Stupid Fast

Yep, that’s what I am when I ride my new rig. Thanks to our sponsors Specialized, HED, and Speedplay, I have a stupid fast bike! With a Fiz’ik Arione Tri Saddle, Cake Creek brakes, and FSA cranks to top off the build.

Whoa…Walla Walla

So, this past weekend was what I would call my first real taste of stage racing. I did one a while ago…I’m talking about when I was a cat 5 and would still get chainring marks on the back of my calves. n00b. At any rate, this past weekend was the Tour of Walla Walla. It’s format is pretty typical of the stage racing around here. Two stages on Saturday and then one more on Sunday. The 5.3 mile TT and monstrous 95 mile road race happened on the same day, followed up by a crit on Sunday.

This past weekend’s SR was in competition with another fairly big SR down in Oregon, this meant the field was going to be a bit smaller and in some ways harder. I really had no idea what to expect since I had been on again/off again sick for the past two weeks. I showed up on Saturday ready to ride having only been on my bike two out of the past 5 days.

The TT went pretty well, I managed 7th out of about 37 starters only about 25″ back. I’m somewhat of an unknown quantity around these parts so it was nice to squeeze into the top 10.

After a lot of lounging around it was time for the road race. I had the riders marked who were ahead and few of the folks who were right behind me on the GC. Being one of the better placed riders on our team in the GC, I was to be attentive but do as little work as possible. The race ended up being a little rough since we had the burden of keeping some of the breaks in check. Everyone on my team put in 150% effort to keep some of the early breaks in check, truly amazing. With about 20 miles to go, I tried to bridge up to what looked like the winning move. I’m still working my endurance and going from 50-60 mile races to 80-90 mile races is not an easy transition. My bridge attempt failed and with that my energy stores dropped rapidly. I managed to hang on to the lead group and do what I could to finish. My teammates Jason and Mike ended up being on the front for the majority of the last lap trying in vain to bring back the winning break. I wish I could have been up there to help, but looking straight ahead was all I could do to keep the legs turning over.

After crossing the finish, I felt like I wanted to pass-out. I quickly got changed and hopped in the car ready to head back to our hotel. About 10 miles away from the hotel *YAK* I basically removed anything I had consumed from about lunch-time on and placed it neatly on the side of the road. I did feel better after that, but still not all that great.

Sunday’s crit was actually easier than I had thought. Warming up on the trainer I could barely push 200W which was a little scary. But once I was out on the open road I felt fine. I sat in the back most of the race but hopped on the front a couple of times to reel in some dangerous looking breaks. It was the least I could do for my teammate Mike, who moved past me in the GC up to 9th, after his amazing efforts in the road race the previous day. I finished off the weekend in 11th place overall in the GC…not too shabby but definitely some room for improvement!

As a final note, it has been pointed out to me that my shoes are a horrible match to my kit. Maybe it’s time for me to get some new kicks?

They’re coming!

My sister just informed me that Smoking Popes are making their way across the country to Seattle! Opening up for them is Lovedrug, a newly acquired purchase off iTunes…I'm so there…

Sick again…

Well, at least being sick isn't all bad. I've become quite good at Sudoku and I'm working my brain.

TST

Tahuya-Seabeck-Tahuya is one of the bigger races in the region. The start list is usually a who's-who in surrounding region. Some say it's an amateur version of Liege-Baston-Liege. It's trip from Tahuya up to Seabeck, then heading back to Tahuya along a more westernly route. This route consists of 3 (2 for the lower cats) monstrous climbs that take anywhere from 5-10 minutes but they're all up. Reminds me a lot like some of the climbs back Schenectady. Steep pitches, rather than long sustained climbs.

There were over 100 entrants into the P/1/2 field consiting of a handful of pros as well as a large number of former pros. Besides the large field, the other challenge of the race was the onslaught of rain, sleet, and even some snow during the race. I don't think I have ever felt that cold while riding a bike…ever…at times it felt like my hands had turned into blocks of wood. Shifting became a chore since I had to look down at the shifter to make sure I was hitting the right lever. I did hear one post-race story of someone trying to shift with their fist and accidentially knock herself down because she punched her handlebar instead of the shfiter.
Long story short, I played my cards right and positioned myself appropriately for the three climbs…made it into the front group and then just kinda mentally fell apart. I didn't take my chances at a solo escape in the closing kilometers (someone else did that and won) and had to fight it out for a sprint finish. Not ideal since my quads would cramp when I stood up. I fought it out for a 10th place which isn't that bad since my string of DNFs was longer than my Finishes.

I'll know better next time and now have to focus on three stage races coming up in the next month. Not to mention The F™ leaving me for NYC and the start of her (and eventually my) new life. 

Gone…but not forgotten…

So I had this super long in-depth blog post about how my race weekend went, and how it didn't went. But, since I'm a wizard of the keyboard, I hit the wrong key combination and kill the tab that I was writing the blog post in. Yea for me.

But in true fashion, I'll try it again.

This weekend was a little upsetting in two ways. I got dropped, and someone passed away. The first part about me getting dropped wasn't entirely my fault. You see, I had a sssslow leak near the valve stem of my rear wheel. It was an old tube and probably had seen better days. My legs were getting heavy so psychologically, I'm telling myself that I got dropped out of the winning break due to me riding around on a nearly flat tire.

The second bad part of the weekend was when the crit on sunday was cancelled about 9 minutes in due to this. I was right behind the guy when he went down. It was a weird crash and people kinda sensed that this wasn't just a normal "someone touched wheels and he went down" kinda crash. About two laps later the field basically stopped and waited around. CPR was performed, he got the paddles, but nothing seemed to help. There's a lot of support being displayed around the community which is a nice display. The cool thing is that our field donated the entry fee money to the family and there is even a collection being done at the sponsoring bike shop. Every little bit helps.

This weekend starts the really serious set of races. TST on Saturday, then two stage races back to back. Hopefully my TT bike gets built up by then. Everything is ready to go, just need to get fit and get some tires for my wheels…

Hey Dad…

Can you believe it?

I finally got around to fixing the table…what a relief!

Another set…

…of rides completed and faithfully stored in my legs for later use. I had my second ride on a ferry on Saturday to go and pre-ride THE race of the spring season around here. Wow…that’s one heck of a course. For the folks back east…imagine Blue Factory…imagine doing Blue Factory 3 times in 20 miles…imagine doing Blue Factory 3 times in 20 miles after 40 HARD miles leading up to that first climb. Holy crap…it’s going to be a hard ride. I’ll be taking some much needed rest days in the week leading up to the race. Hopefully I can make the elite group of 20 that make it over the 3rd climb and fight it out for the finish.

Before my ferry trip, I was out riding earlier last week. On this ride, I noticed a building I had never really noticed before. There was a single flashing light in the window…the kind that you find in that silly/trendy/crap store only found in a mall (aka Spencer’s Gifts).

Upon further investigation…who wants to get their DANCE ON!!!

I really don’t know what to think of this place. But heck, gotta respect the effort. I mean, writing all that stuff on poster board and then hanging it in the window I’m sure takes a lot of work!

I really enjoy my light days. I gives me a chance to stop and check out what a cool little city Seattle is. I’m not 100% sold on the place, but every once and a while I can stop and really appreciate that which is around me…