May 2008

A couple of months back there was some talk of VeloGirls moving towards serving the ‘Y’ chromosome set. I was wondering when I could join, but seemed to have missed the announcement. Then last night Hernando was parading around in a VeloGirls skinsuit, but I dismissed it as he, as promoter, throwing some love towards the primary sponsor of the night.

Then today Mark P. lines up at the Dash for Cash in a VeloGirls skinsuit, apparently forsaking his allegiance to Vanderkitten. Two guys flying the pink in just over 12 hours time.

So when do I get to suit up in pink?

A bit over an hour ago the phone rings and I pick it up. The person on the other end identifies themselves as being the person I handed my Chorus shifters to yesterday for repair. He tells me they are ready, and they are repaired correctly and then follows by telling me that if I suck at Pescadero it will not be due to an equipment problem. My post from yesterday was found by someone else who worked at the shop and the link passed on. I can post, but I cannot hide!

… it might be an equipment issue.

A few months ago the right Chorus shifter on the Colnago went out for an extended lunch break. I did the quick fix of putting the spare Centaur shifters on the bike and had the Chorus shifters there in the home office waiting to be rebuilt. But I never got around to doing it myself and never took them to a shop to have it done. The broken shifter from the crash on Memorial Day was the impetus to get it done, finally.

Today I dropped the Chorus shifters at a shop near where I work for the rebuild. The guy behind the counter asks when I need them, and I say that it is not a rush, but I want a couple of weeks before Pescadero to ride on that bike. He looks at me and asks what field, so I tell him 35+ 4/5. He asks if I am a good climber, and I say that I am an OK climber. So he bundles the shifters, hands them over to a guy in the shop and says: “Dmitry, make these work fine for a few days, then so that he can shift to the 53-11, only.” Guess I know at least one person I will be racing against that day.

That is what I was today, a human pinball. For about 2-3 seconds. Then I got a nice introduction: “Mr. Road, meet Rick; Rick, may I introduce you to Mr. Road.” Not exactly the way the script was written.

Today was day 2 of the annual race weekend put on by the club. I spent yesterday working at the finish line of the Mt. Hamilton Road Race, opting out of the logistical headache of getting from Livermore to Isabel Creek and back, in order to race today at the Memorial Day Crit in Morgan Hill. The plan was for me to cheer on the Cat 3/4 women, do my warmup, race in the 45+ 4/5 field, then work for a couple hours of course marshal and ride north towards home. At least that was the plan.

And the plan worked, up to a point. And that point was to about the 12 minutes left mark in our race. Things had been a bit sketchy a couple of times, notably some wheel dueling on the nice sweeping curve between turns 3 and 4. Coming into the very wide and nice turn 4 I was towards the right side of the field on a right hand turn, marking my inside guy as we came into the turn. Then about halfway through the turn someone came around me to the outside and dove in hitting my front wheel, I spun towards Mr Inside Guy, bounce back to the outside to hit Mr DiveIntoTheTurn …. and eventually I could not get it under control and went down. Fortunately it was solo. Unfortunately I have a nice bruise and road rash on my left hip, left hand, left elbow, right elbow, and right knee. And my helmet is toast, as are the gloves, my bib shorts, and left shifter. The jersey might be worth salvaging.

Thanks to Andrew, Joe, and Benson who came to help within seconds of the crash, and EMT Katherine who assessed the damage then cleaned and dressed the wounds. And to The Wife a big thanks for everything you did to assist, and all you will do over the coming days. And a big apology for not coming out clean.

* P.S. Apparently the fun continued; there was a crash in the very next turn. Can’t help but wonder if it was the same over-aggressive corner diver.

I got to take a weekend off of doing my own stuff to support The Wife, her team and teammates, and women racers in general in the Baking Fields^TM of Kern County for the 12th edition of the Kern County Women’s Stage Race. Phew, it was hot, “damn hot” to crib from Robin Williams in ‘Good Morning Vietnam’, most of the time. But those ladies showed their toughness, and went out and put on a display of some darn good riding. Eighty one entrants, 6 fields, 4 stages, and not a single crash! And a lot of good camaraderie, sportsmanship, and class shown by all. Kudos and congratulations to all.

