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.