Green Mountain Stage Race

The GMSR is one of my favorite races of the season. Since I have a condo in the Mad River Valley, this is very much a home town race. I know the roads, climbs, people, local water holes, etc. However, with Becky starting at Taft this year and Leah's new career as a nurse, I was not sure whether I would be able race. And, then Irene hit. By Sunday night, I began to receive emails and calls from friends and neighbors in Waitsfield. I could not believe what I heard and saw. Irene had destroyed roads, bridges, homes, and businesses. Then, on Monday morning, the Town went to work to dig out. The volunteer effort was incredible. And, then, after much debate among the organizers and others, the announcement came that the Stage Race was on. See: http://www.valleyreporter.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4193&Itemid=40.

But how? Many of the roads for the circuit race and the App Gap stages had been wiped out.

The road to my condo after the storm. Around the corner is the bridge over the Mad River. It too was under water.

Within days, Gary Kessler and his team moved the circuit race to the old course in Hinesburg and had completely re-routed and permitted the App Gap stage. On Wednesday, just before the deadline, I had worked out my logistical issues, learned that the bridge to my condo was passable, discovered that power was re-stored, figured out how to get to Waitsfield, and registered. Game on!

On Friday morning, I drove up to Waitsfield. I detoured through Northfield and took the back way over my favorite dirt roads for Fall riding to get over to Roxbury Gap. I cannot wait to get back up there on the CX bike.

TT: I have been working on my TT, but it is my weakest event by far. Since this one has a climb, it is better geared for me than other TTs. I also had a plan, and stuck to it. I finished 16th, but was 10 seconds faster than last year even though we had a head wind on the climb and less tail wind on the rollers. I had minimized my losses and was still in the hunt.

Circuit Race: The Hinesburg course is tough, and our race was hard. My sprint has been decent this year, and I was going for the points. An early break soaked up the top 3 points on the 1st sprint. I was sprinting for 4th and 5th place points. However, I misjudged the sprint and missed out. On the back side, the break came back and the field was back together. Yabroudy, Taylor and Staffo attacked after the KOM and were gone. I think everyone expected that the guys going for the KOM would sit up after the line, especially since there is still a lot of climbing after the KOM before descending down Baby Gap. It was a great move by the 3 strongest riders in the field, and they deserved to stay away. I won the field sprint to take 4th place.

App Gap Stage: Took 2nd in the intermediate sprint which put me in 2nd for green jersey. A break went up the road right after sprint. I had burned a bunch of matches by that point, and needed to chill for a little while to get ready for App Gap. Then, it looked like it was Game Over! About 8 miles before Baby Gap, my chain wrapped around my derailure - chain suck, bent hanger. I had to get off the bike, take the wheel off, and bend back the hanger. I knew the field would be in pre-climb mode, so I knew I had a chance if I chased hard. So, I did, and got back on with about 2 miles to go to Baby Gap. Thankfully, Baby Gap was not that bad, and I was able to slowly recover. Game On! I stayed at the front and then Staffo and Yabroudy started attacking. I knew I couldn't match the accelerations, but I also know that climb really well, and rode my race. I passed guys in break, guys who blew up, and was closing on the guy in 5th, but just missed him. I ended up 6th on the stage. I was smoked.

Crit:

I warmed up well, and was ready to battle for the green jersey. However, it was not meant to be. It was pouring. And, with the storm drains full, the course was flooded. Turn 6 had a river running through it. After 2 laps, the officials cancelled the race. There is no question that it was the right decision.

I ended up 5th on GC and 2nd on points with 4th in a really hard circuit race and 6th on App Gap. I'll take that! Bill Yabroudy won GC. He and Dan Staffo were the stars this year, and it is only fitting that they won GMSR and Catskills respectively - Congrats!

I am looking forward to getting back to the Valley, and hope all of you will make the trip. The Valley needs your business now. If you are so inclined, you can also make a donation at: www.mrvcommunityfund.org.

Thanks,
Monte

Funky John Has Some Capital - Capital City Road Race - August 20, 2011

Team CycleFitness showed up to the Capital Classic knowing that the 40/ 50+ combined field was going to be tough-going with heavy
individual hitters plus teams. We (Monte Frank(e), Mike Andrews, and
me ... Funky John) were ready to 'flex our muscles' and do the best we
could in both fields. The funny thing is ... we didn't 'talk' about race
strategies until the race started. I like it that way. A well-tuned
team doesn't need to talk.

It was a 3 lap race of just over 21 miles per lap. The attacks went
from the gun (after a long neutral start) on the first lap, but
nothing stuck. It was good to see that one of us was not afraid
to go up the road with a 'good' attack. On the flats, Mike flatted. While Mike was getting a change, Monte went to the front, and he and Carl controlled the front to give Mike a chance. I went to the back to help him out. Kyle gave Mike a quick change, and Mike was able to get back on.
We didn't see Carl much after that. Carl doesn't like groups.

On the second lap, I decided to 'recover' and slip to the back of the group to get a feel of the size of the group. The group was easily half the size from the start. There were a few hitters in the back, a few more hitters in the front, and a lot of 'hungry eyes' in the middle. Going up the 'major climb' on the back side of the course the second time, the front hitters 'hit the gas' hard. After the descent into the climb, Team CycleFitness was too far back from the front, and we missed the break of 6 riders. Ugh! We made an attempt to chase, but it was too late. Double Ugh!! Lots of followers, but no real chasers. Triple Ugh!!! Lesson learned boys, always have a least one teammate up in front before every major climb.

There must have been only 20 - 22 riders at this point with lots of Keltic riders. Mike Andrews made a major attack out of our group and he was the lone ranger between the break and our chase group. David Taylor attacked out of the group to help Mike! Yea!! The lads worked together to try to bridge up to the breakaway, and Monte and I had fun working the front of the field. The race stayed that way going into the third lap. Team Keltic, at this point, was doing most (if not all) of the chasing(since they didn't have a rider in the break). On the rollers before the major climb, Mike and David were brought back. Quadruple Ugh!!!!

Now, I was ready to attack on the major climb to see if I can create a
'new race'. Once the climb started, I upped the tempo just enough to
see who will go with me. As it turned out, I dropped a few more
riders, but I had LOTS of followers, and no one willing to push it over the top. Major Ugh! Time to rest for the finishing climb. Team Keltic did some more chasing, but it was very painful to watch. Nothing about the chase looked pretty. Sorry TK.

Monte was still in the picture and we chilled for a while, but Mike ran out of gas from his efforts with David. Monte tested the field a couple times, but nothing was getting away at this point.

With about 2km to go the Keltic train started forming. Rather than get on board that train, Monte yelled at me to grab his wheel ... Yes! We're going for the win in the 50+ (the break didn't have a 50+ racer). I'm feeling the need. We're Carquest, and Nascar is faster than MetroNorth. Monte did a good job getting me in place from 1 km to go to 500m to go, but Kevin Mosher saw what was happening and moved up to the front from the outside. A bunch of guys were looking for Monte's wheel. Sorry guys - that wheel's mine. Monte was drilling it at the front from 500+m. I lost his wheel for a second, but got it back with 300m to go and he took me up to the line. Monte carried so much momentum in the finishing sprint, I had to shift into a big ring (why was I in the little ring?) to catch his draft ... He won the field sprint (finished 7th overall in the 40+), and I won the 50+ race. Big YES! Mike finished just a few minutes behind our group, but he finished with pride ... rounding off our team efforts, which was nice to see.

Well done CycleFitness! Great teamwork!

Thanks for reading.
-Funky John

IRONMAN LAKE PLACID Part 1 swim/ bike

WOw, what an event and I have to say Ironman really took it out of me this time...(as you can see as it took me nearly 3 weeks to publish this)
The family and i got to Lake Placid a few day early to hang out and we were lucky to get some incredible weather for the entire week. Little rain and lots of sunshine.. HOT though. lIke in the 90s. I pretty much took it easy during the week, hanging out on beautiful mirror lake and doing some easy rides with a little course preview.

