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Every time I think we will be racing around huge piles of snow in June next year, it seems to rain a bit and alleviate the problem a bit. But then I drive around for eight hours in the squad and want to pound my head on the steering wheel. I'd take snow any day over rain..... unless it is April, May, June, July.... okay lets just say racin' season.
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I haven't blogged in a while, but I have nothing else. Nothing at all.....wait - two more weeks until SRAM RED!!!! I'll be darn near re-building the whole bike. New Bontrager XXX Carbon brakeset, SRAM Red 5pc kit, Speedplay Zero Titanium white pedals. Jeez I'm a weight weenie. It is sad......I am foreseeing some Easton EC90 Aero tubies next Chrizzmus.........

Slacking

I've been slacking in a couple areas lately. Number one, updating this blog. Several members of my team have been having a nice friendly competition using www.mapmyride.com . It provides motivation for training through the winter season (we have about 10 inches of snow, it's 15 degrees outside and I have no XC skiis!) and some team building. But it does hinder my want to log training on this site. I log it on mapmyride and WKO+. Each entry has to be entered seperately, well with a little copy and paste, but still - two is enough already. I'll continue to update this page though and appreciate motivating, ass kicking threats, etc., to help me keep my winter training up to snuff!

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This week I've also been slacking in training. While maintaing all my weight lifting goals for the week, I have not been able to ride much on the trainer. Working a messed up schedule this week, third shift, second shift, third shift - little to no sleep between with less than 8 hours between shifts. Ugh. Takes a toll on the body. Even got jipped yesterday, got done at 6AM, slept for 3 hours, got up, went to court for a while 20 minutes, stopped at the office to drop off paperwork and then back home. Couldn't go back to sleep though!!! Had to stay awake for two hours to ensure I didn't pass out before vacation picks at Grafton. With that said all my vacation and holidays are accounted for next year. Strung together a bunch of days again for Superweek and got screwed on my A race for the year. Have to let it play out and see if I get a discretionary day approved now.

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Another race series came to light today though. The organizers of the Grafton / Sheboygan races have put together an 11 day series. Oh yea baby, my race calendar is ever expanding!! 28 races so far and now if I can string together some more comp days, it'll easily be above 30 races next year. Go big or..... Just go BIG.

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Cheers to the 3's by Fall!

Schwag-a-holic

This site is sick. Absolutely sick. It's like selling a crack addict quality crack at half the price.

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http://www.chainlove.com/

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I hope the Reynolds DV46T Carbon Wheels come back on soon for 57% off.... ya know like right after Xmas when I have some dough.

The First Snow

I was trying to be optimistic that the weather was going to warm up just a tad so that I could ride outside, seeing that I still have yet to purchase cold weather gear.

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Within the last hour it has snowed covering the ground. It's very fitting actually since I emailed my coach about getting some cross country skis for cross training this winter at his recommendation early this year. I just might need teh skis sooner than I thought!

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Ralphie (my pooch) was really excited for the first snow fall. We just got back inside from playing in the yard and he loved it. He was doing laps around the back yard with his nose in the snow. Very funny!

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Seems that the snow has dwindled off, but it was really coming down for a bit while I was updating the mapmyride.com training log for today's weight training w/ running session. Maybe I'll actually have to watch the news to see what the weather is going to be like for the rest of the week. At least I got the snow blower out and working last week if it keeps snowing.

I don't need no stinkin' title!

Continued with weight training last Friday with some of the exercises having increased weight. Feels good to know that this will help my racing next year. Also started running a little bit on the treadmill. I haven't brought myself to using one of the fugly spin / stationary bikes at the gym yet. Spent an hour on the trainer yesterday watching DVR'd episodes of Entourage. Interesting comedy. Makes the time go by somewhat quicker. I'll be heading downstairs in a few minutes to ride the trainer for today's workout session. Wish the weather would warm up just a tad and I'd head out for a short ride, but it's 35 degrees and the back porch is icy. No thanks. Don't need to be banged up before going into work at 2pm today. I still need to get some warmer winter clothing or any winter cycling clothing. Especially shoe covers. This time of year the toe warmers don't really cut it.

It has begun

Starting my weight training program yesterday. I've never really done anything with weights before. Even in high school when I played soccer; I think we went to the weight room once and that was it for the three years I played. I've talked with quite a few people and was humbled to find a lot cyclists weight training in the off season and year round. Hopefully this does yield gains for next year. I am a little sore today, even though the lifting yesterday was very light to stimulate the nerve endings to get my body used to the upcoming loads in the next months. Probably just because I'm not used to making doing the static movements of the particular exercise.

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On a sidenote, the weather has been interesting the last couple days. It's November so you would think cold and that it gets dark out way too early. Well we have one of those things, the darkness that limits riding time, but yesterday it was just shy of 70 degrees and today is supposed to be similar. Luckily I have most of the day off and will get to play outside in the yard herding the stray leaves. Yippee!

Now it is really old.

I want food dammit.

This is getting a little old now.

Four days of not being able to eat solid sucks. My diet has consisted of chocolate milk, starbucks coffee things from Costco and Costco Chicken Soup (which by the way is pretty good). Oh and snackpacks. I just want some Buffalo Wild Wings and steak, a big juicy steak from Outback. Man that sounds good.

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The left side of my mouth is pretty much good to go, minimal swelling, but my right side is all puffy and sore yet.

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I'd also like to ride my bike - even though the weather isn't that nice - mid 40's and overcast - I'd still like to get out. I think I'll have a Starbucks thing instead and continue resting. Ugh.

