Wow, it's been quite some time. I have neglected my posting for "higher education" and "more important" endeavors. Not sure I agree with all those terms. I really miss racing right now and writing about the great times I had. Since I originally said this blog would be about my racing and my schooling, I guess I need to include some posts about graduate school.
Far too many things have occurred since my last post and the beginning of semester to attempt to summarize the trip it has been, but I can say it has been busy and very informative. Just this afternoon I had my hands in a man's chest and cut out both of his lungs. Yes, we are doing cadaver dissections in my gross anatomy class. That class is where 78% of my attention and studying has been going over the semester. I have done exceptionally well so far. Well, except for the most recent test. Not a great showing for me, but it will do. My dissection group is great. Thankfully, it consists of three amiable girls that let me do all of the fun, nasty parts of dissection. It also means that we have great gossip around the tank and get to discuss who looked super cute that day in class. We started on Bobley and then moved to Betty Sue. Betty Sue is textbook perfect and was a great time. Tina was not as easy to handle, but we ended up with a very easy dissection for her. Now wrapping the semester up I got to use the bone saw last Friday to cut through ribs, sternum, and the clavicle to reflect the thoracic cage. Lab has been an amazing tool to help me understand the body and get a very firm grasp on muscles, nerves, vessels, fiber orientation, fascia, and of course subcutaneous fat. My mental visualization of muscles in people and the workings of their skeletal system is at such a higher level now.
Occasionally, we have to leave lab and learn other subjects. We've learned how to walk with crutches, do wheelies in wheelchairs, and how to do posture assessments. I learned how to do a back tuck for professional communication and I mastered how to make a powerpoint for evidence based practice. In kinesiology, I've learned that TR (a.k.a. Trent Richardson) can squat 600 and bench 450. My teacher still wants to be him when he grows up.
I've taken the things I've learned in the classroom to my everyday life too. Trying to be more like TR to ensure an A in Kinese, I started uping my weights when I do squats. I've been trying to hit the gym every Tuesday and Thursday morning. I've been making some progress now that I'm really trying. Last week I did 20 reps of 315, 15 reps of 405, 14 reps of 455, 20 reps of 315, and then 25 reps of 315. Then I went upstairs and busted out 100 lunges with 25 pound dumbbells. Watch out TR; I'm coming.
I applied the anatomy of the hand in my most recent set of injuries. I've come up with the diagnosis of a torn posterior joint capsule of the first MCP. I finally got into the doctor so I can get a referral to the hand surgeon and see what he says. Radiographs from this visit pretty much confirmed my suspicion and also showed a subluxation of the first CMC joint and a possible dislocation of the capitate bone. Should be a really fun office visit next week.
I did manage to have a little fun the past two weekends. I went fly fishing with the school (we saw a whooping 0 fish the entire trip) and went camping with some classmates. This has been the extent of my outdoor excursions since I have not been biking in such a long time. It's hard to go when I'm so tired once I finally get home from school everyday and the weekends have just been occupied with other things. It's an insult to my bikes to be neglecting them like this. I must do better.
Quite a few of us have also picked up rock climbing. We've spent several afternoons taking study breaks at the bouldering wall in the student rec center. It's a fun sport that is pretty challenging. It's always good to be humbled by a 110 lb girl that scales the wall you've been working on for 20 minutes.
All in all life is passing. The sun rises and the sun sets. I'm trying to make the most of it and include as much as I can in every day. I don't always succeed, but that's what tomorrow is for. Like I said, too much has happened to include it all, but that's what I got so far.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Some Spare Time
I haven't had as much time to ride as I would like since school has started. I hadn't ridden at all in a week and a half and it had been 2 weeks since I had ridden hard when I went for a nice Sunday stroll a week ago. The temperature was great and it was awesome exploring east Tennessee. I ventured through Georgia to get to an area I've biked previously. When I came to the "familiar" turn signalling the escape from traffic, I didn't recognize the place. I have ridden this route several times last year when I was preparing for Ironman Louisville. When I got to the T intersection, it looked completely different. The area was still devastated from the tornado that struck this past April. Fields were cleared and tree tops stripped, houses mangled and new ones under construction. It was strange to see so many things still destroyed and the lack of progress that has been made over the past few months. It was sad. Not nearly as bad as the places I saw in Alabama though.
The ride went well though. I turned around at a small church where I got water from a well. The cows were mooing really loudly too and I think they were talking to the cows in the pasture across the street. The sun was starting to go down and my legs were getting really tired. I kept pushing on to make it back home. My legs began cramping and the pain grew stronger. I was so happy when I finally made it home. I laid down in the floor under the fan while my legs still throbbed. They felt like they were still cramping as I got up and got into the shower. The pain lingered. It was as if my body couldn't flush the lactic acid out of my legs. I laid in the tub for a while and the painful sensation finally left about thirty minutes after the ride ended. It was a weird phenomenon that I can't recall ever having experienced. I think that means it was a good ride though.
