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August is going to a busy month for me both at work and on the bike. Here is my upcoming race schedule:

• 8/4 – 8/5: Allanti RR, TT, and Crit (Leipers Fork & Nashville, TN). TN State Champ RR. [topo map]
• 8/11 – 8/12: Meridian / Cuba Challenge Crit & RR (Meridian, MS & Cuba, AL).
• 8/25 – 8/26: BMW Ominum RR, TT, & Crit (Chattanooga, TN)

This should be the final push of the season. I think there are some more races after that, but honestly I think I will be done with road bike racing by the end of August. Then there is cyclocross and maybe some trail races mixed in there…I am really ready for some cooler weather. I guess it is just the northerner in me.

Road race – Saturday AM

Lightly rolling course ended up in a field sprint. I was near the back with 5-6 miles to go and worked up some and ended up 34th in the field sprint. My new wheels performed well, I just didn’t race well.

3 laps (16 miles each)

1. time 39:31, 24.2 mph
2. time 37:59, 25.1 mph
3. time 38:42, 24.7 mph

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Time trial – Saturday PM

Legs were dead, couldn’t get much going despite a decent warm-up. Ended about 22nd out of 29 Cat IV’s that raced the race. The course was a lightly rolling 8 miles followed by a very steep 2.5 miles up to the finish. The worst part actually was going down the mountain. My rims heated up to the point that my brakes were fading, so I walked down some of the steepest pitches to avoid damaging my brakes and/or new rims.

Different sections (39×26 minimum gearing):

1. 6.1 miles, 21.8 mph, 92 rpm, 100 ft ascent (0.2%)
2. 0.9 miles, 21.5 mph, 97 rpm, 20 ft ascent (0.0%)
3. 0.5 miles, 18.7 mph, 88 rpm, 20 ft ascent (1.3%)
4. 0.5 miles, 7.0 mph, 59 rpm, 250 ft ascent (9.8%)
5. 0.5 miles, 6.1 mph, 51 rpm, 280 ft ascent (10.1%)
6. 0.7 miles, 8.2 mph, 56 rpm, 250 ft ascent (7.2%)
7. 0.8 miles , 17.7 mph, 83 rpm, 60 ft ascent (1.0%)

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Criterium – Sunday noon

This year the field stayed together. I was in control and near the front for most of the race, especially near the end. Some attacks put me at mid-field with a few to go. I was able to move up some, but still ended up 23rd out of 50 or more riders. (37:41, 15.7 miles, 25.0 mph)

—-

I am pumped after getting some race wheels. I was going to wait, but a teammate was looking to get rid of a set when he found himself with two pairs of carbon wheels.

The wheels are new Zero 038 with Tufo tubular tires mounted on them. Together they take a full 1.5# off my total bike weight over my clincher Fulcrum 5’s…. I got the weight of my bike down to 16.5#. To me it is crazy light for a 60cm bike.

Now I am ready for the hill climb…. Going down to Huntsville to race the Spring City Cyclists Club Summer Races Ominum. The weekend includes a rolling road race, a flat / hill climb TT (8 miles flat, followed by 1000 feet of up in 2.5 miles), and a 6 corner downtown crit. Race reports to follow. I can’t wait to race these wheels…it will be like getting a whole new bike again.

(more…)

This week has started the process of coming back to form. Rode some hill repeats over at Shelby Forest on Wednesday and rode the Thursday BPAC ride pretty hard. It was not a full-on ride, but it wasn’t too far off the mark. It was a very small group of 4 of us at the end. I think my rest week has done me good. My old Rolf Sestrieres did a good job coming off the hook after 5 years of disuse. I think my weight is low enough to get away with these wheels again.

The big change I am going to make the rest of the season is to change my riding pattern from one of mileage to one of shorter rides with higher intensity. I strongly believe that my lack-luster racing and even riding lately was directly a result of this. All these miles served as a sort of base (since I did not ride more than a couple times November to late January). It also got my weight down. My weight is so close to my target that I will achieve it without even trying, so I won’t pour on the mileage.

Things are coming together after a rest week. Oddly enough, I actually did not take a single day off last week, but the intensity was much lower. My weight has also reached a new low, busting through the 170# floor for the first time in years. (I reached 163# or so in 2001.)

