Show up, shut up, ride hard, go home.

Schedule

2011-02-01T09:56:00.002-05:00

It is becoming more and more obvious that my 2011 schedule is going to be the QCW Tuesday night time trials and that is about it. That may not even start until after June. I have work deadline around June 14 that is my industry's main worldwide trade show that I am trying to get a product completed by. This involves me working in Vandalia quite a bit. Yes, I understand the irony of moving FROM Vandalia to West Chester only to take on a major project back in Vandalia. The good news is that once it warms up (hurry!), I'll be taking my bike up north to ride the friendly flat roads as much as possible.

Depending on who earns the right to promote the state TT championship, I may or may not be doing it. I am only going to do a couple of the Colavita time trials this year (Bellbrook and Casstown come to mind). Due to work, I already have to get up and hit the road quite early to make it to Vandalia before the traffic hits and I am NOT likely to get up early on the weekends anymore to drive x hours to race. I don't have that in me anymore.

My lack of an early season may lead to doing more cyclocross stuff in the fall. That would be cool.

Change of scenery

2010-12-30T16:35:00.002-05:00

I received word a couple of days ago that our team was disbanding. It really wasn't a shock as I had heard rumors for a while now. For the thousands of readers of this blog, I won't go into details, but the end result is that I am team less. Actually, I had been debating not being on a team for the past several months. Since I've only done two 'road' races in the past two years to go along with my 70 time trials in the same time frame, having team mates did not help.

Anyway, I'll miss the team but I'll see the riders again (if any of them choose to do a time trial!).

So the option are:
1. Join another team
2. Do my own thing

The only team I would entertain joining at this point would be QCW, but there are things I wouldn't like about that. Again, it wouldn't help me from a racing standpoint and the only thing that would be a positive is that I could race Pur Tour and Ault Park for free. Of course, I haven't done Ault Park since I was a hotshot cat 5 who was wrecking every other week back in 2005 and I don't know that I will be able to do it in 2011.

So it looks like I am on my own. I bought a ProBikeKit skin suit and a jersey with the flag of Scotland on it so it appears I am racing for team UK. Or team Bryan if you prefer.

Now all I have to do is ride the bike. It looks like next year is going to be not so great due to schedule. I have penciled in all of the Tuesday QCW/Cleves time trial and that is it so far. This will be the first year I won't do all of the Colavita time trials. I love them, but they are just too far away for me.

Training part 3

2010-12-02T18:14:00.003-05:00

More lifting. Been at the gym roughly 2x per week for the past five weeks. Mostly upper body but I do like the leg press. Gradually I'm getting stronger. I'm going to up the gym work to at least 3 days per week and split the work outs up instead of doing everything twice a week. This way, I won't be so tired by the end of each workout.

As far as riding the trainer goes, I've missed four days in the past 28. Riding has been nothing but going as hard as I can for 45 minutes - kind of like my races. My wattage has had a gradual increase as my overall strength is getting better. Cadence has been intentionally low as part of the new plan. Haven't done many intervals as I'm just concentrating on high overall wattage at the end of the workout.

Training part 2

2010-11-08T08:36:00.002-05:00

Yesterday marked the first day of official "gym" work. Having received a free one month pass to a local gym, I use that opportunity to test it out and see how many times I can actually go over there and workout, then possibly get a membership. For the last month I have been lifting in the basement but there is only so much I can do with what I have. The chest, arms, abs (yuck) and legs all got a beat down before finishing with 20 minutes on the elliptical thingy.

I've decided that having twigs for arms is no way to go through life so I am lifting heavy. It should effectively kill any desire for road racing, because I won't be able to get up the climbs any easier, but that's fine. It won't affect time trialling and it may actually help as long as the time trial is not hilly. It should even help on the rolling Cleves TT which I am guessing that I'll be riding at least as many times in 2011 as I did in 2010.

As far as the bike goes, the TT bike is still on lockdown and I'm chugging through 45 minutes at a time at a minimum of tempo if not a harder level. That will continue for a while.

Training

2010-10-25T18:00:00.002-05:00

Dungeon (basement really but close as one can get without bolting chains to the wall)

Time trial bike locked into position

5 minutes to warm up

10 minutes as hard as I can

1 minute to recuperate back to 'living' status

5 minutes as hard as I can

2 minutes to resuscitate myself

2 minutes all out

5 minutes of "thank god that's over"

Then I lift weights

Welcome to the 'off season' knucklehead.

Season finale Colavita Greenville #39

2010-10-11T07:39:00.002-05:00

Great weather lead to a really good turnout even though it's late in the season. The highest number I saw was 104. I was 7th to go off and had a decent 30 minute warm up in the parking lot. I overheard someone saying there was a headwind going out. Looking at the top of the trees I considered him a knucklehead who didn't know what he was talking about. Dead still.

Off I went. Into a headwind. Knucklehead was right. It was a painful little headwind that kept my speed around 22. Dismal. Since the series was all over this season, it was only the 2nd time this year on this course and I forgot everything I used to know. It made it harder! Got to the turnaround and got my tailwind...wheee. Of course, in a tailwind it's harder to think about your power output because you are already going fast. So I tried to focus on that instead of speed as best I could. Not sure what my exact time was, but it wasn't good, my speed wasn't good (24.0) and my power sucked. Trifecta! No better time to have the season end than right now. I need a break.

I was 4th in my division as a result and ended up 2nd in the season series. The championship medals are cool.

The crew that puts on this time trial series does a great job and you can tell that they care about what they are doing.

Brings me to the point of racing in general. It's a shame that more organizations don't put forth as much effort as these people do to put on events. I guess this series has spoiled me. It's not about door prizes, free drinks, free yogurt, bag of stuff at registration, medals/prizes for winners, etc, etc. It's combination of all the above along with the fact that they have openly listened to what the racers have to say and made changes to their events as a result.

1. Different courses? Done. It could have been incredibly easy to keep the race in Greenville every month. I still would have went and so would have several others, but changing the venue brought new people to racing. At Bellbrook, I parked next to a guy who have never done a race before and only did this one because it was on his home roads. Maybe he'll do another race as a result? Regardless, he had fun and along with a few others that day he was recognized by Roger and applauded by the group for being a 'first timer'. He won a door prize too.

2. Choose your own time slot? This feature made me better able to plan my drive so on a personal note it helped. I had a couple of long drives to plan around this season.

Those are just two things that stuck out in my mind.

I applaud what Roger is doing for the betterment of the sport. I also want to make mention of David Riemenschneider (Big Dave Sports) for taking the ball and running with the sport of road bike racing which many people around here think is dying. For the most part (at least as far as I know) promoting races is an almost thankless job where participants would rather bitch about everything and then do absolutely nothing to attempt to fix whatever it is they are bitching about.

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now. Stay tuned to this blog for exciting posts about winter trainer rides. Today, the time trial bike goes into the basement where it will be in lock down mode on the trainer until March.

There was a race today...

2010-10-08T17:45:00.002-05:00

...and I wasn't in it. You know what, that's okay. After three treatments so far, my back is feeling a little better. One more to go then it's off to a chiropractor for different kinds of treatment. It seems that my pelvis is misaligned, mostly due to the fact that I've sat in front of a computer drawing things for xx hours a day for the last 20 years. I sit a certain way when I draw and that's got my body all fubar'd.

Anyway, today's race was a cross race. Can't do cross right now. I can barely ride my full suspension mountain bike. So I didn't go. I would like to go to the race tomorrow to watch the pros do their thing and cheer on some people.

One more race this Sunday and then I am shutting it down and spending the rest of my time trying to enjoy riding a bike again.

Race #38 Cleves

2010-09-29T08:54:00.002-05:00

This was the final Cleves time trial for 2010. Out of the 22 weeks, I rode 17 times. For 10.25 miles, the difference between my fastest and slowest race was 1 minute 19 seconds which is right about 1 mile per hour. Wattage was more variable between 239 and 270. Later, I'll have to figure out averages for both wattage and time and aim for that to be bare minimums for 2011. I think this means lots of 25 minute intervals at at least 255 watts on the trainer over the winter. But I'm ahead of myself...

The race:
The warm up went pretty decent. The temperature was great but dropping fast. By the actual start time, my warm up wore off and I was getting cold. For the first couple of miles it was hard to get up to speed. Half way through I got into my groove but by then my speed was about 23.something. Ended up with my average at 24.0. Finished 8th out of 39 I think.

Next up is the season finale on October 10th in Greenville.

Week 22 24.2 average @ 252 watts = 25:45 (official)
Week 20 24.7 average @ 264 watts = 24:56 (25:01 official)
Week 18 24.4 average @ 264 watts = 25:26 (official)
Week 16 24.4 average @ 259 watts = 25:25 (official)
Week 15 24.0 average @ 239 watts = 26:01 (official)
Week 14 24.4 average @ 262 watts = 25:13 (official)
Weak 13 24.2 average @ 249 watts = 25:53 (official)
Week 12 24.7 average @ 265 watts=24:58 (25:00 official)
Week 11 24.4 average @ 270 watts = 25:13
Week 10 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:52
Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Race #37 Cleves

2010-09-15T08:33:00.002-05:00

190th race since 2005.

The weather was absolutely perfect and led to a good third of the field getting personal best times. Not my case though but it was my third fastest time this year in 16 attempts. From the get-go on the warm up I did not have that heavy feeling in my legs. My guess is that is heat related since I spend most of the day in air conditioning then when I go outside to race it feels much more hot than if I spent the day outside. I guess.

Earlier in the day, we had a laser therapy sales rep in the office. I had him do a five minute treatment on my right knee (the bad one) just so I could get a subjective opinion on the thing. I had been having some pain there recently so it was cool to check it out. During the warmup and race there was absolutely no pain. That was cool.

Anyway, I felt pretty good on the bike overall and had a decent power output and time. Nothing real exciting to report about the race. I did get passed by someone around the 8 mile mark and after he had a good enough gap to not be drafting, I tried to pace him back to the finish. That helped out my time quite a bit.

Two more weeks of this race then it's over until next year.

Week 20 24.7 average @ 264 watts = 24:56 (25:01 official)
Week 18 24.4 average @ 264 watts = 25:26 (official)
Week 16 24.4 average @ 259 watts = 25:25 (official)
Week 15 24.0 average @ 239 watts = 26:01 (official)
Week 14 24.4 average @ 262 watts = 25:13 (official)
Weak 13 24.2 average @ 249 watts = 25:53 (official)
Week 12 24.7 average @ 265 watts=24:58 (25:00 official)
Week 11 24.4 average @ 270 watts = 25:13
Week 10 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:52
Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Race #36 Colavita Centerville Indiana 20k

2010-09-13T07:58:00.005-05:00

Sunday was a time trial at a new course for the series. A 20k out and back over mostly flat rural roads. My kind of race course! My start time was 9:07 so per usual I was up and out early with a 1.5 hour drive ahead of me. After too much loitering around I took about 20 minutes to warm up on the trainer then headed to the start house for the pregame meeting and finished warming up around the finish line.

The race started with an immediate left then right turn before settling into things. Legs felt as good as they have all year and my average was 25 at the turn. After turning, I realized there was a slight tail wind going out! It was just enough to hold my speed down by 1 mph. I finished with a 24.5 average good enough for 7th out of 12 in the 40-49 division. A couple of Zipp Factory riders took first and second in our group. They don't usually race in Ohio so we don't see them very often.

As a door prize I won a Spinervals DVD which will certainly get used over the winter.

