I took a week off from Thursday, Aug 7th through Wednesday, Aug.14th. I was really starting to need it. I've been riding a decent amount this year, however most of it comes from commuting (9 miles each way to and from work), sometimes catching the Hill ride on Tuesday and maybe riding on Wednesday at Greenbelt races.
I arrived in Seattle, WA and spent the evening at dinner with the family and my wife's friend at an Ethiopian restaurant. Afterward we enjoyed a couple glasses of wine with my wife and her friend on the roof of her apartment building. What a nice sight of the city, harbor and background mountains.
We left the next morning for Spokane, WA, where we stayed at a beautiful hotel, called The Davenport Hotel. Our children enjoyed a nice swim at the pool, had a nice dinner. My wife and I, had a nice seafood dinner at a local restaurant, Anthony's, which overlooked the Spokane Falls. It was really relaxing. The Davenport Hotel really did a good job of pampering us.
The next morning, we had a long and late breakfast, mainly delayed because of the hotel's restaurant became overloaded by a wedding party. We were comp'ed for the breakfast, which was really nice of them. We headed on our way to Glacier National Park.
The drive was lengthy, however beautiful. Mountains, lakes, rivers were all welcomed scenery. We actually passed a forest fire which was consuming a mountain range. Pretty wild, as we could see the smoke from several miles away. The fire was peaking over the mountain top. As we wound our way around the mountain range, we saw the fire spread over about 20 different areas on the range. It was pretty sad to see this happening, however I heard on the radio later that week that it was started by lightening. Nature's way of rejuvenating the forest. We approached Glacier National Park from the West Entrance and saw that they had a fire a few years back as part the forest was pretty gray/brown from far away.
We arrived at for dinner at Lake McDonald Lodge, a beautiful, historic, hunting lodge. The main entrance area included a huge fireplace (used originally for cooking the meals for the guests, many trophy display pieces of local game including bear, elk, moose, eagles, and a polar bear pelt. Dinner was typical of a US National Park service hotel. It doesn't typically match the atmosphere. My wife and I typically stay at nice hotels (Historic Hotels of America), and typically choose a very restaurant to eat at. So, when you're at the US National Park hotels, you're stuck with whatever the hotel offers as there is limited choices in the park. This was the case at Zion National Park and at the Grand Canyon, though Zion Lodge was probably the best out of all of the restaurants we visited this past year.
We went on a hike on Avalanche Trail to the Cedars. It was a nice stroll uphill next to beautiful river from Avalanche Lake. See link for the e-hike. My daughter recently had a wart on the bottom of her middle toe, which my wife had the dermatologist try to burn off with liquid nitrogen, which didn't work too well even after two tries, then another doctor used some type of acid. The last treatment was done a few days before I arrived in Seattle. So to say the least, she was having a bit of pain on the hike. I carried her back down the hike, only to find that my quads were cramping badly. It was really weird. In the beginning of the summer, I was at the beach, playing around and doing these long strides with my knees bent. I thought I had pulled a muscle in my quad. I had to go out and buy some icy hot to give me relief. I'm thinking it may have been a major cramp as well. I think I'm in decent shape and I don't think the hike should have really tired me. I just checked the internet to see that I probably need to do some cross training. See here: http://www.cptips.com/muspain.htm The next day I had the same problem coming down from the hike on Logan Pass. The hike up was no issue but the downhill walk killed me. I was walking slower than a 90 year old. I had to walk backwards or sidewards while coming down. My quads were constantly cramping and my shins also felt sore (shin splints). So there is definitely something physically wrong with my muscles and training. If anyone had the same experience, let me know, what you did to alleviate this issue.
The hike to the hidden lake at Logan Pass was amazing! We hiked over snow fields, even though it the middle of the summer. We saw lots of Columbian ground squirrels (which look a bit like prairie dogs). From the top we saw a few mountain goats down in a rocky field near a lake in the valley. Other than that we didn't see many other animals.
We traveled from the West side to the East side of Glacier National Park. Then, I left heading back to Seattle to catch my plane home. My family continued the opposite way towards the Teton's and Yellowstone.
I had a nice time, however the next time, I'll probably want to do some camping, so that I see more wildlife, also I'd probably want to do more rugged hiking, though I don't know if my legs will be able to take it. Fishing is something else I really want to do. A few hours fly fishing and or lake fishing would be really relaxing and fun. I know that my family had done some camping already so the hotel stays were probably was a good break for them.
Well, I took the red-eye home and went straight to work. I was pretty tired as I didn't get much sleep on the plane because of this little girl screaming and crying the whole way. I ended up leaving work for the Greenbelt training race. I didn't know how my fitness would be as I've been eating well and enjoying my wine while watching the Olympics. Luckily for me, my fitness hasn't left after a week off. Good! I finished I think 7th, however for the second time, they didn't get my placing. It doesn't really matter, as it's just a training event.
I rode to work on Thursday and took Friday off. Today, I did the Highway to Heaven hill climb. I saw the Gamjam post by Nick Bax on his strategy, however don't know if that really would help anyone except for him. He's a guy who can climb and attack on the a climb. My rides with him every once in a while on Brickyard or Mountaingate is proof enough that not to many can do what he does on the hills. So I rode the hill time trial blind. On the start, I hammered it, thinking that by the second part of the hill, I could recover and keep a good pace up that part. Not the case, as I should have known better, from my climbs. I die if I go too hard on the bottom. In the case of Mountaingate, if I pace myself up, I can be ready for an attack or can attack and make it to the top and recover after that. Well in today's case, the second part of the climb killed me. I dropped from about 14 mph, from the bottom part, down to about 8 mph. Even if the pitch was not as tough as the start, I was blown. It really hurt and I was happy when I reached the third part. I shifted into my big ring and hammered away as Nick has said. Only to find out that I wasn't hammering away to a flat finish. The last 200 meters was another steeper pitch which wasn't ready for as again, I abused myself and blew up. I could barely pedal finishing up at a crawl. I waited for the results and Ad Bax, told me that I was at the top of the list. I was pretty amazed and couldn't believe it as I thought it wasn't a great performance. Unfortunately about 10 minutes later, the ref. said that there a protest. Yep...Karl Connelly from Kelly Benefit had been placed up top. I thought he had probably done well as he was in his long sleeve skin suit and looked like he could climb. I know that I'm not a great climber except for short sprints up, so I couldn't believe that I would win my category. Oh,yeah... I was wheezing and coughing at the end and still am coughing now (8 hours later). Weird, it feels like I have water in my lungs. The thing is that others were coughing like I was including Nick. Hopefully I feel better this evening. I'll probably have a couple glasses of wine to give me some relief. Just like last night, I had a few with friends and stayed up till about 2am watching the Olympics. Yep, Michael Phelps is amazing. Looks like my training regiment includes grapes (wine). Apparently there's a study about grapes(Resveratrol) about how it may enhance performance. I guess I'm a good test subject without really trying... hehe.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Too many training like me..
