First off let me just tell everyone that having a boss who rides is awesome. He told me to bail at 4:50 so we could get in a good ride and he is "making" me take 4 hours of comp tomorrow for all the hours I have put in so we can get in 60 miles. Who would I be to turn down my boss? I don't want to anger him.
Well I already have in 236 miles this year with 202 of those being in February and March. Tonight was a 25 miler with my the aforementioned boss the Cat 2 Dixon. His easy rides are my hard rides so that works out well for me.
We spun over to Gorham and then worked our way back to Pope Rd in Windham for sprints. I pulled for about 2 miles of the 20ish non sprint/cool down miles. Trust me I wanted to pull more but when you are doing 23+ on the flats and you are woefully out of shape you just hang on. We only did 3 sprints tonight at about 250 meters each. It felt good to get out and enjoy the sunshine.
I also got the Garmin 305 all set up on my wife's laptop. The new training center is nicer but I haven't checked to see if it works with Garmin Connect yet. They have only been promising that for 3 years....
So I think my first step in cycling equipment this year will be to go to Fitwerx to get fitted. That is where BF got fitted and bought his bike and my boss also has been fitted there. They both found it useful so my turn. Not sure what will come out of that but I am leaning towards the Kysrium SL's. Less than 1500 grams for clinchers and apparently bomb proof for dudes my size.
That is the quick update. Battenkill is now less than 4 weeks away!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
New wheels or a cross bike?
So with the Klein sold and my job going well I need to prioritize my bike spending. You know with what ever is left over after the bedroom furniture, new TV, living room furniture and lawn mower.
The wife and I are apparently convinced we can tag along with the BF's in pulling the economy along. Anyways I digress.
So my boss (the work one not the wife one) has Zipp 404 tubulars with ceramic bearings and he is willing to sell them to me for about 1/3rd of retail. A very sweet deal seeing as that includes ceramic bearings which are $400 by themselves. Plus they have less than 1000 miles on them and are the dimpled tubulars which is what I want.
On the other hand I could get a cross bike and try my hand at cyclocross this fall. It looks like a blast and my previous athletic endeavors should give me a leg up over of some of the rather uncoordinated people I cycle with.
Of course I could also take a less expensive route and go to Fitwerx for a proper fitting which would most likely require a new stem and seat post but still cost about 1/2 of the other items as long as I don't also need different length cranks.
So much to think about!!
Of course my boss has also indicated I would not get a bonus if I didn't agree to buy his wheels...
I am open for suggestions. And trust me I will make sure to make the beautiful wife happy first as we both agree bedroom furniture and lawnmowers come first!!
The wife and I are apparently convinced we can tag along with the BF's in pulling the economy along. Anyways I digress.
So my boss (the work one not the wife one) has Zipp 404 tubulars with ceramic bearings and he is willing to sell them to me for about 1/3rd of retail. A very sweet deal seeing as that includes ceramic bearings which are $400 by themselves. Plus they have less than 1000 miles on them and are the dimpled tubulars which is what I want.
On the other hand I could get a cross bike and try my hand at cyclocross this fall. It looks like a blast and my previous athletic endeavors should give me a leg up over of some of the rather uncoordinated people I cycle with.
Of course I could also take a less expensive route and go to Fitwerx for a proper fitting which would most likely require a new stem and seat post but still cost about 1/2 of the other items as long as I don't also need different length cranks.
So much to think about!!
Of course my boss has also indicated I would not get a bonus if I didn't agree to buy his wheels...
I am open for suggestions. And trust me I will make sure to make the beautiful wife happy first as we both agree bedroom furniture and lawnmowers come first!!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Back on the Bike
Note to self don't take 4 months off from all types of physical activities and then go do the hardest local ride! I know I know it is crazy to think that is a bad idea.
I had only exercised 6 times since October 1st. That is almost hard to accomplish.
