Woke up early today and did the Eclipse team ride on Mt. Lemmon. A big group of around 30 riders started out from Le Buzz at 6:30. Once we hit the climb the pace picked up and after a couple miles there was only a handful of guys left. Riding strong were Scott Blanchard, Richard Bioca, and Ross Lamb. Not to toot my own horn, but I was giving the climb a good go myself. I think three weeks of training, no class, and some nice supplementation with Athlete Octane has started to pay some dividends in my fitness.
Around 4 miles into the climb, Steven from Sweden decided to turn the screw on all of us and proceeded to ride the group off his wheel. I had never seen him before and found out later that he was a former mountain biker working as an engineer for Ventana Medical. All I know is the dude is strong.
I ended up riding to Geology Vista, cruised down the hill, and ran into PT and double D at the base of the climb. Flipped it and rode back to Molino Basin with those guys, which made for a fun day on the mountain. Came home after 4+ hours on the bike and took my sweetheart for some delicious Pulled Pork from El Paso BBQ. Whoever said you can't train on BBQ? Adios.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Monday, June 08, 2009
Arizona State Road Race Recap
Even when you don't have the legs to compete for the win, the beauty of the state road race course on HWY 188 in Globe, AZ makes the ride worthwhile. It is not often that riders race 87 miles with such scenery around them. The course leaves Globe and follows an out-and-back course, heading North for 43.5 miles, much of that spent with Roosevelt Lake bordering the course. Great pavement, perfect temps, and minimal traffic (but you have to be out early, lots of boats late morning/early afternoon) make this a great ride whether you are pinning on a number or not.
As for the race, there were several animators throughout the day: Jake Rubelt, Brian Lemke, and one other rider who made the early move about five miles in and didn't come back to the field until halfway up the final climb. Definitely a suicide move, but you have to give them credit for trying. The Waste Management Team for driving the pace on the front once we hit the valley. These guys were on the front of the race for probably 2/3's of it, trying to keep the break in check for their climber, Stevie Cullinan. And finally, to Eric Salstrand, for pulling out the win for the Bicycle Haus Team out of Scottsdale, AZ.
As for my day, I was happy to make it to the valley with the group. Didn't do a thing until after the turnaround, when I tried to jump into the mix during a flurry of attacks that went down over about a five mile stretch. Nothing stuck until Nick Schrieber and Tim Carolan managed to bridge to the break over a small roller about 15 miles from the base of the main climb. I waited a little to long before trying to bridge myself, and ended up in no mans land with Sean Mazich of Waste Management. The two of us were able to open up a pretty large gap to the field, which gave us a little bit of a buffer once the climbing started. Didn't matter all that much in the end, as the front of the field swallowed us up about two miles into the climb. After that I just tried to limit my losses and made it over the climb with a rider from the Bicycle Haus team. We picked up Kyle Colavito on the way in to the finish and came in together. All things considered, I thought it was a pretty fun day. Adios.
As for the race, there were several animators throughout the day: Jake Rubelt, Brian Lemke, and one other rider who made the early move about five miles in and didn't come back to the field until halfway up the final climb. Definitely a suicide move, but you have to give them credit for trying. The Waste Management Team for driving the pace on the front once we hit the valley. These guys were on the front of the race for probably 2/3's of it, trying to keep the break in check for their climber, Stevie Cullinan. And finally, to Eric Salstrand, for pulling out the win for the Bicycle Haus Team out of Scottsdale, AZ.
As for my day, I was happy to make it to the valley with the group. Didn't do a thing until after the turnaround, when I tried to jump into the mix during a flurry of attacks that went down over about a five mile stretch. Nothing stuck until Nick Schrieber and Tim Carolan managed to bridge to the break over a small roller about 15 miles from the base of the main climb. I waited a little to long before trying to bridge myself, and ended up in no mans land with Sean Mazich of Waste Management. The two of us were able to open up a pretty large gap to the field, which gave us a little bit of a buffer once the climbing started. Didn't matter all that much in the end, as the front of the field swallowed us up about two miles into the climb. After that I just tried to limit my losses and made it over the climb with a rider from the Bicycle Haus team. We picked up Kyle Colavito on the way in to the finish and came in together. All things considered, I thought it was a pretty fun day. Adios.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Training, TRAINING, Training........Now Find Me a Job!
