New Track Bike

CyclingWMD offered me his nearly new Felt TK2 track bike frameset at a price I couldn't resist.

I built it up using some of the nicer parts that I have laying around and rode it for the first time in prospect park yesterday. It has 74/75 degree angles and a steeply raked 25 degree fork - all making for a very pleasant, nimble, and stable ride. A friend was doing 15 second standing start sprints, and I asked if I could join him on a few. I was amazed at how stiff and efficient the bike Felt! It also seems to fit me a little better than other bikes I've been riding in the 49-52cm size range. The Felt is marked as a 54cm and I have it set up with a 100mm stem instead of the 130-140cm length that I usually have.

Sprinting against my buddy I was able to keep both wheels planted on the ground for the entire sprint. Typically I find the front wheel bounces around beneath me in an all out sprint - maybe this has something to do with the larger frameset or the stiffness of the frame. It doesn't feel too big, just bigger than what I'm used to. And the weight is great, right around 16lbs.

I also like love the flat black paint. I've covered almost all of the decals with black electrical tape and am pleased with the result. I'll post a picture soon, in the meantime I'm going to try and ride this bike as much as possible before spring racing starts.

Here's a short video of the inaugural ride on the Felt with some buddies.

Missed the groove

In cyclocross the preride may be one of the more important things a racer can do as preparation.

Feeling a bit overconfident at Craigmeur today (10/28) I bombed down the first muddy hill at speed beyond my control.... and crashed ungloriously.

Eloy snapped a photo of me after my crash - you can see the blood streaming down my knee.

Fixed gear bicycle de-conversion, 8 gears for cyclocross!

The trend is to take remove brakes and multiple gear mechanism from a bike, install a fixed gear cog on the rear wheel, and ride the original bike "fixed." This is commonly referred to as a conversion. About two years ago I converted an old Peugeot as a fixed gear beater because it was simpler, less maintenance, easier to lock up, and I had the parts laying around. The PX10 was a very nice bike in it's day, sold as peugeot's top of the line racing bike.



This weekend I "de-converted" my 1970's peugeot "conversion" bike to a cyclocross bike. I rode the horse trails in prospect park last night and had a blast. I even fell off once and couldn't stop laughing about the absurdity of riding a road bike on horse trails going at full speed. So I picked up some serious tread cyclocross tires and will try my hand at cross racing.

Despite having spent a lot of money on a new carbon fiber road bike recently, this is now officially my favorite bike.

The Last Race of the 2007 Season

This is it, for me at least. The "Tour de Parc" criterium. I haven't been riding much in the past two weeks but at least I'll be well rested. I am entered in the master's category and I've found that some master's races, although generally faster than the category 3/4 races seem to suit my profile.

The report. 10th place.
25 miles with 1 hard turn around a security guard station. I scraped my pedal a few times on this course. I expected the pace to be faster at the beginning but it was fairly mellow. Then sometime in the first 5 laps a couple of riders started to break off the front. I waited just a little too long to bridge the gap, a Mengoni racer passed me and I thought to myself, 'this is it, go now!' but instead of bridging the full gap to what became the lead group, I bridged as far as I could and paired up with a champion systems guy. While we worked to catch them they worked to widen the gap. Eventually two others joined us and we became the group of 4 riders just behind the break. There were 8 riders in the fast moving break.

Sometime around lap 18 the remaining field got pulled off the course because we were very likely to lap them. We still hadn't caught the lead group, but two of their riders fell back into our group at around this time.

In the final lap, everyone in my group knew that we'd be sprinting for 7th and 8th place. The paceline got sloppy, everyone slowed down and the usual pre-sprint chicanery started. I tried not to pull into the wind and at the top of a small hill I was in a good position but about 500 yards from the finish. I jumped anyway and for a while I thought I might have a chance to win the race (actually, 7th place). 150 yards from the line I was caught, and wound up in 10th place.

In the end I was satisfied with my effort - I usually feel like I didn't sprint hard enough at the finish and I sprinted as long, hard, and fast as I was able to this time.

Given what I've learned about my 1 minute and 5 minutes power output I should have pushed up the pace even earlier... maybe even a mile or two before the finish.

Power Profiling Tool

No more whining, no more excuses.

Instead of writing about the club championship I am going to post my most up-to-date power numbers here because I found this profiling tool interesting.