My role at Kern was limited. Guys got to either (a) sit around, (b) pass out water and cheer from the feedzones, or (c) drive follow vehicles. I don’t think anyone opted for (a), and Robert twisted my arm to do (c) on both Saturday and Sunday. A very different perspective on the race. From the feed zone you get a brief snapshot of the status of all the fields as they pass. From the follow car you get a limited view of the action of the front group of one field throughout the race. And I found it is much harder to drive follow when you have emotional attachments to folks in the field, and easier when you know some of the folks but do not have the attachments. Either way, it was easy to admire their fortitude in getting out in that weather and to be impressed with their skills and tactics.

And one has to be impressed by the dedication that VeloPromo and Robert put into this race. It is a logistical nightmare for him, the officials, and all the participants. But it apparent that Robert puts a lot of effort and heart and thought into this event. Icy watermelon at the top of the hot, brutal climb, and him serenading the riders with his “it’s not a saxaphone” clarinet music 2 miles from the top? No wonder a lot who have experienced this event keep coming back in spite of the logistical problems. I am sure that The Wife has already mentally penciled it onto next year’s calendar.

I’ll have a few photos to post later, once I get caught up on things like shopping, eating, sleeping, and hydrating. But not so many; hard to take photos when one is driving along some distance behind the group.

That is the number of laps that my Garmin 305 says I did at Hellyer last night. Quick math: 122 time 333m is 40.6km. And since the timer was initiated near turn 1 that number does not include cirles of the warm-up/cool-down circle. Just the on track warmup and the two points races. Lots of left hand turns.

There was a good sized crowd again last night, heavily weighted towards the ‘B’ group. Larry wanted to keep the ‘C’ group for the women and junior, for the most part, so I got asked to take a trip with the ‘B’s; Larry tried to get some of the ‘B’s to go with the ‘A’ group, but he did not have many takers. There was no one with the last name of Jacques-Mayne in the field so not sure why there were not more takers. That meant a ‘B’ field on the large side (25 riders) with a lot of talent.

In the first race of the night, the first ‘C’ race, it was mostly a question of whether newly minted Proman rider Hanan would be content to keep a 100-150m gap off the front or try to lap the field. She seemed content with the former. With her and a rider wearing a Cal kit off the front, the field sprint was for third place points and Sabine seemed hungry to collect a bunch of those. Angela was saddled with a real hamster gear on a rental bike and could not spin fast enough; the rentals are a nice convenience when needed, but definitely not a good option for competitive riding.

I lined up with the ‘B’ field for their first race knowing I would get spanked. Lots of good, fast track riders: Aaron, Justin, and Shelley to name a few. Once the first attack started I was left to try to keep with the pack, and was successful for a while. But I seemed to keep getting behind someone who would be gapped, have to sprint to get back, and then try to recover. After 4 or 5 of those in short succession I did not have enough juice for the next one and ended up OTB in a 4 man paceline fighting to keep alive.

The major, unnecessary, excitement of the night came between turns 3 and 4 on the penultimate lap of that first ‘B’ race. On the back straightaway there was a lot of positioning going on, everyone trying to get ready for that last lap sprint. Knowing I could not keep up in a short sprint, I went high to move forward so I could try for a long sprint. And just as we made turn 3 I heard the unmistakable sound of wheels touching just off to my left and maybe a bike length in front. And then the bikes and riders were flying. In the end everyone was up and walking, but definitely something that gets the adrenaline flowing. The reconstructionists view afterward was that one rider in the sprinter’s lane paceline went slightly up track to scrub speed before turn 3, someone behind him saw that as an opening to take, and the crash occurred when the first rider came back down to the lane after the turn. Perhaps someone needs a remedial beginner’s session if that is indeed what happened; just because there is an opening does not imply that you should fill it.

