Today was our first pickup for the Penn’s Corner Harvest Share CSA. Our pickup location is down the street a few blocks, so Jen and boys took a walk before I got home from work. Apparently a local family is hosting a pickup, meaning the week’s share is in a box on their front porch–a far cry from the more interactive pickup at Mildreds’ Daughters’ farm. The haul was respectable, though, for early in the season:

• A large (quart?) container of strawberries
• Salad greens
• A head of lettuce
• Beets
• Sugar snap peas
• Half dozen eggs

I’m fairly certain the strawberries would be worth at least half the weekly cost of the share alone.

I do miss the weekly jaunts to the farm (though last year, it seemed that it was either 100 degrees or pouring rain on Thursdays), and it’s nice to be able to eat food grown less than a mile away from our home.

Posted on 18 June 2008

The Pittsburgh City Paper has an article about a house roughly 200 yards from where I grew up., designed and built by my uncle (who also built the first iteration of the dome houses mentioned in the article next door). The article doesn’t mention, however, that the house was seriously damaged by a fire roughly 20 years ago, irreparably damaging the tree around which the house was built.

Posted on 13 June 2008

Reasonable weather tonight, with temps in the low 80s with a bit of wind, and a large group of 29 racers. The pace was, as usual, fast from the start, and within two laps, there was a selection, and I was not in it. A few laps later, my group decided to have a go at bridging, and up, up, up went the pace and down, down, down went the power in my legs. Lickity-split, and I was off the back, in the company of several other riders. We organized quickly, and maintained a reasonable pace. I was having lots of trouble with my pulls, and after five or so laps, I knew we were doomed, and I sat up. A lap later and caught back on to the main group, where I stayed, for the most part for the remainder of the race. There were a few squirrelly riders in the group (including me, once), and some folks do really have a problem holding a line.

Another break went, and there was a slight splintering of the group as the chase started. This didn’t last long, and I managed to grab a wheel and chase back on. Just like last week, the chase was not at all organized, with the speed going up and down, up and down. A few folks attempted to bridge, but the wind and the pace of the break had them coming up empty. I managed to hold the pace on the bell lap (though, to be fair, it was slower than the first five laps) and put it a reasonable sprint to move up to 17th, I think. Eh, not bad.

I have to be able to survive the selection laps to finish on the lead lap. The pace drops considerably, and I seem to be about two laps away from holding on. I’d also feel more motivated to work more in the group if I was on their lap–I feel a bit odd trying to move to the front when I’m a lap down. It’d also be fun to contest the sprint a bit more, too.

Posted on 10 June 2008

Saxonburg-Middle loop, with strada sterrata variation.

Early, early start–6:00AM–to beat the heat. That tactic was only marginally successful. I decided to explore Schaeffer Road, which branches from Cedar where Church Lane begins. This was about about a mile of dirt and gravel, generally in good condition, with a few washboard sections. There’s a fine downhill, too, though I approached a corner a bit too hot and nearly went into the woods. The only disadvantage of the route is that Schaeffer drops you at the base of the climb on Route 910 heading to Saxonburg.

Posted on 8 June 2008

I left the house in the rain, reminded of why I prefer to ride with fenders when it is wet. Within a block, I was completely soaked from head to toe. At least it was warm.

As expected, the rain kept some people away, and with only two women there, the C and Women’s fields were combined. Off we went. The pace was fairly reasonable through the first ten laps, and I stayed with the main group, even making a split after a few laps. Then, in the back straight, two people in front of me accelerated and passed the group on the right. Chris Mayhew (marshal) yelled “Go! Go!” which I took as my cue to not miss another selection, so I grabbed a wheel and followed. A few moments, as I pulled around the front of the pack, I realized this just wasn’t the group accelerating, it was a break. Oh. And I was in it. I huffed and puffed at the back for a lap, then sat up. I grabbed a wheel at the back of the pack, then the pack accelerated to pull in the break (and launch another attack) and I slid off the back. At least I wasn’t alone. I settled in with a group of four or five, and we worked together for another five laps or so. When I realized we were about to lapped by the (solo) break, I sat up, and waited for the pack–no need to expend extra energy for no reason.

