Days 2 and 3

The grass was cut at the Tuesday crit so I didn't make it far. Ugh. What a waste of two hours round trip driving.

31:27
11.06mi
TSS 38.3 (0.855)
Norm 239
P 0 940 206
HR 79 174 150
SP 5.2 33.8 21.1

Last night was the usual Wednesday red route. It ended up with 5 of us pulling hard. This marked the first time I didn't get dropped on the hill on Widener road! I worked hard on the climbs and tried to pull as much as possible. That being said, I had nothing left for the sprint, but it was a great day on the bike regardless.

1:24
30.76mi
TSS 114.9 (0.9)
Norm 252
P 0 771 219
HR 64 187 161
SP 2.4 37.1 21.8

Hard riding - day 1

Fred's Ride - green route

This was my first time riding the green route. It's certainly more rolling than the other two routes. Due to not knowing the course, I held back at the intersections and didn't think I worked hard enough until we got to a section where I knew the route. The routes are painted but I had a hard time seeing the green paint on the road. Ended the day with a weak sprint, but had a good overall effort for the ride.

25.1 miles
1:10
tss 101.5 (0.929)
Norm Pwr 260
PWR 0 823 222
HR 90 192 166
SP 2.3 34.2 21.3

Now it's rest mode until tonight's crit!

Orca

Time to throw the Orca back into the mix in a big way this week. Tonight, my schedule freed up to do Fred's Ride. I've never been there on a Monday and it appears on the map to be the most hilly route of the three. Tomorrow is the typical Tuesday crit and Wednesday it's back for another Fred's Ride. Not sure what Thursday or Friday will bring, but Saturday is the PUR Tour in Mason. I've not done well either time at this race, but I like the course. Last year, a team mate spent most of the time in a break with a rider from 7hills so my job was to cover attacks, which Kippy from 7Hills and I did the whole race.

Anyway, it should be a good week with lots of data to digest. I'm in need of that since I spent the last two weeks on the Giant.

Also this week, I'm ordering a Powertap for my time trial bike, laced to a Zipp 808. This should help quite a bit as I can keep track of data for the first time on that bike.

#31 Colavita time trial

Finally, my first win in cycling. It came on a foggy morning in a low attended time trial, but who cares! Out of the four time trials I have done in Greenville, this was my slowest time, so I know there were several people who skipped this race due to the weather or other factors. Today the new chainring did it's part without problem and there were no shifting issues.

#30 Tuesday crit

No power data as I don't have the Orca back yet. I'm not sure how many started the "A" ride, but there were some good riders so it was going to be hard. 15 minutes into it, Team Dayton's manager Ron went down hard. It looked like there was a touch of wheels. Ron is a good, experienced cat 1 rider, but there was a slow down (the race was herky-jerky the whole time) and it looked like a touch of wheels brought him down. After 30 minutes of clean up including an ambulance and police cruiser, we re-started the race for another half hour of racing. Kyle sprinted off right at the start (?) and my old legs were cold and missed it. Dave missed his clip in, so the two of us team time trialled for 30 minutes +3 laps. All in all, a hard day in the saddle.

What is with all the crashing lately? Being in races and reading reports of others, it seems like there have been an over abundance of crashes lately. Funny, I always felt like I was the worst bike handler in the field, but either I got better or SEVERAL people around me got worse.

#29 Troy Classic

This marked the first race on the Giant since 2005, I think, as the Orca is not ready yet. I rode the Master's 35+ race over the 1 mile, 9 corner crit. The thoughts of "don't do anything stupid" went out the window on the 2nd lap where I bridged up to an Olympus Homes rider who has a nice gap. Soon, we were caught and I died. I spent the last 10-11 laps in my own personal time trial, banging as hard as I could until the finish.

Time trial bike picture

I found this picture on my computer so I thought I would upload it. What?

