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

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

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.

SBF State Road Race Results 

SBF Circuit Race Results 

Ridley Damocles

This past week I built up a new Ridley Damocles ISP.  While I wasn't intending to get a training/ alternate race bike till the winter a deal surfaced I couldn't pass up.   So, the old Novara finally will get fully retired as a bike for Marisa to use.  While it rode many great races for me last season its time was well past due and an alternate race bike.  

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.

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

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

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.