Livin' man... Just Livin.'

New website Up and Running!

2009-09-16T11:45:00.002-06:00

http://thecoachingchronicles.blogspot.com

Change your bookmarks!

New posting up!

2009-08-21T07:49:00.000-06:00

New website!

http://thecoachingchronicles.blogspot.com

New Website!

2009-08-08T11:49:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone! I'm building a new blog with a brand new name. Please update your links!

http://thecoachingchronicles.blogspot.com/

Roll Out

2009-07-17T00:28:00.003-06:00

Superweek is over for 2009. Well, maybe... I'd like to head back for either the last 3 races or for Elk Grove. Anyone?

We did the Shorewood Criterium today. Fun, fast and rough like a good Superweek race should be. Strangest thing happened though. There was a FIRE in an apartment on the course during the race. Full stop for the race until all was resolved, then go! Again!

The best thing about the race being shortened is that all the primes and points sprints are compressed, which makes for a really tough race. To make matters even more interesting, there are a lot of new guys that are way too tense here. That'll go away in a couple of days, I expect.

Stupid, er... Superweek totals:
Days here: 7.
Days raced: 6.
Races finished: 5.
Races that I'm happy I quit: 0.
Number of corners turned: Approx. 1 million.
Near misses with crashes: No less than 20.
Crashes: 0.
Number of times my legs were on fire: Approx: 9,583.
Scale of 1-10 I'm glad to be driving home: 11.
Happiness scale (1-10) tomorrow when I have to wake up early to make that happen: -3.

As for Mercy Cycling (myself and the Young Guns) we're driving South by the time you read this. Home. You know, the best part of being on a mancation is getting home. Back to the real world and back to all the wonderful things you missed while you were gone. KS, here we come!

Bensenville CT, being from out of town.

2009-07-15T22:10:00.003-06:00

The beauty of being from Kansas is that anytime you make a wrong turn or blow a stop sign, it's okay, "we're from out of town!" I'm trying to think if there's any time where that excuse is over-used, but I don't think it is.

Bensenville today. Hot, windy and sort of in a boring park type venue with only about 75 spectators. Lots of guys were gone today, taking a "rest day." I don't blame them. We started as all the races have started thus far. Too fast. Maybe I should warm up? Nah, what's the fun there?

I found my way up to Chris Wallace and he said, "my legs are on farrr!" Two laps later he was sitting on the sidelines doing his Tarzan impression. Meanwhile, I was in a number of moves that didn't work, but did allow the next move to ride up the road, unchecked. Total drag and really frustrating. In the end, I was sprinting to not be last and only about 30 some finished.

Afterwards......

Finally, we get to eat at a Noodles and Co! Trio meal or whatever it's called. Yumm. We've been to 2 other ones but each time it's the same thing: we get there just after closing. BUT the closing time is different depending on where you go. Buyer beware! 9pm, 10pm, 11pm? You just never know.

Sometimes you hear stories about how much races and organizations hang on a thread. Today I learned a little bit about the problems facing Superweek, some of them are normal for all events, some of them are unique. The behind the scene look is definitely eye- opening. Hopefully, they are handled in the most professional way and get resolved. Among other things, Chris' prize money check from Elgin Lake U23 was never signed, making it utterly worthless. Hopefully, they do the right thing...... Updates on that as they happen.

Superweek Days, Superweek fails.

2009-07-14T22:43:00.003-06:00

If anyone out there is wanting to know what it's like doing a Superweek schedule, here it is:

wake up whenever, usually around 930 or 10am. Eat a bit, then go for a warm up ride of an hour or so, ending at the coffee shop. Then coffee for 30-45 minutes before riding home sometime around noon. Eat second breakfast (1245) and then "free time" where you check email, facebook, etc. Get ready for the races and head out around 330pm. Get to the race around 430 and then dress, and get ready for our 545pm race start. The 545 is the official time, and it really starts at 630. Race until 845, pack the car, go eat around 930- 1030. Drive home (1130) shower and clean up until 1am. Then it's back to facebook because you're still jazzed from riding 100km at 50km/ hr. or 62 miles at 29mph... ish. Get to bed around 2am then do it all over again the next day.

We raced the Elgin Lake RR on Sunday. 87 miles, approximately 6432 corners per lap and an extra incentive for the "Young Guns." $1000 3 deep for Under 23 riders. Some of the U23 guys must have misunderstood the distance or how the race was going to play out because they did two very inadvisable things: 1) They assumed that no one would chase them as they were U23 guys and thus were free to do as they pleased. 2) I think they misunderstood the distance of the race to be 40 miles instead of the posted 87.

Wow! The first two laps we did at nearly 436mph! At least that's what it felt like! The race quickly came down to a war of attrition and groups of the strongest riders started peeling off the front, never to be seen again. Next time the overzealous U23 riders should race the first 4/5 of the race as normal, THEN start marking other U23 guys. Of the 80 or so starters, I think less than 1/2 of them finished. Joe was having a 'bad day' and thus it was up to Chris Wallace to throw down and see if he coud do some damage in the U23 racing. I managed to help CW out for about 2/3 of the race until I cramped to the point of seeing striations in my quads, then decided to be a cheerleader for the remainder.

Chris managed to score 3rd in the U23 and 26th in a shattered peloton. He was a complete train wreck after the race and into the next day.

Next day: Rest day.

We took Monday as a rest day. Why? Because we were tired and our legs were on fire. But being our day off, we were determined to make it a peaceful and relaxing day. Easy ride, coffee, and Transformers 2 were on tap. So nice indeed to be away from the racing scene. Chris didn't even look at his bike as his legs were just too tired.

It'll be interesting to see how the "Young Guns" handle the last 3 days.

Arlington Heights CT.
Holy CRAP! What a tough race. Figure 8 with the bottom half of the 8 200ft. for each side. It was a true criterium course. Fast technical and crazy tough. I was doing everything I could just to hang on the first hour until everyone started to get tired just a little, then it was time to participate. In the end the field was sprinting for 7th, I think. 45 riders finished but it was a good hurt. It reminded me that just being able to finish a Superweek race is an accomplishment.

Superweek FAIL:

Ever wonder why Superweek races are so late all the time? This was taken of the official's booth during the Women Open race. Look very close at the computer screen and you'll notice the INTENSE game of solitare the official is playing. Also, another official came over to "help out with the computer." Red 6 on Black 7? Great idea!

This one is self explanatory.

Super Week... How Many?

2009-07-11T23:17:00.002-06:00

Alex Boyd started this on his facebook page. The single thread started and within a few hours grew to this. I copy/ pasted them all and put them together. It was amazing how many people contributed and how many people love Superweek. here we go!

Alex and many others wonder how many times the following will happen at Superweek '09:

1. It will be announced that Eddie Van Guyse played the villain Italian in the motion picture "Breaking Away.”

2. How many riders Kris (the registration/prize money lady) will become impatient with and scowl at. (can't say I blame her)

3. How many races will be stopped within the last 5 laps due to crashes.

4. How many Pro Elite Development Amateur team riders will run out of talent in a corner and take out 30 guys.
5. How much PBR, Miller, Point, etc. beer will be drunk by fans and racers alike.
6. How many hours the Holy Hill Road Race will start late.

4. How many races will start over an hour late.

7. How many 3rd world national teams will come to Superweek and absolutely throttle everyone and then return home with their prize money and live like kings.
8. How many thousands of dollars the Super Prime will be at Downers Ave.
9. How many dollars in late fees I would have been charged for not pre- registering. I'm guessing hundreds.
10. How ... many times I would have gotten bored during a 100km crit and had inner dialogues with myself where I had to convince myself to not pull out and actually finish the race so I could win my entry fee back (didn't happen too often last year).
11. How hotel rooms will actually contain 6 guys when only one is registered.
12. How many hotel pools will be used as post-race shower facilities.
13. How many relatives and friends in the area will have broke-ass bike racers living in their basements for 2 weeks :-) No, seriously I love you guys ...

14. How many times you will hear "(fill in the name of a foreign rider)" loves collecting pictures of Benjamin Franklin." (i.e., winning $100 bills) Gotta love Eddy!

15. How many updates Eddie will give regarding the Tour only to find out later he was wrong or had the wrong guy.
16. At the Kenosha Crit how many times will you hear Robbie "The Rocket" or "K-Town Motor" Ventura even when he won't be there.

17. How much debt (from entry fees and food, possibly lodging) will be amassed by joker pro-developmental riders that can't make it in the money once over the course of three weeks.
18. How many of those guys will re-evaluate their decision of being a pro-developmental rider and get a real job.
19. How many innocent host families will be shockingly introduced to the true meaning (through example) of the word "cretin.”

20. How many times will the lap board magically go from 26 to 21 laps to go... or from 19 to 14? Funny how that seems to happen when races are running behind.

21. How many times guys will think that pushing you out of the way is the best way to make room.
22. How many times the foreign riders will freak out when they have someone dive a corner and take "their line."
28. How many $5 surcharges will be paid because some a-hole wrote 17 bad checks last year and now ALL of us get to fund his Superweek 2008, during Superweek 2009.

29. How many times would you hear "on your inside."

30. It's just not the same with out "The Gun Show."

31. How many crashes will be in the 4/5 feilds? Thats a good one... Maybe we can take bets?

32) How many times will someone who sat in the entire race dive bomb you in the last lap just to get 32nd?

Superweek. Enter the Vortex

2009-07-11T01:00:00.002-06:00

Day 1: Beverly Hills Classic.

Yesterday, er.. Thursday, Myself, Joe Schmalz, Chris Wallace, and John Giles loaded an insane amount of stuff into a Honda Passport and drove North. Destination: Chicago and the first few days of Superweek. I've been here a few times but the last couple of years I've made it a point to do different races that I've never done. Joe's done Superweek last year and had fun. Chris and John have never been here so they had no idea....

We are entering the Vortex. Superweek is a place where time has a different meaning. Where the only time that matters is the race start time and when Noodles or Chipotle close (10pm, sharp, by the way). Once you're in, you are on Superweek time. Coffee at 4pm, Race at 545pm, which really turns into 620pm after Eddie Van Guyse (sp?) finishes all the introductions and what not. On a side note, I heard he played the "Villan Italian" on "Breaking Away." The race gets over around dark and by the time the car gets packed and we wait for payouts, you have to book it to the closest decent restaurant and squeeze through the door as the employees are desperately trying to find the key so they can lock up and go home. If you're lucky, you're home the same "day" that you left, and by the time you get the car unloaded, laundry "done," showered, desert, and settled.... sure enough it's the wee hours of the morning. 2am or so. Awesome. But on the plus side you're not needing to get up at 8am or anything. But I wouldn't miss this for the world.....

100k Criteriums, thousands of cheering, barbeque-ing, beer guzzling spectators every night. It's definitely more closely related to Nascar than anything bike racing like.

Today's race was just that way. Super fun, fast, and really tough. Oh I meant to say, rough. I think a couple of potholes had their own off ramps. With 80-ish guys on the start line for a go, it meant that the racing would be hard. And sure enough it was. Mercy Cycling was represented in the break that formed 5-6 laps in (of the 62) and sure enough, they lapped the field. Chris and I did our thing to keep him out of trouble and out of trouble he was, finishing an incredible 9th place in his first SW race of 2009. Consider that a warning shot.

Other than that... with 2 laps to go, the rider in front of Chris decided to test the Pauli Exclusion Principle. Yup. It still holds true and indeed two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. He threw himself on the ground and took Chris with him. Chris is okay, but a bit bruised.

Okay, time for bed. It is 232AM in the Vortex.

It's About Time!

2009-07-08T05:00:00.000-06:00

New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less

Tour of Lawrence. Volunteers NEEDED!

2009-07-01T16:32:00.003-06:00

There's a difference between needed and NEEDED! Anyone who has organized or competed in any sort of athletic event understands that the promoter has the knowledge and acts as the central hub for all decisions, the athletes make the entertainment and take much, if not all of the press. BUT....

The volunteers are the ones who really make the event possible. This begins as early as packet pick up. Those packets don't stuff themselves. It takes a fair number of people to get that done. Set-up/ tear down, food runners, crossing guards, corner marshals (the ones that keep the cars from plowing into riders), and the list goes on. Those are the unsung heroes of the event. You can never have too many volunteers. But you can have not enough.

If you or anyone you know can volunteer for the Tour of Lawrence, please help us out. There is a lot of pressure to make this event seamless so that we can have it again. The University of Kansas has never allowed any sort of road closure of this magnitude and may never again unless this race is executed to perfection. Help us keep the riders safe and make it happen in 2010!

Contact:
Eric Struckhoff
(785) 979-0347
ecs@ku.edu

Tour of Lawrence Start List

2009-07-01T12:37:00.003-06:00

For the Elite Men... I think this may be the best Pro/ Am field in the country! Hell, some could argue that it's the best field in the country this weekend, including Fitchburg!

Pro,1,2 Men
Registered: 51 Field Limit: 125

Name	Cat	License	City	State	Sponsor
james carrico 1	03	246622	mount vernon	IA	Mercy Specialized
duane dickey 1	01	9437	Cokato	MN	MERCY/SPECIALIZED
Seth Rubin 1	02	80715	Denver	CO	Subaru-Vista Auto Group
John Olney 1	01	152158	Iowa City	IA	MERCY SPECIALIZED
Chuck Coyle 1	01	102604	Boulder	CO	Subaru-Vista Auto Group
Ryan Sabga 1	01	98814	Denver	CO	Black Dog Pro Cycling Team
Ryan Luttrell 1	02	133963	Colorado Springs	CO	Black Dog Professional Cycling
Adam Mills 1	01	102467	Lawrence	KS	Mercy Elite Cycling Team
William Stolte 1	01	34257	Kansas City	KS	Tradewind Energy/Trek Stores
Shadd Smith 1	01	138402	Overland Park	KS	TradeWind Energy / Trek Stores
Joseph Schmalz 1	01	197714	Lawrence	KS	Mercy Elite Cycling Team
Chris Wallace 1	02	220920	Shawnee	KS	Mercy Elite Cycling Team
Ben Raby 1	01	119285	Boulder	CO	Mercy Elite Cycling Team
Brian Jensen 1	01	185340	Lawrence	KS	Tradewind Energy/Trek Stores
Bill Marshall 1	01	53358	Overland Park	KS	Mercy Elite Cycling Team
zack allison 1	01	211435	Fort collins	VA	rocky mountain bicycles elite cycling
John Trujillo 1	01	225639	Austin	TX	TOYOTA / CYCLING TEAM p/b GCCA
Joseph LaFico 1	01	206317	austin	TX	TOYOTA / CYCLING TEAM p/b GCCA
Jed Rogers 1	02	271069	Austin	TX	TOYOTA / CYCLING TEAM p/b GCCA
Zac Davies 1	01	182034	Boulder	WI	Subaru-Vista Auto Group
Zak Grabowski 1	01	129309	lafayette	CO	Subaru-Vista Auto Group
Joshua Carter 1	01	0110443	WICHITA FALLS	TX	Mercy/Specialized
Kolt Bates 1	01	0194640	Bedford	TX	Mercy Elite Cycling Team
Heath Blackgrove 1		UCI19801205	Austin	TX	Team Hotel San Jose
Carlos Vargas 1		UCI85255	Austin	TX	Team Hotel San Jose
Adam Bergman 1	01	103032	lino Lakes	MN	Texas roadhouse Cycling Team
Pat Lemieux 1	01	210769	Saint Paul	MN	Texas roadhouse Cycling Team
Steve Tilford 1	01	35598	Topeka	KS	TradeWind Energy/The Trek Stores
Christopher Cummings 1	02	116077	DENVER	CO	rocky mountain elite cycling team
Ryan Belew 1	02	0224524	Boulder	CO	Rocky Mountain Bicycles - STOK
Martin Guess 1	02	242094	Boulder	CO	Rocky Mountain Bicycles Elite Cycling
seth hansley 1	01	201753	fort lauderdale	FL	champion porsche
Frank Travieso 1	01	160295	fort lauderdale	GA	champion porsche
Yosvany Falcon 1	02	208086	fort lauderdale	FL	Champion Porsche
michael midlarsky 1	02	215015	delray beach	FL	Champion Porsche
Joey Iuliano 1	02	237283	West Lafayette	IN	Purdue University
Derek Laan 1	01	173347	West Lafayette	IN	Panther/RGF pb Felt Bicycles
Phillip Gronniger 1	01	14262	Shawnee	KS	Epic Cycling Team
jay blankenship 1	02	179001	wichita	KS	Tulsa Tough
Nick Kiernan 1	01	95282	Euless	TX	TX TOUGH Cycling Team
Tyler Jewell 1	01	168914	Frisco	TX	TX TOUGH Cycling Team
Tim Cook 1	02	152094	Euless	TX	TX TOUGH Cycling Team
Jason Knight 1	02	174449	Lawrence	KS	Epic Bike and Sport
Andrew Malcom 1	01	51206	Derby	KS	Tulsa Wheelmen
Brian Parks 1	03	168619	Edmond	OK	Team Undiscovered
Austin Allison 1	01	224219	St. Louis	MO	Dogfish Racing
Nathan Leigh 1	02	84431	Tulsa	OK	Tulsa Tough Racing
Sean Sullivan 1		UCI19780808	Boulder	CO	Team Hotel San Jose/ Redbudsports
barry lee 1		UCI85255	austin	MO	Hotel San Jose/ Redbudsports
Travis Burandt 1		UCI19891210	Woodlands	TX	Hotel San Jose/ Redbudsports
Ronnie Strange 1		UCI0248703	Houston	TX	Hotel San Jose/ Redbudsports

Tour of Lawrence in the news MORE!

2009-06-30T12:00:00.000-06:00

Inaugural Tour of Lawrence features 3 days of races

By Chad Lawhorn

June 28, 2009

Downtown Lawrence, buckle up and tighten that chin strap. A weekend of fireworks and fury is heading your way.

After a one-year hiatus, the Lawrence Jaycees fireworks show will return to the downtown area on July 4, but not before a new type of thrill show takes center stage.

Downtown Lawrence — home of quaint strolls and leisurely dining — will turn into a revved-up race haven over the July 4 weekend as about 400 amateur and professional bicycle racers take over the downtown as part of the inaugural Tour of Lawrence event.

Participants are promising the race will produce its own brand of fireworks.

“It will be like a more human form of NASCAR,” said Adam Mills, a semi-pro racer who lives in Lawrence. “There will be a lot of drama. You’ll have a pack of bikes going around a corner at 30 miles per hour, and you’ll definitely be wondering if anybody is going to fall.”

Organizers are hoping the Lawrence economy ends up being the ultimate winner from the event, which will have activities Friday through next Sunday.

“That is really one of the main reasons we’re doing this. Fourth of July weekends are really very quiet for the hotels and a lot of the downtown businesses,” said Bob Sanner, director of sports and conventions for the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We wanted to do something to change that.”

Racing and street closures

Downtown will be the center of the racing activity on Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, racers will participate in the Eldridge Hotel Street Sprint. The event will be a drag race-like event with riders starting at Seventh and Kentucky Streets and sprinting uphill to Seventh and Massachusetts. The event will close parts of Seventh Street and the Seventh and Massachusetts intersection to motorists.

