Track Day Report

Daily Miles: 42 Miles and 22 Miles
Avg. Speed: 18 mph and 25 mph
June Total: 668
2008 Total: 6234.08

Riding on the track sure is fun. I went up early, and did a really hard series of workouts for 2 hrs with my coach on Saturday morning. Getting up at 4 AM on Saturday really sucks...

But, the workout was really good, and I think I'm starting to get a handle on tactics during track races. I also feel like these tactics will help me become a better (read more cut-throat) crit racer.

After this workout, i was pretty smoked. A trip to a local diner and some CarboRocket was pretty helpful. So, by the time it was time to race at noon, I felt pretty damn good. The first race, a 15 km scratch race went well. I finished around 8th. I'm good with that result, and i think that each week results will get better. I still need to work on getting the balls to take a too small gap and learn to throw my weight around.

The second race was pretty good as well. In the Miss-and-Out, each lap, the last person is pulled. I got pulled in around 7th place. Honestly i could have done better, i just fell asleep and didn't realize there were only 7 people still in the race. Lesson: Need to learn to pay attention, and keep focus during long races.

The third race was a disaster. I pretty much exploded. But that was to be expected after the 2 hr sufferfest i had during my morning wokout with steve...

Fitchburg is coming...

Nice...

Daily Miles: 42 Miles
Avg. Speed: 18 mph
June Total: 604
2008 Total: 6170.08

In case you have been living under a rock, or are deployed to Baghdad, the weather here in Southeast PA has been amazing this week. I have had some really nice weather...

Tomorrow I'm really looking forward to going up to the track. I'm catching a ride which means I will be up there wicked early. So it looks like I'm going to get a few hours of track specific training in before the race starts. I need this training...I suck at track racing...

I sure am getting stoked for Fitchburg as well. It's going to be a lot of fun racing and seeing family and just getting away from the Filthadelphia.

Murphy's Law

Daily Miles: 15 Miles (Plus about 4 miles of walking)
Avg. Speed: 18 mph
June Total: 562
2008 Total: 6128.08

From Wikipedia:

Murphy's law is an adage in Western culture that broadly states that if anything can go wrong, it will. "If there's more than one possible outcome of a job or task, and one of those outcomes will result in disaster or an undesirable consequence, then somebody will do it that way." It is most often cited as "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong" (or, alternately, "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way").

Yesterday saw Murphy's law in action. The cross bike has been acting weird lately. I think it doesn't appreciate the extra 40 lbs that my bag adds to my already extreme weight. Sooo...I've been trying to ride the fixie more and more. The fixie has the benefit of being cheap (really, really cheap) and simple (there's not that much that can break) while also providing a much better workout then I could get on a regular bike.

However, my cross bike does have one advantage: GatorSkins and Slime tubes. These come in very handy when some dipshit chucks a bottle out his window into the road right in front of you and you roll over the resulting shattered glass. Without these, you double flat and put about six BIG holes in the tubes.

Now I usually would say I am prepared. I carry a spare tube. I carry a pump, and I carry a patch kit. But on this day, my supplies didn't matter. There was no way to patch either tube. Sooo I had a nice walk to the train, and figured my ordeal was about over. But no...there's more...the Rt 100 driver decided it would be cool to fly past the stop i needed to get to work...and was really rude about it, leaving me with about a three mile walk to the shop from the next station...and I had no idea how to get there....

Damn....what a day...

Back in the Swing of Things

Daily Miles: 20Miles
Avg. Speed: 18 mph
June Total: 547
2008 Total: 6113.08

I had some great riding yesterday. I decided to commute on the fixie and do some intervals. Worked out pretty well.

Anyway, busy, so back to it...

The Bag is Heavy

Daily Miles: 42 Miles
Avg. Speed: 19 mph
June Total: 527
2008 Total: 6093.08

Wow, my ribs are still pretty bruised. They hurt pretty bad after carrying my ridiculously heavy bag around back and forth to work yesterday. It was great to ride without it for an entire week, but makes putting it back on really rough.

The commute felt pretty good though, which I'm guessing is due to not having been doing it for a while. That ride sure does get boring after doing it ever freakin day. I'm sure I'll be tired of it by the time the week is over...

Anyway, pretty busy catching up after a week off...

Enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts!

