2010 Base Training

The training is going well. My power numbers are far better than last year and hopefully have a high enough FTP to be competitive in the 3's this year. Even if it was the same, my weight is down 8lbs so my power/weight ratio will be better. I haven't done any testing, but next month, I'll get a better feel for it as we ramp up the intensity.

I was without power data for almost 3 weeks. I had to send my PowerTap wheel to Saris to get it rebuilt. I was happy to find it showing me good stuff. I know that numbers don't make the racer, but it helps to quantify the training. Seeing the increase is making me feel better about putting all this time in.

Different Kind of suffering...suffering nonetheless.

My Father died and then my uncle. This has been a very tough Christmas. They both died of heart disease and they weren't the only ones to do so in my family. It is the circle of life though. The son should bury the father and not the other way around.

Change

Cycling being such a repetitive sport/activity that sometimes, well sometimes change is bad. I'm making some big changes and I hope they are for the good.

Goals:

My long term goal is the same: I want to reach the pro level by the end of 2012. Let me clarify: Domestic Professional. I just want to get to that level to say or quantify that I have reached that goal. My short term goals are to race and win a national level event. Next year I'm going to race the Masters' National Crit Championships 30-34 and then go to Downers Grove and race the Elite Championships. The reality is that by the time the Masters' Nationals roll around I will only have 2.5 years of cycling under my legs and that I'm not gifted with a big engine. It takes at least 3 years (Cyclist Training Bible) to realize ones potential and maybe more for those on the slow end of the curve. I'm not sure where I fall on that curve. I do know that if I can make it to the end, I can hold my own. I also know that if I don't enter the race(s), I'll defiantly not win. 90% of success is just showing up.

The 2010 season has already begun for me and the 1^st goal is to drop to 8% body fat. I'm almost there now. The second goal is to begin training in earnest when I get back from Thailand November 20^th. I would like to get my functional threshold power to around 4.5w/kg before going into race mode. That will depend on my body's adaptation rate and how well the winter/spring training goes. Last year, I had to take a January completely off the bike due to a hamstring tear and I was still able to win a race. I was able to increase my power 30 watts from 08 to 09. If I can get the same improvements for 10, then I should be able to reach target ftp.

Team:

I'm racing with Palmetto Velo for the 2010 season. I do appreciate everything that the Harrell's Bicycle World crew has done for me and I'll continue to do business with Harrell's. Palmetto Velo is a more organized team and for the results I want, I'll need a support system of guys around me in races. This is not to say that I'm not going to work for them. I look forward to playing the domestique role as I know that it will make me stronger. I also look forward to leading out my teammates and helping with the win. I just need to win and hope these guys are going to work as hard for me as I'm willing to work for them. I look forward to the new opportunity there.

 

Bike:

I've changed the saddle on my bike and I'm going to go back to 172.5mm cranks. Last year, I ran 165mm cranks. I read an article that recommended the smaller cranks and I figured I would give it a shot. I had decent results with them, but when things went uphill, I had to push really hard. I think/hope that the longer cranks will help in that regard. The new saddle is the Fizik Antares and it's great…now that I've had my fit adjusted to it. Preliminary test on the rollers show an increase in power for effort, but I'll wait until it get out on the road to really quantify it.

Barring any injuries or illness, next year will be a great one for me. I think that the adaptations will have set in by then and I will be closer to seeing what my potential will be. Also, by the end of 2011, I'll be able to see if I really do have what it takes to reach my goal. I'm appreciative of all my friends and family and look forward to them being there with me.

Brookwood Chruch, My 1st CAT3 race

Wow. I wish I could say that I had a great race and that I won it or even finished in the top 10, but I can't. I was off the back 15 minutes into it. On the bright side, my wife said, "If someone had to to it, it might as well be you." Thanks honey.

I knew the field would be strong, but I didn't realize it would be by that much. Basically, it turned out to be a 1 minute effort (uphill) followed by 27-37 seconds of rest (downhill) into the wind. Each of the 1 minute efforts sent me SCREAMING over my ftp. The lowest avg. Was 287 (only once), the highest was 397w. With my FTP being around 270 right now, it was only a matter of time before I was launched off the back. I gave everything I had and even tried to jump back in...the second time I was lapped. After 29minutes of riding solo, I decided I needed to try to save a little bit for tomorrow at the BMW center.