The long drive home gave me ample opportunity to internally debate what lies ahead.

Number 1 - Due to my back problems, I am not doing any more cyclocross stuff this year. I end up in too much pain the next day to justify the riding. It’s over and above what’s now the ‘normal’ back pain I am having. As opposed to buying any more cycling gear I am going to be spending money to fix my back. It’s going to be a long process, so I guess it’s good that the season is almost over (for me). The back won’t be fixed overnight.

Number 2 – With the long drive and bad results it’s making me really debate doing the series next year. In the four years that the series has been around I think I have missed two races, one when I was in Peru and the other was when I was in Scotland, both acceptable reasons for no showing! Until I get the other health situation straightened out it makes no sense to make the long drives to Celina/St Marys/Portland In., etc. Over the winter, I intend to train very hard, among other things to get myself back to health to a standard acceptable. Before all this crap started, I was approaching 27.5 mph average (even hitting 28.0 once) in my 5 mile training trials and was nearing the 26.0 barrier in actual races. I’ve hit the 25mph twice this year with an even slicker position than ever. Wattage went from high 200’s (I hit 313 average for a short tt) down to the 250-260 mark.

I love the series and the effort that is put out by Roger and Christina (and everyone else), but a four hour round trip drive to ride 24 mph is stupid and depressing.

Number 3 – I’ve racing four more times this year. I’m finishing out the Cleves and Colavita series. Three more races at Cleves and one race in Greenville for the Colavita series. Luckily, my back doesn’t hurt during time trials.

Next up: Tomorrow at Cleves!

#35 Kings CXTT

2010-09-10T09:47:00.003-05:00

Last race of the series. Running start again so that meant I had to jump on the bike 9 times (and off of it 8 times). Can't ride through the sand traps yet so I had to jump off and run through them. Plus I had to jump off on the little section in the woods, jump the little log, run the sand and run up the hill. Twice.

My back was completely destroyed after 1.5 laps but kept riding gingerly for the last half lap. I think I need shocks on my cross bike or something. Ouch. My ability to generate power was drastically cut from my back being out.

I placed 8th overall in the series. For some reason last week's score for me wasn't calculated so it has me at 10th overall or something officially but there's no money in it and it was for fun so no big deal.

Next up: Colavita Centerville Indiana Sunday.

Race #34, etc

2010-09-08T07:13:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday was the Kings Cross time trial. Lots has happened since.

1. I can't do the kings cross races. I previously committed to something else about 6 months ago and just realized it.
2. I raced the time trial and did okay. 12th out of 17. The woman on the single speed passed me again! She gave me a 'good job' and all I could retort with was some sort of grunt.
3. Rode the MTB Saturday on 6 miles of single track at Mitchell Memorial. Got home and took the cross bike to Kingswood for some solo practice.
4. Wrecked hard within 10 minutes, beating my shoulder and head to the hard ground. No cracked helmet but it gave me a head ache for all of Sunday. Shoulder is still bothering me. Bike is fine.
5. Skipped out on the Cleves time trial last night since I was working in Dayton. As is the new norm, I took my Orbea with me and did some road riding on the old school roads late in the evening. Windy every direction - there's no place like home.
6. Last cross time trial is tomorrow. I should be able to make it.

Race #33 Cleves TT

2010-09-01T07:51:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, the illness still lingers and the unrelated meds are making me sluggish (and incredibly hungry which sucks big time). I was hoping that would not be the case. Anyway, it was another hot Tuesday and I was met with fresh pavement on the finishing climb (as I reversed the course per usual).

During the warm up I kept checking to see if my brakes were rubbing at the top of every little roller. Rats! They weren't, but I checked about 15 times anyway. And checked again after the warm up and checked once more at the start line.

The goal was to try and maintain 25.0 mph. Oops I think I maxed out at 24.9 before settling into 23.9 toward the flat run up to the finish (last 2.5-3 miles). Ended up at 24.4 for the night.

Week 18 24.4 average @ 264 watts = 25:26 (official)
Week 16 24.4 average @ 259 watts = 25:25 (official)
Week 15 24.0 average @ 239 watts = 26:01 (official)
Week 14 24.4 average @ 262 watts = 25:13 (official)
Weak 13 24.2 average @ 249 watts = 25:53 (official)
Week 12 24.7 average @ 265 watts=24:58 (25:00 official)
Week 11 24.4 average @ 270 watts = 25:13
Week 10 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:52
Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Next race tomorrow - Kings CXTT.

Speed post

2010-08-24T19:26:00.002-05:00

Race #32 Colavita Portland. 3rd place in the 40-49 group. Bad bad bad power, okay speed for the lack of power.

No time trial tonight as I worked in Dayton. At least I took my bike with me and got 1.5 hours in on my old flat windy roads of Butler Township!

No race Thursday either. Next race is next Tuesday.

Byeeeeeeeee..............

Race #31 Kings CXTT

2010-08-20T17:45:00.002-05:00

Short and sweet. 17 riders, 12th place. Saw another single speed racing as she zoomed past me. Course was much more technical this week. Well, it wasn't actually technical before. My back wheel went out on me a few times, mostly because of the off-camber stuff. Opted to run through the sand pit than to even attempt to ride through it.

Next up, 20 mile Colavita time trial in Indiana on Sunday.

Race #30 Cleves TT

2010-08-18T18:12:00.002-05:00

Still sick, had no lungs so I opted for a slower cadence. My new cassette really helped. I now have a 13-23, replacing the 12-27 resulting in a tighter group. 13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,23 I think.

Next up is replacing the Giro. Yuck.

Week 16 24.4 average @ 259 watts = 25:25 (official)
Week 15 24.0 average @ 239 watts = 26:01 (official)
Week 14 24.4 average @ 262 watts = 25:13 (official)
Weak 13 24.2 average @ 249 watts = 25:53 (official)
Week 12 24.7 average @ 265 watts=24:58 (25:00 official)
Week 11 24.4 average @ 270 watts = 25:13
Week 10 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:52
Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Races #28 and #29

2010-08-13T07:59:00.002-05:00

I forgot to write up about the Cleves time trial on Tuesday so this post is a 2-for-1!

I've been sick all week but that didn't stop me from racing two out of the last three days. Yes it was quite stupid and now I'm probably not going to ride until 'whenever'. Maybe next Tuesday.

Cleves was bad and I couldn't generate any power whatsoever. Worst time of the year and naturally the worst wattage.

Week 15 24.0 average @ 239 watts = 26:01 (official)
Week 14 24.4 average @ 262 watts = 25:13 (official)
Weak 13 24.2 average @ 249 watts = 25:53 (official)
Week 12 24.7 average @ 265 watts=24:58 (25:00 official)
Week 11 24.4 average @ 270 watts = 25:13
Week 10 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:52
Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Thursday I did the Kings Cross time trial. As said earlier, I upgraded to the two lap intermediate division. Still feeling sick I gave it a go anyway. Lap one went fine but halfway through lap two my back locked up. I've been having back issues for a long while now and it really affected me. Due to the layout of the course, I could have easily quit twice on the last lap, but gutted it out and finished 13th out of 16 riders. Out of 42 total riders, I was the only person with a single speed. It was still fun, but my back was killing me when it all was said and done.

Now it's time to get back to health and get over this cold or whatever it is. Yuck!

Rest of the year

2010-08-10T13:18:00.002-05:00

Tentative schedule with anticipated race number for the year (because I can't add)

8-10 cleves #28
8-11 Blue streak - MAYBE
8-12 kings CX #29
8-17 Cleves #30
8-19 kings cx #31
8-22 Colavita Richmond (racing twice) #32 #33
8-24 cleves #34
8-31 cleves #35
9-2 kings cx #36
9-7 cleves #37
9-8 blue streak - MAYBE
9-9 kings CX #38
9-12 Colavita portland In (racing twice) #39 #40
9-14 cleves #41
9-18 kings cross (at least doing the single speed division) #42
9-19 kings cross (same as above) #43
9-21 cleves #44
9-28 cleves #45
10-10 Colavita greenville (racing twice) #46 #47
10-13 blue streak (maybe)

Not sure how many cross races I will do, but I will at least do the first of the OVCX series because of the single speed category. Anything else will be 35+ cat 4 group.

Rumor has it there are going to be some winter cross races down here. If that becomes fact, I'll try to get there...

Race #27 PUR Tour

2010-08-09T07:25:00.002-05:00

The last road/crit/circuit race I did was in fact the PUR Tour of 2009 over a year ago. I've done one group ride since then that I can remember and that was in February.

22 old farts started the 40+ race. Three guys from Huntington and a smattering of other teams. Huntington played it smart and kept sending out one guy at a time. He was caught and another went, etc. I found myself on the front chasing for a lap and died on the hill. Popped off with 1.5 laps to go. Finished by myself in 22nd place. Huntington took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. It was necessary for me to maintain about 420 watts up the hill each time (I forget how long each climb was in seconds). I couldn't keep that up the 2nd to last time, that's why I popped.

Results

This week - Cleves TT, Blue Streak (maybe) and Kings CXTT

Race #26 Kings CXTT

2010-08-06T08:08:00.003-05:00

Oops.

Not having ever done a cross race, I opted for the one lap beginner category. Then I noticed there were a bunch of kids and no kids category.

At least I was on a single speed cross bike. That's my excuse for the 2nd place finish.

The course was awesome, up and back three times along an old, no longer open golf course. 4 miles total. Luckily, there were only a few bumps on the edges of the old fairways that resembled hills. Overall, it was hard with the single speed, but I managed a good time for my one lap. But I did get beat. By a 12 year old. Oh well, looking at his results he has been in many more cross races than me and had gears. So there!

Next week (it's a six week series) I will ride the intermediate, two lap race where if I took my single lap time and doubled it would put me toward the bottom end of the field. But that's cool, there's no money in it and it's really fun.

Next race, the PUR Tour tomorrow.

Race #25 Cleves TT

2010-08-04T07:21:00.002-05:00

Another incredibly hot Tuesday. Drank two huge glasses of water before leaving, one bottle on the drive and one bottle after my warm up. I think I still lost weight as I was still sweating 30 minutes after the race. Anyway, the race went well but I think I started off too hot as I was 25.5 average after two miles. I tried to hold that but I ended short. The last three miles were incredibly hard as it was one of those days you almost (almost) wished for a flat tire.

The wattage was pretty decent all things considered but my time was not great for whatever reason. Since the LG helmet died, I've been using my old Giro and I hate it. Zero air flow. I'm guessing I would have been faster wearing a cooler but less aero helmet.

Next race tomorrow! Cyclocross time trial?!

Week 14 24.4 average @ 262 watts = 25:13 (official)
Weak 13 24.2 average @ 249 watts = 25:53 (official)
Week 12 24.7 average @ 265 watts=24:58 (25:00 official)
Week 11 24.4 average @ 270 watts = 25:13
Week 10 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:52
Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Race #24 Cleves TT

2010-07-28T09:35:00.002-05:00

Worst time this year. Really lethargic.

The good news is after a full blood work up last week, we have found what is going wrong and on Friday we're going to start working toward correcting it.

Weak 13 24.2 average @ 249 watts = 25:53 (official)
Week 12 24.7 average @ 265 watts=24:58 (25:00 official)
Week 11 24.4 average @ 270 watts = 25:13
Week 10 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:52
Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Race #23 Cleves TT

2010-07-21T08:10:00.002-05:00

Up until I actually got on my bike for the warm up, I felt like bagging it. The storm rolled though and finally let up at 6:10 (where I usually start the warm up at 6:00) so I reversed the course per usual.