Race morning:
Woke up a few minutes before 4 am after a pretty good nights sleep. Not too many prerace nerves. Ate a decent breakfast of oatmeal and a banana. Veena and the kids, real troopers got me to the transitiion area around 450 in order to beat the road closures.. TUrns out first announcement, the race was going to be wetsuit optional.. If you chose to race with a wetsuit, no hawaii slot but you still get a finish etc.. Well, I knew on my best day to include a PR run I would probably not have an easy time getting a slot .and if I did i would not be able to afford it this year so I took all the possible questions out of it - if i did get a slot i would be so tempted so I raced with the wetsuit....
Swim- The swim at Placid is all about getting to the cables that follow the course. If you swim close to or on the cables, you dont have to spot and just follow the cable on both loops of the course. THis saves time. But 2700 people would like to swim the one small cable. Well, I wanted the cable and I went ofr it.. Lots of cantact, getting kicked and punched and pushed for the entire swim but I gave as good as I got ... I was out of the first lap in 29 min and the contact did not settle too much on the cable for th second, but i did get some fast feet and drafted a little more lap 2-- out of the water in 59 min and change.. Goal one down- to break an hour at an IM which is the other reason I opted for the suit.. I figured I would be around 1:03 without it and really wanted to break the hour mark..

Transition. THe run to transition is out of the lake and about a 1/4 mile to the change tent. I grabbed my bag, threw on my shoes and aero helmet and got my bike with some help from all the awesome volunteers.. so great to have som many people volunteer for a race like this.. 1st transit

ion was much faster than in my first IM last year where it was all about soaking it in..

Bike- I wanted to stay around 200-210 watts for the ride. I figured this would keep me with a decnent split and not burn all my energy for the run. Getting out of the water in an hour allowed my to be pretty close to the front.. I was able to get just outside that 10 meter limit and really do some good pacing with some strong bikers.. Once again, not drafting but pacing really helps.. the marshalls pulled next to me and the two other guys I did the first lap with several times.. no penalty and they stayed with us watching a lot. ON one out and back portion we saw seveal big groups doing some serious drafting. such BS. Being a stronger swim biker than a runner makes you have to go for it kind of before the run but groups like that allow strong runners to really rest on the bike and than do their gazelle thing on the run... well i wasnt going for a slot so no big deal..but still I hate to see blatant drafting. So anyway I came in around 520, with the 56th best bike split in the 2800 person field and actually did not feel to spent. I had stayed on my nutrition, aiming for about 200 calories an hour drinking my perpetuem every 25 min.

Tokeneke 8-14-2011

Tokeneke RR
8/14/2011
Persistent, Assertive Riding

Yesterday Monte and I drove up to beautiful Northern CT to race Tokeneke RR. As I packed my gear up it was raining hard and even though I knew I was going to get completely soaked today, the first couple drops on your head always suck. The forecast was calling for rain all day. I rode to meet Monte and the rain continued. It can be miserable riding to a race in the rain, nobody likes the limited visibility at 50mph, getting hit in the face with overspray with road grime and riding in wet clothes. At least it was above 70*. We both stayed positive and didn’t talk much about the rain. We hashed over some scenarios and how we would react if each came up. I think Monte and I have been racing together enough to bypass these conversation but it is still a requirement for pre-race routine and it kind of helps to get you in the zone.

Tokeneke is one of hilliest races in New England with around 2100 ft of climbing per lap and each lap being 22 miles. We were doing 3 laps, 66 miles. Even in perfect conditions, this was going to be tough! We had a stacked field as usual in our Master 40+. We knew who to watch and who were the bigger threats of slipping away from the field. We could almost predict who would be pushing the pace and where. Right from the gun our good friend Carl was out there, he does this all the time and has proven that he can make it work. A few guys went after him but it was not a threat, everyone was still a little too fresh. About 10 miles in, after the first stinger of a climb Monte was slowly passing riders moving to the front with a small select group. Things were already starting to get thinned out. We came through the fist stage of the 3 tiered climb and Monte was in the small group that already had time on the field. I did my job and got right to the front. I watched guys try to bridge unsuccessfully and try to motivate a chase but I did my best to stay strategically discreet and just screw things up without getting noticed. I looked up a could still see the break, maybe about 10 riders, the formation was jagged and wide. It did not give me the impression of a smooth working pace-line which you need if you will stay away. Unfortunately, it did not stick. Guys were just too fresh and they caught up to the break right at the bottom of the final climb of the lap. This one is a doozy! Not a very steep climb but long (1.8 mile) and it wears on you. Once again, the peleton mashed up the climb and the pack thinned out. Because I was just sitting in and chasing wheels for the last 10 miles, I felt pretty good.

Tactics of team say attack when your team-mate gets caught but with the climb in front of me, I was in no position to make anything stick against the whole field. We crested the climb, I looked back and naturally it was thinned out. I think riders were looking for a little break as we came onto the only flat section of the race. This is when 1 rider took off then another, then Carl hmm... 6 guys up the road I thought “maybe I should get in that”. Monte and I had talked about how reaction time is key, I couldn’t wonder about this for too many more seconds, just then B. Yarbroudy went by me and I grabbed his wheel. He wasn’t sprinting just pedaling at a creamy- smooth cadence. We hooked up with the other 5 riders looked back and I was surprised of the gap we had. Sometimes the field can get lazy and everyone waits for the next guy to pull through. With the previous statement I also knew that I had Monte back in the pack to work and if riders did bridge up he was going to be there along for the free ride and fresh as daisy. His form has been improving race by race. I knew he was one of the strongest riders back there and with his breakaway last weekend at the grueling Catskill Stage, he has proven this season that he has added one more weapon to his arsenal.

Well we had a good group and everyone in my group knew what was next. Head down, keep it smooth, fast and tight. We worked together like a dream! There was no communication just the sound of all of us turning over the gears. We hit the first climb hard and continued to work together. We had an extensive gap. This could definetly work to the finish even though we had gotten away 1 lap into a 3 lap race. I tried to do my part without over extending and conserving where I could. Everyone stayed hydrated and fueled up. We lost one struggling rider due to a flat. Minutes after that, out of nowhere came Ed Angeli, he is a friend and very competitive racer. He had bridged on his own and chased us down. Damn strong! I looked at him at disbelief and was amazed at how fresh he looked! He just grinned like it was no big deal. It took a while for the group to get comfortable with Ed but after a while we maintained our rhythm and continued on.

On the last lap as we hit the first climb we lost a guy. I looked back and he was drifting away. I felt bad for the guy but knew it could have easily been me. In looking back I let a little gap of my own open up. “Oh SHIT” I had to dig a little deeper than I wanted to get back on. There was no attack just smooth hard uphill riding and if you loose your focus for a second it could be over. I caught back on and unfortunately the thought of getting popped-off starting creeping into my head. Shortly after that, Ed asked me how I was doing “I’m freakin hurtin!”. He assured me that we were all “freakin hurtin” and just hang in there. Words of encouragement? Thanks Ed. I fought to stay in taking pulls and I think everyone was really starting to feel a little worn down. We were not playing games but we had definetly slowed and guys were starting to think about staying fresh to the finish.

I was getting tired and trying to stay focused, Truthfully, due to the fact of my condition on the last climb, I was a little worried. The finishing climb started and I tried to keep my front wheel glued to the tire in front of me. About half-way up it was slipping away. I stood up and closed back to comfortable distance. I sat down settled in and another gap, “damn” I tried clicked down a gear, then up, then I stood and I couldn’t hold on. I didn’t have it. A very sad moment and a hard one to accept. It haunts you for a couple of days after the fact. The 5 guys slipped away. Although they were still insight, I couldn’t do anything except keep pedaling at my pace. I looked over my shoulder and couldn’t see a peleton charging up on me but that didn’t keep me from getting worried about it all the way to the end. I finish 6th, last out of the break but all in all a decent effort from me.

