Second New Edition

Here is the start of the other new project. Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie, full carbon cross beauty...

Unfortunately, I've been under the weather so the builds are going slower then hoped.

A Small Taste.....

I'm practically drooling just looking at it......

The build has started and more to come.

In Between Chapters

So I'm not racing cross since I don't currently have a cross bike. This means time for lots of road riding that I wouldn't usually do over the winter. I have already done more milage in November then in September and October combined.

Also, new bikes (yes, plural) have been ordered. More to come......

Rumble on the River and a Farewell......

So about a week ago, Rolando and I headed to San Antonio for the Rumble on the River CX race. This is a race that Rob Kane has put on for a couple of years and is a absolutely fantastic course. In my opinion (and its an opinion that is based on a fairly limited exposure to CX courses) it is one of the better mixes of difficulty and flow.

Last year this course tore a Challenge Grifo from rim while trying to ride a steep concrete bank. This year the entire course had my number. I went down four times and the course managed to suck every last bit of fight out of me. I finished a disappointing 16th (that seems to be a theme for me this year) and it left me wondering if this entire year of cross was going to be lost. The form just doesn't seem to be getting any better.

As we headed back to Austin and had almost arrived at my house, a young girl rear-ended Rolando's SUV and our bikes on the hitch rack took the brunt of the force. Thankfully we weren't more than jarred by the impact but now we are trying to work with an insurance company to replace our cross bikes. I guess this was a sign that this cross season has faded away into the horizon. Here is one last picture of my faithful Van Dessel before it is laid to rest.

Webberville & Manor

My second cross weekend begin at Webberville. This was one of my favorite courses last year and was the beginning of my success in racing cross. I had a good start and managed to avoid the chaos seen in the photo sequence below. I was sitting fourth about halfway through the first lap and when we made the first transition to the pavement and I felt my rear tire going flat. I made it to the wheel pit but my wheel change was slow and I was now dead last. I spent the next several laps chasing back up and eventually made my way back through half the field to finish 16th. It was very disappointing because it was the best my legs have felt this year.

Sunday's race in Manor was the site of the State Championship last year. This year the course was dry and had almost no resemblance to last years mud fest. My current lack of fitness is most apparent on the 2nd day of a weekend of racing and I definitely didn't have the pop in my legs that I had at Webberville. It was a strong field and after several laps I was sitting about 16th again when I slipped through a corner and dropped my chain. I fell back 4 positions and started to loose my motivation. This is when my teammate and absolute powerhouse Kevin Barton caught me. Kevin was on his second race having completed the 40+ race prior to our race but that didn't stop him from telling me to get on and then hammering till we caught the 3 guys that passed me when I had my mishap. He pulled all the way till the finish and then launched me for another 16th place. It was an incredible act of sacrifice that makes this team so special.

1st lap of Webberville barrier photo sequence:

Tour de Gruene

I took a break from my lackluster cross racing to do an annual favorite, the Tour de Gruene TT. The 3 previous years I have competed in the team time trial but never in the individual time trial. This year I decided to compete in both despite my recent lack of form.

Saturday was the individual TT. It was an out and back course on River road that is part of the team time trial course so I had ridden the out before but never done it backwards like the back leg. This was also my first attempt at pacing on a TT with power. (my other attempt on the State TT ended prematurely due to a blown tire). I started out and it felt like a slight uphill with a tailwind so I tried not to use to much energy on the out leg. I felt slow so at the turn-around I started to push it a little more. There were a lot of riders on the road and some cars as well with a speed limit of 25 mph. This made for a lot of rabbits to chase and I finished the back leg strong and my numbers showed I did a good job of managing my power output. I finished with a time of 38:02 and an average speed of 25.2 mph. This won my age-group/class.

Sunday was the two man team TT that I did with Clint Fiedler. This was my first year with Clint but he's a beast so I hoped I could hang with him. Through the beginning of the ride I felt good and we kept a good pace all the way through the hill. The hill felt especially long and hard this year and I tried to keep a good pace without pushing to the point of blowing up. After we got over Clint recovered fast and started doing a lot of work but I wasn't feeling as strong. The winds were also tough and every turn in the front gust would move you around on the road and make you white knuckle it a bit. We approached the final few turns and Clint who had done the majority of the work those last few miles moved over so I could pull through. I tried to pull but had nothing left. Clint came back around and finished strong but I couldn't grab his wheel and blew up as I was within sight of the finish line. I limped across the line and we finished with a 1:06:40 with an average speed of 24.6 mph for 3rd in our age group/class.

Cross Season Begins

Continuing the trend of playing catch up on racing, 3 weeks ago was the beginning of cyclocross. Thursday night was Driveway Cross and run on the same course as Saturday's Alchemy Bicycles Crit & Cross. It was a rough course but it felt good to be on the cross bike again. I finished 4th in the "B" race.

Saturday's Alchemy Bicycles was an extended version of the Driveway Cross but was run the opposite direction. It was the first course I had run the carbon rims and quickly found on the two steep, bouncy descents that braking was close to non-existent. As the race progressed, the braking continued to become less effective till it was practically just hanging on and hoping for the best. I wasn't feeling in great shape but still managed 10th in a very strong "B" field.

Sunday was a technical course that looked to favor me a little better but my lack of shape reared it's ugly head. I quickly realized I had no legs and to make things worse, the poor braking performance continued. The brakes didn't have good power but all the heavy braking had caused one of the return springs to start to give and the front brake started rubbing as well. It was not a good race and I was frustrated and angry by the end. I finished 17th, which was near the back of the smallish field.

I immediately went home and ordered some Avid Shorty Ultimate to replace the old Tektro brakes I had been using. I skipped Houston the following weekend and will race cross again after Tour de Gruene.

Catching Up

A lot has happened since I last posted about 3 months ago so I'll try to give a quick summary.

State TT in August:

The individual TT was on Saturday and it was definitely my "target" race of the year. It was also my first big TT since using a power meter. I had done a couple of practice runs on the course leading up to the race and felt good about my chances.

