Archive Page 2
Cracked?
Despite an ok season with some flashes of good and some dismal results, I have remained motivated.
Even in the middle of last week as I was smahsing intervals in training and dreaming of finish lines. Then I cracked and the well went empty. Racing, work, life, etc. It’s all been building up and, while it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as I’m making it sound, I cracked. For no explainable reason, your drive leaves you. It has since returned, but only after a weekend off.
I would be lying if I wasn’t frustrated up until this point, but I’d be a jerk if I wasn’t also very thankful. In my mind nobody racing as much as me should have results as crappy as mine, who knows really.
I’ve come to the realization that many of the things I’ve tried over the last year, haven’t worked in my favor. I changed things up, but sometimes even when you think you’re giving your best, there is always room to redefine what “your best” actually is.
I’ll be leaving my whimsical training in favor of a tried and true structured approach(including a coach).
The season isn’t over and after my little break, it just might be beginning. If I cracked now, does this mean I might actually make it to and through a cyclocross season? hmm.
Cheers.
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Great Concept Bike
Combining simplicity, safety and style. This bike is very cool. Hope it makes it into production soon.
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Salida 09 – baby steps
The Salida Omnium is one of my favorite race weekeneds in Colorado. That being said, it’s generally been extremely humbling for me. The road race usually 9000+ feet of climbing (starting at a base of 7000 ft.) over 90 some miles. Combining the difficultly of the race with multiple opportunities to “pull the ripcord” and bail mid race (because it’s a circuit) if it get’s too tough and that makes for a usually high attrition rate. After having a few big road races in my legs this year, my goal was simple: Finish the race and help the team.
My teammate Nick threw down a 7th in the TT the night before, so now we have a GC guy going into the road race. The first lap was fairly tame. I actually rode top 5 the whole way up the first climb and led the field through the finish line at the summit. On the fast descent I re-loaded with food and water and prepared for the next lap. Things were going well. Very well. The first time I did this race as a Pro 1-2 road race I was spit out the back on the first climb so fast it made my head spin. Amazing what a few years will do.
Anyway, so we’re on the highway heading into our second of 7 times up the climb and I’m still feeling money. Drew rolls up and says “Nick got a flat, you want to drop back and pace him back from the wheel change?” … after a few second and the realization that he could top 10 the weekend, we dropped back. Then we waited and waited, then the wheel car drives up and I ask where he is. Apparently, the wheels were not neutral and he didn’t get a wheel. Now we have our GC guy on the side of the road with no wheel, Drew and I are a mile behind the peloton and the climb is looming. Drew and I made a huge effort to get back on. Drew made it moments before the climb started and I didn’t. Just like that, my wonderful day was disappearing.
Our sprinter Mark has been dropped on the first climb and had come up behind Nick and gave him his wheel. Then Nick bridges up to me and we proceeded to work together for nearly the rest of the day. We picked up a few other stragglers, but kept our time losses to a minimum considering our debacle. It was a long day and I felt like I was in a breakaway because it was just 3 guys rotation through. Around the 6th lap I started to loose steam and and the seventh time up the climb I was cooked, but I came in and finished. Dead last to be precise.
On the results sheet, it was a failure, but had we not blown our team to pieces trying to help Nick, I’m confident that I would have finished strong in the bunch and Nick would have held onto his top 10 on GC. That being said, I was happy to throw down and sacrifice for Nick and the team. I’d do it again if I had to.
I will take a lot of confidence into next years race.
The crit was insanely fast. Drew top scored a top 10 in an elite break, while Nick hung in for a finish. There we 30 finishers and unfortunately I wasn’t one of them. I thought I was going to be able to make it, but it was non-stop attacks and single file, strung out action the whole time. It was a bummer, but not surprising after the previous days efforts.
All in all, things could have gone a little better, but they could have been a lot worse. We all stayed up right and most importantly had a ton of fun traveling and racing together. Our Cat 4’s team won the overall Omnium and the crit and our Cat 3’s team was strong as well.
A HUGE thanks to Symmetry massage for the massage and support throughout the whole weekend.
I can’t believe the season is nearly over, but I’m committed to bringing my best to the remainder of the year.
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Fed Center and Bannock – fail?
Well, I’ve been racing all year, I just got back from a week of great training, you would think my form would be here by now. Not the case.
I’ve been having this extreme tightness in my hips since Dead Dog and it’s begun to affect my performance. I’m working through it with my great massage therapists at Symmetry (huge thanks!) so hopefully it’s not a challenge soon.
Anyway, Fed center sucked, but I finished. It’s the first time I’ve ever finished a race in dead last.
Bannock, which is arguably one of the biggest crits in Colorado for turnout and money was quite a let down. I was feeling pretty good and led out the first few laps. My goal was to be on the inflicting end of the inevitable strung out field and be able to drop back a little after the first furious 15 minutes of racing.
Me on the front:
Well, as I dropped back on the back stretch, a guy from Map my Ride chops my front wheel and I was oh so close to hitting the deck. My cat like reflexes kicked in and I saved it, just in time to become the new caboose of the peloton. Not a good place to be for a strung out figure-8 crit. I got popped trying to get back in the mix. I should have taken a free lap, but didn’t.