Beach Week Recap

Daily Miles: 28 Miles
Avg. Speed: 22 mph
June Total: 485
2008 Total: 6051.08

Being back at work sucks...

But there will be no bitching, instead i shall reminisce (I have no idea how to spell this word; stupid IE doesn't have spellcheck)

My days and my schedule were very solidly fixed. I would wake up, eat, swim in the ocean, run, sleep, eat, swim, bike, eat, drink, watch TV. I forced myself to abide by this brutal schedule.

Actually, i was suprised by how much time i managed to get on the bike, and that I somehow found the will to ride every day. i think it had something to do with the fact the roads were panckae flat. I didn't mind the 30 mph winds. i can ride just as fast into the wind, but i absolutely hate fighting gravity.

Anyway, the beach was awesome. It's nice getting to hang out with family and share some great meals. It's also nice not to check my work email for an entire week. Though this mornign was a bit of a nightmare!

Anyway, time keeps on ticking, and it's only a week, till I'm off again to see more family in Mass during my race at Fitchburg. I'm becoing a bigger and bigger fan of destination bike racing. Combining racing with other events helps justify the cost...at least to me anyway (don't ask my wife for her opinion)!

Is it Already Thursday??

Daily Miles: 21 Miles
Avg. Speed: 18 mph
June Total: 457
2008 Total: 6023.08

Nice and easy yesterday. Had a good spin up the shore highway with my sis running some errands. Fun times. Today looks like another day of intervals into the wind.

Definitly getting some good training this week that I can't usually get commuting and working the hours i do. Hopefully I'll see some benefit in the upcoming track races and in the Fitchburg Crit and Circuit race. (The RR is obviously simply going to be taking Taylor's advice and sitting in...I really might get an iPod so I don't get bored)

Anyway, great times on the beach...

Helmet Pics

So here's a pair of pictures of the broken helmet. It's hard to tell in the pics,but the helmet was pulverized. The worst of the damage was to the rear right of the helmet where I landed initially. I must have gotten a good tuck! There are cracks all over the entire helmet. I could only imagine the result if my helmet wasn't on my head.

Lesson to be learned: Always wear a helmet. It baffles me why someone wouldn't.

Catching the Big Fish

Daily Miles: 33 Miles
Avg. Speed: 18 mph
June Total: 436
2008 Total: 6002.08


As you can see, I caught the biggest fish EVER yesterday (well at least the biggest fish of anyone who was fishing yesterday). As you can see in the picture, I needed a huge fishing rod and super strong line to land this monster. Our battle was epic and though I was eventually the victor, I was impressed by the fight in this creature from the sea...so impressed that i decided NOT to have him for dinner and instead, threw the whopper back into the sea.

Good times...and BTW, congrats to Taylor for finishing 3rd on the drives ride sprint...maybe it's time to work harder on the ride :P Just kidding dude...

Anyway, life at the shore is great.

More Fun at the Shore

Daily Miles: 25 Miles
Avg. Speed: 25 mph
June Total: 403
2008 Total: 5969.08

So yesterday I had a great flat land workout. I rode a solid 40K TT (of course without aero gear) and was really suprised with the result. I kept it at a solid 40kph without my heart rate getting over 185.

It really made me curious as to how fast i could go at 100% with a full aero set up...

I may have to wait forever to test that out, as i will probably never own a full aero set up! But, i think i had another mph in me on just the equipment I was on...

There's something pretty wonderful about pancake flat roads...

There's also something pretty wonderful about riding in the morning, going to beach, taking a nap, eating, going to the beach, going for a run, and eating some more...I could do this forever.

Ahh the Easy Life

Daily Miles: 32 Miles
Avg. Speed: 22
June Total: 378
2008 Total: 5944.08

The Beach is friggin wonderful...

Not much else going on. Riding in the mornings, sleeping on the beach in the afternoons, and deleting emails from work without reading them in the evenings.

Life is good.

Crashing at the Velodrome

Daily Miles: 20 Miles
Avg. Speed: 17
June Total: 346
2008 Total: 5912.08

Yesterday, I went up to the velodrome for the second time totally prepared to win my races. As it turned out, I finished 3rd...after crashing at nearly 40 mph.

Later on I'l post some pictures of my helmet that is completely shattered...and maybe a few pictures of my right side which is also jacked up pretty badly.