I didn't get back out on the road again until yesterday. It was a scrambled ride. I had planned on getting up early Saturday morning and getting a good ride in. Even after my 3.5 hour nap on Friday after school, I slept for 10.5 hours Friday night. I ended up not getting on the bike until almost 1 so the ride was going to have to be shorter than I wanted. It was really nice weather though and I was determined to enjoy a nice ride before settling in to watch Tennessee play Florida.
The first cool thing that happened was the staring contest I had with a beaver on East Brainerd. He was right at the edge of the road and it surprised me at how close we were. I couldn't believe how calm he was. When I finally broke my gaze and turned back to the road, I had already run off the first two layers of the shoulder. I stayed calm, went all the way off the road and managed to get back on it with the bike still upright and no flats. Winning.
Later, I found a different road that takes me into Georgia for some good riding. I plan to make several trips back to this area. I also found an arena that has barrel racing ever first Saturday of the month with free admission. I know what I'll be doing October 1st. I'll fit in wearing my cowboy boots, wrangler jeans, chewing Redman, and pounding a 6-pack of PBR tallboys. It's going to be a good time at the Heartland Ranch. Soon after this I found an entrance to a neighborhood off this main road that has the steepest incline I've ridden in quite some time. I tried attacking it and it kicked my butt. I barely made it up and then was still out of breath the whole way back down. All in all it was a good ride. Too bad Tennessee didn't win later on in the day. That would have made it great.
The ride went well though. I turned around at a small church where I got water from a well. The cows were mooing really loudly too and I think they were talking to the cows in the pasture across the street. The sun was starting to go down and my legs were getting really tired. I kept pushing on to make it back home. My legs began cramping and the pain grew stronger. I was so happy when I finally made it home. I laid down in the floor under the fan while my legs still throbbed. They felt like they were still cramping as I got up and got into the shower. The pain lingered. It was as if my body couldn't flush the lactic acid out of my legs. I laid in the tub for a while and the painful sensation finally left about thirty minutes after the ride ended. It was a weird phenomenon that I can't recall ever having experienced. I think that means it was a good ride though.
I didn't get back out on the road again until yesterday. It was a scrambled ride. I had planned on getting up early Saturday morning and getting a good ride in. Even after my 3.5 hour nap on Friday after school, I slept for 10.5 hours Friday night. I ended up not getting on the bike until almost 1 so the ride was going to have to be shorter than I wanted. It was really nice weather though and I was determined to enjoy a nice ride before settling in to watch Tennessee play Florida.
The first cool thing that happened was the staring contest I had with a beaver on East Brainerd. He was right at the edge of the road and it surprised me at how close we were. I couldn't believe how calm he was. When I finally broke my gaze and turned back to the road, I had already run off the first two layers of the shoulder. I stayed calm, went all the way off the road and managed to get back on it with the bike still upright and no flats. Winning.
Later, I found a different road that takes me into Georgia for some good riding. I plan to make several trips back to this area. I also found an arena that has barrel racing ever first Saturday of the month with free admission. I know what I'll be doing October 1st. I'll fit in wearing my cowboy boots, wrangler jeans, chewing Redman, and pounding a 6-pack of PBR tallboys. It's going to be a good time at the Heartland Ranch. Soon after this I found an entrance to a neighborhood off this main road that has the steepest incline I've ridden in quite some time. I tried attacking it and it kicked my butt. I barely made it up and then was still out of breath the whole way back down. All in all it was a good ride. Too bad Tennessee didn't win later on in the day. That would have made it great.
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| The passageway to Georgia |
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| The hill of death |
Monday, September 5, 2011
Race Report: River Gorge Omnium
What a weekend it was. Obviously, the highlight of the weekend was my crit win, but other exciting parts included catching my 30 sec guy in the time trial, my left crank arm ripping out of the bottom bracket of my TT bike, the 22 year-old stud that solo'ed off the front and won the Pro/1/2 race, and the brief time that I lead the cat 4 road race leading up to the Raccoon Mountain climb.