The Pain, Suffering and Agony

Okay so it's really not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. That is having all four wisdom teeth removed. Is it uncomfortable yes, but it had to happen. I also got some pain meds and haven't really felt the need to take them that much, and have been using regular Ibuprofen instead. I was prescribed Oxycodone and I can't say that it does much - for me at least. I just get tired and that's about it. I don't know how people can become so addicted to this drug that it overtakes their life. Unless I just don't have the strong stuff. But still Oxy is the stepping stone in the opiate family. It's becoming more and more prevalent with people on Oxy committing prescription frauds (I've investigated many), to robberies and then moving onto the ultimate life ruining drug, Heroin.

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I remember one of my first traffic stops that I had made. It was a local woman in the township, living in a $300k home, attractive and had a good job as a nurse. A couple years later I again had contact with her for not having a driver's license due to oxy charges ; her life of addiction was prevalent on her exterior. Recently her name came up during conversation at roll call and I learned that she is still an addict, now heroin and cocaine, and now is being evicted out of her second house (well secondthat I know of at least).

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What drives people to ruin their lives with these stupid drugs? Going from upper middle class to slumming in the City of Milwaukee selling themselves to get a fix. And even better the suburbanites doin't even think that drugs are rampant outside of Milwaukee. The difference is it doesn't make headlines here. People keep in behind closed doors and do not handle their drug business in public (well most of the time).

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Reminds of a recent hair cut I had. I really don't like telling people what I do for a living because I get treated differently, but one woman recognized me as after several haircuts with her it came out. Well she informed the person that had been cutting my hair about my profession and he began making ridiculous comments about how he could not do my job because he would want to shoot people for not listening to them. What irrates me even more is that because I work in a suburb, "Oh, you work there? There's no crime there." WTF!?

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Well I think that is enough ranting about work and drugs. Kind of lost topic for my training and racing journal, but I can't really train right now with the toofers.

Base, Base, Baby!

Yep just like ice ice baby. I'm glad I have good riding buddies to do some base with otherwise I'd be out killing myself still. Did just shy of four hours of slow base miles yesterday under the beautiful fall colors. Somehow I managed to tweak my knee and one of my tendons is all balled up. It feels like someone is kicking me in the back of the knee everytime I stand up. Sucks. Ah well.
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I won't be on the bike much this week as I get my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday. All of them. Oi. I'm not sure when I'll feel like going back at it, but hopefully next weekend will be okay for at least an hour of spinning or so.
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I'm also excited about next year's racing season. I just learned on Friday that Travis will be trying out some crits after a very successful season in the WISPORT road races. Travis is a super strong rider - I'm glad he's not eligible for the masters races yet! That makes Travis, Jeramey and I for the Elite 4/5s for the WCA series. Nice! Just need a few more young road guys to have a solid Elite 4/5 team.

Suckage

Well I really sucked it up Sunday for the Fall Fling Crit Finale. Okay start after missing another clip in. Speedplay here I come - or I could just work on that...hmmmm. I just get too antsy at the start. Anyways, for whatever reason, I was dying for the entire race. My lungs were just killing me. I struggled to move up and kept sliding back further and further and finally within the last two laps the accordian effect took its toll and I was done. Finished at the very back of the field to round out my overall standing to 33rd for the four races. 23 Places off where I wanted to be going into this thing. Not the way I wanted to end my racing season. So much for a high note.

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Now it is time to relax. I'm done racing until spring. It's sad to say that even though this weekend was less than spectacular because I love competition. It is really what makes me suffer through hard training sessions and I'll have to carry this craptastic performance into the winter for motivation.

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This month is a real easy recovery / off season month in my training plan. I think Joe only has me riding a couple days a week to keep the aerobic fitness and the rest is relaxation. Nice. Now I can get some stuff done around the house maybe? Ha we'll see about that. Back to learning how to design a website for work..... and maybe I'll make one for myself for S's and G's.

Fall Fling Time Trial

Well yesterday was my first Time Trial. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fun. A short course just under 10 miles, due to a change in course design, made for some excruciating pain. I thought for sure I was going to be DFL as when Sarah and I left to go to the hotel, I had the worst time of 25:57. I checked the results late last night and there are four people under me. I guess it's not all that bad of a result as I had no idea what to expect for my first TT. Also I did not have aerobars, aero helmet, shoe covers and all that other smancy fancy stuff.
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Anyways, today is the crit finale on the "north" course, but the flyer does not say exactly where it is, so I'm a bit confused as to that. Ah well it is supposedly somewhere behind our hotel in the business park. I'll take a cruise down there after breakfast. Speaking of which - is this just an Illinois thing or do other areas charge for breakfast at hotels!? Every hotel that I've ever stayed at in Wisconsin gives you free breakfast. I've stayed at some really nice and medium quality in Wisconsin and all of them had free breakfast in the morn. Here in IL they charge you 100 bucks+ a night and expect you to pay 10 bucks a person for breakfast in the morning. Another reason I dislike Illinois. That is all for now.

But it's...

...cold outside and I don't want to ride. But I have to. I need to keep my legs open for racing this weekend. I also need to stretch. Maybe I should do that now while I'm watching the Tour of Missouri and typing. I got a massage after the crit on Sunday by the Athletes by Design traveling masseuse and she said that my hip flexors were really tight and my flexibility is terrible. Okay so that was my interpretation of what she said, but she did say I need to stretch a lot more. Any stretching is "more" for me. So I think I'll do some "more" now.