Doubling up seems to be the big thing this Bunny Hop or Hunny Bop. Doing it in 95+ degree weather is nuts. Why do we do this? Just because we like to suffer. Does it make you stronger, faster, better? For some... it's just normal and keeps them in shape. For those guys it's just another easy training ride. For guys like me, it's called stupidity.
I arrived about 1/2 an hour before the 123 race and registered for that race as I thought it would be a nice workout and I could gauge my how my fitness has increased. I hadn't been able to finish a pro 123 race this year, well I've only done Reston this year and ran out of gas fairly early on. So, this one would be a good test. Well, I hung in there however there wasn't too much I could do, I couldn't react to any hard attacks, recovery definitely too too long, the heat was definitely getting to me. I was getting chills, my fingers were cramping, I was getting too hot and couldn't cool down. Unfortunately the water in my bottle was hot and didn't do much to cool me, either by drinking or by pouring it over my neck and back. I just wanted to finish upright, which I did. No sprinting for me, I just rolled in through the finish 35th. I was satisfied with my performance and quickly got to the car and drank a half liter of Gatorade quickly. Wanting to cool down quickly I turned on the AC and drove to my office locker room to take a shower. It took about 40 minutes getting there. During the drive, I started to feel my ass tightening up and seizing up. Oh crap, I didn't take time to cool down and spin.
I took a cold shower and cooled down a bit. It felt good, however my ass was in pain.
I tried to stretch out a bit but it didn't work well. I looked at my watch and had to head back to the race. I arrived to loosen up a little bit before the race. I was pretty amazed that my ass was feeling better but a bit sore. Well, I was thinking that the 30/40+ race was going to be lightly attended, however it looked like everyone in the 123's decided to double up. Sh*t another 123 race. Sure enough, it was pretty fast, I even bridged up to a break, however that effort pretty much took everything out of me and I had a hard time recovering. I was breathing really laboriously and feeling like dropping out. I hung for about 5 more laps, then finally with 5 laps to go, my head wasn't into the race so I just pulled up and out. No reason for me to sprint as I don't think I could. With 3 laps to go, I was on the sidelines watching the pack explode. Well, I guess people were feeling just as badly as I did, however they had it in their head to finish and not give up.
Chalk this up as a learning experience. Bunny Hop is always HOT! If you want to give a good effort on placing, then commit to only one race, unless you are just that strong. (or if the weather is much cooler). Bottom line don't train like me.
Where's my massage when I need it??!!
I arrived about 1/2 an hour before the 123 race and registered for that race as I thought it would be a nice workout and I could gauge my how my fitness has increased. I hadn't been able to finish a pro 123 race this year, well I've only done Reston this year and ran out of gas fairly early on. So, this one would be a good test. Well, I hung in there however there wasn't too much I could do, I couldn't react to any hard attacks, recovery definitely too too long, the heat was definitely getting to me. I was getting chills, my fingers were cramping, I was getting too hot and couldn't cool down. Unfortunately the water in my bottle was hot and didn't do much to cool me, either by drinking or by pouring it over my neck and back. I just wanted to finish upright, which I did. No sprinting for me, I just rolled in through the finish 35th. I was satisfied with my performance and quickly got to the car and drank a half liter of Gatorade quickly. Wanting to cool down quickly I turned on the AC and drove to my office locker room to take a shower. It took about 40 minutes getting there. During the drive, I started to feel my ass tightening up and seizing up. Oh crap, I didn't take time to cool down and spin.
I took a cold shower and cooled down a bit. It felt good, however my ass was in pain.
I tried to stretch out a bit but it didn't work well. I looked at my watch and had to head back to the race. I arrived to loosen up a little bit before the race. I was pretty amazed that my ass was feeling better but a bit sore. Well, I was thinking that the 30/40+ race was going to be lightly attended, however it looked like everyone in the 123's decided to double up. Sh*t another 123 race. Sure enough, it was pretty fast, I even bridged up to a break, however that effort pretty much took everything out of me and I had a hard time recovering. I was breathing really laboriously and feeling like dropping out. I hung for about 5 more laps, then finally with 5 laps to go, my head wasn't into the race so I just pulled up and out. No reason for me to sprint as I don't think I could. With 3 laps to go, I was on the sidelines watching the pack explode. Well, I guess people were feeling just as badly as I did, however they had it in their head to finish and not give up.
Chalk this up as a learning experience. Bunny Hop is always HOT! If you want to give a good effort on placing, then commit to only one race, unless you are just that strong. (or if the weather is much cooler). Bottom line don't train like me.
Where's my massage when I need it??!!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
What gives today???Tri group ride Tuesday night in Arlington, VA and my ride home.
This evening I left work around 6:40pm. One of my co-worker said watch out for the weirdos out there. I chuckled and said I would. After only going two blocks away, I had guy who decided to walk in the middle of the road not watching where he was going, I had to brake and swerve at the last second. Then a car behind me decides to tail me very closely. What's the deal tonight?
Ahead I saw a bunch of riders in a group. I was pretty amazed and joined up with the bunch of riders going out towards Military Road. This was a pretty decent size group. First of all I was amazed that they got an Arlington police officer directing traffic to allow them to cross Washington Blvd at North Quincy Street. Nice....As I approached the back of the pack, I noticed a few with tri-bars. Then more and more. I noticed a few local racing jerseys and noticed many were wearing DC Tri Club jerseys. They were all having a very social ride chatting. I started riding past many of them on the road and all of a sudden someone swerves almost taking me out. I swerved over the yellow line, luckily no cars were coming. A block later another guy swerves as well and almost takes out another rider. Then another guy breaks wide and almost takes me out. What the hell? I have nothing against Triathletes, however these guys definitely couldn't ride smoothly in a pack. There are a few Triathletes who I have ridden with and I definitely trust, Mayor Adrian Fenty is one of them. A guy who rides the "goon" ride, well he was very dangerous in the beginning a few years ago, crashing on a curve. I think that taught him. He's a very strong rider, however I still don't totally trust his handling. I don't know what it is however Tri riders don't ride the same way as road racers. When a road racer decides to make a move towards the side, I usually can anticipate it. When the tri guy does it, it seems unexpected. I don't know why it's different. It could be that the road guy has more acceleration where the tri guy just goes sideways or backwards, I don't know. However, one thing it does teach me is to stay away from those tri guys.
