No miles today...too windy and I'm on call and tired :)
Looking forward to tomorrow. Will probably go hit the Big Steamer series with Corinth Cycling. Top speeds hit the low 30s on that ride...will do a few miles warmup before we get rolling so I'm good and warm.
Happy birthday Brother Tyler!
DB
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Nice try though...
I didn't get the hoped for metric today, but I did get in a good time on my 27 mile "Historic" loop, so named because one stretch of about a mile is on a street named Historic. Not a bad route...very few dogs (2), a couple of climbs just big enough to get your attention, a lake, some trees and not all that many cars.
Came in just 28 seconds off a personal best 18mph avg, with a South wind that increased from 10 to 24 mph while I was out there. Heavy bike mode too
Aside:
Heavy bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp, Shimano Wheels with Armadillo tires (420g each) and clip on Profile AirStryke bars, seat bag with tube, air, lever and about $5 in loose change.
Race bike: Same Specialized, but with Neuvation M28Aero wheels, sub 200g tires, no seat bag, no aero-bars and only one bottle if in a crit.
Makes a difference, especially the wheel/tire combo.
So...did this help prep me for a race? Probably not. But my next race is a week off and I have the Frisco to Ft. Worth MS150 this weekend, done as a buddy ride with the IC3 guys. Should be getting in 27 miles or more Wednesday and Thursday as well...
Texas Cup update: I'm 4th overall in the 35+/Cat 4, track standings :)
Rider to pray for today: Tyler
Ride Fast, Finish Strong, outrun the dogs...
DB
Came in just 28 seconds off a personal best 18mph avg, with a South wind that increased from 10 to 24 mph while I was out there. Heavy bike mode too
Aside:
Heavy bike: Specialized Roubaix Comp, Shimano Wheels with Armadillo tires (420g each) and clip on Profile AirStryke bars, seat bag with tube, air, lever and about $5 in loose change.
Race bike: Same Specialized, but with Neuvation M28Aero wheels, sub 200g tires, no seat bag, no aero-bars and only one bottle if in a crit.
Makes a difference, especially the wheel/tire combo.
So...did this help prep me for a race? Probably not. But my next race is a week off and I have the Frisco to Ft. Worth MS150 this weekend, done as a buddy ride with the IC3 guys. Should be getting in 27 miles or more Wednesday and Thursday as well...
Texas Cup update: I'm 4th overall in the 35+/Cat 4, track standings :)
Rider to pray for today: Tyler
Ride Fast, Finish Strong, outrun the dogs...
DB
Monday, April 28, 2008
Life gets in the way
As an aging cyclist, sometimes I and the other rookie geezers ;) have to put aside or away the training plans and do non-cycling things.
My plan for today was to work from home, take son to school, get in a 60 miler at 10, clean up, pick up son, do more work, relax.
Yeah..sure...
Work started yesterday at 3pm with a customer's website down. Waited until about 1am this morning for the restores to be complete. Blackberry not working properly, I didn't get started on what I needed to until after 6am. Took son to school...clothes, lunch and everything! Back to the house..conference with people in Dallas, Denmark and Jerusalem. Fix part of problem. Now its noon. No 60 miler in my day...need to leave at 2:30 to pick up son. Sigh. Maybe I'll get on the trainer tonight, unless another call comes in :)
Try for a 60 tomorrow? Maybe...
Cyclist to pray for today: Bill in Georgia. For good health.
That is all...
DB
My plan for today was to work from home, take son to school, get in a 60 miler at 10, clean up, pick up son, do more work, relax.
Yeah..sure...
Work started yesterday at 3pm with a customer's website down. Waited until about 1am this morning for the restores to be complete. Blackberry not working properly, I didn't get started on what I needed to until after 6am. Took son to school...clothes, lunch and everything! Back to the house..conference with people in Dallas, Denmark and Jerusalem. Fix part of problem. Now its noon. No 60 miler in my day...need to leave at 2:30 to pick up son. Sigh. Maybe I'll get on the trainer tonight, unless another call comes in :)
Try for a 60 tomorrow? Maybe...
Cyclist to pray for today: Bill in Georgia. For good health.
That is all...
DB
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Moritz Sprint Series
I've never done a Match Sprint before....
So I took a 4 hour clinic taught by former Elite racer and one time 200M TT record holder Jeff Labauve. I learned quite a bit about slingshots, razors and how the 200m tt is done for seeding the racers. Did not learn or have a chance to practice how the actual sprint itself is run. Oh well.