With Battenkill in 4 weeks I thought--"maybe I will try to ride at least a little before the race". In case you don't know Battenkill is 62 miles of sheer terror including numerous brutal climbs on dirt roads. Oh joy
I jumped into the PVC Saturday morning ride and actually did better than I thought I would. I held on over the bridge and up Anthoine but as soon as they hit 33 on the Highland I was out of there. So I think I held on for 3 miles!!! Arrfff
My riding day didn't get any better from there. A group of 5 of us left from PVC for 30 more easy miles but by the time I had my 3rd flat I called it a day. I haven't checked to see if it is my rim or tires but I am replacing the tires and getting new rim strips just to be safe. The tires have 2500 miles on them and I am pretty sure the Rolf's have the original rim tape.
I coasted downhill on RT1 from Yarmouth until my tire was completely flat and then walked about 2 miles in cycling shoes while my wife came to get me. Thank you baby!! Adding insult to injury as I was sitting on the grass waiting for my wife to pick me up the wind blew my bike over and it fell on my head. And no my helmet was not still on. On the plus side it was sunny.
Today we rolled out from Crit Racers house at 9:30 with Bike Shedd and his girlfriend. What was supposed to be a nice easy 40 miler felt really hard and then they had the brilliant idea to climb Mitchell Wall. Assholes
Bike Shedd lost 10 pounds over the winter and is riding really well which is great until you have try and keep up with him.
But I needed the work so that was good and riding in 50 degree weather in early March is glorious.
I finally sold the Klein. I listed it on eBay for $289 and it sold in 30 minutes. I only paid $425 for it is so even though I might have left a little money on the table it is sold and the wife is happy!
Cycling season is back. Shooting for at least 3000 miles this calendar year and if I can somehow get back down to 190 I feel confident I can compete in all but the hilliest races. Wish me luck!
I had only exercised 6 times since October 1st. That is almost hard to accomplish.
With Battenkill in 4 weeks I thought--"maybe I will try to ride at least a little before the race". In case you don't know Battenkill is 62 miles of sheer terror including numerous brutal climbs on dirt roads. Oh joy
I jumped into the PVC Saturday morning ride and actually did better than I thought I would. I held on over the bridge and up Anthoine but as soon as they hit 33 on the Highland I was out of there. So I think I held on for 3 miles!!! Arrfff
My riding day didn't get any better from there. A group of 5 of us left from PVC for 30 more easy miles but by the time I had my 3rd flat I called it a day. I haven't checked to see if it is my rim or tires but I am replacing the tires and getting new rim strips just to be safe. The tires have 2500 miles on them and I am pretty sure the Rolf's have the original rim tape.
I coasted downhill on RT1 from Yarmouth until my tire was completely flat and then walked about 2 miles in cycling shoes while my wife came to get me. Thank you baby!! Adding insult to injury as I was sitting on the grass waiting for my wife to pick me up the wind blew my bike over and it fell on my head. And no my helmet was not still on. On the plus side it was sunny.
Today we rolled out from Crit Racers house at 9:30 with Bike Shedd and his girlfriend. What was supposed to be a nice easy 40 miler felt really hard and then they had the brilliant idea to climb Mitchell Wall. Assholes
Bike Shedd lost 10 pounds over the winter and is riding really well which is great until you have try and keep up with him.
But I needed the work so that was good and riding in 50 degree weather in early March is glorious.
I finally sold the Klein. I listed it on eBay for $289 and it sold in 30 minutes. I only paid $425 for it is so even though I might have left a little money on the table it is sold and the wife is happy!
Cycling season is back. Shooting for at least 3000 miles this calendar year and if I can somehow get back down to 190 I feel confident I can compete in all but the hilliest races. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
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.
- 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!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
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:
Now we just have to get Slim on the bike....Tour de Cure is June 7th.
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.
- 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.