Saturday morning I headed up to the TT start on top of Raccoon mountain. Quickly grabbing a parking spot, I set up my trainer and got about 8 minutes of warm-up. Not exactly ideal, but I got a little distracted talking to some other guys and did not have as much time as I though I was going to. Thankfully, I made it to the start line on time and took off as planned. The first few corners didn't seem as bad as they were during the pre-ride. It might have been because I was used to the stiffness in the wheels by this point or the wind might not have been blowing as much. I was feeling good until I really got into the little climb before mile 2. I was right on my 30 second guy at this point, but the poor performance here kept me from catching him until almost the very end. Being pretty winded from the climb, it took me a bit to gear back up on top and start my descent. I didn't hit 47 mph like I did in my pre-ride. I stayed steady over the dam and then was ready to push once I made the right hand turn. I felt really good making the right hand turn and heading for the finish. Once I got to the curves I caught my guy and passed on the inside. After I crossed the line, I checked the clock and it was just after 8:50. Pretty good since I was expecting to go around 9:10 to 9:20 for the four mile time trial. My trip back to the car was not as pleasant. This is where my crank arm fell off. I knew it was loose and coming off, but I was hoping to make it back to the car where I could find some tools to tighten it down. Well, when I got to the first incline to ripped out and jacked up the drive side crank arm. I haven't been able to get it completely off yet, but I'm thinking I crushed the bearing, broke the c-clip and will need a whole new bottom bracket. Oh well.
So I came back home and switched wheels and brake pads to get ready for the crit race later that evening. I must say, I think the Tarmac looked awesome with the 808's on it. I, on the other hand, was quite nervous. The crit was going to be a field of 84 guys racing around a .8 mile loop in downtown Chattanooga. I had never ridden with a field this big let alone race in one. I lined up middle of the pack and was determined to do my best. I was told that the field would probably go really hard the first 5 to 6 laps and then back down. They did. It was fun zipping around the corners at such high speeds so close to each. Fun here equals exciting, daring, and dangerous. There was one crash behind me, I could hear the carnage but didn't see it until the next lap around. I did rub wheels with someone. I did get shoulder bumped and helmet tapped. I did get yelled at for my cornering at one point. Screw that guy. Anyway, I tried to go off the front for one of the primes and realized that was a bad idea before even half way through the lap. So at this point I decided to not try going for any of those and just focus on positioning for the finish and saving my legs for that. Coming around one lap to go I was still sitting nicely in the front of the group, probably about 12 to 15 riders back. We made the turn to the slight uphill and I jumped up a couple riders and moved to the outside. We began to take the slight left hand bend and I'm not sure if I was speeding up or if the field was slowing down, but I quickly found myself at the front of the group on the inside. About 25 meters later, I crossed through and intersection and expected to see the field right on my wheel. They were not. At this point I knew I had to go for. I cranked down and headed for corner four fast. I took it wide and barely braked. I ended up almost in the opposite side gutter once I came out of the corner. Before I could even really get the bike under control, I stood up to start my sprint. The bike was flying all over the place and I still don't know exactly how I made it all come together so perfectly. Cresting the slight rise in the finish chute, I looked back and the field was way down the road. I turned back and gave a few more sprints and checked again. I was about to win. It was awesome. I threw my hands up and enjoyed the moment across the line with the field quickly closing in. Once again, it was AWESOME. As I settled down, I began to get passed by other riders as I was taking my cool down lap. Talk about building up an oxygen debt. I was sucking for air so hard and it took about the whole lap to just get my breathing back. I then stopped and hugged all my friends that had come to watch including my mom. First cat 4 crit was a huge success.
I wish I could say the same thing for the road race on Sunday, but I am not a climber. Why did I enter the only two races in Tennessee that have climbing in them then? I have no idea. Maybe I'll plan my races better next year. I can say I did stay with the lead group the whole way and did make a jump on the descent into Raccoon Mountain hoping to go off the front and start the climb by myself. I went a little too early and didn't reach the speeds I anticipated. Therefore, I started the climb with the pack and quickly went to the back. I was getting in my groove and then started picking a bunch of people off that had obviously started too hard. Ended up finishing 28th for the road race which got me 4th place overall for the omnium. Not a bad showing.
Overall results can be found as links underneath the race information here
Here is a video of the part of the finish. I guess I sat up to celebrate a little sooner than I thought. You can just see me sit up and throw my hands to the helmet.
I guess I wasn't as close to the front as I thought I was during most of the race.
Saturday morning I headed up to the TT start on top of Raccoon mountain. Quickly grabbing a parking spot, I set up my trainer and got about 8 minutes of warm-up. Not exactly ideal, but I got a little distracted talking to some other guys and did not have as much time as I though I was going to. Thankfully, I made it to the start line on time and took off as planned. The first few corners didn't seem as bad as they were during the pre-ride. It might have been because I was used to the stiffness in the wheels by this point or the wind might not have been blowing as much. I was feeling good until I really got into the little climb before mile 2. I was right on my 30 second guy at this point, but the poor performance here kept me from catching him until almost the very end. Being pretty winded from the climb, it took me a bit to gear back up on top and start my descent. I didn't hit 47 mph like I did in my pre-ride. I stayed steady over the dam and then was ready to push once I made the right hand turn. I felt really good making the right hand turn and heading for the finish. Once I got to the curves I caught my guy and passed on the inside. After I crossed the line, I checked the clock and it was just after 8:50. Pretty good since I was expecting to go around 9:10 to 9:20 for the four mile time trial. My trip back to the car was not as pleasant. This is where my crank arm fell off. I knew it was loose and coming off, but I was hoping to make it back to the car where I could find some tools to tighten it down. Well, when I got to the first incline to ripped out and jacked up the drive side crank arm. I haven't been able to get it completely off yet, but I'm thinking I crushed the bearing, broke the c-clip and will need a whole new bottom bracket. Oh well.
