Gymnastics is a sport mainly coached by people who were athletes, or people who have a great desire to be involved in the sport. It helps to have a good idea about how the human body moves and the physics it takes to perform said skills. Over time coaches learn from past experience how to do certain things. And the better we get individually and as a sport, the faster we are able to teach these skills. For the most part however there is nothing that really quantitates why an athlete can do a skill, and another cannot. Most of the time good coaches can see why, too slow, too loose, just not good enough, but like I said there are no real numbers that say you could do this if you were this much faster, or this much tighter, or hit this much harder. In baseball a big league pitcher is going to be able to throw over 90 mph for the most part, hitters swing at a certain speed as well. Golfers are similar, pro golfers can swing a club at certain speeds, as well as hit fairways a very high percentage of the time. If you play football you can run the 40 in four seconds, and if you race bikes like I do, you know that 6 watts per kilogram over 20 min is a great number to have. But how fast does a gymnast run down the vault runway, or how fast is their giant swing? How hard do they hit the floor when they punch, and how quick do they get from the board to the vault?
In the olympics this year they did something that is pretty awesome. They took two of the best vaulters in the world, McKayla Maroney and Kohei Uchimura, and they put both of their vaults on the screen, one over the other. The awesome part was that the Mckayla went higher and farther than Kohei! Women are not supposed to be able to go higher and farther than men......? Years ago I tried to argue with a woman who was supposed to "teach me something" that our elite women could be as strong as our men when it came to power/weight ratios. I don't think she really understood what I was talking about, and she didn't agree with me at all. But this video that they showed on NBC at prime time just sort of proved it for me. The elite women's vault is set at a height of 1250 mm while the men's is set at 1350 mm. So not only did McKayla go higher, she also did it from a lower starting height. So this started me to think, what was her power to weight ratio on that vault, and what was Kohei's?
Now the gymnastics people out there might be thinking, what the crap is he talking about? Well I am bringing something from my hobby cycling, where everything that I do is measured and my power to weight is studied to determine if I am going to be able to compete or not. So if there was a way that I could measure some of what my gymnasts do, I could start to determine better what I need to do to help them improve, or even say, this might not be for you.
I have an idea, but I don't really know how to make it happen. It is going to take someone with a math background, someone who knows about computers, and strain gauges, and how to make it all go together. My idea has to do with vaulting, and would take a lot of testing on gymnasts who are already great vaulters, as well as getting an idea of what it takes to do vaults all the way down to a front handspring. I am thinking I could make a chart that could tell a coach that if you do A,B, and C, this athlete should be able to do this vault. I know there are people out there that think there are too many variations that would make this impossible, but that would be wrong. I think that things could really be made quite simple and could just tell people if they are even in the ball park. So if you really like gymnastics, and you think that it would be fun to figure this stuff out with me, and are way smarter than I am, let me know. I have a plan to make something that could be what power meters have been for cycling.
Out.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
Training
I had a pretty good week of training this week. I had a bad start to the week with a lot of crap going on, but I was able to put that stuff behind me and focus on work and riding. Katie was out of town so being on the bike, or being at work was way better than sitting around at home by myself.
The weekend started out with a pretty great meeting with Mesa about the end of the year and going into next. They were pretty happy with how things went and are interested in keeping things going. Great way to start off the weekend in my opinion!
I had work on Saturday morning and the girls are doing a very good job in the gym right now. We are getting close to the season so they are working hard on getting their routines put together. The kids are for the most part on track for another successful year.
After work I had a long ride scheduled. 5 hours, with a lot of different types of intervals thrown in there. I had a couple long intervals at the start of the ride and my normal location for those was full of people. I have a loop at Forest Park that I can ride pretty well, but they were launching hot air balloons from the park this weekend, and the launch brings thousands of people. So with my schedule already a bit tight I needed to find a place close, and fast, and I just happened to remember we have a velodrome in the city! I have never been to the velodrome, but it has been given a nickname of Mr. Bumpy-face, and it turned out to be a good description. Even with the bump surface, it was still very fast, and fun. After that I pretty much crisscrossed all over the city to get what I needed to get done, done.
The next day Grant and I departed on a long ride out to Hermann, MO to try and watch a few of our friends race in the Hermann Cross race. We jumped on the Katy Trail in Creve Coeur and pretty much just hammered for hours. We made one stop to get water but we made great time. When we were about 20 miles from Hermann we decided to jump on 94 to get a little feeling back into our butts and hands. The trail is a little tougher than cruising on the street for hours. I thought that we were going to have a really nice flat and easy, but we ended up hitting some pretty decent sized climbs. For a few climbs we were pretty bummed about the climbing, but really it helped with waking up our bodies after the 3 and a half hours.
