Upperclassmen

Though I hate the thought of leaving the junior ranks in 2 years, I must say there are some good aspects to being a 17-18 rider. Kids seem to look up to (I think), and they are committed to beating the benchmark that you set. When I was a small fry, I was petrified by the massive 17-18s. They were fast and intimidating. They were enwrapped in their own world of speed, and I was more or less just a little twerp that was part of the scenery. But that's not what Zach Mcbride thought. Zach is one of the few upperclassmen that I remember actually talking to me. At Debaets-Devos, he asked me how old I was and told me to follow his wheel. Those two sentences he uttered made my day. He was a mentor to me.

So I resolve to be like Zach Mcbride. I may not be anywhere as fast as he was, but I can still set an example.

Flapjack snippets

Here are a couple highlights from today's 20km time trial. I went to church, but I caught most of the important stuff.

- Dan Redivo won the Mens 4 with a time of 29:02. 4 DNA riders made the top 7.

- Norman Bryner rocked the course with a time of 26:43, ahead of Chad Hartley and Chris Aten.

- Ryan Geiger won the Junior 15-18 with a time of 29:03, ahead of Jake and Stephen (19:22 and 19:23). Owen was 4th, and Goran (our new teammate) was 5th.

-Nathan Franke won the Mens 3 with a time of 28:57

-Catherine Dickson got 29:42...and that's pretty fast.

Update

- Not much going on

- Studying for a chem test

- R&R week

- No racing this weekend

- Racing the Mcdowell circuit race on February 5th

- I gave a pretty good speech today

- Contador got a one year ban

Avondale Crit 2011: Report

The day turned out beautiful. The temperatures were scraping 60 near the start of the 7:30 juniors race. I put in a wonderful warm-up. David had a DNA Cycles EZ-up, and my dad got me totally set up. I felt very good.

The Juniors field was over 30 riders strong, but it was whittled down immediately. Of all the people that were really active in the race, I recall me and Jake, Nick and Don (Strada), Tulio (Trisports), Taylor (Green Team), Marco (Tribe), Kenny Polley (Landis), and a couple of Yuma kids.

The race was dramatically short (20 minutes). Almost immediately after starting us, they gave us 5 laps to go. Everyone tried to attack, Tulio the most. Jake and I had been very wary about him, despite the fact that he is only 15. Well, Tulio attacked for a prime with 3 or 2 laps to go and got a good gap. Because no one was chasing in the pack and he looked set to win, I figured I would nail him down and leave the sprint up to Jake. Though I tried to chase him down, I actually succeeded in bridging up to him. We connected with a lap and a half to go, and I looked back to see Jake slowing everyone down. Everything looked good, but Taylor sacrificed himself to bring us back. The sprint was hectic as we flew by several lapped riders. I had to swerve to miss one girl, and then I had to stop pedaling because of another kid (not like I was contending for a good result). I finished 8th, and Jake got 2nd to Tulio. That gave Jake 1st for 17-18s.

Dad raced the Masters 30+ immediately following. A couple of Cat 1 studs foiled everybody and lapped the pack. Dad fought hard to bring them back but there wasn't enough firepower in the field.

We drove to church and worshipped. We did a lot of praying for the afternoon's racing. Dad wasn't sure about whether he would race Masters 40+ with little preparation or race Cat 1/2 with a lot of preparation. I was a little bit nervous for the 3/4 race.

When we returned to Avondale, the 4/5s were lining up. DNA's strategy was to attack the field a lot and expose it to a successful breakaway. Tulio ended up attacking with 4 laps to go and winning by a few bikelengths. Incredibly epic.

In the Pro 1/2, a break with the major teams (Landis, Pista Palace, Bikehaus, and Rideclean) took off early and lapped the field. The peleton reduced every lap. Dad was dropped 40 minutes in, but he manned up and fought his way back into contention. He finished 12th!

Next was 3/4s. The pack probably had 50 riders (at least 10 of them were on Bikehaus). DNA had myself, Jake, Brian A, Darin, David, Brad, and Dan. Jake patroled the front in the opening laps, as I sat in 10-15th wheel. 3-4 laps in, a massive break formed, more or less a field split.

