Daily grind
OK - for those that don't already know I did get a new job. I was only out of work for just over 1 month. The best part was that I had 2 other verbal offers in the process of becoming hard offers when I took the one I did. So...if you're reading this and currently out of work - it can turn around.
All this means that poor ol psimet isn't riding the Tuesday and Thursday night world championships anymore - or at least not right now. As the sun stays out later I might have a chance. I figure I'll hit the Penny Rd Pub ride on tuesdays because it's closer.
Instead of racing this last weekend I did a BFNIC ride (Bike Forums Northern Illinois Chapter is you've forgotten). It was awesome to see some faces I haven't seen in a while. It was even better not having to organize the ride or to have promised anyone I would ride sweep. That meant I was free to show up and hammer.
I really did want to ride pretty easy for 10-15 miles getting a chance to talk to people, but alas....that was not to happen. We picked up a ringer in the parking lot. I should have known something was up when a rider with a Flatlandia jersey showed asking about our ride on the same day their club was putting on the Leland race.
We rolled out and soon after shider dropped the hammer. Later the Flatlandia rider turned the screws to us - pegging us at 27mph INTO the 30-40mph headwind. The suck.
The rest of the ride was more of the same. We turned in something like 70 miles. 35 or so at 21.1 mph the rest at 18.7 - there was some rain and some hill climbing.
So...Vernon Hills this weekend. I checked and we have like 7 riders in the 4/5. I feel good about that. I predict pain.
Hillsboro Podium
Boo-ya.
It's me standing in for JF in 2nd place on the podium at Hillsboro Roubaix. Only podium I will ever see. Thanks JF for missing it. It was pretty cool.
Madison – take 2
The radar looked like it might hold off the rain in Madison long enough for us to race so MJH2 and I decided to hit the road.
We took our time - neither of us particularly psyched to race again after 2 races the day before. As soon as I got out of the car I was smacked on the face with some frigid wind - all too familiar to our cheese-making beer-filled neighbors to the North.
At registration MJH2 and I stalled picking our plan for the day. 1 race? 2? Which one? Then MJH2 decided that for the small amount of $$ it was worth registereing for both. I just thought to myself - "SUCK!"
The crowd wasn't as big as it was the day before. Only us diehard fools with chain lube for blood were able to brave the cold and the inevitable rain to knock wheels and bang bars in yet another industrial park in the midwest.
The kit resembled something I would have expected to wear during the height of cyclocross. Vest, warmers, toe covers, etc... blech. Just yesterday it was shorts, sleeveless base and jersey with no hat. Hell I still had sunscreen in the car.
First race was the cat 4. Some guys from the day before were back. I swear there were some fresh guys too. We started way slow. It was nice. I found myself where I normally am - floating right around 5-8th wheel. One of the laps I found myself second wheel going into the hill where the guy on the front decided he wanted to attack. There was no jump he just accelerated so I went with it not realizing this guy was trying to attack. He got to the top of the hill and popped - going right back into me. Rubbed tires a bit but then he was gone...and I was up front.
I rode it. I thought I was taking it easy but MJH2 told me I was riding tempo. OOoops. Rode about 1.5 laps on the front. Suck. I did too much work. When someone finally took over I found myself dangling. I hadn't warmed up before the race and I just wasn't firing right. Took a couple more laps and then went off the back. DNF. Suck
So...I knew I would race the second race better. I went in semi-warm. MJH2 took a flyer and it looked good enough that I was about to go to the front to block when their group started to come backwards. MJH2 sat up and was throwing it in. I yelled at him to stay in because I knew the group wasn't going to do crap after they caught him, but he was having none of it.
After that I just rode the race. You get in a groove. Just kind of ebb and flow with the group. The lines and corncers become mechanical and you start looking around at who is doing what. Three guys from a team with "Port-A-John" on their bib butts were on the front trying to get their man another win. I made a joke about the race going into the toilet. No one laughed. No one got it. I had to explain it to one guy. Before that he thought I was complaining about the low speed. So the group was tired.
I kept hanging in there every lap. Was kind of on the edge of popping a lot, but never did. I just held it. I knew when and where the surges were going to come in the last few laps and they did. I covered them. I figured I was cooked for the inevitable sprint, but figured I would line up and give it what I had from the back.
Coming into the final straight I had enough speed to launch me. I figured what the heck....so I hit it. I went too late and didn't really have enough road to wind out my sprint but I picked up about 10-15 spots - finishing in 5th place out of the 26 that started - 25 finished (MJH2 was the only one who didn't).
It wasn't until later that MJH2 pointed out to me that I probably got an upgrade point. I did the math when I got home and he was right...I should get an upgrade point. Too bad I don't feel like ever upgrading again.
Good trip - good series. I'll report on the first day later. Next time I wish they'd actually CLOSE the roads instead of just implying that they were closed but still letting a TON of cars on to the course...including one coming into the Masters 1/2/3 field in the final corner of their race....Ooops.
Madison Crits
Did the cat 4 and Masters 30+ Cat 4/5 races. Nice. Fast. Both averaged just under 25mph. Ouch.
I'll do a total run down later. Trying to head back up there for some more pain.