As the pack (now whittled down to only eight people) passed, I caught on (along with a few my companions) and sat in. The pace was odd, choppy, really–with first place half a lap ahead, no one wanted to work, and the three riders at the front sat up in the back straight every lap. This bothered some folks at the back, since we had to brake entering the last corner. Mayhew kindly told them “if you’re going to be at the front, you might want to pedal.” Still, things didn’t speed up until the last lap, and even then, the pace wasn’t too quick. As we entered the back straight, I sat up–being a lap down I didn’t want to confuse the standings. Still, I managed to finish 10th.

A few takeaways:

• I think, given the overall pace, I could have stayed in the pack in the entire night, had I not gone with the break. Lesson learned.
• I felt pretty comfortable riding in the pack in the corners. I don’t think I was too loosey-goosey, either. At least I didn’t hear anyone swearing at me.
• Apparently forgetting food and water wasn’t a big deal (yep, no bottles, no energy bar).

In general, it was a positive evening. I’m sure the rain had something to do with the pace, and I’ll be curious to see what the race time and average lap time were (I’m guessing it was on the slow side). Still, I’ll take the little victories when I can.

Posted on 4 June 2008

About 3 hours in Frick Park.

So the “training” for the Wilderness 101 begins. The ride consisted of going up the double track from the hollow (ummm, Fire Road Trail, maybe?) to the Meadow, then riding back down via singletrack. Trail conditions were superb–dry, but a bit tacky. The top section of Iron Grate was really amazing, with the little white blossoms from the trees covering the trail like snow. I managed to ride several sections of trail I had walked in the past, and that felt good. I’m realizing that my skills are better than I think they are. I spied a few other drops that I should try and ride before the 101, too.

I dropped air pressure in the tires (WTB Exiwolves), and that made a huge difference on the roots and rocks (though I did manage to get a tiny puncture, though the tires wasn’t flat until this morning). I feel much better about my decision to forgo a suspended fork. The new Ergon grips also felt good, though I had a bit of thumb cramping during extended braking efforts. I’m still on the fence about getting mechanical discs–the V-brakes seem to be powerful enough, I’m just curious if the discs would be easier to pull over the course of 100 miles. I’m also seriously considering bar ends. The Ergons help a bit, but the extra position for longer climbs would be good to have. The drivetrain of the Redline is in serious need of overhaul (particularly the BB, which complained loudly during uphill efforts), but given that it’s a single speed, that’s not a big deal.

Posted on 2 June 2008

After very warm, humid weather earlier in the day, the evening brought cool air and strong winds. Strong winds. The headwind on the back straight was going to make for a long evening, especially if (no, when) I got dropped from the group. After a few warm up laps, we lined up at the start/finish line and were off. Two lessons were learned right away:

1. Don’t sit at last wheel at the start.
2. Avoid the tall guy in the Fox jersey who’s saddle is three inches too high (more on this later).

The pace was fairly fast right from the gun, but I moved up a bit and thought, okay, maybe I can sit here for awhile. The tall was in front of me, and between his wobbles right and left, I noticed the pack starting to pull away. Unacceptable. As we hit the back straight, I tried to slip by on the left, but just as he wobbled right, he veered left, and sat up a bit. A few other riders who had fallen off caught up to us, and a paceline formed. One solid push to rejoin the group shelled all but two of us, and we continued to work, if only to stay on the lead lap for as long as possible. This worked well, but I noticed that no matter when I pulled off the front, I always managed to be the one pulling down the back straight, into the win. Soon enough, a break from the pack was nearing, and we moved right to allow them to pass. As the bunch went by I tried desperately to hang on, and lasted another lap or two before I shot off. Alone.

For five laps I struggled in the wind. I wanted to sit up and pull off. I wondered why it was that I was paying for this abuse. As the pack approached again, I caught a wheel at the back and managed to stay there. For nearly ten laps. Shocking. I fell off again as the bell lap started, a combination of hitting the final corner a bit too slow and not having enough legs to get back on.