I circled back after the finish line and saw Monte as one of the first riders coming to me. He got 8th! I knew he would do well in the field sprint but I didn’t even know if the field was together. It had broken up enormously but he did bridge and get away from the main group. Nice job Monte and thanks for the work back in the field. Great day for CYCLE FITNESS! John Funk 2nd in the 50+ (silver medal for New England), Monte 8th and myself with 6th. Not bad for a very small team in one of New England’s toughest races.

Mike

Catskills TT, Stage 2

Tour of Catskill
8/5-8/7 2011
3 day stage race.

Time Trial

This was an out and back 12 mile stage that was different from the short uphill 3 mile TT in previous years. Monte and I had a similar plan to stay a little under threshold for the quarter and slowly ramping up our output. We were both concerned with going out too hard and running out of gas. The last thing we wanted was to run out of gas before the finish. We got in to town early and rode the course and talked strategy one more time. I was up to start and TT’s are not my favorite, I have yet to do well in one and it is always a little intimidating lining up with guys in full TT attire, bikes, helmets, full disc wheel, etc etc, the list goes on. There I was with my TT bars on my road bike and I did have a shiny new helmet that I had saved up for. I looked at Johnny Bold in front of me and just thought to myself.... well, at least he won’t pass me like last year. The gun went off. I was looking forward to putting in a good time and had a steady rhythm. I felt good, correction, I felt GREAT! My cadence was smooth, speed was high and I was averaging great power numbers. I was flying! After about 5 minutes, I slowed a bit realizing that this was probably going to come back and haunt me. If I kept this up I would be destroying my 20 minute PR. I made the turn around at about 11:00 and noticed I was not to far off from my 30 second man Johnny Bold. Wow! I have been able to hold my gap to a National Cyclocross Masters Champ who was in front of me. At this rate my time would be 24-25 minutes, not bad! After the turnaround there was a little rise, hey this was tough I thought. I lost my rhythm but fought my way over. Then it flattened out. I couldn’t find my smooth cadence, mmm. Things were harder, what was wrong? Speed was going down I didn’t feel like Superman anymore then it hit me, I finally noticed I was doing the first half with a small tailwind breeze, barely noticeable and sometimes that is all you need help push you along and give you a false impression. Anyway, I passed a couple guys and got passed by one too. I figured this was not going to place me in the top part of the field. I went strong but did have to recover a bit for the mistake of going out too hard. I finished the last quarter strong and ended up in the mid 20’s out of the 52. After the TT I talked to racers and it seemed that most made the same mistake that I did. Our leader won with a time which I think would have been good enough for 5th in the Pro field.

Stage 2
“The Assault on Devil’s Kitchen”
Okay, with a name like that you know it is going to be painful.
After getting a good nights rest Monte and I looked for some quick fuel and were happy to find a crafty, eclectic little local joint right down the road. Monte and Funk had eaten there last year and we both agreed that since we were here we might as well check it out. After meeting the friendly owner we ordered breakfast and although it took longer than expected the food finally came and it was delicious. It was more like a breakfast that I would have on vacation. First a small fruit salad and coffee then, fancy fruity pancakes drizzled with oats or granola, with home fries and 3 eggs over on top of the whole pile of food. It was a ton of food but if you put food in front of me I am going to eat it. I never eat that much for breakfast, especially before a race but the food was very good and I gobbled it down.

We rolled to the start line which was right down the road and had small talk with a few guys. We had about a half mile neutral start then we raced. Someone took off immediately, not a threat and the poor guy ended up missing the first turn anyway. I bet he looks at the map before trying that move again. Immediately came a stiff climb to wake up the legs. I watched guys try to get a rhythm and one fellow almost took out Monte. He swore it was Monte’s fault but I assured his overweight ass that he was not riding the straightest line. No harm done. It was just a sign of fatigue as nobody was ready for this.

After we crested the steepest section, our buddy Carl Reglar (former National Champ for Nova Scotia?) started his attempts at getting away. Last year he was a bit unknown, since then he has proven that he can get away from the start with or without company to help and bring home the goods at the end of the day. He rides with power and can muscle out a punishing pace for miles on end. He has pulled this crap long enough to bring every one of his moves to the attention of the whole peleton. He just powers off the front not really a huge kick. Unfortunately for him, all eyes were watching. He knew this but kept popping off the front regardless. Monte courageously joined him for a few miles on one of his attempts. I covered moves and stayed attentive at the front making sure he got a little breathing room. It eventually got brought back. After about 10-15 attempts (I am not kidding) Carl finally sat in. Nobody was giving him an inch. With his aggressive riding the anxious peleton chased and the yellow jersey sat in for the free rides.

With about 30 miles in to the race I think riders started to think about what was coming up. People were taking in fuel, drinking, clamping and tightening down there shoes, zip up jerseys, stretching hamstrings whatever. It got really quiet, everyone knew what was coming. It was the “Kitchen”. With grades of up to 22% and about 3 miles long this climb was going to hurt and everyone knew it would be a game changer. Riders were fighting for every inch as everyone wanted to be at the front for the beginning of the climb. We took a turn and there it was. It was time to suffer! I settled in and it was quickly apparent that I was not leading anyone up the climb but I kept the leaders in sight. I saw Monte “above” me many times and I was glad to see he was feeling a little better from the previous day. It was steep, I pushed and pedaled on, a few passed me and I began to suffer next to a couple guys that were bugging me. They were breathing heavy and just making noises that annoyed me. I was fatigued, I saw the skyline, I thought “There’s the top” I gonna nail it to that point and I did! I reached deep and must have been pushing around 500 watts for about 25 feet and it took a crap load out of me. I got closer, then as I was looking for the top there was a bend in the road all of a sudden, “WHAT THE HELL” I saw Monte with the top riders continuing up the climb of even a steeper section. Son of a bitch! I still another steep pitch and the end was not even in sight.
After my hallucinations of the top it kind of killed my spirit and I was cooked. It was on to damage control and continued up, up and up. I passed a rider walking his bike then another who was just shattered and crying for his mommy. My heart went out to the guy as it is very hard to watch a grown man cramp-up and yell/scream in pain. He tried to get back on his bike but his cramping muscles said “NO, NO, NO” He cried out again. I handed him a couple Endurolytes and threw a gel without slowing down, I couldn’t I would have fallen over because when you are riding at 2 miles an hour you have a lot of time to take in the surroundings.


Finally over the top and on to flatter ground. I looked ahead but couldn’t see anyone and I saw a couple of riders bridging up to me. We worked together just to get home as quick as we could. There were a couple of rollers left and 6 miles to go but the race was up the road. We could see them, a small group of about 12. Monte was tucked in nicely. There was no sense in killing myself trying to catch them. I just wanted to get to the finish line and perhaps take a spot or two. Right before 1 K to go I went up a small rise in the big ring and that was enough for my quad to seize. It tightened into a little ball like I was flexing my muscles but I wasn’t. I had a major problem. Now I was the one crying. I just tried to take it like a man. I didn’t have to get off the bike, I just had to stop pedaling for a while, maybe 30 secs. It finally loosened up but I had to gingerly pedal to the line. It was hard because there was a decent crowd. Spectators were yelling “C’mon give it all you got! Well I did, unfortunately, today it was not enough.

Monte finished up strong, out-sprinted a few and took some time back from competitors. The stage was over and we rode up the street cooled down and showered up. We walked back downtown and watched the rest of the fields come in as we ate lunch on a porch overlooking the finish line. It was great to see a local “kid” and also occasional FJ Clark rider get 1st place for the Pro 1/2 field.

Stage 3
I blew up about 30 miles into the race. SOmetimes you have to just chalk it up as a bad day. Monte did well and got 5th! An update soon.

