Granogue and Wissahickon Weekend

My goal for the weekend was not too get lapped and failure is a feeling I am familar with, even before this weekend. Thats right racing B's was tough going.

Granogue: My focus for this race was to be smooth and try to crank the pace when I could. I am a roadie so I consider this course fairly technical. My start was "ok" considering I was in the rear and I was fairly smooth the first two laps. However, once I got tired and everything begins to hurt, my abilities to sink like a rock. I had slipped back a little too much and was trying to catch a group of 3 infront of me. I was about 10 bikes lengths behind them when two of them just quit. They rode into the pits and never came back. The 3rd quit about half lap later. Well, I aint quiting so I finished up the race.

Wissahickon: This race was just painful. Too hot. Too fast. I felt like puking at 2 laps into the race. There is nowhere to rest and recover during the race. You constantly need to be pushing it. My bro and sister came out to the race. I told them didn't need to cheer for me when I was in last place, cause no one likes cheering for a loser. (just ask an Eagle's fan) The highlight of this race was someone in the second row of the start rolled a tubular 5 feet into the race. Huge pile up that everyone had to ride around. I saw some guy running with a completely taco'd tire.

Chilling with the team during the other races was fun. and in conclusion Pro's are very fast. You can read cyclingnews if you want read about Johnson and Powers beating up on the Elite Mens field.

MAC Cyclocross Begins!

Thats right kids, time for some real cross racing.

Granogue and then Wissahickon. I'm kinda pumped. Not as fit as I was hoping, but things have been busy. I'm a little scared of Granogue, cause last year that race kicked my ass.

I was faced with the decision of having to choose between racing the B category or racing the C category. I decided it was time to step up and 'B' a man, besides who likes racing early in the morning anyway.

My goal for the races are nice and simple. Don't get lapped. I have no delusions of grandeur, but I do want to keep things respectable.

Bucks County Covered Bridge Ride

Sunday morning, Dr. J and I went to the Bucks County Covered Bridge Ride. It was an hour drive to middle of nowhere Bucks County PA. We get out of the car at 8 am, and it occurs to me. It is 36 degrees outside. It was COLD, but the high today was supposed to be 69 in Philadelphia.

I took stock of what I had to wear. I had leg warmers, arm warmers, polypropolene layer, and a wind jacket. For some reason, I didn't think that was enough. We sign up and I grab a cup of coffee. I'm still freezing. I tell Dr. J that I am hanging in the car until it warms up. At 8:30 I decide to stop being a wus and get on my bike and ride wearing every piece of clothing I had.

I have not done a lot of these organized group rides. I go on group rides but with other cyclists that race or ride a ton. The average rec cyclist is not someone I ride next to everyday. There were certainly a few times when I was concerned about people riding a bit goofy. The other thing that amazed me was that no one called out cars. No one called out turns. No one talked about change of pace. I took it upon myself to call out cars and turns when near crowds. I would say "Hi" to people as I passed them. It felt like the right thing to do.

The ride itself was 63 hilly miles of fun. Lots of great scenery. 6 covered bridges and rest stops along the way. I never ate so much during a ride in my life. All in all the ride was GREAT!

Here is a little link to the Bucks County Covered Bridge Ride.

Racing Commuter Style

I would like to coin a new cycling term called racing commuter style.

Commuter Style would refer to riding your race bike to the race. Doing the race on the bike you rode there and riding back home, hence commuter style. I'm not talking about racing on a commuter bike, but a legitmate road bike. Don't get me confused with those crazies in London.



So last weekend I rode to my first cyclocross race of the season did the race and yes I did it commuter style. It was a 30+ mile ride to the race and it was alot of fun. I got but kicked in the race, but I ended up getting 70+ miles by the end of the day.

Recycle your running shoes

If you are anything like me, you have plenty of reasons to drink. But this post has nothing to do with that.

If you are anything like me, you may have the running shoe build up. I currently have 7 pairs of running shoes in my closet. Some over 2+ years old. Yes those boxes have running shoes in them.



You can recycle running shoes!!! http://www.runtheplanet.com/shoes/selection/recycle.asp
Nike seems to have a good program, but I am certain you can have any running store recycle them for you.

So go recycle those shoes when you are done running in them. They will turn in them into a basketball court.

What would David Lee Roth Do?

When you are lost in indecision, I suggest you ask yourself one simple question.

What would David Lee Roth do?

You will have your answer.



Yes, The Van Halen in Philadelphia was awesome.

Park Bike Repair Website

I've begun fixing the cross bike for the season (yes I know I am behind schedule). I came across this website and I love it. It is excellent for all things bike repair.

Park Tool Repair

100on100, Running 100 miles in Vermont

Long time no blog. yada yada yada . . .

Put in a strong 30 minute run last night. Running at night is great. Nice cool. Everything looks different. I can say it gets me in shape for Cyclo-cross.

