Tour of Tucker County Road Race 5/29/10

The Tour of Tucker County road race is listed by Velo News as one of the top ten hardest races in the country. It definitely lived up to it's legend. Over 34 miles, the course climbs about 5,000 vertical feet, and by the end I felt completely wasted.

A teammate and I rolled into the parking lot for registration about 2 hrs prior to the start of the race. After we picked up our packets, we pre-drove the course, and got back just in time to get dressed and fill our bottles. The hill leaving the registration area was deemed UNSAFE to ride down, so we had a neutral roll-out to a starting point. On the way down the hill, it was SO STEEP, that people's wheels were heating up enough to blow out their tires!! By the time we made it to the starting line, the Cat 4/5 wheel car was completely out of spare tubes and CO2 canisters!!

The race started pretty uneventfully, and we made our way towards the hills. Ryan (teammate) and I stayed somewhere around the front 1/3 of the field. About 3 miles in, we reached the first major hill. From bottom to top, the hill was about 7.5 miles long. I thought Ryan had popped about 1/4 of the way up the hill, so I decided to maintain my pace, and lead a small chase group up the hill. A few miles up the hill, Ryan came flying past me, pulling me and the rest of my group the rest of the way up!! Once atop the first mountain, Ryan and I worked together, pulling a group of 8 about 20 miles through the race. It was frustrating at times, that nobody else was willing to come up and share the workload....but such is racing, I suppose.

Everything went well for us through the rolling section of the course, including a kick-ass downhill that lasted for a mile or so (I love carving through high-speed turns!!). We stayed strong, and led all the way to the final, 4 mile climb to the finish. On that hill, we saw a max grade of 34%, and sustained nearly 20% for almost a mile. The hill was brutal. In fact, it was obscene. At one point, I actually saw 2.7mph on my speedometer. Needless to say, I was cooked at the top. Ryan finished just in front of me (I think he waited for me...), so we took 26th and 27th place.

I was a little disappointed in my performance. I had hoped to finish a little stronger than I did. I think I'm going to take a few weeks, and train aerobically. I may be overtraining during my rides a little bit. Maybe next time, I can find a race with a few less hills!

Smoketown Airport Criterium

5/15/10 - I raced in the Smoketown Airport Criterium, in Lancaster County, PA. I entered the Cat 4/5 field, and it was the first time that I hadn't raced strictly Cat 5. We started out on a neutral lap around the runways, being paced by a nice, shiny red corvette. For the lap being "neutral", I can say that it's the closest I've ever been to being taken out by another rider. Some idiot came across 3 other riders, and basically "body checked" me in the middle of the turn. I have no idea how we managed to stay upright. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but that's why you're supposed to "hold your line" in a turn...
Once the neutral lap was finished, the racing was underway, and was fast! There was an "S" turn at the beginning of the back side of the runway, on the fast side of the loop, then we went all the way to the end of the runway into a sharp, 180 degree curve, then back up the other side to the other 180 degree turn, completing the loop. On the backside of the runway, we'd get up to about 30-35 mph, then slow for the turn. The bike that I'm currently riding (Kestrel Talon) handled the corner's better than I'd expected, so I was usually able to hold a decent amount of speed into, and coming out of the turns. Coming up the front straight away was WINDY (15mph winds), so as long as I could come out of the turn well, we'd bunch up into a tight pack and head up to the top turn. The racing was fast and fun, and as usual there were small attacks here and there, and jocky-ing for position. My only rule for myself, was to not get caught moving backwards through the field, like I felt in my last crit (at RIR), when I found myself off the back, and in the wind by myself. Everything worked well, and I feel like I conserved energy where I could. Towards the end of the race, with about 5 laps to go, the field started to split apart. I found myself strung out, somewhere behind the main group, but with about 7 other bikes around me. I took it upon myself to talk it up a bit with the other riders, and organized a chase group to reel the peloton back in. This worked extremely well, and within 3 laps, we had latched back on, passing several riders along the way and finished just behind the main group. The picture above is me leading the chase group, going out to catch the main field.
Overall, I finished 36th (out of 75) in the mixed field, but took 9th place for Cat 5. I'm very pleased with that performance. Each race this year has gone a little better each time. My next race is the Tour of Tucker County in 2 weeks, which is billed as one of the top 10 hardest races in the country. It has several sustained climbs over several miles. I'll make sure to blog about it after the race.