Part of the area also will be shut off to accommodate a “Kids Zone” at Seventh and Mass. that will feature inflatable playground equipment. The Eldridge Hotel also will provide a live band and outdoor food vendors in the vacant lot just south of the hotel.

The live music begins at 6:30 p.m. The Kids Zone and the racing begins at 7 p.m.

On Saturday — Independence Day — the event’s premier race will take over much of the downtown. Racers will speed through a one-mile course that will be run on parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont streets.

The race, called a criterium, is expected to produce some of the better opportunities for spectators to see top-notch racers.

“This event is going to attract, basically, the best bike racers in a 600-mile radius,” Mills said.

The crit-style racing — which is the same type of racing featured downtown from 2005 to 2007 as part of the Collegiate Road Racing National Championships — will produce large packs of riders tackling the downtown terrain at average speeds of about 30 mph.

“The riders are so close, that if they just throw their elbow out, they are going to hit somebody,” Mills said. “It is really tight racing, and it does get kind of scary out there.”

The Saturday race will completely close Massachusetts Street to motorists and parking. The parking garage at Ninth and New Hampshire will be open, although motorists can only access it from the north. Most of the other surface parking lots in downtown also will be open.

Bolstering the economy

Jane Pennington, director of Downtown Lawrence Inc., said many of the area’s restaurants and shops plan to be open on the July 4 holiday.

A Kids Zone featuring carnival-like rides and inflatables will be on Ninth Street between Vermont and Massachusetts streets. At 12:45 p.m., a kids bicycle race will be at Ninth and Mass. Walk-up registration is allowed.

The main racing will begin about 1 p.m., with the men’s professional race starting at 7:30 p.m.

On Sunday, the racing will move to the Kansas University campus. There, the focus will turn to longer distance racing on a course that features massive changes in elevation.

“There will be a number of guys who roll into town, and after a lap or two, they’ll be shattered,” Sanner said. “It is a tough course, but they tell me that is what they like.”

Motorists should use caution anywhere near the university’s main campus, as many streets will be closed for the race.

Various heats of races will take place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In all, 14 professional teams — along with hundreds of amateurs — have agreed to participate in the event. They’ll be competing for about $22,000 in prize money.

Fireworks and food

On Saturday, the racing will be just the beginning of the holiday fun downtown. Lawrence Originals, a group of locally owned restaurants, will be host to a food and music festival at Watson Park, Sixth and Kentucky streets.

The festival, which will start at 3 p.m., will feature three local bands and food and drinks from 18 locally owned restaurants. People can buy tickets for food and drink the day of the event.

Bands will play until about 9:30 p.m. when the Jaycees’ annual fireworks show will take over. The restaurant group is sponsoring this year’s show, and organizers agreed to move the launch site of the fireworks closer to the downtown Kansas River bridges. That will allow spectators to gather at Watson Park to see the fireworks. The view from Burcham Park, the traditional location for the show, will be limited.

Tour of Lawrence in the News!

2009-06-28T17:28:00.007-06:00

The Movie: http://www2.ljworld.com/videos/2009/jun/28/25289/

By Mark Boyle

June 28, 2009

Editor’s note: Reporter Mark Boyle takes us behind the scenes of news stories in the area. This week, he clips in and pedals off with two seasoned cyclists as they prepare for the Tour of Lawrence. The race will attract both professional and amateur cyclists from all over the country, bringing them to Lawrence during the Fourth of July weekend.

When a professional cyclist challenged me to a race, I had my doubts.

That’s because I am from Colorado and quite comfortable riding a mountain bike over rocky terrain. However, I am not so comfortable riding a road bike on pavement.

Adam Mills, the professional cyclist, assured me that when it comes to the street sprint event, anyone can win.

“It goes a little bit uphill. It’s about 200 meters. As soon as they say ‘Go,’ you get to the end as fast as you can,” Mills said. “People who can go fast for 10 seconds have a chance and that’s the beauty of street sprint.”

Equipped with the best gear, courtesy of downtown Lawrence’s Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop, 804 Mass., I was ready to take on the pros.

It was my chance to see what it would be like to participate in the Tour of Lawrence, which is July 3-5. That’s when professional and amateur racers will take over the streets in the city’s first USA Cycling Pro-Am event.

“Lawrence is a great cycling community, and I think it’s a great opportunity to showcase that,” said Dan Hughes, owner of Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop. “Everywhere from downtown to the campus and everywhere in between, I think it’s a big event this year that’s just going to grow.”

Mills travels all over the country to race and is happy to welcome an event of this magnitude to his backyard.

“You’re going to see upwards of one thousand riders here over a weekend just racing and having a good time in a community that supports cycling a lot,” Mills said.

Mills edged out Hughes and me as we raced up the street sprint course on Seventh Street, between Kentucky and Massachusetts streets. He won all three races.

The sprint course is quick, exhilarating, and when the professionals take over the track, it will most certainly be exciting entertainment for any spectator.

“The universal response from folks who haven’t seen a bike race before is just the sheer speed in which these guys go around the course,” Hughes said. “It’s amazing and they create their own wind stream when they go by, so it’s fast and a lot of action and a lot of fun.”

For more information about the race, log onto touroflawrence.com.

ToKC 1:1

2009-06-27T13:58:00.002-06:00

Longview Criterium.
Hot, muggy, technical, and fast. This was going to be a fast and furious race and also a duel of sorts between the Tradewind Energy Team of Steve Tilford and Company vs. Mercy Elite Cycling Team featuring the New/ Old guys. I've raced with the Tradewind Team when they were the Trek Stores team for many years and the guys are all my friends so this was going to be scenario like the Looney Tunes, "Don't Give up the Sheep," featuring Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. Okay, here we go!

Immediately the race was fast with everyone wanting to get to the front in order to minimize the "slinky effect." I like the heat and while I found it fast, it wasn't too terribly hard. There were points where it was fairly obvious that everyone was hot and that was good as I was never in that boat. I'm giving credit to my home A/C unit that doesn't work so well. That means that as all y'all are sitting in 73F bliss, I'm "acclimating" to the relative cool 83F in my house. Gawd.... I can't wait for the repair guy to come on Monday morning.

Steve has done a fairly good job depicting the race here. I'd like to make some personal observations.....

The best riders are always watching each other. When one moves, the others react.

Cycling as a skilled craft is a universal language of sorts. Mercy Cycling did a fantastic job of riding as a unit despite the newness of everyone to each other.

These races will not be won without some sort of coordinated team tactics in play. That means guys are going to have to go full throttle knowing that they won't make "the break" but that others on the team will.

Scott Moninger still has, "it." I wish I could be that fast and only train a few days per week. Although he was only one of the best Professional riders in the entire country for years.

Brian Jensen can't so much as sneeze without multiple guys ready with hankies for him. Yes, I said hanky. Why not? If you can turn the screws on a bunch of Pros at Winghaven (another post I need to finish) he's obviously a favorite.

I forgot how much I missed Tar-Zan Chris!

That's all from me! See you at the races!

This man was #2 for eight years?

2009-06-15T09:56:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure how you measure "american-ism" but I'm positive that wishing for Americans to die for your own personal, "I told you so" isn't so patriotic.......

Reuters
WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - CIA director Leon Panetta says it's almost as if former vice president Dick Cheney would like to see another attack on the United States to prove he is right in criticizing President Barack Obama for abandoning the "harsh interrogation" of terrorism suspects.

"I think he smells some blood in the water on the national security issue," Panetta said in an interview published in The New Yorker magazine's June 22 issue.

"It's almost, a little bit, gallows politics. When you read behind it, it's almost as if he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point."

What's the point?

2009-06-10T05:00:00.000-06:00

Iisn't health insurance supposed to prevent you from this..... after all that's why they call it insurance.

They concluded that 62.1 percent of the bankruptcies (in 2007) were medically related because the individuals either had more than $5,000 (or 10 percent of their pretax income) in medical bills, mortgaged their home to pay for medical bills, or lost significant income due to an illness. On average, medically bankrupt families had $17,943 in out-of-pocket expenses, including $26,971 for those who lacked insurance and $17,749 who had insurance at some point.

What's been going on here....

2009-06-06T10:42:00.003-06:00

I've been gone for a while. Holidays and road trips are always fun, yet stressful in their own right. I'm finding that if I don't write the recap of events on the road trip home from the event, it rarely ever gets written. I'll work on that. After all, I've readers (somewhere) to entertain.

In the couple of weeks I traveled to the sun scorched land of Texas for some work at the Source Endurance office as well as some bike racing. Including the best weekly series this side of the equator. The Driveway. 60 minutes of fast and furious bike racing on a super smooth course. The best thing about racing in Austin is that all the races are fast. Numbers of a Thursday night race:
Average Speed: 27.5
Normalized power: 322W
Number of entrants in the P,1,2,3 race: 60+
Number of times Pat McCarty jumped: about a million.
Number of times Squadra has won this race in 2009: Lots.

From there it was on to Dallas to do some fast and fun Criteriums for the entirety of Memorial Day weekend. These races usually start and end FAST. At some point a small group goes, usually in the last 4-8 laps and it never gets any easier.

Co-worker Dave Wenger won Saturday's race on a brilliant 7/8 lap to go move and stuck it. Ouch! I'm surprised he could even raise his arms at the finish. Congrats Dave.

So I raced Thursday, Sat, Sun, Mon. Then came Tulsa Tough. 3 motorcycle fast days of criterium racing at the P,1- NRC level. So much fun! Racing with Pros is hard, but more relaxing in a way because compared even to Elite Amateurs the guys are smooth and can drive their bikes. But the races were hard and I didn't finish as well as I would have liked.

Reality Check:
The beauty and bane of doing hard races is that with a power meter you can really analyze the file and see what happened. This is especially useful when you actually get dropped and mark the next dangerous move that goes out the back end of the field. You see, just like watching "game film" in other professional sports, a power meter can tell volumes about when, why and how you failed in a bike race. Were the efforts too much? Too high of powers? Not enough rest between jumps? Cadence effect? Overreach? Just blow-up? Just plain out-horsepowered? Well, it happens and the important thing is to figure out what happened, why and take steps to correct it. However, the blow of getting dropped to the average over-inflated bike racer ego is a bit more tricky (insert would have, could have, should have here) to manage so it's important to consult with the rider and tell them what was found and explain the steps.

That's what happened to me beginning in Texas and running into Tulsa Tough. Of the six races, I didn't finish 2 of them. That's odd for as it hasn't happened in a long, long time. Sure the two races were widely regarded as "hard" as in teeth marks on your handle bars hard but still.... I should be finishing them. So onto the power files and Wha- La! Training plan to correct the weaknesses. After all, what's the use in the power meter if you just look at it and say, "wow" right?

Which brings me to peaking and the power meter....

Oh, to be 19 again......

2009-05-27T12:47:00.006-06:00

Joseph Schmalz with Mercy Cycling just signed up with Source Endurance. He's had an SRM all season and from his files, he's improved an astounding 6.7% in his LT since Daylight Savings started. That's just from riding and racing. Gawd, I wish I was 19 again......

He's decided to harness the power of science and really see what can happen when he stomps on the throttle. This should be interesting.

Scary. Is your food safe?

2009-05-15T09:39:00.003-06:00

Aside from all the "organic, green, heart healthy," yada, yada crap. This is why you should cook your own food and not buy the expensive processed stuff......

From the NY Times:

"In addition to ConAgra, other food giants like Nestlé and the Blackstone Group, a New York firm that acquired the Swanson and Hungry-Man brands two years ago, concede that they cannot ensure the safety of items — from frozen vegetables to pizzas — and that they are shifting the burden to the consumer."

Apparently it's the consumer's fault that companies can't guarantee uncontaminated food. Who knew?

Why now?

2009-05-13T11:31:00.003-06:00

In honor of those who have deadlines and those taking finals......

Joe Martin Stage Race. Stages 3 and 4.

2009-05-11T08:28:00.003-06:00

JMSR has come and gone for 2009 and I learned a few things, as always. For many in the mid-west this is the first “real race.” This is the first chance to test themselves in a bigger pond than the local events. For some, it’s a rude wake up call. Mid- May is here and all the early season would-have, could-have, should-have days of training and missed training have accumulated in this race. Some aren’t fit and should be in order to hit his/her goals for the season. No more excuses. At the amateur level this race is very difficult in so many ways. There’s no hiding in Time Trials, Climbing or tough technical criteriums. Joe Martin has all the above. Also, you’ll see a wide range of abilities in the amateur ranks, especially over a 3 day period. Riders that are strong will show it and riders who should have been training instead of worrying about the cold and chilly air will be making excuses.

The Pro riders make the race whatever they want, as evidenced by the stark contrast between Stage 2 and 3. Mostly, you have to get up the hill fast to avoid the time cut and then you have to not get dropped for the road stages, and survive the hardest criterium in the world. I wish that the team limits were 6 at the Pro level. I’m positive it would make for a much more competitive and wide open event. 8 guys can control a 3 day race (no, the TT does not count as a “full stage”) although Ouch was pushed to the breaking point this weekend. 6 can’t. Also, why do you need 1 less guy than the team size for a Grand Tour for 3 stages? That being the case, the criterium was more fun to watch than the previous few, which saw the crowd size dwindle from a few thousand to a few hundred. I guess people want to be entertained by fireworks. On to our race.

Stage 3- The wall and the climb that sucks.

As per the previous day, Mercy decided it best to put the pressure on the other riders and teams by placing guys in all the moves and making others chase. However, we did burn a few guys and needed a few miles to “loosen up.” When the race went hot, it was approximately 500 meters until Bill Marshall was in a two man move that rolled out a 1:05 advantage nearly instantly before being chased hard by a combination of a few teams. They were caught at the bottom of the 3 tiered climb we would ride 3 times on the day. Immediately afterward, I’m on the move in a powerful group that I thought looked good. Another 45+ mile break? Why not…. But it was not to be as we were brought back quickly. Then goes Brian Dweiza in a 4 man move that would roll for nearly an entire lap. That would bring about the beginning of what I thought was the most impressive ride of the day.

Christian Helmig. Apparently, a few of his teammates, himself included, wanted to do the Pro, 1 race. For whatever reason it was not to be and so they came into the 1,2 race with guns blazing. Helmig rode at the front of the race, setting tempo and controlling a field of 82 guys nearly 100% solo while also marking the dangerous moves himself and thus nullifying them. For you see, Christian himself was sitting in 4^th place overall and having him in a move to “gain time” doesn’t really help if 4^th place is sitting right behind you.

Following Dweiza’s move, I found myself in an excellent move with a number of riders that were “out” of contention and powerful enough to roll away. Indeed if I would have worked with the move, it probably stood a good chance of working. Instead, my sitting on resulted in others following suit. But I was merely there to protect Mercy’s GC rider. And it wasn’t going to happen considering Helmig was sitting on my wheel riding tail gunner of the move. Crap.

Helmig did have plenty of help returning the “dangerous” moves to the field. That’s not saying he got lucky. He was smart enough to know what he could not do by himself. Props to him. Meanwhile, anything dangerous was chased by everyone else who was afraid of missing the move. The right mix never happened that would force Helmig to really have to pull himself to pieces and thus Metro was able to hang onto the top rung of the overall. Impressive… at least I won’t have to worry about him in the amateur ranks next year. He should be riding with a pro contract by then.

Stage 4. Hardest Criterium EVER!

I’ve never prayed for rain in a criterium, especially a technical one with two fast brick corners, because wet brick + fast corners = sliding, band- aids, shredded clothes. However, I think that Mercy has some of the better poor conditions riders in the 1,2 field. 4 riders all experienced in Cyclocross typically will do well in crappy conditions. But it was not to be.

Instead, I got to race the super fast, super technical criterium in dry conditions. With time gaps very close one thing was sure. It was going to be a knock down drag out dogfight. This would be the day where the accumulation of the pressure that Mercy placed on the field throughout the weekend would really show. Hopefully, everyone was a little tired and the “edge” would be taken off the legs enough to let Joe, Chris, and Kolt isolate the GC contenders and really turn the screws.

One small detail…. I was having a horrible day. I guess the cumulative 80+ miles of break away riding had taken its toll. I didn’t have any ability to match any accelerations on the hill and I had to use my entire repertoire of tricks just to stay on the lead lap and in the field. Basically, I took hot routes through corners and drifted front to back on the hill just to stay in the race.

Meanwhile, Kolt, Joe and Chris were covering moves and on the full offensive. Joe had been protected all weekend and his fresh legs were showing as he covered every threatening move all day. By the halfway point of the race, it was the same 8 guys throwing everything and the kitchen sink at each other. And that’s the way it ended. Everyone on same time with Joe finishing in 6^th place and Chris at 19^th. Not bad for a couple of Young Guns who last year were on junior gears.

The aftermath…..

Chris was hungry. Here’s his post race dinner at Wendy’s:

Spiced Chicken Sandwich. 440 calories, 1320mg sodium

Double Stack Cheeseburger. 700 calories, 1500mg sodium

Spicy Chicken “Go Wrap.” 360 calories, 730mg sodium.

Medium Fry. 330kcal. 340mg Na.

5 Piece nugget. 190kcal. 420mgNa

32 oz Strawberry Soda. 370kcal. 0mgNa.

Small Frosty. 160kcal. 75mgNa.

Total: 2550kcal. 4385mg Sodium.

He could have kept going, but we had to get on the road. When I showed him the numbers, he responded with, “that’s a good amount.”

PS. As I was writing this in the van, an early 1990’s Ford Ranger with no muffler, one taillight, and NO DOORS blew by us on the highway going at least 100mph. We were driving 75 and got passed like were standing still. I’ve never seen that in my life. But we ARE in MissourA.....

JMSR Stage II

2009-05-09T10:45:00.005-06:00

Round 2... With day 1 playing out well for Mercy on GC, we decided that the best way to use the horsepower we had was to make the race hard. That meant putting guys in moves all day long. And putting pressure on the field from the beginning. The plan was to start the day with a couple of guys riding in early moves, a couple of guys in the late moves and saving a couple guys for the late moves.

I was supposed to be a "middle guy" but when Andrew Crater comes by and says, "you wanna go up to that?" as I slide on his wheel what am I supposed to do? So I audibled the play and we went across to a developing 6 man break at ludicrous speed. The break never gained more than 50seconds and the field was always chasing, hard. 45 miles later, we're back in the field. But the work took it's toll on the riders as the next 20 miles were a full 2.5mph slower than the first 45 miles. Hmmm....

Cue Brian Dweiza. He rides away solo and is joined by 3 others who ride for those 20 miles gaining up to 2:05 on the now chasing field all the way to Mt. Gaylor. I helped chase a threatening move back on the climb, then get dropped in the last 500m. Ahhhh! Okay, get feed, and chase. And chase. And chase. A Colavita rider and myself rode 10-15 seconds off the back end of the caravan for 11 miles. OUCH!!!!!!!!

