Love2Ride: March 2007

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Random Views From the Road

Hole in the sky

No w(h)ining

Bike rack

Clean bike gets the bed

Dirty bike the hallway

Jefferson Cup will be exciting today. Weather is perfect.

RideOn

Labels: road trip.

# posted by JB @ 5:52 AM 1 comments

Friday, March 23, 2007

Frustration

My poor little old laptop is bursting at the seams with bits and bytes. Simple solution, get a big new hard drive. Should be simple till you open the box and see this :

Frustration relief comes with a good

RideOn

Labels: rant

# posted by JB @ 9:02 AM 3 comments

Monday, March 19, 2007

Dying and Going to Heaven

Pretty much sums up Sunday.

DYING - The Dismal Dash TT

Conditions were forecast to be 36 degrees (at my start time) with 17-20mph WSW winds. YIKES. 32 degrees at wake up w/frost on the car. Yes the saddle has too much forward tilt. Nice to be more forward on a TT bike. Not nice to keep sliding off.

Noticed a flat spot with the casing showing through on the rear tire as I put the bike up on the car. EFF. Must've been from last weeks Crit. Not much time to change it. Luckily it held. Phew.

Heard in the parking lot that the wind wouldn't be as bad as expected. After the ride it was hard to imagine it being any worse. 36-38 degrees at start time.

Didn't really feel that cold. Pretty much an out and back course with one turn.

The first 1/2 being net down wind, the second half being into the wind. The wind was steady with gusts that'd come from a different direction and blow you clear across the road if you weren't ready. A few times I'd realize I had a death grip on the bars. As soon as I'd relax and let up, a gust would hit me and almost knock me over. Time to squeeze tight again.

For some reason (probably because I didn't look at the map till after the race) I thought the wind would be be easier after the right hand turn into the last 6 mile leg, but it seemed to get worse, or maybe I was too far in the bag already. Nevertheless I was DAM glad when I crossed the finish line. Ave speed/time difference between going out and coming back - 4.5mph/9.5 minutes. Definitely have to do more LT training.

Oh yeah, if you haven't heard -

THE VIRGINA CYCLING ASSOCIATION has declared a MORATORIUM ON TRAINING

for everyone except me. I applied for and received a special dispensation. So all you other folks out there - STOP TRAINING NOW - or risk loosing your USAC racing license. Send off for your free beer and pizza vouchers, sit on your couch, watch TV and relax. Maybe this way I'll have a chance at getting 1 BAR point this year!!!

Speaking of BAR points, props to TEAM TriPower for bringing home some major pointage. With the strength and numbers shown by the other teams early this year we were (and still are) a bit concerned about defending the Team BAR Championship. Thanks to all the Tripowerer's out there that racked 'em up. Now we have a whole new meaning for "I wish I could TT like crazy" and Brenna too.

And thanks to the All About Bikes/Chesapeake Cycling Club crew for hosting the event one more time. Just try and turn the wind down a bit for next year, would ya?

Going to (culinary) Heaven

A few years back I entered my first mountain bike race. Actually it was the first time I'd ever ridden a MTB on anything other than the main trail at SeaSnore State Park. Another racer in my race suffered a tragic fall that left him paralyzed. As the helicopter came in to get him I withdrew. Since then he's shown unfathomable heart, spirit, and an unbelievably strong mind and attitude.

On Sunday evening 7 of the best chefs from 4 cities got together to cook up some of the finest tasting food I can ever remember eating. They took Gourmet to another level. If you weren't there - you should've been. It was INCREDIBLE, and for a great cause. Also a pleasure to see and say hi to Meredith. The Vintage Tavern in Suffolk is a remarkable place. PLans are in the works to open one at the Beach, and another one in Chesapeake. Here's a small "taste" of what ya'll missed :

Hope I made you jealous!

RideOn

# posted by JB @ 9:31 AM 5 comments

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Back Logged Poser

OK, been a posting slacker. Computer meltdown due to lack of memory - physical, virtual, and emotional. Trying to upgrade hardrive. Not successful yet. Anyway, need to post a better Snowball Crit report.

Props to Steven for riding away from everyone for the win. Sympathy and heal quickly wishes to Rob, who slammed down hard right in front of me with 5 to go, trying to avoid the 3 guys that slammed down in front of him. The AABrt was out in force. Seems the old saying "Cat 5 - Stay Alive" is well founded. I locked up the rear and barely missed center-punching Rob, then the pack was gone, and it was impossible to reconnect.

Fast forward to TT prep. My Ultrabike/Roadbike/Critbike, morphed into a poser TT bike with the addition of some "real" aero bars - all in preparation for the first TT of the year. I took a few days to try and sort out riding position. Probably take a few months to get it totally dialed. Clincher disc looks cool, sounds cool, but due to (deep seeded) psycho-emotional hangups, was not used.

