Final ToA Race Report

I road up to the Pickle Research Campus on Monday morning to warm up. My stomach was feeling kind of gross, but I figured it would go away once we started racing, and it did. The race started fast. People in front were getting dropped, so I had to go around them and then bridge the gap to the actual group.

I did this several times but when I had to do it into the tail wind I lost contact. I fought for the next lap to possibly regain contact, and I was close, but again when I hit the tailwind section on the slight uphill it was over. A few laps later a group of four of us had come together. 

We stayed together, taking turns at the front. I knew we weren’t going to be able to catch back on, but I was hoping that maybe with four of us we wouldn’t get caught. Every time we went through the finish line I looked at the head official expecting her to blow the whistle and tell us our race was over. Finally, we went through and I heard the bell ring announcing a prime. I figured this was it, we were about to be swallowed up. But I looked behind me, and I didn’t see the main group. Then I heard the announcer say the prime was for us. Interesting. So I figured I might as well get something out of the weekend and win this prime.

We came around the next lap, I was in second wheel, and with like 100 meters to go I took off sprinting. I crossed the finish line, winning the prime, but I looked back and nobody had done anything. I don’t think two of the guys in the group knew what was going on, and the fourth guy told me later he thought the prime was for the main group. Oh well, I won a case of recovery beverage… it’s the first time I’ve ever won anything in a bike race. ;)

The next time we came through we did get pulled, and thus ended my Tour of Austin experience. While I didn’t perform as well as I was hoping, I did have a great time. It was a great series of races. By the end of the last day I felt a lot more comfortable turning at speed, so honestly if that is the only thing I got from the weekend I call it a success. 

Now it’s time to start thinking about next year. I’ve made it through an entire season racing and training. I think have some base foundation upon which I can build real race fitness and really compete. We still have several weeks of the Driveway left to get some racing in, but for the most part my eyes are looking forward to going into next season full steam.

Saturday recap

The day started out well. Woke up, had some tea and breakfast, got ready, watched a little bit of the vuelta. We packed up the truck and started to head out to the race. But as I was driving out of our parking lot I realized I ran over something. Turns out it was my front wheel. Whoops. I had taken it off and leaned it against the truck, and forgot to put it in the truck. It now had no axle as I had managed to shear off one side of said axle.

Luckily, I had my old shimano front wheel upstairs, and it even had an unused tire and tube on it. So I threw that in the truck, and Carrie and I headed out.

Got warmed up, and the race started. I unfortunately lined up in the back, but I was able to quickly move up to around the middle. We started at the bottom of the corkscrew, and I kid you not, somebody crashed going up the corkscrew less than 30 seconds into the race. In fact, there were so many crashes in this race, it was hard to count. I had to pull a cyclocross move and go offroad for a bit because a crash pushed everybody to both sides of the course. It was sort of nutty.

But I survived with a pack finish. In all honesty, the race wasn’t that hard. I probably should have used more energy to get myself up closer to the front in the last few laps. I was a little hesitant to be up near the very front because I wasn’t sure how I’d handle the two over 90 degree turns at a faster speed. I usually went through that part of the course near the back, so I could see where I needed to be, and we were going much more slowly. 

Oh well, the next two days are much more classic crit courses. Flat with 90 degree turns. Should be fast races as there won’t be any course features slowing things down like today. So with my less than stellar time trial, and today’s pack finish I have yet to accomplish either of my two goals. However, there are two races left and I am confident I have the legs to reach my goals. And hopefully I won’t run over any more bike components! ;)

Time for sleep!

Getting Ready

This weekend (tomorrow, in fact) starts the Tour De Austin. One time trial and three criteriums. I am very excited, as I sort of circled this on the calendar a long time ago. I was very excited when Drew told me that he wanted this to be my big target for the summer. I’ve had a few training interruptions along the way, but I am feeling pretty good. I did my last ride early this morning… now all that’s left is to wait.