Fall Fling Cat 4 Crit #1 (40min +2) 65 person field

Okay position at the start, but got stalled as a rider in front of me didn't get clipped in on the first try. Field swarmed and relegated to the near rear of the field. Found the spots to move up in turn 3 and 4, but then would get pinched in turn 1. Tried some different lines but the field was too big to get the best lines and move up at the same time. On the bell lap I was 15 wheels back and the rider in front of me sat up and exploded. I was instantly swarmed. I yelled at him to move up as a big gap was being formed and I was unable to move myself as I was now boxed in. Finally was able to get around him after turn 2, but lost too much ground. Rolled in for 41st.
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Disappointing weekend. I was looking for a lot better results, but that’s racing. There were a lot of team tactics (imagine that in a Cat 4 Race!) as the big Chicago area teams showed up. WDT, XXX, Chicago Cutting Crew, Illinois Tech, Tati, etc., and they were working the field over.

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Can't sulk over it. Saturday is the TT, which I have not had the opportunity to do yet - so I'm not expecting much there, but Sunday is the day. The day I will do well in the last crit of the season. GC hopes are gone, but the crit is in my sights now.

Fall Fling Road Race

Just a quick race report for race #1 of the Fall Fling Series. Today was the road race. 40 some odd miles of flat to rolling, tight, narrow roads with the center line rule loosely enforced. This caused some mayhem on the last lap with a couple miles to go. About 15 riders decided they needed a better position for the sprint and not only crossed the center line by a little bit, they were on the opposite shoulder of the roadway. The official on the motor was all over it, causing the race to slow roll the last 1/2 mile before 200m. Ridiculous. No one was DQ'd out of it and my position suffered dearly. Ended up 26th for the day of about 50+ riders. Not too bad, but could have easily had a top ten if there was room to move up in the field, but the roads did not allow it. Will be looking for a better day tomorrow at the crit which is a few blocks from the hotel. I'll be taking a nap here shortly, hitting the hot tub and then eatin' some grub... yummy.

Here's to tomorrow!

Ka-blewy

Blew up on today's OBC training ride. But it was my fault. I haven't had any moderate to hard training rides the past few weeks due to lacking motivation and then toying with Cat 2 Beans and Barley racer Eric Loberg, boom - done! Stuck my head up into the wind too many times when the pace lagged and a few too many attacks on small hills and false flats to string things out did me in.

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Chalk it up to another learning experience. And it's to sit just sit in and not attack!

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A big congrats to Jeramey from WCBC for hanging in on the whole ride! WOW! Finished in the top 3! Send him some papers for Team Extreme!!

Rain

Well we are finally getting some much needed rain here. But it squashed plans for a team ride early this morning (well at least for me it did). It sucks because a Washington County Bike Club member expressed interest in racing next year and wanted to ride with us this morning to get a feel for the team and pick brains about racing. Guess it'll have to wait until next weekend.

Time for more coffee, breakfast and the trainer (100% chance of rain all freakin' day).

Lacking Motivation

I had it, but now it's gone. Not sure what happened. Maybe too hard Labor Day weekend? Two long days with lots of spirited efforts and tough climbs. I took five days off the bike. I felt flat, fat and lethargic. Even though the scale said I weighed the same, I felt like a big lump. I went out for a couple hour slow spin yesterday as my comeback. It felt good to be out, but I had to force myself to do it. Now today it is crappy outside and I just cleaned my ride. Gonna put on the HDTV and watch some nat geo and spin for a bit. I have to keep on trucking. I'm gunning for the Fall Fling Series coming up and I want to be in top 10 overall for the four races. Ugh. Some one kick me in the arse!

Oh and I found Stage 4 of the Tour of Ireland. Versus condensed Stage 4 and 5 into one hour long segment. Boo.

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I also decided to take an updated picture of The Brocket - with torn bar tape, scraped saddle and my new full size K-Force crankset. A nice upgrade from the SLK compact I had earlier this season.

Where the h-e-double hockey sticks is it!?

Come on now! Really, where did it go? I was so looking forward to watching Stage 4 of the Tour of Ireland, because being the lad I am, I love Ireland; but I got home today and went to the DVR to bring it up and it wasn't there. Was it on today!? It had to be! Why didn't it record? Oh the drama! Ah well, I believe it was the TT today anyways and while I'd watch it, I like the RR's better. Sarah and I were talking while watching yesterdays stage and it has been confirmed. We are definately going back within the next two years.

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A kinda cool thing happened this evening on my training ride. As many of you know Harley is celebrating its 105th Anniversary this week and there are motorcycles everywhere! Thousands and thousands of bikes all over the area. Well last night I was doing some intervals and a biker passed me and a short time later he turned around and came back. He passed me again but then slowed down and his passenger started to take pictures of the scenery (barns, cows, etc.). I cranked it up for one last interval, caught the Harley, drafted for a few seconds and then went around. The chick on the back of the Harley gave me a "that was cool" smile as I passed (or at least that's what I want to think!). They caught back up to me quickly and we road nearly side by side for a couple tenths of a mile before we parted ways at the next intersection.

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My bike is still better. Ha.

