Had a parent get pissed at me tonight. I think she had a good point and maybe if I was in her shoes I would have done the same thing. I have been doing these private lessons with some of the athletes on my team but I did not ask her daughter to do them also. I don't know why, I guess maybe I didn't think she would make it to the next level. Turns out she is kicking ass though and will probably be the first kid to have all the skills. Telling the mom this did not help the situation though, she was pissed at me and I don't think there was anything that I could do to make it better. I am just trying to make my team better and the kids I brought in were all doing major release moves (skills that release the bar and catch back on) this girl I do not have doing one. Again I don't know why I don't, she is a hard working good kid. She always surpasses my expectations and does better than everyone expects her to do. If I think about it wasn't that me when I was a kid? I wasn't the best at first but I worked my butt off and felt like no one ever noticed. Am I doing that to this kid? I think maybe I am and that isn't right. I hope that I can make it better but maybe by trying to make it right I make it worse. I don't know.
I think tomorrow I will just open up the opportunity to all my athletes. Then it will be their choice to come in if they want. Fuck, sometimes I wish I worked with fish or some shit. Something that I don't have to care, I wont hurt people's feelings. FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Big Block 3
My wife and I left for Wisconsin early morning on Monday. I was going to race but I didn't want that to be the whole focus of the trip. Katie is amazing about my obsession with racing my bike and I wanted to try hard to make sure she had a good time as well. That meant we would spend time together, go places, see friends, and I would not get crazy about competing. Now I'm no where near what I used to be when it came to competing but I can still get a little tough I bet. We drove about five and a half hours up to Milwaukee WI to visit mine and Katie's good friends Bob and Laura Rogers. Bob was my roommate in college for 3 or 4 years and we went through a lot together. I was one of very few that was invited to his wedding which I took as a huge compliment. We got there before Bob and Laura were off work so Katie and I stopped at the Milwaukee open market to look around. It was a lot like downtown St Louis in the Central West End area. We walked around and quickly got hungry. We happened to walk into this little restaurant/cafe/bar called Cafe Benelux. What a cool place! Turns out it was all bicycle stuff! Historic pictures of old racers on the walls. There was a huge work of art on one wall of a cyclist taking a fast turn. Most of the burgers or sandwiches we named after bike parts or cycling heroes like Eddie Merckx. I had the sprocket burger which was awesome! They also had a huge selection of beer, although it was a little pricey and they were out of a few that I wanted to try. But check it out if you are in the area, I bet you wont be disappointed. Once Bob and Laura were off work we bought Brewers tickets and went to a great game between the Brewers and Rays.
The next day we woke up around 9 and went with Bob before he had to be at the hospital to start his 12 hour shift in the ER to get some breakfast. I have always like pancakes in the morning before competition, even as a gymnast. It keeps me full for most of the day and I don't worry so much about getting the "hunger knock". After breakfast we went to the course. I had no idea about what type of course it was going to be, I just wanted to be surprised. I really didn't want to even make any kind of plans for the whole week as I like to have "adventures" and just see what happens. Turns out there was a good sized hill on the course only 2-300 meters after the start of the race. You turn right and go up for 2 blocks at almost 9% grade. then it is another right turn on a flat 2 block straight and a right turn down hill. One block later and it is a tight left then another block and a right into a sweeping right turn and a tight bumpy left then right chicane then 75 meters to the finish. The field was a cat 2/3 and had about 40-50 guys lined up. This was the 6th race in the series and I was hoping that I would be able to do well as most of these guys might be tired from racing already. Well I was wrong, as the race took off with a shot and up the hill we went. I started in the small ring because I was thinking it was going to be very similar to the Snake Alley hill. It was not as hard but the small ring was good for the first lap. The bad thing I did for the race was taking a practice lap instead of getting lined up early as this was a course that was tough to move up on for me and I had to spend a lot of energy to move up, especially on the hill where I just didn't have the power to match these guy's strength. It might have had a little to do with Saturday and Sundays racing and then sitting in the car all day the day before. I wasn't having too much trouble for the first 8 or so laps of the race but then I noticed that I was not recovering as fast. Then on about lap 10 I think I popped and had to let the pack go. I was close to calling it a day but I couldn't face my wife if I dropped after driving all this way. So I kept hammering. After about a lap or two, 3 other racers caught up with me and we worked together for a few laps when the pack came back around. I don't know if this is legal but I jumped back on the back of the pack and road it all the way to the line. This time it wasn't as hard to ride with them. Either they had slowed down or I hadn't warmed up correctly and just needed some time for the legs to come around. As we were coming into the finish I noticed I was feeling pretty good and that was a new feeling for me. I am usually hypoxic by the time I am close to the line and can barely pedal let alone sprint worth anything. So I thought lets get some sprint training in. I let the pack get ahead of me as I didn't want to interrupt their sprint and I let it rip. It felt great! I put out some very good power numbers for me and I was just excited that some advice that I had gotten from one of our sponsors Russ and Mesa Cycles about how to better sprint worked. I took Wednesday off to go see one of Katie's best friends and her husband, and old teammate of mine in Madison WI. Thursday we would drive back east to Sheboygan WI.
