I ended up getting to my race about 4 hrs early so I could watch the Cat 3 race and cheer on Dallas. He ended up getting 18th...I guess his race was boring and stupid so he kinda just gave up.
On to my race. Lots of big names again today. The big team that showed up today was Rock Racing. They had about 10 guys at this race. So yeah they did a pretty good job of controlling the whole thing. Today's race was 90K or 25 laps of a 2.3 mile loop with a power climb to the finish each lap. Things started out pretty slow and then picked up. My legs woke up after a lap of racing and I was ready to go. Not too much to report. It was just fast and pretty much the same thing over and over. Attack after attack, chase, go hard, slow down. The usual. I just stayed in the middle of the field.
With about 7 or 8 laps to go someone crashed on the final climb of the lap. Someone got a feed from the wrong side (left) and took out a rider that was sprinting up that side. I came within inches of going down with them...thank god for MTB skills and quick thinking. At the beginning of the climb a Rock Racing rider cut me off on the right side and had to cut left. I was looking for Dallas for a feed on the right, as I was going to get back over. I looked straight and a couple of guys are lying in the road. I slammed on the brakes and just got around it to the right. Clearing a wheel by less than an inch.
The last 3 laps got fast. I just held on. The 2nd to last time up the final climb my legs were not liking the intensity. The last time up the hill my legs kinda just gave up...I finished in the back of the field. But my plan was just to stay with the field for the race anyways, so my goal was completed.
We averaged just over 27 mph for 55miles. P/1/2 isn't really that bad. So now I know I can stay with a P/1/2 field...now I just have to get strong enough so I can actually do something...actually be a threat. That'll be my plan for next year.
Tomorrow I'm taking off. I'm going to Proving Grounds to give feeds to Dallas and then him and I are staying at his mom's house in Sheboygan. Then on Thursday I'll be doing the Shorewood Crit.
17.7.07
That was a big bag of ouch....Superweek: Tour of Alpine Valley
Yesterday was my first Superweek race this year. My 2nd P/1/2 race ever. And it all starts in a 100 mile death march through Alpine Valley. But I think I had a good start to my Superweek I finished, more than most can say.
My race went off at noon and started off nice with a comfortable speed. Getting my bearings I looked around to see the teams there. Karl Menzies was the only one from Health Net, 3 riders from BMC, a couple Colavita riders, about 4 from A&F, and then just a bunch of other guys....with a squad of Hong Kong riders that were a little sketchy on their bikes. The first lap was pretty easy I thought, but half way through the lap I could see the field in front of me, but it was small...awesome...I'm positioned nicely in the middle of the peloton. I look back and I have 2 riders behind me. What the hell!?! About 1/4 of the field was shelled just 1/2 lap into the race. Wow. I kept with them....
Lap two comes around. We're still going nice and slow. A BMC rider is up the road. We get to the first climb of the lap and theres beeping and whistles and chaos. All of a sudden 8 or so Cat 3 riders come blasting around us with Dallas at the front of it keeping the pace. Dallas actually pulled back the BMC rider out front for us. Well, our field wants in on that even though we're not in the same gruppetto. So all of a sudden our race gets fast and strung out. During one straight we're booking it at about 35 mph...with a crosswind. Lap 3 was the same and a group of 5 got off the front involving Menzies (Health Net), Dierking (A&F), Jensen (Trek), and then 2 colavita riders. Then lap 4 my legs decided they didn't want to spin up one of the climbs....crap crap crap. And then I was dropped. I tried hard to catch back on and by this time the peloton was very small. I caught up to another dropped rider...we worked hard, but he was pessimistic. I couldn't have that. At the end of that lap he said that he's out...I keep going for some crazy reason. Later on in Lap 5 the rest of the Cat 3 field catches me and on the back were 3 other P/1/2 riders. Dan from Turin comes to me and pretty much says "if you're in for the long haul I'll join you". How can I say no. So then it was Dan (Turin), Christopher (Hong Kong) and me. The next 5 laps we just keep the pace steady so we don't blow up. Dan and I did all the work...the Hong Kong rider pretty much exploded, but had enough to stay on our wheels. With 2 laps to go he tells us that his body is fried, but he wants to finish. He asks us if we can help him get to the finish. Well, if he doesn't sprint around us and gets 3rd in our group Dan and I are fine with that. He agrees. Oh...and he's also only 17 and his coach is making him do every Superweek race...which is insane to do to a 17 year old. Hopefully he doesn't get too burnt out.
The last two laps were just killer...you know you're almost done, but it hurts after all that time already spent on the bike. But we got it done. I let Dan come in 1st in our group, I came in 2nd and, Christopher in 3rd. Well, I'm happy I stayed in it. I hear that about 65-70 guys started the race...well only 30 finished with me placing 29th. Thats in the money and what I'm proud of is that I finished. It was a hard race though...I wasn't even going to do the race and then decided to. I guess it was worth it. But I still don't quite like AV...not gonna lie.
