4 x 1:00m (in)

This afternoon while I was sitting next to my co worker slugging away I looked out the window and said “I hope this rain stops” It was coming down in sheets. I really wasn’t looking forward to doing tonight’s workout anyway but to do 3 sets of 4x1 min intervals Full Gas in rain seemed worse. I started the workout in the rain and it eventually cleared but not before I got all wet and got a flat to go with it.

Last night I saw maybe the most spectacular race I can remember! The USA beat the French in the 4x100m team relay. Amazing you really needed to see it to believe it.

This weekend I have the Meridian/Cuba Omnium. Hopefully I will be going well for it. I felt fine tonight but now the legs are cooked with motor pacing in the morning!

Well I guess there is only one direction to go J

ToKC

Well, maybe not. I messed the dates up on my calendar and while I thought ToKC was next week, it's actually this weekend. After looking at things at work and talking to the coach and my directors I decided to nix this off of the race list. It's hard because I love racing and it's been too long since racing with the team. I'm going to refocus my calendar and instead do the Merridian/Cuba Omnium next weekend and then the Gateway Cup. My coach has set up a super hard training block to get me to Gateway prepared and all I can do is give it my all and hope that the body responds.

Goals for the next month:

1. Race Smart at the Merridian/Cuba Race and at the very least finish both the Crit and the RR with the main field
2. Avg. Speed of 47k in my Motorpacing Sessions
3. Avg. 5.25 watts/kg in my 5 minute efforts

Then to Gateway Cup

CHI – OLINA

It’s been a week and tomorrow I’ll be back to the same old routine. Over the past week I’ve learned how to be a super accountant, how to live like a bike racer, and how to lose like an amateur.

I left New Orleans with a rocky start arriving a t the airport late and with a bike box that was too heavy (80lbs). I took some stuff out and re-weighed it and the lady said it was too late to check it in! WTF. So I settle on leaving with 2 carry-on’s and o straight to the plane. Between New Orleans and Chi Town (Chicago) my mom and I worked out a plan to have the bike shipped to Chicago and that afternoon the bike was on its way.

At the O’Hare airport I met up with Alle (Alli), Vinnie, and Lisa from Rochester, NY. They got there a bit early so I didn’t have to wait that long. Unfortunately their bags didn’t come with them so they were not happy campers on the train ride into D-town Chicago. Once downtown we met up with Alli (from NOLA) at the hotel and we all went to meet the others at Giordano’s Pizza.

As usual we ordered too much pizza (same thing happened last year) and after dinner we walked around Chicago and gave our leftover pizza to homeless people. Unlike NOLA homeless people who would have thrown it away or insisted on money, the homeless in Chicago are actually thankful and eat it. The rest of the afternoon we did the standard for us which was the guys getting dragged to multiple shopping venues. We were able to get a na in before going to Navy Pier and partaking in the evenings festivities.

So we ate dinner at Navy pier and had some “golden libations” (i.e. Beer). During dinner fireworks started to go off and I enjoyed the long and colorful display while most of my counterparts were not interested at all. They did liven up when we left the Navy Pier to go to a local bar; RockBottom! Allison, Matt, and I decided to get the sampler as this was a micro brewery and we could get 4 ounces of each of the 7 different kinds of beer for 7.50. Somehow this turned into a contest between Matt and Alli and they were taking the beer sampler like shots! They quickly finished and decided to get a pitcher, each. They then continued to see how fast they could finish the pitcher. It was around the time that Alli gave it to Matt like a Bi-atch by finishing off the pitcher first that Natalie and I decided it would be a good time to make our exit. We walked back to the hotel and were in bed by 1 am. The others got in around 5.

The next day was rough for the rest of the crew. I was able to get some personal things done before everyone woke up and after we all ate breakfast in what was the most part silence we split up to our own ways. Alli was meeting friends and ended up at the zoo; Natalie, Matt, Juli, and Emily were headed to the conference hotel to take a nap and I was off to see the inaugural Chicago Criterium around Millennium Park. At te race I was a litte surprised to see Stefan and Chad from my team as they were just as surprised to see me. Stefan rode like a pro getting off of the front 2-3 times before finally bridging up to the final break. He ended up getting 17th which was a good result. I had to leave the race early to make my way out to the conference and to build Tiki Huts.
This year AGN designed a whole bunch of group activities for us and us being from NOLA we took all of these to the extreme:

SUNDAY NIGHT
Build Tiki Huts and Make sangria
Followed by beach volleyball with lots of beer
Then to Vinnie’s room for drinking games with a handle of Vodka and a Handle of Bacardi Mojito
Bed Time ~3 am (very drunk – I passed out and am not quite sure how I made it on my bed the last thing I remember was going to the restroom in my room!)