It has been a great week on the bike here in the desert. Temps in the morning have been in the 70's with just enough cloud cover to keep the sun away for a couple extra hours. Here is a quick synopsis of my week so far:
Tuesday: Hit the morning ride. Felt a little better then last week, and was able to pull at the front for a bit. Had some gas in the tank, just not the right amount of Octane. Not yet anyway. Frank Barnes of Summit Velo was first over Gates Pass, with Kevin Clegg coming in second. Frank seems like he is getting pretty fast these days; I'm curious how he'll do in the State Road Race on Sunday. On the way into town I ran into PT and Dan, so I flipped it and rode another three hours with them. Shortly after flipping it, I had the misfortune of watching my polar bottle eject from the cage and get run over by a truck. Bummer. Good day on the bike, though.
Wednesday: Nice ride today on the Big Square loop west of town. Brownies at the store, lots of talk of snappers, and some power sprints coming into town. Felt pretty good all day. Rode with PT, Double D, and the Black Cloud. The miles are always fun with those guys.
Thursday: Sierrita Mountain Road with PT and Double D. We picked up a Border Patrol officer named after a famous drink on the way out of town, who kept us entertained with stories of the illegals most of the way. Nice steady two finger tempo was the order of the day, followed by some delicious smoothies after the ride. I was happy because I was feeling better today then I did on Tuesday, so I'm thinking that I finally might be getting the proper amount of Octane in the mix. Thanks Snake.
Other then riding, I've been spending most of my time filling out job applications and trying to get a career started. That has been a little slow going so far, but there are starting to be a few good leads so hopefully something happens within the next month or so. I don't want to jinx myself by getting overly excited so I'll stop there. Thanks for reading this if you've gotten this far, it's been a long one. Oh, and by the way...GO WINGS!!!!! Adios.
Tuesday: Hit the morning ride. Felt a little better then last week, and was able to pull at the front for a bit. Had some gas in the tank, just not the right amount of Octane. Not yet anyway. Frank Barnes of Summit Velo was first over Gates Pass, with Kevin Clegg coming in second. Frank seems like he is getting pretty fast these days; I'm curious how he'll do in the State Road Race on Sunday. On the way into town I ran into PT and Dan, so I flipped it and rode another three hours with them. Shortly after flipping it, I had the misfortune of watching my polar bottle eject from the cage and get run over by a truck. Bummer. Good day on the bike, though.
Wednesday: Nice ride today on the Big Square loop west of town. Brownies at the store, lots of talk of snappers, and some power sprints coming into town. Felt pretty good all day. Rode with PT, Double D, and the Black Cloud. The miles are always fun with those guys.
Thursday: Sierrita Mountain Road with PT and Double D. We picked up a Border Patrol officer named after a famous drink on the way out of town, who kept us entertained with stories of the illegals most of the way. Nice steady two finger tempo was the order of the day, followed by some delicious smoothies after the ride. I was happy because I was feeling better today then I did on Tuesday, so I'm thinking that I finally might be getting the proper amount of Octane in the mix. Thanks Snake.
