ironclm's world

Women of Hellyer - A Request

 

As some of you know, my work is relocating me (kicking and screaming) soon to Nashville.  Yeah, Tennessee.  Where the closest velodrome is Atlanta.  But someday there WILL be a velodrome in Middle TN if I have my way!

 

First of all, a huge thanks to Coach John (Cheetham), Coach Steve (Jones) and all the parents who have helped out at the Sunday Junior training sessions.  Off the top of my head--Tony Borba, Jay Parkhill, Michael Wesley, Neil Wright, Murray Swanson, Derek Hemingway, Brigg's dad, Miranda's dad, the Misserians, the new dads that I can't remember their names. I know there are more that I'm forgetting.

 

Anyway, I have a small request.  The guys mentioned above do a great job, but one thing that's missing are the women mentors. This spring we have an equal number of girls than boys and yesterday, the girls outnumbered the boys!  It's been super exciting to see the 12-13 year olds develop over the past couple of years and they are a very good group of ladies, ready to try and beat each other every time they get on the track, but laughing and talking once they come off the track. This spring we also have some new ladies who are very excited about the track (in fact, one went home and got her dad to look at track bikes online.) And maybe one day one or more of them will be the next Shelley, Beth or Ruth.

 

 

So think about coming out to help out at a Sunday junior session.  The next one is April 29th, but if you are racing at Michael's Novice races on April 1st or the April 15th Tax Day sprints, a few of them will likely be there.

 

If you have any questions about getting involved, give me a shout, or John Cheetham or Steve Jones.

 

Thanks!

clm

RR: Cherry Pie Crit

Cherry Pie Criterium - February 5, 2012

This was a 30 minute crit on the outskirts of Napa. Women Category 4 (27 in total) and women 15-18 (about 5). Lots of college girls. (Crit = multiple laps, usually for time, on a short course). I'd never raced it and the only time I'd spectated was 2009, the week after my crash at the Squirrely Bird, so Nole drove us up and I hobbled around in lots of pain so I may have forgot a few things, like the steepness of the hill.

What you find in the early season races are fields with (1) people who are really fit since they are a few points from moving up to Cat. 3 so they want to do well in the early races and Cat up; (2) brand new racers with fitness and skills ranging all over the place; and (3) people like me who need more fitness in the early season. Something about 193 hours billed for work in January didn't help that fitness.

Got up at 5AM and went up to Napa early since my 12 yo friend Allie raced in the second race. She did OK considering she's not that experienced with shifting (or brakes!) She was 4th out of 6 and with more fitness and experience, she'll be ripping it up! Not to mention, she has game OFF the bike!

After her race I got on the rollers and did 20 minutes of warm up and got a sweat going and did a few high cadence spin ups to get my breathing going. Then I rode over and did a couple of short hill repeats and also did one loop of the course since I'd not seen the entire thing.

The start of the race is downhill and then a hard right, sweeping left past the hotel, a hard left, another left a block later (into the left side of a road with a curbed/grass median). Then a chicane to go from the left side of the road to the right, then up the hill (a little over 1 mile total). Yes, the hill was harder than I remembered. Looking at my Strava, it was 6-9% in places and I had to stand up every time. At the top we did a 180 and went back down the hill. I ended up going up that hill 8 times.

On the start, I hung with the pack near the back until just before the hill, then I got popped off with another gal (Davis junior "DJr"). She would get ahead of me on the hill and I'd catch back on on the backside. What was nice was railing around that first right corner at full speed without touching the brakes. My max speed was 32 mph. Whee!

About halfway through the race, DJr and I got caught by the moto and the first group of 4-5 and they all passed. No one else caught us or passed. It stayed like that all the way until the last time up the hill, bell lap. I stuck closer to DJr that time up the hill and then caught back on to her wheel sooner on the downhill and went in front of her. Then on the last time up the hill (finish line about 3/4 the way up), she wasn't coming around me. Really? I kept pushing and with about 25 meters to go, I take a little glance back and see she's trying to come up on me and she was almost at my back wheel, so I just dug in hard and stayed in front of her. Yea, not last! It's the small victories.

Goals met: Ride hard the entire way (don't give up); don't get pulled; stay upright! Met all three of those! So, pretty happy with the day.

Post-race cool down, then off to breakfast with Allie, Katy and Tim. Then home to watch the Super Bowl.

Picture from the day

2011 Team Roaring Mouse

"

RR: Get Ready for Summer #1

This past Saturday was the first real day of racing on the track for the year!  YEA!!  And really my first time back mass racing on the track in close to two years.  I did a couple of races last year, but more half hearted than anything and then TEAM CLM all decided that mass star racing wasn't such a great idea while still doing knee surgery rehab so I didn't do any more mass start races.  The goal for the day Saturday was to just get through the races and get used to being back out there.

GRFS is a day with 4 different races and my field, Cat. 4/5, was sold out with pre-reg but a couple of no shows meant the two junior girls who showed up day of got to race. One other gal whom I'd not seen before was there in the 4/5s. The rest were all guys. 21 people total. There were also a pretty full Cat. 3/4 field and a P123 field which included a couple of pro men (or ex-pro), a couple of fast juniors, and a pro woman from Switzerland who has been here training and racing. So some fast laps going on!  And some folks I hadn't see for quite a while (Ben, Deano and Katie), so it was nice to see some friendly faces.  There were quite a few new people there whom I didn't know.

The coach wants me to work on spinning more, so I rode a smaller gear than normal. But it was windy so that was probably a very good call. 

Race #1 - Keirin: [follow the motorcycle then sprint]

My heat was me + 6 guys. Thanks again Rick for putting me in with the guys. I drew #6 and slotted in #6 with a good throw from Ben. I was able to hang with the group the entire time on the motor, but when the motor pulled off (going into turn 1 instead of on the back side so a full 2 lap sprint instead of 1.5 laps) I was only able to hang on to the group for about a half lap, then got gapped off. Dude on my wheel sits on my wheel for another lap and then passes me on the back side and I couldn't go with him either. But I had a good hard effort and I was happy with how I rode.  And man, I forgot how hard track racing is!

A lot of time in between all the other keirin heats, rep and final rides, so I jumped on the rollers for a bit and also was a holder twice.

Race #2 - Snowball:

We do this race so infrequently, I'm still not sure how it works, but it's like a freaking 15 lap sprint! With the full field of 21, I was a bit nervous on the line, but once the race got going, everything became totally strung out and then splintered into many groups. I got on with the two junior girls and we started doing half lap pulls and then picked up another guy and we rode the rest of the way in. I looked at it as team pursuit practice as we rode hard the entire way.

Race #3 - Miss-n-Out: [musical chairs on bikes]

With the big field, my intention was to go to the pole/inside lane and sit there as long as possible and stay out of any possible craziness in the back. And that's what I did for about 6-8 laps. Think of it as pursuit training. Once the speed picked up more, I got passed, so I ended up about 14th out of 20.  Super happy to not be one of the first ones out!

Race #4 - Points (15 laps/sprints @ 5): [math on bikes]

The field had dwindled by this point and I'm not sure how many started. The junior girls did not, but one of the Master riders did start and once we got gapped off on the first sprint, he and I worked together to not get lapped. Mission accomplished.

Did a cool down on the rollers and then it was time to head off to a party.

Goal was met and the day was fun.  As the Coach said, "Not a bad start".  We had a 45 minute conversation this morning and we are rethinking the plans for the year.  Just might mix things up and do something different.  I'll keep you posted.

RR: Early Bird Track Race

The coach said we are resuming track workouts, starting this past Sunday, and it was so GREAT to be back on the track!  I hadn't done a real workout since September post-nats/pre-whooping cough, so Sunday was just about getting back into the routine. Since the EB track race was right after the morning workout, we decided that I'd race some and see how things went.

Workout was a 15-20 minute warm-up, plus a jump or two in a small gear (81").

2 x 10 laps in the 50x15 (90") in the aerobars.  For the first one, Lala sat on my wheel which made me ride hard and it was good to have her push me.  I don't have a speedo on the track bike yet so I'm not sure what we ended up at but Lala said we started out a bit aggressive…29 mph.  Oops.  Second one was solo and the wind had picked up.

Last was 3 x 1 lap flying, which was fun.

Then it was time to get ready to race.  There were 18 Cat. 4/5s and only two women (me and a Tibco gal), plus a younger junior girl.  Lots of fixie types who were racing for the first time EVER. 

Race #1 - keirin, 3 heats.  I was in heat #2.  Did Rick put me in the heat with the Tibco gal and the junior? No.  It was me + 4 guys.  Mr. Official says, "Who has raced a keirin before?"  Look around and only clm has her hand raised.  Crap.  Please let me draw #1 so I can take the motor.  (You draw for starting positions and #1 is obligated to take the first spot behind the motor.)  Draw is #5.  Crap!  Alex F. gives me a good shove at the start, but I slot in in the last spot in the line.  Not sure that rider #1 has ever been behind a motor before so there is a pretty big gap, then a very raggedy pace line behind.  4.5 laps in and Peter pulls off and they all shoot away and I get gapped.  It was windy so I geared down to an 88" but should have stayed at the 90 or maybe even higher.  Top 2 go to the final, 3-4 go to the rep ride, 5th (me) is out. 

I thought about doing the rest of the races, but after the keirin final the official called every single rider over to discuss.  I told Rick to scratch me from the rest of the races and called it a day.

Super Bowl Sunday 2009:  Crash at the Early Bird crit and Izumi and I spent all day and half the evening in the ER.

Super Bowl Sunday 2010:  Crash on the Sausalito bike path when a jogger w/headphones cut across the path in front of me.  I'd only been riding outside a month and the surgeon then banned me from riding outside for another 6 weeks.

Super Bowl Sunday 2011:  Not taking any chances with a bunch of new riders.  I'm STILL going to PT and can't afford any more medical bills.

And besides, I had a game to watch!  PACKERS WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kind of long winded for a short race.  But I am so excited to be back on the track!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Afternoon at Specialized

A number of Mice teammates and I got to go down to Specialized in Morgan Hill to shoot some photos for the new Mouse shop yesterday.  What a fun time riding some SWEET bikes!   My ride was the lone time trial bike in the group, a Transition Pro, with SRAM components and Zipp wheels.  That baby motored!  A really nice ride.

We ended up doing a 20 mile loop (Morgan Hill out Watsonville Road to the Uvas Reservoir loop), most at a pretty peppy pace since we were running up against daylight.

Thanks Chris and thanks Specialized!  Now how about an above-entry-level track bike?????

RR: Track Masters Nats - 500TT and Team Sprint

500 TT:

A race against the clock, two laps of the track from a standing start.

Saturday I didn't have any races and the coach said to go to the track during the break between the sessions and do a workout to get more comfortable on the track.  Warm up, then do 10 laps in the aerobars in the middle of the track (at the blue/stayer's line), then 10 laps in the aerobars in the pole (down near the bottom of the track) and then 10 laps at the rail (the very top of the track).  I did this on Saturday and it helped A LOT. 

Sunday morning I woke up and felt OK and ready to race.  I drank some coffee, ate some eggs and veggies and got everything organinzed to head over to the track.  I wasn't racing until later in the session and you don't want to be out in the heat all day.  I got ready and then suddenly I started feeling sick.  I ended up getting a late start and did not feel good at all.  I got to the track and it was sunny and getting hot, but not too humid.  Since they changed the schedule (stupid idea!), for Sunday there were the kilos and then the 500s and then the team stuff and then madison, with awards intermixed in between, plus a break scheduled mid-afternoon.  Since so many people were racing that day, the place was packed with people so I set up the rollers outside next to the fence.  I got in a warm up on the warm up gear and felt so-so, actually wishing I was back at the hotel in the bed.  After an abbreviated warm up, I went to get off the rollers and the bike to change wheels to finish my warm up on the race gear and the bike was facing the "wrong" direction (which means I got off the bike on the right side) and ended up toppling over.  Dammit.  Never get on/off a bike or a horse on the wrong side!

 I brushed myself off (at least I fell into the grass) and changed wheels and had to rush to finish my warm up, plus I was still feeling like crap.  I got the bike checked and it was time to go to the ready area (like the baseball on-deck circle).  I was first to go in my age group, riding solo.  I used a gear that I normally ride since it wasn't windy but, that wasn't the best idea.  I got an OK start and stood up over halfway around the track and got into the aerobars after coming out of turn 4 and rode the rest in the aerobars (a big win!)  I crossed the finish line and felt like I'd had a decent ride but the announcer 48 seconds.  I couldn't believe it!   That was so freaking slow and I was SO SO SO disappointed.  I got off the track and stopped the bike and went to get off and SHIT…I toppled over AGAIN!  This time in front of everyone and on the concrete!  I walked over to where the Hellyer people were and lost it, sobbing my head off into a towel, still holding onto the bike.  The folks still in the area came over to see if I was OK and Keith came over to put my bike away.  After about 10 minutes I walked outside to call the coach but he didn't answer so I left a sobbing message on his voicemail.  What was done, was done and I ended up 4th.  Nice to be on the podium, but I'm still not happy with the time I rode.

 

 Team Sprint:

 I'd paid for the TS long ago and was planning to do it with Donna, but after her crash at Districts, I needed to find another partner.  I ended up getting Tracy from Tucson who is in my age group to race with me.  She was pretty gunshy about the steep track but I told her she only needed to do one lap in the pole lane and we were doing it for fun. (Yes, really!)

After talking to Kenny, he said to work on my start and chase Tracy down since there was a differential between our speed.  I told Tracy that I was going to delay my start just a bit but for her to go as fast as she could and I'd run up on her.  She said, "No problem" and we were riding around the warm up circle and heard them DQ one team, then we went up to the ready and watched Beth and Steph from Hellyer ride right before us and THEY got DQed!  The official said something about a zone violation so I asked him what they'd done to get DQed and he said they weren't a meter apart before the end of the pull-off zone, so I told Tracy to really pull off when it was time.  [TS is two riders who start together, one does one lap and pulls off in the zone and the second rider does a second lap solo.  Fastest time amongst the teams wins.]

On the start, I delayed just a bit but still caught her before turn 2 and sat in behind her, resting until my solo lap.  Once she pulled off, I stood up and hit the gas, pedaling through the turn like it was a bell lap in a points race, and rode hard the rest of the way.  We ended up 4th and had fun.

 

They tally everyone's results and award the BAR to the best all-round rider.  There were 4 of us tied with 16 points and then going to the tie-break, I ended up tied for 3rd (or 4th depending on which print out you look at) out of 7.  Pretty happy with that since that's the highest I've ever finished.  And, I have a clear idea of what I need to do in the next 8 weeks.  I submitted the online entry today for Masters Worlds in late October in Portugal.  That's when the competition gets really tough so I definitely need to step it up.

RR: Masters Nats - Sprints

Match sprints are what you see at the Olympics--2 riders going head to head for 3 laps. Time does not matter. Sprints are run tournament style and to get the seeding, everyone does a flying 200. That's 200 meters with a rolling start. And if you drop down from high on the banking, the more speed you carry.

Flying 200: I got to the track and it was cool and overcast and really windy, but instead of the winds we had for the pursuit, it was really gusty and swirly in the corners.  I decided to not ride the disk wheel because of the winds.  I also geared down to a smaller gear after discussion with Mark Rodamaker, who won the national championship later that night.  I rolled out and up to the blue line, then up to the rail (clear at the top of the track) on the first lap. Continued around the rail (barely freaking out) and probably went a little too fast too early and on the last lap, I stood up about 4 pedal strokes and took a good line into the corner. Ended up feeling pretty good about the effort, especially compared to what I'd done at the LA indoor track 6 weeks ago.  Ended up with the 4th fastest (or, slowest, as there were only 4 of us in our age group) and that meant I got to sprint at night!! Damn, that sprinting stuff takes up the whole day! 

Once they confirmed that we were going to ride that night, I went to lunch with Dad and bro and then they headed back to KS and I came back to the hotel and was relaxing and there was a knock at my door....move rooms please.  Crap! That took 30 minutes, so I got settled in the new room and put my legs up and got organized, had a snack at 3:30 and headed back to the track at 4PM.  Did a warm up on the track and then moved to the rollers when things got busy.  My legs felt OK, not great.

Semi finals (best of 3)

Ride 1 v. Ann Marie: She's only been doing this for 20 years and is a former world champion and it's her home track. And, she's so darned nice and helpful.  I drew #1(which meant I had to lead it out) for the first ride and took her sort of long but didn't fully commit so she came blasting past me.  Afterwards, she said she thought I would do that.

Ride 2: I was behind her to start but she slowed way down high on the steep part of the track and I didn't like that at all so I went around her.  Then I jumped with about 200 meters to go and she beat me, but not as much as in ride 1.

On to the 3rd/4th place finals v. Ann from NC (again, best of 3):

Ride 1:  Ann Marie gave me some tips on riding against Ann and the first ride Ann lead out and I jumped and she caught me in the last 50 meters and beat me by about a bike length.