At 5:30, we started the seeding process, which involved having all 29 racers do a Flying 200M TT. For those not familiar with track racing, they give you a push onto the track on the back side and you have 3.5 laps to go. Only the last 200 meters count...the rest is just windup. I did mine in 14.3 seconds, having never gone below 15 before (all practice. This was the first real one).
Since there were only two racers in the 35+/Cat 4 category, Mike and I were set for a best 2 of 3 night.
In the first race, I drew the "down track" position, which is the leadout position. I had watched a few of the earlier masters races to get a feel for how they run. 3 laps, be in front at the end. I lead us out and kept an almost constant watch on Mike. I saw and heard him jump, but my reaction was too slow and he beat me to the line by a large margin.
In the second race, I was in the uptrack or follow position which is definitely my preference for drafting and strategy reasons. At 1.5 laps to go, as Mike was turning his head to look over his right shoulder, I jumped to his left. He was riding the blue line (mid track) and we were in turn 2, so I had plenty of room and gravity on my side. Apparently I got a decent gap on him initially as he had to get out of the saddle to start chasing. We did a 1.5 lap drag race to the end and I lost by half a wheel (even have the finish line camera picture to prove it)
So...2 and out, but I learned a lot and had a good time. Got 2nd place, $20 in prize money and 2nd place Texas cup points, which should put me in 3rd place in my category.
No riding today, hopefully a couple of long rides Monday and Tuesday to finish up prepping for the MS150 next weekend.
Cyclist to pray for today: Pat M.
DB
So I took a 4 hour clinic taught by former Elite racer and one time 200M TT record holder Jeff Labauve. I learned quite a bit about slingshots, razors and how the 200m tt is done for seeding the racers. Did not learn or have a chance to practice how the actual sprint itself is run. Oh well.
At 5:30, we started the seeding process, which involved having all 29 racers do a Flying 200M TT. For those not familiar with track racing, they give you a push onto the track on the back side and you have 3.5 laps to go. Only the last 200 meters count...the rest is just windup. I did mine in 14.3 seconds, having never gone below 15 before (all practice. This was the first real one).
Since there were only two racers in the 35+/Cat 4 category, Mike and I were set for a best 2 of 3 night.
In the first race, I drew the "down track" position, which is the leadout position. I had watched a few of the earlier masters races to get a feel for how they run. 3 laps, be in front at the end. I lead us out and kept an almost constant watch on Mike. I saw and heard him jump, but my reaction was too slow and he beat me to the line by a large margin.
In the second race, I was in the uptrack or follow position which is definitely my preference for drafting and strategy reasons. At 1.5 laps to go, as Mike was turning his head to look over his right shoulder, I jumped to his left. He was riding the blue line (mid track) and we were in turn 2, so I had plenty of room and gravity on my side. Apparently I got a decent gap on him initially as he had to get out of the saddle to start chasing. We did a 1.5 lap drag race to the end and I lost by half a wheel (even have the finish line camera picture to prove it)
So...2 and out, but I learned a lot and had a good time. Got 2nd place, $20 in prize money and 2nd place Texas cup points, which should put me in 3rd place in my category.
No riding today, hopefully a couple of long rides Monday and Tuesday to finish up prepping for the MS150 next weekend.
Cyclist to pray for today: Pat M.
DB
Friday, April 25, 2008
Solo practice 4/24
I spent a good bit of time trying to decide where to ride last night...solo near the house or go ride with Corinth Cycling Club and their Big Steamer points series (just because there is no entry fee doesn't mean its not a race).
Solo training into the wind with heavy wheels and no aerobars won out...primarily because I didn't want to load up the bike and drive to Corinth after just having driven from Las Colinas to Aubrey.
I did my Historic loop in 1:37, with the last two miles into an increasingly difficult headwind. Still not a bad ride, considering my back is still sore from the company golf tournament on Wednesday.
Was originally thinking about heading back down to the lake and back to make it a 40+ ride, but fatigue and family nixed that idea. This is the decision all of us aging cyclists make...long rides, or family time.
No riding today, so I can be fresh for the Sprint class at the Superdrome tomorrow and the Moritz Sprints tomorrow night.
Feel free to comment on any of these posts...negative or inflamatory comments will be removed :)
DB
Solo training into the wind with heavy wheels and no aerobars won out...primarily because I didn't want to load up the bike and drive to Corinth after just having driven from Las Colinas to Aubrey.