About a mile from our destination I cracked. I ran out of water about 10 miles earlier, and did not do a good job of eating the whole time. But luckily we were right at the finish and we pulled right up to a restaurant and scarfed down some burgers and cokes.
After we ate we headed over to the race and watched out teammates Bj, Jose, Luke, Mark, and Chris destroy themselves racing that silly CX race. I for sure like to watch but I have yet to catch that bug.
I am feeling pretty focused right now, and am already thinking about the next season. Not only in bike racing but in gymnastics too. Everything looks good coming up.
The weekend started out with a pretty great meeting with Mesa about the end of the year and going into next. They were pretty happy with how things went and are interested in keeping things going. Great way to start off the weekend in my opinion!
I had work on Saturday morning and the girls are doing a very good job in the gym right now. We are getting close to the season so they are working hard on getting their routines put together. The kids are for the most part on track for another successful year.
After work I had a long ride scheduled. 5 hours, with a lot of different types of intervals thrown in there. I had a couple long intervals at the start of the ride and my normal location for those was full of people. I have a loop at Forest Park that I can ride pretty well, but they were launching hot air balloons from the park this weekend, and the launch brings thousands of people. So with my schedule already a bit tight I needed to find a place close, and fast, and I just happened to remember we have a velodrome in the city! I have never been to the velodrome, but it has been given a nickname of Mr. Bumpy-face, and it turned out to be a good description. Even with the bump surface, it was still very fast, and fun. After that I pretty much crisscrossed all over the city to get what I needed to get done, done.
The next day Grant and I departed on a long ride out to Hermann, MO to try and watch a few of our friends race in the Hermann Cross race. We jumped on the Katy Trail in Creve Coeur and pretty much just hammered for hours. We made one stop to get water but we made great time. When we were about 20 miles from Hermann we decided to jump on 94 to get a little feeling back into our butts and hands. The trail is a little tougher than cruising on the street for hours. I thought that we were going to have a really nice flat and easy, but we ended up hitting some pretty decent sized climbs. For a few climbs we were pretty bummed about the climbing, but really it helped with waking up our bodies after the 3 and a half hours.
About a mile from our destination I cracked. I ran out of water about 10 miles earlier, and did not do a good job of eating the whole time. But luckily we were right at the finish and we pulled right up to a restaurant and scarfed down some burgers and cokes.
After we ate we headed over to the race and watched out teammates Bj, Jose, Luke, Mark, and Chris destroy themselves racing that silly CX race. I for sure like to watch but I have yet to catch that bug.
I am feeling pretty focused right now, and am already thinking about the next season. Not only in bike racing but in gymnastics too. Everything looks good coming up.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Dreaming about the future
Over this last year I have been dreaming about where Quantum Mesa Cycles might go in the coming years. I for sure am a dreamer, I think that if you don't have big dreams then you can never accomplish big things. Over this last road season we had riders ranked high in the US for crit racing, our cat 3 team was ranked in the state of MO, and most of those riders are moving up to put together a great cat 2 team. We are hoping to go head to head with the other big teams in the area like Gateway Harley, Dog Fish, Mercy, Trade Winds, RACC, IScorp, Enzos, Rhythm Racing, and others out there racing at the top of the game. There are a lot more individuals that are racing amazingly and with the strength of our team we should be able to do well against them as well.
So where do we go? What do we do? I have never raced at the high level of the sport. I am only a cat 3 who hopes to one day move up and be a very good racer. But I have teammates who could do some pretty special things, and I would like this team to help make that happen. There is a lot that has to happen however, and I'm not really sure how long it will take to get there, but I just have to take it one step at a time.
Team guys have already started to target races like Joe Martin, Tour de Gila, Tulsa Tough, Dairyland, MoPRO, U23 Nationals, Master's Nationals, and others. These would all be big national and regional races, and a big jump from the local races we do every weekend. The great thing about racing locally in St Louis however, is the quality of the guys we have here. We have a good number of races throughout the year, and the guys here really seem to be getting really good. I heard often this last season how St Louis is considered a great crit racing scene around the midwest.
My dream for the team is to just keep getting stronger, and continue to race like we did this whole season, as a team. To move up into the higher ranks of USA cycling and start to be known on the regional level, and maybe someday the national level. At this point we are having a blast though, and the journey is the best part.
So where do we go? What do we do? I have never raced at the high level of the sport. I am only a cat 3 who hopes to one day move up and be a very good racer. But I have teammates who could do some pretty special things, and I would like this team to help make that happen. There is a lot that has to happen however, and I'm not really sure how long it will take to get there, but I just have to take it one step at a time.