 

Ride 2:  I started in the #1 position and led her out and jumped her a little sooner and she only caught me at the line and maybe beat me by 6 inches or so.  Really, really close.  Afterwards everyone in the crowd was applauding and the officials applauded us too. So I ended up 4th. 

Of course I would have liked to been higher up the podium, but I feel pretty good about how I rode, especially since I've done no sprinting in about 3 months, and there is a definite technique to it.  And everyone said how well I rode, which was nice to hear.  Two more races tomorrow. Can't wait.

RR: Masters Nats - 2K Pursuit

2K pursuit (10 laps)

 Frisco, TX Superdrome

250m track w/44 degree banking

 This was one of my big focus races of the year.  I've been riding faster than I ever have in training so the Coach and I were looking for me to ride a good time. 

 I arrived in Texas late Sunday night and Monday midday, I went to the track and rode some and was almost in tears and ready to go home.  The steep banking was scary.  I went back Monday night to ride some more and try out the electronic starting gates and felt a little better.  Another session on Tuesday and I felt OK, but not comfortable.

 Race morning I warmed up a bit on the rollers at the hotel and then went to the track and finished the warm up and got the bike checked and rolled around the warm up circle and...it started to mist!  Nuts!  They called a rain delay for about 15 minutes and finally it was time to go.

 Start--I got a very good start off the line, but of instead of standing up for a half lap or more to get to top speed, I freaked out about not being able to get into the aerobars in time before the second turn and sat down in the middle of the first turn after only 4 or 5 pedal strokes.  So I never got up to speed and then with the wind on the front straight, it put me into an even bigger hole.  Plus, with 10 shorter laps, I wasn't sure on how to pace it, so the entire race ended up being one big mess and a super slow time.  I was definitely not happy with my race but I know what I did wrong and what I need to work on and I have until late October to get it right.  

 

I will keep the bronze medal, but I'm going to put it up where I can see it every day to remind me of what I need to do.  I won't be riding that slow in October.

2010 Season In The Books

Long time, no update. I'm not sure why. I just wasn't motivated to write anything over the summer. But now the summer is over and it's like a new year...I,ve always liked looking at things like a school year instead of the calendar year. And as long as it's a new start, it's time for a fresh look for the blog.

So what happened over the summer? Training, some racing and lots of work. I think that with a lot of work and feeling a bit overwhelmed and trying to train and too much sitting and the knee not being 100% (STILL!), that things went in a vicious circle...work, sit, train, too much coffee, too much sitting, too much crappy food, often eating dinner at work at 7:00 PM (where generally the food is starch on starch) and that left clm not so happy. But like I said, it's a new "year" and time to get things back on track.

The 2010 racing season came to an early end and in the grand scheme of things, that is probably for the best. I raced a few mass start races early on, but then the surgeon (with the Coach's agreement) didn't want me to mass start race, which meant Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the velodrome were out, leaving me with only a few chances to race. July was the Beat the Clock time trial day, August was Masters States and Elite States and September was Masters Nationals. I was supposed to go to Masters Worlds (scheduled to leave next week actually), but on coming back from Nats, I turned around and went to Washington, D.C. for work and came back from there and ended up sick and stayed sick off and on for about three weeks, missing some key training. Once I got back on the track, my workouts were terrible, times were slow and Annabell and Carlos both said one Sunday, "You aren't riding like you usually do." At that point, I knew there was a chance I would not go to Worlds, but decided to see what happened at the workout the following Tuesday. Well, that morning I woke up with a fever and I emailed the Coach saying, "I think my decision about Worlds has been made for me". So, no Worlds for me. And I'm fine with that.

Right now I'm on a couple of weeks of unstructured workouts...doing whatever I feel like and mixing things up. Some walking, some weights, ride when I want, maybe even some swimming. The Coach and I are discussing 2011 goals and I'm excited about next year. And the knee? I'm still going to physical therapy, yes, over a year later, and there is still a definite strength differential between my left and right leg. And with what I've spent on PT, I could have bought a new bike or some really nice race wheels! At least I really like my PT!

Winter plan....like the Coach said, this winter we can do all the things we didn't get to do last year, like hit the gym hard and base riding instead of 15 minutes trainer rides and physical therapy. I'm looking forward to it!

RR: Friday Night Racing 06/04/10

Friday Night Races @ the velodrome.  We were lucky enough to have a W3/4 night and probably 15 or so women came out.  Lots of Cat. 2 and 3 roadies and Cat. 3 track women, plus national points champ Julie Nevitt and young Kira riding to mentor our races.  Goal was to get some race miles in my legs and get that race feel back. 

Race #1: 20 lap scratch

Oh hell, 20 laps? I have not raced that many laps in probably a year. I remember what Annabell told me last weekend--hang on and it would slow down. It did but then someone attacked and I got gapped a bit (still don't have that jump) but was able to get back on the back of the pack. At 10 laps another attack and my legs were shot. I tried to stand up and sprint but had jello legs. I took a lap and got back in and stayed with the pack until 2 to go. Fininshed a lap down but pretty happy with how I rode

Race #2: 30 lap points

30 laps? Ouch. This one went about the same as the scratch. Stick with the pack as long as possible, get popped, reintegrate, repeat. Ended up down 2 laps but again happy with how I rode.

Very short turn around and they are calling us to the rail. We all look at each other, "Didnt we just race???"

Race #3: 15 lap Win & Out

What a huge variance in pace from the start....fast, slow down, speed up. A big yoyo effect.  With 6 laps to go, the field slowed down to a crawl (15 mph?) and everyone moved up track leaving the pole wide open. Hello pole lane!  I attacked hard and got a gap!  Kenny had told me that I needed to start "Riding it like you stole it."  Well, that's what I did. I got at least a quarter lap gap and people on the infield and in the stands were yelling to keep it going. I looked back and THERE WAS NO ONE THERE!!! So I rode like hell and stayed away, 5 to go, 4 to go, Argh, I'm getting tired, but the crowd and Hernando on the mic said to keep going, keep pushing. It"s 3 to go and I'm still away!  I get to 2 to go and I'm still away but my legs are starting to turn to cement and I'm sure I'm starting to pedal squares. With 1.5 laps to go I'm nearly blown and the pack starts to attack each other and string out and I'm caught, but I am so damned happy with how I rode.

Cooling down after the race on the warm up circle, the ref who was working the turn 3-4 area told me I rode really, really, really well.  (Yes, 3 reallys). Not bad for now.  143 days till Worlds.

RR: Get Ready For Summer #4

Sunny, warm (75F), some wind, and lots of pollen in the air.
W4s had 9 entered plus 2 mentors.

I've only raced a couple of times in the past 9 months, so I was pretty nervous going in. I do a warm up in the warm-up gear and my legs feel OK, but when I do a couple of jumps (stand up and sprint), my IT band/quad/ham side of my knee hurts when I stand.  Not really painful hurt but enough that it bugs me.  Change to race gear and do another 5 minutes and a couple more jumps and the same.  Not happy at all about this, plus, I had in the back of my mind the fear of riding in a group and almost talked myself out of racing.  Annabell reminded me that I needed to have gearing under 85 inches since most of the women were on rental bikes (and therefore riding 81 or 84" gears) so I changed gears to 47x15 (84.6").  

Race #1:  10 lap tempo
Points to the first two across line every lap. No points for anyone else.

The race took off like a shot and stayed fast.  We split into two groups about 1.5 laps in, fast as hell and not as fast. I was in the not as fast group and there was a little trouble getting a paceline going but we finally did.  I got gapped in the last 2 laps, but then in the bell lap people were starting to die and I picked it up and passed at least three people in the final 200 meters.  6th place.  My sprint is coming back!

Coughed up a lung post-race. Still coughing this morning!

Race #2:  12 lap scratch
The race again started off super fast (26 mph).  Annabell told me to hang on and it would slow down.  I got gapped a bit but it did slow down a couple laps later and I got back on and sat in the back for a bit. With three and a half laps to go, people moved up track and I had the pole lane wide open in front of me and I moved up to the front of the pack in the pole lane.  I was thinking that it was three laps to go and I didn't want to be in the pole the entire three laps, but there was someone next to me so what was I going to do.  We were on the back stretch and I hear bikes hitting the ground pretty close behind me so I stomp the pedals in case something is coming forward and get the heck out of there.  Three down with one broken collarbone.  We had a 40 minute break for the ambulances to come and once we got going again, they restarted us with 3 laps to go.  Again I had no jump when people went, but once I got rolling, I chased down Evan to nip her at the line and take 5th. 

Race #3:  Win & Out
I totally screwed this one up! 
5 laps then a bell lap and the first across wins; everyone else continues racing and another bell and the first across gets second; another bell and then it's racing for the remaining places.
I hung in the 5 laps and then on the first bell lap two people got away and one had a good gap and won.  Next bell we were coming up on the second person who had gotten away but she held on and took second.  For some reason, I thought we had yet another lap to go so I didn't sprint in the last lap, but was sitting on Evan's hip as I'd planned to sprint once we got around to turn 3 again. Well, race over.  I could have easily been at least one place higher. Note to self: PAY ATTENTION!

Race #4:  Points (10 laps/pts every 5)
Thought about skipping this race as I was really tired.  But, I started the race and after the first sprint, my legs didn't have it so I just rode the remaining 5 laps to finish and get my omnium point.

Omnium:  Not in the top 5. 

I was pretty tired last night, but feel pretty good today.  I just don't have the hard racing miles in my legs yet, but I feel pretty good with how I rode.  The coach has put Wednesday night racing on the schedule, so I'll get some racing miles in.

An Evening With Team Saxo Bank

I was in  HEAVEN!  My favorite rider--Fabian Cancellara!!  Plus the rest of the team and Bobby Julich too! They did a Q&A and then signed autographs. 

     

An Evening With Phil and Paul

During the Tour of California, Phil and Paul came to a fund raiser for the Hellyer Junior Program @Testarossa Winery. Fantastic time.  Here are a few notes I took.

Phil is against race radios (or at least everyone transmit on same frequency if they are used). Paul is for them (safety issues).

What brings the top teams to the TOC: standard of the organzation. They know it will be safe. A hard course. Bike riders don't race for money. They race for results or to do a performance.

 
Argy bargy- an English dispute. They have a lot of them!

When did they first meet: phil spoke at a dinner when paul was an amateur. 1977. In 1978 paul raced his first Tour de France and phil used to ask paul for 1/2 grapefruit at the beginning of each stage. No village depart in those days.

1985 last year paul raced the Tour. Rode US Pro Champs in Philly (14th). Had to sleep @ JFK over night and missed connection to france. New bike which didn't fit. Finished 2nd last in prologue. DeWolf was last and was lantern rouge (missed start by 7 min and was eliminated). Found out later that the bike paul rode was stephen roach's bike.  Every time he overtook a guy in the standings, that guy would pull out which kept dropping paul to lantern rouge.

 
Phil heard paul was quitting riding so went to the final TT and found paul and asked if he'd want to work w/phil. 37 yrs later...

Paul's imitation of bob roll_spot on.

How hard is it to call a race when you are not on site? Live commentary is the best but they are usually in the trailer. They only see the monitors. Never anything that is going on outside.

Only one time in all the years that paul remembers phil calling the stage wrong (live on versus). And that rider still gives phil crap about it.

Who is the greatest cyclist of all time? Eddie M. says phil. Paul agrees. Lance is the greatest Tour de France rider. Eddie was won everything.

What is your worst experience coveing a race? 3x cars blown up. 

Basque country 1975--explosion outside hotel @2AM. Death threats against the Basque team. Another time, Basque separatists--set fire to all French cars, including theirs. Paul's blues CD collection was burned. Another time by the IRA in Belfast.

Both are huge Apple fans and Paul has 5 cell phones (he pulled them all out of his pockets!) 

What a fun evening!

 

  

RR: Sprint Tournament #2 (04/25/10)

Sunny, windy and warm (close to 80F later). Drove down w/Mateo. New Mouse Kit Kat showed up later to cheer.

Once the doctor let me on the rollers about a month or so after surgery, I've been riding the track bike on the rollers a lot, but in the 46x16 (77.63") gear. The last couple weekends I'd upped the gearing into the 80s but I'd decided earlier last week that I wanted to try a bigger gear as kind of a test for my knee and see how a bigger gear felt. Goal was to try 50x15 (90.0"). We got to the track and I warmed up in the 50x16 and just riding around felt OK, but with the wind, I started to over think myself and thought maybe the 50x15 wasn't the best idea. But what the heck, just try it and see how it goes. This was just a day to see how everything felt and get a baseline 200m time.

How the tourney works is that everyone does a timed 200m and then we got divided up into groups and you race head-to-head or in a 3-up against people within your own group.

For the 200m TT, I was about 8th to go so I rode around to stay loose and then it was time to roll off the front from the star/finish line. One lap easy, then I don't know what happened but I spaced out how many laps and Kevin was ringing the bell and I get to nearly the s/f line and think, "*#¥+! That was the bell and I'm going in to turn 1 way too slow! CRAP!" So I picked it up, but was way way too slow going in. Stood up and hit it and got up to top speed late, but took a decent line and was able to keep up the leg speed all the way through the finish line. 15.18 sec. Really??? Last year at this time I was hitting 15.5-16!! So I was pretty darned happy for such a sloppy effort.

200m effort:

So, that put me #3/7 in Group 4.

1st match sprint: Lala (slowed down this week due to a crash last week), Donna Woods (55+ dynamo), me, in that order off the rail.

Since Lala is a lot faster than we are, I knew I couldn't leave it to a short sprint, so I sat back off both of them and in the middle of turn 3, I dropped down, full sprint, fully committed. Caught her off guard but she caught me and came around me in turn 4. Happy with that effort. 2nd.

2nd match sprint: Me and Oscar (kid who has just started racing on the track this year. 16 or 17 years old). His 200m was about 1 second faster than mine.

I led him out and kept it slow the first 3/4 of the lap and then sped up and he was on my right hip the entire time so I knew he'd have to go over me. He got a good jump and I couldn't get up to speed quick enough and he was gone.

3rd match sprint: Elizabeth and me.

She and I raced against each other a lot last year and she has been working hard all winter and spring and has made good progress. We both jumped at almost the same time in turn 4 and again, I couldn't get on top of the gear fast enough so she was ahead of me and stayed ahead.

4th match sprint: New guy Terry and me.

This was maybe Terry's 4th time on the track and a friend of Donna. Since he was new to sprinting, I was hoping the intensity of the day and heat had gotten to him, so I took him long and he had to chase to get back to me and only caught me with about 25m to go. By this time I was tired and it was hot and I didn't have enough to drink or eat and I didn't fully commit to it (well, I did, but let up a bit on the back straight). I made him work for it though and he only beat me by a wheel so I was pretty happy with that.

Actually, I was very happy with all of my match sprints. Super motivated for the next training block! And the knee held up really well!!

Photo by Steve Anderson.

Back Racing....FINALLY!!!

 It's been 34 weeks or 238 days or 5712 hours or 342,720 minutes or 20,563,200 seconds since I've last raced. Not that I'm counting or anything! The Coach finally said I could race, so it was off to San Jose to the velodrome! And today was a ~perfect~ day for riding a bike in circles.  Warm (low 70s to start up to mid 70s), sunny and breezy at the track when we got there. 

The Get Ready for Summer series are four Saturdays in the spring, each day having 4 short races for each category and there are 3 separate categories. Got signed in and got my number for the season (lucky #707) and got on the track for warm up.  Since I've only been on the track twice in the past 7.5 months, I had no idea what to expect today. My goals going in were just ride and see how it went.  Test out my knee. Have fun.  

I did 25 minutes warm up in the small gear that I've been riding on the rollers all winter. Very small--like even smaller than junior gears, but it's been good for me to learn to ride a higher cadence. That gear felt pretty good.  Also, I had my new wheels on and this would be the first test for them. The entire warm up I was thinking how FUN it was to be riding my bike on the track. People kept riding up and saying hello and asking how I felt. I realized today that I've missed going down there every week.

Flipped the wheel to a bigger gear and did 10 more minutes, then it was time to come off the track and get ready for the first race.

Race 1:  Keirin

"Oh hell! I'm going to get thrown in." That was my thought when I realized what the first race would be. Keirin is a 6 lap race behind the motorcycle (or the little keirin bike in a official real keirin). There are 6 riders per heat and you line up across the track after drawing for position. You have a holder and on the start whistle, your holder throws/pushes you forward. I found John and asked him to be my holder and told him I didn't want a big throw and maybe delay just a second. I just wanted to get on the back of the line and just get this race over with. I was in heat 3 with two other women and 3 guys and I drew position #6. That was probably the best draw--not in the middle and not obligated to take the motor if I were #1.  I had a decent start (I remembered to pedal!) and I slotted in 5th of 6. Peter took us up to 25 mph before he pulled off and then with 1.5 laps left, two guys got a gap. I hung on to riders #3 and #4 for about 1/2 lap and then they pulled away. I was pedaling for all I was worth but couldn't hold the wheel. The first two went straight to the final and #3/4 went to the rep ride and after they got a good gap, I sat up and rolled in. since 5th or 6th gets you nothing.  So, I was relieved that the first race was over with no issues and happy with how I rode. 29.78 mph max which comes out to about 117 cadence. Not bad!

