When checking in at registration I noticed there were only four people signed up for the Pro-1-2 race. When I voiced my disappointment in the low number, one of the officials offered that a fifth racer had just registered. I ask ‘Who?’ She said ‘Brian Jensen’. I said ‘Ouch!’
TT:
When I did the Spring Fling Prolog a month ago, I did not feel like I had my head in the right place for the start. I did better this time and improved on my SF time by two seconds. There were about 20 seconds separating the five of us, but I don’t think anyone expected the race to be won or lost in the TT.
Between:
I went for an hour and a half ride between the TT and Crit just to get in a few more miles. We moved to Lawrence in 1980 and lived in a subdivision several miles south-east of town for a few years. I decided to take a spin through the old neighborhood while I was out there. Ever notice how everything seemed bigger when you were a kid? It’s been 25 years since I’ve been in that neighborhood and it was a bit shocking at how tiny the homes seem, how short and flat all the hills are and how insignificant my old stomping grounds are compared to how I perceived them back in the day.
Anyway, back to racing…..
Crit:
27 laps or about 30 miles was the prescribed pain for the afternoon. The five of us warmed up for the first two laps then Brian attacked up the right hand side at the start of the 3rd lap. I was way left and had no chance of grabbing his wheel. Matt tried covering the move so I jumped in behind him up the hill then went around in an effort to bridge. I was just barely able to make it. Brian was generous and let me ride with him for a few laps. My pull was from the start/finish, around the corner and up the hill. He pulled for the other ¾ of a lap. He was pulling at 30+ MPH through the chicanes where my tongue was hanging on my top tube and I was hanging on for dear life. With 16 to go Brian jumped and I could not even think about covering it. He rode with the other three guys (who were about 250 yards ahead of me) for a few laps and then rode solo to the finish putting over two minutes on me in the process.
RR:
We lost one guy overnight and only started with four. There was some discussion after the crit that the RR would be a good training ride. That was basically what happened, with the main goal of the day to make sure we did not get caught by the 3’s. We all took our turns at the front, worked together and achieved our goal.
Notables:
Luke was 3rd in the cat 5 TT and WON the RR! He finished 3rd in the GC. Sweet!
Shari swept the women.
Bert got to use his new wheels at Sheehan where he earned 12th. Way to pedal Bert!
Next is Joe Martin.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Hermann
BB and I drove down to Hermann Saturday morning and met Glen in town. We decided to pre-ride the RR course as part of our TT warm-up. Lots of hills!
The TT course was 10 miles long and flat except for the bridge over the Muddy Mo. I felt like I got a good warm-up between pre-riding the RR course and spending 30 minutes on the trainer. I had a 4:20 start time, two minutes behind BB. Pain and heart rate wise, I felt like I did what I had to do. My efforts earned me 9th. Jack, Brian and Kurt got 6th, 7th and 10th respectively in the TT.
The RR started at 10:00 Sunday morning. Four laps for a total of about 80 miles and lots of hills. Garmin says 430’ of climbing in the first 1.3 miles and over 2000’ per lap. Four guys (three of them from THF) got off the front very early on the first lap. A Big Shark guy rode away not much later and it looked like we would probably not see any of them again until the race was over. 15 miles in to the race I broke a spoke in my rear wheel. The wheel vehicle was right behind me and I got it swapped out fairly fast, but the pack was way gone and it really looked like I would not see any of those guys either until the race was over. Luckily there was not much action in the pack. I chased for five miles and finally caught back on at the top of the first climb out of town. I spent most of the second lap sitting on the back trying to recover.
Half way through the second lap we passed the wheel vehicle and the four guys that were in the break, sitting on the side of the road. Something happened and they had all been DQ’ed and forced to retire, which eliminated any chance they would have to appeal. It is unfortunate when a judgment call makes such a huge difference in the outcome of a race. Those guys were gone. We were not going to see them again. Their fitness and tactics earned them the first four places.