My shoot the moon goal for next year still stands though. It may be unrealistic, but I damn sure am going to try. I've had some other setbacks that I haven't written about here that caused me to take almost a month off of the bike so I know I'm not in form (and that's also why the FTP is a down).

I'm going to take what I've found today and tomorrow and work with my coach to build a plan that will get me there in the best shape possible. With a solid plan, consistent training and hard work, my physiology may still not allow me to reach that goal. I'm still going to do everything I can to get there.

Stay tuned for BMW results. Then I'll post my winter & next season goals.

Pear Shaped second half of the season

Wow. 10 days off the bike does a lot of things to you and none of them are good for your racing. Top end. My top end is down. For a 7min 300w effort, I usually average around 172bpm. Friday, for 298w, my HR average was 177bpm. I hope to be able to get it back to where it was by the last race of the season. If not, there is always next year. I can't complain, but I would like another 1st place finish. Going to talk to my coach about upgrading to CAT-3 before the end of the year so that I can race 4 races as a 3 before the season is out.

Off the bike

One of the things I haven't written about is the fact that I've been off of the bike since the 12th. I had a lingering issue from the crash that didn't manifest itself until I did the workout on the 12th. The injury is called a Scrotal Contusion. Yeah, It sucks as bad at is sounds. When I landed on my face, my bike landed on my "boys". The "fellas" were healing and my face hurt so bad, it masked any discomfort I was having down there. The workouts on the 11th & 12th exacerbated the problem and they let me know there was a problem. It wasn't a testicle injury, but an injury to a vein that feeds them. So the pedaling action, inflamed the area. Of course, I couldn't believe this was happening so I checked myself a couple of times that night & the next day before seeing the Doctor. The Doctor has seen this kind of injury before (guys are tough on themselves) and said that the number of time I "checked" myself just aggravated the injury even more--Great. But again, the doc said that's something that's also been a typical reaction to his patients that have received this type of injury. Rest & time off of the bike is what the doctor ordered. I can't give myself and "examination" until the 20th--doctors orders. My coach has made a plan so that I'm doing workouts off of the bike until the 23rd. The discomfort has gone away, but I'm going to play it safe and not get back on the bike until the 24th.

The doctor stated that if the discomfort/knot persists more than 6 weeks, then it's back for another examination and it's something more serious. Let's hope not.

B

From a Friend, Paul Laymon, when asked about what it takes to be a "Pro":

"You are part way there by saying it is harder to give up than not to try. Choosing things for yourself is the only real freedom we have in life. Choose that freedom and make up your own mind, then excel beyond where others stop.
It's a lonely journey, and you will lose more friends than you will make. However, those friends you make will help you "bury the body"
In the end, it isn't about the things we did, that's just another trophy, you won't remember them, it is about the people we meet along the way...good and bad."

-Paul Laymon.

I'll not for get your words. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to seeing you whoop-up the 50+ age-groupers.

-B

Hanes Park Crash 08/09/09

I had a terrible accident today. A rider shot across my front wheel (from left to right) and I went head first onto the ground. My face is trashed (30-40% road rash on right side of face), my jersey is ripped, my lip had to have two stitches, my temporary teeth were broken out and I suffered a concussion. I got knocked out I hit the ground so hard. I’ve got rash on my shoulder, knee & wrist as well. My wrists are banged up (from trying to catch myself) and my right leg has some road rash. I was rushed off to the ER in a Ambulance (pretty cool—haven’t done that in a while). The CAT scan showed everything was cool.

Shame really. I happened with 3 to go. It was around 34 minutes into the race when we were going up the hill. We were traveling around 19mph. All I remember was yelling at him, hitting the deck and looking at the curb thinking to myself “that’s going to hurt.” The EMT’s said I remembered everything when I got up and that I was coherent, but I only remember bits and pieces. I do remember yelling at the peleton as they stormed by me on the final lap so that’s a bit of a consolation. Needless to say, I’m not going to race this coming weekend. It’s 4 hours away and at the moment, I would rather train closer to home for my wife’s sake. I was over 3 hours away from home when this happened and she was at work so this really scared her. It opened my eyes as well. This was something that I could truly not control.