MONDAY NIGHT
Dinner at an Italian Restaurant
Pick up beer at Liquor Store
More Drunken Beach Volley Ball
Bed Time ~12:30 for me and ~1:30 for everyone else.

TUESDAY NIGHT
Dinner at a BAD ASS Mongolia restaurant
Drinks at a nearby bar
Back to Vinnie’s Room for more drinking games.
Bed Time ~ 11 for me everyone else between 11 and 3.

Wednesday, we finished out training and were off to the airport. I was heading to Charlotte, NC for the remaining Cross Road Classics (a series of 9 Crits over 10 days). I got into my hotel room near the airport ~ 12 am and turned in. The next day I hooked up with Reed. Reed rides for the Hincapie Barkley Elite team and was kind enough o pick me up from the hotel and let me hang with him until the race that night.

The races the following three days were blistering fast. I need to be around this type of racing more often as doing it 5-6 times a year just isn’t cutting it. Below is a short recap of the races

Thursday – Salisbury
Figure Eight Course; hard from the gun with a lot of Pro team’s warming up for the BOA Crit on Saturday Evening. I lasted about 10 min in the field.

Friday – Statesville
An L – shaped course; again hard from the gun but not like the night before. Rock Racing showed up and Rashad Bahatti made it look easy lapping the field and then taking the sprint like he was doing an average day of training. Time in field ~ 15 minutes. Although I rode out a little longer and sat a little on the back of the field in subsequent laps.

Saturday – Harrisburg
This was the most technical of the courses and had 5 corners of which were a little tighter than the previous days. I was hoping for an easier day as most of the pro’s would be racing that evening and saving their legs. I was wrong. Most of the pro’s were saving their legs but the pro’s who were left off of the start list of one of the richest prize crits in America were pissed and racing against pissed off pro’s isn’t too fun. Time in field ~10 minutes. This was the easiest day but unfortunately I was pretty burnt and didn’t have much left.

Tonight I am staying with my cousin that I haven’t spoke to or seen in years. She’s a sweetheart and its good to see her and her family. Tomorrow she is going to be kind enough to wake up at 4 am to take me to the airport in Charlotte.

UPDATE:
I’m back in New Orleans now and back to the standard day to day. Yesterday was Kate’s B-day so I got to see her a bit and relax by Jessica’s pool with some burgers and beer. I fell asleep rather early at 7:00 and didn’t budge until 8 am this morning. Today I have another day off of the bike before hitting it again hard tomorrow!

Only 2 weeks until Tour of Kansas City!!!

TOP 5 - Revisited

Yea this has nothing to do with my first post on the top 5 but I cleverly have decided to use the same name....lol. This one will be short and sweet as I have already written about for my next post.

LA/MS State Crit Champs:

1. Scott Kuppersmith - Herring Gas Cycling Team
2. Chris Alexander - Herring Gas Cycling Team
3. Timothy Regan - Herring Gas Cycling Team
4. Bain Foote - Herring Gas Cycling Team
5. Frank Moak - Herring Gas Cycling Team

Other Facts: Total 1/2's 11 riders; Total Herring Riders 7; Chance of pulling home the win 1% (I did the math and there was a chance that a crash would happen in the lead group that would cut down the total Herring Riders to 2 or 3....lol)

Meanwhile It looks like my teammates in AR are up to much of the same action:

AR State Road Race:

1. Lance Hughey - Mercy Cycling Team
2. Scott Barnes - Mercy Cycling Team
3. Carl Sundquist - Mercy Cycling Team
4. Zach Martin - Mercy Cycling Team

Next Up: Crossroads Classic after some good times in Chi Town

Today's Top 5

So many things have changed in the last 24 hours that’s amazing me. Here is the countdown of the top 5

5. Last night there were two crashes at a little informal training for the crit this weekend. This resulted in 1 kit pretty cut up; 1 broken collarbone. (Chase go faster in that turn you have it; Jenn we wish you the best and a speedy recovery)

4. A guy I used to coach will be doing the Crit this weekend. He’s a good MTBiker but refused to try road racing when I was coaching him (I was encouraging him to use it as prep/filler for MTB races). Good Luck!

