Southbound

Saturday we are heading to the Master's Nationals in Louisville, KY. I'm racing in the 30-34 criterium. This race is something I've been looking forward to all year. You might ask why I'm doing only the criterium? Well, one it fits well with my work schedule. Two, I like racing criteriums and it's the Nationals.

Am I a criterium specialist, no. But, but maybe I am. I like going around in circles at crazy speeds surrounded by a pack of other cycling lunatics. It's the lean angles, the rythmic single file line when we are really motoring, the adrenaline rush, and that potential danger at the back of my mind. I love the start, that moment just before the gun goes off. Your heart literally stops for a split second in anticipation. Then, ignites as the pack races off for the first turn. My favorite though, is the bell lap. The bell rings and all of sudden whatever you have left comes to life. In my case, it's not a whole lot. But, it still feels good. Most of you know that I'm a big motorsports fan. I grew up watching my Dad race SCCA sports cars and going to all the various events at Mid-Ohio. So maybe that is some of my inspiration to do criteriums.

Last year I made it 59 of the 66 lap race. It was a bittersweet moment. Sweet because I had even made it that far. Being that I hadn't raced at that level in about 10 years. But bitter because I made it through to the final group. The group that ended up sprinting for the win.

So this year, my goal is to hear that bell ring on the final lap. That moment when whatever you have left comes to life. Maybe all I have left is to hold the wheel in front of me to finish. Then again, you never know. ;)

Ouch

Yesterday was the Lions Duathlon in Willoughby. Part of the NCN racing series. Christina, me, Jack, Bill, and Tony all represented the BAFF and TLE team. Today was a reminder to me why duathlons are so hard. The first 5k run was about normal at a 6:40average. The 20 mile bike was an average showing. Having a difficult time transitioning from running to cycling legs this season. I did manage to make up some time on those who were ahead of me. My left calf muscle cramped up on the bike, which made the second run very hard. Lost a couple overall spots, but still managed a 2nd place in my AG. My time was a respectable 1:39. I was happy since my goal was to get under 1:40. This was only my second DU ever!

Jack and Tony battled it out for the top two overall spots. With Jack taking first and Tony a very close second. Bill looked very strong with about a top 10 overall and won his AG. (overall results not up yet) Chistina was with the leaders after the first run and finished second woman overall. She is running very fast this season! Thanks to Lynn for cheering us on during transitions. Great job everyone!

What's going on.....

It's been 4 weeks since my last post. I guess blogging has been a low priority lately. I've been working and training hard. In terms of racing, I've been to Westlake 4 times and a 5k in RR. So pretty quiet for now. My focus has been to keep building for heavier racing in June and July. Starting this weekend, I'll pretty much be racing every weekend until August.

This includes the weekly World's in Westlake. Which has been coming along well for me lately. Last week in the pouring rain I raced strong enough to finish in the top ten. This week, I made some nice efforts and managed to get a prime. So, each week I improve just a tiny bit. My ultimate goal is to finally make some breaks and try for a top five finish.

This weekend is the Mill Creek criterium in Youngstown. Never done this race in all these years. Looking forward to the challenge since I hear it has a pretty good size hill to climb. Maybe my light weight will finally work in my favor!

In two weeks, Stina and I will be at the Willoughby Duathlon. A 5k run, 21 mile bike, and another 5k run. I like this race, since it's mostly flat and a good TT tune-up for the State TT on June 21st.

My big goal of the summer is a good showing July 4th at the Masters National Criterium Championships in Louisville, KY. Last year was good, but got popped with a handful of laps to go.(not good) This year the plan is to make it to the finish and/or final selection.

Thursday group rides from BA have been fun. When the weather cooperates! We've got a decent loop that's about 29 miles. If you come, bring your climbing legs! ;)

That's it for now. More to follow. See you on the road!

Run for the Border

Here is the amusing race report from Run for the Border last night. Stina and I met downtown around 6pm to pick up our race packet. The race was chip timed. So we decided to have Stina wear the chip since she is the faster runner juuuust in case we get seperated. Although you're supposed to finish together. Anyway, our start time was around 7pm right on West 6th street at the Blind Pig bar. You have to go through five checkpoints. At each checkpoint you receive a clue for the next checkpoint location along with other instructions. Ok, here it is by checkpoint from my perspective. :)

Start to first checkpont.
The first checkpoint location is the Rock Hall. We book down Lakeside, bust a left down some side street and end up at Brown's stadium. We see the Hermes truck and sprint to it. First punch on the checkpoint card and we get two Sombreros. I tuck the Sombreros under my arm like a football.

First to second checkpoint.
The next location is the Hermes headquarters at 1264 St. Clair. So we run up East 9th and past the Galleria. Then turn right down another side street around some construction. By this point in the race, people are running in all direction. So our plan to follow people backfired. Crap, which way!! We run up and down St. Clair looking for an address. I see 1464 St. Clair and we go left only to see people coming back the other way. We see the Hermes truck and sprint for the checkpoint. Checkpoint card is punched and now we have two marauchas to carry.

