Official Website of Carl Buchanan

Unclear

2010-02-19T11:55:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure if I can keep this going. Lots of things going on lately that have me torn between sharing experiences and my life with my readers and just getting out and living. I guess you could call it an awakening of sorts. I've considered starting fresh and have even gone as far as strarting the building process of a new blog but, one minute I'm all gung ho about it and the next one I am ready to hang it up. If I start it over again, I'll post a new link here.

Fear

2010-02-01T07:30:00.003-06:00

Fear –noun
1. a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.
2. a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: an abnormal fear of heights.
3. concern or anxiety; solicitude: a fear for someone's safety.
4. reverential awe, esp. toward God.
5. that which causes a feeling of being afraid; that of which a person is afraid: Cancer is a common fear.

I have done a lot of things during my time that have given me an adrenaline rush. I'm a bit of a
junkie at times and am willing to try pretty much anything if the opportunity arises.

fallen out of a tree....check
fallen off of a one-story roof....check (twice)
rock climbing....check (incident free)
crashed hard on BMX bikes....check
crashed hard on mountain bikes....check
crashed hard on cyclocross bikes....check
shoulders brushed by passing motorists while riding road bike....check
120+mph in a car....check
160+mph on a motorcycle....check
100+mph on a motorcycle into a ditch....check (that one was a big check)

What's the point of all this you ask?
I woke up on Sunday morning with the left side of my face feeling numb and droppy. Couldn't blink my left eye very well, left side of my mouth won't smile and moves very little when I talk, left side of my lower lip has no feeling at all. Couldn't keep water in my mouth as I brushed my teeth. Fear set in, plain and simple. Amy drove me to see the doctor and thankfully him and his nurse were both very knowledgeable and helpful. The Doctor diagnosed it as Bell's Palsy and thinks that I should be fine in a few weeks. Of course, having the internet at my fingertips means that I went home and started reading, reading, and reading some more. I should be an expert shortly, right? Probably not. In some cases it can take longer for things to go back to normal and in very few cases it can be permanent. The Doctor was otherwise very pleased with my health and physical shape so he seemed to be pretty confident that I would be fine. I'm taking his word on it and the fear has pretty much left the building.

Happy Monday. :)

Monday already?

2010-01-25T06:09:00.003-06:00

I know, my updates are few and far between....they pretty much suck. I'm trying.

Well, I finally have myself into my off-season roller groove with some consistent riding sessions. 'Cross season is still a ways off so no real hurry just yet. I'm trying to do the off-season a little different this year to see if I can move my peak back just a bit more than the 2009 season. I have some different riding plans on schedule for that once spring gets here as well. Planning on spending A LOT more time riding in the dirt and enjoying the singletrack.

Our new team, Velo Syndikat, has released a blog and as of today you can see what the 2010 kit will look like. I'm pretty excited about the kit since I had a big part in it and, although biased, think that it came out pretty well. It will definitely stick out during the races of any discipline in Iowa. See it here.

Yet another busy week at work starting today. They have me on more projects than I can count right now and it's a project in itself to keep it all straight and retain my sanity. Hopefully there will be an end in near by the end of this week.

Almost there

2010-01-18T07:15:00.003-06:00

Most of the weekend was spent sitting in front of the television watching old shows and movies or hanging out with Rhea in her room. Only left the house once for about 30 minutes on Saturday and only for a couple hours yesterday. Just a plain old lazy wekend really. Felt good too. I did put in some bike time on the rollers yesterday afternoon while Amy used the elliptical machine and Rhea napped. I should probably make a solid attempt at making that a regular part of my day again.

The new team that we are assembling, Velo Syndikat, is moving along quite nicely. I need to make a couple of small tweeks to the kit design and then we should be ready to get the ball rolling with Verge Sport in terms of getting kits made. It's actually been pretty fun getting this all together up to this point so I hope that it continues that way once the ordering process starts. We will have a team website up and available here shortly as well so that everyone can follow along during our adventures.

Preliminary Product Review - Velocity Bottle Trap

2010-01-11T09:08:00.006-06:00

The Velocity Bottle Trap. It's a water bottle holder for a bicycle, right? That is correct. It holds a water bottle. I was asked to take a look at these cages and give some feedback on my thoughts. Always willing to help out, I said sure. So I was handed two of these in, my now mandatory color choice of, black. Black goes with everything so they will look the part on each of my bikes as they get rotated around the fleet to be tried out in various conditions.

Initial Impressions. The Bottle Trap has a pretty basic look about it. It may not be as eye-catching as some of the fancier cages available but, this isn't an overpriced carbon fiber cage either. (Note: I have two sets of carbon cages that I normally use so I'm not really bashing on carbon, I love carbon but it is expensive) The Bottle Trap seem very minimal in the base area that holds the bottle. No wasted material needed. They seemed pretty lightweight to my right away as well so I set them on the scale to compare them to my carbon cages. The Velocity Bottle Traps came in at 30g each which is identical to the Profile Design Karbon Kages that I had mounted on the SystemSix previous to this. I also have the Bontrager Race X Lite cages which weigh in at 26g.

I'll more to post on these cages as I get a chance to use them more often and in different conditions so stay tuned.

Keeping it calm in 2010

2010-01-11T06:59:00.004-06:00

Or at least I am trying to. Quite a few things to get done although there is no real hurry on any of them. That's a god thing this time of year because when things don't go quite as planned then there is still time to make the necessary corrections to get it back on track.

First off, the 'B' Bike is almost complete. While doing some work on it on Friday I realized that I was still missing a couple of small Cannondale specific items that I need to get a hold of. Hopefully I'll be able to locate them this week and get it all together. Like I said, no real hurry though.

Secondly, getting this new team together. Kits are about 95% done in terms of design and hopefully a selection will be made this week about which company will be making the kits. I have samples scheduled to arrive from Champion Systems, Verge Sports, and V-Gear. Having not sean any of it up close I am still open to all of them so if anyone out there has experience that they would like to share, please feel free.

Last on my schedule, go figure, is training for the 2010 season. I have already decided that I was going to back off a bit on the road racing so I have a bit more time to get my body going but, I did get things started this weekend. 60 minutes of rollers was in order on Saturday morning which is always the worst one in my opinion. Sunday was a 30 minute XC ski session with Blue. That's the first time in probably 25 years that I have been XC skiing and it went okay for the most part. I did pretty much fall to the ground 5-6 times and now I totally understand why XC skiers hate it when people walk in their tracks. It is so much easier to XC ski when the snow is already broken and the tracks are in place. Walkers and dogs tend to detroy that and make it difficult to maintain a straight course. I heard the complaints from the XC ski crowd while I was working at Europa too and I still don't have a real solution. Most trail users don;t care about anyone but themselves so asking a walker to share the trail with XC skiers will be along the same lines as asking those same walkers to share the trails with the cyclists in the summer months. It's just not going to happen. Just keep smiling.

2010 has arrived

2010-01-05T06:52:00.005-06:00

Wow. Two weeks away from work also equates to two weeks away from the blog. Hopefully I am recharged for both of those tasks. With 2009 over and done with, I have started to look at what I would like to do for the 2010 season. I have not made any real solid plans, nothing is written in stone, and I am still open to some change here and there along with that which is already in the works.

Some of the changes for the 2010 season aren't that big of a deal really, such as going back to riding and racing in the dirt rather than on the road. Ultimately, There are a couple of reasons for this. First and foremost, I miss the singletrack and pretty much everything that goes with it. Riding singletrack is peaceful and soothing in many ways. I get to see more nature and all of the wonderful things that come with it. Riding and racing on the road have been fun and although I hate to admit it, it seems to be getting more and more dangerous every year. I was ran off the road a few times last season by drivers who don't care about anyone but themselves and at the time I just blew it off. Well, over time I guess that has worn on me and I think that I am getting a bit worried about how far some of these drivers are going to take it. I guess that I am not ready to become a statistic on the wrong side of the autos vs. bicycles war just yet. Maybe I'll get over it by spring, who knows. Plans will still include the group rides on Tuesday and Thursday nights though. I guess that I may end up spending more time on the gravel roads now too.

The second change for the 2010 season is a little bigger, at least for me. Having spent the last two season racing for the best cycling team in the state of Iowa, Rasmussen's Bike Shop, I have decided to make an attempt at building a new team in the local area along with a few other select people. These are the guys that I ride with the most and we are hoping that together we can win a few race and have a ton of fun. More on that new team as information becomes available. We are still in the process of getting things together.

This week represents the sixt consecutive week away from any bike riding for me as well. It goes against my better judgement but, I am feeling great. The body is fully recovered and getting recharged so I should be getting back into the swing of things here pretty quick. 'Cross season is still eight and a half months away so I should be on pace.

The 'B' Bike should be reassembled sometime in the next week if the final few parts arrive at Bike Tech here shortly. I made a few changes to my setup so i want to check them out on one of my 'Cross bikes to see how the work out and then I'll get started on the 'A' Bike to match. The two biggest changes are switching back to a double chainring with a 39/46 setup. The second change is an issue of fit with different handlebars. I was using a 44cm FSA Omega Compact which is 44cm c-c width at the bar plugs but, it is more like 42 cm at the hoods and I wanted something a bit wider in the hood area. The Omega Compact also has a 125mm drop and I would like some more there as well. I have ordered the 3T Rotundo Pro in a 44cm width which also has a 139mm drop which will be closer to what my road bike has so I am hopeful in a slightly better fit. More on that when the parts arrive.

Real time off

2009-12-21T06:29:00.005-06:00

Today officially marks three weeks off the bike for me and I really cannot complain. It's given me time to get the 'Cross bike torn down, cleaned, and the rebuild process has been started. The "B" Bike is nearing completion and only needs things such as cables/housings, bar tape, and a chain to be finished. The "A" Bike is also taking form but, is short quite a bit more at this point. Rear derailleur needs new pulleys and the right shifter is going in for a rebuild. I'm also looking to get a new crankset for it as well as some other pieces here and there so it will be a little while before that one is back together 100%.

Saturday was spent hanging out in the basement for a while to get some work done in my bike shop. The SystemSix has had it's annual tire swap is now ready for the rollers although, I'm not sure if I am ready for the rollers just yet. I still need to clear out a little room in the basement to get them set up but, that will not take long. I guess you could say that I could get on the rollers in a matter of minutes of I needed to. I also have my '88 Bianchi Brava that is being looked at for a true single speed or fixie conversion so that it can pull commuting duty next year. A set of Velocity's Deep V wheels would be needed to get that project done or I could look into having G-Ted relace the Shimano 105 6-speed hub to a new rim and make it a 1x6. I think that I would rather go the SS/Fixie route though so notes need to be made.

Running has been going surprisingly well for me too, as can be noted by me having two posts in a row with running as part or all of the post. Saturday's run went so well that I was going to arrive back home 3.5 minutes earlier than scheduled so I opted for an additional .5 mile loop to get the time in. That brough me back to the driveway right on time too which put a smile on my face. Post-run soreness is definitely getting better every time as well so it is making it eay to lace up the shoes each time. I am currently on a 2-3 day per week schedule and it is working out okay although, I would like to get myself on a solid 3 days per week to keep the building process consistent. I guess that you could say that I am realy hoping that adding the running to my schedule will help my 'Cross racing in 2010 but, I also hope that I do not set myself up for any problems at the same time. The snow has helped to make the running a bit softer and next spring will get me off the pavement and onto the singletrack for my runs for a bit more cushion and a better view.

Today is my last work day of 2009, hopefully the day goes by fairly quickly. Eight more hours until 13 days of relaxation, kind of. The Holiday season isn;t usually much for relaxing but, one can hope. Right?

Running the streets

2009-12-17T06:26:00.003-06:00

Running. Not something a lot of cyclists seem to partake in very much, including myself. We actually have some great cyclists here in town that are also great runners but, not a lot of them. Since it is the time of year in Iowa where the roads and sidewalks are usually covered in snow, getting a ride in after work is next to impossible since the bike trails do not get cleared, they are used for XC skiing, and riding on slick roads in the dark is not that appealing to me. Running a few nights a week does allow me to get out and burn off some energy though and I don't need to run for two hours so the cold weather isn't as big a deal either since I have plenty of layers to keep myself comfortable. Being seen by the drivers is my biggest concern since part of the two different routes that I have been running on involve using some low traffic roads, one of which has very few street lights. It crossed my mind that I could go purchase a headlamp like many runners do but, I had a few things at home that looked like they could handle it and they were already paid for. So I took a Cateye TL-LD170 tailight and connected it to a HL-EL410 headlight so that I could carry them in my right hand while running which provided me with a little safety cushion in terms of visibility. The pair is lightweight and easy to carry so no hindrance in that area. I only came across two vehicles in the road sections of my run last night and both of them allowed me plenty of space as they passed by so mission accomplished on the visibility.

Very simple connection...

... that is lightweight and fits in my hand just fine

The only real downfall to running in the cold weather for me seems to be that I am a little chilled at the start and it takes about eight minutes or so before I feel "warmed up" in terms of body heat. During last night's run in 14F temperatures, my pinky fingers were actually feeling really cold but, by the eleven minute mark they were warming back up and stayed warm until the end. While they were chilled I was thinking that I should have grabbed a slightly warmer pair of gloves but, I am guessing that they would have been too warm by the end of the run. Hmmmm, more testing I guess.

2009 Road & MTB Season Recap

2009-12-16T06:40:00.001-06:00

The 2009 Road Racing season went pretty well for the most part and the extremely limited Mountain Bike racing was......extremely limited having started only one race. Both of those will see some huge changes in the upcoming 2010 season but, for know I will recap how my year went.

The first road race of the 2009 season was in May at the Finchford-Roubaix which is my "home race" since the route is less than 15 miles from my house and is part of one of the local group road rides during the summer. 23 racers took the start for the Cat. 4 race and I was able to keep myself at the front of the group for most of the race which was enough to get me an 8th place finish to start the season off. I was pretty happy with that at the time since my training was a bit behind but, getting better.

The next races were not until July and they included the State Criterium Championships in Cedar Rapids and the Bicycle, Blues, & BBQ road and crit in Clear Lake, IA. The State Crit was at a new venue for 2009 and the course was just plain fast. Wide four lane course with four 90-degree right hand turns. It was work from the start to stay in the group and in a field of 40 starters I was able to pull a 18th place finish after avoiding a huge crash in turn 3 of the last lap which pushed me way to the outside. The Clear Lake weekend was up next with the Crit on Saturday afternoon and the road race on Sunday morning. The crit in Clear Lake is one of my favorites and as was the case in 2008, the race was fast from the start with no time to really rest. I ended up off the back for a while and had to claw my way back to finish that one in 9th spot. The road race was a little different mindset in that our team was there to get our sprinter, Tony Muse, onto the podium. We worked pretty hard throughout the race to maintain control of the group and keep the attacks to a minimum which worked out pretty well. In the end we were able to get Tony to the line in 3rd position overall so it was a success from the team standpoint. I finished the day in 11th and my other three teammates were 10th, 12th, and 16th so no complaints on that one either.

My fitness was feeling pretty good around July and I was trying to keep myself under some control as I was hoping to build up towards a good 'Cross season. The crits were really helping me with that in terms of the hard accelerations and intensity during the race so I was happy to toe the line for them. The road races were there just to get some miles in in all reality.

Next on the list was the state road race in West Branch, IA. Long story short, I worked my butt off to try to keep Tony fresh for the finish line and I am pretty proud of the face that we worked hard enough to get him the win at state. I ended up getting destroyed in the final 200 meters as I was the only one pulling on the front for the final few miles trying to keep the pace up which had me crossing the line in 24th position. I still had fun and have a whole new respect for guys like George Hincapie, Bernard Eisel, Stuart O'Grady, and other pros who put the hammer down to get their sprinter to the line first.

My next race for the 2009 season was yet another Criterium and this one was another new venue held in downtown Grinnell, IA. The course was very fast and I also have to put this one up there in terms of one of my favorite courses. Fast turns combined with huge accelerations made for a ton of fun and a real need to keep my head in focus. There was zero chance for any rest on the Grinnell course with a constant feeling of attacks going off the front. It literally felt like a "no holds barred" kind of racing with no one willing to give up an inch for anyone else. The Cat. 4 race had 23 starters at the line at the pace was pegged immediately. Kevin Tempel from Bike Tech and I were able to stay close together and work together to keep towards the front for the duration of the race. That helped me keep nice smooth lines through all of the turns and helped me get a 5th place finish as well. I remember being VERY happy with that one.

The last of the road bike races of the 2009 season was another Criterium of course and yes it was also a new venue. The East Village Crit held right in front of the State Capital building in Des Moines, IA. Very cool course and the atmosphere was awesome. 33 riders took the start in the Cat. 4 field and I found myself towards the front pretty quick and even took a couple of flyers off of the front for a few laps but, since no one came with me I was forced back into the group after I was caught. I tried it again later on and was free for two more laps before the group pulled me back. I was still in position for a top 10 finish with the group stringing out and going into the final turn when some numbskull started celebrating that his friend was going to win the race and he was almost ran over by the rest of us who were still racing. That caused a little panic and lots of brakes being applied as numerous riders started yelling. That also moved me back to 17th spot since I was one of those that was directly behind him when he started slowing down in the apex of the turn.

As for the Mountain Bike side of things, I toed the line for one race in the Cat. 1 field at Camp Ingawanis in Waverly, IA. I had not raced a XC MTB race since May of 2005 so I was a little nervous at the start line for this one even though there were only 9 guys in the Expert race. After getting a pretty sweet start and getting into the singletrack in the top 6 spots I was settling in behind another rider and keeping the 1st-3rd in sight. Everything seemed to be going really well with both my bike's setup and my body as well. Breathing was good, legs were good, and focus was good. After the first lap I was actually having a ton of fun and looking for a way to pass 4th tp get back up with the leaders. Then I had a flat tire which is of course one of the potential problems with racing bicycles anyways. I tried to take care of it as quickly as possible but, as half of the Cat. 2 field cam blazing by me as I changed it out, I pretty much gave up hope and threw in the towel for my first DNF since 2005. One of the worst feelings ever in my mind. I hate quitting a race. I marked it up as a partial success anyways since my fitness was definitely on track.

I wish that I could have done some more MTB races in 2009 and I am hoping to make that jump in 2010. It's kind of funny really. After taking about 1.5 years off from racing MTBs, I really have the internal flame back to get back to it. Not quite sure what I did to get myself burnt out on it but, I am glad that the desire is back.

'Cross Needs - 2010

2009-12-15T06:50:00.001-06:00

Needs in terms of what I need to improve on with my 'Cross racing for the 2010 season. There are a few aspects of cyclocross racing where certain riders tend to really excel while others quickly fade. Although, there are other aspects that may actually reverse these roles between the different riders. Let's see an example, shall we? Some riders can conquer a steep or long runup better than others but, they may lose that time during the descent if they favor the brakes a bit too much. Or vice-versa. One may struggle to run to the top yet they descend like a brick in water making up time that was lost. Either way, most riders have their strengths and weaknesses at each course which usually helps to balance the season to some extent...or at least we hope it does.

First, some explanations of what makes 'Cross so cool and yet so hard. Some of the key elements of 'Cross where a person can make or lose time during a race include sand, mud, runups, stairs, descents, and barriers. There are also the elements of weather that can play a big part as such as rain, wind, and temperature.

Sand. One of my personal favorites. Sand can be easy to ride or it can suck to ride. Some of it depends on the riders approach and some of it depends on the sand itself. I've always had good luck getting through sand when I hit as fast as possible and just power through it using momentum to do a lot of the work. The problem with this style is that if there is another element involved, such as a tight turn before the sand, then momentum may not be on the side of the rider. That means that one must either power through the sand or run through it. How ever one looks at sand, it can make or break some races.

Mud. Similar to sand in the concept of how important it is to maintain momentum although it does add it's own element of fun as well. For starters, mud likes to stick to everything. The bike gets heavier as more mud accumulates. The wheels might not turn as well if the mud builds up around the brakes and/or chain stays either. The biggest aspect of mud is that it's different at every course that has it. It can be really wet and soupy which basically covers bike and rider from head to toe in muck. Mud can also have that clay-like consistency to it which makes riding and running through it difficult. Thick mud also tends to clog up every little section of a bike until the wheels and cranks just stop. This is also the mud that tends to rip derailleurs off of bikes by the masses.

Runups. They may be a forced runup where the course has a barrier or log at the base of the hill that forces the riders to dismount and run. Runups can also just be so steep that they are unrideable. Either way, runups are one of the course features that can put a racer's heartrate in the red zone. A clean dismount and shouldering of the bike can help to keep the momentum up as high as possible but, the rider needs to really keep the legs going as quick as possible in order to overcome some of the tougher runups.

Stairs. Similar to runups but, using a staircase instead of a grass or dirt hill. I've never had the opportunity to race a course that utilized a runup so I can only speak from what I have seen in pictures and videos as well as what I remember from running stairs during my winter workouts. Riders are still running uphill so that peaking of the heart rate is still in play but, the element of footing is a touch different in the aspect that you need to step just right, while maintaining speed, with your bicycle over your shoulder. I've seen riders hit the ground pretty hard while running up a staircase and it looked fairly painful.

Descents. The section where riders can usually catch their breath just a bit after having done one of the above two elements. Downhill sections are not always nice and easy though. Some courses feature muddy downhills, off-camber turns, tight turns, or really rough ground that keeps the riders thinking as staying focused becomes really important so that a rider doesn't hit the ground at high speed. Staying light on the bike and letting the bike kind of take over seems to be a key plan for many of the riders that descend well.

Barriers. The element of a 'Cross course that can make or break a good race. Timing is a crucial factor for a rider to get through a set of barriers on a flat section while at speed or a single barrier at the base of a runup. A set of usually 2-3 barriers with a maximum height of 40cm can be found on a flat section of many courses. This forces a quick dismount, run over the barriers, and remount or, if one is so inclined, a possible chance to bunny hop the barriers with out dismounting the bike. Bunny hopping barriers is a gamble in one major aspect. If you make through clean, you can save time but, if you hit a barrier it will cost you even more time.

Now, with all of that briefly explained, how can anyone not be ready to give 'Cross racing a try. I'm ready for another race by just typing this out. Each of those elements remind me, each in their own little way, about why I love 'Cross racing so much. For the most part, the sand, mud, descents, and most barriers are fine with me. The sand, mud, and downhill sections emulate mountain biking fairly well so I've never really struggled with the transition of doing those things in 'Cross racing and consequently these seem to have become my "strong points" at most races. Mud is a bit of a catch 22 however, such as when it is found combined with runups then I struggle which brings me to my needs for 2010.

The biggest elements that I struggle with and need to work on before the 2010 season starts are the runups. Runups seem to be my kryptonite when it comes to pretty much any course. There are a few here and there where I seem to do okay with it but, for the most part I struggle through the longer and/or steeper runups that peg my heart rate. Running has been creeping into my cross-training more and more as the 2009 season went by and it will continue on becoming a staple in my workouts for 2010. I will probably never be able to call myself a "runner" again but, hopefully I can find some benefits for my 2010 season.

Congrats to Tim Johnson...

2009-12-14T07:19:00.003-06:00

... of the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.com team for winning his third US National Cyclocross Championship. He rode a fantastic race yesterday in Bend Oregon to take the Stars and Stripes for 2009. his form carries over into the European races and the World Championship races along with Jeremy Powers, Jamey Driscoll, Todd Wells, and Ryan Trebon.

Photo: © Dave McElwaine

Beginning the rebuild....

2009-12-11T06:17:00.007-06:00

...well kind of anyways. I never built this frame up last season so it's actually just a "build" and not a "rebuild" but, it uses most of the parts from my silver bike so it is a "rebuild" of sorts. This bike will be my "B" bike, or pit bike, or spare, or whatever else it gets called in your neck of the woods. I'm setting this one up with a 39/46 double chainring because this one will also pull gravel road and commuting duty. It will get some race time as well in 2010 depending on the course conditions too. I will also put my Fulcrum or Mavic Open Pro wheels on this one, the Heds were just closer last night while I was bolting things together. One other change that I am planning for the builds of both bikes are different handlebars. I'd like to get a traditional drop and curve which has me narrowed down to the Ritchey WCS Classic and the 3T Rotundo Pro.

Product Review - Ergon GA1 Grips

2009-12-08T09:26:00.001-06:00

Starting back at Trans Iowa V.1 when all of the racers were handed a set of Ergon grips, my hands have been in heaven during the long MTB rides that were the norm for my 2005-2007 seasons. I have used the GP1 grips, the GC2 grips, the GR2 grips, and the GX2 grips in the past with great results. The hands were always one of the happiest parts of my body during the beating that the 12 and 24 hour races dished out. Well the funny part didn't come until 2008 when I took a year away from the MTB. You know how when you find something that you really like, you just don't want to change it? That's how I get with bike parts such as pedals, saddles, and grips. So when I picked up my Scalpel back in March of 2009, I immediately installed a set of these grips. They still felt really comfortable and I rode them for a while but, it had been long enough away from them that I figured I could try something a little different so I made a phone call and within a few days had a set of Ergon GA1 grips in hand. Once installed there was a quick observation from my brain....these are very different.

I put in a week or so of riding with the GA1 grips and to be quite honest, I thought about going back to the GC2 grips that I had originally installed. Instead of switching back though, I kept the GA1 grips on and after a couple more rides I was really starting to get used to them. Now that I have been riding them for just over six months, they have made their way in to my list of favorite products. The center section of the GA1 grips provides just enough support to the palm of the hand that they actually are quite comfortable for everyday riding and carving through the singletrack. This grip is definitely my choice for the All-Mountain crowd who does a lot of fast trail riding, technical sections, and gets into the "catching air" aspects of cycling as well. Plenty of room for getting a good hold and moving around as needed.

For endurance racing I would probably stick with something along the GC2 grips but, after having spent the time on these GA1 grips I think that I am really digging them and plan on keeping them mounted to the Scalpel. In my opinion, they are better than the standard round grips that are offered up by other companies. The GA1 does a fantastic job of enhancing the ride and the bringing the rider closer to being "at one" with their MTB.

The GA1 gets a 5 out of 5 in my book.

