2010 turned out to be a great year for me. While my jump at the seasons start to Cat 3 had me nervous initially, It turned out by far to be the right move at the right time. All and all I participated in 31 races of various types. This year I managed to escape injury...well until midway through my last race. I guess this would be a good time to insert and update on my injury. While the bruise on the upper side of my leg worried me the most, it healed without complications. However the bruise on the top of my calf below my knee didn't. Currently I am still off the bike with no time line to return. Unfortunately the bruise was inside the muscle, I still currently have several pockets of fluid inside the muscle that haven't drained/healed yet. If it doesn't improve by the start of next week I will be going to find a specialist to see. So while I initially planned to take a week off the bike after Iceman, its looking like that might be at least 4 weeks. It will be nice when I can get out and ride again.
Back to this season though, I accomplished many of my goals. I completed a mountain bike race, I greatly improved my time trialing ability. My main improvement was gaining more confidence in my ability. Towards the end of the season I was fearless of the breakaway and found myself very comfortable attacking off the front of the field. I also was able to use my strength this year to help work the pace at the front of many races when it was needed for my team. I also assisted in helping my teammates in lead outs on a couple occasions. I also spent several hours in the velodrome. All and all for my second season I think I improved a lot.
So that brings me to next year...
Well I think my main goal for next year is to focus more on select individual races. This year there was a few weekends were I was just too tired. The State Time Trail was a great example, my body was just not rested and the results showed. That was the worst time trial I have ever had, there was just no go in the motor. Most disappointing about that was, that was a race I really wanted to be strong in. So for next year I am going to better monitor my training efforts and most importantly rest more when needed.
Also next year I plan to ride my mountain bike much more. I've come to find a lot of value out of that type of training. It helps build your core, and helps keep the cycling workouts fresh. I also plan to try and mix in a few more mountain bike races on off weekends.
As far as road racing goes I am hoping to avoid flats next year, and depending on how I feel in April I might take a run at working to upgrade to Category 2. Below is a full list of my results, I will be working on building my race schedule for next year throughout the winter.
2010 Race Results
Friday, November 19, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Iceman Cometh!
The end of the season finally came and went and now I am left in a mess of bruises and pain. Heh, Iceman really lived up to its name. When the weather is right, this race really sets the men away from the boys. Last year the weather hit the 60's and people called it Niceman! Heh, I think they offended someone. This year was everything but that and more closer to Hell. Iceman is a point to point race from Kalkaska to Traverse City, MI. The day before the race a cold front moved in, added with some lake effect snow...you get the picture. The morning of the race I got up and it was 17° at my hotel, there wasn't snow on the ground though so I thought everything would be good. As I drove to the start it warmed up a little. At race start it was 24°. I was set to go off in wave 3, I was all set to race on a cold hard packed trail. Warming up for the race I about turned blue, it was damn cold. Things went bad for me before I left the line though, my camelbak drink tube froze. Only the bite valve was frozen so I stuck it in my jersey and it melted. That was just the start of that issue. My wave had like 85 riders in it, when the gun went we all took off in a made rush. 30 miles to go! The race had a nice 1-2 miles of pavement to let people settle down before we hit the trails. Before I hit the trails my drink tube had frozen again, this time at the shoulder...I had zero energy mix. I immediately went to conservation mode, I lowered my output to hopefully sustain making it to the finish and not bonk too hard. My fitness was good though and I still found myself passing much of my wave and slowing working up to the front. The first 6 miles the trail had tons of sand, I found myself just eating it as it got flung off the tires in front of me. The first sandy downhill also turned into a real mess. I practiced sand riding a lot, and honestly really made myself a solid technical mountain bike rider. That doesn't mean the people around me were though. Going down the hill about ten riders up I see the pill up happen. First it was one, then two riders down. By the time I got there is was like six, I bombed it off the side of the trail and passed it all without breaking my pace. Lucky I guess, but that's about all I got today.
It settled down a lot after that riding through the double track Nordic trails. Eventually I hit the first section of single track and encountered my first back up. It didn't slow me down to much, in fact probably helped me save myself given I had no energy drink/water. The interesting part was the trail was starting to show snow accumulation. As the trail was going from clear to patches of snow and ice. Next to my surprise I came across an aide station about 1/4 through the race. I snagged a cup of water mid stroke, chugged it and kept hammering on. I have never wanted a cup of water so bad in my life. However the real thought started to cross my mind, when would the cramps start? Heh, about mile 8 or 9 I think. I felt it in my hands first. So I stopped and took my camelbak and jersey off. I put the darn thing against my chest then put the jersey over it. I lost two minutes or more easily, but I know that this issue needed to be fixed. However though, it wouldn't unfreeze for another hour.
I still battled on, I was honestly still in the hunt for a podium for my age group. Even after the pit stop to change. So I hammered on giving what I could. I had to walk a few hills I could normally hammer due to traffic and cramps, but the race was still going decent for me. Well until the half way mark, that's when the real trouble started.
Going through the second water station the race came to a screeching halt for me, but not for the fact I had no water. As I was leaving the station a rider tried to pass me on the incorrect side. Unfortunately he lost control of his bike and hit me while I was drinking. Before I knew it I was on the deck and in a massive heap of pain. I had flown off my bike and landed on top of his bike with him partly under it. It took me a bit to get up, my hand was really killing me. However it was my leg that took the damage, I couldn't feel it yet and didn't know how bad it was. I think his day was over, my body damaged his bike. Mine only had a bad wobble to the rear wheel and slightly crooked handlebars. I don't know when to stop though so after taking a few minutes to recollect myself I got back on with my race. I still had a decent shot at podium with my fitness. I should have grabbed a few cups of water before I left though. I wasn't thinking straight I guess.
