I was on the fence about even doing this race. The Kilo is a sprinter's race and I'm more of an enduro rider, but it was on the schedule and I figured I'd just do it as a warm up for the pursuit the next day. My warm up went well, some spin ups and some time at threshold. I had my bike checked (weight, saddle behind BB) and went to wait for my turn. I was to be racing with Sam Kavanagh on the other side of the track and I have to be honest in saying that I just wanted to ride fast enough so he wouldn't catch me.
I was nervous on the line, I've never started out of a gate and this was my first real timed track race. The countdown hit 20 sec and I set my grip. 10 sec, keep breathing. 5 sec, set myself. 1 sec, stand up. Start beep, explode. I timed the start well and got rolling pretty quickly. I sat down at the middle of turns 1-2 and got into the aero bars about center track. I started my second acceleration phase and came flying into lap 2. I hit the turn pretty quickly and had to float a little to keep from rolling up the track. I really started to feel the burn at the end of lap 3 and just tried to hang on to the line. I heard my time announced as a low 1:15, I was happy with that, but I was in some serious pain.
I was starting my cool down when a man came over and asked if I was Aaron Trent. It took me a second to realize that this man was my USADA chaperon and that I was going to be drug tested. That's cool, it meant I did something good! So 20 minutes later I get off the bike and have to sign a sheet saying I was notified of my test. The sheet said "1st men's Kilo"! WHAT! I had won and didn't know it for 20 minutes.
Quick side note: Domestic Paralympic racing awards are based on a factor so all disability classes compete together. To win, you need to have the best percentage of your standard, and for the Kilo I had the best time/standard on the day.
The awards ceremony was surreal. I was standing on the top step of the podium with a gold medal. I thought I would have a good ride, but I wasn't expecting to win at my first National Championship event.
When I got finished with USADA I came pack and the infield was empty except for Craig. He handed me the stars and stripes jersey the podium crew forgot to give me. It's pretty cool.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Nationals Recap: Pre-race
I got to LA on Tuesday with a bundle of nerves. I was fit and feeling fast but the timed track races are very different than a road TT in the early stages of a track racer's career. There is a lot of technique involved in getting around a Velodrome as quickly as possible and there is the standing start in race gear from a gate.
Craig Griffin, who is the National Paralympic team coach, set me out on a flying effort to gague the splits I should look at riding for my pursuit. My splits were decent, but my line was terrible. I stopped in for a chat and he told me to do a few efforts while looking through the turn so I could stay on the black line.
Wednesday was similar; still working on pacing and holding a good line, but this time in full race gear which was a HED trispoke front, Zipp 900 Disk, and aero helmet.
The girls had the 500m TT and Kilo TT (for the tandem) on Thursday morning so I went to watch and cheer them on. There was nothing left to do but race.
Craig Griffin, who is the National Paralympic team coach, set me out on a flying effort to gague the splits I should look at riding for my pursuit. My splits were decent, but my line was terrible. I stopped in for a chat and he told me to do a few efforts while looking through the turn so I could stay on the black line.
Wednesday was similar; still working on pacing and holding a good line, but this time in full race gear which was a HED trispoke front, Zipp 900 Disk, and aero helmet.
The girls had the 500m TT and Kilo TT (for the tandem) on Thursday morning so I went to watch and cheer them on. There was nothing left to do but race.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Training in SoCal
I ride a lot, I ride hard when I need to. Nationals are in 2 weeks, we'll see how it goes.
On Being a Disabled Lifer
It's been a long while since I last posted and this post has nothing to do with cycling. I know I've been slacking, but twitter is easier and blog posts without power numbers are so dull.
A few weeks ago my roommate had his 6th Crippled Birthday and had a big party. Over dinner the question was posed to me whether I, as a lifer, could fully realize my disability since I had never been able bodied. My roommate can, of course, because there was a day he was able-bodied. He was in a car crash and he became crippled. Matt knows what it's like to be both, where I never could (barring some sort of advanced treatment that will never exist because of the economies of scale, but that's a different post for a different day).
The question initially left me speechless, and when I disagreed the person continued to insist that I could not fully know what I am missing. I have given it much thought and am more sure now that I fully realize I am disabled even as a lifer.
You see, the world in which we live is developed around the bilateral use of our limbs. Computer keyboards, cars, bicycles, video game controllers, boxes, etc, were all built around being able to use both hands as equals. So I may never have been able to cut a steak with 2 good hands, but I know full well that something isn't right when I'm sitting there fighting with the knife and fork.
