State TT Championship

So the State TT Championships came and went. I didn't have a bad ride, 57:47 which is a PR and tied for 9th in the Cat 3s but..... That is the reason for the delayed post, at first I was so bummed about the ride that I didn't feel I could accurately express my feelings about the ride. The performance wasn't disappointing but my power numbers were a good 5-7% low for the TT compared to the training leading up to the race. My position felt great on the bike but I felt as if I was fighting my body throughout the ride. My mind said "go" and my heart and legs said "we're trying", not "here's the power". At the same time I didn't feel as if I left anything on the course, I was trashed afterwards but I felt that my performance didn't accurately reflect my abilities and the training that led up to the race.

So it's done now and my body actually feels pretty good. I thought I might need some time off the bike in August but I've been riding and my training continues to progress. I feel as if I'm continuing to grow in my understanding of my body and how to train it. I'm looking forward to cyclocross season and with it cooler weather. There won't be much going on other then hopefully some mountain biking and training the next month so post may be limited.

A New Project

So I'm starting a new project...

Working away with my new truing stand...

A close inspection reveals, wait, that's not a road wheel!!!

I have decided to humor my cyclocross roots and build a mountain bike. It's not going to be anything fancy. I went for light weight, functional, and relatively cheap. Parts have been coming in for the past month and a half and should hopefully be all here in the next two weeks. As I start building I'll post more pictures. Who knows what this bike will bring but it's a reason to throw my name in the Leadville Lottery. I'm looking forward to rediscovering the part of cycling that started me on this journey. (sorry for the crappy photos, I was lazy and used my iPhone instead of the Nikon)

TdF

Sorry I haven't been posting much but I had to drop a quick note about how much I'm enjoying the Tour de France this year. It has been an extremely entertaining race. I'll write a real post soon....

Sharing

I thought I would pass along a couple of item I have been enjoying. Fair warning though, both contain, shall we say, colorful language. So if that type of things offends you maybe you pass on these, but if not, enjoy!!

First is a blog called Slam That Stem. It is a blog dedicated to just what its title would indicate, slamming of stems. For those of you not familiar with the term, slamming a stem is placing a stem as low as it can go the steerer of a fork and thereby removing ALL spacers. This look is very "pro" and I personally think, is more aesthetically pleasing. The guy who curates this blog (curates seems like the right word because is is really a collection of beautiful picture of bikes) does so with a sense of humor that I really appreciate.

Second is Flammecast and more specifically, their podcast which can be found on iTunes. Well done cycling podcast are exceptionally hard to find and one of the creators of Flammecast was part of a podcast called Velocast that I found and enjoyed right as it went off the air. This new podcast was recommended to me by a teammate and it has not disappointed. I would highly recommend it if you enjoy passionate discussion about pro cycling mostly but also a smattering of general bike stuff and nonsense. Unfortunately, just after I found Flammecast, John (who also did Velocast) encountered some health issues that required him to step away and it looks like it may be at an end. They have since released anther podcast and John, if you ever happen to read this, best of luck in getting past whatever you are dealing with. Selfishly, I hope for a quick recovery because I would love for you to come back and do more of the Flammecast.

I hope you enjoy these. If there are other cycling resources that you enjoy, please pass them along.

4th of July

Enjoyed a long holiday weekend and did 3 consecutive 2+ hour rides with a couple of my teammates Paul and Mike. The Sunday ride was one of the most enjoyable rides I've ever had. Tons of great conversation, meaningless attacks and taunts, and great urban roads. It feels great to be free and alive on the bike again. It's appropriate also that we recognize and remember our country's freedom today. A special thanks to anyone serving in our military preserving our amazing freedom. Happy 4th of July!!!

The Armada

So here are updated pics of the bikes. There have been some changes including going from SRM to the Quarq on the Fuji, dropping the stem on all three to move my position a little more forward and down, and changing the hoods on the Van Dessel. The pics of the TT bike are waiting for the new disc wheel that should arrive by the end of next week.

Red Rice Rocket

Tidy Whitie

Belgian Tri-Color

I Can Do This....

After the I found that riding could be fun again, I decided to throw myself into the fire. The following Thursday I had the day off so I did my first Driveway crit. The Driveway is a weeknight crit that is held at a local race track and has grown into one of the biggest weeknight crits in the nation. I did the 3/4 race and it easily had 50+ starters. It was hot (100+ degrees) and it was hard from the beginning. I was quickly finding that my recovery wasn't very good but I was hanging on. Then a crash through a corner created a large gap from the field and from that point it was a solo ride. I finished but that was about all I could say for that race. At the same time it felt good to race again.

The following Tuesday I did the local monthly TT put on by All Sports Timing. This is the second one of these I've done and it was blisteringly hot this time. My Garmin recorded a temperature of 104. I'd still been tinkering with my position some so I tried to focus on pacing and good form on the bike and not push to hard in the heat. The result was a decent ride but it was a little slower then normal.

Finally, I played with my road bike position this past weekend after a very strong TT training ride and then decided to do the University Oaks crit Sunday since I was going up to San Antonio for work anyways. I did the 3/4 since it was the first race and quickly went on a break that didn't stay out long due to the strong head wind on the finishing drag. I got back in the field and recovered (haven't done that in a while) was able to attack and go on a second break and then get back into the field after I was reeled in and recovered again (who is this guy?) and finally covered a move by one of the other teams and worked the front of the race for 3 laps leading into the 2nd to last lap. Finally at that point I was cooked and thankfully a teammate attacked and I pulled out of the way and finished behind the field on the last lap. It was the best I've felt in over a year and was very encouraging. I felt no pressure and it was great just racing for fun. Now I'll see if I can keep building this form for State TTs that are coming in about a month.

Yup, I'm pulling a face...