POA Crit

Ray, Brian and I raced the crit last night at BMW.  This time it was a points race.   Every 3 laps, the top 5 guys get points, double points on the last lap, add 'em all up and the most points wins.

Sounds simple right?  For the story see Brian and Ray.  We did get great sprint work....6x the usual crit.  Maybe 8x because of the premes.

It was hot but a blast.   Hey, for $15 how can you beat it.

Don't even know how we came out but as always, we were a factor.   Great training for Master's Nats for me and thrill to be racing with Ray and Brian.

TEAM 2012

This week, formal invitations will go out for TEAM headstrong 2012.   If you have any input let me know.
We have some exciting prospects for an even stronger and more exciting team than ever.

FBC

I did my final easy ride on my TT bike today.  Only one hour at high cadence.......3 ea. spin ups at race pace....for about 30 seconds each.

The gear is mostly staged for transport.  All the tires are inspected, the bikes washed (you really can't race on a dirty bike), the brakes adjusted, the spares wheels all set.

For me, this culminates months of training and is a final step to Master's Nats in about 6 weeks.  I have peaked......there are no excuses.

Goal for the TT is a PR that would take me under 30 minutes.  I did 30:14 last year but they lengthened the course .5K (after 2009) and that was the thing that kept me above 30 last year.  My emotions are mixed.........I have had little time, since the SC State Championship, on my TT bike.   I know my competition and though only 9 have currently signed up, I have never beaten 4 of them.  Hopefully a few more of the area's top riders will come in late.  My neck is feeling better and I am positive (but then what's new about that?).

The RR is really a challenge.  Last year, I said that I would stop picking courses that suited me and just race.   This seemed essential if I was to reach my dream to be a top stage/omnium GC contender.   Forty mile in the mountains.......I have to tell you, I feel like Fabian Cancellara must have felt facing today's stage in the Pyrenees.  This year, us 60 year old guys don't have to pace with the Cat 4's.......we are riding with the Juniors for 17 miles until they finish and then on our own.   I plan to attack if I have any capacity to do so.   If I do not, I will take a mid pack placing and just get some Omnium points.   This will allow me to save energy for the crit.

Who knows about this crit??  At 1.1 miles and having no sharp turns, the course should be fast.   I will not underestimate the little climb we should see about 12-13 times.   The truth is, I am goal setting for the podium, plain and simple.

Of course, the GC is my real focus.   TOP 3.............that's the goal.  No duckin' or dodgin'.........that is it.

 Looks like about 12-14 of you will be joining me for all or part of this party.......are you ready??  What are your goals??

Training in Tucson

We spent 4 days this week in Tucson, training and overseeing work on Western HQ.

My ole friend, Steve Miller says, "It takes a little more to be champion." In Tucson, this means starting rides, this time of year, at 5:30-6:00 AM to beat the 100+ degree heat. We are in a 'go very hard or go very easy' mode leading up to FBC so we had two Break Through workouts. Twenty minute intervals on Wednesday went well.

On Saturday, 5:45 AM (we got up at 4AM) we lined up at the Arizona University (AZU) for The Shootout. Isn't the name just a little intimidating? This was our second 'go around' but this time a 10 mph wind would be in our face going out for the first twenty or so miles. Kinda sounds like my walk to school when I was a kid, uphill and into the wind. Yes, I am old enough to have actually walked to school.

Ralph, the founder of the ride some 25 years ago, started us off. The owner of Fairwheels Bike Shop and an icon in AZ cycling, Ralph still looks like a combat soldier at about 150 lbs. and 6% body fat. He is joined by about 50 more combat soldiers and 10-12 'fit as hell' women. Everyone is quiet, some are nervous....is this a ride or a race? The first twenty minutes, until we get past the last red light, really lulls one into a false sense to security. Then it goes and when we reach a bridge, we lose the the first 12-15 people, including most of the women. It seems that these people traditionally pedal back to Starbucks, beaten and abused. Teenie and I easily makes this selection.

For 45 minutes it goes above my threshold. At one point, I join another rider to pull the entire group up to a 4 man break. My HR is pegging and I need recovery. In a really hard effort up a small but steep hill, the field splits in half. I sense Teenie is in the second group, as I barely make the first. We have about twenty riders and I am hurting. I do recover and about 1:20 out, I see Helmet Peak Rd, pull over and wait for Teenie at this turn. We are only doing 50 miles today due to race peaking.

