CANCELLED!!!

The day before professionals would race in what has become to be known as the hardest one day race in the world (the Paris-Roubaix). Here in New Orleans we cancelled a race. Not because of weather conditions (while raining and windy in the morning, the day actually turned out to be pretty nice), but because the weather the night before had covered our Lakeshore Drive with mud and debris from the lake.

I called my coach to get a work out to replace the race; and soon realized I would have rather done the race. The TT would have been 8.5 miles. Instead I now needed to do 2 x 5 mile intervals. My numbers from the power meter were OK but not anything to brag about. I’m pretty happy considering that it’s still kind of early for me and I am still not feeling right from the crash last week. I do think that I would have done better in a real TT because of the pressure, the environment, warm-up, and focus that are naturally a part of a race.

Sunday I did The Giro group ride. It was pretty hard. I wanted to sit in and see how my sprint was going but the group started to break apart at the front and I tried to go up front to help bring it back together. I didn’t attack just rode to the front and started to gradually increase the pace. I was only going ~45k when I looked back and only one guy was on my wheel. A couple others bridged up and I pulled the group most of the way up to a few guys in front of us. From then on out we were doomed. We couldn’t catch the 4 guys in front of us and we were managing to stay ahead of the main group. It stayed like this the entire way out! Kenny B. is riding pretty well and put in a pull that shelled the 4 other guys that were with us. We eased up a little to allow them a chance to get back on but I was more intent on catching the group in front. In the sprint at the turn around Kenny once again put on the hammer. I held on the longest but let him go about 400m from the finish to ride in at my sustainable speed. A few seconds later he looked back and eased up letting me get back on for a nice lead out.

On the way back, we stayed together on Chef Hwy. I attacked with about 1k to go before the sprint line and only 2 came with me. They easily passed me in the last 200 meters but I was surprised that nobody else was there. We had a sizable gap on the group at the finish. After that a group rolled off the front and we once again were chasing. (BTW: I decided that I don’t like chasing) After we came back together we were rolling with a stiff wind when I heard scraping metal on the ground. CRASH!!! If it were a race I’m sure the pace would have picked up but being the friendly bunch of guys we are everyone stopped to help in the scraping of the carnage off of the pavement. It was nothing serious just some guys that touched wheels. Thankfully I wasn’t in it. From there on out nobody was motivated. I rode at the front of our group which turned out to be the first group pretty much all the way back to the lakefront. I was surprised that no one tried to sprint past me on the bridge. I didn’t pick it up too much but just stayed seated and set a nice tempo. After the ride I went up on the levee to fight the winds by myself to end up with a total of 4 hours riding on the day. I felt good and could have probably done more but I was also a little motivated to get home.

Next week is the MS Grand Prix. I am hoping that I will be going well for the race. Ideally all road rash, bruising, and stiffness will be gone.

The Price of Priceless

Gas to go to Cuba Race $20
Hotel Room $45
Race Entry Fee $35
Food $25

Crashing less than 25 miles into the 83 mile road race
Cracked Atmos Helmet $150.00
Shattered Orion Tubular Front Wheel ~$200

Priceless Part:
Thinking your shoulder is not broken :)
Chasing to try and get back into the race :(
Pulling out of the race after a 20 mile chase :(
Being so sore that you wish you had road rash instead :(
Getting a picture of you and your wheel :)
Knowing you crashed at approx. 27 mph and can walk away (while limping) :)
Trying to figure out how to replace the equipment you've destroyed :(



Total cost = in excess of $475



Best Part - Not Getting the Chance to finish the race and see where your fitness is. :o(

The Cross Over

Starting out in the sport was a progression of several steps: first Boy Scouts and Backpacking, then Adventure racing (which I viewed as backpacking a backpacking race with other stuff thrown in for good measure), and then Mountain Biking. I stop here because this is the critical point. In my mind I started off thinking it was good for Adventure Racing to improve my skill’s etc. Then I started to develop and decided that I liked the effort and that this was something that I wanted to do. I became a Mountain Biker. Now repeat the last three/four sentences and replace “Mountain Biker” with “Road Racer” and “Adventure Racing” with “Mountain Biking.” Now I am truly a road racer. But once, maybe twice, a year I like to think that I am a Mountain Biker so I go to the local MTB races and show them what we brought back in the day. Usually I do pretty well at these and most of the time podium. This time I didn’t.

Last weekend I did the “Battle of Baton Rouge” MTB race. Well, I might have done better then the last place I finished if I had actually showed up more than 10 minutes before the start. Nonetheless I managed to get ready and get to the line with a few minutes to spare in which I spent riding up and down in front of the start line. Into the woods we went; last position. Cool, I need to warm up and will turn on the gas on lap two, right? Turning on “The Gas” evidently meant going 10 seconds faster on the 2nd lap than the first; I only found this out by looking at the results afterwards. Yeah so things were hard and I was riding as fast as I could. Fitness was great and skills really sucked; especially in the mud and wet conditions. So, on the 4th of 5 laps I manage to crash. Not a big deal – it’s an MTB race. Except this is how I know I am now officially a roadie. I find the only piece of concrete in the entire woods to fall on! Pretty lucky I know. SO, I’m all mad that I crashed and end up crashing again. This time not on concrete (I couldn’t be that lucky) but still going down in the mud. So instead of my lap times getting faster as the race course dries out they got 3 and 2 minutes slower respectively compared to the first 3 laps. In my defense, the last lap I was already out of it mentally and settled on riding it in instead of quitting (I really wanted to quit though). So in my final lap a guy caught up to me and I rode behind him until the very last stretch (where I decided to go fast again) and basically talked to him the entire time. He didn’t talk back (after all he was racing) but it kept me entertained.