Well, on I go, making the turn on to Military Road and I lose them from my sight when I look back. I'm cruising down the 2nd hill on Military going about 40 miles an hour, two girls are starting to walk across the road, I yell out to them. One girl stops, the other continues to dance across, I slammed on the brakes narrowly missing her as she is looking she's doing jumping jacks. Fricken weirdo! I could have made some major damage here going that speed, luckily, I didn't have an accident. I then pass a recreational rider without a helmet and yelled to him to get a helmet. I get to where Military merges with North Glebe Road and I merge on going with some good speed downhill. The car on North Glebe Road who was behind me gains on me and then follow me too close for comfort especially with the off camber turns. I just keep my pace and make sure I keep the rubber in contact with the road. Luckily, the lady driver gets caught at the light before Chain Bridge. I follow an SUV over the bridge then down to the left turn at Arizona Avenue. The light is green and the SUV doesn't turn. (It's the only way to go as Clara Barton Parkway is one way North, South of Arizona Ave. The light turns Red. Then it goes green. The driver still stays there and cars behind me are honking, (I noticed that the driver plates are from Florida), that must be the answer. Finally, they turn, and I of course can't seem to clip into my pedals. I finally get them on and cruise up the street and into the neighborhood street. The a guy who is walking his dog in the middle of the street decides to let his dog move into the intersection and doesn't tighten or retract the 25 foot leash. I slow down thinking the dog's going to run across. The guy not only doesn't stop and pull back he continues to walk. Luckily the dog had more intelligence than his owner and stops. I ride by. I did ride by a few riders today without helmets and pointed at my helmet and yelled out, where's your helmet? Wear a helmet it will protect you.
I'm riding up Del Carlia Parkway, the cars were zooming by without giving me much clearance. WTF? There are two lanes and they need to pass me in my lane? Now, Westmoreland Circle, the drivers are looking at me on Mass Ave. however one was still moving forward, I thought he might just run into me. He finally stopped and I shook my head as I have the right of way, but I'm just a cyclist and he's got a car.
Now on Western Avenue, I have this FedEx driver who seems to be in a rush. He accelerates hard at every light, I'm going pretty hard, he gets blocked in behind a car turning left, then passes me a few blocks later. I catch up as he's caught in slow traffic, my lane is clear and I keep thinking that he's going to move into my lane and take me out as he probably can't see me in his mirror I am almost up to his sliding door. Luckily he saw me from before and never came into my lane. I finally get home safely. Wow.. it was one of these crazy nights! I've never seen it as dangerous as tonight. Was it a full moon? What was the deal tonight????
Well tomorrow, I'll be driving in. Of course, I'll try to drive from Arlington to Greenbelt, hopefully the traffic will be light in the evening so I can make the race in time.
Ahead I saw a bunch of riders in a group. I was pretty amazed and joined up with the bunch of riders going out towards Military Road. This was a pretty decent size group. First of all I was amazed that they got an Arlington police officer directing traffic to allow them to cross Washington Blvd at North Quincy Street. Nice....As I approached the back of the pack, I noticed a few with tri-bars. Then more and more. I noticed a few local racing jerseys and noticed many were wearing DC Tri Club jerseys. They were all having a very social ride chatting. I started riding past many of them on the road and all of a sudden someone swerves almost taking me out. I swerved over the yellow line, luckily no cars were coming. A block later another guy swerves as well and almost takes out another rider. Then another guy breaks wide and almost takes me out. What the hell? I have nothing against Triathletes, however these guys definitely couldn't ride smoothly in a pack. There are a few Triathletes who I have ridden with and I definitely trust, Mayor Adrian Fenty is one of them. A guy who rides the "goon" ride, well he was very dangerous in the beginning a few years ago, crashing on a curve. I think that taught him. He's a very strong rider, however I still don't totally trust his handling. I don't know what it is however Tri riders don't ride the same way as road racers. When a road racer decides to make a move towards the side, I usually can anticipate it. When the tri guy does it, it seems unexpected. I don't know why it's different. It could be that the road guy has more acceleration where the tri guy just goes sideways or backwards, I don't know. However, one thing it does teach me is to stay away from those tri guys.
Well, on I go, making the turn on to Military Road and I lose them from my sight when I look back. I'm cruising down the 2nd hill on Military going about 40 miles an hour, two girls are starting to walk across the road, I yell out to them. One girl stops, the other continues to dance across, I slammed on the brakes narrowly missing her as she is looking she's doing jumping jacks. Fricken weirdo! I could have made some major damage here going that speed, luckily, I didn't have an accident. I then pass a recreational rider without a helmet and yelled to him to get a helmet. I get to where Military merges with North Glebe Road and I merge on going with some good speed downhill. The car on North Glebe Road who was behind me gains on me and then follow me too close for comfort especially with the off camber turns. I just keep my pace and make sure I keep the rubber in contact with the road. Luckily, the lady driver gets caught at the light before Chain Bridge. I follow an SUV over the bridge then down to the left turn at Arizona Avenue. The light is green and the SUV doesn't turn. (It's the only way to go as Clara Barton Parkway is one way North, South of Arizona Ave. The light turns Red. Then it goes green. The driver still stays there and cars behind me are honking, (I noticed that the driver plates are from Florida), that must be the answer. Finally, they turn, and I of course can't seem to clip into my pedals. I finally get them on and cruise up the street and into the neighborhood street. The a guy who is walking his dog in the middle of the street decides to let his dog move into the intersection and doesn't tighten or retract the 25 foot leash. I slow down thinking the dog's going to run across. The guy not only doesn't stop and pull back he continues to walk. Luckily the dog had more intelligence than his owner and stops. I ride by. I did ride by a few riders today without helmets and pointed at my helmet and yelled out, where's your helmet? Wear a helmet it will protect you.
I'm riding up Del Carlia Parkway, the cars were zooming by without giving me much clearance. WTF? There are two lanes and they need to pass me in my lane? Now, Westmoreland Circle, the drivers are looking at me on Mass Ave. however one was still moving forward, I thought he might just run into me. He finally stopped and I shook my head as I have the right of way, but I'm just a cyclist and he's got a car.
Now on Western Avenue, I have this FedEx driver who seems to be in a rush. He accelerates hard at every light, I'm going pretty hard, he gets blocked in behind a car turning left, then passes me a few blocks later. I catch up as he's caught in slow traffic, my lane is clear and I keep thinking that he's going to move into my lane and take me out as he probably can't see me in his mirror I am almost up to his sliding door. Luckily he saw me from before and never came into my lane. I finally get home safely. Wow.. it was one of these crazy nights! I've never seen it as dangerous as tonight. Was it a full moon? What was the deal tonight????
Well tomorrow, I'll be driving in. Of course, I'll try to drive from Arlington to Greenbelt, hopefully the traffic will be light in the evening so I can make the race in time.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Great sportsmanship!
I was recently introduced to this blog:
http://everydayathleteblog.com
There's a great story about Chris Horner of Astana.
http://everydayathleteblog.com/2008/07/12/chris-horner-gives-fallen-rider-and-bike-a-2k-ride-to-the-finish/
There aren't enough articles published on the sportsmanship of cycling. However this one is excellent!
http://everydayathleteblog.com
There's a great story about Chris Horner of Astana.
http://everydayathleteblog.com/2008/07/12/chris-horner-gives-fallen-rider-and-bike-a-2k-ride-to-the-finish/
There aren't enough articles published on the sportsmanship of cycling. However this one is excellent!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Highs and lows.
