Hey Bud...Where's the Mud ???

What a difference a week makes...today, I was back on the road with a handful of teammates, bundled up like the Michelin Man and braving 32 degree temps, while last weekend, I was basking in 70 degree weather at the Hendersonville GP UCI Cyclocross Race...

Sat-Sun, Nov 20-21, Hendersonville, NC
Cresting "The Wall" in dry conditions...

It was with a great sense of anticipation that I looked forward to my last 'Cross races of the year, the Hendersonville GP, which is a first class, UCI classified, come-out-and-see-the-stars, event. Last year, day two of the event presented some classic course conditions. That's right...I'm talkin' MUD! Now this wasn't your Northern California Peanut Butter Mud (smooth and easy to spread), or your Belgian Stinky Mud (bold, with an alarming bouquet)...my friends, this was Upstate, slip-slidn'-down-the-wall, Hendersonville MUD!

This year, however, conditions were more reminiscent of South Florida, and so was the racing. Picture 30mph pacelines on grass during the pro race, 25mph for the 45+...this was basically a crit on grass with a few obstacles thrown in for good measure.


I raced well on both days, pleased with a mid pack performance in a very strong field. Although I would have enjoyed some mud, I know winter and its harsh conditions are right around the corner, as those of us who rode this morning experienced.

Hendersonville Race Results & Highlights:

Day one: Taking a warm-up lap on the wheel of Davide Frattini (currently ranked 18th in the UCI professional cyclocross world standings) and trying desperately to memorize every line he took on the circuit...21st/40

Day two: Getting schooled by the Danfey twins on the first lap, then fighting back to put them in my rear view mirror on lap three and not seeing them again until the post race Bar-B-Q line...23rd/38

Thanks to Eddie Helton for the photos.

El Tour de Tucson

8900 people lined up today for this premier event. I was part of a 9 man 'event team'. Of course riding in my headstrong kit.

9:00 - Pre start - I lay on a trash bag with my bike standing by me for 1.5 hours listening to loud R&R music. Each minute seems like an hour. Fifteen minutes prior to the start we stand and crowd up. I think there about 100 racers in the 1400+ group........Arizona Masters(they look fit) and others.

10:30 - With no warm up we are going race pace in 50 feet. It is 6 miles to The Wash......everyone wants there first. My team is at the front after about mile, setting pace. We turn the final corner in a 200 meter dead sprint. I go in 12-15th.

10:45 - The Wash is 450 meters of hard pack, rocks and very soft sand. Today it is dry and powdery. It is instantly chaos. Alan Jette does an endo. All my team mates are off there bikes. I don't see Cam Jette(first into The Wash and Canadian National Mountain Bike Champ). People are screaming. I stay cool and use my MTB skills. I push my butt back, use only the rear brake and avoid turning(which you can not do in sand anyway). The last 50 meters could not be ridden. I jump off and carry my bike like Perry's pic on the blog. Gary Rancourt is right behind me.

10:47:13 - The Breakaway - Gary and I are moving toward Snyder Hill. He has a blowout and I see a very good rider in front of me. TODAY, I am going for it and catch him at the top of Snyder. In the next 45 minutes my HR averages 161 bpm (LT is 153) and we ride 25mph. We have 8 or so riders after 45 minutes and Alan tells me Cam is in front with 2-3 riders and then it is us. Wow, I must have been about 6-7th out of The Wash!!!! I am getting under control and the hill pace seems slow so I can recover.

11:35 - The Crash - 25 miles in, the 2 guys in front of me crash. I run over one and fly into the air, mostly landing on the other. After collecting myself, my stuff, and a bike check, I think I will ride easy until the rest of my team shows. But, my rear derailleur is bent a little and I stop to adjust. At that moment, my team passes. Oh crap!

11:39 - The Chase - The NY pros are making pace but there are hills on Rancho Vistoso. They can only go as fast as the slowest. I can do this! I get within 75 meters at one point before I give up in exhaustion.

11:47 - The Time Trial - From there on in, it is me, solo. There is a 20 mph wind and the course creates a situation where all but the last 100o meters to the finish is into a quartering wind. First from the left and then the the right. The solo effort covers 41 miles.

1:56 - The Finish - Thousands are at the barriers yelling encouragement. I am 25th overall and 2nd in my AG with a time of 3:26. My team shines with all top finishes. Even the guy with a flat gets 3rd in his AG and 63rd overall.