2009 off season

2009-12-07T09:22:00.011-06:00

The off season is officially in full swing for me. That means at least two weeks off of the bike, maybe three, and start looking back at what was good and bad about the 2009 season. This look back is a huge help in determining what I want to do for the 2010 season in terms of changing training, which races to do, when to start "my season", and so on. This time also gives me the chance for the all important tear down of bikes. Perfect time to replace worn parts and make adjustments that I am paranoid to change while the season is in full swing. I'll be building up a second 'Cross bike for the 2010 season so I am currently acquiring the bits and pieces to get both bikes built and dialed in to be as close as possible to each other. Brings back memories of racing Endurance MTBs and having two bikes to get through some of the 24 Hour races. It was definitely nice if something happened to one that I could just hop and the other and keep going so I am looking forward to that. The wear and tear gets spread out a bit too so things don't tend to break as often of course. The tear down is complete on the bike I raced through 2009 so as of this moment I have the two frames and a large box of parts sitting in my shop. Parts need to be cleaned up, bearings replaced, shifter gets a rebuild (I LOVE Campy), and then it all goes back together. The whole process is actually quite enjoyable and makes me wish I was still working in a shop.

Other than the rebuilding of bikes, I need to rebuild the body. That means gym time and some running will be in the works over the next few months. I know what everyone will want to know, why running? It's a nice change of pace so that the rollers don't get TOO boring over the winter months and it also fits into the schedule really well. 30-60 minutes of running will tear me up really well on those days when time is limited so the rollers aren't really an option. Maybe some longish MTB rides here and there on the weekends too, weather permitting of course.

As for my 2010 schedule, I'll be making some changes in my summer program for a few reasons. First off, I want to get back in the dirt so I am looking to do more MTB racing. I had two races on the schedule for 2009 and they ended with one DNF due to a flat tire and the second race was cancelled so, hopefully we have a bit more luck with that in 2010. I felt really good during the race at Camp Ingawanis too so the flat tire was very frustrating at the time. Oh well, it happens. The group MTB rides that Bike Tech hosts were awesome this past fall and they really helped me get over the edge and truly realize that I miss the dirt.

Second on the schedule is the road racing and criteriums. I enjoy them both but, I have more fun during the crits. Funny thing about crits is the fact that if you don't have it in you for a good race, then you just don't have it. It's a little different racing Cat. 4 on the road. There are a few guys in the field that just sit there and let everyone else do the work only to go for the sprint at the end. I'm not talking about a team sprinter here either. I'm talking about the guy that sits in at every single race they do and NEVER takes a pull regardless if they have teammates or not. This isn't the ProTour kids. It's time to earn your keep. Although, in all fairness, I do enjoy watching some of these guys get all these great results in the Cat.4 races only to go into the Cat. 3 race and get hammered into the ground. Cat. 3s don't let you get away with that stuff. Some of my favorite Cat. 4s this year will be upgrading to the Cat. 3 field next year. These guys worked their butts off on the front of the field all the time and had some great results as well. Tim Putnam from North Iowa Spin and Steve Reynolds from All9Yards are both awesome to race with and should do fairly well in the 3s. As for me, I don't get any upgrade points working for others so my road results weren't the greatest. That will keep me in the Cat. 4 field until an Official tells me otherwise. As for which races I will partake in during the 2010 season, I have decided to take the path less traveled and I will only be doing those races that submitted their results to USAC last season. Considering how much we all pay for an annual license and the entry fees to do a USAC sanctioned race, it's a thing of common courtesy to the racers in my opinion. That currently puts the Clear Lake Crit and Road Race on my schedule along with the State Crit Championships in Cedar Rapids. I guess you could say that I enjoy road racing but, I don't love it so it's going to be a short road season for me. If I have an open weekend and I am tweaking for a race maybe something else will find it's way onto my schedule although, riding at Ingawanis or Sugar Bottom might overrule those too.

Cyclocross....that's a talk for a later date. So much to talk about there. So much I would like to do.

Race Report - Jingle Cross

2009-12-01T06:59:00.003-06:00

Three days of racing were on the calendar for the 2009 edition of the Jingle Cross Rock in Iowa City, IA. Friday's race was also scheduled to be raced under the lights which brought in some interesting elements. The Cat. 2/3 field is one of the largest at JCR with somewhere around 70-80 or so racers taking the line each day. Some did all three days while others may have only done one or two. With the ever changing conditions and courses each day, some racers may have missed out on some serious fun. There were some other issues that may have kept a few away on Saturday or Sunday as well with a lot of broken rear derailleurs seen hovering around in the pits on Friday and Saturday. Thankfully, I was not one of those.

Friday's course had a LOT of mud on it especially on the long uphill section. It was the kind of mud that sticks to everything in sight too, hence all of the busted derailleurs. Once to the top of Mt. Krumpit, the course took a new line down through a couple of steep, muddy switchbacks. As long as I arrived at this section on the front of a group or alone I was able to ride down it but, if I got stuck behind someone then running through the switchbacks became the plan and that meant that three of my five laps I had to run through it. With all of the mud acculmulating on my bike I really wasn't gunning for any certain position in the standings and was more just in survival mode through most of the race. That tactic actually worked out in my favor as I netted a 32nd place position overall. Racing under the lights, in the mud, against a strong field.....yea, 32nd was good in my book.

Saturday was a slight change in the course with us taking a steeper section of the hill as our runup that was very muddy. The downhill section was the section that was an uphill on Friday and it was really muddy but, with the help of gravity and some MTB skills it actually played out really well. Saturday's Cat. 2/3 race had a bigger field than Friday night and it was work to maintain position on course. During the runup on the first lap I noticed a lot of clean bib numbers which meant that there were a lot of fresh legs on course. I did what I could to hold on but, lost a few here and there. In my traditional fashion, I was able to pick off a few of them late in the race and there were also some more broken parts around course which put me in 36th position overall at the end of our five long laps of racing. Not quite what I was hopping for but, what can you do? Temperatures were in the low 50s and a lot of the course was drying out so hopefully Sunday would bring some better results.

Woke up to overcast skies, temperatures in the high 30s, and lots of wind on Sunday. All conditions that are much better for me. The course used the same uphill section as Friday as well as the downhill switchbacks although they added in an additional turn for good measure. The mud had thickened up to a tackier consistency and I was feeling al ot better about my chances. I was able to get off the line fairly well and got myself behind a few riders for the long straightaways that were part of Sunday's course as well. The first, short runup went really well as did the second, long runup although I did lose a few spots on the second one. My legs were feeling the burn while I was off the bike and some sections seemed to bring me to a crawl at times. The switchbacks coming back down were a different story though. I felt pretty good going through them and was able to make up quite a bit of time on riders and that was enough to get me motivated. So each lap consisted of me trying to follow a wheel through the "roadie" sections of long straightaways and then I would pull away from them on the more technical "MTB" sections of the tight turns and switchbacks. Intervals became the name of the game with a conscious effort to get out of the saddle and accelerate out of every turn no matter how tired I felt. It was working as I started to pick up a spot each lap and then on the final lap I was able to catch a group of two riders right as the lap started. The three of us passed one more rider and then we arrived at the "Whovill Whirl" and I found a way to get around one of them as we went around in circles. I attacked the other two as we came out of the whirl before we hit the section of sand and some twisties. This gave me a small gap before arriving at the long uphill section where I really had to dig deep into the pain cave to keep going. One of the others caught me about halfway up but, I was able to get back around him at the top as we started our descent through the switchbacks and I pulled away from the three of them. Keeping the hammer down to the finish line kept me in 23rd spot overall which I was exteremely happy with for the day's results as well as that is my highest finish at JCR in the last three years. No complaints there.

That wraps up the season for me. There were a few things that could have been done differently throughout the season but, learning is part of the journey so hopefully 2010 will be better. Huge thanks go out to my wife Amy, daughter Rhea and my parents Paul and Judy for all of the support this season. It makes racing the easy part. Another big thank you goes out to Greg Rasmussen, Sterling Heise and the crew and Rasmussen's Bike Shop in West Des Moines, IA. There are some good reasons that Rasmussen's has one of the best teams in Iowa and the guys at the shop play a big part.

Jingle Cross Rock - preliminary report

2009-11-30T07:31:00.005-06:00

The final 'Cross weekend of the 2009 season has come and gone for me. I'll need a little bit of time to collect my thoughts and get my actual reports written up. All three days featured some sweet courses that were a challenge for everyone on course from the beginners to the elites. I will probably write in up in one long report but, maybe I'll have to break into one for each day, we'll see. I know that there are some good photos out there too so I'll need to locate them and point you in the right direction to view them as well.

I would like to say congratulations to Kevin McConnell (ICCC) who did a wonderful job in his first three elite races ever. He rode really well and probably had the largest fan support of any of the Men's Elite field. Also, in the Women's Elite races, Robin Williams (ICCC) had a great weekend in her three races and was able to get her first Top 10 finish on Sunday with an 8th place finish after finishing 11th on both Friday and Saturday. She was riding really well and shared that same huge fan base that Kevin did. It was awesome to watch them hang with some of the best in the business.

One to go

2009-11-25T07:00:00.004-06:00

One race weekend remaining on the 2009 calendar although, there will be three races to partake in. Jingle Cross Rock starts this Friday night in Iowa City, IA and it will definitely be a big one. One location with three different courses will make it fun for racers and spectators alike so if you are in the area you should make some time to stop out for a while at least. Friday's races start at 4:45pm and will go until 8:30pm so they will be held under the lights. Wet weather in the forecast could make for some epic conditions too. Cold, wet, muddy, beer.....it's as close as your going to get to Belgium here in the Midwest USA.

I am planning on going over my bike one last time tonight to make sure that all is in order and then it will be ready for the weekend. Pack the extra parts, tires, wheels, tools, and anything else that has potential to go wrong. I seem to get a little crazy with preparation for this race weekend for some reason. I guess I just want to be sure that everything is covered since it is my favorite weekend of the year in terms of cyclocross.

Hup, hup

Race Report - Middle Park Madness

2009-11-23T07:01:00.004-06:00

Middle Park madness was the fourth and final round of the Quad Cities Cyclocross Series for the 2009 season. Going into the race I was sitting in 3rd spot overall with 90 points although I had a hard charging Kevin McConnell (ICCC) sitting only 10 points behind me in 4th spot. Keeping my spot would be no easy feat. There was also the battle for 1st spot going on between Nate Kullbom (Atlas) with 114 points and Brian Eppen (ICCC) at 100 points. The pre-race standing definitely had the makings of a great battle between racers.

As we started, I found myself sitting in fifth wheel behind Eppen and we were cruising along at a pace that was not the normal McConnell/Eppen pace that I am used to starting with. I had no problem sitting on Eppen's wheel and I quickly started to wonder what was up the sleeves of the ICCC duo. It did not take more than a few seconds for it all to sink in that they were going to make Kullbom set the pace and at about the halfway point of the first lap, Kullbom took the lead and put down the hammer as we approached the runup. Eppen bunny-hopped the barrier at the bottom of the runup as I swung my leg over and jumped the barrier then made the 90-degree right-hand turn and remounted only to see Eppen cruising up the hill and heading for the front of the group. Well, I made it half of a lap with the lead group before I was spit off the back.

The rest of the race was fairly uneventful with no crashes or mechanicals and I did what I could throughout the race to maintain and fight for 5th spot although I did relinquish it eventually. There was an uphill section that I was really struggling with for some reason and I lost time there on each lap. I was making up ground on the twisty sections but, it was not enough in the long run. Even with a final lap surge that brought me very close to fifth place, I finished the day in the sixth which was still enough to keep me in fourth overall for the series so I really cannot complain.

Next weekend is the grand finale with three days of racing in Iowa City at Jingle Cross Rock. Hopefully I can get myself together enough to get through them all and then take a much needed rest from the bike and get into the gym to start training for the 2010 season. I have a few changes to my normal schedule for 2010 that differ from the 2009 season so stay tuned.

Dual Race Reports

2009-11-16T07:00:00.003-06:00

I'll keep these short and sweet since they did me in pretty bad and my body needs some rest.

Saturday 14 November - Iowa State Cyclocross Championships in Altoona, IA

The Cat. 3 race was small but, there were some great riders there including Louis Dewild (ZOOM Performance), Ryan French, Scott Robinson, and Matt Gumm (All9Yards), and Nate Klein (Rasmussen's) which meant that the pace would be high. The course did not have very much technical aspect too it which was great for just riding fast from start to finish although, it doesn't suit me too well. I need some twisties I guess. I actually had a great start and was sitting in the first couple of spots before taking the lead after about 90 seconds of racing. I stayed on front for most of the first lap before my Nate Klein came by and took over. The pace stayed high throughout the duration and although I had no real problems other than feeling very slow through the barriers, I went backwards until I was in sixth spot with a couple laps to go. I was able to pull back Ryan French and get myself into 5th but, everyone else was just plain out of reach.

Sunday 15 November - Devil's Glen in Bettendorf, IA

This course had a bit more technical challenges to it than the Saturday course did which I liked but, my legs were throttled before we even got started. For some reason, I seem to be having some issues recovering in the last few weeks. Maybe it's time for a little rest I guess. Long story short, with our small group of 4 in the Open class I was off the back of that group pretty quick and picked up by the group of 23 Master's behind me. Found of few of them to work with which made the laps go by a lot quicker but, the other Open class racers were out of sight. It turned into a training ride of sorts for me where I just stayed focused on good lines, controlled breathing, and chasing down any Master's riders that I could lap. My lines did get smoother as the day went by at least.

Legs are totally throttled today. Might try for a recovery ride today and then the rest of the week off. Sunday the 22nd is the last race of the Series and I am currently sitting third in points with a very small lead over Kevin McConnell who won both races this past weekend by the way. He is absolutely flying right now and I will need a ton of help to preotect my small 10 point lead.

Night Vision

2009-11-12T07:02:00.003-06:00

With daylight savings time over, my afternoon rides have turned into night rides lately. Sometimes I can get out of the house while it is still light out and finish my ride in the darkness although, the majority of them start in the darkness as well. Not a big deal as long as you're not scared of the dark or something like that. As a safety precaution, I try to avoid riding on the roads as much as possible since I am only one mile from the paved trail system and I can take ride on either the sidewalk or some low travel roads to cover that short distance. There isn't a lot of lighting on the trail system here in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area unless you ride in the downtown area, which I do not do very often, so you have a few options.

#1 Moonlight. Obviously only works around the time of the month when there is a full moon and hopefully no clouds. It's actually pretty fun riding with nothing but the moonlight although it works a lot better when the space above you is open as well such as, no trees. Also a tough thing to do unless you are out riding gravel roads.

#2 In the darkness. Not recommended for the most part. Your eyes will adjust to some degree, assuming that there is NO light source, but that actually takes a while to happen and riding at speed still might not be the smartest thing in the world.

#3 Lights. Definitely the best choice. Lots of options available to people although the best options for purposely riding in the darkness are those systems that have rechargeable batteries with extended burn times.

With that all in mind, I head out into the darkness each evening for a spin with my trusty Cateye HL-EL410 strapped to my helmet. This light produces a not-so-whopping 180 candlepower which is enough for me to see the general form of a trail at 16+mph but, if there is any other lighting that I pass such as street lights, trail lights, or others with brighter lights, the EL410 pretty much just disappears. Probably not the smartest thing in the world for me to be doing but, that's what I have at this time.

Anyway, with the temperatures slowly working their way down I am seeing fewer and fewer people out on the trails after dark and so it really isn't much of an issue aside from me not being able to go very fast. Even the 16ish mph area can get a little sketchy in some of the sections of the trail where it gets twisty through the trees. Need to keep my ears peeled for the edge of the trail in those situations.

Last night's ride was one of those that started in the dark and it went really well with me only seeing one other trail user, although I suspect there may have been a second at one point, who was out running in the Black Hawk Park area. He had a headlamp on so I saw him with plenty of warning and he didn't even seem startled when I announced that I was passing him. Always a plus. I continued down the trail to my turn around point and waited for him to come out of the trees before I proceeded back. His headlamp was actually a lot brighter than mine and would have probably taken what little night vision I had going for me at that time. My belief in a second trail user came while I was riding through George Wyth. It looked like the outline of someone standing along the treeline off of the trail with a small reflective area on a hat but, I could have been wrong.

One other small, or large in some cases, problem with riding in the dark through the parks is deer. Lots of deer. Lots of big deer. I saw a couple of really nice bucks along the trail last night in George Wyth as well. They did not seem to be overly concerned with my presence which was nice so that I didn't have to worry about them making any sudden moves as I came by such as running me over. That would make for a great headline on the news. "Cyclist ran over by deer" just doesn't seem like any way that I would want my name to be associated with a news article.

I suppose that I could just get the rollers out and avoid the night riding all together but, it's just not that cold yet. At least not for me. I usually hold out until the temperatures get into at least the low 20F area or there is too much snow on the ground. Although, speaking of snow, it helps out with the night vision quite nicely so maybe we could get a couple of inches of the white stuff.....

Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T06:27:00.003-06:00

Do you know why you can do whatever you want when you want?

Do you understand the sacrifices that have been made by so many Americans for your freedoms?

Thank a Veteran. They helped make it possible.

November?

2009-11-09T06:17:00.004-06:00

Temps this past weekend were definitely not your typical November in Iowa. With the sun shining and the thermometer reading 70F, it is no wonder that so many people were out enjoying the warmth. As for me, I spent Saturday in my basement tearing out carpet and cleaning up a few things in my "bike room". The carpet removal went pretty well and the rearranging of tires seemed to be what slowed down my day. I would have never guessed that I had so many tires that still have some life in them, especially the road tires. As long as the snow stays away I should be able to wear some of them out. I find a few sets of MTB tires that should get some time once the snow flies too so all is covered. On the other hand, I did come across about 7 or 8 tires that were questionable so those need to be tossed out. All in all it was a fairly productive day.

Sunday was more of the same in terms of sun and 70F temps although there was a strong breeze out of the South as well. I opted for a ride with J.Fry and Bullerman to get a few intense miles in on the road. There was not a lot of "casual riding" involved as the two of them picked the pace up as soon as we hit the edge of town. The pace stayed up pretty high through out our tailwind/crosswind sections and then the pain started to creep into my legs as we headed South back to town. Feel the burn!!! I hung in as long as I could but, the final hill coming into Cedar Falls kicked my butt, as usual. I'm not sure what it is about that hill but, it seems to have my number no matter what. Long ride, short ride, casual ride, or intense ride, that hill does me in and it doesn't seem like that bad of a hill. Oh well. Still a great ride, thanks for the whooping guys.

70F in November....working on my tan

The dynamic duo must have seen me grab my camera....

...and they attacked.

J.Fry still smiling as always...

...probably laughing inside at how slow I am.

Parts swap

2009-11-06T06:36:00.002-06:00

Had some time to myself last night as Amy and Rhea went to hang out with some friends for a "play date". I took the opportunity to get some things done on the 'Cross bike. Starting with getting 98% of the dirt off of it from last weekend's racing and finishing up with a freehub swap on this set of HED Alps to switch it from Shimano to Campagnolo. Once that was all done I took it for a ride around the block and quickly noticed the difference in acceleration and cornering control. Can't wait until next weekend's races now. :)

Once the season is over at the end of November I think that the 'Cross bike will probably get a full on tear down and rebuild, it's due for it. Cables, housings, and chains have been getting replaced already this season but, the headset and bottom bracket bearings probably need a little love too. I know that my Campy Chorus/Mavic Open Pro wheels are in need of an overhaul. They seemed a bit slow to turn when I checked them last night as I took the cassette off to swap it to the HEDs. One more thing on the list.

Dusk Crit

2009-11-05T06:09:00.004-06:00

Yesterday's ride was a great one. I received and invite from J.Fry to join him and Bullerman for a little crit simulation at one of the cemeteries in Waterloo. Fast turns, couple of small hills, decreasing visibility as the time went on, and a couple of potholes made for some sweet riding. Most of the corners can be pedaled through so that makes for very few recovery zones, especially when J.Fry and Bullerman are constantly putting the hammer down. It stayed under control really well though with no one taking any crazy flyers and the three of us really just taking turns on the front. Kind of working on the basics I guess.

We did not finish until it was dark out which meant that the ride home was strictly kept to the paved trails. It's one of those times when I am grateful that we have a ton of trails in the area. Most of the year they are packed with other users but, once the temps get lower the vast majority of users tend to shy away leaving the trails open for the most part. There are a few runners here and there as well as a couple of walkers but, everyone using the trails this time of year actually understand the rules of trail usage and they are all very considerate of other users as well. Now if only the fair weather users could figure that out.

Riding into the darkness....

...along the empty trails

No biking, just running

2009-11-04T06:29:00.004-06:00

Yesterday afternoon's plans included a 90 minute spin through the trails of Cedar Falls but, I called that one off on the grounds of the skies getting ready to open up with water so back home after a whopping 3.5 miles it was. Not a huge deal. I ended up getting in a nice run a few hours later. There's something about running right after it finishes raining that is pretty refreshing. It was dark, quiet, the sidewalk was almost entirely empty, and there were very few cars out and about. Quite peaceful actually.

Well, hopefully today will be a little better since there is no rain in the forcast. I just have to hope that my Mom is home after I get off of work so that I have someone to hang out with Rhea for a while. Rhea really likes to hang out over there and my Mom likes to spoil her so it works out for all of us really.

One other thing. When I went to my parents' yesterday to pick Rhea back up, I snuck into the basement where Blue keeps all of his bicycle things and "borrowed" a set of wheels. You see, I needed another set of Michelin Mud2 tires and he has a set, although they are mounted on a set of wheels, that are not being used. I just figured it was easier to swap wheels than tires, right?They do have a Shimano freehub but, I also found a Campy freehub on his desk so I still need to do that little swap there. Hmmmm, freehub swap instead of a tire swap......that's doable. I have used the front wheel in a couple of races this year and i really like how the bike handles with the deep section wheel on front so I will have to see how the ride changes with both wheels mounted up. I could not resist putting them on just to see how they will look together on the X6. I might just have to run them for the remainder of the season, assuming they feel right of course. :)

J-Pow's Office

2009-11-03T09:15:00.005-06:00

There are some sweet carbon fiber cyclocross frames out on the market, like the Ridley X-Fire that I rode last season, and their performance is awesome. I loved how my Ridley smoothed out even the roughest courses. Cannondale however, opts to stick with aluminum for their cyclocross frames and I have no complaints about how it handles the rough sections either. Still a nice smooth ride. Cyclingnews has Jeremy Powers Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale cross bike on feature right now so be sure to check it out. Large set of photos by James Huang for all of the closeups too so give them a peek.

Photo by James Huang

Race Report - Spooky Cross 2009

2009-11-02T07:41:00.004-06:00

Saturday, 31 October

With the large amounts of rain that Iowa has received over the last 1.5 weeks, it was fully expected to have a wet, sloppy race on Saturday. Especially the sections that were surrounding the corn fields in the first half of the course. A short series of switchbacks through the mud and 6 inches or so of water was followed up by a slight uphill section that had the consistency of clay and did not want to let go of the tires as we rode over it. The it was into the woods for some flatter, fast sections with a touch of puddles here and there, a couple of rolling hills, and the course concluded with a barrier-forced runup followed immediately by a steep but rideable uphill section, and then some headwind action to the start/finish line. The course was about 1.75 miles in length and, in my opinion, setup pretty well for recovery after some of the tougher sections.

The Cat. 3 race started at Noon with the temperatures hovering in the high-40F range and the sun shining. The start was clean and I was sitting pretty well in the front three spots after the front straight and into the left-hander to the grass and wet switchbacks. The first couple of laps were fairly uneventful aside from a few of riders coming by me here and there while I finally settled into my pace riding with Andy Cornelison from the All9Yards Team. We were matching each other pretty well throughout the entire course with Andy getting the jump on me in the flat sections and me getting back on the uphills. A couple of laps into the race and we passed by mt teammate Rich Wince who looked to have dropped a chain but, was getting it back on. After we went by him I pretty much just sat on Andy's wheel hoping that Rich would catch back up and hopefully I could lend a hand since he was sitting 2nd overall in the series points classification. The laps continued to tick by for Andy and I, pretty much uneventfully, with Andy spending the majority of the time on front.

Into the grass. Photo by Molly Wince
Rich was gaining pretty well on us as we began our final lap and halfway through that lap he came by us like a rocket. He looked like a man on a mission so I just stayed in my spot hoping that I might be able to get around Andy in the final straight. We were neck-and-neck coming up the final climb and through the final few turns before the headwind. I was able to get a short gap on him as we got into the wind but, Andy took a better line through the final turn carrying a lot more corner speed than I was and beat me to the line which gave me 7th spot overall. I'm sti;; happy with that one though. Overall, the course was a tough one for me with the steep hill towards the end of the lap. That'll get me almost every time.

Finishing up a lap. Photo by Judy Buchanan

Sunday, 1 November

Day 2 had us at a new location that had some really nice features.The start/finish area was located in the middle of an Old West looking town at Living History Farms in Urbandale, IA. It made for a pretty good back drop for the racers and a great vantage point for the fans. The start straight was uphill through the "town" and into the grass before a series of switchbacks and a couple of turns before bombing down a hill, crossing a gravel road, and into a runup. Back on the bike at the top, up another hill, and then through a couple more rolling hills before a set of barriers and then a longer flat section before getting back to the start/finish line with a lap distance of around 2 miles.

The start was, to the say the least, near-perfect. I had the holeshot going onto turn one with Steve Robinson and Ryan French (both All9Yards) right with me. They both came around me as we rode into the grass and I hopped on Steve's wheel. I was content sitting right there as long as he would let me do so as well. Ryan started to pull a small gap as we began the downhill section of the course and Louis Dewild (ZOOM Performance) jumped after him. We were stringing out quite nicely and cruising along well when I started getting a vibration from my rear wheel which felt like a bent rim forced me to stop and take a look. I could see where the wheel was touching the brake pad and gave it a whack with the palm of my hand. It looked to be okay and so I remounted and gave chase after losing a couple of spots. I finished the first lap still feeling fine and the bike seemed to be okay so I flew right past the wheel pit and continued on for lap two. Shortly after cresting the hill and getting back to the switchbacks I had the rear wheel noise come back. I glanced down to see that my rear tire was actually coming off of the rim. Sweet!! I continued on as carefully as I could as the rear slowly lost air pressure and by the time I arrived at the barriers it was getting too low to ride so I through my bike on my shoulder and ran the last 1/2 mile of the course. Looks like that week of running the beach in Florida was paying off. :) Needless to say, I was in last place by this point although I was able to give the many spectators along the start/finish line a look into my technique of shouldering the bike and running. A wheel change and into full chase mode with 5 laps to go. Everything from that point flowed really well and I was able to pick up a few riders here and there and get myself into 10th spot. Unfortunately, I did get lapped by race winner Ryan French on the final lap but, all things considered, I felt that I rode a strong race.

Getting a jog in on lap 2. Photo by Julie Goodman
Thanks to Tony Nichols, JJ Bailey and all of those that helped them make this race weekend happen. Two great venues amde for some awesome racing.