Pawling RR

Pawling Road Race

I was thinking of skipping this race to give myself a little mid-season break. It is put on by Pawling Cycle. They are a great bunch of guys and I have gotten to know a few of them throughout the years at the FJ Clark circle. I decided to go because (basically) I said I would and I wanted to help support their club. The 35+ field was small last year and this year it was larger but not by much, maybe 22 riders. It was my first race back from Sutton and I was eager to see if the long weekend of riding and racing would have any positive affects. As the race started, I knew the climbs would be tough but I wanted to make sure I was at the front for the beginning of the first section. Well, as the first climb came up guess who was in front (the front)? Yours truly. I had coasted to the front, kept tempo and brought the riders to the first rollers before the big 20 minute climb. I was pedaling at a good tempo, not too hard but respectable. This did not last long, my legs were feeling weak and I started to think maybe my comfortable tempo would soon drop my own ass. In hindsight, I did very little for a warm up big mistake. One by one riders passed me, I tried to jump but no spark, nothing. Legs said “NO!” A group of about 12 went up the road and there I was in no man’s land. Left to climb alone, I didn’t panic, I knew I must have some fitness and to get shelled like this on the first climb! I knew the guys would be hurting as well. I told myself not to give up, keep going and keep suffering, it will be over soon. I kept going as hard as I could never felt great but kept the group in sight. I was getting closer and closer and finally, I had made contact with the lead group before a fast downhill. Whew!
After recovering on the downhill section it brought us to Route 55. It has a long climb but not as steep and I started getting a good rhythm and my legs were waking up, they were back. I was first (again) going in to the next set of climbs but this time I felt much better. I misjudged the crest but decided to continue a little surge to get over and nobody came by me. It felt good to know that I could put an effort in and maintain it at decent wattage. The group was strung out but came back together on the very hairy decent. I felt good and continued to race with a little more confidence. On the next lap there were no fireworks. Maybe 2 or 3 riders got dropped on the big climb but at least one came back. There were no efforts to catch a solo rider who got away. We handled the big climb like gentleman. After the last climb before the finish we had maybe 10 in our group. There were a few attacks but everyone was a little too attentive and nobody got away. I was at the back waiting for the sprint. Someone behind me jumped (finally) but he came out of his pedal. That was enough to start everyone sprinting. I stayed seated until 50 meters because of the uphill sprint, passed a few riders and ended up 6th.
Lessons learned:
Don’t be the first rider into a climb just be towards the front.
Don’t give up! If you do get dropped for riding stupid keep going as hard as you can, most of the time everyone else is hurting as well.
Thanks,
Mike

Norwell 7-23-2011

Norwell Circuit Race: Monte finished 5th in 35+. Tough fast race. Monte was in break that got caught with 1k to go, but he still managed to grab a top 5.

Back From Track Nationals, Posted by Rick

At the beginning of the season, I was happy to hear my coach tell me not to climb to many hills, and spend as much time as I can behind the motor scooter. I hate hills and I love motor pacing.

I had 4 events. The First was the individual pursuit on Wednesday. It is only 2000 meters, I only pulled off an 11th. Way to Short. The next day I had the 60 lap point race. I tried like hell to plant myself in a break. No luck. I duked it out for a couple sprints and earned 4 points. On the final sprint I was almost knocked down and ended up with nothing. I was 10th place in that event. Peg got some good photos in this race....

I was a little bummed about the points race, luckily I have a day job. Next was the 24 lap scratch race on Saturday night. Sprinters love this race because it is short enough they can hang out and then spank us endurance guys in the sprint. I decided since I was sprinting pretty good, I would hang out on Bruce Donaghy (7 time national champion and Olympian). In the first half of the race he was getting frustrated with me. We did chase down a couple of breaks though. At about 10 laps to go I decided I was going to bolt up the road and try to catch a loan rider who was up the track about 100 meters. I came up on him pretty fast and decided I would try to fly right by. About a lap later I was sure I was alone until I peaked behind me and saw him glued to my wheel. We worked hard together and almost lapped the field with 3 or 4 laps to go. At this point I knew we had 1st and 2nd wrapped up. I even smiled up at Peg and the kids as we went by. At this point I figured I caught this guy with ease and I'm pulling way harder than him. Not only that but he stayed on the front for the entire final 500 meters! I figured I would come around him in turn 3, which is a little early, and then bask in the glory as I cross the line with my hands raised. I went for it, got even with him, then he hit the gas. I couldn't believe how much that dude had in the tank. His name is Kent Menzel and he deserved that jersey. I think he got a standing ovation...

A couple of guys from California needed another rider for the team pursuit. In all my years on the track, I never competed in this event. It is 4 guys (timed on the 3rd rider) going 3000 meters and fast as they can. Dave and Kelly were the brains behind the operation. We had a couple of practice sessions and they taught me a lot. We ended up a solid 2nd place. It was a ton of fun and I would love to do it again.

Mossman Podium

Mini mossman pics

MINI MOSSMAN TRIATHLON

As told by Ryan and Kieran..

Kieran and I showed up at the mini Mossman for this kids triathlon which is probably the best organized kids tri in Ct if not NE. There were about 90 kids signed up for the wave of 7-10 years olds…. All vying a spot for the “champions” wave at the tough kids triathlon in Sep.

100 yard open water swim

2 mile road bike

½ mile run

I asked him what his strategy was—“ to win” he told me.. hey that’s a good strategy

Kieran- Swim:

I was trying to get to the front of the group of kids but they kept moving and I couldn’t squeeze through them and the official kept moving the start line.. I was nervous because I was concerned I would not do well and I was racing against 9-10 years olds and I am only 8… I was nervous about my swim because it is my worst part of a triathlon. After the wave started I had to alternate running and swimming trying to get through the shallow water and through the people. I think I was the 13^th or 14 th kid out of the swim…

I than ran as fast as I could to transition and caught a  lot of people who were slower than me in transition. I had a little hard time with my shoes tongue but got it on and left transition for the bike and was in a out 7^th-8^th place..

Bike- I caught lots of people on the bike. I almost crashed because of a sharp turn I did too quickly. I recovered and caught up to the leader and passed her and another kid was drafting me.  We worked real hard and tried to sprint past each other but came into transition together in 1^st and 2^nd place.

Run- We both did a quick transition and I quickly fell in behind the kid who was bigger than me and started drafting him. We ran as hard as we could the entire ½ mile and I tried to sprint by him at the end and got a little ahead but than he passed me and beat me by less than one second.

I finished 2^nd and got a slot for toughman… I think I could have run harder and will try to wear him down there….dad is working with me on run tactics.. It was great and I had a good time

Ryan: it was awesome watching these two competitive kids duel it out on the run. I am very proud of Kierans drive and both of the kids sportsmanship.. they shook hands and than went and sat on the swingset.. 

Le Coupe des Ameriques

Bienvenue la meilleure course pour maitres en Ameriques.  Mike Andrews and I represented the Cycle Fitness / Carquest team this past weekend in the Coupe, billed as the North American Masters Championships. 4 events in 3 days in and around Sutton, Quebec.

We stayed at Mike's amazing house at Jay Peak, just across the border from Canada, and only about 20-30 minutes from Sutton.  When we weren't racing, we hung out on the deck, ate, and tried to get some rest.  Here's the view from his deck looking north to Quebec.

This race is well-organize from start to finish all the way down to the mobile porta-johns which are moved from staging area to staging area.

I would show you a picture of the yellow line, but we learned that in Quebec, the yellow line is irrelevant.  In fact, on a 55mph descent I got passed by guys on the other side of the white line all the way on the left side of the road.

Stage 1: An uphill prologue which climbs to the base of the ski area. I had a good prologue last year, and was hoping for a repeat, but it was not to be.  I starting blowing with about 1-2 k to go, and had to back off.  I thought of the Jens Voigt line - something like legs do what I say.  Didn't work.  I was pretty dejected after that ride, and Mike had me on suicide watch.  Mike had a pretty good ride though.  He came flying by me with a little more than 500m to go, and there was nothing I could do to stay with him.  Carl Reglar won the stage in style with a gutsy move practically from the gun.