Oakley Customer Service Issue

Recently, I'd been shopping for new sunglasses. I've worn Oakley sunglasses almost exclusively since 1994. The optics, fit, and styles have been unrivaled, in my opinion. I've currently been rocking my Half Jackets for about 5 years, and last year I bought a new set of XLJ lenses for them (previous frames include Frogskins,
M Frames, Fives, Minutes, Twentys, and Square Wires). I've always been 100% satisfied. I've also always bought from various retail locations.

This time, while shopping around, I surfed a few different manufacturer's websites. Other brands that caught my eye were Rudy Project and Smith. My stipulations for my purchase this year were simple: I wanted full frame coverage (I'm not happy with my Half Jackets for cycling), they had to have rubber nose pieces (to prevent sliding down my face while in the drops), and they had to look good. When I went to Oakley's website, the new Straight Jackets (white chrome with red iridium lenses) immediately caught my eye. As soon as I had a chance, I stopped by, or called every sunglasses store I could think of, trying to find them. At the very least, I tried on different frames to see which ones fit my narrow face. NOBODY had the white chrome Straight Jackets. Finally, stopping by a retail store in the mall, I KNEW that the Straight Jacket frames fit me well, and decided to place an order directly through Oakley via their website.

I ordered late last Wednesday night. I payed extra shipping fees for 2nd Day Air via UPS. The order processed, and I got a confirmation email in the wee hours of Thursday morning. I used UPS' website to estimate my delivery. It showed that as long as the order shipped on Thurs., I should have my awesome, new sunglasses in my hands by the end of Saturday. Friday, I tracked my package via UPS, which showed that my package had been RESCHEDULED for a delivery date of Tuesday. DEFINITELY not the 2 day shipping that I had paid for. On Monday (today), I called Oakley customer service and explained to them my disappointment. The rep. explained to me that this was normal and, in fact, exactly what I had ordered. She explained that UPS does not deliver on Saturdays, and that even though my package shipped Friday (why didn't it ship Thursday...I ordered Wednesday?), Friday and Monday would be my transit days, and Tuesday was my delivery date. While I was on the phone, I went to UPS' website and explained to her that UPS originally showed my delivery date of Saturday, but later was updated and rescheduled to Tuesday. She still insisted it is the correct ship time.

I'm a rather non-confrontational person these days, so I didn't want to argue with her. Is it too much to expect my shipping costs to be refunded? Is this really how Oakley wants to do business? I wonder if I'd decided on the Rudy Project glasses, would their customer service say the same thing? I know the ship time doesn't seem like a monumental crisis, but I specifically paid for faster shipping, and didn't get it. I think Oakley can afford to refund my extra $9...after all, I paid $160 for the sunglasses.

Mt. Joy Road Race Recap

Today was a pretty short race. It was a little over 20 miles on a course with some nice, rolling hills. We did 4 laps, and gained about 2300 feet of climbing. With the exception of the 19% grade in the middle of the course, it really wasn't that bad. Since I've done rather poorly so far this year (38th and 31st), I figured I'd change my strategy. Previous to today, I was putting forth a pretty big effort right off the starting line, and blowing up a little over 10 miles in. Today, I figured I'd hold back a little, and try to stay comfortable in the pack, while making the other guys work for me.

When I got out of my truck this morning, it was only 42 degrees, and the wind felt every bit of 20 mph. Last week, I started writing my itinerary down on paper, so that I wouldn't forget to do things...like eat and warm up! I did this again today, and it worked well. After I warmed up on the trainer for 30 mins, I headed to the starting line, where we promptly waited around for 15 mins! Ugh! Finally, we got under way and started on the first lap. I stayed almost exactly in the center of the pack the entire first lap...and felt GREAT. Some guy jumped off the front and kept going. We only caught a glimpse of him when we began the second lap. He was gone. Lap 2 had some good accelerations and attacks, but again, I didn't want to respond with a counter-attack, I just wanted to sit in a draft (out of the wind), and conserve energy. This time, on the hills, the front half of the group accelerated, so I made sure I stayed with them (including the 19% grade!). By the end of the second lap, I was still feeling pretty good, so I moved up into the top 6, and hung out for a mile or so. The wind was pretty rough, and it seemed like the guys up front had the same idea as me, so people actually started to shuffle back into the pack, and I found myself out front. I pulled for about a half mile, then moved back into the pack myself. I didn't want to blow up in the middle of the third lap. A couple miles later, on the big hills, is when the major attacks started. I jumped with the front bunch, and stayed with them throughout the third lap, but once we started lap 4 (final lap), I could feel my legs started to pump up, so I backed off a little. The last thing I wanted to do at this point, was to get dropped so close to the end...especially since I had been so good about sticking to my strategy up to this point. There was a big attack in the hills this last time, and I didn't have the legs to go with it, so I kept my heart rate down, and picked up the next guy coming by. We worked together until the end, almost catching the lead group by the finish line. He sprinted better than I did at the end, so he finished 15th, and I finished 16th.  I'm definitely pleased with the results.

My next race is either going to be 2 or 4 weeks away. I haven't decided which. I'm going to train like a madman between now and then, though. I think I'm going to focus on intervals, as it's what I've been missing for a while.

Overall, today's plan worked. I didn't try to get out front right off the bat. I kept myself from blowing up too early, and sat back, but didn't let the front of the race get away from me. It was a pretty good end to a day that looked like the cold and wind was going to be a problem.

Morgantown Road Race (APRRS #1)

Today's race was another tough one. 4500 feet of climbing, with CRAZY winds. Immediately after the start, I jumped up front and stayed in 5th place for about 12 miles or so. This was a mistake. The entire time I was up there, my HR was around 180. Way too high. On the second climb, I couldn't keep it up anymore, and got dropped off the back of the pack, which is where I stayed. My legs were so dead, that on one of the climbs, I looked down and realized that I was going 4 mph! At least I can say that I finished the race, under my own power. I know, it's not as glorious as staying head-to-head with the competition, but after I realized that I wasn't going to finish with the group, it basically became a survival game. The wind was so strong, that I almost got blown sideways off my bike at the top of one of the mountains. I hate wind.

Next weekend's race looks a little easier. It's on a circuit, and less than half the length. I just need to learn to ride my own race, and not worry about trying to keep up with some of the other guys.

My training has changed dramatically, but is going extremely well. After getting DEMOLISHED at the first race of the season, I backed off of my training plan. It was becoming too cumbersome and a little too structured for my schedule right  now. Instead, I've decided to focus on simply riding as many miles as I can, and when I'm out, I concentrate on 2 things: FORM and POWER. I try to ride as hard as I can while maintaining my best form. If I go anaerobic while attacking a short hill, so be it. It's interval training, right?? When I'm on the flats, I work myself into a tempo and just put power to the pedals. Aside from that, I just try to go as fast as I can, for as long as I can. It seems to be working well so far.

Today, I started working a part time side job at a local bike shop: Eastern Panhandle Bicycles. They carry Specialized, Fuji, and Cannondale. They're also working on putting on a race/points series, and a team. It's a great shop, that seems to be run correctly. Should be a good time.

It's been a couple weeks since I wrote anything here. My riding has been amazing since my last race. In the past 2 weeks, I've ridden with teammates, friends, and even a Cat1 Pro. My next race is the Morgantown Road Race (APRRS #1) on 4/3. On the same day, a teammate of mine is heading South to do the Boone Roubaix in North Carolina. Hopefully we come back with some good results for the team. I know I'll be much more ready for this race than I was for the last one.

Today, we did about 40 miles in and around Washington DC, which was awesome! We FLEW down Macarthur Blvd, we kinda chilled through Georgetown (including riding past the steps where they filmed the famous scene in "The Exorcist"), then dodged some traffic in Southwest. Hopefully by next week, Hains Point will dry up a little bit, and the afternoon rides will commence. Supposedly it's a total drop-fest. Sweet.