Wheelmen's Cup

Not sure I can put a whole lot of words to it racing against former teammates and friends. I won't really try, it was fun to race and even against guys I know is a good time as you aren't concerned as much about wheels and you. The day was a good one and weather was just about perfect. TTT was worth 7 points, 4 points, 2 points. Sprints go 3,2,1 for every 3 laps with the middle sprint (15 to go) worth 6,4,2 at which point the race was no longer neutralized. The final sprint is worth the most 20,18,16,14,12,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1.

The only, and very major, bummer that made the day rough was Nao breaking a collar bone and Pete going to the hospital. A bump of shoulders going into one of the sprint laps and it was just hoping everyone was okay. Always puts racing in its place seeing a wife and kids run over to see their daddy with a broken collar bone. Everyone will be praying for a speedy recovery for Nao and Pete.

Here's the break down of Lamprey points. Lots of people putting in efforts, offering wheels, leadouts, and blocking to make all these points happen, not simply the names/points mentioned. Really great team racing all around. One of, if not the reason that makes this even so much fun.


The full team, Jeff, Jen, Chris, Joe, Rolland, Me, Dave, Frank (and not pictured Jeff Bays from the TTT).

TTT: 2 points
There were only 6 people (two teams of 3) for the TTT and unfortunately Rolland crashed through one of the corners and apparently they were going pretty good.


1st sprint (27 laps to go): 3 points (Jon)
I felt good going into the sprint and after doing a little bit of surfing wheels Bito made a good move and I was able to latch onto his wheel. I was glad Brevans wasnt quite warmed up because I was able to take 1st with him coming fast.


2nd sprint (24 laps): 0 points
I was planning on going for the first 3 sprints and then rest of the fourth and go for the fifth. I made a mistake going into this sprint as I thought there was a mini break that was going to stick, but then LG came like a freight train which I tried to jump around, then Bito jumped and I was out of position and as I tried to open up my sprint, SB and Bito made me look like I was standing still.



3rd sprint (21 laps): 3 points (Joe)
Joe had good position the whole sprint lap and he took the sprint from the front and held everyone off for first.



4th sprint (18 laps): 2 points (Jon)
This was the brutal, sad sprint. The pace was too slow going into the sprint. So moving up, people started making a move on the right.  The pace still wasn't high enough on the right and there was a lane open on the left.

So I went left hard as I saw the lane open. Nao must have seen this gap just as I did and just as I got by Nao his handlebars/hands went into my elbow he hit the deck. To be honest, I haven't been confronted with someone crashing that bumped into me that I actually know. I have been near crashes or someone has bumped off me and I have gone clear and was just glad I didn't crash. This crash was different. I know Nao at least a little better than a little. Know how many kids they have, know his job, consider him a friend or at least an acquaintance that I could spend time on a bike or grab a beer with. It really leveled me mentally. Seeing his little boy running up behind his sisters crying almost put me into tears. Really hoping for a speedy recovery. Wishing, even though it wasn't my fault, I had never contested the sprint, guess it's all part of racing or some stupid saying like that, but it still feels brutal.
Knowing Nao it will be like a week and half before he is climbing carver's and putting us into pain trying to hold his wheel.
I pedaled through the sprint lap but never opened up the sprint hoping everyone was back on their bikes and hoping Nao was okay even though he unfortunately wasn't.

Roughly a 20-30 minute break at this point.


5th sprint (15 laps): 6 points (Jon) No one seemed completely interested in setting this sprint up. Joe soft pedaled with enough effort through the first half the bell lap that no one bothered, then Chris (who earlier in the day got 9th OVERALL in the lehigh valley half marathon) moved to the front and set up the sprint going all the way through the final turn and delivered me perfectly. There was/is a freight train shown on the right of me, who I barely managed to hold off.

Then the pace got high since it was no long neutralized. And one lap after the sprint, Jeff went. For the cycledromers that did Berwick a couple years ago, this is the guy that broke away with 2 to go and held off the field for the win.
6th sprint (12 laps): 4 points (Jeff and Chris) Everyone thought Jeff would be caught, as it was pretty windy and it would require some significant effort. Then Jeff stayed away for one sprint. Then Chris managed to get in a small break on the sprint lap and took 3rd.