I was surprised that so many riders showed up as there were 50 overall. I figured the weather would keep everyone away. Anyway, I started 33rd and right in front of a guy who has passed me before. The start was good and maybe I put too much effort right at the get-go because my speed was a little high for the first 1.5 miles. Through the rollers and the speed dropped to normal levels. Still, I was giving it about all I had. The 34th rider passed me but I passed him back on a down grade section (where I go pretty fast due to weight and aero) only to have him pass me again when the road went back up.

Finished with a time of 24:58 according to my powertap at a wattage of 265. Official time was 25:00. That was my third fastest time on a day when conditions weren't so hot.

Next race is Cleves again. No races that I can find this weekend and next weekend, I'm out of town.

I did decide to do one criterium and possibly one road race. August 7th is PUR Tour and I love that race so I'm doing the 40+ event. If training goes well, I've penciled in the State Masters road race on August 28th. I need to work on some endurance for that to happen as it's 50 miles and I don't think I've ridden that far yet this year (sad). Cyclocross time trials start August 5th. That should be a hoot.

Week 12 24.7 average @ 265 watts=24:58 (25:00 official)
Week 11 24.4 average @ 270 watts = 25:13
Week 10 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:52
Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Race #22 Cleves time trial

2010-07-14T08:04:00.004-05:00

Due to the potential of bad weather and high high humidity, I think it kept a lot of riders away. Last week there were 70 riders, this week; 25. The warm up lap was soggy, both in road conditions and sweat coming from my head.

I started 25th out of 25 and power was pretty good from the get-go. The speed wasn't there the whole race, but power stayed good. I guess the weather and/or road condition was causing the slower speed. I don't know. I was consistently in the high 200's but was averaging mid 24's.

By the finish, I was at 25:13 (powertap) with 270 watts. Checking my data there were no dropouts so unless the humidity (which was high, high) fubar'ed my computer, the wattage was legit. I was toast when I was done. I think some people were talking to me right when I stopped by my car, but all I heard was mumbling. Often, 5-15 minutes after a time trial, I think to myself that I could have went harder. Not this time as I put everything I had into it.

Week 11 24.4 average @ 270 watts = 25:13
Week 10 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:52
Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Not doing Blue Streak tonight as my back is acting up. Haven't made that race yet this year.

Race #20 & 21 Colavita St Marys

2010-07-12T07:40:00.002-05:00

Course: Out and back, north then south. Gradually downhill-ish out, so uphill-ish back. 13.something miles.
Weather: Slight breeze from south gradually getting stronger (as you'll see).

My first start time was 9:10 for my age group ride. By the turn around I was at 26.7 average at 251 watts. Turn around and BOOM I realize there is a wind from the south. Ouch.

First race over at 33:13, 24.1mph, 244 watts

25 minutes to change clothes and get back to the start house for 10:11 take off in the cat 4/5 race.

26.7 average again at the turn around, but this time the watts were at 229...uh oh, the wind picked up.

Second race over at 33:55, 23.5 mph, 234 watts.

The whole day was rough because I only got 2 hours of sleep (over the course of seven hours) Saturday night for some reason. Then racing twice and a long drive home.

I finished 6th in the 40-49 and 11th in the cat 4/5. Overall, I was 21st and 33rd out of 106 male riders.

Next race Tuesday. Then Wednesday if I feel like driving to Wright Patt.

Race #19 Cleves TT

2010-07-07T10:36:00.001-05:00

Hot hot hot. 10 seconds slower than last week but I'm pretty happy with it.

Next race, Colavita St Mary's on Sunday where I'm racing the 13 mile course twice.

Week 10 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:52
Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Race #18 Speedy Feet Casstown

2010-07-02T08:30:00.002-05:00

Temperature was perfect. Not hot, not cold.
Wind was from the north east I thought until hitting the west section. Then it felt north west.

I took a warm up loop to test out the new aerobar rotation (more in to better overlap my hands). Going up 55 was going to be a struggle but down 201 was going to be fast. Lafevre was going to be okay with a little headwind it felt and Hufford was going to suck. Riding though town is always a crapshoot due to traffic potential.

5.4.3.2.1.go. Top 5 second power, top 20 second power, top one minute power, you get the picture. Route 55 came and went easier than the warm up loop passing two or three people. 201 flew by at about 30 mph. Lefevre seemed better than the warm up and I passed a couple more riders. Hit Hufford and BOOM! Combining the slight head wind, the slight incline and the crap road made it tough as usual. Cruise into town with no traffic issues and through the finish.

I ended up about 10-13 seconds slower than last month with an average around 24.8 (powertap measured) and a wattage of 249. It was hard to focus on Hufford and hard to hold a high wattage on 201 because of the speed.

Ended up 5th place on the night out of 35.

After the time trial Jeff, the promoter, wanted to have a mass start, draft legal time trial around the loop. I actually debated this for a few minutes but chickened out. Most of the riders were triathlete type and not road riders who time trial. Not exactly keen on riding near a bunch of people on aerobars. I'm not exactly the best rider on my tt bike as it is, as my 808's push me around a bit.

Next race isn't until next Tuesday (nothing on the board for the holiday weekend).

Race #17 Cleves

2010-06-30T06:47:00.002-05:00

The weather was quite perfect for the race, but I was having difficulties on the warm up getting whatever was in my legs out. Riding the course in reverse, every roller felt like my brakes were rubbing. Totally lethargic. When they called out the starting order, once again Dan was behind me by a minute so my goal was to not have him pass me. Hard goal.

The first half rolled along and my average hovered around 25.3. I knew I had to keep pushing because the ending hill knocks that average down a heap. My other goal for the last few weeks has been to break 25 minutes. Both goals accomplished as I finished in 24:42 and Dan didn't pass me. That was hard but satisfying.

Week 9: 25.0 average @ 259 watts = 24:42 (official)
Week 8: 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4: 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3: 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Race #16 Cleves 10 miler

2010-06-23T07:58:00.002-05:00

Back to Cleves after two weeks off due to work and weather. Weather was nice and hot and humid.

It was weird during the race that I felt like I was going really really fast but my powertap wasn't agreeing with me. Must have been the weather conditions. Anyway, I ended up with an okay time considering I just did a (bad) 40k two days ago.

Gear difference: Wore a standard jersey and bibs.

Next race won't be until next Tuesday. There are a bunch of crits this weekend but no time trials that I'm aware of.

Week 8 24.5 average @ 255 watts = 25:10 (powertap) 25:18 (official)
Week 5 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Race #15 Colavita Celina

2010-06-21T07:12:00.002-05:00

40k around Lake St Mary's. Pretty much assured a flat course.

Registration took 5 seconds. Of course I was preregistered and I got there early, but whatever! It's nice to not have to stand in line.

Not really much to say about my race as it was as expected both speed and (low) power. I did have three separate incidents that lost a minute twenty by my power tap calculations.

Right from the get-go, turning on to the major road it was AWESOME to have all the cones giving us a lane. I can't say how awesome that is that we were allowed to have a dedicated lane. However, I passed a street crew worker at an intersection and knew I had to turn right soon. I kept going as I was still inside the coned lane. Then the cones tapered to the edge of the road and I thought I did in fact missed the turn. Stopped, turned, passed the intersection and saw that it dead ended into the lake. Oops. Turned around again and went on my way.

The only two other incidents were traffic related at stop signs as both times I was behind two cars at a complete stop. There was quite a bit of traffic out there and the cops can only do so much with the cars.

That discouraged me a little, but still the race was still great even though I was 6th out of 9. They put on a great race as usual and it was nice that the race was staged where there was a permanent tent set up as it was sunny and hot.

I guess the only thing I could wish for was that this race was held in a different time of year to potentially avoid some traffic. I don't know if all the traffic was normal, normal for this time of year, or abnormal because it was so nice out. Will do this race next year if they have it.

222 watts, 24.1mph, 1:01:30(or there about).

Race #14 State TT

2010-06-07T07:45:00.001-05:00

Power failure.

That about sums it up.

3rd place out of 3 in my group. Worst time ever. Rough wind conditions.

In 2006 my average was 23.9
In 2007 my average was 24.19 (time of 58:31)
In 2008 my average was 24.53 (time of 57:57)
2009 57:13
2010 1:00:13

Race #13 Strawberry festival TT

2010-06-04T07:14:00.003-05:00

As soon as I hit the parking lot rain and thunder rolled in and I thought I wasted a long drive. Luckily, it cleared up. Unluckily, it blew my warm up. As opposed to riding the entire course, I took a couple mile stroll out and back.

There is no holder (A thing I am now quite used to), but I was able to clip in fast and off I went. Like Tuesday, there was a fast rider behind me so I went out with the intention of not getting passed (he didn't pass me). I passed my one minute rider around mile two and passed two more people around mile three and one more around mile seven. The roads ran smooth until Hufford. I slowed way down to get on Hufford as the roads were wet and the TT bike isn't the best handling thing in the world. Hufford road rides like a rock, which sucks because all of the other roads ride great. Anyway, a truck passed me heading into Casstown, and as NO luck would have it, he wanted to turn right. I had to almost stop completely to turn. Then, he wanted to turn right onto rt 55, the same direction I was going. Again, a near complete stop. I got my 20 second max power right there to get back up to speed to the finish.

By my powertap, I finished at 24:05 with a speed of 25.1. Official results as usual vary, but that's fine. Results came out with me finishing 6th but no time for Vince, who I know was faster. So 7th it is, which is cool. This was my fastest time trial (via average speed) this year so far which I am happy about. Power was at 256 and that is pretty consistent with what I am doing right now. Picked up 25 seconds on the same race last month.

The only equipment change was that I rode without a water bottle.

Race #12 Cleves TT

2010-06-02T07:37:00.002-05:00

Another Tuesday, another 10 mile time trial. Very hot and humid so it was easy to stay warm. I rode the course backward as usual and then rode a little extra. Legs felt really poor warming up and had one of those days where I could have sworn my brakes were rubbing. That's why I rode the extra bit to get that shit out of my system.

41 riders started and I started 30. 30 seconds later was Dan Waite so that put a nice fear of God into me to not have him pass me very early. Right at the start I actually felt pretty good. The rolling section got rough on the uphills, but I picked up time on the downhills (no coasting!). Dan passed me around mile 8. I passed him back as I think his fixie ran out of gear, then he passed me back once more right before the end hill. I couldn't catch up.

End time, both via my powertap and the official time were personal bests, but I still haven't broken 25:00. I wore jersey and bibs as I forgot to wash my skinsuit yesterday and will be wearing it two more times this week anyway. That was probably my one second right there, but there is always next week.

I put out the same wattage as last week, but was faster. I concentrated more on the head duck thing and I'm going to assume the heat had something to so with the speed as well.

Week 5 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:00 (my time), 25:07 (official)
Week 4 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

Race #11 Colavita Bellbrook

2010-06-01T06:46:00.002-05:00

Saturday was my first ever attempt at this course that includes a short uphill section and a short fast downhill with a bunch of flats in between. After getting some beta about the course, I kept all the same TT gear and didn't change anything. I got there early enough (no kidding) to pre-ride the course and that as usual helped. I've been on those roads before, just not that exact direction. The hill was not as bad as I remember, due to where I'm living and having to deal with now.

