Dan, Steve, Matt and I went out to the Palmer Road Race in Massachusetts yesterday. Leaving at 5:00 in the morning was required since its a long drive and my race started at 8:30am. This along seemed like a questionable idea, but Dan offered to drive us all in his Explorer so all I had to do was be awake when he got to my house and manage to get my bike on the car then go back to sleep.
The course is a 20 mile rolling loop. Cat 4s did 3 laps. Due to the various ages/categories present among the CBRC ranks, it was just me and Phil Burnett in the Cat Four field.
A break went early with representation from 3 of the 4 big teams in the race. The Boston Road Club had a guy in the break and about 15 more guys in the field. The hoard of them went to the front and shut it down. We literally went 19 mph. I got pissed about this and after calling them all various names attempted to bridge to the break. They chased me down. I called them names again, and then attacked again. This time 4 guys came with me. BRC ramped it up and chased us down again, then brought the speed right back to 19.
I called them all more awesome names, and then started guttering anyone from BRC who came up to the front of the race and blocked. No this isn't the nicest thing to do, but if a team of 15 wankers is going to sit on the front of a race and not race then they need to go in the gutter.
They got mad about this guttering. I told various BRC guys that if they came up and blocked they were going in the gutter. They got madder. They said things like, "hey, man, don't gutter us because we are big sissies who can only race with negative tactics." I said things like "if you block I'll gutter you," and the often repeated Andy Ruiz quote, "that's racing."
Anyway, a group of random guys including myself finally got BRC off the front and got the speed up. In fact we caught the break at 2k to go. This was a great way to give BRC the proverbial middle finger, since all their negative racing didn't amount to anything.
At 600 meters it got really interesting. Since the speed was really low for most of the race we came into the finish with a full field, and lots of people who probably never saw the front of a race at 1k to go before.
The finish is on a mild uphill. Its not a climb at all, just slightly uphill sprint. I was about 10th wheel at 500m and getting ready to go when the guy in front of me virtually stops. I hope his chain broke, broke, because there's no other excuse for going from 30mph to 5mph on the front of a field of 100 people starting to sprint.
I narrowly missed rear ending him and ended up, ironically, in the gutter. I sprinted over sewer grates, really.
I got back on the road, and as I really started to sprint I felt this odd feeling that I never felt before. Oddly I knew what it was though - spinning spokes hitting my left foot. Then I heard a really loud bang and crashing behind me. At the same time a huge train of people went up the left, and then two guys to my left crossed wheels and went down hard, doing the whole yard sale in the middle of the road, I went back in the gutter but was still upright.
At this point, there was still like 200m, and a ton of people who had stayed out of the crash mine field had gone up the far left side of the road. I sort of sprinted from the gutter again, but really, it was just an attempt to rapidly get the race over so I would be safe.
My place wasn't particularly high - I would guess somewhere in the 20s to 30s, but I did narrowly miss too enormous crashes and got to sprint over sewer grates. Plus, I made the entire Boston Road Club hate me.
Overall the race illustrated why slow races are dangerous, and fast hard races are the safest. When you're strung out and people are getting shelled there's less mayhem because 100 people don't all think they can win and take stupid risks late in the race.
Getting up at 4:00am to almost die in two crashes in the last 20 seconds of the race at 30+mph was totally worth it. Really.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Bike Racing v. Skiing
Welcome to a new feature for the CBRC Blog that I thought up the other day while riding around by myself. Its called "Bike Racing v. another thing." The idea here is that I take our beloved sport of bike racing, and compare it to other things we could be doing. Eventually, I'll conclude which thing is the better thing to do.
I hope that someday the "Bike Racing v. another thing" feature will be a very useful guide for boring individuals who need a new hobby, and are thinking that shaving their legs and wearing lycra is on the list of things to try.
So without further adieu, I present:
V.
