Things I can't do #42

Check it out...

ooooh

can't resist

sorry to get all political up in here but...

Finish line

Ha!

http://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/finishline1

Can't find the source to embed the vid...you'll have to trust me and follow the link.

Nice easy 4

Saturdays ride was unique. I had more time on my hands this week than a few of the previous AND now I have a cyclocross season to think about (ha!) so I did the Old School route with maybe a dozen. Haven't gone longer for a couple of weeks, but didn't really expect it to be a huge thing.

Well the pacing was, err, I'd say cordial and it's a good thing because my legs were made of lead. True I taught a spin class on Friday and worked too hard on a day that should've been recovery clearly there's more going on. It's October.

I saw it in the riding of teammates too. Someone goes off the front thinking their big 450 watt move is going last a few k's and *suprise* it's October and you're not holding that as long as you think you are. A few people found their sprint was maybe 75m less than it was a few weeks ago. Combine that with the Dekalb race the next day and you had a the recipe for a mellow, dare I say endurance ride.

The best part of the ride was spending some time in the saddle with a few people I haven't caught up with in a while. And the tempo permitted more conversation. During the racing season I forget how much I just dig hanging with some of my teammates on longer rides.

It's also a group that keeps your skills sharp. Without sounding too whatever, it usually doesn't take too much to get good position and do well in the sprints if you're just doing the short route on our ride. Two weeks ago I think I took both sprints when doing the short route. This past Saturday I snoozed a little, botched positioning and got stuck behind guys going in reverse and I can't recoup from mistakes like that and win a sprint in that group.

So this is my little reminder to myself to not miss the opportunities to ride with the people you want to ride with, keep the Sat a.m. deck clear and keep my weekly long ride *long*.

Kidding, right?

Uh I cannot believe I found this clip in the "HOW TO" section of a popular website devoted to cycling stuff....



Impressive, but seriously THAT sh!t is for the pros. On the ride home from HP on Green Bay sometimes I start to wonder if people have ever had contact with a car...you really sprinting 8 wide across the rode for the glory on Green Bay road against some dudes on Scattantes???

shhh....

i didn't say anything

clothes-lined

I'd have to say it's no secret that I have what you'd call a philosophical disagreement with the idea of critical mass. Personally, I feel that it's polarizing in the wrong way.

But I'd also have to say this is NOT the way to deal with it --

close, but no...

Boy I wanted that jersey.

The Peoria Bicycle Club hosted the state championship (USCF) crit again this year it returned to the great venue of downtown Peoria. The technical "hourglass" (oo la la) course is a perennial favorite and for good reasons. This year in addition to challenging corners, depressed manholes and slight up's and down's, there was an often hard to predict and strong wind.

I had a little chat with Coach Randy before leaving for the race. He suggested a strategy that would put my strengths to good use and put the endgame in my control. I got on the trainer bright and early Sunday with a plan to win and confidence that I could pull it off.

On the trainer warming up, an emergency services vehicle pulled right up to the intersection I was at looking for their assigned spot just as the church bells from a block over began to toll. An eerie reminder of the events of last year gave me a heavy heart and a knot at the pit of my stomach. But I was here to look forward, to put the past in the past and race the race. Plans for the day moved my head to the task at hand.

Rolling up to the start line I saw familiar faces. The master's 4/5 field has some regular participants that I genuinely enjoy racing with. The majority of the field was 40+ and there enough Team Mack guys around to create a nice blue/red hue to the start finish area. There wasn't a big XXX'r presence, but I was happy to see the black kits punctuating the field

True to form Mack got up front right away, wanting to control the race. For almost the entire race, at least 2 of the top 5 spots was occupied by Mack. Early on they drove strong tempo and sent several attacks off. Knowing the race was short and Mack was well represented, I covered several of them. Teammate Mike Seguin had the same idea and went with a few I wasn't there for. Ultimately none got more that say 100m off the front and by the time the free laps ended it was clear that nothing was going to stick.

We get the bell with one to go and the pack starts to surge, shuffle a bit through turn two. Between 5 and 6 the field widens across the road and I'm on edge waiting for the lineup. I wanted to come out of turn six in the top 5 wheels. Mike Seguin took the outside line, and looked to see if I'd grab his wheel. Very tempting but the field had been going to the gutter on the left side on that straight all day as the wind came across a bit from the right.

I thought it better to stay out of trouble and not boxed in but exerting a little more effort on the right. I took the inside line, sacrificing a few spots and a wheel I was confident in to secure my path for attack. It's about here where my head starts to question the plan. Do I have enough in the tank? Is that headwind too much to go? Can I really commit to this? I think it's always true that a good plan always sounds great before the race but executing in the race is the real challenge and the fun.

So I went before the last intersection on the backside. The plan was to create a gap before the second to last turn, hold it through the last turn and hold off the field all the way to the line. I got about 5 pedal strokes into my move, looked across to find that someone else had the same plan. Voytek from Lot was out of the saddle emerging from the pack on the other side. He came from almost the gutter on the left side, meaning he had better protection from the wind BUT also a few people who could respond more quickly.

We converged at the 2nd to the last turn. I was thrilled to see teammate Mike Seguin on Voytek's wheel and just as I got there he opened enough room for me to slide in. Voytek really turned it over on the slight incline going into the last turn, in a bigger gear than what I chose and that was probably the defining moment for the last few hundred meters. He exited the last turn at the front and I couldn't get around him. I was all in. When I heard Steve Feehery coming by me I got out of the saddle for a second only to find my legs weren't having any of that. Later found out he came from behind Seguin who was behind me...Steve was flying.

And that's how we crossed the line 1-2-3. Hats off to Voytek who had a great plan and a nice long windup for the end and Feehery who had a great finish. I can be disappointed about not getting the jersey, but happy to share the podium with those guys.

Huge thanks to Seguin, who gave me that wheel at the end. That was big.

Much thanks to the Peoria Bicycle Club and everyone who sponsors and volunteers at the Proctor Crit. This is a very well run race and a great venue for our state championship.