Imagine with me that you take a young child to do an activity they have never done before. Now bind the fingers of one of their hands and send them on their way. Despite having never done the activity they are doing, the child will know something is wrong when they try to use the bound hand and fail miserably.
In closing; probably not a great idea to tell a disabled person that they can't realize their disability for whatever reason.
A few weeks ago my roommate had his 6th Crippled Birthday and had a big party. Over dinner the question was posed to me whether I, as a lifer, could fully realize my disability since I had never been able bodied. My roommate can, of course, because there was a day he was able-bodied. He was in a car crash and he became crippled. Matt knows what it's like to be both, where I never could (barring some sort of advanced treatment that will never exist because of the economies of scale, but that's a different post for a different day).
The question initially left me speechless, and when I disagreed the person continued to insist that I could not fully know what I am missing. I have given it much thought and am more sure now that I fully realize I am disabled even as a lifer.
You see, the world in which we live is developed around the bilateral use of our limbs. Computer keyboards, cars, bicycles, video game controllers, boxes, etc, were all built around being able to use both hands as equals. So I may never have been able to cut a steak with 2 good hands, but I know full well that something isn't right when I'm sitting there fighting with the knife and fork.
Imagine with me that you take a young child to do an activity they have never done before. Now bind the fingers of one of their hands and send them on their way. Despite having never done the activity they are doing, the child will know something is wrong when they try to use the bound hand and fail miserably.
In closing; probably not a great idea to tell a disabled person that they can't realize their disability for whatever reason.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Go West, Young Man
I boarded a puddle jumper in Columbia, switched to an MD80 at DFW, and touched down in San Diego to start a new adventure in life on Tuesday. This is my first time being west of Colorado so everything here is new.
My bike had not yet arrived so I borrowed one from my new roommate, Marc and went for a spin down the Pacific Coast. My bike would not arrive 'till Thursday so I spent about 10 hours on the loaner getting to know the coast and the climbs offered in the area. The bike is equipped with vintage Dura Ace 8speed Downtube shifters and a 12-21 block, so it was a quad buster when I went up the 15% grade on Mount Soledad.
Did I mention that there is real climbing out here? How novel that I can embrace my slender build.
Since I am going to be spending a large amount of time on the track I went to the ADT Velodrome today to get certified on the track. ADT is the only world class 'drome in the US with its 250m distance and 45+ degree banking through the turns. It's a cool place; Taylor Phinney, Sarah Hammer, and a host of other riders have won National Championships on the boards there.
I've heard horror stories about the layout of the track and some other things but I wanted to get in and get it over with, and maybe enjoy myself. There were 5 in my cert class, but the one guy left early and missed the meat of the riding. 2 of the people were less experienced so I did most of my riding with this 15 year old kid named Colin; he's strong, smooth, and young and it's great to see kids with talent like that.
My first 5 laps on the actual track were nervous and I may not have breathed, but after a water break and another set of laps on the track I realized I was not going to die (always good when your aspirations involve significant track time). I was able to relax and really start to ride. Our instructor, Andrew, lead us further up the track and then had us do a paceline with Team Pursuit style exchanges. After a bunch of riding Andrew (who was really laid back and funny) ask if Colin and I want to play a game. So we played follow the leader which involved following Andrew all over the track for several minutes; he took us to the rail (+30 feet in the air), dropped us in from the top, climbed the banking, all kinds of crazy stuff. Then he asked if we wanted to do a flying 200. Why not? So I did a flying 200, as I dropped into turn 1 at nearly full gas I felt the gravitational forces pushing me into the track, it was incredible!
By the time we finished, I had put in about 90 solid minutes of ride time, and I have the sore quads to go along. As for the horror stories, I don't know? I loved ADT, I think it's a fun track.
Icing on the cake... Allyson Felix (World Champ in the 200m dash multiple times over, and '08 Olympic Gold medalist 4x400m relay) was at a track meet next to the 'drome and was walking in to get a drink as I was walking out. I said hello, and thought it was pretty cool to have met someone that fast.
My bike had not yet arrived so I borrowed one from my new roommate, Marc and went for a spin down the Pacific Coast. My bike would not arrive 'till Thursday so I spent about 10 hours on the loaner getting to know the coast and the climbs offered in the area. The bike is equipped with vintage Dura Ace 8speed Downtube shifters and a 12-21 block, so it was a quad buster when I went up the 15% grade on Mount Soledad.
Did I mention that there is real climbing out here? How novel that I can embrace my slender build.
Since I am going to be spending a large amount of time on the track I went to the ADT Velodrome today to get certified on the track. ADT is the only world class 'drome in the US with its 250m distance and 45+ degree banking through the turns. It's a cool place; Taylor Phinney, Sarah Hammer, and a host of other riders have won National Championships on the boards there.
