The cosmos is out to get me.
Something keeps me from racing each year. After a great spring training last year, pneumonia hit. This year I got in a couple races before ending up with a broken tailbone, caused by the Velo Bella I'm married too but that''s another story. I started riding again, we then we took a direct hit from a tornado the same day RAGBRAI came to town. I've been far too busy to find my bike the last few weeks.
Anyhow, I realized I never posted my last race report:
The Iowa City Road Race was a brutal one. Did I mention it was 45-50 degrees that day with 30mph winds? Our group also had to start 30 minutes late, due to a road closing accident on course. So much for warming up.
The side wind was hard and you hand to hang on between tree breaks. We turned with the wind, and the pack soared down the road at 35mph. Halfway down the stretch, there was the big hill. The pack split with some stronger riders breaking off. I hit the top with another rider as we watched the lead pack break away. He looked at me and said "If we don't catch them, the wind will be hell heading back" So we took off. In 53x11 gearing, we spun out our legs. We had a conversation at 41mph --- Yes, we were able to talk easily --- I jokingly clicked at my shifter and said "I'm out of gears." I also made the prediction of the day, of our return speed. 40 down, 14 back. Sadly, I would be right.
Over the next 3 miles, we got back on the pack before the turn South. Luckily, the course tapered down to a short section here. It was 1/2 mile until it turned West again. No one expected it, and a few people tried to go straight and made a mess. I just found the first wheel I could, hoping for some shelter. I somehow ended up with a rider that had the same power output as me. We ended up taking long pulls, and right when you got tired, the other was there. I turned North for the start of the second lap, and after a few moments, I looked back and my counterpart was gone.
I made a solo attempt with my tailwind, another 7 mile, 40+ mph effort. I hit the headwind again, and had to time-trial it back to the finish line, 7 more miles. I kept searching fore and aft, no one was in sight.
I was never so excited to see the steeple of the Mennonite church we started at. At a mile left, I kicked up the pace to finish strong. Then at 1/2 mile, bikes started creeping around me. I saw a few familiar jerseys and realized the trailing pack caught back up, along with my two missing helpers. I jumped in and was just getting into groove. Then I saw the move.
The move, where one guy had to just get out in front. And then it happened. All 15-20 people went from a 3 rider thick mass to a road filling sprint. You know the final highlights of the Tour, where they show that happening and sprinting to the line? Well, it looks amazing when you see it in reverse.
I hads no sprint left due to my solo effort, but I hung into the back of that pack.
The back of the pack! That's an improvement. I'm usually one of those stragglers just behind the pack!
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Hopefully, I get enough of my barn out of the neighboring cornfield to get on the bike and make a few final events this year. Maybe I'll get a cyclocross bike built and try another season too. There are a lot of gravel road races around here in the fall.
Contributors
- 53X11 Coffee
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- Andy
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- Cyclopathic
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- Jeff@5280Denver
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- JohnQ.
- Maria
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- Maurice Hessel
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- Saddledancer
- Sam
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- Slater Fletcher
- VoodooMaster
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- Willride
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- bigmac
- bikegreaseandcoffee
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- wade
6 comments:
Saddledancer (AKA Tyler) here. I would contribute my own entry but alas, my invite has expired. I am sorry to hear of your troubles Rich. I have nevr broken a bone cycling, thank goodness; and a broken tail bone, regardless of how it was done, is nothing to laugh at. The tornado too is a lot to bear. I hope things are getting back to normal. i have not contributed in quite some time as my summer racing lans have not gone as planned. I had hoped to do the Elkhorn Class in June in Baker City, OR, but a stupid crash on an easy training ride on a beautiful day laid me up for two weeks. My prep for Elkhorn went out the door. Also, due to a lot of wet weather I opted not to race many of the Tuesday night series. However, I started racing at Pacific in early June and had 5 consecutive races. I was a factor in every one and attacked in every race on numerous occasions. I always finished with the pack but did not mind as my goal is to have fun, represent 53x11 with honor and shake things up. I have done that every Tuesday and can't wait for tomorrow night. We only have 4 races left. My hillclimb season starts this Saturday as well with a 2miler up Cougar Mtn. I ride it every week and finally rode my fastest of the year 2 days ago. I am psyched for this Saturday. I then have the Washington state champs on Crystal Mtn on August 16th, and then Mt Baker on September 9th. I also have one USCF anctioned crit scheduled for 8/31 in Bremerton at the Blackberry Crit. My season will end with Mt Baker. I hope to come back super strong in 2009 to represent the squad with even more honor.
Out for now.