Congratulations go out to Steve Robinson (All9Yards) for taking the series championship for the Cat. 3s and to my teammate Rich Wince for taking 2nd overall. They both had some great races and were very consistent competitiors throughout the series.

Race Report - Psyclofest 2009

2009-10-27T06:13:00.008-06:00

The course at this year's Psylcofest was similar to last year's event in many ways but, the folks at DICE also threw in a few changes to make the course different while also adding some character. A couple of sweeping turns coming off of a nice downhill section kept the speeds up in the beginning and a steep, muddy runup later became a walkup even for the best racers in attendance. The wet weather from the week made the majority of the course somewhere between muddy and damp with a few short, dry sections here and there.

After a weeks vacation in Florida, which meant that I was off the bike for eight days, I was not feeling "at one" with my bike when I started warming up at Psyclofest in Bettendorf, IA this past Sunday. I put in a couple of warmup laps as well as a little bit of time on the road to get the legs spinning again and then made my way to the start line for the Open class race which was again suffering from low but fast attendance. The Masters classes all look to be doing quite well with more riders however.

I was able to get a fairly decent start and was in the first couple of spots through the first section of swampy grass and on to the pavement. The group went singlefile as we went back into the grass, through the double barriers, and into a nice, fast section of downhill followed by some sweeping turns and then into an uphill section. A group of four formed at this uphill and broke free of me as my legs yelled at me. I kept telling myself that I needed to stay with that group but my mind and body did not seem to want to work with each other and I was off the back at the top of the hill. One of the other riders came off that same group towards the end of the lap and I was able to catch him for a while before we arrived at the walk up and I lost touch again. Another rider came by me shortly after and put me in sixth spot in the Open class....yes, I was going backwards. By the end of the 3rd lap my mind was asking my body what was going on and my body just could not get going. The I was caught by one of the Masters riders and wa able to hop on their wheel for a while. That helped me get going again and I was able to start making up ground on 5th place with 4th place not too far ahead of him. I eventually made it up to the 5th place rider on about the 7th lap and as we neared the walkup I saw one of the race leaders standing at the bottom of the hill. That put me in a battle for 4th place with three laps to go. A little bobble on the walkup helped me to lose a few seconds to 4th place and so the final lap was full on chase mode and I passed that rider with around half of a lap to go. Unfortunately for me, "the wall" of a walkup slowed me down enough that he was able to get back around me in the final turn before the finish and that put me back in 5th.

That's racing for you. I really can't complain about my race since I know I really was not ready for it physically or mentally. The Psyclofest course last year kicked my butt pretty bad and I guess you could say that the memories of that one were still lingering in my mind. The course itself is great but, it just does not suit me. You'll get that with cyclocross racing.

The next races on the schedule are this Saturday and Sunday with Spooky Cross in Urbandale, IA. Unfortunately, the rules state that racers must participate in six of the eight Central Iowa Series races to be eligible and with these two races being the last ones of the series, I'll only have five races assuming I do them both; I missed three races while I was in Florida. Kind of takes the motivation out of it I guess. Oh well. I should be sitting in third overall for the Quad Cities Series so that will definitely be my main focus now before Jingle Cross Rock at the end of November.

Race Report - Vande Cross '09

2009-10-12T06:23:00.007-05:00

The DICE Cycling four race series got started this past weekend with the first race being Old Towne Vande Cross held at Stephen's Park in Moline, IL. I opted for the Open Class race for a couple of reasons. First off, the races last for 15 minutes longer than the Cat.3/4 race and since the Open race starts 90 minutes after the 3/4 race, I can sleep in a little more before the 2.5 hour drive. As was usual during the 2008 season, the course that was presented by DICE was awesome. It had a nice balance of fast descents, fast turns, tight turns, uphills, a steep runup, and it even had a pile of sand that was hard enough that it doubled as a 10' tabletop jump for those that were so inclined to catch some air...more on that later. While out for the warmup before the race started at 1:30pm, I saw around 25 riders on course with quite a few of the fast guys in attendance. I full expected a tough 60 minutes to be at hand. You may understand my surprise when I toed the line with three other riders as well. That's right, four people doing the Open Class race including Brian Eppen (ICCC), Nate Kullbom (Atlas), Kevin McConnell (Geoff's), and myself. Lined up behind us were close to thirty Master's class racers. Wow. No pressure here. Me against three very fast racers, one of whom had just finished battling in the 3/4 race to get his 2nd place finish. This was going to be interesting at the least.

My goal for this race, considering the company that i was with of course, was to hold for as long as possible. Well, Eppen and Kullbom both had great starts and I was running third wheel from the pavement start area to the grass and holding on. It wasn't until the barriers that the two of them were able to get a small gap but, I was able to close that back and continue to hang on. Kevin came around me on the runup and I stayed on his wheel for the remainder of the first lap. We worked with each other pretty well for the first four laps exchanging positions while trying to keep the gap to the other two at a minimum. On the fourth lap, while going over the single barrier for the runup, I clipped my foot on the top of the barrier and ended up on the ground. I was able to get right back up and scramble to the top with the only problem being that my right shifter was a little cock-eyed. A quick hit with the hand and it was straight again so now I had to try to chase Kevin back down. I was able to catch him right about the time that I would have pulled through for my pull but, I was in need of a little recharge so I stayed behind him. When we came to the section with the aforementioned table top jump, Kevin launched himself about 6' into the air....it was actually quite graceful as his landing was super smooth and he did not miss a beat. Glad that I was able to witness that and now I know what everyone was cheering about on the previous laps as we had passed over that section.

Kevin started to get away from me a bit after that and was able to get a lead of around 20-25 seconds at one point around lap 7. On the next lap I saw that I was beginning to make up a couple of seconds, not much but enough to motivate me to try to pull him back in the closing laps. As I was finishing up my ninth lap, race leader Brian Eppen came by me and I hopped on his wheel for a little "motor" pacing around part of the course. That helped me cut a few more seconds out of the gap between Kevin and myself and I also noticed that Kevin seemed to be slowing down a bit. My guess was that his efforts in the Cat.3/4 race were starting to get back at him and I should be able to catch back on. With around 1.5 laps to go I was able to catch and pass Kevin to get back to 3rd spot and now it was quite the effort to maintain that pace so that 1) Kevin could not come back around me late in the last lap and, 2) I did not want to be caught by Nate. I had enough left that I was able to do both of those and still felt pretty good physically in doing so.

Consequently, I was able to finish on the podium although it was only four people in the Open Class....again, WTF? Pretty much used that one as a training/learning race and I am pretty happy with how my body was able to handle it all so I am definitely happy with it. There are still three races left in the series so those of you that missed this one, you missed a great course, can hopefully find the time to make it for the rest. Their next race, which will also be my next race, will be on the 25th of October at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf, IA. Check the schedule here.

Kevin and I working early in the race. Good thing for me that he raced two races on Sunday.

Mud Light

2009-10-06T06:27:00.006-05:00

Saturday's Dirty Wooden Shoe had a few spots of mud but, nothing crazy. Here is the X6 with a light coating which makes for pretty easy cleaning.

Wednesday was a touch of singletrack, on the Scalpel this time, although the trails were just a bit on the slick side in the low spaces and some of the tighter turns. That was followed up by some tempo riding on Thursday along the paved trails.

This Sunday is the opening round of the four race series of 'Cross racing put on by DICE Cycling in Bettendorf, IA. I raced this series last season as well and had a great time so all four are on my schedule again for 2009. Sunday's race is held in Moline, IL and is a sweet one so be sure to check the flyer and come out for the race if you can.

Race Report - Dirty Wooden Shoe

2009-10-05T07:00:00.006-05:00

First off let me explain one little detail about Pella, IA where Saturday's 'Cross, the 1st Annual Dirty Wooden Shoe, was held. Pella was founded in 1847 by Dutch Separatist's hence it has a very Dutch feel to it with the architecture, landscaping, and overall ambiance of the area. If you would like a little more information on this quaint little village, click here.

As for the racing part of the day, it went a little different from last week's races in Des Moines. Physically I felt way better this week than I did last week since I spent the vast majority of the week resting aside from an easy spin on Tuesday and the group MTB ride on Wednesday. Mentally I was also more into the race on Saturday. Scoring 9th and 11th place finishes in the Cat. 3 races last week pretty much took the wind out of my sails as far as the series points were concerned so I was able to relax and get focus on me just having a good race. We arrived at the venue about 45 minutes before the scheduled start, which would normally drive me crazy , and I was surprisingly relaxed. I made my way to registration, signed in for the Cat. 3 race and noted some of the other string riders in attendance such as Adam Price (ICCC), Steve Robinson (All9Yards), and my teammate Rich Wince. Sure would be sweet if Rich and I could get off the front together was the thought that went through my head. I pulled my bike off the roof of the truck, got dressed, and made my way to the course for a spotting lap and a couple of warmup laps.

Couple of key features about the course in Pella. The course was pretty well layed out in my opinion and had a lot of technical features that would definitely make this one geared more towards the racers with a MTB background. There were really tight turns and switchbacks around trees, picnic tables, water fountains, and other park furniture. There was also a long off-camber section as well as a short one-barrier runup, three short, steep uphill sections with one of those having a double barrier at the top which was a little unorthodox but, it definitely added some character. There were a couple sections of small mud pits, one of which had running water throughout much of the race and the other which was not very wet but, still muddy. There was also what has become a traditional part of 'Cross racing in Iowa this season...the sand box. Pella's was longer than the others and it followed a 180 degree right-hander so line choice was critical. A very short section of pavement for the start/finish section and that was a lap. My sighting lap gave me a bit of confidence for having a good race with all of the tight turns although I was slipping just a bit in the turns. During my three laps of sighting and pre-ride I think that I stopped to release a touch of air three times before I was able to get the corner sliding and uphill slips to stop. With the air pressure feeling just right I made my way to the start line. During the other two races last week, the Cat. 3 race shared the course with both of the Masters' classes although the Cat. 3 racers took off first. In Pella, the referee decided to run them all together since each of the classes did not have many guys to start with. Totally fine with me.

The start went really well and I was able to get into turn one in around 6th wheel with two Cat. 3 riders ahead of me. I held on to Chad Vandelune's (All9Yards Masters class) as he put down some power to move himself up to second wheel and pulling me to third wheel on course. Chad was taking some strong pulls on the short straighaways and was getting a 1-2 second gap on me although I was able to pull it back through the technical, twisty sections. Steve Robinson (All9Yards) was sitting on the front when he had a flat tire that brought him back and Chad eventually pulled away from me on one of the straights which left me riding alone on course. I had a couple of Cat. 3 racers close behind me including teammate Rich Wince and Daniel Galles(Colorbiotics). We started to lap riders on the 3rd lap after around 14 minutes of racing. I did what I could to get around these riders as fast as I could and keep the pace up in hopes of maintaining my distance from Daniel Galles. On about the fifth lap, I was passed by another Master's rider, Todd Gillihan (Team Skin) and followed him for a very short distance before I told myself to relax and ride my race. I told myself this because I was following Todd's lines which were just a little different from mine through the technical sections and it was throwing off my timing so I backed off. Shortly after that Paul Deninger caught up to me and I started following his lines which were much closer to mine and was able to relax a bit before he had an unfortunate flat tire.

With about four laps to go, I was all alone again and finding lapped riders so I started to focus a bit on the Cat. 3 racers behind me to make sure that I was keeping my distance. I saw that Daniel Galles had made up a couple of seconds on me as I crossed the start/finish line with two laps to go so I stepped up my efforts just a touch and about halfway through that lap I had gotten a couple of seconds back and Daniel looked a little tired. I still had plenty in me so I stepped it up another notch and kept it up for the rest of that lap. Starting the final lap I put everything I had left into it and was able to stay away from the remaining Cat. 3 chasers as well cut down the gap on one of the Master's racers. I was definitely happy to still have the power left in my legs to step it up at the end, I must be doing something right.

That was my first Cat. 3 CX win and hopefully not the last. Rich was able to hold on to 3rd in the Cat. 3s as well which put two Rassy's on the box, which is always a good thing. Now, to tie the opening of this report back to the finish? The 1st place trophy was also a unique one that displays the Dutch heritage of the area, and of course we all know that CX is HUGE in Holland, so I have to say that receiving a wooden shoe for a trophy is sweet. Trophies unique to an event are always cool in my book.

Congrats go out to Cam Kirkpatrick for his 3rd place finish in the Cat. 1/2/3 race and Jason Plunkett for a strong ride to 3rd place in the Cat. 4 race. Way to ride guys!!

Full race results here.

I'd like to say thanks to everyone involved with making The Dirty Wooden Shoe happen this year. I thought the venue and the course were both pretty nice and look forward to returning in 2010. Thanks to my wife, Amy, for the bottle handups and time checks which helped me stay focused. Special thanks also goes out to our new lucky charm, J.Fry. First 'Cross race that he attended and our friend Steve Bullerman (Bike Tech) takes 2nd in the Master's to go with my 1st in the 3s....Thanks Lucky.

Trying hard not to trip over the barrier

Rich "out for a cruise" as he put it

Bullerman on the start/finish straight

The Dirty Wooden Shoe trophy for 1st place....very cool.

Bliss

2009-10-01T06:42:00.004-05:00

Yesterday afternoon's ride was one of those that made me think back....way back.... to when I rode bicycles just to ride. You might remember those times. Back when there was no computer on the bike since the distance traveled didn't really mean anything. There was no real time limit other than to be home in time for supper. There were no training blocks, interval sessions, heart rate monitors or coaches, to rate your fitness. All there was, was the ride. Plain and simple. Well, that was last night's ride.

I was getting the SystemSix all ready to go for a tempo ride and interval session by getting the tires aired up, spare tube and tools strapped onto the saddle, and then started to put my shoes on when I saw the clock reading 17:55...that's 5 minutes until 6pm in the afternoon by the way. :) That's when I remembered that the weekly MTB ride would be leaving from Bike Tech in 20 minutes. All of a sudden I had no desire to go out and do any tempo riding or intervals at all. I didn't want any structure either. I just wanted to go have some fun. So a slight shift in gear meant a shoe swap, move some things from the SystemSix to the X6, put a waterbottle in my back pocket, and off I went to find the fat tire ride.

When I arrived at Bike Tech a few minutes later there was one thing that jumped into my head right away. More people are showing up for the group MTB rides than were for the group road rides for much of this year. Some faces were the same as the ones at the MTB ride a few weeks ago but, there were also some different ones. Friends that I have not seen in quite a while. Friends that I see all the time. People from all walks of life, all age groups, all together to have a good time. Totally cool.

We rode a few miles of paved trail to get to the singletrack and then it full speed ahead, carving through the singletrack as the sun was setting over the horizon. Right around the halfway point a few riders started to turn on lights as the daylight was slowly getting less and less through the trees. Interestingly enough, the speeds were not decreasing all that much since everyone seemed to know the trails well enough to keep the pace up. The only noise that I could hear was that of the leaves crunching under the tires as we carved through the turns and sped through the now darkness. Eventually we ended up back to where I started my afternoon ride and I peeled off from the group and headed for home...smiling. That was one of the best rides this year and I hope that they keep happening like that. Good times.

Another observation from the ride was that the 'Cross bike can handle the singletrack just fine in the daylight but, once the light is almost gone it gets a little sketchy at times. Unseen rocks and roots raise the potential for damage on the narrower CX tires. That means that I will be making a call today to get the final part that I need to get my Scalpel back together after having the Lefty rebuilt. It's time for me to get back to the fat tire riding as well.

Group of nine heading down the paved trail in search of some dirt fun.

The group stopped at the top of a hill so that everyone could have a run at one of the jumps on the trail...I opted to keep the 'Cross bike with two wheels on the ground.

Race Report - Capital City Cross

2009-09-29T08:04:00.009-05:00

The opening weekend of cyclocross racing in Iowa finally arrived this past weekend and although the weather was not necessarily "Cross weather" it was still a fun time at the two venues in Des Moines. Each of the two courses offered up some challenges in the form of runups, barriers, tight turns, sand, off-camber turns and many others although, both courses were also very much different.

Saturday - McRae park

Capital Cross held both races at this park in 2008 but, for 2009 only Saturday's race was at McRae. The course was very similar to the one in 2008 with some tweaking but the overall feel was similar. It started out with a very short straight away followed by a 180 degree left turn and a slight incline to head into the barriers. The barriers were at the base of a fairly steep runup that, as I remembered from 2008, was going to kick my butt. Once to the top it was back onto the bike, a very short downhill followed by another slight incline before getting to the switchback section which included three switchbacks with about 80' of straightaway between each one and then onto the pavement for a stretch. Off the pavement and then into a sandbox for around 40' of 10" deep sand which was rideable as long as you kept your speed up and stayed loose on the bars. Out of the sand and into a 180 degree left turn and then a quick decent back to the bottom of the hill before making another 180 degree left onto the pavement and starting back up. Right turn into the grass, finish the climb to the top, right-hander back to the start/finish area for a lap that totalled around one mile.

The Cat. 3 race was combined with the Masters 35+ and the Masters 45+ groups and would be the first race of the day. I think that there were 13 starters in the Cat. 3 group and I was feeling pretty good so I had fairly high hopes of this opening round. As usual, the group started at breakneck speeds and we were quickly into the runup and the group started to split with a group of four getting a couple of seconds away. I was in a second group of four with Lane Anderson and Matt Gumm, both of All9Yards, and Chad Bishop from Harper's. I told myself to get settled in with this group and play it as we go. The first couple of laps went really well with our group staying together and keeping the lead group close. Then, as we finished the fast decent and made the 180 degree left turn onto the pavement, both Bishop and myself dropped our chains. I fumbled this one bad and was ready to throw in the towel when my glove became caught in between my chain and sprocket. Gloves came off, the chain went back on, and I reentered the race after being passed by pretty much everyone on course. The next lap went pretty slow as I relaxed and just pedaled around before I caught glimpse of a rider in frnt of me and decide to give chase. I started getting back into my groove and made a couple of spots back to finish the race in 9th. Not quite what I was expecting but, what can you do? There were a couple more races before the Cat. 1/2/3 race which would give me a 3 hour break and so I decided to make a few adjustments and use the Open race as a training block.

First off, I found the problem for the dropped chain and fixed that one. Secondly, I borrowed Blue's front HED carbon wheel to test it out on course a bit. Since I had never used 700c carbon wheels before, I figured that it was as good a time as any. So I took a couple of warmup laps to get things dialed in a little bit and ran all of the things that I read about deep section carbon rims through my head. One of the big details that I have read about them is their ability to cut throught the mud easier. Well, the course was dry so that one never came into play. The increased lateral stiffnes however, was very noticable through the tight turns. My bike tracked so well that it was like as if it was a totally different bike. For the record, I have nothing against the Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels that I normally run. Carbon is good yet again.

For the race I started from the back row since my legs were already throttled and I really did not want to get in the way of those who were still fresh with 15 riders taking to the start line. No bike problems throughout the 60 minutes + 2 laps race to speak of, thankfully. I was actually feeling really good and was able to claw my up to around 9th place I think before Oakley Rob put down the smack and dropped me on the paved uphill section. The guys been off the bike for two weeks and he is still fast. I came around the start/finish area later in the race and saw that there were 5 laps left and I was really feeling it. The last five times of the runup were more of a walkup for me but, the corners, sand, and decent were all really good. The 70 minute equipment test was a success in terms of learning a few new things about carbon wheels, I'll need to get a set of those for myself. Oh yeah, I finished 11th by the way. Not so good.

Sunday - Witmer Park

Sunday's race was held at Witmer Park in Des Moines and although it did not have the steep runup that Saturday's course had, Witmer Park had it's own challenges. The double barriers were at the base of a much shorter runup although the short downhill before them was going to increase dismount speeds a bit. The earlier start time (10:30A.M.) meant that the grass was still a bit damp and so I was not too surprised to see someone hit the deck during a dismount in warmups. He seemed to be okay and I made a mental note to stay off the brakes and suck it up into the barriers. The sand pit was a little different from Saturday's and I was only able to get through it once under pedal power. All other laps were done by running. Overall the course was much closer to my style although, my legs weren't in it so it would be a bit of a gamble to improve my results. Especially since our field had some more fresh riders in it with a start list of 19 racers. I was able to get myself off the line right around 10th spot and I have to admit that it took everything out of me to stay there. I was passed by a few riders here and there, brough a few of them back along with some others that had fast starts. Mechanically, the race went really well with no bike problems. I was able to hold on for 11th spot overall...not exactly what I had in mind for opening weekend. I opted out of the second race because my legs were trashed and I really just wanted to get home, which was a two hour drive in the car. We actually made it home at about the same time I would have been getting done with race 2. Kind of happy that I missed it.

Oh well, need to get the mind and body back in the groove for this Saturday's race in Pella. Another new venue to the Iowa 'Cross scene. Hopefully it will be another good one.

Now, about those carbon wheels....

Opening Weekend

2009-09-28T05:25:00.000-05:00

The first weekend of 'Cross racing in Iowa is officially in the books. I'll try to get reports and photos up later because right now my body is fried and I have to be at work at 6AM today. Saturday and Sunday's courses both rocked in their own ways and although Saturday's course did not really suit me, I did two races anyways and am now paying for it with heavy legs.

US 'Cross

2009-09-24T06:30:00.003-05:00

The 'Cross racing in the US continued on last night from Las Vegas, NV with Cross Vegas. It was being hailed as a pretty big race and looking through the start sheet confirmed that one. Pretty much every big name that you can think of in the North American racing scene plus a few of those that race in Europe promised a good race. Now, even though I was not there in person, Jake at CX Magazine did a pretty good job of keeping the "viewers" up to the minute with what was going on during the race. It was definitely enough to keep my interests piqued as the race went on and riders were attacking to get a gap or chasing the break.

Results were:

1. Jamey Driscoll
2. Chris Jones
3. Jonathan Page
4. Jeremy Powers
5. Erwin Vervecken
6. Ryan Trebon
7. Todd Wells
8. Christian Heule
9. Barry Wicks
10. Ben Berden

The Pros are a Go

2009-09-21T06:58:00.003-05:00

All good things come to an end, or so they say, and I hope that this one is just temporary. I've been able to leave my car in the garage for the last 3+ weeks as I have been able to ride the bicycle to work with the perfect weather and nothing else going on. Today though, I have some things that I need to take care of at Bike Tech during the lunch hour so to work by car it was. It took less than one mile to remind me what one of the biggest downfalls to driving in the early morning is too. Everyone seems to be in such a hurry as they drive 10+ miles per hour over the speed limit and probably getting angry at me for actually driving the speed limit. It really is too bad that everyone can't find a way to relax a little bit more.

The Cyclocross season is officially underway in the USA with a couple of big races this past weekend as well as some more biggies coming up this week. Star Crossed in Seattle saw wet conditions for the Elite races and Swiss rider Christian Heule pull off a victory against a strong mostly American and Canadian field with Page and Powers taking 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the Women's Elite race, British racer Helen Wyman took the win over Sue Butler and Alison Dunlap. The Euros are looking pretty strong. The Rad Racing GP in Lakewood, Washington saw dry conditions and a slightly different finishing order with Jonathon Page able to take the win over Heule and Jamey Driscoll rounding out the top three. The Women's race saw Sue Butler put in a spectaculor ride to take the win over Alison Dunlap and Kari Studley. In European news from the weekend, Neils Albert won in convincing style at the GP Neerpelt over Zdenek Stybar and Klaas Vantornout. That's two race wins in a row for Albert, the rest of the field might want to keep him in their sights.

CrossVegas will be in held in Las Vegas this Wednesday night, the 23rd of September and looking at the list of riders that will be in attendance, it should be stellar. Three time World Champion Vervecken, Ben Berden, and now Brom De Groot will be taking on the North Americans in Sin City. I really have never had a desire to go to Vegas in the past but, oh how I wish I was there on Wednesday. Should be a good one. Following that the USGP will start with round 1 in Sun Prarie, Wisconsin this Saturday and Sunday. Besides the list of strong North American riders that will be there, Vervecken has stated that he will be racing as well. It will be a great week for racing 'Cross in the USA.

My season will also be getting underway this weekend with the Capitol City cross races on Saturday and Sunday in Des Moines. I'll be pursuing the upgrade points for Cat. 2.....well, maybe. I might just be in survival mode from race 1 too. :)

More singletrack

2009-09-17T07:02:00.002-05:00

There was an e-mail in my inbox yesterday from Cap'n Bob stating that he would be in town for the group MTB ride that takes place on Wednesday nights at 6:15pm from Bike Tech. Since I did not really have anything going on I decided that I would show up and ride with some of the local fat tire crowd. My Scalpel is currently having some work done and waiting for some parts so the 'Cross bike was called upon for double duty again, I'm kind of digging the skinnier tires on the off-road as you can see.

There were six of us total last night including the Bike Tech crew of Brent, Chris, and John as well as Jeff Klein, Cap'n Bob and myself. As we sat in the shop waiting for Brent, a guy walked in with a couple of fancy DSLR cameras and started chatting with Brent. I eventually inquired as to who this person was as he took pictures of Brent putting on shoes and helmet and was informed that he was from the local paper and was doing a story on the singletrack in the area. Sweet, photo ops. We left the shop and headed for the trails in George Wyth, which have been cleaned up quite well by a group of the locals I should add with many thank yous. I led through the first section of singletrack and was having a blast with the group right on my wheel. It reminded me of when I first started riding nicer bikes back in the mid-90s and how much fun it was to just carve a trail and then wait up for everyone before continuing on for more. After a brief stop we proceeded on for the second section which I also took the lead on. Both of these sections have very little in terms of straight trail and since the area is fairly flat, the trails are pretty fast. I rubbed shoulders with a couple of trees as I railed through turns and could sense that the other five were right with me through it all. As we popped out of the woods from that section, I saw our photo guy and heard the camera going crazy taking pictures as I motored by.

The rest of that lap through GW was spent with each of the others taking some time up front and carving trails. Then we went over to Hartman for more of the same. John and I then hit up the singletrack at GW for one more lap before I headed home. He pretty much dropped me through the long fast sections and I had to work my butt off through the twisties to TRY to pull him back. He's young and fast. If he starts racing XC, everyone better watch out.

The singletrack riding has been quite soothing to me lately, almost a zen-like state has been reached as I ride between the trees in a whisper-quiet manner. Autumn has got to be one of the best times of the year.

