Clock is ticking...

In a little over a month and a half Ashley and I will be getting married. Wow. Seems like it was forever away when I purposed, but now its right here. Someone asked me if I was ready the other day, and I told them "I was ready when I asked, or I wouldn't have asked." The only bad thing about it all is that we feel rushed all the time. Of course with me trying to ride as much as possible and race as well, I'm probably mostly to blame for this. Once the 'I do's' happen though hopefully our schedule's will slow down a bit.

Anyway, to the point of all this. I wanted to make it to Cat3 by the wedding. Actually long before that, but that's another story. I've got 4 races between now and then to get 11 points for upgrade. Will I make it? I'm not sure. The two road races are more suited for climbing. And the one crit in blacksburg has a pretty good hill in it. 3 out of 4 races are suited to a climbing cyclist, doesn't that make me feel good.

It'll be tough, but not impossible. If I can finish 13th out of over 40 guys in a climbing road race, I feel like I can do well enough in the races to come to gain some points. Maybe not 11, but enough to take a chunk out of the 11 needed.

One thing I've done to try to improve is raise my stem back to where it was 2 months ago. I know it seems like I'm looking for something wrong, but here's my reason. I finished in the pack of a crit that I could've done really well in, raised my stem that night, and then finished 13/40 on a climbing course the next day. My back didn't hurt at all, I felt fresher the whole time, and my legs felt fast. I think the results speak for themselves.

The clock is ticking, and I really want that Cat3 upgrade. Can it be done by July 11?

P.S. I can't wait for cross season.

Disappointed and Happy

I was really looking forward to the Springer omnium this past weekend. The TT looked perfect on MapMyRide, and I normally never worry about a crit. So here's a brief recap of the weekend to explain the title of this post.

The TT was at 7:30AM sat morning. I pre-road the course and what was supposed to be an almost pancake flat course had about 40 rollers in it both ways. I averaged 335 watts for 25 min, and finished 11th out of 18 guys. I was pushing for a 350 average, but with all the rollers I couldn't maintain a certain wattage. Aero bars were not needed. I imagine the perfect cyclist for this course would be 150lbs, and put out big watts. I just wasn't fast enough for the course.

The crit. This was probably the most disappointing. I think I was depressed from the TT and just didn't have the drive to do anything. I stayed in the pack, but once I saw a top 10 wasn't possible I just stayed in for the finish. That was a major mental failure on my part. That was the disappointing part of the title.

The road race. I got a bit of inside from a local guy that the first climb was 10 miles in and a 20 min climb, and the second was at about 30 in and a 10 min climb. Neither was something that sounded good to me. But I had already paid.

Nothing happened before the first climb, but when we hit it everyone went crazy. I think I was the last guy to start up it, and I honestly thought my day was over. I just held an impressing 350watt average up the climb, and passed roughly 25 guys on my way up. The main group was in sight when I started the descent, which was nice. Me and two other guys chased and caught back on to the main group....which brought the main group total to about 12, haha. I found out there was a break of 4 or 5 up the road. Honestly I was just happy to still be with the group.

Through the flat between the two climbs I worked with a few guys trying to catch the 5 guys up the road, but one of those guys had about 4 teammates in the group I was in, and they weren't having anything to do with the chasing. So we hit the second climb, everyone goes crazy again, and held a 340 watt average up this one. Caught everyone on the way down back into town, except the break.

Sprinted in for 13th out of over 40 guys. Which is not impressive, but for a climbing course I was extremely happy.

No real results, but with a lot of other stuff going on in life right now I'm pleased. I think the next race will show better results.

Too, I had over 100min's this week above my FTP. On the way to a very nice peak for about the time of the Rogues omnium.

Good news and looking ahead

I skipped out on the Highland Rim race this past weekend. It was Ashley's birthday yesterday and the start times of the races would've had us down there Friday evening through sunday evening. Which would've left little time to celebrate her birthday. In wanting to be a good fiance I decided to bail. Since it sounded like it rained all weekend there, I wasn't too sad about it.

Good news is my power is upped a little, and I'm feeling good. Confidence is back, and I can't wait to get down to Oliver Springs this weekend. They are supposed to have a pretty nice omnium. The road race has a couple little hills in it that look like they could thin the field out pretty well, but aren't bad enough to throw me. The first climb comes pretty early, so we should take it pretty easy. The second comes about 2/3's of the way in, so it'll probably be balls to the wall. Looking at http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tn/oliver-springs/652287284133">mapmyride I don't think it'll be a problem for me, and hopefully it'll thin down the group for a good sprint finish.

The TT shouldn't be a problem, especially if its flat. I just put my aerobars on last week and I've been trying to get used to them. I have trouble staying above my FTP as long as I normally would out of them, but I have figured that even at my FTP or 95% of it I should fair pretty well. I'll be interested to see what my time is, and what power I can average for an 11 mile effort.

The crit, no worries there. Normally I don't have any trouble with a crit.

So looking ahead it should be a good weekend. The legs feel great and weather looks good as of now, so with a bit of luck I'll get some more points this weekend to upgrade. I'll be trying for the overall omnium, and some of the $$ too.

In training news, I'm trying to ramp up a little for our omnium next month. It would be nice to win our own race. MattP should do well with the 2's, and John Webb with the 3's. If I'm not a Cat3 by then, it would be nice to do well in the 4's. We'll see how things go.

Thanks for reading.

Training....

I'm just now completed my first week of being back to where I was before getting sick almost 5 weeks ago. Wow! I didn't think it would take that big of a toll, and maybe it wouldn't have if I hadn't got a promotion and been working on day to day stuff more frequently. The important thing is that I'm getting back. I am still depressed that I feel off, and possibly lost time gaining on my FTP. This is just one of the things that happens and I should get used to it, but it doesn't always work that way.

The legs feel strong, and with a bit of luck I'll turn out some good results this coming weekend in Mcminnville, TN. There's an uphill TT as well, but I doubt I'll waste my time doing that. At 82kgs there's not much to prove on a 8% grade....unless I was going down it. Even putting out the big wattage numbers, I can't compete with a 130lb guy putting out 30% less power. The ol' PWR gets the better of me everytime.

Tomorrow I am heading to Blacksburg to pick up a new paragon mtn bike. I was supposed to get it a couple weeks ago, but the head tube got mangled in shipping. Too, I'll be getting a set of aero bars so I can cram two weeks in with them before the springer omnium in TN. They are having an eleven mile TT. I would really like to pin down at this event.

10 points away from Cat3. One good weekend and that would take care of that. I wont upgrade unless its with points. If my motivation stays with me, and I have some luck towards the end of races, I should get it soon.

More later. Thanks for reading.....

Making up for lost time...

I was supposed to give a recap last Monday, but that didn't work out. So here's a recap from last weekend and this weekend as well.

Last weekend was in Sanford, NC. There were two crits, a 4/5 and a 3/4 race, so I signed up for both. My thoughts were that I have my best results from crits so this would be a good chance to pick up some points. Back track one day, and you would've found me working on the AC system of my car, and weed eating around the house all day. Back to Sunday; the temperature was 96 degreesF and I could feel it. I didn't feel bad, but not what I would call crisp. I didn't have a problem in either race hanging on, but didn't have the snap in my legs to get to the front for the finish. It was a nice course though, and hopefully the next time I go back I'll be a little better prepared.

This weekend I headed down to Ducktown, TN for a MTB race. As you know I didn't fair to well at Tsali, but you gotta keep at it. I started the race at more my speed since there was a three mile climb right off. I was setting in 9th or 10th for the first mile, and then started picking the guys that went like bats outta hell on the start. I found a good rhythm and held it for the whole first lap. There was a really sweet downhill section before the flat run-in to the finish, note worthy even. Long story short, I held a good pace and didn't blow up. Bad news is I still finished in at 8th out of the group of about 12. Not what I was looking for, but for being only the third time this year I've road my mountain bike I'll take it.

This weekend helped renew my desire to push for more power. My technical skills were good, and my flat section speed was good. I really lacked on the climb though. The only thing to make that any better is more power. Plain and simple.

It also helped rejuvenate my want to upgrade and win on the road scene. I have two weeks before my next road event, and I'm already feeling back to 100%. Its time to start pushing for a higher FTP. This season has already been too good to let it go now, and with a lot of hard work it could be the best yet.

More words later. Right now its time for a shower.....