I'm not an audience to while in the car.

Mike, impressing us all with his massive guns. Did I mention there's a lot of post-ride self-deprecation and laughter?

In the end, the guys won their age group and had the third fastest time overall. I was completely impressed with their effort - way to go gentlemen!! For a bunch of self-proclaimed 'old dudes' you're all pretty darn fast!

IL Road Race Championship

2009-09-12T21:20:00.009-05:00

The finish - thanks for the pic, Luke!!

I knew from the outset that things would be tough at today's IL state road race championship in Willow Springs - small field, lots of bike poker, a difficult to plan uphill sprint finish, etc. The course itself was not difficult - a three-step hill to the finish but otherwise flat to falsely flat for the remainder of the 10 mile loop. Pavement surfaces were pretty much perfect (thank you TARP funds) save a few small, well-marked potholes. On tap for the day was 5 laps - I paid a lot to race today and definitely wanted to do all 50 miles (get my money's worth). I was happy that the officials did not shorten our race due to small turnout and that the promoter was paying the prize list as published.

I knew that I had my work cut out for me with an ABD rider and 2 BH teammates to contend with. Small fields can often make for negative racing so I was hoping that wouldn't be the case. Things rolled off well enough and about 4 miles or so after going through the start/finish for the first time, Kristen from BH had a flat. I wasn't quite sure what to do - keep rolling and ride solo for nearly 50 miles? Ugh. Didn't really want to do that but that's exactly what happened. It's a race after all, right? I basically settled in, focused, and watched my power meter/speedo for the next 2+ hours as I rode alone behind the pace car. I had no idea what was going on behind me. Turns out (I think) Anne gave Kristen her wheel and Kristen chased but she wasn't able to close the gap alone. I thought for sure I'd be caught - it was still a long way to the finish.

I crossed the line solo, no one else in the picture. In a way, it wasn't a very gratifying way to win. It's a bummer when someone you respect as a racer is taken out of the action by an unfortunate mishap or a mechanical problem. On the other hand, I've had plenty of mishap-curtailed races of my own over the years and trust me, I busted my ass out there to take the win today.

Up next - maybe a time trial next Saturday and a crit in Kenosha or the first cyclocross race of the season at Jackson Park on Sunday. Cross season will be pretty mellow for me - local stuff. I'll be representing for Roscoe Village Bikes and am looking forward to the change of pace that 'cross provides. Track is over for the year - I had a pretty successful season, managing to finish 2nd in the Rider of the Year competition and taking state titles in the keirin, points race and the pursuit.

What I'm reading: 'One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest' by Ken Kesey. In a word - masterful. I'm loving it - I'm finding it difficult to put it down!

Tunes

2009-09-08T08:13:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted a playlist for a while. Here's what we're doing at lunch time today:

Warm up followed by 5X3min VO2 intervals, short rest between efforts.

Terminal Frost - Pink Floyd
Cheap Sunglasses - ZZ Top
I Will Follow - U2
Peacemaker - Green Day
Time Bomb - Rancid
Living Well is the Best Revenge - R.E.M.
Everything Sucks - Reel Big Fish
I'd Do Anything - Simple Plan
This Charming Man - The Smiths
Juicebox - The Strokes
Form a Straight Line - Sugar Shack
Shut Your Eyes - Shout Out Louds
Angel - Jimi Hendrix

IL State TT

2009-09-05T22:00:00.002-05:00

When I have nothing good to say, silence is the best route. About my performance anyway. In the immortal words of Linda Mastrandrea, multiple time Paralympic gold medalist and member of the Chicago 2016 board, 'silver sucks.' Indeed.

I have to send HUGE congrats to my teammate MetLifeGuy who won the 50+ title. Mike, you earned it in every way and I am tremendously happy for you. After everything you've been through in the past 15 months or so and how hard you've fought to be where you are, I can say that you are a very worthy and deserving champion.

IL State Pursuit Championship

2009-09-01T10:09:00.006-05:00

Jim, warming up before the 4K team pursuit.

We nearly froze our asses off last night at the track! It was a special night of IL State Championship racing - events on the schedule were the individual and team pursuits. I only did an individual 3K - no teammates for a team pursuit - but the guys (Jim, Dan, Mike and Ted) did the 4K team event. The pursuit is not a particularly pleasant race - it's basically an all-out, as-hard-as-you-can-go effort. In my case the 3K takes about 4 minutes. The guys did 4K in about 5 minutes.

I'd been under the impression that women had to do 2K. I was bitterly disappointed to find out on the start line that I'd be doing 3K. That additional 1K changes EVERYTHING pacing-wise. But I was there, I paid my entry and just rode it - hard. My start wasn't stellar but things turned out okay. I think the pursuit is by far the most painful, miserable, difficult short effort to do on the bike. I was very happy to be finished when I crossed the line - I had baseball-sized knots in my quads and could hardly pedal fast enough to stay upright. But I was done and my time held up as the best on the evening so I earned the title. Sweet.

The guys had an essentially technically flawless ride and managed to take second - they just weren't quite fast enough. But they looked great - smooth, tight, machine-like. Nice job boys - I wish things had turned out better.

I just finished reading 'Snuff' by Chuck Palahniuk and up next is 'The Rum Diary' by Hunter S. Thompson. Next weekend I will attempt to defend my IL State TT Championship....and get older.

60K of TT Bliss in Garden Prairie

2009-08-23T17:27:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was an interesting day. After my solo ride I did something on a bike that I'd never done before - a tandem TT...indeed. My solo ride was fine - I felt okay and actually won with a very average time basically because no one was there. The real story here is the second ride.

I've been racing bikes for (gulp) 17 years and had never been on a tandem, much less raced on one. Earlier in the week we'd managed to squeeze in about 15min on the track so my pre-race experience was essentially nil. My pilot and the owner of said tandem, my teammate MetLifeGuy, hadn't ridden the bike for like 12 years so we weren't feeling so super when we saw the course had a turnaround on it. I was envisioning us slowing, myself jumping off 'cross style, grabbing the rear end and running a 180 with it then jumping back into the saddle for the return trip. I was most worred that I'd do/not do something that'd cause us to end up on the pavement or in a ditch.

The 30K Garden Prairie course is out-and back with a few turns, an overpass or two and good pavement. Conditions were decent - lots of cross/head wind on the way back but otherwise dry and sunny. We got to the start with about 10 seconds to spare before go-time so I really didn't have a chance to be nervous. It was basically roll up and go. We got clipped in and going pretty easily and started passing people. I was concerned about the turns - when do I coast? When do I pedal? When and how much do I lean? Oh, and my favorite - I can't see shit back here!! The self response: just shut up and pedal.

Ends up the cone for the turnaround was placed at an intersection so we had extra space to maneuver the bike. It was a nervous moment for me but Mike handled it perfectly and we were headed back without any problem. It hit me shortly after that I was pretty dehydrated and hadn't brought a bottle - so I was a bit in the pain box. I was a little whiny but mostly okay. We kept passing people and no one passed us - very cool. As it is with any good TT, snot, sweat and drool were everywhere. At one point I actually wiped my nose on Mike's ass. Because I could.