Team guys have already started to target races like Joe Martin, Tour de Gila, Tulsa Tough, Dairyland, MoPRO, U23 Nationals, Master's Nationals, and others. These would all be big national and regional races, and a big jump from the local races we do every weekend. The great thing about racing locally in St Louis however, is the quality of the guys we have here. We have a good number of races throughout the year, and the guys here really seem to be getting really good. I heard often this last season how St Louis is considered a great crit racing scene around the midwest.
My dream for the team is to just keep getting stronger, and continue to race like we did this whole season, as a team. To move up into the higher ranks of USA cycling and start to be known on the regional level, and maybe someday the national level. At this point we are having a blast though, and the journey is the best part.
 |
| A big part of the team at the Maplewood race. The racing would never happen without our great family behind us. |
Monday, September 10, 2012
Sunday Funday
Yesterday was the start of my offseason. It was the first long ride meant to start building base. I had meant to get going much sooner than we (Chris and I) did but I spent the night before out having a good time and slept till noon! I have no idea the last time I did that. I didn't really have any idea where to ride so when Chris showed up he mentioned we should ride up to Alton, IL and see if we could catch the first CX race of the year. I had never road out to Alton but I was down, and I love watching CX racing, especially when my teammates are racing in them.
My powermeter has been acting up so I didn't really know how to make sure I was hitting the zones I needed to for the ride. Then I remembered that Chis is like a motorcycles when he rides. So we road hard, and long, into a super stiff headwind for two and a half hours to get up to Alton. There were definitely a few times that I had to tuck in behind Chris to get a few seconds of rest so I could keep up with him.
Pulling into Alton we had to climb this road called Central st. It was one of the steepest roads in the area I would have to say. Not long at all, only two blocks, but that would be an awesome road to use in a crit. That would really hurt! We ended up missing all the races and pulled up with just a few guys talking about the race. Bj was still there and we found out he had won the B race and I think he said 7th in the A race, with no rest. I also heard that Keith placed 2nd in the C race. It was Keith's first time ever racing CX and he even took a hard enough header that he broke his helmet, but still kept going!
Chris and I stopped off at Subway for lunch before heading home. Our ride home was a bit nicer as we had a decent tail wind. Chris really started to have problems with his bike though. He had not been able to overhaul it for some time so we decided that we would get together later in the night and tear down our bikes. I like to take my time when I work on my bike, so Chris got done a bit faster than I did. He also has a bit more experience at that stuff than me though. It is really night though to have everything taken apart and figure out why you are having small problems. Most of the issues I was having were just from parts being too dirty, which was way better than parts needing to be replaced as I have been doing a lot of that lately.
It was a great day of bike riding and hanging with buds. The hard work riding is going to show up 6 months from now, and I already can't wait.
My powermeter has been acting up so I didn't really know how to make sure I was hitting the zones I needed to for the ride. Then I remembered that Chis is like a motorcycles when he rides. So we road hard, and long, into a super stiff headwind for two and a half hours to get up to Alton. There were definitely a few times that I had to tuck in behind Chris to get a few seconds of rest so I could keep up with him.
Pulling into Alton we had to climb this road called Central st. It was one of the steepest roads in the area I would have to say. Not long at all, only two blocks, but that would be an awesome road to use in a crit. That would really hurt! We ended up missing all the races and pulled up with just a few guys talking about the race. Bj was still there and we found out he had won the B race and I think he said 7th in the A race, with no rest. I also heard that Keith placed 2nd in the C race. It was Keith's first time ever racing CX and he even took a hard enough header that he broke his helmet, but still kept going!
Chris and I stopped off at Subway for lunch before heading home. Our ride home was a bit nicer as we had a decent tail wind. Chris really started to have problems with his bike though. He had not been able to overhaul it for some time so we decided that we would get together later in the night and tear down our bikes. I like to take my time when I work on my bike, so Chris got done a bit faster than I did. He also has a bit more experience at that stuff than me though. It is really night though to have everything taken apart and figure out why you are having small problems. Most of the issues I was having were just from parts being too dirty, which was way better than parts needing to be replaced as I have been doing a lot of that lately.
It was a great day of bike riding and hanging with buds. The hard work riding is going to show up 6 months from now, and I already can't wait.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Benton Park Classic
The Benton Park Classic is the last race of the Gateway Cup, and in our area it is the last race of the year. This race is a totally different race compared to the last three. It is almost 2 miles in length with 10 turns, two crossings over highway 55 each lap, wind, elevation, and tons of fans.