So I was back to hammering, more like a mad man now because I wanted to catch up. However my power was weak, the left leg just wasn't firing on all cylinders after the wreck. I made the best of what I had though and quickly got back to passing people that passed me while I was dead on the ground at water station #2. Well, maybe I was pushing to hard. On a section of snow covered double track a mile later I ate it hard on a corner. The front tire slid out on me at around 20mph. I hit the deck very hard this time, however the force was distributed all over my body. I got up fairly quick this time, I looked like a snowman. The bike however looked a little more worse for ware. The handlebars now were at a nice 45° angle. I gave the stem a quick nudge to try and straighten it, however its never a good idea to torque your wheels like that. So I sat there a second trying to decide what to do. I had no multi tool to re align the stem. Heh, Patrick Robb made my decision for me. He came flying by yelling something like "Benke get back up". So since I had already thrown reason into the wind so many times, I hopped back on the bike and kept going. Crooked bars or not I was going to finish. The sensible thing would be to stop, its not easy to ride a bike this way.
The next few miles I found myself just taking it easy riding with a group of riders through a section of single track. I tried to strike up a conversation...which brings me to a pet peeve. Why do people take racing so serious. I got some grumbles like, why are you talking to me. Riding my bike in its condition was putting a lot of stress on my triceps. So I was asking all over for a multi tool. Well finally after 2-3 miles I saw a guy off the side fixing his bike. So I bombed off the trail and asked to borrow his tool. He was nice enough to lend it to me despite the clear anger he was in for his bike breaking. His bike wasn't repairable. Mine was, so I took the tool and adjusted the stem. I got it close to straight. So...after another unplanned break I was back rolling again. At this point some junior racer had witnessed me pass him 4 times, only to have him pass me back 3 times.
After that the race got boring and slow, the trail was melting and turning into a soupy muddy mess. I kept just turning over the pedals passing people right and left. Finally as I approached the last aide station my camelbak unfroze. Since I was already bonking I needed the nutrition bad, I chugged on my drink tube. The next few miles I found myself returning to form, passing more people. However the hills over the last few miles were kicking my butt with one good leg. I had to walk more of them then I would have liked. Sigh, as I came to finish I felt a lot better. I struggled and once again found away to find my way to the finish of another race. As I crossed the line I did a massive bunny hop out of frustration. While my race time stopped at just over 2:11, my computer showed a running time just over 2:01. Heh, I really spent 10 minutes off my bike standing. To my surprise my time snagged me 12th in my 25-27 age group out of near 100 racers. That made me feel a lot better.
As I left for the day all I could think about was next year. I am going to take this experience and make the best of it for next year. While I was very well trained and on pace to podium, luck robbed me of that. Next year I am determined to step on that podium.
Iceman Men's Results
The climb of my life
So its been a while since I have wrote on here so I will start with an update. Really there isn't much to update on, things are still being ironed out for the new team. The website is now up @ Link. In October I knocked a certain ride off my bucket list. I rode from Hood River, OR to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood. Garmin Data This ride can be summed up as pure hell, I have never suffered so much on a ride before. All I can say is rides like this really tell you a lot about yourself and what you are able to do with a little motivation. The ride was just a short 47 mile jaunt...however there was near 8000 feet of climbing and a not so nice east wind. Being the brute I am, I only equipped my bike with 53/39 front rings and a 11-25 cassette. Some pros would probably opt for easier gears on a climb like this. 
The ride started off in the mid afternoon sun, man was it cooking. I couldn't wait to get to elevation and some cooler air. The toughest part of this ride was the mountain, even from the start the thing was staring me down from the distance. I left town and the road immediately slopped up. It would stay that way all the way to the mountain. Most the time the grade was easy around 4-6%, I just kept a happy rhythm and keep a nice tempo. However there were some times when the grade kicked up over 8% and that made the legs scream a bit. The route I picked was rough, to get to Timberline Lodge I would need to climb the mountain twice. The first summit would be on the east side of the mountain then I would descend down by Government Camp to climb up the south face to the lodge. Easy right? Well my legs were done after the first summit, 6000 feet of non stop climbing had really worked me over. What made matters worse is the last 2000 was the hardest. The trip from Government Camp to Timberline is wicked. Road gradients ranged from 5-13%, being the person I am...I don't know when to quit. 
So I began the journey to the top. I don't think there was a single moment the legs didn't scream, but somehow I just kept turning the pedals over. My cadence dropped in the 60's on some of the 9%+ grades. Far from my happy place, I struggled to get a rhythm going. However I never gave up, well until just before the very end. I stopped briefly before entering the parking lot to compose myself. I was bonking and very light headed, I am shocked I didn't pass out. After I regrouped myself I hammered on into the parking lot where Marisa and her friend Ryan were waiting to pick me up. Mission accomplished!On a side note, a lot of drivers passed me with these glares of "what the hell are you doing?" However there was one car that stood out. On my last leg to the lodge a man in a van passed me. He was honking his horn like crazy and cheering me on out his window as he drove by. That made my day and helped me get to the top. He was the only one that stopped to cheer me on, but it made a big difference in my world. Next up Iceman!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Addison Oaks Fall Classic XC
Sunday I raced my very first mountain bike race ever. After a long season of riding on the road...boy was this a change in pace needed. After my last road race Labor Day Monday I proceeded to hop on my mountain bike Wednesday and Thursday. I felt so good on the trails I looked online Thursday night and found a MTB race that was Sunday. I was like "ah what the hell, can't be to hard." So I signed up feeling confident I had a shot at winning my sport division. I could have raced beginner, but I though that would be unfair. I also figured I needed a solid race to really get me ready for Iceman in November, and with my upcoming vacations this weekend was my last shot at squeezing a MTB race in. 