3. There is a chance that our Dept. Director will be participating in his first road race (well really a crit but still a road discipline). I’m not sure if he’ll go through with it but if he does best of wishes. I think he’ll have a whole new understanding for what we do out there after trying it.

2. A good friend of mine is hurt after her and her b/f (not best friend) decided to split. She’s a strong girl so she’ll be fine but I still wish her the best and have a shoulder if she need’s it.

1. The Cobra test positive. Riccardo Ricco (known as The Cobra) tested positive today for a new form of EPO. It is quite disappointing. He is only 24 years old and has quite a temper (he threw his $5,000 bike in the air after being crashed out in a race earlier this year). What’s even more revealing is that he always wanted to be like his Idol – Marco Pantani (the Pirate). So far to date he’s doing a good job, bot being amazing rider’s; both climbers from Italy, and both being caught doping. I’m reading a book on Pantani now and hope that Ricco can come back clean and win.

On a bit of an exciting note I will be going to see The Dark Knight tonight at Midnight (the first showing) Since I have a day off tomorrow (training) I’m pretty excited I can do it. Then prep time for Sunday!!!

New Training

This is my first week working with my new coach. To say the least it’s been a tough week and I haven’t trained this hard in some time. The week before this I had an informal week with a few goals including 15 hours and some wattage/kJ goals. This week has been much more intense culminating with 18 hours for the week by the end of the day tomorrow. Not only have they been long hours but they’ve been hard hours. Today in the group ride I had close to 1,600 kJ by the 2 hour mark (which is pretty high for me). I’m pretty excited about the new coach and new direction; with the training this hard I have to get better!

The State Crit Champ’s are next weekend. I’m really looking forward to racing again and especially in a Crit. I’m sure it will be a hard day since a lot of riders will be gunning for it with at least three full teams that will be represented. Last year a break went early and stayed off. I doubt we’ll have the same situation this year. But as Frank say’s “Brains off, Balls Out” or something like that.

Above The Clouds

This past weekend (June 26th through 29th) I spent some time in Boulder, CO. We flew up on Thursday morning and got there around noon. The weekend was great and taught me a lot about myself and my abilities.

Thursday:

The Flight
We were up before the break of dawn “K” was having a driver pick Chad and I up at Chad’s house as “K” needed to be at the airport around the same time as we did for his trip to NY, NY. I got up as planned at something ridiculous like 3:30 and threw my bags into the car. It is amazing how hungry you can be at 3:30 am. So on my way to Chad’s house I made an attempt to go to Mc Donald’s. I pull up at the drive through and was promptly informed that they were closed. They didn’t seem too humored when I asked how a 24 hour Mc Donald’s could be close; after all they’re supposed to be open 24 hours a day. So the alternative was to stop at a gas station and get a few bottles of juice and some Little Debbie’s (I know a healthy breakfast before what is going to be a long weekend).

We get at the Airport and ended up just chilling in the lobby with “K.” When it was time to go we were ushered through the front of the line at security, and seated on the plane right away – FIRST CLASS BABY – thanks Chad! I’d never been in first class before and know I understand why people work there asses off before flying. They fed me food, good food, and lots of it! There were movies, and enough space that even if you were sitting next to Big Bertha you would still feel like you had your own hotel room. So needless to say the flight up was awesome.

Arriving at the Denver airport we had some time to kill before Mark arrived on a later flight so we chilled got our baggage etc. While getting our baggage I saw about 150 Boy Scouts all in uniform getting bags etc. I talked to one of them to find out that they were on their way to Camp Philmont. We spent a few minutes talking about there trip and I reminisced about my short stint at Philmont in 2001.

I bet you we could make a killing importing Air up here

I knew I was in trouble when I was carrying my bags at the airport and breathing like I was running a marathon. From there it was a constant reminder that we were so far from home. Every task, from walking up stairs at our Hotel for Thursday night (the Boulderado) to riding our bikes, was a battle for oxygen consumption. I asked Chad at some point during the day if he thought we could get some oxygen brought up to the room for us (after all we were staying in a 5 star hotel, and they call that service right?).

So once in Boulder after a short transfer we met with Frank Overton, our guide and my soon to be coach. We had lunch then we went to put our bikes together. That afternoon the plan was for Chad to go get fit by Pruitt’s protégé (I forget his name) while Mark and I would go for a ride.