Now we just have to get Slim on the bike....Tour de Cure is June 7th.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Cadillac Mountain Ride
BF, Crit and I are in Bar Harbor this weekend with our significant others. The three guys headed out yesterday morning to bike the Park Loop Road and bike up Cadillac. We usually stay at the Wonderview where the ride to the base is only 4 miles but this year we rented a house and due to some navigation issues we ended up riding 17 miles around the Park Loop Road to the base of Cadillac.
The three of us rode up Cadillac 4 years ago with Crit going up in 19:47, I went up in just over 24 and BF went up in about 30. All of our goals this year were to beat our previous times and be within 3:30 of each other.
We headed out in 2 minutes gaps with BF first, me second and Crit chasing both of us. I had a clear plan in place, go out easy and push as high as a gear as possible on the flats to leave me with easier gears to spin around the steep switch backs.
One of the reasons I need to go out easy is the 2nd to last left hand switch back always confuses me so for about 1/4 of a mile I think that is the last switch back. Unfortunately there is a sweeping right hand turn and a long hard climb to the last switch back. That is why my plan was ride out as easy as possible and leave some gas for the last 1 mile. I did this and of course the switch back still confused me at first but only for about 100 meters this time.
I went out a little hard for the first 500 meters and then backed off. I settled into a good rhythm and tried to focus on being in my 22 and 23 as much as possible so I could spin in my 25 on the steepest parts. Of course for half the ride I was cross eyed and praying someone would just tell me it was over but that didn't happen. I passed BF about a mile in standing on the side of road. He didn't have it but at least he was out there trying. Cadillac is definitely as much mental as physical!
My plan worked out well as I crossed the line in 20:50 and Crit never caught me. He had actually started about 2:30 behind me. He did post a personal best as well at 19:27. I was pretty happy to beat my personal best by over 3 minutes. I am not sure what happened except I had a different strategy, cooler weather and we rode at the end of the season instead of the beginning but I suspect a lot of it has to do with just having a good day. I wasn't even tired cycling up to the base even though there is a ton of climbing.
I am now convinced if I ride Cadillac at 195 I can break 20 and Crit is convinced he go under 19. BF is convinced that if he loses 25 pounds and has his new Serotta he will make it to the top.
Good times.
The three of us rode up Cadillac 4 years ago with Crit going up in 19:47, I went up in just over 24 and BF went up in about 30. All of our goals this year were to beat our previous times and be within 3:30 of each other.
We headed out in 2 minutes gaps with BF first, me second and Crit chasing both of us. I had a clear plan in place, go out easy and push as high as a gear as possible on the flats to leave me with easier gears to spin around the steep switch backs.
One of the reasons I need to go out easy is the 2nd to last left hand switch back always confuses me so for about 1/4 of a mile I think that is the last switch back. Unfortunately there is a sweeping right hand turn and a long hard climb to the last switch back. That is why my plan was ride out as easy as possible and leave some gas for the last 1 mile. I did this and of course the switch back still confused me at first but only for about 100 meters this time.
I went out a little hard for the first 500 meters and then backed off. I settled into a good rhythm and tried to focus on being in my 22 and 23 as much as possible so I could spin in my 25 on the steepest parts. Of course for half the ride I was cross eyed and praying someone would just tell me it was over but that didn't happen. I passed BF about a mile in standing on the side of road. He didn't have it but at least he was out there trying. Cadillac is definitely as much mental as physical!
My plan worked out well as I crossed the line in 20:50 and Crit never caught me. He had actually started about 2:30 behind me. He did post a personal best as well at 19:27. I was pretty happy to beat my personal best by over 3 minutes. I am not sure what happened except I had a different strategy, cooler weather and we rode at the end of the season instead of the beginning but I suspect a lot of it has to do with just having a good day. I wasn't even tired cycling up to the base even though there is a ton of climbing.
I am now convinced if I ride Cadillac at 195 I can break 20 and Crit is convinced he go under 19. BF is convinced that if he loses 25 pounds and has his new Serotta he will make it to the top.
Good times.
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