Top secret front wheel from the house of jDiesel WAS used.

Someday I'll be worthy of, and get, a REAL TT bike. I've been lusting after the Cervelo P3 since I first saw it a few years back. Not only beautiful, but it just exudes primal go fast pheromones that are impossible to ignore. Form, function, and sex appeal, all rolled in to one fine looking carbon sculpture that air molecules avoid with a passion. Someday ..........

Got in a good Saturday ride on the Peninsula w/XXX and the crew. Todd was literally a few hours from hopping on a plane to Australia to race in the MTB Worlds. Here he's practicing some new no-handed aero position. Best of luck over there. A good primer for that ride, if you're planning on doing it:

When you smell the horse manure, it's time to step on it.

The cranks silly, not the horse shite.

Part of my diligence in establishing a good TT position was picking the brain of our in house wind tunnel guru, and researching the literature. What better place to check out TT position than a Triathlete Mag? I mean those TRIs spend the majority of their riding time bent over, and they ALL look better than me in a bathing suit. Just when I thought I couldn't lust after that bike anymore, I see this on the cover:

MY GOD what a sexy

BIKE.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Duties

As the "newbie" racer I had some Team responsibilities today at the Snowball Crit #2 (really #1, since #1 was actually rescheduled to a future date) :

Race smart - check

Chase breaks - check

Avoid carnage - check, (but it was another close one)

Finish w/the group - NOPE - see above

Shop for a new Team Vehicle - CHECK :

PIMPIN' aint easy, and I aim to please .

It was a gorgeous day to (avoid the assfelt and) get a good

RideOn

# posted by JB @ 6:45 PM 3 comments

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Leg Breakers

OUCH.

Nothing excedes like excess.

RideOn

Labels: track

# posted by JB @ 8:12 AM 3 comments

Friday, March 09, 2007

Where's the Love?

6 weeks before the start of the Tour de Georgia and the title sponser has not been replaced.

High hopes for the U.S. Cycling Championships here in Virginia next month are waning with lack of title sponsorship and resignation of the race director. More info here.

What's a cycling lover to do?

For one we can all support those corporations that do buck up with the dinero to sponsor these events. AND let them know that we did, and why. We can attend live events (we do), watch the TV coverage (we do), clap our hands, yell and scream, tell our friends .... we do.

I'll admit I'd never been to a pro level (road) race until last year. I found the CapTech in Richmond, and the CSC Invite in DC to be highly entertaining and great spectating for all. Cross Nats were a scream. Why can't we get (or keep) these sponsors?

Cause Lance retired?
Cause Greg isn't riding?
Cause the French haven't settled le stinkin' tour crap yet?

NASCAR sure doesn't have a problem. Maybe we need those nice leather jackets ........?

I dunno. I just want to see some good racin'. and get my

RideOn

JB

Labels: rant

# posted by JB @ 5:31 AM 2 comments

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Messin'

Got the Sonny Crit photos ups

Messed w/a pic D-Bo took (thanks for the shot Dan)

Found this cool site somewhere clickin' along the net. Just when I think I've finished reading the entire web, they keep putting more stuff up.

Don't forget the fast JB and the USAC MB Team are down in Argentina, w/the help of our master wrench Roberio, gettin' ready to giv'r.

As only Roberio could say - "Very be careful",

and kick some butt.

More racing this weekend if the rain stays away

RideOn

JB

# posted by JB @ 1:50 PM 2 comments

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Only the Strong Survive

If they don't get blown over .......

JG, YoungBill, Dag, and me.

brrrrr

RideOn

Labels: group ride

# posted by JB @ 9:14 AM 1 comments

Monday, March 05, 2007

It's All About the Race

Last weekend was a weekend of firsts. Not first places, silly - first experiences. At the ripe (young) age of ..... probably older than you, I did my first CRIT. Then I did my first track race, then another one. What a rush.

Have to admit I was a more than a bit nervous, but I've been feeling pretty good on my bike(s). Especially considering a 24 hour race just a 14 days ago. I'm writing this stuff down just so I can remember what happened for next time. Not gonna be I story of "I came, I raced, I kicked ass". Just a story of an old fart having a bunch of fun and soakin' up the sensations like a fresh Krispy Kreme in hot coffee. A meteoric rise to my personal level of medioCRITy.

Got there with plenty of time, infield parking was nice. Temps in the 30's with a big wind in your face on the back straight. The ladies - Carol, Susan, Kristan (doing her first Crit too) and Sharon were there trying thier best to warm up in the frigid morning air. Got reg'd and did some laps. Couldn't be a better venue to break me in. 1/3 mile oval, nice and smooth except for the rumble bumps on the inside of the turns - why would anyone ever ride over those anyway?