So this might have been my last MTB race, I am pretty determined to sell my MTB. I will get another one eventually, but intend to ride for fun from now on.

Coming up this weekend is the CUBA Road Race. Its one of the three “real” road races we have around here. (The three being Rouge Roubaix, CUBA, and MS Grand Prix.) I am hoping to have a good result but twisted my knee last night running and it’s a little tender. We’ll hope for the best.

Old School - Kind Of

So today was the annual NOBC 2-man 40k TT. This is usually the first TT of the year for me and this year is no different. I did feel a lot better this year than last I think because I have some races under my belt. I do have to admit I really wasn't into it. I think mostly because my ergomo bottom bracket did not come in from the warranty issue I had so I wasn't able to use my TT bike. So with Mike Lew as my partner (he himself is old school), I suited up in the skin suit & aero helmet and mounted the Road Bikes; both of us. (note: my road bike had a rear disk while Lew just rode his American Classics). We ended up doing ok in the TT. While we weren't competitive in the 1/2 category we definitely made those "young whipper snappers" take notice when we came whizzing in with a time of 57:13 on road bikes. In fact this is a faster time than I posted last year and last year we were on TT bikes; although Bob did have that unfortunate accident of crashing after touching wheels with me. Last years time was 58:02.

Which Racer Are You?

A few moments ago I read an article on VeloNews that was previewing a line of Retro Clothing. In the article the following were descriptions that correlated to the three special editions jerseys that celebrate cycling's roots. So which racer are you?

HARD, FAST AND PART OF THE BLACK TRAIN.SHOE COVERS, THREE QUARTERS AND A CAP UNDER HIS HELMET.HE LIVES IN THE ECHELON, THE WIND AND RAIN.FROM FLANDERS TO ROUBAIX AND THE ARDENNES.HE FLOWERS IN SPRING ON THE COBBLES AND MURS.... THE BELGIAN

THE 'PATRON' OF THE PELOTON, HE KNOW THE RULES.HIS NICKNAME SHOW'S HE IS LOVED.WEIGHED DOWN WITH EXPECTATION, HE IS THE NEARLY MAN, THE 'ETERNAL SECOND'.STILL HE BATTLES ON AGAINST THEM ALL, AGAINST HISTORY.A PART OF THE LANDSCAPE THAT FORMED HIM.... THE FRENCHMAN

TRAINING CANNOT START BEFORE HIS FIRST ESPRESSO.IF IT'S RAINING, IT DOESN'T START AT ALL.HE SETS THE RULES FOR EURO CYCLING STYLE.AND HAS THE BEST VICTORY CELEBRATIONS.HE COMES ALIVE IN THE MOUNTAINS.AND LIVES FOR THE HOTTEST DAYS IN MAY.... THE ITALIAN

http://www.velonews.com/article/73677/rapha-peddles-its-2008-collection

I wonder if one day they might make the quote for .... THE AMERICAN. What would it say?

Racing of a Different Kind

Today was the Crescent City Classic and is one of the larger 10k races in the country. Now I don't run a lot but I got the opportunity to run in this race as I had no cycling races this weekend and that the entry was free (thanks again Kate). I do like running but it is hard! During the off season I usually try running to change things up and keep in good condition while taking a break from the bike. This year my coach had me running once a week through base. Once racing started this stopped. So what does this mean? It means that in the past 3-4 weeks I ran twice - last Wednesday and yesterday (Friday). Actually this morning I was still a little sore from the tempo run I did Wednesday. Nevertheless, I got up this morning and made my way out to the race.

After a 20 min drive to the finish, 15 min walk to the shuttle, 10 min shuttle to the start, 30 min walk down the starting street (including a stop for coffee), and a 30 min walk back to the start it was finally time to start. Other than all the walking I did the only warm up I got was a few minutes of stretching at the beginning of the race and the great coffee that I got from a little cafe on Decatur. I didn't do a qualifying run to get close to the start like I was supposed to and instead just managed to squeeze my way up tot he front until I saw some people I knew. I talked to them a bit and was told that the group I was standing with would be doing about a 6 minute first mile. Way too fast for me in a 10k. I thought "Well it will be just like riding the hills start and the front and drift back." That was exactly how the race went.

