With more than half the season gone the numbers are looking good. My midpack finish at fox river has given me a lot of confidence. The training for the last two weeks has been limited. A mid-week practice mtb race, a tuesday night track session and Fox river have been my hardest training rides.
Longer tempo rides and blazingly slow recovery rides have kept me fairly well rounded. Today starts a rest week that will go into a three week raceing phase. I have 6 superweek races planned. Five of those I raced last year with the Elgin course being the only new one.
Im feeling pretty confident with my mid-season fitness. I have never been this strong this early in the season. Hopefully I can stay on track, august should be pretty fast.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Spring Prairie Road Race
On sunday me, isaiah and zach made the drive out to burlington wisconsin for the Spring Prairie road race. This is the road state championships race, and as such WCA gave us chicagoans our own 4/5s non wisconsin field.
The course is about 6.5 miles through rolling country roads with a steepish longer climb right before the finish. The short up and down course reminded me of a circuit race, our field was doing 6 laps. After our neutral rollout the race started on the "big" climb. The pack made its way up very slowly. The course was 4 corners but with enough twisty bends up/down and sideways that one could get away. And they tried for the first two laps setting a rough tempo.
It was obvious that this would be a race of attrition, the pack would lose a couple of guys every lap on the climbs and descents. Although all of the elevation gains were only rollers they were enough to send guys out the back with their breakfast in their throats.
Coming in with good form and fresh strong legs I was able to hang on to the back with isaiah and zach. In the first couple of laps zach got popped out the back. After the first big climb there was a fast descent with a turn into another roller at the bottom. It was around here that I found my way off the back with a couple of riders including isaiah and a spidermonkeyrider. I led them out to a tower racing fellow who was going back also. After a couple of shouts of encouragment from me and others it was obvious that I would have to dig deep into my suitcase of uncertainty to catch back on. With the desperate knowledge that if we didnt close the gap our race would be over I put my head down and got aero on the hoods. Not wanting to wait for anybody else I took a big pull to bring back a couple of back to the pack.
Hoping that I hadnt burned too many matches, the pack settled into a much more relaxed pace for the middle laps. Conversational at times it gave me and a isaiah opportunity to talk about our plans for tommorow, and how surprised we were that we were still here etc. Not having had a great 1st half of the season I used this race to brush up my pack riding skills trying to move up ride more conservatively.
Once we started the bell lap I was feeling confident, at the big finishing climb I was always starting from the ass end of the pack but was able to move to the front half during the climb. I could probably make a big move and move up a bunch of places at the end. I also noticed that I had stayed in the big chainring the whole race except for the finishing roller. Hmm, I thought maybe I should try riding in the small chainring to let my legs rest a little. Big mistake. I shifted down to the 39 while we were on a flat section. My timing couldnt have been worse as the pack descended. A mental lapse cost me big. I went out the back at a bad time. Just as I reached the bottom the pack was cresting the next climb. I tried for little bit to catch up, had this happened earlier in the race I might have had a chance.
So I finished by myself. Upset that a simple mistake made me miss the fireworks at the end I was also feeling kind of good. I had managed to stay with the pack almost to the very end and accomplished my race goal of finishing with the 1st half of the pack. With my legs feeling this good in already I cant wait until August.
The course is about 6.5 miles through rolling country roads with a steepish longer climb right before the finish. The short up and down course reminded me of a circuit race, our field was doing 6 laps. After our neutral rollout the race started on the "big" climb. The pack made its way up very slowly. The course was 4 corners but with enough twisty bends up/down and sideways that one could get away. And they tried for the first two laps setting a rough tempo.
It was obvious that this would be a race of attrition, the pack would lose a couple of guys every lap on the climbs and descents. Although all of the elevation gains were only rollers they were enough to send guys out the back with their breakfast in their throats.
Coming in with good form and fresh strong legs I was able to hang on to the back with isaiah and zach. In the first couple of laps zach got popped out the back. After the first big climb there was a fast descent with a turn into another roller at the bottom. It was around here that I found my way off the back with a couple of riders including isaiah and a spidermonkeyrider. I led them out to a tower racing fellow who was going back also. After a couple of shouts of encouragment from me and others it was obvious that I would have to dig deep into my suitcase of uncertainty to catch back on. With the desperate knowledge that if we didnt close the gap our race would be over I put my head down and got aero on the hoods. Not wanting to wait for anybody else I took a big pull to bring back a couple of back to the pack.
Hoping that I hadnt burned too many matches, the pack settled into a much more relaxed pace for the middle laps. Conversational at times it gave me and a isaiah opportunity to talk about our plans for tommorow, and how surprised we were that we were still here etc. Not having had a great 1st half of the season I used this race to brush up my pack riding skills trying to move up ride more conservatively.