The team did a great job shutting down bringing back the solo effort that Jeff was on...

 Rolland Frank and I above shutting down the efforts to bring back Jeff. Dave had just done some work and Bito (up front put in an attack) which you can see we did an awesome job covering. Also note, my lack of draft to Rolland.



Jeff looking more focused than tired. 

7th sprint (9 laps): 4 points (Jeff and Jon) Jeff stayed away again. I can't remember if I got 3rd or 2nd. I think it was second but I was err on the cautious side--will explain soon.

Here's where it gets weird. At this point, Jeff was within bridge-able distance. So 5 guys caught him with 9 to go. With 7 or 8 to go, it was just Joe, Jeff, and Bikeline guy.

A couple guys bridged across to the 3 guys that were dangling with about 5-6 laps to go so it was me, 3 cycledromers, and 2 bikeline guys.

8th sprint (6 laps): 3 points (or 5 or 4)****Here's where the discrepancy happened**** Joe, Jeff, and Bikline guy in the break and somehow they gave two places to BIKELINE. So we only were awarded 1 point for this sprint. 

9th sprint (3 laps): 3 points (or 5 or 4)-- (Jeff and Joe)

I am writing "(or 5 or 4)" above because the minimal amount of points Joe and Jeff could have gotten would be 3 (since second and third on each sprint were worth 2 and 1)  if the bikeline guy took 1st on the remaining two sprints (which I know he didn't get 1st on both of them).

Finally going into the last sprint. Jeff took the front and Bikeline guy got on this wheel with Joe on his wheel. Joe came around in perfect teammate leadout fashion. Joe got first with jeff in 3rd.
 

Last sprint: 20(1st)+16(third)+12 (5th) (Joe, Jeff, and Jon)

On the final sprint of our mini group, I was hoping to get 4th overall and as I came into the sprint, I waited and waited and waited too long and Butler took advantage and got a quick gap that I couldn't close quick enough. Ugh. 5th.

Then as we got the scores, we found we had lost by 1 point! The point that I could have swung by getting 4th. I was bummed.

Chip came over with the results and told us we had gotten 76 points and lost by a point and their team had 77. Looking at the final 3 sprints, the points spreadsheet showed that on the 3rd to last sprint (6 to go) that Bikeline was awarded TWO places. There were two lamprey riders and one bikeline. This was literally impossible. I told chip. *crickets*.  Chip let us know that the officials had already left. And also we could pay the officials next year.

If you add the points above, you get 78 points (that does include the points we should have been awarded, but does not include the 2nd I am pretty sure I got with 9 to go and does not include the 1st place of at least one of the last two sprints).

Good thing this doesn't mean anything. It was fun, good to see old teammates, and race with new ones. Even if I was called "Benedict."

Another Thursday Night Worlds: One more than six

I teach math so I "need" to say things that make people listen more than they would otherwise or at least go, "huh?" So I say things like that, "One more than such and such a number. Or one less than this number." So one more than six is 7 by the way. That's the amount of points I managed. Looking at the fire power at the start line I wouldn't have thought I'd get many points. Wamsley, Eric W, Bonser, a Brevans in new kit, a pair of Lof Bros, the Animal, BMiller, and a bunch of others that would make this list too long.

From Lamprey Rolland, Ron, Spanish Dave, and Joe Pigga. I still feel the need to mention, LG, Nao, Holub, Stahley, and Beasty represented the cycledrome contingent. It was good to see Ron back in action after the LP incident recently and ready to go. Rolland wasn't sure how it would go, but looked solid the entire time. And Joe, well Joe's always strong even if he wished he was mountain biking.

I wasn't expecting much out of the night. Though, I know my fitness is coming around. The night before I rode the back side of honeysuckle which starts with half of stronesthrow and before it gets steep on stonesthrow you turn left to a super steep section of honeysuckle which I have seen the garmin spew out 25% at one point. Going 5mph yields 300+ watts. It's unaffectionately known as stonesuckle. But it's the quickest way home and when wanting to save a few minutes, and not ride 3 miles out of the way, I take this route. For some reason the road didn't seem as awful today, the road seemed more flat than usual and my body, bike, and mind all cooperated to ride up it relatively quickly. For me that's a good sign.