Benton Park is a neighborhood that is working on making a comeback. There is a lot of good things going on there. It is a blue collar community that really seems to embrace this yearly race. The course winds it's way through homes, businesses, even skirting the edge of Budweiser. The race brought out tons of people that not only got some great racing, but a great band that played in the large park on the front straight away of the race.
Our race was scheduled to go last today. I thought this was great! I think it gets more people to watch the Pro race, and then the Pro12 guys were cheering like crazy. Especially the Gateway Harley guys, those dude were nuts. Of course our own fans were always very loud, but that is a sure thing every weekend. We have great fans! We were also able to watch the Pro12s race and get an idea of how things might pan out for us. We had a pretty good idea, but everything helps.
We decided we were going to throw some tough stuff at everyone again today, but instead of doing it at the end of the race we lined up from the gun. We wanted to put everyone in the pain cave right off the bat. We didn't think we would get rid of all the competition, but we might weaken guys enough to get some breaks away. We were only going to do this for the first 3 laps. We figured this would be long enough, and then we would sit up and start with the attacks. I have no idea if our idea really worked, but we had fun, and put on a good show. The biggest hitch was that two of our guys got stuck behind a crash right at the starting line! They weren't allowed to take a free lap either which really screwed them and the team. I got stuck behind a few slower guys and Murphy and Finks were able to hit the front flying. I was finally able to link up with Rickey and Connolly, and we made our way to the front. As we linked up I was looking for Grant and Wulff, and could not see them anywhere. Both of these guys are super strong and would not have hung back as they knew things were going to get going. When I couldn't find them after half the first lap was over I told the guys to hit it. We rotated 4 guys with me gatekeeping. The guys were wearing out after a couple laps though so I decided I should jump in. I did it a bit wrong however, pulling up to the front going into a turn and going way too fast. I was just too excited and wanted to make up for my underperforming the day before. As we came into the last lap we were going to team time trial we were also fighting for a preem. We ended up barely losing it because of a little confusion, I think mostly on my part I think.
A few laps later Grant put in a big dig, the dude was riding pissed and he was taking it out on his bike. He got into a group of about 3 riders and they were riding well together. We started to try and work the front of the field slowing the riders down. This was the best course to get a break away on, but they were going to need help, and be lucky. After a while another group ended up forming just behind the original break. Chris made it in there and I was really hoping he would make it up to Grant. Mike and I were still trying to slow the field down, but we had not softened it up enough and people were able to pull both breaks back.
We went a few more laps without much happening and I found myself on Mike's wheel. We have been working a lot on talking while racing so I just let him know I was there. Mike looks back and asks if I am doing good, I say yeah, and he takes off! I figured he was helping me out for a preem so I should hang on for the ride. We rounded turn 9 just blasting it, and took the last turn without ever lifting off the power. Mike took me to a perfect takeoff spot and I hit go taking the preem easily.
Right after that the whole race had a big scare. A stray dog got onto the course and caused a crash involving my teammate Eric Finks. Luckily the crash wasn't too bad, and the pack handled it pretty classy asking everyone to sit up. Now Grant apparently had attacked before the dog, or didn't hear the yells to neutralize the race, as he and another rider road off the front. After a lap or so Grant was on his own and making a strong go of it. I don't know where he finds the energy, but he just wouldn't give up. He was only 2.5 laps short but he still didn't give up and was still in the race as we neared the finish.
On the last lap I was set up in a pretty sweet spot the only problem was there was a rider just up the road and no one who wanted to sprint was going to chase that down. I needed a teammate right away, and just as I was thinking that Murphy came flying up the left side of the road stretching out the field. I was a bit slow reacting and was slotted in about 15th. I wasn't really worried as long as the speed stayed high. Jason made it with almost 2 turns to go, and got us close enough for the next rider to pull the leader back. As we rounded the final turn I had to swing wide to come around the rider we caught and got back on the gas a bit late. I was still able to put in a strong sprint but only finished 10th. Guys were really fighting hard for position and riders were loosing spokes and derailleur. I really didn't want to start my off season with a crash, so I think I left a bit out there. But I did hit 39.2 miles per hour, and that is the fastest sprint I can remember myself doing.
My team did an amazing job again this weekend, and I am pretty sad that the year is over. A lot of my team are moving up to the next category so we wont race together again for some time. It was great while it lasted, and next year we will have a few new great guys on the team. I am pumped to see what is yet to come.
Benton Park is a neighborhood that is working on making a comeback. There is a lot of good things going on there. It is a blue collar community that really seems to embrace this yearly race. The course winds it's way through homes, businesses, even skirting the edge of Budweiser. The race brought out tons of people that not only got some great racing, but a great band that played in the large park on the front straight away of the race.