I then jumped into the second race of the ‘C’ group, without a rest and with just one quick hit on the water bottle. The field included Hanan and the rider in Cal kit so I knew that 1st and 2nd place points were likely theirs. Some others in the field can spank me good in short sprints, especially since I had a hamster gear (83″). Again I figured my best strategy was to try long. The first 4 points laps all played out the same: as we crossed the start/finish line and got the bell I would spin up and away for the 333m TT, somewhere near turn 3 Hanan and the Cal guy would come around me, then I would fight for 3rd place points against whomever was left. And I was successful the first 4 times. But predictability can be a liability. Coming to the line for the start of the 5th points lap Donna took off about 50-60m earlier than what I had been doing. I seized the opportunity and grabbed her wheel, came around her at the 200m line, and from there it was a repeat of the first 4 points laps. After that sprint I decided that was enough for me, so on the 6th and final points lap I slid back and let the others contest the finish. It was a blast, even though I was really dehydrated and having a major allergy attack. Thanks Larry and to all the riders out there.

It has become all to easy to commit, maybe over-commit, my time lately. The Wife, Work, house, races, training, track, BPAC, etc., leaves little time for anything else. I have fully committed all Tuesday nights from now through August … to just two (similar) activities. And both are just a couple miles apart just off US 101 in South San Jose.

This week it will be track night at the Hellyer Velodrome. Three or so hours of pain and socializing, courtesy of Larry Nolan, all in hopes that just a little tiny bit of the Nolan magic can rub off on little old me. This month it is all points races, next month scratch races, back to points in July, then scratch again in August. I will be making an appearance every other week through the summer, or at least that is what I have scheduled.

On the Tuesdays I am not at Hellyer I will be a couple miles further south doing the SJBC Tuesday twilight crit. Nice course, but getting a bit too much traffic these days. Of course, some folks do not like the course as much as I do, something to do with that nice little 90 ft or so climb on the east leg. Fun and games. And to make sure I get out to this, I have committed to working registration at them every other week from now until the end of the summer. Of course, the need to get so far south on a work night sort of means I will be working from home on Tuesdays; need to cut that 20 miles of commute down the peninsula from the travel task.

If you are in the area and want to have some good training, join me in the “Tuesday night highway 101 sufferfest”!

When I found out my thumb was broken and that it would be “three and a half to four weeks” before I could do serious riding/racing I was hoping that I would be able to keep my date with the Wente Road Race a bit less than 4 weeks later. As time progressed, and I assessed the amount of pain, I realized that was unrealistic so I looked at the local racing calendar for a ‘comeback race’, one far enough out that I was likely to be able to line up at the start. Panoche Road Race looked good, but that is during the Kern Women’s Stage Race weekend and I have commitments. Berkeley Hills Road Race was an option, but the relevant fields were full. So the fallback option was the EBC Criterium, in Pleasanton, on May 10th …. yesterday.

The week started out fine with racing at the Velodrome, the first real hard intensity on over a month. Then the club’s twilight crit on Tuesday, where I did a two lap (almost 4 mile) time trial at the end. But the rest of the week was tough, and the only riding was the daily commute to the office. I woke up yesterday with legs that were stiff and dead. A feeling that held through the warmup. My original goal for this race was very modest: finish. As I warmed up yesterday morning I wondered if that would be a stretch.

I lined up with the 35+ Cat 4’s yesterday, probably near the oldest guy in the field. Deep breath and we get the start whistle after a very brief set of instructions from Chief Ref Ryan. The course is a simple rectangle with 4 right turns; one sweeper, one a bit rounded, and two tight rights. It was a big field, with 100 registered but only 80 some odd guys taking the start. I held in good for the first couple of laps, but I had lined up on the right at the start, putting me on the inside of the turns, and the field was cutting the corners tight causing a pinch off of riders on that side. I was moving up on the first and third legs (the longer legs) but slipping back in all the turns. I was ready to launch an attack, just to mix it up, on lap 3 but then the president of my club took the front position and started to push the pace; not a good time for an attack. I finally did a small attack on lap 9, following a rider I was sure was heading out up the inside and getting clear off the front going into turn 4. But then I looked back and the other rider was not full committed, my heart rate was pegged (a few beats above my previous high HR), so I knew I was going nowhere fast. Time to sit up, fall back into the middle and get some recovery. I held in mid-pack, tried to move up a couple of times, but almost got taken out a couple of times on the last lap by sketchy riders. In the end I came in with the pack, officially 61st place. I did get one apology from one the riders who almost took me out, but the only thing I got from the other was a snot rocket sent my way. Sheesh! And the unofficial photographer captured me only once, after the race ducking under the caution tape along the sideline. Oh well.