Duration 5 sec	Watts/kg 15.53
1 min	7.34
5 min	4.58
10 min	3.98
30 min	3.58

It seems that I'm less of a sprinter than I thought I was, and more of an "all-arounder". Food for thought.

Calvert Toefield report

Arrrg. I haven't been able to get a result in these $#!@ park races. Finished in the top 15. About 6 yards from the line Tad came sprinting past me and got 8th place. Nice sprint!

I need an attitude adjustment. After racing for 50 miles in the rain and fog I am happy to finish and it shows in my sprint. I could have pushed myself harder at the end, and need to do that if I want a piece of the pie.

Maybe instead of thinking about how nice it will feel to win I should think about how shitty it feels to almost win.

Prospect Park Race 9/8/07

Today's race felt wicked fast. Average speed was 26.36. Maybe it's because the Bear Mountain race got canceled. Everyone seemed to be gunning from the start.

Initiated a move that lasted for about 1/2 lap but didn't stick, and later on chased down a move that didn't stick. Unable to find a good position for the sprint.

Here are numbers from the powertap.
Weight: 62kg, Distance: 29.77
Peak Power:
Burst: 1,105 watts
5 sec: 963 watts
30 sec: 484 watts
1 min: 376 watts
10 min: 235 watts
Max HR: 186, avg HR: 157

Ready to build up the megamo mtn bike that's sitting in the basement right now.

Green Mountain Stage Race

For me this was an incredibly fun way to spend 4 days, but it was also frustrating because of technical problems, a crash, a flat, and what a referree called a rider adjustment issue. Molly and I drove up to the Mad River Glen in Vermont. We spent our nights at Buffalo Bill's retreat with our own private outdoor jacuzzi nestled in the woods. The hot water and bubbles were a great way to relax after the hard day.

Day 1.
Uphill prologue to the top of Appalachian Gap. I used the powertap wheel for this and our 1 mile "neutral start" had me over 300 watts (almost 5watts/kilo) for the first section of the course. This pace is already above my LT, and coupled with the fact that I had 2 hours sleep the night before I did not get to the top of the hill with haste. Although 39x25 is the recommended gear, 39x27 would have been better since there are some very steep sections.



Day 2.
Yesterday's prologue was a great opener for the circuit race - I felt strong and ready for 54 miles of Vermont's rolling hills. 39x25 felt like the perfect gearing. I was riding with the first group of 7 racers when we started picking up the pace assertively. I thought we were going to form a break, when in fact we were sprinting for points. I was unaware of the sprinter's bonus until after we crossed the sprinter's line and since I felt good and thought I'd contest the points if I could. On the next lap two riders got away leaving three of us to battle for the very last sprinter's point. Of the three, I came in second, logically it was the other guy who got the point. By now I had memorized the location of the finish line. Then disaster struck on the third lap: I overlapped someone's wheel and crashed about 1km past the feed zone. I picked myself up and got back on the bike to try and catch the pack. Mavic's neutral support wagon pulled up along side me and asked if everything was all right. I looked down at my bike and noticed that my powertap head unit had come off. So I turned around and rode back down the mountain to retrieve it. Fortunately it was still intact but this ruined my chances of doing well in stage 2. I rode in with 6 others, winning our own little mini-race.

Day 3.
Mountains. I did not expect to do well in this stage, but gave it what I could. I flatted on the dirt section and had to change my own tire. I was glad that I brought a pump. Powertap data demonstrated my body was tired, 45% of the ride was spent in the heart rate recovery zone, 6% at race pace, 1% at max. The previous day recorded 26% in recovery, 7% at race pace, and 38% at max. With 39x27 gearing the best way to climb the appalachian gap was delivery boy style (zigzag) when conditions permitted. Molly had chalked a huge larger than life GO GUI sign on the road near the finish, but I was so tapped that I did not see it as I rode over it. Instead I was thinking don't peter-out (since I had seen text with "go peter" written on the road). I also heard Alan announce my name and club as I approached the the finish, giving me a little boost of extra energy.

Day 4.
Burlington criterium. The first 8 laps of this race were blisteringly fast as the top racers tried to drop anyone who couldn't maintain the intense pace. I started towards the back of the pack but was moving up quickly and feeling better. I was riding somewhere in the top third when my chain fell off. I pedaled it back on but then I couldn't shift into the big ring. I stopped in the pit area for an adjustment - grateful of my first opportunity to use the support services. A marshall in the tent told me it was a "rider adjustment error." He said I had to chase to catch up to the group instead of taking advantage of the a free lap rule. Madness! I chased but could not catch up to the lead group. I was pulled from the race with a 6 other riders and we all got 1 point.