Our race was scheduled to go last today. I thought this was great! I think it gets more people to watch the Pro race, and then the Pro12 guys were cheering like crazy. Especially the Gateway Harley guys, those dude were nuts. Of course our own fans were always very loud, but that is a sure thing every weekend. We have great fans! We were also able to watch the Pro12s race and get an idea of how things might pan out for us. We had a pretty good idea, but everything helps.
We decided we were going to throw some tough stuff at everyone again today, but instead of doing it at the end of the race we lined up from the gun. We wanted to put everyone in the pain cave right off the bat. We didn't think we would get rid of all the competition, but we might weaken guys enough to get some breaks away. We were only going to do this for the first 3 laps. We figured this would be long enough, and then we would sit up and start with the attacks. I have no idea if our idea really worked, but we had fun, and put on a good show. The biggest hitch was that two of our guys got stuck behind a crash right at the starting line! They weren't allowed to take a free lap either which really screwed them and the team. I got stuck behind a few slower guys and Murphy and Finks were able to hit the front flying. I was finally able to link up with Rickey and Connolly, and we made our way to the front. As we linked up I was looking for Grant and Wulff, and could not see them anywhere. Both of these guys are super strong and would not have hung back as they knew things were going to get going. When I couldn't find them after half the first lap was over I told the guys to hit it. We rotated 4 guys with me gatekeeping. The guys were wearing out after a couple laps though so I decided I should jump in. I did it a bit wrong however, pulling up to the front going into a turn and going way too fast. I was just too excited and wanted to make up for my underperforming the day before. As we came into the last lap we were going to team time trial we were also fighting for a preem. We ended up barely losing it because of a little confusion, I think mostly on my part I think.
A few laps later Grant put in a big dig, the dude was riding pissed and he was taking it out on his bike. He got into a group of about 3 riders and they were riding well together. We started to try and work the front of the field slowing the riders down. This was the best course to get a break away on, but they were going to need help, and be lucky. After a while another group ended up forming just behind the original break. Chris made it in there and I was really hoping he would make it up to Grant. Mike and I were still trying to slow the field down, but we had not softened it up enough and people were able to pull both breaks back.
We went a few more laps without much happening and I found myself on Mike's wheel. We have been working a lot on talking while racing so I just let him know I was there. Mike looks back and asks if I am doing good, I say yeah, and he takes off! I figured he was helping me out for a preem so I should hang on for the ride. We rounded turn 9 just blasting it, and took the last turn without ever lifting off the power. Mike took me to a perfect takeoff spot and I hit go taking the preem easily.
Right after that the whole race had a big scare. A stray dog got onto the course and caused a crash involving my teammate Eric Finks. Luckily the crash wasn't too bad, and the pack handled it pretty classy asking everyone to sit up. Now Grant apparently had attacked before the dog, or didn't hear the yells to neutralize the race, as he and another rider road off the front. After a lap or so Grant was on his own and making a strong go of it. I don't know where he finds the energy, but he just wouldn't give up. He was only 2.5 laps short but he still didn't give up and was still in the race as we neared the finish.
On the last lap I was set up in a pretty sweet spot the only problem was there was a rider just up the road and no one who wanted to sprint was going to chase that down. I needed a teammate right away, and just as I was thinking that Murphy came flying up the left side of the road stretching out the field. I was a bit slow reacting and was slotted in about 15th. I wasn't really worried as long as the speed stayed high. Jason made it with almost 2 turns to go, and got us close enough for the next rider to pull the leader back. As we rounded the final turn I had to swing wide to come around the rider we caught and got back on the gas a bit late. I was still able to put in a strong sprint but only finished 10th. Guys were really fighting hard for position and riders were loosing spokes and derailleur. I really didn't want to start my off season with a crash, so I think I left a bit out there. But I did hit 39.2 miles per hour, and that is the fastest sprint I can remember myself doing.
My team did an amazing job again this weekend, and I am pretty sad that the year is over. A lot of my team are moving up to the next category so we wont race together again for some time. It was great while it lasted, and next year we will have a few new great guys on the team. I am pumped to see what is yet to come.
 |
| This was part of the pain train today! |
Giro della Montagna The Hill
This is the biggest race of the Gateway Cup. It is held in the great neighborhood of The Hill just a few min southwest of downtown St Louis. The Hill could also be considered little Italy in the STL. There are great Italian shops, restaurants, and there is even a bocce ball center. The start line of the race is right in front of the St Ambrose Church at the bottom of a long steady downhill. The course is a narrow rectangle with tight roads, and corners, and has a reputation of being a bit crash prone. You really have to be on top of your game and on your toes.