Another two and a half weeks before the next official race, my club’s Memorial Day Crit, and then another crit on the 31st of the month, the Dash for Cash with an insane amount of primes and a $250 bonus for the first person in each race to lap the field. That one will be an wild ride. But mostly it is time to head for the hills and get ready for the rather hilly Pescadero RR in 5 weeks.

Kaboom!

After returning home from the crit I decided that I would ride some more but make it utilitarian. I hooked the Burley trailer to my commuter bike and headed off to do the weekly shopping. As I was crossing a freeway overpass I heard that sound that makes every cyclist cringe: Kaboom! I had a blowout on the rear tire in one of the worst places to deal with it in our area. Not sure what took out the sidewall of the almost new tire (maybe 200 miles max), but it was a nice large slash. I did a boot job, but even with lot of good boot material I could not take the tire about 30PSI without it bulging out and threatening another blowout. It was a nice trip home, mostly a walk.

I came very close to ordering a wireless PowerTap last week. I am still on the fence, but The Wife is without her PowerTap for now and is preparing for the Kern Women’s Stage Race so I almost got one for her to use until after Kern (or she has her PowerTap back) then I would take it over the new one. But without a full commitment on my part to training with a PowerTap the expenditure is a bit much to swallow.

One of the downsides to the PowerTap is that there is no option for recording track workouts/races. One would need another device, and my philosophy is why own two (or three) when one will do. And that leads to the attraction of a device like the iBike Pro. One device, multiple mounts. Simple, right? Well, sort of. And to up the ante, VeloComp has a new version, the iAero, which has some cool features for comparing aerodynamics of different position on the bike. I was interested, then I got into the details. The iAero is touted as being wireless and working with devices using the ANT+ wireless protocol, which includes the Garmin 705 (but not the wireless PowerTap, which uses the older ANT protocol). The device is a bit pricey ($999, but $200 of until the end of the month) but then I was wondering how much extra mounts would cost. And that is where the devil was in the details. The iAero works with the older ‘wired and wireless’ iBike Pro mounts. Huh? The iAero is wireless, right, so why add wires or a mount that is a wireless receiver (such as the iBike Pro wireless mount)? Turns out that the iAero is not wireless, the mount is wireless. So if you want to mount it on 3 bikes you need 3 mounts that are wireless receivers along with the wireless sensors. That is $269 (MRSP) for each mount/sensor kit! Ouch! So much simpler (and cost-effective) if the wireless receiver is in the device, not the mount kit, in my opinion.

Another option just coming out is the Quarq CinQo, a crank-based power meter. The device is distributed as a spider that can be bolted onto cranks that do not have and integrated spider. It talks ANT+ wireless protocol, too, so you need an ANT+ capable “head” to go with the spider. Again, the package is a bit spendy. You need to supply a compatible crank, then it is $1195 (MRSP) for the spider, then the cost of the “head”. Quarq has an ANT+ capable “head” they will sell you at $995 (MRSP). Ouch! You can use the iAero ($999 MRSP) or the Garmin 705 (a bargain at $499.99 MRSP, but widely available for much less) as alternatives. And in my situation I would need a new crank plus spider for each bike. Triple Ouch!

Guess I will continue to use RPE and heart rate for now. Not finding any of the options to be a complete, and cost-effective, solution for me at the moment.

I had been looking for ways to get out and give my legs and lungs some trial by fire as I start on the comeback trail. The month without really intense efforts has taken its toll and I do not want to embarrass myself too much when I line up for a race. And that will be soon: EBC crit is just 5 days away! Then Alicat mentioned she was racing on Sunday (yesterday) which led me to some head scratching since there was nothing on the NCNCA Road calendar for that date. Then it hit me: yesterday, May 4th, was the third in the ‘Get Ready for Summer’ fundraiser race series at Hellyer Velodrome. A few circles of the track at max heart rate should be a good test, right?