So Sunday rolled around and I showed up at the race. Saturday I had been doing some last minute upgrades on the bike, with more to follow in the next month to make it race ready. My bike was still hefty, far off the pedigree of a racing mountain bike but I figured I had the power to ride strong with what I had. As soon as I got to the race though I felt out of place, it was like starting all over again. However though I didn't have any pre race butterflies. My goal for the day was just to finish, and learn for Iceman. Now generally in road racing its ok to race the course blind, not knowing where the roads take you. More realistically its probably better to do more then 3 trail rides for the year prior to your first race. So, I was racing the course blind and with less then 50 off road miles for the year. Heh, I figured "I am fit, I can handle this." You can probably see where this all is going, I might have been a bit to arrogant. I grossly misunderstood the type of preparation that is required to race off road.Finally start time approached, there was 11 others next to me. My race was scheduled for 21 miles with about 15 of that I would say racing single track. Since it was a mass start my strategy was to slot in behind the leaders and follow them till I learned the course. I had done that last year on new trails with good success. The whistle blew and we all took off, I had all the power in the world to run away off the front but I slotted in about 5th. Then before I knew it we were on the trail and going uphill. Before I knew it the top 3 had escaped, and I was still stuck behind 4th watching them getting away. Passing can be tricky on single track, so most the time you have to wait for an opening to shot around. The next part I didn't expect. The guys in front of me were really that good, and my lack of experience was showing. I couldn't corner as well and had to work much, much harder due to my inexperience. I was working to hard, and the guys in front of me kept slipping away. A smart person at this point would just ride there own pace, but I kept on going trying to stay on what I thought was 4th places wheel. Turns out he was in a diff cat, and I was really in 4th with my teammate behind me. I had convinced him to also enter his first MTB race that day.
Half way through the first lap I finally snapped, the hard pace was making me make mistakes and ride outside of my ability. I near crashed in a corner with a rock garden, I finally waved my teammate by to let him lead for a bit. This helped me recover a little. I soon though lost touch with him, but this was due to a mechanical. Going up one of the hills I shifted my front ring and my chain stuck. This lead to me falling on my side, oh well that's racing. It took me about a minute to fix my bike and get going, but I was well behind. So I finally decided to do the smart thing and race the race at my pace. The damage had been done from the early effort though. Going into my second and third laps my body tired and I started to cramp. The roughness of the trail was wearing hard on my upper body. I ended up losing a few more spots and finished 7th in my class. Overall a solid finish given the magnitude of the feat I was trying to pull off. Next time I know what to expect and how to prepare. Riding the single track trails is a blast though, next year I hope to participate in a few more cross country races. Well, once I get some lighter wheels. My current ones are way to heavy and do not help with me keeping up with the leaders when I have to work that much harder.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Labor Day Weekend
This past weekend I raced in my last road racing event of the season. Boy, its been a long season. However it has made the summer just fly by. I can't believe that fall is almost here and college football has already started. In a sense its a good feeling, I can finally kick back and enjoy life. It will not be till the end of March next year that I will race on the road again. However this doesn't mean I am done racing. This coming weekend I will be racing my very first mountain bike race. It will be a warm up for the Iceman Cometh race in November. Those will be a story for another day.
So the Debaets-Devos Criterium took place on Monday. I was pumped up for this race, it was local and I was feeling like I was on great form after the suffering I endured in Traverse City. The circuit was just over a mile and was shaped like an "L", with two tight 180° turns. The weather was mild and windy...yep, its seems fall just showed up out of the blue. The race was scheduled to run for 45 minutes. The race started off with a flurry of attacks. I joined in on attacking, everything in this race felt effortless. I was defiantly on a good day. I rode off the front a couple times really hoping to make a breakaway that would stick.
As a team we were racing great, we continually attacked as a team and worked very hard to protect the gaps by placing ourselves at the front. This race was a blast, by far the most fun I have had in a criterium this year. With three laps to go there was a small breakaway off the front. I guess in a sense the team effort had really inspired me, so with two to go I went to the front of the pack to absolutely hammer the pace and bring the field back together. I killed myself for for the last two laps finally letting up before the second to last corner, I had brought the field back together and worn some of the field out. The race was now in the hands of my teammates, who I had positioned with my pace setting. I sat up to coast the last little bit, I was tired. However I was rewarded with one of my teammates taking fourth in the sprint. All and all it was a great day and a great way to end the season. We had won the team championship in Michigan for Cat 3. I can't wait for next season. However next up begins my mountain bike saga, with an encore climb to the top of Mt. Hood.Friday, September 3, 2010
Cherry Roubaix
Cherry Roubaix can be best summed up as the hardest race weekend in Michigan. On schedule for the weekend was a criterium in downtown Traverse City on Saturday, and a road race of epic proportions near Sleeping Bear Dunes Sunday. The criterium for this year was still mostly in the same location, however the route had been changed. I for one wasn't really a fan of the new route. It was a fairly standard 6 corner circuit with a few sections of brick road. I've raced on enough brick this year and frankly I am just tired of it.
My race was scheduled to start at 430, luckily the weather wasn't to hot. The race was just 40 minutes plus two laps, so it would be quick and painful. For me the race started as a disaster. From the start nothing went right. I didn't have good positioning off the line and to make matters worse the pace was set high from the gun. I was doing a fairly decent job at carving my way through the field, but then everything went to crap for me. About ten minutes into the race I had another racer chop my front wheel in a corner. What this means is essentially he didn't hold his line in the corner and came across my front wheel, making contact. This usually doesn't bode well for the guy in my position. Luckily I was able to make a few evasive maneuvers and stay upright. He had hit my wheel hard and defiantly felt the contact. Going down the straight he looked back at me and I gave him the "death look". I was mad. Not only had I almost wrecked, I lost all my momentum recovering and found myself at the back of the field again. Oh well, so I had 30 minutes to work back up. However I was doomed, every effort I made to move up was countered by either a crash or...yet another wheel chopper. I was using up a ton of energy to work around these incidents. Some races positioning is golden, and this was one. I don't mean to be offensive, but there was a good group of riders in the field that need to learn how to ride. It is essential to learn how to hold your line in a corner. I had one rider literally cut me off in 3 straight corners, and he knew it. I would sprint to pass him, and he would sprint to not let me pass. Then he would cut me off in the corner and I had to work just that much harder to get up next to him on the next straight. To make matters worse there was a crash with 8 minutes to go right in front of me. I had to back way off and lost contact with the field. I busted my butt though and got back into the race. However with three laps to go 3 riders in front of me decided to just give up and drop from the pack and race. Grr...they really slowed up in the corner and blocked me a little. This created another big gap to the field. The work I had done throughout the race dodging mishap had taken a major toll. I couldn't bridge back, so I rode the last 3 laps in anger. Out of 45 riders I took 30th. I was a much stronger rider then the results show. Some days just don't go to plan.