I've heard horror stories about the layout of the track and some other things but I wanted to get in and get it over with, and maybe enjoy myself. There were 5 in my cert class, but the one guy left early and missed the meat of the riding. 2 of the people were less experienced so I did most of my riding with this 15 year old kid named Colin; he's strong, smooth, and young and it's great to see kids with talent like that.
My first 5 laps on the actual track were nervous and I may not have breathed, but after a water break and another set of laps on the track I realized I was not going to die (always good when your aspirations involve significant track time). I was able to relax and really start to ride. Our instructor, Andrew, lead us further up the track and then had us do a paceline with Team Pursuit style exchanges. After a bunch of riding Andrew (who was really laid back and funny) ask if Colin and I want to play a game. So we played follow the leader which involved following Andrew all over the track for several minutes; he took us to the rail (+30 feet in the air), dropped us in from the top, climbed the banking, all kinds of crazy stuff. Then he asked if we wanted to do a flying 200. Why not? So I did a flying 200, as I dropped into turn 1 at nearly full gas I felt the gravitational forces pushing me into the track, it was incredible!
By the time we finished, I had put in about 90 solid minutes of ride time, and I have the sore quads to go along. As for the horror stories, I don't know? I loved ADT, I think it's a fun track.
Icing on the cake... Allyson Felix (World Champ in the 200m dash multiple times over, and '08 Olympic Gold medalist 4x400m relay) was at a track meet next to the 'drome and was walking in to get a drink as I was walking out. I said hello, and thought it was pretty cool to have met someone that fast.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Lowes Motor Speedway Time Trial
The Time Trial, the race of truth. I didn't like the truth last year and it kinda threw a kink into my Paralympic plans. Turns out, you get on the team by riding TT's or the track time trials (Kilo & Pursuit). If I want on the team I have to Time Trial. I got a coach this year and he introduced me to Threshold workouts; they changed they way I ride.
The LMS TT is held on the Nascar oval in Charlotte, NC. It's a 7 lap, 10 mile affair that is held rain or shine. It rained tonight, so the track was very wet. I warmed up on the trainer and headed to the start line armed with my Vintage Giro Aerohead helmet, clip on TT bars, a Spinergy RevX front wheel and a powertap/Open Pro rear rear.
I had a good, no nerves start and settled into my aero bars. Aquick glance at the PowerTap showed 300 Watts, too much effort, so I dialed it down to 260 and stayed there for the first 2 laps. I picked up the pace just a little on lap 3 and pretty much rode by feel with the odd look at the PT to make sure things were good. As I started lap 5 I realized my time was looking better than I had hoped so I pushed on. Coming around the final lap I knew I would easily hit my cautious goal time, but making my optimistic goal time would be close. I was looking for 23:10 and coming into the final stretch I sprinted for all I was worth and fell shy of 23:10 by just a few seconds.
I looked at the results and sure enough, 23:17, so I did the math and realized I had actually BEAT my goal time by 7 seconds. About these goal times. The paralympic team has time standards for the different tiers of the team. The highest Tier is the National Team, to make that you need to go 25.58mph, and the Talent Pool is 24.9mph. For this race that worked out to 23:24 and 24:10. My oxygen deprived brain mixed up the seconds so when I realized my mistake I was very very happy. All of my hard work has been validated and I'm getting alright at this Time Trial thing. A very good night for me.
The LMS TT is held on the Nascar oval in Charlotte, NC. It's a 7 lap, 10 mile affair that is held rain or shine. It rained tonight, so the track was very wet. I warmed up on the trainer and headed to the start line armed with my Vintage Giro Aerohead helmet, clip on TT bars, a Spinergy RevX front wheel and a powertap/Open Pro rear rear.
I had a good, no nerves start and settled into my aero bars. Aquick glance at the PowerTap showed 300 Watts, too much effort, so I dialed it down to 260 and stayed there for the first 2 laps. I picked up the pace just a little on lap 3 and pretty much rode by feel with the odd look at the PT to make sure things were good. As I started lap 5 I realized my time was looking better than I had hoped so I pushed on. Coming around the final lap I knew I would easily hit my cautious goal time, but making my optimistic goal time would be close. I was looking for 23:10 and coming into the final stretch I sprinted for all I was worth and fell shy of 23:10 by just a few seconds.