A little too close

2009-09-16T06:28:00.002-05:00

It was a pretty uneventful day at work yesterday, as usual, so I was looking forward to getting on my bike for the ride home. My ride was held up briefly for a train which didn't seem to annoy me as much as it did some of the automobile drivers around me. After a brief wait, it was a nice soothing ride to daycare to get Rhea and then continued home. This is the third straight week that I have not had to drive the car to work since the weather has been perfect in the mornings and afternoons. No complaints from me on that one. I have to give some credit to my friend A.Lo. in Michigan, formerly a local, who is constantly speaking of things such as riding to work, driving smaller cars, and reducing his footprint on the Earth. It is one of the small ingredients that make up why riding to work by bicycle is so enjoyable for me. The trails are void of most other users other than a few deer, the occasional squirrel, and some raccoons. Pretty good company at 6:30am if you ask me.

Waiting for the grain train to roll by

I was also able to get out for a little 'Cross practice with some dismount and remount time. That's coming along quite nicely although I need to get my speeds up a bit more while remounting. Some of those Cat. 1/2 guys seem to dismount into the barriers at around 100mph so I have a little ways to go yet. After that I headed over to the local singletrack and made a couple of passes through there. There's even a few sections of nice soft sand that help out with that all important skill of riding fast through the beachfront. A few more miles of carving through the twisties before heading home and I began to think about something else...I think that I am getting more comfortable carving through the local singletrack on the 'Cross bike than I am on a MTB. This is probably due to my 'Cross bike pulling double duty as a MTB for the last month while the MTB is getting some maintenance done. Unfortunately for me, my MTB has probably been ridden less than 400 miles and I have started to toss around the idea of unloading it. I can't say that I really need to but, it does do a lot of sitting. We shall see.

40' of sand....'cross meets singletrack

On a final note I have a short rant from last night's ride. While cruising down the paved trail heading for my top secret 'Cross practice location, I came up behind another trail user on a MTB that was riding no-handed and was wearing headphones. I announced that I was passing on his left and received no reaction....so I yelled again with the same response. I decided to make the pass on the 10' wide trail and right as I am getting beside him, his bike swerves all the way over to the left hand side of the trail and I am off onto the shoulder and working to keep myself off of the large rocks that line the 15' drop to the river. He grabs his bars and moves back to the right side of the trail with a large smile on his face. I yelled for him to take the headphones off and continued on my way thanking myself for paying attention and having mad skills off the pavement. Here I thought that we were battling against drivers that run people off the road and I have to deal with other bicycle riders as well. Wow.

Lil' dirt

2009-09-14T06:22:00.004-05:00

Here are some blurry pictures of some offroad riding via 'Cross bike from yesterday...

Last week's commute was a bit longer than the norm since I recieved a message that my Lefty had returned from Cannondale after a rebuild. So my messenger bag was actually used for more than just carrying my clothes and lunch.

Product Review - Oakley

2009-09-08T11:53:00.007-05:00

2009 represents the second year that I have been back to wearing Oakley Eyewear exclusively and I have no complaints. With new sunglasses now in hand for the upcoming cyclocross season, I have decided to give my thoughts of what I have been wearing for the last year as well as a little insight into what is new in my quiver of eyewear and yes I usually take all of them with me to races just in case anyone wants to try a pair on. I'll need them back though so that I can do my race and/or gain style points at that time.

Oakley Oil Rig The Oil Rig is part of the Lifestyle line of Oakley's Eyewear Department. Previous to these, I had very little time of using anything in the Lifestyle line since I usually just kept wearing whatever glasses I wore while riding my bike when I wasn't riding my bike. I did pick up a pair of GASCANs during the 2007 CX season but, they were confiscated by my wife shortly there after...we're talking within seconds of them coming into my possession here folks. She's quick and besides, they look better on her anyways. Back to the Oil Rigs though. I have been pretty impressed with these so far. Mine are the Polished Black with Warm Grey lens so they already look sweet just sitting on the table. They have a strong design to them which really makes them standout against some of the other designs out there. The Oil Rigs also have a really comfortable fit with a large lens that offers great protection from the bright sun. Standout design, comfortable, and great protection, all of the primary reasons that we wear sunglasses to start with, right?

Oakley Radar My love of Oakley all started with the M Frame back around 1990 or so when I purchased my first of many Oakleys. The Radar, to me, is a greatly evolved version of what those sunglasses once represented. A single lens design that has no distortion through the curvature of the lens and also has interchangeable lenses for whatever conditions that the wearer may encounter. The version that I use has the True Blue frame with a Black Iridium lens for the super sunny days and a ventilated clear lens for rainy or dark conditions. The Radar frames are designed to hold onto the wearers head really well and there is no slippage when they are on. The wrap-around design of the lens also offers lots of protection from the elements such as rain, water from the road, and wind as well. I find them to be pretty comfortable and they are my go to glasses when it is windy or the weather isn't the greatest.

Oakley Flak Jacket The Flak Jacket uses a two lens design for a more traditional feel in terms of basic sunglasses. However, they are far from traditional when you really take a good look at them. In typical Oakley fashion, they have an incredible fit and they also have interchangeable lenses for a variety of lighting conditions. The model that I have incorporate the XLJ lens shape which offers pretty decent eye coverage as well and are the version White Text with Red Iridium lenses. Of the three pairs of Oakleys that I wore in the last year, these probably received the most use overall. It did not matter if it was on the bike or off the bike, the Flak Jacket XLJ was definitely "the old standby" for me as long as the sun was above the horizon. On the bike there was no interference with my helmet and off the bike they fit well while I was wearing a hat. Both pluses in my book.

Oakley Jawbone Oakley's newest model is one that I have been waiting for since I first saw them last season on the faces of some of the riders in the Pro Peloton. The Jawbone reminds me of the Racing Jackets that I wore for a while in the beginning of the 2008 season in terms of appearance. That's where the similarities end though. The Jawbone features a new way of changing the lenses that is incredibly easy and convenient. The nose pieces doubles as a hinge that looks the lower half of the frame around each lens. When opened the lenses just slide right out and in go the new ones. Very quick and easy. So far the fit seems to be somewhere between the Flak Jackets and the Radars, which is very good. The version I have is the Matte Black with Balck Iridium vented lenses as well Yellow lenses. It's still a bit early to draw a conclusion on these but, I am leaning towards them taking over as my #1 piece of eyewear.

Blogging

2009-09-08T07:02:00.004-05:00

Yes I am aware that my blogging has pretty much SUCKED all year and no I do not have a great excuse for it. Every time I ride my bike my mind wanders through the air and I tell myself about all of the cool things around me that would be cool to put on the blog. The scenery, the cool people, the ride itself, a new route, or my mad skills that keep me alive. That's where it always seems to go to heck for me. It seems that I could be out enjoying anything from the 5 mile commute to work on paved trails and side streets to a 100 mile ride on rural roads or gravel and no matter how cool the ride is, there always has to be some idiot that tries to ruin it for me. I want my blog to be a "happy blog" where ice events and people are mentioned and not the depressing blog that mentions all of the people that live in their own little worlds of hatred & anger and they want everyone else to share in it. Rather than go into the details of how much that is going on around here as of late, I am going to try to pull out the positives.

I was able to get in some good riding over the long weekend with some tempo and sprint intervals on Friday, a gravel grinder on Saturday, and some more tempo riding on Sunday. I opted for the road bike on Friday and headed along the bike trail to Hudson which was void of any other trail users except for J. Fry although, he was going the other direction so he missed out on all of the fun. 15-30 second all out efforts followed by 30-45 seconds to relax and then do it all again. Fun times. Saturday's gravel ride was an early, for me, 8am or so start and went in the direction of the Scout Camp to the North. I only saw two vehicles on the gravel the entire time I was out riding...amazing. It was a fairly relaxed ride with the only real efforts being those of clibing up the hills and even that was pretty calm. On Sunday I was planning for a little more tempo and was also hoping to get in a longer ride to Clarksville and Shell Rock but, within the first ten miles I just didn't feel like I had it in me so I cut my route short to Finchford and Janesville instead. I was feeling quite a bit better by the time I arrived in Janesville and so I was able to put in a few harder efforts around Big Woods Lake when i arrived back in Cedar Falls. All was good.

Full on cyclocross practice for me during the weeks now and hoping to get some longer rides in on the weekends. The first Iowa CX races of the 2009 season are the 26th and 27th of September in Des Moines. I still have one MTB race on my calendar on the 4th of October as well but otherwise it's all about the 'Cross. There is a website that should have all of the CX activities for the state listed in one spot and that can be viewed here at BikeIowa. I have high hopes that it will have all of the information that anyone needs to race'Cross in Iowa or at least has links to where to find it. There are a couple of great guys behind it so it should be a success.

Race Report - East Village Criterium

2009-08-31T19:48:00.004-05:00

It has to be said. The East Village Criterium is destined to become one of the great, must do races on the annual Iowa road calendar. The course layout was sweet with five right-handers and one to the left. It also included a great multi-pitch two block climb opposite a downhill section that sent the Cat.4 men's race into turn 2 at around 35mph. After watching Adam Price (ICCC) and Clark Priebe lap the Cat. 1/2 field I was inspired to try some crazy (for me) moves during the Cat.4 race and hoping that there would be at least one more racer that was willing to give it a go.

We had 33 riders take to the line for the 5pm start time and after a briefing, and subtle suggestion to avoid any crashes from referee Mark Guthart, we were sent on our way for our 45min + 2 lap race around the course. In typical fashion the pace went from zero to 35mph pretty quick with the assistance of the downhill following turn one. It turned out to be a great element to have the downhill right away since it put the pace up quickly and almost eliminated any "getting settled in" feelings that I normally have. The first four laps were fairly uneventful and I inadvertently rolled off the front of the group while going up the hill. I was a little surprised that the pace was slowing down so much on the uphill section and rather than slow way down I just maintained cadence as I rolled into the hill and towards the top. By the time I arrived at the final turn of the lap, I had a short gap and decided to go with it to see if anyone would come across and see if we could get a break formed similar to the Cat.1/2 race. My efforts turned out to be fruitless however I held on for three laps and not a single other rider came across the gap to me so it was back to the group I went. I settled back into the middle of the field and just went around the course with everyone else.

With four laps remaining I decided to give it one more shot figuring that there was no way that I would go without company again. As I came around the final turn of the course on the second lap of that solo flyer, I settled back down right as two riders came by on my left side pulling the group with them which put my right back into the mix again. Two laps alone sapped me and I settled back in again. On the final lap I made a couple of errors going into the left turn to go up the hill and lost a bit more momentum than planned which put me back a few more spots than expected. I was able to get a few of them back on the uphill only to lose them again as another rider started celebrating that his friend was winning the sprint as we came into the last turn. Nothing quite like almost rear-ending someone who's not watching where they are going. Oh well. Lost a couple more spots there and made it to the finish line in 17th spot overall.

I took two primes during my flyers, put the Rassy colors out front for a few laps, and had a good time doing it so all is good.

Thanks to the Rassy's Team, Runk Rock Cycling, DMOS and everyone else involved for putting together an awesome course for a truly great race. I'm already looking forward to the 2010 edition.

Congratulations to Nathan Kullbom for not only winning the Cat.4 race at East Village but, for also taking the Cat.4 Iowa Cup Championship. Way to earn it.

Adam Price and Clark Priebe putting the hammer down in the Cat.1/2 race

Cat.4 Lap 1, turn 1

Off the front

Short climbs

2009-08-24T10:14:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was spent with Amy's family at Backbone State Park about 45 minutes East of home. The park itself is situated in a ravine which offers up some good opportunities for a few climbing miles on the bike so I took the SystemSix with me and got a ride in on Saturday morning. The park was fairly quiet except for a few fishermen and the roads had little traffic on them so I made a couple of laps through the park to get my climbing fix in for the day. The climbs are different from the normal hills around home in that a few of them actually incorporate switchbacks and have more distance to them. Fun for climbing as well as descending....did that too of course. It turned out to be a pretty nice ride and even the ride to the park along the rural roads was good. The locals around Lamont, Dundee, and Strawberry Point, IA all seemed to be more friendly than what I have been experiencing at home lately as well.

When we arrived back home yesterday afternoon, I also hopped on the Internet and got myself registered for the Crit in Des Moines this coming Sunday, the 30th. It's the last race in the Iowa Cup, it is awarding double points for the Iowa Cup, and it's in Des Moines so I suspect that the turnout will be pretty good. The course looks like it could pretty fun as well with one larger hill to break things up. Check out the info here.

Once the East Village Crit is over, it's officially on to 'Cross season. The group rides are dying off due to lower attendance and lack of light towards the end of tour rides so that will free up a couple of nights for mount/dismount/barrier practice, more sprint intervals, and some climbing intervals. All the fun stuff is coming!! Speaking of 'Cross, the recently acquired Cannondale frameset will be getting Campagnolo 10-speed for this season....no singlespeeding this year.

Time to get the build on

2009-08-20T08:30:00.003-05:00

2006 Cannondale CX frameset arrived today...looks brand spanking new. Purchased from someone who just didn't need it. I have some parts laying around the house but, I will need to acquire a few before it is all said and done as well. It will be built up as a singlespeed or with the Shimano 105 parts I have at home for this season and will probably get the Campagnolo 10 speed treatment next year.

Two-a-day

2009-08-19T06:35:00.003-05:00

Yesterday afternoon was a perfect day of sunshine and temperatures in the low 80s here. When I picked Rhea up from daycare she stated that she wanted to go for a ride in the Burley and I was not going to argue with that so we headed home and hooked it all up. Before we left the house she said that she needed her jersey and waterbottle so she ran upstairs to get those. We were just going to go for a short spin through the park but, little did I know that it would end up with me talking to myself so soon. I don't even think that we made it two miles before she was sleeping. No big deal I thought so I finished the easy 7.5 mile spin and went back home. Long story short, she feel asleep at 4pm yesterday and did not wake up until 6am this morning....that was one tired kid.

Last night was also the group ride at 6pm although I did not think that I would make it. Amy had to work late so I did not even leave the house until 5:55pm and I took a different route to the edge of town on hopes of meeting the group before they made it out of town. When I arrived at the corner of 12th and Union, I did not see them anywhere so I headed North with a little hope left. Nothing. I figured that I had missed them and so I continued North to do some interval work alone. As I approached the stop sign at 1st Street I could hear some voices behind me and spun around to see 7-8 riders approaching. Sweet, they got a late start afterall. I jumped into the group and away we went.

The pace went up into the 30mph area pretty quick and there were only five of us left. It stayed that way for the entire ride too which worled out really well for me. Just like doing intervals but, logging good miles at the same time. I fell off the group once as we went over Three-Tier Hill but, I was back on in Janesville and helped to keep the pace up all the way back to Waterloo. The final sprint was taken by Doug as I tried to chase him down but, it just didn't happen.

Nice ride of high intensity helped me get my legs back into the groove. My left hamstring was bugging me last weekend and I think that I got that all worked back out finally. Hamstring soreness has got to be one of the worst. All I do is worry about hurting it to the point of having to take a few weeks off and now is not a good time for that.

Dusty

2009-08-18T06:39:00.001-05:00

The gravel roads around here are dry, dusty, and surprisingly smooth right now. Yesterday's ride included 2.5 hours of this.

Race Report - Grinnell Twilight Criterium

2009-08-09T15:20:00.005-05:00

Crits are perfect training for cyclocross season....aside from the weather of course. This year was the first, of hopefully many, criteriums in Grinnell,IA and hosted by Bikes to You. The course itself was fairly flat with less than 10 feet of elevation gain per lap. Most of the turns were pretty wide and most of the course was also newer pavement so I fully expected a fast race from the start line. The temperatures started out in the mid-80sF and there was a strong 20+mph wind out of the South greeting our starting field of 23 riders. There were some strong riders in the field so I was trying to narrow down who to keep my eyes on. I seem to have been struggling a bit as of late with getting some better finishes so I was really hoping to do well in Grinnell. It was not going to be easy but, I felt pretty good at the start.

In standard crit fashion, the pace ramped up pretty quick to get the group strung out and worn out. I made sure to get myself in the top 5-6 spots by the first turn and get comfortable. The first couple of laps went quick and without any surprises. Then Kevin Tempel (Bike Tech) pulled a small gap on the field and settled in. I figured that if I could get a couple of others to go with me, we could get a small group off the front. I caught Kevin fairly quickly but, it did not take long for the rest of the group to catch back up so we both sat back in and waited for the next chance. There were a couple of others that made their way to the front and took some strong pulls as well. In the first 15 minutes of the race, our pace stayed above the 24mph almost the entire time. The lines through the corners seemed to pick up a little speed and smooth out with each lap which also helped to wittle the group down a bit as we started to pass lapped traffic.

At around the 15 minute mark, the announcer of the race called for a prime for the 1st rider to cross the line on the next lap. I was not really interested in going for the prime so I got out of the way a bit on that next lap and prepared to be pulled around for a couple of laps. I settled in at around 6th wheel as the pace picked up with two left-handers to go in the lap and then we railed through the final turn as the guys in front of me poured on the speed to the line. That speed carried over nicely into the next couple of laps and the group was shrinking down to somewhere around 12-15 riders I would guess. Oh and Steve Reynolds (All9Yards) took the sprint for the $20 prime aboard his new Cannondale CAAD9 frame by the way. ;) The next few laps for me were all about maintaining position in the top 5 or so spots as we neared the end of the scheduled 30 minutes plus three laps. There were a few more hard charges from Nathan Kullbom and a rider from Colorbiotics but, nothing was sticking. With three laps to go the pace was staying in the mid-to-high-20s and no one really had a chance to ride off of the front. I was trying to figure out if I really even had a card to play towards the end because my sprint has been pretty sub-par over the last few weeks and I was really hoping to stay in the Top 5 at the finish.

As we crossed the line to start the final lap I pushed up the left side and took the lead into turn one and just kept cranking to keep the pace up for the final kilometer. A few riders came by I stuck myself to Kevin Tempel's rear wheel to catch the draft for the final two turns to the finishline. As we came around that lat tun and the speed started to ramp up quickly, I could see a wheel coming up on my left side. I begged the legs for a little more speed and they were willing to comply which helped me keep that 5th place spot as we crossed the line. Finally!!!!!! I seem to have been struggling to get myself from that top 10ish spot into the top 5 in almost every race this year so to finally get one was definitely a relief.

Congratulations and thanks go out to the crew from Bikes To You and to the City of Grinnell, IA for putting on a sweet afternoon/evening of racing. I would have to say that this venue is right up there as one of my favorites for the season so far and I hope that they are able to continue with it in future seasons.

Weekend Race Report

2009-08-04T07:46:00.009-05:00

Saturday, 1 August - State Road Race Championships in West Branch, IA

I had not been on a bike for almost a full week prior to this 54 mile race through the rolling hills North of West Branch. My legs were feeling okay and my initial plan was to just sit in for the whole race and use it to get some miles in with the group. After about 10 miles or so I started to feeling pretty good so i made my way to the front of the 40+ rider group and started to get into the rotation a little bit. The strong WNW wind was going to wreck havoc on me though and so I had to get back into the group as long as we were moving towards the North. It stayed fairly calm for the first lap of 27 miles with a couple of people taking hard pulls here and there to stretch out the group or a couple of others attacking in an attempt to get a break but, nothing was sticking. As we came through the Finish area after our first lap, teammate Chad Mason launched a solo attack and pulled about an 800 meter gap on the field. My three other teammates and I watched as no one really took any hard pulls and Chad did what he could to stay away for a few miles before the group slowly brought him back. It then remained pretty calm until around mile 50 where i made my way to the front for the final four miles West to the finish line. I had our team's sprinter on my wheel and moved my way to the left side of the lane so that he was the only one that could get into my draft. I then put my head down to string the group as long as I could as I pulled for a few miles at between 21-25 mph. Needless to say, my legs were on fire and no one was coming up to help. I kept it there as long as I could which also allowed only those riders who really had the speed to make their way to the front for the final sprint. It got a little sketchy in the final 200 meters as some wheels were coming together and people were moving about. I ended up getting spit out the back of the field but, our sprinter Tony Muse finished on the top of the podium so mission accomplished.

Sunday, 2 August - Camp Ingawanis XC MTB race in Waverly, IA

This race was one of those that I was not 100% committed to right up until Sunday morning. I had not raced a mountain bike since the 24 Hours of Boone in 2007 and I had not raced a XC MTB race since May of 2005. Add in the less than 90 minutes of singletrack riding in 2009 and it almost makes for a recipe for disaster. I made the short 20 minute drive to the camp alone and thought about if I had any real goals for this race concluding with 'NO'. I was a little worried about my tech skills in the singletrack. Thoughts like "Will that be one of those things that slowly disappears when unused or will it all come back to me?" went through my head. I arrived at the camp pretty early so that I could get a warmup lap in and check myself. Prior to getting on course I went to registration to get signed in. As I was filling that out I came to the part where you put down the class that you race. For a split second I asked myself what I was racing that day. The last USAC license that I had for MTB racing had me listed as Expert (or Cat 1 by the new rankings) and with all of the time away, would it be right to downgrade myself? NO. I signed in for the Expert race and told myself that the results do not really matter and this was just a test of how bad my skills are today. That and I was not about to be labeled a sandbagger if things went well. :)

Back to my car to get suited up and away I went for singletrack bliss. The first couple hundred feet were tight and twisty so braking and acceleration was a big key into getting through there. Most of the course flowed pretty well with a tight section thrown in here and there, a couple of steep but short power climbs, flowing downhills, some rocks, some sand, and a few logs. The course was actually really cool with the Bidwell, Walters, and crew doing a great job of pulling it all together. Things started to get better for me with every turn of the pedals and by the time I finished the short 4.5 mile loop I was feeling pretty good about my tech skills.

As the race itself started, I felt that I had a pretty good start as we went into the singletrack. I was riding with a group of three others and feeling really good so I opted to allow them to pace me around the course for a few laps and see if and when I could make a move later on. The first lap of five scheduled went by really well and I was sitting comfortable. My rhythm came back really quickly and cruising through the trees at speed became easier with each turn. One of the riders in our group attacked about halfway through the second lap and caught up to the 4th place rider who was only a few seconds ahead of our group of now three. They were both still in view so I was not too worried about them getting away anytime soon. I just stayed comfortable where I was and followed the rider in front of me around the course to see where I could make my own move. He was able to pull short 2-3 second gaps on me through the short climbs but I was able to reel him back in on the downhills, flats, and tech sections pretty easy so there was no reason to worry about it. Until I felt a little squishiness from my rear wheel. I had somehow managed to get a slow leak somewhere late in the second lap and started to slide around the corners a bit more than normal. I had to let off in the final 400 meters of that lap and let two guys I was with get away. I changed out the rear as quickly as I could (didn't go so well) and watched as half of the Cat 2 field when flying by. By the time I was done changing my flat I was mentally defeated but, jumped back on course to see what would happen. Third lap story short, I didn't get enough CO2 into my rear tire and I was still sliding around the corners and my rim was bottoming out over the rocks. Not going to happen for me so I threw in the towel. DNF......first one since Trans-Iowa in 2005.....first one in a XC MTB race since 2002 in Red Wing, Minnesota. I hate those letters with a passion.....quitting sucks.

I still mark up the race as a partial success though since my body was feeling good even after the race on Saturday and my tech skills are not as rusty as I though they would be. All in all a good weekend in the racing department for me. Thanks to the IMB for putting on a great event. They work hard out there so that people can show up to race for a few hours and have fun. Hats off to them all.

'09 TdF Recap

2009-07-27T05:58:00.006-05:00

Overall I have to say that the 2009 Tour de France was pretty good. I've been surfing through the road bike forums and it seems to be a little divided concerning this subject for numerous reasons but, a lot of the reasoning for disliking it seems to be coming from newer "fans" of cycling. I'm not trying to put anyone down but, the longer you follow it, the more you appreciate the little things and details that make some things so good.

Some of my favorites of the '09 TdF include:

Team Liquigas. No, they did not have any stage wins but, they did win the King of the Mountains jersey with Franco Pellizotti, they put two riders in the top 10 on the final GC with Vincenzo Nibali in 7th and Roman Kreuziger, Nibali and Kreuziger also finished 2nd and 3rd overall in the Young Riders White Jersey competition, and the team was 5th overall in the Teams competition. It's a young team and they did well so they have the future to look forward to.

Thor Hushovd. He has been a favorite of mine to watch for quite a while and it was great to see him take his second overall Green Points Jersey (it's NOT called the sprinter's jersey). Having won only one stage, Thor finished behind Cavendish consistently ahead of the other sprinters and he even went out on a break on one of the mountain stages to pick up a couple of intermediate sprints which gave him a much needed 12 points. Considering that he only won by ten points, that day was pretty important. I know that some will criticize Thor for complaining about Cavendish and Cavendish losing 13 points on one stage finish but, Cavendish knows better than to keep looking over his shoulder while sprinting to the line and causing him to swerve back and forth therefore creating a potential bad situation at high speed.

Team Columbia-HTC. Cavendish with six stage wins and all in pack finishes. The guy is crazy fast and I love to watch him go. He looks so calm sitting on the back of the train and then just explodes with speed as he crushes the competition. His win in Paris on the final day was absolutely incredible with him having a massive gap over the field. Anyone know his top speed by chance? Wow. Mark Renshaw as a leadout guy definitely helps too because he also has some amazing power and is crazy fast and the whole team has the uncanny knack for chasing down breaks and destroying the field.

George Hincapie. My favorite American racer had yet another good Tour. He was so close to wearing yellow for a day that even I could taste it. That was too bad but, maybe next year. He made it into a couple of breaks and helped the breaks gain big gaps on the field at times. The rest of the guys in the break should learn to listen to him all the way to the final kilometer before they start worrying about the stage win. His guidance could get them there without the peloton catching back up. My favorite moment of his this Tour has got to be the final kilometer of the the final stage in Paris. A trio of Garmin riders was off on the right side of the road and Hincapie brought the Columbia-HTC train around on the left and dropped almost everyone in the peloton. By the time they were going through the final right-hander, all that was left were two Columbia-HTC riders in the likes of Renshaw leading out Cavendish for the win and they ended up with such a gap that they took the top two spots on the day. Impressive. Way to go George!!!

Garmin-Slipstream. They had an amazing Tour. Bradley Wiggins, former track champion, dropped seven kilos and became a pretty decent climber in the last year which helped him secure 4th overall on the final GC. Christian Vandevelde showed how great he truly is by turning himself into a great super domestique after his GC hopes started to fade and he made the necessary sacrifices to help Wiggins keep his 4th place...very cool. Tyler Farrar was unable to get a stage win but, he is close. This guy will be a force to be reckoned with in the seasons to come and watching him and Cavendish fight it out to the line should be pretty good. Watch for the this team to really make an impact in the peloton over the next few seasons.