Flatlandia

So Sarah and I just got back last night from a few days of visiting her folks in Minnesota. It was a nice time visiting and what not, but I tell ya the cycling sucks there. I thought the Flatlandia team was from Illinois, but I really think they are secretly from south central Minnesota. Everything looked the same, acre after acre of corn, soy beans and beats. Windy as all get out because there were no freakin' trees to be found because of all the farm fields. The roads were long, straight and boring. The "hills" consisted of false flats, nothing less, nothing more. Oi. Her parents have to drive over an hour just to go to the grocery store. That's ridiculous!!! *I know not all of Minnesota is this boring! The Cities were pretty cool when we strolled through and some of the towns in between. I'm thinking the am races at NVGP next year so Sarah's parents can check it out.*
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Enough ranting about that already. I'm glad to be back home in time for the local festivities. Several special rides this weekend for the team and OBC that I will be partaking in as well the cookout Sarah and I are hosting on Sunday. Sad to say I really don't have much more vacation time left this year; it has been really nice doing whatever at a whim.
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Oh, and another goal accomplished for this year. Successfully climbed Holy Hill. I set out last Sunday morning to ride down to the shop for a group ride, but no one else showed (except Tom and Collin, but Tom forgot his cleats - so both of them did not ride). I decided to continue on my merry way wondering where I was going to go. I started making my way towards the Holy Hill area and kept getting closer and closer. I said to myself several times, "ah, I'll just turn off and head home on the next road." But the allure of the climb continually peaked my interest and I did it. Not nearly as bad as what I thought it was going to be. I took the main entrance to the church, which most of the climbing was the switch backs before the church. I've heard there is a "back door" route to the church off of Caramel Road, but I'm not that familiar with the area to galavant all over on my own. I'm now going to try to incorporate this area into my training plans much more often after giving it a whirl. I love to suffer.

"The Brocket"

A few funny things these past couple days:
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Today I drafted some chickens on Highland Road. That was interesting... riding down the road and all of a sudden I'm getting clucked at and look to my right and there's two chickens running aside me. They flew in front of me and started running again. I just couldn't get aero enough to get a good draft off of them!
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My teammate, Grant, gave me a new nickname: "The Brocket" after my attack on the Level Valley Creamery route. Well he actually gave it to me before the ride started, but said that I definitely earned it afterwards. I must continue the legacy of The Brocket!
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Oh yea, (more awesome than funny) I saw Kate and some other HPC girls on Versus' Cyclism Sundays for the Nature Valley Grand Prix. I guess Versus just got to airring this last weekend, because it magically showed up on my DVR. It's awesome to see someone you know on TV and cycling! I'll save it for ya 'till you come next year Kate!

"Level Valley" Creamery Route

Last night was a special training route for the Ozaukee Bike Club (OBC). Special as in treacherous climbs and a killer race pace. Anyone that has heard me talk knows that the OBC rides are tough with varying skill levels throughout the field from Cat 2's down to enthusiastic roadies. I had set a goal early this spring to be able to hang with the 'A' group on any particular route this group does on Wednesday nights, but I had no idea that I would accomplish this task on one of the toughest routes known to the OBC.

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I wasn't feeling the greatest from the get go as my wisdom teeth were bothering me. It seems as though once a week they really hurt -like a 6 out of a 10. Last night was a definite 6. It's a dull pain though so I can withstand it. Anyways, we rolled out and Brian Petted and I sat on the front for the warm up and up the first climb. This was key as there were two bitchin' climbs about four miles up the road and we were able to reintegrate about six riders back to recover before the climbs. Climb #1 went well and I was one of the first few up; Climb #2 is a 15% 1/4 mile wall of pain that you cannot get any momentum on because of the short 2/10 mile 5% just before it. I was not far back off the couple leaders once again, but I was severely hurting. I was soon passed by the remainder of the 'A' group and was in no mans land. Grant and Tom shot up behind me about a minute later and the train was on the way to catch the group. Our train caught the 'A' group just before the next grinder of a climber. Somehow I found the legs and muscled up it second wheel. Unfortunately this surge caused Tom, who had just caught back on the 'A' group, to be spit out the back in no man's land. Sidebar: Tom and I have both been struggling all season to be able to hang with the 'A' group... Keep pushing it Tom!

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The next 10 miles we set up a decent rotating pace line at about 27-28 mph until the descent down Paradise Drive (Rustic Road section) and onto Washington Drive where everyone was saving up energy for the final sprint a few miles down the road on Pleasant Valley. I was feeling well recovered just before the first little hill on Washington and spring boarded off the front and launched a full fledged attack......that only lasted until the base of the second hill. Didn't have enough in the tank to keep going, but softened up some legs for the final sprint which was growing imminent.

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We turned from CTH Y onto Pleasant Valley and I was smelling the finish, but I didn't have anything at all left in the tank to contest the sprint. The final 1.5 mile false flat and two small uphills killed me and I trickled in six wheels back. Rolled into the lot in sheer pain. Nauseous. Wisdom teeth killing me, causing so much pain that it affected my hearing.

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Despite all the pain, suffering and misery, I felt damn good. Another goal accomplished. I can't wait for the ABR Fall Fling Series. Bring it!

Ride....Work....Ride

No overtime this week so I've been getting in some good riding. About 7 hours of training time in through Friday with a three hour spin slated for this morning after I finish my coffee and let things settle.

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I received my approval from USAC for my Cat 4 upgrade and e-mailed my coach with the news. His response was "Cat 3 next year?" Which makes me start to evaluate my goals for 2009. Do I really want to shoot for the 3's? Yes and No. I think I would like to get some good race experience in the 4's this year, that being I haven't really been able to mix it up at the end nor put in a lot of attacks during the race. I want to be able to apply the tactics that I've been taught and I don't think the 3's is the place to try them the first time around. I'll have to see how next year goes and re-evaluate then should I have the upgrade points.

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The racing season is really dwindling down. Only one WCA race in August and it is moderately hilly. Ugh. I suck in the hills. Good thing I'm not doing this race. I'll be doing the Cream City Century ride the day after. It'll be my first century. Should be interesting and I hear it is a good time. I will be racing the ABD Cycling Fall Fling in Illinois however. I'm excited for this two weekend series. I feel that I'm getting stronger with the coaching and I think I figured out my sprint now too. I'm ready to mix it up baby!