It started out well and by the time I got to the turn around I felt strong and was under my target time. I hit the brakes and suddenly my rear wheel slid in the drop outs and locked up. I managed to keep the bike upright as I skidded to a stop but the rear wheel was stuck with the tension of the chain. After fighting with it for a couple of minutes, I managed to get it loose and tried to tighten it. I then headed off on the way back but was effectively out of contention. Suddenly on a downhill section, my rear wheel blew out and the wheel locked again at about 30 mph. Miraculously, I managed to bring the bike to a stop without wiping out but my race was over. It was frustrating to say the least.

The Team TT was the following day and I was determined to have a good effort to make up for the disappointment of the previous day. I was without a disc wheel due to the blowout so I used my 88 on the rear. Mike Reed, Jonathan Skelley, Conner and I rode well together but I never found the great rhythm that I had the day before and fought the bike the entire time. We managed 5th place which didn't make up for the previous day.

Tour of Austin in September was my next race.

It was a TT followed by 3 crits over Labor Day weekend. The TT on Friday evening was a short, hard, and technical TT with one short steep hill. I had never been on the course before riding it and it showed when I raced. I over-shot a corner heading into a S-bend and went through the grass. I ended up 7th but missed top 3 by 5 seconds. The crit on Saturday was hard and I managed a field finish which is an improvement for a non-crit guy like myself. By Sunday the heat and my lack of form showed up and I was shelled half way through the crit. At that point I packed it up and skipped the Monday race. I continue to feel more comfortable and confident in crits but I'm still a long way away from being competitive.

October we bought a house and moved to Austin. I'm no longer commuting to work and trying to find riding time has been difficult but I love owning a house and we are doing a lot of rewarding work to make it ours.

That's a quick synopsis to get me close to caught up and I'll finish the rest in another post.

Fuji SST

I haven't posted in a while and even though it would appear I haven't been doing much, I've actually raced more this summer then in the past. But that will be a later post. First I need to share my new ride that I got in June. My old Cannondale had been faithful but it rode like a truck which meant it wasn't confidence inspiring at the limit. So I decided to sell my fixie and buy a new carbon frame. The 09 Fuji SST frame set was a crazy good deal so I picked it up and moved the parts from the Cannondale to the Fuji.

I've had it for 2 months now and I have to say I love it. The Fuji is definitely stiff but not harsh like the Cannondale could be. The biggest difference is how confidence inspiring it is through the corners and descents. While the Cannondale felt like I was fighting to control and felt very vague at the limit, the Fuji is smooth and feels locked in. It has been a confidence inspiring bike and an absolute blast to ride.

Capone wants to know if this a new toy?

Yes, but not for him.....

Here's the frame set.....

And here's the finished bike, about 16 lbs with pedals, cages, and SRM

You Did What On A Road Bike?

A while back I posted an amazing bike stunt video where the rider did some amazing stuff in the urban landscape. Here is a video that ups the level of difficulty.

Just Cause You Can.....

So I decided to do the Open at the July 3rd Independence Weekend Circuit Race. It had been raining all week before the race and there was rain in the area Saturday so I waited to the last minute to drive out and actually waited a little to long. I got there with just enough to to register, get kitted up, and drop off spare wheels before the start. I rolled to the start in the middle of roll call and then we were off. It was a small field for an open race, only about 30 starters. I had 5 other teammates in the race so it was looking good.

Bike Heaven also had a large representation so the race started with a Heaven attack that Richmond went with and was soon brought back. Rob Kane then went and I went with him but we were quickly brought back as well. I sat on to recover and soon felt better and found myself chasing another attack. I worked hard again and went a little to hard as I struggled to hang on to the field after we were brought back. I was happy to see Alec go on a break soon after and he was quickly joined by Brandon Zeeff of Heaven and Beau Edwards. It looked like a good break that could stay and I looked forward to sitting on while other teams chased. Unfortunately we came over the next roller and saw Alec had been dropped. We quickly started chasing and I did a really hard pull and then pulled back in but didn't get enough rest before pulling again and when Jason came around hard I tried to catch on the back but couldn't accelerate. I came off 35 minutes into a 75 minute race. I raced the remainder of the race alone but never came close to what was left of the field and ended up 21st.

I went back and looked at my power numbers and every time I recovered I immediately went hard again. The lesson learned was just because I have the power doesn't mean I need to use it immediately. I continue to try to figure out how to be patient when I race. It's so much harder then it sounds.....

Urban Assault

Last weekend Claudia and I did the Urban Assault race in Austin. Urban Assault is a race in which the competitors bike to various checkpoints where they have to complete "tasks". You do not have to complete the checkpoints in any particular order. The winner is the first person to complete all the checkpoints and return to the start. Claudia and I determined before the race that we were going to do this for fun so it wouldn't turn into a frustrated yelling match during the race leading to a prolonged awkward silence and battle of wills.

This year the start was at Festival Beach. The race was limited to 1500 riders who competed in 2 person teams as part of the men's, women's, coed, or family groups. Claudia and I completed a pre-race quiz so we were started in the first of 3 waves that went off in 5 minute intervals. The run to the bikes was chaotic but we found our bikes and took off to Metz Pool.