Final 15 miles, we had Colt in the move, until he flatted which took our tactically strong position to a tactical disaster. Cue Chris Wallace and myself chasing to bring back a 25second gap. That is until I cramp. Sit up and ride the next 8 miles easy to avoid hurting myself.... more. Joe, Kolt and Chris held same time as the field with one rider leapfrogging into first.

Gotta go get in the van now. Thanks for reading!

Today will be..... wet.

Tarzan Chris.

6.9 kg, or less Scott Bicycles

Fastest bike on Mercy in the uphill TT. 2004 baby!

Joe Martin Stage Race, stage 2 begins.

2009-05-08T07:47:00.002-06:00

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!! Let's do it!

Joe Martin Stage Race, Round 1.

2009-05-07T23:15:00.002-06:00

I'm not really sure what is going on with me... I did my first JMSR TT in a respectable time and since then, I've gotten faster but my times have gotten slower. Perhaps, it's cause I've not had a computer the last couple of years I've been here and thus don't know my time and thus don't know how fast, er not fast I'm going. The time isn't horrible. That would be missing the time cut..... But a 10.03 is not pretty. Perhaps I just don't like to suffer alone. Perhaps I just need to warm up better. Looks like it's time to get back to basics.......

Joe's in 4th and I hope that's as low as he goes. More tomorrow.

http://www.joemartinstagerace.com/Results2009/Stg01Men1-2.pdf

Three and a half percent!

2009-05-01T12:37:00.006-06:00

Okay, I'm a nerd. I admit it. I like to look at and analyze power files. Especially when it comes to people I work with and how to make them faster and stronger. I'm using Shadd Smith as an example here for many reasons. But mostly because he already consented to it.

Shadd and I began this process in the early days of 2009. As always, at first he was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. The typical, "you want me to do what in the off season occurred." But I just gave him my High Intensity Training (HIT) article and he seemed to be satisfied with it. Then comes the first "forced rest" of 2009. It's always hard to get elite riders to rest. The concept is unfamiliar: Rest to get faster? It's also very counter-intuitive, despite the glut of scientific studies that seem to support it. In the end it was agreed that resting should happen, which turned out great as Shadd was in the middle of developing some sort of sinus something which would leave him feeling flat for a few days.

Then, after the rest Shadd comes out and does something AMAZING! First, he rated the April 21 Tuesday nighter, April 26 Old Capital Criterium, and April 30 Tuesday nighter all basically the same as far as perceived exertion goes. However one small detail with large consequences. His performance increased an ENORMOUS 3.5% in that 7 days. It doesn't sound like much, but an elite athlete able to improve 3.5% is a BIG DEAL. In a 60 minute effort (CX race, long TT) 3.5% is 2:06 off your time. You can win races with that! And that's exactly what happened.

For starters, the speed was less than last week. Right at 1mph average slower. However, speed is dependent on the race. Powers were up, break happened, and the getaway group was gone with the field powerless to leash them in. Myself, I've been riding the bench all week as the training finally caught up with me, leaving me with no legs and barely able to hold onto the wheel the entire ride to KC. I'll be on "leave" until my powers come back up- and thus watching. Should be around Saturday or Sunday when I get back to work. It's interesting watching the peloton flow from outside the group. You can defintely see the compression waves as every attack ripples through the riders. You can also tell exactly when and where the splits will be and how much damage each move makes on the riders.

When the move happened on Tuesday, I knew it was over. The front few guys surged as everyone else behind them seemingly rode through quicksand and lost all momentum. Game over. Except for David Hedjuk who decided to execute a brilliant one man superman bridge and got on. Break was at 6 riders and that was it. In the end, they nearly lapped the field and by the end it was Shadd and Phil Gronniger were dueling for 1st place, with Shadd managing that one more effort that probably wasn't available the week before to finish ahead of Phil who totally digs his Source Endurance Tech T that he won last week.

So on to the numbers, rest assured this is not even half the "real story" of the file, just what I want y'all to know:
Kj/ hr equivalent for the 41 minute race: 1125 kj/ hr.

Normalized Power for the first 8 minutes, until the break formed: 395W
kj/ hr equiv. of the first 8 min: 1245 kj/ hr.

Average power of the final 1 and 3/4 lap, when the break began attacking itself: 472W.
Elapsed time it took for the final 1 and 3/4 lap: 00:02:01.
Number of attacks in the last 2min: 6.
Average power of attacks: 737W for 8 seconds.
Time over 600W in the final 2min: 42s.

Elapsed time of the final lap: 00:01.29
Average Speed of the final lap: 28.5mph.

Interesting note: Shadd came out again and threw down some killer work on Thursday turning in some 24 minutes worth of 1200+ kj/hr intensity. Funny thing is, I'm fairly positive this isn't his ceiling......

Tuesday Night World Championships, some Common Sense and FIRE!

2009-04-28T00:05:00.002-06:00

Last week, in an effort to make the Tuesday night race a bit more safe, a few of the grizzled veterans decided to take the reigns and show anyone what a “real” race would feel like at the P,1,2 level. The result was exactly what I was hoping for….. fast and smooth with the rotation and the front being patrolled by the experienced and able. I did notice that at about the 12-13 minute mark we managed to eject about 15-20 riders who immediately rolled back in during the next lap. That’s the beauty of the training race, you get do-overs in the middle of the race. If it doesn’t work out, then you still race instead of being done early and having to watch. The only “rule” is that the lapped riders use common sense and stay off the front and just cruise in the back. The race is over for you so just sit back and watch the fireworks. By and large that happened and I thank those riders that respected the etiquette.

Phil Gronniger won the Source Endurance Prime and scored a groovy SE Tech-T.

I managed to spend some time off the front with Phil late in the race making a run for it. The move was a wee early and we got caught with 2 ½ laps to go.

On a more “reality/ gut/ ego check note:” Anyone who was dropped in the first 15 minutes should seriously consider racing in the ‘B’ race next week. The learning curve for racing is much improved when winning is actually a possibility. The amount of knowledge it takes to read a race, react, and then win a race is tremendous when compared to a relatively simple, “sit in and sprint” strategy. The reality of the Tuesday night races is this: Shadd has only lost a field sprint 4 times in 3 years. Those aren't good odds. If you got lapped, then you shouldn't be sprinting to begin with and if you are on the lead lap then your chances are 1.33 in 2009 that you'll win. New and creative ways should be sought to try for the bragging rights of a Tuesday nighter. Bike Shack got it right a couple of weeks ago but sprinting off of Shadd is probably not a strategy that will work out well most of the time. Concerning training races: it's better to win because you should than to win because someone else made a mistake.

On to some numbers: These are taken from Shadd Smith’s SRM power meter so if you’re wondering what it takes to win a Tuesday night criterium….

Average Speed for the first 16 minutes: 28.3mph.
Normalized power for the first 16 minutes: 347W.

Normalized power the final 10 minutes: 342W
Average speed the final 10 minutes: 27.8mph.

Average Speed during the final lap: 30.5 mph.
Max Speed during the sprint: 37.2mph.
Average power output for the final lap while sitting in until the sprint: 550 W.
Elapsed time of the final lap: 00:01.23.
Amount of time spent above 600W in the final lap: 39s.

Kilojoule/ hour equivalent when extrapolated from the 40min race: 1068kj/ hr.

So there you have it, “winning numbers” from a Tuesday night criterium. I’ve been taking Shadd’s SRM data from his self rated, “hard” races and combed through them to find what it takes to have the opportunity to win races at the P,1,2 level. We’ve worked on focusing on those workload targets and pushing him to constantly improve. Shadd manages to get better and better as he gets more and more specific training in his legs.

Fire Hill CT. OKC

I spent April 18th in OKC racing the Fire Hill Criterium. Really cool race, uphill, swervy downhill, couple of corners and some good prize $. Steve Tilford was there and wrote a very accurate description of the race. I managed a second place which was probably about the best it was going to get that day. It’s always good to score a result early in the season just to settle the nerves and give yourself some confidence.

It seemed like I was always coasting or really hitting the gas. Indeed that is exactly what was happening as I managed to spend over 24 ½ minutes pedaling at >400W, which could explain why I wasn’t feeling so hot the next couple of days.

ToStL. Spring!! Oops, it skipped the Midwest.

2009-04-27T09:01:00.003-06:00

The last few weeks have been very tough for anyone trying train and race and even really do anything outside North of the Mason- Dixon Line. Cold, Rain, Wind, Warm, Sun, Snow, and more Wind have all been in the weather forecast. Typically, we’ll get 2-3 of the above mentioned conditions, sometimes 3. This weekend was actually hot and windy! Strange how we haven’t even had two days consecutive of mid 70s and all of a sudden you’re grabbing the cooler and filling it up with ice on the way to the races.

Mercy cycling made the trip through MissourA across I-70 to race the Tour of Saint Louis (ToStL). It’s a low key event put on by Mike Weiss and Big Shark cycling. Strange thing is that the “low key” brought some high- powered motors to come have a shot at being the King of the ToStL.

Day 1:

After meeting up with good friend Rob Kelly, we made our way to first criterium where we were greeted by Windy and Hot and Windy weather. Jason Knight’s SRM claimed 99F just before the race began.

The wide open conditions and weather made perfect conditions for a Cyclocross start and what a start we had. 27 mph in the gutter in a criterium? Huh? Seriously? Okay, here we go! 15 minutes later Joe Schmalz is in a 5 man move and rolling up the road with Bill Marshall having established himself in a secondary move. Not bad for only having 3 guys in the race. It would definitely have been nice to have a full compliment of team mates for the races. I was being shadowed by some guys who apparently read Steve Tilford’s blog and thought I was some sort of superman. Little do they know…..

Joe and Co. lapped the field with 15 minutes + 5 laps to go and the field then reabsorbed the secondary move. Time for some sort of lead out.

In the end, there were only about 15 guys sprinting although we left Joe in the wind without any help too early to really make a push for the win. Joe scored a 3^rd place.

Race over. We decided that without any Time Trial equipment and the Windy, Hot, Windy conditions, it would be best spent to simply not head to the TT and save it for tomorrow.

Day2:

Carondolet Park Circuit Race. This one took the Tuesday Night World’s course and combined it with the traditional park criterium to make a fun circuit race. Weather again was Hot and Windy with chance of a pollen storm. I’ve never seen pollen accumulate on my tires ever in my life until this race. Strange how something different happens every time you race.

Mercy decided that the best way to handle the conditions today would be to go on the offensive early and often. Straight from the gun Mercy had a keen eye on everything. I managed to slip into a move of 3, swelling to 5 that would manage to ride with a 15-20 second advantage for about 15 minutes before being reabsorbed by an angered field.

The following 4 moves all proved to be serious and Mercy managed to cover every one up until Butthead, Zach Reed and Jeff Schrotelin (sp?) ran away with the race. Everyone was either gassed or out of position and thus Mercy completely got caught out with the move; and without enough guys or horsepower to reel it back, we were basically left with no choice but to scrap for the next paying spots.

3 to go and a crowd prime of $110 is called, which instantly got all my attention. At this point 1-3 are up the road and $110 is more than 3^rd place prize money. I was basically prepared to bet the farm on the prime. This late in the race, everyone is tired and only about 10 guys are racing, marking each other and effectively neutralizing each other. I found the guy I thought could unknowingly take me to the line and just like I thought he did it perfectly. Unfortunately, I left him and went onto a different wheel, only to have it flail and fade. Never leave change your bet and have the confidence to stay with your first decision.

Meanwhile, Joe makes his way into a secondary move and pulls out a 6^th place today. I spent too much energy on the prime and never really recovered afterwards. Game, set, match. One spot for the team and a hell of a weekend of results for Mercy.

Photos courtesy of STL Biking Photos.

Shorts

2009-04-20T11:26:00.004-06:00

One of the most important days in every spring is the first day you can wear shorts.... comfortably. Not that, "it's cold but I really want it to be warm so I'll still wear shorts in a vain effort to believe that spring is upon us." I'm hoping today is the day. The FIRST day in shorts. It's been a while and I've got some things to say about some races and I'll do that later. But first:

Why do you see Ugg Boots and winter coats but running shorts? Huh? Winter boots and shorts?

New "foster dog" that Alyson is caring for. It's really just a ploy to get me to adopt the dog. I'm growing a liking to him.

HyVee meat department. I think this is awesome! Strange but people got upset about this. One angered person was Vegan. I don't get it... People are "okay" with ground bovine flesh out for all to view, but the moment you have some fun with it, it's gross? Whatever.

Finally! I saw this at the store. It's an AXE Detailer. Look closely and you can see that it's actually just a Luffa only in Man-stlye... seriously. Is that possible? A Man-Luffa? Basically, let's take a Luffa (pictured to the right, in pink), make it black (manly color) and add a spare monster truck tire looking thing to it (to make it more manly), and put a manly blood red scrubber on it and BAM! Manly right?! You be the judge. I just think it's silly. Oh and it's $3.50 compared to the pink thing ($0.99). Why would you need to look tuff in the shower?

Power. Performance in your own Hands

2009-03-12T03:00:00.000-06:00

I remember when I was just starting into "riding fast." I wanted to know how to go "fast." The amount of books, magazine articles, papers, and stories I absorbed knowledge from amazes me. Even now, I still want to know that I'm at the best of my ability. Funny thing... I'm not the only one. EVERYONE who is competitive wants to be this way.

Well, one thing led to another and here I am, working as a consultant for Source Endurance and helping others of all ages and abilities to be faster and stronger than they have ever been. I feel accomplished as a coach/ consultant every time I get a call from a client who "just won their first race!" or had a "great ride/ race!" It's an impressive feeling.

I've also noticed that many people talk after races about not having that "little bit extra" at the end. For starters, that "little bit" is very difficult to realize. However, it is attainable. The only problem is that you can't get it with light wheels, a stiff frame, or carbon handlebars (they help the bike, not the motor). Heart rate is really not applicable for reaching that, "little bit," either, which leaves Power. I'm going to be giving a couple of free talks about Training with Power. If you have any questions about how to make any sense of all this witchcraft, come join us. Here are the details:

Wednesday, March 18. 8-9 pm @ Big Shark in Saint Louis.

Thursday, March 19. 730-830 @ Trek Bicycle Store of Kansas City.
Flyer below.

Look who else has been in the Source Endurance lab in Austin, TX!

Joe Schmalz, Mercy Cycling

Shadd Smith, Tradewind Energy/ Trek Team

New Mercy Cycling Site and "Disaster" Update.

2009-03-11T09:49:00.003-06:00

2009 has officially begun for Mercy Cycling. The website is updated! Here are some updates and a shot of the new team threads for 2009

Click HERE for Mercy's website.... or HERE!

Another "Disaster Update"

March 11, 2009
Called Sleeptronic, again. The mattress has been "invoiced" for today, which means that it should be in Topeka by Friday, or Monday....... In theory. Best case: 38 days without a mattress.

Training and Training Races

2009-03-10T13:01:00.004-06:00

I got home after my fantastic trip to Texas and was genuinely surprised to see that the warm air had followed me north. This meant for some more fun in the sun on the bike and fun we had. It’s easy to get used to 70 degree weather. Almost too easy.... Especially, when spring officially starts on March 20^th this year. Until then, it's STILL Winter!

I had an old friend from the olden days (Okay, it’s not really that long ago, but it sure seems like it sometimes) for business. He works for the FBI so he’s not allowed to tell me what work it is. All that I know is that he’s got two mobile PDA’s and a badge. We had intended to do some racing and training in the KS between his business trips. However, there was a bit of a hitch with the first day of racing.

I guess the Spring Fling has now been made into an event that leaves out the elite categories. I’m not sure what the reasoning is for this is as P,1,2 riders haven’t influenced the outcome of the series in years. Also, it’s a good way to pick up some entry fees from some of the guys if they’re not traveling. I’ve done the Spring Fling every year since it began and this is the first time I’ve ever been refused entry solely because I’m over-qualified. Typically, athletes relish the opportunity to race with the highest quality of field they can.…. But I could be wrong.

Rob Kelly got to race, click here for his report.

The next day, we rode to the Perry Series and I was allowed to race. Whew, I can still race in Kansas. Thanks the Wheatland Cycling Team for continuing to have a full repertoire of races.

The ride out was brutal! 30mph block headwind and 40 degrees. I took a page from the Steve Tilford San Antonio ride and decided 10min rotations were the way to go. Probably not the best warm up. By the time Jason, Rob, and myself got to the race we were basically gassed. Uh, oh. We start and within a lap, Rob and Tom Price are off the front, where they will remain for ½ the race. It all came back together with about a lap to go and I started jumping. I thought, maybe I could sneak off the front. But in actuality, I managed to get everyone fixated on me and only me. Rob rolled off the front again, virtually unchecked. Interesting. I led new teammate, Bill Marshall, out for the uphill sprint and he took the win, passing a totally nuked Rob in the process.

Kudos to Rob: He realized early in the race that he didn’t have the “punch” to get up the hill and place well in an uphill sprint. SO… he took some steps to remove the uphill sprint from his race and get a result. It didn’t work for him, but if things would have been just a bit different………

Some Numbers for the Perry Race:

Riding to the race:

Time: 1:11

Avg Speed: 15.2

Avg Power: 236 W

Work: 957 kj

Windnoise: 80 decibels, What?! I can't hear you!

Perry Race:

Time: 54min.

Avg Speed: 21.9mph.

Work: 880 kj (about normal for a 1 hour Cat 3 criterium)

Avg Power: 326 W

Ride Home, with Tom and Co:

Time to Lawrence: 52min.

Avg Speed: 21.6mph

Avg Power: 175 W

Work: 475 kj

Lago Vista 1 and 2

2009-03-07T23:00:00.000-06:00

Lago Vista I and II

The first race of 2009 with a nearly full squad of Mercy riders. Still in the blue colors of old as the new stuff hasn’t came in yet. I wonder when the new clothes come in?

Anyways, with a start list boasting over 130 riders in the P,1,2 one thing was positive. Positioning would be an integral part to success. I covered some moves, but spent too much energy trying to keep Joe and the Werewolf out of the wind and up front. Probably too much juice as the legs weren’t there in the end. Heath Blackgrove and Steve Tilford showed that they were the best that day. Impressive ride for the both of them.

Numbers, numbers, numbers:
Time spent at or above Lactate Threshold: 91 min.
Amount of coasting: 17%
Number of 1000kj hours: 2.75, couldn't quite finish the 3rd.
Number of times I moved teammates around the field, keeping them out of the wind: too many.
Times I got dropped: 3.
Times I got back on the field: 2.
How much that sucked on a scale of 1-10: 11.2.

Lago II

Judging by the scenery, I thought it must be St. Patrick’s Day. Kelly Benefits decided to enter 10 PRO riders into the race. Interesting. They placed 5 of the top 7, as they should. With those numbers of top riders, they should really have the entire podium wrapped up (all 5 spots). But they didn’t which means they either gave away some spots or they just didn’t show enough hustle.

16 minutes and it felt way easier than the previous day. Flat tire. Crap! But the interesting thing, my “neutral wheel” had totally seized up bearings. Seriously? What kind of person puts a wheel with seized bearings in the wheel truck? Not cool. That guy has some serious bad Karma heading his way.