Mike had been targeting this race all year and had the fitness to make it happen, no doubt. Twice in the last year he had placed in the top three, and we were going to put him on the top step.
The plan had been set weeks ago, with trial runs done to work out kinks and come up with any issues. We had successes and failures trying it out with the failures helping us more than the successes. The plan was a lead-out to put our man in a great position and weaken the rest of the field. We were going to save it all for the end, no preems, no chasing breaks, all on the line.
The race was pretty tame in my opinion. The greatest part about racing in the 3s is it is predictable. Everyone wants to win, everyone is about the same strength, and if you take those things into account a team can easily control a lot of what happens. It is never a sure thing, but having a team that is 100% behind one goal increases your chances of success. As the race progressed our guys only had to put in minor efforts to keep things under control. We were staying well organized and everyone was right where we needed to be. The toughest part about a lead-out is the timing. Too soon and you not only hurt your self, but you hurt your sprinter. Too late and maybe you let a break go too long. As none of us are pros we are still working it all out.
As we neared our take off point a lone rider jumped off the front, hard. We had seen guys going off all day and none looked this strong. This was this guys move and he knew what he was doing. In hindsight I should have kept my cool longer. I was the road captain and was the one with the final say of when to go. Three of us set up on the front and rotated to pull back the lone rider. We tried our best to keep the efforts metered so as to have enough for the finish. It took us a couple laps to bring the rider back which left us with about 3 to go. That was when we began to drill it. Eric wanted to wait a bit more, and I think he was right. My fear was that we would be swarmed and lose our organization. I should not have worried about that, as the team was on their game. We had an order to our train, but it got a little out of whack. I'm not sure if that would have made a difference in the end, like I said, we aren't pros here, just a bunch of 30 and 40 year olds who like to race bikes. So anyways, on my word go off we went, and fast. Finkszilla was on the front, first to pull as planned. This dude is one of our great diesle engines and will pull till he passes out. He went almost a full lap, taking into account that he also helped pull back the lone rider, he did more than his share. Next was our youngest rider, Grant, this guys is a super stud. He started racing last year this weekend as a 5, this kid is going to go places in this sport. Grant did a huge pull as well, once he pulled off it was my turn, and I didn't have much left to give. I don't know where it went but my pull lasted what felt like a who 3 seconds. It felt like I hit a wall and I did not do my job. As I pulled off though, Grant the Erhard-man was right back in line pulling again! As I dropped back off the race the field was in ruin, we had destroyed just about everyone. From what I was told there were only 10-12 riders left in the race. Once Grant pulled off we had Wulff, Connolly, Murphy, and then Rickey. Grant did his best to make it up the back stretch, a long steady climb that on it's own wasn't much, but after an inhuman pull it was too much for him to hold that high a speed. Wulff took over and I think made it to the start finish, which was where Connolly took over. Riding behind Chris can be like trying to ride behind a motorcycle. He can go long, and hard, and it doesn't matter that there is a draft. Holding 600 watts in a draft still hurts A LOT! When Chris pulled off it sounded like Murphy was in the same boat I had been in. He hit a wall and the rest of the riders in the pack jumped Mike. As they rounded turn 3 Mike got stuck behind a crash, and then again in turn 4. Our plan came so close, and over time it will be perfected.
We were all a little bummed, but we laid it all out there, and at least we tried. This was the purpose behind building this team. We all came together for one goal, and we all gave everything that we had. There isn't much else to ask for if you ask me. I am so proud of my team, and am excited for all the great stuff to come.
Mike had been targeting this race all year and had the fitness to make it happen, no doubt. Twice in the last year he had placed in the top three, and we were going to put him on the top step.
The plan had been set weeks ago, with trial runs done to work out kinks and come up with any issues. We had successes and failures trying it out with the failures helping us more than the successes. The plan was a lead-out to put our man in a great position and weaken the rest of the field. We were going to save it all for the end, no preems, no chasing breaks, all on the line.
The race was pretty tame in my opinion. The greatest part about racing in the 3s is it is predictable. Everyone wants to win, everyone is about the same strength, and if you take those things into account a team can easily control a lot of what happens. It is never a sure thing, but having a team that is 100% behind one goal increases your chances of success. As the race progressed our guys only had to put in minor efforts to keep things under control. We were staying well organized and everyone was right where we needed to be. The toughest part about a lead-out is the timing. Too soon and you not only hurt your self, but you hurt your sprinter. Too late and maybe you let a break go too long. As none of us are pros we are still working it all out.
