Summer is almost at its end as we approach the home stretch of the 2012 season. It's the time when everyone has peaked or is in the process of peaking their fitness. Even my tan lines are approaching their peak contrasts. For everyone that has seen me in person lately, you have probably noticed I have now developed a helmet strap tan line. It's made the recent trips out in the public, awkward. I haven't had anyone comment on them yet, but I can see the eager question marks on their faces as I walk on by. A few weeks ago as I was getting out of the shower, I got a glance of my back in the mirror and noticed that even there, I developed a tan line. What tan line can I possibly have on my back? Because the jersey that I wear is so thin the rays from the sun persist through it. Thus creating the most awkwardly looking tan line yet, the bib tan line.
Anyways, last weekend I competed in the San Ardo Road Race. I entered it mainly for experience. It was a course that featured rolling terrain with a few flat sections along the way. The first half of the race I spent my time attacking and chasing almost every move in a desperate attempt to get myself into a break. I was able to get into a break of seven for a little awhile. Our advantage wasn't even able to get over a minute. We were brought back pretty quickly. As we got reeled in, I positioned myself back into middle of the pack. I glanced down to notice that I had a front flat. So I went to the back and waited for the pit car. I went to the back of the wheel car, grabbed my front wheel and threw it on my bike. I was looking at about a 40 second gap to chase down. I chased as hard as could and ten miles later I was back on. Then I sat on the back of the pack recovering from the recent effort. Not even a kilometer later I hear a massive blow out from someones tire. I looked down, and guess what I saw. You guessed it, I managed to get myself yet another flat. This time it was a rear. So I got off my bike yet again to change the rear wheel. For whatever reason the peleton's pace ramped up right as I was flatting. Which for a even more "fun" chase. This chase really took it out of me. I chased for a solid half hour and caught back on just as I thought I wasn't going to make it. For the remainder of the race I sat in the pack trying to stay safe. It came down to a sprint and I had nothing left after my chases so I finished with the pack. Although a disappointing race, it was really fun. From the bumpy terrain to the all out chases, I had fun. Thanks for reading.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Today is the day
I've been waiting for since I started cycling. Today I officially received my category 1 upgrade. It was one of my main goals for this season, and a long term goal for my career. Completing a goal, especially one's with high magnitude, is always such a great feeling of relief. It's one for the books and yet another mile stone in pursuing my lifetime goal as becoming a professional cyclist.
During the past month I obtained the remainder of points required for my upgrade racing in the Cascade Cycling Classic. I had high ambitions for the general classification for this race. My goal was to win. That's right, win. But sometimes life doesn't play out like you want it to.
I had the luxury of host housing thanks to the one and only Veronika Lenzi. I stayed with the Baily's for the time I was up there. They were one of the most generous families I've met. It was a stress free environment, which was really helpful mentally. Eileen was even generous enough to drive me to start of stage one, which was a huge help, considering it would have been a solid hour and a half ride to get there from where I was staying. The first stage was a 114 kilometer road race to the top of Mt. Bachelor. There were attacks here and there for the first 25k until a break finally went. Their advantage didn't go over two minutes due to the fact that there were some many GC contenders in the race. The last 10k was a category 2 climb to the top of Mt.Bachelor leveling out for the last kilometer. Once we hit the base, the peleton was already consuming remnants of the break away. A rider set a very hard pace for the first kilometer of the climb. He blew up and no one else wanted to set tempo so we took a moderate pace up the majority of the climb. Another rider attacked about half way through the climb but was brought back quickly. At this point in the race my legs were feeling great, but I noticed my heart rate was a good ten to twelve beats higher than it should have been. At first I thought it was just the elevation, but that unfortunately was not the case. It ended up being a sinus infection which pretty much ruined any ambitions of getting a stage win. Once we got to the top of the climb I took a glance behind me to see that we still had a group of thirty riders. That meant a sprint finish, great. With a kilometer to go Billy Crane from Webcor attacked. I got right on his wheel, hoping that we could hold it the finish to go 1 and 2. He sat up so I tried to go again, but by the time I looked back I was already leading out the peleton for the sprint. I ended up getting 20th, which was very disappointing.