So there I was, sulky. I wanted to race. I didn’t drive 700 miles to watch. Boooooo! That’s when I hooked up with Charlie Tamas of Team Hotel San Jose and we rode from Lago Vista all the way to Circle C (host house of ex- Topeka rider George McDirmid (sp?)). We rode along Lake Travis all the way to the Dam Loop and around to Barton Springs road. Basically, taking the best parts of 3-4 area rides and doing them all in the same day. Great ride and I’m very thankful to have such a good ride on a gorgeous day.

Between race weekends...

2009-03-06T23:00:00.001-06:00

One trip to Houston, and a few days of training....

When you’re having fun in the sun during 80 degree days, and you're coming from the great white north, don’t forget to thoroughly apply sunscreen……

Last few days......

2009-03-05T21:41:00.003-06:00

In the last few days, 14 to be exact, I went to Austin, TX for some racing, working, and fun. Last year, when I went to ATX for a week and change it was for a vacation and racing bikes. This year, it was more of a work trip. Basically, I raced, worked, trained, worked, raced, worked and came back. Funny thing is, I really didn't sleep that much. Strange how you finally get rested once you get home. Here's the race reports and what not. Mostly the what not..

Walburg RR

In the land of open roads and windswept farms lies the first road race of the 2009 season. I’ve done this race the last 3 years and every time it becomes epic at some point. This year’s edition did not disappoint and sure enough, I was brutally reminded that Wii Fit does not get you ready for road racing.

Bill Stolte got away in the early break, again, and got 2^nd which was his worst placing ever at Walburg. I’m hopeful that next year he’ll focus and try to return to his historic Walburg form. As for the rest of us (me), it was, uh, fun.

65 and muggy became 50 and sunny but not before some rain and lots of wind. Wind so strong it could take the paint off your bike. Wind like that of the Wizard of Oz. I made the front group when it all went down (Blackgrove and Travis Burant did their motorcycle impression). Got punched out of that group and sat up to wait for the next group. Here comes 5 guys from TX Tough and a couple others. They had me in the gutter too and I’m not strong enough to sit in that wind for more than 25 seconds. Pow! Out the back of that group I go! I sit up and look behind me thinking, “Okay, who’s gonna drop me now?! I’m ready. Bring it on!”

The third group caught me and I was actually able to rotate and ride. Woo Hoo! We rotated and ended up doing the full distance. I counted that our posse was sprinting for 16^th, which is out of the paying places which is a bit demoralizing, but I figured why not? I jumped the group a couple of times for fun and wound up 17^th in the sprint. It was fun, and epic. It’s so much fun riding flat out at 11mph on a flat road. Crazy!

Numbers for all the nerds:

Work completed the first hour: 821 kj

Windspeed: not much, drafting possible.

Work completed the second hour: 1026kj

Windspeed: high- could have taken the paint off my bike.

Work completed the third hour: 921 kj

Winspeed: I should have brought my cross bike so I could draft in the gutter.

Normalized power for the entire race: 293 W

Pace Bend RR

This race was my undoing last year when I ended up crash landing at 40mph. Even still, it was so much fun! Uphill, rollercoaster, downhill, swerves, uphill, repeat. I sat in most of the day, basically all day as the small groups got away and were reabsorbed. In the end, I just rode in at the back of the field. One thing is for sure, that was the exact opposite of the day before.

Actually, it resembles a Superweek race. Fast, flowing, not technical, easy to sit in, hard to get away and a fun atmosphere.

Both promoters did a fantastic job with the events and I’m planning on returning next year.

For the number crunchers out there:

SRM was only working for the first hour of the race so.....

work completed for hour 1: 821kj

Amount of coasting: 24%

Opening Day?

2009-02-20T22:35:00.002-06:00

I'm in Austin, TX getting ready to do some racing this weekend. It seems like February, anytime in February really, is too early in the season to be "fit" enough to race. Walburg Saturday, Pace Bend on Sunday. Stay tuned.......

Disaster in the Making, an update

2009-02-18T11:17:00.002-06:00

Feb 18: Phone KS Furniture Mart. The mattress is in Dallas being fixed! That's the easy part. Now let's see if I ever get it back.......

Disaster in the Making...... oh, crap.

2009-02-12T12:18:00.002-06:00

The wonderful thing about "big purchases" is that they usually come with a warranty. Such was the case when I purchased my mattress and box springs back in October 2003. Upon setting up the new bed, I see the warranty card is for 25 years. 25 years! Awesome! NOTHING made in this country lasts 25 years anymore so I'm keeping this for the inevitable time where my mattress becomes a hammock. Fast forward to January 20th, 2009..... tic, tock, tic, tock...

Okay so now my mattress sags like a hammock. Actually, I should just hang the hammock in my room as it's more comfortable. I phone Payless Furniture in Lawrence, where I purchased the mattress. Problem: They don't carry that brand anymore. Argh. BUT they can make a phone call and get the company rep to help me out. They'll call me back.

Jan. 22: I call back to Payless Furniture. They took a message and said they would call me back.

Jan. 24: I call Payless Furniture AGAIN. Still no word from the rep (if they ever called). They assured me they would call me "soon" with information about how to service/ honor my warranty, which is supposed to last 25 years. Have never heard a peep from them since. Not one. So much for customer service....

Jan. 26: I call the Sleeptronic and talk to Aaron about the warranty/ service aspect of the mattress. He seems to think that there's a place in Lawrence that can warranty the mattress. I assure him there is not. He gives me the number of two places in Kansas City that can warranty the mattress as they carry the Sleeptronic brand.

Jan. 27: I call both places. The first phone number is deactiviated. The second number never gets answered and there is no answering machine. Both calls are made during normal business hours.

Jan. 28. I call back to Aaron at Sleeptronic and explain the phone number problem. He seems perplexed and gives me the phone number of Kansas Furniture Mart in Topeka, KS.
Kansas Furniture Mart
Ste B

4547 SW Topeka Blvd, Topeka, KS 66609

(785) 273-6278

This time I reach a real person! It's also where it gets interesting....

I need the ticket, and warranty card. Got it. Then I have to fax a copy of them to Aaron at Sleeptronic. At which point, get ready......

Aaron has to issue a pick up order to the next delivery truck running from Dallas, TX to Topeka, KS -whenever that happens- to pick up my mattress, which I need to drop off at Kansas Furniture Mart (and hope it doesn't get lost), and return it to the factory. Once it's there, the factory will fix it, and put it back on the next delivery truck heading to Topeka, KS where it will be dropped off at Kansas Furniture Mart. The problem is that KS Furniture Mart may not know it's my mattress and decide to sell it or send it back. Either way, it is going to require the work of: Aaron to issue the tag, Delivery guys to not forget to pick it up, KS Furniture Mart to not misplace/ sell my mattress, factory to fix it, Aaron to issue orders to send it back to KS, Delivery guys to take it there and drop it off, KS Furniture Mart to identify that it's mine and to notify me to come get it. Simple! Oh and there ain't exactly digital tracking like UPS. Actually, from what I can tell, it's mostly done by memory..... crap.

Feb. 4: Dropped the mattress off, sent fax, crossed fingers. KS Furniture Mart was in the middle of installing a new floor so their inventory was scattered throughout the building. Aw, oh.

Feb. 11: Phoned Kansas Furniture Mart to see the status of the mattress...... It's still there. Oh, and the owner hasn't been in the office since January.

This should be fun.

I'm thinking I won't have mattress again until sometime in May. Anyone else have a prediction?

Aging and Athletic Performance

2009-02-11T10:00:00.003-06:00

Anyone who thinks you're only going downhill, read this:

Exercise and Aging-1

Mercy Team Camp: Day 3

2009-02-09T12:45:00.002-06:00

Okay, so the camp is in the books. These guys can pedal! We rode out to Mt. Gaylor today. Up, down, and home. I didn't have a speedometer after my broken spoke in the front wheel so I'm having to get some numbers from others.

SRM Stats for Day 3.
Distance: 82 miles.
Max Speed: ?
Normalized power for the entire ride: 267 W.
Difficulty of this ride compared to days 1 and 2: Easiest
Reason: Was smart enough to not pull with those on the, "Short List"
Calories Burned: Over 2800, probably more like 3000
Ride Time: 4:15
Coasting time: at least 16% until my wheel broke.
Time spent at/ above Lactate Threshold: 80 minutes.
On a scale of 1-10, amount that I appreciated going up Mt. Gaylor: 2
On a scale of 1-10, amount that I appreciated going DOWN Mt. Gaylor: 11

Now, I'm happy to be home and happy to be able to sleep later than 650am.

Mercy Team Camp Day 2.

2009-02-07T23:09:00.003-06:00

Okay so day 2 is in the books. We did Talamina (sp?) road, which is pronounced, "67 miles uphill."

Well, that's how it felt. For the record when someone says, "the road rolls for the first hour" it means there should be some downhills too. Roll, goes both ways. Instead, we basically did different gradients of uphill for the first hour.

Everyone is so excited to ride down here. And everyone is excited to ride hard. I already have my short list of guys who I'm avoiding pulling with in the group. Ahem, Nolan.

Okay so without further ado, SRM stats:

Distance: 67miles.
Max Speed: 49.5 mph.
Work completed: 3054 kcal.
Ride time: 4:07
Avg. Temp: 64F
Normalized Power for the ride: 260 W.
Amount of coasting: 16% or 39 minutes
Ride time going uphill: 3:28
Ride time going downhill: 39 minutes
Coincidence?: No.
Time spent at or above Lactate Threshold: 95 minutes.
Amount of MexiCAN food eaten after the ride: LOTS!

Okay I'm going to bed now.

Mercy Team Camp Day 1.

2009-02-06T22:12:00.002-06:00

It's "late" and we're up early. I'll be brief.
Our 3 hour ride turned to 5 hours and we didn't get finished until well after dark. We climbed some "hill" that was super hard and really high. Actually, I think it's 2 feet shy of a mountain.

Anyways, it was fun to ride new roads I've never seen before and team is looking good.

I just got an SRM so here are some stats:
Work: 3114 kj
Total ride time: 4:54
Dist: 87 miles
Normalized power for the ride: 240 W.
Time at which I was ready to be done riding: 4 hours.
Time spent coasting: 20% or roughly 1 hour.
Average Temperature: 67F
Average Heart Rate: 13 bpm, which is odd because I wasn't wearing a HRM.

Pictures...... No idea, but I'll see if anyone took any.

TXCX Day 2

2009-01-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

Saturday post Age- Based race:

We went back out to the River Walk for a lazy Saturday afternoon for some more sight seeing/ touring.....

Yes, it really it's more than Hollywood fiction!

We were thirsty, again.

Rock Chalk! An MU alumni offered $100 to have it burned. Someone else offered $500 to take it home. I guess it's worth more hanging in the bar!

Alyson and I decided to go see what the big deal was about the Alamo. I've never been so, so, so... underwhelmed in my entire life. Basically, it was the first battle in the Texas war for independence from Mexico, which they won. Then they were a solo act for a while until the United States asked Texas to join up. They did and that's the story. I just saved you 2 hours of pushing through crowds.

So it took the Mexican Army of thousands least 90 minutes to defeat/ slaughter a hundred or so Texians. Seriously? That long?

Actually, all the Mexicans had to was wait until 9am and the Alamo would have been open. Go figure.......

TXCX: Skill based.

Fawley. He needs to be racing the GP cups or something where he can score some UCI points. The guy can ride. This course was much more fun and flowed very well! A little bit of everything, technical, open, just hard pedaling. I started in 4th, fell to 5th, rebounded and finished in 3rd! Crazy fun race! Alyson was running back and forth on the course yelling time splits and all the usual sayings at CX races. It was awesome to know where everyone was as the 2nd place through 6th place riders were within 50 seconds the entire time. I don't think I ever had more than an 11 second gap on the guy(s) behind me. Stefan Rothe was there showing his International Competition form from the Tour of the South China Sea. He was going so fast in the straights... I wasn't happy about that at all! But the loose corners slowed him just enough for me to creep away towards the end.

The "tight and white" of Source Endurance was easily seen all day and I was able to score a podium place. Also, here I am in a movie (below).

Men's Open
1st	Bryan Fawley	Dallas Racing
2nd	Cody Dean
3rd	Adam Mills
4th	Jeff Park	Solar Eclipse
5th	Stefan Rothe	Mercy Cycling Team
6th	Kevin Koen
7th	Craig Virr	Team Six
8th	Aaron Sinclair	Gulf Coast Cycling Association
9th	Nathan Phillips	Bicycle-Heaven
10th	Jeff Carmody
11th	Ryan Wohlrabe	Bicycle-Heaven
12th	Craig Fitzgerald	The Woodlands Cycling Club
13th	Andrew Beres	Colavita Racing Inc.
14th	Steve Dodge	Dallas Racing
15th	Jeff Patton
16th	Robert Kane	Bicycle-Heaven
17th	Zachary Lytle	Bicycle-Heaven
18th	Francis Hamre	Mesa Cycles Racing Team
19th	Robert Biard	TxTough/Team Hotel San Jose
20th	Eric Jordan	Lone Star Racing Club
21st	Kevin Barton	Joes Pro Bikes

TXCX

2009-01-28T19:36:00.000-06:00

When we last left Adam, he was meandering down to San Antonio, the home of the Space Needle. Some notes of San Antonio:

On I-35, at San Marcos, there's an Outlet Mall the size of Rhode Island. Huge.

I-35 may be the most irritating road to drive on. 68mph, in the fast lane is not cool.

Riverwalk: Is Awesome! Lots of fun, tourist-ey. And really cool at night.

Every place we saw was at least fun, except for the British Pub, Mad Dogs. Apparently they have no idea what a real ID looks like and don't even bother to train their staff. But at least they did threaten to call the police and keep my ID, to which I replied, "if you keep my ID, I'll be calling the police." Anyways, steer clear of that place and you'll be trouble free.

Irish Pub... AWESOME!

Friday Night, prior to TXCX 1 we decided to go out....

The hotel. Apparently, Davie, wasn't a cool enough name for a Hotel, but Priceline kept it cheap. Interesting note: if you park in the hotel lot the cost is $25/ day. If you park 2 blocks away, it's $5/day. Kind of the same as someone paying you $20 to walk 4 blocks.

Good thing we got the Texas Sized Margaritas.... I was really thirsty.

TXCX: Age based race.

This is NOT how you train for CX

But my Mii was awesome. C'mon. Fu Man Chu, Shades (indoors), unibrow, mullet, classy.

TXCX: Age Based.

All I have to say is, "Bryan Fawley." He took off like he was on a dirt bike and never looked back. Only briefly did one guy challenge him, but Bryan was able to pull it out in the end. Meanwhile, I was in 3rd by about 2 minutes, just cruising. Man, was it HOT for CX! Lots of wide open pedaling, the longest sand pit ever, and some technical stuff. Lots of TX guys were riding faster than I was in the open stuff both in practice and during the race. Luckily, I was going about the same speed everywhere. Here's a pic of my car immediately after the race. Note the temperature and date.

Men's Ages 23-34
1st	Bryan Fawley	Dallas Racing
2nd	Cody Dean
3rd	Adam Mills
4th	Zachary Lytle	Bicycle-Heaven
5th	Nathan Phillips	Bicycle-Heaven
6th	James Exum	Moritz Chevrolet Cycling
7th	Jeff Patton
8th	Greg Parham	NRC/PedalMasher
9th	Ryan Haglund	Solar Eclipse
10th	Ray Madolora
11th	Ryan Wohlrabe	Bicycle-Heaven
12th	Laurence Lane
13th	Adam Jones

So that was Saturday.

Adventures in the Lone Star

2009-01-26T18:54:00.000-06:00

I spent a couple of weeks in the TX over the holidays (yeah, I'm still behind in the posting, but I can do that on my blog). So here are some updates of the adventures....

New Year's Eve -24 hours.
My super fantastic girlfriend, Alyson flew into DFW on new year's eve, eve. The next day, we got in the car and drove south, toward Austin, TX- the Big Apple.

NYE:
Met up with the Source Endurance crew for some celebration. Ended up at the party of a client, I think.... From there, it was all, celebrating, Beer Mile (4x 440yd, 1 beer per teammate immediately prior to running.... the final 380yd were basically impossible to run with a tummy full of beer), Congo lines, Krispy Cremes, and noise makers. Just look at the pictures, you'll see.

And here are some pics from the the first few minutes of 2009.

NY-Day.
The day after.....
Alyson and I went all around Austin exploring sightseeing, tourist-ing. Well... at least the few places that were open. We did find a place that served Smores!

Turn the computer sideways. I couldn't figure out how to rotate the picture. Somehow my default picture viewer got changed and it doesn't play nice with blogger.

From there we had dinner with a friend of mine from years ago. Sitting in Joseph Lafico's living room that night, we decided to head to San Antonio for the TXCX championships that weekend. Which provides an excellent prelude to the next post.

Times, they are a Changing.

2009-01-20T00:02:00.000-06:00

Each year, the bitter wind chills of winter end the old and begins each year anew. Spring is the beginnings and summer is fun in the sun, and so the fall is, and was, the season of change. Fall is my favorite of all the seasons. It lets us look back upon all those things that once were and will never be again. All the opportunities seized and all the chances we let slip through our fingers.

It’s interesting to watch as the people-scape of cycling change in this relatively small enclave of the country. Once upon a time I was the young, “up and coming” rider. Cycling has the intrigue and mystique to attract talented individuals from all walks of life. I’ve seen kids racing on bikes older than they are, and I’ve seen kids who are fully supported by their parents and/ or team, riding bikes that surpass the quality of even the best supported riders. Many of these sorts of kids show talent that I envy, as I was probably the slowest Junior in all the country (it’s true, ask some of the veteran guys).

The honor of being "young, up and coming" has been passed down to the new “kids.” The talented youngsters in this area are many and the ability of them is tremendous. They've already done things on junior gears that some riders hope to do someday. In order to keep these kids in the sport they must be encouraged and supported by the community. I was that wide eyed kid watching as the elite men went blazing around a criterium course with reckless abandon. I know they dream of going that fast, and I know that many of them will never make it. But some of them will. And the ones in the Kansas City area that can make it, have the chance to be something special; if not interesting.

Fall Ride: October- ish....

It’s a tradition that myself and Bill Marshall ride a “million miles” every fall. This is a ride that I’ve been especially fond of and I’ll continue to do as long as possible. Basically, it’s a couple of guys that spend that “perfect” fall day, when the leaves change to different shades of gold, reds and oranges, the wind is non-existent, and the temperatures start a bit chilly only to warm to that perfect bike riding temperature, riding as far as we can before we either fall apart or the sun goes down. If we work it just right, both happen at the same time.

The interesting part is that over the years different people have accompanied us on this ride. But not once, to date, has anyone ever been invited to this ride more than once. Reasons change; moods change; people change, but the ride always stays the same. It’s our ride. My only rule is that we have to take a route I’ve never been on each time. So far, so good.