Since skiing is the visiting team here, they bat first:
Most of us can agree that skiing is totally done on snow (or water). This is what makes it impressive. It only snows when its cold, so you have to be willing to go outside when its really cold, and drive, hopefully in a blizzard, on some sketchy mountain roads at five in the morning.
On the other hand, if you're lucky enough to already live at a ski resort, you're also lucky enough to live in a town with a guy to girl ratio of 74 to 1.
Once you decide you want to ski, you've got to get some skis, boots, polls, etc. This is what makes skiing awesome. Everyone knows that buying things is awesome, and buying things that cost more than the stuff you're buddies have make you the most awesomest.
Once you spend like a thousand dollars on skis and boots and stuff, buy a $400 coat and some silly bib pants, you're ready to go. Just remember, you forgot your gloves at home and have to pay $97 for gloves at the mountain cause its 4 degrees and you can't go outside otherwise.
So now you're at the mountain, have all your gear, didn't crash on the way there (but will on the way home) and its time to go skiing. Great! Okay hold on, you still need to pay for a lift ticket. Or, of course, you can walk up the hill, but that would be exercise, so who wants to do that.
Overall, skiing is completely awesome. It costs a ton of money, is really hard to do, fills up a tremendous amount of time that you don't spend with your family/girlfriend and makes them like you even more then they already do.
Lets see how bike racing stacks up:
Okay, now most normal people would say, riding a bike - that's the thing you do in the summer right? NO! Bike racing requires dedication. In fact, races in the spring aren't even determined by who is the fastest, its totally based on who rode the most time in 4 degree blizzards in January. If you don't do that you just have no chance of ever not being Cat 4 for sure.
Now road racing also offers lots of opportunities to buy stuff. Which is why anyone does anything really. Once you get a bike and a helmet you also need a lighter bike and then an even lighter bike and then also a power meter and a tt bike and then probably a cx bike and a mountain bike too - not to mountain bike, but to ride on the road in the winter when the roads are too bad to take out your even lighter bike.
If you want you can spend like $10,000 on bike racing, in a week! If you don't want, you still will, otherwise you'll suck at racing because everyone knows that Zipp 404s and an SRM are the way to win a race (well races in the summer, cause the spring is all about who wants to ride in blizzards).
The good news, is unlike skiing, when you want to ride your bike its free. To bad you don't ride your bike, you "race" it. If you want to pin a number on, you've got to pay to do that too! Well, apparently the best things in life aren't free, they're $30 each and that doesn't include your USCF license.
Okay, lets see how the two sports stack up:
Do it when its really cold out - Tie.
Fun when its cold out - Skiing.
Costs lots of money - Skiing.
Costs more money then your house - Bike Racing.
Fun when its not cold out - Bike Racing.
Wear bibs: Tie.
for every 74 guys there's one girl - tie.
for every 74 guys there's one girl that will talk to you: Skiing.
Shave you legs: Bike Racing!
Impress your friends: No one cares.
Go Pro: nice try!
Wax your skis: Bike riding
Lube your chain: Skis
flat tire noise: Bang!
binding release: Pop!
Snow Bunnies: Skiing
Podium Girls - who you kididing, this is a cat four blog, there's no podium, let alone podium girls!
Okay lets tally it up:
Skiing: 5
Bike Riding: 4
Ties: This isn't hockey, there's no ties!
Skiing is the champion! Sell all your bike gear on ebay and go buy 6 different pairs of skis right now!
Check back in a week for the next "Bike Racing v. another thing" epic battle!
I hope that someday the "Bike Racing v. another thing" feature will be a very useful guide for boring individuals who need a new hobby, and are thinking that shaving their legs and wearing lycra is on the list of things to try.
So without further adieu, I present:
V.
Since skiing is the visiting team here, they bat first:
Most of us can agree that skiing is totally done on snow (or water). This is what makes it impressive. It only snows when its cold, so you have to be willing to go outside when its really cold, and drive, hopefully in a blizzard, on some sketchy mountain roads at five in the morning.