So I came back home and switched wheels and brake pads to get ready for the crit race later that evening. I must say, I think the Tarmac looked awesome with the 808's on it. I, on the other hand, was quite nervous. The crit was going to be a field of 84 guys racing around a .8 mile loop in downtown Chattanooga. I had never ridden with a field this big let alone race in one. I lined up middle of the pack and was determined to do my best. I was told that the field would probably go really hard the first 5 to 6 laps and then back down. They did. It was fun zipping around the corners at such high speeds so close to each. Fun here equals exciting, daring, and dangerous. There was one crash behind me, I could hear the carnage but didn't see it until the next lap around. I did rub wheels with someone. I did get shoulder bumped and helmet tapped. I did get yelled at for my cornering at one point. Screw that guy. Anyway, I tried to go off the front for one of the primes and realized that was a bad idea before even half way through the lap. So at this point I decided to not try going for any of those and just focus on positioning for the finish and saving my legs for that. Coming around one lap to go I was still sitting nicely in the front of the group, probably about 12 to 15 riders back. We made the turn to the slight uphill and I jumped up a couple riders and moved to the outside. We began to take the slight left hand bend and I'm not sure if I was speeding up or if the field was slowing down, but I quickly found myself at the front of the group on the inside. About 25 meters later, I crossed through and intersection and expected to see the field right on my wheel. They were not. At this point I knew I had to go for. I cranked down and headed for corner four fast. I took it wide and barely braked. I ended up almost in the opposite side gutter once I came out of the corner. Before I could even really get the bike under control, I stood up to start my sprint. The bike was flying all over the place and I still don't know exactly how I made it all come together so perfectly. Cresting the slight rise in the finish chute, I looked back and the field was way down the road. I turned back and gave a few more sprints and checked again. I was about to win. It was awesome. I threw my hands up and enjoyed the moment across the line with the field quickly closing in. Once again, it was AWESOME. As I settled down, I began to get passed by other riders as I was taking my cool down lap. Talk about building up an oxygen debt. I was sucking for air so hard and it took about the whole lap to just get my breathing back. I then stopped and hugged all my friends that had come to watch including my mom. First cat 4 crit was a huge success.
I wish I could say the same thing for the road race on Sunday, but I am not a climber. Why did I enter the only two races in Tennessee that have climbing in them then? I have no idea. Maybe I'll plan my races better next year. I can say I did stay with the lead group the whole way and did make a jump on the descent into Raccoon Mountain hoping to go off the front and start the climb by myself. I went a little too early and didn't reach the speeds I anticipated. Therefore, I started the climb with the pack and quickly went to the back. I was getting in my groove and then started picking a bunch of people off that had obviously started too hard. Ended up finishing 28th for the road race which got me 4th place overall for the omnium. Not a bad showing.
Overall results can be found as links underneath the race information here
Here is a video of the part of the finish. I guess I sat up to celebrate a little sooner than I thought. You can just see me sit up and throw my hands to the helmet.
I guess I wasn't as close to the front as I thought I was during most of the race.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Take Two
It was a great first Friday in Chattanooga. After orientation was over, I met up with my best friend Brandon Wright and took another spin on the River Gorge road course. The course didn't seem nearly as hard or long as it did on Wednesday. Not sure if it was just because I had seen it once now or if my legs were shot from my 4 hours in Memphis on Monday. The climbs passed a lot easier and I knew where to get water this time. On the steep descent into Raccoon mountain, I was able to hit 53.5 mph this time. That's pretty close to my all time high speed I set back in 2007 in Colorado. It sure is fun descending these mountains. I also managed to make the last climb to the finish in 21:30. That's the cat 3 and the cat 5 climb to the lookout. I wasn't killing myself, but I wasn't taking it easy. Hopefully that bodes well for next Sunday's race.
I did run into some mechanical issues though. For some reason my Sram Red front shifter has been freezing up. It doesn't seem to be catching and gets stuck in the big ring. This happened twice and after enough fiddling with it and pushing on it I got it to drop back down. If that happens in the race and I have to do some of those climbs in the big ring it sure will hurt. Let's hope things go smoothly.