I did my Historic loop in 1:37, with the last two miles into an increasingly difficult headwind. Still not a bad ride, considering my back is still sore from the company golf tournament on Wednesday.
Was originally thinking about heading back down to the lake and back to make it a 40+ ride, but fatigue and family nixed that idea. This is the decision all of us aging cyclists make...long rides, or family time.
No riding today, so I can be fresh for the Sprint class at the Superdrome tomorrow and the Moritz Sprints tomorrow night.
Feel free to comment on any of these posts...negative or inflamatory comments will be removed :)
DB
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Crits 4/22
Not the result I was hoping for tonight...dropped at 13 minutes and lapped twice after that. But better than last week's first lap drop and puke on the way home from the virus that went rampaging through the family.
The B race has consistently been averaging 25.5 at the point I get dropped (or flats), which is more than fast enough to win the C race. 2 mph over what I was struggling to do last year.
You never get better if you don't challenge yourself...in this case by trying to hang with riders that are clearly stronger than me...for now ;)
Why did I get dropped? I was riding ok, back half of the pack and they just rolled away from me. Not sure if I slowed down or they sped up, but I had no legs to catch them. I jumped on each time they came around (at the back of course), and the yo-yo effect just killed me. I'm not strong enough to be in the front 10-15 guys without being dangerous at this point.
Perhaps the track racing this weekend had both the positive effect of improving my spin and the negative of not being even close to the time/distance of a 50 minute crit? A long track race for a Cat 4 is 30 laps...less than 5 miles.
Either way, I was not even in the race (pulled myself at 3 to go) when the 5 or 6 rider crash happened at the end in turn 3. Got a fire truck and an ambulance called out for that one...
Goofy Pic by Ryan Lange
Next up: C0mpany golf tourney tomorrow, long? training ride somewhere (CCC?)Thursday, off day Friday, Sprint class/Moritz track sprints Saturday, and the Family Cycling Day at FBC McKinney Sunday
Riders to pray for today: M.G. and Reed. Feel free to join me...God knows what they need :)
DB
The B race has consistently been averaging 25.5 at the point I get dropped (or flats), which is more than fast enough to win the C race. 2 mph over what I was struggling to do last year.
You never get better if you don't challenge yourself...in this case by trying to hang with riders that are clearly stronger than me...for now ;)
Why did I get dropped? I was riding ok, back half of the pack and they just rolled away from me. Not sure if I slowed down or they sped up, but I had no legs to catch them. I jumped on each time they came around (at the back of course), and the yo-yo effect just killed me. I'm not strong enough to be in the front 10-15 guys without being dangerous at this point.
Perhaps the track racing this weekend had both the positive effect of improving my spin and the negative of not being even close to the time/distance of a 50 minute crit? A long track race for a Cat 4 is 30 laps...less than 5 miles.
Either way, I was not even in the race (pulled myself at 3 to go) when the 5 or 6 rider crash happened at the end in turn 3. Got a fire truck and an ambulance called out for that one...
Goofy Pic by Ryan Lange
Next up: C0mpany golf tourney tomorrow, long? training ride somewhere (CCC?)Thursday, off day Friday, Sprint class/Moritz track sprints Saturday, and the Family Cycling Day at FBC McKinney Sunday
Riders to pray for today: M.G. and Reed. Feel free to join me...God knows what they need :)
DB
Serious recovery ride
I'm told recovery rides should be very slow....like Zone 1 or 2.
So, I took my kid for a ride around the block last night. Him on his 16" single-speed complete with training wheels, coaster brake and bell. Me on my 1987 Free Agent BMX bike, complete with rust.
His winter and early spring training have really paid off (being on a tag-a-long behind my Wal-Mart MTB...), as he made it all .7 miles around the block including the uphill of our street (<1% grade..).
Last year, I would have walked beside him. He's faster now :)
Crits tonight...oughta be slightly faster ;)
DB
So, I took my kid for a ride around the block last night. Him on his 16" single-speed complete with training wheels, coaster brake and bell. Me on my 1987 Free Agent BMX bike, complete with rust.
His winter and early spring training have really paid off (being on a tag-a-long behind my Wal-Mart MTB...), as he made it all .7 miles around the block including the uphill of our street (<1% grade..).
Last year, I would have walked beside him. He's faster now :)
Crits tonight...oughta be slightly faster ;)
DB
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