It's been three weeks off the bike today. Super bummed. FedEx is taking their sweet time. It took them three days to deliver the box, and four to pick it back up for inspection -- assuming they actually pick it up tomorrow. I feel like I should be able to add some extra money onto my claim, as they've basically taken away my only mode of transportation (lost all my pedals) for the past week.
Looks like I might have to miss racing in Jacksonville in two weeks. Super bummed.
Let's just pile it on, eh? I'm pretty convinced I've either got a recurrent case of mono or chronic fatigue syndrome.
Moving on Tuesday. Looking forward to being done with it, but not doing it. Living with a great person in a great house should be pretty alright, as long as she doesn't steal all my food. I'll be homeless for about two weeks, as I can't actually move in until the 15th. That should be fun. I've got a place to stay, but it'll be cramped, and I'm sure we'll be on each other's nerves by the end of day two.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
July 19th, 2008
I'm itching to ride! I got back back to Gainesville last Tuesday night, and my bike got here on Thursday. Sort of.
A whole corner of the box was missing when it was delivered, and it was taped over. When I unpacked the bike, my road shoes, my road pedals, a water bottle, and one of my clip'n'straps pedals were missing. Whoops. That can't be good. Upon further inspection, what do I find but some chunks missing from my downtube.
Looks like that $3000 worth of insurance might come in handy. I photographed the box extensively and submitted my claim post-haste. Here's hoping they pay up soon. The worst part is that they lost all my pedals, so I can't even ride my other bike! It's now been 14 days since I've ridden at all. What a bummer.
But if there's a better way to waste time than by planning your next bike build, I don't know it. I've been dorking out pretty hard about it and have everything completely nailed down. Just because I know you're curious, here's the plan:
Cannondale CAAD9 (white with black and blue highlights)
Move my Record group over
Deda Zero100 stem (black)
Deda Newton bars (black, white tape)
Deda Zero100 seatpost (black)
Specialized Toupe (white)
Shimano Ultegra pedals
Shiman SH-R220 shoes
And maybe, just maybe somewhere down the road, some Reynolds DV tubular race wheels.
In case you weren't keeping track, that's mostly white with a few black touches, and a very select few small blue highlights. Should be classy and nice, and match the orange/grey/white kit at least decently. I'm looking forward to it, but then again, at this point, I'd probably ride just about anything. I think I'll be going for a run tomorrow, just to hopefully keep some semblance of an aerobic base at least.
This season has been an on-off-on-off spin cycle. Here's hoping I can find some consistency soon.
A whole corner of the box was missing when it was delivered, and it was taped over. When I unpacked the bike, my road shoes, my road pedals, a water bottle, and one of my clip'n'straps pedals were missing. Whoops. That can't be good. Upon further inspection, what do I find but some chunks missing from my downtube.
Looks like that $3000 worth of insurance might come in handy. I photographed the box extensively and submitted my claim post-haste. Here's hoping they pay up soon. The worst part is that they lost all my pedals, so I can't even ride my other bike! It's now been 14 days since I've ridden at all. What a bummer.
But if there's a better way to waste time than by planning your next bike build, I don't know it. I've been dorking out pretty hard about it and have everything completely nailed down. Just because I know you're curious, here's the plan:
Cannondale CAAD9 (white with black and blue highlights)
Move my Record group over
Deda Zero100 stem (black)
Deda Newton bars (black, white tape)
Deda Zero100 seatpost (black)
Specialized Toupe (white)
Shimano Ultegra pedals
Shiman SH-R220 shoes
And maybe, just maybe somewhere down the road, some Reynolds DV tubular race wheels.
In case you weren't keeping track, that's mostly white with a few black touches, and a very select few small blue highlights. Should be classy and nice, and match the orange/grey/white kit at least decently. I'm looking forward to it, but then again, at this point, I'd probably ride just about anything. I think I'll be going for a run tomorrow, just to hopefully keep some semblance of an aerobic base at least.