Now it's back to preparing for the first week of classes. The physical therapy department has already put the fear of God in us here and it's kinda unnerving. On top of the regular classes I have to prepare for, I am having to study 22 chapters of medical terminology. I never took a course in undergrad, so now they are giving us the option to clep out of it by taking the final exam this upcoming Friday. I finally found the book online yesterday and started going through some it. It's going to be one heck of a week. I really hope I don't start out behind, but I also really hope I don't have to add another 3 hour undergraduate course in the spring because I fail this final exam.
So, I might not be able to get as much playing done here as I thought I would be able to. Kinda disappointing. I thought I was coming here to bike and learn how to climb...
I did run into some mechanical issues though. For some reason my Sram Red front shifter has been freezing up. It doesn't seem to be catching and gets stuck in the big ring. This happened twice and after enough fiddling with it and pushing on it I got it to drop back down. If that happens in the race and I have to do some of those climbs in the big ring it sure will hurt. Let's hope things go smoothly.
Now it's back to preparing for the first week of classes. The physical therapy department has already put the fear of God in us here and it's kinda unnerving. On top of the regular classes I have to prepare for, I am having to study 22 chapters of medical terminology. I never took a course in undergrad, so now they are giving us the option to clep out of it by taking the final exam this upcoming Friday. I finally found the book online yesterday and started going through some it. It's going to be one heck of a week. I really hope I don't start out behind, but I also really hope I don't have to add another 3 hour undergraduate course in the spring because I fail this final exam.
So, I might not be able to get as much playing done here as I thought I would be able to. Kinda disappointing. I thought I was coming here to bike and learn how to climb...
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| East Overlook on Raccoon; R.G. RR finish |
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| Views from the visitor center on Raccoon |
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Finally In Chattanooga
Well, I finally made it to Chattanooga. This will be home for at least the next three years. I plan on making it awesome and really taking advantage of everything that there is to offer in the surrounding area. Today, I road the River Gorge road race course. This was my first full day here and I don't know all the roads very well, but I don't have very many free days to do a ride like this. It was a lot more climbing than I expected. I haven't climbed like that since Fall of 2007 when I was in Colorado. I think I left my climbing skills out there too. The mountains kicked my butt today. The ride included five category 5 climbs and two category 3 climbs. It also included the climb that I did on the steep slopes of Brow road which wasn't part of the course and the category 5 climb in the TT course. In between climbs four and five a wasp landed on my shorts and stung me. That sucked. Almost as bad as not being able to find water and having to deal with some really hot water from the back of a run down hotel.
The ride did take me on a nice tour of the country side. I went to Georgia and did some miles there before heading back to Nickajack lake and riding along the river for a while. Then I headed into Raccoon mountain. The descent to the base was thrilling. I topped out at 50.2 mph. It felt great. BUT, then I had to start the cat 3 climb back up out of the valley. It was long and arduous on my tired legs. I saw a snake sliding down a concrete ditch at one point. It's that steep. After I made it to the top I had to keep going to find some more water before I could try to make it back to my car. Thankfully, I found someone that was practicing the TT course and asked him how to quickly get back to my car and where to get water. The descent back to the car was pretty fun too. The road was narrower and not as smooth so I couldn't risk as much as I had done before, but I was still cruising at 43 to 46 mph. Fun stuff.
I haven't had a ride that I sweated so much and had so much salt deposits on me. My new helmet had huge salt crystals on the straps from my head sweat. My sunglasses had a gooey film around the edges made of salt and sweat. My shorts and jersey both had big white rings on salty sweat deposits. It was a hot day. I hope the race is not as hot. I also hope there isn't a break because I know I won't be able to go with them. I only hope to score points in the road race. This omnium is definitely a climbing race and I am not a climber. I'll give it my best though and hope for great finishes in the TT and crit.
Here is the map of the course: hardest 40 mile race
The ride did take me on a nice tour of the country side. I went to Georgia and did some miles there before heading back to Nickajack lake and riding along the river for a while. Then I headed into Raccoon mountain. The descent to the base was thrilling. I topped out at 50.2 mph. It felt great. BUT, then I had to start the cat 3 climb back up out of the valley. It was long and arduous on my tired legs. I saw a snake sliding down a concrete ditch at one point. It's that steep. After I made it to the top I had to keep going to find some more water before I could try to make it back to my car. Thankfully, I found someone that was practicing the TT course and asked him how to quickly get back to my car and where to get water. The descent back to the car was pretty fun too. The road was narrower and not as smooth so I couldn't risk as much as I had done before, but I was still cruising at 43 to 46 mph. Fun stuff.
I haven't had a ride that I sweated so much and had so much salt deposits on me. My new helmet had huge salt crystals on the straps from my head sweat. My sunglasses had a gooey film around the edges made of salt and sweat. My shorts and jersey both had big white rings on salty sweat deposits. It was a hot day. I hope the race is not as hot. I also hope there isn't a break because I know I won't be able to go with them. I only hope to score points in the road race. This omnium is definitely a climbing race and I am not a climber. I'll give it my best though and hope for great finishes in the TT and crit.