Race 2: 10 lap Scratch

Field of 19, maybe 8-9 women.  I end up towards the back when we lined up on the wall. Goal for this race was to stick with the pack as long as possible.  It started pretty fast and in a few laps, I got gapped and lost contact so I took a lap and got back in when they came around and was able to hang in a little better. Finished in the back of the field but I felt pretty good. Definitely need to work on riding higher cadence for longer stretches.

After the scratch race I decided to change to a bigger gear since I was WAY under-geared. So I changed to a 48x15 which still isn't that big, but it was better, I think.

Race 3: Miss & Out

Field of 19. Too many in my opinion and I didn't have a good vibe so I rode at the back and was the first one called out (by choice). I was rolling around the warm up circle and the sound you don't want to hear..crash.  Three ambulances. Shit! Not sure what happened as I was on the opposite side of the circle facing the other way. 

Long delay and then a re-start on our race but I didn't restart.

Race 4: 10 lap Points

This got shortened by 5 laps due to time constraints. The bigger gear felt pretty good! I started towards the back and then was on the outside and when the sprint came, I got gapped from the main group but had blue/white kit guy fairly close and at least one or two behind me. Things came back together for a few laps and I thought about attacking just to see if I could get a gap, but trying to go high and around, the door got slammed and I didn't want to try to squeeze through so I sat near the back. The sprint came and the top 4 got a gap, but I stayed with the next group and I saw 115 cadence, so that's 29 mph. Pretty happy with this.

Cooled down a little and packed up and drove back to SF. My knee was a little stiff when I got home, but that's from sitting in the truck for an hour. I'll see how it feels tomorrow, but tonight it feels pretty good. And it didn't hurt at all riding. GOALS MET!

Thanks Rick, Matt and Michael for a fun day. And healing vibes to Lala, Mr. Y and the other rider. Hope you all are back on the bike soon.

Ten Questions With Rick Adams

The Get Ready for Summer Series is almost upon us! So time to meet race promoter Rick Adams.

1. Get Ready for Summer. Wednesday Night Racing. AVC (now known as Testarossa Velodrome Challenge). NCVA Board Member and Treasurer. You're the uber-volunteer! Why do you do it?

I began by helping to promote Wednesday nights in 2005. Then in 2007, Kevin Worley and I wanted to bring an event similar to Portland's AVC to Hellyer. In 2008 the GRFS series was born to provide riders more opportunity to race AVC-like events, give me more opportunities to promote sponsors and raise more funds to help cover the cost of the AVC. Actually, I am an accomplishment addict. I absolutely love to look back at see what team was assembled and what we got accomplished.

2. How did you get started in cycling in general and at the track specifically?

 I grew up in Portland. As a sophomore in high school, 1972, I was growing tired of playing football and a friend had started going for 50 mile bike rides. I spent a giant amount of money ($250) and got a road bike also and rode 2-3 times a week during the summer with him. The next summer (1973) I began racing and won my first race a Hill Climb TT. In that first year, I went from Cat 5 to Cat 4 to Cat 3 (although categories did not have those names until 1976) Also, my friend and I would ride to the velodrome and race each other on the track. By 1974 I was enthralled with the track and began racing real races.

3. Speaking of volunteers, the velodrome can always use more, especially in the areas of officiating or volunteering at an event. What should someone do to get involved? (Though our readers shouldn't think these are the only areas where they can get involved; there are many other needs!)

Track races are parties with endorphins cocktails being served and an occasional glass of Testarossa wine. You race hard and get off your bike and talk to everyone else there. If you go to enough parties you need to consider hosting a party officiating, promoting, or helping in other ways. Help to host a party is a bit more work but is still extremely gratifying.

4. The first Get Ready for Summer day is coming soon, who should come out and race and what should they expect? (Note: GRFS dates are March 27, April 17, May 15 with all dates having A, B, and C divisions), May 29 women 3/4 races and B and C).

Come to the GRFS series to party with those endorphins. I mean seriously, Keirin, Miss-n-Out, Points and Scratch, and talk to other like-minded cycling addicts in-between, what a treat! The last GRFS will have separate Women 3 and Women 4 races with at least 8 in each group. These two women races are a part of the Bay Area Womens series in 2010.

5. Wednesday Night Races begin April 21st and run weekly until September 1st. Say I'm new to Wednesday nights. Tell me what to expect. Is it the same as Larry's Tuesday nights?

Both regular weeknight race series are excellent. Tuesday nights are longer Points and Scratch races and this year Larry has added a Madison. I hope to attend several Tuesday nights myself. Wednesday nights have a larger variety of shorter races and the night is scored as on omnium. Races you might ride on Wednesday are Miss-n-Out, Chariot, Scratch, Win-n-Out, Tempo, Keirin, and Points.

6. Testarossa Velodrome Challenge is June 11-12 and the elite entries are a bit different this year. How does it work and why the change? And is it true that the Masters Keirin World Championships will be contested?

First, the registration process was way too much stress for me last year, so something had to change. The objective of the Testarossa Velodrome Challenge is to pit the best of our local riders against the best riders we can attract. This early season GRFS races simply decide who are our best local riders. The GRFS series are qualifiers for the TVC this year. The Master World Championship is Andreas Vogel's idea. We are letting him run with it. 

7. You and Kevin Worley put on a big party last year for AVC. There was a DJ, a keg, wine, food, a VIP area and all kinds of hot action, both on and off the track. Volunteers get a front row or trackside view. What kind of jobs are available and who should people contact to volunteer?

Kevin and I are a great team because we take on different areas of promoting the Testarossa Velodrome Challenge. Kevin is exceptional at getting the volunteers required for this big event. So look for his announcements and remember that helping to host the party by volunteering is really fun and gratifying.

8. Enough about your race directing. Any race plans for you this year? Track? Road?

The Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge and the Davis Crit. Portland because it homecoming. I always get to talk to friends I raced with and against, and Davis because I love the course and the weather.

9. Your household is gluten free. A two-part question for you. First, as someone trying to clean up my diet, cutting starchy white carbs and limiting wheat is one of my goals. When everyone else is eating their PB&J sandwiches between races, what is a good gluten free snack that is easily portable and will work between races? And second question is, how easy is it to eat gluten free in the real world of business lunches and restaurant eating?

The simple answer is: we cook nearly everything in our home. In the real word of eating in restaurants, remember that beans, rice, veggies, meat and fish have no gluten, so stick to very simple dishes. Eating gluten free does raise your awareness of how prolific wheat is in our diet, but not that hard to totally eliminate either.

10. Finally, where is the most beautiful place you've ridden your bike?

On the southern west coast of Italy between Salermo and the island of Sicilia.

Bonus question with the interviewer having a personal interest: Why no keirin for the women at the May 29th GRFS?????
The mentors persuaded me.

Ten Questions With Annabell Holland

Annabell is a supervisor, coach, athlete, multiple National Champion and one of the forces behind last year's wildly successful women's camp. 

1. The women's camp last year was a resounding success. There will be a women's camp on May 22-23. Who should come and how much experience do they need?

This year we are changing it up just a bit as Rick Adams was able to make the "Get-Ready-for Summer" race on Saturday May 29th part of the BAWC Women's 3 & 4 points series. 

The camp this year will be for women who are currently racing on the road but have not yet completed their requisite 3 Saturdays to be eligible to race. This camp will satisfy the Saturday requirement. So basically the women need no track experience at all, but some road racing experience.

We will be covering the basics of track, doing a ton of skill drills, and practicing all of the races they will be doing the following Saturday at the race.

2. I know many of the ladies who attended last year would like to further 

develop their skills. What is the best way to do this? Any plans for a more advanced camp?

I highly recommend attending the Saturday afternoon advanced beginner session. This session is coached, has mentors, and introduces folks to training on the track.

I would love to conduct a more advanced camp, but unfortunately I just don't have the extra time this season. I don't know if everyone realizes this or not, but everyone involved in running the track is a volunteer.

3. You were a multiple National Champion last year at Masters Nats. You were targeting the sprints and won. It was quite exciting and I think Julie Nevitt and I were more nervous than you were! Given that, how big a surprise was it to also win the pursuit?

I knew going into the competition that I had a good shot at top three in the pursuit despite being a sprinter. 1st place however, was a long shot and I doubt will ever be repeated by me. The stars aligned on that day, and it was a magical ride. I noticed the wind and chose a much smaller gear than everyone else. That turned out to be a great choice. Those munching big gears got bogged down in the head wind and lost speed on the back stretch. Since I can sustain a high cadence, I was able to maintain my speed and not burn too much energy trying to bring a big gear back up to speed.

4. I saw a picture of you on crutches. Hopefully you will be back training soon! Will you be going to Texas to defend your championships in September?

Yeah, I broke my ankle. It all depends. I would like to, but the body will tell me if I can. So far I am healing faster than anyone expected and am back on the stationary trainer. I'll just take it week by week and train as I can as if I was going to Texas. If I can get back to form, I would like to focus on Worlds in Portugal as my target race.

5. You are also a track supervisor with the main supervisor responsibilities for the Sunday morning advanced session. I'm someone who has completed the three beginner sessions and I've raced on Larry's Tuesday nights. But I just want to ride around. Can I do that on Sunday? Or what should I expect if I come out to a Sunday session?

I would recommend you attend the Saturday afternoon Advanced Beginner sessions. The Sunday sessions are Advanced and require open track experience. Throughout the winter when the track is quiet I try and mentor as many people as I can. Unfortunately as the track gets busy, it is just too hard for me to mentor riders 

without the track experience.

 As the season progresses there is usually a Thursday evening Intermediate session where you can test your legs. 

As a reminder, all Open sessions are not coached, with the exception of the Saturday afternoon session. 

6. You work for the City of Fremont and last year the water park was completed and had its grand opening. That sounds like a great way to treat the family on a hot summer day. Where is it and what kinds of activities are there?

I am the Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Fremont. Last year we opened Aqua Adventure, a four acre family waterpark www.goaquaadventure.com . It is located in Central Park (Lake Elizabeth) and truly is affordable family fun. If Hellyer folks want to take their family, make sure you see me so I can pass along a coupon.

7. Before cycling, you played softball at a fairly high level. How'd you get 

from softball to cycling?

Once I stopped playing softball I was looking for a new challenge. I found soccer and joined a team that started in Division 8 and made it up to Division 2. Somewhere in there while in a co-ed game I shredded my ankle and literally could not run for 6-months.

A friend introduced me to cycling, and I actually hated it, but had no other exercise options. I do have to thank Terry Shaw for introducing me to the track. He handed me a bike one day and said I want to see you out there. The rest is history. I fell in love with the sport and started racing.

8. You're doing some coaching this year. How did that come about and are you open to new athletes?

I truly love introducing women to the sport of cycle, and I was looking for something to keep me engaged in training this year. I started up a program for San Jose Bicycle Club. I volunteer my time, and the coaching fee goes toward supporting the women's race team. Due to time commitments I can only take on three athletes, and all slots are filled.

9. Over the winter you vacationed at one of my favorite places on earth…the Big Island of Hawaii. What was your favorite spot?

Swimming with the wild dolphins in the open ocean and snorkeling with Mantas at night was by far one of the best experiences on a vacation I have ever had!

10. And this question since the new "Dancing With the Stars" begins tonight! You know that I'm a big fan…you've met a couple of former DWTS contestants. Who were they and how did you get to meet them?

You truly are a big fan and I believe I sent you a picture of one of your favorites. :) 
Over the past three years I have been working with Kristi Yamaguchi and her family to build a beautiful and fully accessible playground in Central Park in Fremont. Kristi's Always Dream Foundation paid for just about everything and it opened up 2 months ago. 

Last year the major fund-raising event was a play on Dancing With The Stars. Kristi called upon all of her dancing friends and had everyone out there from Cheryl Burke (our local professional) to Marlee Matlin and Shawn Johnson, to even the Jr. dancer winners. Her husband Brent (for all you hockey fans) even danced a number with her.

There will be a sequel event this year, so Cathy, I will save a spot for you at my table ;)

Thanks for the interview Annabell!

Ten Questions With Kevin Worley

Kevin puts on the Sprint Tournament series which runs monthly.  A very fun way to spend an afternoon at the track.

1. How did you get started riding at the track? 
I saw my first track race in 1980 at Hellyer during the Don Peterson era. I had just started riding recreationally - centuries, back and forth to school/work - and thought the track racing was very cool but that the racers were nuts! You'd never catch me out there. Way too dangerous. Never say never....

In 1991, after racing triathlons, then road races and finally kind of finding my niche doing crits, my friend and competitor Peter Tapscott and I thought we'd give the track a try. My comfort zone on the bike had increased to the point that I no longer thought trackies were crazy and that someone like me with a bit of speed and only mediocre climbing ability might do ok on the track. I forget who exactly suggested it, but Pete and I went down together and the rest is history. I cobbled together an old road bike frame as my first track bike and raced that first year on it with pretty good results. I had my first State (Districts back then) Championships podium appearances that first year - three second places and one third. One guess who beat me in every race that year - Peter! 

2. You've been on the podium at both nationals and worlds (and a past national champion). Where is the best place you've raced? (Aside from Hellyer)

That's a tough one. There are a lot of cool tracks around - each with it's own personality. Manchester is a fabulous facility with showers and a restaurant. Alpenrose is one of the most fun tracks to ride. If had to choose though, after Hellyer, it'd probably be Colorado Springs. Great track to ride. The altitude is good for big speed, and the nearby mountains are spectacular! 

3. The sprint tournaments will occur on March 7, April 25, May 8, June 20 and July 18. I know what a fun way it is to spend a Sunday afternoon, but why should everyone come try match sprinting? 
Match sprinting is like no other bike racing event. Most of the time it's head to head with only one other rider, so it's more like a boxing match that requires both strength and skill, and the ability to put your opponent in a position that maximizes your strengths and his or her weaknesses. It both teaches and demonstrates bike handling skills, acceleration, max speed, reaction quickness and quick thinking. Even those riders whose genetic attributes tend toward the endurance events would benefit from racing the occasional match sprint. You never know when the race is going to go up the road without you because you didn't react quickly enough to a big attack. 

4. I'm a new racer to the track and have maybe done a Tuesday night or a Get Ready for Summer race. Will I have to race those really fast guys in a sprint tournament?

Nope. Over the years the sprint tournaments have morphed more into a way of slowly coaxing riders through the learning and training process than a real "tournament". The racing is real and the competition is real, but it's designed so that you get a chance to race against riders that are nearly the same speed.

Everyone does a 200 meter time trial to start. A traditional sprint tourney is set up like a tennis tournament in that the 200 meter is a seeding event. Based on times, only a certain number of riders are even allowed in the tournament. Nationals, for instance, usually will only have 12 riders make the tournament - out of maybe 25 to 30 starters doing the 200. Then the fastest rider races the slowest of the 12. Number two races number 11 and so on. It's designed so that the two fastest riders have the best chance of racing each other in the finals. That works great for championship races and everyone should practice the event, but our tournaments are designed to let everyone race, and that requires a little different approach.

After the 200's we break the larger group into groups of 6 riders - all based on 200 meter times. From that point each group of six riders race among themselves, doing three 2 up races (two riders in each race) and one three up. That way, every rider gets four races against riders of similar speeds. It gives everyone the chance to work on tactics as well as just pure speed. Mark Rodamaker suggested the format several years ago and it's worked very well - thanks Mark

We may run more traditional tourneys later in the season, but we'll break those into two or more separate tournaments and again the riders will race folks of similar speed and experience. 

5. Another new racer here with a question: The riders go really, really slow. It almost seems as if they are going to stop on the track. Won't the bike fall over? Why do they do that?

The very slow, cat and mouse game, keeping the race short with a big acceleration over the last 200 meters is a way of trying to set your opponent up by forcing them to go to the front and leading you out. Track stands - stopping the bike and balancing - were an art form, so much that the UCI created new track stand rules to keep riders from jumping the bikes or backing them up.

The irony is that we're now seeing less and less of that style of match sprinting. Especially at the international level, the top riders are going so fast that the speed starts much earlier and the races are top end much longer. I suspect at least part of this change is due to the fact that the best sprinters are also the best kilo and kierin riders, so they have the endurance to go fast longer. 

6. Wrestling, triathlon, cycling..you've done a lot! You are mostly retired from racing now, correct? Do you still ride for fun? What else do you do to stay active?

Yeah, I've "retired" several times over my racing years, so again never say never, but I haven't raced since 2006 and probably won't again at the level I did when I won my national championships. I have a huge respect for riders like Larry Nolan and Mark Rodamaker that race at a very high level year after year, 'cause I can't do that.

I do still ride on a pretty regular basis. Anne and I have a tandem that we love to tool around on. I just moved to the Evergreen area of San Jose, so even though I won't be racing "seriously", the track is now only ten minutes from home. I can't not go over and ride! 