Up the hill at the start of the 3rd lap, Nolan put down a wicked attack. He took about 6 guys with him and spit the rest of us out the back. I topped the first part of the hill about 15 meters behind them, but could not get back on. There were a couple more stragglers behind me and another group a ways back. The second part of the climb was a bear. I dropped back to the next guy and sat on his wheel the rest of the climb. We had a group of three at the top and were just able to catch back on to the lead group.
Not much exciting happened for the next 20 miles. We still had the Big Shark guy off the front. The gap was reported to be 9 minutes. The climb at the start of the final lap was uneventful. At the top of a lesser climb, with about 16 miles to the finish, I found myself at the front and decided to roll the top and pedal down the back side. I looked back at the bottom and found I had a gap, so I pedaled a little harder. Up to the top of the next rise and they were still not chasing. 10 minutes later I got to the top of the first KOM and ran into a Big Shark guy (Josh) that I had no idea was up the road (I guess I need to pay a little closer attention). We worked together for the rest of the race.
So I put an asterisk by my 2nd place finish. The race was up the road and an unfortunate call disqualified the leaders. Jack finished 8th and Luke finished a very respectable 9th in Cat 5. Way to go Luke!
The TT course was 10 miles long and flat except for the bridge over the Muddy Mo. I felt like I got a good warm-up between pre-riding the RR course and spending 30 minutes on the trainer. I had a 4:20 start time, two minutes behind BB. Pain and heart rate wise, I felt like I did what I had to do. My efforts earned me 9th. Jack, Brian and Kurt got 6th, 7th and 10th respectively in the TT.
The RR started at 10:00 Sunday morning. Four laps for a total of about 80 miles and lots of hills. Garmin says 430’ of climbing in the first 1.3 miles and over 2000’ per lap. Four guys (three of them from THF) got off the front very early on the first lap. A Big Shark guy rode away not much later and it looked like we would probably not see any of them again until the race was over. 15 miles in to the race I broke a spoke in my rear wheel. The wheel vehicle was right behind me and I got it swapped out fairly fast, but the pack was way gone and it really looked like I would not see any of those guys either until the race was over. Luckily there was not much action in the pack. I chased for five miles and finally caught back on at the top of the first climb out of town. I spent most of the second lap sitting on the back trying to recover.
Half way through the second lap we passed the wheel vehicle and the four guys that were in the break, sitting on the side of the road. Something happened and they had all been DQ’ed and forced to retire, which eliminated any chance they would have to appeal. It is unfortunate when a judgment call makes such a huge difference in the outcome of a race. Those guys were gone. We were not going to see them again. Their fitness and tactics earned them the first four places.
Up the hill at the start of the 3rd lap, Nolan put down a wicked attack. He took about 6 guys with him and spit the rest of us out the back. I topped the first part of the hill about 15 meters behind them, but could not get back on. There were a couple more stragglers behind me and another group a ways back. The second part of the climb was a bear. I dropped back to the next guy and sat on his wheel the rest of the climb. We had a group of three at the top and were just able to catch back on to the lead group.
Not much exciting happened for the next 20 miles. We still had the Big Shark guy off the front. The gap was reported to be 9 minutes. The climb at the start of the final lap was uneventful. At the top of a lesser climb, with about 16 miles to the finish, I found myself at the front and decided to roll the top and pedal down the back side. I looked back at the bottom and found I had a gap, so I pedaled a little harder. Up to the top of the next rise and they were still not chasing. 10 minutes later I got to the top of the first KOM and ran into a Big Shark guy (Josh) that I had no idea was up the road (I guess I need to pay a little closer attention). We worked together for the rest of the race.
So I put an asterisk by my 2nd place finish. The race was up the road and an unfortunate call disqualified the leaders. Jack finished 8th and Luke finished a very respectable 9th in Cat 5. Way to go Luke!
Friday, April 18, 2008
5 to 4
Congratulation to my good friend and team mate Woody. He just upgraded to cat 4 this week. Woody is the guy that got me on a bike. A mountain bike back in ’96 and a road bike in ’02. He raced Cliff Drive last year then did most of Spring Fling this year. He finished 2nd overall in both cat 5’s. Racing is addictive and I think the monkey found his back.