Here is the map of the course: hardest 40 mile race
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| Entering Raccoon Mountain |
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| Last bit of the Cat 3 climb to Raccoon Mountain |
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| Head Sweat |
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Race Report: Oak Ridge Velo Omnium
Well, I confirmed my suspicions; I can descend, TT, and sprint. My climbing on the other hand is quite deficient. This past weekend I raced my first serious road race. All in all it was pretty fun.
I got 9th in the road race. I didn't expect the front of the pack to attack so hard on the first climb and especially didn't expect them to stay away the whole race. I paced myself and started picking off some of the people that started to hard on the early slopes. I blasted down the other side in hopes of catching back onto the group: no luck. Only me and one other guy were willing to work with the group and to try to pull back some time. I yoyo'ed a few times when we hit a few different hills, but consistently got back on. Approaching the finish, I was with two other guys. We had been together for a while and just recently dropped 3 or 4 more guys. I could see two more guys working together about 100 meters in front of us. I wanted us to catch them, but it didn't look promising, no one was wanting to pull this close to the finish. The last one kilometer was a climb to the line and I started putting in some effort at the bottom of the slopes. I looked back and the other two riders were gone. I broke them. I now turned my focus onto the two guys in front. It was going to be hard to bring them back. I turned it into high gear and started my sprint. One of the guys turned back and saw me approaching, he hollered to the other guy and tried to stand and sprint as well. I blew past both of them as I peaked the climb. Twenty meters of flat and I crossed the line in ninth. Come Sunday afternoon, I was very thankful I made up those four positions; the points really helped.
I wasn't really happy with my road race finish, so I was looking to do damage in the TT and gain back some confidence. I showed up right on time and was ready to suffer. As the official let go of my seatpost, I started out hard with a standing sprint. Once up to speed, I settled down into the extensions; my legs were feeling that burst of effort. I buried my head and kept going. I passed one guy, then another. I had passed three or four guys when I came screaming into the turn around. That could have gone a lot smoother and faster, but oh well. It was a fast ride; I averaged 25.6 and did the course in 18:12. It earned me second place in Cat 5 and was the third fastest time in the Cat 4's. The guy that won the TT for Cat 5 beat me by 12 seconds. Supposedly, he is pretty good and solo'd off the front of the road race for the victory. Third place in the TT was over 30 seconds back from me. I felt pretty good about my performance.
Sunday morning was the crit. The one part of the race that I was actually pretty nervous about. I've heard horror stories of Cat 5 crit's and didn't know how it was going to go. I didn't know if there would be crashes, breaks, or if I would be able to hold on. Fortunately, there were no breaks and the laps went by pretty smoothly. A few people attacked, but the were countered quickly. We played the hesitating/"no one wants to pull so let's swerve all over the road" game a few times when we hit the head wind coming down the finishing straight. Nevertheless, I was feeling good as we circled around and Frank rang the bell signalling one lap to go. Since it was the last lap, I figured I should go ahead and shift into the big ring. I had been riding the whole race in the 39 tooth: higher reps and saving my legs for the upcoming sprint. I had been focusing on number 516's wheel since he was currently leading the omnium with me in second place. Not sure where he went to in the last straightaway though because as we entered corner 3 I was sitting in third place. The two riders in front of me bumped elbows and heads. I saw the younger guy on the outside fly over the curb, through the grass, and into a parking lot. A short incline and I was coming through corner 4 in second place. Once we were soundly on the straightaway about 60 meters out from the finish line, I launched my sprint and buried my head. Approaching the line, I looked back to see the gap. I had opened up about four to five bike lengths on second place, so I sat up and cruised through the finish line. I won!
With that finish, I clinched the omnium win, won $125 dollars, and got upgraded to Cat 4 ahead of schedule. Pretty awesome day. I was pretty pumped and pleased with myself for such a good finish and smart racing in the crit. I am excited for the upcoming races in Chattanooga now. Riding Cat 4 will give me a shot at prize money for each discipline. This will make things more interesting and give me more competition.
Bring it on.
I got 9th in the road race. I didn't expect the front of the pack to attack so hard on the first climb and especially didn't expect them to stay away the whole race. I paced myself and started picking off some of the people that started to hard on the early slopes. I blasted down the other side in hopes of catching back onto the group: no luck. Only me and one other guy were willing to work with the group and to try to pull back some time. I yoyo'ed a few times when we hit a few different hills, but consistently got back on. Approaching the finish, I was with two other guys. We had been together for a while and just recently dropped 3 or 4 more guys. I could see two more guys working together about 100 meters in front of us. I wanted us to catch them, but it didn't look promising, no one was wanting to pull this close to the finish. The last one kilometer was a climb to the line and I started putting in some effort at the bottom of the slopes. I looked back and the other two riders were gone. I broke them. I now turned my focus onto the two guys in front. It was going to be hard to bring them back. I turned it into high gear and started my sprint. One of the guys turned back and saw me approaching, he hollered to the other guy and tried to stand and sprint as well. I blew past both of them as I peaked the climb. Twenty meters of flat and I crossed the line in ninth. Come Sunday afternoon, I was very thankful I made up those four positions; the points really helped.