Have I ever mentioned that I’m not the world’s most patient person? ;)

I am not expecting to do too great at the time trial. I mean, I’m going to go out and give it my all, but I know there are some cat 4s out there with some bigger engines than me, and with probably nicer setups than me. It’s short, so the time differences aren’t going to be huge. The crits I think I have a better shot at. I had my best result of the year last week at the Driveway, so I think my legs are where they need to be.

I have two goals for the weekend. I would like to crack the top 10 in the one of the crits and I’d like to get myself some omnium points. I’m feeling confident, and I think I can get it done.

I have been drinking a lot of tea lately. Since I basically cut out coffee during the heart thing, I have been trying different types of tea to drink during the day. Some with caffeine, some without. While I was at Costco the other day I noticed they had nice little stainless electric pitchers on sale, so I got myself one. I love this thing. I can boil water at my desk and I don’t have to wait on the microwave down the hall anymore.

Well, that is it. I’ll post my race reports as the weekend goes on.

Progression

Last night at the Driveway I could tell my legs were tired. The previous two days of workouts were still there in my legs. I warmed up and things felt loose, but I could still feel some tiredness.

The race started and I was in great position. The first time around the top corners (both > 90 degrees) I slipped back some (because I was being a scaredy cat), but was still okay. Then I got trapped in the middle down on the bottom of the course and slipped back a lot. I had a bad feeling.

I spent the rest of the race gaining ground on the bottom part of the course, and then slipping back around the top turns and down the corkscrew. Then moving back up again… repeat repeat. I could feel my legs were a little shaky going around some of the turns, but I kept asking them to push me forward, catch me back up, and they kept delivering. 

The lap cards came out and I knew that I was going to be finishing this race no problem. Now I actually started to think how can I crack the top 20. (Cracking the top 20 has been my goal at the Driveway since before my little heart-induced “vacation.”) I knew that moving up a ton on the last lap would probably be tricky, so I should try to move up after I see 2 to go and try to hold more position going around the top turns on the last lap. 

Well, I did do the first part, but I slipped back again. However, it being a 4/5 race, there is a lot of looking around going on. So when we came down the hill on the last lap the people in front literally sat up. And of course, this meant they slowed down. Excellent. I moved up front-middle, and waited for the inevitable acceleration. There was a little move going around the big sweeper at the bottom, but no biggy.

We get to the final straight, and some people go on the left, then on the right. Unfortunately, I look up to see that I’m behind 4 people in the middle of the road who have decided their night is done. Argh!

I see enough space, get around the roadblock and start trying to jump from wheel to wheel moving up. There aren’t that many people in front of me, so I figure top 20 may be possible. So I give it everything I have, passing people who are sitting up, and even a few who aren’t. I even get out of the saddle for the uphill finish… hehe, it always looks silly to see somebody sprinting for, you know, 20th.

The race was over, I stayed upright, and I had the best finish of the year (and of my bike racing life). When the results were posted this morning, I discovered that I was 19th! Woohoo! While 19th in a cat 4/5 race may seem completely insignificant to a lot of people, this is a big deal to me. It’s the first time my name has been on a results sheet for any race that I have done. I know I am not a super star, but I have gotten consistently better, and it gives me faith that if I keep training maybe I will be able to upgrade to a 3. Maybe I will be able to actually win a race at some point. I don’t mind slow improvement as long as it’s improvement.

Now, of course, I have to end this by saying, regardless of the race results, doing all the bike training has made me feel so much better about myself. I’ve lost weight, I feel good, I’m more relaxed… these are all good things. But stuff like this is just icing on the cake!

Happy Friday!

Finally finished JiBW2

I had been meaning to do this for a while. While I enjoyed taking all the pictures, it got to feel more like a burden toward the end. I also felt like I was stuck in a rut. Oh well, I got all the shots up, check them out on my flickr sets page. Here are the overall top 5:

The Anxious 32-year-old Whisperer

I’m not sure where this show would be popular, but I’m thinking it would have a limited audience, more of a niche thing.