6:00 - The Celebration - McMahon Steakhouse. We feast and relive the day!

I was not in the best condition today but learned a lot about myself. I stayed in Z4 and Z5 HR for 2:48 minutes and did not blow up. I took a risk. I raced hard. I did not quit. "If you want to win, you must try.' Jens Voigt. I tried!!

See ya out there.

Oh, Cam Jette had a flat and finished 20th at 3:18!! Look for this name in Velo News some day.

MILKING THE COW

For those of you who don't know, I'm feverishly training for my first marathon. This is something that has been on my bucket list for a couple of years, along with learning Spanish, and milking a cow. (Yes, I from the South, and have never milked a cow). I am using the book Run Less, Run Faster for my training plan and have just completed week 3 of training. Each week I complete 3 quality runs, a sprint workout, a tempo run, and a long run. The TEAM headstrong blog encouraged me to create my own blog, one detailing the ups and downs or training and ultimately completing my first marathon. I have really enjoyed online journaling. I have 2 followers, both of whom I know. I write the marathon blog not for the billions of readers around the world who read it religiously every day, but for me. My blog is a selfish blog, one meant to chronicle my perspective, my journey.

What is my goal? My ultimate goal is to be healthy and safe as a I train and complete my first marathon. I have talked to Lara Shaw about running and setting goals. So, if I may be inclined to share, my goals are:

1. To start the marathon on March 5th in Albany, GA
2. To complete the marathon on March 5th in Albany, GA
3. To Boston Qualify.......

There, I said it, I put it out there for the world to see, to contemplate, to judge. I put myself out there. AWESOME. The last goal dances and twirls in my head constantly. I wake to this goal, I eat for this goal, I lose sleep for this goal.

I encourage each of you to think about creating your own blog to share if you are training for something special. Sharing your goals, your ups and downs, your very livelihood creates relationships beyond measure. And, to be very cliche, it is not about the destination but the journey. I hope one day I can share how Weinacker milked a brown cow and received an utterly good surprise, chocolate milk :)

You can follow me or not at:

http://www.weinackersachillesheal.blogspot.com/

BLOG ON!!

Pisgah Forest Mtn Bike

Beth and I did a big loop in the Pisgah yesterday riding part of the Swank 65 course.   Just an incredible ride with a big climb, fast logging roads, sweet single track and some technical bridge and stream crossings.

Beth talked me ALL the way up the 6 mile "warmup" climb.

How do stack up against you?

We are starting up training soon....some of us have already started. It is a good thing to check your current reality. Bike racing takes fitness, skills and mental abilities. Actually there are several areas in each of these.

How are you stacking up against you.........right now as compared to last year at this time? You may have power meters, speedometers, weight scales, other metrics to compare? How fast can go up the Watershed? Paris Mt.?? How are you handling your favorite group ride?? There are many sources of feedback.

It is not only important to understand if you are ahead or behind last year, it may be most important to look into the details....endurance, force, speed, sprinting, high performance thinking, etc?

It may be obvious that after checking this out, you will be able to spend your time very wisely. Some coaches would describe this as training your limiters.

SO, HOW ARE YOU STACKING UP? YOU AGAINST YOU? NOV 2010 vs. NOV 2009??

"We Made a Statement"

The Mark Knights Ride was a great event. The cause, the weather, the bike racing community's presence and other things contributed. You could write many Blogs about today from many perspectives but I am going give you my thoughts as your Director Sportif.

The title to the blog is a quote from our own Joe Lehner. We all know Joe as quiet fella, not known for boasting or wasting words. So when Joe talks, I listen!

I also heard, "Is headstrong going to team time trial this whole thing?" It is easy to see how someone could feel this way when they looked the whole day to see B&W at the front.

No surprise, Bird and Mel took it out and stayed there forever, it seemed.

As the day progressed, Stratton came forward.

I had a couple of real highlights:

* I stopped to pee and paced back up alone....likely in no more than Z3. I passed many stragglers like they were standing still. Hey, it felt powerful to be able to do that!

* Linds stopped and went behind the Thai restaurant. I pulled over and held her bike and then we paced back to the pack. I love riding with a team.

* I left Randy(he stopped to direct traffic at the turn to Callahan)behind and I won't ever do that again. Just didn't know he was going to stay there so long to get separated?

After Callahan, we increased our presence. It went hard up the hill after we passed the fire station and turned on to Dividing Waters. Bird and Mel took a rest. TEAM headstrong riders were riding no more than tempo to keep pace. People were flying off the back. The pack was shattering.