The thing is, my collarbone’s not broken. My wrists aren't’ broken (my teeth don’t count) and my bike is perfectly fine—I think. That being said, I don’t want to take the chance to miss my priority race because of some squirrely rider.

How was the race up until that point? Perfect. I put in a good long warm-up and my 2 minute threshold efforts were solid. As an aside, I think my threshold power is around 295-305w now. For the race, I was at the front the entire time around 10-15th spot. With 5 to go, I moved to 5-10th spot. I only had my nose in the wind once and that was short lived because of a preme. I felt great. The average HR for this race was 172bpm, speed 24.5 and it had 1 significant hill with 2 little risers. For me to stay in it shows that I am in form and smarter about hills racing in general. Also, I had a friend say that he would lead me out that sealed the deal. I crashed and my friend ended up winning so I’m very happy for him. I talked to him a bit after the race and he said I’m sure you are hurting. I told him that not being able to finish hurts more.

PTO so far

The crit wasn't bad. Ended up 12th. I had some tough breaks but I was SUFFERING! I felt like I was through the race and afterwards, I was like, well maybe that wasn't so bad. I went back and looked at the race data and my Average HR was 184bpm. 94% of my Max. My body was SCREAMING at me to quit, but I finished it. BTW, my LTHR is 176bpm. If you don't know what that means--google it.

The street sprints. The sprints where I was going to show off my 1700watt sprint....yeah. I got Eliminated after the 1st heat.....THE 1ST HEAT!!! I believed to much in my power and underestimated my competition. I got 4th in the heat, you had to be in 3rd to go to the elimination round. It is what it is.

Updated Race Scheule

July 10th Piedmont Triad Omninum Crit
July 11th Piedmont Triad Omninum TT
July 11th Piedmont Triad Omninum Street Sprints

July 11th Piedmont Triad Omninum Road Race

July 17th French Broad TT

July 18th French Broad Road Race
July 19th French Broad Crit Asheville (tight course like Dillworth)
Aug 1st Western NC Grand Prix
Aug 4th Crossroads Mocksville Crit (low priority)
Aug 8th Crossroads Harrisburg Crit

Aug 9th Hanes Park Crit
Sep 12th Walnut Cove (low priority, pretty far away)
*Sep 19th Dylan Mitchell Memorial Race*
*Sept 20th Vista Gran Prix*

Upgrade to Cat 3
Oct 10th Greenville Cycling Classic ?
Oct 11th Greenville Cycling Classic ?

There are a couple more that I may do depending on whether or not they become available.

Rested up

I'm well rested now and should be good to go for the Piedmont Triad Omnium....then comes the French Broad. We'll see how it goes. This is the 1st race I've done in a while and I've only had one VO2 Max type session since my rest period. Power is up, weight is down so it's all good.

Crash

So I crashed on the Scott Saturday on a training ride. It was a turn that I've taken over 60 times. I know I'm a great bike handler, so I had to figure out what went wrong so that I can learn from the mistake and never do it again. Initially, I thought I hit some gravel and that's what washed my front tire out. The way the crash happened tough, I couldn't believe that. The only component that was damaged was the rear rim was warped...hmmm. Checking the tire over, there is a bit of oil on it. I suspect that the oil was transfered from my leg. I use an oil/aerosol based sunscreen and think that I brushed up against my tire when preparing for the ride. Of course, going in a straight line, it's not an issue. As soon as I made a corner, that was enough for the tire to lose grip, then catch. When it caught, that's what warped it, as well as through me over the bike for a "high-side" type fall.

Sucks for me.

100 miles

I did the French Broad Cycling Classic road race course Saturday and then 100 miles in the Irmo area Sunday. If you don't know, the FBCC course is 40 miles with 6100 ft. of climbing. I've got so much more respect for the climbers in the tour--any tour or any mountain race. If there was ever a doubt that I was a sprinter, it's gone. The race will be tough and my goal there will be to just finish with the group. I hope to have a decent time trial and a great criterium to place high in the overall.

Feel good today. Nutrition & Hydration are key, key, key.

-B

LIOTC

Leave It On The Course.