Let's start off with the highs:
I purchased a pair of used Shimano Dura Ace 7800 Pedals recently as it was a deal too good to pass up. I was originally thinking of buying some Look Keo Carbons, however, I wasn't going to buy anything till my old 14 year old or more. These things were produced before the first Shimano SPD road pedals. A few years ago the pedals actually spun off the spindle during a crash in Frederick. Recently, that pedal was feeling pretty tight and wasn't spinning much. So great! I mounted the Shimano cleats and felt that the new pedals definitely more efficient than my old pedals. It could be that my cleats were getting worn there was a bit of play in them.
I raced with them last Sunday at Williamsport and performed fairly well. Sunday night and Monday, my calf was in serious pain. I don't know if it was from my calves cramping up on the final sprint climb on Saturday's road race or whether it was from the new positioning of the cleat. So I played with the positioning all week.
Last week on Thursday, I finally got the right size of Shimano R300's. Everyone keeps raving about these. I have the older R215's in silver. They've been really great shoes for me after the first break in period. During the break in period, I kept getting cramps in my feet and I had to ride with the velcro closures fairly loosely. They finally broke in after about a month and they've been work horses ever since. (3 years ago) This year they have been starting to show wear and things look like they will start to fall apart by the end of this season. So, I broke down and bought them. I'll give store a plug even though I race for The Bicycle Place, as the Bicycle Place didn't carry that model. Race Place in Columbia, MD, was one of the only shop in the area which carries the shoes. I couldn't find a place in DC, VA or in Montgomery County which carried the shoes. Race Pace actually had a great inventory of the shoe, so if any of you want a pair, you can find them there. I had them custom fitted there. The soles were heated and fitted. Then the shoes were heated, and then the vacuum process. Wow..it was pretty amazing about the power of the suction on the plastic sleeve. Apparently the plastic sleeve, which was really thin, was really strong. The vacuum fit was pretty cool as the it feels like someone wraps their hands all around your feel and squeezes pretty hard. The custom fit was complete. I noticed as I rode with the shoe the next day that there was almost too much space in the toe box area. (height wise, width wise was fine) I'm wondering if I should not have custom fitted the insole and let it break in instead as it would probably been tighter. The one thing I can tell you is that the shoe feels like it's been broken in immediately and there was no cramping.
The weird thing was trying to get an optimal position on the cleat. I felt that I wasn't getting as much power as used to. So I tried moving the cleat backwards, it still didn't feel right and I pulled it forward again.
Well, the bad (lows) things started to happen. On Saturday, I did the 7am DCVelo ride. I was thinking I was riding fine, as I doing my rotation on Clara Barton... Then came the Anglers climb. Boom... I faltered about 1/4 of the way up. Many passed me and I couldn't keep the pace. So I just spun up at my own pace, went 1/2 way down Great Falls and came backup. Well, I was feeling okay through the rest of the ride, I even got towards the front when the big guns started their train down Democracy Lane. I jumped in and waited for the sprint. It was going pretty fast and when the sprint came, I had no power. I felt pretty unstable and couldn't do anything except spin. Of course, Professor Greg Vadas gave me a few words about keeping on a line.
Well on to doing the extra 10. A small group of us rode down to Rock Creek Nature Center. I was feeling pretty good so I picked up the pace up the hill. After the crest I continued to ride with some effort. I rounded one of the right hand curves, and it got tighter and I leaned the bike over a bit more to handle the turn, and WHAM! I went down on my right side, slaming my head on the ground then sliding and fliping over to my left side before I came to a stop. I saw my bike in my corner of my eye bouncing around and the riders behind me almost crashed into me. Luckily they avoided me. Damn the ground was damp and the air was humid. I should have known better and slowed it a bit. Well, I de-virginized my shoes! Nice scrape on the carbon fiber and side of the show and I found the buckle on the ground as well. My brake hoods on my Shimano Dura Ace shifters were pretty dented and scraped. My new white and red gloves were torn and blackened from the asphalt. My Assos bibs came out okay, with just a small hole torn in it. My jersey was just a bit roughed up, but no holes. My helmet is cracked. One lens of the Tifosi glasses popped out, and luckily I saw it laying in the road and put it in my pocket. Amazingly no one ran over it and no scratches were on it, after inspecting it at home. What else, oh yeah, my handlebar tape was ripped up and I didn't notice it but my derailleur got scraped up, hopefully it's not bent or the drop outs. It doesn't quite shift so smoothly. F*ck! (I found out that today during the Reston Race) What else?? Oh yeah... bodily injuries. I actually came out alright. The biggest thing is the big raspberry on my hip, my elbow had a some scrapes and scratches, my wrist got a couple of scrapes, my shoulder blades has a couple of rubs, and luckily no bleeding, my right shoulder has a small rub, my left hip has a little bit of light scrapes and I have one small scrape just above my butt. So all in all, I'm in good shape, luckily (or unluckily) it was a bit wet. My neck is a bit sore from the whiplash sidewards, and the back is a bit sore too. I jumped into the shower, scrubbed my scrapes to get out the ground in dirt and pebbles and then put on the Doctor's Choice Advance Wound Care self adhering pads (for burns, scalds, Abrasions) (Luckily a few weeks ago I saw these on sale for 1/2 price off at the local Giant.) These things are kind of like Tegaderm, however it's a bit thicker and has a bit of cooling effect and provides a bit of moisture. I found these types of treatments work much better than gauze pads or other treatments which allow scabs. Scabs start itching and cracking causing more damage. This method allows healing just like a scab, except it's soft and the skin underneath the pad heals very softly.
I went to get my hair cut later, needing that badly, then went to The Bicycle Place to speak with the owner Mike. I got some bar tape and asked him about cleat positioning. He fit me immediately and we are trying the cleat as far back as possible. Mike's always got sound advice. We lowered my seat post and made sure the positioning of the knee was in the right place. I said I would give it a try. It felt a little different as I was a bit lower than my original position.
I was a bit tired and whacked from the crash, so I took the rest of the day resting. I didn't even try out riding the bike.
Sunday, On to Reston. 40+ race was fast, faster than I thought it would be. I loved the course, the cones on the turn towards the uphill was a really smart thing to do. No one would take chance short cutting the corner and causing issues. We could roll through the turn doubled up and everyone held true to the line. There were several breakaways, some which lasted longer than others. With about 6 laps to go I was thinking the last break would hold. It looked like several riders were blocking, so I took a hard attack and hammered trying to bridge the lead pack of 8 or so. I caught them and looked back and the others were not close by. However the group slowed for some reason. Well, great, I bridged and no reward, I was pretty tapped. We got caught about another 15-20 seconds. Well with 4 laps to go I was just trying to recover and to keep my position. The last lap, which I wasn't too sure it was, I was passed by about 4 riders on the 3rd to last corner and unfortunately I wasn't aggressive enough to move forward and ended up 8th.