Sheboygan was a flat wide four corner crit. The pavement was okay and the streets were wide. The big problem was it was raining like crazy and that made the race crazy. I tried to get away at one point but I just don't have the engine to get away on my own in that kind of field. I also tried to bridge to a break but stalled out half way. After that I decided I would try my luck with my new sprinting knowledge and see if I could make it work again. The rest of the race I spent all my energy staying in good position and watching out for the corners where we were losing handfuls of racers every turn. There were plenty of time that I went through corners with both wheels sliding or chattering. I only had 75 psi in the tires and I am glad I didn't have on pound more. I ended up going into the last corner in the top 20 and was able to pick up 5 spots for 15th place and a little money for my pocket. After I spent the night with my uncle Kurt and his awesome family. Kurt was like a big brother to me growing up, he is only 5 years older than I am. He has a great life, wife, and kids. A cool home and a seemingly carefree attitude. He is who I want to be when I grow up.
The next day we went to Fond Du Lac WI for their crit. It was another flat 4 corner crit but this time the ends were very narrow making it almost a hot dog course. I am sure that the old pros of the pack hate races like this but I was having a blast. The speeds we were doing were awesome, much more than any race I had ever done before, but I was doing just fine handling it. In the FDL crit I was going to be much more aggressive, try to go for preems and make sure I was in a very good position for the finish sprint. Part one of the plan happened okay, I jumped for the finish early but brought along the races biggest gun who easily jumped me for the line along with 3 other riders. Then I was in a bit of a pickle, I was in no-man's land between the pack and this group of four strong riders who could be riding away for the rest of the race. I decided to chase and try to go with a break. I caught in about a lap and started to work into the rotation. It was not smooth enough nor hard enough though and we were brought back. The tightness of the course, size of the pack, and the abilities of some of the riders made it very hard to hold position in the pack and the surge was very difficult to handle and predict. With one lap to go I was at the back coming through the finish line and had to do something a little stupid. I dove to the inside of the corner cutting off a lot of riders and risking taking down a lot of guys. I can turn pretty fast and smooth though and made it no problem. So all of a sudden I am sitting 5th wheel behind the big gun from Papa Johns KY team. I was grinning from ear to ear. I also notice that there were two riders from World of Bikes/Bikes to You in front of me and was sure the one on the front was going to lead it out, stretching the pack out and keeping me 5th in line. Boy was I wrong and not ready to adapt to the surge that was coming. The pack closed in around me and I was boxed in with no where to go. I shot a little gap to my right and gunned it around the side of the pack trying to dive to the inside of the corner again. I made up a few spots but not enough, I started my sprint much farther than I thought I should in my pre-race walk and hammered. One rider passed me but I was making up huge ground fast on others. I was so close to the money again placing 17th but I was happy with my sprint again and had a ton of fun. After the race I drove to Chicago to stay with my folks and get ready for the IL state crit in Glencoe IL. More on that tomorrow.
out!
The next day we woke up around 9 and went with Bob before he had to be at the hospital to start his 12 hour shift in the ER to get some breakfast. I have always like pancakes in the morning before competition, even as a gymnast. It keeps me full for most of the day and I don't worry so much about getting the "hunger knock". After breakfast we went to the course. I had no idea about what type of course it was going to be, I just wanted to be surprised. I really didn't want to even make any kind of plans for the whole week as I like to have "adventures" and just see what happens. Turns out there was a good sized hill on the course only 2-300 meters after the start of the race. You turn right and go up for 2 blocks at almost 9% grade. then it is another right turn on a flat 2 block straight and a right turn down hill. One block later and it is a tight left then another block and a right into a sweeping right turn and a tight bumpy left then right chicane then 75 meters to the finish. The field was a cat 2/3 and had about 40-50 guys lined up. This was the 6th race in the series and I was hoping that I would be able to do well as most of these guys might be tired from racing already. Well I was wrong, as the race took off with a shot and up the hill we went. I started in the small ring because I was thinking it was going to be very similar to the Snake Alley hill. It was not as hard but the small ring was good for the first lap. The bad thing I did for the race was taking a practice lap instead of getting lined up early as this was a course that was tough to move up on for me and I had to spend a lot of energy to move up, especially on the hill where I just didn't have the power to match these guy's strength. It might have had a little to do with Saturday and Sundays racing and then sitting in the car all day the day before. I wasn't having too much trouble for the first 8 or so laps of the race but then I noticed that I was not recovering as fast. Then on about lap 10 I think I popped and had to let the pack go. I was close to calling it a day but I couldn't face my wife if I dropped after driving all this way. So I kept hammering. After about a lap or two, 3 other racers caught up with me and we worked together for a few laps when the pack came back around. I don't know if this is legal but I jumped back on the back of the pack and road it all the way to the line. This time it wasn't as hard to ride with them. Either they had slowed down or I hadn't warmed up correctly and just needed some time for the legs to come around. As we were coming into the finish I noticed I was feeling pretty good and that was a new feeling for me. I am usually hypoxic by the time I am close to the line and can barely pedal let alone sprint worth anything. So I thought lets get some sprint training in. I let the pack get ahead of me as I didn't want to interrupt their sprint and I let it rip. It felt great! I put out some very good power numbers for me and I was just excited that some advice that I had gotten from one of our sponsors Russ and Mesa Cycles about how to better sprint worked. I took Wednesday off to go see one of Katie's best friends and her husband, and old teammate of mine in Madison WI. Thursday we would drive back east to Sheboygan WI.