The first checkpoint involved jumping into the deep end of the pool, swimming half way across, grabbing 3 beach balls, and carrying them across the rest of the pool. Only one of us had to perform it so I jumped in and we were off. It all seemed very easy at this time. We rode to the next two checkpoints that were extremely close to each other. Bicycle Sport Shop and Jack & Adams Bikes. We went to Bicycle Sport Shop and completed the newspaper throw. I had to throw newspapers across a barrier while on my bike to Claudia who had to catch them in a box. Jack and Adams had the adult HotWheels course and the line was extremely long. We stood in line for a minute and then we decided to go on to another checkpoint that hopefully wasn't as busy and then hit Jack and Adams on the way back. We went to Daily Juice for the first of the mystery clues and then to the Paddle Boat dock but the line there was worse then it was at Jack and Adams. We decided to come back to this one also and headed north to Ozone Bikes. We worked out some communication on the way and things started to roll smoothly. At Ozone bikes we had to complete a puzzle of carpet pieces within ten minutes while people shot us with water guns. Thankfully Claudia figured it out and we were on to Peese Park for Human Polo. Here I carried Claudia on my back while she hit a ball with a large polo stick around a circle. Then we were off to REI for Human Bowling. Claudia lay down on a long skateboard and I had to push her down a slight incline to know down the bowling pins. We nailed it on our first try. Feeling confident we headed back to the Paddle Boat dock but the line was still long. We stood in line for about 45 minutes before starting the hardest challenge of the course. Claudia sat on a large inflatable duck and I had to push/tow her in Town Lake out to a floating alligator and back. It is amazing how hard it is to swim and push/pull this duck around. Feeling tired and hungry, we headed back to Jack and Adams. Thankfully there wasn't a line any more and we completed the adult hot wheels course complete with awesome power slides through the corners. This was the most fun task in my opinion. On the way back to the start finish we stopped at the Austin American Statesman to complete the second mystery stop and get our vampire teeth that we had to wear at the finish. The ride back to the finish was tough as we had been out there for about 3 hours and it was hot and humid. We arrived back, put our bikes on the rack and went through the water slide into some filthy water to finish. Thankfully one of the big sponsors is New Belgium Brewery who provided free beer at the finish. Love the liquid asprin!!

We finished at 3:23:06 which was 143 of 303 coed teams and 304 of 583 finishers. The best time was 1:17:12 by an all male team but we accomplished our goal of having a fantastic time together. I love being on the bike but nothing compares to sharing that love with the person I love the most. Hopefully, we will get a chance to complete this together again.

View My Saved Places in a larger map

Fredericksburg Road Race

I know it probably seems like I've been slacking on the racing this year but I actually did get out for the 3/4 race during my teams annual Fredericksburg road race. It's one of my favorite courses. Small winding roads that are rarely flat as they wind around the Texas hill country. This year it was particularly interesting in that the course included 3 low water crossings that were somewhat slick.

This was my first race with power and I started off strong but trying not to go to hard to early. The weather was definitely a factor. I traditionally have a hard time in the heat and it was in the low 90s with 60-70% humidity. The first of the two laps I probably did too much work bringing back a break and trying to make a good break happen. On the second lap I was still sitting up in the top 10 when my body started to rapidly shut down. I dealt with heat exhaustion last year and it took 3 plus weeks to recover. I started to feel the symptoms again and with State TT only two months away, I couldn't afford that time off again. I tried to dial it back and dump water on myself but the power didn't come back. I called it a day and pulled out of the race more then a little disappointed.

I'm on the left side of the road trying to get into the cooling

water shared by a local with a garden hose.

Post race notes were to focus more on food consumption and cooling to prevent my body from shutting down. I don't handle food well in races but I'm going to try a new mix in my bottles that a teammate suggested and see how that works. I also need to do less work. My numbers were very strong but that indicates more that I was doing to much work as opposed to really doing any damage. On a final note, the new bike was great but more on that later......

End of an Era

It all started in February of 2007, I purchased my first road frame on eBay.

This beautiful Cannondale Caad8 frame.

It then became my first road bike. Looking back now it's amazing to see what a shoddy build it was but I built it myself and thus begin my addiction.

It slowly morphed into different forms over the next 3 years as upgrades were made.

It took my on my first ever race, a two man TT at Tour de Gruene in the fall of 2007 and my first road race at Copperas Cove in January of 2008. Since then it has been in many races and a couple of crashes, earning it a nice dent on the top tube but it still kept going.

It's final form, having grown with me from a Cat 5 beginner to a Cat 3 racer. It will always have a special place in my heart but it's time for retirement.

It's frame set again, sitting around with an odd mixture of spare parts. Maybe someday it will be a full bike and feel the air rushing by as it flies along the roads. But for now rest, you have earned it and you will always be my bike and we will ride again.

Fixie Farewell

I've posted about my fixie in the past and what a great project. I loved the creativity and simplicity of building it. It truly is a great bike and I don't have any regrets about how the project turned out. However, I have never found a connection with the bike while riding it. I look forward to riding all my other bikes and feel this euphoria when I get on them, as if new possibilities are opening before me and I'm breaking away from all the stresses of the world. I have never had that with my fixie and because of that I have never beeb drawn to ride it. Now time has come to part ways. I've decided to sell my fixie and buy a new road bike frame (more on that later). It's sad if a bike leaves the home, even if I know its for the best. Farewell fixie, I hope you have a connection with you new owner and I appreciate the time we've had.

Mud, meet Power

So what do you do when you purchase two older wired SRMs (stone axes as my teammate calls them, virtually indestructible), a SRAM for the road bike and a entry level Amateur for the TT bike, but suddenly a teammate hooks you up with a FSA SRM? Well, I put the FSA on the road bike so I have the flexibility to run it compact or standard and moved the SRAM to the TT bike.

Now I have this Amateur SRM with no home.....

What's this? 46t and 38t chainrings showed up in the mail???

Now the solution seems obvious.....We have a cyclocross SRM!!!!

Bring on the mud!!!!

At first thought, putting an SRM on the cycloX bike seemed like overkill. B as I considered the situation, I use my cycloX bike for commuting throughout the year. This can mean in a given week anywhere from 30-70% of my miles can be on my cycloX bike. The ability to see my power numbers and better regulate the work I do on my commutes far outweighed the small amount I could resale the extra SRM for. So now I'm pimping with power on 3 bikes including the cycloX. I'm sure there will be more to come once cross season starts.

My Dream

Owning a Pegoretti is one of my dreams. This man is a legend.

http://www.nowness.com/day/2010/5/5/601/frame-of-mind#share

Here is a link to a preview of a short video about him.

(caution: contains some explicit language)

Next Chapter in Power

I took the weekend off due to my wife's graduation and to catch up on some missed sleep. My other reason for the time off was my project of switching from my PowerTap which I sold to a teammate and going with some older wired SRMs. The downside is that I don't have the Garmin (which I kept to use for on the cross bike) and all the info it provides and I have to deal with wires. The upside is having the durability and consistency of the SRM system and having power during my races.