The plan was to really start running after I warmed up at around the three mile mark and hold it into the finish. Well, in the first three miles I manages to keep sub 7 min miles - good right? I was happy with this and then mile four came. I was supposed to pick it up and instead got distracted with hi-fiving people, stopping to get a hand up of beer and generally just goofing around. I think I did the 4th mile at something in the high 7's. It was here that I decided that 2 miles isn't really that long and I should just pick it up. But I didn't. At least not as much as I could have. I did pick it up a little and was passing people but kept thinking - should I be hurting as much as the people around me? I actually felt fine, could hold conversations, breathe, and look around. Others were panting, and looked as if they were just forcing the run. During mile 5 there were some guys on the side of the rode dressed as devils that were handing out hot dogs!!! I really wanted one but decided that I would quickly become sick on a hot dog while running ( I later learned a friend of mine ate the hot dog and still finished a minute ahead of me - maybe I should have taken the hot dog after all). Aside ... Notable mention is earned by the guy dressed as one of the teenage mutant ninja turtles that I passed in mile 5. I remember him passing me in the first mile but when I passed him he looked as if he were dying. Carrying that shell on his back couldn't have helped! ... Aside end. At the beginning of mile 6 a guy was counting out what number you were (the top 500 got free signed posters worth like 80 bucks). I was in the group with 380 and at that point picked up the pace. I even made a mention to some guys that it was time to turn it up - I don't think they cared, I ran away from them. I tried following this cute girl with these tight black shorts on and a black sports bra (a little hottie!!!) but she easily out paced me and I had to let her go. Coming into the finishing stretch while everyone was picking up the pace I was accelerating gently but giving the crowds along the road hi-fives in the process. It was pretty cool. I ended up finishing with a time of 43:30 on the dot. Pretty good considering that a runner I am not. I would have made the top 500 but without a timing chip I didn't qualify - they won't even record my name a finishing. Oh well it was great training and lots of fun.

After the CCC there is always a big after party with a live concert, lots of food and drinks (mostly beer). Again Kate hooked me up with a VIP pass and it was awesome. At the very beginning the professional athletes (mostly Kenyans) were hanging around, getting drinks (not beer - maybe that's why the run so fast?), food, etc. It was kinda cool to see them so close although I didn't get the chance to talk to any of them. They were so small and pretty much made me look like a giant (very cool). I did chow down and the VIP is definitely the way to go! No lines, shade, and spacious what more could you ask. So my tally for post race nourishment:

3 Subway sandwiches (3 inches each)
2 Subway wraps (1/2 of a wrap each)
1 Jambalaya
1 Hooters hot wings (3-4 wings)
5 Abita Amber Beers
2 Waters
1 Banana (actually 1/2 of a banana)

This lasted me about 2 hours then I had some M&M's and a half of an everything bagel with cream cheese.

Next year I think I might train more for this try to get sub 40 and obviously get a timing chip so at least I can be scored!

The Power of Punch

Sunday, was the Rouge Roubaix; quite arguably one of the only true Road Races we have locally. It's a 100 mile journey with no loops, laps, or circuits. Not to mention the ~20 miles of dirt roads that we cover that make it legendary.



I was looking forward to this race and put a little mark on my training calendar to try and have a good result at this race. The race is so early and so hard that to win it your really need to have some top form; I knew this would not be the case for me but I was looking at it as an early season stepping stone to build into the season. The only problem with these type of goals is that even sometimes when you achieve the purpose of the goal you feel lousy about the result. This may have been the case this past weekend. I ended up finishing ~40th in a 100+ field. Usually not a result worth reporting but, in this race where every spot is cherished and raced for, not too bad I suppose. I'm not going to give any specific race details but just this one quick note about the race - the field was stronger than I've ever seen it, and because of this it was a very strange Rouge Roubaix. The more important thing about the race is that I learned that I am lacking the punch power needed to get over those difficult climbs (i.e. how I got dropped and ended up 41st). I guess this can be expected. It is still early in the season and I really haven't started to fully develop my top end systems. Just as important is that I noticed that my sustained power is doing ok as on the flatter stuff and the rolling hills I was able to push the pace a little. Also in the end I still had gas left in the tank - not a whole bunch but some.



The one thing about the race I will elaborate on is the finish. First of all, this is the best finish for the Roubaix that I have seen in recent years. Secondly, I try not to race for 41st place. The difference between 41st and 50th really doesn't matter. I guess the guy's I was riding with really have not realized this because there were several of them that attacked our group when approaching the finale. First at 3k to go, then 2k, then 1k, and I was like enough so I chased down the guy who attacked with 1k to go and launched an attack myself. I then thought 1k is a lot longer than I remember. With about 500m to go the group caught me and I snuck into the 2nd position. Soon we saw the 200m to go sign and with 150m to go I launched my sprint and held it to the line. While I guess it was good practice I only sprinted because the other riders began attacking while I was more than content to just ride in laughing and talking about the race. The other thing that bothered me about this was that when trying to get to the finish the group was all not that motivated to go fast. I would push the pace to 45k and when I pulled off it would drop back down to 32k. I just feel that if you have enough left to attack you have enough left to help with the pace setting.



The next RR I will be doing is on April 6th. I am hoping to get some good work in in the break and hopefully put up a good result at that race.