I sat out the first sprint. It just didn't seem interesting or wise to me tonight and with all the firepower I was certain my efforts would be better saved for later in the night. The second sprint I was still out of position to sprint and wanted to be ready for an attack.  It never really materialized and it became clearer that the group was most likely not going to let an attack really get too far. Too many good riders and not enough wind to let groups/gaps get away.

Third sprint came and Fondo took off a little before the woods. He got a gap quickly and as we came into the woods it was clear no one was really interested in chasing. So as it lulled just enough, I jumped and got a solid gap quickly, but Fondo was moving. I didn't close any sort of gap on him, but as I checked my shoulders a couple times it was clear no one else was going to chase me either. So I pedaled through without killing myself. 3 points. While Fondo kept the moving along I waited for the group and got back in near the front.

I cannot remember if it was the 4th or 5th sprint, but a similar scenario played out again as we passed through the woods. I thought about going but before I made the decision, this time Wamsley went. And the gap he opened it was clear, no one was going to close. So I toyed with the idea mentally, thought had dumb could I be to follow this, but I was watching this play out, and I realized who cares if I get dropped after the effort, I know I should go here, regardless of who the rider is going, I know I should go now, so after almost not going it, I went. I got a decent gap. Not like before, but it was a gap. I was more uncertain this time. I went through the turn, checked my shoulder, one rider coming fast. Really fast. I hoped it was BMiller. Because that meant he probably wasn't pulling the whole group up and had jumped himself. It was. He was coming by me, I checked my shoulder again and was only mostly sure no one else was coming and I sprinted for good measure and when I checked my shadow to my right, I knew I had gotten 3rd. 2 points.

A break went, Eric W and someone else. Eric W also was just in a break with Carpenter for 70 miles. Count them (I know you won't). 70. Just him and carpenter. For 70 miles. They stayed away. Carpenter took first and EricW took second. I wonder if Eric let Carpenter win, not because Carpenter isn't insanely good, because EricW even said he is at a whole other level, but in a one up sprint, I don't think there are a whole lot of people who can out sprint him. Or maybe Carpenter took a flyer, anyone know? BMiller was 3rd. So when Eric W and someone I cant remember got away I was a little worried. They stayed away for maybe one sprint lap, but again a motivated field and firepower and Wams taking a pull that strung out everyone meant that it came back together.

I also happened to be near the front again when one of the next two sprints had me coming 3rd wheel into final turn behind EricW, Poma, then me. Small gap opened for us, but I just couldn't come around. My legs just don't have that all out effort yet. I still managed to hold onto 3rd. And 2 more points.

I contested the 2nd to last sprint of night against the same two before plus kuklis and Bmiller and being 5th wheel, I still didn't have that all out snap and, oh yeah, those dudes are fast.

Last 3 laps were just about finishing and I sat in the group and finished up the laps. 7 points, 6th overall, I wouldn't have thought that earlier in the night.


Some reflections on the night:

I felt pretty good. And if my heart rate is any indicator, the max I hit was 188. The night before on honeysuckle I was at 196. I have maxed at 210 last year and 205 this year so far. And I didn't feel completely wrecked afterwards, even if I was coughing at 930pm.

Maybe it's the comfort of the course or maybe the riders. Where I know I can tuck on the inside of certain riders and they aren't going to drastically change their lines, but I felt more capable/aware/had-some-cajahones and and never thought about crashing. Welcomed changed from LP.

Even though I don't have that all out effort where my legs feel fast, I am still going pretty good.

It's good to race with new teammates who you know from riding with in other rides. You know their tendencies simply from riding. It's also good to see old teammates who I still consider friends, as it's basically obvious on what they are going to do next.

We just have a strong area of riders. I don't think there are many other places in the country that have this caliber of riding. Sure there is wide range of ability is at the crit but if you take time to watch the good guys, you learn so much. Just the simple ways they take pulls or move into a line. I followed Kuklis through some gaps tonight that I didn't think where there and when he moved into them, it looked like they were 10 feet wide and didn't even cause have a disruption to anyone around him. Just smooth movement into a new spot at speed while looking fluid. There are few who do that better than him. And it's encouraging when I see something I should do either right before or right after seeing a good rider do it. It means I am thinking the right thoughts.