Sheboygan was a flat wide four corner crit. The pavement was okay and the streets were wide. The big problem was it was raining like crazy and that made the race crazy. I tried to get away at one point but I just don't have the engine to get away on my own in that kind of field. I also tried to bridge to a break but stalled out half way. After that I decided I would try my luck with my new sprinting knowledge and see if I could make it work again. The rest of the race I spent all my energy staying in good position and watching out for the corners where we were losing handfuls of racers every turn. There were plenty of time that I went through corners with both wheels sliding or chattering. I only had 75 psi in the tires and I am glad I didn't have on pound more. I ended up going into the last corner in the top 20 and was able to pick up 5 spots for 15th place and a little money for my pocket. After I spent the night with my uncle Kurt and his awesome family. Kurt was like a big brother to me growing up, he is only 5 years older than I am. He has a great life, wife, and kids. A cool home and a seemingly carefree attitude. He is who I want to be when I grow up.
The next day we went to Fond Du Lac WI for their crit. It was another flat 4 corner crit but this time the ends were very narrow making it almost a hot dog course. I am sure that the old pros of the pack hate races like this but I was having a blast. The speeds we were doing were awesome, much more than any race I had ever done before, but I was doing just fine handling it. In the FDL crit I was going to be much more aggressive, try to go for preems and make sure I was in a very good position for the finish sprint. Part one of the plan happened okay, I jumped for the finish early but brought along the races biggest gun who easily jumped me for the line along with 3 other riders. Then I was in a bit of a pickle, I was in no-man's land between the pack and this group of four strong riders who could be riding away for the rest of the race. I decided to chase and try to go with a break. I caught in about a lap and started to work into the rotation. It was not smooth enough nor hard enough though and we were brought back. The tightness of the course, size of the pack, and the abilities of some of the riders made it very hard to hold position in the pack and the surge was very difficult to handle and predict. With one lap to go I was at the back coming through the finish line and had to do something a little stupid. I dove to the inside of the corner cutting off a lot of riders and risking taking down a lot of guys. I can turn pretty fast and smooth though and made it no problem. So all of a sudden I am sitting 5th wheel behind the big gun from Papa Johns KY team. I was grinning from ear to ear. I also notice that there were two riders from World of Bikes/Bikes to You in front of me and was sure the one on the front was going to lead it out, stretching the pack out and keeping me 5th in line. Boy was I wrong and not ready to adapt to the surge that was coming. The pack closed in around me and I was boxed in with no where to go. I shot a little gap to my right and gunned it around the side of the pack trying to dive to the inside of the corner again. I made up a few spots but not enough, I started my sprint much farther than I thought I should in my pre-race walk and hammered. One rider passed me but I was making up huge ground fast on others. I was so close to the money again placing 17th but I was happy with my sprint again and had a ton of fun. After the race I drove to Chicago to stay with my folks and get ready for the IL state crit in Glencoe IL. More on that tomorrow.
out!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Big Block 2
The Hellbender road race was just outside of Rolla, MO in a very rural part of the state on very good winding roads and two very hard hills.The turn out was very sub par as numbers go but some very tough fast racers and I always feel that smaller fields make for harder racing. I don't know why the turn out was so small, I would that that on fathers day all the racing dads would say "I wanna race", guess thats why I'm not ready to be a dad yet.
