Humid. A bit rainy. 32 racers. John is back in town, and thus racing the Bs. He said he was going to try to get in a break, and if that didn’t work, wanted me to drag him to the front for the field sprint. Okee dokee.

Lots of break attempts. I don’t think John tried to get in any of them. I tried to stay in the mix, but would sometimes find myself at the back. Occasionally it was hard back there, generally when the group was trying to reel in a break. A few laps were really hard. With about five laps to go, I started to consider where I needed to be to get John to the front. With two to go, he yelled at me (exactly what I was looking for) and at the same time, the whole group moved left, giving us a nice lane on the inside. I stepped on it, and got him near the front before I was pinched off. He managed to get Kevan Rutledge’s wheel for the remainder of the race. I had to grab my brakes, and spent the last lap trying to chase back on. John got blocked in the final corner and sat up, and we watched the field sprint from behind. Oh well.

In other news, locked to the bike rack this morning was a titanium Independent Fabrications ‘cross bike. Kit included:

* Carbon fork
* DT-Swiss hoops laced to Chris King (!!!!) hubs *
* Carbon FSA cranks
* SRAM Red rear mech and shifter (single ring up front)
* Empella Frog Legs cantis

I sincerely hope the owner races this bike.

* Rear hub is worth more than my commuter

Posted on 29 May 2009

The P Course was run this evening. I had pretty low expectations going into the race (as opposed to every other B race, right?), and I pretty much expected to get dropped. And, I did. It happened pretty quickly, and a group of maybe ten or twelve riders quickly formed as the second group, and we stayed together, mostly, for the rest of the race. I spend a great deal of time sitting on back (Ben pointed out how difficult it is to sit on the rear of a group, and I told him I’ve made this into an art), though at some point early in the race I put in an effort to close a gap in the group. We managed to hold off the leaders ’til the finish line, which was fine with me.

The course itself was very fun, and I felt pretty safe once the groups were established. I saw two crashes in the hairpin out of the start/finish straight, but both were single riders misjudging the turn and going down. One went down in front of me, the pace was slow enough that I managed to get by without much issue, though chasing the group down again hurt a bit. The race, even our little group, was quite hard. Until our pace really dropped near the end, I was hurting. The acceleration out of the hairpin was always hard, and the pace was kept high through the sweeper. The turn into the finishing straight also had some serious accelerations, though I managed to work out a good shifting routine to keep the effort down a bit. I’m certainly looking forward for the next P course go ’round.

Posted on 20 May 2009

Mmmm….dirt

Three dirt sectors on this ride:

1. Campbell’s Run Road. This is the classic “Do Not Enter” road, but don’t be fooled. The first third is essentially a false flat on dirt through the woods. The first 200 meters of the road has a few houses, but they disappear pretty quickly. The middle section (beyond the barriers which you can ride past) is fairly steep, and probably just about at the limit of what I can ride reasonably with 25mm road tires. The road sees no traffic, so the top layer of gravel is thick and rather loose. Lots of sharp looking rocks, too, but thanks to the low speed they are easy to avoid. The last third is more false flat. It’s hard to believe you are a stone’s throw away from Harmarville on this road, given how isolated it feels.

2. Old Mill Road. This stretch, probably about a mile or so long, is in good condition, but thanks to the gentle descent and dirt covered by ball bearing gravel, it can get pretty sketchy very quickly (hey look, I’m actually drifting in this corner that overlooks a big pond!). Also note it is guarded by a dirt hairpin. Still, it’s pretty sweet to hit 25 or 30 mph on a road bike on dirt.

3. McClellan Road. I had tried this last year, but it looked like it just led to a construction site, so I turned around. The first half is a wide false flat that passes under Route 910. Beware the knobby rocks here. I flatted here, though it should be noted that when I was replacing the tube on my front wheel, I noticed the lack of rubber and casing on my rear, and was shocked that didn’t flat. The second half is a steep-ish climb on lots of loose, thick gravel. Don’t get caught out of gear here.

Good stuff. It would be pretty easy to add a bit more dirt by taking Eisel from Mill Dam, or simply to ratchet up the pain by climbing Mill Dam, looping back to Eisel, then perhaps even zipping down to Schaeffer.