So I worked most of the weekend and the road bike was a pretty easy set up and I quickly had power going. The TT bike was a lot more difficult to get the sensor in a position that would read from the crank and it wasn't till Sunday afternoon and lots of Internet research and emails to other guys that use SRMs that I finally had the TT bike set up. When I went back to calibrate the road bike all of a sudden I didn't have power any more. After completely taking apart the system on the road bike a couple of times and doing multiple test I still couldn't figure out why I couldn't get power. Finally after checking the TT bike again I realized I had accidentally changed the display on the head unit and the road bike had been working all along but I just hadn't realized it. More then a little frustrating but a lesson learned. I'm onto the next chapter of working with power and an looking forward to being able to see how my racing develops, especially the TTs.

I'll try to get some updated pictures of the bikes in race setup soon.

Learning to Say No

Sometimes less is more. We can get so caught up in quantity that we often loose sight of the diminishing benefit. This often holds true for documentaries, graduation speeches, vacation photos, and maybe this post. I've had a hard time convincing myself of this when it comes to training. I still find myself subconsciously thinking resting is synonymous with quitting. I think it goes back to my youth when I tried to make up for any lack of talent by working harder then everyone else and the habit is hard to break.

This past Saturday I went into the ride with tired legs but still couldn't convince myself to hold back from the early fireworks and actually won the first "intermediate sprint" with some personal best power numbers. Soon after there was a small mushroom cloud and I was done. Thankfully I had the sense to call it a day and go home versus trying to gut it out and then I actually took today off as well. My body says "thanks" while my mind says "wimp". Can the same drive that makes me successful also holding me back? As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I hope I learn how to say "no" at the right times and appreciate the quality over striving for quantity.

Fleche-Wallone & Pinotti

Great write-up by VeloNews.com on Marco Pinotti's races and power data for the last 3 years in the Fleche-Wallone. What is most interesting is his power data versus his placing and the inverted relationship.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/04/news/three-years’-of-fleche-wallone-power-data-from-marco-pinotti_112848

Spring Classics

The 3 big Spring Classics in my opinion are Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix.

Last weekend was Tour of Flanders and Spartacus had shown in an earlier semi-classic that he was on some fine form. Tour of Flanders started with Saxo-Bank controlling the race till the decisive splits begin. Cancellara had bike trouble and did two very fast changes, first onto the spare bike and then later back to the race bike. Eventually going alone with current Belgian national champion and former world champion Tom Boonen. Spartacus eventually makes his move in the video below and goes on to win in dominating fashion.

Paris-Roubaix is this Sunday and it will be interesting to see if anyone has the form to defeat Cancellara. Roubaix is a brutal race and the parcours may decide that it is not his day which may be the only chance his competition has.

Ronde von Manor/Manda

Last weekend was the Ronde von Manor/Manda races. Ronde von Manor was on Saturday and Ronde von Manda was Sunday.

The Ronde von Manor course was 5 laps of the Cronometro TT course from a couple of weeks ago. I had 3 teammates with me, Jesse, Alec, and our new Minnesota transport Jason. The course was rolling with the one punchy climb that messed up my TT ride in the Cronometro. I wanted to make sure I stayed up near the front to make sure that if separation occurred over the climb I would be able to go with it. The first three laps were a series of attacks that JPB managed to put a rider in most of but nothing stuck. At the end of lap 3 a very active Mirage rider attacked yet again. The pace was getting frantic and I wanted to get control again and force some other guys to do some work so I talked the San Jose rider at the front not to bring him back. This worked through the rest of the 3rd lap and then Jason joined me at the front but nobody wanted to work including a Team Lifesize rider who refused to pull through at any point but sat on the front and disrupted any rhythm. After Jason did a pull but nobody would help and they kept putting him in the wind, I managed to get the Team Lifesize rider on the front. The Mirage rider was still up the road but in sight so when the Team Lifesize rider reached for his bottle to get a drink I attacked him hard. He didn't chase and I bridged up to the Mirage rider. We worked together halfway through the fourth lap but he was tired from being off the front (my point in sticking him out there) and I had done to much work throughout the race and we were caught a little while after the punchy climb. Going into the last lap a PACC and San Jose riders attacked. I knew at this point a breakaway wasn't likely and I'm a weak sprinter compared to my teammates so I went to the front and did a long pull to get the peleton close enough to the two break riders that they gave up. My legs were feeling the effort but I started to recover just as the entire field was neutralized and stopped as the P12 field caught and overtook us. As we sat there I could feel my legs locking up. I drank everything I had on me but when we restarted and the pace heated up as we approached the finish I couldn't stand up and could barely pedal hard without cramps seizing my legs. I finished with a pack finish and unfortunately none of the other guys were able to unleash a sprint.

Ronde von Manda was a pancake flat course but twenty mph winds made it incredibly difficult. The race started with a short headwind section followed by a right turn to a crosswind from the left. Everyone was riding in the gutter and poor positioning on my part put me near the back of the pack. I struggled to jump around riders that couldn't hold the pace till a crash created a sizable gap to the field. I chased through the rest of the crosswind portion and into the tailwind portion tailwind of the course. The field wasn't taking a break and kept the pace high and I couldn't quite close the gap. As we neared another right turn to the crosswind from the left section, the moto ref rolled up next to me and told me I should close the gap down before we got to the crosswind section or I probably wouldn't be able to close it down. "Thanks Captain Obvious!!" I couldn't respond but the comment did anger me enough to give it an extra push and get on right before the turn. I quickly decided I wasn't taking another chance sitting near the back. The field was sitting on the center line but the crosswind had a slight tailwind with it so I went up the left side of the field till I was near the front. I then worked my way over to the front right side of the field where I was perfectly protected from the wind. I stayed here through the headwind section and did very little work. My body felt great going into the second lap. As we turned right into the first crosswind section the field strung out in the gutter again. I used my cyclocross skills and rode up the right side of the field in the broken road/grass gutter behind a UT rider. We were both moving up till the UT rider dropped his front wheel in a crack and went down across the road. There was no place to go and I ran into the sprawled rider and went over the bars. Fortunately I was able to angle my fall towards the grass and managed to walk away with only minor road rash and some bruising. Unfortunately, Alec was right behind me and crashed as well ending the race for both of us.