Sunday I was hoping for much better luck, road races suit me better. The course though was a brutal circuit with about 800 feet of climbing per lap. My race was 5 circuits for a total of 68.5 miles. 800 feet of climbing doesn't sound to bad, by the 2 main climbs average around 8% gradient making for a tough climb. Another good thing about this race was it started at 840 AM, which was good since the forecast was for upper 80's in the afternoon. 
So my race set off in the cool morning air, which was actually a very welcoming thing. Right off the bat a Ricardo sprinted off the front. This brought out a good laugh since he might have been the biggest guy in the field and not a big threat for the day. So the race started very relaxed and everybody was talking. However by the time we got to the first climb is was back to business. To sum things up the first 3 laps were boring, with a few attacks here and there to keep everyone awake. The only casualty was one of my teammates who crashed at the end of the first lap. Unfortunately he broke his front wheel and DNF'ed, but what was more unfortunate was that he was boring my front wheel.
The fourth lap the race was finally starting to shape up, several serious attacks took place during this lap. I found myself at the front of the pack twice turning up the pace to bring these guys back. I did bring them back in though and lived to fight into the final lap. However though at the start of the final lap I realized my day was done. Which was ok because I did what I needed to do to contribute to the race. Going up the first small incline of the last lap I got a funny feeling climbing. My legs were dead. my muscles weren't cramping, they just had no power. I was hoping I could just keep with the pack over the last two big climbs, but on the next and biggest climb on the course I got dropped. It took everything I had to not walk up the hill, I wasn't breathing hard either. I just had no power. So I spent the last 4 miles by myself cruising to the line solo. Its a real kicker to bonk like that so close to the end. I guess the only thing I could have done was eat on the bike better during the race, maybe that could have helped. Anyways I rolled across the line in 25th out of 41. I was just happy to finish this grueling race. Last year I had to DNF after I strained my calf muscle badly. Next up, the final race of the road racing season for me on Labor Day.Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tour de Gaslight
This past weekend I raced in my first Tour de Gaslight State Criterium Championship. Since the season is winding down this race was a kind of a welcoming sign, soon I will be able to sit around and watch college football. The season has been long and hard, but I have learned a lot about racing and myself. Leading up to this race my training had been giving me some good feedback, so I was ready. However this race was going to come down to a sprint, my weakness. So I knew my goal for the day was 100% breakaway all or nothing, that was my shot.
The warm summer had yielded to some cooler days, so that was to my advantage. The circuit was near a mile long around Gaslight Village and East Grand Rapids High School. The course was flat and somewhat technical with a sharp left hander after a long back stretch leading into a head wind. Positioning into that corner was key for the finish. This circuit was set up to be fast. Unlike many races prior, today I made and effort to line up on the front row. I wanted to get and early jump and position myself on the front.
We were maybe a little to tightly packed on the line, I was sure someone was going to hook handlebars and wreck. However the start was clean and I took off as planned quickly slotting in line at the front. At the end of the first lap there was a small push by three to get off the front of the pack. I didn't want this to happen so I drove the pace of the pack to bridge the gap back. However though, that also meant I was leading the pack into the first corner at speed for my first time. I horribly miss gauged the corner and nearly went wide into the curb. After the gap was closed I decided to relax a little and wait for my chance at a break. At around 15 minutes into the 50 minute race the bell was rung for the first prime prize lap. This is generally a good time to make a move so I got myself ready. Sure enough as we went to the line 3 guys had driven away from the pack, so I quickly jumped the gap and joined them.We were a strong group of four, I thought for sure we had a chance at being that break. The one that got away for the race. We stayed off the front for 3 laps I believe, but the pack was having nothing of us getting away. I think they saw the danger and strength of us four and they worked hard to bring us back in. Once caught I decided I best relax for a bit. I had been on or off the front far to much, a better strategy would have been to save energy for the inevitable sprint. That didn't mean things were easy though, fending for position in the pack is cut throat. At one point I was run wide up onto a curb and another time bumped elbows with a fellow rider. After the curb incident I moved to the back of the pack, mostly cause I wasn't sure if I had cut my tire or not when the carbon rim hit the concrete. Luckily I hadn't, but not being able to trust your tire for a few laps makes things very interesting. As time ran out, I knew my chances were feeble. I had played my cards, and the field ate me up. All that was left was to give it what I had and try to fight with the sprinters. I only got 29th out of 42. I wasn't let down by the day though. I knew my strategy was break, I tried and failed. Some days the breakaway works, but not on a day were the race pace averages near 26.5 miles per hour.
Gaslight Full Results
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Time Trial Weekend
Saturday was the makeup date for the 4k State track time trial. Unlike the previous weekend the forecast was clear and there would be nothing to stop the event. I had thought the 3k sucked and was already hard enough, the 4k wasn't going to be much better. I am still not much of a track rider, my peddle stroke is not smooth enough to be fast on a fixed gear bike. I think this winter I will have to buy a used track bike to do velodrome workouts next year. Maybe try a few scratch races. The benefits from track workouts can greatly increase your sprinting speed, and peddling speed in general. The track will make you a faster bike racer, just take Mark Cavendish for example. 
Since the velodrome is 200 meters around I would be doing 20 laps today. The main goal is to keep the bike on or below the black line, to ensure you are doing the shortest route possible. This is the one thing I am actually good at on the track. The hardest part about doing these events is I am using a borrowed bike. All setup is done at the track and it always tends to be different from one day to the next. Also your gearing selection is very limited. For today's event I was using at 48/15 T combination. If I build a track bike I am going to put a crank bigger then 48T on it.