This has happened many times. I've just crossed the finish line, I'm about to die of oxygen debt and some guy--that was also in the race--roles up next to me to congratulate me on a good race and he's not really breathing hard...REALLY?!?! There is a reason why I've been doing so well in the 4's (as of this writing, #1 in SC & # 6 in the US for Criterium). I leave everything on the course. If I cross the line and I'm not spent, I don't feel like I've done enough. That may be the wrong way to think about it, but that's the why I live life. I leave it all on the course. I do everything I can to be the best. I try hard, I ask a lot of myself but I also understand my limitations. I try to get the most out of the race and I try to get the most out of life.

-B

Tempo work/Street Sprints

Going over my recent workout stuff and my tempo power now is ALMOST what my Threshold power was last year. I'll need that when I upgrade to a CAT 3 later this year. I have the points to upgrade, but I want to build a little better fitness so that I can be competitive. I want to be at around 3.9-4 Watts/kg for Functional Threshold. No problem on the 5sec power @ 21.64 w/kg. Just need to be able to get to the finishing line in a Cat3 race and uncork that sprint and bringing up that FT will help do it.

Speaking of sprinting, I'm looking forward to taking part in the Street Sprints in the Piedmont Triad Omnium. I'm really going to use that as a showcase for my sprinting power. Not only that, I'm going to use it to see who the other sprinters are so that I can mark them for later races...wish we had a velodrome here in Columbia.

-B

TT Fit

Seems the fit that I did was pretty spot on except for the saddle. We move it a bit and now I'm making a bit more power. The downside, is that my hipflexors are not used to the position. It's a good thing that I don't have another 40k TT coming soon.

Somehow the saddle nose on my road bike moved down a bit. I could tell something was off on the bike, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Eagle eyed Paul caught it though. Good thing. Moral of the story; Check your bike often.

-B

Masters Road National Championships

I will be the national champion. I can't think of a better venue than the USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships--specifically Critrieum. Will I be able to do it next year?...I don't know. It will take a lot of luck, but I won't know if I don't try. If I can't make it next year, then I'll try again until I can't try any more.

-B

Ride Today

Ended up doing close to 4 hours today. I didn't intend to be out there that long, but my calf started bothering me a bit so I had to spin home easy from BFE. My calf bothering me is--I'm sure--due to the level of effort I put out during the Low Country Challenge. I got dropped ~500M from the line on the RR. When something like that happens and it's over, you wonder if you could have done more. If my leg is still bothering me and it's been a week of recovery, I'm certain that I did all I could.

tumors suk

I found out a dear friend and my old coach is having a kidney removed due to a baseball sized tumor. It's a shame as this has been a fantastic racing season for him and he's on a super-strong team (Global Bike). This has been a hell of a roller coaster ride for him this year and I kinda hate not being able to be around the "wood" a bit more to be with the boyz. D.K. I know you are thinking about giving racing up and I can understand. I found this quote about running, but I think you could replace "run" with "ride" and it would sum up how I'm sure we both feel. This quote is from Dr. George Sheehan.

"We know that the effects of training are temporary. I cannot put fitness in the bank. If inactive, I will detrain faster than it took me to get in shape. I must remain constantly in training. Otherwise, the sedentary life will inexorable reduce my mental and emotional well-being.

So, I run each day to preserver the self I attain the day before. And coupled with this is the desire to secure the self yet to be. There can be no letup. If I do not run, I will eventually lose all I have gained--and my future with it."

DK, I've prayed for you. T & I love you and I'll ride with you soon. If you give up racing, I understand. If not, I look forward to racing with/against you next year. If someone is going to kick my a$$, it might is well be my "one kidney'd brotha from anotha mutha."

-B

Just a bit Tired

The Low Country Omnium was the 1st Omnium I've ever done. In regards to the 40k TT, that was the 1st time I've pushed myself that hard for that long. I paid for it yesterday and I'm paying for it today. I'm not as sore as I thought I would be, but I'm defiantly sore and I'm looking forward to a bit of time off.

-Blance

4th Overall for the Low County Challenge Omium

28th in RR and that put me in 4th for the Overall.

