Jeff

Cross Race #2

Did my 2nd cyclocross race of the year today.  My performance was not as good as my first race, but I still had a blast.  There is so much for me to learn in terms of bike handling.  I am definitely still feeling the effects of being sick as the last lap was very rough and was passed by 4 dudes.  I am going to try and get 3 hrs on the road tomorrow to take advantage of the great weather we are having.  The next two weekends I plan to race both Saturday and Sunday, which should be fun.  Hopefully next weekend will be better with another week of riding in my legs.  Since I don't really have time to build and peak I am picking from the TCTP workouts to finish of the season.  This week I did a SS set on Tuesday and then tried to do Power Intervals on Thursday.  Unfortunatly I didn't make it through the full set on Thursday and skipped the last two intervals as I just couldn't hold the perscribed power range. 

As I stated early hopefully next weekend will be better.

Jeff 

Upgrades and Cross

Upgrade:
In the end I did achieve one of my goals for the road season, which was an upgrade to Cat 3.  I could have stayed in Cat 4 for a little longer, but I feel that I will progress quicker if I move up.  Plus the guys on the team have stated that I would be able to hold my own as a 3.  This will be good motivation for the winter.

Cross!!!!
I did my first cross race last weekend and it was AWESOME!!!!!!  I am hooked it was such a painfully great time.  I ended up 8th out of the 30 Cat 4's, with plenty of opportunity for improvement.  I fell on the first lap in a corner that transitioned from gravel to grass and could not clip my right shoe in for the rest of the race.  Unfortunately when I fell I lost contact with the lead group and pushed solo for the rest of the race not able to close on the lead group.  I can definitely improve my start and dismount/mounting technique.  I think I am going to be able to get in a few more races before the end of the year, which I am very excited about.

More to come soon....

Jeff

Tour of Granite City

The other weekend I competed in a 3 stage Cat 4,5 points race (RR, TT, Circuit Race).  The legs felt good, but I am still not executing on strategy.  I am not sure if it makes it better or worse that after the race is over I have multiple teammates tell me that I am plenty strong, but need to race smarter.

The RR was 54 miles that included 4 laps.  I missed getting in the break, but then expended too much energy trying to bridge up to it.  I was spent at the end and crossed the line 12th, of 40+.  One of my teammates (Cobra) finished 5th, which was great to see.  After the race I had to hurry home as my wife wanted to take the girls to a pool party.

The next morning started with an 8 mile TT, where I placed 8th.  The circuit race started at 12:30 so Cobra and I grabbed some Subway quick after the TT.  The circuit race went fairly well as I tried to race smarter.  I was not in the ideal position for the final sprint, but was able to pull off a 4th place finish.

Overall I ended up 7th on the weekend.  My legs felt good so I am hopeful for the last few races of the season.  I still think I could place well enough to upgrade for next year as long as I race smart.

Jeff

A race came and went

This weekend was the Duluth (MN) stage race, which I had originally planned to peak for.  When I registered back in November I decided to do the 3/4 race vs. the 4/5 race.  Unfortunately with a new job starting a few weeks back my preparation was less than ideal.  The legs felt good, which was nice.  The short version:

16.2 mi TT (Friday):  Came in at 40:57 which was 31st place

•  Faded in the middle again... I need to push myself harder in the middle section

South Range Road Race:  Crashed = Last Place

• Felt good, but at the start of the final lap I crashed and limped home with a broken derailleur hanger.  I  thought about calling it a weekend but Marc convinced me to try and get it fixed, which I did.  I did not get much road rash, but my hip hurt a ton!!!

Lakewood Road Race:  Finished in the pack

• Was very timid!!!!!!!  I ended up spending most of the day in the back of the pack.  This race had a nice     sized hill (for MN) that shelled guys off the back each trip up.  I stayed in the front group every time,         but since I was in the back it required more effort than if I was further up.  As the race went on I started     to push for position a little more, but still was not aggressive enough.

Criterium: DNS

• Decided to spend more time with the family and call the weekend early.  This was supposed to be our     "vacation" as well so decided the bonus points earned with my wife was larger than doing the final         stage.  This was I can catch the race this coming Saturday.

Now time to refocus on the rest of the summer and what races I would like to do well in.  There are a couple 2 day stage races that I would like to do.  They have shorter TT's (8mi vs, 16mi) so it will be interesting to see how that goes.

I still need to download the power files to see how the TT looked in the eyes of the PowerTap.

Jeff

First TT

Training this week was a little better, but still not as good as I would like.