We start out with a neutral role out, turn left and start climbing. The first lap this climb isn't too bad, it is long but not too steep and there are a couple sections where you can rest. The whole pack seems to stay together and we role pretty easy until mile 21. This is when the real climb happens. At the top is a KOM where you can pick up some omnium points. I want and need some points but I have a good gap on the two guys behind me so I think don't kill yourself going up this, there is a lot of racing left. I stay in third wheel about 3/4 of the way up and then the big guns start to push it and I can't go.......shit! I am still within my ability but I can't go for the points and I am able to latch back on to the lead guys in short order. The next 10+ miles are nothing to really talk about, there were some short bursts of effort but no one was hurting from them. Getting closer to the feed zone I asked one of the big guns of the group, BJ from Momentum cycling, if it was ok to role off the front and get a lead so that I could get my feed and not drop behind. He thought that was ok and off I went. I picked up my bottles and the pack came by right as I was getting back on the bike, and up the first hill again. Well this time this hill hurt, and it hurt bad. This destroyed the pack and I was just only able to catch back on after a mile or more of chasing. Gideon Bennett, a young rider from CBC caught up to me and we worked our butts off to catch the group. Turns out we caught on just in time too as the group just started to move into a rotating pace line. This was great once we got into the group but not great for those chasing as they would not be able to catch. The pace line did start to hurt me soon though as well. We were pushing the pace hard and it was difficult to get some rest in. There were a few times that I tried to skip, some I was successful, most I was not. When we got to the big KOM climb I knew it was going to be hard but I thought that I would be able to dig deep and hold on. I was wrong. Gideon was behind me again and we started to work together to try and chase again. This time though we didn't have the power, and after a few miles we were caught by two Dog Fish riders who happen to be brothers. At this point was when I cracked and hit a wall, I wasn't able to keep the pace and I was on my own. For the next 8 miles or so I was having a very hard time keeping my vision straight and was hurting bad. The rest of the race ended with no real racing just getting to the line. I finished the day in 9th and was able to hang onto enough points to tie for 3rd. I was given 4th though because the rider I tied with won that day.
I was really worried that this was going to really hurt me for the next week and I was going to suck in Wisconsin. Tuesday almost made me think I was right. More to come.
We start out with a neutral role out, turn left and start climbing. The first lap this climb isn't too bad, it is long but not too steep and there are a couple sections where you can rest. The whole pack seems to stay together and we role pretty easy until mile 21. This is when the real climb happens. At the top is a KOM where you can pick up some omnium points. I want and need some points but I have a good gap on the two guys behind me so I think don't kill yourself going up this, there is a lot of racing left. I stay in third wheel about 3/4 of the way up and then the big guns start to push it and I can't go.......shit! I am still within my ability but I can't go for the points and I am able to latch back on to the lead guys in short order. The next 10+ miles are nothing to really talk about, there were some short bursts of effort but no one was hurting from them. Getting closer to the feed zone I asked one of the big guns of the group, BJ from Momentum cycling, if it was ok to role off the front and get a lead so that I could get my feed and not drop behind. He thought that was ok and off I went. I picked up my bottles and the pack came by right as I was getting back on the bike, and up the first hill again. Well this time this hill hurt, and it hurt bad. This destroyed the pack and I was just only able to catch back on after a mile or more of chasing. Gideon Bennett, a young rider from CBC caught up to me and we worked our butts off to catch the group. Turns out we caught on just in time too as the group just started to move into a rotating pace line. This was great once we got into the group but not great for those chasing as they would not be able to catch. The pace line did start to hurt me soon though as well. We were pushing the pace hard and it was difficult to get some rest in. There were a few times that I tried to skip, some I was successful, most I was not. When we got to the big KOM climb I knew it was going to be hard but I thought that I would be able to dig deep and hold on. I was wrong. Gideon was behind me again and we started to work together to try and chase again. This time though we didn't have the power, and after a few miles we were caught by two Dog Fish riders who happen to be brothers. At this point was when I cracked and hit a wall, I wasn't able to keep the pace and I was on my own. For the next 8 miles or so I was having a very hard time keeping my vision straight and was hurting bad. The rest of the race ended with no real racing just getting to the line. I finished the day in 9th and was able to hang onto enough points to tie for 3rd. I was given 4th though because the rider I tied with won that day.
I was really worried that this was going to really hurt me for the next week and I was going to suck in Wisconsin. Tuesday almost made me think I was right. More to come.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
A big block of racing
I started last week on Saturday with a big block of tough racing. 7 races in 9 days should really put some hair on my chest. My schedule was Hellbender crit, Hellbender road race, ToAD Shlitz Park crit, ToAD Sheboygan crit, ToAD Fon Du Lac crit, Glencoe IL State crit championship, and Webster Groves crit. I was very worried about this amount of racing and if I would even be able to handle it. But I did and I would do it again, and again, it was great!
The Hellbender was a flat 6 corner L shaped crit course that had small tight but good roads, and a 70+ mile road race with 2 big hard climbs.