Not to happy about my result, I decided to stick around and do the Cat123 race. I watched the other races and had a pesto pasta lunch. It was tasty, however, I think I would have been better off with some protein. It was also full of olive oil. Anyway, after standing around in the heat all day, I decided to take a short rest in my car in the parking lot. I cheered on my teammates in the CAT4 race. Then warmed up for the CAT123 race. We got the call up and then off we went. Frickin fast start. We were basically sprinting the whole time. It felt like someone was attacking constantly. I hung in there for a while then the body started taking it's toll. I can't remember when I dropped out, however I couldn't get enough oxygen to refresh my muscles and I was tapped. I started getting stomach cramps after I stopped. I think it could have been that I drank too much water earlier and that the pasta was too oily. The one thing it proved today is that I still need to improve my speed work, which I am definitely lacking this year. I am amazed to see that Ramon and Super Dave continue to perform well in these races, even after doing the 30/40+ races before hand. Unfortunately.. the bad thing is they will always be in my age category!
The Harley guys are pretty incredible.. Russ Langely put on an incredible race today. Dave Fuentes is just a hammer, the guy always performs. Anyway, I don't know any Harley guys who can't put a hurting on me.
Thanks to Team Evolution for continuing on this great tradition. I liked this course even better than the course two years ago. The pavement is nice and smooth and we could corner with lots of speed. It was fun, however hard it was. Best of all there were minimal crashes, a few in the Cat 4 race, which is expected and one in the CAT123 race.
Last comment... Funny thing I heard today: From a young lady at the wheel pit "Oh, I just met Lance Lacy, what a nice guy... he's so HOT!!" Lance, you definitely have a fan club!"
Picture credit: Phil Young
I purchased a pair of used Shimano Dura Ace 7800 Pedals recently as it was a deal too good to pass up. I was originally thinking of buying some Look Keo Carbons, however, I wasn't going to buy anything till my old 14 year old or more. These things were produced before the first Shimano SPD road pedals. A few years ago the pedals actually spun off the spindle during a crash in Frederick. Recently, that pedal was feeling pretty tight and wasn't spinning much. So great! I mounted the Shimano cleats and felt that the new pedals definitely more efficient than my old pedals. It could be that my cleats were getting worn there was a bit of play in them.
I raced with them last Sunday at Williamsport and performed fairly well. Sunday night and Monday, my calf was in serious pain. I don't know if it was from my calves cramping up on the final sprint climb on Saturday's road race or whether it was from the new positioning of the cleat. So I played with the positioning all week.
Last week on Thursday, I finally got the right size of Shimano R300's. Everyone keeps raving about these. I have the older R215's in silver. They've been really great shoes for me after the first break in period. During the break in period, I kept getting cramps in my feet and I had to ride with the velcro closures fairly loosely. They finally broke in after about a month and they've been work horses ever since. (3 years ago) This year they have been starting to show wear and things look like they will start to fall apart by the end of this season. So, I broke down and bought them. I'll give store a plug even though I race for The Bicycle Place, as the Bicycle Place didn't carry that model. Race Place in Columbia, MD, was one of the only shop in the area which carries the shoes. I couldn't find a place in DC, VA or in Montgomery County which carried the shoes. Race Pace actually had a great inventory of the shoe, so if any of you want a pair, you can find them there. I had them custom fitted there. The soles were heated and fitted. Then the shoes were heated, and then the vacuum process. Wow..it was pretty amazing about the power of the suction on the plastic sleeve. Apparently the plastic sleeve, which was really thin, was really strong. The vacuum fit was pretty cool as the it feels like someone wraps their hands all around your feel and squeezes pretty hard. The custom fit was complete. I noticed as I rode with the shoe the next day that there was almost too much space in the toe box area. (height wise, width wise was fine) I'm wondering if I should not have custom fitted the insole and let it break in instead as it would probably been tighter. The one thing I can tell you is that the shoe feels like it's been broken in immediately and there was no cramping.
The weird thing was trying to get an optimal position on the cleat. I felt that I wasn't getting as much power as used to. So I tried moving the cleat backwards, it still didn't feel right and I pulled it forward again.
Well, the bad (lows) things started to happen. On Saturday, I did the 7am DCVelo ride. I was thinking I was riding fine, as I doing my rotation on Clara Barton... Then came the Anglers climb. Boom... I faltered about 1/4 of the way up. Many passed me and I couldn't keep the pace. So I just spun up at my own pace, went 1/2 way down Great Falls and came backup. Well, I was feeling okay through the rest of the ride, I even got towards the front when the big guns started their train down Democracy Lane. I jumped in and waited for the sprint. It was going pretty fast and when the sprint came, I had no power. I felt pretty unstable and couldn't do anything except spin. Of course, Professor Greg Vadas gave me a few words about keeping on a line.
Well on to doing the extra 10. A small group of us rode down to Rock Creek Nature Center. I was feeling pretty good so I picked up the pace up the hill. After the crest I continued to ride with some effort. I rounded one of the right hand curves, and it got tighter and I leaned the bike over a bit more to handle the turn, and WHAM! I went down on my right side, slaming my head on the ground then sliding and fliping over to my left side before I came to a stop. I saw my bike in my corner of my eye bouncing around and the riders behind me almost crashed into me. Luckily they avoided me. Damn the ground was damp and the air was humid. I should have known better and slowed it a bit. Well, I de-virginized my shoes! Nice scrape on the carbon fiber and side of the show and I found the buckle on the ground as well. My brake hoods on my Shimano Dura Ace shifters were pretty dented and scraped. My new white and red gloves were torn and blackened from the asphalt. My Assos bibs came out okay, with just a small hole torn in it. My jersey was just a bit roughed up, but no holes. My helmet is cracked. One lens of the Tifosi glasses popped out, and luckily I saw it laying in the road and put it in my pocket. Amazingly no one ran over it and no scratches were on it, after inspecting it at home. What else, oh yeah, my handlebar tape was ripped up and I didn't notice it but my derailleur got scraped up, hopefully it's not bent or the drop outs. It doesn't quite shift so smoothly. F*ck! (I found out that today during the Reston Race) What else?? Oh yeah... bodily injuries. I actually came out alright. The biggest thing is the big raspberry on my hip, my elbow had a some scrapes and scratches, my wrist got a couple of scrapes, my shoulder blades has a couple of rubs, and luckily no bleeding, my right shoulder has a small rub, my left hip has a little bit of light scrapes and I have one small scrape just above my butt. So all in all, I'm in good shape, luckily (or unluckily) it was a bit wet. My neck is a bit sore from the whiplash sidewards, and the back is a bit sore too. I jumped into the shower, scrubbed my scrapes to get out the ground in dirt and pebbles and then put on the Doctor's Choice Advance Wound Care self adhering pads (for burns, scalds, Abrasions) (Luckily a few weeks ago I saw these on sale for 1/2 price off at the local Giant.) These things are kind of like Tegaderm, however it's a bit thicker and has a bit of cooling effect and provides a bit of moisture. I found these types of treatments work much better than gauze pads or other treatments which allow scabs. Scabs start itching and cracking causing more damage. This method allows healing just like a scab, except it's soft and the skin underneath the pad heals very softly.
