First they cancel Rainier Roubaix, a great spring classic, now the replacement race (the one without the gravel section) and strange name Rhonde Van Delphi is off to.
Rainer Roubaix was one of the races I looked forward to most. Sure the course was crazy, and there is some luck involved, but it was a race where strength and determination really play a big part of the final outcome. I like races were it isn’t necessarily the course that decides the result but the racers, so no 40min climbs please.. some might argue the gravel/mud and dirt was too selective…but this was no evil Ohop.. this was all actually with in reason…
Well maybe I won’t bee so beat up for Boat Street…
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
Nutshell
Weekend summary
The rain starts right before our race Saturday….
Despite better judgment I get in a 64 mile 2man break on Saturday
We get caught with a mile or so to go by Pete and Peterson
Emde still takes a very deserving win, and I roll in fourth with not much left
Blizzards on the way home
Kenny shows up with a new haircut
P-dog gets in a long break
Nathan does his thing by pulling the pack around for a long time…but gets no flats!
Tom gives me the evil eye..
We sprint into the back of a slow moving Masters pack
The rain stops right at the end of the race Sunday
The rain starts right before our race Saturday….
Despite better judgment I get in a 64 mile 2man break on Saturday
We get caught with a mile or so to go by Pete and Peterson
Emde still takes a very deserving win, and I roll in fourth with not much left
Blizzards on the way home
Kenny shows up with a new haircut
P-dog gets in a long break
Nathan does his thing by pulling the pack around for a long time…but gets no flats!
Tom gives me the evil eye..
We sprint into the back of a slow moving Masters pack
The rain stops right at the end of the race Sunday
Monday, March 12, 2007
At least it was warm.
The second Mason Lake was back to normal, well it wasn’t in the low 40’s but it rained.
The pineapple express is good for something… I was completely soaked the entire race, but never got cold.
The race started with Pruit attacking during the neutral rollout, I guess since Jonny wasn’t here somebody had to do it. Three guys rolled of the front, and a minute later Peterson, says” well I guess we should bring that back” and attacks. I and a few guys go with him, we catch up fast, and on the next incline (I don’t want to call it hill, I’ll save that for some later races) Peterson accelerates hard and four of us surge of the front. Right before the far corner a few more riders bridge up and before you know it we are motoring of the front. Looking back I realize I went too hard the first few miles, and it catches up with me pretty quick. By a lap or so I’m skipping a pull here and there to try and recover slightly, but we are going. Garage has three guys is this break, so that is good, but at this pace I’m not sure how much longer I can stay. .. As we start lap three I’m feeling better. As we get to the top of the “hill” on the highway, James flats, and as Nathan pulls of, Peterson accelerates and brings three guys with him(Emde, Teufel and Rodes) .. I look up from the back of the group and see the gap too late (+ I’m too tired)… it opens up slowly and then suddenly they are gone… nearly Four laps to go. The four of us work together another 1 ½ laps before Nathan drops of. Then next lap we get caught by 3 riders just storming by, and we start to chase really hard again.( now it really hurts). ½ lap later we catch Emde. And then 1/3 through lap 5, Ongers takes of .. and will eventually stay away for 4th… ½ lap to go we get caught by a big group of about ten riders….and this is the first time all day I can stop pulling hard and actually skip pulls and sit back a bit. During the last few miles s few riders slip of the front, and the rest of us are fighting for the remains. Jason attacks a few times during the last stretch, I make one last attempt to get of with about 2.5 miles but it gets brought back in a hurry. I finally manage to take fourth in the sprint, despite my tired legs and 11th overall.
This was the hardest race I’ve done in a long time, for the first hour my HR was 175 average….it’s the kind of race where you really start to think you haven’t trained enough, because it surely can’t be this hard on everyone else, right?...
Chris took a well deserved 2nd place.. he is going to kill this year.
Sequim on Sunday was organized and put on by my team and Petit Oil of Sequim. This year the race is back to the old 3 race series, which enables us (Garage) to at least ride one event each…there should be enough volunteers. After all the rain on Saturday the enthusiasm was slightly down when we were met by rain Sunday morning. Driving from the ferry in Kingston, we could see blue patches of sky; maybe the old rain shadow thing would work again today, time to sacrifice that chicken.
After helping out at the finish line with picking of the riders numbers for the morning races (I pretty much managed to pick the first and last rider of each group…everything else was a blur, yeah… I won’t be getting that job again) I got ready to race. I decided to not wear any leg warmers, only the second time all year (first was an hour ride on Wednesday)..it is always a nice feeling… and it just feels easier to pedal.