This year was no different, yet it was. 6.5 hours. Myself, Bill and Joe Schmalz. I believe by the time it was over, there were 3 water stops, and one Goodcents stop at the end of a 118 mile day. Perfect weather, as always.

CX:

Usually I start the CX season slow and end it going fairly fast. Well, until the brutal temperatures derail any ability I have to go fast. Some riders thrive on horrific conditions to get good results. I can ride well when it's bad, but I'm a bit hit or miss. I need it to be “sort of warm.” This means that by the time CX Nationals rolls around, the temperatures are so cold I can’t even really get warm, nonetheless get warmed up for a race, as was the case this year. Such has been the case for years.

This year the CX scenery has changed dramatically with the introduction of a few riders. Some have been around for years, others just haven’t raced CX, and still others just haven’t been. I think that CX in the Kansas City area has a few riders that really cause a stir most anywhere in the country. Perhaps not in the professional ranks, but definitely could score some UCI points here and there. Indeed, the winds of change are blowing in the KS.

Joe Schmalz and Chris Wallace (1 and 3 from left to right): Two kids new to riding at the elite level. They have the ability and skills to ride fast, and ride fast they do! Chris is off to Jr. Worlds after some awesome riding this season at the local, regional and national level. Meanwhile, Joe is preparing for the 2009 road season. What'll happen? Who knows where these two are going? I only hope to be able to help, or at least have a good seat while I watch.

Brian Jensen (2nd from left): Brian is now an engineer working for TradeWind Energy. Which, I'm guessing, removes him from the list of full time professional bike racer. While that's a great career move for Brian, it definitely raises the bar for regional and local races. No more easy wins. Ever. Of course this means that Brian has brought to bear his abilities on the CX scene. All I have to say is, "Ouch!" Get a strong road rider with some off-road skill and you have a fast CX rider.

Cameron Chambers: Same sort of deal as Brian. Now races mostly local and regional events. Also riding CX and fast!

These CX new comers are putting pressure on the "standard" CX results regionally. Sure Steve Tilford still wins when he's around and not notching UCI points. Hell, that may never change. Otherwise, it used to be that a rider as formidable as Shadd Smith would simply need to show up and not have a mechanical to win the local races. Those days are gone and while I'm sure Shadd enjoyed them, he is now pushed to the limit every CX race he does. I can only recall one race where Shadd was able to ride away and enjoy a comfortable win this year. I think it's good for everyone when the races are undecided on the start line. And it definitely elevates the level of performance needed to win races, which is good for the sport in general.

Election:

It’s not that America wanted change. Change is inherently “scary” and therefore "bad." But let’s face it. In a time where the majority of Americans thought the country was on the wrong track many people didn’t think they had any choice but to pick change. After all, look where the current trajectory has us.......

So now we have a new president, new beginning and a new outlook on how to deal with the problems facing us. My only concern is that we're in such a hole it may not be recoverable (is that a word?) in four years. Obama certainly has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Although, I think we may all be expecting too much from him. He may change the world, but he won't work miracles.

Career Change: Maybe not so much of a career change as a career beginning. I'm now a full time consultant for Source Endurance. We do consulting/ coaching/ guidance for anyone athletically inclined. Especially anyone involved in endurance sports. It's a great move for me. A job I like doing and a full time position. The KC area is woefully under-served in this respect so hopefully, I'll be able to help people reach performance or fitness goals they never thought were possible. I don't like hearing the, "I'm just missing that little bit." or " I wish I could have just hung on a little bit longer." or anything of the sort. Truth be told, that "little bit" is very hard to find. But that's what I'm trained to do and it's what I'm very talented at doing. Click here for the newsletter.

And one last word about the coming of spring and the new beginning. it's just a poem, but I liked it for some reason..

Clockwork. The clock infinitely repeats itself. Although the clock may look now as it once has, time has never been here before and never will return again. Time is never duplicated. The clock is always revolving, constantly repeating, yet never the same.

Professional Cycling is a clean sport compared to.....

2009-01-09T15:49:00.006-06:00

Professional baseball. I'm tired of hearing all the jabs about how bike racers are dirty cheaters. The bottom line: If you hold ANY other professional sport to same UCI, and USOC, and WADA, USADA doping standards, the truth about these sports will surface quickly.

Evidence #1. In the NCAA BCS finale, it was stated that Florida's star running back, Percy Harvin, was given a pain killer injection for a nagging injury. I'm fairly certain that this would not be legal in a UCI race.

Evidence #2: NY Times today.
Amphetamines, which increase energy and reaction time, have been around baseball for decades as a way to get through a grueling 162-game season. In 2006, three years after baseball started testing for steroids, it began testing for the substances. The first time a player tests positive he is referred to counseling and is not suspended or publicly identified, a second positive test results in a 25-game suspension. Only two players have been suspended for positive amphetamine tests - Neifi Perez and Mike Cameron - and two others - Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds - have been linked to first time positives in published reports.

For the full article, click here. Remember, it's easy to have a "clean" sport if you never test, and/or don't release the results of the testing to the public.

End of an Era. Whew.

2009-01-08T10:30:00.004-06:00

It doesn't really matter what I think about Dub-ya. The bottom line is that when an foreign, world renowned, news agency dedicates an entire web-page to this something is terribly wrong. This isn't some random internet blog-inator ranting. It's the BBC!

The 'misunderestimated' president?

Thank gawd Jan. 20 is coming quickly. The embarrasment, in it's current form at least, will be over.

KCCX Day 4

2008-12-31T23:03:00.001-06:00

Single Speed Race
58 degrees, windy and at 8am. Need I say more. These guys raced in the worst weather last year (-1000F windchill), so the fact that they got the highest temperatures of the year was poetic justice.

Single Speed finish + a few minutes
"Cold Front" rolls in. It's never good when you see purple clouds in December. Never. Grey is cold, Green is Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, but purple is just frigid. Temperatures fell 8 degrees in the first 6 minutes. Or was it the other way around? It doesn't matter. At the start of the Elite race, 22F. Windchill: 6 degrees, or gawd am cold!

Elite Natz!
The best of the best view this as the only event. Myself.... I've already had a top 10 in a national championship this year so everything else is gravy.

I'm not so big on cold weather. Actually, I hate it. If my hands go numb, I usually race like hell. Other guys on the team ride very well when it's cold. Steve, Shadd, Bill, Joseph. I like it when it's HOT!

I'm number 109 which means I'm in nearly the back row. Sort of like the 30-34 race except that the guys here are all elite, as in many of them have UCI points and many others were close on many occasions. We're all cold, with many riders keeping the thermals and tights on till the "1 minute" warning. A tornado of clothing leaving riders towards the sidelines and we're off!

Nothing. No gas in the tank. I couldn't pedal, couldn't steer, couldn't breathe. It was just a bad, bad, bad. I got crashed 2x in the first 1/2 of the first lap and was OTB. Awww, hail. To add insult to injury, my bike didn't shift and wouldn't stay in gear, which meant that I probably had a bent derailler hanger. Bike change.

Got on the "B" bike and it was a total buzz kill. When you go from a 16 pound bike to a 19.5 pound bike, it's never going to feel fast. As I was pitting, I told Joseph I was going to need the light bike back. After all, there was lots of climing....

By the end of it all, I got pulled about 1/2 way through the race. But not before having some fun. The WONDERFUL part about the home town crowd is if you're doing as crappy as me, you get beer hand-ups! One word: Awesome.

So that's my story from KCCX 2008. I guess the next couple of years it's going to be in Bend Oregon. While I'm sure they're excited, I'm going to miss a national championship being in the KS every year since 2005 (2005-2007 Collegiate National Road Champs, 2007-2008 CX National Champs- KCCX).

Holiday Season Nearly Over... FINALLY!!!

2008-12-30T23:59:00.003-06:00

The Holidays have mostly come and gone. It all started with Thanksgiving, with a whirlwind of holidays, and racing. The "real" Cyclo-cross (CX) season is upon us and it's time to start riding fast. "Real" meaning late season and close to Nationals. The races that usually matter most and leave a final memory of how your 2008 CX races really went. Strange how that works. If you race poorly in the early season, and that's how it usually is for me, then improve your performance dramatically in the late season, you'll remember that as how well you performed.

But if you reverse the scenario, then the season was a disaster. Hmmm......

Okay so the late season goes a little something like this:

Thanksgiving: Stuff yourself, gravy on everything followed by pie, then more pie.

48 hours.

Jingle Cross: C1-C2-C2 for 2009!

one week.

Missouri State CX and Hermann CX part Deux

4 days

KCCX
6 days
Fort Worth for Xmas!
New Year's in Austin
TX CX Champs: Jan 3 and 4.
Home and relax... riiiight.

If you are reading this then:

KCCX Day 3

2008-12-30T00:03:00.000-06:00

Okay, I've finally got some time to finish these posts up. Here we go.....

Masters 30-34.
Getting home and to bed at midnight sure made that 7am alarm go off very early. It's a bit like groundhog day at this point. Get up, eat something HOT for breakfast. It's winter now, I've got all day to be cold, why would I want to start the day like that? Make lots of piping hot coffee. Throw my race bag into the back of Matt's Man Truck with all the bikes and head out.

By the time I got to the races and got my stuff ready to go, Joe was just starting the Men 19-23 race. He ended up riding to 18th place which is awesome considering the competition. Intersting observation though... At the 35 minute mark everyone in the top 20 absolutely blew apart! Lap times got 15-25 seconds slower and all the small groups shattered. That's how hard the race was. Incredible. I rode next to Joe during parts of the race, giving him updates on how guys were riding. It was probably the best warm up I've done in a long time. That's forshadowing....

Masters 30-34.
Back row. I shouldn't even have had a number, just the initials DFL would have worked. The number series started at 500. I was number 2232. Ha! I utilized three different techniques for this race. 1) Jed Schneider: I lined up a full row behind the field. This allows me to clip in and get a running start at the other guys waiting for everyone in front of them. It also gives me a moment to look for any lanes that may develop. 2) Jensen: I went flying up the right side of the road, on the shoulder and away from any slow starters getting in my way. Then avoided a nasty crash across the finish line and into the grass. 3) Stolte: drive around guys like they're traffic barrels, don't be nice. I probably was in the top 25 or so guys coming off the pavement, which helped. Now is when the race gets hard.....

Groups were forming and fracturing, only to reform +/- a few guys. People were jumping and scrambling for better position. I made it a point to hit the, "GO!" button for the first lap and see where I was. At the end of lap 1, I heard I was top 20 and moving towards the group going for 13th- 18-something. Ahead of them by about 4-6 seconds was a group going for 8-12th. That's when I started noticing the absolutely incredible home-town crowd!

Some athletes claim to not hear crowd noise, some say they can spot a certain someone in a mass of humanity. The crowds weren't that big, relative to what was to be on Sunday, but I heard people yelling for me everywhere on the course. Thanks to all! Your support enabled me to perform that one bit extra. You allowed me to race with emotion, with the desire to excel beyond what I've done in CX before. I could not have done it without everyone!

At the end of lap 2 I had caught up to my team mate Matt Ankney who did me a magnificent favor by hitting it, full gas, across the finish stretch to put me on the tail end of the 13-18 group. Still the 8-12 group was in front of me dangling. Close, but farther than I would have liked. I jumped across on a steep uphill section. Why not? I wanted to do well, the crowd was going crazy for me, and what did I have to lose? Might as well try. I jumped, and my Scott CX bike flew across the gap on my super light wheels. Wow! I made it to this top 10 group. Myself making it the 8-11th group. Two guys were on the same team, motoring and making it a bit difficult to follow. The cumulative effect of the slinky in CX when you're at full throttle is brutal.

I made some attempts to be in second place but the guys weren't having any of it. There was a little bumping but nothing out of sorts. Actually, all of us raced very clean and very hard. The way sport should be. I decided, after about 2 laps with this going on, that I just needed to attack the two guys and see if I could separate them. Maybe I could even drop the other one too. I did drop the first of the two team mates, and the other one, but still had one with me. We rode a good race, unable to drop each other. Until two to go, when the fourth guy came back to us in what had to be an amazing recovery. In the end, he got away and I was racing a very good rider for 9th place.

I guess the important thing about CX is knowing how to ride to the maximum of your strengths while exploiting the weakness of your opponent. And that's what I did. My opponent was bigger than me and had a good jump on the flats. I'm not known for sprinting, but I can find a way..... I jumped him on a slight uphill section about 250m from the final asphalt section, went around a fast corner, up some stairs, around a hairpin corner where I saw Jeremy Haynes as I said, "It hurts," and finished 9th place.

At the finish line was Promoter/ CX team director Bill Marshall, happy about the performance. I was so exhausted I basically collapsed. And that is probably the hardest I've ever raced in my life.

Here's a pic of the result sheet. They line you up by number order. 500 was the first.

KCCX Day 2; Friday.

2008-12-18T21:57:00.002-06:00

And that's a wrap! I'm closing the book on the 2008 season. Time to relax a bit and focus on the job, life and all those little chores around the home that have been getting put off for weeks, months..... since last winter.

Day 2. Working in Pit row.
My neighbor has been checking out some new cars so we went to watch in his new hottness (test drive style, ahem).

The slimy sketchy conditions gave way to hard pack surfaces over the course of this day. Temps stayed in the favorable 40s F range so that bone chilling cold wasn't a factor as it was last year. I watched as a good friend yielded her Masters crown to another competitor. I think she should be proud of her 3rd place. It's true that you always want to win and it's true that you can have a "bad day" or a "good day" or whatever. It's also possible to ride a near perfect race at the maximum of your ability and just get beat by someone who's better. Once she pointed that out to me, then life was back to good. Her 3rd place was well deserved and everyone except 2 people would covet that bronze. Onward!

Next Steve did what Steve always does. Wins a Stars and Bars jersey. Here's Steve's account and that on Velonews. I worked the pit for Steve, which really meant that I got to enjoy a beer and watch the race as no one really took a bike the whole race.

Myself, and the Tilford crew stopped by the Trek Stores KC/ SRAM party to do some meet and greet for the sponsors and SRAM. There was a good crowd and some fantastic beer to boot. The holidays are my favorite season and it all begins with Thanksgiving... (I've got a post that wraps this all up, someday I'll get it up). Some of the guys from the road team were there, including Shadd Smith. It's good to meet up with everyone again. But the only tricky part is that there are national championships going on, so you can't live it up too much.

KCCX. Day 1. 'Mer-cans can't even win their own races!

2008-12-11T22:10:00.005-06:00

One down, two to go. I've written about 7-8 posts in the last 6 weeks but they're not done and it's time to move on to my own personal coverage of KCCX. I'll get them up in time, but now is the time for now.... On to the races!

Pre race: Yow-zas! It's f-f-f-freezing at 730am! 15 degrees and the world is dark and frozen solid. 740am and Joe and I are driving the Matt's Man Truck full of bikes to the races. Matt had a meeting so he was running late which required me to get all his stuff ready for the race. Makes for a bit stressful pre race, but all the running around did help me "warm up." Right?.....

Not so much the "B U29."
Joe and I started in the 4th and 5th row. Coming off the pavement, we were 4-5 or 5-6, somehting like that. John Giles gets the hole shot, which ensures him a good place and everyone else is left chasing. Joe gets held up by a crash, then falls himself. I fall, then get held up by a crash, then fall again later. All that in the first lap.
After Lap 1, all the frozen hard ground loosens up and turns to instant slime. Each corner that I was flying through before, now is snotty and slimy. I fell 3 more times but managed to ride myself into the top 10, after each of those crashes. I still managed to throw myself on the ground a couple more times and did a spectacular job of sliding (good pun) out of the top 10, finishing in the 20's.
Meanwhile, Joe had a hell of a ride, scoring himself a 6th place and having yet another good ride on what could be the early start to a breakout year. But the ride of the day goes to Shadd Shriner, a Physical Therapy Student from KU Med. Shadd's a mountain bike rider with bike driving skills the likes I haven't seen first hand in a while. I was able to go up hill fast, even passing Shadd a couple of times. But the guy just goes down hill in the slime fast! If he hadn't gotten a poor start and held up by crashes I think the win was in his ability.
The win went to Robin Eckmann of Germany! What?! A German winning the 'Mer-can B race? Well, it appears that wasn't the only 'Mer-can race won by a non-'Mer-can.

Results

B 30+
I only know one guy who could start from the back row, ride through everyone, and be in first place by the top of the hill. Brian Jensen (from Denmark), and that's exactly what he did. When the final lap bell rang, Brian had decimated the field and still had time to finish a cold one before standing on the podium. Well done Brian!
Results

Chris Wallace, the Manchild

2008-12-09T13:02:00.001-06:00

KCCX/Verge Rider Chris Wallace has been awarded a spot to attend the Eurocross Camp December 18^th, 2008 – January 3^rd, 2009. Chris has traveled the country this year to better prepare his cycling skills and results to become eligible to face the worlds toughest competition. Chris is the currently leader for the USGP Series in the Junior 17-18 with only two races remaining in Portland, Oregon on December 6^th and 7^th. Chris’s name will join the ranks of the Nations best Junior and Elite Riders. On behalf of the entire KCCX/Verge team and sponsors we ask that you make a donation to assist the Wallace family and team help send Chris across the pond to Belgium. Thank you for your time and support; it is greatly appreciated.

Help Chris Wallace get to Belgium!

CX Nats Course

2008-11-25T18:41:00.008-06:00

Here's the preview video from a race we had in October:

And here is the final revision. A great shout out to Jeremy Haynes and Boss Cross. I've known Jeremy for years and I believe he was a key instigator of the entire Cyclo-cross (CX) scene here in the KC, Lawrence, Topeka area. Anytime there's an "underground culture" movement, you can usually trace it to a few and incredibly enthusiastic people who not only liked to watch and participate themselves, but who are able to impress this excitement upon others. This charisma and ability to influence others intrigues a few, who spread it even more. Such was the case when CX was in its infancy in KC back in 2000 (at least in my world). All that I know is that I went from riding long rides in the cold to riding long rides in the cold and then racing this "new" discipline. And now, there's a full schedule of CX events within 50 miles of my house!

In contrast, other areas are just getting started in CX. Still others have not yet had the necessary catalysts step forward.

Thanks to Jeremy and others like Mark Thomas (the man behind the 2000 CX Nationals in KC) CX is here for a long time... Who knows... these two could have influenced those in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska and begun the CX craze there too.

Zero Traction and Beers, and previews.

2008-11-21T23:09:00.008-06:00

A bunch of us had dinner and enjoyed some fabulous Free State beers before watching the world Premeire of "Zero Traction."

Keith Walberg and the folks at Gizmo did a great job of creating a documentary/ video diary of the 2007 CX Natz. You can Purchase Zero Traction Here. There's lots of footage of any and all KC area racers. Including that of most folks that have lived in the KC area, once upon a time (that's you Jed).

GBR: Rule #32

2008-11-11T19:53:00.002-06:00

If you crash during a race, and aren't hurt, get up! The race isn’t over yet and wallowing in self pity won’t help you get your road rash to the finish line any faster. There’s plenty of time to dress wounds later. Right now, there’s a bike race in progress.