I finished with a GC score of -19. This put me in 51st place overall. Next year I will arrive prepared.

More race reports

Connecticut Coast Criterium - 8/26 - 4th place
35 minutes plus 5 laps. A very plain course with a short hill and one turn. The uphill sprint helps keep it clean (53x19 or 17). There were 7 preems none for me. But 4th place at the finish line resulted in my first cash prize. Next Friday is the start of gmsr!

Kissena Velodrome Racing - 8/22 - 3 points.
Using a 48x15 gear ratio instead of 48x14, it was much easier to accelerate and this produced good results. Qualified for the A feature. I think it is worth trying 49x15.

Prospect Park Master's Race - 8/18 - finished with the breakaway in a category 1-4 field!
34 miles. This race started fast from the first lap. It was a little on the chilly side (about 65 degrees) and windy. In the first 3 laps there were a few random breaks off the front but poorly organized. On the fourth lap the peloton caught up to a small group and a strong counterattack was organized by Global Locate. Charlie was in the group that had just gotten caught, and I'm not sure but Eloy might have been too. In a flash I looked up the road and I could see nothing but GL and Deno's lycra getting away. One of us had to get up to the front and I didn't see Mark T up front making a move.

I chased and caught up with the group. We started making good time. More riders joined us and we grew to about 15 strong. I took several turns pulling. I didn't want anyone to think I was the sandbagger. The preem lap came right after our breakaway and two GL guys worked together to win back their entry fee. It was all I could do to be third man across the line. Another rider thanked me for it; meaning that I'd kept the group together instead of letting the GL guys get away. I was cautious with my pulls, trying to keep them short. There was some complaining about pulling through but it was not directed at me. It's remarkable that the guys tittering off the back have enough breath to complain as much as they do. At one point the wind was blowing hard across the road and three of us rode in echelon. That was fun especially when it seemed like other guys were having a hard time keeping a paceline together.

With three laps to go I wanted to quit and I didn't think I could handle the effort. I looked around and realized I might not feel as bad as the other guys (relatively). So I kept going.

With two to go I knew I'd finish - but was still dreading being dropped.

Just one lap to go, not so bad.

Final lap. A global locate guy jumps the gun and roars down the hill with about a mile to go. He put a good distance between us. Later as we're nearing the finish I'm remember that in hard races I have a good windup but no jump. I should try to wind up for the sprint instead of jumping for it. As we're nearing the finish line guys behind me jump for it. I think I'll grab a wheel somewhere... there's still room. A guy cuts very close in front and his pedal touches my front spokes with a ping... this guy had space on the other side so it was not a nice move. My desire to stay upright overcomes my desire to jump for a wheel. 5,6,8 guys pass me. Maybe more. They all get away. I pass a few guys who provided leadouts. Finally I hobble across the line on my own, somewhere around 12th place.

We stayed away for a total of 6 laps, and rode fine but I didn't race well enough to place.

When the results were announced I realized some of the winners did not participate actively in our pace lines. (ie., 6th-10th place) There's one guy I didn't even see riding with us. Poo poo on them for hiding! I guess sandbagging is a small offense when there's a large split compared to when it's a five man breakaway.

two new race reports

Raced Saturday morning (6:30am start!) in prospect park. Somehow I got boxed in at the sprint for the line. I was on the inside and kept trying to go around a ML guy for what seemed like minutes... then we were at the line.
Today was the last FBF race of the year. It's looking better for next year's races, or so Charlie writes in his email.
I tried to race well, not giving anything to the other teams and always working with and countering my team-mates attacks. There was a split at the end, and although we caught the main group, 3-4 guys still managed to get away but just barely. Coming up to the finish line, I noticed I was towing 3 guys behind me. I pulled off a little... but unfortunately none of them had any steam. So we lost momentum and I finished with the pack. It might have been better to keep pulling even if I was burning steam - I think I just need more confidence (or a bigger engine).

Another FBF race... maybe the last?