Posted on 16 May 2009

Back to the Bs. I wrestled with many motivational demons over the last week, and in the process had an epiphany–I realized, first, that I am no where near in the sort of shape I was in last fall. Not that I can’t do a long ride, or deal with the pace of the B race, but I don’t have any kick in my legs (“good sensations” as the PROs call it). So be it. I will now be content to sit in at the B race for a few weeks, hopefully slowly build up my fitness, and perhaps be ready to do more than this each week. I spent a bit of time closer to the front of the group, but did no work. I need to change that policy in the coming weeks, though, as when my team mate John returns, he’ll likely be more active and I should attempt to provide some small degree of support (though I’m fairly certain I can sit and block at the front of the group with the best of them).

As for the race itself–a break established itself early, with representation from the strong teams, so we did quite a bit of lollygagging as those teams blocked and generally persuaded everyone that chasing was a Bad Idea. This led to the group getting lapped by the break. More lollygagging until 5 laps to go, when UPMC put their guys up front to control the field for the sprint for a place that probably didn’t really matter, thanks to the break. One by one, they would hammer a lap then drop off to the back. I was poorly positioned (not sure why I didn’t perk up when I heard “time to move to the front”) and spent a full lap trying to close a gap to the main field. I managed to do this, but heading into the last half lap, decided it really wasn’t worth getting in the mix for 20th place and finished at the tail end of the group.

I’m perfectly content to not get results at this point. I’m probably just on the cusp of being fit enough for the B race, so this is more like structured training than anything else. Being pack fodder in a 3/4 race is good enough for right now. The Oakmont crit is coming up, and I’m hoping to do okay there. I don’t think I can expect to pull down a top result, but I need to be active, especially if we have a few other team mates there. The next weekend, we’re headed to Connecticut to visit family, and my plan is to do the Nutmeg Classic Crit (where I can race Masters 4/5–sweet!). I’ll be curious to see how that shakes out. It would be nice to have a good set of legs for that race if only not to spend the race in the middle or back of what will likely be a shaky bunch.

Posted on 14 May 2009

Tarik Saleh has a smart post about Tommke’s problems, and it does seem that perhaps Boonen is headed down the same dark path as Marco Pantani. It seems that no matter what Lance Armstrong twitters about him, Boonen will be without his team for the rest of the year, as Quick Step doesn’t interested in giving their star another chance. I will be curious to see what the authorities in Belgium do with this, as they gave Boonen a second chance last year, claiming that the embarrassment was punishment enough. No doubt Silence-Lotto will be watching all this with interest, however–I’m sure that cocaine addiction or not, they would like to give Boonen another chance, especially since it could be sticking it to their rivals.

Posted on 10 May 2009

Tom Boonen has been suspended following a second positive test for cocaine use. The man has a chance to break Roger de Vlaeminck’s record of four wins at Roubaix (plus who knows how many more Monuments), but instead he’d rather play around with booger sugar. Good one, Tom.

Posted on 9 May 2009

(or, Anybody Wanna Buy a Bike?)

Yes, Tuesday night. I relegated myself to the C race after three consecutive weeks of broken parts and wrecks. I needed to actually finish a race, and I figured this would be a good start. In the back of my mind, I thought I might be able to turn a decent result, too (hah!).

While the women and children (ahem, juniors) were racing, it started to rain. Not hard, just a nice drizzle–enough to soak the track, but not enough to clean the grit off of it. Adding to the fun, it was a full field–35 riders. Uh oh. Suddenly, sitting in on Wednesday nights didn’t sound so bad. We started with five neutral laps, which would be last five laps there was anything resembling a pace line. I kinda liked the neutral laps, as it was like a free warm-up. Once the bell started the race, someone went off the front immediately. Fortunately, the group was sensible and just waited a lap for the rider to fall back into the group. ProGraphics had twenty people in the race, I think, and they spent much time at the front, alternately driving the pace and sitting up.

(I’ll stop here to note that I actually used my brakes less tonight than I have the B races. That said, perhaps I was paying better attention.)

The pace would often be high out of turn two through turn four, then it slow up. Sometimes it would be fast coming over the start/finish line, then die out in the back stretch. This didn’t bother me much. What did puzzle me, however, was the fact that the group was often riding in the right gutter. I suspect this was a matter of someone pulling off and no one else wanting to give up the wheel. Of course, a small group of us would move up on the left, only to have the group dive down from the corners. Pace lines were very rare, and the group was often spread across the track, making moving up a dicey proposition. I was certainly feeling a bit gun shy after last week’s wreck, especially given the usual bouts of wobbliness from the field. I figured since I felt pretty decent, I would try to move up in the waning laps and have a go at a good result. I finally managed to get a good position heading into the final lap, but this was stymied when the rider in front of me sat up in the back straight and the entire race passed us by. I puttered across the line with the remains of the group.