Anyway, I'm ok, other then my pride being injured.

And, now I'm down at the DE Shore for the week. Rode 20 today to loosen up a bit after being really sore (as a result of landing on my friggin head at 40mph). The good news is that other then some road rash, I'm ok. The Bike's OK, and I'm not a parapalegic...what else could I ask for?

Back by Popular Demand

Daily Miles: 45 Miles
Avg. Speed: 18 mph
June Total: 326
2008 Total: 5892.08

What I Ate Yesterday:

Cup of Granola
Protein Shake
2 Cups of Trailmix
2 PBJs
Pack of Crackers w/ PB
Nature's Valley Bar
Banana
2 Feet of Baguette
Apple Claw (donut sort of thing)
Cherry Gelato
8 oz of Steak
Squash
HUGE Salad w/ egg
Strawberries
1 Philadelphia Brewing Walt Wit Beer

...and of course untold amounts of coffee

WOW, that sure is a lot of food...and it was all delicious.

One more day and I'm off work for the entire week. Hell yeah.

Working For the Weekend

Daily Miles: 45 Miles
Avg. Speed: 18 mph
June Total: 281
2008 Total: 5847.08

It's going to be nice getting home before 8 pm tonight. 12+ hr days no matter how nescesary suck. Hard. On a positive note though, the weather has been amazing and rides have been really productive (training wise)

Of course, it's really hard to stay focused and get through the week when 1) I just finished 2 of the hardest classes I will ever take for my masters 2) I'm taking all of next week off to go to the beach. Basically, I'm already on vacation.

The other thing about the nice weather seems to be that drivers are much more courteous. It seems they tend to yield more, and speed less. Maybe they're enjoying the nice day (though they may just be driving less eradically in an attempt to save on gas). Whatever the reason, it's a welcome change to the usual idiocy that accompanies being behind the wheel around the Delaware Valley.

Anyway...good luck to Boby Lea this weekend out at the Olympic Trials in LA. The whole HZ Shop is rooting for you.

A Little More Follow Up

Daily Miles: 45 Miles
Avg. Speed: 19 mph
June Total: 236
2008 Total: 5802.08

So here's the deal: It was a great day yesterday. Lots of 15 second intervals in the morning (a workout I borrowed from Hebe) A nice day at work as well! It was pretty incredible that I only had to work on 2 rust buckets at the shop, while I had 4 other repairs that were nice and smooth...

So it was a great day...except for the whole David Butterworth fiasco. BTW, email Dave Mitchell and encourage him not to approve permits or support Pro-Am in any capacity.

Anyway, temps are more reasonable today so the riding should be that much better...good times in the sun!

Boycott Pro Am Cycling

Daily Miles: 45 Miles
Avg. Speed: 20 mph
June Total: 191
2008 Total: 5757.08

So i know there are only like 5 people in the Eastern PA area that read this blog, but it's a start. Be sure to tell your friends that they are NOT to race any races put on by Dave Butternuts. After cancelling the Red Rose Series and stealing $250 bucks from me he has the balls to reopen registration for a few races this year. For $27 bucks, you can race for results. Thats right, no prize money!

Fuck Him! Boycott his races and make sure no one from your teams go to them. Dave Butterworth is a sorry excuse for a human being and has basically ruined Rich Ruoff and undone everything that Rich and Red Rose Races has done to promote great cycling events here in PA.

So go race in NJ, MD, NY, or DE. Stay the hell away from Pro-Am and Butternuts shitty events.

I'll be up at the Velodrome or in New England doing fun fast crits that actually pay money.

Commerce Bank Triple Crown Recap

So what's better then sitting in the sun all day drinking beer? Finding a way to incorporate bikes!

It was an all around good day as I watched the Pros wrap up the last leg of the triple crown in Philly yesterday. Started out the day at Human Zoom in Manayunk, hanging out while some coworkers finished their shifts.

Then I headed over to Lemon Hill where the fun really began. I picked up some free stuff and drank a lot of booze with Taylor, Rob and a few other Tri-State-Velo teammates while watching the Pros suffer in the ungodly heat. It was pretty funny watching the stragglers from the race say "F It" and abandon the race at Lemon Hill, and hop in the crowd for some free beer and food, courtesy of the great local shops and bike reps.