I wasn't really happy with my road race finish, so I was looking to do damage in the TT and gain back some confidence. I showed up right on time and was ready to suffer. As the official let go of my seatpost, I started out hard with a standing sprint. Once up to speed, I settled down into the extensions; my legs were feeling that burst of effort. I buried my head and kept going. I passed one guy, then another. I had passed three or four guys when I came screaming into the turn around. That could have gone a lot smoother and faster, but oh well. It was a fast ride; I averaged 25.6 and did the course in 18:12. It earned me second place in Cat 5 and was the third fastest time in the Cat 4's. The guy that won the TT for Cat 5 beat me by 12 seconds. Supposedly, he is pretty good and solo'd off the front of the road race for the victory. Third place in the TT was over 30 seconds back from me. I felt pretty good about my performance.
Sunday morning was the crit. The one part of the race that I was actually pretty nervous about. I've heard horror stories of Cat 5 crit's and didn't know how it was going to go. I didn't know if there would be crashes, breaks, or if I would be able to hold on. Fortunately, there were no breaks and the laps went by pretty smoothly. A few people attacked, but the were countered quickly. We played the hesitating/"no one wants to pull so let's swerve all over the road" game a few times when we hit the head wind coming down the finishing straight. Nevertheless, I was feeling good as we circled around and Frank rang the bell signalling one lap to go. Since it was the last lap, I figured I should go ahead and shift into the big ring. I had been riding the whole race in the 39 tooth: higher reps and saving my legs for the upcoming sprint. I had been focusing on number 516's wheel since he was currently leading the omnium with me in second place. Not sure where he went to in the last straightaway though because as we entered corner 3 I was sitting in third place. The two riders in front of me bumped elbows and heads. I saw the younger guy on the outside fly over the curb, through the grass, and into a parking lot. A short incline and I was coming through corner 4 in second place. Once we were soundly on the straightaway about 60 meters out from the finish line, I launched my sprint and buried my head. Approaching the line, I looked back to see the gap. I had opened up about four to five bike lengths on second place, so I sat up and cruised through the finish line. I won!
With that finish, I clinched the omnium win, won $125 dollars, and got upgraded to Cat 4 ahead of schedule. Pretty awesome day. I was pretty pumped and pleased with myself for such a good finish and smart racing in the crit. I am excited for the upcoming races in Chattanooga now. Riding Cat 4 will give me a shot at prize money for each discipline. This will make things more interesting and give me more competition.
Bring it on.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Old Hickory Classic MTB Race
What a great weekend of racing. The course at Lock 4 is so fast and fun: several rock drops, switchbacks, amazing single track, burbs, and a few jumps. It's quite a thrill. I knew after the Lock 4 Blast triathlon that I was definitely going back to do this mountain bike race, and it lived up to my expectations.
Saturday, we did a 2.4 mile time trial. I won the CAT 2 men's category with a 9:26. I would have gotten third if I had been racing CAT 1. I probably would have had a faster time too if I hadn't dropped my chain on the start line. I still have a cut and bruise from where my right calf smacked the big chainring. Oh well, it didn't take too much time to get it back on and get to racing.
Later that afternoon, we came back to the park to do the short track race. A .75 mile loop around the end of the peninsula with lots of turns and climbs. It was fun and I quickly jumped out on the front. I kept building my lead the rest of the race. After 20 minutes and my third lap, the race was over. I took home the gold medal again. Under pressure from the race director and Craig Evans, I was contemplating trying to ride with the CAT 1 guys. They had already given me a hard time about racing CAT 2 and both thought I could hang with the CAT 1 guys. I didn't think the USAC official would let me CAT up that quickly with this being only my second mtb race, but in between the end of the CAT 2 ST and the beginning of the CAT 1 ST, I CAT'ed up and was now racing CAT 1. I jumped back in the field and was ready to race another short track race. Only about 15 to 20 minutes of rest and no calories in between, I knew it was going to be tough. The race started out quick and I was surprised with my position. I was sitting third for the first two laps right behind pro Craig Evans. I even asked him what he was doing at one point, because I knew he should be way out in front. He was looking for Omar who was having shifting problems and took off quickly after he figured out what was going on. I held on for what I could having already raced all out for 27 minutes. Going into the second to last lap, a guy passed me. Halfway through the last lap, I hollered to some other racers on the sideline to watch this: I told them I was about to pass him back. Coming into the last bend I sprinted past the Biker's Choice guy. We took the 180 degree turn hard and I was back up out of the saddle giving it all I had. I beat him. Sprint finish. That gave me 6th in the CAT 1 open ST race. Just missed the money in 5th place. That would have been cool.