So then, lessons learned:

1. The STI shifters helped. I could shift earlier, especially in the fourth corner, and this actually changed my shifting pattern over the course of a lap.
2. Push up further in the group at the start.
3. Avoid the tall guy in the Fox jersey. Yeah, I’m new, and I may get a bit loose in the corners once in awhile, but I can at least ride in a straight line.
4. I have to become better at judging the pace of the group. Both times I was dropped, I was caught relaxing a bit too long.

Posted on 28 May 2008

C Race Results (Cat 4 & 5)

B Race Results (Cat 3 & 4 )

The winner of the C race finished in 40:15; the winner of the B race in 42:03. Average lap time for the Cs was 1:08, and 1:12 for the Bs.

Ugh.

Here’s hoping the new Ultegra STI levers help me go faster tonight (unlikely, though).

Posted on 27 May 2008

In the interest of actually getting better at the Oval on Tuesday nights, I will begin to compile little “what I learned” lists after the race. So here’s what I learned on 20 May 2008:

• I need to shift more. Problem areas are the back straight and coming into the front straight. I tend to not upshift in the back straight, which means I lose a bit of speed, and I tend to wait too long to shift out of the final turn, meaning I work too hard approaching the start/finish line. I see four possible shift points:
  1. Shift up coming down from the start/finish line.
  2. Shift up coming out of turn two (if the pace necessitates it).
  3. Shift down coming out of turn four.
  4. Potentially shift down again (depending on the pace) approaching the start/finish line.
• I need to time my efforts better. I tended to relax too late coming down from the start/finish line, so I would lose a bit of speed entering the first turn. Same thing entering the third corner. Little things like this make it harder to hold a wheel in the group.
• Hold a wheel in the pack. This is, I think, the key to the whole race. Given my speed/effort ratio once the paceline formed with the folks that fell off the back, I can, in a group, keep pace. I need to hold a wheel in the pack, do all of the above to save strength, and stick with it during the faster laps.
• Stay low in the turns. Duh, but I seem to stay high when I’m in the pack, since I tend assume that someone will be passing me (even I’m last wheel).

So next week’s goal will be to stay with the pack longer, and if I fall off, get back on, or, if others fall off, organize a paceline to at least keep us on the lead lap.

Posted on 22 May 2008

In the interest of maintaining (and maybe gaining) fitness for the Wilderness 101, I headed down to the Oval for another round of suffering in the C race (because what’s the best way to train for a 100 mile mountain bike race? Riding around a flat oval for 45 minutes, of course!). I really had no idea what to expect, given the only time I’ve spent on the bike in the last three weeks has been commuting. In the meantime, everyone else has been racing and riding on the weekends. The weather was quite nice, albeit a bit chilly. All the better, though.

We were off. The pace didn’t seem terrible, and I stayed near the back of the bunch. Not bad, I thought. I can do this. Then, the pace increased, and I shot off the back, this time, at least, with some company. I felt terribly, and thought very hard about moving left and sitting up and calling it a night. One of the marshals (the incredibly patient and helpfup Chris Mayhew) tried to pace me back on, which lasted for about the length of the back straight. I fell off again, and Chris promptly collected the rest of the chaff and organized a fairly well-run paceline. We kept this together for about 10 laps or so, never really gaining on the pack, but never really losing ground either. This effort fell apart, however, and the pack gained on us. A few of us managed to grab a wheel as the bunch rode by, and I hung on for a lap or so before another acceleration sent me packing. A small group of three formed, and we worked through the final laps more or less together.

Hey, at least I wasn’t last, right?

Since we’ll be climbing more on the weekends in the next month or so, I will probably continue racing, if only to maintain fitness. It is no fun falling off the back of the pack, but once our group organized, the paceline was fun, and the suffering was manageable. I suppose my humble goal will be to increase the number of laps I stick with the pack. Baby steps. I also have to decide if I want to upgrade to STI shifters. Several people (including Jen) have noted that running bar end shifters is probably a disadvantage, but the curmudgeon in me likes the friction shifters, and, really, I’m fairly certain that’s not why I’m so slow.

Posted on 21 May 2008