This was the last weekend of racing for several weeks. Now is time to get some rest, focus on some quality training, and enjoy the Spring Classics.

Fayetteville Stage Race

I apologize that I've been lazy in posting race reports but I'm going to try to catch up this week.

I'll start with the Fayetteville Stage race on March 20-21st. This was a late addition to the race calendar but for me it was an opportunity for redemption. Last year I tried the standard TT specialist strategy of sitting in through the first road stage Saturday morning so as to save energy for the afternoon TT. I had adjusted my TT position right before the weekend and it was my first attempt at a short, rolling TT course. The TT was an absolute disaster. Instead of making time, I lost time. This put me in the unfamiliar position of having to make time on the Sunday road race. Sunday was fast and I promptly broke a spoke on my rear wheel, tried to chase back on but failed, and DNF'd.

So back to this year's race and my quest for redemption. The weather forecast called for rain and some wind but I was hopeful it would hold off till near the end of the race. The race was three 23 mile laps. I started the race in a good position near the front of the peleton and held it till mile 20 when my rear wheel went flat. I pulled a quick wheel change and started chasing and my front wheel went flat. Another wheel change and I was chasing furiously but quickly realizing that I needed to find some help or my overall chances were over. 10 miles miles later, no help to be found and the heavens opened. The temperature went from 65 to about 48 with wind and rain. Apparently I wasn't the only guy getting flats as I passed 10-15 racers on the side of the road waiting for wheel changes. The 3rd lap started with guys dropping out due to the cold and wet but I still felt good. Two guys who had flatted caught back up with me and I tried to jump in to try to get back to the main group but my body started shutting down. I dropped off and about mile 55 my body heat disappeared and I could barely drag myself to the finish. With about 2 miles to go my front went flat and I slowly rolled across the finish line shivering and soaking wet. I found out later the windchill was 38 at the finish. Thankfully a racer who had dropped out picked me up at the finish and drove me back to town. I was so cold when I got back to the RV that they put me straight into the shower and afterwards it took 2 hours of wearing all my clothes and huddling under a blanket to get warm. I was ready to go home my body felt so beat from the exposure but I was talked into trying the TT before I went. Of the approximately 85 starters in Stage 1, only about 45 finished.

I headed out to the TT course with temps in the 40s and the wind gusting up to 35 mph. I went off and it was a difficult ride with the hills and the gusting wind preventing any kind of rhythm but I still managed a decent ride to pull 11th in the TT. Even with a good ride I was still 20 minutes down in the overall and I decided to go home and give my shattered body a rest versus trying to battle it out on Sunday. This race remains my nemesis and I can't imagine what it has for me next year.

TT's and Crits - Love and Hate

Last Saturday was the first TT of the season, the Cronometro in Manor. I managed to finish my TT bike a few days before and I haven't really done any TT work in the past 4 months so I was a little rusty. It was supposed to be a rolling 12 mile course but after reviewing the elevation profile online it didn't look that bad. The supposed "biting" hill looked fairly mild. This race was an age-based race as opposed to a normal category-based race so my group was made up of Pro, Cat 1s and Cat 2s with a few of us Cat 3 or lower mixed in.

I headed up to Manor on Saturday but got around a little late. I had about 15-20 minutes of warm-up and then headed to the start ramp. The course started with a slight rolling descent and a tailwind. I quickly settled in and started to remember what a TT felt like but had the nagging thought that I was probably going to hard at the start since I haven't been training for this effort. I continued to feel strong as I made the right turn and encountered the rolling portion of the course. I came around a bend and saw the "biting" hill in the distance and it looked steeper then I thought but not so long I couldn't get out of the saddle and power over it. I arrived at the hill and started to climb. About 2/3s up I realized it was longer and steeper then expected and I should have dropped to my small ring and spun over it instead of standing up in the big ring and powering over it. I finally made it over but not without taking some spark out of my legs and tried to settle back into a rhythm. I couldn't find the power for a while and I was soon caught by Pat McCarty (a Pro) and later near the finish by Aaron Hill (a Cat 1). I finished with 27:42 which was 7th in my age group (that was almost all Pro's or Cat 1's ahead of me including the State TT record holder) and 17th out of about 120 overall. Not a bad result for the first TT of the season. Looking forward to the next one.... I love TT's!!!

Sunday, after getting up at 4:30 am after daylight savings switched to get my beautiful wife to the airport, I groggily headed to the local University Crit for the Open race. Historically I don't like criterium s. They are typically short loops run over an hour which gets very repetitive and dull. They also tend to have a lot of tight corners which leads to bumping and sometimes crashing. Every season I tell myself to go out there, I'll be fine, my bike handling has improved, and I'll settle in but I always find myself hating them. This race I had a good warm-up but a crash in a prior race put doubts in my mind and as soon as the race started, I was second guessing all the corners which caused me to drop back and off the group very quickly. Within the first 15 minutes of the start I was done and pulled from the course before I was lapped. The reality is that my riding strengths don't lend themselves to success in crits and the possible cost (ugly crashes) simply is not worth the very slim (it would have to be a miracle) chance of a good result. So I have my annual crit out of the way to confirm I hate them and I will stick to my circuit, road, TT, or cross racing. I think that's enough...... I hate crits!!

Friday - Ode to Jens

Courtesy Ben Cooper on the Texas Tailwind Blog...enjoy!

1) Jens Voigt doesn't read books, he simply attacks until the books relent and tell him everything he wants to know.

2) Waldo cannot be found because Jens dropped him on a hill training ride...up K2.

3) Jens doesn't spin or mash pedals, he kicks them into submission.