On the ride we went to Canyon Rd. and basically started climbing. Mark and I were only going to do a 2 hour ride; taking it easy knowing that the next day would be harder. Mark definitely out rode me on Thursday easily setting tempo and riding away from me at ease. If I felt this bad on my first day I was not looking forward to the rest of the trip. (On the way up to Boulder, Mark and Chad told me that I would feel the worst of day 2 or 3 of the 4 day trip.) The descent back down the mountain was pretty satisfying and we flew all the way back to Boulder. That evening we all just chatted and prepped for the next day (a 4 hour ride in the mountains with Frank Overton, coach/guide; Eric, one of Frank’s athletes from Dallas; and Frank Pipp, road race professional on the Health Net / Maxis Team).

Friday:

How do you work this thing!

Before we left New Orleans, Chad had one of his SRM’s installed on my bike to collect data from the trip and training. I had been using power for training for some time but this new system was going to take some getting used too. So riding to Frank’s house to begin our morning ride I had Chad show me how to do some stuff while I was riding. So I was riding along playing with the SRM and WHACK! I hit a temporary road sign in the middle of the road and go down. Granted I was only going about 5 or 10 mph but regardless it was fast enough to rip my derailleur hanger off of the bike. Frank was kind enough to let me borrow the Motor Scooter to go around town and try to find a Derailleur hanger for my bike. I ended up at a shop where Lucious was kind enough to help me out and find one for me. After fixing my bike I was back at the hotel room and it was 10:30 am (the ride started at 9:30). So not wanting to sit around waiting for them to get back I remembered that Frank told me that they would be coming back the way we rode out on Thursday. I got on my bike and figured I would meet up with them on their way back.

FBI Sanctuary

I got dressed again for a ride and rode out solo to the climb. It was a 10 mile climb and I seemed to be having an ok time with it. I finally got to the last 2 miles that reminded me of something I would see in Arkansas; straight up and just downright steep. I actually caught an older man on the climb right at the base of this section and he ended up just riding away from me (I think he was using a 27 tooth cassette or at least that’s the story I’m telling everyone). At the end of this 2 miles you come into this little town that the clerk at the general store at the top informed me has a population of 150 people. Along the rode sides you see burnt out and abandoned cars some dating back to the 40’s and 50’s. I got an ice cream bar and as I was getting ready to go back to Boulder Frank, Chad, Marc and Eric showed up (Pipp turned around easy because it was his easy day). So the ride was a success, I met up with the group. On the descent Frank told me that the town was a place to go if you wanted to avoid the FBI and related it to Colorado’s version of Deliverance.

The Little Kicker

Frank told us we were going to take a different way back that was a little shorter but had about a 2 mile kicker on it. We were soon to find out that a Kicker in CO means a short very steep climb! We reach the base of the climb and I take off. Mark soon bridges up to me and we played Cat and Mouse for a while. When it leveled off he would pour in the power and ride away, then it would get steeper and I ride back to him as he would stand still going upward. Fortunately for me the finishing part was pretty steep and I came around to take the sprint to the stop sign at the top. I then sat down and caught my breath while Mark continued to tell me that he could have beat me in the sprint. The rest of the ride home was good with some nice descending.

Happy Hour.

At the top of that “Little Kicker” we met a lady who was quite possibly macking on Mark. Anyway, she invited us all to happy hour at the St. Julian. It just so happened that the St. Julian was where we would be staying that night so we agreed to meet them there. Happy hour started around 5pm and we went for a while. Now I have to say that I’m not too familiar with Boulder but this was definitely the place to stay. Not only was the St. Julian just and awesome super modern 5 start hotel but the happy hour was definitely my scene (as my co-workers might describe it back home – POSH). There were tons of beautiful girls all dressed to the nines for drinks on a Friday afternoon; while the guys were content in flip flops shorts and shirts. I didn’t drink anything but enjoyed good company and met some new friends.

Saturday:

Breakfast Sandwich and Coffee to go please.

So while all of our other rides left at 9:00 am or later Saturday was described as what was going to be an Epic ride and we would be meeting at Frank’s house at 6:00 am. So Chad didn’t sleep so well. All night we could here the remnants from happy hour stumbling around the hotel; both inside and out. Chad went down to get a bagel and I got ready for the ride. I went downstairs to get some breakfast and ended up getting a breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee. I was in the middle of eating the sandwich when Chad and Mark came down. So I stuffed the sandwich in my stuff and rode to Frank’s house coffee in hand. I ended up giving Mark half of the sandwich as I couldn’t eat all of it and he hadn’t been able to get breakfast.