To say I am currently lacking motivation would be an understatement. I’m lacking that “killer instinct” to move up during the race. Much of it seems to be a lack of confidence in my legs–I have no trouble sitting in, but I’ve managed to convince myself that I don’t have it at the moment to make any sort of move at the front. Last week, I threatened a racing sabbatical, and may still follow through with that. It seems odd to lose motivation so early in the year, but I just can’t bring myself to be excited about it right now. Some might claim that this is just sour grapes on my part for poor results this year, but given that I’ve found myself looking for excuses not to race, it seems to have more to do with motivation than anything else.

Posted on 5 May 2009

Tonight’s goal was relatively simple–break my streak of not finishing a race. I sure that nothing would break or fall off my bicycle during the 35 laps. Quite a large group to start, at least 30, I think, with several strong teams in attendance. I assumed I would spend most of my time firmly planted in the group, enjoying the ride. A break went almost immediately, but since the strong teams were represented, everyone was content to watch them ride away. They stayed away for quite a few laps before they were finally chased down. Another break immediately took off. The pace in the group was fast, but generally even, so I wasn’t working terribly hard to sit in.

With maybe 10 or 12 laps to go, I was sitting at the back when there was a clatter of plastic and metal on the road. Apparently someone touched wheels and caused a bit of chain reaction. I saw bikes and bodies going down right in front of me, and, after plowing over several bikes, I finally went down on my right side. After quickly assessing a few scraps and bruises, I moved off to the side and helped collect bikes and bits off the track. Several people went down and needed medical attention. The rest of us got away with some road rash. Everyone seemed to generally okay, though at least one person may have broken a bone, and another may have gotten a concussion.

I’ve been feeling a bit unmotivated recently, and this may be the impetus for a brief sabbatical from the Oval. I’m sure I’ll get over the feeling, but at the moment it seems silly to risk life and limb to ride around in a circle. Perhaps I’ll dip down to the C race again with the hope that I can at least spend more time at the front, out of trouble.

Posted on 29 April 2009

In case you don’t track other areas of this website, Jen has officially completed her work toward an MFA in Creative Non-fiction from Chatham. She has posted the table of contents of the manuscript, too.

Posted on 27 April 2009

I’m with Ira Ryan:

i am a cyclist that loves to ride and train and will happily ride all day and all night, but something about the race face is hard for me to get. i buckle under the silly stress of all the serious looks and nervousness at the line. it is hard for me to take it too seriously when there is more to life than racing. in my opinion, the number of people riding their old bikes with racks and rain capes to work everyday all winter do more for the “cause” than all the carbon race bikes in the world combined. i straddle the fence of interest. on one side, i am a self proclaimed roadie-fag. somethin about seeing the 1996 mapei kit covered in dust on the way to the velodrome finish gets me right in the heart. old briko sunglasses and hairnets on belgian pros from the 80’s stoke up my first memeories of bike racing and training as a junior. my other side needs the underlying movement of millions of people quietly riding their bikes to work every day of the year not questioning their heartrate or the bike under them. often times it is the same bike they have had for 10 years. this sort of petina on a machine tells me a story of a million things this person might have seen on their way to work or the store. i go back and forth between these two motivators to why i want to build and ride bicycles. sometimes i feel like i am training for my commute.

I really enjoy racing at the Oval–it’s convenient, relatively inexpensive, and fun. Road racing is kinda fun, too, but the commitment of driving, finding a ride, paying $20, and juggling other priorities isn’t always fun. I probably won’t race outside of the Oval until the Oakmont crit, which is nearly as convenient as the Oval. Last night, while half-heartedly doing intervals in Highland Park, I was pining for something different–perhaps another brevet. Part of me still likes the idea of randonneuring, but the time commitment for that is probably quadruple that of racing, though there is hope with the burgeoning Pittsburgh Randonneurs group.

My competitive drive waxes and wanes, and I essentially don’t have any real “goals” for this season. I think a category 3 upgrade is out of the question, and even if it wasn’t, I’m not sure I’m ready to commit to the time that would be needed to get there. I’ve even been wobbling a bit on my selection of races at the Oval. At least for the next few weeks, I’ll be the only team guy at the B races, so maybe I should race the Cs with the rest of guys. We’ll see. Of course, maybe I could have scored a few top ten finishes in the Bs, but since I’ve only finished one race thanks to mechanicals, I’ll never know.

Posted on 25 April 2009