Stage 2: TT - Another disappointing stage for me.  Mike put in a respectable TT though, and a huge improvement over last year.

Stage 3: Hilly Circuit Race - At some point during this stage, my legs came back to me.  3 laps with about 500' of climbing on each lap and a screaming 55 mph descent.  Mike was working hard at the front, and trying to get away.  On the last lap, he was in a pretty good move with Roger Aspholm and Jonathan Card, but it didn't last too long.  However, the efforts led to the field getting split, and we came into the finish with only 30 or so guys.  Coming into the finish, I felt like I had good legs.  Mike did his thing - went to the front and strung out the field.  With about 200 meters to go Troy Kimball jumped and I went after him.  I tried to get around him for the win, but didn't make it.  I was psyched to grab 2nd and get on the podium.  In fact, this was an all American podium with David Hildebrand, another CT guy in 3rd.

Stage 4:  The classic 90k road race - this stage is a big deal to the Canadians.  The conventional strategy is to sit in, conserve, and wait for the selection to be made going over Scenic before the run into the finish.  Mike and I decided we were going to be aggressive and make Westwood work.  We also figured 2 minutes on GC could be made up if they let us go.  As it turned out the Expo guys had a similar plan.  David attacked repeatedly early on, forcing Andreas, Troy and Roger to work at the front.  Then I went.  Steve Proulx bridged up to me, which was the kiss of death as he was sitting high on GC.  As soon as we were brought back, Mike countered with Todd Bowden and a Canadian dude.  Andreas and Troy put in some serious time on the front to bring them back.  Oh well.  Now, recover for the climb.  As we approached the climb, I worked hard to get really good position at the front of the field, and I would have held it but for the complete irrelevance of the yellow line. The field took over the entire road - gutter to gutter.  I felt pretty good on the climb, and made the selection over the top. We had about 15 guys, and I was pumped to see the 5k to go sign.  I had good legs and knew I could make a run at the finish, especially since it was uphill for 500m + to the line. As we came into Town (1k to go), a group of about 10 guys, including Mike caught back. Just as the road tilted up to the finish, an attack went early, and then Roger and a Canadian guy jumped with about 400m to go and held it for 1st and 2nd.  I jumped hard with about 250-300m to go and gave it everything I had to take 3rd.  Here's the podium shot:

Mike finished 11 on the stage and 15th on GC!  We raced our bikes!

Mike and I then took our prize money to Town - stinky cheese, double espressos, pastries (the croissant with white chocolate and berries was unbelievable) and gifts for the girls.

Highs and lows of bike racing experienced this past weekend.  It didn't go according to plan, but we "adjusted," raced our bikes, and walked away with podium spots in both road races and Mike's very respectable 15th on GC.

-Monte

TRI CAMP

Junior cycle fitness racer gets some press.. More importantly Doug, Like Rick is diong some great things for junior racing and endurance sports for youth..
http://cheshire.patch.com/articles/camp-teaches-young-athletes-triathlon-skills?ncid=M255

Track Happenings

As you all know, I've been trying to get fit for track nationals.  This past Saturday was my third trip to T-Town this season.  I've spent 2 Tuesday nights racing with the Cat 2's and 3's.  I can hang on pretty good with those guys, but when they throw us in with the Cat 1/ pros for the long points race, it's "hang on for dear life".  Last Tuesday, Bobby Lee (Olympian 2008), made us look like girl scouts.

Saturday is Masters 30+ racing.  I was hoping to ride the cat 3-4 masters.  The first race was an 18 lap points race and they had cat 1-4 race together (about 35 guys).  I got  2  4th place sprints and that got me 8th overall.  They asked that I ride with the 1's and 2's the rest of the day.  So I did.  I was up there a bit, but it was tough.  I rode a cat 3-4 points race towards the end of the day and got 2nd.

Nationals are just over a month away.  Each time I head down there I feel a little better.  I'm going again tomorrow (can't wait)..  Rick

Father's Day HHRR 50+ - Dig Deep?

Nobody should be nervous racing their 'home' course ... well, I was. It was the CT State Champs, and there was lots of strong 50+ Masters on the start line. I am starting to feel the wear-and-tear from all the racing earlier in the season, so I was unsure about my mental fitness. Climbing-wise, I was feel good. The question was: can I dig deep when there's a strong move going up the road? And there's a hand full of riders I had to watch ... Gerry Clapper is one of them.
Gerry and I made eye connect at the start-line. We both said hello, but it was a different kind of 'hello' ... there was a message behind it: 'Let's say 'goodbye' to this field' ... meaning, let's breakaway. Once the race got started, nothing really happened until the KOM hill ... Gerry attacked and he attacked HARD. My eyes almost popped-out when he did make that move: It was time to dig deep ... Do I have what it takes to dig deep? About halfway up the climb, I found the 'force': "That little fu#ker, I know how to ride this hill!". So, I attacked and caught him before the top. He looked back and said, 'nice'. I put eyes back in my head and rolled ahead ... chasing after two loose riders. We pushed it, but we did kill it. A smaller field caught all four of us at the feed zone. After the feed, Gerry was back up front pushing the pace. Hmmm ... not smart from my point-of-view. He pushed the pace, most of the way, to the KOM hill. I see it coming ... Gerry was going to attack, again, at the bottom of the KOM hill, and he did! And his move was even harder than last time. I said to myself, 'don't panic, just attack this hill up and over ... just like a cross-country skier'. I stayed posed and caught Gerry half way up and motored passed him. He jumped on my wheel and we rode over the top together. THIS IS THE RACE ... I said to myself. I swear I rode down the backside of the KOM hill over 50 mph ... but to my surprise, four other riders bridged on. Whoa! Time for the mad dash to the line. The closer we got the stronger I felt. Yea ... I'm ready for the sprint. I also knew who was weak in the group of 6 of us while peddling downhill to the finish. The sprint for the finish started just before we turned off the main road by David K. (Arc) I was third in line thinking ... go, but start your sprint at 200m. I did ... coming around one last rider (CCB) for the win. Whew! Done! Spring racing season is over. Today is the first day of summer ... Go celebrate!

CT STATE CHAMPS - HOUSY GOLD

Funky wins the 50+ race. Funky - race report?  Check out his www.oldschoolcoaching.com hat and sweet mechanic's shirt.  

In the 40+, I took 4th, which was good enough for the gold medal. In fact, our team has now won the Connecticut State Championship 3 years in a row.  Ryan won in 2009, and I took the baton from him when he decided to focus on triathlons.  Today's race was hard.  Staffo took off from the gun, and held it.  Impressive! Mike rode really well as usual.  He was pounding the front, and powered a nice move.  Too bad it didn't stick.  Race came down to a field sprint for 3rd, as Troy got away at the end and held off the field. Mike was ready to rock n roll with his typical superman lead out, but Max L gunned it at the bottom of the hill.  I stuck his wheel, and we gapped the field.  I tried to get around him at the finish, but missed it by inches.  Great to share the podium with Arlen and Badger.    

It was nice to see the smooth changeover of this great race from Zephyr to Bethel.  All the traditions that the Z-boys built up remained: same great course, festive finish area with food, Richard Fries on the PA, crazy Bryan Atwood on the drums at the KOM, massive crowd at the feed zone, legend sightings (Jimmy Frazier) and good hard racing.  Props to Greg, John R. and the Bethel gang.  

Shoulda, Coulda Woulda.....

Last October I was still a die hard triathete that was pissed that my knee would not cooperate with me running, so I talked Tom Wilkis to start an Aquabike division of the Griskus Triathlon(In an Aquabike you just swim and bike, but skip the run)

Now fast forward to this year and I am really enjoying road racing and want to do Housatonic Hills which is the same weekend as the Griskus. I figured since I had been training for the CT Stage Race that did not materialize that I could do the aquabike on Saturday and Housatonic on Sunday, but I really wanted to do well at Housatonic. I was debating skipping the aquabike, but since I asked them to create the new division I felt obligated to race. Ok, so now how hard do I race the aquabike so I am not shot for Housatonic which was my primary objective? Hmmmm.....