Austin, ghosts, goblins, and CX oh my.

2008-11-07T16:00:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've put any sort of new post up. Here goes:

Austin. I went back to Austin to see some friends, do some orientation and participate in LAF Challenge. It's a cancer research fundraiser bike ride. For anyone who is on the fence about going down there, it's incredible! Well run ride with lots inspiration. Indeed, many of the volunteers are Survivors and are most grateful for everything you do.The coffee shop outside Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop.

Dell's Angels Bar at mile 30-ish.

Coffee and Beer (behind the barista) at the final SAG stop.

Also: I went to some Halloween parties in the last two weekends. This has to be my favorite Holiday! I was an "Identity Crisis" in Austin and a rocker on the real Halloween. Or as a neighbor put it, "lookin' good." I should have an entire slide show below, I hope.

Now to CX, I've raced a few cross races this year and I think the score is: 4-3 in my favor. I'm riding about where I was last year which is good considering everything. I'll try and find some pics, but I managed to flat twice which basically means you can't really go anywhere but backwards, fast when that happens. I rode around with Steve Tilford for about a lap before crashing, then rode behind the group racing for second for about 2 laps before flatting for the second time. Overall, I felt good, but my tires had some problems holding air in them.

Spin Class is here!

2008-10-30T10:43:00.004-06:00

Sunflower Bike Shop and Star Signs and Graphics Present:

Winter Spin Class Training Series

With

Adam Mills

Beginning Thursday, Nov

13 at: STAR.

801 E. 9^th Street

Coach Mills

Adam Mills, M.S.Ed.

785.842.2753

-USA Cycling: Expert Coach

-Multiple years of NRC racing

-M.S.Ed. Clinical Exercise Science

-Published numerous times, www.thepaceline.com.

-Member, HRRC/ Trek Stores Elite Cycling Team

Adam has the core knowledge, enthusiasm, and communication skills to motivate, coach, and train you to improve your athletic prowess.

Adam’s coaching method will help you reach your full potential through focus on physical, behavioral and strategic coaching.

The Training

The Winter Training Series will improve your fitness and maximize your winter training regardless of athletic aspirations, ability or experience. Some of the elements the class will focus on:

-Improve overall fitness.

-Develop your aerobic energy system.

-Increase endurance.

-Improve repeatability of maximal efforts.

-Reduce recovery time.

-Improve knowledge of cycling and fitness.

-Educate the athlete where appropriate.

-Help athlete to create and achieve goals.

Regardless of your ability, Adam’s individually tailored programs utilize principles of exercise physiology. This will help you to reach your full potential. Based on your individual goals, Adam will coach, advise, inspire, and motivate you throughout the Winter.

The Details

The Winter Training Series will begin with a fitness assessment during the first class

-Classes begin-

Thursday, November 15 and will run every Monday and Thursday evening 630-800pm for 30+ sessions through March 6.

-Pedals are turning at 6:30, and will run until 8pm. Please be early!

-UPDATE!! All Classes will be held at Star this year (801 E. 9^th Street). Bring your trainer and leave it here for easy setup!

-Tuition is $130. Dues paying members of KU Cycling are eligible for the “College Discount.” Pro-rated Tuition is available.

-You will need: your motivated self, your bike, trainer or rollers, a heart rate monitor (average and max HR are great), water or energy drink, and a towel, or two, or three…..

Equipment is available at Sunflower Bike Shop for purchase. Ask about the “Spin Class Deals.”

"Grad School Field Day 2008"

2008-10-16T22:26:00.012-06:00

Ahh yes, Field Day. The day where the overwhelming theme is, "Recess!" We all remember that day. Some would dread it, some would embrace it, some really didn't care. I was one who embraced the idea of competition on the not so grand scale. Whether it was the 50 yard dash, the water balloon toss, or even the Flip Cup. The bottom line is, "winners win."

Such was the case as I was invited to the 2nd? Annual Grad School Field Day, 2008. The competition was fierce, the beer was good and the prizes were Excellent! As you can see, I was the winner of the "Ghetto Sack Race" which was renamed, "Socio-Economically Challenged Sack Race" to be politically correct.

Great care should be taken to avoid dehydration. This basket on my cruiser bike holds 2 Growlers full of Octoberfest beer from Free State Brewery.

The turn-around point for all the events.

Water balloon toss. My team started well and were in the mix but narrowly missed a medal.

Sean showing off the hardware.

Patrick IS, kind of a big deal.

Dizzy Bat is indeed more fun with a couple of adult beverages.

The Three Legged Race shatters hopes and dreams, yet someone will always emerge victorious!

Preliminary round of the Ghetto Sack Race.

GBR (Ghetto Bike Racing) Rule number next one:

2008-10-02T11:00:00.000-06:00

GBR:

Two water bottles maximum allowed per training ride or race. If the temperature is not hot, you only need one. Water is an unneeded item for the true Ghetto Bike Racer.

Livestrong Challenge 2008

2008-09-29T22:15:00.000-06:00

http://austin08.livestrong.org/adammills

The Lance Armstrong Foundation unites people to fight cancer, believing that unity is strength, knowledge is power, and attitude is everything.

Through the dollars and awareness that we raise, we can inspire and empower individuals, and we can make life better for the more than 10 million Americans affected by cancer.

* $10 provides information packets to 16 cancer survivors to offer support, inspiration and hope.

* $50 provides 35 people cancer survivorship information, worksheets to organize their fight against cancer and support, inspiration and hope from other cancer survivors.

* $155 provides a cancer survivor one-on-one direct support through the LIVESTRONG SurvivorCare program.

* $250 provides LIVESTRONG Survivorship Notebooks to 27 cancer survivors.

Please support me as I make a difference in the cancer fight through my participation in the LIVESTRONG Challenge. Thank you!

http://austin08.livestrong.org/adammills

Going in Reverse at the Diamond Blackfan CX

2008-09-28T22:06:00.002-06:00

Lookout EVERYONE, that guy's going backwards!

Yup, that's about how it felt at the Diamond Blackfan CX race today....... Reverse.

I couldn't even get out of my own way. Ha!

The course had lots of turns and I'm usually fine in the turns. I was in 4th place on the sidewalk when the "go" was said. From there it just went bad. No power, no rhythm, no fun.... I think I was dead last after lap one. I recomposed myself. Not really, but I told myself I wasn't quitting and that I was having a horrible day. I just started riding. I couldn't even go hard enough to get winded. That's a rarity in CX racing, so I knew it was going to get ugly.

In the end, I passed a couple of people that had mechanicals/ physicals. I guess some people were melting down in the heat. I like heat and hot CX races should be good for me. Today, I don't think I was going hard enough to melt or really to fall apart. Game over. Score so far:

CX Season 2, Adam 0.

Cross Season 1; Adam 0: Hermann Lightless Cross

2008-09-22T22:12:00.012-06:00

Expectations were high, bikes were clean, and team kits were fresh out of the plastic. But by the end, egos were crushed, breaks were vaporized, and bikes blended with mud. Yes. Cross is humbling. Very much indeed.

Hermann Lightless Cross
We jump in the Shad-juar and we're off... again. Myself, Joe, Shadd, and John Giles (the star in my CX practice movie). But, just to be a bit under the radar, as if the 3 bikes on top of the car wasn't a huge attention getter, it was decided that we should be on the down low...... You know, FBI style.

I'm racing for a new CX team this year: KCCX. It's a CX team put together by Bill Marshall and KLM Marketing to promote the sport and 2008 Cross Nationals being in Kansas City. Expectations were high going into this race. We had 4 guys on the front line so we better at least start off the season looking good.

The course: Start line, 100m, U-Turn, 40m, 1,2,3,4 U-turns back to back to b- get the idea, 10m, U-turn to 2 barriers, around a hut, down a screaming fast hill, 3 more U-turns, MUD like this, 200m pavement, U-Turn, more pavement, Stairs, finish line. Oh the "Stairs" video is from the race.

I forgot to mention, the whole thing was at night! Yup, first CX race at night! How cool is that?! It hides the faces of agonizing pain I'm making the entire time. Ha.

I got my first ever call up in a CX race.
I started out okay, better than I ever really have, 5th into the first U-Turn, which meant I had good placing until the course opened up again in about 1/4 a lap. I sort of tensed up on the downhill and lost some spots, got them back and was sitting at 7th at the end of lap 2.

That's when the problems started.... Crashed into the barriers, I think someone ran into me from the inside? Got back on terms, only to have mud shoot into both of my eyes later in the lap! Shit! (literally, it was) Riding at night on a U-Turn infested course without the ability to see is equal to a blind man driving during rush hour traffic in Dallas! I lost about 8 spots and was sitting 15th. Totally gassed, and demoralized.

I decided I should at least ride around for the remainder of the race just for a workout. That's when I noticed I wasn't losing time to any of my immediate competitors up the road (thanks to a tow from Bill Marshall). So, I went back into race mode and started really riding again. Caught a couple, a couple had mechanicals, a couple crashed and I'm in 8th place. Through all this Jeff Winkler was right on me, forcing me to race the entire time. Normally, that's good as I need to race the entire time. But tonight, it was tough. Jeff is an excellent rider and every move I made was neutralized. However, in the end I barely managed to hold off Jeff for the final spot. Check Results here. Now, on to the next step...

Clean Up.
Bad. My bike had probably 7-8 pounds of mud and grass caked on. Now I need to overhaul the thing.... Blah.

My synopsis of Cross..... Hard. Really hard. Humbling. Embarrassing. I forgot how long 60+1 is in a Cross race, especially if you're actually racing! Oh and I HATE U-Turns, but the promoter didn't really have much of a choice other than U-Turns or 3 minute laps. The rains of last week (Hurricane Ike I believe) flooded the better part of the park and we were lucky to even have the race at all. I don't turn on grass fast yet. What happened to those days where I would slide out on purpose? Time to relearn bike driving skills. I'm not fit for CX at all! I couldn't even race for 3 laps (14 minutes) without going into melt down mode. Apparently, I have some work to do.....

The race was, overall, excellent. The best was made from a crappy situation with the flooding and it was a cruel reminder to everyone that there is work to be done.

Josh Johnson: You seem to have corrected your slow starting issues from last year. Great ride, you were my "favorite pic" in this race.

Bill Stolte: Ride of the day. Sorry Josh. Bill started in DFL and was in the top 10 on a tight, technical course before the first lap was over. He did it the way bike racers do, by going flat out and taking risks. 4th place.

Joe Schmalz: In the top 10, started DFL +1, but decided it was too easy with all that air in his tires... then he realized that flat tires don't roll so good. But he DID have the 5th fastest lap of the night.

One improvement: I would have liked this race to have been in the middle of the afternoon. Not so much for the lighting thing, but for the Hermann thing. I don't think I talked to anyone who was staying overnight. I would have appreciated the opportunity to clean up, and go wine tasting all evening. Perhaps for the MO state CX championships, there could be a more "tourism friendly" schedule.

Get Ready!

2008-09-20T01:13:00.005-06:00

http://stevetilford.com

Film courtesy of Gizmo Pictures

Sometimes "Graceful" just doesn't happen.

2008-09-18T23:46:00.005-06:00

Ah, Cross Practice...... graceful, isn't it?

It has BEGUN!

2008-09-15T22:02:00.002-06:00

It's Cyclo Cross Season!!!!! Time to break out that funny looking road bikes with the knobby tires and start putting them to the test. Dukes of Hazzard style. I can't wait. Can you?

Just Call it a Comeback!

2008-09-09T20:34:00.005-06:00

Yup, you heard it here. Lance is racing again. It's late and I'm tired so I'm just shooting writing, not really even proofing or anything. Okay, here we go!

The timing is odd, at best. Lance is probably the most widely accused doper in all of sports. BUT he's never once tested positive for anything. Anything! Strange right? Is it possible anyone can be that good? Just ask this Jamaican as he demolished the best runners in the world. I guess, this time he's coming back and making every one of his blood tests open to the public in an unprecedented act of transparency.

But WHY the comeback? How does racing bikes actually promote cancer research and improved care? Does he just want to ride fast again? Does he just want to give Astana the ammo it needs to ensure that the ASO can't possibly exclude them from the Tour de France? Does he just want something that will keep him entertained?

My only hope is that he is making a true comeback. I have a special appreciation for sport and sport performed at the highest level of competition. I don't want to see Lance do what Michael Jordan did when he returned, for the third time to NBA basketball and played for the Washington Wizards. It was phenomenal to watch a man seize command of his sport, claim victory and walk away knowing he was the best. However, the return of a King who is no longer able to lead by example, or improve his team, is a true disappointment. I hope, Lance will be able to defy what "most" research studies say, which is that he is too far out of his prime to be and effective athlete. I hope that Lance realizes that he's the only rider with something to lose by returning to the Tour de France. I hope.....

COFFEE!! Support for the previous GBR rule!

2008-09-04T21:39:00.008-06:00

Seriously everyone. Coffee! I just read a study that basically says:

Caffeine(8mg/kg of body mass) ingested with Carbohydrate(4g/kg of body mass) over 3 hours improves "muscle glycogen resynthesis" (pronounced "recovery") when compared to carbs alone.

How does this help you and me? Well......

Someone who weighs 150lbs should eat a Powerbar immediately following training/ racing and another one each hour for 3 hours. ALSO, drink a Tall Starbucks cup of coffee (not a latte or any of that other expensive stuff) right after the training/ racing and follow it with another Tall Starbucks coffee 2 hours later and BAM! The best recovery EVER recorded in a lab! This would be especially helpful for Shadd Smith and Steve Tilford (go Google alerts).

Here's the low down for all you disbelievers to look it up on your own.

David J. Pedersen, Sarah J. Lessard, Vernon G. Coffey, Emmanuel G. Churchley, Andrew M. Wootton,They Ng, Matthew J. Watt, and John A. Hawley. High rates of muscle glycogen resynthesis after exhaustive exercise when carbohydrate is coingested with caffeine. J Appl Physiol 105: 7–13, 2008.

Ghetto Bike Racing: GBR

2008-09-03T21:43:00.005-06:00

Next Rule:

Coffee. Nothing else to say.

Special thanks to Ben Coles for the wonderful picture.

Fall, CX, training?

2008-08-24T14:55:00.003-06:00

So it's almost time to start thinking about jumping off bikes and running... wow. Already?

I've got some very interesting ideas about training for CX that I'm virtually positive have not been used or implemented by anyone. The "general consensus" is that to train for CX, you train for time trials and you're, "good to go." I don't think that's the most effective way to do it. I've got some ideas and have been coaching/ training (depending on your definition, right Steve?) some other riders to really be able to, "go fast." Hopefully, it'll pay off.

In the meantime, I'm resting up for the Gateway Cup. I've never done this race as rested as I should be so this could be very, very fun.

GBR: More words to race by....

2008-08-22T16:15:00.002-06:00

When the odds of crashing are, "higher than average," old team kits/ skin suit should be worn. Skin suits are virtually worthless after the current sponsor year is over. Wear it during risky scenarios.

Tour of KC: What goes around comes around.....

2008-08-17T23:04:00.000-06:00

Brian Jensen: "He's world class and doesn't even know it." Those were the words spoken by a very good bike racer known and admired by many.

Pete Grieg has done a great job with this event over the years. I remember racing it every year since my first year racing as a junior. Since then it's been one of my favorites, bar none. The races are all designed, coincidentally or not, so that the strongest, toughest bike racer is able to win. Hilly, technical and just plain hard are the name of the game in this series. The crowds are rowdy and it's close to home so I get to sleep in my own bed.

Difficult parcors play right into the hands of the strongmen and this is the backyard of the now 5 time defending champion Brian Jensen. Brian made us all look like amateurs, this last weekend. It seemed as though he was able to just ride away at will. Although, he was tired as he admitted to me a few days later. This means he is human and he does have limits.... i.e. hope for anyone racing against him.

A few months ago I was able to write about how the HRRC/ Trek Stores team was able to out maneuver Brian at the Hillsboro Roubaix Road Race. That was some fine riding by everyone on the team and Brian handled the defeat at the hands of his former teammates with grace. I think the most important reason I savored the moment was that I knew, at some point, the tables would turn and we would be the ones watching Brian on the top step of the podium. That's exactly what happened at ToKC.

We tried a few different things to win the stages, but the bottom line was that Brian Jensen deserves to be the 5 time defending champion. He won all three stages in style and not once did he have to sprint more than one other person to win a stage. Incredible.

The big surprise of the weekend came in the form of Chris Hall. Chris has been racing for a few years and has only recently started to reach his potential. Chris was the only other person to hang onto Brian in Saturdays Cliff Drive Classic- the hardest 50 mile race in all of America. Not once have I ever wished that the race was longer. Chris got a second place this day, which may be a big coming out party for him. We'll see......

Shadd Smith on CBS (aka: National Television)

2008-08-15T17:51:00.005-06:00

The best part, is the NATIONAL exposure for the team! I'm thinking the brief segment was watched by more people than ever saw any sort of domestic professional bike race, actually any bike race including the Tour de France (they mostly just watch the 12 second blurb on the local news). This is because the Early Show is watched by the mainstream audience that most professional cycling teams fail or forget to market towards (with the exception of Rock Racing who it seems like everyone knows about).

Also, note the light blue and white jersey. It belongs to Source Endurance, the company of some good friends, Stefan Rothe, Derick Williamson , and Dave Wenger.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Shadd is still in the September 2008 issue of Outside Magazine. Page 96.
On anther note. This is my first attempt to embed video into my blog. How cool is this, huh?

GBR: Rule number next one.

2008-08-12T10:43:00.002-06:00

Ghetto Bike Racing Code of Conduct:

"Crash kits" will be stocked with at least one prescription pain killer, and beer/ liquor.

Why would anyone want to fall down and not have something available to immediately ease the pain? Sure we can't really keep morphine and the really good stuff in the kit, but we can make sure there's some sort of respectable pain killer there.

Crossin’ it up at the Elk Grove Criteriums

2008-08-08T00:01:00.001-06:00

So here I am, driving back from Chicago. I’m getting pretty good at the I-70 to I-35 to I-80 (not very much fun with all the tractor trailers) to I-88 process. This time, however, Chris Hall and I came armed with an atlas, the race bible, fuzz detector, and an IPod adapter. Ready, set, GO!

It’s strange how the realm of racing works. Racers go in and out form, where that “super fitness” is always on the fingertips, but never quite within grasp. You want to train, but you’re exhausted. You want to race, but you’re sick. You go race, only to find that the form is lacking so you ride and race more in search of the fitness you thought you had. In reality, you’re probably on great form and just need a bit of a break to rest and rejuvenate yourself.

Racers also go in and out of motivation. This demon is much more serious. Obviously racing is a stressor. It takes effort and energy to make the plans, travel, race and travel home. Throw in some stress from the “real world” and all of a sudden racing becomes something that can become tiresome fairly easily. Ask most racers and they’ll say, “I want to race, but I just don’t want to travel.” That’s about average.

