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Wed 9 November 2005 : 18:41 EST
Still, the cross race was a good time. I finished a couple of places out of the money and felt okay about my ride, despite the sore thighs and blistered hands that I earned for my hourly wage. It was nice to have a race so close to home. Its never a bad thing when you can ride to the races. And unlike the past couple of times that I've raced cross, I left this race thinking that I wouldn't mind giving this cross thing another go. It is actually pretty fun.
Gatto and I were riding together for most of the race. We had been in a hunt for 3rd and 4th positions but we were slowly running out of steam and we really lost motivation when Sachs came storming through us. He ended up catching our prey and finished the day 3rd. He was riding like a man possessed! Nice ride.
On the last lap, Gatto's superior handling skills earned him 6th place while I stacked it on the last lap log crossing to end up 7th. I got what I wanted out of the day (a can of whoop-ass) so I couldn't complain.
Check out the pics here
--5000
Thu 3 November 2005 : 17:24 EST
I found out today that one of the gym regulars used to race BMX. This dude is nearly 42 and talking about trying to get another season of BMX in. Cracks me up. I mean I'm a sucker for the old Redline and Cru Jones as much as the next guy but there has to be some sort of age limit for that sport!
But you know that I looked into it right after the gym. Looks like Elgin has The Hill. Maybe I'll have to see about getting the Redline home after Christmas for a Masters 30+ assault on The Hill!
I just bought a new cross bike at Prairie Path Cycles. The Trek X0 1. Its pretty bitchin'. I had to change out some parts but the frame is decent. It sucks to say it but shimano 105 just doesn't really work. Once I got the DA cockpit put together, the ride has been much better to me.
-5000
Tue 12 July 2005 : 01:10 EST
Last year I got worked over hard in this race. I abandoned with 3 laps to go but I remember feeling so shattered that it was pretty tough to pedal around the loop three more times. This year though, I felt much better. Our team was chillin' way too much and missed the early break (which ended up being the winning break). Puffer was a man on a mission and was able to scoop up a couple big cash primes. At one point we were so close to sweeping a three-place cash prime. I drove the train for nearly half a lap and launched Puffer, Nenninger, and Ebert for the prime. Puffer and Nenninger got first and second but Ebert was just nipped at the line.
Saturday we rolled up to Menasha Wisconsin for the second day of superaction. Another 100k Crit. Frankie and I were raging at the beginning of the race trying to make or get into one of the early moves. Somehow we both missed a group of 9 or so roll off the front. Puffer made the move, and with many of the heads of state, it looked like it would stay off. But with about 15 laps to go, things started heating up in the group. At three to go we caught the group, except for two dudes who had escaped off the front. Puffer made a gutsy attack and tried to stick it out solo for third. My attempts at blocking didn't buy him much time and he was swept up with half a lap to go. Nenninger and I were there for the field sprint and I finished as the first loser... the first dude just out of the money; quite possibly the worst place to finish. Nenninger made 50 that we put towards dinner at Perkins. Perkins is a team favorite. A real oasis. Like a home away from home ya dig?
Sunday. Day three of supercrits. Manitowoc hosted the action. Frankie, Brett, and I had a superbreakfast across the street from our Heritage Inn pad. This place could hang with the best of the breakfast spots. I ordered the Hobo omelette and a plate of french toast. Way more food than I expected. Frankie got a side of bacon. This side of bacon was for real! They fried it on the grill for a while using a cast iron bacon press and then the dropped it into the deep fat fryer for a while. It was the breakfast that kept on giving. I was hoping that I'd get a bit more breakaway speed from the toast. Come game time, all of my efforts to get across to the early break were thwarted. Puffer again was on fire. Late in the game he and another dude made it across to a group of 10 or so who had just lapped the field. The last 5 or so laps were pretty dicey. Nenninger and I found Puffer and tried to get him up in the finishing mix. Things were fast and really confused so the lead-outs were pretty tough to keep together. I ended up rolling in 23rd. Not bad I guess but I'm still not sure if the $50 prize was worth risking my life over. At least my split payed for my entrance to the pre race movie. Fantastic 4... What a lame-ass movie!
Monday was the first road race of the superseries. Alpine Valley Road Race. I'd never raced this race but I already had some history with it. Two years ago, while I was still a Cat 3 I believe, I tried to hit this race. My car overheated on the way to the race so instead of racing, I spent my day in the lobby of a Mitsubishi dealership. We actually passed by on our way to the race. It was hot and muggy out there. The race was already hard at lap 1. We hit a bit of a cross-wind section and dudes were popping off like we were riding at Orville Reddenbaucher's farm. I was with the group for about 50 miles and then I started to get popped off. I clawed my way back to the leaders 3 times before the lights went out and I ended up in a little group of 4. These two wankers barely did any work while me and a dude from the Columbia national team dragged them to the finish. They jumped with about 100 meters to go. I'm sure that I could have dropped them earlier but the fight had already been taken out of me. Seemed pretty silly to race for 21st place when 24th would do just as well. Frankie had a great ride. He was there in the first chase group when his rear shift cable broke. He ended up having to slog it along in the 53x11 for the last half lap or so. To bring it into perspective, there were times when I was having trouble pushing the 39x23. Frankie rode like a horse so it was disappointing that he didn't get into the top 10 like he should have because of a silly mechanical like that.