Maybe the hardest part of this time trial is the standing start. In a regular TT you can start in a easier gear and slowly shift up. On the track you are stuck spinning the big gear. The first lap can cost you tons of time if you have a slow start. So when you stat the first few peddle strokes require a ton of muscle. After that you can settle down and get into a rhythm. 20 laps is a long time. My run wasn't to bad, my lap times stayed fairly consistent. The problem was I just wasn't fast enough. I finished 7th/8 in category. The funny thing is I can do a 20k time trail with a faster average speed then a 4k on the track. Hopefully after some more track work next year I can master this skill.State Track Results @ Bloomer
Sunday was the big event for me. The Hines Park Time Trial. Two years ago I had raced my first bike racing event here. Seems like a long time ago but since then I have had a lot of fun. I have also been able to push my fitness to new levels. The race is a 20k out and back race against the clock. Seams easy right? Well Hines runs East to West and has a bad habit of being a wind tunnel. Time trials hurt, and to add insult to injury this race starts heading East with the tailwind. So, the last 6 miles can be summed up by how much pain your able to withstand. 
Luckily my start time was 8:47 am, meaning I could race in the cool morning air for a change. My previous times were 34:49 and 30:13 last year. My training had indicated that I was on fitness to run around 29 minutes flat, so I was hoping I could break into the upper 28's. Being the engineer I am I had my splits planned out on how fast I needed to reach the turnaround to meet my goal. However there was one small glitch in my plans, the wind was light and not heavy. On a bike your biggest enemy is air resistance. This force increases exponentially once you reach speeds over 20 mph. So bike position becomes everything. I had worked a lot on my aero position and felt confident that I could slice through the head wind.Back to the race though, so how is a light wind bad? Even with a light wind at your back it still feels like a headwind because your going so fast. Also it would mean my pace estimates were are worthless. So I started out smashing my pedals turning them over at an average rate of 95 rpm. Everything felt awful, my speed wasn't what it should have been and I was falling off pace. So I just kept gunning it. I reached the turn around point well off my mark. In fact it caused me to panic some because I didn't want to miss my goal.
First off I will say biking into a head or cross wind is never fun, there is no coasting. You have to constantly maintain momentum and just power through it. That's were the pain element factors in, as the lactic acid builds the legs just burn and hurt. Cause of the wind I had started to hard, I was actually ahead of my pace based on the wind. Halfway through the return trip the pain finally caught up with me. To make matters worse I hit a pothole and almost crashed. Its at this point a sane person gives up, there is no point in deliberately making your body hurt. However I just kept turning over those pedals at 95 rpm. I think the grimace on my face showed it all coming down the finish chute. However I stopped the clock at 29:02 and some change. Right on pace after all, funny how that works out. My time was good enough to grab me 6th/15 in category and 31st overall. Not to bad considering I do not have a real time trial bike and rear disc wheel. Those items alone could make me more aerodynamic and save me an extra 10-90 seconds over this distance. Next year I will have to break into the 28's.Hines Park TT Full Results
Monday, August 9, 2010
Milford Criterium
The Milford Criterium was one of the events I was really looking forward to this year, I had missed it the previous year because I was camping in Oregon. I had spent the previous day at the velodrome for the State events. I showed up too late for the 200m and then the 4k got rained out. So I spent 5 hours at the track to get a little over an hour of practice. That aside I was still feeling good to race. Other then the Hines TT and Kensington Valley road race this is the closest thing to a home race I have out here.
The course was set in downtown Milford with a loop that was near 1 mile. This course however was somewhat technical with lots of elevation change. The hardest part was the near 120° corner that lead into an uphill segment to the finish line. Throughout the day this corner had been the scene of many wrecks. Including a few in my race. In fact all the photographers seamed to congregate in this corner to capture the crashes.
My race was scheduled for 50 minutes. I had heard in the parking lot before the race that several teams were going to hammer the pace at the start. Mostly to try and weed out some sprinters and drop them off the back. The rumor was true because as soon as we started the pace was harsh. I had a bit of a slow start, but I settled in and started to work my way from the back to mid pack. Eventually I was going to go to the front, but as I got nestled in the middle of the pack my rear tire started to feel really funny. Due to this I went to the back of the pack to look at it. Riders agreed it looked low. So I went in the pits to change my rear wheel.
In most circumstances they will give you a free lap to rejoin the race and be on the lead lap. Such as a crash or some sort of mechanical. The referee quickly looked over my wheel and denied my free lap. The tires pressure was not low enough. After the race I found a cut in the center of the tread, the sealant I put in though sealed it before it went flat. Anyhow I rejoined the pack, a lap down. Since I was no longer in contention I just sat on the back and rode out the rest of the time. The rest of the race though was filled with several attacks. Eventually 4 riders slipped off the front to stay clear to the end. The harsh pace had took its toll on the field, also given the lack of teamwork by the field the gap was never closed.
Overall the race was a bit of a big letdown for me. Not only had I had a bad day, but almost everyone of my team had. One of my teammates crashed and hurt his shoulder badly. However I did the right thing changing my tire, its to bad the referee didn't side with my decision to change tires for precautionary reasons. Oh well, that's racing.
Milford Full Results
Friday, July 30, 2010
A Message to Triathletes
Sigh, so I am out riding at Island Lake park and a triathlete passes me. Since my goal for the night was an easy ride I kept a nice steady pace, no racing him. It just so happens my pace kept me 100 to 200 meters behind him. Well then I decide to do a few intervals. Once again my goal was just to loosen my legs up to race this weekend. My first interval I never caught him, but my second interval was a steady 6 min medium effort. Well I end up passing him. I look back and can see he is trying really hard to stay with me. A few minutes later at the end of my interval he tries to follow me through a 90 bend I took at over 25 mph. I hear an awful noise...carbon meeting road. He had blown the corner and laid the bike down skidding off the road into a ditch breaking the fork and top tube of his Cervelo P2. I kind of feel like an ass now, then again it was his fault for trying to follow me. I turned around though to make sure he was ok and offer help. I feel like I indirectly caused him to crash by pushing him harder then he should have been going. I guess I should have stopped for a few minutes to make sure I had a clear road to do my intervals.