Once we started the bell lap I was feeling confident, at the big finishing climb I was always starting from the ass end of the pack but was able to move to the front half during the climb. I could probably make a big move and move up a bunch of places at the end. I also noticed that I had stayed in the big chainring the whole race except for the finishing roller. Hmm, I thought maybe I should try riding in the small chainring to let my legs rest a little. Big mistake. I shifted down to the 39 while we were on a flat section. My timing couldnt have been worse as the pack descended. A mental lapse cost me big. I went out the back at a bad time. Just as I reached the bottom the pack was cresting the next climb. I tried for little bit to catch up, had this happened earlier in the race I might have had a chance.
So I finished by myself. Upset that a simple mistake made me miss the fireworks at the end I was also feeling kind of good. I had managed to stay with the pack almost to the very end and accomplished my race goal of finishing with the 1st half of the pack. With my legs feeling this good in already I cant wait until August.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
woah
Easy ride today up to tower road with the team. Mostly easy endurance pace with a couple of hard efforts. Max-878watts. Highest number ive ever seen on the powertap since i started using it this year, not bad.
tommorow, Spring Prairie
tommorow, Spring Prairie
Monday, May 25, 2009
My Review of Novara Transfer Panniers
The Novara Transfer panniers are built with credit-card bike tourists and commuters in mind. They're light, so you can be fast!
Awesome panniers for commuting!
adrian always riding chicago,il 5/25/2009
Gift: No
Pros: Easy to Use, Lightweight, Durable, Versatile
Best Uses: Commuting
Describe Yourself: Competitive Cyclist
I LOVE my transfer panniers. I have them mounted on a topeak rack and they work great. I would not recommend for any heavy duty extended touring trips as ortlieb makes great panniers for real touring(and real money). The panniers are really easy to throw on the rack and come off quickly.
Big enough to carry work clothes,shoes,and extra layers. I have not had any problems with sinching down the top with the compression straps, although the angle on them is a bit weird they do not detract from product quality.
The rain covers have worked well for me and managed to cover the panniers even when they are packed full of stuff. They have kept my stuff dry through a 10 mile downpour. For the money the are great beginner panniers.
Friday, May 15, 2009
oh snap!
pic by ed whiteThings I'm missing right now: high(er)end power or "snap" in my legs, crit power(go hard-rest-go hard, repeat 10x)
Things I'm not missing right now: The best tan in the pack
Things I'm enjoying right now: more work=more$
Things I'm not enjoying right now: more work=more fatigue
Right now this is the majority of stuff running through my head, as I type this I'm watching a rainy stage of the Giro. The scenic rural mountain views and wet roads are reminding me of Georgia. If I could find a job out in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of Georgia, maybe at that shop on the AT on blood mountain, I would totally live there.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
vernon hills, rest week
On sunday I did the vernon hills gran prix . It was a pretty chill criterium with a big team showing. Finishing a 3week long build period I was a bit apprehensive as to how my legs would be feeling. The previous two workouts earlier in the week were prematurely finished as my legs were feeling heavy.
The cat 4 crit started out super slow. After a couple of laps it got "hot'' and I was dropped. Working together with a xxx'er we managed to go hard the remainder of the race. Our only goal for the race was to work hard to not get lapped. And we almost did it. After trading hard half lap pulls for 30 minutes the pack screamed by us going around the final corner.
Even though I got dropped and lapped I felt good about the effort that I had put out. My legs although not feeling very fresh were starting to show some strength. Finishing a hard three weeks of training im going into this rest week with a lot of optimism. Some easy urban riding yesterday surprised me with amazingly strong and loose legs. The biggest challenge this week will be staying focused during my rides to not go hard despite no matter what my legs feel like. Oh well, at least I already have my summer tan ready.
Monday, April 13, 2009
hillsboro, commuting and dog poo
Just over a week ago I finished a dissapointing 73rd at hillsboro. Up until those last two weeks my training was going fine. I was unable to peak/taper properly for those last two weeks and came in feeling a little sluggish. I was dropped from the pack about 15 miles into the race. The wind, flats, and constant accel-decellerations at the back of the pack where i was unstrategically located did me in and I was unable to hang onto the pack.
I rode my second commute of the year this past friday. Due to "long distances" and overall wussin out I did not bike commute this winter as I have for the last 4 years. With a brand new rack and panniers the kaffenbach is fully commutered out. Some very well ridden gatorskins and fenders complete the package.
To supplement the income Im walking dogs now. My parents laughed when I explained to them the concept of a dog walker but the extra money will be really nice.
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