Recent Race Recaps

Scarborough Time Trial Recap (from my point of view)
BF decided he wanted to try a time trial this year so we picked this one based on the fairly flat nature of the course.
My riding style can best be described as fast downhill with a tendency to be strong on the flats and watch the pack float by me uphill so Crit was telling me all week that I would beat him in this time trial....I almost began to believe it until we did our warm up and I realized that there where just enough hills to slow me down and alas the laws of gravity still applied. BTW when good climbers tell you a course is flat you always have to remember flat is a relative term.

I was 2nd off the line and Crit was 5th giving me a 1:30 gap. I felt ok through the race and was quite excited when I was coming up to the finish line that Crit hadn't passed me yet but then that ominous sound of a rider gaining on me came with 30 meters left to the line (to be clear it was an uphill finish) and I just knew it was Crit. He nipped me at the line to beat me by an even 1:30 but that isn't even the best part. In his infinite kindness Liam bought me a mug with the picture of him over my left shoulder about 60 meters short of the line to commemorate the occasion. You know because that's what are friends are for. BF did well in his first time trial and we all look forward to not doing another TT until next year!

Auburn Lake Recap (from my point of view)
I knew going in this was not a race course suited for my current riding style...this horse is not for that course but was excited to give it my best. As we are driving up and and up and up to get to the start I looked at Crit and said "I know you were sitting there one day saying who can I get to do this race with me and said "homey isn't that bright he will do it"."

Warmup: Hey this course is great it goes down a big....what is that huge cliff in front of me? That is the road?

Lap 1: Started out near the front and no one seemed exited to push the pace up the cliff so it wasn't too bad. I sat in and watched the mayhem that always ensues in a Cat 5 race including lots of yelling at one rider in a yellow jersey who seemed intent on crashing the pack. Hung on throught the finishing hills.

Lap 2: OUCH--just dropped on the cliff, spent the next 2 miles chasing but grabbed back on. I hung on until the last few hills at the end of the lap.

Lap 3: Double OUCH--worked with 4 others to get in...did a a lot of pulling but that was ok.

29th place finish (same time as 27th) isn't bad out of 50 and I look forward to keeping up with the main pack next year.

Bianchi, Klein or Javelin...the bike saga continues

I am in the blue and grey and that is Kelly and Sam cheering me on.

I will try to keep this short.

New bike, old bike?

• Bought a Javelin Torgiano on eBay from a guy with a 100% approval rating. That was a week and a half ago and he hasn't shipped it yet. He claims he has been in the hospital for emergency wisdom tooth surgery...really for a week and a half? Did he swallow his teeth and somehow they magically found their way to his heart? BTW he bought something on eBay on April 3rd yet can't reply to me regarding shipping? I asked for a refund or a shipping confirmation #. At this point I can not decide which one I prefer.
  
• Rode my Klein in my first crit race in 5 years on Sunday. My right shifter is FUBAR! I rode the crit using my bike as a single speed which was fine until it was time to sprint. I did however finish 9th out of 20 people and had no problem staying with the lead pack. Of course this is the flattest crit course in the world so that works out well for me.
  
• Now I am stuck...I don't want to fix the Klein if the Javelin is actually going to be shipped. On top of that it is as expensive to get 9 speed gear now vs. 10 speed gear. Is this the time to drop $450 on my bike and upgrade to 10 speed?
• What to do in the meantime.

Tuesday Night on my wife's Bianchi---no that is not a euphemism for anything!

• So at this point my bike is out of commission and the Javelin is in limbo but I can't stop riding. In comes the Bianchi...all 55 CM of it. Yup the bike that fits my wife perfectly is the current bike I am riding.
• Fat man on a little bike!
  
• Critracer said from the back it looks ok from the side it is pretty freaking funny.
• But here is what I learned. A nice 10 speed gruppo is amazing. The gruppo on my bike is at least 8 years old and when I ask it to shift it usually argues with me, thinks about, does some sightseeing and then shifts 2 gears instead of one.
  