Anyway, the main point is that if you ever have seen an episode of the Dog Whisperer where he has a very anxious dog, he always ask the owners how often they walk and exercise their dog. Most of the time the answer is not many.

I’m like those dogs.

As I’ve been trying to find a more peaceful every day existence since all my little palpitation business, I have realized that regular exercise makes such a huge difference for me. The past few weeks riding my bike daily again I really felt calm and relaxed.

However, I don’t have my bike right now. Friday my right side just hurt, so whatever. Saturday I had a very relaxing day having fun. Sunday Carrie came back home from her trip, and all was good. But Sunday night… I started feeling anxious. The crazy thing is, I don’t know even know about what I was feeling anxious. But I could tell.

Bottom line, I think I need the exercise. It tires me out some, helps me to release nervous energy, helps me to quiet my mind. Well, at least somewhat. If you think I talk a lot in person, you should hear what goes on my head. Sheesh.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to getting my bike back tomorrow. I know I could go run, or workout at the gym or whatever, but those aren’t as fun to me as riding my bike. That’s the great thing, I find it fun and enjoyable, and it helps to me calm and peaceful. All in all, it’s not a bad way to keep things in check and to keep me worry-free.

Not the Ending I was Looking For

So yeah. Tonight wasn’t going that well. I had moved up at on point, and I felt the effort from that for the next lap. It looked like I was getting dropped but then the pack slowed down. I figured, one good burst of effort and I’ll be back in contact. Okay, let’s do this. So I did. Unfortunately right as I was really getting back to everybody I went around a turn, stood up to sprint out of it and…

CLACK

Down I go, sliding across the pavement. I stopped decently fast, could feel that nothing was broken and hopped up. Luckily, I had been at the back of the pack so I didn’t take anybody else down with me.

I clipped a pedal. Ugh. My only consolation was that I did it because I wasn’t letting myself give up and just get dropped. Unfortunately I was also somewhat cooked, so I wasn’t being as careful as I should have been.

Don’t worry though, the bike is fine. Well, I think. I think the back wheel got knocked out of true. The handle bar tape is toast, but I needed to replace that anyway. Honestly, the bike needed a trip to Austinbikes for a once over/tune up, so now it’s definitely going.

Oh, and I’m okay. I have some raspberries on my right thigh, and my right elbow has two nice brushburns. The sting is starting to go down, and I have some tegaderm on the two ones on my elbow, as they are the worst. Sleeping tonight may be a little tricky, and I showering was a tad unpleasant. 

So my streak of getting caught up in wrecks and not going down has come to an end. Better tonight by myself then in a few weeks at the Tour of Austin in the middle of the pack. Unfortunately crashing in bike racing is a “when” not an “if” issue, so I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Well, this sort of changes my weekend riding plans. I need to take the bike in and get it fixed up. I’m hoping that I (and the bike) will be ready to go on a nice long ride on Sunday, but obviously until I get the bike working I’m sort of sidelined.

Oh well, road rash heals quickly, so no biggy. 

Tahoe Pictures and Assorted Thoughts

So first and foremost, I have posted the pictures from our Lake Tahoe trip. That place is absolutely beautiful:

We really had a great time at Ruth’s wedding, and it was great getting to hang out with people who don’t get to see very often at all.

Two days ago I woke up at 6 AM and went ride my bike. This had several advantages: 1) it was much cooler and 2) I was done with my ride by 8 AM. However, Tuesday night was pretty tired. We did trivia at the Flying Saucer on Tuesday night, so between some beverages during trivia and my early rise/exercise, I was pretty exhausted when we got home.

Tonight is the Driveway. I believe it’s the elevation loop. It’s not the easiest course to move up on if you slide to the back, so I am really going to have to focus on not sliding to the back to begin with. It really takes consistent effort. Somebody told me once if you aren’t passing somebody then somebody is passing you. Maybe that’s true. Regardless, I really need to be aware of that. Last week resting for a few seconds turned into moving 10 people backward. Can’t let that happen.