Big Tom Zirbel

We had about a 45 min drive to the place where we would be starting the ride. A few other guys would be joining us there to make the trip. On the drive there we passed one of our ride companions riding his bike over to the start – Big Tom Zirbel! Zirbel is a pro riding for Team Bissel and is an impressive rider. We all ended up meeting at a little organic coffee shop and had some coffee before leaving. Chad decided that he wasn’t going to attempt this ride with us and was going to do his own thing (I tried to convince him otherwise but with no success).

Up we go!

As soon as we started riding we started climbing. At one point I guess I was pushing the pace and got a slight scolding from Frank who said I needed to mindful of everyone in the group. He said “Your stronger than you think take it easy” I thought. Yea right, I’m from -10 sea level; I’m just trying to get this done! After the first climb we had a good descent in which Zirbel showed us how to do it easily picking the pace up to 40+ mph. Before heading to Rocky Mountain National Park we stopped at a Donut Shop for a break and some refueling.

Winter Wonder Land

Leaving the Donut shop we rode to Rocky Mountain National Park where we had to pay $10 just to enter. We started climbing and I asked is this it? Frank quickly said no. So for the next 5-10 miles I would keep asking if we were on the climb yet and each time he would say no and tell me to just enjoy the ride.

Finally we did reach the climb and when we did I didn’t need to ask, you could tell. It was a 20 mile trip to the top of the range and the Visitors center. At the beginning I started climbing at my own pace which was faster than most. A few minutes later Zirbel rode up to me and we started chatting and taking turns pulling. We were riding along and he got into his zone and started picking up the pace. He ended up riding away from me easily. I just kept going at my own pace and before long I was above the tree line with snow all around me. I ended up arriving at the visitor’s center about 15 minutes before the last people in our group. Zirbel actually rode up then turned around and rode back down for the others and rode back up with them. The Visitors Center was very cool and after hanging out, looking around and getting a hot dog at the concession area we started the decent back down.

Racing Legs

After the majority of the descent and leaving the national park we cam back into the little town where we stopped to have donuts earlier. This time we stopped at a little coffee shop. Leaving the coffee shop we had another “little kicker” before descending back to where we started. We got on the climb and I punched it. Zirbel came with me and we took turns pulling up the climb. About 1k from the top we were going into a headwind and I was sitting on Zirbel’s wheel putting out over 350 watts (a huge amount for me). I couldn’t hold on but only finished about 150-200 meters behind him at the top of the climb. I waited for the rest of the group while Zirbel went on (he was going to meet his g/f. Back with the rest of the group we started rotating going downhill. I think we average 33mph back to the start. When the Start was within sight we went up a slight kick. At the top I put in a little effort and only one guy was able to come with me. He came through with a little attack and I sprinted pass him at the city limit sign. After over 6 hours of riding I was still about to take a sprint against another Cat 2 rider.

BBQ

That night we all went to Frank’s house for a BBQ which was awesome. Mark was pretty upset that we had to ride our bikes overt there as he was definitely over riding for the day. The burger’s and beer were great. After 2 beers I could feel the “altitude” and decided that 2 was enough. We rode back to the hotel and because there wasn’t enough rooms for the 3 of us and since they couldn’t put a rollout bed in the room (fire code) I made a pallet on the ground made of pillows and down comforters.

Sunday:

Relentless

I got up a little stiff from the prior days ride and from the floor but was ready to go nonetheless. Chad and Mark on the other hand were done for the weekend. I set off on a ride by myself and came across Boulder Falls. I spent some time here enjoying the view and walking on the little trail to get back to the main falls (kinda difficult with cycling cleats on). They also had people rock climbing, taking pictures, and just enjoying the area; it was all pretty cool. I got back to the hotel and finished packing and we went to Frank’s to pack our bikes for shipment back to NOLA.

Delays

On the way back my seats were coach. I was spoiled by riding first class up and was pretty restless on the way back. We flew from Denver to Houston. In Houston we found the standard delays. It seems like every time I fly through Houston we are delayed. This time our delay was like 2 hours and we ended up not getting back to NOLA until after midnight and Chad and I were both exhausted.

The trip was over but I had a great time, realized that I really do love riding my bike, and that I’m not such a bad climber after all. Back now on pancake flats I’ll have to go back to the same old thing but with a revised attitude and vision!

For another write up on the Saturday ride visit this website:
http://gunznrosenthal.blogspot.com/2008/06/trail-ridge-road-report-photo-dump.html