Had I just been "getting miles" like I had when I first started riding, I would be a 1/2 of the rider I am not. In fact that is pretty much the case. I was riding probably double the amount of hours I ride now and only half as well since I moved here.

Lower Providence Crit Cat 3 Race Report Or something aong those lines

I love this race because it has been around for a while and hate it all at once because I never seem to put it together in time this early in the season. It's a super wide course with a few feet at most of change of elevation. It could easily be raced as a SS/Track event (with brakes?), which they should consider, if for nothing else, to take the edge off the seriousness of an early season event.

I'd say there was a plan and it looked like this, get there, race, leave, get home to sick wife and non-sick kids who were hopefully still napping. I had originally planned to stay for the 1/2/3 but was on a time slot that I wanted to honor regardless if the 3 was uninteresting.

In soccer they say goalies aren't really at their best until later in their career. Mid 30's often produces some of the best goalies because goalies need to see certain situations over and over again and learn from them. Cycling is a lot like this. You have to race to learn and then of course, you have to be willing to learn. From some experience, even if not a lot of it, I was comfortable with a race this early. At least in terms of fitness, I knew I could ride around in circles in a 3 race. I didn't (don't) have the fitness to breakaway in a 3 race, but I certainly can ride in the pack, which isn't saying a whole lot, but would have said a ton a few years ago when I started racing.

I decided today I would ride like Gellineau. Or pretend to at least. The course is so wide open that a break so rarely sticks because you never really get out of view and the wind was tough enough that wasn't easy enough to roll off the front without ever and not hard enough that it would split the field quickly. So I sat in the back. A lot. Racing from the back is stupidly easy in a race when people are trying to break and never getting more than 50 meters up the road. And I was pretty certain I wasn't going to be able to get more than 75 meters, so when I thought about moving up because what I fely like I was doing was too easy, I sat some more. And when I say back, I mean back, last person or nearly last.  To be honest, I have never raced so purely from the back ever when I have raced. It felt almost bizarre. It didn't feel like racing to be honest.  The race felt like this: I went out for a recovery spin with some mates, did a couple medium hard efforts. This is not racing. Nor is it fun.

My mind started to wander. Laps ticked by easily and I thought about conversations I had earlier in the day. Wondered if my daughter remembered her memory verse from church ("Love your neighbor as yourself"). Offered some bike assistance to someone who said they were having trouble with a cassette earlier in the day. Thought about how I had just spent $35 to sit in the back of a pack and do nothing. Questioned why I was racing at all. I realized I didn't care about racing like I had in the past. I was thankful for that. Couldn't believe how poorly some people sit on a bike on a 10k bike with a $300 fit. Wondered if they really spent 10k. I can't believe people spend so much on hobbies. I guess at least this hobby keeps me fit. If we gave up all our hobby money for one year in america to the poor of the world we would be on our way to solving many problems. I  realized my fancy wheels meant absolutely nothing in the back of the group. They only mattered up front. Wish I had remembered my other glasses. Oh yeah, that's the wheel I want at the end. Thought about how much it would hurt to crash at 30 mph.

I had to snap myself out of it really. Thinking about crashing is a perfect way to realize you shouldn't be racing on the day, at least in my mind. With 8 to go, I decided I would do some moving up. Slowly, easily, and just to get a feel for where others were. I felt too fresh. I mean really too fresh. That usually means others were too. Then it occurred to me, this finish was going to be a mess. Fresh riders in a sprint is always scary. Tired ones mean people will back down and usually won't, and more importantly, can't make moves they normally wouldn't.  So I moved up anyway. With 3 to go, I was on the wheel I wanted. With 2 to go I lost it slightly and a break went up the road. 50 meters. And we were all back together. Finally going into the bell lap, I was mostly where I wanted and going into turn 1, I found another wheel I knew I should look for and he was moving up. Lost that wheel when he made a move on the left that I needed to follow immediately and I thought about it, as a rider screamed at someone for touching them. I missed the move. Everyone bunched. I was blocked in, in every direction. I searched left and right. I resigned myself to not contesting it. Through turn 2 and I realized I could move up by sprinting through the wind and all of a sudden I was back in the top 12. The pace at the front was too slow. I got back into the line and through turn 3, I needed to hold my nerve and keep the wheel. People were bobbling, I wasn't far enough up. And going into turn 4, I was 20 back. I wasn't going to try to win a sprint for 15th. I sat up. 36th. The guy that won, was the guy I thought would win, and so was the rest of the podium.