Sunday morning, we headed back out to the park for the main event: the cross country race. Now racing CAT 1, I was set to ride 3 laps totaling 27 miles. The race was going great. I have never railed corners so fast and hit burbs with so much momentum. They say the yellow jersey in the tour makes a man ride like a beast and like two men. Well, racing CAT 1, I was riding like a beast. I don't remember any time when I have ever raced that smoothly or fast. I was having a great time.......and then....I took the jump at the end of lap two and burped my rear wheel on some rocks. I tried to keep riding it, but it was getting lower. I was sliding and hitting the rim. I had to stop to fix it. The CO2 cartridge wouldn't work with my air chuck. Not sure what was wrong, but no air would come out. I had to run and walk it out as I was getting passed by all my other competitors. That sucked. Once I broke back out of the woods, the official confirmed what I had suspected. I can't take any assistance, so my race was over. I was somewhere around 3rd or 4th in the Men Cat 1 15-29. I was set to podium and make some money. Things just didn't work out. It sucks. That's the second xc race that I've had trouble finishing properly. Oh well, looking for more races to do now that I had to buy an annual license to be Cat 1. Haven't found much so if you know of anything let me know. I'll be in the Chattanooga area by the middle of August so NC, SC, GA, AL, and TN races are welcome.
The results page
Saturday, we did a 2.4 mile time trial. I won the CAT 2 men's category with a 9:26. I would have gotten third if I had been racing CAT 1. I probably would have had a faster time too if I hadn't dropped my chain on the start line. I still have a cut and bruise from where my right calf smacked the big chainring. Oh well, it didn't take too much time to get it back on and get to racing.
Later that afternoon, we came back to the park to do the short track race. A .75 mile loop around the end of the peninsula with lots of turns and climbs. It was fun and I quickly jumped out on the front. I kept building my lead the rest of the race. After 20 minutes and my third lap, the race was over. I took home the gold medal again. Under pressure from the race director and Craig Evans, I was contemplating trying to ride with the CAT 1 guys. They had already given me a hard time about racing CAT 2 and both thought I could hang with the CAT 1 guys. I didn't think the USAC official would let me CAT up that quickly with this being only my second mtb race, but in between the end of the CAT 2 ST and the beginning of the CAT 1 ST, I CAT'ed up and was now racing CAT 1. I jumped back in the field and was ready to race another short track race. Only about 15 to 20 minutes of rest and no calories in between, I knew it was going to be tough. The race started out quick and I was surprised with my position. I was sitting third for the first two laps right behind pro Craig Evans. I even asked him what he was doing at one point, because I knew he should be way out in front. He was looking for Omar who was having shifting problems and took off quickly after he figured out what was going on. I held on for what I could having already raced all out for 27 minutes. Going into the second to last lap, a guy passed me. Halfway through the last lap, I hollered to some other racers on the sideline to watch this: I told them I was about to pass him back. Coming into the last bend I sprinted past the Biker's Choice guy. We took the 180 degree turn hard and I was back up out of the saddle giving it all I had. I beat him. Sprint finish. That gave me 6th in the CAT 1 open ST race. Just missed the money in 5th place. That would have been cool.
Sunday morning, we headed back out to the park for the main event: the cross country race. Now racing CAT 1, I was set to ride 3 laps totaling 27 miles. The race was going great. I have never railed corners so fast and hit burbs with so much momentum. They say the yellow jersey in the tour makes a man ride like a beast and like two men. Well, racing CAT 1, I was riding like a beast. I don't remember any time when I have ever raced that smoothly or fast. I was having a great time.......and then....I took the jump at the end of lap two and burped my rear wheel on some rocks. I tried to keep riding it, but it was getting lower. I was sliding and hitting the rim. I had to stop to fix it. The CO2 cartridge wouldn't work with my air chuck. Not sure what was wrong, but no air would come out. I had to run and walk it out as I was getting passed by all my other competitors. That sucked. Once I broke back out of the woods, the official confirmed what I had suspected. I can't take any assistance, so my race was over. I was somewhere around 3rd or 4th in the Men Cat 1 15-29. I was set to podium and make some money. Things just didn't work out. It sucks. That's the second xc race that I've had trouble finishing properly. Oh well, looking for more races to do now that I had to buy an annual license to be Cat 1. Haven't found much so if you know of anything let me know. I'll be in the Chattanooga area by the middle of August so NC, SC, GA, AL, and TN races are welcome.
The results page
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| Cat 2 TT Podium |
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| Cat 2 ST Podium |
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