7. You and your wife Anne are musicians. Where can we find you guys performing? 
We have a regular once every couple of months gig at Angelica's Bistro in Redwood City. Great place to see music. Great place to eat and drink. We play at a lot of open mics, but we're so busy with family stuff, work, a new house, trying to get our exercise in, we're limiting any other real shows for a while. I'll keep everyone on my music mailing list though for any upcoming shows ;-> 

8. What musical instruments do you play? 
Well, I play "at" the guitar and the piano, but I consider my voice my main instrument. I play the other things well enough to accompany our singing and not make a complete fool out of myself. 

9. Which decade had better music? The 60s, the 70s or the 80s? 
What about the 90's? The first ten years of this century? There's SO much great music out there that I'm not sure I have an answer for your question. 

10. The Beatles or the Rolling Stones? 
The Beatles - yeah, yeah, yeah!

Ten Questions With Larry Nolan

1. You’re the guy responsible for me trying the track! You’re a “reformed triathlete” too. How did you go from tris to bike racing, specifically the track?

I love hearing stories of how I have helped others. Thank you!

I was a runner in high school and college. I took up triathlons in 1984 and in 1988 I won the triathlon "world championships" in Vancouver (Clydesdale division). In 1990 I was clobbered by a triple trailer truck when I was riding around Lake Tahoe. Triples are allowed in Nevada. Doctors advise that I not run again and swimming was never my strength so I focused on cycling. I was enjoying crits, time trials and road races when John and Linda Elgart encouraged me to give the track a go. At 200 pounds it just made sense. I started at the track in 1992 and have been addicted ever since.

2. What sticks out in your mind as your most outstanding race?

On October 20, 2009 I broke the masters 50-54 world record in the 2,000 meters at the UCI World Championships in Sydney. It was especially memorable because I was in Manchester, Engalnd when Ian Hallam set the record in 1999. The 2km is well suited to my physiology which is to say that I don't have a great jump or the endurance for a longer event. This race also had special meaning because I broke my collarbone at Nevada City and had already booked my flight. The collarbone break allowed me to return to base miles and then come into my overload and taper before October. I had focused on Ian's record and did a good amount of 2 minute and 18 second intervals (Ian's old record was 2:18.341 so I was essentially practicing going under his record). Finally, I was the defending champion so I was the last competitor to start. Jim Host from Chicago has been a great competitor in the past few years and he rode immediately before me in the qualifier at World's. He rode a time that was better than what I did in 2008 so I got my final adreneline rush just before I hit the line. Oh, and the Dunc Gray facility is world class as well.

3. Tuesday nights are getting ready to start (March 2nd). Give us a sneak peek of a typical Tuesday night. Points? Scratch? A/B/C?

Firstly, we're going with a USA Cycling permit, which will help riders with their upgrades, rankings, results and insurance. The slight increase in fees (from $10 to $12) will also help our track to grow and develop its officials as it is a requirement that I hire an official for the series. All extra monies will go back to the track, just like in the past. I'm a bit behind in the promotion but the Early Birds sucked up a lot of my time. Tuesday Night Racing will run every Tuesday in March, April, May and September. If another promoter steps up we could have a longer series but I am busy with our Junior Team and Regional Development Camp in June, July and August.

4. You race, you’re a race promoter at the track, you coach a couple of teams, and, you have a wonderful family. How do you fit it all in? And what do you do in your spare time?

Obviously, I love this sport. We all have a role to play in helping others and I enjoy helping. My spare time is spent with my family. As they are an active bunch its not like I'm that odd or anything. ;-)

5. Any advice for someone looking to go from a beginner on the track to maybe getting a little more serious about it?

What's a beginner? When one is promoted at work they are essentially starting over. They need to be humble, listen up and learn. The beauty of our track is that you have a lot of people that are willing to help. You will know that you are getting more serious about this sport when you consider yourself a beginner even though you may have started cycling years ago. You'll ask qeustions about improving your performance and start to see things that you didn't see before, like reading a race.

6. If you had to choose one event on the track to race, what would it be?

Points Racing because it takes a combination of smarts, sprinting, endurance and a bit of gambling and patience 

7. It’s looking like Masters Worlds (aka “Old Man Worlds”) will be in Portugal this fall. Portugal is a really nice place to visit. You’re the Champion of Champions in the M50-54 age group. Are you going back to defend your 2K, points and scratch titles?

I do not plan to race in Portugal. I went to Manchester in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 and to Sydney in 2008 and 2009. I plan to go to Masters Track Worlds in 2013 and go for the M55-59 world record.

8. You ride a road frame (Specialized) on the track. Why not one of the Specialized track frames?

At the risk of sounding like a Specialized commercial, the Transition gives me supreme aerodynamics at 30+mph, incredible stiffness in the bottom bracket area which helps to propel me forward and sweet responsiveness. From a practical standpoint I only want to travel with one bike and the Tranisition (with rear dropouts) is the best.

9. Back to Tuesday nights…should someone new to racing come out on a Tuesday night?

Absolutely, after the initial 3 beginner sessions are met we have at least three categories each night. Its low-key fun with a good number of competitors ready to push the pace. The lights make it an ideal workout for those that could not get away during the day.

10. Last question….Who would win a standing start one-lap drag race, you, Daniel, Shelley or one of the sprinters?

Daniel, Shelley and a good number of sprinters could dust me in a one-lap drag race. No doubt. I've won National and World titles in the sprints but I would never say I was a sprinter. I just had to take them all long. Very long!

Ten Questions With Daniel Holloway

My goal for this year is to add some current content to the Hellyer Velodrome website and I'll be doing a series of rider and race promoter interviews. They have all appeared at http://www.ridethetrack.com.  Daniel was my guinea pig.

1. How did you go from skating to the bike?
When I was around 13 or so my dad started to look for something to do in the summer to cross train. Before I knew it I was hooked and slowly stopped skating.

2. What is your favorite place that you've raced so far (not counting Hellyer)?
I love racing, so to me where doesn’t really stick out. Some races that have stuck out were Philly, Roubaix, and races in Spain.

3. Track or the road?
Its so hard to answer this question. The track is so pure and raw, but the road is brutal and smooth. You have to love each of them from what they are.

4. What is your favorite event to race on the track?
I love the Miss and Out.

5. For those who don't know about 6-day races, how do they work?
6-Days is a stage race on the track with a partner basically. We race 6 nights in a row and the team who has taken the most laps wins, if there is multiple teams on the same laps, it goes to who has the most points. In a normal night we do 2 Chase’s (Madisons if you will) only there is typically only sprints in the last 30 laps. 30-20-10-0. We also do flying lap records, points races, team miss and outs, and derny races.

HTTP://WWW.PEZCYCLINGNEWS.COM/PHOTOS/RACES10/SIX10/COP2-WOW.JPG 

6. What would you tell someone who has raced some on the track but are a little afraid to do some Madison training?
There is no reason to be scared of a Madison, it is something you have to practice and get comfortable with.
HTTP://WWW.PEZCYCLINGNEWS.COM/PHOTOS/RACES10/SIX10/COP2-FLY.JPG

7. Aside from making funny little movies, what do you guys do when you are on the road?
Me personally, I probably spend way to much time on the internet, but we watch movies on the computers, have random off the wall chats and arguments on tons of different subjects.

8. This year you'll be riding for Bissell (congrats!) What is your racing schedule looking like?
We havn’t had camp yet so a set schedule isn’t to firm right now. For sure I have Copenhagen 6 in the beginning of Feb, a real big crit in Singapore, hopefully Worlds and then a possible trip to Belgium for 4 weeks to get things moving for the NRC and other big American races.

9. Lots of people think the life of a professional bike racer is all glamour. What's the best thing about it? And what's the worst?
The best part of the job is seeing so many different places. There is no way this would happen if I was working a 9-5 somewhere. The worst part is the actual act of traveling. Packing your bags, and dealing with everything in the airport. I’ve learned to switch off once I enter an airport. No need to stress over what you cant control.

10. What is one piece of advice you'd give to a beginning racer?
Have fun!! If your not having fun success wont come as easy and is harder to enjoy! 

HTTP://WWW.PEZCYCLINGNEWS.COM/PHOTOS/RACES10/SIX10/COP2-HOLLO.JPG 

Note:  Pez has a couple of really good articles on the Copenhagen 6. 

HTTP://WWW.PEZCYCLINGNEWS.COM/?PG=FULLSTORY&ID=7973&STATUS=TRUE&CATNAME=RACENEWS10 

HTTP://WWW.PEZCYCLINGNEWS.COM/?PG=FULLSTORY&ID=7983&STATUS=TRUE&CATNAME=LATEST%20NEWS

A Little Set Back

I'd had a follow-up appointment scheduled with the surgeon for this past week so after the little accident a couple of weeks ago, I didn't go see her immediately. I was just bruised and I was in to see Rich the PT and if anything were seriously wrong, he would have sent me to the doctor.

So I go in to see her this week and she sees my (much improved) black, blue multicolored knee and thigh and her first words were, "What the heck did you do!!!" I told her the story and she just shook her head. After some poking and prodding, she said, "Well, at least you didn't break anything, but I don't want you riding outdoors for now."  WHAT?!?!?!  Because of lack of daylight and time limitations due to work, I have to ride indoors during the week, so facing long rides on the weekend about put me over the edge. After discussion with Rich and with Kenny, it was decided that if the weather were bad, I'd ride indoors. 

And what was the weather this weekend? Crappy. So I had an hour on the trainer on Saturday and 90 minutes on the trainer today. I'm also supposed to be working on one-legged pedaling and that's pretty hard! Between one-legged drills and spin ups to work on high cadence, I'm pretty wiped tonight. But the good news is that my bruises are getting a lot better. 

Today was the Brisbane Crit, so this afternoon Mouse Dan (another one on the IR) and I drove down to cheer on the Cat. 4 Mice men. A very exciting race, won by Rainer and Mouse Hank was 3rd. Solid work by Isaias and the other guys. Congrats!

 

Nice and bruised. Pencil shows where the most pain is.

No More Super Bowl Rides for Me

Last year I spent the afternoon at the Palo Alto Foundation (urgent care) after being taken out at the Early Bird Crit. 

Today I thought about going to spectate at the Cherry Pie Crit, but needed to ride so I headed out and went to ride over the bridge. Since pretty much everyone else was racing, I rode solo, except when I got to Sausalito Greg rolls up and we ride through Sausalito and up the bike path. We were cruising along at a good clip and I was working. When we got to the Camino Alto hill, Greg went ahead to do his ride and I'm riding up the hill at my pace and Sandi comes by and we chat for a minute but her pace is faster than mine so she goes on. I get to the top of the hill and then down the backside and I catch Sandy at the light at the bottom. She's going north, so I decide to ride up to Fairfax and then turn around and come back, so when the light chages, Sandy and I ride together all the rest of the way up to Fairfax. It's flat to gradual uphill so again, I was working pretty good. I bid Sandy a good ride as she was going to head on out to Nicasio. I stopped in Fairfax to have a coffee.

A short break and I turn around and was and the plan was to ride back the same way. I get back to Camino Alto and climbed that and then zipped back down the other side. Since I was riding at my pace, I was feeling better, catching a second wind. I get back to the bike path and I'm going about 14 mph, feeling good. About halfway along the path, I see a jogger up ahead going the same direction and she was over to the right hand side of the path. I also see that jogger woman has headphones on and I definitely slowed down since there were people were coming the other direction. All of a sudden jogger woman breaks left without looking behind her and I shout out. She freezes and leans left and I'm thinking she's either going to freeze where she is or is going to continue to go left but instead, she goes back right and we collide and we both go down and I land on my right side.

Right elbow - road rash and bruised
Right palm of hand - sore; hurt to lean on handlebar
Right knee - road rash and bruised below the knee
Left knee (the surgery knee) - swelling and turning back and blue just above the kneecap; also a cut/scrape below the kneecap
Right neck muscles are sore

The bike: front wheel out of true; dent in the down tube (but that may have been from the crash last year.)

I was able to ride into Sausalito to Bicycle Odyssey where they got the wheel good enough to ride back to SF. Then I showered and took the bike to the shop.

AND I MISSED THE SUPER BOWL.....AGAIN! Damn.

For the week:

Walk: 3.7 miles 
Bike: 130.3 miles 
Boxing/weights: 4x 
Time: 13:42

Well, That Went Fast and Slow

It was one year ago this weekend that I got crashed out of the Early Bird Crit, the event which started this whole knee surgery thing. It seems like forever. And the recovery from the September 3rd surgery still drags on (both rehab and financially). And still no full release from the doctor. At least I've found a physical therapist I really really like (Rich Soriano, Action Sports Medicine, http://www.actionsportsmed.com/). Very highly recommended! 

But back to this whole surgery thing. At times I wish I hadn't of had it done. Yeah, I was in pain, but it was pain where I knew if I sat too long, then it would hurt. So don't sit! It never hurt to ride. I guess I'm still frustrated, especially when everyone else is off riding 5 hours and starting to race and I'm not. Patience has never ever been my strong point.

At least January has zoomed by and I've been on the bike a lot, finally being released by the physical therapist to "RIDE" (as opposed to super easy trainer riding). I hit my January goal mileage early and did the Early Bird training clinics, getting some group riding practice. I also jumped into the first couple of races, lasting for a few laps, but I'm definitely not ready to ride at 25 mph for 30 minutes! After the second week of this, the coach called me and chewed me out big time. And everything he said was correct. So, I'm riding base and not racing until April. My goal is to go fast in September and October, not in January and February.

More later on January totals and goals.

 

2009 Wrap and 2010 Goals

2009 Totals

Races or events: 41 
Crits: 9 
Cyclocross: 1 (Jan. 09) 
Road race (bike): 2 
Track cycling: 29 days (multiple races per day) 
PR times in the 500m TT, kilo, 2K pursuit and Team Sprint 
2 podiums at Masters Nationals 

Training Totals: 
Swim distance: 20,900 m 
Bike distance: 3,333 mi (road and rollers) 
Trainer time: 22 hours 
Run/walk distance: 124 mi (almost all walking) 
Hours: 362 

Somewhat serious bike crashes: 1 
Surgeries: 1 
Months lost to real training: 5 (Feb, then Sept-Dec) 
Doctor appointments: 23 
Physical therapy sessions: 28 

This week I got the OK to start back training (instead of just easy riding), so I'm psyched for 2010! 

2010 Goals

* Get knee fully rehabbed and back to training 100% 

* Upgrade to Cat. 3 on track 

* Track Nats--Move up the podium in the sprint 

* Track Nats--Podium in the 2K 

* Drop times in 200/500/2K (which will lead to the above). 

* Get experience on 250m indoor track w/45 degree banking. 

Happy New Year!

Yes, the Season is Over

I went to Colorado Springs riding the best I've ever ridden--personal best times in all events, but off the bike my left knee had been hurting for quite awhile. I'm pretty sure it all stemmed from the crash back in February, but at that time I was more banged up on the head/neck/elbow/hip and the knee never really came up. A couple of months later after physical therapy for the hip/back, the pain had seemed to go more to the knee, but never was too bad. It kind of bothered me after sitting a long time and then starting to walk, but it never bothered me on the bike. In fact, riding made it feel better! An MRI in the early summer showed a small tear of the lateral meniscus. This was not really the time to do anything with it, especially considering riding still made it feel a lot better and there was a lot of racing to do. 

Fast forward to August and the week of Masters Nationals in Colorado Springs. Lots of pain off the bike (sitting/walking), no pain on the bike. There are stairs and a tunnel that you have to go down, through and up to get to the track infield there and a week of going up and down stairs pretty much put me over the edge. Since I can't ride 24/7 (and believe me, I've tried to figure out a way!), a trip to Dr. Van Pelt (who was actually my team doctor at Arizona State University and now at St. Francis Center for Sports Medicine) and he laid out the options: (1) more physical therapy, but that hadn't worked the first time; (2) shoot up the knee with cortisone (I have a personal bias AGAINST ever doing this); or (3) go get Dr. Lewis, consult with her and schedule arthroscopic surgery. Option 3 it was and everything done within the hour.

Last Thursday was the surgery. The plan was--to the hospital by 9:45 AM, surgery scheduled for 11:15 AM, home before 5:00 PM. I got there a bit early, go checked in, got changed and onto the gurney in the Come & Go surgery area. The nurse had me sign the papers, took vitals, asked what my pain tolerance was. "For injuries and things like that, 10. For needles, ZERO."  She kind of chuckled. I told her that I wasn't kidding. It was finally time to put in the IV. The part of the day that I was ~really~ dreading. For some reason, I was under the impression that they'd numb up my hand first. Hell no! She finally got the IV in (crap that hurt!) and started the drip and it hurt more! And it hurt just to lay there! My hand and arm were frozen to my side as I was afraid to move them lest it would hurt a lot. No, I was NOT kidding about that ZERO needle pain tolerance.