We ended up with a time that was good enough for 2nd to a pair of guys on a full aero tandem with a disc (and they only did one ride!!). Mind you, the tandem we rode was rockin' 40 spoke wheels, an 8 speed drivetrain and some killer 28mm messenger tires (with tread). Nevermind the poorly functioning rear brake... It's a very sweet bike - and bonus, my favorite color. I think we rode well together and I actually had a lot of fun, even though it mostly hurt. I have to thank my pilot for doing a great job of driving, keeping me calm and communicating - he kept me informed of gear changes, course features and checked to make sure that I was okay. Thank you, Mike. I will stoke your tandem again anyday!!

Up next (holy crap!) a weekend of NO RACING. Well, I think so anyway. I haven't looked at the calendar lately. Next Monday (the 31st) is the state 500m and pursuit championship at the track so I plan on doing that stuff. I also see a trip to the driving range in my future.

I finished 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley the other day. A timeless classic. Undecided on what's next. Maybe another classic. We'll see. As always, thanks for reading.

Crit Natz @ Downers Grove

2009-08-17T05:39:00.006-05:00

I love Downers Grove - it's not my favorite race but it definitely ranks in my top 5. The course is technically difficult - 8 turns and not much of it is actually 'flat' per se. Most of the time you're going slightly up or down except maybe between the last two corners. It can make for a long and painful day if you get stuck in the back and find yourself riding the tail of the dragon to a DNF. Before the race my feeling was that if I could get top 20 it was a good day. If I could finish in the top 10 it would take a bit of luck but it was definitely do-able.

I had a solid warm up and my legs were feeling good which helped my confidence a great deal. A very cool thing happened while I was waiting in turn 8 watching the Cat 2 men's race finish - my teammate Adam WON it!! Nice job, Adam - you are riding like a mad bastard this season! Standing in the corner I was also able to do some catching up with old teammates and friends I'd not seen for a while - that helped keep the anxiety at bay a bit.

We were called to the line and after some introductions we were underway. My plan was to stay in the front third for the first half of the race then gradually move up as the laps wound down. I was able to do that but did get caught up in a small wreck in turn 2 about 10 laps in. Some dweeb who was riding with her hands on the hoods and touching people who were too close to her hit some of the squishy tar and took maybe 6 of us out. We were close to the wheel pit and rejoined the field on the next lap.

Things were sort of twitchy and tight early on but it got better as riders eased in and got more comfortable in the turns and the field shrunk due to attrition. I was told there were between 70 and 80 starters - I believe it. After the halfway prime I tried to pick up a few positions every lap and found myself in a decent place with two to go. TIBCO and Colavita were keeping things hot off and at the front so I just tucked in and held on. In the end I crossed the line in 13th position - a finish that I am pleased with. There was a lot of high-caliber talent there so I think 13th is pretty respectable.

I may have been able to finish a place or two higher if I'd been more aggressive and taken more risks in the end but on the whole, it was a good performance. Not 15min after we finished and the category 1 men got underway the rain started coming down incredibly hard. I spectated a bit, talked with some friends and was witness to the decimation that was the cat 1 race. Lots of guys going down, getting gapped - I felt bad for them. It had to be near impossible to see let alone go fast and keep track of what was happening in the race.

If I happen to come across any photos from Sunday, I'll be sure to post them. Coming up - a few time trials, some track stuff and a tandem adventure (!!!). Maybe the state road race championship, if I'm feeling the love. 'Cross season starts in about 6 weeks and the bike's getting overhauled right now. Thanks for reading!

IL State Points Race Championship and Other Stuff

2009-08-14T09:19:00.004-05:00

Me, Francine and Christina in Turn 4 Photo: M.Ferren

We had an amazing night for racing at Northbrook Velodrome - weather was perfect, decent size fields and the points race state championship on the line. I knew it was going to be a special night when I pulled up and saw Wayne Simon (Mr. Pink) in the parking lot. In the three years that I've been racing at the track, I've never seen Pink out there and had no idea that he raced on the track at all.

We started with a 12 lap tempo for the women - a race that I and most everyone else - cannot stand. It just hurts - a sprint on every lap for points, 2 for first and 1 for second. Whomever has the most points at the end is the winner. I'd resigned myself to sitting in and just rolling around in anticipation of the upcoming 35 lap points race but when things got slow with 6 to go I went to the front on a sprint and basically dragged everyone around for the remainder of the race. In the end I'd accrued enough points to actually win. Very cool.

In the points race I played it safe - my MO of late has been to go off the front solo and suffer a lot. Not last night - I worked a little and was able to snag all the first place points every 5th lap and won the state title. It was a very gratifying win - track is not a true focus for me this season and I'm just trying to make sure it's fun.

The P1/2 men did their 75 lap points race after us. Representing for PACT/Dishnetwork were Dan, Mike, Ted and Adam. I don't actually know how things ended up - the team rode strong and managed to get in a few different breaks. I was busy just watching them work together to advance or maintain position and protect each other in break situations. They're all smart, experienced racers and did a great job last night. Not to be overlooked was Val Brostrom's effort with the men - she rode strong and looked great the entire race. Way to go, Val!

My 'Magic' socks - too bad the Cubs have been playing like ass of late

Things finished with a 9 lap scratch race for the women. We were all pretty tired after the points race so we basically pacelined for 8 laps and then I managed to jump early and hold on to take the W. I really wasn't feeling super last night so I was happy to escape with a solid performance - not quite sure how I managed to pull it off. Must've been the socks....thank you :)

40K of Hate in Wisconsin - and Goodbye

2009-08-09T18:29:00.007-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Whew - I was happy to escape this morning's 40K Double Bong TT with a sub-hour time. It wasn't under by much - and it was very unpleasant! Winds were pretty heinous and temps were in the 90s with killer humidity. I suffered and was blown around a lot. 40K is a difficult distance for me and my goal was to just break the hour, so I accomplished what I'd set out to do. I had the presence of mind to take a bottle of Gatorade along and ended up drinking all of it - because I needed to. It felt as though I was melting (cooking?) out there in the intensity of the day - the wind was equally hot and oppressive. I was very happy to get off my bike.

MetLifeGuy was insane enough to actually do TWO rides. Yeah. 80K of enormous fun. The Double Double Bong. And he ended up winning both the P1/2 and 50+ men's categories. The guy's a monster. So impressive - nice work Mike! Krystian was also in Wisconsin representing for PACT and had a strong 3rd place finish in (I believe) the 30+ category.

I can confidently say that the doing the TT was the right choice for me today - I had the option to do the Glencoe Grand Prix (a race I LOVE) but settled on the time trial instead. I'm preparing to defend my state time trial championship so it was the wise move. My criterium racing has been pretty good and my short term power numbers are solid - just in time for criterium nationals in Downers Grove next week.

Congratulations are in order for my coaching client Greg who earned silver in his category in the Wisconsin state TT championships on Saturday. It was held on the same course - just add some rain to the mix. Well done, Greg!

The goodbye....I'm letting go of my Klein mountain bike. It's a beautiful bike and sweet ride that I just do not use. To Gary in Pennsylvania - enjoy it, ride it hard and take care of it!