More importantly I am preparing my legs for the beating they are sure to be taking this weekend. I have joined a team for the 100on100. I am part of a 5 person relay team to run a 100 miles on route 100 in Vermont. It should be a really good time. Hopefully, I'll have some nice pics.

Peace a Pizza

These slices are huge!

Sunset Sprint Triathlon Race Report

On Saturday July 14th, I got up at the ass crack of dawn and headed down to Bridgeton NJ to compete in the Sunset Sprint Triathlon. The Sunset Sprint Triathlon consists of a 800 meter swim, 16 mile bike, and a 5k run. This was my first triathlon in 2 years, my coming out of retirement race.

I went down there with "the Good Doctor" and "the boss man". The good doctor was doing her first Triathlon and "the boss man" was doing the duathlon. We threw everything into the Boss Man's minivan and headed to the race. We got there, signed all the papers and proceeded to get ready. I am pumped. Moment of Truth Time Baby!!!

But before the Moment of Truth, we need to walk from where you park the car to the transistion area, which is about 1/2 a mile away. By the time, we got to the transition area, I heard someone shout 10 minutes till wave 1 goes. Thats Me!!! I set up my transition area like it is old news and roll to the beach.

The water was a balmy 84 degrees. No wetsuits! The gun goes off and we go running into the water. I hadn't swam since the Cheasapeake Bay Swim, so my swimming form was off. WAY OFF! I was swimming like a horse. I swam in 14:36. Not exactly fast. But the swim never matters in a triathlon.

Transition 1 went Smooth like Colt 45 Double Malt. 1:23.

Out on the bike. This where I was prepared to hear the lamenations of the women. I wanted a fast bike split. I sprinted out of the transition area, hopped on the bike and I was off. I stayed tucked in my bars and started hunting people down. The first half of the bike I passed people at a steady rate. It was great to pass guys on Cervelo P2's with full areo disc wheel set up. By the second half I could tell I may have burned my candle a little too much in the start, cause I was starting to fade. I ended up averaging 21.4 mph for a 44:49 bike split. This was the 23rd fastest bike split. Not too bad I guess. The bike course was flat as a pancake (minus a false flat here and there) and a full aero-set up was a HUGE advantage for the tri-geeks racing today. I perfer a more rolling time trial course that keeps people honest.

Transition 2. Smooth like Butter. (with the exception that I ran past my transition spot) 1:31

I start running. Well not really. More like jogging. I didn't start running till 1 mile into run. The course had a few off road sections. Not very hilly but not completely flat. I ran it in for a 22:56 5k. Not exactly a stellar 5k. I was not in the mood to hop in my pain cave during the run. I told myself if someone in my age group passes me then I will have to turn it on. Otherwise, I'm chilling. No one passed me so I chilled.

Final time: 1:25:13.

Well, all this work got me 28th overall out of 170 and more importantly 3rd in my age group. I ended up getting the Second place age group trophy cause the 1st place guy got 2nd overall.

So many people chill through transitions, but I refuse. The clock is always ticking, and putting a minute into your potential competition can be huge by the end of a sprint triathlon. My transitition times helped earn me a extra placing, without it I may have been 3rd in my age group.

Allentown Criterium

Ever had a race go so bad, that if your bike flew off the bike roof rack on the way home, you wouldn't have stopped to get the bike.

I probably wouldn't have even hit the brakes.

[Editor's Note] Thanks to Matteis for telling to me to get over myself by informing that maybe Triathlon, BBQ and Beers Saturday, Criterium Sunday is not a recipie for success.

Freedom

I want to ride my bicycle!

A nice hole in my bike saddle

Either my ass got fat or that saddle just can't handle the increased mileage? Yes that is a picture of my Bianchi Gel Selli Italia bicycle saddle. My perfered saddle bit the dust when I bit the dust at the Syracuse Criterium earlier this year. I think it is time for a new saddle?

Ok, who is the prankster that put areobars on my bars? Um, I'm that prankster. Thats right kids, I'm coming out of triathlon retirement tomorrow. I will be competing in the beautiful Sunset Sprint Triathlon of Bridgeton, NJ. It has a 800 meter swim, 16 mile bike and 5k run. A coworker of mine is also doing it so I am looking forward to taking his pride.

I was at the Thursday night crit yesterday and had the following exchange with a fellow cycling aquantance.

Me: You racing this weekend?
He: Yeah, I'm doing Millport on Saturday, and Allentown on Sunday. You?
Me: Doing Allentown, Doing a Triathlon on Saturday so I can't do Millport.
He: You do triathlons?
Me: Not really.
He: You swim?
Me: I know how to swim. I figure it will a time trial surrounded by a swim and a run.
(laughs, end scene)

So I lied a little . . . yeah I know how to swim. Yeah, I've done a few triathlons.

One thing I have learned is never tell serious cyclists you are a triathlete. They will automatically make alot of assumptions about how you ride in a pack and how you handle a bike. Most of these assumptions are 100% correct, but I feel after doing a season of cyclo-cross and road cycling that I have shed my triathlon roots.