As we neared our take off point a lone rider jumped off the front, hard. We had seen guys going off all day and none looked this strong. This was this guys move and he knew what he was doing. In hindsight I should have kept my cool longer. I was the road captain and was the one with the final say of when to go. Three of us set up on the front and rotated to pull back the lone rider. We tried our best to keep the efforts metered so as to have enough for the finish. It took us a couple laps to bring the rider back which left us with about 3 to go. That was when we began to drill it. Eric wanted to wait a bit more, and I think he was right. My fear was that we would be swarmed and lose our organization. I should not have worried about that, as the team was on their game. We had an order to our train, but it got a little out of whack. I'm not sure if that would have made a difference in the end, like I said, we aren't pros here, just a bunch of 30 and 40 year olds who like to race bikes. So anyways, on my word go off we went, and fast. Finkszilla was on the front, first to pull as planned. This dude is one of our great diesle engines and will pull till he passes out. He went almost a full lap, taking into account that he also helped pull back the lone rider, he did more than his share. Next was our youngest rider, Grant, this guys is a super stud. He started racing last year this weekend as a 5, this kid is going to go places in this sport. Grant did a huge pull as well, once he pulled off it was my turn, and I didn't have much left to give. I don't know where it went but my pull lasted what felt like a who 3 seconds. It felt like I hit a wall and I did not do my job. As I pulled off though, Grant the Erhard-man was right back in line pulling again! As I dropped back off the race the field was in ruin, we had destroyed just about everyone. From what I was told there were only 10-12 riders left in the race. Once Grant pulled off we had Wulff, Connolly, Murphy, and then Rickey. Grant did his best to make it up the back stretch, a long steady climb that on it's own wasn't much, but after an inhuman pull it was too much for him to hold that high a speed. Wulff took over and I think made it to the start finish, which was where Connolly took over. Riding behind Chris can be like trying to ride behind a motorcycle. He can go long, and hard, and it doesn't matter that there is a draft. Holding 600 watts in a draft still hurts A LOT! When Chris pulled off it sounded like Murphy was in the same boat I had been in. He hit a wall and the rest of the riders in the pack jumped Mike. As they rounded turn 3 Mike got stuck behind a crash, and then again in turn 4. Our plan came so close, and over time it will be perfected.
We were all a little bummed, but we laid it all out there, and at least we tried. This was the purpose behind building this team. We all came together for one goal, and we all gave everything that we had. There isn't much else to ask for if you ask me. I am so proud of my team, and am excited for all the great stuff to come.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Lafayette Square and Francis Park
Lafayette Square is a great way to start off the Gateway Cup weekend. The environment and atmosphere of the race is normally like a party. This weekend however was a bit different. With the remnants of Isaac sweeping though St Louis over the weekend the crowds were significantly smaller, as well as the amateur fields.
The cat 3 race did not get as bad of rain as other races before us. But with plenty of water already on the roads, and the 50+ riders we couldn't tell what was from mother nature, and what was just getting thrown up from our tires. The race was decently fast despite the rain, and some of the hard men tried to get moves to go off the front from the gun. Our own Chris Connolly was off the front with a good lead quickly. And with Chris' power, left alone he could ride away. But with the size and strength of the pack Chis was eventually pulled back into the bunch. Over the course of the race other moves tried but went nowhere.
I was able to go for one of the preems, but had to put in a double jump after I foolishly thought I had it won, only to see a rider flying up behind me. I was just barely able to hold him off, but it hurt. With about 8 or 9 laps to go, the stronger diesels started to make their moves. This pulled my team to the front in order to hold them close. We lined up and were working okay with a pace-line and Mike doing the gate keeping. I was starting to get pretty worn out as my strengths are not so much in long pulls but short bursts. Chris came up to help but over shot me and pulled ahead with another rider. I had to pull out of the line to allow the rest of my team to ride up to him which cause me to drop back in the field.
Then I had a pretty bad crash. With about 6 or 7 to go, coming into the last corner I bumped into one rider, causing my rear wheel to slide a bit. When my rear tire caught again I was pointing in a totally wrong angle and tried to correct again. My rear tire this time his some paint, I counter steered and over the bars I went. Now this is where my time as an elite gymnast really comes into it's own. Flying through the air I just remember being very high and thinking this is really going to hurt. Then I was on the ground sliding on my butt towards the barriers when another rider ran into the back of me, launching him into the barriers as well. I was much more fortunate than he was and tried to get back into the race, only to find I was past the free lap time. My race was over. As I watched the rest of the race my team was looking pretty tired. We had had to work pretty hard to bring back an attack and then with two to go a very strong rider launched off the front. This rider had thought this was the last lap, only to find he had one to go. He put his head back down and made another lap in the lead to stick the win however. It was a pretty amazing feet considering all the fire power in the field.