• The Bianchi is a sweet bike and really fast. Even though it weighs in at 2 pounds heavier than mine the smooth ride and quality shifting more than makes up for it.
• We rode 21.6 miles at an average of 18.8 mph. Here are the highlights:
• I fixed the seat height on the Bianchi but forgot that the handlebars were twisted way forward from a ride last year when my wife found a ginormous pothole. So Crit and I stopped with 1 other person to fix that...we heard yelling from the pack about slowing up to wait for us but it was still 3 miles of timetrialing back to them.
• Cruised through the next few miles chasing down a couple of breaks and working a little bit.
• Crossed Rt 1 (didn't realize at the time) and headed towards the water. I am having a blast sitting in not working much and decided it was time to take a pull. At that very moment I look up and realize where we are...about to climb a 1-2 mile long hill!
• I ended up in no mans land by the top of the hill...100 meters behind the lead pack and 100 meters in front of the 2 stragglers. I chased all the way down the hill and was about to sit up when I realized the pack had finally decided to wait for the rest of us.
• Had a blast on the leg home, flying up Ferry Rd and trying to keep up with the fast people.
• All in all a great ride and I love the Bianchi!

The best part...looks like I will ride the Bianchi for at least the next few rides including the Easter Sunday Crit race. Fat Man on a little bike!

Back at it

Wow I just realized it has been since October that I added a post here. I will summarize the winter and then move onto spring.

Winter:

• Cold but couldn't complain as it was our choice to move back to Maine from Miami.

• Parking sucks as we have a nut job neighbor who doesn't know how to drive. Oh well just more motivation to buy a house with a garage.
• Got fat and lazy. Wait...I got fatter and lazier.
• Really enjoyed being able to host my family for Christmas and had a blast seeing the Grover's and Humphrey's just after Christmas.
• Still employed and actually selling some professional services, not as much as I nor my company would like but survival is the key.
• Joined a really nice gym, went a few time and took a few spinning (xbike) classes. Not enough but better than nothing.
• Got a kick ass 16GB Nano from wife. What a cool iPod!
• Drank Geary's beer, hung out in Portland with Dale, Josh and Courtney.
• Played poker 5 times and finished up 3 out of the 5 including 2 wins.
• I still love my wife and have had a blast being back in Portland with her.
  
• Missed seeing the Hendersfhegs every month!
• I got to see my nephew a few times. He is growing and maturing before our eyes. Martial arts is good for him whether he likes it or not.
• Crit and his Fiance chose me to be their best man! I am flattered and excited. (well except for having to deal with Crit's crazy friends. How is it one fairly normal person has such a variety of freaks for friends)
  
• That is about it.

Spring:

• It is still cold here but still not able to complain cause of the whole our choice to move here thing. (there is a one year moratorium on complaining so expect lots of whining next winter)
• Got back on the bike early this year. Why? See fatter and lazier from the winter.
• I have rode 160 miles already and averaged about 18 for those miles. All the rides have been with Crit who is a great motivator. Seeing as he is barely working he has plenty of wind to yell at me to pull and I have been called a mule at least 10 times already.
  
• I have had to stand in the shower for at least 10 minutes to warm my feet up 3 times already but still not complaining that it is cold. Just stating a fact.
• Goals; get my strength/watts back, practice increasing my cadence and lose weight.
• This whole cadence thing is hard for me. I know all the "Experts" say you should spin between 85 and 95 for maximum efficiency but I am much more comfortable at 80. I feel like I am going to spin my legs completely out of my hips. The worse part is Crit would still be yelling for me to pull.
• I am doing the spring Scarborough Crit Race series. The first race is April 5th. I am going into these not looking to win just looking to survive.
• BF, Crit and I are climbing Cadillac again on Memorial Day Weekend. Hendersfheg might even show up and Slim knows about it but I have to imagine it would be hard to tow 2 kids up the mountain behind your bike. My goal is to break 20:30.
• Still employed.
• Still love my wife.
• Still drinking Geary's. (hmmm is there a correlation there with the whole fat thing? NAAHHHHHH)
  
• That is about it.

OK let's be honest about why I am riding. BigFoot has dropped from 235 to 205 and spent $10k on a bike. I can NOT lose to him on the bike. I would have to give up cycling and I really don't want to. I would have to chop off a leg and that would really suck. I must say I am happy for BF and he has really motivated me.

Now we just have to get Slim on the bike....Tour de Cure is June 7th.