Yeah, 28th...My legs were shot going into the last 1k to the finish. Looking at the HR file, I was fine, but my body wasn't having any of it. My legs are shot right now! They only really started bothering me going into the final lap. That final lap (4 laps at 10.5 m. each), I started cramping in my hamstrings (l/r) and especially my right calf. Every time my foot was in the 6'o clock position, it felt like someone was plucking a string down the backside of my legs. Going into the final 1k, I felt like I was dying! Again, the funny thing is my HR data doesn't reflect it. Very strange. I wish I had my powertap wheel on so that I could see what kinda power I was making. We averaged 27.4mph the last 10 minutes of the race. Decent warm-up, but during the warm-up I noticed that I was having a hard time getting my HR to come up. Only 6 hours of sleep. I felt like I would have won the Crit & placed top 5 in the RR if I hadn’t done the TT...

I had the two guys marked that were ahead of me and one of them was making a move at the front. If he was going to go for a break, he was going to take me with him. I only took one pull (10second) the entire race and then stayed tucked in around the 7-15 spot. Some times closer to the front, sometimes farther back. I was close enough to the front that if a break were to go with one of the two marked riders, I wanted to go with it. There were lots of attacks and no of them successful. I'm not sure what I could have done differently to save more energy. I even put on an 11-26 so that I could spin more to save my legs...

Right now, I’m VERY tired and my legs hurt. Feeling the way I feel now, I’m not doing the NC State Championship race next weekend.

-B

4th in the Port Royal 34under

Tough race for sure made tougher by the TT in the am. As it stands,
I'm third overall for the Omnium. I really needed to win today, but my
legs wouldn't allow me to sprint. Still a good result and the most
money I've made this far for a race.

I had a full warmup for the crit, but I felt terrible. I had bad legs
(70%) in the beginning of the crit and almost fell off. Something
happened and I and my legs back. I still wasn't 100%, but it was
enough to get me through. With 5 to go, I was able to move up. Going
into the sprint I picked off two riders, and closed on the 3 ahead of
me an then my legs locked up. If I would have had a better position, I
would have won, but those guys did a great job.

-Blance

40k TT

Well, I don't suggest doing one if you don't prepare for it. I should
have just used my Scott instead of outfitting the Giant with Aero
bars. I am pretty sure my threshold power isn't what I think it is. I
couldn't maintain 260-270w without serious cramping 36k in. Either
way. This hurt, but it wasn't that bad. It was good to see why I was
capable of and it affirms what I knew all along-I'm a sprinter.

-Blance

Tattoos and cycling

A friend asked my why I got my tattoos and why--if they hurt--do I want another one. My response; " I was thinking more about your tattoo question and it kinda goes back to cycling. To win, you have to suffer. To get to the end you have to suffer. But there is a joy that no one can take away from you once you’ve made the journey."

-B

6th @ NC Championships

Ended up in 6th today.   I took 4th in the field sprint.  Today, the best I could have done was 3rd.  Two guys took flyers and were able to stay away.  With 5 to go, I was tired, so I decided to wait and make my move up with 3 to go. It was attack after attack and all about closing gaps and keeping a good wheel.  I simply chose the wrong wheel, a gap opened up and I had to make a big effort to move up.  At that point, I was happy sitting in where I was and had NO idea that the two had gone away.  When I crossed the line, I thought I’d gotten 4th!!  It was a bit of a surprise that I’d gotten 6th, but I’m happy with that position.  That’s the spot I deserved today and cheers to everyone else.  It was a good battle for sure.

The only thing I could have done better was to draft a little better and spend less time peddling.   Luck is the biggest variable and there is nothing I can do about that.

Cheers to the world champion for giving me tips on the course.

-B

Little tired

A little tired today. That's a good thing. Post race update next.

-B

Sent from my PDA

Training in the rain

Glad to see that I wasn't the only one to go out training in the rain today.  It wasn't that bad really.  

I'm looking forward to the NC Championships tomorrow and hope it rains there as well.

