Learning the Hard Way – Again

So yesterday was my first road race in Cat 3. I figured that I would take all the lessons that I learned in prior seasons as a 5 and 4 and apply them to the Cat 3 race to help me survive. That’s what I thought.

In reality I learned the same lessons again, or rather, had them pounded in to my head.

It was all going well until we lined up at the start. Well it actually went bad before that when I forgot my trainer and never really warmed up. It got worse when I lined up in the back of the massive Master A/Cat 3/Women 1234 peloton.

I figured it would start out pretty easy, since it was a 60 mile race and all. I figured wrong. I guess it did go easy for at least a mile or two, but the first time up the roller on Pleasant Valley Rd all hell broke loose for me. Not that the climb was difficult, it was just hard to get through the traffic and close the gaps between groups that were opening in front of me. I was about 50 yards off the back and going into the red just before Kuna-Mora Road.

Thinking of the 55 miles I had left to ride I decided to sit up, hope to get some help – and chase back later. So 5 miles into my first Cat 3 race I broke 4 of my basic rules – always warm up at least a little, never line up in the back, never ride in the back, and always bury yourself to catch the group in front of you when gaps are opening. I whish I could say it was all down hill from there but it wasn’t – It was mostly flat and windy.

Eventually the dropped riders coagulated into a group of 20 or so. We worked together intermittently, at one point closing a 3+ minute gap to 20 seconds. None of us had the gas to close the distance, and we certainly didn’t have the cooperation. If fact, three riders did most of the work – crash victims Anthony Fisher, and Gene Harding from Georges, and LAC teammate Chris Cadeaux. I contributed where I could but was hardly consistent. It was also good to have Justin Harvey in the group, taking some big pulls and providing some good humor.

The last lap we picked up Matt Beeter who had flatted. Matt proceeded time trial at the front and rip our group apart. Chris, Gene, Joe Kafka, and I were the only ones able to stay with him. Matt largely dragged us to the finish, where I chose not to contest the sprint for 14th – not that it would have changed anything if I had. I finish 16th of 23 in the Cat 3, about 5 minutes behind the leaders.

Meanwhile, up front I imagine the race happened something like this… a bunch of guys were riding their bikes really fast, then LAC rider Shane Litzenberger rode a little bit faster and won. There might have been more to it than that, but I obviously didn’t see it.

All in all not a bad day considering the string of bad decisions that I made. I actually had more fun riding in this race than any of them last year.

Next week I am hoping for a pack finish…

My New Best Friend Methylprednisolone

I have a new best friend. Her name is Methylprednisolone. She was introduced to me as a treatment for my hip funkiness earlier this week. She makes me feel really amped and really tired all at the same time. She makes me feel like the vivarin at a 4 a.m. study session. She makes me feel fast on my bike again.

Who would have thunk that you could ride your bike, and ride your bike hard without fire spreading down your left thigh? I still don’t feel great, but it is soooo much better. I think I love Methylprednisolone.

Soon she will leave me. My 6 days of rocket science dosage schedules will be over on Sunday. I hope that she leaves me a better man than I was a few days back.

As much as I lover her I hope I never see her again. I am a little apprehensive about anything that starts with the letters METH, or for that matter anything that ends in the letters OLONE.

Ilio-What? The Lactic Acid Cycling Health Care Plan

So my hip has been hurting me on and off since last June. When I push really hard I get a little fire going down from my left hip into my quad. It is significantly below average, and hampers my performance significantly – I would estimate 30% both training and racing. For the longest time it only effected me when I ride, so it hasn’t been a priority – but lately it has turned into a constant ache.

I am pretty sure that it couldn’t be my bike that was hurting me. I mean it’s a bike, it loves me and I love it – the old red sled wouldn’t hurt me. Besides something that gives me so much pleasure couldn’t be bad right? I’m pretty sure that the pain is Ronald Reagan’s fault. Everyone else blames Bush. Not me, I blame Ronald Reagan – he deregulated something and now my hip hurts.

I decided last week to go to the doctor. Yep it hurts that bad. So I go to the family doc? The chiro? The ortho? Well the family doc is for antibiotics – that won’t help. The chiro is for voodoo – that may help but it gives me the heebeegeebees. Orthopedic it is, and since it says BOC right there on my jersey and my shorts I go to see Dr. Lawler – he fixed me up once before so he should be able to do it again.

Turns out I have an angry nerve and stuff in my hip. That’s not what he called it – he said iliosomething. In English it is angry nerve and stuff in my hip. Turns out most of the time when this hurts you are either a cyclist or you are fat. It was my bike – the traitor. Or maybe I am fat?

For treatment I got steroids (just like Floyd (allegedly)!) and referred to my left sleeve – Physio Therapy. Made an appointment with Mr Fleckenstein and will soon be golden again. I am afraid he will make me sit upright on my bike with a big cushy seat!

Hope I don’t get hurt again soon. I am all out of sponsors on the LAC health care plan…

The Baptism of Frankenbike

So yesterday was the race of truth, the (time) trial by fire, the first time to turn the pedals in anger all year. But that’s probably enough clichés for one blog don’t yah think.

It was my first race in Cat 3, it was Frankenbike’s first race as a time trial machine – in retrospect probably not a good formula for success. It also probably wasn’t a good sign that I was still fiddling with my bike the day before the race. Whatever.