I went to get my hair cut later, needing that badly, then went to The Bicycle Place to speak with the owner Mike. I got some bar tape and asked him about cleat positioning. He fit me immediately and we are trying the cleat as far back as possible. Mike's always got sound advice. We lowered my seat post and made sure the positioning of the knee was in the right place. I said I would give it a try. It felt a little different as I was a bit lower than my original position.
I was a bit tired and whacked from the crash, so I took the rest of the day resting. I didn't even try out riding the bike.
Sunday, On to Reston. 40+ race was fast, faster than I thought it would be. I loved the course, the cones on the turn towards the uphill was a really smart thing to do. No one would take chance short cutting the corner and causing issues. We could roll through the turn doubled up and everyone held true to the line. There were several breakaways, some which lasted longer than others. With about 6 laps to go I was thinking the last break would hold. It looked like several riders were blocking, so I took a hard attack and hammered trying to bridge the lead pack of 8 or so. I caught them and looked back and the others were not close by. However the group slowed for some reason. Well, great, I bridged and no reward, I was pretty tapped. We got caught about another 15-20 seconds. Well with 4 laps to go I was just trying to recover and to keep my position. The last lap, which I wasn't too sure it was, I was passed by about 4 riders on the 3rd to last corner and unfortunately I wasn't aggressive enough to move forward and ended up 8th.
Not to happy about my result, I decided to stick around and do the Cat123 race. I watched the other races and had a pesto pasta lunch. It was tasty, however, I think I would have been better off with some protein. It was also full of olive oil. Anyway, after standing around in the heat all day, I decided to take a short rest in my car in the parking lot. I cheered on my teammates in the CAT4 race. Then warmed up for the CAT123 race. We got the call up and then off we went. Frickin fast start. We were basically sprinting the whole time. It felt like someone was attacking constantly. I hung in there for a while then the body started taking it's toll. I can't remember when I dropped out, however I couldn't get enough oxygen to refresh my muscles and I was tapped. I started getting stomach cramps after I stopped. I think it could have been that I drank too much water earlier and that the pasta was too oily. The one thing it proved today is that I still need to improve my speed work, which I am definitely lacking this year. I am amazed to see that Ramon and Super Dave continue to perform well in these races, even after doing the 30/40+ races before hand. Unfortunately.. the bad thing is they will always be in my age category!
The Harley guys are pretty incredible.. Russ Langely put on an incredible race today. Dave Fuentes is just a hammer, the guy always performs. Anyway, I don't know any Harley guys who can't put a hurting on me.
Thanks to Team Evolution for continuing on this great tradition. I liked this course even better than the course two years ago. The pavement is nice and smooth and we could corner with lots of speed. It was fun, however hard it was. Best of all there were minimal crashes, a few in the Cat 4 race, which is expected and one in the CAT123 race.
Last comment... Funny thing I heard today: From a young lady at the wheel pit "Oh, I just met Lance Lacy, what a nice guy... he's so HOT!!" Lance, you definitely have a fan club!"
Picture credit: Phil Young
Monday, June 23, 2008
Tour de Washington County Weekend.
I have to say I had fun at the TDWC race this weekend. Thanks to AVC Racing, the good folks of Washington County, and all of the people who donated their time in making this event a success. I love being there just watching the spectators enjoy watching the race. The criterium was exciting! Each race was fun to watch. Luckily my family, had left on vacation, so I had time to stay for the complete Williamsport Crit starting from the morning CAT123 race all through the CAT4 race.
Of course, I screwed up by not registering in time the past week. I had arrived home and was called to dinner, only to remember right after dinner that I had forgotten to register. It was already 8:30pm. Oh well. Tough luck. Good excuse anyway as it looked like there might be rain on Sunday for the TT and Crit. The other reason was that I don't own a TT bike. I can't justify just racing twice a year to buy a TT bike. It used to be okay when I could just put on the clip on Scott rake bars... then came the Disc wheels, which my 30 second man would pass me making that awful racket with their carbon wheels. Now, to be competitive in a 40KM TT, you've got to be totally tricked out with your streamlined frame, disc rear wheel, Special TT bars, the TT helmet and of course you have to have the skin suit.. Not just the skin suit, however the full body low air resistant suit. Each little customization which cost lots of money will allow you to slash several seconds off of your time. However there's nothing like pure endurance and power. Well, I didn't have the chance to even try. I was closed out of the registration.
Saturday, I entered the Masters 40+ race, and for the most part it was fairly tame, not too many attacks, I felt relatively good, though with 3 laps to go, each climb was beginning to get harder and my legs were feeling like jelly a few times. I conserved my energy as it didn't seem anyone was strong enough to get away. Pete Lindeman and Andreas Gutzeit did get a small lead on the rest of the pack on last stretch. As I knew that the first hill was a false finish, I let others lead me out and on the final hill, I did the sprint to try to catch Andreas and Pete, they seemed to have a good clip and I was gaining, however not fast enough. I caught Pete as he faltered the last 20 yards, however Andreas kept his pace through to the finish. I finished 2nd, with my legs cramping up and Chris coming up strong on my left. It was a good race.
I went home and made sure I ate enough to replenish my energy, I stayed up late, and didn't know why.I woke up early at about 5:30 AM, just trying to hear the raindrops on the roof. Well, it wasn't there anymore. It was already bright outside, so I decided to get ready for the Williamsport crit. I arrived with plenty of time, had a few doughnuts (yep, Krispy Kreme, my favorite!), and Clif bars with my coffee. I warmed up riding with the CAT123 riders. Then watched them take off. It was pretty incredible the speeds they were holding and guys tongues were dragging on the ground.
The 40+ race was next and I started off with a brisk pace, jumping to the front and leading the pack around a couple of times. I was just testing the competition. We all settled in and for the most of the time it was fairly smooth. The final lap was going to be fast. Andreas, the GC leader unfortunately slid out on the final turn, and made hamburger out of his leg. Bill Luecke was ahead of me and went wide as Andreas was still sliding on the ground. He jumped the curb into the gravel lane and I had to follow as my wheel was the outside. We were passed by several riders in the crash. I jumped back on to the road and did my best to sprint to catch the riders who passed me. I caught a few however the accident was enough to cause enough delay so that I was not a factor in final sprint. I took 4th. Oh well, such is racing.