So my questions are, why do people treat training like a competition and why do triathletes have this grudge against roadies? I mean I would never take unnecessary risks training just to keep up with someone. There is no shame in getting passed training, not every ride is a race. Oh well...
So my questions are, why do people treat training like a competition and why do triathletes have this grudge against roadies? I mean I would never take unnecessary risks training just to keep up with someone. There is no shame in getting passed training, not every ride is a race. Oh well...
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Racing the Pave of Fenton and Flint
Saturday July 24th I raced in the Maillot Jaune road race in Fenton, MI. On tap for the day was 53 miles, or 4 laps at just over 13 miles. For a change the weather was cool and wet, it even rained during the race. While the weather was great, my body wasn't feeling so hot. Monday I had hurt my knee, it was still swollen and healing. The course featured several nice climbs, so it suited me well. The first lap of the race went off in a very lazy fashion. Nobody really wanted to take a run off the front, given the conditions and the length of the race.
The second lap things got a little more boring, our field was passed by two other fields. In the process one person slipped off the front. I didn't notice and I think most the field didn't notice. Instead of chasing the guy we all decided to just let him go. He was from Kentucky and supposedly very strong. I was in no shape to help set up a chase, my goal for the day was just to make it to the finish. So I just sat in the field doing anything to not make my knee swell. Nothing much happened on the next few laps besides a few small accidents caused by pedestrians in town. For the most part the pact made it to the final climb all intact. A few attacks were quickly launched and I was quickly falling off the back. Accelerations on a climb were just something I couldn't handle this day. I stayed my tempo and made it to the top within arms reach of the pack. So I quickly latched back on and now it was an easy downhill to the finish line. Going around the final corner I was still in the back of the pack, this was okay though because I quickly began my slingshot move towards the front. I think I topped out near 44 MPH in my sprint for the line. However I dipped out of the draft to quick and burnt up a little, but I still got 9th. I lost 8th place by a fraction of a tire width, a real photo finish. All and all it was a good day given my expectations going into the day.Maillot Jaune Full Results
Sunday July 25th I was off to Flint, MI to race Le Champion Pave. I have to admit I was a little concerned with racing in Flint. Its not really known as a very nice place. In fact, its about as scary as Detroit. However though the race was to be put on in dead center downtown running through the University of Michigan Flint campus and down the bricks of Flints main street. It was a longer circuit for a criterium, but the only thing that mattered was the bricks. They are a beast of there own to race on. Luckily carbon dampens the bone jarring vibrations some. When I arrived downtown I was quiet surprised to find the city deserted. It really is almost a snap shot from another decade. There were a few spectators, but beyond that an empty town. However I have to say I enjoyed the setup, I hope this race just gets bigger and bigger in the future. 
My fields crit was scheduled for 50 minutes plus a lap. The race started out hard, as usual with a race like this everyone wanted to attack where it hurts. That being on the stretch of bricks. I kind of knew at the start I lacked the explosiveness to do good in a sprint finish, the legs hadn't fully recovered from racing the day before. So when the attacks started and the field was being lazy with bringing them back, I quickly went to the front to do some pace work. I wanted to make sure no breaks got free this day. I even enjoyed a few turns at hammering the pace through the bricks. I'm not sure how to pin it, but it brings a smile to your face to just hammer it, then look back at the suffering you had caused. For the day it was mission accomplished for me, no breakaways succeeded and everyone was grouped for a bunch sprint finish. So I sat up and let my rested teammate contest the sprint in which he ended up with 6th. All and all it was a solid weekend of racing for me. My strength really surprised me in Flint, I had great power endurance. Fenton also gave me a lot of confidence for the races to come. It hopefully should make for a very interesting last month of the season.Le Champion Pave Full Results
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Catching Up!
So, the past few weekends having been action packed. I still have a lot of catching up to do.
July 10th I raced in the USAC NRC Meijer Grand Cycling Classic. Being part of the National Racing Calendar series meant the field would be tough. To make matters worse the race was held on the bricks of downtown Grand Rapids. The most challenging part of the weekend though was I would have to compete with the Category 2 field. For me this race was going to be a huge test. Could I hang with the Cat 2's, and could I handle the brutal heat and humidity that this year Michigan summer is dishing out. Lining up at the start I knew I wouldn't have much of a shot after I saw the quality of the riders in the field. So my motive of the day was survival. The field was 83 riders, not the biggest I have been in. The race started out in a fury, the pace quickly went up to around 28 MPH average. I felt good for the first few laps so I tried to move my way up the field. Big mistake...I put my heart rate to high. The pace never slacked and my heart rate never went down. So after 30 minutes of racing I pulled the plug and left the pack. I had been red lining over 190 bpm for over 10 minutes. While I didn't finish I learned a fair amount. Next year I will be ready.
July 11th I raced in the Terry Reisch Memorial Charity Road Race. Recovering from the heat stroke I suffered the day before I was ready to go again. I wasn't to excited that this day would be even warmer, and the race would be much...much longer. Since this was a charity race in the middle of nowhere the field was small. The course was a 4 mile loop that we would race 8 laps. It had a few short hills that would suit me well. The race started very relaxed and lazy, nobody was to thrilled to race in the heat.
On the end of the second lap two riders attacked. I was feeling fairly good so I decided to bridge the gap and make it a 4 man break. However, the pack wasn't going to let this break go and we were quickly brought in. Shortly after that 4 more riders went off the front. This is when the race got frustrating, none of the other teams would share the load of chasing the breakaway. So 3 men were doing the work of chasing 4, if you do the math its easy to tell who would win. I was one of those 3, after a half hour of hell I gave up. I was spent and starting to suffer heat stroke. The rest of the race I spent recovering unhappy. On the final lap I wanted to let my anger go, so the last 3 miles of the race I decided to go to the front of the pack again and drive the pace. I didn't care where I would finish, I just wanted to make people hurt since they were all to lazy to help bring back the break. So I just sat on the front and pounded the pedals, in the end I gave my teammate a very good lead out that snagged him second in the field sprint. So even though the race sucked, I was happy with being in a break shortly. Then putting on the hurt at the end.