The race was the Jason Broom Time Trial by the Boise Stage Stop. It was a bit windy and a bit cold at the start. OK, a lot windy, and a lot cold. It didn’t help that the racing started late, and that the interval between riders was planned for 30 seconds, but ended up being 1 minute. Ultimately I thought I would start at 11 ish – my start time ended up being at 1:15 ~ish. Whatever.

Hadn’t planned on camping out at the race start half the day, so I didn’t bring any food. No worries the start was conveniently located next to the truck stop, so some teammates and I walked over to the con store and had some gut bomb truck stop sandwiches – great pre race food. Things just kept getting better.

At least I had like 3 hours to warm up right? Well I lost track of time bullshitting and ended up with about 5 minutes of warm up. Whatever, I never liked warming up anyway.

Finally, in line to start I have teammate Darrin Miller in front of me (won’t be seeing him again for about a half hour) and teammate Shane Litzenberger behind me (I’ll see him soon). A little Rob Zombie music playing in the background at the start – that was good.

I start out and quickly discover the wind is, well, windy. Windier than I thought it would be. Windy enough to blow me around the road. Windy enough that when I glanced at my computer that the slowest I went was 28 mph, but was consistently above 30 mph. Windy enough that Shane didn’t catch me before the turn around. Windy enough that I rode the first 5 miles in like 11 minutes – ish.

I looked at the riders on the way back as I was roaring out – they sure looked like they were suffering. What was wrong with them?

I hit the turn around and discovered it was still windy. Windy the wrong way. Uh Oh.
It was windy enough that when I turned I was instantly over geared despite shifting down before the turn. Windy enough that I was WAY over geared. Windy enough that I was going so slow that Frankenbike didn’t want to shift. Uh Oh. Windy enough that Shane caught me soon after the turn around (I don’t think he was even breathing hard). Yup it was windy. Windy enough that on the way back I think I topped out at 16 mph, but most of the time was below that. Windy enough that I was worried about running out of gears. Windy enough that it really sucked.

Did I mention that It was windy?

I had two main goals. First, to finish. Second, to not finish last. I accomplished both, barely. I think I beat like 3 people out of twenty.

As for Frankenbike it was a solid performance. It obviously wasn’t a Cervelo, but it was fun to ride – and that’s what counts.

Pimp'n the Web

This is my new favorite cycling website:

http://www.bikeradar.com

I particularly like the ‘humour’ columns:


http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/humour-how-to-talk-to-non-cyclists-12730

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/humour-leg-shaving-advice-for-cyclists-14792


They did fail to mention the ‘chicks dig it’ reason for leg shaving though.

Bill Sali to the Rescue...

I got this flyer in the mail the other day from Bill Sali. He wants to protect my kid from poisons, fires, swimming pools, guns, hot water?(thats new), and of course strangers. He even wants my son to wear a bike helmet...

Now I am no expert, but I am pretty sure that kid is wearing their helmet backward. Thank God we have Bill looking out for us - what a moron. Maybe Bill should worry about the real threats to my childs future (war, the economy, education...) and let me worry about parenting. Better yet, maybe he can go back to repealing the law of gravity.

The B1 Project: Frankenstein

It’s ALIVE! Like the phoenix risen from the ashes of old bikes the old B1 appeared on the road for the first time this weekend.

Saturday was a bit sketchy because some parts that shouldn’t move moved – and parts that should move didn’t. I had 6 hex-wrenches in my pockets and I think I used them all tweaking and tightening. By the time I got home everything worked – sort of.

For some reason my chain skipped in the big ring, and the shifting was lousy. It could be that I am using 9 speed Shimano Dura-Ace shifters with an 8 speed Campagnolo Record rear derailleur and a 9 speed Shimano Ultegra Cassette. Not to mention the chain, which probably had 8,000 miles on it. Nay, couldn’t be any of that stuff – it just needs some love.

Sunday I made some improvements. I replaced the big ring on 1997 Campagnolo Veloce crank, with a chain ring that I found in my garage – I think it is a vintage 1992 Campy model. I also upgraded to a NEW SRAM 9 speed chain (no lube). Oh yeah, I also thiefed my speedplay pedals off my ‘good’ bike and installed them. Sunday’s ride was the essence of sweetness and smoothness – Yes!!! Except for the brakes.

Brakes have always been my weak point. These are no exception. Perhaps it is the Cane Creek break levers in combination with the vintage ’90 Shimano Ultegra brakes and the mountain bike brake cables? Nah, just needs some love…

Training Update

Since this is my training blog and all...

I was on my bike 26 days in Frebruary. About 500 miles, plus another 8 hours on the trainer. I did some intervals and stuff. Mostly I was just tired and cold though.

The Double Richard

I was out on a training ride yesterday and passed this sign. Well actually I have been on many training rides and passed this sign many times – yesterday just reminded me that I needed to rant about it.

I don’t get it. Isn’t one Dick enough. Why the double Dick.

I can just imagine the thought process behind this one…

Nurse – Congratulations on the new baby!

Dick (what else could his name be) – I want to name him Dick Jr.

Nurse – It’s a girl.

Dick – Oh, yeah, um, well…

Mom – How about Dixie, that’s cute!

Dick – Yeah, OK. But lets spell it D-I-C-K-sie, so she doesn’t get confused with all of the other Dixies…

WTF? I mean really. I guess at least it wasn’t a James Bond fan, and named her Ivana, or Alotta. But Dicksie? I can’t help but to think this might have been a good place for a Jennifer or something.

The Real Double Richard...