Colby Pearce took the win attacking the 3-man break in the last corner. It was impressive to watch.
Kelly on my wheel:
What a bummer of a weekend. The bright side is 1) I didn’t go down 2) Drew and Nick are hitting awesome form and 3) I think I learned some things.
Time to regroup, shake it off and take some good vibes with me down to Salida for 3 days of racing.
I’ve come to realize I really need to step it up if I want to ever do any real damage. I need to go from hanging on to smashing it. Sometimes you have to fail a little to win.
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Is this heaven …
… No, it’s just a week long vacation filled with family, friends and a bunch of riding!
Before I left, I posted on facebook that I was going on vacation. A good friend from Design school responded, “Try not to ride your bike the whole time”. HA! not a chance!
So after the crit up in Longmont, I made the trip back to Iowa to visit family and friends. I don’t get back very often, so it was nice to catch up and get in some great rides. I was able to see and ride with almost everyone I wanted to see, which is always a challenge. It was great to get in some awesome training leaving into the second half of the season.
Days were void of work and filled with family, friends, riding, napping and watching Le Tour ( … and no, I don’t think Lance will win). My sister had her 21st birthday and my stepdad had a big celebration for his birthday as well. It was good times.
Here are some highlights!
My sister turned 21. Yikes! (Looks like beards are hot for that age group right now):
The end of the Tuesday Night World Championships – my favorite group ride.
More fun than any Colorado group ride (some big time pro triathletes kept it fast):
Navin and I on a morning ride on Wednesday:
Rode with old buddy Marco, love his Waterford. Steal is real:
Lippold, Kim and Brian. Fun afternoon ride. (Guess which one of the 3 hasn’t had staples in their head):
JJ Throwin’ gang signs on another morning ride (Tony is ahead sprinting for a city limit sign):
The mile long bridge:
It is great to be back in Colorado and I’m back to the normal routine. Working, riding and racing.
Up next weekend – Federal Center Circuit race and my home race, the Bannock street criterium. Nothing like racing 10 blocks away from the house! It’s also hands down one of the fastest crits of the Colorado season, so I have my work cut out for me!
Cheers!
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Longmont Death March – 2009
For some odd reason, I’ve always really wanted to win Longmont. It’s somewhat of a death march. It’s usually 90 + degrees with the sun beating down on the field and it’s always fast and aggressive. The form has been coming along and after being diagnosed with Asthma a few weeks ago, I was feeling confident I would be able to breathe without suffocating for a change due to a new treatment I’m on. While my form isn’t wonderful, I was confident I’d be racing well.
Primal/Hart had a good start to the day with Drew’s little brother Michael winning the Cat 4 race. The force is strong with that family! Can’t wait until he makes the jump up to Pro 1-2. It’s inevitable with him I think.
As I warmed up, I watched 8 guys from Garmin roll up along with guys from Rabobank, Clif, Bissel, Kelly Benefits, Taylor Phinney and his Livestrong team and Olympian/world cup Mountain bike pro Todd Wells. Combine that firepower with the local powerhouses of VC/Natural Grocers, Ciclismo, Rio Grande, Horizon and Michelob and it was sure to be one fast day. Amazing how a local Colorado race with almost no prize money fields a NRC level field. It’s sweet!
On the backside of the course:
Due to the fact that there were 102 starters, you had to get a good spot off the line. Unfortunately, I showed up later than I should have and I was on the back. The pack was strung out for almost the entire race. I felt really good and was going to chill and save it for the last half hour. I was relatively comfortable, but my position in the middle of the pack soon became the back of the pack as we shelled riders. By the time it was time to move up, it was a little too late and I was cooked both mentally and physically. I held on and finished, but it was ridiculously fast. We averaged 29 mph for an hour and a half. Ouch.
Drew throwing down another attack:
My teammate Drew had a good day rounding out the top 20 and veteran ex-pro Dan Schmatz stuck it to the young guys for the win. That’s one thing about Colorado. Half the guys on Pro-Am local teams are ex-bad-ass pros. Iowa boy Nick Frey held on for 4th behind Phinney.
Schmatz winning (I’m somewhere in the back there):
I was bummed I didn’t throw down more of a result, but I could breathe without difficulty and I felt good. I just should have raced more aggressively. Some 40 guys didn’t even finish, so holding on to this group being the working stiff I am was an accomplishment for the day.
Well, things could have always gone better, but I’m happy I am feeling better, didn’t crash and there is still a good amount of racing left this season.
For now, I’m in Iowa training with some old friends and visiting family.
Cheers.
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This just in …
Apparently, I’ve had Asthma for most of my life … and I’ve been racing with it. I just finished a battery of tests at National Jewish Hospital (one of the countries best respiratory specialists). The word: nothing major, but I’ll need to be on medication while I race. Amazingly, I’ve never had an attack, so that’s good. I guess this would account for my inability to breathe during criteriums! Hopefully, this is a good thing. If I can get it under control, it should help a bunch!
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Dead Dog Classic
The “Classic” part is an understatement.