Terry Reisch Full Results
July 17th I raced in the BTR Criterium. Held on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo this was a home race for a few of my teammates. Luckily for me I was on vacation in Sawyer, MI on the west side of the state so the drive to the race was short. Once again though the heat and humidity was nuts. The race was slated for 70 minutes on a short circuit. The heat has not been treating me well so my goal was survival. For a change the pace was fast and the group stayed bunched. My day was eventful though, about half way through the race I hit a crack in a corner and about crashed when my wheel skipped. Later in that same corner I would drop a chain. Despite all that I was still sitting comfortable in the pack. However lady luck just wasn't with me, and with two laps to go my rear tire went flat. Turns out my valve stem developed a slow leak, my guess is when I hit the crack it got knocked loose. Anyways since there was only two laps to go I couldn't take a free lap and rejoin the race. Two flats in less then a month is horrible luck.
BTR Full Results
July 10th I raced in the USAC NRC Meijer Grand Cycling Classic. Being part of the National Racing Calendar series meant the field would be tough. To make matters worse the race was held on the bricks of downtown Grand Rapids. The most challenging part of the weekend though was I would have to compete with the Category 2 field. For me this race was going to be a huge test. Could I hang with the Cat 2's, and could I handle the brutal heat and humidity that this year Michigan summer is dishing out. Lining up at the start I knew I wouldn't have much of a shot after I saw the quality of the riders in the field. So my motive of the day was survival. The field was 83 riders, not the biggest I have been in. The race started out in a fury, the pace quickly went up to around 28 MPH average. I felt good for the first few laps so I tried to move my way up the field. Big mistake...I put my heart rate to high. The pace never slacked and my heart rate never went down. So after 30 minutes of racing I pulled the plug and left the pack. I had been red lining over 190 bpm for over 10 minutes. While I didn't finish I learned a fair amount. Next year I will be ready.
July 11th I raced in the Terry Reisch Memorial Charity Road Race. Recovering from the heat stroke I suffered the day before I was ready to go again. I wasn't to excited that this day would be even warmer, and the race would be much...much longer. Since this was a charity race in the middle of nowhere the field was small. The course was a 4 mile loop that we would race 8 laps. It had a few short hills that would suit me well. The race started very relaxed and lazy, nobody was to thrilled to race in the heat. 
On the end of the second lap two riders attacked. I was feeling fairly good so I decided to bridge the gap and make it a 4 man break. However, the pack wasn't going to let this break go and we were quickly brought in. Shortly after that 4 more riders went off the front. This is when the race got frustrating, none of the other teams would share the load of chasing the breakaway. So 3 men were doing the work of chasing 4, if you do the math its easy to tell who would win. I was one of those 3, after a half hour of hell I gave up. I was spent and starting to suffer heat stroke. The rest of the race I spent recovering unhappy. On the final lap I wanted to let my anger go, so the last 3 miles of the race I decided to go to the front of the pack again and drive the pace. I didn't care where I would finish, I just wanted to make people hurt since they were all to lazy to help bring back the break. So I just sat on the front and pounded the pedals, in the end I gave my teammate a very good lead out that snagged him second in the field sprint. So even though the race sucked, I was happy with being in a break shortly. Then putting on the hurt at the end.Terry Reisch Full Results
BTR Full Results
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Superior Bike Fest!
June 25th through 27th I was on vacation in Marquette, MI. Well, not so much a vacation but participating in Superior Bike Fest. Which also is the official state road racing championship for 2010. Marquette is about 8 hours from Detroit and is part of Michigan's upper peninsula. Superior Bike Fest consisted of 3 races, a downtown criterium, a road race, and a circuit race. 
Friday was the criterium, it was a very stormy day so I decided I was going to race my new Damocles if I decided to enter the race. Rain poored down most of the day and wrecking the Noah was not a risk I wanted to take. So I departed the hotel on bike to the race. Quickly, I found out that something was not right with my new bike. Turns out later I would find I put my headset together wrong. Needless to say with the crappy weather I decided to just sit on the sidelines and watch the race. Smart idea I thought.
Saturday was the state road race championship. The course was a 55 mile out and back. At about mile 2 you had to climb Marquette Mountain, which is a punishing hill. After that the course is mostly rolling hills, a few of them fairly tough. The weather was cool, damp, misty and very foggy. Nice weather for a race in my opinion. My day started a little slow up the first hill, but after I was warmed up I took no time in trying to make a move off the front. After a mile or two I was brought back in. I patiently waited in the field for a time to make a second move. Then there was an attack, and one of my team mates went with it. So I played it cool, and sat in the pack. Turns out 8 riders went off the front, with most teams represented the race was basically over. However there was still a chance the break away could fall apart so I kept on trucking. However at mile 25 for some reason the support vehicle with all our spare wheels left for the break...against policy. Turns out lucky me got a flat a few miles later, so with no replacement tire I spent the next few hours sitting on the side of the road freezing waiting for a sag vehicle. Luckily for me this old lady felt bad for me and gave me a blanket to keep warm. So after an extra 2.5 hours I finally made it to the finish line...cold and very angry. I just walked away, no good would have come from me blowing up in the race directors face. Bad luck I guess, always next year.