I mostly sat in today, only made one or two efforts. Johanne said he'd give me a good lead out and thought I could place in the top 5. He's a really nice guy. Unfortunately I took 7th. Still, it was a really fun race and I felt comfortable in my tactics... a first for me in road racing. Maybe need to work on max power and the jump for the sprint - although I did pass 2-3 guys in the final 50 yards.

Charlie announced that the parks department might install barricades to block cars from entering floyd bennett field. Although that doesn't sound like a big problem for a bike race it is. Unfortunately every sanctioned bike race needs a pace vehicle.

Mucha Carrera!

Entered and finished three races this weekend. Prospect park on Saturday morning. Didn't push too hard - finished top 15. The HED Jet60 wheel Mike gave me makes a difference. Less effort. It's a wind cheater!
On Sunday I drove out to Doylestown for the Zaveta circuit race. I was registered for two races back-to-back. This is a technical course... mostly due to a big field and the yellow line rule. There was a break that stayed away for 4 laps after the first preem, but nothing stuck so we all finished together. I did not use the HED wheel.
The first circuit race was with the 4/5 field first. I got boxed in for the sprintinished in 12th place. Immediately after that I raced with the 3/4 field (28 miles) and didn't have legs for the sprint. Finished with the pack. Having run out of water during the second race, Gary gave me a sip of his.
Oh, and I had a spill on the brooklyn bridge on Thursday last week with scrapes on my arms and right leg but it's no big deal.

SummerSlam07

6/29/07 - Did the river road hillclimb on Sunday, from the boat basin to the sheriff station. I timed myself even though I was carrying a lot of stuff. My time was 6m, 15s to the brown road sign, and about 6m 45s to the entrance of the parking lot.

6/30/07 - Four hill repeats in central park for lunch. Then out to prospect park on Monday night for summerslam07. It was fun and much more interesting than a typical road or track event. I wasn't planning on riding hard or fast, but then the urge to compete took over and I finished 5th in the first heat, 6th in the final. The blue schwinn rides great! (might need a slightly longer stem).

7/1/07 - Racing in floyd bennet field. Apparently we were in the 'break of the day' but then we got caught in the last lap. I don't remember who was in it... andrew riss, an iron riders guy on a yellow kestrel, and a tall guy on purple lemond. There was very little wind and we didn't work together long enough. A few started attacking each other too soon, imo. Finished somewhere 14 or 15th.

Next time I need to be more aware of who is in the break, and if the break fails I should try to position myself for the sprint and contest it. Need to keep an sharp eye out for the strongest finishers. Looking at the photos of the 123 sprint, the winner was the first with a strong jumpe from the outside, but he cut across the field, and took sprint on the inside. This is a smart move - since any rider who tried to pass on the outside would effectively shelter him from the wind. Also starting on the outside and cutting in might bring some of the slower riders across the field too, blocking the other sprinters who were already on the inside.

Raced union vale on Sunday. Fun 44 mile road race. Finished in the middle, rider 51/100.

Clicking in my ankle prevented me from really mashing the pedals, especially on the third lap by the feedzone... when the pace really picked up I slipped through the pack then popped off the back.

The finishing climb is about 700 feet of rise over 1.5 miles, the only way up is at your own tempo. Maybe next year?

floyd bennet

Yet another race... where I finished (not) first (and not last).
Had energy to spare at the end.
Tilting the saddle up definitely helped eliminate the hand numbness, and that's a good thing!

Saturday morning prospect park race

The "Brooklyn Grand Prix" race on Bastille Day was a logistical mess.

On my first seemingly successful breakaway (and certainly not my first nor last unsuccessful breakaway) we caught up to the pace car, started to pass the pace car, realized our error and slowed down to let the pace car get ahead of us, and then got caught by the field while riding slowly behind the pace car hoping (and yelling to the driver) to speed up.

One of my teammates took 3rd place but was dq'd. Apparently everyone in the field (except for 9 riders) were dq'd. Not worth the entry fee.

Rode easy Sunday for 30 minutes. Rode a little harder on Monday for 2 hours and felt pretty good (fast). I decided I'm getting a powertap in about two weeks.

Made a couple of minor saddle adjustments. Slide back 4mm, nose up a bit. (since my hands went completely numb during the grand prix race.)

Finished around 12th-14th.