Roger DeLanghe at NBV

2009-08-07T13:36:00.007-05:00

My teammate Adam hoists the big trophy atop the podium

After three consecutive weeks of rain delayed starts at the track, we had perfect weather for the Roger DeLanghe Trophy race last night. The DeLanghe is a 50 lap scratch race that also serves as the state championship and qualifier for Elite Track Nationals. Women are traditionally allowed to compete but this year (for various nefarious reasons) we were kept out which meant I just spectated and walked around snapping photos while Adam, Tim, Mike, Ted, and Dan represented for PACT/Dishnetwork.

Adam (134) and Ted (88) on the start line

It was actually a very interesting race to watch - Mike and Adam were away in a break for a long time. They were caught and then Adam worked his way into what proved to be the winning break of 3 with Randy Warren and Brian Haas, both very worthy break companions. In the end Adam was able to cross the line first for a huge victory. Congratulations Adam!

The field of 40 P1/2 and a few Cat 3 riders waits for the start

On the women's side of things, I did the first two races then felt that I'd done quite enough for the evening. We started with a 10 lap tempo and then a 15 lap scratch. I won both, picking up some primes along the way. I spent a fair amount of time either sprinting or off the front and was completely cooked - on a day where I wasn't really feeling the track love, I was happy with how things went. A huge thanks goes to Val Brostrom for donating cash primes for the women's race - I fully support and respect your efforts to promote equality for women and women's racing at Northbrook Velodrome.

We had a great team night at the track - Dan and Tim went 1-2 in the Masters race, Tim won a 3s race and Mike and Ted worked their butts off covering moves and protecting their teammates in the DeLanghe and the Masters race - Mike even snagged a prime. Nice job, guys! I love to just sit and watch you all - a bunch of smart, strong racers whose efforts always impress.

Up this weekend - a 40K TT for sure on Sunday and maybe a criterium on Saturday. We'll see... right now I'm more interested in watching some HD golf as the rain falls outside.

Tour of Elk Grove

2009-08-03T21:00:00.004-05:00

That's right - I didn't do it. Why? The short answer: the pointless crash-fest U-turn, among other things. Hopefully that will change next year as I'd really like to do back-to-back days of quality racing within 30 minutes of home. Instead, I did a short, intense workout at the track with a couple teammates and then spent a few hours at the beach - it was a darn near perfect day to read and enjoy the sun.

Madison Night at the Track

2009-08-02T20:17:00.007-05:00

Man Butt. Mike and Dan before the Madison.

For the third consecutive week weather delayed the start of racing at the track and made for a long night. The schedule was shortened and women ended up doing a tempo, scratch and unknown distance. I won the first two then sat in the bleachers to watch the P1/2 men. The featured event of the evening was the P1/2 elite qualifier in the Madison.

The Madison is an event in track cycling, named after the Madison Square Garden in New York, and known as the "American race" in French (course à l'américaine).The race format is a variation of the points race. Teams of two (seldom three) compete, but only one rider needs to be racing at any stage. Periodically, the teams change riders by "tagging" their teammates, usually performing slingshot action with linked hands to transfer as much of their momentum as possible to the racing rider, though a team-mate may also be propelled into the race by a push of the rider's racing shorts. The non-racing team-mate then moves to the top of the circular banked track to recover before his next stint.Team pairs are ranked according to laps gained or lost on their opposition and by points obtained by performing well in sprints which occur periodically during the race and are signalled by a bell on the preceding lap. Thanks to Wikipedia for the definition...

My teammates, Dan and Mike in the chalet before the Madison. LOVE the magenta jerseys, boys. They make a great Madison team - Dan is a strong sprinter and Mike works to keep position on non-sprint laps.

Dan, warming up.

Watching the race was incredibly cool. The speed on the sprint laps was amazing - NBV is a 'slow' track but those guys are FAST. 12 teams of 2 were on the track and thankfully there were no wrecks. I was so impressed - Dan and Mike finished 5th in the company of some very strong competition. Nice job guys!! I'd sat there shivering for nearly a half hour when I decided to take off the skinsuit and just spectate for the remainder of the evening.

Mike leading out of turn 4 in the Masters race.

Track racing has been mostly fun this season - which is my primary objective for all things racing for 2009. I opted to not do the Tour of Elk Grove for a few reasons this past weekend - most importantly, I don't particularly like the course which would have made for some bike hate if I'd guilted myself into doing it. Instead I did a time trial Saturday (which I won), a hard training session on the track Sunday morning and then spent some time at the beach on a fantastic day. It was definitely the right choice for me.

Next up is a criterium in Grayslake on Saturday and a TT on Sunday. I was torn about doing Glencoe Grand Prix next Sunday but the state TT is coming up and I have a title to defend. The following weekend is Downers Grove - I'm hoping for a good finish there. Crit racing is often a crap shoot and positioning is everything in Downers Grove so hopefully I can race smart, get a little lucky and place well.

I started reading 'The Girl Who Played With Fire' by Steig Larsson, a sequel to 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' which I really liked. So far, so good.

Last Week at the Track and Some Tunes

2009-07-30T09:14:00.010-05:00

Me, before the Chariot photo: M. Ferren

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE BRO!!

I totally forgot to post about what happened at the velodrome last week. It was a rainy start and things got rolling late for the keirin state championship. For those of you who don't know what a keirin is: 5 lap race paced by the moto for 4 laps, speeding up every lap until the 5th lap - the moto pulls off and it's all an all out sprint to the finish. The fields were small - surely a result of the foul weather but a few of us showed up and when the track finally dried it turned out to be pretty nice, but for the fact that it was cold and damp after sundown.

Keirin start (I'm in the middle) photo: M. Ferren

All the scheduled races were shortened - we only did a 5 lap scratch race and then a Chariot (a one lap held start - first to cross the line wins) but that was quite okay. I was cold and quickly losing the love. It turned out that I won all three events that evening and am the Keirin champion - probably something I could not have done if a full field had shown up, so it was a worthwhile trip to the track for me!

I haven't posted a playlist for a while so here's what we're doing at noon today:

warm up followed by this, twice (with a 3min break between):

2min VO2 (accelerate last 20sec)
2min EZ
2min VO2 (accelerate last 20sec)
2min EZ
5min LT

Mary Jane's Last Dance - Tom Petty
The Shock of the Lightning - Oasis
Shadowplay - The Killers
Are You Gonna Be My Girl? - JET
God Put a Smile Upon Your Face - Coldplay
Last one to Die - Rancid
Forever Yellow Skies - The Cranberries
Everlong - Foo Fighters
rearviewmirror - PJ
Arizona - Kings of Leon

At this moment I am without something to read!! I finished 'American Lion' - it was outstanding. Not sure what I'll start next...we'll see what strikes me when I visit the used bookstore.

Chicago Criterium Recap

2009-07-26T19:09:00.006-05:00

Turn One
Photo courtesy of Gavin Gould

I've been a bad blogger lately - I meant to provide an entire recap of last weekend's RR and TT and just never really had time to sit down and type. Today was the Chicago Criterium - the short story is that I finished 8th. I'm pleased with the result mostly because I was nearly wrecked going into turn 3 and lost a bunch of position trying to get back up to speed. Had I been able to hold the position I had at that time - who knows what could have been....