The next day was a double header with a time trial in the morning and cirterium in the afternoon. The time trial was a 19 kilometer out and back. The way out was a slight uphill and the way back was slight downhill. I was really tired at the start which kind of made me nervous. Even after my warm up I just felt like I was in a daze the entire time. Out of the start gate, I was feeling ok. Got up to speed, got in the aerobars, everything was good. I looked down, and see my heart rate yet again 10 beats over my LT. I tried to stay positive and just ride the course as fast as possible. I ended up catching my 30 second guy at the top of the climb which was a good confidence booster. But then he quickly caught me again on the decent. I tried keeping his pace without blowing up, but it wasn't possible for me. He ended up catching his 30 second guy and putting in over a minute to me in the last 9k. This guy was strong. He ended up winning the time trial by 37 seconds. I was able to hold on to 6th 44 seconds back. Not exactly what I had in mind. I'll be honest, I was pissed. I don't train through the winter months just to say 'Oh I had bad luck.' It was my first time trial actually using a TT bike, so in time as I prefect my position I will have better luck in this event.
After a disappointing time trial it was time for the criterium. It was an average four corner crit, with a slight uphill on the backside and a slight downhill on the finishing straight. My goal was to simply stay safe. I ended up basically starting towards the back due to lack of coordination by the race organizers. The moment I got called up to the line everyone else acted like their name was Wes Holloway and moved up to the start line the same time I did. I was not happy. The moment the race started I was already bumping elbows getting the position I wanted. I finally got to tenth wheel and stayed there for the remainder of the race. There were a couple of solo crashes that I managed to avoid but I was always pretty safe. With three to a go a rider attacked and held about 15 second gap. With two go it went down to 8. Then we hit the last lap and we were flying. The solo rider managed to stay away for the win. I ended up 12th in a successful attempt to stay safe.
The next and final day was the Circuit race. It was a 27 kilometer circuit with two decent climbs towards the end. My goal for this race was to make it as hard as possible and basically control it. The first lap the peleton set tempo. There were a few little attacks, but nothing stayed until we hit the harder of the two climbs, Archie Briggs. In my attempt to monitor the race, I decided to join the break. It was two other riders and myself. I didnt recognize either of them, so I was not sure of their strength. So I decided to use the second lap as a test lap to ultimately decide if they were strong enough to withstand the peleton. Turns out they were not, so I did my pulls but with hardly any effort. Going into the final lap we were caught, which was fine by me. My legs were still feeling good. We hit the last climb and the attacks started. On the last part of the climb, a group of 5 riders got away, and stayed away all the way to the finish. I did my best to get position and hold it to the sprint. I ended up coming in 12th for the second day in a row.
My final GC result at the end of the day was 6th. Success in life is a matter of perspective. I didn't achieve my goal, obviously, but it was a decent result. All I can do now is look forward to the rest of the season and further races to come. Thanks for reading.
During the past month I obtained the remainder of points required for my upgrade racing in the Cascade Cycling Classic. I had high ambitions for the general classification for this race. My goal was to win. That's right, win. But sometimes life doesn't play out like you want it to.