Next season will find a Zipp 808 with Powertap for the rear on it. I have changed the 53 ultegra chain ring to an FSA aero 54 tooth already and the saddle has been swapped with a Fizik Arione Tri. Depending on if my Alps made it through Sunday's wreck that may need changing. The only other future change may be swapping the bars for the new Easton Attack TT's.

2000 Giant TCR vs 2005 Orbea Orca

Due to the Orca still being in the shop, I rode the Giant for "Fred's Ride" last night. This bike has been sitting in the garage since I've been married and I don't remember the last time I rode it (well, I rode it Tuesday night on the trainer but that doesn't count). Last season, I was on the Fuji that Team Dayton gave me so when I gave that bike back, all the components were put on the Giant. With a mish-mash of components and wheels (and tires), we took off for a 30 mile ride. First thing out of the gate, I remembered how stiff this bike is. Second thing out of the gate was remembering how much I HATE Ultegra 9 speed STI hoods. They are so uncomfortable since I've gotten used to the Dura Ace 10 hoods that the Orca has. I really like stiff bikes for crits as I don't feel any power loss when sprinting or coming out of corners. This is the only advantage the TCR has over the Orca as the Orca is not a sprinting bike even for the (low) quality of sprinter I am.

Anyway, I wasn't sure going out how my body would react coming off Sunday's wreck. I was happy to find out that my body felt great. The only thing that slightly bothered me was my bib straps rubbing over the road rash on my left shoulder but it really wasn't that big of a deal.

We ended up with a 30.5 mile ride in 1 hour and 24 minutes, give or take. I felt good on the flats and ok on the rollers. I may not have my Orca back by Saturday's race so it was nice to get out on the TCR and test it out just in case. I kind of wish I could "rebadge" this bike and race it in crits all year due to the stiffness. Putting the Orca in crits is somewhat scary due to the cost of the bike.

No power data since the TCR is 9 speed and my American Classic Powertap wheel is in the shop with the Orca.

#28 Team Dayton crit - ouch

Only 7 "35+" masters showed up this morning for a little 30 minute crit. But I knew three of them were hard riders, Todd Frye, Dan Waite and Rick Toler. While Rick and Dan were in a break about an 1/8 lap ahead, we rounded turn 3 and Todd's front wheel flatted. He originally survived the initial shock, but a second later met pavement. I was right behind him and wasn't able to miss burying my front wheel into his back as he was laying on the ground. Had I tried to "make the turn", I could have quite possibly run over his head, but I didn't have the time to make the call as it all happened instantly. We were going quite fast at the time.

The laundry list...
BIKE
Bent shifter (fixed)
Torn bar tape
Gouge in the FSA K-wing
Wheels need re-trued

BODY
Hematoma on my head (cracked and destroyed my Bell Sweep) that's now almost gone
Bruises on my head from the helmet
Headache
Small cuts on my elbow and hip
Big cuts on my shoulder (where there was already scar tissue from two previous wrecks years ago) which are covered in tegaderm.
Bruised hip - this hurts the worst.


But - I've been able to speak coherently (well, as coherent as I can get) so it looks as if I avoided my third concussion.

No cat 3 race today as I left the park early and went home to recover.

Group rides

This past Wednesday and Friday I did "Fred's Ride" ( http://www.fredsride.com/ ), a local group ride where you can ride as fast as you want with other people who like to ride fast. Over my cycling "career" most of my riding has been solo with my only real group riding being in races. It's nice to go out and and work on some rolling terrain with others to push me to go harder.

Wednesday's ride:
Time 1:27
Dist 30.74
TSS 118.7 (0.903)
Norm PWR 253
PWR 1 1038 220
HR 99 193 163
SP 4 35.8 21.9

Friday's ride:
Time 1:08
Dist 24.64
TSS 95.6 (0.912)
Norm PWR 255
PWR 0 1005 218
HR 83 183 161
SP 3.9 34.3 21.4

#27

After being rained out two weeks ago and there not being a race last week due to the holiday, this was my first race here in three weeks. This would also mark the last time I could ride the course before the official team Dayton criterium this Sunday. Only about 15 people showed up so we rode one combined group.