Second to third checkpoint.
Now I'm carrying two Sombreros, a maraucha, and Stina is hitting her stride. I yell, wait up! She waits and says we need to get to East 4th St. We start heading in a diagonal pattern when we hit East 6th St. Turn left down a side street. We see the House of Blues on East 4th steet and sprint for it. At the same time, a group of fast runners mixes in with us. One of them is Steve from Vertical Runner. He yells, "Is that your wife"? Which I return, with a yes. "She's fast"! At this point we are darting around startled people wondering what the hell a bunch of people in Sombreros are doing running around the city. A quick left and than right into an alley. Hmmm, bunch of chairs, women holding tequila bottles, WTF? We are supposed to do this maragrita shot before we can get the card punched. Wow.

Third to Fourth checkpoint.
The group that we are now mixed in with is at full sprint to the next checkpoint. Go through some revolving doors and into another bar. Now this is where it got really confusing. At this point I'm trying to figure what just happened at the last checkpoint. I spit the shot out by the way. It tasted pretty gross and I'm actually a fan of margaritas to give you an idea. Now we have to shotgun a Corona beer before we can get our card punched. Stina finds out that you don't really have to. I did not hear that instruction in the confusion. Let's just say, the legs suddenly felt better.

Fourth checkpoint to the finish.
Stina takes off thinking I was with her in our newfound group. Umm, I wasn't. No big deal, I run down Prospect and then across Superior to West 6th St dodging traffic and people. It's a good thing the Transit Authority was looking the other way, because I broke every jaywalking law in one shot. Remember, Stina has the timing chip to secure our time. I finish just a few seconds behind having carried two goofy Sombreros, a maraucha, one spit out tequila shot, and one Corona.

Finish time was 25 minutes for about (est)3.5 miles. We placed 50th out of 289 teams. Not bad considering it was our first time. This race was just for fun and doesn't count for anything. We had a great time together and might do it again next year. Adios!

Cinco De Mayo

Did the Covered Bridge race #3 this past weekend. Went into it a little nervous about my fitness. Came out pleasantly suprised. Made a couple errors which kept me from making the split to the break. Felt a little rusty on the gameplay. It was a safe, solid workout. Great job to Tony and Matt for making the break!

Westlake starts tonight. Gonna miss the first round of the weekly World's, but will be there next week. Thank you to fellow TLE teammate Chris Riccardi for organizing the 14th annual series.

Tonight is a running race called Run for the Border. The theme is Cinco De Mayo and you get a sombrero at the conclusion. Followed by a Corona or margarita or both. ;) Stina and I are teaming up for this checkpoint style event. It's 3 to 3.5 miles depending on the route you take to the checkpoints. Teams are to run together and start in 10 second intervals. The start is at the Blind Pig on West 6th street. Should be interesting with all the Cavs fans getting ready for the big playoff game. This is organized by Hermes Cleveland, who organize many of the local running races.

Un cerveza por favor.

Hinckley Multisport

This past weekend was the Hinckley Duathlon/Biathlon part of the NCN Racing Series. I hadn't been running enough to be competitive in the Du. Stina did the Hermes 10 miler the day before and kicked butt. Anyway, we both opted for the Biathlon. Which is 3 mile run and 15 mile bike. The goal this year was to improve my winning time from last year and get a fast transition. I knew the running would be so-so, but wasn't sure about the bike. Last season I had raced 4 Westlake's and had some decent speed work. This year it has been mostly base mileage and not as much speed yet. Westlake starts later this year. The run went as planned, but the bike was a little disappointing. Didn't have the quick change over in the legs after transition. So it took me longer to get going and even then I wasn't satisfied with the speed. Worst part was my calves were cramping on the last lap. Which sucked because I was fighting for race position. I finished in 1 hour 3 minutes and 45 secs. About 1:30 slower than last year. Not terrible, but just disappointing. Some days you got it and some you don't. I was 2nd age group and 6th overall. Stina repeated as overall winner. She has been racing really strong this season!



This weekend I'm doing the Covered Bridge circuit race. Really looking forward to getting in some road racing finally. Westlake starts either the week of May 5th or May 12th. Which is good since it's the best way to get in some serious speed work. We are doing a running event called Run for the Border on Tuesday May 5th. Otherwise known as Cinco de Mayo! Good luck to all that are racing this weekend.

See you out there!

Group rides on Thursday

Myself and some others will be leading a group ride from Bike Authority starting this Thursday at 6:30pm. The ride is part of the Bike Authority/Fleet Feet multisport team weekly training. Anyone is welcome to join the ride. This ride will not be race pace! There is plenty of racing this weekend. Steady tempo with an emphasis on keeping the group together and getting a workout. We want the rides to be fun and safe. So there won't be any spinning through stop signs or red lights. This Thursday will be about 90 minutes. Rides will get longer as the season progresses and we have more daylight. BW3 is next door if anyone wants to hang out afterwards. Hope to see you on the road!