This is my crash taken by a rider in the field. You can see how hard it was to see, in the dark, with the rain. But that is racing.
We went into the second day of Gateway Cup at Francis Park with Mike Rickey in 3rd overall in the standings. So we decided to try and help him get another good finish and put him into the leader's jersey. The rain was still on and off all day and I was feeling a bit nervous about racing. We had a plan of trying to go for preems and then line up to help me sprint, Mike would latch onto the back and sprint for a good finish. My legs didn't feel as good as the day before. I just didn't have the snap I thought I should have had, and had the day before. I blamed that on my crash and moved on.
I went for two preems during the race. One I think I jumped out of the slip stream too soon and that cost me the money. The second I was pushed to the edge of the road and was cut off. Luckily my teammate Jason was on my wheel and made the rider who blocked me pay. We took another preem with Grant fighting a group of 4 or 5 and besting them from the front. Kid is a BOSS! In the end the preems hurt us though, as well as flats. We didn't have the guns at the end to get into position. I gave up my goal of the win to try and help Mike, but wasn't able to do much when it counted. Fear of what happened the day before and my legs kept me from the sharp end. I ended up rolling in after the pack, pretty depressed.
The Hill will be another day, and we will put it all on the line.
The cat 3 race did not get as bad of rain as other races before us. But with plenty of water already on the roads, and the 50+ riders we couldn't tell what was from mother nature, and what was just getting thrown up from our tires. The race was decently fast despite the rain, and some of the hard men tried to get moves to go off the front from the gun. Our own Chris Connolly was off the front with a good lead quickly. And with Chris' power, left alone he could ride away. But with the size and strength of the pack Chis was eventually pulled back into the bunch. Over the course of the race other moves tried but went nowhere.
I was able to go for one of the preems, but had to put in a double jump after I foolishly thought I had it won, only to see a rider flying up behind me. I was just barely able to hold him off, but it hurt. With about 8 or 9 laps to go, the stronger diesels started to make their moves. This pulled my team to the front in order to hold them close. We lined up and were working okay with a pace-line and Mike doing the gate keeping. I was starting to get pretty worn out as my strengths are not so much in long pulls but short bursts. Chris came up to help but over shot me and pulled ahead with another rider. I had to pull out of the line to allow the rest of my team to ride up to him which cause me to drop back in the field.
Then I had a pretty bad crash. With about 6 or 7 to go, coming into the last corner I bumped into one rider, causing my rear wheel to slide a bit. When my rear tire caught again I was pointing in a totally wrong angle and tried to correct again. My rear tire this time his some paint, I counter steered and over the bars I went. Now this is where my time as an elite gymnast really comes into it's own. Flying through the air I just remember being very high and thinking this is really going to hurt. Then I was on the ground sliding on my butt towards the barriers when another rider ran into the back of me, launching him into the barriers as well. I was much more fortunate than he was and tried to get back into the race, only to find I was past the free lap time. My race was over. As I watched the rest of the race my team was looking pretty tired. We had had to work pretty hard to bring back an attack and then with two to go a very strong rider launched off the front. This rider had thought this was the last lap, only to find he had one to go. He put his head back down and made another lap in the lead to stick the win however. It was a pretty amazing feet considering all the fire power in the field.
We went into the second day of Gateway Cup at Francis Park with Mike Rickey in 3rd overall in the standings. So we decided to try and help him get another good finish and put him into the leader's jersey. The rain was still on and off all day and I was feeling a bit nervous about racing. We had a plan of trying to go for preems and then line up to help me sprint, Mike would latch onto the back and sprint for a good finish. My legs didn't feel as good as the day before. I just didn't have the snap I thought I should have had, and had the day before. I blamed that on my crash and moved on.
I went for two preems during the race. One I think I jumped out of the slip stream too soon and that cost me the money. The second I was pushed to the edge of the road and was cut off. Luckily my teammate Jason was on my wheel and made the rider who blocked me pay. We took another preem with Grant fighting a group of 4 or 5 and besting them from the front. Kid is a BOSS! In the end the preems hurt us though, as well as flats. We didn't have the guns at the end to get into position. I gave up my goal of the win to try and help Mike, but wasn't able to do much when it counted. Fear of what happened the day before and my legs kept me from the sharp end. I ended up rolling in after the pack, pretty depressed.
The Hill will be another day, and we will put it all on the line.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)