Floyd report

After racing Saturday then riding 80 miles hard on Sunday I didn't have much to give at the race on Tuesday night. The turkey sandwich I ate on the way to the race also made me feel gross and sluggish. I attacked a few times, rested a few, and finished mid-pack. The pace felt fast but the average speed was actually slower than usual. Wednesday was a nice recovery ride.


bridging a gap on Tuesday night.

Master's day race

One of the most enjoyable races I've been in, a very interesting race. We caught the handicap group with 4 laps to go.

89 starters
Finish: top 15-20
Lesson: When there's chicanery at the finish line, sprint around it! In second place and glued to a well-known sprinter's wheel 400 yards from the finish, when he slowed down I did too.

Floyd Bennett Field Report

The legs felt like jello yesterday but still raced ok. It was my first top 10 finish at floyd bennett field - riding with category 3&4 guys.

It might have something to do with the new red veloflex tires that I'm riding on.

I pulled a few times in breakaway attempts but nothing stuck. For the sprint I wound it up in a nice heavy gear but didn't get fast enough and didn't have a leadout.

56 starters
finish: 8th or 9th place (top 5 scored)
top speed: 34mph (wind on my back)
sprint speed: 28mph

Rocky Hill Cycling Classic

Entered the masters category with some 800lb gorillas today.

Only finished 30/42 miles.

I faded off the back on the last part of the georgetown wall. Looking over the garmin data, it seems to me that I shifted into too low a gear and was spinning too much (when I got dropped).

Although I thought I was saving energy by going aerobic, sometimes the fire needs to be stoked and the legs will feel the burn (instead of the heart).

Top speed: 48mph down the other side of the wall.

Numb3rs

Can you tell the difference between these two numbers: 74714853002 and 120135369424?

Hint, the answer is not -45420516422. The second number is actually bigger than the first number.

The right answer is that first number is an integer datatype, but the second number is a big integer datatype. Try to cast or assign the second number as an integer and bad things will happen.

This was confounding the invoicing feature in the software program that I wrote for a long time.

Finally, only after a user took the time to explain the steps to reproduce the error was I was able to fix it. Heaps of praise for active users!

It's very different building a real world app than it is building a prototype or an even an intra/extranet app.

Ice Cream

Ice cream is good. And good for you too, especially if you're burning a lot of calories every day.

Today Molly and I hit Il Laboratorio del Gelato for the best.

Molly: small } Mexican Cinnamon & Dark Chocoloate
Me: medium } Espresso, Thai Chili Chocolate, Lavender Honey

Ice cream is always satisfying. If it was always this rich, I think I would eat less of it.

Thursday evening, racing and then soaking rain

I'll just link to my team's site for this one.

We got completely soaked on the 30 mile ride home, but by the time we reached the George Washington Bridge the rain had let up. With frequent flashes of lightening across the sky and ominous looking storm clouds, Manhattan was at her most beautiful, blushing pink and looking very Gotham City.

Finished 7th.

Sweating it out at floyd bennett field

Eric M. and I were the only Kissenas at Floyd in the 3/4 today. I'm presuming Eric had a technical issue, I didn't see him after.

It was a frustrating race. The now familiar tactic of not bridging to a team mates break seemed to come in spades - three teams had a guy in the 4 man break. I think at least one of each BVF, Deno's WW, and Merril Lynch.

Funny thing. Without Charlie I. yelling at me to know that the break is happening, I didn't even realize there was a break until someone shouted from the sideline about a two minute gap. Quite a few riders were surprised by this information. I thought I was keeping an eye on a specific rider's wheel but it turns out that the rider I thought I was looking at has a body double who rides the same brand of bike for the same team.

Each time someone would attack they'd blow up after 30 seconds. One team (slope sports) seemed particularly good at sprinting to the front... then bringing the pace down to a crawl.

All in all a very sweaty and humid race with lots of hard efforts that went nowhere. My bottle cage snapped mid race then almost fell into my rear wheel. I picked it out carefully while still on the bike then threw it into the end-zone.

Finished somewhere around 13-15th.

Harlem Skyscraper Race

Took 6th place in this crit today.

I wanted to impress my dad who came up to watch the race so I went for the first preem. I almost had it, and a DC guy sucked my wheel to the line then took it by 1/2 a wheel or less.

I learned that to be competitive in a sprint I need to roll it out in a gear that is h-e-a-v-y, maybe starting as low as 75 or 80rpm. When I do get passed I feel like I'm spun out. The times when I have been able to hold guys off and win are when I feel that I can still spin a little faster.