On the other hand, if you're lucky enough to already live at a ski resort, you're also lucky enough to live in a town with a guy to girl ratio of 74 to 1.
Once you decide you want to ski, you've got to get some skis, boots, polls, etc. This is what makes skiing awesome. Everyone knows that buying things is awesome, and buying things that cost more than the stuff you're buddies have make you the most awesomest.
Once you spend like a thousand dollars on skis and boots and stuff, buy a $400 coat and some silly bib pants, you're ready to go. Just remember, you forgot your gloves at home and have to pay $97 for gloves at the mountain cause its 4 degrees and you can't go outside otherwise.
So now you're at the mountain, have all your gear, didn't crash on the way there (but will on the way home) and its time to go skiing. Great! Okay hold on, you still need to pay for a lift ticket. Or, of course, you can walk up the hill, but that would be exercise, so who wants to do that.
Overall, skiing is completely awesome. It costs a ton of money, is really hard to do, fills up a tremendous amount of time that you don't spend with your family/girlfriend and makes them like you even more then they already do.
Lets see how bike racing stacks up:
Okay, now most normal people would say, riding a bike - that's the thing you do in the summer right? NO! Bike racing requires dedication. In fact, races in the spring aren't even determined by who is the fastest, its totally based on who rode the most time in 4 degree blizzards in January. If you don't do that you just have no chance of ever not being Cat 4 for sure.
Now road racing also offers lots of opportunities to buy stuff. Which is why anyone does anything really. Once you get a bike and a helmet you also need a lighter bike and then an even lighter bike and then also a power meter and a tt bike and then probably a cx bike and a mountain bike too - not to mountain bike, but to ride on the road in the winter when the roads are too bad to take out your even lighter bike.
If you want you can spend like $10,000 on bike racing, in a week! If you don't want, you still will, otherwise you'll suck at racing because everyone knows that Zipp 404s and an SRM are the way to win a race (well races in the summer, cause the spring is all about who wants to ride in blizzards).
The good news, is unlike skiing, when you want to ride your bike its free. To bad you don't ride your bike, you "race" it. If you want to pin a number on, you've got to pay to do that too! Well, apparently the best things in life aren't free, they're $30 each and that doesn't include your USCF license.
Okay, lets see how the two sports stack up:
Do it when its really cold out - Tie.
Fun when its cold out - Skiing.
Costs lots of money - Skiing.
Costs more money then your house - Bike Racing.
Fun when its not cold out - Bike Racing.
Wear bibs: Tie.
for every 74 guys there's one girl - tie.
for every 74 guys there's one girl that will talk to you: Skiing.
Shave you legs: Bike Racing!
Impress your friends: No one cares.
Go Pro: nice try!
Wax your skis: Bike riding
Lube your chain: Skis
flat tire noise: Bang!
binding release: Pop!
Snow Bunnies: Skiing
Podium Girls - who you kididing, this is a cat four blog, there's no podium, let alone podium girls!
Okay lets tally it up:
Skiing: 5
Bike Riding: 4
Ties: This isn't hockey, there's no ties!
Skiing is the champion! Sell all your bike gear on ebay and go buy 6 different pairs of skis right now!
Check back in a week for the next "Bike Racing v. another thing" epic battle!
Monday, April 21, 2008
From First to Fourth to F!@k
As we all know the infamous Battenkill Roubiax took place this weekend. While I've been training for this race since January (as I suspect most of you have too) I felt strong and confident going into Saturday's contest. Especially considering I was in the CAT 5 field. My race went as follows...
So after the first dirt road climb I found my field had shrunk to about 10 dudes. We had broken away from the rest of the CAT 5s and even the most clueless rider could see these would be the top 10 finishers. The race went smooth from there on out. As smooth as a CRASH I mean CAT 5 race could go. As we turned left at the State Trooper building and entered the 10 miles to go mark I realized that my time to attack was approaching.