I just raced the last 5 days of Super Week. Fun, fast, faster and Ludicrous Speed! were the name of the game. While I wasn’t really a factor in the races I do think I gained some fitness from them, as well as refined my criterium abilities which I’ll need for the next few weeks. Then, I looked on the web and saw that Elk Grove was week. $12k on Saturday, $13k on Sunday. 80k long each day, AND they were Amateur 1, 2 riders only. Yee Haw! Let’s make like Paris Hilton at a Spelling Bee and get out! Chicago here we come! Friday 3pm, clocked out of work at the hospital, jumped in the Saab to head north. Picked up Chris, set the cruise at 85 and pulled into Chicago around 11:30pm.

We stayed with the parents of an old friend of mine from my KU Cycling days, Rob Kelly. Naperville, IL. If anyone has ever seen the movie “Pleasantville” then this probably describes Naperville is nearly a carbon copy of this with its manicured lawns, people walking their dogs, large trees overhanging the streets and viable, fun downtown area right next to a college.

Chris and I spent Saturday evening walking around downtown Naperville as Rob gave us a guided tour via cell phone. Props to Rob for getting us some great Pizza, excellent beer, and marvelous scenery!

Elk Grove Criterium 1.

I spoke a little bit about motivation. However, motivation is also influenced by the “fun factor” of the races. This is typically decided by: venue, crowd, quality of competition, course, organization, prize money, atmosphere (ambiance) and there are probably more but that’s what comes to mind immediately. I’m going to address those things now…..

Toll roads. I hate toll roads. Well, not really. Actually I like the idea of toll roads but I despise stopping to pay a toll. I have a K-Tag for Kansas, but the KTA doesn’t seem to think it’s necessary to link it’s K- Tag software with any other toll system in the country…. Which means I have to stop ON THE HIGHWAY and pay a toll every 5 miles. Oh, and the I Pass gives you a hefty discount.

Let’s take some time and talk about the race bible. The race bible is written expressly for the use and enjoyment of the Professional riders. That’s understandable as the Pro race was for $250,000! However, it was a bit strange how, in order to find any useful information, you had to read the entire 34 pages of the race bible, all the while, combing the pages for any useful information for any amateur race. Things like, location, start times, scoring methods were all tricky to find at best.

Parking: HA! Ever try to find a way around a particular stretch of road in the suburbs of an amercan town? Remember that suburbs are NOT built on grids but rather in windy, twisty culdesac infested growths of asphalt which are nearly impossible to navigate without the aid of a GPS device. This we did not have one of these wonders of technology so we drove, twisted, turned, and off roaded our way to a respectable parking spot.

Next, the registration process: In order to find the proper room to pick up your number asking for directions was a necessity. Then, it seemed like no one really wanted to give you the answer. Is this normal in the big city? Finally, when you found the building there were something like 5 doors into the building, all numbered. It was like some sort of twilight episode! By the way, door number 3 was the winner.

Door 3 put you into this gymnasium which had an upper and lower deck. Upper deck was “Day of” registration while the lower deck was “Pre- registration.” Oh but you didn’t know this until you asked someone which brings me too….

Crossing it up: From afar, the registration personnel were middle aged women. Probably volunteers, which is normal for bike races. However, as you approached something wasn’t quite right. They had shoulder length hair, which was real, and a fair bit of make up. More than you would have thought was needed for a bike race. These ladies aren’t very feminine looking either. They kind of have rough looking faces and is that 5 o’clock shadow? Then they talked…. Holy crap! The registration ladies have deep husky voices and Adam’s Apples! Awesome! I’ve never once seen cross dressers at a bike race. It’s pretty impressive that this can happen so openly.

Venue: Bike racing is currently a fringe sport in the US. That’s why you don’t see every rider with big money contracts and why races often are promoted and executed with a “mediocre is okay” attitude. Often times, the location is key to attracting people to the race. (Actually, as a promoter, you are selling a product so location is everything.) Elk Grove, as a race is a positioned in a place which makes it a destination spot for spectators. That is, the race doesn’t really get the passers by that a downtown area race would. There was a fairly good crowd so maybe racing in the Chicago area has progressed enough be viable in this format. Time and sponsors will tell.

Course: Basically the course is like circumnavigating a lollipop. Long straightaway, U-Turn, Long straightaway, corner, 2 blocks, corner, 50 meters, corner, 2 blocks, corner, 700 meters, finish line, repeat.

But the MONEY! $12000 on Saturday, $13000 on Sunday. Let's get rich or die tryin'!

HRRC/ Trek Stores was represented by myself, Chris Hall, and Derek Goerke. Derek is self proclaimed "not fit" but he did manage to grab a couple of primes and place well in the field sprints. I wish I could be that "unfit" and do the same. Back to the race!

The first day wasn't quite technical enough. With long straightaways, it allowed the riders who had horsepower, but were nervous and can't corner time to get back to the front and really foul up the rest of us. When there are more corners, those guys tend to get pushed to the back and stay there- they remain unseen.

There were Primes, lots of primes. $500, 250, 150, 100, 50 and lots of them. Crazy fun and crazy fast. I thought I was riding bad but I was bridging across to moves at 32-33 when the field was already going 27-29 mph so I guess I wasn't going that slow. In the end, nervous riders do what they do best when trying for lots of cash.... crash or get close to it. I had to grab my breaks hard with about 700m to go and about 20 guys passed me. Over, done. Oh well. Derek placed and Chris was just out of the paying spots.

Day two saw a shortened straight away which was good as it prevented the afore mentioned problem, mostly. Same deal with the prize $$. I led out for some primes, but basically nothing worked. Very frustrating day as I saw a lot of dollars ride away from me lap after lap. Maybe I should become a sprinter and go for them myself?

In the end, my overly, unconservative riding led to a total shut down once the pace got really high. I guess that sort of effort does wear on you after some time.

The drive back was as "eventful" as the drive up. It was my only time in Chicago by car... now I know why.

Thanks for reading.

Paris one upped a Senator!?

2008-08-06T19:34:00.006-06:00

That just Happened! I'm not a Paris Hilton fan (she might be the most annoying celebrity ever) and I'm not a McCain fan. But last I heard, if you use someone in a commercial, you should at least ask their permission first (and maybe do some research because maybe, just maybe the family who helped to fund your campaign has a daughter who might be in your commercial). This very well could be the only cool thing Paris Hilton has done. Ever.

Take that Senator!

Ghetto Bike Racing, the Beginnings

2008-08-05T22:01:00.003-06:00

We've all seen and heard of the Euro Cyclist but I've come up with a "Code of Conduct" for the Ghetto Bike Racer. First though... What IS Ghetto Bike Racing?

I'm going to have to plagiarize my good friend and co-founder Ben Coles to explain this one. I'm just going to pull some quotes from his blog entry. Jed Schneider also being a co-founder and contributing author of the Ghetto Bike Racing Code of Conduct.

Ghetto Bike racing was more than an activity; ghetto bike racing was a philosophically derived praxis—the perfect Hursurlian marriage of the phenomenological ‘to do’ and ‘to be,’ that amongst other things involved over-intellectualizing the day to day with clever phrasing and complex pseudo-social scientism in order to pass the many long hours spent on the windswept hills of Kansas. Ghetto bike racing was, and is, a life style. ....... The philosophy remains an intriguing avenue for epistemological introspection and interrogation of what it means to be (ghetto) and be hard, the later a subject of intense debate and an even more intensive pseudo-scientific ranking system for the measurement and analysis of hardness that often resulted in conversations following a feat of stupidity. The ethos of ghetto bike racing, summed around these key rules, with the added perspective that safety indeed sucked, was that nothing except the race mattered. And, life evolved around the race.

-Ben Coles

So there you have it. Now, in an obvious attempt to keep readers coming back for more, I'm going to place one rule, a caveat if you will, at a time on the blog. Eventually, Jed Schneider and I are going to make website completely devoted to this philosophy as well as some other things (i.e. Cyclocross: Where your line is your weapon).

Rule number whatever:

Under no circumstance is it "ok" to get dropped from the winning break. The winning break is going to win and winning is what every bike racer dreams of. Do Whatever It Takes to stay in that breakaway.

Stupid Week, still!

2008-07-27T22:17:00.001-06:00

Great Downer Avenue Criterium.

80k, one U- Turn, one corner, one sweeping U- Turn, 10k people, one prime.

This is probably my favorite bike race all year. It’s fast (28.9 average speed this year). It’s really tough, and it’s so much fun I don’t ever want to miss this race. The finish line is on a traditional downtown street. Barriers line the road on both sides with a Tour de France style with a crowd numbering 10 deep along the 5-6 block stretch. Turn corner one and there was The Party (more on that later). From the last corner all the way to The Party just after the first corner, there was a gradually increasing volume in an insane tunnel of noise! Round the second corner, a U-Turn at 21mph, then back up to 31mph. The entire back side of the race was barbeque after barbeque. More parties and parties and parties! Wow. Turn the last corner and there was a city park where picnickers lounged and watched then it’s back to the finishing stretch.

This was my fifth day in a row of racing and I must admit, I had that not so fresh feeling. Ha! We did the morning ride and I could barely keep up going a mere 18-19mph. Not a good sign, but that’s okay. This was the last day and then it’s back to the furnace of KS. However, there’s a chance I could be back up here in a few days for Elk’s Grove…..

Super Prime: Corner 1 + 50 meters.

This is probably the second biggest block party I’ve ever been to (the first being on Mass St. when KU won the NCCA basketball championship) there’s just one difference. At a typical party you would have the usual: dolled up girls and guys, liquor, smokes, and super loud music. Everyone struggles to talk while shouting over the noise and dancing eventually becomes the dominant form of communication. But here, the racers are the entertainment. There’s still the loud music and craziness, but we are the rock stars of the day; and the riders live up to all expectations as we scream around the course, bombing and hot routing corners while constantly being enticed by the mass of people making the tunnel of noise to ride faster; always faster.

Beers, Brats, Burgers for $20. AND there were Super Prime T-shirts (if anyone has a pic of this shirt, please send it to me). All the money from the T’s and food went to the Super Prime. It’s quickly becoming a legend in the realm of bike racing. Ride a super tough course for as many laps as it takes for a chance to win a one place, one lap, winner take all prize. It was $4k- cash- before the race even started. By the time it was called…. Seven Thousand Dollars, $7,000. Holy Crap. I was pretty far back in the field when I heard the Bell for the prime. I turned to the guy next to me and said, “this lap is gonna be really hard.” Okay, here we go! I went around the U-turn pretty fast and came out of it in my 13. From there I only shifted down as my speed was 36mph on the backside of the course. Rock Racing won the prime and, as tradition, the winner stops then and there and joins the party. Well deserved and I completely agree with the policy.

After the Super Prime, the Kelley Benefits started their stupid lead out train again. Once again, not fast, and the only way they would keep control was to intimidate and hinder forward progress of anyone trying to come around. Sorry guys, but 30mph is not fast enough and your little swing out, chop and swing tight maneuver only works when there isn’t any sort of organization behind you. Actually, on cyclingnews.com, multiple riders were complaining that it wasn't fast enough:

More than a few riders were critical of the lead-out train of Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast, saying it was not nearly fast enough, including Cantwell.

"Coming into the finish [Magnell and I] were shadowing each other, and the guys the front were not going fast enough at all. If someone can hit over a lead-out train and stay away for a half lap it means they weren't going hard enough. I thought we were going to chase him down and then I got boxed in the sprint."

Keep trying though. With a ½ lap to go, Sterling Magnell of Rock Racing jumps the lead out train of KB and holds it for the victory, making all the KB riders look like chumps.

The best part: When the race is over and the riders can stop and join the party. Never in my life have I been in a place where a bunch of skinny, sweaty, and super fit guys in team kits can simply join in a party and be accepted as part of the celebration. Beers, brats, burgers and more beers for all! Ahh, Milwaukee…. Only here would I expect to be enticed to a party by a six year old holding a bottle of ice cold beer! Classic. I wish my camera wouldn’t have broken.

Reunion.

Super Week definitely is a celebration of bike racing. It’s been around for a long, long time and many people, famous, infamous, regular, or international stars, have all been here. I had a chance to meet up with some guys I haven’t seen since I raced the Vuelta Zulia in 2006. Seth and Jamiel. Those guys are loads of fun and I hope to be able to race with them again soon.

Kenosha Criterium

2008-07-26T14:02:00.003-06:00

1k loop, 100 laps. Average Speed with 15 laps to go: 29.6mph. Avg Speed with 2 laps to go: 29.8mph. Avg Speed the last 2 laps: 35mph (really, really fast). Nascar.

I started in the back and decided to "cruise my way forward" because I had 100 laps to get there right? Ha! The problem with moving efficiently through the field is that it takes me a while to do it. Probably 15-20 laps. By then, I had missed the move. Oh well. It was so, so, so easy in the front! Just cruising along, turn, cruise, turn, repeat.

Then my problems started. Milwaukee and really all of Wisconsin has absolutely no desire for public health and safety concerning tobacco. Oh, SURE the liquor stores close at 9pm but the smoking! With 40k to go all I could taste, smell and feel in my lungs was cigarette smoke. I started coughing, wheezing and basically lost all power. When a super good rider loses power they are still effective just uncomfortable. When I lose power, it's ugly. I basically was riding on pure determination to finish the race. Hot routing corners and doing everything I could to not ever use my brakes. Ugly, but I finished. 13 guys lapped the field and the Columbian Olympic Track Pursuit team took over from there and rode tempo at 30mph on the front of the field for 50k.

I read this on Cyclingnews.com:

"He was just bashing guys off the wheels, throwing elbows and doing anything to win in a very unprofessional way," he said. "Yesterday I gave him credit for the way he was riding, but today he almost killed half the bunch! My respect is just slowly getting taken away from the guy. He might be a professional but he is certainly not riding like one."

In response, Magnell said he was riding in response to others, saying the rubbing was going both ways. "Page in particular wanted the wheel I had and he actually punched me in the back with five to go," he said. "I'll use my skill but I'll never take my hands off the bars. A lot of guys were yelling and had problems but I didn't have any problems - I can ride my bike."

Magnell, may be able to ride his bike, but he definitely takes his hands off the bars, lots. Strange how violation of that rule should result in disqualification..... Should.

Super Week, the Vortex.

2008-07-25T09:26:00.003-06:00

It’s 1am on Wednesday night, actually, Thursday morning. Super Week. Stupid Week even, because there’s so many tough races, it’s just stupid. This is the land of beers, brats, burgers, and bikes- The Four B’s. For some, it’s a golden land of cash flow. For me, it’s a vacation from work and triple digits heat indices. But Super Week is different.

Entering Milwaukee during the 17 days of racing the ICC is an entirely different experience than any other bike race in the country, world even. The beauty of Super Week is that you can pick and choose the races you do and don’t want to enter, coming and going as you please. Myself, I didn’t even arrive until Monday night, a full 11 days after Stage 1.

This is a time vortex of bike racing, where time takes on another meaning, another existence. Wake time typically happens at 10am to the Tour de France, or at least the ending. Follow that with the morning ride. The morning ride is a bit touch and go. 20-25 miles of “easy riding” at 18-20 mph speeds during which a sort of Systems Check is performed. Are you rested enough to race? Do you want to race? Lunch, nap, then on to the races.

The races all begin at 4:30, 5:30, 6:00, 6:30pm. Something of the sort. There’s the line up, the call up by Eddie Van Guiess (sp?), I hear he played the “Italian” in “Breaking Away.” Then it’s 2:20- 2:40 to race 100k (66 miles), or more, or less depending on how many laps the officials decide you’re going to race that night. I’m keeping a running tally on the statistics of the races. So far, here are the numbers: 2 races, 190 miles, 7:02 of racing, average speed of 27.8mph, max speed of 40mph. Number of corners, too many to count.

Flying around a criterium course at “ludicrous speed,” for 100k does a few things to you. Adrenaline much? Hell ya! AND the races aren’t over until nearly 9pm sometimes. After dinner and a shower it’s midnight, you’ve raced 100k and you’re no where close to tired and even though you want to sleep, it just doesn’t happen. That’s where I am now. Sitting here, in the living room wanting to sleep but unable to.

Here’s some recap of the races so far….

Tail Gunning the Cedarburg Criterium.

I wasn’t sure of my form following my illness a few weeks ago. Actually, I’ve been struggling to simply stay in the field in some of the previous races, including the KC training race a week ago, but that’s another story and now here I am.

The weather helps here too, 70 and sunny at the start of the race.

I was looking to get in some early moves, grab a prime or two maybe and then try and finish the race out by not getting dropped. If I could do that, then I would consider my first stage a success. Well, the early moves were not to be and I actually just settled on tail gunning the entire race for the better part of 100k. Oh yeah, this race ended up being 120k, or about 72miles.

In the end, I do have the form to be here and I have returned to my former self. It’s about time.

Okay, now it’s about 2am so I’m going to have to end this one for now.

Oh, we have to go all the way to Panera Bread Co. to get internet which is a bit of a pain. Unless you hold the computer just so, and stand in just the right place….. Steve will demonstrate:

Hales Corners Criterium… I mean Road Race.

100k, sweeping and undulating course. It wasn’t too hard and I was looking for moves. Got in a little one that was short lived, thanks to the Columbian track team. Oh well. Has anyone ever seen the movie “Jumper?” In the end one of the Columbian guys took off with 4 miles to go. He rode 45 seconds across to the break in a mile, then through the break and away solo. Crazy fast! I rode in at the back of the group and just finished.

Racine Criterium.

Stage 3. This course was the epitome of a Super Week race. Fast, flat, not too technical. BUT it had little “quirks.” Corner 1 had some sort of cross walk asphalt tiles, corner 2: potholes, Corner 3, FAST (yee haw Nascar!). But corner 4, more of a curve really, was a neon pink spray painted nightmare, of a pothole, manhole covered minefield. And then, there was corner 5, an open seam about 3” wide, ½” lip (perfect for pinch flats- ask Chad Cagle), and potholes, Corner 6- last one- fast.

I got in a couple of little moves, none lasting but whatever. I even had an outside chance for a couple of primes but blew it. 5 guys lapped the field and the last 9 laps the entire Kelly Benefits team lined up and did the super boring, not so fast, semi dangerous, totally bullshit lead-out/ field controlling thing. I’m not so sure what the deal is there, but here’s a couple thoughts:

What does it tell you about the quality of the team when the A squad, all 8 guys, are at Super Week? Don’t they have other races that are bigger, badder, and more prize money to be at? If I’m jumping the gun, and I’ve been wrong a few times, then where are the Toyota United, Health Net, Team Type 1, etc? Rock Racing is here too, but they are much more willing to let everyone race. If this turns into riding behind 8 guys for 100k…. it’ll be really boring. Crowds show up to see chaos and free for all bike racing. Not this organized, swing out and then chop 27mph escort for 10 laps. If the guys would go faster, they wouldn't have to do it that way, but they can't go faster. I guess....

With 3 to go, I got my wheel cought in one of the seams of the “tiles” on corner one. This resulted in me going around the corner completely sideways. I thought I had a front flat tire but wasn’t sure. In the end, I sat up and earned myself a DNF. No front flat, but it does spook you when you slide out and have no idea why. Next up, stage 4- Kenosha.