I learned a lot. Was still annoyed with myself. I didn't have any gumption for the final bits where I needed it. My legs had the effort in them, my lungs were fine. I was just late in reacting to just about everything. The joys of the first race of the season.

There are two scenarios that could/should have happened. The first is the one I promised myself I do if the race ended like it was going. I didn't do either

First scenario:
I told myself before the race that if I wasn't where I wanted to be, I would lead out the sprint. So to recap, this is how it should have looked:

Finally going into the bell lap, I was mostly where I wanted and going into turn 1, I found another wheel I knew I should look for and he was moving up. Lost that wheel when he made a move on the left that I needed to follow immediately and I thought about it, as a rider screamed at someone for touching them. I missed the move. Everyone bunched. I resigned myself to not contesting it. Through turn 2 and I realized I could move up by sprinting through the wind. The pace was too slow, go go go. It's less than a minute to the end of this race. I can go hard for one minute as good as anybody. I took the lead through turn 3. Kept the gas on. Check my shoulders. Strung out. I thought someone would inevitably come through on the inside which is what I wanted because I was going hard, but not impossibly hard. No one is coming. Go through the last turn hard, and waited for a couple pedal strokes to go, then went. I sprinted.


Second scenario:

Finally going into the bell lap, I was mostly where I wanted and going into turn 1, I found another wheel I knew I should look for and he was moving up. Lost that wheel when he made a move on the left that I needed to follow immediately and I thought about it, as a rider screamed at someone for touching them. I missed the move. Everyone bunched. I was blocked in, in every direction. I searched left and right. I resigned myself to not contesting it. Through turn 2 and I realized I could move up by sprinting through the wind and all of a sudden I was back in the top 12. As soon as I get through this turn I moved up to the wheel I wanted. Someone bumped me on my right, I held my ground. I found the wheel I wanted and my handlebars were in front of the other guys and there was a miniscule gap I could squeeze into. Top 5 into the final turn. There was a slight headwind, so I would wait only a few moments to open up the sprint, just a moment and then went.


Of course, neither of these happen. I didn't have it mentally or have big enough gumption when it mattered. The third scenario would have been the way I really should have tried to race, actually going on attack as opposed to playing the "waiting" game. Never fun when you get done with a race and hardly feel tired. I had wished I had stayed for the 1/2/3 if only for the workout. But was looking forward to getting home to my kids and my sick wife. My daughter did remember her verse. I was proud of her. I played the owl in the game that my daughter makes up where I chase her. It was a beautiful day. I was more tired from chasing my daughter and son around than actually racing. That felt good.

This dude is a legend...

Thursday Night Rodale Crit Uno Point

I need to make this quick. Where to start. Since these are all stories, mine at least, I should add some additional characters and in this case, teammates. Through a few calls and texts and twitter Greg (GA from now on) and Joe Pigga (JP the crosser) figured out the late race was on.
Greg is a business guy, a good one at that, and because of his dedication to his family and business rarely gets enough time for racing during the road season. He spends much of his time doing cross because it works better for his family. Greg is kind of like a sports car with a diesel engine or something along those lines. He has this ability to just go and hold a speed that looks effortless while pushing the pace. He can get into a break because of his diesel engine while also a great leadout guy as he is a large/tall guy who looks large but is skinny.  He also happens to be a neighbor, as in he lives at the top of stonesthrow a mile and a half from where I am at. Lastly he's the owner of Lamprey and does a lot for the team, that being said, I wouldn't call him strong unless he was, he's strong.

Joe is one of those guys who is good at pretty much everything. He is a 1 on the mountain bike, he is a 2 as a crosser, 3 on the road, and if there was a BMX category I'd guess he'd be a 1 at that too. He is perpetually getting better and better at cross even breaking into the top 15 in a few elite cross races this year. He won FSX this year and even though "it's only a training race" it still means something. He's strong. He got second at Monkey Knife fight and didn't seem to be complaining like all of us were afterwards. Joe's going to be a dad this year and he is coming into the season strong after a solid cross season and lots of riding in the winter.

It also represented the first time we got to ride as a team (the three of us together that is).

