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?