The Schleck Brothers and Saxo Bank. Andy finished 2nd overall on the GC and his final TT was not terrible to help him keep the high spot. He knows what he needs to do to make it all better as well. Young Riders White Jersey competition winner two years in a row. He will win the Yellow overall in the next few years. Frank finishing 5th overall on the GC is one of the best teammates that Andy could have and he has quite a few good ones. Cancellara and O'Grady did a lot of work to keep the Schlecks high in the GC. Keep the team together and next year might be even better.

The French riders. I always like to see them get into the breaks and take it to the line. Three stage wins this year in great fashion and some impressive riding by a lot of individuals and 10th overall for Christophe Le Mevel and 12th overall for Sandy Casar, both of Francaise de Jeux. I think that they may actually be making a strong comeback.

How am I doing?

2009-07-24T15:03:00.005-05:00

I have a short little rant here today. It is not directed towards anyone specifically but, it is just one of those things that is floating around in my head from time to time. Maybe it's because I enjoy statistics, results, and all kinds of other numbers or maybe I just want a bit more consistency. Either way, here it is.

The governing organization of cycling here in the USA, USA Cycling or USAC, requires that I have a license in order to participate in road races and cyclocross races. This license costs $60 annually for those of us that are amateurs. I have no complaint about the price that I pay to the USAC for this and I am actually eligible for a few discounts here and there which could actually help me to recoup some of those $60 costs such as hotel discounts, car rental discounts, signage, IDs, and a ton of other things as well. Getting the $60 back would not be a problem at all. From my standpoint the USAC seems to do all right. I understand that I do not see all of the details but, I am sure no one does.

My problem actually resides with the races themselves or more specifically, the race results used for upgrades and rankings. Each race director chooses to use USAC to oversee their races for a variety of reasons including insurance, fair officiating, and being consistent with other races. All valid reasons and I am happy that these items are available to the race directors. My rant focuses around the race results themselves. I have spoken with a race director that has put on a few road races in their time to see how difficult it is to submit the results of their event to USAC. Their response was quite positive in the effect that it is "just a couple of clicks on the mouse" to get the results sent to USAC. So why is it that I am requires to present my license at these races but, I do not get to see the results posted on USAC to see the fruits of my labor for the season? I am curious to see where I stand in comparison to many of the fantastic racers that I see at the races in the big picture. Are the results getting submitted and not posted by USAC or are the race directors just not sending them in? I don't know but, I wish I did. If all of the results were submitted and posted with corresponding upgrade points logged, sandbagging would be a thing of the past. Once your license number logged the proper amount of points an upgrade would be right there.

I am sure that this rant is pretty mundane and pointless although in my mind it is still a legitimate gripe so I apologize to anyone who may feel that they need the time they spent reading it back. End rant.

'09 TdF KOM

2009-07-23T05:52:00.002-05:00

Photo credit ©Sirotti

Oh, and let us not forget the amazing ride by Thor Hushovd yesterday. The sprinter takes off solo on the second climb of the day so that he can pick up the sprint points that followed the second and third climbs. That's how you win the sprinter's jersey as well as shut up a certain critic who felt that the jersey had been "stained" this year. Way to go Thor!!!

Le Tour '09

2009-07-20T06:15:00.006-05:00

2009 Tour de France

In my opinion it has been pretty good up to this point. Some of the key highlights that I have enjoyed include the breakaways that stay away as well as some of the riders that win those days. Thomas Voekler winning Stage 5, Niki Sörenson winning Stage 12, and Heinrich Haussler winning stage 13 are probably my favorites so far. Both winners were definitely ecstatic about their win; sincere happiness. Here are a few others.

Nice to see so many French riders putting their necks out and scoring stage wins this year too with three so far. I like watching the passion that many of the French riders and team put forth from day to day. They have a lot of pride for the race in their country even though it has been some time since they have won the GC.

Thor Hushovd in the Green sprinters jersey with only one stage win so far. Consistency is pretty sweet. Not that I have anything against Mark Cavendish because I don't but, staying up front on the tougher stages and making the breaks pays off too. Thor has been a favorite of mine to watch for quite a while, he's one of the "big guys" in the group.

Liquigas ride Franco Pellizotti in the polka-dot jersey of the King of the Mountains. Took over the lead in convincing style but, keeping it could prove to be quite the chore. My fingers are crossed.

Young rider's white jersey. Currently being worn my Saxo Bank's Andy Schleck, very deserving by the way, with Liquigas rider Vincenzo Nibali in 2nd at 25 seconds back. It's a toss up on that one for me. Schleck is good, really good, but I would really like to see Nibali pull back that time.

With only a week left that consists of lots of Alpine mountains, an individual time trial, and the final stage into Paris, anything can happen in these competitions so this next week should be a great week of racing.

One final thought. As always, the views of the French countryside are amazing.

Still racing?

2009-07-15T06:19:00.005-05:00

I wasn't really planning on going on the full group ride last night since my legs were still a little heavy from the weekend but, with J. Fry, Bullerman, Kevin, Will and a few others in attendance I could not pass it up. I was really expecting the race pace that was coming though. Of course I had to sit in the back for a while in an attempt to get the garbage back out of my legs. The group almost lost me right away though as the pace skyrocketed into the 35mph range within the first mile of the ride. That put me way off the back and chasing hard to catch back on. When I started getting close, the only wheel that I could find was Will who had also slipped off the back. He pulled pretty hard and closed the final 100' or so to the group and then we both settled in at the back to recharge. I sat in the back for the first ten miles which was enough to get us North to Finchford and over Three-Tier Hill on the way to Janesville. That's about the time that my legs started to get some feeling back in them. My first test of the night was within the next mile as the group split again and I had to put my head down to bridge the gap so that J.Fry could go for the first sprint of the night. I was able to bridge the gap but, I am unsure who took the sprint between J.Fry and Will.

The group relaxed while cruising through Janesville which was perfect for me and I was really feeling like I might be able to hold on for the final 12 miles back to Waterloo....into a strong headwind. The group stayed pretty relaxed for the first half of this final leg and I was able to get up front and take some pulls to carry my own weight a bit more. As we neared the next sprint point I stayed out of the way of Will and Kevin as they took off for the sign and I just maintained pace with Kat on my wheel. We made the final turn to the South and the group stayed together pretty well for a couple of miles before a couple of attacks broke the group apart and we were down to four including Will, Kevin, J.Fry, and me. The pace was still pretty fast, especially considering how strong the wind was, and staying in the draft was a chore. It did not take long before kevin popped off the back and left the three of us to battle it out for the final three miles. With around 1.5 miles to go Will just rode off the front very slowly. J. Fry and I could not bring him back no matter how hard we tried and that was that. J.Fry gifted me 2nd finisher on the night and it was all over. Legs were on fire again but, I thin kthat the gunk was out from the weekend and the fire actually felt pretty good. Mission accomplished.

Race Report - Clear Lake Road Race

2009-07-14T06:00:00.004-05:00

The BBQ road race had a few new faces in it on Sunday morning and four of those were my teammates including Chad Mason, Tony Muse, Jason Alread, and Dustin Mars. With five of us in the class we had a pretty good chance at controlling the field as well as getting a good finish so I think we were all pretty happy about that. We rolled out of the Surf Ballroom at 10:10am for our 41 mile race with the first three miles being under neutral control to get to the edge of town. Once to the edge of town, the pace slowly works it's way up although it is still sane. It's when we make the first turn on course to head South that the racing actually starts. The group gets stretched out into singlefile pretty quick and the rotations amongst the first 5-10 riders begin. The Rassy Black had a pretty strong presence on the front and we were doing a pretty good job of keeping things steady. If anyone tried to attack the group there was always at least one Rassy rider tagging along for the ride and the Rassy riders that remained in the group did what they could to keep the pace of the group controlled so that any breaks were left alone.

Eventually we had Tony get off the front and pull a pretty good gap on the field. He stayed away for a short distance before coming back to the group only to try again a little later after we made our left turn to head East into the wind. The second time he actually was able to hold it for quite a while as Dustin and Jason sat in 3rd and 4th positions letting the first two guys in the field do all the work. It took them a few miles of working hard to reel in Tony but, eventually they did it. When Tony came back to the group there was an attack from a MOB Racing rider that gained a short gap. I took the opportunity to launch across the gap to the MOB rider and attempt to gain some extra ground. Alas, it seemed that my breakaway partner did not have enough gas in the tank and we were brought back by the group as well. It did not take long after that for the group to start an attempt and getting a separation with Tim Putnam (NISpin) taking some hard pulls up the hills and stringing out the group again. As a whole the group seemed pretty strong and stayed together really well so the attacking eventually subsided as well. Making our next left turn to head North and the attacks began again. The good thing was that, since we were over the halfway point in the race, a couple of the other teams were more than willing to chase attacks and we were willing to let them. By the time we made our next turn, now heading West with a tailwind, it was actually pretty calm and we rode along at tempo at around 28-30mph. As we neared the right-hander at the end of that stretch, I had taken over the front of the group and made a terrible misjudgement on the turn where I ran wide left, off the pavement and into the gravel on the side. No problems, kept it on two wheels and was back in the group in second wheel pretty quick. A few of the guys in the group just gave me a hard time about getting ready for cyclocross season during a road race. It was a good laugh.

The short section heading North was where the mood of the group took a drastic change. Our pace went from the high 20s to the low 20s and no one wanted to come to the front of the group. Rick Noyes (ICCC) sat on front for about a mile or so before we swung way off to the right to force others to the front as well and even when they were there, the speeds stayed right around 20mph. Eventually we made it to the final right hand turn and began the three mile final stretch to the finish. No one would take over the lead for the longest time and we actually dropped below 18mph at one point. Eventually someone kicked it up a bit and we were moving along again. I was on the left side of the lane and could see all of the guys that had taken a free ride for the entire race starting to move towards the front of the group as we neared the finish. The last 500 feet were going to be open so that we had the entire road available but, it was never utilized. Consequently the field sprint erupted at the 200 foot mark with riders going every which way in search of a clear hole in fron of them. Tony was still able to pull off a 3rd overall finish but, the rest of us were mid-pack in 10th, 11th, 12th, and 16th.

It was still a good race for me though. I had the chance to relax a bit more than I had anticipated and I could also take some harder pulls since I had the time to recover. It definitely is nice to have teammates in the field with me.

I also would like to congratulate Rassy riders Lou Waugaman for his 1st place finish in the Cat. 1/2 class and Rich Wince for his 1st place finish in the Cat. 3 race. Rich also took the field sprint in that race which put him and Lou 1-2 across the line, very cool.

Full results can be seen here.

Race Report - Clear Lake Crit

2009-07-13T05:52:00.008-05:00

First off, this is one of my favorite venues of the season for a couple of reasons. I enjoy both the crit course and the road race course that North Iowa Spin put together as well as the atmosphere that the town has for the races. The have a BBQ and Blues festival going on at the same time so there are a ton of people around for the crit, awesome. Saturday afternoon's weather was absolutely perfect for racing in Clear Lake. There were 21 starters in the Cat. 4 field with some strong riders including Steve Reynolds (All9Yards), Evan Peterson and recently crowned state champ Tim Putnam (both of North Iowa Spin), Mike Johnson (Bike Tech), Eric Knox, Travis Jass, and Ben Acree (all three of MOB Racing), and Rick Noyes (ICCC), all of which translates into a fast race to be had. My goal for the race was a top 10 finish and I felt pretty good that I should be able to do at least that.

I had a pretty good start from the second row and went into turn one already sitting in the top five. The pace was up into the 25-30mph range right away and, with quite a few guys taking pulls on the front, it stayed there. The first two or three laps helped to get everything pretty well settled in and we all went into cruise mode, taking pulls, peeling off, getting back in the group, and do it all again. The group was staying strung out single file pretty well which helps keep it all safe through the corners as well as thinning out the group for the end of the race. Things seemed to be going pretty good for most everyone until about the halfway point when we were coming through the fast right-hander coming away from the lake front. I heard the familiar sounds of, rear wheels locking up, cleats on the ground, and shifters going as everyone tries to avoid someone going down while they all jockey for position to stay with the group. Things got a bit faster shortly after that as well.

The group upped the pace and for some reason I wasn't firing on all cylinders when the pace increase hit I started to slip off the back but, I did get it going again about 30 seconds later and was sitting in 11th spot on course. Garrrrrrrr. Head down and into chase mode I went, as usual it seems. After a couple of laps I could see two riders in front of me with about a 7-8 second lead. One of them was Steve Reynolds and the other was a rider from UofI. As I came around the right-hander coming away from the lake front they were going into the left-hander at the next turn when they got a little too close and the UofI rider went onto the ground with his bike wedged into the side of Steve's Madone and getting dragged for about half of a block. I kept my head down as I went by and started chasing after the next group of three that were about 20 seconds ahead of me. I only had six laps left to catch them so there was no rest time available. Each time I crossed the start I could hear Kim West telling me to pick it up as he called the race over the PA system and I could also hear the family in turn 1 screaming at me. I also heard someone yell something about me racing like I was at a cyclocross race, later to be identified as the Great Scott Sumpter, which actually made me smile because for me road/crit racing is preparation for cyclocross season after all.

I was making progress on the group of three, cutting around 5 seconds out of their lead with each lap. As the final lap started I put everything that I had into the pedals to reel the trio in and they were doing the same to stay away so I didn't get back with them until the final turn onto the front straightaway with two blocks to go. They of course played their cards perfectly and upped the pace for the sprint to the line as I caught them so staying with them as we crossed the finish line was the only thing that I could do, which was fine for me. 9th place on the day was good in my book and fit into my goal for the race just fine so mission accomplished. Just hoping that i saved enough for the road race on Sunday morning. Full race results can be seen here.

Cat. 4 Criterium Results
1 Rick Noyes ICCC
2 Tim Putnam NI Spin
3 Travis Jass MOB Racing
4 Evan Peterson NI Spin
5 Nicholas Campbell Bikes 2 You
6 Andy Johnson NI Spin
7 Gavin Huseboe Colorbiotics
8 Ben Acree MOB Racing
9 Carl Buchanan Rasmussens
10 Eric Knox MOB Racing
11 Richard Fliehr RVCC Brones
12 Mike Johnson Bike Tech
13 Lee Current Iowa Orthopedic
14 Daniel Davis DMOS / RDMB
15 Brent Hansen Colorbiotics
16 Todd Her…??? DMOS / RDMB
DNF Steve Reynolds All 9 Yards
DNF David Parrott ICCC
DNF Andrew Bantz University of Iowa
DNF Grant Headley University of Iowa
DNF Jacob Kuperman University of Iowa

Race Report- 2009 Iowa State Crit Championships

2009-07-06T05:53:00.005-05:00

Beautiful weather with temperatures around 80F and nothing but sun from the sky was on tap yesterday in Cedar Rapids for the 2009 Iowa State Criterium Championships presented by HBA Racing. We arrived at the races at around 10:30am to hang out with some people as well as give me a chance to check out the course prior to my 2pm start time. The course was about as simple as it can get, aside from drag racing, since it was a 1km rectangle with four right hand turns. Turn one seemed to be the only "bad" turn, and it wasn't that bad really, due to a slight buckle in the asphalt. Other than that, all of the roads that were being used were four-lane roads so the corners were plenty wide for carrying speed. Turns 1&3 have a very slight downward slope since the course is coming off of a bridge on each of those and so turns 2&4 both have a slight upward slope, nothing too crazy.

The Cat. 4 race had 40 entrants toe the line at 2pm including some great riders from all over the state as well as a few new upgrades from the Cat. 5 field. My primary goal for the race was to stay out ot trouble and spend as much time towards the front as possible for the 25 lap race. After we received the briefing from the referee, he sent us off and it did not take very long for the pace to get up. The first lap went by super fast and seemed to go pretty smooth for the whole group as I started to relax into my race mind and focus on the plan. With the wide corners on the course and corner speeds staying fairly high, the huge accelerations at most crits did not seem as bad. It was probably also due to the fact that a lot of the guys were pedaling through the corners as well so the pace just stayed fairly constant. I am not sure which lap it was, but it was within the first five or six I think, I was mid-pack as we were going through turn one and I had Mike Johnson (Bike Tech) on my left side and another rider on my right as something happened on the left and I saw a couple of bikes get a little crazy and then saw Mike start going down. I thought for sure that I was going to join him since we were so close but, somehow I made it past by. The group on front heard the commotion and as always happens in a crit with a crash, the front row upped the pace in an attempt to spread out the group. That did not last very long and we were right back to our regular pace of I believe around 24-25mph although I'm just making an estimate there.

I found myself trying to get to the outside, left side of the road, so that I could carry as much speed through the turns as possible but, it seemed that there were a few others that had the same idea so it was a constant battle to rotate back out. The group was not going through the turns singlefile like a lot of the other classes were but instead there were times when we were four and five abreast railing through the turns. With two laps to go I was trying to make an attempt to move up the left side and I saw my teammate Terry Huerter on the right side and looking strong. Best case scenario would be that both of us could move close to the front on the last lap and make it run for it at turn four. Well, on lap 24 I saw that we were both still moving along okay and just staying out of trouble which meant that the 25th and final lap it was going to be all out. With the one rider still off the front and I brlieve 30 or so riders left in the main group, the bunch sprint should be good. Turn one of the final lap went well and I was able to pop out the left side and find a wheel going through turn two. Another rider came by on the left side along the back straightaway and things were looking really good with Terry still on the right side as we turned into turn three at least five riders wide. That's when it all went really crazy. There was an explosion of a tire that sounded like a 12-gauge shotgun going off downtown, I saw two bikes sliding across the ground from the right side which forced much of the group to swerve left. I figure that I lost between 8-10 positions right there and jumped out of the saddle to try to catch a wheel through turn four. I was able to make up around six spots in the final 150 meters which put me in 18th position overall.

Unfortunately, the tire explosion that I had heard also involved my teammate Terry. Aside from a touch of road rash on his arm he looked to be okay, although the grimace that was on his face when he poured peroxide on it told the rest of us how it felt. Ouch. Hopefully we can make up for that next weekend in Clear Lake at the Crit on Saturday and the Road Race on Sunday. I also hunted down Mike Johnson and aside from a bit of raw skin on his shin and some torn bartape, all is good. He'll also be seeking redemption in Clear Lake. :)

Working the draft

2009-07-03T07:24:00.004-05:00

My plans for the group ride last night were very simple. No work unless I was with the group on the final stretch home. Oddly enough, it worked out that way too. I wanted to use as little energy and possible in order to save myself for the State Crit Championships this weekend and I was going to hold on to the group last night by working the draft to the maximum and until my breathing picked up. The funny thing was that the group of eight was rolling North on Union Rd. at a nice 17-19mph pace in a double-wide paceline as if we were on a team training ride. I could not have planned it better. As two guys would peel off, the next two just cruised up the middle and continued on nice and calm. Even as I sat on the front of the group next to Pete, we carried on normal conversation and pretty much spun the legs out. That is, until we reached three-tier hill heading East out of Finchford with our group of now six riders.

The pace didn't really pick up but, I didn't feel like working to get over the hill so I was going to let the group go and I would continue home at a nice comfy pace. By the time I crested the hill, the rest of the group was about half of a mile down the road and they looked to be clipping along at a pretty solid pace. I just kept it steady all the way to Janesville where I was a little surprised to see that I wa gaining on the group again. They apparently slowed down more than usual at the sprint before town and since I did not slow from my 19-20mph pace at all, I was almost to them. I maintained my comfort level and ended up catching them just outside of Janesville as we were heading East. With only ten miles to go before we arrived back to Waterloo, I decided that a little effort would work out pretty good and jumped into the pace line that quickly went single file and speeds ramped up to the high 20s.

I did not go for the next sprint before making our final torn to the South but, I told myself that if I can hang on without having to chase any breaks down, I'll go for the final sprint of the night. The group had the speeds staying in the high 20s all the way back to Waterloo and I was taking pulls but still keeping a keen eye on everyone's shadows. J.Fry and Kevin were the two that I had marked for the final sprint but, I never count out anybody. Bullerman picked up the pace on the last little hill and the group took just a second to react but, I was on his wheel and with less than a mile to go I would just wait now. A short time later J.Fry came by on my left side and I saw a small gap in the shadows between him and Kevin so I hopped on J.Fry's wheel and tucked in the draft waiting for Kevin to make his move. The only real problem with this scenario was that, like me, Kevin wanted to attack from the second position. This meant that as we came close and closer to the line, Kevin still wasn't going. I opted for the long attack and took off for the line a little earlier than originally planned. I was holding it okay but, then Kevin started coming around my right side very strong. With about 100 meters to go I slipped into his draft for just a second and then sling-shoted back around him to get him at the line. Not a bad ride at all.

Just enough intensity to get the blood going but, not so much that I am in need of any serious recovery today. I think that a nice easy ride today and maybe another one tomorrow will be just what I need to be ready on Sunday afternoon for the race in Cedar Rapids.

Almost go time

2009-07-02T07:07:00.002-05:00

Afternoon temperatures this week have been in the 70-80F range which has made for some great after work riding. The other side of that though, is that morning temps have been down in the low 50s. Still great temperatures for riding but, it has me back into arm warmers, cycling cap, and gloves on some mornings. No complaints either way really because I am still riding my bike to work which will always be better than be stuck in my car. Funny little fact about my travels to work for you too; 12-15 minutes by car each way or 18-22 minutes by bike each way. Hmmmmm.

The Tour de France starts this Saturday with a 15.5km TT in Monaco to get the pecking order sorted out before the real racing begins. Lots of big name talent again this year and I am sure that we will see the same drama unfold that we have been this last few seasons as well. It has already started with Thomas Dekker getting the boot earlier this week for EPO and Tom Boonen is still questionable for his cocaine use. Hopefully the race itself with still be good to watch.

Not sure what I'll be doing this afternoon in terms of riding. The Iowa State Criterium Championships are being held by HBA Racing this Sunday in Cedar Rapids and I am hoping for a good result there. The course looks like it is going to be pretty fast and depending on what day you check the forecast, there is a slight chance for some wetness from the skies as well. That could make things really interesting. The SystemSix does need a bath so I'll probably get that done tomorrow sometime since I have the day off of work and all. Speaking of the SystemSix, I have been entertaining the thought of selling the frame/fork in order to obtain another 'Cross frame. I could still use the 'Cross bikes as road bikes so that would not be an issue but, the SystemSix is definitely the best bike that I have ever owned and I think that I would probably miss it.....a lot. Oh well, just a thought for a now.

New faces and higher paces

2009-07-01T07:13:00.005-05:00

Last night's group ride was yet another great for the year. We had a couple of guests in the form of former local Kevin Temple and Bikes to You racer Will Greenwood was also there. Add to these two, most of the local fast guys were also in attendance and that would mean a pretty fast group ride was about to start.

The wind was out of the NW and it was fairly strong so our group of 11 riders was stretched across the whole lane as we made our way West on 27th. We stayed together really well until Kevin put on a small attack about two miles from the first sprint point. The only two others to hold his wheel were Kisch and myself. We kept the pressure on all the way to the line eventually losing Kevin and then Kisch was kind enough to allow me to pull threw at the line.

A quick regrouping and we were back at it heading South to Dike at 30+mph. Will had asked me where the next sprint was at and I was kind enough to inform of it's location as well as the next one after that. With about one mile before the next line I took a flyer to get the group's blood pumping and it did not last long as Kisch pulled back by with most of the group in tow. I was barely able to grab onto Doug's wheel as the cruised by but, I popped back off the back and went into chase mode. It looked like Will and Doug battled it out for the sprint into Dike although I am not sure who finished where. J.Fry didn't look to be slowing down as we reached Dike so I hopped onto his rear wheel and tried to sit in for a minute to catch my breath. Turns out that most everyone else caught back up in Dike and we continued on to the South through the rolling hills. We were down to a group of six as we approached the next sprint line and the attacks came from Will and J.Fry and I was unable to hold the wheel although not by much. We made the left turn to head East to Hudson and then the real fun began.

There were only six of us left in the lead group at this time including Bullerman, J. Fry, Kisch, Pete, Will, and myself. We stayed together for the first few of miles until an attack by J.Fry and Will put a slight gap on the rest of us and then Kisch and I started to chase after them. It took a short amount of time to catch up but, we did. The bad part was that I almost went right off the back again as the now group of three pulled about a 50' gap on me. I was able to put my head down and reel them back in but, I was starting to really feel the higher pace of the night's ride. It took pretty much everything that I had left in me to stay with the other three all the way to Hudson but, I did hang on.

It's always awesome to have new people come out to the ride for the fun and it is especially fun when those people help to raise the bar of the ride. The commute to work this morning was a touch slower than usual since I had to jump start my legs a bit. They were feeling pretty good by the time I arrived and I am hoping to get in some more intensity tonight with some sprint intervals.

Ink work

2009-06-30T06:14:00.000-05:00

The redness was gone within a day or so and all of the scabbing is gone from my new tattoo so here it is. It was done by Greg Taylor and Say10Tattoo in Chandler, AZ last week during our brief visit. I dropped off some magazines to give him a feel of what I wanted to have done and I am quite pleased with the results. Plans are to return for color and some additional outline work to continue the 'Cross or cycling theme around my shoulder area in the future. I might incorporate some road and mountain biking into it next time to convey all of my cycling interests or I may just continue on with more 'Cross work since that it was I truly enjoy the most. We shall see.

Amy's uncle Mike also commented that he did not think that it was a "beginner's tattoo" and it dawned on me that he probably did not know that I had one already from about six or seven years ago. Much smaller, and in need of a little touch up, my first one is off the Grim Reaper and it has quite a bit of meaning for me. Long story short, the Reaper and I met once, had a little talk, shook hands, and parted ways. Lesson learned.

Back into gear

2009-06-29T07:01:00.003-05:00

After last Thursday's very poor performance at the group ride, I pretty much road like a brick, I went out Friday afternoon for some hill repeats in an attempt to throttle the legs back to normal. The climbing was actually going pretty well and so after about a dozen repeats I headed through town riding tempo and then returned to Lookout Park Hill for one final attack before heading home. Legs were feeling pretty good when that was all done. Saturday was busy with some family things and so I stayed off the bike for the day. Sunday left me a window of a couple of hours so I headed to Hudson and back while doing sprint intervals into a 20+mph headwind. That was just enough to get the blood back to normal in the legs and the feeling was great. It seemed that the spark had returned and I was running on all cylinders again. To finish off the 1.75 hour ride, I headed over to Lookout Park Hill and attacked it again. Legs were good all the way to the top.

State Crit championships are this Sunday in Cedar Rapids and from what I have been told about the course, it will be pretty fast. Plans for the week are to do the Tuesday group ride, intervals on Wednesday, possible group ride on Thursday but not likely, and chill for the rest of the week. I only have two crits and two road races left on the calendar for 2009 so we'll see if more get added as well.