Sunday was the final race, a quick but challenging circuit race. With the race being only less then 20 minutes it was going to be a hard effort. The circuit was a small loop around this park on a small peninsula outside of Marquette. The race was only 4 laps. The course consisted of a very narrow road with a nasty hill and a technical decent. To win this race you needed to be able to climb, so I thought I had a decent shot. As the race started the first 2 laps for me were hard, my body just wasn't warmed up enough. Lap 3 proved to be much better and I started to work my way back into the race. Lap 4 was all or nothing, I gunned it up the hill moving into the top 15, maybe to hard though cause I blew up a little. Coming down the hill I slipped to 17th place. I figure if the race would have been 2-4 laps longer I could have worked myself up into the top 5. Oh well, a somewhat disappointing racing weekend. I had a good time up north and I guess that's what matters the most. Now becomes the fun part of sending some nasty emails trying to get my money refunded for the race! By no means what happened in the road race was acceptable, there should have been a car to give me a wheel...bottom line.Ridley Damocles
The Damocles is the work horse of the Ridley bike line. This thing is built for any race from giant mountains, to cobbles. My main interest in this bike was for training and those few races in Michigan that are really hilly and those races that are so bumpy it feels like your riding on cobbles. Geometry wise its almost identical to the Noah. What's more impressive is this bike is lighter, even though I built it up with some cheaper lower end components. This past weekend I had the chance to break it in on some of the more hilly areas of Michigan in the upper peninsula. All I have to say is I love it, most my hours riding from here on out will be spent riding this bike. The Noah will just have to settle for a few criteriums and flat road races.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Michigan State Time Trial
June 20th was the Michigan State Time Trial Championship. Since I missed this race last year because of flooding this my my first time ever doing this race. The course however I am very familiar with, the distance not. My category was slatted to do 40k, which is a very unpleasant distance for an individual time trial. The course was a 20k out and back that you did two laps. The road was Hines Drive, a fairly scenic road near Detroit. As usual though the roads were garbage and you had to constantly avoid potholes and cracks in the road.
Before the race started I was already on an off week, Mt Pleasant took a toll on my body and I was still tired. Then...for the second time this year I forgot to bring my heart rate strap to a time trial. Oh well, I still gave it the 100% I had left. The race was hot and hard. The temp off the road had to be near 100°. After one lap I wanted to just call it a day, my body hurt and I just wasn't comfortable in my time trial position to make good power. I still gutted it out though and finished 12th. Since it was my first 40k I will just write it off as a learning experience, next year I will be ready! Oh, if you notice they have me 13th on the results. There is no way the guy in 12th beat me, I will just leave it at that. There have been far to many timing and scoring errors this year.Full Results
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Mt. Pleasant Recap
Mt. Pleasant weekend was scheduled to be a 60 minute +2 lap criterium Saturday and a 46 mile road race Sunday. So far the weather this summer has been very warm, this weekend would be no exception. Saturday my race was schedule to start at 330 PM, kind of nice for a change to have a later start. The only downside was the sun was beaming down and on the roads the heat index was 90-100°. The crit started out fast and furious on a .9 mile circuit in downtown Mt. Pleasant. On the end of the first lap I got caught up near an accident. Since it caused me to drop to the back I decided to just park there for the next 30 minutes and relax. With 30 minutes to go I finally started to carve my way through the pack. However I have to say this race was one of the worst displays of bike handling I have seen. We would just hammer it on the straights to just sit up and brake in the corners. These corners didn't need braking. I also felt like that guy in office space and always picked the wrong traffic lanes. I would work my way up some then get caught in a bad line and lose several spots. It was frustrating, but I just keep out of the wind and tucked in the pack. So after 60 minutes there was just two laps to go. I made my push to work my way through the pack. On the last lap going into the last corner I was sitting in about 23rd. Ideally I would have liked a position further up but I felt like I could still sprint out a top ten. Oh well, non of that mattered because two guys in front of me wrecked. I had to check up and take an inside line and lost a lot of speed. I sprinted to the line and settled for 21st, I was a little disappointed. 
Sunday was a much different day, since I wasn't happy with the previous day I was very motivated. Race start was around 1015 AM, and it was overcast but muggy. Since the race was only 46 miles it was going to be fast. In the first 10 miles I don't think there was a single time I was going less then 25 MPH and constantly went over 30. It was a home race for one of my team mates so the goal for the day was to shut down any attacks and try to set him up to get the win. So I spent a good majority of the time working up front pacing or shutting down attacks. I even put in three attacks myself. With 4 miles to go the Michigan challenge leader for our category attacked hard, no one put up a chase. So I muscled my way up to the front to drive the pace up. I killed myself for the next two miles, but I shut down his attack. My work was done so I just cruised to the finish line in the back of the pack. I placed one spot ahead of the Michigan Challenge leader I shut down. For my efforts though my team mates finished good in the sprint finish. We took 1st and 2nd in the Omnium, the only downside is the didn't award anything this year for that.Next up is the State Time Trial
Crit Full Results
Road Race Full Results
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Das Tour of Frankenmuth
Frankenmuth Michigan is a small little Bavarian town, great place to hold a bike race. My race was a scheduled 65 miles on a circuit just over 16 miles per lap. Luckily the race started at 8am because the forecast was in the mid 80’s for the day. From the get go the tactic of the day was breakaways. Attacks were constant throughout the first and second lap. However it wasn't till near the end of the second lap that a group of three actually got away. For the most part I relaxed, however at the end of the first lap I managed to choke on my energy bar. I honestly thought, "hey, I might need to stop and have someone give me the hymlic maneuver." Ya, it was bad. I managed to spray it down with water from one of my bottles, however in the process I managed to drop my bottle and get dropped by the pack. Luckily the pace wasn't fast at the time and I caught up quick. However, now I needed to conserve water since I was a bottle short.
So back to the breakaway, three riders slipped off the front near the end of the second lap. Since none of my team mates where in it, and the pack wasn't chasing I decided to hop to the front and turn the screws up. For the next mile or two I hammered it till the three were back within 10 seconds, then I sat up because my job was done. Shortly there after 3 more riders from the pack joined the break, including one member from my team. The six riders quickly built a gap, enough teams were represented so the pack knew that this break wasn't coming back. The next two laps went fairly quiet with only a few little attacks. I spent some time on the front trying to slow the pace. With 6 off the front the sprint was only going to be for 7th. Heading into town on the last lap I moved up front with my other 4 team mates to try and do a proper sprint train. My legs just didn't have it though and I sat up and coasted into town. I finished in the dead back of the pack, but I was still happy since my work earlier helped get my team mate into the break where he ended up finishing 5th. The heat has also really gotten to me, but my fitness is feeling really good. Once criterium season comes around I should be in full form.
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