And I got photographed... More pics online at velocitynation.

Long flat burn

I raced the rockleigh criterium last night.

The back side of the course feels like racing in a friend's driveway - full of potholes, debris, and random garden objects. I put in several attacks but in the end was passed by guys with a much faster and more powerful sprint than me.

Here's a link to all of the courses and races mapped with my Garmin 305 GPS unit. On the map, criteriums show up as many many red lines over the same route over and over.

Sunday morning race at prospect park

Category 4 - 31 miles - 82 starters.

It's not easy racing at 6:30am. Especially when bedtime is never earlier than 1am and usually closer to 2am. It means leaving the house at 5:45am in order to get to the race in time.
Today's race was fun and fast but my head really wasn't in it. I had no problem staying at the front. At the end, I poured on the power a little too soon, and ended at an imaginary finish line -- 100 yards ahead of the real finish line. Once I realized my mistake I decided to coast into the finish. A good workout, nothing more.
The difference between finishing mid-pack and finishing "in the money" appears to be mostly MENTAL. One must be prepared to win.

Two third place races at the velodrome!

I skipped Floyd Bennet field on Tuesday night because of work and having spent all weekend building an ikea kitchen extension.

On Wednesday I raced at Kissena and finished 3rd in the Men's B for both races.

Point a Lap description: Points for first place every lap, then extra points for the top 2 finishers in the final lap. 8 laps total.

I tried to take points in the 3rd lap but may have missed by 1/2 a wheel. In the final lap I was behind someone from DC Racing when his team-mate took off. Then I thought I heard him shout, "Go! Go! Go! I've got you I'm blocking!" Since I was behind him this had the opposite effect he wished for, serving as my motivation and cue to go around the guy who thought he was blocking.

9 lap Scratch race description: rolling start scratch race.

For the next race, the DC guys seemed to use the same tactic as before albeit less obviously. It may have worked for them as I got third and may have been able to take second with a little teamwork. Alas no team mates in my category.

"A" feature description: 15 laps scratch race.

I was invited to race in the men's A feature race for the first time. It was fun. There seems to be a bit more strategy and risk here than in the B races. I remember being envious of the B racers who got to ride in the A feature last year, now I am in that position. Neat!

Somehow two third place finishes in two races put me in 4th place for the night, because a single first place finish is worth more than double the points as 3rd place.

More race reports...

Since I'm a category 4 road racer now, I don't need to keep track of my races. The only way to upgrade from category 4 to category 3 is by winning races and getting points. Not so easy.

Anyway I thought I'd post these reports for posterity. I raced the Bear Mtn. road race on 5/13. The first climb is a 10-15 minute hill. My result was 31 minutes behind the winner, 65th of 95 starters. I finished but got dropped from the lead group towards the end of the first climb. Ughh.

Before that gloriously miserable experience, I did two races at Floyd Bennett Field. In my first race at FBF as cat4, I pushed myself too hard and got a cramp on the 7th lap. In the next race I landed a flat tire immediately after the start. So I was getting my ass kicked for 3 weeks in a row. Ouch!

So I decided to edit my goals. For the Floyd Bennett Field races my original goal was to place in the top 10. My new goal is to finish the race. A week ago I raced with this goal in mind, and satisfactorily achieved success! It wasn't easy, but I got there. Last night I decided to keep the same goal, and I finished strongly, a little better than the week before.

It is a lot of fun racing. More fun than just about anything else worth doing. I'm learning just how deep I can reach inside, hunker down and ride fast even when it hurts. Although I don't know if I'll have a chance of winning a race in this category, I can see the opportunity coming closer.

Weekly midweek race report

I raced all weekend (two days) at Kissena velodrome's "opening weekend". Placed 4th overall in my category. Niki took third, I was happy to see him get a medal especially since his parents were there to support him on Sunday! Overall it was a fun time: the chariot race and the match sprint were my favorite events. Simple, short, and incredibly focused.

Andrew L. took photos on Sunday and posted them on his web site. I am the one wearing the blue/white helmet and Kissena jersey.