Next time you see Woody tell him congratulations.
Next time you see Woody tell him congratulations.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Three Day Weekend
No racing for me last weekend. I took the day off work on Friday and got in a good 50 mile ride. The wind was brutal from the west so I tried a new north-south route that put me on 50 hwy for about 8 miles. The out was sweet, but the back was torture.
Saturday morning I was up early for the Dog Ride. BB and I were the only ones to show. I’m guessing it was because of the wind and less than ideal temps. Correct me if I’m wrong Curt, but don’t true ‘Dogs’ show even when it is windy? Anyway, I got a flat on Colburn where BB was nice enough to wait for me. I took the KOM on sled hill, BB launched an attack and stayed away to the sprint. We kept it agreeable on Stillhouse then BB stuck me out front after the turn to the water tower sprint and would not take his pull. He really likes down-hill sprints and it showed. I wasn’t even close. After sitting-up through Oak Grove, we each took our turn at the front north to pink hill and west to Buckner-Tarsney. After that it got interesting again with each of us launching attacks and the other covering. The west wind only made it worse. The pink hill sprint ended up being too close to call. We rolled to the library and found an empty parking lot, so we continued the saga on our own by adding Crenshaw, 78, Bunchu, Heidelberger, Truman and Owen School Rd. to end with a hilly 55 miles on the day.
I had a few friends over on Sat. evening. Beer and chili, then more beer and chili (gotta load those carbs and keep the tank full). We wrapped it up with a poker game that ended at 2:00am. I lost 15 bucks. Trent was the big winner walking away with $40ish?
The Sunday ride rolled at 10:00am. BB, Tall Brian and I were the only takers. I had a huge breakfast and felt uber stuffed for the first 30 miles. Crenshaw, 78, Bunchu to Buckner was the route, then 224 hwy to Wellington where Tall Brian turned around. BB and I continued to Lexington where we stopped for a quick break at the Casey’s. We continued east to Higginsville on 13 then back to Blue Springs on FF. The tail wind was really nice on 13 where we averaged somewhere in the mid to upper 20’s. The cross wind on FF was not as bad as I expected and my legs felt strong on the rollers. 84 miles on the day to round-out a good weekend.
Herman is next weekend. 10 mile TT and 80 mile RR with some hills. I’m looking forward to it.
Saturday morning I was up early for the Dog Ride. BB and I were the only ones to show. I’m guessing it was because of the wind and less than ideal temps. Correct me if I’m wrong Curt, but don’t true ‘Dogs’ show even when it is windy? Anyway, I got a flat on Colburn where BB was nice enough to wait for me. I took the KOM on sled hill, BB launched an attack and stayed away to the sprint. We kept it agreeable on Stillhouse then BB stuck me out front after the turn to the water tower sprint and would not take his pull. He really likes down-hill sprints and it showed. I wasn’t even close. After sitting-up through Oak Grove, we each took our turn at the front north to pink hill and west to Buckner-Tarsney. After that it got interesting again with each of us launching attacks and the other covering. The west wind only made it worse. The pink hill sprint ended up being too close to call. We rolled to the library and found an empty parking lot, so we continued the saga on our own by adding Crenshaw, 78, Bunchu, Heidelberger, Truman and Owen School Rd. to end with a hilly 55 miles on the day.
I had a few friends over on Sat. evening. Beer and chili, then more beer and chili (gotta load those carbs and keep the tank full). We wrapped it up with a poker game that ended at 2:00am. I lost 15 bucks. Trent was the big winner walking away with $40ish?
The Sunday ride rolled at 10:00am. BB, Tall Brian and I were the only takers. I had a huge breakfast and felt uber stuffed for the first 30 miles. Crenshaw, 78, Bunchu to Buckner was the route, then 224 hwy to Wellington where Tall Brian turned around. BB and I continued to Lexington where we stopped for a quick break at the Casey’s. We continued east to Higginsville on 13 then back to Blue Springs on FF. The tail wind was really nice on 13 where we averaged somewhere in the mid to upper 20’s. The cross wind on FF was not as bad as I expected and my legs felt strong on the rollers. 84 miles on the day to round-out a good weekend.
