Ridin' My 2 Wheeler

Fun While it Lasted....

2009-09-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

Last week I raced in the best field of racer in my racing career. Wow over 30 pros including Tour de France champion Floyd Landis. The race was put on in downtown Dallas around the arena where the Dallas Stars (NHL) and Mavericks (NBA) teams play. A giant jumbo tron on the outside of the arena had live video of the race sent to it via a news helicopter hovering over the race. I felt like a Texas high school football star.

Unfortunately unlike last year's race thing broke up fairly quickly due to wet pavement from the rain that only stopped just before the race started. I DNFed early along with a majority of the field. Felt fairly strong but that's racing. hey it was fun while it lasted.

There I am hanging onto one of the pros wheels early on.

I miss my friend who's initials are SRM.....

2009-06-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how dependent you can become on a piece of technology. I started riding with an SRM last summer. I have had some problems with it but the SRM guys have always taken care of it and have been completely honest when they have had problems. None of the old, "well no one else has had this problem".

Anyway, I'm without my gadget for a couple of weeks and it sure takes some of the fun out of riding. It nice to look down and see 500 watts as you crank your heart out.

It really keeps you honest during your intervals like a heart rate monitor alone can't do.

Can't wait to get it back.....

It's been a while....

2008-03-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

Thought I would see if I still had a blog and wow, it's still here. Last time the thing would not post after writing a brilliant post. Oh well, time to give it another try.

Done a lot of races since the last post. Most pretty dull reading so I didn't write about them. A lot of get'em next times.

I'll post some stuff in the future.....There you happy jmac?

MAN, that was cold....

2007-01-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

If it were any colder it would not have happend. It could not have happened, the roads would be frozen sheets of ice.

Last Saturday was the first race of the year. It was at Copperas Cove, an hour north of Austin. As we drove to the race sight the thermometer slowly crept the wrong direction. It was 37 when we started. That's F not C.

It was painfull the whole race. I never did warm up. Oh yeah did I mention it rained the entire time? The only god thing about the weather was the wind was not blowing too hard. One out of three is not to bad.

The race started out as a carbon copy of the State Road Race set on the same course a few months ago. A powerfull break gets away early and it's game over. We had two At&t BrainandSpine riders in the break. It was time to sit in and chase stuff. Finally after the break was long gone, I attacked with 35 miles to go in an 87 mile race. Well at least I'll be a bit warmer working a bit harder. Believe it or not it worked. The numbness was leaving my fingers.....a bit.

One of the problems I had was the lack of dexterity in my arms and fingers left me with no ability to fish my food out of my pocket much less open it an eat it. Eighty seven miles......no food. Oh well, I did have a big breakfast at the IHOP. But with about 10 miles left in my solo effort it was wearing off.

I made the final turn to the finish. I look up and see the sign, 7 miles to Copperas Cove. Ouch! I sneeked a peak behind me and no one was there. OK, just pedal. With 4 miles to go Erick B on my team catches me and drops me instantly. At this point I am not pedaling circles, not even squares, more like irregular triangles. With a mile to go I get caught by one more guy. Ryan Roth from Canada. He was sitting on my wheel when I discovered him. I'm not sure how long he was there. At this point hypothermia has set in. He pulls through and I can stay on his wheel. Then he motions me with his elbow to pull through. I do. I don't know why. The line is coming up and there is no sprint in my legs. I just want to finish. I do, right behing Roth.

I ride into the gym where registration is and lay down on the concrete floor. I feel like crap. The worst I have ever felt after a race. I question why I do this and an hour later I ready to register fo the next race in New Braunfels. I hope it's warm...er.

That HURTS

2006-11-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

I am borrowing some powercranks from a "friend" right now. I have to put friend in quotation marks right now because these things are nothing but torcher devices. It seems to thrash my right leg more than my left leg by a large amount.

In case you don't know what power cranks are, they are cranks that work individually of each other via clutches built into each arm. You are basically pedaling with one leg at the same time.

They find and expose any weak spot in your pedaling or strength. I have found I have a cat 1 or better left leg and a right leg that is back of the pack cat 5. These cranks not only find the weak spots but train them away.....Painfully. I have ridden almost 26,000 miles in the last 2 years and thought I had a nice pedaling technique. Well I found it needs improvement.

Hopefully these sadistic aids will get me to the Pro 1 level.....it could happen.

Skin Grows Back

2006-04-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

It finally happened. I dumped my bike in a race for the first time in over five years. Pretty good considering the nuber of mile and near-misses (near-hits?) I have had.

It happed in a downtown crit in Houston a week and a half ago. The wounds have a healed quite a bit and now pink spots remain. It was a strange crash. Bike slipped in a corner. Might have been some oil because it happed to another guy the same way in the same corner. It happen to close to the finish for a free lap. I got back on and finished 23. Fast race, 90 minutes and 27mph average. Raced at Coldspring the next day and finished. Not too bad after being in bed for three days sick the weekend before.

STREET PIZZA!!!!!

What I used to do.

2006-03-30T13:47:00.000-08:00

I have been doing some kind of racing my whole life. This video is a taste of my old sport before turning to cycling.
http://videos.streetfire.net/hottestvideos/9/535CF318-94D8-4B27-8CDA-8CCD24F05158.htm

The difference was I did it in a control evironment (a track) against other guys. Enjoy the video.

What have I gotten into?

2006-03-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

I just changed my Fayetteville Stage Race registration from the "old guy" race (masters 35+) to the pro 1,2 class. Why? Well I am joining a new team. After two and a half years with TLSR I am moving on to the Brain and Spine team out of Austin. Those guys race pro,1,2 so I will too. We lost our Michelob sponsor at TLSR. Those are a great bunch of guys. It is sad to see it break up.

Just checked the distances for this weekend's race....75miles followed by a 6 mile TT on Saturday, then 96 on Sunday morning. This is gonna hurt. Stay tuned for results.

Finishing this one will make me happy :) .

What a Diffence a Day Makes.

2006-03-13T13:55:00.000-08:00

Raced at Lago Vista (Austin) Saturday and Sunday. I had planned to stay home and train for Fayettville but the family wanted to go so I went racing.

I have gotten tired of ridding well with nothing to show for it, so Saturday I did something about it. I finally placed in the money and rode well. I think I can ride better. There is still something left on the table.

Sunday didn't work out as well. Instead of Master 35+, I rode the P1,2 race. Owch that hurt. Mostly the ego. A nasty crosswind on the uphill section took it's toll. I didn't go across the yellow line where the pack was going. I figured it was more honorable to get dropped with honor than stay in by cheating.......so I got dropped.

Time to lick the wounds and get ready for Fayettville.