Hot and sticky

2009-06-26T06:59:00.005-05:00

Yesterday's ride was my first ride in ten days, although I needed the rest, and it was also my first ride of the year in high temperatures with high humidity. Needless to say it did not go very well. Things started out fine and my legs felt strong and full of energy but, after about an hour or so my legs and my head were no longer speaking to one and other. I felt sapped of energy from the top down and when J.Fry attacked on Three-Tier Hill I already knew that the ride back home would be a solo one. It took almost everything I had to maintain 20mph as I watched the other four ride off into the distance towards Janesville. I latched back on just east of Janesville when J.Fry dropped back and pulled me back to the group but their whopping 23mph pace was too much for me and I watched them ride away again. I was able to keep a 25mph pace while heading South back to Waterloo but, I suspect that the group was up in the 30s somewhere. The first couple rides of high temp/high humidity are always bad for me but, that will all subside soon so no worries. It does make me crave those days in November during 'Cross season when the temps are down around freezing though....another great thing about 'Cross. Those cool temps also makes me remember back to when we would play ice hockey on the local ponds in shorts and sweatshirts when the temps were in the 20s....good times.

Speaking of ice hockey. The first round of the 2009 NHL Draft is tonight. For most people that probably isn't a big deal but, for me it is. I remember watching it years ago and wondering what it would be like to be sitting there in the stands, patiently waiting for some GM to call out your name to join their team. I've seen some great players get drafted and seen the excitement on their face when it happens. Pretty cool deal for some of them and I still find it fun to watch draft. The Minnesota Wild have the 12th pick overall and then they have three picks in the 4th round, all of which could make for the chance to get some great talent. One of the big stories in the draft for me though is that the New York Islanders have eleven picks in the seven rounds, seven picks in the first three rounds including the 1st overall pick and two picks in the first round. That should give them the opportunity to get some strong talent although that also creates the problem of paying for all of that talent assuming that all or most of them make the team. Maybe some of those picks will get traded off before they are used up in the draft too. Should be a good one.

Time to get back at it

2009-06-25T06:57:00.004-05:00

The Tour de France is just around the corner with a start date of Saturday July 4th and the Liquigas team looks to be coming into form at just the right moment. First there was Pellizotti finishing in 3rd overall at the Giro d'Italia, then Szymd wins the Mount Ventoux stage of the Dauphine Libere, and now Vincenzo Nibali has won the Giro dell'Appennino. Add to that the likes of Roman Kreuziger and Daniele Bennati and the team looks pretty strong for the month of July.

Plans for me tonight are the group road ride. I have been off the bike for the last nine days for a couple of reasons. First off, we spent four of those days in Arizona enjoying some amazing weather and basically just hanging out with family. A much needed vacation to help recharge the batteries. Another four of those days were scratched because the weather in Iowa has sucked beyond belief for much of the last two weeks. Rain, rain, rain and this year it has been thunderstorms, downpours, and tornado warnings instead of the steady all day light rains. Then there was one day, yesterday, that was thrown in for good measure because I was starting to feel a little drained on the bike last week anyways. This seems to be the time of year when I am most prone to overtraining and getting burned out on the bike but, it is also my favorite time for the road racing scene in Iowa. The races in Clear Lake are approaching and they are two of my favorites so I would like to be able to enjoy them and I am hoping that the last nine days away have helped to recharge the batteries. I suspect that tonight's ride will tell me if it worked out in my favor. I'll either be able to keep up with the fast guys or I'll be off the back like a lead weight.

Monday Briefing

2009-06-22T06:56:00.002-05:00

We spent three days in the Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, AZ area and like last time, it was a great trip. Beautiful 95F weather the whole time that we were there and not a drop of rain. Our plane left Cedar Rapids, IA on Thursday in the rain and we returned on Sunday in the rain. It then rained almost the whole rest of the day Sunday so that window of sun in Arizona was awesome.

We mostly hung out with the family, ate a couple of interesting restaurants including a Mexican buffet called Pancho's in Mesa that was absolutely awesome. I admit that I was a little leary of a buffet but the food was great, and the top-notch customer service put them high on my list of must eats. We also had breakfast at a place in Scottsdale called The Breakfast Club that was pretty good. It seemed to be a pretty popular place too.

I was able to meet my brother's tattoo artist in Chandler while I was there as well and that gave me the chance to get some new ink. It also increases the reasons for me to make more trips back to Arizona. We were able to get the outline work done on a large portion of a Cyclocross tattoo and will need to return for color and maybe some more detail work at a later date.

Back to work this morning and it looks like it was a pretty busy place on Thursday and Friday so I need to get a few things cleaned up around here. Great times.

Just like getting traded

2009-06-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

So since I haven't raced for a while and my blog is getting a bit stagnant, I'm going to go a little outside the rink for a second.

Ice Hockey. Outside of cycling, it's the greatest sport on the planet. I love the sport and can watch almost any team play although I have always had my favorites. While growing up I was a fan of Wayne Gretzky and so I supported the Edmonton Oilers. I stilled watch intently as he made his move to the LA Kings although I really cannot say that I supported the trades to the Rangers or the Blues. Neither of them did it for me. Aside from where "The Great One" was playing I was loyal to one team. If anyone asked me who "my team" was, my answer was the Minnesota North Stars.

Growing up in the Midwest gave me exposure to some pretty good teams in all honesty but, even though the North Stars were not the toughest they had my loyalty. Then in 1988 the North Stars drafted Mike Modano with their 1st round, 1st overall pick and I felt that this was the guy that could do it. Modano was the guy that would turn the Stars around and make them into one of the clubs to beat. They got better, a lot better. He helped lead them to the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals where they lost to Mario Lemieux's Penguins in 6 games. It was close and I was excited for them to get another chance at it. They changed their name to The Stars the next season and made the playoffs again although they did not make the finals. Then the unthinkable happened. Norm Green, owner of the Stars, moved the team to Dallas, Texas.

I had a hard time cheering for the "Dallas Stars" that next season but, it all came back eventually. I accepted that they had moved to Dallas and cheered them on like I always had. After a few seasons in Dallas, the team started looking strong again and during the 1998-1999 season they started to make their run. They made it to the finals and defeated the powerful Buffalo Sabres team in 6 games. I can remember game 6 pretty well mostly because I can recall sitting at home watching the game with Amy as I sat on the edge of the couch through 3 periods of regulation and almost 3 periods of overtime. At 14:51 of the third overtime Brett Hull scored the game winner, albeit a little controversy did surface from the Buffalo fans. No matter to me, my team had just won the ultimate prize and I was beyond excited.

During the 1999-2000 season, the Stars were looking pretty good and it also looked like they had a chance to repeat. They were able to make all the way to the finals to face-off against a tough New Jersey Devils squad. The series lasted six games but, unfortunately the Stars were not the best team that season. The Stars have not returned to the finals since.

Over the last couple of seasons I have lost that spark that kept me connected to the Stars. I feel that it is time to bring my support back home to the Midwest although it seems that i have been in this spot before. Well, history was good to me before and I hope that it continues that way as I start the next chapter in my love for the game of Ice Hockey. I watched the Wild play a few times during the 2007-2008 season and I liked what I saw so I am on board. Now I'll have to buy a new jersey again. Hmmmm.....red jersey or white jersey.......

Cannondale Rize 3

2009-06-20T06:12:00.000-05:00

During my last business trip to Florida I was unable to take my own MTB along so I had to make arrangements for a temporary one. Thankfully, the great staff at The Bike Shop in Winter Haven, FL were able to help me out by setting me up with a 2009 Cannondale Rize 3. The Rize 3 falls under the "All Mountain" category of bicycles from Cannondale and features 130mm of travel front and rear. The specs on the Rize 3 are pretty good feturing components from SRAM in the form of GXP1 cranks, PG970 cassette, X.9 rear derailleur, and X.7 trigger shifters. A shimano LX front derailleur rounds out the drivetrain components. Avid Elixir brakes handle the stopping for the Rize 3 while DT Swiss XR430 rims laced to a Cannondale front hub and a Sun Dirty Flea rear hub handle the rolling. Cannondale has equipped the Rize 3 with a Fox Float RP2 rear shock and the Lefty Max w/PBR for the front suspension. All in all, a nice setup for the money, $3200 MSRP.

My time with the Rize was going to be limited with the potential for three rides if everything on my schedule went perfect. I took the appropriate measures in order to minimize any waiting by taking any tools that I would need to get my fit dialed as much as possible on day one. This included an 8mm allen wrench to install pedals, Headwrench for any other allen wrenches that I would need to adjust saddle height and position, and my shock pump to get the suspension set up. After my two hour delay with my flight to Florida, I was cutting it close to get to the shop on time to get the Rize so day one was already a wash as far as riding goes. No big deal though, used the early evening time to get the fit dialed, pedals swapped, and suspension aired up. I took the Rize to the hotel parking lot and tooled around for a while, made a few more adjustments, and called it ready for some trail time. Day two had beautiful weather all day...until I finished work...and then it rained for three+ hours. Grrrrr. Day three was my last chance and the weather looked good so I made my way to Loyce Harpe Park on Carter Road in Lakeland, FL., all of 15 minutes South of the hotel that I was staying in.

After putting in a few miles of the easy trails, and pretty much unable to find the more advanced trails, I headed back to the trailhead to see if I could locate some type of direction. A couple of locals showed up right after I arrived back and I tagged along with them for a few hours. First off, let me say one thing about the MTBing in Florida. I had my own preconceptions of what to expect and they were about as wrong as wrong gets. The trail system at Loyce Harpe Park is amazing. Well named/marked with color-coded signs, well maintained, directional for safety, challenging in parts, fast in parts, and most importantly, they were a blast to ride. Short and steep climbs, steep and fast descents, bermed corners for high speed carving, a touch of sand, and ridges between bodies of water that were all of 18" wide and 20' to the water on both sides. No room for error unless you wanted to get wet and swim with the gators, or so I was told.

The setup on the Rize 3 was spot on and quite comfortable for me; it pays to do the research on the setup before hand, that's for sure. The 130mm of cush coming from the Lefty Max w/PBR was amazing. It tracked nice and smooth, like all of the Leftys that I have ridden, and soaked up every root, rock, and hole that I could find on the trails. The rebound and lockout are super easy to setup and use. I didn't need to use the lockout since the only time that I can see using it are on sustained climbs which there were none. Getting the rebound dialed in for my riding was a snap though since the knob is easy to get a hand on, even with full-finger gloves, to make adjustments on the fly. Once dialed in, it was one of the nicest front suspensions that I have ever used.

The rear suspension is the Fox RP2. Checked the air pressure, took it for a spin, slight change in the rebound, and good to go. I love the Fox Shox rear suspension due to it's ease of use. It does seem to take long to get it dialed in and I'm flowing over the bumps in no time. It's just a no-hassle shock in my opinion.

The geometry of the Rize is quite a bit slacker than my Scalpel of course and it is a great setup for all day riding and almost any trail condition that you can find. What little climbing I was able to find went really well and the Rize carves through the corners like it's on rails while soaking up any bumps, rocks, roots, or holes in the trail. I actually felt really comfortable riding at higher speeds quite quickly with the Rize. The body position was close to what I remember on all of my Rushes so I think that helped out a lot as well.

Overall I would probably give the Rize a 4.5 out of 5 and if I had room for one, and a need for it, I would probably get one. You could not go wrong with it's purchase.

More fun in the sun

2009-06-18T06:01:00.000-05:00

Heading back to Arizona this morning for a few days of visiting family and such. Always good to see them and pretty excited to be making my second trip this year. Two trips to Arizona in one year are pretty good considering I had not been there in the 20 years previous. I also have a bit of an ulterior motive of sorts during this trip as well since I am planning to meet up with my brother's tattoo artist and get some new ink. Hopefully it all works out well. I have been drawing up some ideas over the last couple of weeks and although I am in no way an artist, I think that I can get the point across to get some good work done. Should be a good time regardless.

Ready for some Hup Hup

2009-06-17T06:59:00.004-05:00

The Cyclocross bug is already starting to nip at me this year, almost to the point where I wish the season started now. I'm pretty excited about the fact that this will be my first full season racing 3s and in Iowa that means that we race with the 1s and 2s as well. Doing half of the season in the 1-2-3s last year gave me a good taste for the added pain. I was able to keep myself in the top-10 for most of the state races and even a top 5 once. My "A" races at Jingle Cross in November were also okay although I think that could have done much better and I am hoping to improve that again this season. My "to-do" list is in order for the season as of yesterday afternoon and it contains everything that I need in order to be 100% ready for the first race in September. This includes the techniques that I need to work on a bit this summer so that they are ingrained in my soul by the time 'Cross actually starts. I always seem to find myself fine tuning things such as dismounts, remounts, barriers, and runups while in the race and I would like to try to get some of that out of the way early this year. Maybe I am just not 100% comfortable with my techniques either. Might have to do a little research on that as well.

There are also a couple of things that I am considering changing on by bike as well. I am currently using a 44cm FSA Omega compact ergo bend bar and am considering a switch to a 44cm Ritchey WCS Classic traditional bend bar. I began to feel the ergo bend to be a little uncomfortable during last season and the same goes so far this year so it may be time for a change. Switching the bar to Ritchey would also get me to switch the stem as well from the -8° Specialized to a Ritchey WCS Axis 44 with a -6°. Then there is the current seatpost on the X6. It is an older Bontrager Sport post that has seen a lot of time in various bikes in my area and it too is in need of a little updating. I will probably go with my favorite all time post in the Thomson Elite series. I have been a fan of the Thomson for a long time due to it's ease of adjustability, light weight, strength, and good looks. In my opinion, the Thomson cannot be beat. Then there are wheels; I would love to get my hands on another set. Heck, in all honesty, another bike would be ideal so that I could put those wheels on it but alas an extra set of wheels would be sufficient.

I'm sticking with the 42 tooth single chainring setup again this 'Cross season since it seemed to work so well last year. I had considered going back to the 39/46 double but, like I stated, the 42T works out just fine. The 12-25 and 13-26 cassettes seem to match up pretty well with that chainring as well so no changes in that department either.

Tires are a different story though. In 2007 I was primarily using the Bontrager Jones CXR with no problems and was actually really happy with them in many conditions. Last season however, I found myself with more flats and rolled tires than I care to admit while running the Bontragers and I was really happy with the Michelin Jets that I was running in the dry conditions. I have still been using the Jets this year, the double as awesome commuter tires, and I will probably get a couple sets of the Michelin Mud 2 for the not-so-dry races that we will probably see this year. Funny how my tire choices on the road, MTB, and 'Cross always come back to Michelin....weird.

4-man Gravel TT

2009-06-15T06:03:00.003-05:00

Last week's riding, especially the group rides on Tuesday and Thursday, left my legs pretty tired and even the ride to work and home on Friday was tender. That meant that Friday and Saturday were both immediately tagged for off days from any biking to give the legs some rest. It was just what the legs needed too since I received an e-mail from the J.Fry with an invitation to join in on their group gravel ride fun which I did.

I was expecting a semi-relaxed gravel ride but, I should have known better. We were in a paceline at 20mph within a mile of getting to the gravel in Cedar Falls. It wasn't too intense by any means but, at times the speeds were getting up into road pace. There were three others in the group besides me including J.Fry, Doug, and Bullerman. With all four of us being regulars at the group road rides we all tend to have a lot of fun making each other hurt. Riding West away from Cedar Falls had our small group riding a 20+mph paceline and getting to New Hartford Hills pretty quick.

Once we arrived at the hills we have to climb over this large hill that big guys like me don't look too forward to. I was hanging onto J.Fry's rear wheel pretty well for the first half of the climb but, he was able to ride away from me eventually. I slipped back to Doug and the two of us made it over the top just a few seconds after the other two. The next mile is pretty calm with a fairly flat section with a couple of small rolling hills followed by a left turn and a small hill leading into a downhill and then it.s flat for another half mile. Another left turn and it's two miles of large rolling hills. The first one is the worst for me and I was off the back fairly quickly with the other three on an attack. As I was cresting the first hill the other three were already cresting the next hill. This is where I have a chance to catch up actually. I was able to get my speeds on the downhill sections up to almost 40mph which was enough to make the climb up the next hill much easier. There are five or six of those hills on that two mile stretch and I was able to reel the trio back in by the next left turn and then we made our way to New Hartford where the real fun started.

I jokingly went for the sprint in New Hartford and J.Fry stated that he was going to drop me on the trip back to Cedar Falls. This last section starts out really calm and has a couple of nice large hills in the last couple of miles before Cedar Falls. Things were great for me until the last hill where I started to struggle a bit. Lucky for me Bullerman came flying by and I was able to hop on his rear wheel and catch back up to J.Fry before we arrived back onto Union Rd. for the right turn and the final mile of pavement back to Cedar Falls. I waited for an attack from J.Fry for the final sprint, which never came, and instead had to chase down Bullerman's attack, which I was unable to catch.

All in all a very fun ride and I look forward to more. This one was especially good because Amy, Rhea, and I are headed back to Arizona for a few days starting on Thursday and so I will not be here for the Thursday night group ride.

J.Fry, Doug, and Bullerman raging the gravel

An opossum mother with her young on her back.
In other news, the Penguins won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals on Friday and I must say that it was a beautiful thing to watch. Absolutely amazing game to watch considering that both teams played AWESOME hockey. Fleury's save in the closing seconds of the game was future highlight-reel material too. Oh and by the way, I am not a Penguins fan but, I am not a fan of the Red Wings in anyway whatsoever. Nothing personal to the Wings fans out there. :)

I have been without an SLR camera for a few years now since the world went to Digital and I was not in a position to purchase a D-SLR. I still have my film SLR although I am not willing to spend money on developing pictures anymore either. However, I have recently acquired a used D-SLR from a coworker and since I currently do not have a digital lense I am borrowing one from my Father-in-law to get a feel for the Canon 20D that I now have. So far so good.

New camera

Random Bits

2009-06-12T07:29:00.002-05:00

My legs are throttled after last night's group ride. They were still not really recovered from Tuesday's slugfest and last night destroyed anything that was left in them. Still feels better than sitting on the couch though. :)

Liquigas rider Sylvester Szmyd took the stage 5 win yesterday, 1st win of his pro career, in the Dauphiné Libéré on Mont Ventoux. That is a truly sweet win to have.

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals tonight in Detroit. Should be a good game no matter what but, GO PENS!!!!!!

Boo!!!

2009-06-11T07:08:00.003-05:00

No it is not Halloween in June but it is a short one today and I think it's funny. I was on my way to work this morning aboard my 'Cross bike and cruising along on one of the recreational trails that has a full canopy of trees over it which blocks out most of the available light. I'm clicking along and minding my own business while go around a small patch of mud/leaves/twigs on the right side of the trail when a voice behind me lets me know that they are passing on the left. I NEVER see anyone out riding on these trails at 6:30am so it was a bit startling and I instantly apologized as I swerved back to the left and glanced over my left shoulder. Who was there but my friend Casey Dean....laughing because he knew that he kind of freaked me out. It was a good chuckle in the early morning. We continued on for another mile or so chatting away about this and that before parting ways and continuing on to work. Casey is heading to Alaska next week for a long vacation...I am way jealous. Hope you have a wonderful time Casey!!!

J.Fry off the front....again

2009-06-10T06:10:00.005-05:00

Talk about a great interval session. Last night's group ride saw yet another small group make it out for the fun. Six of us left Bike Tech at 6:05pm for some fun in the sun along the Dike-Hudson loop. The speeds ramped up pretty quick from the start and no one was going to let up by the looks of it. We did stay pretty much together for the first stretch of the ride with the group not blowing apart until the hammer was put down in anticipation of the first sprint which went to Doug off of my lead to get around J.Fry. We made the left turn to head South to Dike and the speeds were right back up to the high 20s with the group once again sticking together. I was starting to wonder when the attacks would start in all honesty. The next sprint, going into the town of Dike, was fairly interesting with Doug taking the jump and Kisch trying to chase him down. That was the first attempted sprint by Kisch this season I believe and although Doug took the line first, Kisch was starting to show his signs of how fast he can be. When his form is on, there are not many that can beat him.

After we rode through Dike the road has quite a few rolling hills as we continue South for a few miles and the attacks would probably come here. Oddly enough, it stayed pretty calm for a long time before Bullerman went for a long break with 1.5 miles to go. He pulled a pretty good gap on the group for a while but, we were able to reel him back in right before the sprint line with J. Fry and then Doug taking that one. We then made the left turn to head East to Hudson on Zanetta Rd. which is another road that has a few rolling hills on it. We were also going to be heading into the wind which would make it that much more fun. For the most part, this section of road is "No-holds-barred" when it comes to the ride. Almost everyone will try to break up the group at one time or another by keeping the pace high on the hills, constant attacks, and fast tempo riding on the flats. I used to hate this part of the loop a few years ago but, I have grown to love it since it is one of those sections that hurts so good. Last night was even more interesting than most though. Doug was working on his protein intake by swallowing a large bug which slowed him down just a bit. J. Fry slowed way down to make sure all was well, Fox and Kisch pulled a gap on all of us, and Bullerman & I rode somehwere between the two pairs. That made for a chase that involved Doug and J.Fry chasing Bullerman and I as we chased the other two. Funny thing was that we all came together at almost the same time on one of the rolling hills and the group instantly put the hammer down to kick the pace up into the high 20s again....into the wind. This is also where the attacks started coming from J.Fry and our intervals started. J.Fry would attack and I would chase him back down as quickly as possible. There were a couple times when we almost lost a few guys and we did eventually drop Fox but, J.Fry's attacks kept coming strong. Eventually we were able to catch him and drop him, not easy though, and then Doug got off the front. I was running low on fuel by then and having a hard time bringing him back so thankfully Kisch came around me and made a hard pull which almost got me back to Doug but, alas it was not enough as Doug took the final sprint of the evening.

It was truly an awesome interval session and that route racks up some good mileage. I was sitting at 2 hours and 20 minutes with 45 miles on the clock when I was only 1 mile from home so I decided to get in a small hill repeat session to get the distance up to a nice solid 50 miles for the evening. For climbs up Letsch Rd. near home was enough to get the leg fire going real strong and the mileage was good. Great ride

Stanley Cup Finals: Penguins pulled off a sweet win over the Red Wings last night forcing a game 7 in the finals. It's only happened 15 times in the past and it's too bad that it doesn't happen more often. When a series goes the full seven games it goes to shoe how well balanced both teams are as well as how bad they both want to win. Game 7 will be this Friday night and I predict that it will be an intense game. I hope that the refs stay out of it for the most part and let both of the teams just play the game. GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I received this next bit as a link in an email. Pretty sweet idea for all of those bike commuters that are riding in the dark to or from work or school.

Feeling a little heavy

2009-06-08T06:15:00.005-05:00

Last weeks riding was hard enough that my legs were not the happiest on Friday morning. They still felt okay but, they needed a little rest so aside from the commute to and from work on Friday I stayed off the bikes until Sunday afternoon. I did drive over to Bike Tech after work on Friday to pick up a few things for the bikes that Brent had ordered for me though. The computer on my SystemSix went dead during the group ride on Thursday so a couple of new batteries were needed for that. New Jagwire brake pads for the SystemSix and an Avid 140mm brake rotor for the extra wheel on the Scalpel. The rotor was installed Friday night along with an11-23 road cassette and as I dug through a box of tires, I came across a pair of Michelin Wildgripper S tires....in green. They were begging to be installed so I threw those on as well. They do not look too shabby if I do say so myself.

Weekend riding consisted of a pretty easy 90 minute ride to Hudson and back with Blue. It was enough to get the feeling in the legs back to a normal level. Today will more than likely be a day off the bike due to some restrictions that are out of my control. Group ride on Tuesday should be a go though.

Relentless

2009-06-05T07:01:00.004-05:00

Had six riders make the trip out for the group road ride yesterday afternoon. Temperatures in the mid-70s, a sky full of sun, and a nice breeze from the South-ish greeted us and promised a nice smooth ride...for the most part. We opted for one of our longer routes which took us through Dike and Hudson and the route features a few nice rolling hills throughout. The pace picked up kind of slowly as we reached the edge of town but, within the first 1.5 miles or so of the actual route we had the speeds up. The first attack of the night came from Bullerman who launched off the front at around mile 2 and held it for around a mile or so be fore we scooped him back up. My plan for the ride was to work on patience by waiting for the attacks and making sure that I went with them. Bullerman's was a bit of a surprise to me and hence, I learned my lesson on that one. He's is riding so well right now that I cannot wait to see him get to the cyclocross season. The guy is going to light it up this year. Anyways, the grouped stayed together for a couple of miles before J.Fry launched an attempt and I was in the perfect position to follow. I had just pulled through and was swinging to the back of the pace line when he took off...with me on his wheel. He pulled hard for 400 meters before sitting down and I pulled through to keep the pace up. As I finished my pull, Kisch pulled through and then Doug did. It was just the four of us off the front, the "No Mercy" crew and me. Scary. We lost Kisch after 1.5 miles and then J.Fry launched again for the sprint which Doug and I both did not do. It was a nice warm up stretch, that's for sure.

After a quick regrouping, we headed South towards Dike and the pace was right back to it. The rollers along this stretch or pretty tame and everyone staying together really well in anticipation of the sprint into Dike. After the last small hill, with about one mile to go, I started to get myself ready for the sprint. I had the perfect lead with me sitting on Kisch's wheel so I was just waiting for him to go and I would follow for a little while. He picked it up with around 300 meters to go and I didn't really wait long before going myself. I was around Kisch pretty quick and saw a shadow on my left side. It was a smaller shadow so I knew that it could only be one person...Doug. He motored up next to me pretty quick and then we managed to stay side-by-side for what seemed like forever before he was able to pull another couple of inches to beat me to the line. I knew that he was on my rear wheel when I took off and they say I make a good draft so I figured that he would be there. He timed it perfect too.

Doug and I soft-pedaled through Dike as we waited for the rest of the group to catch up which they did just as we left the South side of town. They were minus-1 as Mike J. had headed for home. The pace went right back to it pretty quickly as we clipped along the countryside, waiting for the next attack...which was again J.Fry. He pulled a bit of a gap and the rest of us started our chase. We lost Kisch on one of the hills as Bullerman put the hammer down with Doug and I in tow to reel in J. Fry. After Bullerman took a hard pull I did the same and as we caught J.Fry I made a fatal mistake. Instead of sitting on his wheel and cruising I went around him with Doug on my wheel. The problem was that J.Fry used us as a slingshot to get back around us and take the sprint. Doh!!! My bad. Left turn at the stop sign to head East to Hudson on the Zanetta blacktop.