Keep on Keepin on, Man.

2008-07-14T12:11:00.009-06:00

Victor Continental X
This was.... Awesome. VC is basically a vulgar, crude, lude, and absolutely hilarious show! I don't think I've laughed that hard, or been that buzzed in a while, all in the name of comedy. Well, since the show a year ago. You should head to Lawrence and see the show, provided that you don't take it too seriously. If you're that type, sorry.. and go away.

Keepin' It Rollin in the Team Car!

The best part about going out on Friday night and seeing a show is the waking up on Saturday morning and putting your life back together. How did I get here? What time is it? When do I race? Is my bike clean? Do I have enough clean clothes?

Got everything?! Okay, here we go! We did have a "Team Car" in effect for the weekend. Yup, that's right; the Shadd-uar is team ready! On another note, Chris Hall has a VW bus that he can convert to a "team bus." The pics have been reduced in quality to make the bus appear to be in much better condition than it really is. If we use the VW as a team bus, do we still have to equip it with hippie music, bongs, and expensive beer?

The plan was to meet at Shadd's house around 1pm. That way, we would have enough time to get to the hotel, check in, ride/ warm-up, get to the race with plenty of time. Little did I know what would transpire.......

Yup, we were still on the New Plan so our 1:45 (old plan) trip turned out to take f o r e v e r! You know, the problem with Iowa is that it's just there. Think of the ease with which you could get someplace cool like Chicago if Iowa just wasn't there... So the story goes, with 7 hours available to travel, check in, pre-ride, get to race, sign in, warm up....

We did exactly nothing except check in to the hotel, and go to the race. What's more, is that as of 20 minutes until race time, none of us had even gotten our bikes off the car. Yup we were running a bit late. Actually, I'm certain we had too much time. If that's possible.

Papillion Twilight Criterium.
0.7 mile course, 2 hills, narrow roads, 8 turns. Tight and crazy hard, at least for me. Sports Base Online was there and John Lefler did a stellar job announcing (as he always does). After going to a few "big time" races it's easy to assume announcers are good, but it's a tough job and John does it superbly.

HRRC/ Trek Stores had everyone and the kitchen sink in the race. The entire roster plus Jay Thomas and Kent McNeil were both in attendance minus the Minnesota contingent of Derek. Actually the only sponsor/ director not in the race was Josh Crow. If anyone sees or talks to Josh, give him some grief. Ha!

I'm still suffering from my virus I had/ have on my return trip from Austin, TX. I would say that beginning in the "Day After" criterium until now, I have probably suffered more than I ever thought possible. Never have I ever had to rely on my bike driving ability simply to stay in the race. I never was a threat to do anything besides get dropped today. It felt like I was dragging an anchor/ plow/ wagon etc. behind me. Actually, the only thing I was good at was turning a corner. This is not very enjoyable for me right now.

Alex Boyd got away with Steve, Shadd, Bill, and Chris. In the end, Alex was the winner. Yes, 4 on 1 and Alex got it. This kid is the real deal and definitely deserved the win, in his hometown.

Steve did his Priceline thing again and scored us Courtyard Marriott (between the Quest Center and Old Market) for $56 each, with taxes. Normal rate $199/ night. Uh Huh. The only problem is the parking. Get a spot early and don't move your car. Even the "overflow" lots get overflowed.

Back to that, "pack a nice set of clothes" for Wedding Crashing......

Dave Babcock Memorial Criterium.
0.7 mile triangle course, with a hairpin corner. Hot, dry. Once again, my lack of form or abundance of "out of form" depending on how you look at it, showed itself once again. No power, but I could turn a corner. Unenjoyable. Steve, Bill, and Matt (Nebraska Medical Center/Team KAos) lapped the field. I was powerless, but I sure could watch and go for primes. Some tires, a gift certificate, and a kick ass Chrome Messenger bag, camo style.

In the end, Steve won but the tough man rides of the day go to Alex and Matt. Alex was probably the best single rider all weekend. But in the end, you're not going to beat a full squad of HRRC guys two days in a row. Matt rode hard enough chasing Steve to "stun" the field into no longer attacking, until the end when Bill escaped on the last lap for second.

I have no idea why this race is attended by so few people. It's two days, good prize money and tough courses. Perhaps it conflicts with other races in the area. This seems to be a recurring theme of 2008 and I can only hope, in the future, the promoters take a gander at the regional calendars before dating the races.

DQ
I don't know what it is, but whenever Shadd is on a road trip, there are no damn Dairy Queens anywhere! Seriously, Shadd...

We drove all the way from Omaha to St. Joe without a DQ to be found until......

It's like seeing the gates of heaven until....

The doors are LOCKED!?! Awww, Horse SHIT! But wait, the drive through is open but there's 25 cars in line. Okay, let's do it!

30 mintues later, I had my Blizzard, and we got to watch 8 cars full of people refuse to wait in line.

Now what? Heading North soon. I'll keep you posted.

Rain, Rain; stir crazy; Okay, HERE WE GO!

2008-07-09T15:57:00.004-06:00

This post is a bit convoluted as I've been sitting around the house for a few days with nothing new going on. I need to find my memory card for the camera. I've got some great things ya'll need to see. Including, but limited to: gophers, fruit, office furniture, plants of unknown origin.

Stir Crazy! Holy crap. I've been waiting since Austin, sometime in June to race again. All my attempts were foiled the last few weeks. I got sick. Was still sick. Well, actually I could have raced that day, but I had no horsepower, no motivation, no ability to pedal faster than 15 mph. Okay, maybe I couldn't have raced- but it's fun to talk about. Whatever I had was some sort of virus that hung on and fought tooth and nail to keep me in bed and tired all the time. Finally, I feel well and that is awesome! I don't really have any top end but that should come back, "fast" right? Right.

Rode in the rain yesterday for something like... forever. I really wanted to race but I'm not doing that in the rain, in a ..... I've already been over that.

Victor Continental Returns!!!

I've been waiting for this show since last year, right about now! Behold, Victor Continental X. I know, I know. You're going to say, "Adam, this is just some sketch comedy/ drinking game." SO! It's fun! And besides, who else makes this the name of his auto biography: " Donkey Punch: My Life in Women and Comedy" ? This guy is like James Bond; but dirtier and without a firearm. Actually... well, just watch this. I can't wait for Friday! Until then.......

Austin Races, times from yesterweek. June 21-22.

2008-07-06T12:47:00.006-06:00

Oops. Thought this got posted a few days ago. There was actually supposed to be a couple of posts but I'm combining them now.

Friday Night VIP party- Cougars on the Prowl.

Maureen hooked myself and a few of her lady friends (names will remain anonymous- again, to protect the guilty) with some VIP passes to the VIP party the night before the ATT Crit. Interesting night that started out with wine and hors devours, then moved onto the party. As the only guy in the group I was able to be a fly on the wall and gather some insight to the inner thoughts of the ladies. Let me just say this: guys, you may think you are on "safari", but when it comes to cougars... none of us has a clue. None.

ATT Crit
Cycling is in dire need of good marketing and public relations if it's going to crawl from the status of "fringe sport" to mainstream. It needs showmanship. It needs heros. It needs Rockstars. Bike races should be a show. People go to sporting events to be entertained, so let's find some marketeers who can get this done!

Enter Barry Lee, the promoter for the ATT Crit. Barry has a unique understanding of cycling and great vision in marketing. He created a flat, fast criterium in the 2nd Street Entertainment District (aka: bars) that had thousands upon thousands of spectators.

The course was a square, wide open, fast and dark in places. The last corner in particular was interesting. Four lanes to two lanes for the sprint and the street lights were out so it was literally pitch black. Oh, except for the hundreds of flashes as you were turning! Crazy! I was closing my eyes through the corner so I wouldn't have those ghost images for the next half a lap. People made mention that the last corner was "dangerous" but there was only one crash in it and that's probably about the number there was going to be anyways. Crashes at night are cool to watch because you hear them and you see the sparks. Ha! I'm assuming the streetlight not being lit on the last corner was not the plan so that should be fixed for next year. Oh, did I mention it was FAST?! I had a 29.8mph average after the cool down lap. Yee haw! Momma I'm goin' FAST!

In hindsight, I was actually getting sick this day, I just didn't know it. I took 3 naps over the day, rode about 30 minutes and was tired. Probably not the best thing for a fast and furious race. I was fine sitting in the field but any time I had to go out into the wind I'd be gassed instantly and then I'd spend 2 laps just recovering. Not good.

In the end, Toyota was "leading it out" for their guy, Ivan (I assume). The only problem is that I believe that the art of the lead-out has been lost. If someone is going to win this race, the leadout needs to be so fast that there's no coming around anyone. Everyone is in their spot and that's that. There's really no passing anyone after the last corner. In order to do this, a team must sacrifice everyone to get the leadout spot on. This means that simply going, "hard" isn't enough. The leadout should be doing a full gas sprint, except you're x number of meters too early (assume 200m per rider- so if you're 5 guys you can start 1k early). However, some domestic teams have been trying to stack the front spots, get more money and still win. I think that's what Toyota tried to do. The money was good and they wanted more of it. The leadout wasn't fast enough and as a result guys behind the train were fresh enough... Alejandro Borrajo of Colavita Sutterhome jumped the Toyota guys, got to the corner first and won! A great move but he was enabled by the shabby leadout of Toyota. As a result Borrajo took home $4000 for the win and the entire Toyota team looked like a bunch of chumps.

The "Day After Criterium"
This one was in the middle of the afternoon, in hot, hot, hot Austin. I don't think I've ever felt so horrible in a bike race ever. At the time I thought it was just a sinus infection (if only!). Most of the pros went home, unable to be enticed by the $2000 prize list. Rock Racing stayed and so did a couple other guys from different teams.

To put my race simple terms: If I didn't have a wheel to follow, I couldn't go anywhere at any sort of speed. I couldn't jump, bridge, or really even pedal hard. Basically, I only was able to hang on because of the corners. Corners = coasting and not breaking if you're willing to risk it. I was willing. If I were my normal self, I would have, could have, should have been able to be involved in at least one of the small moves that rolled away from the field of 70 or so riders. But I was not and ended up getting 4th in the field sprint, 15th on the day. Stefan Rothe won the race in his hometown so that's great for him.

A big thanks to Rock Racing and their Rockstar support that provided neutral bottles to any of the P, 1 racers that held their hand out. It was much appreciated!

Austin: Thursday Night training race?

2008-06-26T12:43:00.003-06:00

I'm BACK! Yes, was down and out. But now, like a phoenix rising out of its own ashes....

I flew into Austin on Wednesday night and stayed at the same house as in February. As always, Maureen was the coolest host anyone could ever ask for! My reasons for flying out so early was to reconnect with some friends and to race on the Driveway in Austin's very own Thursday night training race put on by Barry Lee and Team Hotel San Jose.

Training races are usually just that. Training. You may or may not pin on a number and usually you ride around in a race type setting with only glory and bragging rights as the prize for first place. At least that's the way it is in KC, where we pay $10 a pop/ $60 for the summer to race a non- USCF sanctioned event (without USCF rider insurance), on a course open to cars (but there are corner marshals), without any kind of prize money.

I met up with Stefan Rothe and Bill Marshall in downtown Austin and we rode the 10 miles to the race. As always, the weather in Austin in the summer is hot, hot, hot and this was no different (100F). We roll up to the race and what I see is definitely far beyond my expectations.

For starters, there's about a thousand people at the "training race." Racers, spectators, vendors. Oh yeah, there's vendors too! Beer, burgers, brats, beer, and Gatorade. Not only that, but we had an announcer, PA system, officials, the works! That night Barry found some cash primes and a bit of prize money for the top 3 (I think). We did the long course, which was probably good considering there were about 75 riders in the "Open" race; which included a few Women Pros, and a few Pro Men also. I found some footage from a Driveway Race here. It's not the race I did, but it gives you and idea of how cool it was.

I was pipped on the line 3x for cash primes, which really is a bit embarrassing. However, I did manage to ride up to the break with Bill Marshal at one point. However, I thought to myself, "I really want to get a prime tonight and they won't be called for the break." So I went back to the field. It was hard, but not too hard in the break, I just didn't want to work that hard. Big mistake as Doug Looney really let me have it from the heckling standpoint. Well, played Doug. When it was time for the field sprint, I did the first lead out for Barry, with Rashaan Bahati finishing it off as Bill Marshall swept Barry's wheel. By the time Barry came around, there was no one left for him to sprint!

We sat around for a while drinking some ice cold beer which, after a race, is fantastic! By the time we got done hob knobbing with the locals, it was basically dark. What followed was probably one of the most fun rides I've ever done. Stefan, Bill and I rode home, through the heart of Austin, with only the street lights to guide us. I've forgotten how much fun it is to ride at night! I wouldn't really recommend it as a good idea though. Most riders don't understand how traffic works, and how traffic can't see a bike at night, well enough to avoid crashes, injury and death. So on that note, don't ride at night, eh.

Maureen and I had some wine with some friends immediately after the race. Good place, fun people, no idea what the place was called now. But the food there wasn't so much on the list of, "good after bike race food" so we went on to the Rio Grande restaurant. This is the sponsor of the self named cycling team and the food is great! But for a real treat, try the Margaritas!

Both the photos above are by Dave McLaughlin.

Illness. What a "good" time to take a mid-season break.

2008-06-25T20:03:00.002-06:00

In hind sight, I probably had this coming for some time....

It seems that the better you ride, the more prone you are to illness. My only examples are all anecdotal, but the theory seems to be right on. I probably got ill last Sunday the 14th. I had just "finished" the NVGP and came home early to do the Sunday ride in Lawrence. The ride was hard and I made it a point to do more than my fair share of the work, which wiped me out for the day. That's a bit unusual for me, but whatever. For the entire next week, I basically slid downhill the entire time. I thought I was riding myself into a funk, but I guess I was... Wait! I was right! I AM in a funk. It's just not a performance funk. Ha!

Okay, so what's the verdict? Basically, I've been running a bit of a fever since Monday afternoon with lots of drainage that turned into a soul wrenching cough. My sides, abs, back and shoulders are all sore from coughing so much. Ouch! The Dr. has me on: Z-Pack, Zycam, Emergen- C, Mucinex/ Pseudoephederine, and Theraflu cough syrup. He initially gave me Loritab, but I've had bad experiences with those before. Tilley was there in Nebraska, right Jen?

So basically I've been on the couch so sick I couldn't even concentrate long enough to watch a 3o minute show on the TV. Blah. It's amazing how much I take an athlete's energy for granted. In the past, it's not that I "can't" do something such as mow the lawn, clean house, walk the dog, etc. It's more that I wasn't motivated enough to do it. I had the energy, I just didn't want to spend it. As it stands right now, I simply can't do any of that stuff. I've no energy for anything besides sleeping on the couch, futon, or bed. I definitely have an appreciation for those with any sort of health problem which saps energy.

On that note, I've got about 3- 4 posts in mind/ in progress about my week in Austin. I just need to muster up the energy to finish them.

Nature Valley Wrap Up....

2008-06-15T01:01:00.001-06:00

When last we left Adam he had completed a 15.05 10k Time Trial with the final 1k at a 15% grade. “Good enough to beat the time cut” I thought. Well, that wasn’t so much the case. Ben Jacques- Maynes rode a 12.32 and with the 20% time cut I needed a 15.02 to stay in the race. Obviously, there’s a numbers problem there. Josh Crow, Team Director, made a trip down to the officials stand and pleaded our case (we didn’t really have a case), but to no avail. At the end of the day, myself, Steve Tilford, and Nick Coil were not good enough to make the time cut and thus our 2008 Nature Valley Grand Prix campaign is finished.

Time Trial thoughts. Historically, the time trial hasn’t had much impact on the overall G.C. of NVGP. This time is no different. There is too much time lost by too many people on the road stages and in the Stillwater Criterium (final stage on Sunday) for the TT to matter much. However, the TT does set up the primary protagonists for the fireworks that will come. But again, my problem was that I just couldn’t go fast enough.

I’ve never really been a fan of the TT. I don’t really consider it a legitimate bike race. Cycling, to me, is a craft. It’s a skill that needs to be honed and refined. It’s like poker in a way. Once you get good enough at it, the cards only matter to a degree (watch Rounders) after which you are just playing your opponents. The same holds true with cycling. The real beauty comes when you’re not racing the course anymore, but when you are racing the riders. It’s rider vs. rider and the moves are made because they have to be made not because the corner is coming, or whatever.

I made the decision to neglect any and all TT equipment assuming that I was gong to be fine in the TT. That’s was my downfall. I guess the TT bike is becoming a necessity. I figure even a disk wheel would have been 30 seconds faster and there it is. I’m in. That’s my own fault and I had to face the Team and the Team Director as I was Time Cut.

The racing here was a bit stressful. I think everyone was nervous, which is strange for professional bike racers. I can’t tell you how many crashes I saw on that first road stage. For that reason, I’m not too upset that I wasn’t racing. But I am upset that I wasn’t racing on Friday night. This overwhelming feeling of inadequacy rolled over me and it’s not a comfortable feeling. I’ve never ever come close to missing a time cut in my life and I don’t intend to repeat this “performance.”

Downtown Minneapolis Criterium.

Of all the races in the NVGP, this is the one that I wanted to do the most. Fast, technical and fun. It was on Nicollete Mall which has numerous outdoor shops, pubs, etc. I basically sat and drank beer at Brits all evening and watched. And watched. And watched. The crowd was crazy! 5- 8 deep everywhere yelling, screaming, spilling beer, leaning over the railings and absolutely phenomenal. I wish I would have ridden 3 seconds faster in that TT.

Mankato Road Race.

Today was hot and windy. Great weather for a bike race! From the accounts I heard, the field would blow apart, come back together, repeat. When they entered the circuits there were two groups of 60 guys. We had Bill and Chris in the front group and as the group unraveled, they managed to each get good places among the best riders in the country. These guys are indeed the heroes of the team.

Meanwhile, Steve, Nick and I went on our own ride. 30 miles, easy and lots of chatter. Sometimes that’s the best thing for a weary bike racer.

NVGP Stages 2 and 3

2008-06-13T13:04:00.002-06:00

Cannon Falls Road Race.
Nothing got away, no wind, not hard. Basically it was a free ride until I flatted about 1k from the gravel section leading into the circuits. Crap. Finished a few minutes down, and with the TT I may very well be battling for the DFL jersey.

TT.
I hate TT's for anyone that doesn't know me. I have no idea how fast I rode but I'm only hoping to make the time cut. I hope Rory Sutherland rode, "slow" this morning.

In the meantime, this is where the sleep deprivation begins. 1030am TT, 745pm Criterium tonight, 11am Road Race tomorrow morning and 1pm Criterium Sunday. Gotta love it!

At some point I'll give my take on Minneapolis. When I get a chance.

Whoa....

2008-06-13T13:01:00.001-06:00

Holy crap! Never in my life have I had anyone go to these lengths to say such marvelous things about me. Thanks a bunch, Ben.

http://londongliving.blogspot.com/2008/06/adam-r-mills-genius.html