140+/- riders on the day made for a long morning with me starting 31st. My race went about as anticipated. Don't blow up on the hill and punch it as best as I could home.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of fast 40+ guys out there. I ended up 8th out of 12 with a wattage of 252 and a speed around 23.7. Got up to 45.5mph on the downhill section and had to pass someone right at that point. I ended up passing 4 people and did not get passed myself.

This week is going to be rough. Cleves tonight (10 miles), Strawberry festival Thursday (10 miles) and Groveport Sunday (23.something miles). Hopefully the weather cooperates.

Race #10 Cleves TT

2010-05-26T08:23:00.003-05:00

57 riders were there with me starting 48th. I am not used to late start so I need to do something to keep my legs warm as opposed to getting in the que and standing there for 20 minutes. Well, 24 minutes (30 second intervals)

I did what is now my usual and rode the course backward to the start and luckily missed all the potholes. That side of the road sucks, but the side we race on is great?!?

Since it was nice weather there were a lot of people out but it gave me the chance to let my legs get cold again. Even though it's really a training race, I want to keep it as real as possible so I don't hurt myself or do something else stupid by racing cold.

I was feeling it from the get-go. Trying to get in a good rhythm was near impossible last night for some reason so I just plowed my way through as best as possible. The end of the course on the hill seemed farther back than the three previous weeks. I think it was due to cars parking down the hill more due to the turnout. I wanted to hit 25:00 and that slipped away with my powertap reading 25:08 and the official time having me at 25:13. Still a personal record, but not the best I could have done. No drop outs on the powertap like last week. Yay!

Data from the series:
Week 4 24.7 average @ 257 watts = 25:13 (official time)
Week 3 24.4 average @ 271 watts (wrong) = 25:17
Week 2: 24.3 average @ 250 watts = 25:33
Week 1: 24.2 average @ 242 watts = 25:47

11th overall out of 57

Race #9 Cleves TT

2010-05-19T07:28:00.003-05:00

Another Tuesday, another time trial! It's great to live close (within reason) to a weekly time trial. I didn't figure a whole lot of people would show up due to the weather, but I think there were around 35 riders. I rode the course in reverse to warm up and NAILED a big hole with both wheels. I figured my day was over right then, but my tires didn't flat out. Lucky!

I started 25th and didn't go balls out as usual for the first half mile or so (though my powertap said my highest 20 second, 1 minute and 5 minute power were all from the start...oops).

It got a little misty from the rain, but for the most part there was no real rain coming down, just wet roads. I kept watching my average speed and it hovered right around 24 as there was a slight headwind at the start. After the power plant, the speed really picked up, but somewhere my powertap lost 45 seconds. It just died from what I'm guessing was it being waterlogged. I didn't see that as it happened so when I crossed the finish line, my computer read a new personal record by well over a minute. Well, the official time had me get a PR but only by 20 seconds. It wasn't until after downloading my data at home did I discover the outage on my powertap. I hope it was just the rain that did that and not something worse.

Anyway, the data is suspect. It said 271 watt average with a speed of 24.1. The average speed is wrong by 0.3 or so and I'm not sure I believe the wattage because that's not what I'm capable of producing right now. Whatever, at least I felt pretty good out there.

Race #8 Colavita Versailles

2010-05-17T07:23:00.002-05:00

19 mile course. Hard cross/head wind going out. Bad traffic coming back.

23.6 mph @ 231 watts.

On the back end of the race I had several incidents with traffic and or touring bikes. There was some little bike tour that turned into a park about 2 miles from the turnaround. There was a trailer being pulled by a truck that said "caution cyclists". I had to pass this behemoth on the left (an illegal move on my part) because he was going 12 mph and hogged the right side. This trailer was escorting two cyclists on hybrids. I thought for 2 seconds that it was odd but no worries. Had to stomp the pedals to get back to speed...until...I ended up behind 2 more tourists, yelled "on your left" and of course, they tried to turn left in front of me at the entrance to the park. Had to stomp again to get back up to speed. I thought all was going to be fine until I caught a time trial racer being tailed by a woman in a station wagon. She would not pass him and he was doing maybe 20mph. So I tried to pass her on the right as she was hugging the center line. I couldn't completely pass her because she was tailgating the cyclist so I ended up riding side by side at her passenger door (another stupid move on my part). We came up to an intersection so I backed off figuring she would turn right and kill me. She turned left, I lived, but once again had to stomp to get back to speed and pass the racer in front of me. By now I was toast. In reality, it probably didn't affect me much, but it's a convenient excuse for a bad time. haha.

5th place out of 10 in the 40-49 age group. I won more Heed!

The five races in the last twelve days has taken it's toll (I'm racing tomorrow night too unless the weather is bad) and I am toast. But I've lost 3 pounds in that period.

Race #7 Cleves time trial

2010-05-12T12:22:00.003-05:00

Little bit faster, little more watts.

Last week: 24.2 average @ 242 watts
This week: 24.3 average @ 250 watts

The weather was not really a factor as the course is quite sheltered from any wind and since it's a horseshoe course only a strong wind from the south would cause an alteration of time. Maybe I'm just making that up.

Anyway, I was 15th out of 35 and 14 seconds faster than last week.

Race #6 QCW 40k tt

2010-05-10T08:32:00.002-05:00

WINDY and COLD. 23 lunatics showed up for the 40k.

The wind actually helped most people get a new personal record on the course, myself included.

The screaming downhill start, was screaming. I ran out of gears of course. The out section was nothing to speak of as I kept plodding along waiting for the hill. I got to it and my bike was able to shift into the little ring. Thank God for that or I wouldn't have made it.

Nothing in racing made me as happy as seeing the end of that dang hill. Turn around and WOOSH, I immediately hit a new time trial high speed of 47.7 miles per hour. The return trip after the downhill was spent hoping the finish would come real soon. Last month I finished at 1:01:30 (or thereabouts) and at 45 minutes I was dying. Made it to the finish line at 1:00:30 (or thereabouts) with a power around 235 (I forget). 23.2 mph.

Note about the hill: At the bottom of the climb, I was averaging 26.5 mph. At the top, my average dropped to 22.4. Over a 4mph drop in average over a 1.5 mile climb. Ouch.

Three races this week hurt, so what am I doing this week? Three races.

Results

Race #5 Speedy Feet Casstown

2010-05-07T13:09:00.002-05:00

This Casstown race was the new Strawberry Festival route, a 10 mile clockwise route starting from the new fire department. On such a nice evening, it was sad that only 22 people showed up. For crying out loud, I drove 1.25 hours from Cincinnati to race!

Anyway, I got there early (surprise!) and I was third to go off. Unlike Tuesday, I warmed up by doing the course. It was a nice easy ride of 21mph with 200 watts. I finished too fast and then lost my warm up because I screwed around for 25 minutes until I actually raced.

Shane D started 30 seconds behind me and even though he was on a standard bike, the fear of him passing me kept me motivated. He's riding well and is in shape. I lost speed to him on all the corners and that led to him passing me on the final turn heading from Casstown to the Fire Dept.

Overall, I was 6th (I don't count HPVs). This was my fastest TT of the 5 I have done this season at 24.7. Wattage was 249. Did not feel any after effects from racing Tuesday, but I am feeling it now and Saturday's 40k tt should just about kill me. In a good way...?

Results

Race #4 Cleves TT

2010-05-05T07:18:00.003-05:00

What a great night for a ride! Cleve's time trial put on by QCW has been going on for 36 years. It's held every Tuesday from May until September - I'm going to try and ride most of them. It's a 10 mile course that's actually more rolling than I thought it would be, but nothing too tough. The finish is on a slight uphill grade but it's only 0.25 miles long and it's not necessary to get out of the big ring for it.

I hung around the start line since it was my first time there and the result was no warm up whatsoever. I wasn't sure how things were run and I will not miss a start time! As was the case with the QCW 40k, we had to guess our speed if we had never been there before so they could arrange us in order from slow to fast. Estimating a speed of 22-23mph slotted me at 36th out of 51.

Next week I will actually warm up...

I started completely cold and dry. It didn't affect me early but as the miles ticked over it did with my lungs and legs feeling it. Since the course wasn't totally pan flat it kept things interesting in regards to my pacing, but it was hovering in the mid 24's as far as an average speed went.

According to my powertap, I finished around 25:47 for a speed of 24.2 and a wattage of 242. For the first time out there I felt pretty good and once I know the course, I'll be able to gauge where better to pick up time. Leaving prior to the results being posted, I don't know where I finished yet, but right now that's not the point of the races.

Next race is tomorrow in Casstown barring any weather issues.

http://www.qcw.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=208&Itemid=134

Right after I published this post, the results had been uploaded. 17th out of 56.

Race #3 Colavita Casstown TT

2010-04-26T07:27:00.002-05:00

Sunday's race was up and down the the final Fred's Ride time trial route. Five miles up, five miles back. Luckily (?) there was a strong tailwind from the south to push us uphill.

The highest number I saw was 75 so there were at least that many riders. Since the weather for Sunday had been iffy all week, I think the large turnout was due to the amount of prizes in both merchandise and money that was being given out.

I like this course. There were some good battles here in 2006 when I first and last did a race here. Five times I raced here that year, topping out at 23minutes 24seconds for a 25.64 average. Still never beat Vince or Dan, but whatever. It's five miles going out, mostly uphill of about a percent, then the second half is typically screaming back downhill. Not Sunday though with the wind from the south. Going out was fast. I forgot to set my powertap until 5 seconds in (oops, second time that's ever happened) and soon I was pushing 26-27 uphill. Not much to report going out but I was holding a good speed. Turned around and BOOM, more wind than I thought. Going back downhill was much harder than going out and my average showed it. I ended up at 23.9 average via my 5 second missing powertap. Good for 6th in the 40-49 group. Old guys are faster than the young guys. Wattage was 240.

I did not get passed, nor did I pass anyone. Found out my one minute man had the exact same time as me and my two minute man was one second faster. No wonder I didn't see anyone!

Shane, per usual, destroyed everyone in the standard class and most people overall. Wow!

This was my 156th race since 2005.

mf

2010-04-16T22:28:00.002-05:00

On top of everything I can now add to the laundry list a back condition that leaves me barely able to get out of bed in the morning. I think the tennis didn't help it.

I did do 1.75 hours on the trainer this afternoon after not riding yesterday on the nicest day of the year. It's getting frustrating.

It's time for a major change. Just have to figure out what that means.

Race #2 QCW 40k time trial

2010-04-11T22:05:00.003-05:00

Saturday was QCW's 40k TT in Alexandria Kentucky. Was billed as a fast downhill start, one major climb mid way through and you don't have to climb back up the starting downhill (at least until after the race was over). It lived up to the billing. 10 minutes into the tt and my average speed was 32mph.

It was chilly at the start so I wore gloves. Other than that, it was my usual gear for a time trial. Well not really. Since it was a new course for me, I chose to wear my Rx Oakleys so I could see. I typically don't wear glasses in time trials if I know the course.