55:20
20.53 miles
TSS 75.7 (0.906)
Norm PWR 254
PWR 0 862 223
HR 110 192 170
SP 6 30.6 22.3

Testing 1...2...3

As part of my new training program, once a month I am going to perform power testing alternating between 5 and 20 minute averages. Yesterday was the first 5 minute test in the middle of a short, one hour ride. That's becoming the real beauty of the Powertap as "watts don't lie". Since buying the powertap, I've been able to find my weaknesses and now it's time to adjust the training to address them. 5 minute power has been a REAL issue so one goal is to increase it. I'm also keeping track of 20 minute power because I don't want to forsake time trialling power for shorter power. The other goal is dropping weight and limiting the fluctuations. My power is ok, but my power to weight ratio is pathetic. So by lowering weight and raising power, that is the best of both worlds.

#25 & 26

Saturday was the monthly Greenville time trial put on by Colavita Ohio. The road is chip seal to within 2 feet of the yellow line on each side of the road so therefore most riders ride close to the yellow. Apparently there was an issue at the May TT (which I didn't go to) with 5 cars stacked behind a rider because they weren't able to pass as the rider was on the centerline. We received a stern warning that anyone would be DQ'd if they rode the center. So the whole 20k was spent riding the damn bumpy chip seal. Yuck. My time ended up better than my two previous efforts on this course. Ended up with a time of 30:23, besting my fastest time by 5 seconds, with an average around 24.5 mph. This was enough for 4th out of 10 in the 30-39 division and 9th out of 48 overall. The goal is to break 30 minutes and I have two shots left to do just that.

Sunday was the Ohio Cup's Tour de Grandview. This was my first time on this course and if I knew ahead of time that there was a hill, I would have saved the long drive and race fee. I was in the 35+ division. Right from the get go I missed clipping in (twice). I haven't had that issue in two years (Pur Tour 2005). Right OTB before the first turn. I lasted 8 or 9 laps out of 18 before getting pulled by the official. That's the first time I've been pulled from a race. James Raddin from Bandwidth solo'd away for several laps for an uncontested win. Nice!

I was very impressed with the Tour de Grandview. It had a "big time" feel to it. It was organized, run well, low race fee, had a great announcer and it seemed like the whole community turned out in force to cheer the racers on. Normally the only crowds out there are family and friends of the racers!

#24 Ohio State TT Championship

Last year I was 3rd place in the "cat 4" division. This year I opted for age group (35-39) instead of cat 3. Result would have been the same regardless!

After a few bad weeks of training, lethargy and apathy, I had few expectations of a good ride. In the end, even though my placing was poor, I was happy with my ride. The Groveport course is rolling for the first 7 miles or so then flattens out nicely for a quick ride back to the finish. I passed 7 riders (1 minute intervals at the start) and had 2 guys pass me on route to a 24.19 mph average finish. My time was 58:31 on the "not quite 40k course". I think it was 23.5 miles or thereabouts.

Team COBC did great job as usual with organization, however, I do wish the start times were posted on their website as opposed to just being emailed. We lost a rider from our team due to a mistyped email regarding his start time.

Anyway, next up is the Greenville TT this coming Saturday.

Upcoming Schedule

The rest of the season is shaping up like this:
Tomorrow - State time trial (duh)
6-30 Greenville TT
6-31 Grandview (masters 35+)
7-15 Team Dayton crit (masters and cat 3)
7-21 Troy Crit (masters)
7-22 Tour d'Burg (cat 3)
7-28 Greenville TT
8-4 Pur Tour (cat 3)
8-5 is the last race of the Ohio cup - it's the Zoar road race in northeast Ohio. Not sure about this one as it will totally depend on how I feel. Right now I still don't have many positive vibes to my riding/training/racing.