Participated in the Tuesday night crit where I did okay.  It is a points race; 3rd in the first sprint, nothing in the 2nd (didn't try so I had more for the last), then 5th on the last sprint, for 7th on the night.  After the race and helping to finish up registration I did another 30 min of hill accelerations.  Funny part was I rode the PowerTap, but I didn't notice that it timed off just before the start of the race and nothing was captured.....NICE!!!!

Wednesday my daughter had T-ball, so I ended up doing a 45 spinervals video after the girls went to bed.

Thursday was planned off.

Friday was supposed to be a race prep day, but just couldn't fit it in.

Saturday I did my first TT it was a 40k and not far from the house.  It was supper windy and finished at 1:03:??.  something like that.  I was the 3rd fastest Cat 4 and not to many Cat 3's were above me.  This is the longest I have tried to ride the TT bike at race pace.  All of the rides have been 16.2 in preparation for my first A priority race this next weekend (Duluth Stage Race)

I did not ride the PowerTap, but decided that I will for the next race.  For the TT's I think it helps me pace better, so I will do that next week.

Take Care

Racing Good and Bad

Another week of racing with varied results.  Participated in a Crit on Tuesday and a RR on Saturday.  My results have not been where I expected them to be this year, especially with how well I rode at training camp.  Am I over trained, under trained, etc, etc.  The thoughts just stay in my mind.  So anyway I rode the PowerTap for both races.  The results:

Tuesday LSC Crit (3rd of around 40 Cat 4's):  Took off Sunday and Monday right before the race to see if it was fatigue and I felt great.  This is a points race so you score points on laps 3, 6, and double points on the 9th (final). A teammate and I decided he would go for the first sprint, I would go for the second, and then see what happens for the final.  I stomped on it for the lap 6 points and was able to get a big gap and clearly take it.  Unfortunately I put a little too much out that I did not have that last little bit for the final sprint.  As a team we did try and do a lead out the only problem was the order was a little off, but oh well.  All in all I felt good, which has not been the case.  After the race Cobra and I did 3-4 30sec hill repeats.  With warm-up and everything I ended up with 90 min of work.

Training (Wed and Fri):  Put a solid 90 min in Wednesday of SS at 80% of threshold with 10 sec jumps every 4 min.  Off Thursday.  Friday race warm-up.

Saturday RR (10th of 43 - Cat 4):  This race was put on by my team so I ended up doing race registration, which sucks, but luckily Kermando came and took my spot so I could warm up.  I did not get to do my normal pre-race eating routine, but I do not think that was the issue.  Warm up went okay and Bob gave me the race strategy download, which was good.  The race started with GP (local team) doing all the work at the front, but I ended up doing a little more work than I should have.  Short version is I did not stay with the lead group on a hill during the 2nd lap, but ended up chasing back on to the group which left me with not a lot in the tank for the sprint.  Big thanks to my teammates Bob and Freddie for helping me during the race.

Sunday: Rode with Matt for about 50mi with some decent tempo work and some hill accelerations.

I was surprised to see how low my power was when I thought I was on the limit.  Since I am starting a new job this week, I decided to take some time off the bike during the week.  I want to make sure I am not over doing it!!!!  Or should I be pushing harder?

Sorry for the ramblings!!

Jeff

First Road Race of the Season

Bottom Line:  5th place of 44 people at Ken Woods Cat 4 road race (2 laps of a 21 mi course)

Download:  My legs have just not had the fire that I had at camp.  I should have been able to put more in during the race, thus better result (maybe not 1st but 3rd).  There are a couple things I know I can work on.  The wind was not that bad so I decided to ride the Jet 60's thus no power data. 

There is a decent sized hill not too far from the finish that created the selection on the first lap. I was too far from the front to catch the first 3 guys and ended up in the second group of like 7.  We chased the entire 2nd lap and shed all but 4 guys plus passed one the guys that got dropped from the front three.  Up the big hill two of the guys in my group had more in the tank.  Thus 5th.

Lessons Learned:
1.  Get my ass to the front of the pack and stay there especially when it is slow
2.  Save a little more energy in the break
3.  Be ready when guys jump to catch there wheels better (will probably incorporate some drills in my training for this)

Next Steps:
I tried to ride today, but just couldn't get the power up, so I stopped 1 minute into my set.  I will take tomorrow off completely and see from there.  I have had a ton of outside of training stress (switching jobs & other stuff) thus I just need to recover a little.

Regards,
Jeff