Other then riding, I've been spending most of my time filling out job applications and trying to get a career started. That has been a little slow going so far, but there are starting to be a few good leads so hopefully something happens within the next month or so. I don't want to jinx myself by getting overly excited so I'll stop there. Thanks for reading this if you've gotten this far, it's been a long one. Oh, and by the way...GO WINGS!!!!! Adios.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Shootout
Did my first post-graduation Shootout today. The group seemed to take a while to really get going, with the pace steady most of the way out until we went over the bridge. The tempo went up signifigantly as a small break attacked over the bridge, with a serious chase ensuing from those who didn't make the split. The pack was strung out and gaps began to form as we crested the last of the hills before the mailboxes. I was suffering, but was able to regroup and make all the splits to end up in the front group of about 30. The break had been caught somewhere in the hills, leaving those in front to fight it out for the sprint and Shootout glory. Nick Schreiber crushed everybody and won by several bike lengths over a small group of around ten. I saved my legs and just followed wheels to the top of hill, coming in around 7th or 8th and happy that I made it. Flipped it there and rode home solo on Mission Road in near perfect weather conditions. Amazing that it is still in the 80's in Tucson this late in May. Adios.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Hillsboro Day 1
Long day today. Started with a 4:30am wake up call after a restless 4.5 hours of sleep. I headed over to campus to meet up with the University of Arizona Cycling Team to drive over to the 20km time trial just outside of Las Cruces, NM. Fast forward 5 hours (including the one hour time change) in the car and we had arrived at out destination. The 50 degree temps that greeted us as we exited the car were a shock to the system after the month of 70's that Tucson has been experiencing as of late.
After about a 30 minute warm-up, I headed over to the start. Jon Scholnick was my 30 second man, so I figured that it would only be a matter of time before he caught me. The course was mostly flat, with some low grade rolling terrain and lots of wind. I started a little slow, taking my time to get into a nice rhythm. Jon caught me after about 5km which gave me some motivation to push a little harder. In the end it was a decent effort, good training, and I hope to be able to build on this ride in the weeks to come.
We finally made it to the hotel around 3:30 after a little post-TT ride. Everyone headed out for some authentic Las Cruces Mexican food followed by a impromptu pull-up contest. A couple beers back at the hotel and an early night followed. Tomorrow is the road race in Hillsboro, which is about 50 miles from the hotel, so it is going to be an early night for me and I am going to hit the pillow as soon as I finish this sentence. Adios.
After about a 30 minute warm-up, I headed over to the start. Jon Scholnick was my 30 second man, so I figured that it would only be a matter of time before he caught me. The course was mostly flat, with some low grade rolling terrain and lots of wind. I started a little slow, taking my time to get into a nice rhythm. Jon caught me after about 5km which gave me some motivation to push a little harder. In the end it was a decent effort, good training, and I hope to be able to build on this ride in the weeks to come.
We finally made it to the hotel around 3:30 after a little post-TT ride. Everyone headed out for some authentic Las Cruces Mexican food followed by a impromptu pull-up contest. A couple beers back at the hotel and an early night followed. Tomorrow is the road race in Hillsboro, which is about 50 miles from the hotel, so it is going to be an early night for me and I am going to hit the pillow as soon as I finish this sentence. Adios.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Nice First Day of Spring Break
Spent the day today doing a leisurely 20 mile bike ride around town, hit up Time Market for an Americano and a Magic Bar, spent about an hour hanging out with Linnea, then played a quick nine holes at Dell Urich. Got paired up on the tee box with a couple of junior golfers, one was 8 and the other was in 6th grade. Turns out that the 6th grader was the number one ranked golfer in Tucson for his age bracket. Needless to say, I got worked. That's ok, though, I still had fun. And I can always look back on that 300 yard bomb on the 6th hole. Now if only I could do something about those 30 footers? Adios.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Spring Break 2009
Woo Hoo, another spring break is upon us. At my ripe old age I am starting to feel a bit like Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School when the yearly tradition comes around. This year I will be celebrating by driving over to Hillsboro, NM early Saturday morning for my first collegiate race, the Hillsboro Omnium. I'll be racing Collegiate "A", which will be combined with the Pro 1,2 so it should make for some pretty fast racing. I think it is kind of funny that I raced masters last weekend and am racing collegiate this weekend. Still waiting for the day that I can race all three events together, I wonder if that has ever been done before? Adios.
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