I looked at the results and sure enough, 23:17, so I did the math and realized I had actually BEAT my goal time by 7 seconds. About these goal times. The paralympic team has time standards for the different tiers of the team. The highest Tier is the National Team, to make that you need to go 25.58mph, and the Talent Pool is 24.9mph. For this race that worked out to 23:24 and 24:10. My oxygen deprived brain mixed up the seconds so when I realized my mistake I was very very happy. All of my hard work has been validated and I'm getting alright at this Time Trial thing. A very good night for me.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
A little update
Thursday:
My coach threw in an interesting workout that was 3 rounds of "10 minutes at 260W, and every 3 minutes surge at 350W." I did this one with the silly hat I'm borrowing from Mark D.
Yup, a vintage aero lid that looks ridiculous, but makes me faster.
Friday:
I went out and rode from Cycle Center and went super easy as it was a rest day.
Saturday was 70 min on the trainer with an hour at 210W
And today I went out to Hopkins and rode at a pretty good pace for 1:45 in the aerobars. Avg Wattage was 210 and Avg speed was 21.2mph. I'm starting to get the hang of riding in the aerobars and am hoping I can ride a respectable time on Tuesday at the Lowes Motor Speedway Time Trial.
My coach threw in an interesting workout that was 3 rounds of "10 minutes at 260W, and every 3 minutes surge at 350W." I did this one with the silly hat I'm borrowing from Mark D.
Yup, a vintage aero lid that looks ridiculous, but makes me faster.
Friday:
I went out and rode from Cycle Center and went super easy as it was a rest day.
Saturday was 70 min on the trainer with an hour at 210W
And today I went out to Hopkins and rode at a pretty good pace for 1:45 in the aerobars. Avg Wattage was 210 and Avg speed was 21.2mph. I'm starting to get the hang of riding in the aerobars and am hoping I can ride a respectable time on Tuesday at the Lowes Motor Speedway Time Trial.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
I found my fitness!
Yup, 2x20 min. I started out feeling like a rockstar and pushing too hard: having forgotten the lessons of the powermeter, I rolled with it for a few minutes. I then settled into a reasonable pace, but felt the pain of my bad decision towards the end. I ended with 264W, still not anything to be ashamed of.
Interval #2 was a different story, I started out at what I thought was a reasonable pace but it quickly turned into 20 minutes of torture. I thought about bailing halfway through, but that little voice in my head kept reminding me that nationals is only 8 weeks away and I can't wimp out. I also remembered how much fun it is to be fast, so I put my head down and pushed through. 244W, so that's the hole in my fitness. My FTP slid, and that explains my not feeling as fast or not feeling I can last in a break as I have earlier in the season. Now that I found it I can get it back!
The moral of the story is to do your LT work kids! And then drink chocolate milk, because it tastes good and is great for recovery.
Interval #2 was a different story, I started out at what I thought was a reasonable pace but it quickly turned into 20 minutes of torture. I thought about bailing halfway through, but that little voice in my head kept reminding me that nationals is only 8 weeks away and I can't wimp out. I also remembered how much fun it is to be fast, so I put my head down and pushed through. 244W, so that's the hole in my fitness. My FTP slid, and that explains my not feeling as fast or not feeling I can last in a break as I have earlier in the season. Now that I found it I can get it back!
The moral of the story is to do your LT work kids! And then drink chocolate milk, because it tastes good and is great for recovery.
TNWC p/b Tibco
Jeff brought his team of pro bike racing women to our little playground and they made things lively. I'm still riding a little bit anonymously, but did manage to get in on 2 breaks that died quickly. Ladd tried to organize the first one, but we couldn't get cohesive and were brought back.
It was fast for sure, I've got an avg speed of 26.4 which is faster than I've ever seen. Racing with a bunch of powerhouse women like that was really cool, always nice to mix it up with some pros.
It was fast for sure, I've got an avg speed of 26.4 which is faster than I've ever seen. Racing with a bunch of powerhouse women like that was really cool, always nice to mix it up with some pros.