The course was wet. And there was very little wind so the wet was only going to dissipate at it hit our bikes and selves as we rode the course for 30 laps. There also seemed to be an inordinate amount of worms being flown around as we raced. There literally were at least 15 worms on my down tube and wheels by the end of the night. My rear wheel managed to stay planted but because it stayed wet, it almost got more slick since it wasn't drying out and towards the end of the night, my rear wheel slid at least twice. In those moments/races you really have to focus on weight distribution on your bike, because if you don't, you can easily slide out, even good riders do.
I thought the rule was no races unless it was dry to start with. There still had to be at least 40-50 riders there. And of course the most wet part of the course was the turn before the sprint.That being said, some of the leaders of the group spoke up about taking that turn wisely (widely) to avoid any unnecessary mishaps. And thankfully there were none. A lot of the usual suspects were there with a few of the pros.

I am not sure where I am fitness wise. In terms of hours on a bike, I actually have a few more than usual during this time of the year. If I can hit a magical number of 6 hours in a week of dedicated time for a month or two in a row, I know my body will start to see a special "F" word come around for what I consider form to be. It's not much but that's what it comes down to for me. Two kids, a secondary job, and 6 hours is about all I got. That being said, I realized that I have had about that hourly number for the past couple months so that was a good sign. Last month was a bit of a set back in terms of focused training, since my left calf has been healing from a muscle contusion for over 4 weeks and still isn't 100%.

Like a lemming, I couldn't help but go for the first sprint. It always feels safer in the front where the speed is. Little Semian, who isn't so little anymore, put in a solid leadout for Eric and he opened a quick gap as I sat 5th wheel (a little too far back) and I managed to squeeze in for fourth. One point, good start. Not deep into the reserves but of course recovery is/was needed. Second sprint came and Greg jumped across to a group of 3. Being that I was second wheel, it was a good situation as the first wheel started to pull and looked for help, of course (or maybe not of course for those who don't race as a team) I didn't pull through and then when someone tried to bridge across I jumped onto that wheel, but they never made it and Greg took 3rd.

I didn't try to contest 3rd sprint and coming into the 4th sprint, two guys were off the front. Greg took to the front and when he saw me on his wheel put in a massive effort coming over the rise. We were moving. I checked my shoulders and it was strung out. The bump in the back is often where attacks come, but again checking shoulders and it was still strung out. Second wheel into the final turn is a good place. I couldn't complain. As Greg came through the turn, right smack in the middle of the road was a junior, a small one, he couldn't have been more than 12 and probably was from the early race which was canceled and added to ours. I thought about all of this in that split second I saw him, and then in the next split second, I wanted to go the right, right next to Greg, but was a little tight and there was more room on the left.

Now I know you can put a lot of thoughts into a split second, but if you are actually deciding on which way to go, you can guarantee someone has come around you. And as I decided to left or right, I ruined the great lead out Greg just worked out and 3 guys came past me as the junior cried out, "oh no." My legs were tired too, but that was no excuse. The following few laps attacks came and went and on the 5th or maybe 6th sprint, Joe got into the mix of a sprint and took 3rd and I was near the front checking for the attack that inevitably comes. And it came through like a freight train, I was a little late in reacting and boxed in on the left, when Gabe and a few others took off. I was pleased when Joe, who just contested the sprint, jumped into the train and gave me an excuse to sit in for a few moments. So I did. And the break gained a few and was almost at 10 with Joe in the mix. So was Nao, as he is going strong as well at this time of year. There were quite a few strong riders who didn't make it so efforts were made to catch.

In those moments, I don't believe in racing negatively, at least not in a training race. I will stay near the front and if I have to take a pull, I will, but it will be a short one. Basically I won't purposely put in massive efforts with teammates up the road. Greg was also on that page as he hit the front going over the riser and instead of taking his nearly customary (on the night) half lap pull, he pulled off quickly and let others do some work.

From there, it was a balance of chasing and working for the next 10 or so laps and it was clear the stronger 4-5 out of the 10 were strongest and they dropped half the break with about 4-5 laps to go. My legs were feeling it at this point, my lungs were surprisingly good. I had at least one more gear left that I never reached, even if that is an almost all out effort, I never had to reach that deep and that's a good start to the season as opposed to being off the back. But those efforts made parts of my legs hurt that haven't hurt since, oh last year, around this time.