There was a small group of only 15 guys starting the crit race and all but 2 were going to be doing the omnium (crit and road race) so a good placing was key. The plan was to sit in, try to go with a break late in the race and if that didn't work help Mark in the sprint. We did a neutral role around the course one time because there were some cars that were moved before the race started. After the one lap things picked up but not too hard. 2 laps in and Jason Wulff from CBC racing just rolled off the front. I thought that the Dog Fish guys up there would easily bring it back but he just kept getting farther and farther. Jason is a big strong rider and I was worried about him getting away for the whole day especially on a tight course like the one we were on. So I jumped totally expecting that the rest of the pack would be on my wheel but they weren't so I was off on a break. I caught Jason in about a quarter mile and started pulling through right away. For those that don't know that is how a break away works. You don't sit in until the race is almost over and you know for sure you are not going to get caught. I am getting pretty tired of getting into breaks where idiots think they can start "saving" themselves right off the start. If you have to "save" yourself, DON'T GO FOR BREAK AWAYS. Now if you are working for someone else and are sitting in so that we don't get away then that is racing. But seeing as I have only met a couple teams that know what they are doing with tactics and they don't live in the STL, sooo pull though. Ok enough with my rant. Jason and I were working really well and right away I felt that we were going to stay away the whole time.Then Trent Donat bridged up to us and our chances went from 75% to there was no way to catch us. After a while Jason started to miss turns and was looking like he wasn't going to be able to hold on. I was a little worried that if we let him sit on that he would recover and that he would be able to beat me to the line. I started to pull through hard to drop him off. (Sorry Jason, no hard feelings I hope, just racing) Once we dropped Jason I was trying to figure out how to beat Trent. That wasn't going to be easy as he is a huge engine. I was going to try and jump him on a technical part of the course but it didn't work and Trent was able to drop me with about half a lap to go. I was just not strong enough. A good second place though and I was not in second for the omnium. Good start to my big racing week.
I will post the road race tomorrow. Gonna be taking a day or two off the bike and try to rest up for Tour of Lawrence.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Hellbender Day 1
Went over to the first race of the Hellbender weekend. The race is over in Rolla, MO a very small rural town. There are some really nice homes there sprinkled in with some VERY run down homes. Kind of a strange little town, but very hospitable, clean, and great roads for today's race. The race was on an "L" shaped course with 6 turns on tight smooth roads. All of the turns were downhill and off camber. The off camber thing doesn't really bother me, I still have the same amount of tire on the road so what is the big deal. There is really no elevation change though, one little rise in the road on the back stretch, and the start/finish was on a false flat.
My race day started off great, today is my wedding anniversary so my wife and I went out for and early breakfast before I went racing. (I know she is awesome!) Then I got a little worried. I went to load my bike and my rear sew up was flat. I thought maybe it was just a fast air losing inner tube in the thing, I didn't really know as it was a sponsor's wheel that I was allowed to borrow. (THANKS MESA) Well turned out there was a very slow leak, actually 2 or 3 even. I pumped it up one more time, loaded it on the car and I would decided when I got to Rolla if I would race the wheel or not. When I got into town I stopped at a local bike shop to ask if they could help my put in some slime or some other product that could stop the slow leak and the guy looked at me like he had never seen a bike before. Just shows how lucky we are in the city to have very knowledgeable mechanics (like Chris Connally) and shops, (like MESA CYCLES) I left frustrated but I would live. I started to even think this could be a good thing as if it went flat I would get a free lap when I went to pick up my spare wheel.
When I got there Mark and I talked strategy for the race. He was really sore from a challenge he accepted from fellow employees at his office yesterday. So he was thinking of sitting in for the race and hitting the sprint. I was supposed to make a break in the last half of the race. Cool and Cool! I did very little warm-up as it was already very warm. I just spun around and tried to get my legs to "open" as I did not get to ride yesterday. Closer to the race we heard there would be points primes during the race and it was decided that I needed to go for those if I was going to race the omnium, which I am.