After the IV went in and the nurse took my glasses, I laid there with my eyes shut since I can't see a damned thing without my glasses. Dr. Van Pelt came by to see me. The anesthesiologist came by. Dr. Lewis stopped in to write her initials on my left (surgical) knee and "NO!" on my right knee. This made me chuckle...a little. She also said that they were running behind schedule in the OR so she didn't know when we'd get going. Oh well, I had nothing better to do at this point. I told her that the knee had really been hurting a lot the past few days along the medial joint line. Finally, a really nice surgical nurse, Johnny, came to get me to take me upstairs. I told him that maybe we should stop at the bathroom first as the surgery had been delayed and I'd had an IV running through me all this time......"good idea", he said. 

We finally get to the operating room and Johnny got me all situated and the anesthesiologist came in and said he was going to give me some anti-nausea meds through the IV. YOW! CRAP THAT HURT! When the meds hit the IV line and entered my hand, it felt like someone had stabbed me. He said the next one would sting a little but I'd be out soon. Well hell! Just knock me out. So he did.

I woke up in recovery wide awake and not groggy, ready to go. This surprised me a lot as other surgeries, I'd been plenty groggy. Plus, I had virtually no pain (about a 2 on a scale of 0-10.) After spending about 30-45 minutes in the recovery room and drinking some cranberry juice, they took me back to the Come & Go unit for more juice, crackers and more laying around. Even better, they had one of the nurse's assistants run across the street to the pharmacy to pick up the pain medication so they had my bag in the recovery room so I could give him the $10 for the co-pay. Which also meant that I had my Blackberry so I amuse myself! (Though I should probably go back and review the Twitter updates I did.) Finally about 4:00 PM they called Mateo to come pick me up and he and Jasmine came and got me and brought me home. Pain level still at a 2 or less. 

Friday night @ the track. Photo by Steven Woo.

Thursday evening I was wired and I ended up staying awake until about 2:00 AM. I dutifully took the pain meds before I went to sleep (Dr. Lewis and Nurse Heidi and Nurse JohnS had all said to take them before sleeping) but I hate how they make you feel, so I got off them as soon as possible. Luckily, the pain has been almost non-existent and even with getting out and about, I have had very little pain. I can walk around short trips without crutches and can bend the knee to 90 degrees with little discomfort. The bandages came off over the weekend and now just the small bandage over the incision sites remain, covered with a saran-wrap type bandage so I can shower. Lots of laying around, icing, leg lifts and just resting over the weekend. OK, I did get out for some sunshine and bike racing.

Sunday @ Giro di San Francisco. Photo by Mateo Ortega

Prognosis? I do know that there was a small tear in the lateral meniscus (outside of knee). And that pain on the inside of my knee? That was a very large tear of the medial meniscus, which did not show up on the MRI for some reason. But that's all I know for now. Tomorrow I go in for the post-op appointment, so I'll know more then on what I can and can't do and the rehab plan and the long-term ramifications. I'm just ready to get going on rehab and get back on the bike.

Tuesday, five days post-op. I could just barely get my leg around the pedal stroke. Photo by Heidi Larson.

RR: Masters' Track Nationals - Day 4

TEAM RACING DAY!

The last day of Nats is the team events (Team Sprint and Team Pursuit) and the Madison. Thanks to Doug Johnston, I had met his training mate Sallie and some other folks from TTown and Sallie and I were a team sprint pair. The Team Sprint is 2 women. You like up at the start together and on the bell, you both take off and teammate #1 slots in in front and teammate #2 slots in right behind. #1 does one full lap, pulling off within a marked area, and #2 continues on for a second lap. Everyone goes against the clock and the fastest time wins.

We got to the track by 8:30 and I got changed and got on the track and did about a 30 minute warmup. The track closed to warmup and I rode around the warmup circle some, got some water and some Gu, rode around a little more, sat down for 10 minutes, then went and rode the coach's rollers until nearly time to go to the ready. They were running the TS as 2-ups, meaning one team on one side, one on the other side of the track, start at the same time and take best times. There were 4 teams, two we knew were much faster and the other one, we thought we could beat them, but it would be close.

It was decided that I would be rider #1 and Sallie would be rider #2. We got on the start line and the countdown commenced...down to 5.4.3.2.1, deep breath and GO. I didn't get the best first pedal stroke, but up out of the saddle and pedal, pedal like mad! I stayed standing until nearly the opposite start/finish line....much farther than I had in the 500m TT earlier in the week. Keep the speed up through the turn and then, pull off between the cones and let Sallie shoot through.

Once I'd pulled off, I eased up on my pedaling and my bike started making all kinds of racket! WHAT IS THAT?!?!?! I tried to ease up pedaling as quickly as possible as it sounded like my chain or chain ring was going to fall off and if that happened, I'd be screwed. Big time. But nothing fell off (though the noise remained) and I slowed way down and got off the track. In the meantime, both riders #2 were finishing, but I was too concerned with the bike to listen closely to what the announcer said.

Results:
1. 50.584
2,  52.663
3.  57.736 <====
4.  57.885

Goal met!! A PR time in the TS and third place! We were both psyched to be on the podium.

That makes 3 personal bests and 1 other event tied for my personal best. Also, I've moved up in placing in every event and ended up 11/13 in the BAR (best rider) competition. (As opposed to last year when I didn't even get listed.) So I'm pretty happy with how the week went. Can't wait to start working on goals for next year!

RR: Masters' Track Nationals - Day 3

Sprint day!

They way the sprints work is everyone does a flying 200 meters for time first thing, then they seed the tournament from the times. I was 9th to go in the morning, so I got to the track early and did a pretty good warm up on the track--25 minutes in the warm up gear with a couple of jumps, then change to the race gear and do another 20 minutes with two more jumps. Hop on the rollers, stay loose until it's time to go to the ready. I was about the 8th person to go.

For the flying 200, they give you a push off on the back straight when the previous person passes on the way to their finish. You get 2.5 laps and the last 200 meters is timed. I rolled out and had gone through this in my mind many times the night before and during the warm up. Stay near to above the blue line the first 3/4 lap, then head up towards the rail and start to pick up the speed. On the second time around, get it rolling and up hill going into turn 2, keep the pressure on the pedals, then get to turn 3 and stand up and hit it, standing as long as possible. Take the corner a little late, which I did, but maybe too late. The corners in Colorado are tight, so I've been having a hard time keeping the bike down at the bottom of the curve and today was no different. Too high (which means losing time). Keep pedaling all the way across the line. I felt like it was a decent effort, but when the announcer said, 14.74 seconds, I was not happy at all. That equalled my best 200m time but I was expecting faster. I groused about it to the coach and of course everything he said was right (thanks Kenny), so all I could do was sit and wait to see where I was (as I had gone first). I ended up seed 5th of 6 (we started with 7, with one scratch). It was then another long wait until they decided how they would run my AG. The decision was for #1-4 to go straight to the evening's semifinals and #5-6 would have a one-ride final for the last podium spot. 

Back on the rollers to stay loose, ride around the warm up circle, sit and hydrate (as it was hot and sunny--my preferred weather!)  Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Finally, they called us to the ready. For the match sprint, you draw for position--#1 or #2. If you are #1, you have to obligation to lead things out. Since my qualifying time was quite a bit faster than the other gal's time, Kenny and Curtis gave me a few options of things to do. The official had her draw and she drew #2, so that made me #1. Her holder placed her bike fairly low on the track and Kenny told him to move it up as she was #2. (#1 has the lower spot on the track and #2 is higher.)  I saw him grimace and they weren't very happy with that. Good for me! I got on the bike and sat up, finally getting down into the drops and the official blew the whistle and Kenny gave me a push. I immediately went up above the blue line and kept going up higher into the corner as I was pretty sure she would not like that at all. Plus, I slowed way down, which I don't think she liked either. Continue nice and slow out of turn 2 and then pick it up a little. Uphill into turn 3 taking her really high and just past the midpoint between turns 3 and 4, I shot down the banking (which seems like falling off a building), standing up and sprinting as hard as I could, and I kept sprinting for the rest of the race. I took a peek back coming out of turn 4 and didn't see her, but I kept pedaling like mad until I heard Kenny say to shut it down. But I've been beaten in other sprints by letting up in the last 50 meters, so I did not want it to happen here! Win and 5th place for me, which meant the podium!  Standing on the podium tonight was SWEET!!

Thanks Coach.

Thanks Annabell for all the advice and for making me play follow the leader on the track yesterday. It helped.

Thanks Kevin for putting on the sprint tournament series. Match sprinting is like chess on bikes and it takes a lot of practice. The sprint tournaments are a great way to try out new things.

Thanks to all the Hellyer folks who were out there cheering today. What a fun week this has been. I'm already thinking about next year.

Thanks to my boys for all the trips to Hellyer this year. The best part of my week.

RR: Masters' Track Nationals - Day 2

2k pursuit - 6 laps against the clock.

11 women in my AG. Goals again were to ride a best time and not be last. There were some super fast women in this race, so the second goal would be tough. The morning started out dead still and warming up, but mid-morning the wind kicked up. By the time we raced, it was nice and warm and the wind was down a bit. I was in the first heat, riding solo.

I got in a good warm up, first in the warm up gear, then in the race gear. Since the morning warm up is really crowded on the track, I did the entire warm up on the rollers which worked out pretty well. We got my bike measured (mandatory) and it was fine, both the saddle position and aerobars. To the ready area and then to the start.

Countdown to zero and stand up, stiff arms, pedal forward, stand up until I spin out. I stood up over half a lap--yea! Sit down easy, get into the aero bars before the corner. Done and done. In July at States, I went out way too fast and then slowed down too much (but still rode a PR), so I knew I couldn't go out so hard today. Ease off a bit in lap 2 and try to float the pedals. Going into turn 2 on the second lap, the wind caught the disc and gave me a little shove, then some head wind on the back straight. At least the rest of the laps I could anticipate the wind in turn 2 and had no problem after that.

Lap 3 I heard Kenny yell at me to pick it up. As we were sitting in the ready, he'd asked if I wanted to hear splits. I told him, "No. Just tell me if I am over or under a PR time." So when he said to pick it up, I thought, "CRAP! I can't be behind, can I?" I pedaled a little faster and then coming around again I knew it was only 2 laps to go, so pick it up again and bust it out on the last lap. I crossed the line and heard the announcer say, "3:05". YES! That was a BIG PR!!! Just over 5 seconds. Super happy about that and I was in first place for 3 minutes. ha

I ended up in 10th and negative split the second kilo. Real happy about that. And both goals for the day met.

RR: Masters' Track Nationals - Day 1

Last year I rode at nats since they were at our home track. I didn't have much idea of what I was doing and did it for the experience. I pretty much came in last in all but one events. There are some fast women who race the track and they've been doing it for a long time. This year my goals are to ride personal best times in all the events and see if I can move up in the placings. Funny thing is that the 50-54 age group has nearly twice as many women as any other age group.

Our track is 335 meters with nice wide turns and 25 degrees banking. The 7-11 velodrome here in Colorado Springs is 330 meters and 33 degrees banking with tighter turns. I arrived Sunday and that afternoon we went over to the track so I could ride it. A little intimidating at first. It took me about 10 laps to get up to where the Olympic rings are painted on the cement (about 2/3rds of the way up) and another 10 laps to get clear to the top of the track (the rail). Another ride on Monday and I was feeling much better about it. Legs up Monday and relax all day, but the doing nothing actually made me a little stressed out though I did do 4 hours of work. Friends from our track came over and cooked dinner and we had good food, a couple of beers and then it was time to pack the bag and hit the bed. Right when I went to bed, it started to rain and was still raining in the middle of the night.

Got up this morning to overcast and cool. I'd prefer sunny and 90F, but it wasn't to be. We got to the track and got warmed up. Noticed some headwind on the finishing straight, so where you started your 500m might make a difference. (Two people ride at a time--one starting on the back straight, the other on the front straight. Fastest time of all riders wins.) I was seeded 10th/11, so riding in the second heat, starting on the backside.

Got in a pretty good warm up--a few laps on the track just to get the feel, then the rest on the rollers. My coach came down and that was a big help as I was a little stressed. I was definitely in the "let's just get this going" mindset. Watched a few of the earlier races, finished warming up, the coach took the bike to get measured, rolled around on the warm up circle, with a couple of people to go I sat and watched their starts, then I got called to the ready.

The 500m is 1.5 laps (more or less), so I was starting on the backside, finishing on the front side.  15 seconds, 10 seconds, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, beep. Look down the track; pedal forward, not down; keep the arms stiff; breathe! Keep standing as long as possible, then sit and 4 hard pedal strokes and then keep it rolling to the end.  First lap, OK, and then my legs started to tire, but I told myself to keep pedaling as fast as I could. Across the line and I felt good about the effort. Then I heard him call my time and I was pretty happy---a huge PR.  By over 2%!  I ended up 10th/11 which means I met my other goal. The gal I rode with ended up winning and setting a new world record and Lorraine, from our Hellyer track ended up second, also breaking the world record and 0.1 behind the winner.  Also from our track we had one National champion in the men's 65-69 AG, 2nd place in the men's 60-64 and Annabell also broke the world record for the women's 45-49 AG, unfortunately, coming in second, but a PR ride for her. So a very good first session. More racing by others tonight if the rains hold off.

Next race: 2K pursuit tomorrow morning.

American Velodrome Challenge, Day 2

Hellyer Velodrome, San Jose, CA, USA, June 27, 2009

 

Saturday started early in the morning with flying 200m sprint qualifications. The nine fastest in every field qualified for the sprint tournament.

 

Men 200m

 

US National Champion Jimmy Watkins set a new Hellyer Velodrome track record with 10.84 sec.

Jimmy	Watkins	10.84
Giddeon	Massie	11.34
Karl	Erickson	11.39
Peter	Billington	11.42
Daniel	Walker	11.50
Giovanni	Rey	11.57
Kelyn	Akuna	11.61
Stephen	McLaughry	11.64
Allen	Vugrincic	11.84
Michal	Rohoň	11.85
Sam	Milroy	11.90
Nicholas	Harter	11.95

 

Women 200m

 

Australian Scratch Champion Laura McCaughey set the fastest time for the women. US National Sprint Champion Cari Higgins did not start after her crash on Friday.

Laura	McCaughey	12.5
Jen	Featheringill	12.8
Elisabeth	Williams	12.86
Tela	Crane	12.95
Cristin	Walker	13.0
Elizabeth	Newell	13.1
Annabell	Holland	13.2
Andrea	Fisk	13.4
Shelby	Reynolds	13.5
Kendi	Thomas	13.7
Heather	VanValkenburg	13.8
Jane	Chateaubriand	14.1
Camille	Hook	14.3

 

Master 200m and San Jose Bicycle Club Master Sprint

The master men finalized their sprint tournament before lunch as they had Keirin racing coming up in the afternoon.

Stephen	McLaughry	11.6
Brian	Abers	11.9
Terry	Tenettte	12.2
Mark	Godfrey	12.3
Pekka	Jaske	12.5
Andreas	Vogel	12.5
Arden	Arindaeng	12.6
Mark	Rodamaker	12.6
John	Simmons	12.7
Alex	Millar	12.8
Tim	Montagne	12.9
Gavin	Scholle	13.0

 

Portland

’s men swept the podium:

1	Stephen	McLaughry
2	Brian	Abers
3	Mark	Godfrey
4	Pekka	Jaske
5	Arden	Arindaeng

 

The afternoon session started with the men and women sprint finals.

 

Milroy Construction Men's Sprints

Jimmy Watkins clearly beat Olympian and Friday night’s Keirin winner Giddeon Massie. The race for bronze was much closer, but eventually up-and-coming Daniel Walker won 2:0 over Kelyn Akuna.

1	Jimmy	Watkins
2	Giddeon	Massie
3	Daniel	Walker
4	Kelyn	Akuna
5	Peter	Billington

 

Zin Surgical Women's Sprints

The women’s sprint was a down-under affair. Australian Laura McCaughey beat recovering Kiwi sprinter Liz Williams 2:0. Jen Featheringill took third.

1	Laura	McCaughey
3	Elisabeth	Williams
2	Jen	Featheringill
4	Tela	Crane
5	Cristin	Walker

 

Sport Velo Women's Miss & Out

As in Friday night’s Point race, this was a battle between home favorite and world Cup bronze medalist Shelley Olds and Australian Laura McCaughey, with Laura prevailing again.

1	Laura	McCaughey
2	Shelley	Olds
3	Jennifer	Triplett
4	Cari	Higgins
5	Beth	Newell
6	Karla	Kingsley
7	Kira	Prokopakis
8	Cristin	Walker
9	Liz	Williams
10	Kendi	Thomas

 

Testarossa Men's Scratch

Local Hellyer track star and World Cup bronze medalist Dan Holloway, escaped from the field early on and managed to gain a lap on the field. Hayden Godfrey won the field sprint for second.

1	Dan	Holloway
2	Hayden	Godfrey
3	Grant	Boursaw
4	Steven	Beardsley
5	Steve	Pelaez
6	Iggy	Silva
7	Ryan	Luttrell
8	David	McCook
9	Maurice	Monge
10	Giovanni	Rey
11	Brian	Peterson
12	Derek	Dixon

 

Western Athletic Clubs Master Keirin

Hellyer’s Brian Peterson attacked right after the motor came off, took the lead and stayed in the front all the way to the finish line.