Race Schedule -Blance

May 24th    TOA Sunday Windward Circuits AM & PM

May 25th    NC Criterium Championships
June 6th    Port Royal Criterium (flat & fast)
June 7th    Beaufort Road Race (low priority)
June 14th   NC Road Race Championships
June 28th   NC State Games - Crit

July 10th   Piedmont Triad Omnium Crit
July 17th   French Broad TT
July 18th   French Broad Crit Brevard (short uphill to s/f, technical corse)
July 19th   French Broad Crit Asheville (tight course like Dillworth)
Aug 1st     Ashville Grand Prix (long 400m hill, right turn, 300m hill, 30m grunt then downhill-repeat)
Aug 4th     Crossroads Mocksville Crit (low priority)
Aug 8th     Crossroads Harrisburg Crit
Sep 12th    Walnut Cove (low priority, pretty far away)
*Sep 19th   Dylan Mitchell Memorial Race*
*Sept 20th  Vista Gran Prix*
Sept 26th   Beaufort Crit
*Oct 10th   Greenville Cycling Classic*
*Oct 11th   Greenville Cycling Classic*

The *’s denote race will be in form for and will have a focus on.  

peak

It's a funny what it feels like to go through a peak.  HR is really low compared to power effort.  You can dig a little deeper for the harder efforts blah. blah.  The weird thing is the way I feel.  What I think is that I'm a little tired, but it's not really that.  My body is "primed" more than anything. I'm a bit more relaxed on the bike and making LT power is almost effortless while my awareness is much greater.  I can really tell now by how I "feel" when I'm making LT power.  That may be more of training than peaking, but it's quite coincidental. 

Breath

There is nothing more important than learning how to control your breathing when performing a threshold interval.  You can (like I did today) kill you power screw up your form by not relaxing and breathing.  Practice focusing on your breath while you are making hard efforts in training so you don't wear yourself out in a race--or hard group ride. 

While focusing on breath, also make sure you are smooth on the bike and not wasting energy.  Form is so critical to maximizing your energy/breath/power.

The results are in...

Bike fit.  That's it.  With the bike properly fit, I was able to wack out 1714w after being in the saddle for close to 2.5 hours on a hard group ride.  More importantly, no saddle sores.  AHHHH...

I'll do some tempo stuff later this week and see if I'm able to make more power for that type of effort as well.  Regardless: NO SADDLE SORES!!

  

If you haven't gotten a fit, you are doing yourself a dis-service.   Get fit and get fit!

bike fit

To those who haven't, go out there today and get a bike fit.  Make sure it's someone you trust and then always go back to that person.  Case in point, I got the new Scott, but didn't get a fit.  The bike was supposed to be set to the same numbers as my old bike (which I was "fitted" to).  Not so much.  I knew something was off, but I had enough after the 5th saddle sore.  I got a today and it was a great bit off in one area (2cm) and a little off in another 4mm.  Argh...

Now that the position is right.  I feels right and I should be able to the same top end power that I made on the Giant.  That's been the most baffling thing to me.  I made more top end (1690w 1595w-5 seconds) on the Giant than on the Scott.  I could bend the Giant like a noodle, but not the Scott.  The most I've made on the Scott was 1472w -CP5.  Let's see what I can do now that I'm in a good position. 

A bit of history.  When I got my 1st fit on the Giant, the reason for the fit was to get ride of saddle sore problem and to optimize my position for racing.  As soon as the fit was done, the sore problem went a way and I was in a powerful racing position.

to small

So the big mistake I made here was to jump in too small a gear.  Going back and looking at my workout data, when I jumped, the cadence went right to 120rpm.  Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.  I've still got a lot to learn, but it is what it is.  I spun out at 138rpm and that was good enough for 3rd.  Lesson learned.  It was a tough race.  John and Luke were on form and I can't take anything away from them or their team.  Perfect race on their parts and their teams.  Kudos

Athens Twilight AM 4/5 race

The course was great.  I had a great warm-up.  I had great legs.  I also had bad luck.  I really wanted to help Justin today and then the crash happened.  It was the worst crash I've had so far and I've bruised my clavicle and dinged the Scott CR-1.  Justin got pulled from the race.  I hate it as I asked him to follow me.  I hate it for him more than anything.  I was able to get back in and at the time, I didn't know Justin had been pulled.  I was going to go for it on the last lap and I was on Julian's wheel around turn's 3 and 4.  I jumped to another wheel and that was the end for me.  The guy sat up, I was in the gutter and could not move around him and Julian's group was up the road.  Game over.  Bad luck + Bad decision = 33rd place.  If I couldn't get top 10, I wasn't going to fight for top 20.  Julian end up in 1st. 