This season has been an on-off-on-off spin cycle. Here's hoping I can find some consistency soon.
Monday, July 7, 2008
July 4th, 2008
Well, today was a day for fireworks and explosions I guess.
I'll just cut to the chase: DNF. I'm done for the weekend.
Everything was going splendidly until the last lap. The field was huge (almost 150), but it wasn't giving me too many problems. I was moving up consistently, and although the climbs were tough (real tough) they weren't giving me too many problems. I'd say that up until the end of the race, I'd felt better than I ever had in a race before.
Then we started the fourth and last lap. Headed down the descent (hitting upwards of 55mph every time) my chain popped off to the outside. No biggie right? It's not like I was pedaling. Thats what I thought. Then I noticed my chain dangling somehow dangerously close to my spokes. Uh-oh. I gently tried ot shift it back onto the ring, but it jumped down off on the inside, and somehow got jammed up on a chainstay, locking my cranks up. I tried wiggling around and doing all I could, but there was nothing getting it out of there. Guys are flying by, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing. I end up having to brake and slow down as quickly as I can (which, as it turns out, is not all that fast) and, of course, I came to a stop right at the base of the hill. Great. A quick clip-out running dismount flowing into a quick one finger chain fix, and I hopped back on, keeping a full 5mph of momentum. It turns out that wasn't enough. There was enough of a hill left to get me up to about 40mph, but when the field is moving at 60...
I semi-consciously decided to chase back on. It seemed like the obvious answer. I did consider riding tempo and just making the time cut (which I was sure I could do), but let's face it: I was 19th in the GC, and I was looking to move up. I knew I wasn't going to win the stage (10 extra pounds anyone?) but I was sure I could put some time into a few guys in front of me, and there was only 46 seconds separating me from the leader.
I pushed as hard as I could, time trialing through all the rollers, and took it easy only just before the wall. I hit the wall, and got many, many pity claps and cheers. I hit the steepest part right before the corner, and I was ready to call it quits. I figured if I could just make it to the feed zone at the top, I could keep going. I was starting to realize I wasn't catching back on. I made it to the feed zone, and kept climbing (albeit more gently) for another few miles. Then the bigger rises leading up to the base of the mountain hit me. They hit me hard -- too hard. I had nothing left at all. There was a delightful granite pit off to the right, so I "decided" to pull out and have a delightful cookie tossing contest with myself. Nobody won.
Still facing the climb up the mountain, and a now approaching time cut, I called it quits, and barely made it back to the parking lot.
I'm disappointed, but I'm fairly certain I'd make the same decision to chase in a heartbeat. Maybe next year.
I'll just cut to the chase: DNF. I'm done for the weekend.
Everything was going splendidly until the last lap. The field was huge (almost 150), but it wasn't giving me too many problems. I was moving up consistently, and although the climbs were tough (real tough) they weren't giving me too many problems. I'd say that up until the end of the race, I'd felt better than I ever had in a race before.
Then we started the fourth and last lap. Headed down the descent (hitting upwards of 55mph every time) my chain popped off to the outside. No biggie right? It's not like I was pedaling. Thats what I thought. Then I noticed my chain dangling somehow dangerously close to my spokes. Uh-oh. I gently tried ot shift it back onto the ring, but it jumped down off on the inside, and somehow got jammed up on a chainstay, locking my cranks up. I tried wiggling around and doing all I could, but there was nothing getting it out of there. Guys are flying by, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing. I end up having to brake and slow down as quickly as I can (which, as it turns out, is not all that fast) and, of course, I came to a stop right at the base of the hill. Great. A quick clip-out running dismount flowing into a quick one finger chain fix, and I hopped back on, keeping a full 5mph of momentum. It turns out that wasn't enough. There was enough of a hill left to get me up to about 40mph, but when the field is moving at 60...