Herman is next weekend. 10 mile TT and 80 mile RR with some hills. I’m looking forward to it.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Dog (as in Dogwood) Tired.
I raced Dogwood on Sunday. It was effectively my first race as a 2 (yes, Mike approved my upgrade to Cat 2 Junior Girl last Monday). I say ‘effectively’ because ‘technically’ Spring Fling was my first race as a 2, but I don’t really count it as I’ve been racing it as a 3 since it started in March.
I learned a lot at Dogwood. First, I waste a ton of energy. I’m not efficient at covering speed changes. I surge and brake and surge and brake and surge and brake (you get the idea). I need to learn to look farther ahead in the pack and predict what the guy in front of me is going to do. Also, I need to get more comfortable riding closer to others. My caution in following a wheel at a ‘safe’ distance often leads me to loose my spot in the line-up and ride unsheltered thereby spending more energy than I should. Second, I’m going to need to learn to pee on the bike (well at least pee while riding it and try to not pee directly ‘on it’, or at least not on my bottles). Five hours is a long time to go without peeing if you are properly hydrated. Third, I need to focus on what is important. I took a feed on the first lap and was fixated on getting my bottles out of the bag and on the bike/in the jersey pocket. So fixated that I lost contact with the field and spent the next 3 ½ miles over AT chasing back on. DumbAss! That hurt.
On to the race summary.
There were about 25 starters. We soft pedaled for 5 miles. One guy got off the front at about 10 miles in. At the top of the first KOM someone else attacked. After I got back on to the back of the pack I sat-in for many miles trying to recover. A couple guys took off at the half-way mark. Without going into details, there were several racers that considered that move to be of questionable character. The second KOM brought more attacks that narrowed the pack down to seven of us (with two off the front as the first guy dropped out about that time). We pass through the feed zone two miles later (where I did not make the same mistake twice) and we are putting some good time on the chasers. A couple miles later and the cooperation ends with several riders attacking. Before you know it ‘We seven’ is narrowed down to ‘they three’. A Trek Store guy (Nick) and I spend the next 15 miles chasing trying to catch back on. No luck. In fact two guys caught us. Big Shark attacked with just over 1K to go. The remaining three of us gave it all we had and I was able to snag 7th overall. BB and I stopped in Springfield at the Mexican Restaurant that Craig Eaton, Jim Rank and I broke-in last year where we medicated with margaritas.
Saturday’s Spring Fling went as expected. Overall in the 4’s it was Jim and JJ in that order. In the 3-4’s, BB was 1st, I was 2nd and Brett was 3rd. Woody got 2nd in both cat 5 races. I earned 1st in the 1-2-3’s.
edited by pychstr on 4/7/08
Revised Three Star Awards:
Only one Star Award this week and it goes to BB for handing me bottles in the Dogwood race and for driving home after. 107 miles is a long way to race without hand-ups. After the race I was cramping and nauseous for several hours. I would probably have driven right off the road if I had been behind the wheel. Thanks a bunch Brian.
Also, we picked up a new team member this weekend. He is a honorable racer and a good addition to the team.
I learned a lot at Dogwood. First, I waste a ton of energy. I’m not efficient at covering speed changes. I surge and brake and surge and brake and surge and brake (you get the idea). I need to learn to look farther ahead in the pack and predict what the guy in front of me is going to do. Also, I need to get more comfortable riding closer to others. My caution in following a wheel at a ‘safe’ distance often leads me to loose my spot in the line-up and ride unsheltered thereby spending more energy than I should. Second, I’m going to need to learn to pee on the bike (well at least pee while riding it and try to not pee directly ‘on it’, or at least not on my bottles). Five hours is a long time to go without peeing if you are properly hydrated. Third, I need to focus on what is important. I took a feed on the first lap and was fixated on getting my bottles out of the bag and on the bike/in the jersey pocket. So fixated that I lost contact with the field and spent the next 3 ½ miles over AT chasing back on. DumbAss! That hurt.