Superweek 2008

It was, well Super, just as it sounds. I had taken two weeks off from work so that Sarah and I could host part of the HPC Powered by Altarum women's national pro team and so I could race a bunch of the Superweek races that were close to home. I must say it was an excellent two weeks of vacation that ranks up there with the Ireland trip a year and a half ago. Just wish Kate and Evan could have made it out to race. Get well soon Kate! The HPC girls were awesome and it was great to get to know them, especially Genevieve who is from New Zealand - always fun to learn about new places!! Can't wait to have everyone back next year.

Race Reports:

Waukesha - Rainy. Two and a half hour delay before things got under way and once they did the field was immediately shattered. First 15 people into turn 1 of the technical eight corner crit course stayed away for the entire race. Everyone else was forced to close huge gaps to stay on anyones wheel. I went down on lap 6 or so after following some bonehead's line into turn 8. I soon as I got on his wheel before that turn I had a bad feeling and sure enough I washed out at 22mph. Checked for injuries, a little blood, bike was okay - stem needed to be straightened and off I went to the wheel pit. Got back in and just didn't have my wits about me to continue. 37th Place.

Evanston - I did this race on recommendation of Kate and Evan last year because they said it was just an awesome venue........they were were spot on! Numerous shops and restaurants lined the course that zig zagged through their downtown. The field was sold out for the 4/5 race with 75 riders and was a fast pace from the gun. I was feeling a little nervous in the corners because of the crash the day before in Waukesha, but with five to go I found my confidence again. A little late, but nonetheless it was back. Finished 48 out of the 75 person field.

Cedarburg - Oi. My legs were heavy during the warmup and I knew it wasn't going to be good. Add in that just shy of half the course was uphill. I teeter toddered at the back of the field for maybe four laps before getting gapped. I couldn't get back on and my legs felt like (in the words of Brian Petted) ham hocks. BOOOM! I exploded. Done. Finished. Pulled out. DNF.

Racine - This is a new venue for this year. It was also my first time to Racine and it just about lives up to everything that people talk about it. It is an armpit of a city, EXCEPT for the downtown area. I didn't even know there was one until I raced there and it is an okay venue. Meh, once you start the race you don't comprehend where you are anyways so who cares! The field was pretty small, maybe 35 riders in total. Pace was fast - duh it's Superweek. I was carefull in two of the turns because the crosswalks had this painted concrete that I found to be slick while warming up on the course. On Lap 1 somone in front of me nearly washed out on it as well. I worried about the crosswalk a little too much and ended up going off the back after six laps or so. Worked with a bunch of people that were also off the back. Finished 19th - one shy of the money. Only in Superweek can you be out the back still be able to score some cash!

Downer Ave - This year is the first year that all categories are able to race on this course. It only used to the pros that raced otherwise so I was really excited for this course. The course is pretty much a triangle with two huge straightways, so it was exceptionally fast. A field of 67 riders made their way into turn 1, to which I was towards the back. Had my usual problem of getting clipped in. I have this problem a lot at the beginning of races because I'm so antsy and I'm "go, go, go," in my head. I have no problems getting clipped in warmups or training rides, just at the start of the race. I need to find a way to duplicate stress levels and get clipped in under those circumstances.... Anyways, field was strung out on the straightaways and guys were falling off the back left and right, which led to me closing gap after gap to stay on with the field. Ugh. Accordian effect sucks. I finally fell victim and went off the back. Finished 44th.

Whitefish Bay - Team Extreme pulled through; Jim G., Mike H. and Dave N. decided to give it a go with me. Jim G. said a few days before that he was done for the season, but after he watched me at Downer giving it my all, the motivation sparked with him to keep truckin'. Still a little trouble getting clipped in, but I made up ground with turn 1 being close to the start / finish. Tucked in nicely in the first 1/3 of the field and hung on for the segment of "Dump the Chump" (exceptionally fast pace for the first 5-6 laps to ween out the weaker riders). A break of three went away shortly thereafter and they had a good ten second gap on the field. I found some legs to go to the front of the field and up the tempo to bring back the break. I sat up front for a lot longer than I wanted to (just shy of a lap) as no one wanted to pull through after I gave the ol' chicken wing. Finally some did after I did most of the work and the break was reeled in. I tucked back in to recover and I see Jim G. shooting up the inside putting in a super attack! It didn't stick, but softened everyone up. Only a few more attacks that were quickly chased down and we were to the bell lap. The pace ramped up just before turn 3 and everyone was jockeying for the top five or six wheels into the last corners. Unfortunately I didn't have the legs and faded a bit. Finished 18th.

By far Whitefish Bay was my best race of the season. I felt so proud of myself to be at the front of the field chasing down that break. I can feel myself getting stronger and overall improvement in tactics and riding in general. There's only one more crit left this season (end of August) and I'm going to try to jockey my schedule so I that I can race. I want it.

I'm starting to evaluate my goals for next season and decided that one of them is to be in the top 25 for Overall Points at Superweek next year. If I do six races again that means all have to be top 10 places. I may do more next year, but I feel that this is an obtainable goal.

Giro d' Grafton Race Report

June 21, 2008 - Grafton, Wisconsin. The 'A' Race of the season. Can I call it an A race if its only my third race and haven't been training all that much until recently? Well, I'm going to.

Had a good long warmup on the trainer while blasting Jack Johnson on the MP3 player to relieve some of the pre-race anxiety. And there was a lot of anxiety, but it came down to time to roll the start/finish and I was feeling more relaxed. Thank you Jack!

Race started a bit late so I road some side streets for a bit to keep my legs warm. A little trouble clipping in at the start, but got right back on track. Listened to my coach and the advice of others to stay in the top 15-20 riders to avoid trouble - i.e. according effect, crashes and getting shot out the back - and it paid off. I was doing a lot of suffering at 95-97% of my maximum heart rate for half the race managing to hang on to all the surges when someone would attack up the sides. The attacks were quickly chased down and the field was gradually becoming strung out through the quick turns on the back stretch. I was able to make my way up to eighth wheel and hold there for a few laps before tucking in a little further back during the prime laps as I didn't have the gas to go for anything. My body began to adapt to the high intensity I was working at half way through the race and I knew I'd be able to hang on up top.