As far as I know, there were 2 Bikehaus dudes, 2 Procon/Tribe dudes, a Watts Up dude, Jake, and Dan (probably a few others). So we had two riders in a 10-14-ish man group; it looked good. The blocking began. I rode 5-6th wheel for a good deal of time, being uncooperative. Then Brian did a fantastic job of slowing down the field for a lap or two. Darin, David, and Brad all came up to mess up the field. Sadly, a couple of people bridged up the breakaway. We had to stop that from happening. As all this was going on, we saw in the distance (25+ seconds) Jake and Dan riding together. They were among several who had been unhitched from the break. Still, they were riding a good team time trial, and our blocking efforts were holding their advantage. A Bikehaus rider attacked with a Tribe rider (don't ask me why they were attacking when they both had several teammates in the break). I made a move off the front of the field, and Brian came with me. He gave me a phenomenal escort up to the chase group. He popped off, and I proceeded to wheelsuck the living pizza out of the two chasers. Oh man, did these guys get mad at me! It was AWESOME!!! They towed me around for 5-6 laps, making absolutely no ground and getting reeled in.

Jake and Dan seemed to retain their gap for the time being, but a two riders bridged up to them. They had a four man group. I followed another attack that eventually caught our boys. Simultaneously, the peleton brought us back.

Some time near the end, the break lapped the field. I did not know this, but it didn't really matter. Brian got about 5th in the field sprint, and I was about 11th. Brian got 9th overall, I was 15th, Darin was 21st, and David was somewhere in between 10 and 20, I believe.

All in all, a great race. I loved racing with my team and actually playing a role in the race. I'm looking forward to the Mcdowell Circuit Race!!!

Here's to a new season

Here's to a new racing season.

Here's to no crashes.

Here's to everyone getting faster.

Here's to good clean racing.

Here's to no doping.

Here's to enjoying our wonderful sport.

Here's to you, and here's to me.

Here's to a new season.

Carla Swart

Not a lot of people in the cycling community know who Carla Swart is. Either way, she was a very talented U23 ride, and I am very saddened to hear of her death. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/carla-swart-killed-in-south-africa

Some good thoughts

Check out this column by Joe Wells:

Top 10 Movies

I don't know exactly why this post is important, but it may serve to spark opinionated comments. So here you go.

10. The Green Mile

9. Princess Bride

8. Dumb and Dumber

7. Forrest Gump

6. Chariots of Fire

5. Airplane

4. Talledega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby

3. The Matrix Trilogy

2. Napoleon Dynamite

1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Hypocritical BikeBoy

So um, yeah, I rode with aero wheels on Thursday. In my defense, I was testing out the wheels for the first time. It probably won't happen again.

Good Pain

I was in pain during my second and last 20 minute interval today. I was on Usery Pass, and I was getting a stomach cramp. My power was dropping as the pain continued to set in. Then something snapped, and the interval started to get easier. I convinced myself that the pain felt good. The more pain that I felt in my legs and lungs, the less I would feel in my stomach. I felt like a major masochist.

Hopefully, I can become more of a masochist this season.

High Expectations

I do not like all this hype about the Lions. I don't like all the predictions we're making because the Lions won four games to end the season. The greatest mistake Lions fans make is thinking the Lions are better than they are. The Lions have to earn it. The end of this season means nothing for the next season. Their 7-9 season was followed up with an 0-17 flop. I'm not trying to be a downer, but I don't want people to consider our team to be on the same level as a playoff contender. Let them earn it.

I'm so used to disappointment.

LFD

Long Fast Distance.

I tried to simulate the distance of the VOS road race today. The road race is 57 miles, so today I rode at intensity for 57 miles. I rode at low zone 3 on the flat and zone 3-4 on the hills.

The result? 3:40 of total ride time, sore legs, and some good simulation.

In school

I just nailed a Geography test. Now for what should be a hard Adv. Chem test.

Helping Out

Yesterday, the team had an event at Red Mountain Community Church. We gave a bike to a kid who has gone through a lot of rough things. We heard he wanted for a BMX bike, so Don (owner of DNA Cycles) provided one. It was cool. As a cycling team, we're trying to be an asset to the community instead of selfish bums.After the handover, the team headed out for a ride. We did 6 repeats of an 18% climb. Fun!