I semi-consciously decided to chase back on. It seemed like the obvious answer. I did consider riding tempo and just making the time cut (which I was sure I could do), but let's face it: I was 19th in the GC, and I was looking to move up. I knew I wasn't going to win the stage (10 extra pounds anyone?) but I was sure I could put some time into a few guys in front of me, and there was only 46 seconds separating me from the leader.
I pushed as hard as I could, time trialing through all the rollers, and took it easy only just before the wall. I hit the wall, and got many, many pity claps and cheers. I hit the steepest part right before the corner, and I was ready to call it quits. I figured if I could just make it to the feed zone at the top, I could keep going. I was starting to realize I wasn't catching back on. I made it to the feed zone, and kept climbing (albeit more gently) for another few miles. Then the bigger rises leading up to the base of the mountain hit me. They hit me hard -- too hard. I had nothing left at all. There was a delightful granite pit off to the right, so I "decided" to pull out and have a delightful cookie tossing contest with myself. Nobody won.
Still facing the climb up the mountain, and a now approaching time cut, I called it quits, and barely made it back to the parking lot.
I'm disappointed, but I'm fairly certain I'd make the same decision to chase in a heartbeat. Maybe next year.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
July 3rd, 2008
Longsjo Fitchburg Classic: Stage One -- Time Trial
(This may get repetitive, but it'll probably be appearing in multiple places, and I don't feel like re-writing it).
I was on the road by 6:30am from Cambridge out to Fitchburg for my 8:38:30 start of the time trial. It's pretty short, about 6.9 miles, but mostly uphill. I've never climbed a hill before, and certainly not for five miles at a time. Luckily, I got to pre-ride the course yesterday, so I have a vague idea of what to expect -- rough pavement, cracks everywhere, uphill for five miles, rolling for one, and downhill for one.
We end up getting there a little later than I'd like, so I don't get quite the warmup that I want, but I'm feeling decent, if not a little empty in the stomach and full in the bladder (port-a-johns are at the parking lot, not the start line). I'm the 17th guy to go (bib number 417), but 416 isn't there, and in front of 415 is 412. I was kind of excited about having a 30 second man still in sight when I finished, just to give me something to chase. From what I can tell from a quick glance at the start 418 and 419 don't seem to be there either, so maybe I won't get passed.
I felt surprisingly relaxed until the official holding me nearly let me go, which got a little bit of panic into the system. I got the countdown and took off. There were three photographers lined up at the start, and all three of them got the snazzy 'check me out' face. Sometimes you've just got to do it.
Next thing I know, I'm out of breath and only at the base of the first hill. I started out too hard, even while reminding myself not to. It's easy to get excited. I make myself slow down a bit, as I know the first hill is the steepest, and I'm inches from blowing up. I pull the heart rate back down to 186 and keep on trucking.
I catch site of my one minute man at the top of that hill (tiny dip down to the next hill -- they just keep on building). I can't tell if this is good or bad pacing-wise, or if he's just not riding as strongly.
2.3 miles into it, I catch him on an uphill. He's got all his aero gear (sans disc wheel), so he was holding the gap on the small descents, but I was power past him on the ups. After this, I didn't see anybody for a while, and was just concentrating on keeping a rhythm. I decided to stay in the big ring the whole time, but definitely found myself in 53/25 quite a few times (couldn't get to the 27 in the big ring, or else I would have). I was out of the saddle twice and on the hoods, on the tops of the bars (still tucked over) once, but other than that, I was in the drops the entire time, just trying to stay as low as possible, keeping the knees and elbows in.
I finally saw my 2:30 guy at about mile four. I picked up some distance on him on the final hills, but he had a decent position, and once we hit the downhills, I couldn't close the gap too much. I had paced myself to nearly explode right at the top of the last big hills, barely suffer through the fast rollers, and then basically be dead for the last downhill mile, and I nailed it perfectly. I had closed down the gap from #412 to about 100 meters by the time we finished.
All in all, finished up in 19:46, good enough for 19th, and (if I'm not mistaken) the first finisher without any aero gear. We'll see how tomorrow goes.