So anyway, this race is just more training. I had no intention of being competitive but I need race efforts and what better to get that sort of effort but in a race? After the smoking start the course was rolling with an uphill trend and by the time I hit the hill I still had a decent speed. Certainly I was setting no wattage records though. I hit the hill (roughly 1.5 miles at 5% or so I was told) and my bike would not shift to the small ring. I had NEVER used my small ring in any race and maybe only once or twice on a ride. I should have checked that out before hand. I almost came to a standstill trying to shift, but I stayed upright, lost tons of time, and stood almost the entire climb. By the top, I was done. Done. Done. Luckily, it was big downhill the next 1.5 miles. I topped out at 46.2mph and ran out of gears. Struggling with lack of oxygen (no lungs) and lactate (no legs), I gutted out the last several miles on will power alone. The finish came none too quick and I rested for 5 minutes before hitting the climb to get back to the parking lot. I hand shifted to the small ring before going up though. 22.8mph average. Sad wattage at 220 (average).

If I hadn't been riding in West Chester the last month, the hill would have completely destroyed me. Luckily (?) it's all hilly riding down here so I'm getting used to climbing.

3-28-10 Colavita TT race #1

2010-03-29T07:32:00.002-05:00

2nd slowest time ever on that course. Ended up 3rd place in the 40-49 division with the 6th or 7th fastest time of all riders (50 or so). Cold and rainy day.

Being sick and not riding for the last two weeks took it's toll as I could simply not maintain any sort of wattage required for a faster average, which was under 23mph. If memory serves my average watts were 225 or some such misery.

Next race is 40k on April 10th in Kentucky via Queen City Wheels.

Hold the press

2010-02-12T12:01:00.002-05:00

With business number one, number two, number three and now number four taking most of my time, I forgot I had a blog. Facebook takes more of my time than anything else of frivolity now. This week is a rest week as far as cycling goes so I have a spare couple of minutes to update the 5 billion people who read this thing. Fricken booyah.

March is looking scary. With trips to Costa Rica and St Maarten in the same month and race season starting the 28th, I am nowhere near prepared for the 2010 campaign and won't be by the first race. But screw it, I'm racing anyway.

For January I just quietly spent an hour at a time on my time trial bike. Every day is a different type of ride or length of interval. Some days it's coach Troy, some days it's coach Carmicheal and some days it's watching something on hulu.

20 seconds of death. 40 seconds of death, 5 minutes of 'I wish it was death', etc.

I did move my elbow pads in, so that marks consecutive year number four of changing my time trial position ever so much. Since I don't subscribe to UCI (and never will thank you since my FUCKING BIKE will be illegal) rule, I am going to play around with Floyd and Levi's old position for the heck of it as the year goes on. Not like there's a lack of time trials or anything...

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NUCLEAR.

I am 100% committed to NOT racing any road races this year. Instead, I am stupidly debating the ignorance of running again. Then if the mood strikes, I can run, ride and run again. Who knows? If I start today, I'll be sick of running by March, so cool. Is the world ready for a time trialler who can run at the freakish pace of 7:12?

Carry on and stop making fun of my training protocol.

Four months to go

2009-12-07T08:31:00.003-05:00

First day of snow and I already hate it.

Last week I rode 6 out of 7 days with Monday-Thursday containing Tabata intervals. These intervals are like this - after a warm up, ride 20 seconds as hard as you can then rest for 10 seconds. Repeat as many times as possible. The most I did was 8. I wanted to try these just to see what they are like. Intervals in December? Sure, why not? It's just a little something to mix it up.

My overall power graph for the week was a nice incline, with the day's 15 minute and overall watt average being higher than the day previous. For me, 15 minute power is what it's about.

17 weeks to go

2009-11-30T18:07:00.002-05:00

Yep, sure is.

Now I have both of my main bikes each near permanently attached to it's own trainer. I've been swapping days to mix it up and keep any saddle sores at bay since my saddles are vastly different from each other.

The actual time on the trainer is still being kept low and I'm trying to continue to push the intensity for the short duration. Typically, I ride between 45-60 minutes a day. Realistically, this is the best thing as I am all but done with road racing. I just don't have the time to train for that sort of thing anymore. Good thing there are plenty of time trials in Ohio! Things can change, but right now I have completely lost interest in road riding in general (as in training for road races). I anticipate that in 2010 I will have much less miles than usual, but I guarantee them to be faster than ever.

The lack of road racing (and associated race fees) will free up some money for much needed (wanted) upgrades for my time trial bike. Damn right.

18 weeks to go

2009-11-23T09:55:00.002-05:00

The power is slowly creeping up as far as 15 minute average power is concerned.
SST, where two weeks ago was impossible to hold for very long, is becoming "easier". Note, I am referring to my old SST wattage, not a calculation of my current FTP which is obscenely low.
Both of my bikes are side by side in the basement on separate trainers so I can move from one to the other daily.
Weight loss was ok until this past weekend. Rack of Ribs. Oops. Making up for that until Thanksgiving.

Training update

2009-11-10T09:27:00.002-05:00

19.5 weeks until the first race of 2010.

I'm keeping that at the front of my mind as I slowly build up my tolerance for threshold riding. Yesterday started week three of training and I've been on a schedule of 6 days on and one day off. Unfortunately, I missed all the nice weather we had over the weekend with only some time to hit the trainer either early in the morning or late in the evening.

The basics are:
1. Get used to being on a bike again. Also, getting used to the aero position again.
2. Slowly introduce short intervals and progress in time, but not necessarily wattage.
3. Once I can successfully hit a 15 interval at the wattage I want, up the wattage requirement and start over.

I'm at #2 right now. Yesterday had 3~5 minute intervals at perceived exertion with a towel covering my PowerTap. This gives me an idea on what I can (Un) comfortably handle without regard of power. Yes, it was low, but I'm aiming for a March 28th season opener. I want a slow build up to avoid burnout and avoid being a Christmas Champion. 2010 is going to be a long season even with the later start than normal and I want to keep rolling late in the year.

Over the next many many many weeks, I'll keep gradually building time vs watts to get where I need to go. With 19.5 weeks until the season opener, I'm trying to lose 19.5 more pounds by then.

Indoor time trial series changes

2009-10-20T08:14:00.002-05:00

http://www.teamdaytoncycling.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=153&Itemid=85

I doubt they'll have a large turn out for November and December, but you never know.

Race Dates: 11/15/09, 12/13/09, 1/10/10, & 2/7/10

That would be a way to get in the November and December races, but I doubt I'll have much punch by Nov 15 as I haven't begun my training program yet after so many months of inactivity and eating. It could serve as a baseline number. Who knows? I may do it depending on how I feel after only two weeks on the bike leading up to it.

Math was off, this was race #34

2009-10-13T09:57:00.002-05:00

The final Colavita time trial on October 10th was also my final race of 2009. My first race was January 11th so it's been a long season. I rode a bike exactly twice since the last Colavita TT, so expectations were non existent and I didn't disappoint. The cold kept everyone's time a little on the high side and I rolled in with only a 22.9 average, my slowest time trial on a time trial bike. Took third place uneventfully.

It had been a long time since I did work at threshold so the afternoon was spent being sick. I used to get sick after tt's until I trained that out of my system and hadn't been sick like that in two years.

I did take the season series for the 30-39 age group and won a jersey. Nice!

So for the season wrap up:
8 wins
5 second places
3 third places

It looks like I'll be able to actually start training again by the end of next week. Over the winter my tt bike will be strapped to the trainer for hour long death marches and I hope to get out on the road bike as much as I can.

See you in 2010. First race will be early January so it won't be long!

Colavita time trial September #32

2009-09-21T08:02:00.002-05:00

2nd place at only 24.0 mph. There was a headwind coming back that ate my lunch. I was able to secure the overall series championship as I have a 310 point lead over 2nd place (200 points goes to the winner of each tt, 190 for second 180 for 3rd, etc) with only one race left.

Winning the series was an objective of mine from the start of the season.

Next and probable last race of the year is the series finale on October 10.

Speedy Feet TT September #31

2009-09-16T16:21:00.002-05:00

The fact that I had an all time high 15 minute wattage is negated by the fat ass I had to lug around last night.

5th place, my lowest ever placing with a 24.8 average. I guess that's decent since it hurt like shit to even walk.

Originally, I intended to skip this one but decided at the last minute to just do it for fun and a workout. I've not been riding so I had no expectations.

In other news, cyclocross racing is out until probably November, if at all. Too much work, too much moving to be done and too much back and leg pain to even feel like mounting a bike most days.

Cyclocross!

2009-08-20T20:33:00.003-05:00

thy name equals pain. I had no idea what to expect and with all of 12 miles on my cross bike prior to the Harbin Park training Wednesday night, I had little expectations. It was good to see a few familiar faces as April took me around the course prior to the start of the training. Then training started soon after!

We all did a warm up lap (lap = a mile or so??) and took a rest. Two laps were next and my brakes failed on the steep (for me) downhill section of lap one. Kept going and, uh, lap two was faster since I had no rear brake. Back to the start for a 5 minute rest and I fixed my brakes. Three laps were now on the agenda.

The route goes past a picnic shelter right into the dismount for jumping over the barriers. This went ok, but it was on an uphill and I had to push my bike to a flat section to jump back on. Then we weave through trees and a hit a false flat section where due to my single speed I had to stand the whole time.......my bike starts making a hideous popping noise. Up the paved uphill, through the frisbee golf course, down the hill, through the woods, pop pop pop. Tried a second lap and made it to the false flat. Pushed the bike to my car and my rear wheel had come loose (horizontal dropouts and track bolts not tightened enough). Fixed and back on for lap three. No further issues.

Next up was two laps, handicapped. First were us beginners. One minute later, advanced. One minute later, expert. Other than not being good at clipping in just yet on the Candies, I was able to hang with the other beginners...kind of. I suck at right turns and had to make time up elsewhere.

After that, lightning set in and I headed back to the office while the others practiced starts or something.

Cyclocross riding makes me feel like a little kid. Jumping on and off, riding through grass, etc. It's a bit nicer than the uptight roadie scene and the even more uptight time trial scene. Don't get me wrong, I love the road, but I never feel like a kid when I'm staring down a power meter wondering why it's off by 100 watts... ;-)

#30 Speedy Feet August

2009-08-19T07:44:00.002-05:00

The wheels are falling off! Second straight time trial with a power average around 270 and a speed of 24.5. Last night I came in second place. There was a decent amount of headwind going out and at one point I had to come to a complete stop as to not hit a Goose! The return trip wasn't much to write home about, but with the tailwind I averaged 26. Meaning my "going out" average was about 23. Yuck.

#29 Colavita TT August

2009-08-17T06:49:00.003-05:00

Due to lack of riding, I opted to skip the "Nationals" part of the time trial and just ride the time trial series. Plus it was $17 cheaper. Plus, I wanted to try to maintain and/or build on my series lead. Warming up was easy due to the heat and I spent the better part of an hour on the trainer getting ready.

Off goes my start time, and I immediately have my highest 20 second power of the entire season right out of the gate! There was the slightest bit of head wind going out so it was a struggle and I only averaged 23.9 at the turn. Coming back was a struggle because of lack of riding at that sort of pace lately...well or at any pace as far as that goes. I averaged around 25 on the back stretch for an overall average of 24.4.

My time was good enough for the win in the 30-39 age group. Like I said in my last post though, the 40-49'ers were fast. I would have been 8th (if memory serves).

Had I chosen to do "Nationals" I would have been 2nd, because there was only one guy in that field. I would have been pissed had I beat his time, but he smoked me by 2.5 minutes so no worries.

That makes 8 wins on the year.

This week I may (may) get to ride a little. Tuesday is the bike path time trial. Wednesday is cross training at Harbin and Thursday is cross training at John Bryan. No riding over the weekend though, unfortunately. That is for sure.