Well, today is Whitnall...only 90Km of racing today. It'll be fast but not as hard as yesterday. I'm just going to stay in the group and then hopefully have a good position at the end to get a good sprint in.
P.S. Lets hope that Brandon Gavic (A&F) is alright. He was in a crash and looks like he may have a broken collarbone. Get well, or just be well now.
My race went off at noon and started off nice with a comfortable speed. Getting my bearings I looked around to see the teams there. Karl Menzies was the only one from Health Net, 3 riders from BMC, a couple Colavita riders, about 4 from A&F, and then just a bunch of other guys....with a squad of Hong Kong riders that were a little sketchy on their bikes. The first lap was pretty easy I thought, but half way through the lap I could see the field in front of me, but it was small...awesome...I'm positioned nicely in the middle of the peloton. I look back and I have 2 riders behind me. What the hell!?! About 1/4 of the field was shelled just 1/2 lap into the race. Wow. I kept with them....
Lap two comes around. We're still going nice and slow. A BMC rider is up the road. We get to the first climb of the lap and theres beeping and whistles and chaos. All of a sudden 8 or so Cat 3 riders come blasting around us with Dallas at the front of it keeping the pace. Dallas actually pulled back the BMC rider out front for us. Well, our field wants in on that even though we're not in the same gruppetto. So all of a sudden our race gets fast and strung out. During one straight we're booking it at about 35 mph...with a crosswind. Lap 3 was the same and a group of 5 got off the front involving Menzies (Health Net), Dierking (A&F), Jensen (Trek), and then 2 colavita riders. Then lap 4 my legs decided they didn't want to spin up one of the climbs....crap crap crap. And then I was dropped. I tried hard to catch back on and by this time the peloton was very small. I caught up to another dropped rider...we worked hard, but he was pessimistic. I couldn't have that. At the end of that lap he said that he's out...I keep going for some crazy reason. Later on in Lap 5 the rest of the Cat 3 field catches me and on the back were 3 other P/1/2 riders. Dan from Turin comes to me and pretty much says "if you're in for the long haul I'll join you". How can I say no. So then it was Dan (Turin), Christopher (Hong Kong) and me. The next 5 laps we just keep the pace steady so we don't blow up. Dan and I did all the work...the Hong Kong rider pretty much exploded, but had enough to stay on our wheels. With 2 laps to go he tells us that his body is fried, but he wants to finish. He asks us if we can help him get to the finish. Well, if he doesn't sprint around us and gets 3rd in our group Dan and I are fine with that. He agrees. Oh...and he's also only 17 and his coach is making him do every Superweek race...which is insane to do to a 17 year old. Hopefully he doesn't get too burnt out.
The last two laps were just killer...you know you're almost done, but it hurts after all that time already spent on the bike. But we got it done. I let Dan come in 1st in our group, I came in 2nd and, Christopher in 3rd. Well, I'm happy I stayed in it. I hear that about 65-70 guys started the race...well only 30 finished with me placing 29th. Thats in the money and what I'm proud of is that I finished. It was a hard race though...I wasn't even going to do the race and then decided to. I guess it was worth it. But I still don't quite like AV...not gonna lie.
Well, today is Whitnall...only 90Km of racing today. It'll be fast but not as hard as yesterday. I'm just going to stay in the group and then hopefully have a good position at the end to get a good sprint in.
P.S. Lets hope that Brandon Gavic (A&F) is alright. He was in a crash and looks like he may have a broken collarbone. Get well, or just be well now.
8.7.07
Feeling good....feeling bad....
So yesterday was my first real Pro/1/2 race and I think I fared fairly well. It was 95 degrees Fahrenheit and super sunny. Not too humid though. I had the best start I've had in a crit for a long time. Clip-in was flawless and got right to 4th wheel. I stayed there for about 2 laps....went with a little breakaway...didn't really go anywhere, but still I was happy. And it opened up the legs for the next 75 minutes of fastness. During the race I went with a couple other breaks that didn't stick. ISCorp was working pretty well, because Freshie the Man Beast got into a break with a Navigators rider and Colavita rider. They ended up lapping the field. Freshie won the State Champs Crit Jersey so good for him...but it was a given anyways and Baumann predicted it. I did a lot of work, but was never in danger of getting dropped. It was an easy race...definitely easier than a couple of the races during Tour of Ohio. But during my time in the field I pulled back a couple breaks, went with some breaks and just tried to keep good position. I ended up getting swarmed in the end and finishing 31st. I'm ok with that. I was aggressive during the race. I'm happy I wasn't scared or nervous for this race. I just went into it knowing that I have to show that I can hold in Pro/1/2 fields...and even try to do something in them.