Qtown Week 2

I changed out my skewers for this week after the debacle that it was. Pretty much everyone from last week was there with LG there since we were no longer wearing long sleeves. One week in booties, the next in shorts, bizarre weather.

My legs were/are still recovering from MKF and I wasn't sure how it would go. We hit carver's and Nao took off. He was flying. Surprisingly when looking at strava, it was only slightly better than my best effort ever. I was surprised to know that I ever went that fast up that hill. Maybe he relented after he disappeared and we all just kind of looked at each other. http://app.strava.com/activities/48083179

 Onto Ridge road, and as usual we started a paceline. Started by stahley then nao then DK ramped it up even more. I was struggling to hold his wheel as he flailed his legs like he always does at some insane cadence. I tucked and gritted and took my turn at the front for as long as I could to avoid being too slow compared to DK. LG, who's form is going to be fierce and is fierce, came on my right to let me know my pull was over before I was really done. I wasn't certain I could recover in time for the sprint, nor was I sure I could move up quick enough. I love this feeling. The sense of urgency mixed with the desire to get back into it while still on the edge of your own fitness. Someone let me in one extra space near the front (out of 10 or 11), and because the pace was so quick--the turns were going by quickly and there was still a few seconds to recover. Then Nao went, followed by Holub chasing him down. I went. And saw the sign and put my head down, thought about last week skewer coming out, and went anyway. I thought I had a decent gap and then looked to my right and was glad the sprint was over when it was because LG was coming fast. It was one of the fastest ridge road paceline's to date.
Video below:


Onto the road next to the river and there was a little time to recover before the detour to the 3 hills climb.  It was a reasonable pace and as soon as we hit the detour we hit the steep little section with DK on the front who was drilling it. Or maybe was just riding like he always is riding. And in that strong, fast, consistent way, DK just climbed the hill out of his saddle while all of us redlined. I am not sure if it was difficult for him, but my mind just tried to stay focused on keeping the same general pace as him while fighting the urge to sit up because I was spent. When we made the left, everyone sat up a little then returned to battling out the next bit. I made a move that was way too far out hoping someone would come with me. I opened a sizable gap but also realized, as I kept hoping to see the end of the road, that I had a long way to go. So instead of not being able to crawl to the finish, I sat up and waited, then thought about going again, and ultimately (and wisely) waited. This climb/portion of the ride always annoys me because it doesn't have a definitive end. That will be the goal for next week. To pick a point. Still a great section of rolling road that requires a bit of thought to determine where/when to go.

We re-grouped after the hard effort and no one, except me as usual, contested the moo cow sprint. Still one of my favorites.

Onto the turnpike section and Nao put in a solo effort that I could simply not come around to even take a pull. At one point I thought he flicked an elbow and I started to go, but I was severely wrong. A quick 1 mile breather before the wall. I knew I wanted to go as soon as we hit it. The first section I always like of the wall, it suits my riding well and can be done in the big chain ring. The second section is a bit steeper. All in all it's a short climb. Reminds me of something short and steep on some back belgian road or something that I have never been on. As I hit the second section I thought I had it until I saw this little guy fly on by me, DK of course, and I sat his wheel as he pulled me the rest of the way along Rosenberg road. We kept the pace firm but reasonable as we recovered and finished up before Brick Tavern road which is basically a long one mile stretch of an all out pace line. Finally, we recovered as we set up for the final synergis sprint.

I came in third wheel which can be a bit of a long way out to start from the traffic light through two turns, but luckily tri guy took us all the way until the last turn, which is about 250-300 meters from the finish. It was clear that was all the work he was doing so as we came through it, Larry came through to take over.
As we came through the turn, Larry just glided through the turn. He didn't make some crazy effort or lean significantly, he just went through the turn well, it is clear LG is riding well, and as he did, he put a gap on me and as soon--I mean the instant--he got through the turn, he put it down and opened a gap on me and everyone else. I did my best tucking impression and closed the gap and as the sprint came up, I was able to tuck and shake and bake our of his slipstream for the coveted sprint win.
As always, a great week of testing the legs, getting a little more fitness, and learning a little more about myself.



And finishing the day: