Finally got to try this road racing thing..

In my relatively short competitive biking career I've done a few different disciplines like MTB, Road, Triathlon, and today was the first time I've attempted a real road race. I've done a couple of informal events that felt like races but this was the real deal.

I got a decent warm up of about 35-40 minutes of random spinning around the grounds with a few jumps in there to see how the heart rate would respond. It seemed ok but I could definitely feel the heavy weekend that I just put in in the legs. But for what ever it's worth I figured I'd set my goal as don't crash and finish with the pack.

We lined up and my teammate Ian and I got on the front line. There were some cameras there so maybe we'll be in some swanky pics-wohoo! Looking back there were probably around 40 people total. It seemed to be a nice sized field. What do I know I'm a noob at this. Anyway it started off nicely paced and someone immediately jumped off the front. It started to get organized and I just found a wheel to sit on. I worked back and forth with cycling front to back and just seeing how the whole dynamic works. I was amazed at how quickly you could go from the front of the pack to the middle and back. It was interesting just to see what kind of gaps you could jump into and being able to see people that were fading to avoid. The comfort factor was a bit of a battle since it did get really tight and jerky at times. Honestly I think that was the biggest thing to wrap my head around. Since I got hit by the car in December, lets just say I've been a little more anxious about proximity and impending doom. But I think I faired ok. It was more annoying to see the people that would brake into the turns and mess up the flow. It always felt like the pack was slowing and speeding up.

Towards the final few laps I finally got the feel of when I can put power down and when to relax and when to pedal a little softer. Unfortunately that's when the pace picked up and I just got stuck in a bad spot. I was playing around in the front 15 or so for most of the race and kinda got boxed in and couldn't get around as guys were freight training to the front. So the last turn came up the hill and I got out of the saddle and tried to get out which I did but was a little late. I heard the voice of God say get on my wheel, but alas it was my teammate Weber flying by and I did my best to stick to his wheel. He started pulling away towards the line but as we rolled I saw the guys that went too early fading fast as Weber and I reeled em in and past them to cross the line.

I'm not too sure how I faired but I'm guessing somewhere in the middle of the pack? It was interesting to do my first road race and see how being smarter would have resulted in a much better finish. The biggest battle is going to be just getting comfortable sitting amongst so many wheels. I think I was pretty solid but there's always room for improvement. All in all I guess I met my goal. I finished with the pack and no bad luck. I'll be back for more. Probably next week as the series is each week til July. It was good to be on a bike on such a gorgeous day!

Holy Elevation Batman!!!

Well I had an opportunity this weekend to get away for 3 days. With the warmer temps my girl and I decided to head down to the Shenandoah National Park to get some travelin in.

We arrived Friday night to nothing but closed campgrounds so the seats of the neon turned into some comfy(insert sarcasm here) beds. So Saturday morning after being directed to another closed campground we found a sweet primitive spot down by a river. The only bad part was that it was 3 miles of gravel to the nearest spot of pavement. We set up and took a nap and I got the first of my rides in.

2:22, 37 miles, 4703 ft of vert, the one main climb was 3 miles and 1100 ft of vert on a very constant grade which was sweet.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7764819

Back to the camp to chill and cook dinner and relax and enjoy the downtime. After all the problem we had finding a campsite I sometimes wonder if it's worth the camping issues. We were having dinner and looked up to see a bald eagle chilling in a tree across the river(looking for dinner as well) I was reminded how it really was worth it.

The next moring I woke up and decided to head up to Skyline Drive. For those who aren't familiar it is a sweet road in the top of the Shenandoah mountain range with spectacular views and some nice undulating hills. I headed out from camp and had to do the fun gravel road and head up, ALL UPHILL, to Skyline drive.


5:32, 82 miles, 9331 ft of vert, the one main climb was 8 miles and 2500 ft of vert on a pretty consistant grade.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7764818

Needless to say after that ride I was pretty shot but we still managed to wander around and check out the local town and some local caverns. We slept in this morning and took a nice leisurely ride home. All in all a great weekend and did I mention that it was mid 70's all weekend. After I washed all the dirt off I actually got a tan line from my bibs...SWEET!!!

Staying Healthy is the Key

Now how exactly do I do that? I was finally considering myself 100% recovered from my incident with the car when I started to come down with a cold...wonderful. It was nothing big so I kept on my workouts and afterwards felt more aweful than the day before. So then I just relaxed, rested and focused on getting better. After about 5 days of guessing at what was wrong I finally went to the doc. He diagnosed me with an upper respiratory infection. Then he prescribed me an antibiotic that didn't work. This resulted in 2 days off from work where I couldn't even stay awake I was so miserable. So a return visit was scheduled and finally some relief. He prescribed a stronger antibiotic and some relief was finally coming. This time it was more obvious that I had a sinus infection. It was so painful that my teeth and jaw were hurting so much I couldn't eat. If nothing else it was a great way to get back to race weight...lol.

It's now been 2 and a half weeks since the initial onset and I'm finally getting back to myself and back on the bike. Since the onset I was on the bike twice and lifted once. Today it was great to return to the bike as I got out and put 4.5 hours in. The legs started to fade about hour 3 but it was nice knowing I was out there and working out again. The best part is that I still feel well now. If I still had that sinus infection I would feel like death right now. So hopefully this is the end of my setbacks for the preseason. Hopefully since this infection seems to be fading I'll be back to my regular workouts and having fun on the bike once again. I know it's still early but I'm really looking forward to the season ahead and as long as my health stays good there will be many PR's to look forward to this season.

Looking ahead

Well I'm in my 9th week of training and all seems to be going well. Things have gotten much better since the accident and if nothing else - it has given me even more motivation and determination to make this season count. I've been more dilligent and disciplined than ever before. It's hard and challenging but when I do things it's 100%. So far my workouts and diet change have made me lost 12 lbs and I'm very close to last season's race weight in January. That's a very promising sign.

My main concern at this point is to stay healthy during the preseason. Each of the past two years I have gone about training my own way and it has resulted in two separate knee injuries. That is NOT the way I want this season to go. So with that said I'm being very cautious and stretching to prevent any injuries. I went in to the Cohutta 100 last year with a cortisone shot two days prior to the race just to take down the inflammation because the pain was so uncomfortable. That put a major damper on training in the weeks before and I basically did that race "off the couch". With that said it was my fastest 100 miler of 2008. I want to destroy that PR this time around. With 87 days left I'm making those days count and going in very prepared.

As exciting as the Cohutta race is coming up I'm more stoked for the Mohican 100 and the Wilderness 101. I'm already registered for the Mohican and I will be at the 101. These are my two priority races for the 2009 season. I'm attempting to set my training peaks for these races and let the fun begin. At this point I just really want to ride on the dirt! The roads are nice for miles and training but I want the fun to begin again. I lie awake dreaming of singtrack decents and slamming through rock gardens. Soon enough it'll be here and I will be prepared. Is it bad to be this psyched so early?

80% is a good number...

It's now two weeks since my incident where I smashed into a car and surprisingly I feel pretty good. I'd say I'm about 80% and getting better day by day. As far as the injuries I basically had a lot of bruising, road rash, and soreness. The bruising is almost gone while the rash continues to shrink. My back was really sore a few days after and my chiropractor is helping that to get under control. Overall I'm really just surprised at my ability to recover.

I've already been back on the bike a few times and my range of motion is almost back to normal. I can still get power down seated, standing, you name it. This was a huge concern for me knowing my addiction and I've been very happy with the successful rides that I've done. I'm getting to the point of resuming all normal activities including running and skiing. With the winter break coming up I really want to hit the slopes and the knees are feelign good enough to make me contemplate a trip to Hunter this Wednesday. We'll see but good reports so far.

On the down side of things I have contacted the insurance company for the guy that was responsible for the accident. Of course they are avoiding me like the plague and hopefully more progress will be made this week. I'm staying positive that i will have a new road bike by early 2009. We'll see about that...

I've had bad days but come on...

This morning I had a nice 2 hour easy spin planned for my training. It's now day 6 of training and I'm trying to get accustomed to the different routines and working with the heartrate monitor. I wanted some company on this ride so I invited my roommate Andy along and he was happy to get out so it was all looking good. I took a tour through Morristown, Mendham, Jockey Hollow, Morristown again and back to Parsippany and I never made it back on the bike...

As we were coming down a slight decline, Andy and I were single file and cruising along at about 20-25mph when we approached the intersection of a local shopping center. It's usually busy so I'm always cautious around this area. So we are just cruising along and I see a car up ahead looking to pull out. I notice him and come closer looking for eye contact to make sure he sees us. No problem. I make eye contact and am positive he is staying where he is. I keep on coming and as I'm about 10 feet from his nose he pulls out into the intersection. This is where my day gets bad...