4) Voigt puts the "laughter" in "manslaughter".

5) If you are a UCI ProTour rider and you Google "Jens Voigt", the only result you get back is, "it's not too late to take up kickball Fred."

6) Jens was a math prodigy in German elementary school, putting "Attack!" in every blank answer space on all his test. It would be the wrong answer for everyone else, but Jens is able to solve any problem by attacking.

7) Jens' testicles are bald because hair doesn't grow on a mixture ot titanium, brass, steel, and cold, hard granite.

8) Jack was nimble, Jack was quick and Jens drove him to quit racing bikes and become an ice dancing commentator on the Lifetime Channel.

9) If Jens Voigt was a country, his principle exports would be pain, agony, and suffering.

10) If Jens Voigt was a planet, he's be the World of Hurt.

11) Jens Voigt doesn't have a shadow because he dropped it repeatedly until it retired, climbing back into the Saxo Bank team car and claiming a stomach ailment.

12) Jens Voigt once challenged Lace to a "Who has more testicles" contest....Jens won with five.

13) When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jens Voigt jumps out and attacks.

14) Jens Voigt believes it's not butter.

15) Jens Voigt can eat just one.

16) The first time man split the atom was when the atom tried to hold Jens Voigt's wheel, but it cracked.

17) Jen Voigt doesn't complain about what suffering does to him. Suffering constantly complains about getting picked on by Jens Voigt.

18) Jens Voigt can start a fire by rubbing to mud puddles together.

19) Guns kill a couple dozen people every day. Jens Voigt kills 150.

20) Jens Voigt nullified the periodic table of the elemnts because he doesn't believe in any element, other than the element of suprise.

21) Jens's tears are so tough that they could cure cancer. Too bad Jens never cries.

Thursday - Jens Voigt Overcoming -

The clips that made him a legend......

Wednesday - Jens Voigt, The Introduction

Bonnie Ford's article after Jen's horrific crash in the 2009 Tour de France.

A great piece that embodies the admiration felt for him throughout the cycling community.

Tuesday - Jens Voigt Week

Jens Voigt has been a successful rider, finished 2nd on the Paris-Nice Prologue on Sunday. If you see his results (I know it's Wikipedia but it will do....) he has had a successful career but he is more legendary (not famous) then Lance, Contador, Boonen, or any other big name. Most of his legend is not due to his wins but his persona, indomitable spirit, and crazy breakaways. He has also been an outspoken advocate for clean racing. I'm dedicating this week to Jens, the cycling culture's version of Chuck Norris. A man who's legend has become bigger then life.....

Bike Christmas

This is the time of year when it's what I like to call Bike Christmas. My employer gives nice health incentives each year that have gone a long way towards funding my bike habit. Each year when this extra cash flow comes in it starts a series of buying new parts and selling old parts on eBay. This buying and selling of parts on eBay has become a trade that I can execute with such efficiency that it allows me to continually upgrade with little to no cost and sometimes I even come out with extra money.

This year I completed the following swaps:

I sold my Garmin Edge 705 and bought a Powertap mentioned earlier in an earlier entry.

I sold the Powertap computer since navigating on it was like trying to communicate in Morse code and bought the new Garmin Edge 500. (Love the Edge 500 so far!! Will write more once I have some more time with it)

I purchased DT Swiss 240 hubs to upgrade the cheap no-name hubs on my race wheels.

I sold my Ritchey Hammerhead TT bars and purchsed 3T Ventus TT bars and the Selle San Marco Zoncolan TT saddle as part of the TT bike overhaul. (Here is a sneak peak of what will be part of the TT bike makeover. A full write up will come once it is complete)

In Over My Head

So my first race back after my layoff was Lago Vista. Lago is a race run on the rolling terrain near Lake Travis and is the same course Saturday (6 mile loop) and Sunday (4 mile loop). This race was also a Cat 2/3 race meaning there was a lot more talent then the normal Cat 3 race.

Saturday started off decently well. I did my best to hang in the pack hoping to finish with the main group. Each lap was successively harder as riders tried to break off the front as we climbed up the rolling front side of the course and then it would start to come back together as we plunged down the back side of the course. I managed to hang on for 8 of the 11 laps despite my front derailleur randomly ghost shifting into the small ring. It turns out that my derailleur was coming loose but fortunately hung on as long as it did. My day finished with 40+ miles raced at an average of a little over 24 mph. Not bad for my first race back but in this field I was a little over matched.

Sunday I wasn't sure how my body would come back from the hard effort of Saturday. The field was slightly smaller (closer to 70 instead of 90 on Saturday) but the winds were brutal. Most of the course had a cross wind of 20-25 mph coming off the lake. The winds quickly destroyed the field and I came off after 3 of the 14 laps. The next several laps in I was in a group of 5 till lap 5 when we went down the long descent in which we would reach speeds of 45-50 mph. As I started to come back up I noticed something wasn't right. My handlebars had rotated down as I had my hands on the hoods instead of in the drops on a descent. Not knowing how loose the bars were I decided not to chance going over them if they decided to continue rotating on the next decent and called it a day. I was less pleased with the short day on Sunday but only about 30% of the starters were still in the lead group and it was shedding riders with regularity.

The best part of the weekend was that it felt good to be on the bike and racing again. I didn't realize how burned out I was before my break and now that I've been refreshed it's amazing how much more fun racing is. Joining the Cat 3 field promises to be extremely challenging and this looks like a learning year but I'm looking forward to continuing to race. Even if I am in over my head more often then not......

Handlebars after the race......

What they should look like....

Disease of More

Cyclist are commonly afflicted with the disease of more. While for most cyclist it is the desire for more new toys; for racers it is true to an even greater extent when it comes to training. If a racer finishes second usually the first thought is "if I trained more then I would be first". If a racer is unable to go with a break then it is "if I did more intervals I would be able to go with that move". If a racer has dead legs and falls off the back it is "if I did more long easy rides and had a good base my legs wouldn't be dead".