Last night I made an Okra and Shrimp masala. It turned out really delicious, though a bit spicy for Carrie’s palate. I thought it was fantastic. I took the fresh okra and cooked it super hot in some olive oil to de slime it, then threw in the onions, bell pepper, and seeded and deveined serranos. Gave that a bit to sauté, then put in the garam masala, anchum powder, and cumin that we have acquired for our neighborhood Indian grocery. Added a canned of fire-roasted stewed tomatoes and the shrimp, and boom, done. It was fantastic.

Today I am having a cup of coffee. Not very much. It’s mostly almond milk. But I was really craving for some coffee. I have really been enjoying my tea, but I still like the taste of coffee, and decided I’d give it a go today. I don’t think coffee was the cause of any of my heart/stress issues, but I don’t necessarily think it was helping. I have felt much more relaxed the last week and a half, so I figured a little coffee wasn’t going to hurt anything.

Labor day weekend is the Tour of Austin. Four days of racing (1 time trial, 3 crits) around Austin and my first real racing goal since I started this whole thing in February. The next few weeks I’m putting my training as a top priority, and I plan on putting more strictness back in my diet. Since I have achieved my weight goal, for the most part, I have been a little less strict with the diet the past two months. However, I really want to put good fuel in the next few weeks before the race.

I guess that’s it, hopefully I’ll have some good news from the Driveway tonight. Take it easy, everybody!

Back to the Driveway

What a great night out at the Driveway. Yes, I finished with the pack after 4 weeks of not racing (modest comeback goal achieved, woot!). Yes, I felt great cornering and with my handling. But that wasn’t what really made the evening.

A year ago, a man named Kevin Underhill got in a bad wreck at the Driveway, and unfortunately died a few days later. His heart, however, was used in a transplant for somebody in Austin. 

Well, tonight, the guy who received the heart was there and led us around a neutral lap before our race started as our “pace car” so to speak. It was pretty amazing to be part of something so … movie like. It’s nice to see such a horrible tragedy have a good side, and it was interesting to be a part of that in just a little way.

Good night!

In Perpetual Search of Continual Productivity

This is an issue I have had for a while. While I feel over the long term I am productive, I always feel like I could be more productive in the short term. Or more accurately, I could have more guilt-free time if I could consistently be productive ever day. I am always looking for ways to basically force myself into this. Will power is overrated, as Jillian Michaels once said on The Biggest Loser, and I know that this is the case. Every so often, you are going to cave, unfortunately.

So I stumbled upon an interesting article on being a productive academic. I’ve read articles on this topic before, and I often find them preachy and written by people who seem to have no problem running on full gas all the time and who can just work work work. That’s not me. I am easily distracted, and well, at times lazy. 

However, very quickly in the article he points out that he 1) has lots of things going on outside of his academic life and 2) is lazy. I was starting to like this article already.

The key thesis is to reduce the barriers to being productive so that is the steady state. And make things that get in the way of productivity have higher cost. Effectively, make being productive the laziest thing you can do at any given point in time.

He talks about many of the issues that plague me, but one in particular gets me: the dreaded web browsing loop. Keep checking sites over and over. I find myself doing it without realizing sometimes. My laptop now has an edited /etc/hosts file. Again, willpower is overrated, I need something to break the cycle. You feel real silly when you go to facebook (sorry Harry) and see a 404 message staring you in the face. 

There are other tips in the article, and I plan on using many of them. Some of them don’t quite fit my/our life, but many of them do. Right now things are pretty easy to manage work-wise, but I hope to be a professor some day, and I know the number of things to juggle will increase dramatically. However, I don’t feel the solution is throw every waking hour at work. That can’t be the solution. Not all the time, not 365. I need to be more efficient, more productive on a regular basis. 

I figure if I can give up cheese and lose almost 40 pounds, I can get more work done, right?