...and here for Cat 4/5
TT Bike
Aham asked for a picture of the TT bike and I took one later that day just haven't gotten around to showing it yet. Here you go.
BH Ride Report
Great ride. Lots of people showed up. We had close to 30 or so. I thought it would be bigger, but a lot of the guys who usually meet up with us out by the golf course weren't there.
As we were climbing in one section early and heard the unmistakable sound of cleats hitting the pavement. I yelled "RIDER DOWN!" The group sat up for a second....then laid into it.
It was Ara. He got boxed in or something and hit the deck. I floated back to see who it was and saw him rocketing back up to the group. many of the team members floated back to help but he didn't need it. In the end it just left a bunchof guys off the back at a bad time for them. Ara even told them "don't wait for me (save yourselves)."
Speed wise is was slow to wind up. I was planning on leading all of the 4/5's that wanted to ride slower by taking all of the short cuts. I was 1/2 way through the first turn where I was supposed to go straight for the shortcut and missed it. That's when it started to get a little faster.
I was hanging pretty good, but found myself in the wind swinging around in a weird middle section trying to hold on. I held for a while but then my mind just said, "save it" so I sat up and coasted back.
That was when the group hit McDonald Rd and they were GONE. We ended up with a group of stragglers. Alien3 from the penny rd ride was with us. He told me CyLoew had gotten a flat and was out a long ways back (oops....). He said he felt bad for not stopping, but we all know what kind of ride it was. I still felt bad I didn't stop even though I didn't even know until many miles later.
Colorchange, RR, myself, alien3, and some tri guys made up this group. I was feeling good and was looking to take some hard pulls. We started kind of rotating well. I was pulling at 400-500 watts when on the front. We were hauling butt around 30mph all the way down McDonald. We took a shortcut and ended up in front of the main group for a majority of the ride.
Some of the tri guys weren't pulling through and when they did they weren't really pouring it on. That ended up with myself and RR and Colorchange doing a ton of pulls. We ended up really tired by the time we got back into the wind. We started a constant rotating 2 line paceline. Even that died after a few miles.
The group caught us and we motored on in the big pack. Nice. Hit Townhall in the group. It was like a gun went off. Those guys attacked it like date on prom night.
The rest of the ride found alien3 and myself limping back. We made it back into the group when we got back into town. Nice ride. Fast, but it has been faster. Fun. 40+ miles. Even with the soft pedaling in town I averaged over 20mph for the whole ride. Haven't looked at the power data but I am sure it is brutal.
CyLowe and MJH2 came rolling in together. Nice move by MJH2. He's always been good like that.
Now...trail ride with little P this morning. Hit the shop in the afternoon...racing in Madison tomorrow and hopefully Sunday as well. Here's to a good and safe weekend for everyone!
....oh yeah....and check out my site. Click on some of the advertisers links if they interest you...hopefully you know why. Custom wheel build quotes, etc.
BH Ride tonight
I am getting psyched for the BH ride tonight. Just about everyone is planning on showing. The weather is good. This could be crazy. Still debating whether or not to do the "rip your legs off total Cat 1/2 full on race world championships" or to split off and do a 4/5 "development" ride.
Probably a little of both.
5 o'clock. Parking lot. Here.
7 Cylinders
I'm firing on 7-cylinders. More than the 6 banger from last year, but not yet full power.
Did the Penny Rd Pub ride tonight. Barrington area ride I did all last year. Wind sucked. Dan, colorchange and myself headed out. Dan put the hurt on quick.
I popped a couple of times - feeling the overeating from the holiday at my parents. I kept crawling back though and found I was recovering quick. Pop, climb back, lay on a pull. It was nice.
CC hurt. Dan hurt towards the end. Epic. Mid summer speed in full winter gear in April. We finished close to 21 with only 3 guys in the wind and cold.
7-cylinders. ....can't wait to see 8.
I’m riding…
40-ish degrees. Overcast and windy. Raining off and on for what seems like a couple of days. Most everyone has backed out of the planned rides for this evening.
Wussys.
I'm riding.
TT Bay-beee
I'm down in Indy town this weekend visiting my folks for Easter. Little P is singelhandedly proving to everyone in the world that there is some good still left in the world. He's so cute his smile could melt the polar ice caps. The government is aware of this and is monitoring his happiness closely.
Anyhoo....I finally got a chance to get on my TT bike/build from over the winter. Sure I have ridden it on the trainer, etc. but I haven't had a chance to get on the road with it and really shake it out. Without any real rides with others setup I decided it would be a great opportunity to get it on the road.
Man...that's a fast bike. It's setup with a mix of Ultegra, 105 and DA components. Some cheap ol Tektro calipers, etc. and it was still fast. I had to deal with a lot of traffic and there was some climbing, but I turned in a ride at around the same speed as what I have been riding at in groups. I was able to maintain a decent TT speed (22-23mph) into the wind and 27-30 with the tailwind. I put one of my new SRAM cassette on with an 11T cog. I even used it and not on descents.
Net result...Position isn't perfect, but I didn't feel anything out enough to change it while riding. I can ride fast on this thing. Aero wheels, ditching the vest with crap in it, and putting the aero helmet on - not to mention the performance enhancement of an actual competition - will add up to some record times for me for sure this year.
I am the walrus.