New Cycling Helmet

Yes, that is a cycling helmet to the right.
Yes, it is the weirdest helmet you ever seen.
Yes, it would hotter than the surface of the sun inside that thing.

Want to earn 5 bucks?

Take a pic of you wearing it to your local criterium.

Read more here

Who is watching the Tour de France?

Who is watching the Tour de France?

Before we answer this question lets think back to a week ago. The Tour de France was 2 days away and the general attitude was:

"Who cares?"

"I'm not going to watch the Tour."

"They are all a bunch of dopers."

Everyone was sour grapes over last years tour. And why? Doping allegations turned everybody off causing world wide shrinkage in the phallus of competitive cycling. I'm not going to argue that dopers don't suck, but I'm asking you to put your memory of the doping aside. Do that and all of the sudden last year's Tour was the more exciting than your first experience with aerosol containers.

I cannot get behind the movement to ignore the 2007 Tour de France. The Tour de France still has the excitement of previous years. If not more so. Lance Armstrong is no longer available to crush the competition. Who knows who is going to win?

Levi? (Snicker, Snicker)

Vino or Kloden? ( Ten bucks says they get in fight over who is leading Astana before the Tour hits Paris. I could see them attacking each other on the climbs.)

Pereiro? (Was last year a fluke?)

So lets all take our little blue pill for competitive cycling. Get back the excitement you had on prom night. You are missing a great Tour de France.

Meetin' Floyd

It ain't every day you meet a winner of the Tour de France. Floyd was at the Chester County Bookseller pimpin' his book and answering questions.

I expected him to talk but he wanted to answer anyone's questions.

Some highlight questions were . .
"What do you think of Greg Lemond?"
He gave a pretty safe answer. He is a great cyclist but I don't know him well.

"What advice would you give to get better at cycling?" He gave the classic answer, Ride your bike more.

The best question was if Levi wins the tour will he be caught for doping? There was no correct answer to the question. He laughed and said he didn't know how to answer that.

When I got to meet him, I invited him out to the Thursday night Criterium. He said we would probably crash him. Admitting the squirrely nature of the ride, I agreed and wished him the best of luck.

He seems like a really nice guy, especially since he should be angry at the world right now.

Brownstown Race Report

The riders should have asked me, "how I would like my own ass served to me?" before the beginning of the race. I would have replied, "over easy"

I got my own ass handed to me. It was embarrassing. My legs felt like pooh. My legs still feel like pooh and it is now Monday night. Anyways, I think it was from the increase in training and not being peaked fitness wise for the race at all.

I'll be racing again next weekend.

Cha-Ching!!!

You hear that? Thats money in the bank friend. No not the kind of money that will buy me anything. But that kind of money that will get me plenty of Tuna.

What the hell am I talking about?

Just finished another 4 days of training. I put in close to 120 miles by getting a 50 miler on Wednesday and then riding out to the Thursday night crit.


A few highlights from the crit:

• When I get to the crit some 4 year old girl on a pink huffy with training wheels, toes up to the line. She headbutted me on lap four. (ok that didn't really happen.)
  
• Some dood blew a snot rocket mid pack. Needless to say I fell victim to his little rocket attack. Couldn't he move out into the wind for 10 seconds and blow snot elsewhere.
• Riding in the first 20 riders is much easier than riding in the last 20 riders.
• I was sucking the wind of some Crit Monkey when he runs over a water bottle. That woke me up. For just a split second, I thought for sure we were going down. Luckily he was a good heavy crit monkey (perhaps baboon) and that bottle squirted out from his wheel and shot to the left.
• Hung on for 29 of 30 laps. Died at the end. What can you do?
• Looked up from finishing the crit, only to see a dark impending cloud of doom to the Northwest. How did that get there? Storms come from the east. I had a nice time trial home from the crit to avoid getting rained on. The tail wind in some sections sent me flying. I was dead tired, but I was a dry dead tired when I got home.
• I need to think of something else to eat for dinner besides pasta and a protein shake. Anyone got ideas?

I pop my Cat. 4 cherry this weekend. Brownstone Road Race. Boohay!!!

Who goes to Hooters for the wings?

apparently someone

Editors Note: This pick is from the work fridge. Or the science experiment as some call it. I was grossed out that someone actually felt the need to reheat food from hooters.

Two beer Qu . . . you know the rest

There has been some riding going on here kids.

Over 190 miles this week. Getting work done.

I think all this riding may have lowered my tolerance quite a bit this weekend. I had a few beers, two to be exact. I was more than buzzed. I was stumbling.

Then the next day

After a 50 mile ride, I cooked up my favorite post ride treat. New York Strip steak, some veggie sides, and two Lionshead beers. Buzzed once again. The buzz would be expected if I was downing bottles of Chimay, but Lionshead is a light beer.

I guess this is a great reason to get on my ride on.

In case you don't know. . . . Lionshead is one of the best beers money can buy when low on cash. 10 bucks for a case and none of the oh crap I'm gonna die cause I just had too much Bud feeling.