At one point, I looked up and G, Stratton, Linds and Joe were 2nd-5th wheel. Brian and I went up to help. Some guys got pissed and said POA and headstrong were pushing too hard. He told Mel, I think, "You need to tell those women to slow down!" The reply was, "Right, you go tell 'em." Hard is relative.

Jason and Lisa were out with us today despite crashing(Jason...yesterday) and being off the bike for weeks. Not in uniform yet, we tried to include them. Sam was ever present, avoiding a near crash early and working on her fitness.

Em and Wein did the 30 miles....they were reportedly just coasting. No sweat was broken!

So I thought about what Joe said. It is early, early season. Most of us are not even training, I did intervals yesterday.........this was not a race. Statement??? What is the statement?

Well, here it is according to RPM: We are here, we are a factor, we are fit as hell...........we were not even 'going hard' most of the time. That IS our endurance pace. We don't care about age, gender or the fact that some us have been riding less than a year. We don't need no damn handicaps. We are TEAM headstrong. You can break one pencil easily. Try to break a bundle of 25 pencils and see how easy it is.

And, I am the proudest guy in the peleton today. Can you tell?

Team Ride

I will let somebody else BLOG on the 2010 Season Party.

This morning, fourteen TEAM headstrong members along with Steve Baker, Steve Sperry and Jeni Kleckley joined in for a winter ride. We were all bundled up and decided to abort the planned sprint skills training due to cold/standing around. Actually after changing the route, the day proved warmer than expected.

We really had a great winter ride. We kept the pace low to work on endurance, worked on pace line skills, talked and learned about each other on and off the bike. We also had fun......I think that is the reason we do this bike racing thing??

Ok.....if you missed this one, there will be about 40 more! Check the blog for TRAINING RIDES.

See ya out there.

Oh, I almost forgot. You know how we do this silly knick name thing? Well, Shake and Bake is no longer something you dunk chicken in or a great basketball duo. You guessed it, it is none other Sam and Steve. Right, we all know who Bake is!!

Sweet Potatoes & Such

A few people asked that I post this. Here is the recipe for the Sweet Potatoes from last night.....I add a little fresh lime juice & a dash of cayenne pepper with the mirin at the end of the saute. This is possibly my all time favorite veggie dish.

I enjoyed the party last night & the ride today. A friend of mine once said "Those who are smooth shall succeed." This quote has always stuck with me and seems relevant in the context of our double paceline skill session today. I'm thinking smooth thoughts...

See you guys soon!

Myrtle Beach Half-Marathon

Better late than never right? We are in our very busy season in the Stratton household, so I am not trying disappear off the radar! I have been training hard for the Jacksonville Marathon with high hopes to place in my age group. Last Sunday (10/24) I competed with 4,000 other runners in the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon as a tune-up race. I paced with the top two females for the first five miles (paced 6:30-6:35), then the tummy troubles started. At that point I slowed, thinking that my gut would settle and I could pick-up the pace later--I kept the top females in view. At mile ten, there was a major surge in the front pack and they went out of view. I tried to respond, but the faster I tried to run the worse my gut became, so I just decided to settle into asa hard pace that I wouldn't get caught from behind. I finished third place female with a 1:30. It was really cool to be on stage in front of all those people and to receive the award from Bart Yasso (one of my all time favorites). All in all a very fun day!

Stratton

2011 Season starts Today!

We officially ended 2010 this weekend with a bang. You can read below about Perry and Linds in Ga Cyclocross. Lara was 3rd Overall Woman in Spinx Marathon at 3:12 and change. She solidly qualified for Boston but will be out there in 2012 because 2011 is already full.

We are racing right out the box with Kimberly attacking Paris Mt next weekend.

I, personally, am headed on the 15th to Tucson for El Tour de Tucson(11/21). My most exciting early season effort will be a 20 mile mountain bike race at McDowell State Park in the mountains outside of Phoenix on 1/9. Yes, Sam, I am hooked.....I did say mountain bike race!

Judging by late/early season momentum, I look for us to be even more prolific, this year than last, in racing efforts.

There is no hurry, however. If you are still enjoying just riding around....keep it up. The season will be a long one with ample opportunities for you to express yourself competitively.

I start training today and I think I am ready. I will be on the TT bike for a couple of 20 minute intervals tomorrow!

See ya out there.