2009 Roswell Crit
Roswell is an hour drive from Athens so I stayed overnight at Kyle's house drove to the race in the AM. Only problem, church traffic turned it into a 90 minute drive. So I missed the 3/4 reg and settled for the 4/5. I was slated for both, but oh well. I staged in the back, and when the field is +100 deep with some tricky turns, well that is no good. I spent 30 minutes hopping from dropped rider to the next chasing the field down. After 30 minutes of sprinting out of 3 of the 5 corners I fell back and told the moto ref I was done. #Fail
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
2009 Athens Twilight Qualifier
My morning started at a very early 3:45AM so I could make my 8:45AM Cat4/5 start time. I arrived at the Jittery Joe's Roaster with no incident and got my stuff in line, slammed a shot of Jittery's espresso, and headed to the course. My coach had told me that staging is vital in this race and I got a spot in the second row, not the best, but I could have done worse for sure. They sent us out and mister Keo pedals in front of me missed his clip in, so my good position just went down the drain. With an eager field of 75+ the opportunity to move up early on was dicey. About 400m from the Start/Finish on lap 3 there was a crash that went from curb to curb. I managed to stop, but then had to walk by bike through the mess. My race was over, and then I saw Ron Williams on the side of the road. Ron is the captain of the US Paracycling team and is definitely a guy I look up to. He told me to catch back up and that provided a lot of motivation. I put my head down and went into TT mode. I was riding through the groups of dropped riders and rode part of the way with another guy who looked strong. As the laps ticked down I realized I was catching the field. Coming around the last turn the catch was made, but it was too late. No night race for me. NP for the 26minuterace was 270W, and I spent 18 of those in chase mode. Not a bad effort in that I can chase down a group from behind.
Athens is a fun race, I enjoyed the handcycle race since I know half the field. Alejandro Albor got his big gear (58T chainring) would up and powered away from the group to take the sprint.
The pro races were pretty cool, and fast! I hung out with Ron, Alejandro, and Oz Sanches (another paracyclist). I'm looking forward to seeing these guys later in the summer.
Athens is a fun race, I enjoyed the handcycle race since I know half the field. Alejandro Albor got his big gear (58T chainring) would up and powered away from the group to take the sprint.
The pro races were pretty cool, and fast! I hung out with Ron, Alejandro, and Oz Sanches (another paracyclist). I'm looking forward to seeing these guys later in the summer.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
TNWC 4-21 edition: Brutastic!
My first hard ride in 16 days. There was a nice headwind blowing up the back stretch which promised that there would be pain. We started and when the pace picked up the suffering level went right along. I attempted to go with some moves but I knew I didn't have the power for most of them. I was in the front a good bit, butr I also spent time tail-gunning. I hate seeing races from the back.
I saw the winning break go and had nothing. Then half a lap later I saw Ladd start bridging, I tried to get to him but that turned into a big fat FAIL. I sat up with half a lap to go having burned through all my matches.
Upon reviewing my power files from this and previous Tuesday crits I realized this was the hardest I've been to by a long shot. Everything from max 30sec-max 10min power were way higher. That's nice, but I want my fitness back!
I saw the winning break go and had nothing. Then half a lap later I saw Ladd start bridging, I tried to get to him but that turned into a big fat FAIL. I sat up with half a lap to go having burned through all my matches.
Upon reviewing my power files from this and previous Tuesday crits I realized this was the hardest I've been to by a long shot. Everything from max 30sec-max 10min power were way higher. That's nice, but I want my fitness back!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Take It Away
Deprive someone of a major part of their life, watch the reaction, then judge what role it plays in their life.
For 10 days I could not ride a bike. The Deprivation part.
My reaction was actually a lot better than I would have hoped, from the moment someone told me my bike was broken, to the advice of the doctor not to ride, through the healing process.
Back Story: I was laying beside the road waiting for the EMT and someone said, "dude, your bike is F***ed!" My response was "guess I need a new one".
So the news that my bike was trash went over really really well. The news from the doctor that I'd be out of commission for 10-14 days was met with the idea of healing as quickly as possible. And I did not lose my head while off the bike. Now something you may have picked up on is that I'm a bit obsessive and neurotic, which I feel are my biggest character flaws. At a mild level I think these traits can help in being a good athlete, but if taken too far are just plain annoying and worse. Throughout this whole ordeal I think I have managed myself pretty well. I never freaked out about missing training, I just focused on getting back to it.
As for what role the bike plays in my life. There have been times when I wonder if I really like riding or if the bike just serves as a means to an end. In all honesty, I just like a good challenge and would probably be happy doing a dozen different sports. I like training, I like competing, and I like seeing what I can do (a lot to do with having CP).
Yesterday while I was out riding the MTB I was just haveing FUN. I realized that I really do like riding a bicycle. It was late afternoon and the long shadows cast by the sun against the dirt and trees looked really cool. Now that's not to say I don't like training. I'm ready to get back to it and see red, and break power records and go fast, because going fast is fun. Oh yeah, and win a race. It's about time I get around to doing that.
For 10 days I could not ride a bike. The Deprivation part.
My reaction was actually a lot better than I would have hoped, from the moment someone told me my bike was broken, to the advice of the doctor not to ride, through the healing process.
Back Story: I was laying beside the road waiting for the EMT and someone said, "dude, your bike is F***ed!" My response was "guess I need a new one".