Make or break

2009-08-12T19:30:00.002-05:00

Next year is going to be a make or break year for racing. It's pretty apparent that I've been able to skate through the 30-39 age group relatively unscathed. The 40-49 won't be as easy and starting January 1st, I am 40 years old as far as USA Cycling is concerned. Whether it's the local events or the higher caliber ones, the 40+ guys can ride.

Here is a partial hit list of 40-49 locals who eat me up, and if I forget someone, don't worry, you'll kick my ass soon enough!:
Francis Manfred
Peter Wimberg
Mike Abney
Vince Clune
Shayne Dillinger
Todd Woehler
Kurt Spoerle
Jamie Raddin

The first two guys on the list are regular 27-28mph guys and it doesn't get easier from there.

So now that I'll be forced to "cat up" in age group, it will put quite a bit of pressure on me to keep working on power (AND THAT STUPID POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO) over the winter. The power and my position are cool, but it's the whole w/kg that needs work. Luckily, good lord willing and creek don't rise, the days of sitting in the car for 2+ hours per day are nearing a close. Trading an hour car commute (on a good day, it's been a three hour one way drive before) for a 15 minute BIKE commute should help me mentally and physically. If it doesn't, well that's something best left for professionals to handle. Maybe then I can get back to riding a little more than two to three days per week. It's put an awful strain on my brain and my waistband.

#28 Pur tour cat 4

2009-08-05T08:49:00.002-05:00

A Saturday race that takes me until Wednesday to have the 10 minutes to write about it?

There were 50 starters to the race, but on this course it could handle much more. A couple of years ago the 3/4 race I was in had 79 riders if memory serves. The course, counterclockwise, has only one turn then the rest is sweeping curves. My object was this, be in the front at the base of the climb and fall back by the top. Recover the downhill and work my way back to the front on the flat.

Well, reality is different.

Not knocking anyone in particular, and not saying I know jack squat about racing (which I don't), but cat 4's have a habit of not attacking, not working and start stopping until the bunch sprint. I don't sprint, I know I don't sprint so I just go into races and do just the opposite of everyone else in the race. It causes me to get dropped, but I don't like paying that kind of money to have a dangerous and boring group ride.

10 seconds into the very first lap, no one decides to pull so I go to the front and pull the first 1.75 laps to the 2nd climb. THEN I start my objective. It worked just fine for the 5-6 laps, until some guy who was on the front slows down and swerves way right and cutting off half the field. If we all weren't paying attention, half of the field could have gone down in the heap. Luckily, the other half was going quite slow as we were at the top of the hill. By this point I was gassed from the hill, but frustrated from the "racing", I pulled out my old school anger card and went to the front and pulled...

Mistake.

I used to have the ability to attack or pull hard and recover quick. That's not working this year, so the end result was only to destroy myself with the pull. I couldn't stay with the field the next time up the hill so I rode the last 3 laps solo as hard as I could. Finished dead last, with two people dnf'ing, in 48th place.

The good news is, is that the cross bike is scheduled for delivery today! Actually it was here yesterday but I wasn't so I could not sign for it.

#27 Tuesday crit

2009-07-29T15:37:00.002-05:00

No racing last weekend. I was able to get about 4 hours on the bike between Saturday and Sunday, so I guess that's cool. 1.5 of it was on a trainer at an obnoxious hour though.

For the final two Team Dayton Tuesday crits, they changed it up and the B group had the course to themselves for 30 minutes of fun. After such a long day yesterday, I can't even remember how many people started the race. I knew there were more than a few that I could drop quick, so I went right to the front and led most of the first two laps. Then it came down to one guy in an Ireland jersey, one woman from Krietler, me and 6-7 team Dayton people.

/rant about training crits

Training crits are for training yourself. When 95% of the field is from your team it's pretty stupid to think you are there to practice team tactics. It just doesn't work and leads to (this term I hate) negative racing. A couple of years ago, we would just attack each other for the training of the whole thing.

/ok, better

The guy in the Ireland jersey spent a lot of time pulling everyone, but not attacking.
David Rich Jr, pedaled hard for 3 seconds and looked back. Again. Again. Again.
David was the only one who even feigned an attack.
Every time I went to the front I tried to hit the corners hard as I feel real comfortable racing there and am pretty confident in the corners. It's just the sprint I suck at. Which leads to...

Last lap bell and I find myself on the front. No big deal, so the plan was to hit corner 3 hard and see what happens. Couldn't shake anyone and most of them passed me by the rise at corner 4. It was a good workout though.

#26 speedy feet tt July

2009-07-21T20:08:00.001-05:00

Largest group yet to this time trial. In another long winded blog post, I got 3rd overall. 10 seconds separated the top three. Speed was 25.5, power was 280.

#25 & #26

2009-07-19T16:47:00.001-05:00

Troy Classic and Tour d'Burg

Criteriums are no longer fun. Long live the time trial.

#24 training criterium

2009-07-14T22:10:00.002-05:00

It hurt like a race, was held on a race course and I didn't win. So therefore, it was a race. I chose the B race because I wanted to at least feel like I could be a factor longer than three seconds. There were maybe 25 B riders.

Really I was there for training and not to try to win so I kept floating around, hitting corners hard and making little accelerations. During one of my jumps, I caused a break of three riders. Oops. During another jump, I caused two more riders to bridge the gap. Then it was down to the rest of us. Half way through it was down to five of us in the "chase" group, a half lap behind the leaders. I continued to not play nice and hit the corners, jumped and screwed around for the workout. On the last lap, one kid took off and no one chased (I was sitting last wheel, getting ready for my own attack). He was gone, so then I took off on corner 3 and rode in hard ahead of the rest of our little group.

Good training day. We'll see what happens when it's for real this weekend.

#23 Colavita TT July

2009-07-13T18:05:00.002-05:00

Not much to say about this one. The weather played a factor into the slower times. I rolled a 24.5 average and was the only one to break 30 minutes in my division. 7th tt win of the year.

Won some Hammer Gel and some Heed. My cupboard overfloweth with Heed. I like that.

#22 Blue Streak

2009-07-09T19:28:00.002-05:00

Not counting the HPV's, I was 10th out of 70+. Everyone had good times last night and I shaved well over a minute on my personal best, rolling in with a 25.92 mph average. 3rd in my age group of 30-39.

Big ride by Kyle Lyman, going over 27mph with the only aero gear being a skinsuit and shrinkwrap on his helmet (that is, if he rode the bike he was warming up on...his road bike) - Team Dayton, get that guy a tt bike. Jeez.

Results:
http://www.speedy-feet.com/2009/0708/BlueStreak.htm

Half year review

2009-07-01T13:00:00.002-05:00

Happy July? It's cold out...

This is just a small review of the half season that it's been.

Mileage wise, I am way off the pace. Due to everything that's been going on I just haven't had the time or energy to put as many miles on as I would like. Right now, I'm at 3,154.91 for the year.

Running half year totals:
2009 - 3,154.91
2008 - 4,013.80
2007 - 3,769.5
2006 - 4089.47
2005 - 4,455.07

On the road racing front, I've been complete crap. Six races - 3 dnf, 2 last places and 21st place out of 25.

Time trials on the other hand have been going well. A nice way to start the year was winning the series of indoor TT's for my age group. In 12 outdoor time trials, I have 6 wins, two 2nds, two 4ths and two 5ths. My new position, skinsuit, shoe covers and front wheel have made up the difference of my declining health, training and increasing weight.

So that makes 21 races right now. With the potential addition of cross races and the rest of the season's time trials, I should have a decent number of races by year's end. That's not even counting crits, as I'll do a couple of them for fun.

In the meantime, I'll keep plugging away trying to get dropped less and less on group rides, try to get my TT speed up and work on the weight.

Cyclocross

2009-07-01T08:50:00.002-05:00

From the looks of it, cross racing is becoming more popular than road racing. What is a guy to do? Well, buy a cross bike and hit the dirt/grass/sand/pavement!

Now I'm getting pricing on a singlespeed cross bike that I can use for adventure racing and commuting (whenever I move) as well as cross races. That should help retain some fitness over the late fall/early winter season and stave off some of the trainer riding.

One nice thing about cross races is that there are more categories than road racing. I can race beginner 35+ to start. Races start in late September.

How am I going to mount my powertap on a singlespeed cross bike though??? HA

Cow TT #21

2009-06-29T07:22:00.002-05:00

Everyone (all four of us) was within 45 seconds of each other with three of us in the 25mph range and one in the 26. Strong group.

Here's how my ride shook out:
Route 589
2:49
268 watts
24.2 mph

Peterson Road - into the headwind
10:03 - but felt like forever
261 watts
21.1 mph!

Alcony Conover - yay no more headwind, time to wind up
1:53
274 watts
25.2mph

Ahh the tailwind of Troy-Urbana
6:44
270 watts
31.2mph!

I've got no races scheduled until July 8th's Blue Streak!

#20 Ohio State time trial championship

2009-06-22T06:55:00.003-05:00

After the USA Cycling changed the master's tt to 16 miles I decided that my goal race of the year would be the state time trial. Knowing early on that it would be on a flat course helped! Even though my training has been terrible due to health/work/lack of time issues/fat ass, at least I have been feeling pretty good just about every time I ride my time trial bike. On a side note, just about every ride on my road bike has been for crap.

Around 110 riders were registered for the time trial in Versailles and it was awesome that they closed the road at the start/finish! It made for kind of a professional feel to the event...well as professional as I can dream of. The juniors went first but I was the 7th adult to start on the day. Seeing the quality of the field ahead of me (Gary Painter, Peter Wimburg, etc) I knew I would be lucky at best to pass anyone on the day. Seeing the quality of the people behind me scared me enough as well!

The 'out' portion of the course went south then east for 9.something miles, all with the wind at our backs. Felt really good and my average was almost 27 at the turn around. I did pass my one minute man around 7 miles in. The turn around was on a slight down grade so we had to jut up a little rise immediately. Ouch. Into the now head wind. Ouch ouch. The ride back was a struggle fighting the breeze. It wasn't bad, but just enough to matter to me and I averaged only right at 23 on the return half for an overall average right around 25. Right around my typical speed.

This was good enough for the win in my age group!

Full disclosure time
In the 35-39 age group there were 5 people. I beat three of them and the person who beat me was from Indiana and was not eligible for a medal. But I don't care, gold is gold is gold.

In checking my data I was happy to see a decent power average for a course this long. It's getting close now to my old averages for shorter tt's of last year.

That makes 6 wins on the year, one better than last year and several more races to go.

Interesting to me only

2009-06-15T21:16:00.002-05:00

Since I started racing bikes, we use the age we will be on December 31st of the current year. So all year, I've been 39 where it relates to racing. I actually turn 39 tomorrow. What does this mean? Well, I've got a short (as in 6 miles) race tomorrow so I don't know how I'm going to get my "39" miles in that's required via some unwritten rule.

Ok, so that wasn't even interesting to me.

#19 Colavita TT June

2009-06-13T11:40:00.003-05:00

Crappy feeling on the warm up. I warmed on the trainer and just didn't feel "it", whatever "it" may be.

Anyway, it was a perfect condition day. There was a slight tailwind going out so I figured there would be some fast times since it's longer that way than the trip back home. I started 11th with some good riders ahead of me. I only caught two riders on the day. Usually, I try to make the turnaround in 16 minutes and I was at 15:40-ish. That was nice. I pushed as hard as I could into the slight headwind and hit a time of 28:52, which knocked 9 seconds off my fastest time set last September. Average was a shade over 25.