This race was completely different the Saturdays, well at least for me. The early break with Hone and Rodes went on lap one,. Peterson was once again honoring us with his presence, but today he was a marked rider, as soon as he flinched he had 10 riders on his wheel… he had no way of getting of… I nearly felt bad for him. By lap three of four they were getting close…and three more bridged up, the original two eventually came back. The last two laps we organized a chase, Peterson was working very hard, we had all of our riders chase (I know not smart, and would probably come back and haunt me). Recycled helped out with a few riders and eventually BRI. Nathan pulled for nearly ½ lap by himself, and put a big dent in the gap…(next time he needs to jump and bridge, we all know he is plenty strong enough). I think we finally caught the break with about 6miles to go. With Nikos sitting back and waiting for the finish I decided to try and break it up in the last few miles…. I briefly got in a 3, then four man group that lasted a few pulls each. As soon as we got caught I went again, no luck yet. I drifted back slightly, Ongers attacked and I jumped on his wheel…and right as we got caught I went again… this time they let me go. I had just over 2miles to the line. I got a gap as the pack sat up, then it nearly closed down, before I managed to claw it back open again. The headwind before the last corner was relentless.. As I go around the final right, and though 1k to go I still have a pretty good gap. ..at 500m I look under my arm..maybe…if I can just crest the hill right before the 200m mark…I can’t go any faster, but as the pack lines it up for the sprint, they close that last gap alarmingly fast and blow by me at about 180m to go.. I just hold my line and try not to get run over as riders pass me on both sides in full sprint mode…
I'm right at the back on the left (with right arm showing, wearing black arm warmers) getting blown by...oh yeah...what a feeling...
There is always next week….right?
The pineapple express is good for something… I was completely soaked the entire race, but never got cold.
The race started with Pruit attacking during the neutral rollout, I guess since Jonny wasn’t here somebody had to do it. Three guys rolled of the front, and a minute later Peterson, says” well I guess we should bring that back” and attacks. I and a few guys go with him, we catch up fast, and on the next incline (I don’t want to call it hill, I’ll save that for some later races) Peterson accelerates hard and four of us surge of the front. Right before the far corner a few more riders bridge up and before you know it we are motoring of the front. Looking back I realize I went too hard the first few miles, and it catches up with me pretty quick. By a lap or so I’m skipping a pull here and there to try and recover slightly, but we are going. Garage has three guys is this break, so that is good, but at this pace I’m not sure how much longer I can stay. .. As we start lap three I’m feeling better. As we get to the top of the “hill” on the highway, James flats, and as Nathan pulls of, Peterson accelerates and brings three guys with him(Emde, Teufel and Rodes) .. I look up from the back of the group and see the gap too late (+ I’m too tired)… it opens up slowly and then suddenly they are gone… nearly Four laps to go. The four of us work together another 1 ½ laps before Nathan drops of. Then next lap we get caught by 3 riders just storming by, and we start to chase really hard again.( now it really hurts). ½ lap later we catch Emde. And then 1/3 through lap 5, Ongers takes of .. and will eventually stay away for 4th… ½ lap to go we get caught by a big group of about ten riders….and this is the first time all day I can stop pulling hard and actually skip pulls and sit back a bit. During the last few miles s few riders slip of the front, and the rest of us are fighting for the remains. Jason attacks a few times during the last stretch, I make one last attempt to get of with about 2.5 miles but it gets brought back in a hurry. I finally manage to take fourth in the sprint, despite my tired legs and 11th overall.
This was the hardest race I’ve done in a long time, for the first hour my HR was 175 average….it’s the kind of race where you really start to think you haven’t trained enough, because it surely can’t be this hard on everyone else, right?...
Chris took a well deserved 2nd place.. he is going to kill this year.
Sequim on Sunday was organized and put on by my team and Petit Oil of Sequim. This year the race is back to the old 3 race series, which enables us (Garage) to at least ride one event each…there should be enough volunteers. After all the rain on Saturday the enthusiasm was slightly down when we were met by rain Sunday morning. Driving from the ferry in Kingston, we could see blue patches of sky; maybe the old rain shadow thing would work again today, time to sacrifice that chicken.
After helping out at the finish line with picking of the riders numbers for the morning races (I pretty much managed to pick the first and last rider of each group…everything else was a blur, yeah… I won’t be getting that job again) I got ready to race. I decided to not wear any leg warmers, only the second time all year (first was an hour ride on Wednesday)..it is always a nice feeling… and it just feels easier to pedal.