In about 2 minutes, I see a pace line top a small ridge in the distance. Approximately 15 riders are strung out in single file in the drops, going hard. There are only men but then, maybe 12th wheel, I get a glimpse of the B&W? "Good", I think, "She has made this selection."

I grab on just after the turn as several of her ride mates have taken the short course option. I go to the front for a long pull as we begin the 7-8 mile downhill at 30-35 mph. A left turn on Old Nogales Hgwy reveals only 5 of us left. We head back for the 20 mile flat ride to AZU at 24-26 mph., each of us taking our turn and doing what we can. Teenie, a Hispanic fella, and I prove to be the tip of the spear!

As we head under the underpass about 3 miles from AZU, we hit the sprint zone. Caught completely off guard, Teenie is 3rd and I am 4th. We both know we would have been 1/2 if we had seen it coming!

Ah! Then Starbucks. We laugh and smile and relive the ride! We are ready for FBC......one more hard effort of 3 laps at SCTAC will be the icing on the cake.

Hope to see ya out there.

Coon Dog Day and Compact Cranks

Emily, Linz and I left from Furman at 9 this morning to do a leisurely ride up to the Saluda Bakery and back, if there is such a thing. For the 4th year in a row (some people never learn), I've ridden into Saluda on Coon Dog Day.

The first time this happened, again by accident, was my second bakery ride after moving to Greenville. I was riding with a friend who was still showing me some riding routes in the area, and we happened upon this culturally intriguing festival. I didn't even know what a coon dog was. Or a funnel cake. Both in abundance at this grand affair, and both could kill you.

So this being my 4th trip through the festival, and Emily's first (Linz wasn't saying), we decided to make the most of it, and pose for a picture with some confederate soldiers. Real ones of course. Their uniforms look like they were made with horse blankets and they must have been melting in that heat. The guy on the far right confessed that he had a performance moisture-wicking t-shirt on underneath. I doubt the real guys would have approved of such namby-pamby behavior.

After feeding our faces at the Wildflour bakery, we watched the tail-end of the procession, and then made our way back out of town and up the road. Emily especially was delighted to have witnessed Coon Dog Day; after all, isn't life about the little adventures? Linz still wasn't saying..

So the reason I added "compact cranks" to the title of this blog post, is because I've been stuck between a rock and a hard place with regards to crank size recently. I've been riding a compact crank for 4 years now, and have been pretty comfortable climbing. Coming from mountainbiking, I tend to spin my legs, and the compact works great for all the hills around here.

When I got my new Giant bike in May, it came with a regular crank. I thought it would work just great (truth was, I didn't want to put my manky old scratched compact on my shiny new steed, so I just thought I'd tough it out. Little did I realize it wouldn't fit anyway because I was still on 9 speed and now moved to 10 speed.) My legs have been becoming noticeably more and more tired after riding, and the last straw was a ride in Brevard with the team on the 4th that had me getting off the bike and walking up a climb. The ride absolutely killed my knees. Ridiculous. So, despite the advice of many well-wishing people that I needed to ride full size cranks in order to be competitive, I wussed out and got some compacts. Shiny new ones. And today was my first ride back on a compact crank. Heaven!! I learned something from that. Two things actually: one, people will offer advice and it's okay not to take it and do whatever you think is right, and two, I just have to pedal faster!

Thanks for the fun ride today girls.

July 4th - Brevard trumps FAB 4

Heat and money is driving a decision to do a team ride vs the 'cookie ride'.

We are riding out of Brevard:

Wheels up: 8:00 AM

Place: Chamber of Commerce Parking Lot (on 276 next to Quotations...on the rifht coming in)

Duration: 3-3.5 hours

Miles: 50-55

Course: Many short climbs simulating the FBC.

Lunch after: Hob Knob - bring $10-12

Pros:

* Save $25 ($40 entry less $12 for lunch)

* Ride in temp 10 degrees less

* Avoid riding with some dangerous circumstances

Cons:

You have a few more miles to drive

Hope to see you there.