Saw D-Bo and (new dad) JG pull in. Took some photos of the ladies and got some trainer warmup done. Some more laps after the ladies were done.

The 4/5 Crit

Field of 30, second row start. 40 laps. Heart rate was up just from the excitement, deep breaths.

We're off. Nice smooth clip in. Drifted down to the inside line, middle of the pack. Soon realized that was no man's land. Like being in a box. Even had to feather the brakes on the first few laps. Tucked in behind JG. D-Bo got a good jump off the start and was out in the free space of the front 5. A few more laps till I could work out of the box. Pace was comfortable. Lap 10-12 finally got outside a bit and had some room to breath, was getting claustrophobic on the inside. Was working my position pretty well. Lap 20-25 finally felt settled in to a rythym. Jitters were gone. Time to get the HR up the real way. Worked up around the outside. Was picking up positions on the home straight. Got a few bikes behind D-Bo who was working hard chasing breaks. Actually felt good to be in the wind. Just before lap 30 Dan took off after a solo, I jumped right behind, said to the guy next to me - "Let's bridge this thing". Then realized it was only D-Bo and one other, so I let them go and tried to smooth pedal from the front. That worked for a short while, til the pack wouldn't have it and I got swarmed. Eff - stuck on the inside again. No worries, 8-9 laps left, legs felt good.

Then going into turn 3 - it's all a blur, but I hear that noise - thin wall tubing and graphite slamming the deck hard followed by the thud of lycra wrapped flesh. Right next to me. Grab a few hand fulls of brakes and hit the rumble bumps at 25. Bars rotated down 45 degrees as my hands struggled to hold onto falling brake hoods. Almost went over the top. Put a foot down, got the bars pulled up a bit, and got rolling again. Mad adrenlin rush. The pack was gone. EFF. Got back up to speed, lost 1/2 a lap. Held that gap to the field for 5-6 laps as they were jockying around for the last dash. 3 to go I see D-Bo launch off again. Thought maybe I should sit up and wait to help. Not sure what the rules are about that. The pack swarmed by on the final sprint, I finished 1 lap down. Had a lot more to give, but couldn't stand or sprint with my bars hanging low.

After the race I realized I could've pulled over at the pits, grabbed a wrench, fix my bars and gotten a free lap. Rookie mistake by a rookie racer. The 5-6 solo laps hurt a bit, put not as much as making the mistake about the free lap. Pace didn't seem too fast, my watch said we finished the 12.3 miles in under 25 minutes. I'll live and learn - and race again. Props to D-Bo and JG who both got top 10's.

10 minutes later :

10 lap track event.

Senses all tuned in and wide open. Had the fixie now for 2 weeks and was still gettin' used to it. Hit the pedal first time off the start for a smooth clip in. Some were wall starting. The group got moving slow. With a 48/13 (a masher by nature) I was geared a bit long and slow was not comfortable. Left one option - go to the front. That was fun. The headwind with that gear was tough, and a group of 3 or 4 jumped by on lap 4-5. I tucked in second group for a rest. The bell lap came before I knew it. Tried hard to battle around Jared and he got me by 1/2 length at the line. Once I realized I wasn't going to get 'im I sat up a bit with 10 feet to go and almost gave up a spot. Track bikes are so quiet they're almost invisable. I never even sensed the other dude was there behind me.

Afternoon Track Race.

Another 10 lapper. Another slow roll out. Went to the front on lap 2 turn 3, led the pack around for 3-4 laps, felt really good. Kept trying to let someone pull through but no takers till lap 6 or seven. Much more organized group than the AM. Finally was able to grab a wheel near the back. Was just working my way back up, and the race was over. WTF!? Thought there was 2 laps left, but there was only one. Never even got to sprint. Another rookie move by a rookie racer. But it was a blast, and I can't wait to giv'r again.

The speedway is a perfect place to race. Especially trackies. Met lots of great folks and am looking forward to mixin' it up again next time. Funny that all the carnage was in the road races, none on the track bikes?!!?? Just a coincidence or was it due to much bigger groups? Hmmmmm, makes ya wonder.

Seems like some bikes take a while to "get on with", but not this one :

It fits perfect between me arse and the track .................

Lots of impressive efforts by out team which was drastically outnumbered. We came, we raced, we kicked (some) ass. Made me proud.

RideOn

Labels: crit, race report, track

# posted by JB @ 5:57 PM 2 comments

Sonny Hutchins Memorial Crit

Sonny was cool, windy, fast, and fun.

Check Love2RidePhotos for info on when the pics will be up. No later than Saturday - probably much sooner.

A full day of awesome racing. Props to the Promotors, Sponsors, and Volunteers.

Highlights follow, reports to come.