I have to admit I'm as afflicted as the next racer. My success in sports has always been my willingness to out work and out prepare my opponent versus pure natural ability. As I've moved up in cycling, it's harder because the distances are longer and the competition is tougher but the amount of time and energy that I have to train while balancing work and home stays the same. Recently as I transitioned from cross to road, I was especially symptomatic until the wiser, more experienced (read "older") racers on my team told me that more training wasn't the answer. As obvious as it may seem to the rest of the world; I, like most cyclist, couldn't admit that maybe my body needed rest. What a novel idea!!!

Now I've completed almost 2 weeks of rest. I've commuted 3 times and other then that haven't been on a bike. I know the rest was seriously needed because I haven't been jonesing for the bike which typically starts after 2-3 days away. Also, I've decided to get smarter about how I train and go for more quality over quantity. To do that I made the hard decision to sell one of my favorite toys, my Garmin Edge 705, and bought a used PowerTap. Training with power is a new venture for me but I'm excited about the potential and possibilities it brings. "More" to come...........

New Braunfels Road Race

After my disappointing legs from Copperas Cove, I was hoping for better sensations at the Tour of New Braunfels. It started with a 48 mile road race in south San Antonio that was made up of 3 twisty 16 mile laps.

We arrived at the race start early and the weather was temperatures in the upper 30s with light winds. My legs didn't feel great so I rode a lap of the course to flush them out and get a feel for roads. We lined up with Alec, Jesse, Jonathan, and Mike Reed. The race started off fairly smoothly and I moved up near the front with several attacks. Jonathan took off on a solo break again and Mike Reed was patrolling the front. Unfortunately, I didn't have the focus and begin to slip back in the pack. With the frequent twist and turns of the course it was like a crit with hard accelerations out of each corner. By the end of the first lap my legs and mind lacked the will to continue and I feel out the back of the pack. I rode the next two laps solo and the legs started to feel better by the end.

Pat and Richmond both gave words of caution after the race about burning out but I though everything would be okay and looked forward to racing the circuit race at Canyon Lake the following day. I woke up Sunday morning completely crispy. I barely wanted to walk the dogs much less ride or race. I decided to heed the advice of my experienced peers and will take some time off. It was great this past week to let it all go but when this weekend rolled around and my teammates were racing it was hard not to be out there. Hopefully another week of taking it easy and then I can start building towards some form again.

Copperas Cove

Sorry for the late post, I'm playing catch up after completely burning out...but more about that later.

Road season kicked off the week after the State Cyclocross championships. No rest for the weary..... The week was a whirlwind of preperation. Glued the Vittoria Open Corsa's (my favorite race tyre) on the still dirty cyclocross rims since my carbon wheels are currently under remodel. Cleaned and tuned up the road bike. Packed up all the roadie gear. And met up with 3 of JPB's strongest Masters riders for the drive up. There was probably close to 50 years of racing experience in the vehicle with me. One of the greatest benefits of this team is the mentorship of the riders, both as racers and as truly good men.

It's always a little unnerving being in the pack during the first race of the season. Getting comfortable being in the middle of 50-80 racers of unknown fitness and bike handling takes a race or two. This race also begin my season as a Cat 3 roadie. Jonathan, Mike H., Jesse, and Alec all joined me for the initiation to the 2010 season in the 3/4 race. The field was about 70-80 strong on a rolling course that started with 7 miles out, followed by a 36 mile loop, and then 7 miles back into town. We started out and TBI and RBM put their teams off the front and each rolled a rider off in a slow attack. With their numbers up front they could make it very hard to organize a chase so I used some newly acquired cyclocross to duck around the pack while passing some sidestreets and jumped up to the two breakaway riders. The field didn't like this move and quickly worked to bring us back and the two other breakaway riders sat up. I kept the pace and soon found myself riding away from the field. After cresting a roller and seeing a decent gap, I accelerated and tried to make this break useful for the team. After about 5 miles of rolling solo a rider bridged and much to my delight it was Jonathan who is riding extremely strong. Jonathan proceeded to drag me around the course for another 20 miles as we fought headwinds most of the time. At the halfway point my legs decided this was more than enough after being used to short cross races and quit. I said goodbye to Jonathan and was slowly drawn back in by the field. I sat in the field for another 8 miles, long enough to see 2 other riders bridge to Jonathan and make the eventual top 3, and then cramped up and watched the field disappear. The last 17 miles were incredibly dull and painful but made somewhat easier after hearing that the break I started eventually led to a 3rd place finish for Jonathan. I hope that my legs will come around to road racing soon.....

State Champ 3/4 Video

Here is a short video of the 3/4 race on Sunday to give you an idea of the course conditions. Over the 30 minutes I went all out during the race I averaged a whopping 10 mph.

Lone Star Cyclocross from Matt Haughey on Vimeo.

Mud in my Teeth

Racing cyclocross in Texas usually means hard fast courses with off-camber sections, sand, and barriers but rarely much if any mud. If there is mud it's usually because the race is run into a creek bed and the mud is usually contained in a small part of the course. For the finale this year, the Texas Cyclocross State Championships, it was an exception to that rule. The course was between Austin and Manor at a Travis County park and Mother Nature dumped 2-3 inches of rain on Thursday and Friday. Saturday was the age-based state championships which I passed on since my age category contains 3 of the top 5 riders in the state and Sunday was the category state championships. When I arrived Sunday not only was 50% of the course wet, it was thick mud that had been chewed up from the racing on Saturday. I arrived early to get a preview of the course. I went pretty low on the tire pressure but after the first preview lap I let even more air out of the tires. After one more lap it was apparent it was going to be a brutal course and I went back to the car to pin-up and wash down the bike.