I had the luxury of host housing thanks to the one and only Veronika Lenzi. I stayed with the Baily's for the time I was up there. They were one of the most generous families I've met. It was a stress free environment, which was really helpful mentally. Eileen was even generous enough to drive me to start of stage one, which was a huge help, considering it would have been a solid hour and a half ride to get there from where I was staying. The first stage was a 114 kilometer road race to the top of Mt. Bachelor. There were attacks here and there for the first 25k until a break finally went. Their advantage didn't go over two minutes due to the fact that there were some many GC contenders in the race. The last 10k was a category 2 climb to the top of Mt.Bachelor leveling out for the last kilometer. Once we hit the base, the peleton was already consuming remnants of the break away. A rider set a very hard pace for the first kilometer of the climb. He blew up and no one else wanted to set tempo so we took a moderate pace up the majority of the climb. Another rider attacked about half way through the climb but was brought back quickly. At this point in the race my legs were feeling great, but I noticed my heart rate was a good ten to twelve beats higher than it should have been. At first I thought it was just the elevation, but that unfortunately was not the case. It ended up being a sinus infection which pretty much ruined any ambitions of getting a stage win. Once we got to the top of the climb I took a glance behind me to see that we still had a group of thirty riders. That meant a sprint finish, great. With a kilometer to go Billy Crane from Webcor attacked. I got right on his wheel, hoping that we could hold it the finish to go 1 and 2. He sat up so I tried to go again, but by the time I looked back I was already leading out the peleton for the sprint. I ended up getting 20th, which was very disappointing.
The next day was a double header with a time trial in the morning and cirterium in the afternoon. The time trial was a 19 kilometer out and back. The way out was a slight uphill and the way back was slight downhill. I was really tired at the start which kind of made me nervous. Even after my warm up I just felt like I was in a daze the entire time. Out of the start gate, I was feeling ok. Got up to speed, got in the aerobars, everything was good. I looked down, and see my heart rate yet again 10 beats over my LT. I tried to stay positive and just ride the course as fast as possible. I ended up catching my 30 second guy at the top of the climb which was a good confidence booster. But then he quickly caught me again on the decent. I tried keeping his pace without blowing up, but it wasn't possible for me. He ended up catching his 30 second guy and putting in over a minute to me in the last 9k. This guy was strong. He ended up winning the time trial by 37 seconds. I was able to hold on to 6th 44 seconds back. Not exactly what I had in mind. I'll be honest, I was pissed. I don't train through the winter months just to say 'Oh I had bad luck.' It was my first time trial actually using a TT bike, so in time as I prefect my position I will have better luck in this event.
After a disappointing time trial it was time for the criterium. It was an average four corner crit, with a slight uphill on the backside and a slight downhill on the finishing straight. My goal was to simply stay safe. I ended up basically starting towards the back due to lack of coordination by the race organizers. The moment I got called up to the line everyone else acted like their name was Wes Holloway and moved up to the start line the same time I did. I was not happy. The moment the race started I was already bumping elbows getting the position I wanted. I finally got to tenth wheel and stayed there for the remainder of the race. There were a couple of solo crashes that I managed to avoid but I was always pretty safe. With three to a go a rider attacked and held about 15 second gap. With two go it went down to 8. Then we hit the last lap and we were flying. The solo rider managed to stay away for the win. I ended up 12th in a successful attempt to stay safe.
The next and final day was the Circuit race. It was a 27 kilometer circuit with two decent climbs towards the end. My goal for this race was to make it as hard as possible and basically control it. The first lap the peleton set tempo. There were a few little attacks, but nothing stayed until we hit the harder of the two climbs, Archie Briggs. In my attempt to monitor the race, I decided to join the break. It was two other riders and myself. I didnt recognize either of them, so I was not sure of their strength. So I decided to use the second lap as a test lap to ultimately decide if they were strong enough to withstand the peleton. Turns out they were not, so I did my pulls but with hardly any effort. Going into the final lap we were caught, which was fine by me. My legs were still feeling good. We hit the last climb and the attacks started. On the last part of the climb, a group of 5 riders got away, and stayed away all the way to the finish. I did my best to get position and hold it to the sprint. I ended up coming in 12th for the second day in a row.
My final GC result at the end of the day was 6th. Success in life is a matter of perspective. I didn't achieve my goal, obviously, but it was a decent result. All I can do now is look forward to the rest of the season and further races to come. Thanks for reading.
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