Tyler here again, with a new race report. I did the weekly Tuesday night series race this week and it went just as planned. We raced up the S turn, a steep 200 meter or so climb with total lap distance being close to 2 miles. We raced for 55 minutes and I attacked on the first lap, the 2nd lap, and almost every other lap. It was a very hot night and we had about 25 or so riders. I was the sole 53x11 rider in a sea of Starbucks, Cucina Fresca, Wines of Washington and Seattle U. But I can honestly say I was the most active rider out there. About 2/3rds of the way through we split, and I made the cut. We had about 12 riders plus a bunch of dropped Masters riders. I continued attacking and even took 3rd in the 2nd of two primes. I did not contest the finish as I attacked with a mile to go and got caught. My legs were starting to cramp some so I was happy to finish around 10th.
I also forgot to mention in my prior report that I was on a triathlon relay team from work for the Seattle Seafair triathlon held a few weeks ago. The bike course was only 12 miles and was relatively flat and on a course I am familiar with. I was hoping for under 33 minutes and I did it in around 31. We had two teams from work and mine won the day. Everyone was amazed at my time as I took 2nd out of the relay teams and 45th overall out of close to 2000. I am now the cylcing king at work:) Oh yeah I was wearing my 53x11 skinsuit.
Tomorrow is a local 2 mile hillclimb. It is about a 10 minute ride from home, is free, and I ride the course every week so I am playing it very low key. It may also rain, and if it does I will only ride it and not race it. I can just do what I can with what I have. The road is murder when wet-you can't get out of the saddle or you will slide and slip. It is all in the saddle when it rains. I was 10th last year in around 13:47 so we will see.
More to come......
Saddledancer out.
BTW-I see we have arm warmers. Now we need knickers, leg warmers and jackets!
ugar Mtn climb. Like I said you can't get out of the saddle and race it when it is wet-just too steep and slick. Plus I ride the course every week so it is no big deal to miss. Plus it was free. I hope to do Pacific next Tuesday. We then have the Washington State Hillclimb champs next Sat up Crystal Mtn near Mt Rainier (weather looks clear and hot for now). I then have the Bremerton Crit on 8/31 and my last race will be the Mt Baker hillclimb on 9/7. More next week.
Hope things are back to semi-normal Rich.
Thanks for the updates and warm wishes Tyler.
Life is back to normal,but did you know you can slice a roof rather quick with a chainsaw? All my spare time is at the farm, rather than on the bike.
I've pretty much signed off for the year. I realized I'd have to near kill myself to get up to speed to make any of the remaining races. There are some gravel races coming up in the fall, I'll have to check into those. Otherwise, I'm working on a training plan for winter already.
Hi Rich. Tyler here again. Glad things are better and back to normal. I hope your winter campaign is everything and more. And no, I did not know that about roofs. But then again I live in a condo:)
My winter season consists of weekend rides, weekly night trainer workouts, and the occasional spectating of cross races.
I did compete in the Washington State hillclimb champs today in very hot and hazy conditions. Not my favorite but I did what I could with what I had. I finished 4th last year in the Mens Masters C with a 27:32, a few secs faster than 2006. My goal was the low 27s but changed that with the weather. We started at 30 sec intervals on a 6 mile course that was not too severe but all uphill. I was last to start in the Mens Masters Cs, with a 3:30 gap to the next group. I did catch my 30 sec guy within the first 1/2 mile and then reeled in 3more riders, taking the last guy on the line. My time was disappointing (29:17), but I was 9th out of 22. I think everyone was affected by the heat. I sure hope so:)
I did send a video my girlfriend took of me at the finish to Evan. Not a lot to see but it is cool to have anyway.
All the best guys. More later.
Tyler here again. I am honored that Evan put my photo on the cover page. I just saw the "official" resluts from last Sat's Crystal Mtn hillclimb. I ended up 10th out of 23 for the Mens Masters C (not 9th out of 22 as I originally reported). Dtill a top 10. My time for last year would have placed me third so I do think heat was a factor. My time was also about 30 secs faster than I thought (around 28:47). I can't wait for next year and I am chomping at the bit to ride Mt Baker on 9/7. I did ride in the 2nd to last Tuesday night series at Pacific tonight and it was the worst of the year. Iffy weather and a funky mood. Lite rain began at the start and stayed throughout. The 4/5s were to race 45 mins up the escape route, a 300 meter straight up climb. We had an incredible tail wind for the upper flat part which made everyoen go all out. The first lap was insane but I hubg in and then opened up a gap on the back downhill portion into the wind before the climb. I knew it was fruitless but I made a vow to attack every night I raced so I did. Then around the 5th lap a crash occured behind me on the downhill portion and two riders went out. Nothing too serious but it is never good to hear metal on pavement. The race immediately broke apart and I ened up in a 4 man chase group. We were pulled after 45 mins and I wasn't too unhappy as it really began to rain. Mymind just wasn't in it tonight. Must have been the cover shot:)
More later.
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