Here's a photo of Andreas. (Photo Credit: Phil Young, Kevin's dad)
I was not so tired so that I later entered the CAT 3 race as well. My goal was to protect my fellow teammate who was 2nd in the GC category. I stayed up in the top 10 positions for the most part of the race. With 4 laps to go, I felt my front wheel getting soft. I made a decision to drop out.. well that sucked. No more free lap, so I walked my bike back to watch the final few laps. My teammate Kevin Young, a junior, took 2nd missing the crash from rider in front of him. He's definitely getting smarter and stronger. The final GC results were finally posted and Kevin received the top position.
Anyway, I had a great time watching the race.
Of course, I screwed up by not registering in time the past week. I had arrived home and was called to dinner, only to remember right after dinner that I had forgotten to register. It was already 8:30pm. Oh well. Tough luck. Good excuse anyway as it looked like there might be rain on Sunday for the TT and Crit. The other reason was that I don't own a TT bike. I can't justify just racing twice a year to buy a TT bike. It used to be okay when I could just put on the clip on Scott rake bars... then came the Disc wheels, which my 30 second man would pass me making that awful racket with their carbon wheels. Now, to be competitive in a 40KM TT, you've got to be totally tricked out with your streamlined frame, disc rear wheel, Special TT bars, the TT helmet and of course you have to have the skin suit.. Not just the skin suit, however the full body low air resistant suit. Each little customization which cost lots of money will allow you to slash several seconds off of your time. However there's nothing like pure endurance and power. Well, I didn't have the chance to even try. I was closed out of the registration.
Saturday, I entered the Masters 40+ race, and for the most part it was fairly tame, not too many attacks, I felt relatively good, though with 3 laps to go, each climb was beginning to get harder and my legs were feeling like jelly a few times. I conserved my energy as it didn't seem anyone was strong enough to get away. Pete Lindeman and Andreas Gutzeit did get a small lead on the rest of the pack on last stretch. As I knew that the first hill was a false finish, I let others lead me out and on the final hill, I did the sprint to try to catch Andreas and Pete, they seemed to have a good clip and I was gaining, however not fast enough. I caught Pete as he faltered the last 20 yards, however Andreas kept his pace through to the finish. I finished 2nd, with my legs cramping up and Chris coming up strong on my left. It was a good race.
I went home and made sure I ate enough to replenish my energy, I stayed up late, and didn't know why.I woke up early at about 5:30 AM, just trying to hear the raindrops on the roof. Well, it wasn't there anymore. It was already bright outside, so I decided to get ready for the Williamsport crit. I arrived with plenty of time, had a few doughnuts (yep, Krispy Kreme, my favorite!), and Clif bars with my coffee. I warmed up riding with the CAT123 riders. Then watched them take off. It was pretty incredible the speeds they were holding and guys tongues were dragging on the ground.
The 40+ race was next and I started off with a brisk pace, jumping to the front and leading the pack around a couple of times. I was just testing the competition. We all settled in and for the most of the time it was fairly smooth. The final lap was going to be fast. Andreas, the GC leader unfortunately slid out on the final turn, and made hamburger out of his leg. Bill Luecke was ahead of me and went wide as Andreas was still sliding on the ground. He jumped the curb into the gravel lane and I had to follow as my wheel was the outside. We were passed by several riders in the crash. I jumped back on to the road and did my best to sprint to catch the riders who passed me. I caught a few however the accident was enough to cause enough delay so that I was not a factor in final sprint. I took 4th. Oh well, such is racing.
Here's a photo of Andreas. (Photo Credit: Phil Young, Kevin's dad)
I was not so tired so that I later entered the CAT 3 race as well. My goal was to protect my fellow teammate who was 2nd in the GC category. I stayed up in the top 10 positions for the most part of the race. With 4 laps to go, I felt my front wheel getting soft. I made a decision to drop out.. well that sucked. No more free lap, so I walked my bike back to watch the final few laps. My teammate Kevin Young, a junior, took 2nd missing the crash from rider in front of him. He's definitely getting smarter and stronger. The final GC results were finally posted and Kevin received the top position.
Anyway, I had a great time watching the race.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Peaking?? Not!
Here's the latest update and it's not encouraging...that is for me.
CSC... Got dropped by the 3rd group with 3 laps to go. Well, really it was the third group which got lapped by the lead group. So I solo'd it for the last 3 laps just to come in on the sprint of the 2nd group.
I have to say it was a nice challenging technical course. I loved it, but my crit legs are not here this year as I've been doing more riding up and down hills than speed work, not to say I've been riding much at all. For the CSC race I rode about 4 times in 4 weeks. Pretty pittiful if you ask me.
Today, it was the Wilmington Classic (Age Graded Championships). Well, the number of registered riders was pretty low, however the high caliber of racers were all there. The 50+ race, before our 40+ race, apparently had a bad crash by one rider who lost it on the downhill turn to the backstretch. He was carted away by the ambulance. No word on his well being yet, from what I heard it was an awful crash. The 40+ race finally got started a slight bit delayed from the announced time. Right from the start it was fast. I thought that if I was somewhere in the top 5 spots, I would have had a good race. The pace was blistering right from the start. Then after the 3rd lap Ramon moves from behind to right up front shattering the pace and causing havoc in the pack. It was streamlined out on the back stretch, I fell back to around 15th position up the short hill right after the start/finish. Then boom, the pack starts to fall apart. Gaps started occuring everywhere. I was screwed. I chased down one gap, then another, passing racers who apparently couldn't hold up the pace. Well... it was too much for one rider and he left too much of a gap, I saw the guy in front of me trying to close the gap but couldn't, so I passed him and tried, only to see another gap start further ahead, that was it. Pete Lindeman had been gapped as well, I think by the same guy who gapped me. I caught on to Pete and tried to work with him to stay within eyesight of the lead pack. For 4 laps, we took turns, pulling, however I was seeing that the chase was not going to work. I was also starting to blow up. We went around a few more times and Pete dragged me around, I'm just not in shape for these crits anymore. We were pulled by the ref. We had probably another 10 laps to go. I guess they saw the pain in my face and decided to end it. What a waste! Well I could only blame myself. My spidey sense wasn't working and my body is even worse and can't react quickly anymore. I was tentative on the bottom turn as I was waiting for me to crash. Luckily I didn't. Well, as usual Ramon won. His break worked well and they hammered away.
