Getting there…

This past weekend was my first attempt at a 40k TT at the Washington State Time Trials. It was brutally hot with temperatures pushing 100 degrees. Kitting up in an all black skinsuit was not the ideal way to dress for success but flying the Garage colors is important as the team simply rocks.

I drove, rather shotgunned, over to Spokane, WA with my teammate and TT-machine Flavio. We were able to pre-ride the course which is basically flat with a long 1-2 percent climb thrown in towards the end (from 10k to 0k). Since it was an out-and-back we would be able to see how far ahead/behind we were and how the others were handling the heat.

I started off a little hot but quickly settled in to my tempo for the next hour. I dumped a liter of water over my head at the start to help cool me down somewhat, but I pretty much just suffered in the heat for the rest of the TT. Chamois cream was the one thing I forgot…which came back to bite me for the last 10k and I found myself standing while in my aerobars to help alleviate some of the pain. After 53′59″ of pain I crossed the finish line for 3rd place and nice little bronze medal for my efforts. I was clearly the 3rd fastest rider as I was about 45″ behind second and equally as far ahead of 4th. Not bad considering I’ve only started doing TTs this year and this was my first 40k ever. Average speed was around 27.6 mph with an average HR of 190! Yeah, I’m usually at around 170 so you can clearly tell the heat had a HUGE effect of my body. The guy who got 2nd placed 3rd at the elite national TTs a couple of weeks ago so it is a good measuring stick to see how I compare nationally.

I leave you with an anonymous photo taken of an anonymous teammate who believes eating a pint of Haagen-Dazs the night before a big race is a sure key to success!

Ouch

The Stuff

When I was rowing, our coach instilled in us the discipline of demanding respect while suffering. For those in the know, a 2k is a short, intense effort that causes you to demand muscles from every part of your body. During land training, everything including your eyes are bleeding pain as you watch the meters float away as you approach the final minutes.

What the chosen few on our team were able to master was the ability to throw down and walk away. Putting in an effort so magnificent that it causes eyebrows to be raised, and then to top it off, you simply get up off the erg and walk away. You don’t look at your time, you don’t look at others, simply get up and walk away. It’s those types of moments, while others are falling off their ergs shoving oxygen into their lungs that the action of simply walking away burns an image in their minds. Letting opponents know that there’s something different about you…

I saw that today…on the TV…put in a huge effort, then hop of the bike…demanding respect.

Another HOWTO

This time, it’s how not to win a bike race. You see, I made the winning move on lap 1 of our 8 (9?) lap race. All teams were represented as well as all the big guns in the region. Folks that basically form the who’s who of the PacNW…and then me.

Our group or 8 was working well over the next 7-8 laps until about 4k to go I go down swing by leaping from the group and get a couple hundred meter gap. With a tailwind and nothing in my way I motor towards the finish line. After about 3k of effort I turn to see the chasers getting a little bigger, however to my dismay so was the womens field, 3 race vehicles and 2 civilian vehicles in front of me. ACK! Yeah, so I ease up the moment I see that hoping that my lead car can figure out a way around the mess, but eventually I eat his bumper only to turn and obviously see the chasers right on my tail.

The last 1k was a waste since my legs were not in sprinting mode and I had laid it all out in the last 3k only to walk away getting last (8th) in our little break. I later come to find out that the womens field which we were lapping for the 2nd time refused to be neutralized since they were going into their final 1k as well…but last time I checked going 28mph is much greater than 18mph and letting me pass would not mess with them sprinting for 6th place. Yes, 6th place, there was a group of about 5 that had finished about 5′ before this little incident.

A big let down from an attempt that could have netted me the win, I might have been swallowed up…but I might not…

My Weekend [or] How Not To Be A Bike Racer

So this weekend was the weekend of The Big Move™. I called on my peeps and they “gladly” showed up and for that I am eternally grateful. I barely got any sleep that Friday night/Saturday morning…about 3H actually. I was up early moving, packing, shuffling, and trashing everything in site. In the end there were about 6 of us moving all of my crap, and I do mean crap, from my old apartment on Mercer Island into my new digs in Redmond. Going from a spacious 2bdrm to a cramp 1bdrm means there is going to be some contention for space. I wish I could have taken some shots of the cramp apartment filled with 20+ years of my baggage thrown around, but alas, I couldn’t find my camera (or my phone for that matter).

So this is where my experiment of how not to be a bike racer came into play.

• lifting heavy objects with the grossly underdeveloped arms of a feabile road cyclist: CHECK
• Eating only one meal at 2pm: CHECK
• Scrambling around to return borrowed cars and check out of old aparment before the housing office closes: CHECK
• Driving to new apartment in full racing gear in hopes of making the 7:40pm crit start time: CHECK
• Burying self the last couple of laps to bring back a break: CHECK
• Falling asleep before eating dinner: CHECK
• Waking up late only to eat half a bagel en route to 70+ mile road race: CHECK
• Working yourself into vertigo trying to get into early break: CHECK
• Having your legs leave you about 15 miles from the finish: CHECK
• AND OF COURSE…A FLAT during the ride of shame!!!: CHECK
• Find out you’ve lost over 8lbs in two days to reach an all time low since high school: CHECK

Yep, that pretty much covers it. In other news, Mick is my new hero. He basically soloed off the front of the race, eventually be joined by one of the local pros to hang on for an impressive 2nd place. This is the second time in as many weeks that he has mixed it up in a two-person breakaway with the pros and came out with some impressive results.

Medal

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Originally uploaded by ashwinearl.

This has got to be one of the coolest medals I’ve ever seen…

Kickin’ it old skool

Remember the days when you’d bike over to your favorite ice cream store for a quick sugar fix or the pharmacy to purchase the newest series of Garbage Pale Kids? You’d roll up all excited to be free, hop off, and throw down the kickstand. Bad as…

Now you can relive that feeling of throwing down the kickstand with a little help.