The race started with a neutral roll around the course one time, which was strange but the reason was there were cars still parked on the course. This gave everyone a chance to see where the cars where. After we rolled around one time the race was on, not that we went really fast but at least it was officially on. One lap in a rider from CBC named Jason just started to roll off the front. Not that I think he was trying to but the guys in the front just let him go. We were in a small field so the guys on the front were just looking around to see who would go get him. In lap two I notice Jason was starting to really pull away, so I went. I have been noticing that my jump is looking pretty good but when I went for Jason I thought I would be pulling the whole field with me but no one moved. I caught Jason in about half a lap and we started rotating. My first thought when I caught him was this dude is strong and this is going to stick. The second thing I though was SHIT this is going to hurt. In a couple laps another rider came up and joined us. His name is Trent and he races with Big Shark. This dude is also strong and now I was feeling really good. I was going to get a little more rest and we were going to start making time.We rotated perfectly until the first prime. I was just going to role through in whatever order we were in. I knew Jason was not in the omnium and that Trent was but I was more concerned with holding our lead than sprinting for a couple points. I knew the worst I would do was 1 point. Then Trent started to drill it up the front straight and gaped me a little bit, and I think this hurt Jason a lot too. Because of this I made Trent get in the order in front of me. He was going to get the point anyway why put the hurt out on us. A few more laps and Jason would be gone. He started missing pulls and was soft pedaling on downhill sections of the course. I started pulling through on him hard to pop him off the back. It is tough but that dude is strong and if I let him get his energy back he would beat me in the sprint so I needed to get rid of him. With Jason gone I talked Trent into giving me the next prime letting him know that he would still be in the lead even with giving me the points. He was cool with it and we just rolled through the S/F and kept hammering.
I did not know what the gap was from us to the chase for most of the race. I don't know why people to like to tell you, or don't think about it. Even bike people, don't they know what it is like to be in a break and you need to know where the chase is. We finally got a time with about 12 min left in the race. We were 35 seconds up, and on a course that only takes about 70 seconds to get around. So now I needed to start to think about how I was going to beat Trent. I don't have a lot of experience with this type of situation so it was taking up a lot of my time. I decided that I was going to attack Trent with about half a lap to go at a very technical part of the course. I noticed that Trent was in a pretty easy gear at this point of the course every lap so I thought I could catch him in the wrong gear, and maybe his legs would be tired and I could get a gap. I went with everything I had and almost blew the turn. It didn't work, Trent is a motor and he was on me. I sat up and waited for his attack, I hoped that I could jump on him like he did for me. I was wrong again. Trent went with not a supper fast attack but it was more than enough to get rid of me. I pushed as hard as I could hoping that maybe he would pop before we got to the line but with 100 meters to go he pulled away again. That was that, I was comfortably in 2nd. Then a few seconds later I hear the announcer talking about the field coming through and Mark pulls off 3rd. 708 Racing's best final ever! Great day on the bike, can't wait for tomorrow.
My race day started off great, today is my wedding anniversary so my wife and I went out for and early breakfast before I went racing. (I know she is awesome!) Then I got a little worried. I went to load my bike and my rear sew up was flat. I thought maybe it was just a fast air losing inner tube in the thing, I didn't really know as it was a sponsor's wheel that I was allowed to borrow. (THANKS MESA) Well turned out there was a very slow leak, actually 2 or 3 even. I pumped it up one more time, loaded it on the car and I would decided when I got to Rolla if I would race the wheel or not. When I got into town I stopped at a local bike shop to ask if they could help my put in some slime or some other product that could stop the slow leak and the guy looked at me like he had never seen a bike before. Just shows how lucky we are in the city to have very knowledgeable mechanics (like Chris Connally) and shops, (like MESA CYCLES) I left frustrated but I would live. I started to even think this could be a good thing as if it went flat I would get a free lap when I went to pick up my spare wheel.
When I got there Mark and I talked strategy for the race. He was really sore from a challenge he accepted from fellow employees at his office yesterday. So he was thinking of sitting in for the race and hitting the sprint. I was supposed to make a break in the last half of the race. Cool and Cool! I did very little warm-up as it was already very warm. I just spun around and tried to get my legs to "open" as I did not get to ride yesterday. Closer to the race we heard there would be points primes during the race and it was decided that I needed to go for those if I was going to race the omnium, which I am.
The race started with a neutral roll around the course one time, which was strange but the reason was there were cars still parked on the course. This gave everyone a chance to see where the cars where. After we rolled around one time the race was on, not that we went really fast but at least it was officially on. One lap in a rider from CBC named Jason just started to roll off the front. Not that I think he was trying to but the guys in the front just let him go. We were in a small field so the guys on the front were just looking around to see who would go get him. In lap two I notice Jason was starting to really pull away, so I went. I have been noticing that my jump is looking pretty good but when I went for Jason I thought I would be pulling the whole field with me but no one moved. I caught Jason in about half a lap and we started rotating. My first thought when I caught him was this dude is strong and this is going to stick. The second thing I though was SHIT this is going to hurt. In a couple laps another rider came up and joined us. His name is Trent and he races with Big Shark. This dude is also strong and now I was feeling really good. I was going to get a little more rest and we were going to start making time.We rotated perfectly until the first prime. I was just going to role through in whatever order we were in. I knew Jason was not in the omnium and that Trent was but I was more concerned with holding our lead than sprinting for a couple points. I knew the worst I would do was 1 point. Then Trent started to drill it up the front straight and gaped me a little bit, and I think this hurt Jason a lot too. Because of this I made Trent get in the order in front of me. He was going to get the point anyway why put the hurt out on us. A few more laps and Jason would be gone. He started missing pulls and was soft pedaling on downhill sections of the course. I started pulling through on him hard to pop him off the back. It is tough but that dude is strong and if I let him get his energy back he would beat me in the sprint so I needed to get rid of him. With Jason gone I talked Trent into giving me the next prime letting him know that he would still be in the lead even with giving me the points. He was cool with it and we just rolled through the S/F and kept hammering.