On Tuesday I raced again at Floyd Bennett Field. It was a combined 3/4 race. Mike Berk kept the pace high from the beginning by pulling the entire first lap. Sometime around the second or third lap, Mike and two others managed a breakaway. They were brought back, then got away again. The pace was very fast, hitting between 32/33mph on the flat. I did a lot of pulling to bring them back the first time, then after they got away the second time I got a leg cramp. It was in the 7th lap and I had to retire. This might be a fit issue or a sodium issue, since it did not feel like maximum exertion.

Battenkill Roubaix

Battenkill, the purported 'enfer du nord'. From the beginning it was a very well organized start, in a small town overtaken by cyclists.

I rode the first 3 miles of the race at a high cadence to warm up. The country roads were hardpack clay with a light coating of mushy stuff on top, like a chocolate bar starting to melt. The middle of the road had lots of potholes at the beginning and it was harrowing to see 150lb guys bouncing high on their stiff aluminum bikes. Nobody went down. This was my first master's race (age 30+, cat1-4) and I noticed that most of the riders had good bike handling skills.

At the first steep climb 25 or so of the riders passed me on the way up, much my surprise and chagrin I dropped back from a comfortable position in the top 1/3 to the bottom 1/2. This little introduction made me realize what was in store for me had nothing to do with the great hill repeats I've done in central park. 'Where did these guys find so much power?' I thought to myself. As I'm usually relatively strong in the hills, I rationalized that the legs needed more warm up time. As it turns out that was just an excuse. The hills were brutal and I was dropped on the second or third steep climb. A guy named Craig and me rode together for a while. I think I was pulling. After a while, the leaders of the Cat3 race caught up to us. We rode with them for many miles - always hanging off the back on paved roads and clay. Then I was dropped again in on a very steep hill. I didn't even bother trying to catch up. This was about 1/2 way through the race (about 30/57 miles) when my front quads were starting to cramp up. At one point I pushed the bike up the remainder of a hill. I'm not sure what happened to Craig... I finished the race mostly on my own, a sort of extended time trial.

It was also my first racing wearing the Kissena club jersey. A few racers seemed happy to see it and shouted out comeon Kissena!

Personal health notes. Drank two full bottles of accelerade, then stopped to fill up a third bottle with water and drank it all. Ate a bag of raisins and a cliff bar when I started to feel weak at around the 40 mile mark. Need one full bottle of fluid every 20 miles to be safe. Leg cramps arrived with plenty of warning.

My first category 3/4 race

Sunday 3/25 was my birthday and my first race of the season. It was my first race as a newly minted category 4 rider and more than twice as long as any of my previous races. 34 miles of racing (instead of a measly 14 miles). The racing didn't even start until the 4th lap.

It was a lot of fun since my only goal for the race was to gauge my abilities and not get dropped. I sat in the front 1/2 most of the race.

I put in a strong effort at together with 5-10 strong men up grand-army hill (in lap 6?) and the pack strung out quite a bit - but when I blew up I got gobbled by the pack. I think we were going over 20mph up the hill.

I recovered mid-pack, and felt fine by the time we approached 15th street. It was very windy there and the smart thing to do was ride on the right-hand-side and to avoid the strong cross wind.

It was easy to spot the winning break... 4 strong riders who sat in and never attacked until they were ready to go all in. By the time they passed the guys riding on the front they must have been going quite a bit faster, and the element of surprise combined with speed made it impossible for anybody riding on the front to catch them.

I ran out of liquids and started to feel a little crampy. Next time I should make sure to hydrate the night before. Also my hands got numb. Not a bad start... Battenkill is in two weeks.

Shimano ready to launch coasting

There's an article in the 4/07 edition of Bicycling about a new breed of bikes.

The program is called "Coasting." It is backed by Shimano and will only available on bikes sold by Giant, Raleigh, and Trek this year. It is supposed to be revolutionary.

What struck a chord with me a quip from Sheldon Brown describing the program as "a wrong-headed exercise in form over function."

The more I learn about these bikes the more the purist in me agrees.

But... there's nothing wrong with form over function if the bikes enable non-cyclists to ride their bikes and feel comfortable and good about it. They sound like cool bikes with automatic power sensitive internal freehub.

Here's a photo of a cosmetic gizmo that looks like a chain-guard, but somehow isn't.

photo courtesy of bikeportland.org

Being Green means indoor bike parking

I just found out that the Hearst building has indoor bike parking. That's a sweet benefit! It's also apparently one of the requirements for getting certified as a green building.