So I won some Heed and a pair of sunglasses. Having a prescription and not able to wear non-Rx, I traded to the glasses to Shane who won a helmet. Perfect!

Groveport TT #18

2009-06-07T12:53:00.002-05:00

This is my fourth consecutive year racing this course.
In 2006 my average was 23.9
In 2007 my average was 24.19 (time of 58:31)
In 2008 my average was 24.53 (time of 57:57)

I knocked some 43 seconds off my best time and my average said 24.6 via the powertap.

This course is fun and hard, but does not suit my strength. The front half is some rollers where I saw 16mph on my computer at one point. Ouch. Bunch of false flat type roads too. The return half is less rolling (pretty flat) but had loads of false flats.

I ended up 5th in my division. Even in the cat 4 group there were some fast times with the winner of our group in the 54-minute range. The overall winner was in the 28+ mph range with a time in the high 49-minute range (former national champ Paul Martin).

Next up is Blue Streak on Wednesday followed by the Colavita TT this Saturday.

This was the first long time trial on my new saddle. I'm walking a bit gingerly at the moment, kind of like a cowboy. Should be fine for riding tomorrow with some bag balm. Have I mentioned that I really don't like Champion's new chamois?

#17 Strawberry festival TT

2009-06-04T20:03:00.003-05:00

That's a little more like it.
In one race I set a season high 20 second and 15 minute power and lifetime high in 5 minute power. Not sure of my result yet (announced top 2 only), but my average was 25.4 (powertap) for the 10 mile course. There were lots of good riders out there tonight.

I keep reminding myself how fast I would be had I not be carrying a 20 pound bowling ball around my waist.

The time spent the last two weeks solely on the tt bike is paying off.

OFFICIAL RESULTS:
http://www.speedy-feet.com/results.htm
5th out of 19 in the 30-44 age group
7th overall out of ~70 (I'm throwing out the tandem, recumbent and the obscure woman's time of 27mph, as that's got to be wrong)

Why do they keep spelling my last name wrong???

Drink up!

2009-05-29T16:06:00.000-05:00

Cow TT #16

2009-05-27T06:47:00.002-05:00

Saturday was the 9.1 mile Cow time trial. One mile into my warm up lap I knew this was going to hurt. I had one day off Friday after a hard six day block that included one interval session, two time trials and three hard group rides. Yeah, oops. So heading eastbound on the warm up lap was painful.

The actual race was even more painful. Going out it was a struggle to hold 23 and hitting 25 took way too much effort. That's when I shifted from singing songs to myself to talking to myself. That's never good! I felt a little better on the short southbound section knowing that once I turned right again it would be easy sailing. The ride back home was 28 mph easy. My overall average for the 9.1 was 25.1 (powertap measured). Again I'll say when I have a bad day but can still average 25, it's not really that bad of a day. I was just worn out.

That being said, this week is sort of a rest week with a 40k tt on the schedule for this Sunday in Ft Wayne, Indiana. Didn't ride Monday or Tuesday and Sunday's ride was just an hour on the tt bike at a moderate pace to get used to being aero for that long. I think that's what today's ride is going to bring.

Speedy feet TT #15

2009-05-19T19:57:00.002-05:00

I decided to race up north instead of down south today. I was in a hurry and had both of my dogs to make sure they didn't get overheated, resulting in a limited warm up...

Am I out of excuses for my 2nd place finish (out of 25 or so riders)? ha ha, I got beat by 0.5 mph average so my coming to a complete stop to avoid running over a goose is moot.

Anyway, I had my season best 15 minute power which was nice and averaged 25.0 but I don't remember how long the course was...maybe 7 miles or a little longer. I kept a lower cadence for some reason, like I didn't have the right gear. I was probably chugging 80 rpm or something. That was interesting and led to a slightly lower (but expected) heart rate average.

You have to expect the bad while racing on an open bike path with dogs, kids and geese.

Running TT tally:
6 time trials
4 wins
2 second places

May's Colavita time trial #14

2009-05-16T14:27:00.002-05:00

No thunderstorm!

This was the latest I've ever arrived at a time trial. My brain must not be working right as I usually am the first person there - today there were at least a dozen cars in the lot. My lack of brain is becoming disturbing. Being late, I was 19th to go off (out of around 50 riders).

The rain started to come down during my trainer warm-up, but by then it was getting time to pack up and head to the start house.

A guy on a sweet, brand new Fuji TT bike was just ahead of me. Good rabbit. Out on the road, there was a little head wind and I hit the turn around at 17 minutes passing four people in the process (including the Fuji). The return (shorter) trip had me about 12minutes40. Front side I averaged less than 23 but on the back side it was over 27 for a 24.5 average on the day. Certainly not my best effort and I was kind of pissed when I realized that I felt pretty decent within 10 minute of finishing. That means I didn't go hard enough.

The end result was good enough for first place in my division. Not that my division had a whole bunch of riders, but whatever. Finished 9th overall out of the 50.

The all-time record was broken today. 24:57! That's about 4 minutes faster than my best ever time.

Update

2009-05-15T21:38:00.002-05:00

Well I didn't race Tuesday even though it was a nice evening. Since I didn't work in Cincinnati, I felt no need to drive 1.5 hours each way for a 10 miler. I opted for one of the crappiest rides I've ever had instead. Almost literally. At the one hour mark (and 30 minutes from home), my stomach was in serious jeopardy. Luckily, I was able to hoof it home in time.

Wednesday's race was a washout (for me at least). I was at a client's office at 4 getting ready to leave when a nice thunderstorm hit Troy. So I worked more. Around 6 when I got home, the weather was actually decent. Crap. No riding Wednesday.

No riding Thursday. Enough said. Not a good day.

Today was nice enough and I had a spare hour to hit the time trial bike for a warm up for tomorrow's TT in Greenville. Basically, it was another "getting to know you" ride on the Specialized working on keeping my knees in and chin down. Due to the wind from the south, my north ride up Peters Pike was a steady 30-32mph.

The TT bike is cleaned up and ready to roll. Tomorrow is looking thunderstormy though but I have the season series to worry about so I'm racing rain or shine.

In exciting news (to me only), I'm going to get my Trek out of storage and get it ready for crit season. It's never seen a race and hasn't seen the road in anger in over two years. It needs new shifters (9 speed to 10 conversion) and some bar tape. I have a cassette, chain and powertap mounting kit, so it's going to be a low cost upgrade.

Lucky race #13 Germantown

2009-05-11T09:03:00.002-05:00

...lasted 12 minutes. 1/4 mile of downhill followed by 1/4 mile of uphill. The downhill featured a turn that I could not manage and got gapped. Ended up getting pulled after 7 laps out of 25.

Probably missing Cleve's tomorrow because I'm not going to be in Cincinnati.

Blue Streak is Wednesday and the Colavita TT is Saturday so I can get some racing in.

crap nutz crap yay!

2009-05-07T17:36:00.002-05:00

CRAP:
After Sunday's race I developed a slight cough. I just thought it was the normal cough after a hard effort but it turned into a scratchy throat. Felt better for Monday's ride, but by Tuesday morning I could hardly drag my ass to West Chester.

NUTZ:
I finally made the call at 5pm to ditch the time trial and go home. One less race but I didn't want to push it since I felt like garbage to begin with.

CRAP:
Felt sick all day Wednesday and today. It felt cold in the house so I thought it was cold outside until I had to make a short road trip. It was warm so I had to ride at least a little.

YAY:
With ideal conditions for my time trial test, I felt that was the best thing to do today since I would be on and off the bike in less than an hour and the hard effort would only take 13 minutes or less. So I meandered my way down to Dog Leg and Jackson feeling pretty descent and trying to maintain form. As the picture at the top of my blog shows, I need to work on pulling my chin down a touch and was working on bringing my knees in.

Time for the interval. Up Dog Leg, right on Old Springfield, Left on Peters (had to kind of slow down for a knucklehead driver that sat too long at the stop), right on Evanston stopping just before my subdivision.

5.768 miles in 12:22 which by my powertap showed a 28.0 average. First time I've done a test at 28! Last year my best was 27.6 under similar conditions.

In full disclosure, it's not a completely accurate assessment of fitness since there was a SW wind at 9mph, but I've gone slower with more wind. But I will take it. I didn't wear my heart rate strap, but my power was where it should be for that type of effort. But also under full disclosure, I wore my normal helmet and normal kit with no shoe covers.

No riding tomorrow (work all day), but the Germantown race is Saturday. Looks to be another rough one.

A friend of mine was taking photos on the climb

2009-05-04T13:00:00.000-05:00

My last trip up the hill

#12 Spring Valley

2009-05-04T06:52:00.002-05:00

9. something miles laps, 5 laps with one climb to the finish. Not steep, but long (for Ohio)

There were only about 25 cat 4's and all fields were a little low. Not sure if there were other races going on today elsewhere or what. It was a nice day, but the forecast of rain may have kept people away.

We caught the cat 3's near the end of the first lap. It's not like we were riding all that fast though. Up the first climb and surprise I got dropped and couldn't catch back. Traded pulls with two other guys (Glen from 7hills and Rick from a team I didn't recognize) for the next two laps. Being nice, we decided to regroup at the top of the climb each time (because they would have dusted me up it). I reciprocated by doing as much pulling as I could on the flats to get my TT workout in. At the start of lap four the cat 5's caught us and we sat at the back of their pack for a few miles. Someone attacked and popped Rick off the back. Near the end of the fourth lap, which was the last lap for the cat 5's Glen and I slowed down a bit to let them finish. Glen was done by the end of that lap anyway, so I pulled most of the lap number five. Other than cramping, I felt ok so it wasn't a problem to pull so much.

In a show of gratitude and respect, Glen told me since I was pulling him around, he wouldn't pass me up the hill just to finish ahead of me. It's not that we were in a break battling for first place, but I still appreciated the respect. So he coasted up the hill and I rode in for 21st place.

I finished and I wasn't last. Small victory in what is turning out to be a very hard year.

Tuesday looks to be a nice day, so I'll be heading down for the Cleve's TT unless something comes up.

Update

2009-04-29T10:30:00.002-05:00

Not that it means anything to anyone but myself but in reviewing the rules based on one of the time trials that I've done, I should have actually been awarded first place due to an age related snafu. Regulations from the promoter state that the age group category is based on your age as of 12-31-09, putting the guy in front of me in the 40-49 group.

So that's three wins, one second place in time trials and a whole bunch of crap in road races.

Cow TT #10 Gettysburg #11

2009-04-27T22:24:00.002-05:00

May as well combine these two into one post because it's going to be a short one.

As of Friday afternoon, I thought I was going to have to jet to Michigan for the weekend knocking me out of two races. With only about an hour to ride, I took the specialized out for a hard 12 minute interval. Averaged 27 something.

Then I found out I wasn't going to Michigan...

The Cow TT on Saturday was rough with only one small section of pure tailwind. The rest was either cross or head which made for some hard riding. Though my average wasn't great, it was good enough for 2nd on the day. For those keeping track, it's two wins and two 2nd's in 4 tt's this year. Good ego stroke.

Ego stroke gone because...
On to Sunday's Gettysburg road race. 14 mile laps with loads of head wind. I got dropped 3 miles (3, yes three) into it as the field was strung out and I just couldn't hang. Rode the next 25 miles by myself and called it a day. I wanted to call it a day after the first lap, but I forced myself into another loop. No way could I force myself into a third. Four straight days of hard riding put the screws to me.