I guess there is a bright light in my life, eventhough I missed last weekend's race at Ride Sally Ride. I missed the event because of my son's soccer game then he had a fencing tournament to go to. Wow! I had never seen him practice before and now he was in a tournament. He only started about 3 months ago in his training. He must have sparred in about 8 bouts before the elimination round. This went on for about two hours. Some of the duels were very graceful others were very brutish and disjointed. The duel between last season's 11 and under champion (a girl) and my son was intense. They became the only two sparring in the center without any other duels happening. All eyes were on them. Back and forth, foils clashing against each other, however neither of them could get a point for a good 3 minutes or so. Then it was both of them at once. It almost seemed like a dance as each pressured eachother forwards/backwards, foils chashing but not getting their target. They each won a round then the final round happened, it apparently was very even, and I was sitting across the area getting a great vantage point, however not being able to see the score. They apparently were very close and it finally ended. I thought my son lost, so my wife went to the coach/official to see what happens next, since we thought he lost. He said that my son had won!! All of the parents came over to congratulate him. He had beaten the winner from last time. What a feat! Well, on to the next duel. They gave him a 5 minute break to refresh. He was battling the guy. It was again close, howevever this guy was apparently 12 years old and probably a good 12 inches taller than my son. Even with that difference my son had him beat on the first round. Then back and forth on the second and the other kid had won by a point, then the final round. My son gave a good effort and lost that round by 5-3. He was dejected. We all came around for support and even the coach said he was really going to go far and that we had to be prepared for all of the travelling he might have to do. The last round was the guy who beat my son against another 12 year boy. He beat him easily and won all three rounds. I told my son that he lost to the best before the final round, so luck didn't go his way as he had an unfortunate pick. My son went away with a bronze medal. Not bad for just starting fencing a few months ago. The sport is intense, fun, very artistic, and beautiful to watch. I wish I had the chance to experience that when I was young. It's a really unique sport, with lots of head games, strategy, training and talent.
So even though I haven't had the time to train or race, this experience was breathtaking. You just have to live through your children sometimes. :)
As far as me... well... I just have to train harder, smarter and better. 2 days a week this last week for me just isn't enough. I did the hot hill ride in Arlington at a very low easy pace, and a Hains point ride as well. I don't have the time to do a goon ride, which would be very beneficial, however during the summer (while the wife adn kids are away, I might find some more time.) Then I can think about peaking. You never know though, I'll be breaking it up with a week long vacation in the beginning of August.
Life is good, it just depends on how you look at it.
By the way.. For all of you Father's out there, Happy Father's Day. Hope you enjoyed it!
CSC... Got dropped by the 3rd group with 3 laps to go. Well, really it was the third group which got lapped by the lead group. So I solo'd it for the last 3 laps just to come in on the sprint of the 2nd group.
I have to say it was a nice challenging technical course. I loved it, but my crit legs are not here this year as I've been doing more riding up and down hills than speed work, not to say I've been riding much at all. For the CSC race I rode about 4 times in 4 weeks. Pretty pittiful if you ask me.
Today, it was the Wilmington Classic (Age Graded Championships). Well, the number of registered riders was pretty low, however the high caliber of racers were all there. The 50+ race, before our 40+ race, apparently had a bad crash by one rider who lost it on the downhill turn to the backstretch. He was carted away by the ambulance. No word on his well being yet, from what I heard it was an awful crash. The 40+ race finally got started a slight bit delayed from the announced time. Right from the start it was fast. I thought that if I was somewhere in the top 5 spots, I would have had a good race. The pace was blistering right from the start. Then after the 3rd lap Ramon moves from behind to right up front shattering the pace and causing havoc in the pack. It was streamlined out on the back stretch, I fell back to around 15th position up the short hill right after the start/finish. Then boom, the pack starts to fall apart. Gaps started occuring everywhere. I was screwed. I chased down one gap, then another, passing racers who apparently couldn't hold up the pace. Well... it was too much for one rider and he left too much of a gap, I saw the guy in front of me trying to close the gap but couldn't, so I passed him and tried, only to see another gap start further ahead, that was it. Pete Lindeman had been gapped as well, I think by the same guy who gapped me. I caught on to Pete and tried to work with him to stay within eyesight of the lead pack. For 4 laps, we took turns, pulling, however I was seeing that the chase was not going to work. I was also starting to blow up. We went around a few more times and Pete dragged me around, I'm just not in shape for these crits anymore. We were pulled by the ref. We had probably another 10 laps to go. I guess they saw the pain in my face and decided to end it. What a waste! Well I could only blame myself. My spidey sense wasn't working and my body is even worse and can't react quickly anymore. I was tentative on the bottom turn as I was waiting for me to crash. Luckily I didn't. Well, as usual Ramon won. His break worked well and they hammered away.
I guess there is a bright light in my life, eventhough I missed last weekend's race at Ride Sally Ride. I missed the event because of my son's soccer game then he had a fencing tournament to go to. Wow! I had never seen him practice before and now he was in a tournament. He only started about 3 months ago in his training. He must have sparred in about 8 bouts before the elimination round. This went on for about two hours. Some of the duels were very graceful others were very brutish and disjointed. The duel between last season's 11 and under champion (a girl) and my son was intense. They became the only two sparring in the center without any other duels happening. All eyes were on them. Back and forth, foils clashing against each other, however neither of them could get a point for a good 3 minutes or so. Then it was both of them at once. It almost seemed like a dance as each pressured eachother forwards/backwards, foils chashing but not getting their target. They each won a round then the final round happened, it apparently was very even, and I was sitting across the area getting a great vantage point, however not being able to see the score. They apparently were very close and it finally ended. I thought my son lost, so my wife went to the coach/official to see what happens next, since we thought he lost. He said that my son had won!! All of the parents came over to congratulate him. He had beaten the winner from last time. What a feat! Well, on to the next duel. They gave him a 5 minute break to refresh. He was battling the guy. It was again close, howevever this guy was apparently 12 years old and probably a good 12 inches taller than my son. Even with that difference my son had him beat on the first round. Then back and forth on the second and the other kid had won by a point, then the final round. My son gave a good effort and lost that round by 5-3. He was dejected. We all came around for support and even the coach said he was really going to go far and that we had to be prepared for all of the travelling he might have to do. The last round was the guy who beat my son against another 12 year boy. He beat him easily and won all three rounds. I told my son that he lost to the best before the final round, so luck didn't go his way as he had an unfortunate pick. My son went away with a bronze medal. Not bad for just starting fencing a few months ago. The sport is intense, fun, very artistic, and beautiful to watch. I wish I had the chance to experience that when I was young. It's a really unique sport, with lots of head games, strategy, training and talent.
So even though I haven't had the time to train or race, this experience was breathtaking. You just have to live through your children sometimes. :)
As far as me... well... I just have to train harder, smarter and better. 2 days a week this last week for me just isn't enough. I did the hot hill ride in Arlington at a very low easy pace, and a Hains point ride as well. I don't have the time to do a goon ride, which would be very beneficial, however during the summer (while the wife adn kids are away, I might find some more time.) Then I can think about peaking. You never know though, I'll be breaking it up with a week long vacation in the beginning of August.
Life is good, it just depends on how you look at it.
By the way.. For all of you Father's out there, Happy Father's Day. Hope you enjoyed it!
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