This race was completely different the Saturdays, well at least for me. The early break with Hone and Rodes went on lap one,. Peterson was once again honoring us with his presence, but today he was a marked rider, as soon as he flinched he had 10 riders on his wheel… he had no way of getting of… I nearly felt bad for him. By lap three of four they were getting close…and three more bridged up, the original two eventually came back. The last two laps we organized a chase, Peterson was working very hard, we had all of our riders chase (I know not smart, and would probably come back and haunt me). Recycled helped out with a few riders and eventually BRI. Nathan pulled for nearly ½ lap by himself, and put a big dent in the gap…(next time he needs to jump and bridge, we all know he is plenty strong enough). I think we finally caught the break with about 6miles to go. With Nikos sitting back and waiting for the finish I decided to try and break it up in the last few miles…. I briefly got in a 3, then four man group that lasted a few pulls each. As soon as we got caught I went again, no luck yet. I drifted back slightly, Ongers attacked and I jumped on his wheel…and right as we got caught I went again… this time they let me go. I had just over 2miles to the line. I got a gap as the pack sat up, then it nearly closed down, before I managed to claw it back open again. The headwind before the last corner was relentless.. As I go around the final right, and though 1k to go I still have a pretty good gap. ..at 500m I look under my arm..maybe…if I can just crest the hill right before the 200m mark…I can’t go any faster, but as the pack lines it up for the sprint, they close that last gap alarmingly fast and blow by me at about 180m to go.. I just hold my line and try not to get run over as riders pass me on both sides in full sprint mode…
I'm right at the back on the left (with right arm showing, wearing black arm warmers) getting blown by...oh yeah...what a feeling...
There is always next week….right?
Monday, March 05, 2007
Here we go
Strange, how most of us have been looking forward to race season for a while now, and when it’s right around the corner you still feel some reluctance for the inevitable. Maybe it’s the realization that time is running out for preparation, this is what all the cold wet rides were for, all the trainer time, all the sacrifices..it’s time to find out if it worked, if the mixture of trainer workouts and witch craft that we call a “plan” actually worked. It’s time to remind your self how much racing hurts.
There are no more coffee shop stops before the bonk…now you might be able to rumble though your jersey pockets with frozen wet fingers, while tiring to avoid the wet cold grit spray from the unfendered bike ahead of you, and try and find that one Gu that you hope for the sake of all that is good in the world, is still in there. Suck it down with the last splash of water and pray that it kicks in before the last hill or attack from the bastard who sat in the back the first five laps. It’s racing season.
Even with all the months since the last race, the night before is a scramble to get everything ready, Bike, wheels, team cloths, what gloves and how much ‘extra’ stuff do you bring in case the weather turns for the worse.
I didn’t get my race bike ready in time, so I was lucky to just be able to pull down my older race bike from the rack, grease the chain, inflate the tires and I was ready to go. Saturday morning was my first ride on a light, stiff bike since early October…wow, was it different.
The race it self went ok, no rain and warm…can’t complain there.
I did a hard trainer ride on Thursday, and Saturday morning despite taking Friday easy I woke up with very sore legs. 60 riders showed up, and it was a good race. We got our new Cat 2 in the main break(or he got him self in the break) of the day, but when it came back with 1 ½ lap to go, we missed out, partly due to fatigue and partly due to the fact that we as a team in whole were not all ready for the counter.
My legs are tired, even though I’ve done some great training this winter, nothing comes close to the intensity and willingness to go hard as in a race.
There is always next week.
There are no more coffee shop stops before the bonk…now you might be able to rumble though your jersey pockets with frozen wet fingers, while tiring to avoid the wet cold grit spray from the unfendered bike ahead of you, and try and find that one Gu that you hope for the sake of all that is good in the world, is still in there. Suck it down with the last splash of water and pray that it kicks in before the last hill or attack from the bastard who sat in the back the first five laps. It’s racing season.
Even with all the months since the last race, the night before is a scramble to get everything ready, Bike, wheels, team cloths, what gloves and how much ‘extra’ stuff do you bring in case the weather turns for the worse.
I didn’t get my race bike ready in time, so I was lucky to just be able to pull down my older race bike from the rack, grease the chain, inflate the tires and I was ready to go. Saturday morning was my first ride on a light, stiff bike since early October…wow, was it different.
The race it self went ok, no rain and warm…can’t complain there.
I did a hard trainer ride on Thursday, and Saturday morning despite taking Friday easy I woke up with very sore legs. 60 riders showed up, and it was a good race. We got our new Cat 2 in the main break(or he got him self in the break) of the day, but when it came back with 1 ½ lap to go, we missed out, partly due to fatigue and partly due to the fact that we as a team in whole were not all ready for the counter.
My legs are tired, even though I’ve done some great training this winter, nothing comes close to the intensity and willingness to go hard as in a race.
There is always next week.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Don't we have a race in two days?
If it's this bad tomorrow, I'm riding my mountain bike to work.. that has to at least shave an hour of the commute.
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