1	Brian	Peterson
2	Stephen	McLaughry
3	Mark	Godfrey
4	Brian	Abers
5	John	Simmons
6	Mark	Rodamaker
7	Michael	Hernandez

 

Testarossa Women's Scratch

This race was a great example of team tactics--while everyone was expecting another duel between Shelley Olds and Laura McCaughey, Shelley's team mate Hanan Alves-Hyde went off the front with Julia Manley and Tela Crane, eventually outsprinting her two break-away companions.

1	Hanan	Alves-Hyde
2	Julia	Manley
3	Tela	Crane
4	Laura	McCaughey
5	Shelley	Olds
6	Jennifer	Triplett
7	Cari	Higgins
8	Andrea	Fisk
9	Jen	Featheringill
10	Emily	Charbonneau

 

startcycling.com Master Points Race

This was a classic battle between sprinters and enduros. While 8 riders took points in the first two sprints, local pursuiter Michael Hutchison took off winning the other two sprints and cementing first place.

1	Michael	Hutchinson
2	Pekka	Jaske
3	Daryl	Hemenway
4	James	Keiser
5	Aaron	Hunter
6	John	Simmons
7	Michael	Hernandez
8	Brandon	Correia
9	Andrew	Nevitt

 

John Peckham Memorial Men's Points Race

Before the night’s last race was started, NCVA President Brian Peterson remembered friend and team member John Peckham.

James Stangeland won the first sprint and he would score 3 more times which was enough for a decisive win. Dan Holloway and Jame Carney battled it out for silver and bronze respectively.

1	James	Stangeland
2	Dan	Holloway
3	Jame	Carney
4	Grant	Boursaw
5	Steve	Pelaez
6	Benjamin	Jacques-Maynes
7	Iggy	Silva
8	Giddeon	Massie
9	Jason	Allen
10	Karl	Erickson
11	Ryan	Luttrell

American Velodrome Challenge, Day 1

Hellyer Velodrome, San Jose, CA, USA, June 26, 2009

 Men Keirin

 Some very fast men lined up for the Men’s Keirin. US National Champion Jimmy Watkins, 2008 Ominum World Champion Hayden Godfrey, local power house Pete Billington qualified for the final. So did up-and-coming rider Daniel Walker, who sent Olympian Gideon Massie to the reps.

 Massie made the decisive move in the final and won the $1000 purse, local fast man Steve Pelaez was holding off Hayden Godfrey.

	NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
1	94	Massie	Gideon
2	110	Pelaez	Steve
3	66	Godfrey	Hayden
4	137	Watkins	Jimmy
5	135	Walker	Daniel
6	34	Allen	Jason
7	42	Billington	Pete
8	98	McLaughry	Stephen

 

Women Keirin

Proman teammates finished 1st and 2nd in the Women’s Keirin with US National Champion Cari Higgins taking the win and US enduro track star Shelley Olds taking second. Jen Featheringill completed the podium.

	NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
1	73	Higgins	Cari
2	108	Olds	Shelley
3	63	Featheringill	Jen
4	140	Williams	Elisabeth
5	134	Walker	Cristin
6	64	Fisk	Andrea
7	96	McCaughey	Laura

Women Points 15k (45 laps)

The Women’s Points Race came down to a battle between Aussie Scratch Champion Laura McCaughey and US National Champ Shelley Olds. It came all down to the final sprint which was neutralized due a crash involving Cari Higgins. The race was re-started with 5 laps to go and Laura McCaughey took the opportunity and sealed the deal. Cari Higgins was up and riding again after her bike was fixed.

 

	NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
1	96	McCaughey	Laura
2	108	Olds	Shelley
3	73	Higgins	Cari
4	130	Triplett	Jennifer
5	104	Newell	Elizabeth
6	44	Boursaw	Amara

Men Madison 20k (60k laps)

The Men’s Madison race was the last race of the night and certainly one of the high-lights. Very quickly it became clear that this would be a battle between the Garmin team of Dan Holloway and guest rider, Bissell’s Ben Jacques-Maynes and the New Zealand Subway-Avanti team of the world champs Hayden Godfrey and Jason Allen. It all came down to one point which was battled out in the last sprint when the Kiwis took the victory.

Men Miss 'n' Out

The Men Miss ‘n’ Out saw a huge field of 35 racers. The pace was very high right from the gun. Many of the sprinters didn’t last for long and some of the big names got eliminated early. Pro-riders Ben Jacques–Maynes (Bissell), Roman Kilun (OUCH) and Iggy Silva (Rock Racing) nearly made it to the end. The final came down to Jame Carney, Dan Holloway and Dave McCook. But it was really Carney and Holloway who took the sprint to the line with Carney nosing out Holloway.

	NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
1	47	Carney	Jame
2	75	Holloway	Dan
3	97	McCook	David
4	79	Jacques-Maynes	Benjamin
5	82	KILUN	Roman
6	124	Silva	Iggy

Masters Miss 'n' Out

The Master Miss ‘n’ Out turned into a local Hellyer affair with the final five all from Hellyer. Finally, Briggs and Peterson sprinted it out, with Briggs taking it by inches.

1	46	Briggs	Patrick
2	111	Peterson	Brian
3	72	Hernandez	Michael
4	68	Hall	Doug
5	103	Nevitt	Andrew

Masters 10k Scratch

Local Eliot Logan was taking it long with four laps to go, creating a 100m gap but he was caught with 150 m to go by the charging field. Former Olympian Mark Whitehead crossed the lined first.

	NUMBER	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME
1	139	Whitehead	Mark
2	46	Briggs	Patrick
3	138	Watkins	Sean
4	111	Peterson	Brian
5	127	Tanaka	Alden

Tuesday Night Racing

I've been dealing with breathing issues and after a visit to my pulmonologist on Monday, hopefully we are on track to get it under control. So last night's racing was going to be a test--could I even go hard without wheezing/coughing/being unable to breathe?

Tuesday Night Women's Racing and Madison Practice is the alternate Tuesday nights. Michael just started up this series to give the women (especially the new women) more opportunity to race against each other (instead of coed racing which is good, but sometimes not so good).

I got to the track and got in a good warm up, first in the warm up gear and that felt pretty good. I changed to the race gear and in the warm up it felt ok, but a little big (47x14). It was cool and really windy so I switched over to a smaller gear (46x14) and raced on that.

12 women, 4 of them were track Cat. 3 plus one of the Proman gals, who may be a 2 on the track, but she was there to mostly mentor. The rest of us were 4s with a number of very strong riders. First race was a 15 lap scratch. I felt ok for about 10 laps then couldn't go when there was an attack. Breathing was actually pretty good, but I was on the conservative side. Use this race as a warm up. Legs were pretty tired.

Second race, a 12 lap points race, points every 4. I did OK for about 5 laps then got gapped on the second sprint. I took a lap and got back in when the group came around again and ended up scoring a point on the last sprint. My breathing pretty much OK--I just couldn't go super hard and that's when I got gapped (though my max speed was 29.9 mph so we were going pretty hard). But no coughing until after the race was over. Last week I had started to cough and wheeze during the races, so this is improvement!

Next we did some match sprints. I was in a 3-up and was watching Carol and junior Becky got behind us and took off. That was very smart of her. We chased and I couldn't quite come around them at the finish, but we were all within a wheel of each other. Good effort!

Then we did some Madison practice. What is the Madison?  The madison is a conventional race but, since the innovation in New York, with riders in each team riding part of the distance, handing over to the other member, resting, and then returning to the race. Teams are usually of two riders but occasionally of three. Only one of the team is racing at any time and the replacement rider has to be touched before he can take over. The touch can also be a push, often on the shorts, or one rider hurling the other into the race by a hand-sling.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_(cycling).

We were practicing the "hurling" part. We got into one long paceline on the stayers line in the middle of the track and when you got to the front of the line, you dropped down to where Daniel Holloway (Garmin U23/US National Team, guy who was off the front for 75 miles last weekend at Philly and recent finisher of the U23 Paris-Roubaix) was and he was doing the throwing. He did the Madison circuit this past winter, racing with Colby Pearce. The first time it was pretty stressful as you had to keep holding onto the bars with your right hand and put your left hand out and down by your hip. Your partner comes alongside you and grabs your hand and they are moving forward and they then sling you forward. I did it twice. Kind of fun! A really big WHEE factor!

Last we did a combined points race with the guys as there were only 5 guys there and half the women had left. (Very casual night of racing, but a lot of fun.)  We are all in a group and the guys weren't supposed to attack or anything and then all of a sudden we see Daniel taking off attacking. Why is Daniel attacking??? We could then see that he's pushing junior Becky and they get a gap on the group and it was pretty funny. We finally chased them down after a few laps and I was able to lock onto Ben's wheel (he's a good draft) and on one of the sprints, I got 4th. On the last sprint, Bev attacked and I tried to follow but got to the edge of coughing, plus my legs were not responding at all so I just rolled it in.

A very fun night and a lot of good group riding practice. Encouraged about the asthma. Hopefully we'll get that under control.

American Velodrome Challenge

International Stars And Top US Cyclists To Complete At American Velodrome Challenge In San Jose, CA

The American Velodrome Challenge (AVC) will be held at the Hellyer Velodrome in San Jose, CA June 26 and 27. The event will feature sprint and endurance racing including Montano Velo Keirin, Concept Cyclery Women's Points Race and Peckham Memorial Points Race, as well as SportVelo Miss-n-Out, Scratch, Madison and Sprint events. Racers will compete for nearly $15,000 in cash prizes.

In the endurance women's events, Shelley Olds (Proman) will be back to defend her Concept Cyclery Points Race and Testarossa Scratch Race titles. "Pocket Rocket" Shelley Olds says, "The AVC is one of the highlights of my season every year. It combines highly contested racing with a great atmosphere for spectating. It's fantastic to have a race of this caliber at my local track." With $1,000 going to the winner of the Concept Cyclery Women's Points Race, the race is guaranteed to be rocket fast.  The women's sprint events will see Jen Featheringill (Bike Central) defend her Keirin and Sprint titles against USA elite national champion Cari Higgins (Proman) and Cristin Walker, the USA U23 National Sprint Champion.

The Peckham Memorial Points Race will see the 2008 winner Kenny Williams (First Rate Mortgage) defend against the 2007 winner Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (Bissell). Also chasing after the $1,000 that goes to the winner of the Peckham Memorial Points Race will be Jason Allen (Subway - Avanti), a track World Cup Gold medalist, Daniel Holloway (Holowesko-Garmin), US Elite Champion and World Cup bronze medalist, and New Zealand's Hayden Godfrey (Subway - Avanti), the 2008 Omnium World Champion. Godfrey says, "I have heard great things about the American Velodrome Challenge and I'm looking forward to compete in this year's event". Other nations represented at AVC include: Canada, Slovakia and Germany.

Gio Rey (Montano Velo) will be back to win after being pipped at the line in the 2008 Montano Velo Elite Men's Keirin. Expect Jimmy Watkins (Empower Coaching), current USA Sprint and Keirin champion, and his Team Sprint teammate Kelyn Akuna to make the race fast. 

Rick Adams, co-promoter of the AVC said, "I am proud of the local business support to bring high level racing to Hellyer." Bruce Hollibaugh, Concept Cyclery’s owner said, “Sponsoring the AVC helps our community prosper and sponsoring the Women's Points Race aligns with our many successful women customers.”

Racing will be on Friday (June 26) from 7pm - 10:30pm and Saturday (June 27) from 6pm - 10pm. There is no entrance fee to the velodrome and food and drinks will be provided. Park entrance/parking at the County park is $6. Complete information can be found at www.ridethetrack.com/avc

Hellyer Velodrome is located at the Hellyer County Park, 995 Hellyer Ave San Jose, CA 95111 and can be easily accessed from Highway 101, exit "Hellyer Av."

 

 

Contact

 

Andreas Vogel

AVC communication

andreas.vogel@gmail.com

415 341 3438

 

Rick Adams

AVC promoter

oldtrackie@gmail.com

 

Hellyer Velodrome, San Jose, CA

http://ridethetrack.com/AVC

 

A Lot to Learn With This Bike Racing!

A couple of race reports from this week.

Memorial Day Crit, Morgan Hill, CA

Monday, May 25, 2009, 9:30 AM start 
cold, foggy, windy (like 55F) 
40 starters + 2 mentors

I got 30 minutes of warm up in, but could have done a bit more. I had on the long-sleeved skinsuit and fleece knee warmers and I was still cold. The course was right turn, left curve, right hard turn, another right, long straight into the wind, right turn into a long straight to the s/f. The first turn was about 100 yards from the s/f and I still have a few issues with big groups of unknown riders and didn't really want to be in the middle of all that, so I sat on the back. Not the best place to be since it yo-yos a lot more.  About 10 minutes into the race I started to cough due to the cold and got gapped a bit and then in the windy section, the gap got too big and I couldn't catch back on. I sat up as I knew a few others had popped off earlier and ended up working for a few laps with Velo Bella gal who was doing her 3rd ever race. Into the pit until the group came around and then we got put back in when the group came around and I stuck with the group the rest of the way.

Cyclosports Crit, Livermore, CA

Saturday, May 30, 2009, 10:50 AM start (but delayed by about 15-20 minutes)

Warm (maybe 70F), sunny, but very windy.

3 right corners plus one sweeping right at turn 2. Between turn 2-3 was a straight on headwind, probably 15+ mph and very slightly uphill at the end. Between turn 3-4 was cross-wind from about 11 o'clock and more than slightly uphill.

W3/4s combined but picked separately. The field was probably 15-16 total, about equally spilt between the categories. A majority from one team.

25 laps of a 0.66 mile square.

I lined up in the front row and we rolled out and I was right there in the first 5 people for a few laps. Then a Metromint attacked and the others blocked on the front and no one wanted to do anything. I did about 1/2 a lap at the front to pick it up a bit but then moved back. After about 8 or 10 laps, I was moving further back each time on the incline and I finally got gapped and couldn't get back on. The officials said they weren't going to pull anyone so sit up and catch back on. Which is what I did but I only lasted about 1.5 laps and got gapped again on the same place, so I rode it in and finished.

Lesson learned: I asked a couple of good racers and coaches what they thought as they were there watching the race. Both said that if I had positioned myself on the other side of the road on the incline/crosswind section that I probably could have stuck with the group. Instead, I was sitting out in the wind on the hardest section, even though I was on a wheel. I didn't even think about that. Next time I'll know.

A Busy Race Week

This week there are 3 days of racing on the track. Plus a change in my weight lifting program means tired legs. And Wednesday, after lifting on Monday, sore legs!

Wednesday Night Racing:

We got to the track later than I would have liked. Super busy at work, plus bike shop stop, plus picking up another person left not a lot of time for a warm up (10-15 minutes). Weather was cool and windy.

15 lap Points Race, points every 5: 

Probably 15 people in the race? Mostly men and a few women. I rode with the pack to the first sprint then finished it out doing my own warm up. Legs definitely not ready to go hard with less than a 15 minute warm up.

10 lap Scratch: 

Maybe 12 laps? I forget. Much better! Legs warmed up but the 47x14 gear felt kinda hard at times. Stayed with the pack the entire way. One guy went off the front and the rest of us pretty much stuck together. Happy with that effort

Miss & Out: 

Rode towards the back and high. First time around not close to being out. Second time around, stayed back too long and had to get up fast. Third time around, got squeezed and boxed in, so out. 

10 or 12 lap Tempo: 

Stupid fast from the first lap. Legs were tired and after 2 laps I got popped off so I used the rest of the race to do a pursuit workout and practice standing up and sprinting every half lap.

Saturday Sprint Tournament:

Yesterday was the second Sprint Tournament--one-on-one matches for 2 laps (or sometimes 3 people at once). But in the morning, I went to the beginner session at the track to get a longer warmup in. There were over 40 people there! Every Saturday morning it's been like that which is great. I helped Mark and Keith get people checked in and on the bikes and then dealt with a rental bike with a flat tire. I finally got on my bike and hopped into the paceline.  We did a paceline warmup (two separate ones actually), then we got into pairs and did bumping drills. Keith was my partner and it was good. He was pushing me around a lot, especially when we went off the warm up circle and onto the track. I still don't like doing it, but at least now I don't half freak out.

Next was 4 abreast seated jumps. I did about 4 of these, then decided that was enough as my legs were feeling a little loaded.

The last thing we did was a flying 200 for everyone, which took forever, but we rode around the apron to stay loose. I was near the end of the line so it was heating up but not much wind. For the morning session I was riding a pretty small gear and I did the 200 in that gear and had a pretty good time (nearly 2 seconds faster than the last time I'd ridden that gear). Happy with that.

Did a little cool down and by this time everyone was arriving for the sprint tournament, including Ben, who brought me lunch. Ate some food, drank a lot of water + NUUN, then the search was on for a 51 chain ring. Which no one had. So, I went with 48x14 (92.6") for the sprint tournament 200. It was hot (high of 95F) and the wind had picked up some, including a headwind on the back straightaway. Got the bike ready and warmed up and then once we started, I was 3rd to go.