Next up is Spring Valley, hosted by One Call Now (my team).

Vandervorts corner road race #9

2009-04-20T06:43:00.002-05:00

Probably shouldn't even bother.

Each time up the first riser there was small attacks that lasted past the right hand turn and into the left hand bend through the first overpass. I died the third time that happened. After blowing up, I lost interest and with my legs being jelly I called it a day after 3 laps.

My old bike got in a wreck. Luckily, I was not the person riding it.

Colavita TT April #8

2009-04-18T14:30:00.002-05:00

Saturday's race had absolutely perfect conditions for the time trial. Warm and relatively windless. Over 70 people were in attendance and I was 20th to go. I think the slight breeze became a little wind as people who rode late were telling me about it where it was relatively non existent on my ride.

It's a nice feeling hitting the turn around at less than 16 minutes, especially with a slight tail wind for the shorter ride home. My overall time (power tap measured) was 29:08, seven seconds off my all time best that I had last year. Not bad considering I'm much more out of shape than last year. My average was right around 25. The time was good enough for 2nd place in my division. My new position and new front wheel are carrying me through the lack of fitness.

Tomorrow is Vandervort's corner and another butt kicking in what looks like a rainy race. Luckily, it's not a technical course, but if it's windy AND rainy, it's going to suck.

Sushi night tonight!

Deer Creek #7

2009-04-12T22:04:00.001-05:00

Another day, another race. Of the three times I rode this week, every ride was a race. Sunday at Hueston Woods, Wednesday at Blue Streak and Saturday at Deer Creek. A metric assload of riders were there, and I foolishly thought I could hide out in the group. Nope, 10 miles: someone attacks, I get my season high 20 second power AND get dropped. Rode the next two laps with a couple of other guys and the final lap by myself. 48 miles in 2:24 with a headwind both ways (it felt like).

Three rides this week...
Last place
First place
Last place

This bodes well for the time trial Saturday but does not look good for the road race on Sunday.

Blue streak April #6

2009-04-09T19:45:00.003-05:00

Wednesday evening met the 43 of us with a stiff wind out of the west. That's both good and bad as the time trial starts off heading west (bad), but has the longest section heading East (good), but finishes heading back west (suckatrash).

I arrived early in what is not a shock to anyone and registered 10th with start time of 6:05 with the 30 second interval for riders. Didn't really warm up too great as I forgot my trainer and pedaled circles around the salt filled parking lot praying I wouldn't blow a tire. There's no holder at blue streak so it's necessary for the sake of saving seconds to be able to clip in quick. Luckily, I did. The start into the wind sucked. Highest one minute power a minute out of the gate. Passed my 30 second guy even before the first right turn. Of the 9 people that started ahead of me I passed 6 overall. Felt decent on the back stretch, not killing power but having a decent speed due to the tail wind.

The end result was that I was 0.3mph off of my speed the only other time I rode this tt and I was in shape then. My average was 24.4 that put me first in my age group and 6th overall. Really I was 8th fastest but two people ahead of me were on HPV's (so they don't count). Out of 43 people, I'll take 8th.

On a HUGE bummer note, I found out that Master's Nationals time trial is only going to be 16 miles!? I'm not wasting the time, money and energy for that. It's a $60 race fee and a 3 hour drive, plus hotel.

Who knows where it will be next year, but oh well.

Next up: Saturday at Deer Creek. Time to get my ass handed to me (again).

Hueston Woods road race #5

2009-04-06T06:48:00.003-05:00

First road race of the year. Conditions were absolutely perfect. Decent sized field of what I'm guessing to be north of 30 riders. So what went wrong? Damn near everything. On the finish line hill on the first lap I had a mechanical (chain jumping) and that blew any momentum I could have had. After then getting dropped, I nearly made my way back to the field and as luck would have it someone attacked JUST as I approached. Field strung out and that was all she wrote. I spent the next 1.5 hours time trialling. I finished the race in 1:58 for the 38 rolling miles and checking the powertap of a team mate who finished with the field, he finished in 1:53.

In talking with another team mate after the race, I commented on my chain and said that the chain was jumping in my favorite cog for the last few days...he asked how many miles I had on it and then my head turned into a jackass. I have around 20,000 miles on this cassette. It's the original from when I bought the Orca. Time to place an order.

Anyway, that race was a complete disappointment. I understand that I'm not a lightweight climber (hill top finish, three climbs per lap), but I thought I should have done better. The good news is that I have two more races this week (weather permitting) to redeem myself.

Do I look dead or what?

March Colavita Time Trial - race #4

2009-03-22T11:48:00.002-05:00

The first outdoor time trial of the year. Conditions were cold and not conducive to fast times but 60 people showed up for the 20k TT. My start time was 9:12 so there were plenty of people to try to chase down. Kyle Lyman started a minute behind me and I knew it was matter of when, not if, he would pass me. Kyle did the race on a road bike with clip ons. Team Dayton needs to get him a time trial bike, sky's the limit with this guy.

Anyway, it took about 11 minutes for Kyle to pass me, but by that time I had already passed two riders. I hit the turn a little slower than I would have liked, in route to an over time that I wasn't really thrilled with but it turned out to be the fastest time in the 30-39 age group and 4th fastest overall. My average was 23.8 mph. I beat Jim Matson by one second where he beat me by a couple of minutes at the final TT of 2008. I had never beat him before. That's one more checked off the list of people I've never beaten in a TT. Hopefully more will fall.

I ended last season with a time trial win, so it was nice to start this year off with one. Overall, my power was low and my time was slow, but given my (lack of) training and the weather conditions, I'll take it. This was also my first real run with the new position. I like it. More aero, less power required at previous speeds and less sliding to the front.

Next up as far as time trials go is Blue Streak. Next (first) road race is in 13 days at Hueston Woods.

Closed for the season

2009-03-05T22:18:00.001-05:00

And I forgot about Blue Streak!

2009-03-02T12:02:00.001-05:00

http://www.daytoncyclingclub.org/bluestreak.htm

According Speedy-feet's website, there will be six blue streak time trials this year.

Yep, more time trials.

Series 1 for 1

2009-03-02T10:00:00.003-05:00

Turned out that even though I missed the final time trial due to rash/sickness, I did end up winning the series. Three other people had faster times than I did, but didn't race the required minimum of three times. So I won. That makes one of four time trial series I intend to win this year. We'll see. On that note, work and sickness has seriously undermined my training for the last two weeks of February. The first real time trial test is March 21, so I need to build for that. The camp that's the weekend prior should be a nice season kickoff.

That's all I have to say.

For slowtwitch

2009-02-22T15:11:00.000-05:00

Skin suit comparison 2008 vs 2009

2009-02-22T13:43:00.001-05:00

Well nutz

2009-02-22T09:34:00.002-05:00

Going to have to wait a couple of weeks to get race #4 in. My scheduled race time is about 40 minutes from now and I'm sitting here typing instead of warming up in Centerville. It's been a weird week so I decided to bag the race. Unfortunately, I have to bag the first road race of the year which is next Saturday due to schedule conflicts. Along with the hives/rash/wtf's, I caught a cold. I've been stuffing my gob full of just about every drug in the house to try and ward it off but it didn't take. Being around too many people (which is never fun for me) and too many meals out in the public doomed me to illness. Not enough riding either as I missed two days this week.

Anyway, enough of that bullshit whining. The hives are on the decline and I'm about to spend a couple of hours on the trainer as soon as my coffee kicks in. I also just found out that there will be 21 people attending our team training camp in March! That should be a good time.

This week looks to be another long one with limited riding time. Hopefully, I'll feel good enough to spend what little riding time I have going hard with intervals.

Gear 2009

2009-02-17T22:41:00.002-05:00

No pictures yet as I've no idea where my camera is right now, but I finally took delivery of my 2009 team kit. While Champion Systems gear isn't for looooong term use, for season by season gear you really can't beat it.

This year's haul included:
Casual Jacket
Cyclocross skinsuit
Speedsuit
short sleeve jersey
bibs

Probably the coolest (warmest) piece is the cross skinsuit. It's long sleeve and the whole thing minus the chamois is fleece. This will come in handy during the spring campaign.

The speedsuit, also long sleeve, is a new addition to CS's lineup. In various places it has a dimpled-esque material. No collar (the normal skinsuit has one) and no key pocket behind the neck. It's extremely light. We'll see if that along with everything else I've done translates into faster times this year.

The casual jacket is nice. It's not for riding as it's loose and has no back pockets. It will be nice for the pre race and post race fastivities (AKA standing in the registration line and hanging around the finish line)

All the gear is here, the bike is upgraded and finished, now all that's left is to ride it fast. Giddy up

Seeing red

2009-02-16T19:30:00.002-05:00

My body is rebelling against me for some reason. Around 10-15 percent of my body is covered in hives or some such shit. Luckily, other than being one itchy bastard, I feel fine. I reviewed my diet (in the loosest sense of the word) and have had nothing out of the ordinary since way before these hives started. For some reason I think it's stress.

I'm trying not to let it affect training, but when sweat hits a spot that I've stupidly scratched too much.....oy vey. This weekend is the last of the indoor time trials and we'll see how that goes. I'm now needing to ramp up my time on the bike because the season is about to begin. Depending on weather/schedule/itchyness I may do a road race on February 28th. If not, the season really begins with the mid March training camp - which I hope due to schedule that I can attend - and the spring series soon after.

As for the Tour of California, it was odd watching a Woman's circuit race instead yesterday.

Ride the bike

2009-02-10T22:55:00.002-05:00

Today was a nice day out - kind of. One of those days it was nice to be a group because I would probably have pussied out sooner than later. Three of us did last year's ramble route as I wanted to get some rollers in and get two hours in. Rudy road was the big suck bomb. That road hurts and with a strong head wind it hurts worse. Being in the next to last gear and doing about 12mph while pushing over 300 watts is not a fun feeling.

Now my bike has a case of the grimes and I need to get that fixed before tomorrow's (probable) indoor ride. I rode in the hurricane last year and I have no desire to repeat that business.

It's always cool to get out there with a group and just ride the bike. That's why I do it. It was also nice to hit those roads again. I had figured that last year would be my last time riding those roads due to the inevitable move. Well, that probably won't happen until summer or later, so I'll get some more chances to ride out there in the coming months. Group ride season can't get here too soon.

2-8-09 #3

2009-02-09T07:00:00.002-05:00

Sunday was the third of four indoor time trials at Neo Limits, put on by Team Dayton. After the snafu of two weeks ago, I was curious to see how I would do. My flight consisted of only three people, Kyle Lyman, John Farris and me. This was going to hurt. Kyle looked effortless as it looked like he averaged 400 watts for the first half. I tried to remain within myself yet still push a little harder than usual. John was between us the whole time.

I'm not exactly sure about the other's times, but Kyle finished about a minute before I did and John shortly after. I ended up with my best time ever in the three years and nine races on this simulated course, with a time of 16:21. This beats my previous time from two week ago by 34 seconds and beats my previous overall best by around 10 seconds.

In the course of the event, I had a season high five minute and fifteen minute power outputs. My fifteen minute high already is tied with my high from all of 2007.

After I got home, it was too nice to not go out for another ride. On the verge of cramping from the time trial, I kept it easy for an hour and got in another seventeen-point-something miles. Today looks like another day that I can get on the road! Schedule and weather will permit this. Sweet.