4th at the SC State Crit Championships

4th.  Not bad, but I could have done better.  If I wanted to do better, I shouldn't have gone for the preme with 5 to go.  I will also need to practice my seated sprints.  Going into the final 400, I tried twice to stand but my legs cramped up.  Had I only tried it once, I would have gotten 3rd for sure.  The only way I would have gotten top honors is if; a) I wouldn't have lit a match for the preme, b) I would have been fitter c) Done a better job of drafting earlier in the race to save a few more ounces of energy. d) felt better going in the race.  

I still don't feel like I have good legs yet.  I did race with the Zipp's (404) on today and my what a difference.  The acceleration more than anything, they spin so much faster than the open pro....but I won on the open pro...  It goes to show you that a wheel will only do so much for you.

good ride today. 

Credit where credit it due

I got nothin' but love for Dan over at Harrell's Bicycle World.  If it wasn't for him fixing up my bike, I wouldn't trust it to put everything I had into it.  If you think about it, my life is trusted with the abilities he has.  He made the bike sing and we made beautiful music today.  When I start winning money, I'll be sure to give him his share as well.

Win?

So I got first place in the I'On Race today. The thing is, someone
went down in front of me so I got a free lap. I know it still counts
as a win, but I would like to have not gone down and stayed upright
the entire time. I was in a good (15 riders back) position when the
guy went down in front of me and took 5 others out as well. I got
back in with 5 to go and took a long pull. I then floated back to
~8th-10th spot to recover. I realalized earlier when I needed to make
a move. So with 2 to go I fought for the 4-5 spot. I knew that if I
were to get a podium, I would need to be there going into back
straight leading to the final two turns. With 1 to go I drilled it.
By this time, two riders had gone off the front and my arch nemisis
was on my wheel. He's a great sprinter (maybe better than me) and he
beat me in Greenville last year. I drilled it more going into the
second to last turn and i knew he had to stand to catch me--that was
going to take away from his sprint. Going into the final turn, the
break had 5-10meters on me. I was already in the perfect gear coming
out of the turn and I gave it everything. I passed them and was in the
lead for the final 25 meters. I crossed the line with nothin left in
my tank.

Sram Sprinter Rings

So get this.  I went with Sram Red Cranks/chainrings for my new bike. The red chain rings are lighter=weaker and I can flex them because of my power.  When I flex them, I'm usually in my 53x13,12,11 and the chain falls off to the inside and I almost flip off the bike.  I've got several injuries and I've lost a lot of confidence in the Sram Red gear.  For last Saturday, I tried to do 5 sprints but was only able to do 4.  

Anyway, I put my Rival rings on for the race this weekend.  I never had that problem with the Rival rings/cranks.  Sram had production issues with my run of chainrings.  They are going to send me their new Red "Sprinter" chain rings as well as a new chain to replace the bad run I have......  

I just want it to be right.  I want to stress about me not being fit enough.  If I lose a race I want to lose it on my own terms.  Psychologically, I'm going to do the races, but I'm not 100% into it.  I'm going to do them because I've already paid for them.  Without the bike being complete, I can't trust it.  Does that even make sense?  Maybe I'm thinking too much into it. 

tough workouts

This weekend's workouts were tough--today in particular.  I'm not a fan of Levi Leipheimer, but a couple of things he mentioned in ROAD really sank in.  "the body follows the mind" and "relax" to be specific.  Your mind can push your body too far.  You can think that you are better than you really are, stronger, etc.  That can be good and bad. Today, I used my mind to keep me strong and keep the pain below.  While pushing away the pain, relaxing as much as I could helped to keep my mind focused. 

The reality of it all is that I'm still a long way off from where I want to be.  It's a long process.  I've got a lot more to learn....

food funk?

Easy Spin yesterday morning on the rollers and then in the PM, I came down with the funk. I'm still not 100% so I'll take it easy today as well.  Maybe a touch of food poisoning?  I hope it's nothing worse.

Plans...change

So, because I got dropped, I'm going to not motor pace Saturday and do this fun set of intervals: 

This will help my ability to respond/initiate an attack, roll it, then do it again.  This is different from the 1x1 or 2x1 intervals as this sucks SOO much more.  Just know that if are going to race against me, be prepared to suffer as I have.  I would rather race than do these intervals....oh?  You want to know what I'm doing?  What I'm doing will be dropping you next time we meet in a race.