This was the first time I'd ridden that big of a gear, so I don't think I went in fast enough, early enough, but I was able to stand up for a decent amount of time. Definitely not the leg speed as earlier as I had a hard time getting over on that gear. My time was the second fastest time in my group of 6 so I was pretty happy with that.

Changed to a 47x14 (90.6") for the match sprints.

Match Sprint #1 v. Mary Ellen:  She jumped in the middle of turn 3 on the first lap. So it was a very long sprint. My jump isn't the fastest in that big of a gear, but I was able to get back to her wheel, but couldn't get around her. She beat me by a bike length, but Beth said I was coming back on her in the last 50 meters.

Match Sprint #2 v. Elizabeth: This was her first time to do match sprints and so I had been telling her how it worked and all and she tried to beat me with my own advice! I got behind her and she jumped first and I was able to get around her and hold her off. Good job Elizabeth!

Match Sprint #3 v. Gavin:  He comes out to the Sunday training and I've seen him ride, so I knew that it would be doubtful that I could take him in a shorter sprint. We roll off the rail and I'm in the back and I notice that he's riding along with hands on the top of the bars (instead of down in the drops). And stays like that to turn 3, so I jump him in the middle of turn 3 on the first lap and hold him off until the last 25 meters of the race when he catches me and passes me, but he only beat me by less than one bike length.

Match Sprint #4 v. Elizabeth v. Mary Ellen:  Mary Ellen again went early and I was right on her and Elizabeth behind me and that's how we finished. By then, everyone was pretty beat from the heat, so that was it.

Did a little cool down and packed up and it was off for tacos and a beer. A very fun day. 

Hellyer Friday Night Racing - May 22, 2009 * FUND RAISER*

Stolen from Michael's site.

MAY 22nd is the next Hellyer Friday Night.

Hellyer Velodrome, San Jose

THEME: Glam Rock

PARTY HOST: AltoVelo/Webcor … in support of ASHLEIGH JACKSON’s ROAD TO RECOVERY.

FREE admission/food/DRINK = all with GLAM ROCK attire.

$5 donation = all glam-less spectators (all donations go to Ashleigh’s road to recovery).

RAFFLES!!!

Kids are welcome in the infield! AND for the KiddieKilo (we’ll be sectioning off the grass for a kids’ protected area)

More to come!!!

So, come show some mo’ support for our cycling community and have a blast doing it.  Again, $1 of each entry goes to the NorCal Junior’s Series and $5 goes to directly to support the improvements the NCVA has done to the Hellyer Velodrome.  Yeehaw!

Back on Track

Or, back ~on~ the track!

Last weekend was the first women's track camp at the velodrome. We had 20 women come who had never ridden on the track and they spent two days of drills and riding and on the second day, even some racing. It was very cool to see them all there and at one point on Sunday, we were all on the track together...the most women to ever be on the track at one time. Just fantastic!

Friday night was the first Friday night track racing of the season and there were special races for the women who attended the camp last weekend. I raced with the women 1-3s and rode the second beginner women's race as a mentor and used it as a warm-up. There were 15 new women, all doing their first race. Very exciting!

My first race was a 25 lap scratch race with a field of 12. Last year in these races, I would hold on for a few laps, then get popped off the back and have to take a lap or two and then try to catch back on. Goal this year was to hang longer. We rolled off and the pace was pretty good. It later ramped up a bit and I was able to go with them. My legs were hurting, but I was hanging in! There were a few surges and trying to close the gaps was hard, but I was able to do so. We got down to the last couple of laps and I was still there and sprinting for the finish, I ended up 10th out of 12. Extremely happy with that race!

I got off the bike and immediately had to run up and hold Mouse kid Ryan. He and his brother were doing the kiddie kilo and he'd done it last year and I was his holder and advisor and he won. Giving a push in cleats is a little tricky, but I gave him a push and he was off and beat his brother. It was a Junior Mice sweep with young Parkhill taking 3rd.

My second race was a 30 lap points race, sprint every 5 laps. This race started out fast and only got faster. The first sprint I was able to go with the group and then on the second sprint, a gap formed and I was off the back. But then so was Donna. And then so was Julie. Donna and I worked together to get up to Julie and then a lap before the next sprint I was on the front of our three person paceline and was able to bridge us up to the group and launch Julie on an attack against the group. And the chase was on, but I had burned a big match getting us back, so I was finished. Donna and I rode together the rest of the way, trading pulls and keeping the pace high. Coming out of the last turn on the last lap, we sprinted against each other and it was close. 

A very fun night and I was really happy with how I rode. Definite improvement over last year and a number of people commented on that. I'm looking forward to the next Friday night in two weeks.

On Tuesday, I went down to the track with Nole and Loren and it was Loren's first time to race on the track.  In the C group, we had about 15 people.

Two 30-lap points races, sprints every 5 laps (1 mile).

Got there fairly early, but by the time we got Loren her rental bike and registered and changed, nuts...better get warming up! Overcast, but not cold, muggy and windy. I had on knickers and was a bit warm. Did the first race without arm warmers. Yea!

Warmed up for 10 minutes in the 50x16 (84.4"), then switched it to the 50x15 (90.0") and got about 8-10 more minutes in. Felt OK. The coach wants me to ride a bigger gear right now and a 90 for a 30-lap race is very big. I usually race the 200 meters in a 90, not 6 miles.

Race 1: Rolled out and was able to hang with the group for 10 laps, but then my legs were not ready to go and I sat up and rode around for 10 laps at about 18 mph. Used the rest of the race to get a better warm up in. With about 10 to go, I jumped in with Jonathan and we picked up the pace and finished it out.

Thought about switching to a lower gear for the second race but then didn't.

Race 2: What a difference a warm up makes! I rolled off the rail and went to the front of the pack and didn't jump, but continued to slowly ramp up the speed and just see what happened. Two laps of that and I swung off and that had strung things out a little. Got in towards that back of the group and pretty much stayed there the rest of the race, even on the sprints! After one sprint, I was up high on the back straight and came around Ted and stood up and attacked the field. That was fun! Didn't stay away, but woke them up. Stayed with the group the entire 30 laps and that is the first time EVER that that has happened!! 

Super happy about the second race. Loren took 3rd or 4th in the second race and is totally hooked.

Tuesday Night Track

We have training races on Tuesday and Wednesday nights throughout the season. Tuesdays are "endurance" night. Endurance on the track is 30 laps, or 6 miles for me. This year all Tuesday nights will be points races.  Two 30 laps points races, sprints every 10 laps.

Points race involved both endurance and sprinting strength. You score points during the event, and the top scorers at the end are the winners. Points are scored in the sprints -- which are every 10th lap on the second Tuesday of the month -- the top finisher earns five points, and it goes to three points for second, two points for third and one point for fourth. Add up the points at the end to figure out the winner. (Well, it’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s the gist of it.)

The afternoon started out stressful. My teammate Nole couldn't get away from work until 5PM so we were late hitting the road, then TRAFFIC! An accident had jammed up the freeway and we got there really late. I was stressing since the C racers go first. We got there and it's nice and hot (probably still 80F). Change clothes quick, jump on bike, get about 6 minutes in on the warm-up (small) gear, including one 100 meter hard effort. Jump off the bike, change gear to race (harder) gear. Larry has already blown the whistle to clear the track so no warm up on the race gear. NUTS!  Larry says there are 15 women + 1 junior, so we get our own race. Yea!  Plus, we had 3-4 other guys ride with us, but Larry told the guys they couldn't sprint for wins, etc. and that it was our race, but they could work. 

We roll off the rail and I could barely turn the gear. Yikes, not good to have no warm-up! This was going to be a long race! But we got rolling and I felt pretty good. I was sitting about 2/3rds back (due to the very slow roll off) and kind of got boxed in and about the 4th or 5th lap I got squeezed with riders coming in towards me from both sides and I had an "oh shit" moment and a very high heart rate. Still a little gun shy on close riding. I decided to move back and to the outside and that was better mentally. The speed was good and then when the sprint came, I was able to hang on at the very back of the group. There were two gals who went off the front, with the rest of the group pretty much staying together, though a couple women dropped out during the race, and then there was a small trailing group of Zeke the junior, a couple of the guys and junior Taylor. With about 5 laps to go, the speed went up again and I lost contact with the big group and tried to get back on, but then waited for the smaller group and finished with them, working on my sprint at the end. I think this is the first time in a points race where I did not get lapped, which is a HUGE improvement over last year!

The group included a two very fast Cat. 2s, some other Cat. 2s, and then Cat. 3s and 4s. Not sure what the average speed was, but it was a fast race. My max speed was 29.6 mph.

Second race:

The group was a little smaller as one or two people left, but one more was added as she got there late and missed the first race. I wasn't sure how my legs would feel and we started out faster than the first race! A lot faster. About 5 or 6 laps in, I couldn't catch my breath, started to cough, and lost contact with the big group so I sat up a lap and got my breath back (track hack definitely in evidence) and by this time, the group had split into three--the two fast girls off the front, the bigger group and then the smaller group. Same as the first race. I jumped in with the smaller group for a couple of laps and then I was in the 2nd slot on Mike's wheel and coming around turn 3, I yelled at Mike that I was going to try to bridge up to the big group which was almost to the start/finish line (so 100-150 meters ahead). I stood up and sprinted like mad and caught them! Super psyched about that! I was even more happy that no one went to sprint right then so I could sit at the back and recover!  I wasn't sure of what lap it was and thought a couple of laps later that I saw a "3" on the lap counter, so I decided to try an attack so coming around turn 4 I sprinted and moved up and then got absorbed. Come to find out, the "1" doesn't work on the lap counter, so it was 13, not 3! Argh! But, I stayed with that group the rest of the race and didn't get dropped again. Super happy again! A big break through for sure and it was really great to see so many women racing at the track.  Keep coming back!!

Track Camp - Day 3

First of all, THANKS A MILLION to Mr. Harrington for letting me stay with him for 3 days. Very relaxing to chill at the house after riding and not having to drive back and forth to SF every day.

So today we had to start early (8:30) as the junior program is on Sunday afternoons. I went to Whole Foods last night to get some food for breakfast and last night's dinner and when I was coming back it started to rain and had gotten colder. I got up this morning and it was freezing!! And as I was driving to the track, Mt. Hamilton and the surrounding hills were white! That means snow at 3,000 feet!! At least the rain had stopped but it was still overcast, with patches of blue sky.

Warm up of about 20 minutes in the 81 inch gear. My legs felt tired but not too bad. By the end, we were going about 24 mph, which was a little hot for me, but I hung on the whole warm up, so I'm happy. The first drill we did was the "Russian" drill. Three people at a time, rider 1 doing a straight 200 meter sprint as the carrot (after the three together do a couple of warm up laps), rider 2 is the lead-out rider. Once the sprint commences, rider 2 sprints, but stays a couple of bike lengths off rider 1's wheel. In the turn, rider 2 pulls off so rider 3 (who is the main player in this drill) can "shoot through" off rider 2's draft and try to catch rider 1. Rider 3 sticks to rider 2's wheel until rider 2 pulls off. We did it 3 times, each person in a different position. This is a really good drill, both to gauge how close you need to be to a wheel, but also good for learning how to use the draft. Legs felt GOOD!

Next we moved on to points racing. This was good for me since we'd be riding in a pack and I'm still a little leery about that. We rode out as a group and Steven was in the lead and his instruction was to hold the speed at 18-20 mph until each sprint (15 laps, sprints every 5). After each sprint, we were supposed to re-group. I locked onto his wheel at the start and wouldn't give it up, even when Annabell came up and tried to take it. She told me later that she was doing that on purpose to see how I'd react and give me experience, so I'm glad she did. On the sprint, I got spit out the back with Teresa and Brad, but the big thing is that I was able to stay in the pack and not freak out. 

After 10 laps of the points race, it started to rain and we were whistled off the track. Time for a bite to eat and huddle up under the judge's stand until the rain passed. Within 10 minutes after the rain quit, the track dried out and we got on the track to warm up again. Once everyone got warmed up, we did another drill--half lap sprints. We divided into two groups, and each group was on one side of the track and rolled around at about 12 mph. On the whistle, the last person in each group sprinted around the track to the front of the line of the other group. That was a great drill! Some hard sprinting, but then you could spin easy when you got to the front of the line. We did this twice through for everyone. 

Since we still had some time, it was decided that we'd do another points race drill. A couple of people sat this out, but the majority did the race. Again, we were supposed to keep the speed at 18-20 mph until the bell lap. That did happen on the first 4 laps, then the bell and I got spit out the back immediately. I tried to stand up and sprint, but my legs felt like noodles and said no way. So I pull up to the rail and then dropped in when the group came around. I was on the front at the beginning, but instead of taking the speed back down, Steven and Larry kept the speed at about 25 mph and my legs were toast at this point and I kept sliding back through the pack. I got gapped and then Johnny gave me a little push to get back on Annabell's wheel and I pedaled like mad to stay there! The wind was blowing like crazy, so if you got gapped, you were pretty much screwed.  We again got to the sprint lap and I was done. No legs at all. Spin it out a bit and that was it.

A totally great 3 days. I learned some things, got to practice other things I'd learned last year, and got to feel much more comfortable in the group. Very happy that I did the camp and very highly recommend it.

Track Camp - Day 2

Man, what a fun day.

We didn't start until noon today since there was a beginner session in the morning. Everyone got on the track and we did a 20 minute warm-up. Some of the guys got a little anxious and jacked up the pace which was a little hot for me that early, so Teresa and I did our own little paceline. After the warm-up it was time to talk about sprinting. Match sprinting. My favorite event. We did a drill where two people go out and one is in front and the second one follows. Ride the blue/stayer's line (middle of the track) and then on a pre-determined number that Bilko shouted out, the person in the back jumps and tries to go around the front person. The front person is supposed to be paying attention and react to the jump and not let the other person catch them. I teamed up with Teresa and everyone did it twice, once in each position.

Next was flying 200s and Kenny timed us. We had a chance to do two of them. For the flying 200, you roll out and have about a lap and a half to get up to speed and the clock starts at the 200m line and you just go as fast as you can until the finish line.  My first one I stood up too soon and didn't have that great of a line, but my time was 1.25 seconds faster than I did in January. The second effort was technically much, much better! Stand up later, faster speed going in, sit down easy, stay relaxed through the turn---check, check, check and check. Though the wind had picked up and the time was 0.2 seconds slower, but everyone was slower on their second effort as the wind had picked up and we had a big headwind in the finishing straight.

It then started to rain and we all huddled under the judge's stand and it poured down for about 15 minutes, but then quit and the track dried out and we got back on and did another warm up and then we did the ribbon drill, or follow the leader. We divided up into three groups and you ride single file and everyone follows where the leader goes. And the leader goes all over the track--up, down, slow, fast, everything. I was second wheel right behind Steven (very fast elite guy from Portland) and that drill was really beneficial.

After that it was time for some real match sprints! I was in a 3-up group with Teresa and Brad and the first time Brad was in the front, I was second and Teresa after me. I let Brad get too far ahead and when he jumped, I couldn't close the gap. Teresa was doing her first ever match sprint and she was too far behind me and didn't catch up. The second time I was in front, then Teresa, then Brad. I led them out high on the rail, going pretty slow. I'd planned to jump coming out of turn 2-3 on the last lap, but Brad jumped and Teresa was right on him and I dropped in behind her. I started to come around her early, but thought better of it and got back in her draft, and then tried to come around her out of turn 4 and along the finishing straight and let's just say, I channeled my inner Eric Zabel and did a bike throw at the line and it was too close to call without slo-mo camera. She thinks I pipped her. I think I might have too. Both Kenny and Bilko said it was too close to call with the naked eye. But it was fun!

By then it was nearly 5:00 PM and time to go. What a totally fun day!! Have I mentioned how much I love the track?

Track Camp - Day 1

The love for the bike is back! Today was the first day of a 3-day track camp. I did Kenny's camp last August and got so much out of it so when he said he'd be coming back to do another one this spring, I said "Sign me up!"

Today was intro and pursuit riding mostly. There were 15-20 of us today, plus Kenny and Bilko, another coach from Seattle. And the video camera. All ranges of age, speed and experience.

First was a 20-25 minute group warm up, 13 mph to start, ramping slowly up to 25 mph. (Everyone riding an 81" gear.) I hung on until the last lap. Felt pretty good about that. I even bridged up when the guy in front of me lost contact and moved up track.

Next was standing starts (2 x start to turn 2; 3 x start to turn 3)  (first start in 81" gear; rest in 86" gear). Roll around while others were starting. I had some good starts, which I'm happy about since I hadn't done one since September.

Change gears to 88"

Then it was a 2 lap effort @ 2K pursuit pace, don't go out too hard so you maintain effort/pace on second lap. From a standing start. He timed us, getting lap times and I was pretty consistent. We did this twice and the second time we were supposed to "float" the pedals 3-4 pedal strokes coming along the finishing straight (with a tailwind), but not let the speed drop. I think I did OK on that.