This might seem obsessive, to track weight, but I am well beyond caring. Here are my trends for the past two years or so to show my weight swings which primarily are due to travel, etc. I recently had my body fat composition measured at 12-13%, so I have a little bit to lose yet, but I don’t expect to get down below 165 lbs. this year which is down around 9% assuming not much change in lean body mass.

My legs feel ready for some work. Tonight the rains came and I missed out on the first planned test, the RB’s Tuesday night ride. I plan to ride some hills tomorrow to see how I am doing with my fresh legs and lower weight. My next race in a 1-1/2 weeks is the now hilly Huntsville RR and combi TT / hill climb. In preparation, I plan to try out my old race wheels (Rolf Sestrieres). They are a good bit lighter than my usual wheels. I really need to get some carbon fiber deep dish tubular rims….those would be perfect for the 8 mile flat TT and 2-3 mile climb at the end of the time trial in Huntsville. I will just have to race what I have.

It has been only 6 days since I have ridden hard, but man it is about killing me. Rides on Wednesday, Friday, and today all featured long stretches at 100-120 bpm. I probably will start to ramp up my riding intensity this week by mid-week since my next race is now < 2 week away.

I think thing will come together for me after this break, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. I would say that I am enjoying riding my bike, but truth be told, I like to ride fast. Don’t we all?

The Tour has started and the Weekly World Championship mentality will reign supreme at parking-lot rides all over. July seems to turn everyone up three notches.

My recovery week (or two) marches on. I have not been 100% faithful to this idea, but I have managed to stay out of the red zone. I have only ridden a twice since the race weekend, both of which were subdued. What has not been so good (for recovery purposes) is the running.

Twice this week, I have hit the trails to run with my road teammate Andrea, who readily shows me up on the trail. I have met her to run both times at Shelby Farms and I am basically reduced to trying to keep up. She thinks she can turn me into a trail runner…that I am not so sure about. 50k, on a trail? What for? I might give it a try after the road season, but nothing that long probably. I have good memories of high school cross, but those were only 5k! I think I will continue to mix in running in the second half of the season for some more variety and save some time. I have used road running in the past to good effect, but trial running is proving to be more interesting.
1-1/2 weeks to Huntsville…the promoters changed this race from a flat road race / time trial to something a bit bumpier. At least my favorite crit remains unchanged.

This crit started out like most of them (for me lately). I did get a first row start spot this time. Nevertheless, as usual the first 2-3 laps are usually an exercise in hanging on, getting gapped, and then time trialing back to the field. By the 3rd or 4th lap, I was settled into the field and generally was able to move up in the field (although not completely at will like I would like). Generally, the field stayed together, we couldn’t have lost more than a couple riders during the race.

Aaron:

Ryan (me):

Bryan:

This crit played out like a lot of flat and open courses: field sprint. Teammates Bryan, Aaron, and myself were scattered about in the field going into the final corner. Bryan was up ahead and Aaron was right in front of me going into the last corner. About mid-way through the last corner, Aaron must have hit a manhole cover and washed out going down hard in front of me. He was in my arc and I just managed to avoid running into him. By then (I had to brake to avoid), the sprint was over and I just rode in to finish. After finishing, I rode back to see how he was. It wasn’t clear immediately, but it looks like he fractured his clavicle after going down hard on his right shoulder. He also got some road rash on the same plus the hip.

I don’t have much in the way of results for the crit or for the ominum. For me, I was well back in all events (31st RR, 23rd TT, 30?th Crit) and generally need a break. I will probably try to run some and do some lighter duty riding (or at least try to). My next race is 3 weeks out (Huntsville), so I can afford to take a rest week or two to allow me to finish the season strong. If I keep going, I will continue to get worse.

Andrea did well (she thought) to win the women’s Cat 4 road race, time trial, and then the crit. In a strange reversal, the officials recombined the Womens 123 with the Women 4 race. For the TT and Crit it was somewhat plausible, but in the RR they had the Cat 4 women run 4 laps instead of 5 for the 123 women. For what was winning her RR, she was put to 4th in the combined field (who didn’t really race the same race). Obviously she was less than happy at first, but the stack of prize envelopes might have distracted her from it.

David:

Andrea:

I will have to update when I find out more about the final results.

Photos:

• Photographer-Ryan: Women – Master 50/60 – Junior race [photos]
• Photographer-Andrea: Men’s Cat 4 [photos]