On to the race summary.
There were about 25 starters. We soft pedaled for 5 miles. One guy got off the front at about 10 miles in. At the top of the first KOM someone else attacked. After I got back on to the back of the pack I sat-in for many miles trying to recover. A couple guys took off at the half-way mark. Without going into details, there were several racers that considered that move to be of questionable character. The second KOM brought more attacks that narrowed the pack down to seven of us (with two off the front as the first guy dropped out about that time). We pass through the feed zone two miles later (where I did not make the same mistake twice) and we are putting some good time on the chasers. A couple miles later and the cooperation ends with several riders attacking. Before you know it ‘We seven’ is narrowed down to ‘they three’. A Trek Store guy (Nick) and I spend the next 15 miles chasing trying to catch back on. No luck. In fact two guys caught us. Big Shark attacked with just over 1K to go. The remaining three of us gave it all we had and I was able to snag 7th overall. BB and I stopped in Springfield at the Mexican Restaurant that Craig Eaton, Jim Rank and I broke-in last year where we medicated with margaritas.
Saturday’s Spring Fling went as expected. Overall in the 4’s it was Jim and JJ in that order. In the 3-4’s, BB was 1st, I was 2nd and Brett was 3rd. Woody got 2nd in both cat 5 races. I earned 1st in the 1-2-3’s.
edited by pychstr on 4/7/08
Revised Three Star Awards:
Only one Star Award this week and it goes to BB for handing me bottles in the Dogwood race and for driving home after. 107 miles is a long way to race without hand-ups. After the race I was cramping and nauseous for several hours. I would probably have driven right off the road if I had been behind the wheel. Thanks a bunch Brian.
Also, we picked up a new team member this weekend. He is a honorable racer and a good addition to the team.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Good Sunday!
I’m kind of late on this post, but here it is anyway.
I had a really good Sunday. Everything kind of came together as planned. First, I was up early and on the road by 7:15. I met the guys at the Library at 8:30 and we headed east. We split into two groups at Higginsville where Jim, Mark and I rode the Lexington/224/24/Heidelberger/Owens School Rd. route. It was a really good ride (and Jim is looking very strong). I followed-up the ride with a trip over to Chipotle for a Fajita Bowl with guacamole. Very tasty. Next was nap time. Nothing beats a nap on the couch. Finally, I woke up just in time to watch the KU game where they eeked-out a win and a trip to the Final Four. I am an avid ‘Hawks fan. I didn’t attend KU, but I grew-up in that town and lived there in ’88 when they won it all. So it was the perfect end to a good Sunday.
Speaking of the ‘Hawks, this Saturday’s game is going to be some edge of the seat, nail biting, high-stress stuff. Two premier programs, two #1 seeds and two awesome coaches going head to head. Add to that the whole Roy leaving Kansas for UNC thing and you get a game that overshadows the other semifinal like it is not ever there. I may end up using all my adrenaline Saturday night and have none left for the race on Sunday.
I had a really good Sunday. Everything kind of came together as planned. First, I was up early and on the road by 7:15. I met the guys at the Library at 8:30 and we headed east. We split into two groups at Higginsville where Jim, Mark and I rode the Lexington/224/24/Heidelberger/Owens School Rd. route. It was a really good ride (and Jim is looking very strong). I followed-up the ride with a trip over to Chipotle for a Fajita Bowl with guacamole. Very tasty. Next was nap time. Nothing beats a nap on the couch. Finally, I woke up just in time to watch the KU game where they eeked-out a win and a trip to the Final Four. I am an avid ‘Hawks fan. I didn’t attend KU, but I grew-up in that town and lived there in ’88 when they won it all. So it was the perfect end to a good Sunday.
Speaking of the ‘Hawks, this Saturday’s game is going to be some edge of the seat, nail biting, high-stress stuff. Two premier programs, two #1 seeds and two awesome coaches going head to head. Add to that the whole Roy leaving Kansas for UNC thing and you get a game that overshadows the other semifinal like it is not ever there. I may end up using all my adrenaline Saturday night and have none left for the race on Sunday.
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