So the news that my bike was trash went over really really well. The news from the doctor that I'd be out of commission for 10-14 days was met with the idea of healing as quickly as possible. And I did not lose my head while off the bike. Now something you may have picked up on is that I'm a bit obsessive and neurotic, which I feel are my biggest character flaws. At a mild level I think these traits can help in being a good athlete, but if taken too far are just plain annoying and worse. Throughout this whole ordeal I think I have managed myself pretty well. I never freaked out about missing training, I just focused on getting back to it.
As for what role the bike plays in my life. There have been times when I wonder if I really like riding or if the bike just serves as a means to an end. In all honesty, I just like a good challenge and would probably be happy doing a dozen different sports. I like training, I like competing, and I like seeing what I can do (a lot to do with having CP).
Yesterday while I was out riding the MTB I was just haveing FUN. I realized that I really do like riding a bicycle. It was late afternoon and the long shadows cast by the sun against the dirt and trees looked really cool. Now that's not to say I don't like training. I'm ready to get back to it and see red, and break power records and go fast, because going fast is fun. Oh yeah, and win a race. It's about time I get around to doing that.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Healing
The stitches come out tomorrow! And I'm getting on the trainer for the first time today, not tomorrow. I think I have the necessary ROM to get through a pedal stroke and it is time to be riding again. I was really able to see how much of my life was the bike while not riding.
I got a new frame, not new, but new to me. It's a Cannondale CAAD8 or 9 from the Healthnet/CoFA stable. I liked my six13 enough that I wanted to stay with the same family and geometry.
I discovered that rowing with one leg is a challenge, but will really work your hip flexors, glutes, and hams. Not a bad way to cross-train and keep the ticker from getting lazy.
I got a new frame, not new, but new to me. It's a Cannondale CAAD8 or 9 from the Healthnet/CoFA stable. I liked my six13 enough that I wanted to stay with the same family and geometry.
I discovered that rowing with one leg is a challenge, but will really work your hip flexors, glutes, and hams. Not a bad way to cross-train and keep the ticker from getting lazy.
Monday, April 6, 2009
How to Break a Bicycle
For me, the Rock Hill Road Race is personal. I got dropped inside of 15 minutes last year and rode alone for nearly 2 hours. Talk about a swift kick in the pants to show you that your fitness sucks.
This year was different and better until the very end. I was sitting midpack at the start and when I saw the first crash about 5 minutes in I knew my place was at the front. So that's where I went and stayed for the whole race. The first hour was attack after attack. An attack would go, it would get some leash, then the front group would do a fast rotating line to make the catch. The only time I played tail-gunner was after this one super steep hill. I realized out that 53-23 was not a small enough gear and blew my quads out. I recovered at the back for about 3 minutes and made my way back up front. The last 10 miles were super boring, it was established that a break would be given no leash. As a result we just rode in.
We turned onto the home strech and 3 guys jumped. I went with them, it was too early. As I was getting passed the road was getting full of bikes and bodies. We ran out of room and I ended up going down. As I was lying on the ground after coming to a stop I saw a Carolina Cyclones Junior go flying over my head. I'm pretty sure that's how I trashed my '"new" custom, one of a kind 6-13 frame'. I think Cyclones used it as a launch pad. Well that really sucks, I really liked that bike and I felt bad about calling Rich to tell him. But I guess that's racing.
As for fault. Maybe mine, maybe the very large guy in a green kit I bounced off of, maybe someone else for crowding him. In retrospect I would not have done anything differently if I was in that exact same position tomorrow. Although I do think I'm up for some bump drills once I heal up.
The damage to me is vast amounts of Road Rash, and 4 stitches in my right knee. I am under orders not to ride or bend my knee for 7-14 days.
I am searching for a new or new to me frame. I'd rather not spend a lot of money, so I'll probably be on Aluminum again. If anybody knows of anything with an effective Top Tube about 54cm please let me know. If all else fails I do have my old Trek, but I'd rather not go back to that.
This year was different and better until the very end. I was sitting midpack at the start and when I saw the first crash about 5 minutes in I knew my place was at the front. So that's where I went and stayed for the whole race. The first hour was attack after attack. An attack would go, it would get some leash, then the front group would do a fast rotating line to make the catch. The only time I played tail-gunner was after this one super steep hill. I realized out that 53-23 was not a small enough gear and blew my quads out. I recovered at the back for about 3 minutes and made my way back up front. The last 10 miles were super boring, it was established that a break would be given no leash. As a result we just rode in.