The last lap everyone ramped up the pace quite a bit and we were coming into turn six hot in single file. I was sitting about 15 wheels back when I see a guy two wheels ahead of me washout in the turn sliding across the pavement in my line. I grab a fistful of brake and I'm able to make it to the outside gutter. I'm clear! Wrong. BAM! The guy on my inside saw the crash and was trying to avoid the downed rider. Well, he did not look where he was putting his bike and put it right into my front wheel, taking me out. F'ing bonehead. Now my wheel is out of true, shifter hood and bar tape needs to be replaced, bibs have a hole in the arse and I've got a nice patch of road rash on my ass with some minor road rash on my wrist and elbow.

Shit happens. It's racing. And there's always next weekend. At least I'm not any more injured than I am. Most importantly, my bike isn't really all that damaged. Mostly cosmetic, but I needed something to complain about! Do I need to change the title of this blog now since I accomplished being a pack fodder? Nah, I'll at least wait until I finish a race as a pack fodder.

Oh How I love Intervals

Tuesday is interval day. I look forward to these for some odd reason. Do I like the pain? Yea, because I know in the end it is making me stronger. I felt I could have done a few more yesterday, but six was good. Joe calls yesterday's workout Crit Intervals, which are essentially bridging / two minute power. Had a nice warmup, relatively no wind. Went over to moderately flat Pleasant Valley Road - one very short hill and a false flat. Did six 2 min 15s intervals with 10 min rest between each one. They weren't too hard or too easy. Which seems to me that I'm not doing something right or not in the right zone as everyone talks about being ready to keel over or throw up after doing intervals. The sprint intervals make me want to keel over at the end, but not these.

Anyways, tonight is crit practice for the big Grafton race at the indutrial park in Germantown. I think I'm going to attend, but don't want to over due it before Saturday.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I'm so sick of all this frickin' rain. It has rained for the past week with essentially no let up. Here I sit in the car for the past 9 hours at work with no more than an hour that it didn't rain. On top of that no one has signed up for the overtime slots on June 21 for the Giro d' Grafton Race, which means I will be forced to work on my day off. Mother %!*^&#! I've been planning this for the past year, took some additional time off the day before and after the race so I would have a nice four day weekend, just to get screwed and possibly not even be able to race THE race of the year for me. I'm starting to get sick of getting f'ed with all this overtime. I like to money, but damn somebody else needs to step up to the plate once in a while.

Signed,

Needs some off time for his sanity.

Burnt...

Did the WCBC ride today. Good time on some new roads for me. I've never ventured out west of Big / Little Cedar Lakes so I was able to take in some new scenery. Some nice climbs with about 2200 feet total climbing today according to the Polar. I really like the nice long grind up Aurora Road (at least that's where I think it was?).

After the club ride, I rolled back home and picked up Sarah for a ten mile spin. She said her fit is much better now, but still developed some hot spots from her cleats. Probably have to go see Karrie again to check everything over.

Rode for a total of 65 miles today. It felt really good to go out for a long ride and have nothing else to do after (well immediately after - gotta work at 10PM). I got some pretty wicked tan lines going on. Didn't use enough sun screen on my face and I've got helmet straps etched in by my ears. Looks pretty gnarly.

With all the nice weather upon us, Sarah and I are really looking forward to Superweek and having Kate and Evan back out (with their friends / teammates of course!). We had a really good time last year and Sarah and I both have got some time off around then. Kate and Evan - you'll be happy to know there's a new mattress waiting for ya and a bigger fridge!

Attack of the Killer Woodchuck!!

When I was out yesterday at the base of the second climb, I thought I saw two squirrels ahead of me on the shoulder of the road. As I spun closer to them (within three feet) I realized they were not squirrels rather woodchucks! They charged and snarled their teeth at me as I passed. They must have been protecting their nearby babies or something. A little scary, but cool at the same time.

Sarah also was fitted for her bike last night at Extreme. Some minor adjustments, new shoes, cleat adjustment and boom - no more numbness. Now she's just got to ride it more!

Hump Day

Unfortunately (or it could be good fortune) I will be missing the OBC ride tonight that goes through Holy Hill. I highly doubt I would be able to hang with the A group for long, but I would have liked to give it a go. Sarah and I will be heading down to Extreme tonight so she can get fitted to her ride. Her feet went numb on Sunday when her and I went for a spin. She also had some other problems with her back, probably because she was compensated for other stuff. Anyways, I've got an indoor soccer game at 9:30PM, which is why I won't be enduring the hill route tonight. But I did get a handful of good climbing in today on my 30 mile loop. Took the big climbs that I suffered at with the group last weekend and shortened it up a bit. Man I tell ya that Sleeping Dragon road is a killer! I hate it, but love it at the same time. Maybe one day I'll be able to tame that beast!

Volume

Well, I thought last week was a long week on the bike. This week I just kept trucking along and before I knew it had 11 hrs and 14 minutes of saddle time. Looking back I probably over did it with the extra miles and such. There was some good group rides though.

Did the Level Valley Creamery Route on Wednesday with OBC - dropped after a diesel pickup truck seperated some riders on the first climb up Pleasant Valley Route. Lacked the power to get back on with the headwind. That is my biggest goal right now - to hang on for the entire ride with the 'A' group of the OBC ride. I'll take that first over better finishes in races!