Then today I got on the bike and felt like complete shit. My stomach bothered me in the morning, so I slept it off. It did go away, but when I tried a hard effort, I nearly puked and there wasn't much of an effort to give from the legs. It definitely wasn't from the race yesterday. I did get a little bit of the cold sweats during the race yesterday, so I tried to get some electrolytes in me. But then today the 96 degree heat might have gotten to me. Oh well, I decided to take the day off then after that. I want to feel good and fresh for the upcoming extremely hard SUPER weeks.
Talking about super weeks....I figured out my Superweek schedule and registered for the races. I've decided on 10 races. Yes, in the P/1/2 field. My legs WILL get torn off...it WILL hurt me alot...I may puke during the races. My only goal is to stay with the pack and maybe even win some money one or two days out of it. Overall, these races should make me stronger....
Here's my schedule.....
7/16: Point Beer Tour of Alpine Valley Road Race
7/17: Saturn Whitnall Park Road Race
7/19: Tim Hart DDS/Rainbow Jersey Shorewood Criterium
7/21: Carl Zach Cycling Classic presented by Couri Insurance Agency
7/22: Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Grand Prix of Cycling
7/23: Pharma Pacific Tour of Holy Hill
7/25: Bellin Health Village of Howard Cycling Classic
7/26: PCW Cycling Heritage Square Classic Criterium
7/28: The Columbia St. Mary's Great Downer Avenue Bike Race
7/29: Whitefish Bay Classic
320$ for 10 races....damn I'm poor now. Whoever reads this blog....if you may have a place for me to stay during these races please let me know if Dallas and I can crash at your place. It would be greatly appreciated. All I need is a floor to sleep on....
Ciao ciao....
Waitey
Then today I got on the bike and felt like complete shit. My stomach bothered me in the morning, so I slept it off. It did go away, but when I tried a hard effort, I nearly puked and there wasn't much of an effort to give from the legs. It definitely wasn't from the race yesterday. I did get a little bit of the cold sweats during the race yesterday, so I tried to get some electrolytes in me. But then today the 96 degree heat might have gotten to me. Oh well, I decided to take the day off then after that. I want to feel good and fresh for the upcoming extremely hard SUPER weeks.
Talking about super weeks....I figured out my Superweek schedule and registered for the races. I've decided on 10 races. Yes, in the P/1/2 field. My legs WILL get torn off...it WILL hurt me alot...I may puke during the races. My only goal is to stay with the pack and maybe even win some money one or two days out of it. Overall, these races should make me stronger....
Here's my schedule.....
7/16: Point Beer Tour of Alpine Valley Road Race
7/17: Saturn Whitnall Park Road Race
7/19: Tim Hart DDS/Rainbow Jersey Shorewood Criterium
7/21: Carl Zach Cycling Classic presented by Couri Insurance Agency
7/22: Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Grand Prix of Cycling
7/23: Pharma Pacific Tour of Holy Hill
7/25: Bellin Health Village of Howard Cycling Classic
7/26: PCW Cycling Heritage Square Classic Criterium
7/28: The Columbia St. Mary's Great Downer Avenue Bike Race
7/29: Whitefish Bay Classic
320$ for 10 races....damn I'm poor now. Whoever reads this blog....if you may have a place for me to stay during these races please let me know if Dallas and I can crash at your place. It would be greatly appreciated. All I need is a floor to sleep on....
Ciao ciao....
Waitey
3.7.07
Is that a powertap?....
Yup...so I finally have my Powertap SL. Just got it yesterday and installed it right away last night. Today I tried it out on a 2.5 hr ride. Pretty sweet. Yeah, I don't know any of my zones or anything...I'll figure out those in the next couple of days. I actually have to remind myself to look down. I haven't had any type of power meter or even simple cyclocomputer forever. Not use to it yet. But hopefully it helps me get to that next level.
First real Pro/1/2 race is this Saturday for me...Can't wait to do it. It'll be interesting. I think I'll do fine. Then starting Friday the 13th...STUPIDWEEK! I'm planning on doing about 10 out of the 17 races. That'll be something completely different. Harder than Ohio by far.
Other than that....not much going on yet. Just relaxing in Madtown. Barely working....
Tomorrow I'll go out on two rides. 50 miles each probably. With Gehling. I'll let you know how that goes....I'm really starting to like extremely long rides. Maybe winter training will be really fun....
Ciao ciao....
Waitey
First real Pro/1/2 race is this Saturday for me...Can't wait to do it. It'll be interesting. I think I'll do fine. Then starting Friday the 13th...STUPIDWEEK! I'm planning on doing about 10 out of the 17 races. That'll be something completely different. Harder than Ohio by far.
Other than that....not much going on yet. Just relaxing in Madtown. Barely working....
Tomorrow I'll go out on two rides. 50 miles each probably. With Gehling. I'll let you know how that goes....I'm really starting to like extremely long rides. Maybe winter training will be really fun....
Ciao ciao....
Waitey
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