The course started with a long sprint on the road into a 90 degree left that dropped you into the course. Another hard left followed that started a slight decent down towards the pond. About 50 feet before you reached the pond the mud started and grew progessively deeper as you approached the water. Right before the edge of the pond it was a hard right and the course followed the edge of the pond through the thick mud before a hairpin back through the mud to a pair of barriers. After slopping over the barriers it was a left turn and slight climb back out of the mud. The course wound up through relatively dry ground before putting you on a long stretch of paved path. This was the only spot you could recover on the course. After the path it was a muddy off-camber right followed by a left, then another right and then a 2 foot dip down that crossed the path near the pond. The path at this point was covered in mud and water and was extremely slick. The course then went through a dip that had about 2 inches of muddy water in it making it impossible to see what rut or dip you went into and then back out of the water into the mud along the bank of the pond. The course then crossed the path again to a rise with a muddy off-camber left. The transition from the path to the mud had a lip that would catch your rear wheel if you weren't careful with the angle you approached the transition. After another series of turns it was a long slog through the mud that led to a slight climb. The climb would have normally been very ridable but the mud was so thick and chewed up it had to be run up. Another short stint on the paved path led to another muddy run-up and then into a down and back sandpit that had standing water in it. The course then wound back across the paved path a couple more times with treacherous muddy transitions up onto and off the path. After going through the finish the course wound back through some more muddy turns to where the start dropped us on the course.

They did call-ups at the start based on Texas Cup Premier points which I was third, (my teammate Jimmy was first and Brett Kinsey second) and I was called up to the left front spot which was the perfect line for the whole shot. The race started and after an initial rough start I laid down the sprint and got a good gap and the whole shot. I went hard onto the course and but apparently went too hard as I completely slid out through the first corner. I collected myself, got up, and thought I had rolled off my rear tire but everything was fine on the bike. I jumped back on and took off down towards the pond into the mud in about 8th spot. Right before you reached the water it was a hard right in the mud and then it went along the mud before a hairpin that led back through the mud to a pair of barriers. Most of the contenders had a short gap with Cody Davis and Brett Kinsey leading out front. I moved up two spots by the barriers and caught Rolando Roman by the paved path and we were 5th and 6th. As we headed torwards the 2 foot dip I saw Jimmy go down hard on the slick path crossing after the dip. He was still laying on the ground as Rolando and I passed him. We caught the leaders including Cody and Brett as we went to the off-camber left and Rolando attacked right before the first run-up and I tried to ride it, got stuck and had to dismount. Rolando got a gap with Cody, Brett, and I chasing in that order. I passed Brett right after the sand pit and then pushed passed Cody in the first turn after the finish. I hammered through the slippery parts here and managed to dislodge Brett but not Cody. I chased Rolando with Cody on my wheel for the next two laps but Rolando was too strong and rode away from us. Heading torwards the finish before the bell lap I slowed and tried to coax Cody around. He took bait and passed and I sat on his wheel and tried to rest before what I figured would be a sprint at the finish. I followed his wheel around the course through the paved path and then back along the pond. As we entered the tricky off-camber turn/transition with the lip, Cody caught his rear wheel on the lip and went down. I couldn't avoid him, road over his back wheel and went down as well. I was able to get up faster but wasn't able to remount due to all the mud. I ran through the run-up, remounted and took a quick peek to see a small gap but Cody chasing hard. Amazingly we still had enough of a gap that the fourth place finisher still wasn't a threat. I hammered to the second run-up and flew up it thanks to my newly purchased Sidi toe-spikes. I remounted and hammered through the sand pit. After getting through the sand pit I realized I had a big enough gap as long as I managed to stay upright through the next couple of trick path/mud transitions to the finish. I almost lost it on the last transition into the mud running right up against the tape but managed to hold on and take second with a good gap. While second didn't get me the State Champion jersey I had hoped for it did get me a nice silver medal and enough points to overtake both Jimmy and Brett in the points to win the Cat 4 Pemier Cup title for 2009.

Thus ends the 2009 Cyclocross season and the 2010 road race season starts right on it's heels. I feel renewed with a wonderful confidence and looseness going into the road season. None of the pressure from last year's road season exist and the ability to just go race and have fun is liberating. That's what cross does for you and why I love it so much.....

Below are some of the photos my Dad took. Thanks for coming out and supporting me in the cold!!!

With Cody (left) and Brett (center) on the first lap near the sand pit

On the 2nd run-up

Chasing Rolando with Cody Davis mid way through the race

Trying to loose Cody Davis after the sand pit on the last lap

Making the last push for the finish line, that face tells you how hard that race was....

1st and 3rd in the Cat 4 Premier Cup (Cat 3 here we come)

Digital Velo Artwork

Here is a link to some great digital artwork of the two wheel variety.

velogogo

Enjoy.....

I...am...SPARTUCUS!!!!

TT bikes are made for speed. To maximize the speed the geomatry and riders position maximize aerodynamics and power but minimize handling. On twisty courses even the best riders in the world have trouble with curves on a TT bike.

Spartucus laughs at a TT bikes poor handling. See below....

To follow-up on the video, this was the last stage of a 9 stage race, a 38.5K (23.9 mile) TT.

Spartucus did it in 45:59, a whopping 1:27 faster then second place averaging 50.2 Kph (31.19 mph) on a curvy course.

To put it in perspective, 2nd through 21st all finished within 1:27 of each other.

Mother Nature Throws Down

It was 25 degrees when I rode into work this morning. I have to give respect to everyone that lives in colder parts of the country or in Europe and races/trains in this weather on a regular basis. It wasn't to bad at first but after about 20 minutes even two pairs of socks and Gore covers couldn't keep my feet warm. Other then my feet I was warm and comfy. The other concern was my bike. The hubs and chain seemed to be threatening to freeze and didn't feel like they were shifting or rolling as well as normal. It made me wonder if the grease used on them had water in it and it was starting to freeze. This was also a little disconcerting. But I made it to work and feel like I won a wrestling match with Mother Nature.

It was fun to challenge myself and do the commute but I'm happy to ride the trainer this weekend. I don't think I have the fortitude to do 2-3 hours in this cold.

Posted from my iPhone

Real Cross Action

If you want to see real "pro" action, European Cyclocross Videos has it.

In the past couple of days I've been cleaning out filing cabinets and running replays of the World Cup on the TV from this website and it has been awesome.

It's amazing to see the best in the world battle it out.