We slowed down on the final stretch to Hudson to regroup with Bullerman and I riding about 75 meters ahead of the "No Mercy" trio while watching & waiting for them to come by at Mach 5. Bullerman and I saw them pick up the pace and we matched their speed to hop on as they passed on the left side and we were back to five and cruising along smoothly. Although it did not take long before the games started again.

We lost Kisch and Bullerman on one of the bigger hills and J.Fry attacked again which left Doug and I in chase mode again. We were a bit smarter about it this time though as we paced up over the hills and hammered down to reel him in ever so smooth and when I put in the last pull to close the gap, we sat on his wheel and chilled. I waited a few seconds then pulled through around him and took a look at him. He had the look on his face. The one where he is determined to make everyone else hurt all the way to Hudson. I smiled just a bit because I was ready for whatever he had to dish out. As he slid back to get onto Doug's wheel I was careful not to drop back too soon so that I was not blocked in by Doug when J.Fry attacks....which he did. I told Doug J.Fry was taking off up the left side and raised myself out of the saddle to go on Doug's right side and jump on J.Fry's wheel. There was a small problem though. I heard one of "those" noises that makes you cringe; the noise of a cycling cleat hitting the ground. I was quickly back off the gas and sitting down looking over at J.Fry whose foot had popped off the pedal which caused the chain to drop. He was able to keep the bike upright and safely made it to the side of the road so no real problems. We put it all back together and had a nice calm ride for the final 2.5 miles to Hudson.

It was an awesome ride last night. Riding with these guys is amazing at times since it is the closest thing that I have to a team training ride. The attacks are relentless at times and we all benefit from it but, the regrouping to keep it all fun is also pretty cool. It's probably the biggest reason that I look forward to the group rides each week.

J.Fry, make sure you put some new cleats on today buddy. :)

I have been able to commute to work by bike for five of the last seven workdays...woohoo!!!!

Penguins beat the Red Wings 4-2 last night to tie up the Stanley Cup Finals series 2-2 as we now head back to Detroit for Game 5. Go Pens!!!

On the commute

2009-06-03T06:06:00.004-05:00

Riding a bicycle in the early morning. There really is no better way to start the day than by pedaling to work. Now granted, I do not ride to work as much as I should but, I am trying to change that, especially since it is less than 5.5 miles each way which translates to less than 25 minutes each way. My excuse in the past couple of years of course has been the need for me to pick Rhea up from daycare. Last year I was able to ride to work for a few weeks and after work I would stop at daycare and we would walk the final half mile home. This year I have borrowed the Burley trailer, or the Queen's Carriage as we call it, from Blue and as of today I dropped the Carriage off at daycare on my way to work. That way I can just hook it on when I arrive there after work and away we go. Maybe we'll even take the scenic route home turning the final half mile into around ten miles or so. We shall see. It also helps that the City of Waterloo has put in more multi-use paved trail and I am now able to ride almost 5 of my 5.5 miles each way on the trail. This means that the morning ride is much safer since I do not have to deal with those early morning drivers who are still sleepy, drinking their coffee, and on their cell-phone at the same time. Plus I get to ride through the peaceful park with only the company of deer, squirrels, raccoons, birds, and the beaver that I saw today. Very relaxing.

One other detail that has made riding to work in '09 a bit easier is the installation of some wall hooks and a bench in the changing room at work. Much easier, and more sanitary, than having nothing but the floor. Oddly enough, I have to thank Blue for getting that one done as well. Now if only we could get a shower installed at work we would be set.

Much easier to get ready for work this way.
In an ideal world, I would love to be able to get rid of a car and ride to work everyday but, it's just not practical for us. I am however going to try to make a conscious decision to ride the bike as much as possible when the weather permits. I just feel way better by the time I arrive at work by bicycle than I do by car and the ride home is relaxing as well.

Weekend Update

2009-06-01T06:56:00.003-05:00

It was a pretty typical Midwestern weekend around here, for me at least. No riding on Saturday since I had to work all morning and we had things going on in the afternoon. Sunday was a little different. I was able to get insome interval work early in the morning while riding through George Wyth Park; the road through the park provides a perfect spot for it. I did not go too over board with them since it was the first set of the year so a couple of sets in the park and then I cruised over to Big Woods lake where and did a coupld of sprints just North of the lake. Yet another area with no traffic and good roads. After that it was a short tempo ride to Look Out Park hill to see how the legs would react to a steep climb, they were a little sore but not bad. It was not the most organized ride that I have had but, it did give me the information that I needed to get the next phase of training underway. Cyclocross season is only three months away afterall.

Sunday afternoon was a little bit of a surprise when we found the time to get an easy ride in with the whole family. I hooked the Burley trailer onto the X6, loaded Rhea into the Burley, Amy grabbed her mountain bike, and we picked up Blue to go for a 75 minute spin through the parks. I know that my legs were feeling pretty good when that was all over. Speeds were kept pretty calm since it was Amy's first chance to get on the bike this year, we didn't want to leave her out on the trails by herself. Rhea was having a blast, as usual, by talking, singing, and pointing out all of the cool things that she was seeing along the trail. Good times.

Congratulations to Liquigas rider Franco Pellizotti for his first career podium in a Grand Tour. He was able to race his way into third place overall during the final week of the Giro d'Italia which was completed in Rome yesterday with an individual time trial. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Danilo DiLuca (LPR Brakes) also rode great for the three weeks to finish 1st and 2nd overall. Ivan Basso was able to hold onto 5th overall as well putting the two Liquigas riders in the top five finishers. It was a great race to follow so now we will have to see if the Tour de France can keep the excitement going this year.

In other news, the Stanley Cup finals are underway with Detroit taking both game wins over the weekend beating out Pittsburgh. I really do not care too much for either team but, I cannot stand Detroit. I have never liked them and never will. I see that Chris Osgood is still a fabulous actor and deserves an Emmy for the dive that he took late in the third period last night which started the fight at the end of the game. I've always been told that when you are good at something, you should strive to be one of the best and Osgood is an awesome actor.

A+B=3C

2009-05-29T07:03:00.003-05:00

72°
Sunny
Less than 10mph breeze
Group Ride......3 people total. Two for the "A" ride plus one for the "B" ride.
Craig, Chris, Carl......3 Cs

Still had a pretty nice time rolling tempo with Craig E. and Chris R. Chris is normally a "B" group rider so he sat in while Craig and I did most of the work. We shortened our route a touch by cutting out Finchford while Craig and I took turns taking fairly long pulls at around two minutes per. Chris did sneak through for one and did pretty good while on point. I'm pretty sure that when we finished he was cooked though. I was stuill pretty happy to see him step up for the ride. Great to have you along Chris!!

On my way to the ride last night I came across a single bike accident on the paved trail near Washington Park. One of the local recreational riders was out riding the trails and as he crested a dike near the downtown area, a squirrel ran in front of him and the rider went down. I arrived just after it happened and stopped to assist if needed. The rider had a cut above one eye and a nasty looking gash on his ear. There were two other cyclists already there to make sure he was okay as well. I started doing the normal checks by looking for other injuries and asking him if it hurts anywhere, etc., and he took a couple of minutes to respond but, then he started responding to everything quite well. He was even able to remember what had happened for the most part even though he was not wearing a helmet. The rider seemed to be doing okay aside from wanting to sit up, which I would not let him do. Paramedics arrived within a few minutes and took over so I was on my way. I try not to be a helmet-nazi anymore but, situations like that sure make me happy that I wear one.

The Green Machine

2009-05-27T11:31:00.003-05:00

Liquigas had three riders finish in the top 10 on today's Stage 17 in the Giro d'Italia. The 17th stage featured a massive climb for the final 23.5km of the stage which put somebig separations in the field. Franco Pellizotti took victory on the Backhaus with Ivan Basso finishing fifth and Sylvester Szmyd finishing seventh on the stage. That also moves Pellizotti into 3rd overall in the GC 2:00 minutes back from the lead and Basso into fourth overall at 3:28 back.

With only four stages left the time to move around in the GC is quickly diminishing. I love the Giro.

Rain - Love/hate

2009-05-27T07:13:00.003-05:00

I'll keep it short today.

Group ride started with seven riders last night. Went down to three in our group as we turned West towards Finchford and J. Fry picked up the pace, rode tempo with J.Fry and Bullerman for the next 45 minutes or so to Janesville and then headed South to get back to town while it started raining. With speeds in the mid to high 20s, rain, and wet roads, I was smiling from ear-to-ear all the way home. I'm not sure why it is but, for some reason I enjoy riding the road in the rain.

Overall I still think that we have plenty of rain here and am looking forward to a dry spell. Some of the yards in my neighborhood have standing water in them because it seems that we will go a few days with no rain and then we get between 1.5-4 inches in 24-48 hours and everything is drowning again. It's raining now and will be for the rest of the day. When I came to work we had 1.6" of rain in the past 48 hours.

Smooth riding

2009-05-26T06:31:00.003-05:00

Pretty low-key around here for the last three days. I opted out of any of the racing festivities and got a few things done around the house as well as some riding in. A couple of hours of tempo riding on Saturday was in order which included a couple of laps of the Finchford course so that I could tackle Three-Tier Hill a couple of times. Sunday's ride was an easy spin with Blue who decided that he wanted to take his Surly 1X1 and pull the Burley around with Rhea. We ended up with over 90 minutes of riding throughout the Cedar Falls area. We also made one stop so that Rhea could go sliding at the park. On Monday I was able to get in another tempo ride with this one being 2.75 hours of rolling hills and 20mph winds. I headed out of town with the tailwind which gave me quite the workout on the way home so fighting to keep my pace up was the name of the game on the return trip. We had pretty nice weather all weekend so everything worked out pretty well.

Blue insisted on heading uphill from the start of the ride...

...and we hit up a short section of skinny trail that Rhea had a good time bouncing on.

While we were heading back home along the paved trail, we spotted a red fox crossing the trail up ahead. I had to stop to get a picture and he was trying to hide from me.

Scalpel with Ergon GA1 grips in white....sweet.

Here is another one of the barns in the area that I think are pretty neat. This one is near Janesville.

This is a tree in my front yard that was recently trimmed to keep the branches away from the wires. The trimming company will be stopping by this afternoon to chat about why they cut it back so far as well as schedule when they will sadly take down the rest.

Choo-choo

2009-05-22T06:59:00.005-05:00

Walked out of the door at home at around 17:30 and worked on getting the bit of the residual heaviness that was remaining in my legs from Tuesday night's ride. About 30 minutes of easy spinning was just enough to get my legs back in check and I made my way over to Bike Tech to see how many riders would come out for the group ride. There were about 10 people in attendance with six of them being in the "A" group which pulled out at about 18:05 to do our "North loop" which includes Finchford & Janesville. As we rolled out of the parking lot, one of the riders for the Ladies' group was pulling in and so we lost J. Fry before we were even in the street as he started in with his "Ladies' Man" routine. That put our group at five including Doug, Kisch, Bullerman, Houlihan, and myself. That group is most of the "fast" guys in town so it would make for a nice ride.

The wind was pretty strong out of the North so we made our way through Cedar Falls and then North on Union Rd. towards Finchford. The group was working very well together with no attacks even over the hills where they are most anticipated. We made the turn to the West on C57 and over the looming hill pretty easy before going back down the other side and getting into a pretty powerful crosswind. This road does not have a lot of traffic so the group was spread out across the lane pretty well and everyone was getting out of the wind easy. One large truck, One-ton crew cab pick-up as usual, felt the need to honk at us while he passed....what a sweetheart. We made it through the curve altering our course to the North and Houlihan started to pick up the pace a bit. Kisch wasn't pulling through any time too soon so I figured that he must be feeling it a bit. As we made it over the hill and into Finchford, I pulled through and picked the pace back up before we railed through the right hander that would take us over to Three-Tier Hill. As I have stated numerous times in previous posts, Three-Tier Hill and I usually do not get along too well. I have been trying to change that this season, as well as my climbing in general, and last night was a pretty good ride up the Hill for me. When we arrived at the first tier Bullerman was on front and I pulled through as we crested that first tier. As I peeled off and made my way to the draft I saw that Kisch was off the back of the group. I was in the draft through the second tier and and pulled through before the base of the third tier. As we neared the top with Doug pulling, I saw Bullerman slip off the back and that left us with a group of three. Houlihan finished out the peak and then we went into decent mode for the other side where we head straight East to Janesville. I went full tuck as soon as we crested becuase the best part about me and elevation is the downhill part. I decend like a cinder block so when I get my chin onto my stem I tend to rell in any people off the front or pull a gap on those behind. It does not last long here in this part of Iowa since our hills are really not that big. As we went by Union Rd. I saw the "B" group sitting there including our lost rider J.Fry who followed us to Janesville. The group of three that I was in stayed together and worked well for the next few miles into Janesville. Still no real attacks coming from anyone and the group of six was back together by the time we made it through Janesville.

The next stretch runs due East for around four miles or so and consists of mostly easy rollers that increase in size as we move East.The pace started out pretty calm as J. Fry was picked on a little bit for missing the start dur to his "Ladies' Man" delay and he did his fair share of telling everyone else how it is. It was a good chuckle and then we were back to business. I would estimate that at around one mile to the sprint point on that road, Houlihan took a flyer off the front. He made it into a small gap and was hoding steady at about 40 meters in front of the group as we crested the final hill and I decided to take a hard pull and launch Doug up to Houlihan. Doug caught him just before the line to take the first contested sprint of the night. We made the final turn to the South and kept the pace up as Doug still had a small gap and soon had Houlihan and myslef on his back wheel. The other three caught back on and the group went back into draft mode for a few miles before the next sprint and Doug jumped off the front. He quickly pulled a nice gap and was away to take his second in a row.

As we passed over Hwy C57 the pace stayed high as Houlihan and I caught Doug and the three of us tried to stay away again. Houlihan fell back off so Doug and I worked for a bit but the group wasn't having it and we were reeled back in bringing our six man group back together as we continued South at 30-32 mph. When we were about two and a half miles from our final sprint spt of the evening I began to have these weird thoughts. I have had them before and they have never been good. I start to think that I should launch off the front of the group with two miles to go and see if I can hold them off when we are at our fastest pace of the night. I have tried it in the past and failed pretty bad. More often than not, I quickly talk myself out of such foolishness. Last night was different though because I was feeling really good for some reason. I finished my pull and quickly took my spot in the draft and relaxed just a bit. A couple more of the guys took their pulls and then I jumped forward, with a bit over 1.5 miles left, at around 40mph to get a gap on the group. I held it for around 10 seconds or so before lokoing back to see if I got away, and I had a small gap. I sat back in, controlled my breathing, and kept telling myself that I had to keep the speed at around 33.5 mph in order to stay away, assuming that the group of five was going to keep the pace that we had been which was 32.5-33 mph. There were two small hills to get over but with the tailwind, neither of them would be muchj of a problem. My speed stayed around 33.5-34 mph on the flat sections and dropped to 31.5-32 mph over the small hills as I turned over the pedals as fast as I could. I took one last glance as I crested the second hill and saw Bullerman pulling strong on the front of the group. I was second-guessing my choice at about that time and with about 1/4 mile left I just held on clicked into my 12T cog. That topped me out with my 53-12 gearing and was just enough to get to the line still riding solo. Doug rolled up to me shortly after the line so I assume that he was reeling me in towards the end as well.

My guess is that I will not be able to do that one again this year. My guess is that most of the guys will make sure that the pace stays high enough that no one is taking the late flyers like that, or at least everyone will try to contain it.

Big race weekend in Iowa with a road race this afternoon in Burlington, the Snake Alley crit tomorrow in Burlington, Melon City crit in Muscatine on Sunday, and the Quad Cities crit in Rock Island, IL on Monday. I would like to get some racing in but have not decided what to do if anything. Hopefully I'll make my decision here soon.

Today is a National Holiday in Canada, or at least it should be. It is the one and only Dan Gerous' Birthday so I wish you the best today. Have a great one!

Cross-training?

2009-05-20T20:45:00.003-05:00

Ever since Kerkove moved to Colorado I have been without a regular riding buddy. Sure I have some great people in the area to ride with and I have done so on many occasions with Blue, J.Fry, Mike, Houlihan and others although, no one with as much consistency as what riding with Kerkove was.

Yesterday's temperatures were in the low 80s and the sky was nothing but sunshine. It was one of those beautiful days in which a ride was imminent but, there was minor challenge in the plan. Amy had some things going on with her friends and my Mom had spent all day Tuesday watching Rhea so I did not want to take up another one of her afternoons. As I was sitting at work pondering my options it hit me. After I picked Rhea up from daycare we swung over to the House of Blue and Rhea spent a few minutes talking with her Grandma while I loaded up the Burley Solo that occupies a small space in their garage. We then made for home and attached the Burley to the X6 'cross bike for an afternoon ride.

We made it out to Big Woods Lake in Cedar Falls as well as a lap through George Wyth and Hartman which provided us with a little over 60 minutes of an easy spin for me as well as some great fresh air and scenery for Rhea. She seemed to be enjoying herself pretty well although, I was a bit nervous that she may get bored towards the end. She still seemed to be in a good mood when we arrived back home 66 minutes later though so I hope all is good to keep this as a regular ride. I believe that the slight increase in resistance will be good for my training and getting out and about will be great for her. So maybe, just maybe, I have finally found a new regular training buddy.

Settled in and ready to roll

Logging some miles through GW

Here is what the ride looked like from Rhea's perspective.
There was also a box waiting for me yesterday when I arrived home from work. A new set of grips for the Scalpel and in a beautiful shade of white. The Ergon GA1 grips are an all-mountain grip that is closer to a standard MTB grip but has the subtle changes in it's shape which help to keep the rider's hands happy. Look for a review on these later on.

Temps in the mid 80s

2009-05-20T05:56:00.004-05:00

Looks like the warm weather has finally hit Iowa for 2009 with the temperatures yesterday around 85F and not a cloud in the sky. I was pretty excited for the group road ride since I was in Florida last week and was unable to attend the rides. Last night saw seven people in attendance including J. Fry, Doug, Steve, Pete, Mike J., and Chad. All strong riders which means that the ride could be one of those that makes your eyes bleed. Our group made it's way through town pretty quickly and as we arrived at Union Rd. we made a left turn to head South for a couple of miles to 27th St. into a 25mph headwind. Once at 27th S.t we made the right turn to head West which gave us a pretty nasty crosswind. It did not take long for the group to organize into an echelon and start riding along with speeds in the mid 20s. We lost a couple of guys in the first set of hills as the group did not slow down as the road went up. The wind did it's best to punish everyone as our speeds would decrease into the low 20s as we rode along with no wind blocks but, when we passed a line of trees or a farm our speeds would push back into the mid 20s. The slight yo-yo effect took it's toll as we lost Doug, and then Chad, then Steve, one by one which left J. Fry and I off the front and working together to maintain pace. J.Fry is still rolling the 'Cross bike with road tires in preparation for the DK200 in less than 2 weeks time so he was pushing pretty hard.

At the next intersection we made a short pause for the group of five to get back together and then headed North with a sweet tailwind. J. Fry pulled a small gap so I pedaled across to him and we held a nice pace of around 34mph for a while until the rest of the group caught back on and then Chad went off the front a bit so I went with him. We traded pulls for a few miles with speeds staying in the mid to high 30s the whole time. I actually found myself almost running out of gear as I turned over the 53-13 at 39.5mph. Still have that 12T cog sitting back there waiting to play. It was a peaceful cruise through New Hartford before turning East to head back towards Cedar Falls on Beaver Valley Rd. This brought the wind at us from the right side so we stayed together until we arrived at the base of Three-Tier Hill and I pulled over the first tier. There was a quick rotation of the group and then J. Fry slowly started to pull away on the front. I launched myself back up to him and the two of us were off the front again. We cleared Three-Tier and the next hill pretty quickly and then we put the hammer down all the way to the end. Most of the final few miles has a nice wind block so our speeds stayed up in the mid-high20s and we were cruising. I thought for sure that J. Fry would go for the final sprint of the night but, to my surprise, he conceded that with about a mile to go. I think that he may have been cooked. I was getting there too so I also did not go for the all out sprint to the line. J. Fry's looking pretty strong right now. I assume that he'll finally get the road bike out after the DK200 is over and then we'll all probably be paying for his superior fitness this season.

The Giro d'Italia is shaping up quite nicely. The GC riders are making there way to the top of the pecking order more and more each day with the top 10 being pretty much the who's who of GC contenders. There is a 60km Time Trial on Thursday that should be a huge factor in separating that out even more too. Ivan Basso will be keeping himself towards the front of the GC with his Slice Hi-Mod during the TT. Basso will also be turning over a 54/42 chainring combination to keep his speeds up.

Late again

2009-05-18T06:59:00.002-05:00

The trip home from Florida on Friday afternoon was another test of my patience. After all of the delays on the way to Florida I was pretty much expecting more but, Northwest Airlines did a great job of really outdoing themselves in the delay department (that was a sarcastic comment). My 6pm flight out of Tampa finally left around 6:30 (there's that 30 minutes again) so that of course made the plane 30 minutes late getting to Minneapolis. Since I originally only had 1 hour between flights, I now had 30 minutes to get across the terminal to my connecting flight to Waterloo in time for boarding. Still plenty of time to avoid elevators and moving walkways so that was still good. When I arrived at gate C21 the screen above the desk read something other than 'Waterloo, IA' so I checked the main monitors again and guess what.....another delay. Only this time they really out did themselves way beyond the 30 minutes that I was getting accustomed to. Instead of leaving Minneapolis at 9:45pm, my flight was rescheduled for 11:59pm. Sweet. I asked the young lady at the desk to confirm this and in her worst attempt at being pleasant, she informed me that 11:59pm was correct. I thanked her for her help and made my way to TGIFriday's for a couple of beers. Around 10:30pm I made my way back to the gate to check again figuring that there would have to be more delays because that seems to be the Northwest way and I was not one bit surprised to see 12:25am listed on the screen. All I could do was smile and giggle just a bit. Endurance flying without leaving the country, this has to be some kind of joke right? That would put us landing in Waterloo around 1:15am....I could have driven home by then. We finally boarded at around 12:10am and made the trip to Waterloo landing at around 1:10am which meant that I was up for 22 hours. I have not done that for a while so it was a bit of a shock to the system I think or maybe that was just me being bored of sitting in airport chairs...not comfy. Other than the delays the flights were all pretty good and I am home now so the pilots did their jobs.

Saturday was windy as all heck with 35mph winds so I went for a ride with Blue and J. Fry to Hudson, Orange, and back home. It's about a 30 mile loop with the last 10 miles into a nasty headwind. Speeds were down in the 10mph range a couple of times but, It was good to be riding a bike so i didn't really care about the wind.

On Sunday I opted for a MTB ride at the Camp with Houlihan, Craig S., and Tim W., but I will not give too many details about that since my skills here in Iowa were WAY rusty. While I was in Florida I could feel the trail flowing through me but, yesterday was not like that. My timing was off, my senses didn't feel right, and I found my self on the ground at least once. Not cool. Hopefully those feelings will not last long.

Leaving my mark

2009-05-14T06:12:00.000-05:00

Is someone trying to stop me from enjoying a little bit of fun in the Sunshine State when I finish my work for the day? Maybe I'm just missing the signs or maybe I am ignoring them. I am starting to wonder though.

Monday: Get into town two hours late so I couldn't get a ride in.
Tuesday: Rained for four hours straight after I finished work...no ride.
Wednesday: Rained on the way to the trails...I ignored it. Quit raining before I arrived at trails and trails were dry. No trail maps....kind of felt a bit lost so I went back to trailhead. Found a couple of local riders and latched on with them for 90 minutes of SWEET riding...and then crashed resulting in some slight skin removal....hopefully it will scar...too cool.

These three days were the only days that I even had a chance to get a ride in and although I was only able to get one in, it was worth it. I have to be totally honest with you here, I am floored at ow off-the-charts cool the singletrack is at Loyce Harpe Park Trail in Lakeland, FL. The trails are maintained by the Ridge Riders and they do a pretty good job of putting in some sweet techy stuff along with the trails. Bridges, shelves, ladder climbs, jumps, and so much more. Sweet!!! Are you catching my enthusiasm here? I could have stayed out there for hours if the time would have allowed it.

I arrived at the trialhead right around 4:30 and quickly hoped in the Rize 3 and started riding. Unfortunately I was back at the trailhead after about 20 minutes....apparently I had made a wrong turn somewhere. As luck would have it, a couple of local riders showed up at about that time. We made some small talk, introductions and such, and then I asked if I could tag along with the. As is with many mountain bikers around the globe, they were very accepting and allowed me to follow them. We went through the same trails that I had just done and then made a left turn where I had made a right earlier. (Bugs Bunny popped in my head with his famous.."I knew I should have made that left turn at Albuquerque.") A section of double track followed by a touch of singletrack and then through a small hole in the trees and it was like..POOF!!!!...the sweet singletrack that I had been seeking. Perfect flow through the trees and bushes, over the small rises, over the roots, and then onto ..........a ridge!!!!! 18" wide trail and 20+ feet down to the water on both sides with nothing to stop you from going all the way down if you rode off the trail. These ridges are in no way straight either. Back and forth, up and down, roots, rocks, and all kinds of other undulations that make the trail sweet to ride. Off the ridge and into some short and steep climbs, along another ridge for a few hundred feet and then bomb back down what looked to be near vertical drops when you are starting down. Have I mentioned the Cannondale Rize 3 that I was riding yet? No? Okay, wait just a bit longer.

These trails are built within the confines of reclaimed phosphate mines. All of the trails are a light grey, almost white in spots. They almost have the consistency of hard packed concrete powder. Super smooth ride in the flats, tons of grip on the uphills, make-you-think-twice downhills, and all kinds of other fun. I did not get more than a couple of pictures of the trails because I was having too much fun riding them to stop and get any shots, sorry. If any of you are in the Lakeland area, make sure to take the time to check out these trails, well worth it.

Nice trails

Lots-o-fun

Souvenir to remember the great ride

Raining in the Sunshine State

2009-05-13T05:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's plan following work was to take the Cannondale Rize 3 for a ride at some local singletrack but, Mother Nature had other plans. As soon as I began the drive back to the hotel from work I saw the dark clouds in the distance. Sure enough, the skies opened up and it rained for the next 2+ hours which put my ride on hold. Hopefully I'll have a chance to get out today instead.

2010 Cannondale SuperSix HiMod. 150g lighter, 17% stiffer, and way more bike than I would ever need. Everything on the front triangle is oversized for stiffness and the rear triangle has some new shaping in order to increase lateral stiffness as well. Great looking bike, if I didn't enjoy riding my SystemSix so much I might consider one....