I proceed to grab my brakes which was only about 1 second before the impending impact. So I instead focus my effort on getting my body higher to make the impact easier. I guess it worked. I remember unclipping - flipping over with my head on the hood - closing my eyes preparing for impact - and then the impact occurred when I landed on the pavement on the other side of the car. As soon as I landed I look back to see my roommate screaming ....SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!! as he also hits the car(he was 10 feet behind me and couldn't avoid it either). I remember seeing him hit - his body tumbling forward over the hood - ATTACHED TO HIS BIKE. He didn't unclip but he then did in mid air as he was flying over the hood and launched his bike another 20 feet further than his body as his Cervelo whizzed through the air over my crumpled body lying on the ground. So there we were lying on the ground writhing in pain with carnage every where.

The first thing I assessed was my knees. They were both numb and they felt like both knees or legs were shattered. I started moving them around and still numb I could feel that they weren't broken but not in good shape. All I saw was two large tears on each knee through my PI Amfib tights and my knickers. Blood was close by underneath... I seemed to be doing ok so I turned to my buddy to see if he was ok. He was in a lot of pain and complaining that his ankle was hurt. I kept asking him over and over and we both agreed we were kinda ok just banged up.

Since the intersection was pretty busy there were PLENTY of witnesses. One lady ran over in tears since she - in her own words - "thought we were dead." They were amazing giving us support and warm blankets and jackets as we were freezing sitting on the nearby guardrail waiting for police and ambulances to come. The help was a little sluggish and unorganized but we got our ride to the hospital and the care we needed.
The results were overall very good. Andy was released with only cuts and bruises after examination and x-rays. I was also released with only cuts and bruises but a few more than Andy. My left knee is completely swollen with a large abrasion and a few below on my shin. My right knee has a few abrasions on it as well as my right shin is beat up and my right ankle is a little sore. Not too bad for two schmoes hitting a car at 25 and both flying over the hood. I REALLY want to see video of that...not that it exists.

The aftermath...

We went to the local PD that covered our accident and had to go pickup our bikes and answer a few more questions for the officer in charge. He wanted to know what the aftermath of the injuries were and we informed him that we were very lucky - he agreed. He gave us the update on the driver as well. The guy was an 84 year old man that said he saw us and then proceeded to pull out anyway. He said that he thought he had the right of way and couldn't believe that we hit him...WTF??? Are you kidding me? The driver was issued a summons for careless driving and will have to retake his driving test to get his license back. The officer also took notice of the driver's car and he said the front end looked like it got hit by a car. There was so much damage he couldn't believe that it was hit by 2 bikes.
The casualties of the day were my Lemond Versailles and Andy's Cervelo Soloist. Mine definitely took the brunt of the force. My front fork was sheared off, my front wheel taco'd, and my back wheel demolished as a few spokes were torn from the spoke bed. The spine of my frame is carbon fiber so I won't trust that as it was probably compromised in the accident as well. My pants and knickers are also gone as the knees were totally ripped open and the medics sliced them any way to treat my wounds. Andy's front fork was ripped from the steerer tube and his front wheel was demolished as well. He also had a carbon seatpost that was torn off the bike with his seat getting mangled as well. This is only upon initial inspection as I'm sure we'll find more as we're starring at the carnage.
All in all what a day. Day 6 of my 2009 training. Both ok, safe, battered, and bruised. I'm hoping I'm getting the bad luck over with early...

Another Bright Idea...

Well I got the inspiration a few weeks ago to try and spice up the holidays...errr my fixie. I've wanted to put some lights on my bike and I wasn't sure how to do it. Not for me to see, for others to see. I wanted to put christmas lights on the bike and draw a little attention. Boy does it work!!!

I ordered 4 strands of battery operated lights. One strand of white for each wheel and two strands of blue lights for the frame. They look awesome. I mounted the battery pack for the wheels next to the hub and strung the lights next to the spoke nipples oriented up so they wouldn't interfere with the brakes or frame.

I took it for a test ride around my neighborhood just to see what kind of reaction they would get. I had tons of smiles, thumbs ups, and cars slowing to see the spectacle that is me. It was great - well except for the person that decided to drive by and whip a bottle of water(?) or something at me (hitting me in the arse) and then proceeding to speed off. They are lucky I was on the fixie or they may have a broken window... Outside of that it was great to see the reaction of people and it was well worth the time and effort to string em up. Towards the end of the ride I went past some stores and I see the people in the pizzeria all starring and pointing...it was priceless...