I did not know what the gap was from us to the chase for most of the race. I don't know why people to like to tell you, or don't think about it. Even bike people, don't they know what it is like to be in a break and you need to know where the chase is. We finally got a time with about 12 min left in the race. We were 35 seconds up, and on a course that only takes about 70 seconds to get around. So now I needed to start to think about how I was going to beat Trent. I don't have a lot of experience with this type of situation so it was taking up a lot of my time. I decided that I was going to attack Trent with about half a lap to go at a very technical part of the course. I noticed that Trent was in a pretty easy gear at this point of the course every lap so I thought I could catch him in the wrong gear, and maybe his legs would be tired and I could get a gap. I went with everything I had and almost blew the turn. It didn't work, Trent is a motor and he was on me. I sat up and waited for his attack, I hoped that I could jump on him like he did for me. I was wrong again. Trent went with not a supper fast attack but it was more than enough to get rid of me. I pushed as hard as I could hoping that maybe he would pop before we got to the line but with 100 meters to go he pulled away again. That was that, I was comfortably in 2nd. Then a few seconds later I hear the announcer talking about the field coming through and Mark pulls off 3rd. 708 Racing's best final ever! Great day on the bike, can't wait for tomorrow.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Been a while
It has been a while since I last reported on my life. Just haven't felt like sharing I guess. Racing has been going good, I am faster than I have ever been but turns out not fast enough. My last post was about the team working for me at the Belleville IL crit. Things worked out almost perfect and I still only placed 7th. Since then I have worked my ass off trying to be ready and at top form for the Missouri State road race. I was getting a little scared a few days before the race because I had been a little sick, and my legs were feeling like shit. But I trusted my coach's recommendations and the legs came around just in time.
The day of the race also turned out better than expected. The heat broke and the weather was perfect. Also for the first time ever all 6 of the 708 Racing crew were able to race at the same race! So I had 5 guys racing for me, and I needed every single one of them! I can't thank them more for their help at the race. Keith had one of the toughest jobs of the race as he was on the front for a HUGE amount of the race chasing break aways allowing me to stay hidden from the wind. Mike and Mark we there to sit on my sides or front making sure I was always safe and had the perfect draft. Mike also picked up my water for me so that I wouldn't have to use extra energy.
The race has 3 tough climbs in it and the last one is the worst at a mile long and getting steeper at the top. The last climb is also where the KOM so guys really push the pace going up. This is where I knew the race was going to be lost for me if I lost contact with the front of the race. If you were at the front after that last climb you had a chance, otherwise you could just role in. Every climb of the day was easy for me, and that has never really happened. I have always struggled with climbing and lost a lot of races because of my inability to climb. But knowing that I also went into last year's off season working super hard on climbing and cutting weight. The only thing that I could have done better was buy a lighter bike, but I couldn't afford that.
The race went perfect up to the last climb and just like I knew it would things blew up on the last KOM of the day. Chris lead it out up the hill and I went two riders behind him, I was able to just about hold that pace till the top but I was on the edge of over doing it for the next 5 min because of that. Not only that but once we got to the top guys started to push it to drop everyone they could and I was just at the end of that group at the end of my rubber band and a couple times almost called it quits. Mark saved my day though with some kind words and even a quick push. Mark had done a lot of work though out the day and for him to be able to give me that push was huge.
Once I finally got into the head group I was able to get some good recovery and talked with Chris and Mark about what the plan for the end was. I told them that we were going to do whatever we could to get Chris or I over the line first and try to get Mark a good showing also. With about 2 miles to go the pace really picked up and I wanted back at the front of the field. Looking back now I wonder if I used too much energy at this point. With the size of the final group could I have stayed near the back and done better in the finish? I guess the only way I will know is by racing more and learning. We came down the road and we had to take a hard left hand turn that was more than ninety degrees. Right when we got there of course there is a car there and the person in the car has no idea what is going on and starts to pull out into the race. I think every one in the group was saying their prayers going around that corner. Luckily everyone made it through without a scratch but many of us had to scrub a lot of speed and waste a lot of energy getting back up to speed. I remember staying near the front or Mark took me there. Chris was on the front gunning it for the line with 1km to go. I lost Mark's wheel to a rider from Off the Front Racing and tried to bump him off my wheel but this dude knew how to ride and wasn't giving in to me. I dropped back on his wheel and we were hitting 500 meters to go. Another one hundred and we went under the rail road track bridge and hit a quick 15 foot high, maybe, rise in the road and I jumped for my sprint. That was way to soon for me to go but I knew that if I didn't go that I was going to be swamped and would never have a chance. Well I was swamped anyway. There was nothing that I could do about it. I went as hard as I could, sat down and kept hammering, stood back up and started hammering again and crossed the line in 21st, 9th in the state.