One with the bike

It's been a long time since my last post. Today I had one of those rides where things just went my way for change. Although it was cold, the warmth of the sun felt good. I kept a nice steady tempo for about 5o miles. My base mileage this Spring has been a little sporadic with the weather and work. But, nonetheless the miles have been adding up and I'm feeling good. Got a routine medical procedure to go through on Tuesday. So I will be out of commission for a few days. Next week will either be a brick workout in preparation for the Hinckley Du/Biathlon or the first Covered Bridge race. Hope everyone is having a Happy Easter!

Nice

Day that is! Today was 3 hours in short sleeves starting in Brecksville, venturing into Hinckley and the CVNP. Got in some great climbing including once up Oak Hill Rd. Felt strong today. Those trainer workouts and rain rides have really helped out. Definitely feel stronger than this time last year. Still too early to tell. Much more work ahead of me. Short recovery ride tomorrow morning followed by a run on Thursday.

Ray's MTB Park on Thursday

Since we have a break from the Indoor TT at BA this week. I'll be riding at Ray's indoor MTB park on Thursday night with some friends. The plan is to meet around 6:30pm if any of you would like to join us. Looking forward to it since I haven't been up there yet this season. The BA indoor TT will resume on Thursday March 5th. See you on the skinnies!

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my birthday and I am now 34 years old. But, the real reason I'm posting this is that I realized this morning that 19 years ago today I bought my first real road racing bike. The idea started in the summer of 1989 when I had enough money saved to buy clipless pedals. Look PP66 and Look shoes to be exact. All for my department store 10 speed. That summer I listened to people in my bike club say, "You need a real bike". So I mowed lawns, washed cars, raked leaves, shoveled snow, watched my sister so my parents could have an evening out. Anything to put money into my "real bike fund". By February 1990 I had nearly $500 saved up and an eye on one bike.

That bike was a 1990 Giant Cadex carbon fiber frame with alloy lugs. It had full Shimano 105, downtube shifters, Wolber rims, and IRC tires. It was natural carbon color with red lettering. We bought it from Ken Schneider of Schneider's bicycles for $750 plus tax. My family covered what I didn't have for my birthday. To this day I'm pretty sure that was the only carbon road bike Schneider's ever sold. He was more known for skateboards and BMX sales. I couldn't wait to get home and put my Look pedals and Cateye computer on! My parents even let me keep it in my room. So every morning the first thing I saw was that bike. I didn't have a trainer, so by the time I could ride, it was late March. Didn't own any real winter riding clothes, so I went out in short sleeve jersey and shorts. Mind you it was 35 degrees that day! The ride was only about 5 miles, but I can tell you I was not cold! That bike felt so fast and agile.

In the Spring I entererd my first race at the Revco Cleveland Criterium. I rode that bike for 6 years, won a few races, a State TT champ, and met so many great, wonderful people. Most of whom I am still in contact and friends with today. I still have the frame and fork hanging in the garage. You won't find me selling it. There are just too many memories stuck to that bike. Since then cycling has become my passion, my job, and my lifestyle. I met my wife through cycling, shared many adventures with teammates and with my family. My Dad traveled to virtually every race when I was a kid and you can bet I heard him cheer every lap. Or yell if I got lazy and had to move up front! Cheers to that first real bike and for getting older.

See you on the road!

Indoor TT at Bike Authority

Just a reminder that there is only four more indoor TT's scheduled at Bike Authority. The dates are Thursday Feb 19, Mar 5, Mar 12th, and Mar 19th. First rider off at 6pm. Last week we only had two racer's. That's not going to fly. So come on over and have some fun TT'ing on the Computrainer! I know it's only February, but hey it's only hard for 7-10 minutes. You'll thank us later when you make the break or stay with the field this summer! Shoot, we even have a tiny bit of prize money for the overall points. See you soon!

Another one!

Got to ride outside again today for 2 1/2 hours. Rode down to the Rocky River Metroparks from home. Thankfully I've got full fenders, so the road spray wasn't so bad. But, man the roads are taking a beating this winter. Still it was nice to be training in warmer conditions and not freezing from the cold. Had quite a headwind on the way out. Which made for a fast ride home! Ended up with just shy over 42 miles. Hoping to squeeze another one in before work tomorrow. :)

TLE ride today

Pedaled over to Matt's this morning and hitched a ride to Brecksville. We rode with Rudy, Robert, Tony, Bill, and Todd. A nice and steady two-by-two ride. Had a lot of fun and a great workout. Had a couple obstacles to get around. The first being the ford in Brecksville which was blocked with these huge ice boulders. We tried to ride through. ;)

Tackle the Tower report

Did my third Tackle the Tower this morning. Unfortunately did not meet my goal of going under 5 minutes. Officially my time was 5:08 for 37 floors of fun. That put me 7th in my age group and 28th overall out of nearly 850 racers. I felt much stronger this year, but had to do a lot more passing which can hurt your time. Same issue I had last year. Only 38 seconds out of 1st place AG and top ten overall. Oh well, it is for fun and for the Ronald McDonald House. A very good cause indeed. I'm thinking about doing an unofficial race sometime. Just to see what my time difference would be. Or maybe not. :)