We turned onto the home strech and 3 guys jumped. I went with them, it was too early. As I was getting passed the road was getting full of bikes and bodies. We ran out of room and I ended up going down. As I was lying on the ground after coming to a stop I saw a Carolina Cyclones Junior go flying over my head. I'm pretty sure that's how I trashed my '"new" custom, one of a kind 6-13 frame'. I think Cyclones used it as a launch pad. Well that really sucks, I really liked that bike and I felt bad about calling Rich to tell him. But I guess that's racing.
As for fault. Maybe mine, maybe the very large guy in a green kit I bounced off of, maybe someone else for crowding him. In retrospect I would not have done anything differently if I was in that exact same position tomorrow. Although I do think I'm up for some bump drills once I heal up.
The damage to me is vast amounts of Road Rash, and 4 stitches in my right knee. I am under orders not to ride or bend my knee for 7-14 days.
I am searching for a new or new to me frame. I'd rather not spend a lot of money, so I'll probably be on Aluminum again. If anybody knows of anything with an effective Top Tube about 54cm please let me know. If all else fails I do have my old Trek, but I'd rather not go back to that.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
TNWC: 3/31 Edition
Last week my coach was pleased with my pre-crit intervals so we made a deal. I can do the crit, which is a lot of fun but I get to do intervals beforehand. For the month of April I have 4x5min on the menu before we race. I started out and knew it was going to be tough. I was hitting the wattage numbers but my PE was high. I was hoping I'd feel that tingling in the legs and feel better after that but it never came. The second effort was ok, and the third one just sucked. I wasn't holding any power down the backstretch. I also wasn't able to maintain my normal high rev cadence during the intervals. I had hopes for the crit being better.
The first lap arrived and who is off the front other than Mr. Gimp Shoulder Rich. After his crash on Saturday's Monumental 110 miler I wasn't expecting that. A few guys bridged and I decided to close the gap solo. I could not do it, I got to within a few seconds but I still felt crappy. Fortunatly I found my spin and I ended up doing ok during the crit. I wasn't playing at the front like last week, but I spent a good bit of time there. I went with a few moves, but nothing was sticking.
I tried an attack at one point, but no-one went with. I just don't command enough respect to draw people with me yet. I knew I was not going to last long if I just tried to ride at FTP so I sat up.
The power data is really close to last week and the speed was a good bit higher (I've got 25.65 after the neutral lap). I guess that if I can do that on a day where I just feel like crap then I'm not doing too bad.
The first lap arrived and who is off the front other than Mr. Gimp Shoulder Rich. After his crash on Saturday's Monumental 110 miler I wasn't expecting that. A few guys bridged and I decided to close the gap solo. I could not do it, I got to within a few seconds but I still felt crappy. Fortunatly I found my spin and I ended up doing ok during the crit. I wasn't playing at the front like last week, but I spent a good bit of time there. I went with a few moves, but nothing was sticking.
I tried an attack at one point, but no-one went with. I just don't command enough respect to draw people with me yet. I knew I was not going to last long if I just tried to ride at FTP so I sat up.
The power data is really close to last week and the speed was a good bit higher (I've got 25.65 after the neutral lap). I guess that if I can do that on a day where I just feel like crap then I'm not doing too bad.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Long, Fast, and Wet
If you had told me in December that I would do 110 miles at 21.1 mph with 3000 feet of elevation gain I would have given you a blank stare.
I met a few others at Ladd's house yesterday bright and early, and set out to meet another group. (Sorry for taking too long Ladd) It was a lively ride with everyone taking strong pulls. I took a few pulls that I felt good about, but did not go overboard. I was really impressed by Gordon's pulls, it was like riding with the energizer bunny. I kept wondering why he's still a Cat4.
Around mile 85 miles in we came to a few "climbs", as Ladd called them. They were steep, 500m, big ring, power hills. I responded to the first 2 attacks and then fell off a little bit coming to the regroup point. Ouch, those hurt!
The last hour was pure misery, we rode in the driving rain just trying to get home. It was made worse by Rich getting crashed. It sucks to end a good ride in that way.
The PowerTap took on some water about 2 hours in and the current wattage reading started bouncing around like a pinball, so I'm not 100% sure about my data. I tried zeroing it with no luck. In the last hour it stopped reading anything and it only has 103 miles of data. I'm going to seal it up so I can ride in the rain. The data I do have shows an Avg Wattage of 169W and 2961kJ. I'm proud to have seen my first 3000kJ day!