I stuck to my plan, that being attack on the last climb. That 1/2 dirt 1/2 pavement long gradual climb. I had noticed that our field had shrunk to about 7 guys and I just figured that some guys had dropped off. Before I knew it we were at the last climb. I made my move. Surging up the little "bump" on the last of the dirt road, then switching to my big ring and hammering up the pavement. As I reached the top of the climb I shifted into my hardest gear and hammered alll the way down the bottom of the hill. I was reckless and dangerous reaching speeds of almost 60 mph all the way down the twisty and sandy hill. I had nothing but victory in my mind. This was my race to win and I wasn't going to let anyone stop me.
When I reached the bottom I took that last right and rode about 1k. I then looked behind me and saw NO ONE. "This is it" I thought to myself. No holding back. Hammer it all the way home. I survived the last 4 miles or so solo and saw the finish line. Victory I thought. VICTORY. That last 2k or so was the happiest I had ever felt on a bike. I had won and nobody could take that away from.
As I crossed the finish line I threw my hands in the air. People were cheering but nobody really seemed too happy. I didn't care though. I won the race...right? After the feeling of being the greatest ever to ride a bike began to leave me I rode around and found my mom. "Way to go Matt!" she said. "4th place...not bad at all for your 5th race ever." Thanks mo...WHAT! Not 4th...1st!!! "No" she said. 3 dudes came in about 3 minutes ago. I was in such shock and disbelief that I went to the officials table and asked to see the results. Sure enough there was my number, 119, sitting with a big number 4 next to it.
I would later find out that when our field crossed paths with the masters 50+ field 3 guys had attacked and I had not noticed. Even more embarrassing then throwing my hands in the air thinking I had won was the fact that I rode the last 4 miles by myself not realizing that there was NO PACE CAR IN FRONT OF ME!!!!!! What a dumbass I am?!?!?!
So, I guess the moral of the story is in the sport of cycling it is just as important to be strong physically as it is mentally. Everyone always told me that the strongest doesn't always win but it's the smartest that usually comes home with the trophy. I guess I learned that the hard way. Oh well, there's always next year.
So after the first dirt road climb I found my field had shrunk to about 10 dudes. We had broken away from the rest of the CAT 5s and even the most clueless rider could see these would be the top 10 finishers. The race went smooth from there on out. As smooth as a CRASH I mean CAT 5 race could go. As we turned left at the State Trooper building and entered the 10 miles to go mark I realized that my time to attack was approaching.
I stuck to my plan, that being attack on the last climb. That 1/2 dirt 1/2 pavement long gradual climb. I had noticed that our field had shrunk to about 7 guys and I just figured that some guys had dropped off. Before I knew it we were at the last climb. I made my move. Surging up the little "bump" on the last of the dirt road, then switching to my big ring and hammering up the pavement. As I reached the top of the climb I shifted into my hardest gear and hammered alll the way down the bottom of the hill. I was reckless and dangerous reaching speeds of almost 60 mph all the way down the twisty and sandy hill. I had nothing but victory in my mind. This was my race to win and I wasn't going to let anyone stop me.
When I reached the bottom I took that last right and rode about 1k. I then looked behind me and saw NO ONE. "This is it" I thought to myself. No holding back. Hammer it all the way home. I survived the last 4 miles or so solo and saw the finish line. Victory I thought. VICTORY. That last 2k or so was the happiest I had ever felt on a bike. I had won and nobody could take that away from.
As I crossed the finish line I threw my hands in the air. People were cheering but nobody really seemed too happy. I didn't care though. I won the race...right? After the feeling of being the greatest ever to ride a bike began to leave me I rode around and found my mom. "Way to go Matt!" she said. "4th place...not bad at all for your 5th race ever." Thanks mo...WHAT! Not 4th...1st!!! "No" she said. 3 dudes came in about 3 minutes ago. I was in such shock and disbelief that I went to the officials table and asked to see the results. Sure enough there was my number, 119, sitting with a big number 4 next to it.