As Ryan reported on earlier, race day at Quassy was a little crazy because of the fog. They debated cancelling the swim and then finally decided to shorted it at press on. Unlike Ryan, I took the wrong line from the shore. There were no buoys in sight at the gun. Half the pack went straight out and the other half of us went slightly left. After 100yds, I realized that I guessed wrong. and was way left of the first buoy. Oh well, what can you do? I came out of the water feeling good, but still with questions about how hard to press the bike so that I would do well in the aquabike, but still have something left for Housatonic. The first few miles of the bike were the toughest mentally for me racing because I let people pass me without reacting. I decided to ride about 80% max HR, but no more. I had people passing me that I knew were not as strong on the bike as I was, but let them go so I would have some gas in the tank for Sunday, but still kept a good pace.

The race ended with little fanfare because unlike a bike race or doing all 3 portions of the triathlon, an aquabike finishes without a finish line. Your time is calculated when you hit transition and no one knows that you are done. Oh well, I do not do it for the crowds anyway.

As it turned out I was the only male in the aquabike so I did not have to work at all on the bike. I am, however, the Northeast Regional Aquabike Champion for 2011!!!! I got a big medal for first(and last) place.

So now on to Sunday and Housatonic Hills...

I felt good warming up and was anticipating a good finish. As I lined up, I noticed that there were several big teams that could pose a problem for a solo rider(Bethel, Bike Way and Tarmac). Ryan told me before the race that if I did not ask USAC for an upgrade after the race that he would start calling me a sandbagger. Well, as it turns out there are other obvious reasons to get out of cat 5. On the neutral start up Constitution, someone dropped their chain and almost took half of the field down.

I was feeling good at the start and the Bike Way team was doing a great job controlling the pace with 3 riders on the front. They would let one drift off the front and then block the main field to see if they could get anything to happen. This went on for the first several miles, but they never got away. The lead groups was all together coming down Hut Hill Rd. and as we were making the turn everyone noticed some loose gravel on the tight portion of the turn,hit the brakes and took it wide. A Tarmac rider cut the corner closer without slowing and I grabbed his wheel. It was early, but I thought if I had someone with me we could break away. For the next 3 miles we increase our lead and then after my pull I looked back and the Tarmac rider was 3 bike lengths behind me. He yelled "I'm done." OK so now what to do? We are about 15 miles from the finish with 2 hard climbs and I only have a few hundred yards lead. I decided to take the downhills hard hoping that the chasers would burn some matches catching me. I sat up when we hit an uphill and let them catch me which was fine because I was not in distress after the descents. A few minutes into the climb I touched wheels with the Bike Way rider in front of me. I was not sure if it was his fault or if it was me just being too tired to pay attention. Luckily I was able to keep upright and no one went down.

Fast forward a few miles to Davenport. We make the right for the last few hills and on the climb I was right behind the same rider I clipped earlier. Guess what? It happened again!!!! I realized too late that when he transistioned from a standing climb to a seated climb that he paused which threw his bike back. This time when I clipped his wheel I went down. UGH....

By the time I got back up and clipped in I was about 50yds behind the lead pack and still had to finish the climb. I was able to make up a little ground by the time we crested the climb, but I was maxed out. We made the right turn and started descending and I knew that if I was going to have a chance to finish well I would need to make it up on the descent. As other riders were sitting up and recovering, I buried myself to catch the leaders. I caught them right before the KOM and got a small breather before the turn. Once on the KOM, they were starting to gap me and I did not have the energy to keep pace. Over the top I once again found myself 40-50yds back from the lead. More hard decending instead of recovering. Oh well.. its almost over and mostly down hill. Thankfully I am heavy and descend well so I was able to latch back on with 2-3 miles to go.

From there I tried to just tuck in and rest. I felt fine as the school came into view. I was about 7th wheel as we made the turn. A few riders started the sprint from there and I waited until we hit the 200M mark(which in hind sight was too late) I made up a few place and crossed 4th about 5 meters out of first.

I am still trying to learn how to race and wondering if I will ever stop wondering what I could have done differently to do better.

Shoulda, coulda, woulda.....

Pat Griskus Olympic distance

THis race was serving as the 2011 Northeast regional olympic distance tri championships.. (roadies- this is a one mile swim, 40K b, 10 K r) I had thought about riding to the race today- 15 miles to quassy down rte 67 which is mostly flat so this would have been ok.. however when i woke at 4am, the fog was thick and was not letting up-- truth be told I was feeling a little tired from the day at 6 flags with junior Haug 1 and 2 yesterday, and from a great day of training on thursday- my longest run(16 m) and longest swim(4400 yards) thus far leading up to Placid. OK enough excuses.

Got to the race early and saw that there were going to be lots of fast people.. definitely a stacked field. I got a good one mile run wu and than a 15 min bike, got the wetsuit on and bull@#$% with some people I know.. than to the swim start. That fog, not lifted yet. could not even see the buoys and the race director attempted to delay the start for the fog to get burned off.. didn't work and they had to change the buoys, bring them in closer and shorted the course.. this was like a sprint race swim, HARd and fast but having to look hard for the boys .. i got out in 11 min, and out of the water in like 4th or 5th in my wave of 35-44 year olds...

to the bike and I saw the leaders getting on their bikes as I was taking the wetsuit off. I love the new suit but it is tighter around the ankles so a little more of a struggle. I mounted the specialized - I chose not to ride the ROLF race tubulars as I am saving the tires now for placid but rode the little heavier but still some nice clinchers I got from CYCLEFITNESS made by Roval. I caught one guy on the bike abut got passed by one guy too so that was equal.. anyway I felt a little dead on the bike today.  no pawer tap to keep me in check and I went out HARD. I had not preridden this course but have ridden all the roads individually at some point in training.  GOing out hard though kind of sapped the legs for the hills that I did not anticipate being so relentless.
SO I came in for T2 in the same place as when I started which is not a normal bike split for me, which might be due to dead legs but also I have improved my swim this year so get out with some faster guys..

RUN- I had a hard time on this run, which is my weakness and even worse is downhill running which just beats me up.. THe first 1.5 miles is downhill than back up 1.5 miles than down 1.5 miles than up 1.5 miles. One thing that keeps me motivated is racing against individuals. last year a guy ran me down on EVERY race. A real nice guy but it still gives me some motivation to try to not let this happen again. If he does great becuase he is a super nice guy but if not good for me. SO at mile 3.1 turnaround he was 25 seconds behind, than the dreaded downhill again. At that last turnaround he was only 9-10 sec back. Man I got motivated and in my not so great a runner way I gunned it. I stayed ahead but heard footsteps the entire time. My overall pace was like 6: 49 for the run, which on a tough uphill downhill race I am not too upset about.
21st overall- the officials said 600 people but i estimate in the mid 400s. either way not bad and I qualified for USA age group nationals in Burllington- Im not going, but next year that is the goal with no IM on the plate - again it will be in VT.
Next up. a short sprint in Jul y than placid. And lots of suffering on Wed night- more on that later.

thanks for reading. ryan

Hell Hat No Fury Like a Woman Scorned...

... and if you are an endurance athlete in New England this year the woman who appears most scorned  is Mother Nature. And who wants to be on her bad side? After a winter of record setting snow fall, where much of my strength training came from shovelling snow, we thought perhaps we had earned some respite from her scorn. However, April and may had more rainy days than not. Not warm rainy days that make you want to dance in the street to get cool, but those dreary days hovering in the low 50s with maybe some slight low 60s, but those were rare.