30 minutes here and there

2009-05-12T12:20:00.002-05:00

I'll be in Florida all of this week to do some training at the company plant in Winter Haven. I've only been to Florida once before and I'll be honest, that it isn't really the place for me. I am hoping that this trip will be a bit different so I have taken a few steps to see if I can improve upon my last trip. Unfortunately, the trip did not start out too well for me.

Rant mode on.

First off, the flight from Waterloo to Minneapolis/St. Paul went just fine and I made my way through the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport quite easily. I opted to avoid the escalators, elevators, and moving walkways in exchange for the nice walk from one end of the airport to the other. I was one of the only people in the airport that seems to prefer walking to.......moving without effort. Once on the other side of the terminal, I located my gate and then found some breakfast. Once I had some food in my stomach I was feeling pretty good and started to get my race report from Finchford typed up. That's when it all started. I could not get logged on to the internet with my laptop so I wrote the report up in Word and figured that I could post it when I landed in Florida. After I finished it up, I settled in near the gate for the final 30 minute wait before my plane was scheduled to board. Shortly there after the announcement was made that we were going to be delayed about 30 minutes. No big deal I figured. I just hopped on the internet on my phone and followed the Giro d'Italia. Unfortunately that soon ended and I was back to waiting.

Nothing but empty walkways for me in Minneapolis

Since we had to wait so long for our plane to arrive, the ground crew did some touchup work to the loading area by painting the plane model numbers on the parking area.
So 30 minutes turned into 45 and then we finally boarded the plane and I figured that all would be good. Wrong. I was sardined in between a couple of people and started to feel a bit restricted with my movements in the Airbus A320. There was also "that guy" in front of me that had to have his seat all the way back for his comfort and while decreasing my usable space. Then of course, had to be a conspiracy, there was the person behind me who was constantly bumping my seat or pulling on it. I sure hope that they were comfy when they got done. I should probably look into just upgrading to 1st Class next time. Did I mention that we had not even left the ground yet? That's right, another delay once we had taxied out to the runway. Apparently the scale for weighing the luggage did not send all of the weights to the computer so we sat there for another 15 minutes while that was typed into their computer. That's a bit of a safety thing I presume so I wrote that one off. Needless to say we left Minnesota about one hour later than planned which was going to start putting my afternoon plans into a bind just a touch.

We landed in Tampa at 3:30PM and I made my way to the baggage claim area. There were no staircases, only escalators and elevators and I found that a bit odd. Oh well. I found my bag, made my way to Hertz to get my car and sure enough....they were out of cars for the moment. Really?!? Seriously?!?! What are the odds of this trip? Another 30 minute delay. I finally heard my name called and went to the desk to get my keys to my car for the week. 'What will they stick me with?' was all that went through my head. As you may have noticed, by this time I was losing all hope of making it to my destination on time. To my surprise, I was amazed at the car that I was alloted for the week. A 2009 Mazda 5.

Not a bad little car/crossover/van...whatever it is
Perfect. I put my bags in and made my way out of the parking ramp and Highway 275 North to Interstate 4 East. It was 4:30pm and the traffic was bumper to bumper at about 15 miles per hour. Figures. It took me about another 30 minutes to move North around seven miles and get to I-4 before I was able to actually do the speed limit. I had to make a stop before I went to my hotel so I ended up driving about...you guessed it...30 minutes past my hotel to get to The Bike Shop in Winter Haven and pick up a 2009 Cannondale Rize 3 which I am hoping will help me cope with my week. I made it to the shop 20 minutes before they closed, grabbed the bike, picked up a couple of things, and then headed 30 minutes back to the West to my hotel which is where I sit now.

2009 Cannondale Rize 3. More suspension than a sissy like me should ever need

End Rant mode

Everything has been great since I arrived at the hotel so I am hoping that my ranting will come to an end now. Is it bad that I arrived here on Monday afternoon and I cannot wait for Friday afternoon to arrive already? Really makes one miss being in Iowa.

Race Report: Finchford-Roubaix Road Race

2009-05-11T05:24:00.004-05:00

The first road race of the 2009 season, for me, was this past Saturday in Finchford, IA. Finchford is only 12 miles NW of my house so in essence in is my "home race" of sorts. As of two weeks ago I was still undecided as to whether or not I would do this race but, I decided early last week to go ahead with it. 80% of the race route is actually part of one of or our normal group ride routes as well featuring Three-Tier Hill coming East out of Finchford. The logistics of the route are about as simple as they get for a circuit race. Three 90 degree right turns, one long curve to the right for turn four, one large climb, one section of rollers, and plenty of time for the group to tear each other apart in the approximately 5.5 mile laps. The race that I would be participating in, the Cat. 4 race, was scheduled for 7 laps and there were 23 riders registered to take the start.

I was the only rider for the Rasmussen’s in attendance for the Cat. 4 race so it was totally up to me to get in front group and stay there. I really did not have any solid goals for this race other than to test my fitness and get a gauge for what else I need to do to ensure that everything comes together for my “real” racing season in September. The only unofficial goals that I had were to get in the break, if there was one, and a top 10 finish. Historically, the Finchford-Roubaix has not been very good to me so those two in themselves would be enough. I kind of looked around at the start line to see who else was there that I would consider an ally for most of the race. Mike J. and Pete of the Bike Tech Racing Team were both there which could be good since the three of us ride together quite often. I also saw Steve Reynolds (Bike World/All9Yards.com) and he also looked to be the sole representative of his team so that might work out for a really good matchup.

After the referee gave his normal pre-race talk we began to roll out really smooth and my “First race of the year jitters” quickly subsided. I made my way to the front of the field and settled in with Reynolds, a couple of guys from North Iowa Spin, and a couple more from DMOS. The pace was actually pretty nice and was pretty close to our regular group rides through this area. Turn one was no problem as the group smoothly made it through the 90 degree right-hander and then proceeded on towards Three-Tier Hill about 1.5 miles in the distance. Three-Tier has never been my friend, me being a “big guy” and all, so I made a mental note to stay in the top five or six as we climbed the tiers while trying to stay off the front of the group. It’s always nice to get a little pull to the top and with seven laps I was going to need a touch of assistance. The other side of Three-Tier is a nice side hill that will get speeds into the 30s very easily and then another 90 degree right turn at the bottom will greet everyone which is yet another reason to be towards the front. The group gets strung out going into the turn so that everyone has plenty of room to negotiate the turn. Going through two wide isn’t a big deal although going through solo is a lot easier. The other side of that is the huge acceleration that always follows the exit of that turn which is also the cause of the yo-yo effect that rides will experience coming out of the turn. You need to stay on the gas to keep up or you will be off the back and playing catch-up. The short section South consists of a few rollers and one fairly larger uphill but, most importantly, it is also the first section where we begin to feel the wind. The wind was pretty strong out of the WNW and this section was just enough to make everyone aware of what was to come. After cresting the final hill we made our third 90 degree right-hander and up a short hill before rolling back into a false flat section and getting a real taste of the wind. The group was quick to head over to the centerline of the road to all be eliminate any draft. I tucked in as much as I could and kept the RPMs high. I did not get a good chance to check how the group was doing behind me but, I assume that most were still there. At the end of that section the route takes us around a large sweeping curve to the North and has no protection from the wind. The group quickly switched sides of the road and we were riding as close to the gravel shoulder as we could, some people even did a bit of gravel riding as the were forced off the road for one reason or another. The pace stayed pretty calm for the most part and then we made our way up the final hill on the lap which also serves as the finish line at the top. Lap one down and all was good with me staying towards the front and doing a few pulls here and there to earn my keep.

Laps two through five stayed fairly relaxed up front and I was able to assess the situation towards the back a little better. Quite a few riders had slipped off at different times during accelerations up hills or while we riding the gutter and people were unable to get into the draft. I remember when I first starting racing on the road and I hated when the group rode the gutter. Of course, once I was able to stay connected while this was going on, I began to rather enjoy it during a race. It really breaks the group up quite a bit. Anyways, Reynolds and I started talking about the group being down to nine riders and he wanted to see if it could be taken down a touch more. That’s about the time that the pressure started to come on from different people. A couple of riders from MOB Racing, two from Atlas, William Feiges (SC Velo), Reynolds, and me took a few launches here and there but nothing stuck. The only thing that came out of the increased pace was everyone staying alert for the next hard effort and attempt at breaking up the field.

Lap six consisted of our group of nine riders just going through the motions for the most part. Everyone was trying to conserve as much energy as they could for the last lap since the last two miles would all be into the wind and with an uphill finish to boot. It was fairly calm as a few riders conversed back and forth about their intentions, possibly to see if anyone else would attack early. If that was the plan, it did not get anyone to attack so our group maintained pace as we crossed the line and began the final of seven laps. The talking was gone, the speeds were in the mid 20s, and everyone was waiting for the final move. We crested Three-Tier Hill under a bot more effort than the previous laps and the group was definitely in "business mode" now. Turn three saw the group roll through and maintain pace over the next rise. We immediately hit the centerline for the final time and the pace slowly moved up into the upper 20s which, when combined with the headwind that we were experiencing, would not allow anyone to get off the front. So as we made it through the final curve to head back North to the finish line, the group switched to the right side of the road and kept the pace up. With about 400 meters to go I finally hit my wall and started to slip off the pace, it was no surprise to me though. My legs were heavy and I had nothing left in them for the final 200 meters which was also a short uphill section. All I could do was hold on to the line which had me finishing in 8th place overall and I was happy with that. Top 10 finish for my first race and I still feel like I am behind on my training for the season so I'll take it.

There were probably a few things that I could have done a little differently and hopefully I'll be able to use that info later on. It was a good race overall and big thanks go out to Mike Johnson, Amy Jardon, and the rest of the Bike Tech Team for the efforts that they put forth to make this race possible. Good course, good weather (no rain), lots of food, and good company.

Results are posted as well.

New cog

2009-05-08T06:36:00.003-05:00

Last night's group ride was a no-go for me. I missed the chance to ride on Wednesday and so I opted to get out for a tempo ride yesterday afternoon to get the legs back in line in anticipation of racing the Finchford-Roubaix on Saturday. Historically this race has been okay but never been great for me with 8th and 15th place finishes the two times that I have participated. Hopefully I will see some improvements this year. I rode to Finchford during my ride yesterday and the course actually looks pretty good. The Bike Tech crew stated that they will be out there this afternoon and again tomorrow morning to ensure that the corners are clear of sand and gravel. I talked with Mike last night and we are both hoping for a good turnout this year. The race is part of the Iowa Cup series and aside from a mountain bike race in Nebraska I believe, there is nothing else on the racing calendar so make sure that those of you who can show up for this one, do show up.

My ride yesterday was pretty uneventful for the most part, aside from one guy in his late model F-150 crew cab 4x4 who felt the need to tell me where the bike trail was since I was riding in the street. First instinct was to stop and explain my rights to the road, inform him that my 25mph speeds were too fast for the trail since there were other users on it, and point out that he had rolled the stop sign and was actually sitting across the trail which would be impeding my flow if I was on the trail anyways. Although, my mind was working fast enough that I kept it all to myself while I waved at him and thanked him for his concern. In hindsight, I am glad that he loves cyclists so much that he is willing to help us find the trails when needed; such a loving person. :)

There is this set of wheels that hangs from the ceiling at the House of Blue and get very little, if any, use from their owner. I on the other hand spent quite a bit of time on them last year. They're not overly special by any means but for some reason I find myself drawn to them. When I decided that they needed some time out in the sun this season, I was greeted by a skipping gear on the 16 tooth cog. Now, I had just installed a new chain a couple of days previous to that so I thought that could be the problem but, after having Brent at Bike Tech inspect the cassette we discovered that it was just the one cog. Fair enough. Since it is a Miche cassette and individual cogs are available, we just installed a new one and poof, problem solved. Of course now I have one shinny cog in a pack of dirty cogs but, it gets the job done. Maybe I should just give them a bath. Anyways, as far as the wheels themselves go, I love them. Campagnolo Scirocco G3s. They are not the lightest wheel in the world and not the lightest wheel that I have but, the ride is wonderful. I feel absolutely no flex in the rear wheel at all which is a wonderful thing. They might not find their way home this time. :)

It's a little difficult to see here but, the 16T cog looks a bit out of place being all clean and shiny.

Campagnolo G3 wheels.....oh yea!

The Giro d'Italia begins tomorrow with a team time trial to set the stage. In my opinion, it is the best of the Grand Tours and unfortunately finding coverage for the average joe is difficult. For those race fans who really want to watch it, coverage is out there. It still saddens me that so many Americans think that there is only one bicycle race per year and that it comes in July. I still love the Tour, don't get me wrong. There's just this aura that comes with the Giro that I cannot explain in words, it's just a beautiful race.

Giggle alert

2009-05-06T06:00:00.003-05:00

Time away was in order so we left for a long weekend in Arizona on Saturday morning and returned home Tuesday afternoon. We went to visit some of my family members and get away for a few days of relaxation. Temperatures in the Mesa-Phoenix area were in the mid to high 90s with no humidity while we were there. That felt awesome. It was a pretty relaxing three days in Arizona and now that I have returned to a rainy Iowa, I wish that I was back in Arizona. The trip was Rhea's first time on a plane and I was really impressed with how she handled it. On the trip down she was getting bored and wanted out of her seat all of the time. We kept her entertained fairly well for the most part. As we started our decent into Mesa we hit a bit of turbulance and she started to giggle as we lost elevation. I was almost in tears laughing at her as she giggled from 10,000 feet all the way to the ground almost non-stop. Then, as the plane threw on the brakes after touching down, she thought that the force of her body going forward as the brakes were on was funny. After that she wanted to "drive the plane" as she put it. The flight home was not as entertaining since she fell asleep right as we took off from Mesa and slept until we landed in cedar Rapids 2.5 hours later.

Group ride last night was a little different, in a good way. There were only eight people that showed up, four for the "A" ride and four for the "B" ride. We all rode out of town together and then the group split as we headed North towards Finchford. The majority of the ride can be summed up pretty easy too. Almost no attacks, no chasing, no tactics. Just tempo riding at a great pace until about five miles from Waterloo when Kisch attacked. The remaining three of us left it up to the brutal headwind to stop him, which it did, and then he was back into our group until we were back in town. We maintained a good pace for a couple of hours and the legs are feeling really good today. Still thinking about racing this weekend in Finchford but I have not yet committed to it.

New Tool

2009-05-04T21:11:00.002-05:00

I was unable to locate one of these tools at home so when I saw one resting on a hook in the tool section of Paragon Cycles in Mesa, AZ I was quick to snatch it up. The Headwrench should fill in the hole in the steerer tube of my Scalpel quite nicely.

Downtime

2009-05-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

Taking a few days off to fly to Phoenix to visit family and work on my tan. This will be Rhea's first time on an airplane and she seems pretty excited. Said she wants to drive the plane herself. We'll be back on Tuesday afternoon just in time for the rain to start in Waterloo.

Best of luck to all of you participating in Trans Iowa V5 this weekend. Looks like the weather should be near perfect.

Overcooked

2009-05-01T06:59:00.005-05:00

Weather was not looking very inviting yesterday afternoon when I was getting ready for the group ride. Dark grey clouds were lingering in the sky and they did not look to be moving very quickly at all. I checked the radar and it looked clear so I suited up and rode out the door anyways figuring that if it rains I would just cut the ride short. Well, it only took a couple of minutes and I saw the sun peeking through and the clouds started clearing off revealing a pretty nice afternoon for a ride. Temperatures were in the high 50s and the wind was around 15mph out of the WNW. There were only around 12 people that made it to Bike Tech for the ride and we separated into two smaller groups before getting to the edge of town. The "B" ride was going to head West out of town towards Dike and the rest of chose to head North to Finchford.

Our pace picked up to the mid 20s where we ended up running tempo for the majority of the 5 miles North before an attack where three riders went off the front right before the turn West to Finchford. The remaining three of us caught back on pretty quick and we continued on as a group with no one really trying anything crazy. The pace never slowed down in Finchford, altough it usually does just a touch, and we lost Craig as we made the turn back East to Three-Tier Hill. Having the tailwind sent the speeds into the 26-30mph area while going over Three-Tier Hill and then pushing 36-38mph on the backside as we crested and made our way to Janesville. This was about the time that I was really feeling the residual tiredness from Tuesday's thrashing and I struggled for around .5 mile to stay in touch with the group although I did stay on. As we approached the sprint point before Janesville, I checked to see that Doug was on my rear wheel and then gave him a short leadout for the sprint. It was by no means the prettiest leadout ever but, it was effective. It was an easy spin through Janesville to let Craig catch back up with the group and so to give thanks to us, Craig and Steve attacked as soon as Craig latched back on. This put the rest of us in chase and we quickly caught them before Craig blew up again. Tsk, tsk Craig. Shouldn't have attacked there. :) I stayed with Craig and we slowly worked our way back to the group which we kept about 75 feet in fron tof us and arriving on their wheels right after the next sprint point before heading South for the final stretch.

The next couple of miles were actually pretty calm with the group cruising along in the 22mph range carrying on with chit-chat. That's when we all let our guard down which allowed Craig and Steve to launch another attack and put the rest of us in chase mode....again. The four of us worked pretty hard, caught the other two, and kept going. We lost Craig again but you can never count him out so we kept the pedal to the metal for the next three miles before I witnessed, and did my part, an amazing feat during a group ride. David launched an attack 1100 meters from the final sprint and I jumped to get on his wheel assuming that the other three would be right behind me but, they weren't David had jumped at just the right time to pull a big gap and I was on his wheel. The lactic acid in my legs was laughing at me and reminding me that I was not fully recovered from Tuesday night's ride but, I pressed on to pull David over the last small rise in the road and give him a final launch to the end. The kid's learning fast and once he gets a little relaxed on the bike he could be a powerful force at the races. It was pretty cool to see him keep the power going all to the way to the finish.

My legs are totally fried today and I am looking forward to a few days off. We are heading to Phoenix, AZ on Saturday morning to see my family for a few days so it will be nothing but relaxation for me until next Tuesday. It may only be a mini-vacation but, it is a vacation nonetheless.

Tour de Romandie Stage 2 ended in a mass sprint with Oscar Freire of Rabobank taking the stage win. The guy's an animal. Today's Stage 3 is the Team Time Trial of only 14.8km with a fairly low profile although it does look to have some crazy turns in it. Should be a fast course.

Almost clear

2009-04-30T06:05:00.005-05:00

There was a threat of rain almost all day yesterday but, I was able to sneak in a short easy ride to get the legs back in order after being throttled on Tuesday night. Yesterday's ride was very low-key and I pretty much stuck to the bike trails through the parks. There were a couple of sections that still had some water over them from the mass amounts of rain that we received last weekend but for the most part the trails were dry and they were all rideable. Nothing overly exciting otherwise.

The lowest section of trail in George Wyth State Park had about 8 inches of water over it.

The Scalpel had a nice time with an easy ride.

The Tour de Romandie saw three riders get off the front after 22km and Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez of the Fuji-Servetto team took the Stage 1 win a short 28 seconds ahead of the approaching peloton on course that was cut in half due to snow. Liquigas rider Roman Kreuziger is sitting in 9th overall at 37 seconds back. Today's Stage 2 features three Cat. 2 climbs and a single Cat. 1 climb along the 161.5km course and all four climbs come in the second half of the course. Could be another day like stage 1 with a small group of riders fighting it out if the course remains intact. If it gets shortened and the climbs come out then a field sprint will ensue.

Breezy break

2009-04-29T06:01:00.005-05:00

Partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 50s greeted 14 riders that gathered behind Bike Tech in Cedar Falls for our version of the TNWC. The "No Mercy" crew was in full force which meant that the pace would definitely be up there and they would not wait for anyone. The wind was out of the ESE at around 16mph. I was unclear as to which route we were taking as we rolled out of town but so learned that we were going with the Dike-Hudson loop which goes West out of Cedar Falls, South through Dike, then East into Hudson. This meant that the majority of the ride would have a crosswind or headwind and that the first seven miles would be all tailwind which meant high speeds would commence at mile 0.

As the group made the right turn to head East out of Cedar Falls we started to get into an echelon but, in all honesty it was still a bit messy. We have been having this problem over the last couple of weeks of getting things going in the first couple of miles as if no one really wants to commit. It's almost like we are all starring at each other to see who is going to make the first move. Well after about 1.5 miles of that last night I decided that the group needed a bit of a jumpstart and launched myself off the front. There sis not seem to be too much reaction to my move which means that, 1) I am not viewed as a solo-breakaway threat, or 2) It took a few moments to get the group organized. Not sure which but, I stayed off the front for a few minutes before Pete and Bullerman came around my left side and I hoped on for the ride. Although the ride did not last long at that point as the main group came past us and we picked the pace up a touch. I waited another minute or so and attacked again, couldn't resist, and that attack was short lived as a smaller group came around my left side and was working pretty well together so I hoped on and got myself into the rotation. The pace was stepped up a touch more over the next mile which kept anymore attacks from coming and the group of six was able to get away from the rest and we made our way to the first sprint point at mile seven. The pace was staying in the 28-31mph range and with the last mile being uphill the only attack that came was Kisch going for the sprint about 200 feet before the sign with no one else reacting. For me, I wanted to make sure that I was able to save the energy for what I felt could be a tough ride to Hudson into the wind.

As the group made the turn to the South, we sat up a bit and waited for some of the other riders to latch back on before the pace picked back up. Even the crosswinds were not going to slow this group down as we clipped along at around 25 mph over the rolling hills on the way to the small town of Dike. With the wind coming almost directly at our left sides, the echelon that we formed started close to the centerline of the road with the lead rider and the following riders were on the right and each one was about half of a bike length back from the rider on the left. We were running five wide and with a group of eight that should have formed two lines. the second line was not forming to well and a couple of riders were having a hard time staying on the back. I tried to bridge them up twice but it did not work so I hoped back in with the other five and continued on. About a mile North of Dike, J.Fry and Houlihan attacked the group for what I figured was the sprint point heading into Dike. They had other plans though and kept cruising right through Dike without letting up so the rest of us were in chase mode. We were at a group of five that included Kisch, Doug, Pete, David, and myself and started to work ono reeling the other two in as we left Dike from the South. We arrived at teh first hill on this five mile stretch after about one mile and were making great time on the pair when I pulled through and upped the pace just a touch. Kisch was the next rider on my right and told me to take it easy and let the other two sit out in the wind for a bit before me make the move to catch them. I agreed and peeled off to get to the back of the rotation. So for the next couple of miles, J. Fry and Houlihan sat about 200 feet in front of us and worked to stay away. As we crested another one of the hills on this stretch, Houlihan looked back to check on our position and then sat up to wait for us. J. Fry on the other hand kept going pretty hard. About the time that Houlihan got into the rotation, Kisch attacked up the left side of the road and went after J. Fry so I had to counter-attack and went up the right side to hop onto Kisch's wheel. The others reacted to this and were pretty quick to follow along so we brought J. Fry back into the group with about one mile left before our final left hand turn to head East into Hudson and directly into the wind.

This stretch of road is the Zanetta blacktop and it has a couple of nice hills on it that can destroy a paceline pretty quick, especially when we have a headwind. The pace never slowed down as as we made the turn and were immediately upon the first hill. As we crested the top of that one, I peeled off and rotated back and saw that there were back to our group of six and the pace started to pick up again. 23-27 mph speeds were kept pretty well as we rode into the wind and rolled over each of the hills while no one really attacked. Eventually the endurance aspect of it all kicked in a we started to lose a couple of riders. After about four or so miles on that stretch we were down to four of us including J. Fry, Houlijan, Kisch, and myself, with the pace either staying in the mid 20s or the occasional bump up to break up the paceline a bit. Kisch fell off the back about 1.5 miles later and the three of us that remained kept each other pretty close. With onely a couple of the big hills left, J. Fry launched an attack and pulled a short gao which I could not react to. I quickly told Houlihan that and so the two of us went into chase mode to reel him back in. We caught him at the next hill and the three of us kept the pace up as we reached the final two miles which looks flat but, it is actually a false flat with a slight uphill to it for almost the entire duration. As we crossed a bridge that marks the final mile, Houlihan was off the back and J. Fry picked up the pace again. I was able to hop onto his wheel this time and the two of us kept the pace and the rotation going nice and smooth for the final strecth to Hudson. It must have a telepathic agreement when we arrived at the edge of town or we were both just tired but, neither of us went for the final sprint into town. We opted for the costing finish instead.

Awesome ride through out the route. My legs felt fantastic and although I though I was going off the back a couple of times, my body was able to react and stick with it. Fitness is definitely getting good.

Now for some pro news. As I stated yesterday, the Tour de Romandie is going on in Switzerland right now and yesterday's prologue was a bit of a surprise, at least to me. Czech TT champion Frantisek Rabon from Columbia-Highroad took the win. The field did a pretty good job of keeping the times close in the short TT with the top 51 riders finishing within 10 seconds of the winner. Liquigas had two riders in the top 10 with Kreuziger finishing 4 seconds back and Quinziato finishing 5 seconds back. Stage one is today and it is a 176.2km race from Montreux to Fribourg and featuring a Cat. 2 climb and two Cat. 1 climbs. Could be a good stage to make some separations in the field and start showing the fans who the true contenders are. Could be a good day for a small group to get away from the peloton too so keep an eye out.

Tour de Romandie

2009-04-28T06:30:00.004-05:00

Pro Road Cycling is in full force and so far in 2009 we have seen some sweet racing in the Spring Classics and some of the short stage races. Speaking of which, the next stage race is on tap to begin today in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Tour de Romandie begins today with a short 3.1km prologue to get the riders spread out just a touch before getting into the real racing tomorrow with a 176.2km Stage 1. The race is only six days long but it will prove to be a challenge for the overall winner. Short stage races do not leave a lot of time for an overall contender to wait things out and play team tactics too much. They have to get down to business right away and take control.

The roster looks to be packing a good number of great riders to make this short stage race a fun one to follow. For today's prologue I think that I will have to go with Fabian Cancellera of Saxo Bank for the win and the initial overall lead. Saxo Bank has a pretty good team at the race as well so they may be in the thick of it from the start. There are some other greats there as well for the overall so it may go all the way to the final stage on May 3rd. I think that I will go with Roman Kreuziger of Liquigas for the overall win in this year's Tour de Romandie. There are also 13 North Americans taking the start in the race this year with 10 Americans and 3 Canadiens. That's less than 10% of the entire field but, maybe we'll get lucky and one or more of them will play a big roll this year.