Thursday night Pedal Moraine Group Ride was good too. Had to stop a little short because of time due to two riders with flats. One has a sidewall blow out and had to call for a ride home (Jerry). Dave was able to get going again and finished strong. Boy it was cold though on the re-start. But I attacked on some hills to put a strain on my legs. Yep it worked. Legs were feeling a little drained. After I seperated with the group I went into TT mode for the five miles home. That was fun. Good ride guys!

Friday morning Dave, Doug and I rode out from Pedal Moraine for a nice recovery ride / base miles. My intent for it was to be a recovery ride, but the duration was a little too long for that, so I guess base miles. Dave took us on some roads that I haven't been on before around Sunburst into Kewaskum, Town of West Bend, etc. Beautiful route. I achieved my goal for the ride to keep my HR way down - Zone 2 average for the entire ride. Was a little tough with some of the rollers around Sunburst, but I just tried to keep spinning and breathing correctly. Guess it worked.

Saturday morning I got up at the butt crack of 5:25AM, made some coffeee, grabbed my steed and race bag and shot out the door to meet up with the Team as LaSata in Cedarburg for the second stage of the "Tour de Giese." Man Jim Giese can come up with some routes. Nice and flat for the first ten miles down Sherman Road. I mixed it up with a couple Stop Ahead Sign sprints to get my HR jacked up. Fun stuff! Cross Hwy 60 to Lily Road and enter the picturesque scenery. I was able to take some of it in before big climbs - Pleasant Valley Road / Hillside = immense suffering; Sleeping Dragon Road - I think that road ate a few cyclists in its time = immense suffering; Scenic Road north from Little Cedar = immense suffering. Throw in a few more sprints here and there plus trying to keep up with the Extremers after being a not so strong climber = legs toast. Done. Nothing left.

I just hired a coach this past week to assist in developing a training plan and fundamentals. He and I were talking about meeting this morning (Sunday) for an endurance ride. I had to decline the invite after yesterday as all that I can afford to do is a meager recovery ride. I really wanted to meet with him and ride, but I don't want to overtrain. He's supposed to give me a jing today so we can get working on the training plan and figure out goals, race schedule and other priorities for the season.

Lastly, I added another Wheels on Willy pic for your enjoyment. That is all.

Patrick

Wheels on Willy Crit - 5/18/08...and a little catch up.

I know, I know - I need to post on here a little more often as this is supposed to be my Training Diary. Meh. I'll get to it eventually. This past week I put a lot of hours in on the bike. 7 hr and 45 min to be exact. Had a really good ride on Thursday for the Pedal Moraine group ride. Took a lot of pulls and sat on the front three wheels for the entire ride. Popped two or three off the back as well. Made me feel good as it was not me for once.

On Saturday, I set out at 5:30Am to meet up with fellow Team Extremers in Cedarburg for a base miles group ride. I had planned on riding for about 30 miles or so as I would be racing in Madison on Sunday. The pace was moderate for the most part. Got to my turn around point, but didn't turn around.... kept on riding. Ended up with a Metric Century.

Wheels on Willy Crit:

Sarah and I ventured out to Madison on Sunday for the Wheels on Willy Criterium Race. A short .6 mile left hand turn course with a slight uphill finish. I had a feeling it was going to be a fast race. Sure shit, right out the gates they're hammering it into turn #1. Down the slight dowhill stretch and into turn #2. This is where we met the 7-10mph crosswind. Not bad if sitting in, but solo gets a bit old. Turn #3 takes us into the headwind for a short stretch before turn #4 and the slight uphill finish.

I managed to hold onto the 27-30mph pace for just over 3 laps before I got gapped after turn #2. Tried to bridge up to the field, but fell short. Welcome to No Man's Land. Coming into turn #3, I looked back and did not see anyone else around except a few others rolling out of turn #2. I knew I was not going to be able to get back onto the field with the headwind I was about to face and sat up for others to work with. After about 2 laps, I found a rider from UW-Madison / Evil Racing to work with. He and I ended up working with each other until the last three laps. One rider from the field went down hard in turn #4 and stayed down for a while, which caused the race to be halted.

Race Officials restarted the race in two groups - main field and those off the back. I had trouble getting clipped in after the restart and couldn't get on with a group of ten riders. Found the UW guy again and we worked together until 200m. He started to ramp it up. I see him start to stand on the slight uphill and put it down. I knew from sitting on his wheel in the head wind he wasn't going to have much, so I went around and put the hammer down. Well, at least I got a good sprint in! Felt good to get that out. Finished 40th out of a field of 57 riders.

I'll definately be working on intervals and being able to sustain a higher pace for short amounts of time. Seems that the 4/5 races are really fast for 1/2 the race, but they slow significantly after that. I also refrain from any Metric Centuries the day before a race! Grant says I should be in good form for Grafton with all the riding I've been doing lately. Hopefully I'll be able to stay on track and finally be a pack fodder.

Patrick

Ugh

Training is coming along really slowly. I have not had a lot of time for daily riding. Maybe 2-3 times per week at the very most. At least I will be able to get out today for an hour and a half or so, but then have to go to work til 5. Maybe I'll try getting in a short ride around dinner time and maybe I can con Sarah into coming along with. There's so much to do around the house with the weather being warm its been difficult to find time for everything.

On a better note, I went to Extreme on Monday and had Karrie take a look at my fit as I was having problems with pain on the right side of my neck and my right elbow. After 3 1/2 hours on the training we finally fixed the problems. 1.) My stem was in a definite sprinting position where I was reaching far away (120 stem changed to 100 stem) causing neck problems 2.) a washer was missing from the left part of my saddle where it is attached to the seat post which may have caused the saddle to wear oddly --- the right side of my saddle was essentially bent down more than the left side causing an unevenness in the right half of my body. 3.) Right shifter was down just a tad versus the left and contributing to the right half unevenness.