I would later find out that when our field crossed paths with the masters 50+ field 3 guys had attacked and I had not noticed. Even more embarrassing then throwing my hands in the air thinking I had won was the fact that I rode the last 4 miles by myself not realizing that there was NO PACE CAR IN FRONT OF ME!!!!!! What a dumbass I am?!?!?!
So, I guess the moral of the story is in the sport of cycling it is just as important to be strong physically as it is mentally. Everyone always told me that the strongest doesn't always win but it's the smartest that usually comes home with the trophy. I guess I learned that the hard way. Oh well, there's always next year.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Got two bikes?
Want the measurements to match? If your answers are yes and yes (like me) see the rest of this post.
Since I recently suffered an injury that may have been triggered by switching from my winter training bike to my race bike I decided to get them matched perfectly.
I rode the bike in the pictures all winter. Approximately 1500 miles in 10 weeks. The second week of March I switched over to my race bike. I rode that for about 400 miles over two weeks.
I've been off the bike completely since April 2nd, healing. Seems that I have injured a nerve near my left ischial tuberosity - pedaling is impossible. When I compared the two bikes the measurements did not match. Needless to say I was really aggravated at myself for the stupid mistake. There were other factors involved, such as an awful saddle (Specialized Toupe), and long-term stiffness in my hips from being hit by a car eleven months ago, but the bikes were setup differently and that is a mistake.
Here are some pictures of the rigs I made to transfer my measurements from my winter training bike to my race bike. I had the levels and clamps in my tool box. I bought two pieces of straight, square, pine from Home Depot. Overall it was cheap (I only bought the lumber and carpenter's square) but if you don't have the Irwin Quick-Grips, it will cost more.
The rigs I made were to transfer the three most important measurements: saddle height, reach to the handlebars, and saddle setback from bottom bracket (similar to reach). The saddle bracket I made was helpful in getting the saddles exactly level to the ground. Overall I was more satisfied with the results than 'eyeballing-it' with my tape measure. I am confident the measurements match to the millimeter.
Since I recently suffered an injury that may have been triggered by switching from my winter training bike to my race bike I decided to get them matched perfectly.
I rode the bike in the pictures all winter. Approximately 1500 miles in 10 weeks. The second week of March I switched over to my race bike. I rode that for about 400 miles over two weeks.
I've been off the bike completely since April 2nd, healing. Seems that I have injured a nerve near my left ischial tuberosity - pedaling is impossible. When I compared the two bikes the measurements did not match. Needless to say I was really aggravated at myself for the stupid mistake. There were other factors involved, such as an awful saddle (Specialized Toupe), and long-term stiffness in my hips from being hit by a car eleven months ago, but the bikes were setup differently and that is a mistake.
Here are some pictures of the rigs I made to transfer my measurements from my winter training bike to my race bike. I had the levels and clamps in my tool box. I bought two pieces of straight, square, pine from Home Depot. Overall it was cheap (I only bought the lumber and carpenter's square) but if you don't have the Irwin Quick-Grips, it will cost more.
The rigs I made were to transfer the three most important measurements: saddle height, reach to the handlebars, and saddle setback from bottom bracket (similar to reach). The saddle bracket I made was helpful in getting the saddles exactly level to the ground. Overall I was more satisfied with the results than 'eyeballing-it' with my tape measure. I am confident the measurements match to the millimeter.
Rest Day?
Having ridden Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I concluded that yesterday should be a rest day. With finals coming up its time to start studying pretty much all the time so I've got to be very focused with training and make sure I maximize time on the bike, and also maximize time off the bike by learing awesome things like the New York Estate Property Transfer Law on my days where half my afternoon's not spent in lycra.
Yesterday here's what I did instead of ride a bike:
Got snow tires off my car.
Got a hair cut.
Studied, kinda.
Met up with Pete to celebrate his birthday and watch the baseball game.