The only negative of the entire day was that I neglected to put sunscreen on the front of my neck, so I have a nice sunburn under my chin.

Bikes, Beer, Good People, Free Stuff, Great Weather...it doesn't get much better.

Now I need to figure out a way to not fall asleep at my desk.

Catch Up

Daily Miles: About 50 Miles
Avg. Speed: 19 mph
June Total: 146
2008 Total: 5712.08

Not to bad at the track yesterday...5th i do believe...

Anyway, off to watch the Commerce Bank Race...

This is not Photoshopped
Theres not really much more to say about this incident that occured during a race in Mexico. The drunk driver was (shocker) an American...

Dave Moulton is much more eloquent then me...check out what he has to say...

Stay safe out there...remember to watch out for yourself and remember that shit like this can happen (even in races).

Oh Snap!

Daily Miles: 25 Miles
Avg. Speed: 19 mph
June Total: 96
2008 Total: 5662.08

Big news in the world of Mid Atlantic Amateur cycling...It looks like Taylor and I have our wish. No more Lancaster Races. So this is both a blessing and a curse. Red Rose Races (well Rich...Butterworth is a douche) put on the best events around. They also put on 75% of all the road races within a three hour drive.

So what does this mean forthis aspiring pro? It looks like I'll be doing more TTs and crits in NJ...but only if it rains. If it's a nice day (like this Saturday looks to be) I'm going to the track to try and become a CAT 2 by the end of the year.

Other bloggers have more to say and are much funnier then me so check them out:

So it looks like my next RR won't be until Fitchburg....unless it rains then I MAY head to NJ...but you know, I'm not wild about paying a toll to come home.

Weekend Cycling Activities

Daily Miles: 22 Miles
Avg. Speed: 19 mph
June Total: 71
2008 Total: 5637.08

So it's raining right now...wow, it's raining pretty damn hard. Where the hell did that come from? It sure wasn't in the weather forecast for tonight. I sure am glad i didn't get held up any later at work. It sure wouldn't be fun to get caught in a downpour in the dark. Enough about that...check it out:

Today, at my other job at the Zoom, I was talking about plans for the weekend. I'm thinking it might involve a shopping cart on Saturday night going down the manayunk wall...

JUST KIDDING! The cops come now, we have to do it Friday night...

Either way, it should be a beer fueled fun time, watching the race. I'll probably try to work a shift at the store, and get a look at the Mayhem that is the Commerce Classic

So what are your plans for the weekend? Let me know...hanging out with other weirdos who shave their legs and drink too much is always fun

Ah Hell

Daily Miles: 27 Miles
Avg. Speed: 20 mph
June Total: 49
2008 Total: 5615.08

So yesterday was a little rough. My cross bike (aka my new post-Felt-death commuter) is having problems. Sure it is to be expected, since i acquired all the parts for free/cheap becasue they were well used, but it still sucks when something breaks in the middle of nowhere

yesterday was no exception. The bottom bracket was very cheap and probably 5,000 miles over its designed life. It froze. I was forced to walk about 2-3 miles to Norristown where i hoped a train to the shop, blew some grease in it, and rode home.

This sucked for two reasons:
1. I had to walk a LONG way in cycling shoes
2. I'm short on miles...

So after i got home, I had to replace it. It was impossible to get it out as it was really seized/corroded and stuck in place. After about an hour of groaning and cursing i finally got it out and installed a much nicer and brand new one. Looking forward to many more miles...

June=Summer

Daily Miles: 22 Miles
Avg. Speed: 22 mph
June Total: 22
2008 Total: 5588.08

I don't know what the official first day of summer is, but i consider June 1st to be the first day of summer...

Yesterday was a beautiful summer day to start it off. I had an interesting ride out to work though. I blew my chain apart into two pieces about five blocks from my house. I ran home, changed bikes, and hammered to Ardmore. It's quite the uphill, but i still averaged 22 over the 10 miles, making it in right on time.

I even picked up a little sun during the ride. It was a beautiful day.

Today looks to be even nicer. I know eventually it will rain, but at least I think we're pretty much over the cold weather hump. It was a long winter.

And, looking ahead to what should be a great summer: i have a week at the beach, a couple of great races, and a trip to Maine to look forward too. Summer rocks.