As I have only ridden with the new fit on two short rides so far, I cannot totally judge how it is overall, but it feels a lot better not having a twinge in my elbow and a creak in my neck when riding. I also felt that I have more energy in this position as I am not wasting it trying to hold myself up from being stretched out to far over the bars.

Time for me to stretch and get ready for a ride. I'll try to report back here more often as I am slacking!

Till Next Time,

Patrick

4/27/08 - Base Miles

Decided yesterday that I need a whole lot more saddle time. So today I went out for a nice base miles ride. Did 45 miles in total and tried to keep it in 3/4 HR Zone. Found it to be pretty difficult trying to keep in it HR Zone 3, but managed to do it for about 1 hr 15 min... So I felt good about that. My left quad is a bit tense as it was my longest solo ride of the season so far, but it's the first of many to come. Now it's time to stretch, watch Cyclism Sunday on the DVR and read the Cyclist's Training Bible (need to develop a plan!!).

Later -

Patrick

Sunday Recovery Ride

4/20/08 - Team Extreme Headquarters... Thriving Thiensville Wisconsin...

Went out for a nice recovery ride today with the mountain bike guys on the team. First ride that I did with them. I thought there would have been more roadies there as most of the road team had raced this past Saturday at Menomonee Park. It was a nice spin up to Cedar Creek and back. Nice moderate tempo. I was able to keep a nice HR Avg of 143. On the way back we did a few Stop Ahead Sprints. I saw Karrie go, but I didn't pick up on her wheel until too late and didn't get a good lead out. That was right before 60 on Horns Corners Road. I will have to work on my sprint in that section as it's perfectly flat and picturesque for a sprint (also close to the house!). I had another good sprint on a slight downhill section again on Horns Corner Road. Almost spun out of my 11 at 130rpm for top speed of 41.1 - thanks to the downhill. I have yet to really do an all out effort on a flat stretch. So probably this week. All in all it was a great little recovery ride to get the cob webs out from Saturday. Now it's time to hook up with Jim G. to develop a training plan!

Menomonee Park Criterium 4/19/08

Well, it seems appropriate that I begin my first blog entry on the same day that I had my first criterium race.

First off, it wasn't really a crit layout, more like a circuit race seeing that the course was 1.8 miles and one 90 degree turn; the rest was all slow curves.

Anyways... I prepared well the night before for the race having the Exploder packed and ready to roll in this morning. Smooth start to the day, but my nerves were kicking in hardcore regardless. I thought I was going to be sick on the way down to the course. Got to the parking lot at the quarry nice and early before my 9:45 start time, registered and began to warmup. I could feel my heart rate just going all sorts of crazy! I drank a ridiculous amount of water and tried to eat some fig newtons, but I was so freaking nervous my body was putting up a fight taking them down. I hopped on the trainer and began to warmup and was feeling okay. Got a good sweat going after about 35 minutes and then did a few warmup laps in the parking lot. I started to get a little cold as the sun went behind the clouds. This should have been my clue to start warming up harder, but I didn't; just kept going around in the parking lot just like everyone else... Ugh.

I make my way to the start line as the womens' race was finishing. Scope out a decent spot and scoot in. Next thing I know everyone is on top of me trying to squeeze their bike in this little tiny spot. Ah well, I just go with it and try to not let it affect my nerves.

OKAY HERE'S THE GOOD STUFF:

We get our instructions... No primes....and the whistle blows. Off to the races. I get clipped in and we're going balls out already. Come to a small small hill with a slight curve half way up. Some schlep isn't holding his line and nearly takes out a guy to my right and me. I was able to feather the brakes and veer slightly to the left and sprint to catch the wheel in front of me. Okay I'm hanging in mid pack. THIS IS AWESOME I'm thinking to myself. I can't described the rush any better than EUPHORIC. I'm mid pack, 52 other racers around me, going 28-30mph and stuff is just whizzing by. We make it around to the back side of the course and the pace is still freaking unbelievable. We are just hauling ass through these slow curves and nearly the whole field is all together. I'm stilling sitting mid pack as we come up to the only 90 degree turn. Shit did that come up fast, everyone one is braking hard as the turn comes up after a slow rise with a curve. Thing snuck up on everyone that first lap. I brake, coast and continue through the turn holding my line. One guy to the right and up one slot got cut off and ended up doing some off roading, but was able to get back on after losing quite a few spots.

Alright first lap done. Lap 2 the riders on the front pick it up going up the first hill again through the curve. I moved up to the front 1/3 of the field and hung on there for a bit. Got around to the slight incline before the 90 and moved to the rear 1/3 of the field. Lap 2 done and gone.

Lap 3 - Guess where the acceleration is again??? Hmm maybe the first hill with the curve?? Sure shit. And this time I get gapped off the back about 3 meters. I push it to get back on and gain some group and now sitting last wheel. Hill #2 on the backside is the next big surge. Gapped again. Dangit. And I can't get back on this time. I'm trying to bridge up to the field. Quad...cramping...feels like my muscle is pushing into my knee cap. I pulled at after Lap 3.

DNF. Better than DFL right? At least I think so.

Lessons Learned:

1.) Train harder!! Intervals!! Jim G. is going to help me with developing a training program and is going to help me work at gaining some more power. I already learned quite a bit from talking to him today while he was warming up for his Masters 4/5 race.

2.) Warm Up better next time. Go to the line slightly sweating, hopefully that'll alleviate the cramps.

3.) I'm going to bed... Maybe I'll finish my lessons later :-)

Later -

Patrick