Lost a Rock Paper Scissors match requiring me to get a tatoo of what I threw in the match if I lost (scissors).
Now you see why I write most of this blog about bike racing and not my "normal person" life.
Yesterday here's what I did instead of ride a bike:
Got snow tires off my car.
Got a hair cut.
Studied, kinda.
Met up with Pete to celebrate his birthday and watch the baseball game.
Lost a Rock Paper Scissors match requiring me to get a tatoo of what I threw in the match if I lost (scissors).
Now you see why I write most of this blog about bike racing and not my "normal person" life.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
VO2 Max Pain
After analyzing what happened to me at Turtle Pond with Target Training elite racer Nathanial Ward we concluded that I needed to do V02 Max intervals. Nathanial is not my coach. Actually he's not even a coach. But since we both started racing at the same race (Johhny Cake Lane 1 in 2004), and he's now a cat 2 while I'm a cat 4, I think its a good idea to listen to him some times.
He proscribed five, five minute efforts to be conducted up hill at my VO2 max power. Since I'm a super professional amateur I have a power tap and WKO+. These amazing tools tell me that my VO2 power is 300-325 watts.
What does this all mean? Well, it means that I used to work at a bike shop and got hooked up with a lot of high tech gear, but for the most part have no idea what to do with it!
When I ride at that wattage its pretty hard but not super deadly hard, at least at first. So I rode out to the intersection of 85 and 85A in New Scotland, and did repeats up 85 to Thatcher Park Rd. Effort 1 = not that hard, 2 and 3 = harder, 4 and 5 = lots of suffering. My average power went up with each effort though, starting at 300 and finishing the last effort with a 330 average. I guess that means I did a good job. I rode back to Albany going about 12 miles an hour so I must have done something to myself.
The thing that made this workout really awesome was that while it didn't seem all that super hard while I was doing it, the next day I was close to crushed completely. I went down to the smackdown last night and attempted to attack the group half way up the first climb and again on the second lap. Instead I got a lesson in how to make accelerations on hills by Chuck Quackenbush, Esq. and ended up getting shelled right out the back.
This is becoming a theme for the last week or so - I go from the front of the race to the back of the race in the course of 30 seconds. Supposedly riding up 85 five times and then resting will stop this.
We'll see.
Check back tomorrow for a more interesting post (ie: less related to actual training and racing and more related to the fact that I'm taking today off to recover and its also Pete's birthday) .
He proscribed five, five minute efforts to be conducted up hill at my VO2 max power. Since I'm a super professional amateur I have a power tap and WKO+. These amazing tools tell me that my VO2 power is 300-325 watts.
What does this all mean? Well, it means that I used to work at a bike shop and got hooked up with a lot of high tech gear, but for the most part have no idea what to do with it!
When I ride at that wattage its pretty hard but not super deadly hard, at least at first. So I rode out to the intersection of 85 and 85A in New Scotland, and did repeats up 85 to Thatcher Park Rd. Effort 1 = not that hard, 2 and 3 = harder, 4 and 5 = lots of suffering. My average power went up with each effort though, starting at 300 and finishing the last effort with a 330 average. I guess that means I did a good job. I rode back to Albany going about 12 miles an hour so I must have done something to myself.
The thing that made this workout really awesome was that while it didn't seem all that super hard while I was doing it, the next day I was close to crushed completely. I went down to the smackdown last night and attempted to attack the group half way up the first climb and again on the second lap. Instead I got a lesson in how to make accelerations on hills by Chuck Quackenbush, Esq. and ended up getting shelled right out the back.
This is becoming a theme for the last week or so - I go from the front of the race to the back of the race in the course of 30 seconds. Supposedly riding up 85 five times and then resting will stop this.
We'll see.
Check back tomorrow for a more interesting post (ie: less related to actual training and racing and more related to the fact that I'm taking today off to recover and its also Pete's birthday) .
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