Patriots Trail Road Race

After the gut check of getting dropped yesterday at the RH crit, I set the very real--and sobering--goal of not getting dropped today.  That didn't work out too well and so much for setting goals. I rode well.  I stayed in the front, but never on it.  Not being a good climber, I put myself near the front at the start of the hills so that as I drifted back I could still be with the bunch. You can only do that so many times.  I popped after an attack in a string of hills a little over an hour.

I'm really bummed.  

Based on threshold, I'm stronger than I was last year but I've just started working on intensity.  I hate that I tore my hamstring and that put me off the bike for a month.  I also have something going on in my Bottom Bracket and I'm doubting the efficacy of Ceramic BBs for sprinters.  

The thing that sucks about being on strict a training plan.  If you stick to it you'll get dropped on the first few races.   You'll get dropped on the local group ride when the pace picks up and you run into a hill.  It was the same as last year.  I can bet you money now that I've started on the intensity work that I won't be dropped in Charleston.  But it's still very humbling.

Not well..

I got dropped. The course profile was sharper than I planned for. I
should have used an 11-26 instead of the 11-23. Regardless, my Vo2 Max
and abilty to recover after efforts sucks. Also, I need to work on
improving my pack positioning skills.

Ride

I did something that u haven't done since I've owned a "race" bike
today. I just rode. No power meter, no heart rate monitor no speed or
cadence sensor. Just me and my bike..... Ah,to be a kid again! In
the workout I had planned, I needed to do 3 all out sprints. Though I
don't know how fast I was going or what my 5, 10, 15 second power
levels were. It was just strong and fast and felt great. Lets just say
today I beat Mark Cavendish and I felt great doing it.

can't sleep

Two days away from the race and of course I can't sleep.  I had a great conversation with my coach.  He stressed to try to have an even emotional keel in regards to all my races.  Treat each one the same and don't get emotionally tied to it--something like that.  The race this weekend is a low priority race, but it's my 1st of the season and I'm having trouble not letting my emotions take over me.  It's quite consuming really.  I'm having trouble focusing on work because I want to make sure that all aspects of the race is going to be good.  The truth is, there is nothing else I can do now except race.  That's what the months of preparation, the e-mails with my friends and teammates (Toby, James, Jamie, Gabe, Todd you're awesome--Red Dragons).   Without a team to help control the race, Gabe is going to "Forrest Gump" it.  That's some of the best advice I've heard.  Take it as it comes.  Stay at the front, but don't do any work unless it serves a purpose.  Enjoy the ride right?

post race summary

So I did what I set out to do.  I raced hard, got off the front with two other guys and ended up gettting dropped 15minutes into it.  The pulls I took were way too hard and the guys I was working with weren't pulling clean....or maybe it was me.  Anyway, I knew they weren't going anywhere and decided to drop back into the pack.  Though my HR wasn't maxed, my legs felt like lead due to all the lactic acid so when the pack came zipping by at 26mph, I wasn't able to latch back on.  I took an easy lap and then caught back on the second time they passed me.  Now that the acid was flushed from my legs, I couldn't feel any pain--well I could but making big efforts up the hill didn't hurt as much.  I worked on staying effiecint and Gabe lead me out for the final lap.  Though it wasn't fair to sprint with the rest of the pack, Gabe did a fantastic job of leading me out and I wasn't going to disappoint.  He passed 4-5 riders and when I kicked, I must have passsed at 5-6 guys.   Awesome.  Freakin' awesome when you think that I'm sprinting with/against guys that are in higher Catagories than me.  I couldn't have done it with out the G-money.

In summary, 

-I've got to work on patience and picking good wheels.   

-Though I'm stronger, I don't need to let that get to my head.  

-I need to keep listening to my instincts and just go.  

-I've got a hell of a kick and I need to use it and my brains to win races.  

Now the other teams in the area know how strong I am--great.

training race

I'm getting amped for the training race tonight.  I think I'm going to be conservative and work with the pack for about 30 minutes and use the last 20-25minutes or so and just hammer to see what kind of power numbers I get.

to whom it may concern

The chronicles of Blance. The Black Lance? Not hardly. More like Blavendish, or Bloonen as I'm a stronger sprinter. Blance has a better ring to it though. I'll post my cycling training, racing and life stuff here. Might not be often, but we'll see.