Than about two weeks ago we literally went from low 60s and raining to 2 days later having  upper 80s with Georgia like humidity. Wholly crap, what happened to spring? Things settled down to a little more normal intmeritten rain and low 80s for about a week. So Mike doug and I planned a 5 hour ride on Thursday. Turns out it was going to be 98 and humid. We were doing the housatonic course which is relentless, up and down and a pain even on cool days. The first lap was not too bad as we left at 930. We got to our cars and each decided we only went through one bottle of water so would be fine with one bottle for lap # 2... big mistake. ABout half way though the temp had shot up and we all sucked down the bottle... luckily the garden store in Roxbury had potable water and we soaked out heads and filled out bottles. MIke left us and Doug and I continued for anohter 90 min but half way though jumped in the wonderful cool river ... I was barely pushing 130 watts back to the car and suffering..

Flash forwad 2 days... Early morning ride so i could have a nice family day. plan for 4 hours on TT bike, IM pace. 10 min into the ride, 60 degrees and it starts to pour... I had my rain slicker and was not able to take it off the entire wet, miserable ride.

Please, I know the weather gods are pissed, but a couple weeks of 75-82 degrees with low humidity is in order.. hey bikes are good for the carbon footprint right?

Ryan

Purgatory Road Race / Lake Auburn RR

Good hard racing on a cold, wet morning.  It is June, right?

Funk took 3rd (ho hum another podium) in 45+.  

I was 9th (3rd in what was left of field) in the 35+.  4 guys went early. I thought that was a suicide mission with strong riders in field.  I was wrong.  Then 2 guys snuck away late.  I thought that was going no where, especially since every move from field up to then was brought back.  Wrong again.  On finishing climb, Max L went hard and had a gap. I went after him with a 545 guy sitting on my wheel.  I couldn't close to Max and couldn't shed 545, but did put 10 seconds on field.  545 thanked me for the lift by coming around me with about 100m to the line.

Good to see the Boss (Tom O) decked out old school. 

Props to promoter for a well organized race on a nice circuit. 

Last week, I did Lake Auburn RR after the CT Stage Race debacle.  Strong CCB and OA teams dominated the race which was a combined 35+/45+ field.  Unfortunately, there was a lot of negative racing.  Hey: I know you have a guy in the break, and I know you're not going to work, but please don't mess up the chase.  Just sit on.  Thank you.  Yes, there was another really early break that stayed away.  Ciaran and Paul are riding really well, so big props to them.   I ended up 3rd in field and 3rd in small 35+ field.   

Another really well organized race on a really nice circuit.   Lobster dinner was outstanding!

Karmic Infraction or Poor Planning?

This past weekend was supposed to be my big A race for the year.  The kids had a cub scout field trip to Battleship Cove in Massachusetts for a sleepover on the ship which I decided to forego in order to race.  On Wednesday, the CT Stage race was cancelled and instead of deciding to go to Mass with the kids I decided to jump into the Rev3 1/2 Iron and do the Aquabike (for those who don't know, an aquabike is a triathlon minus the run designed for those of us who can't run any more.)  I had trained hard for this weekend and tapered well as evidenced by Wednesday night's race in Bethel.  I wanted to race.

Due to the bubble collapse at the Cheshire pool this winter, my swimming was severely lacking.  I have only been in the water 6 or 7 times since December.  That being said, my form felt good and I just lacked endurance.  Since I have been focusing on the bike this year, I figured that my bike split would make up for any deficiencies in the swim.  I was hoping to come in under 3:20 which would put me on the podium based on last years times.  This meant a sub 35 minute swim and a 2:45 bike split.

I had not done a tri in over a year so getting ready for the race the night before I went through everything twice to make sure I was ready.  I got to Quassy a little before 6AM since the bikes were racked last night there was no need to arrive early and get a good spot.

I get everything set up in transition and realize I do not have my timing chip in my race bag.  I know I had one yesterday when I registered.  When I was getting ready Saturday night, I completely forgot about the need for a chip and had not bothered to put it in my bag.  Big oops!!!  Luckily the race coordinators were prepared for morons like me and I got a new chip with no issues.

Now that I had everything back on track I headed down to the water.  The aquabike went off with the women's swim wave.  This meant that there would be much less pushing and shoving than in a male swim wave.  My plan was to start out easy so that I would not start hyperventilating and could control my breathing(this sucks just ask Ryan)  I started on the far right so I had a clean line to the buoy and would be away from the crowd.  I was feeling good, swimming straight and had no issues during the swim.  I tried a few times to jump into someone's wake to draft.  The first two attempts failed because the swimmers were kicking too much and making too many bubbles.  I finally found a swimmer dragging their legs and got into a groove behind them.  We did not hit any traffic until the second red buoy at which point, I decided I had saved enough energy and was ready to jump ahead of the person I was drafting behind.  I upped the tempo and knew I was doing OK because I was passing many swimmers from previous waves.

Exiting the water and running into transition, I checked my swim split.  33:55  Ok I was right on track.  No issues in transition so I was out on the bike course.  I had previewed only the first 5 miles and last 5 miles of the course so I was not sure where to push it and where to hold back.  My legs felt strong and I was keeping my HR between 150 and 160 which I knew I could maintain for about 3 hours.  I was consistently passing riders and only had 2 people pass me during the first half of the ride.  I rode over something about halfway through the ride which sounded odd, but I did not know what it was.  I immediately looked down at my front wheel to make sure things were OK.  The wheel was still rolling true and the tire was inflated so I figured I had dodged a bullet.  As I am about 5 miles into a 7 mile climb I hear a loud hiss and then fell "thump, thump, thump..."  Obviously, I had not dodged that bullet.  No big deal, I was averaging about 21mph and knew I could afford a quick flat fix.  I take the wheel off and get the old tube out quickly.  I unfold the new tube and get ready to put the valve extender on the new tube.  WTF, the michelin tube does not have a removable core.  What to do now????  The valve stem is not long enough for my 66mm rims.  At this point I am still telling myself that someone will stop and help out with an extra tube.  Five minutes go by and I am convincing myself that I can still make up the time.  Finally a friend from the Shoreline Sharks stops and offers to help.  He has a different valve extender, but it doesn't fit either.  He only has one extra tube and can't afford to offer it up.

I felt like one of those dudes hanging out in the parking lot at a Grateful Dead show with their index finger out.  I need a miracle!!!!!

I have to say that the triathlon community is much nicer in general than the road racing community.  Dozens of people asked if I was OK or needed help, but when said I needed a tube with a long valve stem no one had an extra.  The woman whose front yard I was sitting on even came out and asked if I needed anything.  She did not have a tube either.

I decided to just start cheering people up the hill since I had nothing better to do.  There were supposed to be a mechanic's car somewhere along the course.  Ever car that went by brought my hopes up, and then deflated them as they drove by me.

After fifty minutes(Yes!! 50 minutes!!)  Another rider stops and asks if I need help.  I look up and it is my friend Catherine.  Score!!  She has an extra tube with a long stem.

Finally I m back on the bike, but have no chance at finishing well.  My bike computer still had my ride time on it so I decided to see how I could do for a net time.  It was turing into a hard training day.

Have you ever ridden hard for over an hour then stopped for about an hour without stretching and just sit down, then hop back on the bike and ride hard again?  I do not recommend it.  It took me a while to get my legs back.

The rest of the race was uneventful and I finished with a clock time of over 4 hours but a net bike split of 2:43 which I was happy with.

Maybe I should have taken a hint when the CT Stage race was cancelled.  I think someone was telling me that I should have been in MA with the kids.

The race is very well run and the bike course is extremely challenging.  I am already pencilling it in for 2012 so I can get some vengeance.(Note to self - Do not schedule any kids events for the first weekend of June 2012)

Quassy 1/2

THis was one of the 2 toughest 1./2 ironman races i have ever done. THere was wildflower in california which is probably just as tough but I did that 10 years ago so not sure..
I started the day feeling a little tired after a day spent in my military uniform yesterday. i was able to get out of day two of drill but not yesterday. Otherwise I felt good this am. i woke up earlier than the alarm; who can actually sleep soundly the night before a big Apriority race for yourself. Maybe with some pharmaceutical enhancement but that would probably leave you groggy in the am. Anyway, I woke at 330, stretched in bed and tried to get in race mode- i read my nook for awhile to relax until 4 am.. jumped out of bed and threw down my oatmeal, banana and a granola bar. I was thinking protein but nothing sounded good on the pre race stomach nerves so I stuck with good old carbs... almost opened the nutella but skipped that too.