Unfortunately, I'm going to miss the Newmark Crit for the first time due to being out of town. I really like this course. Last year it was pushed back so late that very few people showed up. I did the 2/3 race (my first race as a category 3) and only a dozen people showed up so they let anyone join us who wanted to.

Fudge

Moving massive amounts of furniture the week of the biggest race of the season is pretty dumb. First, we're getting carpet at the house so we have to move our couches, chairs, tv, etc Sunday night. Second, for the last two days I was installing the custom office furniture that I designed for a client. This stuff is made out of 2" MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard).

The laundry list:
Scraped & bruised right shin
Bruised knees
Strained right groin
Strained right hamstring
Sore back
Tweaked right knee


Super. No riding last night as I got home too late.

Leading up to the State Time Trial

Ok, so I've NOT done a 40k tt yet this year. Oops. What I have done is gotten myself dropped in so many road races that I basically turn them into time trials. Not the best training, but hey, what can a guy do? This week is going to be a relaxing week with Friday and Saturday off to rest up for Sunday's race. Barring thunderstorms, I'll hit the training crit Tuesday, do some intervals on the TT bike Wednesday and a tune up ride on the TT bike Thursday. After Sunday, I'll be picking and choosing races including the Troy Classic, Team Dayton Crit and Colavita's Time Trials.

Bad beer for $6.50? I went to a Reds game Saturday night for my birthday (37!) and saw that beer was $6.50 a bottle. Now this was not Oberon, Smithwicks or even Blue Moon. This was Miller freakin' Lite, Bud and Bud Light. Yuck.

Summer Solstice stage race

What a bust of a weekend! The shocking disappointment of the race has lead me to re-evaluate the amount of racing that I wanted to do. I definitely should not have upgraded when I did. Morale is at an all time low so I'm shortening up my race schedule a bit and increasing my training.

In the stage 3 time trial, my 25.17 mph effort was good enough for 23rd in my category (out of 50+). Reviewing the other categories, I would have been last in the 1/2/3 race, 4th in the cat 4's and 1st by a big margin in the cat 5's.

One great benefit of the Powertap is that I've been able to assess the real reason behind getting dropped. All these accelerations over and over again kill me quick. My training is also the reason why I am pretty decent at time trialling. Now I have to choose. Less of time trial training and work on the acceleration problem, or continue working on time trialling and screw thinking I'll ever be good at road racing?

Last night was race #23 - Tuesday crit
55:12
20.33 mi
TSS 81.7 (0.943)
Norm PWR 264
PWR 0 886 242
HR 93 181 164
SP 8.3 33.7 22.1

#18 - Tuesday crit

Now that the cut grass had a week to settle down, I didn't have any chest pains or breathing issues from allergies. That was nice. The race was low in attendance, and I'm guessing that's due to the Ault Park race tonight. 9 guys started the A race I think. 8 of them did not get dropped. har har.


55:22
20.35mi
TSS 84.7 (0.962)
Norm PWR 269
PWR 0 912 249
HR 98 180 165 (lower than normal average)
SP 3.4 31.6 22.2

Races aren't coming fast enough (but that's about to change)

Due to insomnia I decided to avoid the two and a half hour drive to Indiana on Saturday. The alarm was due to go off at 3:45am and I was still awake at 2 so I made the call to bag it. It sucks because that was my final chance to get an official 40k in before "the state". The drive along I-70 is enough to cure insomnia itself, so I felt it was risky to chance it. I opted to join my team, who was participating in the Troy Strawberry festival parade. Most of the team was there so after the parade we went for a short group ride, a photo op, then I rode home.

This weekend (barring the fore casted thunderstorms) is the Summer Solstice Stage Race in and around Wilmington. Three road races and a time trial on the schedule. Tuesday is also the regular training crit (again, barring thunderstorms).