It’s Tuesday and I’m happy to be home, to say the least. I had the unfortunate opportunity to stay an extra day in Laramie, WY., so I didn’t get back home until last night. To explain what happened from Sunday through Monday afternoon would take 3 blog posts, so I’ll keep it brief. Trust me, it was insane.
The Dead Dog went ok. Our Pro 1-2 team had a rough weekend. Drew and I finished well off the pace in various chase groups on the road race. I think Drew was 39th and I was 46th. It was an amazing course with hours of climbing, 60+ mph descents and great weather. 90 miles and nearly 7000 feet of climbing.
The photo above is near the summit of the course at 10,000 feet. It was a lung buster to say the least. While I didn’t finish with the lead group, I handled the tough day well though physically. I was penalized 30 seconds for my numbers being trimmed though, which was a bummer.
This is me somewhere near the 80 mile mark after I’ve climbed 6000 feet. I don’t remember this picture being taken. Must have been pretty out of it:
Sunday morning I woke up to go to breakfast and had car issues. I was out of it trying to get my car fixed most of the day and was about 90% sure I was going to drop out and attempt to get my car back on the road. I then decided to race the crit, but did drop out of the stage race after the crit to attend to my car. The crit was fast as hell, but I felt good. I was out of it mentally and finished with the group and no real results to speak of. The car debacle had gotten in my head and although I was racing at 30 mph in the crit, I was not racing.
It was a rough next 24 hours involving crappy motels, crazy towtruck drivers, and my wallet being $800 dollars lighter by the time we drove home.
It was an adventure, the legs are coming along and all things considered, it could have been a hell of a lot worse weekend in a lot of ways and I can look back on the weekend with a smile now that it’s over. Big thanks to the Symmetry Massage girls for helping me out and working on our battered bodies all weekend and Drew for sticking with me and staying up in Wyoming to help me figure my car situation out.
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Michael Jackson – Off The Wall
I haven’t done a music update in a while. This is what I’m listening to right now. It’s a classic that doesn’t need any review. Live your life “Off The Wall”.
R.I.P Michael. You’ll be missed.
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Those who I’ve raced and trained with probably know I have some sensitive feet. I have a wide, low volume forefoot and a extremely narrow heel. This makes finding cycling shoes that fit a serious problem. If I can find a shoe with a wide enough forefoot, my heel slips, if my heel doesn’t slip, then my forefoot is pinched and goes numb. On and on we go. Did I mention they are ugly too? If you ever want to see what track spikes and cycling shoes a size too small will do to your feet let me know.
I have tried nearly every shoe on the market and they all give me problems. The kind of problems that make training and racing miserable. The only shoe I can use that is production is the SIDI “mega” shoes. I should note, I can only use them if I have an aftermarket anti-heel slip piece installed in the heel.
Due to all of these issues, several years ago I took the plunge and bought a pair of Rocket 7’s. They are one of the 2 or 3 custom shoe makers. These shoes solved my problems. They were comfy, didn’t give me problems and allowed me to train and race at high volume with out perpetuating the foot issues I already had. Unfortunately, these shoes are garbage. They do not hold up. Plain and simple.
So, the hunt was on for some new shoes. I almost went with the new BONT cycling shoes. I speed skated a little when I was young, so I was familiar with BONT and their quality. After speaking to the nice folks at the The Skate shop, I almost ordered a pair. They are made in Australia and I see more and more in the pro peloton. I wanted an American made shoe if possible though and the ability to be fit by someone in person.
I decided to go with some shoes from D2 shoe made here in Colorado. You can see these shoes on the likes of half the slipstream team along with numerous other road and mountain pros. The Colorado Pro 1-2 peloton has a bunch of guys on these shoes as well, so I figured I’d keep it local. Plus, I could drive to meet the man that makes them and get fit at the source.
Custom Carbon Soles:
Don Lamson is the main guy behind the shoes. He has a rich history in cycling, which I’ll visit in part 2 of this story. Let me just tell you, he knows his stuff. He’s been around some amazing athletes and brings a great deal of passion to every pair of shoes.
These are just some D2’s custom lasts:
We started by standing on a glass top and Don traced my feet. Then we moved to a crush box (not pictured) to get the imprint of the bottom of my feet. Sometimes, a 3d foot scan is required, but Don didn’t think this was necessary. After that, he took a few measurements and we were done. Now all that was left was to pick colors and put my order in. The shoes take about 2 weeks to create and Don even has an amazing system for determining proper cleat placement. It’s a system he helped develop. In addition, he will do a laser cleat fitting in his shop in Eagle if you are willing to bring your bike up. I will probably take a half day some afternoon to drive and get my shoes so I can also get the shoes and cleats laser fitted on my bike by Don.
Don tracing my feet:
While I waited, I saw the podium shoes Don built for the Garmin team sitting on a table and a folder that read “Michael Barry”. Next to me were a pair of shoes made for Team Type 1 pro Ian McGregor. Don has some big names trusting their feet to his works.
These are amazing shoes and Don is a great guy. I can’t wait to get my shoes and hope they live up to my expectations.
Maybe this is the color combo I should get?:
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