(This may get repetitive, but it'll probably be appearing in multiple places, and I don't feel like re-writing it).
I was on the road by 6:30am from Cambridge out to Fitchburg for my 8:38:30 start of the time trial. It's pretty short, about 6.9 miles, but mostly uphill. I've never climbed a hill before, and certainly not for five miles at a time. Luckily, I got to pre-ride the course yesterday, so I have a vague idea of what to expect -- rough pavement, cracks everywhere, uphill for five miles, rolling for one, and downhill for one.
We end up getting there a little later than I'd like, so I don't get quite the warmup that I want, but I'm feeling decent, if not a little empty in the stomach and full in the bladder (port-a-johns are at the parking lot, not the start line). I'm the 17th guy to go (bib number 417), but 416 isn't there, and in front of 415 is 412. I was kind of excited about having a 30 second man still in sight when I finished, just to give me something to chase. From what I can tell from a quick glance at the start 418 and 419 don't seem to be there either, so maybe I won't get passed.
I felt surprisingly relaxed until the official holding me nearly let me go, which got a little bit of panic into the system. I got the countdown and took off. There were three photographers lined up at the start, and all three of them got the snazzy 'check me out' face. Sometimes you've just got to do it.
Next thing I know, I'm out of breath and only at the base of the first hill. I started out too hard, even while reminding myself not to. It's easy to get excited. I make myself slow down a bit, as I know the first hill is the steepest, and I'm inches from blowing up. I pull the heart rate back down to 186 and keep on trucking.
I catch site of my one minute man at the top of that hill (tiny dip down to the next hill -- they just keep on building). I can't tell if this is good or bad pacing-wise, or if he's just not riding as strongly.
2.3 miles into it, I catch him on an uphill. He's got all his aero gear (sans disc wheel), so he was holding the gap on the small descents, but I was power past him on the ups. After this, I didn't see anybody for a while, and was just concentrating on keeping a rhythm. I decided to stay in the big ring the whole time, but definitely found myself in 53/25 quite a few times (couldn't get to the 27 in the big ring, or else I would have). I was out of the saddle twice and on the hoods, on the tops of the bars (still tucked over) once, but other than that, I was in the drops the entire time, just trying to stay as low as possible, keeping the knees and elbows in.
I finally saw my 2:30 guy at about mile four. I picked up some distance on him on the final hills, but he had a decent position, and once we hit the downhills, I couldn't close the gap too much. I had paced myself to nearly explode right at the top of the last big hills, barely suffer through the fast rollers, and then basically be dead for the last downhill mile, and I nailed it perfectly. I had closed down the gap from #412 to about 100 meters by the time we finished.
All in all, finished up in 19:46, good enough for 19th, and (if I'm not mistaken) the first finisher without any aero gear. We'll see how tomorrow goes.
July 2nd, 2008
I'm finally in Boston, and the race starts tomorrow. We went out tonight to pre-ride the time trial course. My start time is 8:38:30 -- one guy goes every 30 seconds.
It's a good course (pretty rough, but good). It's got some hills, that's for sure. The steepest is probably the first, and it just keeps going up and up and up for five miles. The last two-ish miles are some slightly downhill rollers and some more downhill, and are generally screaming fast.
I rode it with my friend Nick and his teammate Craig. I felt surprisingly good, but probably pushed myself a little too hard, but wanted to make sure I got the legs going a little bit.
I've got no aero equipment at all (other than a skinsuit) so I'll be cannibal-stylin' it tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
It's a good course (pretty rough, but good). It's got some hills, that's for sure. The steepest is probably the first, and it just keeps going up and up and up for five miles. The last two-ish miles are some slightly downhill rollers and some more downhill, and are generally screaming fast.
I rode it with my friend Nick and his teammate Craig. I felt surprisingly good, but probably pushed myself a little too hard, but wanted to make sure I got the legs going a little bit.
I've got no aero equipment at all (other than a skinsuit) so I'll be cannibal-stylin' it tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
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