Today, I'm taking the day off. Did some work and rode 45 minutes. My heart-rate barely made it over 100 today. It felt great. My next installment of superweek will most likely be Thursday's Shorewood Crit. Looking forward to 5 straight days of superpower to the pedals.
-5000
Mon 23 May 2005 : 16:43 EST
This weekend saw the ABD elite squad tackling the MO State road race on Saturday and the Park Forest Criterium on Sunday.
MO State RR
The RR was a 100 mile march in fantastic weather. The course was rather rolling with some significant climbs at the start of each lap. The pace was pretty mellow at first. A break of 4-6 dudes got off on the first lap but we worked to bring them back in. I got into a move with my teammate, Big Bird, and we rolled it for a couple of miles until we were caught on the climb. Frankie and Nenninger launched a counter attack as we were caught which was the winning break. They stayed away for the next 30 or so miles and Frankie handily wrapped things up for the win in the final sprint.
Back in the field, Ebert, Bryce, Brett, and I chased down break after break, mostly from the Team Mesa boys, and kept things together for the bunch sprint. I drove it from the bottom of the hill going into the feed zone into the last 400 meters or so. Ebert had a good jump and we delivered Puffer well for the sprint. Unfortunately, when Puffer stood up to stomp those boys into submission, he lost his chain and we weren't able to close the deal on the 5th place field sprint. I rolled in for 20th just in the money.
Jenni was our feeder for the day and she did a fantastic job. This was one of the more ferocious feed zones that I've witnessed in a while. Dudes were knocking bottles out of Jenni's hands and passing her on both sides through the feed zone. Pretty lame riding boys. Jenni handled things though beautifully. We couldn't have managed without her help. Grazie!
Park Forest Criterium
May 22 marks the 29th year of my worldly existence. I celebrated the morning by sleeping in a bit and having a couple of bowls of cereal with dried blue berries. My legs were pretty tired and I felt a little zapped from racing under the sun for 4+ hrs on Saturday.
The Park Forest course is pretty intense. It is the poster child for "parking lot" crits. We raced around a pretty sad and deserted Park Forest strip mall where maybe 20% of the shops were even occupied. The road was often bumpy and the course was dominated by many sharp turns. Our plan going into the race was to try to wrap up all of the primes, and to get in moves with only our teammates.
One lap into the race, it was clear that the course was going to take its toll on the pack as people were having much trouble following wheels. Puffer quickly noticed, and got into a lap-one move with a Mack rider. One lap later, I launched and bridged up. Puffer timed a pull perfectly and by the time I pulled through, we had shelled the Mack and we were motoring away in a two-man break.
We lapped the field with about 20 laps to go and just as we re-integrated with the field, they rang the bell for a Pizza Prime. I moved to the front of the field to make sure that Ebert would clean up the food, which he did easily, and when we looked back, we had 15 seconds on the field. We put our heads down and went to work out front again.
Ultimately, with the help of Ebert this time, I would come close to lapping the field a second time. With Puffer a lap up and in the field, and Ebert with me, we had the podium wrapped up. Puffer put in a monster pull at the end of the race and the only people able to stick with him were Frankie, Nenninger, Bryce, and one other rider. ABD walked away with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th places wrapped up. It really couldn't have worked out much better for the squad.
After the race Brett Stewart and his parents surprised me with a massive Death Star birthday sheet cake! It was fantastic. Massive pieces of the cake were a welcome reward, and it was a super surprise. Grazie Stewarts!
Jenni and I met up with some of our church homies for a little more Death Star cake and Colonial Ice Cream. We finished off the day with a fantastic BBQ at Ebert's house and some more of that Death Star cake.
Tue 17 May 2005 : 01:00 EST
It ended up being the race winning move. I spent the next 50+ miles out in front solo. The course had a pretty significant, 700ft. climb to deal with each lap. I'd survive the climb at a conservative pace and then try to really dial it up on the back side of the course that included a very fast descent. I felt pretty good and was able to keep the legs ticking over. It was good to get another win under the belt.
Here is a good picture of me on the first of 4 trips up the hill in the road race.
Saturday night we stayed at Franky's place in Madison. We had some good eats at a local Mexican spot and watched "Pumping Iron" with Arnold the Austrian Oak Schwarzenegger. That show is awesome! If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. My shower that evening took a little longer than normal because I spent more time than usual flexing in the mirror.
Franky's place was nice, I ended up sleeping in the kitchen
it provided excellent access to the mean scrambled eggs and potatoes
that Franky and Bryce cooked up in the morning. Guaranteed breakfast
in bed when you wake up in the kitchen. I'm thinking that I might
just consolidate things here at my house
and drag the futon into the kitchen... or maybe the refrigerator to the
bedroom...
Sunday was Wheels on Willy. Puffer was sporting the latest in aero equipment
on his stealth steed.
The race went pretty well. We got Franky in an early break of 4. In the field, we chased down a lot of attacks, snatched up the two primes for the field, and set Puffer up for the field sprint. Puffer worked the field sprint easily and Nenninger rolled in for second on the field. Up the road, Franky had just missed the win by half a wheel and came in second overall. Andy Crater nabbed the win. He has been riding well this year and this isn't the first time that a win that we should have had has been taken from us by my man Andy.
-5000