I got to the race at 530 , saw some people I know - DOug from out team was doing the aquabike due to a running injury. A guy Don  who ran me down in every race last year but a nice guy and Jason who will also be going to Lake Placid.

The swim: After a brief warmup and lots of chamois application, down to the swim. I lined up in the front and really went hard from the start trying to get some space from the other 200 people lined up with me. It was really crowded and I wanted space. After a fast 300 yards I had to slow down but got a little anxious- my suit felt tight, my breathing was off. I had to talk myself down and slow down. THe nerves were on overdrive and I actually thought about treading water to get my breath. I imagine for my bike race buddies it oampares to being in a group sprint( I dont do group sprints when I race bikes), everyone is crowding you and you want space and dont want to give an inch. Anyway I eventaully got my rhythm and had an otherwise decent swim. REV3 did a great job marking the  swim course- TALL swim buoys easy to see from your swim position and I did a decent swim.  Out of water around 29:45 and crossed the mat just over 30 min. Not bad. Right around my goal and on pace for my Placid goal of one hour for the swim

THe bike: Anyone who rides this area of Ct knows that there are some killer rolling hills and the REV3 has the reputation for being one of the hardest bike runs in the sport of 1/2 IM. I spoke with Chad and he wanted me to shoot for 220 than 230 the last 10 miles to not blow up and have something for the run. Now, I like to ride hard - I typically try to build a cushion on the bike so this idea of saving for the run- well it was different. The PT helps for that though. The ROLF I got from Rick at the shop has a PT and it really helped keep me in check. ALthough I did feel like I had a good angel on one shoulder saying- remember what Chad said and a bad angel on the other saying this is too slow- punch it. SO i ended up averaging about 240 watts for the ride. About 20 miles into the ride, I made a HUGE amateur like mistake, I was totally in the zone, took a right turn, went about a mile and realized there was no one around me. i was second guessing myself.. did i really see the arrow correct? Was it a straight arrow? so i slowed, looked around - no one there WTF!, went on, slowed and than actually  turned around and rode a minute, 1 and 10 seconds than saw 2 people-- that sucked. Only lost probably 2 minutes though. It did put me in a position  to pace with 3 pretty strong guys... no draft but pace- we all know that just outside the box though you do get a little a draft and BIG psychological boost.  I went from like 40th after the swim to 18th amateur after the ride...

The RUN- HILLY - damn this was a hard course. But my legs felt pretty good from the start. The first 2.5 miles is down hill and I was averaging under a 7 minute pace which for a non runner like me is good. Than the hills started but i was able to keep a pretty good pace and only slowed a little for the hills I was getting passed by some fast dudes and a few fast ladies too.. even with my run work I am still not in that run league yet. I was able to do some drafting and the last 3 miles one of the female pros who started 10 min before me, pulled in front of me and that was the motivation I needed to keep pushing my pace. i averaged a 7:35 mile which for me, on this course I was happy with but did fall to 58th overall amateur out of 900 or so.

REV3 does a great job and i am really happy to have a race of this caliber in little old CT.. last year the mans Ironman world champ was here and this year the womens Ironman world champ was here. She only took 2nd female so that gives an idea of the talent that came here for the 150,000 pro purse..

thanks for reading.

Wednesday's B Race - A Snowball in Hell

Earlier in the day I got an email that the CT Stage Race was cancelled.  WTF.  This was to be my first A Race as a cyclist since switching over from triathlons.  I spent the last two months suffering in expectation of seeing what I can do on a stage race.  There was a combination of anger, disappointment and depression eating at me all afternoon.  I was trying to decide if I should drive to Bethel and ride or just sit home and drink a beer.  Luckily I chose the former!!

Although Ryan's body felt like "the nail" during the A race, his brain was still sharp as a tack.  His strategy got me my first win.  Having never done a snowball race before, I knew that I needed a strategy but I did not know what that strategy should be.  After warming up I rolled over to Ryan asking for some pointers.  He suggested that I let let the first few sprints go without challenging and then on the 3rd or 4th sprint stay up front and attack just as the sprinters sit up.

The other advise I had gotten from another friend was try and break away a few laps before the points start and see if I can pick off the first few laps.  With those two thoughts in mind I rode the first few laps of the race.  Several break attempts went off the front but were brought back so I thought that an early break would only waste energy.  Unfortunately as I was sitting in the pack a few riders decided that they were going with 14 laps to go.  They were several riders strong and stayed away for the first 2 sprints and then the peleton brought it back together.  The 3rd sprint lap was as a group and I rode easy up the hill to gauge what was going on.  The speed started to ramp up on the back half of the loop for the 4th sprint.  I was sitting about 6th wheel and the front riders had a little gap on the field so I figured this my chance.  Just as the first rider crossed the sprint point and sat up I jumped.  The two Pawling Cycle guys who won the sprint took a wide turn around the corner to rest.  I took the corner tight, got in the drops and went for broke.  I looked back on the back straight away and realized I had no one on my wheel.  I went through the 5th sprint solo and then the mental battle started.  Being that I had never been in this position before, I was not sure how long I could ride flat out.  My legs felt good, but my HR was very near max for the 6th and 7th sprints.  Now I started trying to do math in my head to try and figure out how many points I needed.  At this point, there was one rider about 50 yds behind me with the main group no where in sight.  Coming up the hill for the 8th sprint I noticed that the solo rider had made up some time on me so I went all out up the hill.  After crossing the sprint point I was totally spent and almost crashed because my leg hit my seat as I sat down.  After a few wobbles I recovered and made the turn.  I decided that this lap was about recovering on the downhill and then one last burst to the 9th sprint.  I figured if I could make it over first I would have accumulated enough points.  The 9th sprint came up and the solo rider in second was back to about a 50 yd gap and the main group was still nowhere in sight.  Since I had calculated that I had enough point, I figured I had nothing to lose so I buried myself for the final lap.  As I started the climb to the finish line I realized that I had stayed away so I was able ease up and cross the line at a leisurely pace.

I am really starting to like this sport.  It requires a combination of strength, strategy, skill, nerve, luck and guts.

Cycle Fitness WED NIght race

I think it was lance who said sometimes you are the hammer and sometimes the nail.. tonight I was definitely the nail. I had done a 6 mile run at noon to try to start acclimating to the heat and humidity. I felt crappy than and I felt worse for the race. Actually lining up I felt some fluttering sensation I had not felt since last time I had A FIB two years ago. Mike said I should cut back on the caffeine.. Well maybe....

I started the race anyway and the legs were not there.... I could not respond on the hills or on the flat. I than started thinking that I am coming off my second biggest training week and have not ridden in 3 days - just run and swim- and I have my first A race on Sunday- Quassy REV3 1/2 IM. I hope to have a good race that day and I dont think going the extra 20 min would help me blow open my legs more than the first 30 min I just suffered through. SO, I had Mike grab my wheel and did my best to help bridge up to a little break that had formed. Really pretty weak effort on my part but Mike finished it up and made it to the front group. THan I soft pedaled and rode to my car. Matt got back to his winning ways but it looked like a good finish and it was great to see Beasly out there pulling Mike up to a break as well. Rick has really shown some improvement this year and Mike definitely looking super strong thanks to lots of hard work. He finished up a TOUGH race in 4th after a 375 mile week last week.

As soon as  i got home, I got the kids to bed and jumped in a 10 minute ice bath.... today the legs feel a little better. 

Great job to DOug, our new B racer who soloed the last 6 laps for  a win... nice
Ryan