I'll do a more thorough post later and hopefully will have some good photos to share. Right now it's time to slip into the Skinz and put my feet up...

UPDATE:
Now that I've had a chance to sleep on and mull over the events of yesterday, here's my summary of how things went down:

It was nice to have a later start - since I typically suck in the morning a 1:00pm start time was good for me. Being able to ride to the race is a big bonus - no parking hassles and no gear to drag along, just show up and race. I was a little bummed when I retrieved my numbers and saw that the field was not huge - only about 20 were signed up at that time and on the line there couldn't have been more than 40. A couple of teams had decent representation which was in my favor - having no teammates means that I can be more selective about what I want to cover or stay out of during the race.

Things were fairly aggressive from early on and I managed to be part of a couple small breaks though it was obvious with the wind and long front straight that most everything was going to get hauled in eventually. Things were pretty smooth for the most part - my legs felt good and I was able to be pretty much wherever I wanted to be. I wasn't so keen on the idea of sprinting for primes and chose to stay near the front but not contest any of them in favor of trying for a strong finish.

I had good position with 2 laps to go and was able to hold onto it. Unfortunately the speed wasn't really fast enough (hello!! where was the leadout train for the biggest team there?!?!) so things got a little bunched up going into turn 3 on the last lap. I had to grab a lot of brake to avoid a potential wreck coming over from the left and lost some position because of it. No one went down but things got shuffled so going over the hump into turn 4 I had to grind up the bumpy right side if I was going to have a prayer in the sprint. I learned a lesson last year in turn 4 - don't be on the inside so I stayed outside and had a much more open line to the finish. I didn't have ideal position for the sprint but at least I wasn't stuck in the back.

As the sprint unfolded things began to push over from my left in the form of HUB Racing so as I adjusted by moving right I started to feel Gina's (Juice Plus) arm. We managed to not get tangled up but Gina lost some position. She's a very talented criterium racer and I respect her a great deal - I really couldn't do anything other than hold my line and hope we separated, which we did but unfortunately it cost her a better finish.

PACT/Dishnetwork was well represented in the men's races too - I don't know how everyone did but it was great to see my teammates, especially Jim who's dealing with an elbow injury and can't race right now. Not to be overlooked were numerous friends who came by to watch and cheer - thank you for being there. It turned out to be a really great day.

Next up is a short time trial on Saturday and maybe Elk Grove on Sunday - depends on how I'm feeling. I don't particularly like the course and may just opt to hang out and do the local group ride.

Thanks for reading - if I come across any good photos from today I'll be sure to post them.

Mississippi Bluffs RR/Cordova TT

2009-07-20T07:06:00.001-05:00

This is quick and dirty - won the ABR state RR championship and after a hard hour in some wind I finished second in the 40K TT. Details forthcoming....

Superweek - Arlington Heights Criterium

2009-07-15T12:20:00.003-05:00

Tuesday was a pretty busy day - I worked a full day then threw all my stuff in the Jeep and headed to Arlington Heights to race. I was tired before I even got there! Based on results from the previous races it appeared that the field size wasn't huge (maybe 30-40 each day, max) and that Colavita-Sutter Home and HUB were pretty much controlling everything. Having no teammates, this is the ideal situation for me - I can key off of those two teams, work when I need to and maneuver as much as I like without being marked as a threat.

The Arlington Heights course is about .7mi long with 8 corners in an hourglass shape. There was a fair amount of bumpy pavement on the back side and the 8th turn had a pretty gnarly manhole cover but a long sprint straightaway made it possible to make up any earlier lost distance.

Racing started a bit late due to some scheduling miscommunication but once we were underway things were pretty much 'go' from the gun. There was a fair amount of attacking but nothing stayed away for very long - maybe 2 laps at the most before getting hauled in. I was happy to work with Colavita and probably did a little too much early on but I was feeling good so it wasn't a problem. HUB, LipSmackers, UltraLink and Altarum were pretty aggressive and the point sprints every fifth lap were pretty animated. I even got in on the action and managed to snag a few points, just to test how things might go down at the end.

With about 4 laps to go HUB started kicking up the speed and stringing things out quite nicely. I was hoping it would stay that way - easier for me to sprint - but it was not to be. With 2 laps to go things were getting bunched up and I was amazed to see a slew of asses in front of me I'd not seen the entire race. Again, just lazy I guess. I had but one option coming into the final sprint when I found myself sitting about 20 spots back (dumb!!) - hammer up the bumpy gutter between turns 7 and 8, pick through the holes and sprint my guts out as soon as I saw daylight.

I ended up 7th - it's abundantly clear that I need to be more aggressive in the later stages of a criterium. Poaching my way into the Colavita or HUB leadout train would have been the smart thing. Positioning is everything and had I been smarter earlier on I surely could have finished better. Hindsight...

Up next is Thursday evening at the track and a weekend of road racing and time trialing out near the Quad Cities then some more Superweek next week. I'll be missing the Evanston GP this year but that's okay - I'm planning to do at least Kenosha and Racine, maybe Whitefish Bay or the Chicago Crit. There are so many options I can pretty much pick and choose at this point what works best with my schedule.

Short Quick Update - More to Come!

2009-07-14T21:03:00.003-05:00

Last weekend I had the esteemed pleasure of sharing 50K of time trial bliss with Mr. Brian Akers. That meant I got to sit behind him half the time. Indeed.... Brian was pretty fried from doing his first ride so we kept it steady and finished a respectable 5th in the Men's 30+ field. Mike and Josh had an incredible ride - aside from a couple of pros who showed up to kill the locals, they had the fastest time on the day. Very impressive. Then Mike and Jim did yet another ride and I believe they finished 3rd in the 50+ masters field. Not to be overlooked was a great time by Ted and Brian Harris - well done, gentlemen.

Today (Tuesday) I worked a regular schedule then threw all my stuff in the Jeep and headed to Arlington Heights for a Superweek crit. The short story - I finished 7th, felt strong and had a good ride. As it frequently is in criterium racing, position is everything and I just didn't manage to have great position when it mattered.

More soon....

Wood Dale Criterium Recap

2009-07-05T18:03:00.006-05:00

The coolest thing about the local racing scene is that I can race with the Masters boys. They're super strong and fast so I get something out of it and because they're all cool guys, it's lots of fun. Today I headed to Wood Dale for the ABR State Championship with MetLifeGuy for 40min + 3 laps of enormous fun. I was feeling good - better since taking Friday and Saturday easy - so I was ready to do whatever I could to help Mike to a good finish.

I didn't actually count but it appeared that there were at least 40 guys on the start line - with a lot of firepower in the bunch including Wayne Simon, Mike, Tom Doughty, Stuart Grinnell, Fabio Orlandi, Andy Kerr, Gary Doering (who's riding really well this year), John Fleckenstein, and some other local killers. Not to be overlooked are the guys who come out and end up just getting in the way...maneuvering through that CF can be difficult and scary at times. A break got off the front about half way in - I was too cooked to get to it and a few of the strong guys missed it which meant the work was far from over.

Anyway, Gary and Fabio had teammates in the mix so after the break got away it was hard to reel it back in. Mike and Tom tried a bunch of times to animate the chase and get things rolling but every time they did someone sat on the front and let the gap open back up. With a lap to go, all the guys we hadn't seen for the entire race were suddenly in the front, riding like twitchy, wobbly fools. For the record, it's difficult to respect anyone who sucks wheel the whole race and then expects to drive the front on the final lap - that's just lazy. You know the guys I'm talking about - the slackers - the ones who say. "I'm not fat, I'm a sprinter." At first I was going to just let it go but then decided WTF - move up, sprint and see what you can do. I got a little pinched in the last turn but was able to snag (I think) 10th place thanks to a bike throw on the line. I have no idea who actually won - results weren't yet posted when I left.

It was a good outing for me - I felt good and had fun. Next up is a 2 person time trial with Brian Akers out in BFE Illinois somewhere next weekend. SuperWeek also starts this weekend so I'll be picking and choosing races that I like, are easy to get to and agree with my schedule - because I have a real job and will likely be heading to races right after work.

Thanks to all the masters boys who let me come out and play in their game - especially Mike, Andy, Wayne, and Tom. They are always polite and supportive - they respect my ability and treat me like I belong racing with them. After years of not having fun racing, it's become fun again and a lot of it has to do with them and the fact that they're good to me both on the bike and off.

If I come across any photos from today I'll update the post.

US Masters Nationals - Criterium

2009-07-04T18:34:00.008-05:00

My post-race binge...Dr. Pepper and a Moon Pie

Wakes - parked on the top of the FJ with my TT bike watching the action at Churchill Downs. He made the Louisville newspaper! For the record, he is by far the very best race-support/mechanic dude a girl could ever ask for! Thanks so much - you made my week SO much easier!

The quick short version - I'll update with photos and a better summary later on - I scored bronze in the criterium at Nationals. It was a short, flat, four corner course located in the infield of Churchill Downs. On a day where I was feeling completely useless I somehow managed to be part of the 3 rider break that at one point held a one minute advantage over the field. My break companions were current Jazz Apple salary-earning professional Dotsie Bausch and Leslie Jennings from DC - based Cycle Life.

UPDATE: To complete the post....

I knew during my warm up that it was not going to be a great day. My legs were still cooked from the time trial so I decided that I'd just be smart, watch strong riders and try to make the break. There were a few attacks during the first 15 laps but things pretty much stayed together until Dotsie unleashed an attack through the start finish that appeared good enough to stick. I went with it and within about 3/4 of a lap we were away - for the rest of the race. It was everything I could do to just take my pulls and sit on. At one point I was even shelled for about 1/2 a lap but I managed to get back on and stick to the end. At sprint time I hesitated ever so slightly and missed my chance - I wasn't very confident and paid for it, though ended up a respectable third. If I'd been feeling better I'm sure I could've finished higher but my goal was to get on the podium, so it was a successful day.

Huge thanks to Brian Akers and Reed Oliff who rode 2.5hr over to watch and cheer - it meant so much to hear your voices while I suffered like a dog and died a thousand deaths out there. Also - thanks to Nicki who came out to spectate and let me clean up at her place for the ride home. Speaking of the ride home....it never quite goes smoothly, does it? We got stuck in some heinous I-65 traffic (so I played animal cracker games...) then I hit the CF of the Dan Ryan/Kennedy/I-55 snafu. Indeed.

I'm happy to be home - it was a good trip. Friday was a super easy ride with MetLifeGuy on the lakefront path and post-ride coffee. My legs were dead but the sun was up and I was home with two medals from Nationals - it's hard to beat that!

US Masters Nationals - Time Trial Pix

2009-07-04T09:24:00.009-05:00

Thanks to a two hour start time delay, Brian was able to squeeze in a second breakfast - Krispy Kremes. Reed was kind enough to jump on his bike, roll over to the grocery store and provide Brian with his sugar fix.

Then Reed got in on the donut action.

Tom Doughty and Jim Host before they headed out on their 110+ tandem ride. Tom had just finished snagging a silver in the individual TT. They won the jersey - congrats guys!!

The Steelman tandem ridden to a first place finish by Jim Host and Tom Doughty. It has this killer dark graphite metallic paint job (looks like one of my favorite nail polish colors...).

Not to be overlooked is the 63/50 tooth chainring combo. I can't even calculate the gear inches. I just know it's HUGE and requires enormous amounts of power to go fast, which Tom and Jim definitely have.

Mr. Pink, Wayne Simon, puts his feet up and relaxes while we run on time delay. He got 6th in the road race on Monday and then scored bronze in the TT. Way to go Mr. Pink!! We're entertaining thoughts of doing the 90+ mixed tandem next year....look out Applegates...

US Masters Nationals Time Trial

2009-07-01T17:53:00.007-05:00

Heading out of the start house on my ride. photo: M. Wakeley

This post will be updated when I get home - I'm pirating my host's computer and don't have photo upload capability or full access to the applications I need to publish a thorough post. The short story is that I managed to score a silver medal in the time trial at US Masters Nationals in Louisville, KY today. I was second to Laura Igoe, a pro duathlete who is mercifully moving to the 40-44 age category next season. She had a great ride - my congratulations on her win. Things were a little crazy - start times were delayed two hours for course closure problems. That was fine for me - the later I ride, the better I perform.

A quick rundown of other local talent down here for the fun (that I can recall currently):

Wayne Simon 3rd - 50-54 men

Tom Doughty 2nd - 55-59 men

Leigh Thompson 4th - 45-49 women

Mark Swartzendruber - 8th 45-49 men

There are other athletes here but due to my need to warm down, eat, recover and relax I wasn't able to memorize everyone's finishes. Reed Oliff and Brian Akers (with donuts!!) are here representing ALLVOI/WDT and Mike Wakeley (my travel companion) is here riding for Blue Competition Cycles.

I have to send a huge thank you to my training companions - guys, it is the suffering I endure in your company and your patient, supportive encouragement that have helped me do this. You provide me with opportunities to learn and improve both on and off the bike every day - thanks for that, I appreciate it.

I've had a lot of down time and have been able to start 'American Lion' by John Meacham. So far it is fantastic. Thanks for reading - I'll be sure to update things with photos and full time trial and criterium reports when I return home.

Thursday Night at NBV and a Sub Hour 40K TT

2009-06-27T16:49:00.013-05:00

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

2009-06-22T14:08:00.005-05:00

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

2009-06-21T15:57:00.009-05:00

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

2009-06-15T15:37:00.004-05:00

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

2009-06-09T10:36:00.010-05:00

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'

2009-06-06T20:25:00.010-05:00

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.

2009-06-04T09:30:00.003-05:00

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

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

2009-05-31T16:10:00.009-05:00

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$$!!

2009-05-25T16:01:00.012-05:00

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?

2009-05-23T13:10:00.007-05:00

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

2009-05-21T09:24:00.003-05:00

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

2009-05-18T09:25:00.007-05:00

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

2009-05-15T13:08:00.003-05:00

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

2009-05-10T15:59:00.009-05:00

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

2009-05-05T15:02:00.008-05:00

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

2009-05-05T14:32:00.010-05:00

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

2009-05-04T16:41:00.003-05:00

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!

Shout Out to The Chainlink

2009-04-30T14:09:00.005-05:00

I wanted to take a quick second and do a shout-out to a great site called The Chainlink. You may have seen it under Stuff to Surf on the right side, and if you haven't checked it out yet, you should. It was started by a girl in my spinning classes named Leah, and it's a pretty great thing for the Chicago cycling community. It's an online community dedicated to Chicago cycling - a one-stop place for all the rides and routes in the area, and it lets cyclists connect with each other. Let's face it, if you're not plugged into the scene, it's kind of hard to meet other cyclists who ride like you do. This helps connect cyclists in the city and gets them out on their bike! Check it out, sign up and leave me a comment - here's my page: http://www.thechainlink.org/profile/Velogoddess

'Double' Single Bong Short Recap and Other Stuff

2009-04-28T10:18:00.009-05:00

Don't ask.

UPDATED 4/30

As has been the pattern of late, Sunday morning in Wisconsin greeted us with pissing rain, blustery wind and temps around 40 for the Single Bong 20K time trial. In a moment of weakness I 'd signed up to race in two categories: Women Open and Women 30+. Last weekend's Cherry Valley TT was made much more tolerable with a dry area to warm up - no such thing at the Bong - so with lots of embrocation on my legs and an 'okay' warm up I somehow managed to put up the best women's time on the day. I'm not talking about the second one...it was BAD!! I haven't seen full final results posted anywhere yet so I can't really provide a full team recap though several of the guys also showed up for the fun and as far as I know, all did reasonably well. Mike won his age group with a really good time though I don't know how his P1/2 ride ended up - the dude's a monster. UPDATE: Final results are posted here. As you can see, PACT/DishNetwork had a great team day. Well done, guys!

While racing was fun, I also went to see the Circus Cats of Chicago on Saturday afternoon. I swear - it was the best, most entertaining $12 I've spent in a long time! These kitties make my two cats look like real schleps! I managed to snap a few photos and will post them later, after I do a Blackberry-to-laptop sync. They've got a few more shows scheduled at Bucktown's Gorilla Tango Theater - 60min of quality entertainment not to be missed!

I just finished 'Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation' by Joseph J. Ellis - it was an excellent read about the relationships, politics, ideologies, and personalities of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and Alexander Hamilton, among others. I just started 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' by Stieg Larsson.

OH!! And how about the Blackhawks?! Kick ass!! The Bulls too, of course but I'm much more of a hockey fan than any kind of basketball fan (though I do like college basketball).

Coming up - another double TT day on Saturday and maybe a criterium on Sunday. Also - I'll be teaming up with US Masters National champ Leigh Thompson for a two-person 40K TT coming up in a couple weeks. I'm very excited about the chance to throw down with Leigh - she's a fantastic time trialist and a very cool person.

I have to send congratulations out to my client Tim Glinski who road tripped to Florida for the St. Anthony's Triathlon. This is only Tim's second season in the sport and he finished a very respectable 14th in his age group which qualifies him to compete at Nationals this year. Awesome job, Tim!!

Cherry Valley 30K TT Recap

2009-04-21T16:32:00.007-05:00

Even though he's changed teams, moved up an age group and come back from a killer wreck, he's still MetLifeGuy. And still damn fast. photo: B. Cassidy

By this time in 2008 I'd already raced several times but everything I'd planned to do in early April was canceled so the Cherry Valley 30K was my first event for the 2009 season. The weather did not disappoint - it rained pretty much the entire day and the wind was definitely a factor in the misery and dampness. A huge thank you has to go out to the ABR organizing crew and Team RVO for making the event happen - they marshaled the corners, managed registration, and made sure the course was safe for everyone.

The morning started pretty early after a night of insomnia. MetLifeGuy retrieved me at dark-o'clock - he had an early start time for the first of his two tt's. I was warming up when he came back to the car after finishing the first one and got a pretty good idea of what was in store for me - serious shivering and frozen coldness. Fortunately we snagged some sheltered area for warm up - it made for a much better pre-race routine. The course in Cherry Valley is out-and-back and pretty much flat with a couple turns, some chip-and-seal pavement and a set of railroad tracks to cross twice. It's especially nice when the pavement is dry...

I had a good warm-up but wasn't feeling any of my usual pre-race nervousness and anxiety. My attitude was more like, "just get it over with" when I headed out at 11:01. I didn't really ease into any sort of rhythm until i was 2/3 of the way finished and was generally uncomfortable most of the time, probably because it was difficult to see through my fogged eyewear and I felt like I was fighting to keep my bike going straight through the wind. About the bike - it was my first race on the Cervelo and I LOVE IT!! I still might need to do a bit of dialing in on my position but the ride is sweeeeeet!

We headed out before seeing all the results because I was frozen (my lips were blue!) and didn't feel like hanging around. Based on what we saw posted, Mike won his age group and had a high finish in the P1/2. Some other PACT/Dishnetwork teammates were also there and did well - I'll update this post when the final results are posted. At the moment I don't know what my result was - I only know that based on what my power meter file shows my time was faster than what was the fastest women's time on the day when we left. It is entirely possible that the official timing is different - we'll see...

It was good to see and catch up with Mike Wakeley - he's riding my old Blue TT bike and has pimped it out quite nicely with Red and a set of Zipps. He's a strong cyclocross racer, an ace mechanic and a really great guy - not to mention an aspiring time trialist. Mike, I hope to see you often on the TT circuit this season - be sure to bring your biceps!

Up next, the Single Bong 20K in Wisco on Sunday. I'm planning to do two races which makes it a 'double single bong.' Or something. As of right now the weather will be dry and warm - a very welcome change. I'll take some pictures next time - I totally forgot to bust out the camera in Cherry Valley. Here's a link to some YouTube video from the day.

UPDATE: Final results have been posted and can be found here. PACT/Dish Network had a great showing on an unpleasant day. Nicely done, gentlemen.

The Replacement, Tunes and Hostility

2009-04-06T10:39:00.008-05:00

After busting my Zipp 404 a couple weekends ago, Lou rebuilt my wireless Power Tap hub into an Edge 68mm carbon clincher wheel. Because the weather continues to *suck* I haven't had a chance to ride it yet - hopefully this week, after the snow and residual slop have vanished. You know it's bad when the White Sox postpone the season's home opener due to the possibility of snow. I love baseball but it just doesn't feel anything at all like baseball season yet - that means I should be able to snag some cheap tickets before things warm up too much!

Tuesday's playlist (very random!!):
What It's Like - Everlast
My Sacrifice - Creed
Rich Woman - Robert Plant and Allison Krause
Lithium - Nirvana
Good Times, Bad Times - Led Zeppelin
Plush - Stone Temple Pilots
The Hardest Button to Button - The White Stripes
Communication Breakdown - Led Zeppelin
Famous - Puddle of Mudd
I Don't Know - Ozzy Osbourne
That's the Way - Led Zeppelin

In class lately we've been talking about the fact that there's tons of angry, hostile, pissed-off people in the world right now. Seems to me that it tends to carry over especially into people's driving - I've been a party to numerous displays of aggressive, selfish impatience while talking on the phone of late and it just seems to keep getting worse. For a lot of the people who attend class those 60min are sometimes the best part of their day - so we've been using that environment to sort of 'release' and let go of all the anger and hostility in a positive and productive way. It seems to be working - when I have someone say to me, 'I work for AIG and this class is the one thing that has been getting me through the day lately' it speaks volumes about how powerful and positive the whole 'submit' philosophy can be. We can't make angry, anxious people nicer or more patient but we can indeed change how we react to them and their negativity - if only for 60min a few times a week.

OK, now I'm done being philosophical.

This past weekend was lame - the time trial I was scheduled to do on Sunday was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. It ended up not being terribly hateful and we actually managed to get in a decent ride (though we did encounter a little sleet along the way). Seriously, the race should not have been rescheduled - the weather sucked but I've raced and trained in worse. There was also a road race on Saturday that I tend to not do for a lot of reasons, the least of which is the fact that it's a 4hr drive each way for two hours of racing on bad pavement in killer winds. Heck, I can do that without driving anywhere! I'm not too bummed about missing out - there is plenty of good racing to be done in better weather soon enough.

What I'm reading, 'The Soloist' by Steve Lopez - an interesting firsthand account of an LA Times columnist's relationship with a Juilliard-trained homeless paranoid schizophrenic bassist/cellist/violinist. It's a true story and a compelling read so far.

Whoa

2009-04-01T09:27:00.003-05:00

I just snagged this pic off VeloNews - it's the German team sprint team from track worlds.

One word: whoa.

Busted

2009-03-29T10:44:00.004-05:00

Until today the weather has been somewhat agreeable the past couple weeks which has enabled me to get in two back-to-back 350+ mile weeks. For me, I actually feel and perform better the more I ride so at last I'm riding and feeling good.

Yesterday I had the esteemed pleasure of being part of the pseudo-organized mayhem known as the Judson ride. With killer cross/head/tail winds it wasn't a particularly nice day but decent enough until I managed to get myself an unintentional ass massage and busted wheel when I nailed a pothole large enough to have it's own zip code. Yeah - I broke my wheel. My Zipp 404 (with wireless Power Tap hub, no less). That is going to be a costly repair - like close to $1000. Over a freaking pothole. I was planning to have it rebuilt after the end of this season, hoping it would survive a few more months but the pothole gods had something else in mind for me. Fortunately the guys I was with were empathetic (for a few minutes anyway - they started killing it once they realized the wheel was ride-able) and made sure I got back to Evanston. Ted was kind enough to loan me a wheel to get home on after dropping my busted Zipp off at the Pony Shop. Thanks Ted!

It's become abundantly clear to me that riding on nice equipment around here is just not a smart idea. I have a deep appreciation for blingin' stuff and I'm the first to oooh and ahhh over superlight, supersexy bike parts but it really doesn't make sense for me to own and use such equipment when it's so easy to damage said stuff. I like to think I take reasonably good care of my bikes and gear - I keep it clean and maintained the best I can. The bottom line is that cycling is an expensive sport and having quality equipment is important - which means choking up the $$ from time to time is part of the game.

Who am I Racing For?

2009-03-16T09:07:00.009-05:00

Ted, Dan, Mike and Jim

Bad asses, all of them...

Who am I racing for this season? Well technically, myself but I have to put my license with someone so I decided at the end of last year to become part of PACT/DISHnetwork, a small masters team that's got a bunch of state and national champs. Oh, and a multiple-time world's medal winner too. These guys are good and a lot of fun to ride with. I'm totally cool with the change of direction. This arrangement allows me to basically race when and where I want and also to ride composite without a hassle. That in itself presents a small amount of uncertainty (which races will I do? who will I race for?) but it's okay - in the end I get to decide and that's a very good thing. The freedom to make my own equipment, clothing and competition decisions has been liberating - but sponsorship is nice and I always have and will appreciate it.

The PACT/DISHnetwork team kit for 2009

I miss some of my teammates but it's like leaving a job - you still keep contact with the people you like. The one very cool thing about PACT is that I actually train regularly and race with the guys on the team - we're not spread out all over the place and there's no drama. The bottom line with them all is basically, "shut up and ride your bike." Indeed...

This past weekend turned out to be pretty decent for riding - mornings were COLD but warmed up nicely enough that I managed more than 160mi for the weekend and was at last able to turn off my furnace (hopefully for good!). It was excellent to get outdoors, see the guys and remember why I love to ride the bike. Getting home after 4 hours in the saddle and being totally wasted is a feeling I've been missing lately.

I haven't seen any results but I understand the PACT/DISH guys had a good weekend at the indoor TT and the training crit in Wisconsin - nice job guys, way to represent!!

To Race....or Not!

2009-03-13T11:12:00.006-05:00

I can't say that I blame Henrik Stenson for stripping down to make a shot from the mud at Doral - I don't like being dirty either. Indeed....

Temps in the 20s have returned for a short, sharp kick in the head. Yesterday's training session was vicious - the cross/head wind on the lakefront was tough. I counted less than 10 other idiots out there with me from the South end to the North end, excluding the construction worker-idiots who had no choice. It was nearly 5 hours after arriving home before I was able to feel my feet again. Of note, however, is the fact that most of the ice and snow that's accumulated at the shore has pretty much melted, leaving only a few little dirty lumps here and there.

Sooo....the big question I keep getting asked is when I'm going to start racing. People, IT'S ONLY MARCH!! The beauty of it is that I really haven't decided yet. There's an opportunity this weekend in Wisconsin to do a training crit but right now I feel like I need some long, hard rides in my legs. With no trip to warm weather and so much time spent indoors this winter, just getting in some hard, high-quality saddle time outdoors (with the boys, of course) is more what I'm looking for right now. Maybe in a couple weeks I'll jump into a crit, weather permitting. That, and I'd really like to arrive at 'cross season with a fresh head so starting later is a good thing. I'm not too worried - all of my power numbers look very good right now and I feel strong. I'll be doing a full schedule of racing but there are still a few loose ends to tie up and decisions to make.

We had a solid ride in class this morning - hard but not killer. None of the hung-over people hurled so it couldn't have been that awful. I re-worked a recent playlist and we did a threshold/sub-threshold zig-zag session to this:

Fire Woman - The Cult
Fall Back Down - Rancid
Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols
Do You Wanna Dance? - The Ramones
Why Go? - PJ
Call in the Cavalry - The Shys
Sister Surround - The Soundtrack of Our Lives
Kennedy Killed the Hat - Buck 65
Sick City Sometimes - Buzzcocks
Girlfriend in a Coma - The Smiths
That Great Love Sound - The Ravonettes
What Keeps Your Heart Beatin'? - The Rattlers
Do Right - Jimmie's Chicken Shack
Spoon - DMB

I finished 'Cat's Cradle' and started 'Living on the Black' by John Feinstein. It's about the 2007 seasons of pro pitchers Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina with the Mets and Yankees, respectively. As is always the case with Feinstein's work there's a lot of behind the scenes, insider info that provides for an interesting look into the lives of those involved in the 'game behind the game.'

Thanks for reading - hopefully soon there will be something more exciting to blog about.

Tunes...

2009-03-05T08:45:00.008-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

Today's soundtrack for Spin is totally classic rock - maybe my favorite genre. I got a bunch of groovin' stuff from P-licious and MetLifeGuy the other day and I'm like a little kid on Christmas going through it all. I got some bootleg Led Zeppelin concert stuff, Frank Zappa live, Bjork, Clash, Buck 65, some good cover tunes, Cream and Janis Joplin that I did not already have and some incredible guitar stuff by Paco DeLucia, John McLaughlin and Al DiMeola. Did I say incredible? Wow...talk about talent. I put it on the shuffle and will have it massaging my eardrums during my afternoon intervals - done OUTDOORS at last...

Lunch hour spin will be 40min of hard tempo with some small spikes to threshold along the way and then a 9min threshold effort that builds to a final intense minute that includes a sprint.

Dirty Laundry (live) - Don Henley
Shoot to Thrill - AC/DC
Room Full of Mirrors - Jimi Hendrix
Jessica - The Allman Brothers Band
Hang Fire - Rolling Stones
Show Me the Way (live) - Peter Frampton
Over Under Sideways Down - The Yardbirds
Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

I've solved the problem of Girl Scout cookies - they're being pawned off on my brothers. They don't know it yet but I'm pretty sure they'll be pleased.

It's Official - I'm Old, and Evil Things

2009-03-03T16:42:00.011-06:00

No, it is not my birthday (but it will be my half-birthday on Thursday!!). I'm officially old because I got mail from AARP (an evil thing) today - WITH MY NAME ON IT!! Not email, MAIL. No, I did not open it. Yes, it found it's way to the recycle bin within seconds of entering my home.

I also received the two boxes of Girl Scout cookies (evil things) that I paid for three months ago. While watching the news a few days ago it was mentioned that those cookies now cost $3.50. Why is it, then, that I paid $4.25/box? WTF? Is my additional $1.50 getting filtered into criminal defense funds for Blago and Burris? Don't get me started...

But I digress....training is going quite well, now that I'm back from the bitter throes of winter bike hate. Power numbers are looking good and I can say for the first time in a lot of years that I am looking forward to racing my bike this season. No performance pressure, high maintenance sponsors or drama - it's gonna be great!

As for me giving up PB&J, that sort of went the way my cussing thing went last year. Judge me for it if you wish but words are just words. What I say is what I say, what you think is what you think. Back to the point, EVERYONE (except the Ebony Princess) loves PB&J and it's cheap! I can't deny myself one of life's small pleasures, even for 40 days. I admit it, I'm weak. And I'm also cheap. There are worse things in life.

I just finished 'An Idiot for All Seasons' by David Feherty and will finish the Goodwin book this week. Up next - I have some Vonnegut in the queue - 'Mother Night' and 'Cat's Cradle.'

I have to send good thoughts to Mike Wakeley after his recent bout of ugliness - I've been there my friend...narcotics rule!! I hope you are feeling better soon, stoner. Same goes to MetLifeGuy who will surely be killing everyone in a few weeks (he works harder than anyone I know).

PHAT Tuesday

2009-02-24T08:59:00.005-06:00

That darn paczki keeps making it's way onto my Fat Tuesday post every year...

Fat Tuesday has no religious connotation to me whatsoever - my lifetime quota of time spent in church and on religious endeavors was achieved many years ago. I like to look at it as more of a day to think about all the 'bad for you' food that I love but never eat as doing so would cause said calories to end up taking permanent residence in my ass. Over the last few days I've had discussions with friends about which two 'bad for you' items they would like to be able to eat in any quantity forever without repercussion - makes for good small talk, right? Here's a random smattering from both men and women, all generalizations as there are so many varieties of each:

* hamburgers
* pizza
* chocolate
* cheese
* ice cream
* french fries
* anything deep fried in duck fat
* cake
* beer
* pop tarts - also known to me as crack tarts - just can't have these in the house...
* peanut butter and jelly on white bread
* hot dogs - totally gross but oh so good...one of those things about which the origins need to be ignored while eating
* prime rib
* guacamole
* cookies (any kind)
* BBQ ribs
* macaroni and cheese (the real way - not out of the box)
* authentic Mexican food

Though I don't identify with the whole Lent thing, I can definitely go with the whole sacrifice/give-up something for 40 days in effort to feel the pain of my Catholic brethren. I tried to not cuss last year and we all know what happened with that. So I'm going to try something much easier - no PBJ and no cold cereal, period. I think that's quite enough. Hopefully I won't develop the shakes.

With that in mind, here's today's playlist for class - 6X3min Vo2 efforts:

Fire Woman - The Cult
See a Little Light - Bob Mould
Fall Back Down - Rancid
C'Mon Everybody - The Chevelles
Do You Wanna Dance - The Ramones
Why Go - Pearl Jam
Call in the Cavalry - The Shys
Someday - The Strokes
Stairway to Heaven - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Sick City Sometimes - Buzzcocks
Only the Good Die Young - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
That Great Love Sound - The Ravonettes
What Keeps Your Heart Beatin'? - The Rattlers
(What Do I) Do Right? - Jimmie's Chicken Shack
Riders on the Storm - The Doors

Just finished 'Hell's Angels' - it was fascinating and a fast read. I've started 'An Idiot for All Seasons' by David Feherty and will pick back up on the Goodwin book in a few days. After a week of bike hate I'm back to work and feeling good. Winter started early for us this year so right about now would normally be (4 months of crap weather) time to be outdoors more and it's just not happening yet. I had a little meltdown/submission week and now I'm all good. As my friend Jimmy said this morning, "sometimes you need to go to the zoo." Well said.

Almost forgot - congrats to the PACT/Dishnetwork boys on their fine performances at the indoor TT last weekend. Ted, Jim and Dan - way to represent!

Thursday - Winter Returns & I Master a New Trick

2009-02-19T08:54:00.009-06:00

Happy Birthday, Beth!!
yes boys...she's single!! Then again, she's also smart and almost 6ft tall so keep that in mind.

Oh yeah - back to snow, ice and temps in the low teens. Bring it on - no more teasing with the sunny skies and temps around freezing. I did a short ride on the rollers before class today, tried something and was completely surprised - I can ride the rollers with no hands!! I'd never actually tried to do it before but today I got this weird wild hair and there it was - pretty cool. Now I can play two handed air drums in class - no more of this one handed stuff...and air guitar too!

This is what we're listening to today:

Monkey Man - The Rolling Stones
Doesn't Remind Me - Audioslave
Up Tight - The Hives
Danny's Song - Me First & the Gimme Gimmes
Hello Conscience - The Zutons
Authority Song - John Mellencamp
A Tisket a Tasket - Stevie Ray Vaughan (thanks Peter!)
I Predict a Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
Crawl - Kings of Leon
Valerie Loves Me - Material Issue
Longview - Green Day
Don't Change - INXS
Warning Sign - Coldplay

I'm thinking a trip to The Art Institute of Chicago is on the schedule tomorrow after finishing with work. I understand the Edvard Munch exhibit is amazing. He was supposedly an anxious boy. I get that. What I'm reading: still working on the tail end of 'No Ordinary Time' and just started 'Hell's Angels' by Hunter S. Thompson.