I know that I made a big improvement in my riding and was able to hang with guys that just a few months ago I would have had no chance against. But you don't ask your teammates to kill themselves for you to "make an improvement" you ask them so you win. And I didn't! I know that the rest of the year I will do everything I can to pay these guys back for what they did for me. I think that a good goal for the rest of the year for me is to go preem hunting for the team and do more lead-outs.
I go on a long string of races starting this weekend and next weekend is big for the team with Glencoe IL (IL state crit) and Webster Groves crit (Chris' goal) Those two I am going to have to dig very deep to make sure that I put my guys in to top step those two days. And I think that would be a great way to say thank you.
The day of the race also turned out better than expected. The heat broke and the weather was perfect. Also for the first time ever all 6 of the 708 Racing crew were able to race at the same race! So I had 5 guys racing for me, and I needed every single one of them! I can't thank them more for their help at the race. Keith had one of the toughest jobs of the race as he was on the front for a HUGE amount of the race chasing break aways allowing me to stay hidden from the wind. Mike and Mark we there to sit on my sides or front making sure I was always safe and had the perfect draft. Mike also picked up my water for me so that I wouldn't have to use extra energy.
The race has 3 tough climbs in it and the last one is the worst at a mile long and getting steeper at the top. The last climb is also where the KOM so guys really push the pace going up. This is where I knew the race was going to be lost for me if I lost contact with the front of the race. If you were at the front after that last climb you had a chance, otherwise you could just role in. Every climb of the day was easy for me, and that has never really happened. I have always struggled with climbing and lost a lot of races because of my inability to climb. But knowing that I also went into last year's off season working super hard on climbing and cutting weight. The only thing that I could have done better was buy a lighter bike, but I couldn't afford that.
The race went perfect up to the last climb and just like I knew it would things blew up on the last KOM of the day. Chris lead it out up the hill and I went two riders behind him, I was able to just about hold that pace till the top but I was on the edge of over doing it for the next 5 min because of that. Not only that but once we got to the top guys started to push it to drop everyone they could and I was just at the end of that group at the end of my rubber band and a couple times almost called it quits. Mark saved my day though with some kind words and even a quick push. Mark had done a lot of work though out the day and for him to be able to give me that push was huge.
Once I finally got into the head group I was able to get some good recovery and talked with Chris and Mark about what the plan for the end was. I told them that we were going to do whatever we could to get Chris or I over the line first and try to get Mark a good showing also. With about 2 miles to go the pace really picked up and I wanted back at the front of the field. Looking back now I wonder if I used too much energy at this point. With the size of the final group could I have stayed near the back and done better in the finish? I guess the only way I will know is by racing more and learning. We came down the road and we had to take a hard left hand turn that was more than ninety degrees. Right when we got there of course there is a car there and the person in the car has no idea what is going on and starts to pull out into the race. I think every one in the group was saying their prayers going around that corner. Luckily everyone made it through without a scratch but many of us had to scrub a lot of speed and waste a lot of energy getting back up to speed. I remember staying near the front or Mark took me there. Chris was on the front gunning it for the line with 1km to go. I lost Mark's wheel to a rider from Off the Front Racing and tried to bump him off my wheel but this dude knew how to ride and wasn't giving in to me. I dropped back on his wheel and we were hitting 500 meters to go. Another one hundred and we went under the rail road track bridge and hit a quick 15 foot high, maybe, rise in the road and I jumped for my sprint. That was way to soon for me to go but I knew that if I didn't go that I was going to be swamped and would never have a chance. Well I was swamped anyway. There was nothing that I could do about it. I went as hard as I could, sat down and kept hammering, stood back up and started hammering again and crossed the line in 21st, 9th in the state.
I know that I made a big improvement in my riding and was able to hang with guys that just a few months ago I would have had no chance against. But you don't ask your teammates to kill themselves for you to "make an improvement" you ask them so you win. And I didn't! I know that the rest of the year I will do everything I can to pay these guys back for what they did for me. I think that a good goal for the rest of the year for me is to go preem hunting for the team and do more lead-outs.
I go on a long string of races starting this weekend and next weekend is big for the team with Glencoe IL (IL state crit) and Webster Groves crit (Chris' goal) Those two I am going to have to dig very deep to make sure that I put my guys in to top step those two days. And I think that would be a great way to say thank you.
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