Cool down and that was it. It was a perfect day at the track--sunny and later on it got up to about 72F. 

American Velodrome Challenge -- BE THERE!

June 26-27, 2009

Hellyer Velodrome, San Jose, CA

Elite Women $5,400 in prize money!

Concept Cyclery to Sponsor Women’s Points Race at AVC

The American Velodrome Challenge, June 26th and 27th announces that Concept Cyclery, Morgan Hill, is proudly sponsoring the Women’s Points Race enabling equal prize list as the men’s with $1000 cash to the winner.  Shelley Olds was excited, stating, "I wouldn't miss racing at my hometown track for the AVC.  It is the best track racing we have in the United States.  I will be looking to defend my points race title from last year."

Bruce Hollibaugh, Concept Cyclery’s owner said “sponsoring the AVC helps our community prosper and sponsoring the Women Points Race aligns with our many successful women customers.” Let Amy and Elliott with their Nordstrom like service help you to embrace the bike.

Concept Cyclery is located at 1295 E Dunne Ave, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

408-778-6300

2008 AVC Women's Points Race

Catching Up and A Short Race Report

It's been a mentally challenging two weeks! Busy with work, trying to train, daylight savings (which I hate as I'm a morning person), and now, sick.

Last Sunday was the Meno Park Grand Prix. Another race I'd paid for pre-crash and they were doing a lap to honor Matt and Kristy, so most of Team Roaring Mouse was there.

MPGP REPORT:

45 minute crit, women's 4 and women's 4 +35, race together, picked separately. Field size of 38 pre-reg with some day-of regs.

Our race was right after the men's P123 race and there was a crash on the last lap which took 30 minutes to clear.  Anyway, we went to the line, but then they said it was going to be a while so we rode and rode and rode around a shortened version of the course. Good to keep moving, but planning your warm up then backing it off by over 30 minutes pretty much sucked. And I'd had a really good warm-up! That's been my weakness--little to no warm up and try to race. Instead, I got in a really good warm up with some 30 mph sprints on the rollers.

The first time we lined up I was in the front row. Second line up, after the 30 minute delay, I was in the back. The course was pretty easy--one really long straight with the start/finish about 2/3rds of the way down, a right, a right, shorter long straight, a left, a quick right, an "S" to a right and back to the long straight through the s/f. Wind. 

We finally get the whistle and it starts out pretty fast. The first lap I'm at the back and OK on the straights, but definitely uneasy going through the corners. Not with my wheel, but with pretty much everyone else. That isn't really true. There were some people there whom I would definitely sit on their wheel, but more than a few whom I didn't want to be around. And then a few laps in, I lost the pack, along with a teammate and another gal.  A lap or two and we lost Katy and it was down to me and ProTech Norma, so we took turns trading pulls until 20 minutes in, Marc, the head ref, pulled us. 

After the race, I realized that I need to work on riding in a group and am heading back to the track since that's the best place to do that. And no racing for about 6 weeks in order to build my fitness back up. The races the past few weeks had all been paid for prior to my crash, so I decided to go ahead and do them to get some hard efforts in. 

Yesterday it was back to the track, heading down with Mateo and Loren. I felt great when I got up, but during the drive down, I started to not feel so good. I got out on the bike and started having stabbing pains in my stomach, so 15 minutes of riding and I was finished. I changed clothes and helped John out. There were 45 people at the beginner session. Crazy.

And then yesterday afternoon I ended up with a fever. Still have that today and it was raining this morning, so today it's back to bed and try to get over whatever it is I have. Next weekend is track camp. Really looking forward to that!

RR: Merco Road Race

Women's 3/4 field. Probably 40-50 women, about 50:50 split between the Cats. Goal for the Mouse was to win the race. We had 7 Mice in the race and it was 2 laps, 24 miles each. Two groups of big rollers and then the rest pretty flat, some wind. Women's race went last--start was about 11:40 AM. Overcast and threat of rain. It actually started sprinkling on us and then rained some, but quit. 

Didn't really get in a good enough warm up. Probably should have ridden longer than I did but I wasn't feeling very good (felt sick most of yesterday afternoon and last night). We lined up and we rolled out and I stuck with the pack through the first set of rollers but when we hit the big hill, I got off the back and the speed of the pack was fast and I couldn't get back on. So as they were riding down the road, I just started riding at a hard effort, and then it started to rain so I put on my Jens Voigt face and made it a hard training ride. A guy from So Cal whose wife was racing finally caught me on one of the long stretches and told me that he'd been chasing for quite awhile and I was moving at a pretty good clip. He and I rode side-by-side pretty much the rest of the way back.  About 1:10 is my hard limit right now, so when we got to the bumpy road with the rollers, I got a little tired, but then turning back onto the Snelling route in the last few miles, I felt better and picked it up again to the finish. Got to the finish line and told them I was out. One hard lap and only the third time riding outdoors since the crash. Pretty happy with my efforts over the weekend.

Looking forward to getting back to more normal training. I did try a little running today, but there is one spot in my hip that is still pretty painful when running. The good news is that the pain in my back that I'd had when riding the hills, is now gone.

Great weekend! A win today, and a number of top 5 finishes. Matt and Kristy would be proud.

44 to 14, and a MERCO Report

44 training hours in January.

14 training hours in February.

Week 1 post-crash: Zero training at all. 

Week 2 post-crash: 2 hours of bike, mostly very easy trainer time, no intensity. 

Week 3 post-crash: 2 hours bike, still limited intensity. 

Week 4 post-crash (this week): I've ridden a little bit every day this week, slowly upping the intensity, but still not that much and with work super busy, all the rides have been short.

So, not the best lead-up to the MERCO weekend. MERCO is race weekend in Merced, CA, sponsored by the MERCO Credit Union and it's the first big race weekend of the season. Last year both Kristy Gough and my teammate Matt Peterson won their respective crits on the Saturday and then 8 days later, both were gone. So, this weekend is kind of special to our team. I'd signed up for the Saturday crit and the Sunday road race weeks ago so I was at least going to at least start the race and see how I felt, both physically and mentally, as last weekend I still had a little nervousness about people riding close to me. What better way to test that out but in a crit with 40 women and lots of tight turns.

The race was a Cat. 3/4 race, so that meant it would probably be pretty fast. The Mice had 7 women on the start line and I lined up in the 3rd row. At the whistle, I couldn't get my right foot clipped in. Damn! So immediately, I was at the back of the pack. There was a long straightway with the start/finish about 3/4s of the way down, then a 90 degree left, another left then through a chicane, then a hard 90 degree right, then a 90 degree left, then a straightaway (about 3/4 of the other), then a 90 degree left into a head wind, then the last 90 degree left to the straightaway. So it was hammer, ease up, hammer, ease up, etc. I lasted about 5 laps (of a 25 lap race) and then the lack of training caught up with me and I got popped off the back.

From then on, it was some good time trialing practice. In the back of my mind, I wanted to quit about 10 laps in but thought neither Matt nor Kristy would have quit, so decided I'd ride hard until the head referee pulled me. I looked at him every time I came through the start/finish, but he never did pull me from the race. The highlight of the day was seeing another rider who had also gotten spit out the back up the road in front of me. I stood up and sprinted and rode as hard as I could and caught her. The only time the entire race I rode easy was in the last turn and then the finishing straight when the final sprint came around. When the motor came by, I pulled over to the side and eased up and let the field go by. The Mice were 2nd and 3rd overall and 1st and 2nd in their category!

The road race is tomorrow. It will be a training day for me.

Merced Weekend #1

Spending three of the next four weekends in the Central Valley. Woo hoo!

Snelling Road Race on Saturday. Women's Cat. 4A (50 women). Note: There were two fields of Cat. 4 women, 50 each. 100 women Cat. 4 racers. A first in the history of the race and totally fantastic. Over 900 people raced on Saturday, I think they said.

OMC (Original Merced Crit) on Sunday. Much smaller fields and some passing showers (after raining all night).

Lessons learned from the weekend:

1. Fill your registration form (hard copy or online) out correctly and fully.*

2. ALWAYS check the results and do it within the 15 minute time period so if you need to file a protest, you can.*

3. Get to know your fellow racers from all the teams. But factor in extra time if you know lots of people and everyone wants to inquire as to how you are feeling.*

4. Eight days totally off the bike and 3 weeks of very limited training leaves one with no hard miles in the legs. Not the best way to do a road race. **

5. Start position is important in a road race with a large field.**

6. Plan to get to a race early, but if there are any last minute changes or new things, get there even earlier than you think you should.**

7. Teammate's family rocks. Don is the best soigner! He even has the beer ready and open. The Chaney boys and Allie were super good kids all weekend.

8. It was fun to watch two friends WIN races!! Yea Elliott and Scottie!! And it was great to see all the Mice get great results and to cheer on all the first-time racers!

9. If you have SOs who are not racers and they come out to the middle of no where to cheer you on and take pictures, you owe them.

10. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and regroup and revise your goals.

** They threw the whole timing chip thing in at Snelling and we got there early, but definitely not early enough since the chip line was about 200 people long (they could learn some things from triathlon about registration), so that left about 5 minutes for a warm up and then rush to the line up and I had to go through the B field and teammates Katy, Izumi and I were clear at the back of the A field (plus 4 or 5 other teammates were in the field) and when the motor pulled off and the front of the field took off, we were caught out behind some people and got gapped and that was it. Plus, I had nothing in my legs and on the uphills, I could feel some pain in my back/sacrum, so I just rode it steady for the most part and dropped after the right hand turn after the finish line. I did one of three laps. I tried to hammer enough to get Izumi up to the little group in front of us, but couldn't quite do it. Plus, from the start I was still a little leery of riding in a group. There was one crash in the A group due to an inattentive rider, so I guess I was OK to be in the back. Glad I did take the start at least.

* Sunday was the crit and damn, I wish I could have done it, but I was good and didn't race (Doctor had said, "No way"). They put all the women cats together and there were about 13 or so to start (6 P,1,2s; 5 Cat. 3s, 2 Cat. 4s, I think). From the gun it broke up pretty quickly as the P,1,2s wanted to break up the pack. On the line it was noted that in the 4s, they had 3 starters, but looking at the results, the person who they had as first Cat. 4 was actually a Cat. 2. That left Lark and Rebecca as the only 4s. A protest was lodged and they changed the results. Why did they have the Cat. 2 as a 4? She didn't put a category down on her registration so they just assumed she was a 4 (huh??). We'd been wondering all race why she'd had a different number than all the other P12s.

Anyway, it was a fun weekend and my team had multiple top 10s in the races, including two 2nds. I got some riding in and now know where I am, recovery-wise. Time to get back to it.

Tour of California Stage 1 and 2

Sunny California? Not yesterday or this morning. 

Stage 1:  Went up to finishing town Santa Rosa with teammates Katy, Allie and Rebecca and met up with Emily, Carrie and Emma. Katy, Rebecca, Carrie and Emma did Gold Sprints and we got there early to watch the women's crit. It rained pretty much the entire day and was cold. We were in layers and I had a waterproof jacket on, but no waterproof gloves. I could have used more layers. 

The women's race looked miserable and probably half the field dropped. Those who finished put in a very hard day. Yea Karla for her top 5 finish against the pros!

The Mice gals did quite well in the Gold Sprints and looked FABULOUS (gold lame even). Beth won and Maurice won the men's GS. We watched the end of the race come through and then it was to Chevys for dinner and a drive home. Still raining!

Today I woke up and it was, well, raining. After some procrastination, I decided to get on the bike and ride out in the rain to the Golden Gate Bridge or the Presidio and watch the stage roll through. It was my first time on the bike outside since the crash and with the rain, I was a bit nervous, so I rode pretty cautiously. I got out to the Bridge and there were a lot of people there, so I decided to ride over to the crest of the hill they come up after they came off the Bridge. It was pouring rain, but there were quite a few people there too! I ran into Jason and Scott and once the race went by, I rode home and jumped in the shower. Still cold!

Tour of California Prologue

I drove up to Sacramento today with my teammate Noe to watch the prologue. We got rained on a few times driving up, but when we got there, no rain and patches of blue sky. Windy and cold though. We walked around to get the lay of the land and found where some of the team buses were, so we walked around and took pictures of bike. We got over to the Columbia/High Road bus and Bob Stapleton was outside of it talking to people, signing autographs and answering questions. Pretty much making himself totally available to the public. We talked to him about their bikes and checked out Cavendish and Hincapie's TT machines and he said to come back at 12:30 when the riders would be there. As Noe said, how many sports will you find the owner of a team on the street talking to the fans. 

More walking around and taking pictures of bikes. We stopped at the Saxo Bank bus to ask if my friend Inaki had made the trip (he's one of their mechanics and was at last year's ToC), but no, he was in Spain. Over to the expo and we walked around there and checked out more bikes. A stop at the Look tent, a stop at the Felt tent (no SuperDave), chatted with Ian from Specialized, then we walked over to get camera batteries and coffee. More walking around and we found the Cervelo Test Team and talked to Phil White. Next to them was Rock Racing. By this time riders were there and we saw Victor Hugo Pena and Oscar Sevilla at RR. 

Oh, there's LiquiGas! What, Basso will be back shortly? Well, we'll just wait. Basso came back and we got pictures of him. Jimmy Riccotello is in town for a couple of stages, so we met up with him and then walked over on the course to watch some of the prologue. Lots of people there, but they had a really nice course where you could stand in the middle of Capitol Mall and see them going down one side and then coming back up the other. The only places that were super crowded and hard to see anything was right at the start house and right at the finish and on the turn around. 

We decided that we'd head back over to Saxo Bank (aka SexyBank) to check out Fabian Cancellara, so we ended up having front row spots right outside their bus and had a chance to talk to Bobby Julich. It was pretty interesting and very enlightening to watch them go through a full warm up. All of the SB riders warmed up on their road bikes, except for Fabian and he was on his second TT rig. Bobby said they each do about an hour warm up with specific wattage intervals, then 15 minutes before their start time, they get off, go get into their skin suit, then back on the bike to keep the legs loose. We were right in front of JJ Haedo and he was dripping sweat by the end of the warm up. Every rider had ear phones in their ears and blocked out the crowd. On their cool down rides, they were more than happy to chat with the fans, pose for pictures and sign autographs. Especially Jens Voigt and Gustav Larsson. Larsson was explaining watts and the SRM to a lady and her young son. Voigt was talking to everyone. 

Oh yeah, this year's Hollywood cycling fan is actor Patrick Dempsey from that medical show (forget what it's called as I've never seen it). He stopped by the Saxo Bank bus.

Cancellara did his warm up and someone in the crowd said, "What's that burning rubber smell?" Bobby Julich laughed and said, "That's the smell of Cancellara power!" He was doing one-legged drills in his biggest gearing! Totally cool to watch. And his gold Oakleys were total fly. The other interesting thing was to notice how skinny the climber types are, like Andy Schleck. He was standing next to Stuey O'Grady and Stuey isn't big, compared to the normal population, but Andy S. is a beanpole, and really thin. Stuey was a lot thicker through the torso. 

Once it was getting close to the time for the top riders to ride, we walked over near the Astana bus and tent and it was a zoo! When Lance left to go to the start house, the crowd literally ran over to the start, so we had a front row view of Levi warming up, talking to my ex-favorite rider (and still #2 on my all-time list), Ekimov. We then walked over to the course and saw a bunch of riders go by and then it was over to just past the finish line. We saw the last 10 or so riders come through and a guy with UCI CHAPERONE in 12-inch letters on his coat was standing in the middle of the blocked off street, just waiting for Lance. When Lance came through, it was off to drug testing. Like they couldn't have made it more obvious as there weren't any other dudes in the UCI CHAPERONE coats standing in the middle of the course.

Once the race was over it was time for burritos and a coffee, then back to find Jimmy R. and make plans for tomorrow, then to the truck and a quick drive home. Super fun day. Thanks to Noe for going up with me. It was a total blast to talk cycling all day.

All pictures from the day are here: 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=221908&id=595830044&l=f8b66

A Little Progress

Sunday: Crash

Monday: Could barely walk around, get in/out of bed, sit. Stayed home from work.

Tuesday: Went to work for a few hours, Loren picked me up and drove me and the bike to the shop. Wiped out after that.

Wednesday: Follow-up visit to ortho and more x-rays, all negative. Started physical therapy. Left butt cheek is turning black/blue/purple.

Thursday: Got to the YMCA early, coached the swim, sat in the hot tub. Worked a full day, plus. Walked 2 miles. Got Chinese liniment.

Friday: More physical therapy. More Chinese liniment.

Saturday: Slept in. Walked 4.3 miles and swam 500 meters. Swimming feels good but the pool was crowded and I was concerned about getting kicked. I'll go to swim squad tomorrow. Might even try to ride the stationary bike. More Chinese liniment.

Today: Heading up to Napa to watch the boys race the Cherry Pie crit. Looking forward to getting out and seeing some good racing! More Chinese liniment.