I met a few others at Ladd's house yesterday bright and early, and set out to meet another group. (Sorry for taking too long Ladd) It was a lively ride with everyone taking strong pulls. I took a few pulls that I felt good about, but did not go overboard. I was really impressed by Gordon's pulls, it was like riding with the energizer bunny. I kept wondering why he's still a Cat4.
Around mile 85 miles in we came to a few "climbs", as Ladd called them. They were steep, 500m, big ring, power hills. I responded to the first 2 attacks and then fell off a little bit coming to the regroup point. Ouch, those hurt!
The last hour was pure misery, we rode in the driving rain just trying to get home. It was made worse by Rich getting crashed. It sucks to end a good ride in that way.
The PowerTap took on some water about 2 hours in and the current wattage reading started bouncing around like a pinball, so I'm not 100% sure about my data. I tried zeroing it with no luck. In the last hour it stopped reading anything and it only has 103 miles of data. I'm going to seal it up so I can ride in the rain. The data I do have shows an Avg Wattage of 169W and 2961kJ. I'm proud to have seen my first 3000kJ day!
Friday, March 27, 2009
My Legs are Still Sore
Wed I did trainer sprints and decided I like my bike too much to do something like that ever again.
Yesterday there was a lull in the rain so I headed out to the crit course for some 8 minute intervals. Rich was doing a really long LT workout so I hopped on his wheel and did 16 minutes at 210W and 112RPM, little ring the whole way working on cadence. Then I moved over to my workout. I was slated for 5x8min. I did 292W, 285W, 278W, and totally imploded during the 4th and finished in the 260s. I haven't done this workout before but I liked it, it's not as hard as a VO2 workout, but it is faster than a threshold workout. And it's fun to ride at 290W. It did put quite a hurt on my legs though, and they have a good bit of that dull ache right now.
In other news: I'll be spending most of May and June in San Diego with fellow Paracyclist Matt B. It will be a regular gimp-fest in his house. He offered a couch and it makes sense because Para Track Nats are at ADT in L.A. I'll be 2 minute from the beach, riding distance from Palomar Mountain, have access to 2 Velodromes, and the group rides are supposed to be pretty insane. I'll get pummelled into shape and I'll be able to get my technique work on the Velodrome for the Pursuit.
On the Pursuit front, things are going pretty well in terms of power. I threw down 367W for 5 minutes (6.1W/kg) at the Forest Acres Crit. The literature suggests I need 370-400W after the initial acceleration to go 3:43, so it looks like I'm on track so far.
Yesterday there was a lull in the rain so I headed out to the crit course for some 8 minute intervals. Rich was doing a really long LT workout so I hopped on his wheel and did 16 minutes at 210W and 112RPM, little ring the whole way working on cadence. Then I moved over to my workout. I was slated for 5x8min. I did 292W, 285W, 278W, and totally imploded during the 4th and finished in the 260s. I haven't done this workout before but I liked it, it's not as hard as a VO2 workout, but it is faster than a threshold workout. And it's fun to ride at 290W. It did put quite a hurt on my legs though, and they have a good bit of that dull ache right now.
In other news: I'll be spending most of May and June in San Diego with fellow Paracyclist Matt B. It will be a regular gimp-fest in his house. He offered a couch and it makes sense because Para Track Nats are at ADT in L.A. I'll be 2 minute from the beach, riding distance from Palomar Mountain, have access to 2 Velodromes, and the group rides are supposed to be pretty insane. I'll get pummelled into shape and I'll be able to get my technique work on the Velodrome for the Pursuit.
On the Pursuit front, things are going pretty well in terms of power. I threw down 367W for 5 minutes (6.1W/kg) at the Forest Acres Crit. The literature suggests I need 370-400W after the initial acceleration to go 3:43, so it looks like I'm on track so far.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
TNWC
I made it out to my first Tuesday Crit of the year this evening. I had 3 min intervals on the plate beforehand; I was supposed to do 5, but I did 3. I did 304W, 314W, and 318W. Not too bad, and neg splitting the whole way.
The crit started up about 15 minutes later. I was talking to Mike during the neutral lap and ended up at the back. I took the next few minutes to get to the front where I spent most of the evening. I went in a few breaks, helped chase a few down, and generally hung out with the fast guys. I definently didn't do the most work, but I did more work and saw more wind than I have ever seen at one of those before. It was freaking fun out there at the front!
The crit started up about 15 minutes later. I was talking to Mike during the neutral lap and ended up at the back. I took the next few minutes to get to the front where I spent most of the evening. I went in a few breaks, helped chase a few down, and generally hung out with the fast guys. I definently didn't do the most work, but I did more work and saw more wind than I have ever seen at one of those before. It was freaking fun out there at the front!
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