I refitted the Fuji track bike to my proportions (The Wife has been using it while I was laid up) and loaded it, the popup, an extra wheel, and far too many tools into the Toaster and drove south to the track. There was a good crowd, probably 45 or so racers, show up to race for glory or at least a few upgrade points. I threw down my $20 and signed up for the ‘C’ group; not an easy group by any stretch with Sabine, Soni, Beth, Hanan, Jennie, PenVelo Ray, Justin, Ileana, and a collection of the BEER team signed up in that field.

I left the gearing with what The Wife had been using (about 84″) since the winds were roaring at times and I did not want to get caught pushing a big gear into the wind. But I did opt to put the Nimble tri-spoke wheel on the front. Out onto the track for a warmup and a reminder that a wheel with a lot of surface area facing sideways can be a problem. The winds were shifting around, but for a while there was a good crosswind in turns 3 and 4 and that tri-spoke was catching it well. I almost reverted back to the standard 32-spoke low profile wheel but in the end the winds tamed a bit and I got used to handling it. It might not have made me any faster, but at least I looked a bit more impressive.

Keirin: I drew the third heat in the ‘C’ group, then drew 7th position, out of 7, at the line. That put me at the rail and I mused on what I had heard about strategies while trying to eavesdrop on what Mark A. was telling Jennie, who was lined up to my left. The group rode rather conservatively while on the motor; I got 4th wheel and no one tried to come past until just before Peter pulled off. From that point on it was a blur; all I can remember was that I, rather foolishly, allowed myself to get boxed in on the inside and still there were folks who kept coming down into me. I had fourth coming into the last 25m or so, then someone came down into me, again, and I backed off a bit as we came to the line. I need to work on getting better position, establishing it, then getting aggressive (but not too much) when folks try to take my space. Since I was not in the first 4 in the heat I had plenty of time to play holder during the remaining Keirin heats.

Scratch race: Or why I owe Sabine a big apology. Our group of 19 had a short race, just 5K, so I knew that the attacks would start early. The first attack started on the back stretch of the first lap, a bit too early in my opinion, so I took charge and pulled the pack up to the attackers. There were not any serious attempts for the next couple or three laps but then a small group got away. Not sure of everyone in the group but I knew that my former TUA (Team Unattached) mate Beth was included. A lot of chasing ensued but we were not really eating into their lead. Then another group got away, and again I was not sure all the riders in that break but could see that Soni was included;  and Soni has a small stuffed bunny peering out from under her saddle.  That stuffed bunny became my rabbit as I gave chase. I was so focused on the target, and the fact that I was closing in, that I failed to look back. Then I heard ‘pull up’, so I did, and Sabine and one other rider shot past; I had apparently been blocking their chase. Sorry. If I had known we could have joined forces. As it was I was a bit spent from the chase so I just soft-pedaled a bit behind the pair until the last 200m and then tried to sprint past them for the line. Too little, too late, and who cares since we were far enough back that the finish was just practice.

Miss-n-Out: We lined up with 20 riders and I wanted to try to be top 6, at least. I got 4th wheel from the whistle and no one was moving up as we approached the line on the first 3 laps and I got complacent. On about the 4th lap there was a mass movement forward as we approached the line and I realized I was boxed in with no place to go if I needed to in order to survive.  Fortunately there were still folks behind me and it was not my number that got called.   So I jumped, took the lead, and pushed the pace up a tad. And no one contested that decision for a few laps. But when they did it was a majority vote as all but one shot rider past me as we approached the line. I had pulled the train for a while, the survivors were voting me off the island, and I could not find the dang immunity idol (extra gas in the legs) to counter the vote. I believe I was 8th, not as good as I wanted, but I did give it the old college try.

Points Race: One last attempt to redeem myself. Another short race, just 5K with points every 5 laps. I made myself content with staying mid-pack through the first 3 laps of each 5 lap set, then would go over the top towards the front on the 4th lap and try to hang through the sprint lap. But my darn puny quads were no match for the more accomplished sprinters. I was about 6th or 7th on each sprint.

No results, but who cares. It was a lot of fun, and a good test of the body and mind in race situations. Funniest moment of the day was when Sabine was offering me as a sacrifice entrant into the ‘A’ group’s points race. Right! I could see the betting line: how many meters before I got lapped?