Mike's Bike Blog

Jack and me headed down to Floresville, TX to partake in the 2010 edition of the Texas State Individual Time Trial (ITT) Championships. This was both of our first times to compete at this event. Jack was in the 10-12 year old division and I was signed up for the 35+ 4/5.

Jack was scheduled to roll out around 7am, so we had an early wake up call. We actually drove down to Spring Branch and stayed with a Cousin Angie so we only had an hour drive to Floresville from there.  For Jack his goal was to ride the 6 mile course and average 17 miles an hour.

On the ramp he did great, he was one of the few boys in his division to actually clip in before the start and roll down clipped in. The would either have only 1 foot clipped in or no feet clipped in. He thought the ramp was cool and got a kick out of it. He was off and I patiently waited for him, 21 minutes later he was on the horizon and finished in 21:29 and average 17.32mph!

Next year he'll need to average 20 mph to get to the podium, the winner averaged 21.97, 2nd: 19.89 and 3rd 19.8mph. He was happy with his result.

We had 2 1/2 hours till I rolled out at 11am, at 10 I unpacked my bike and got it set up. Art had loaned me his Mavic Carbone front wheel for a little added aerodynamics and I had a wheel cover for my Mavic OpenPro PowerTap equipped wheel. By 10:15 I was ready to start my warm up. As I started I quickly realized I was not getting any power readings. After fiddling with it a little bit there was no signal coming from the hub. A perfect time to have the batteries die!

All I could do was shrug it off, all my pacing was by watts and speed. Since I hadn't ever ridden the course I was going to be relying on the power a little more. Without it all I had to gauge myself on was speed. Going into the race I had 2 goals, to break an hour for the 40K and place in the top 10. I figured if I broke an hour it would be a given into the top 10.

I was slotted to roll 3rd from last, in fact I was suppose to be Enrique's 30 second rabbit, but due to a crash he wasn't able to compete. The person behind him didn't show either I don't think so I was left to run sweeper for the course. While watching the others roll out  I noticed the wind for the first time. During Jack's race there was hardly any wind, same with some of the earlier starts. Of course now that it was 11am not only did we get the heat but the wind too.

Finally it was my time to go and that I did. I tried to pace myself the best I could based on feel. After a few turns to get out of town I soon saw my 30 second carrot. I caught him a lot faster than I was expecting and blew past him. This worried me a little as I might be going to hard. One other thing I should mention is that the only thing I new of the course was that the promotor said there was about 300 feet of ascent for the 40K. Thus I was expecting a fairly flat course.

The further out of town I was getting the hills were rolling, nothing big, but more of them than I was expecting. Without knowing what was coming I didn't know if I should go hard up and have time to recover on a down hill. To complicate things the wind was kicking up and it wasn't a direct headwind, but a combination headwind and crosswind. As my speed started to plummet down from 26 mph. I made the decision to attack the hills and hope there was a downhill to recover.

Around mile 11 I caught my 1 minute guy and made the turn, looking at my average speed it had dipped down to 23 mph. I had hoped there would be a tailwind and in some cases there were but for the most part it was a crosswind. Not only that but when it would gust up it would catch my wheel cover and push me to the left so I was fighting a bit to stay straight. Now on the way back all those glorious downhills I used to catch my breath were now uphills. The course was relentless. I caught a few more riders and passed them but as I was making my way through town the 1 hour mark ticked off and I still had .6 miles to go. It was at this point it was the first time I could feel how tired my legs were. My speed was suffering and I was losing focus. I had to gather myself, if I didn't step up I was quickly loosing my second goal of a top 10 finish.

My final time was 1:01:44 with an average speed of 24.10 mph for a 7th place finish. Not bad, if I would have broken the 1 hour mark I would have placed second. I was expecting a time between 57:30 to 59:59. My first thought was not having the power data had cost me by not allowing me to pace myself. On reflecting I don't think not having the power data was the issue, but in all actuality not pre-riding the course was the biggest issue.

The highlight of the trip to Floreseville wasn't my 7th place finish, but after my race as Jack and me were walking back to the car he says to me, "This weekend has been so fun, it was better than being allowed to play the Wii all day, eat junk food and sit on the coach."

Jack's weekend wasn't over, on Sunday he and Ethan competed in the Inspire Kids to Tri here in Cedar Park. Jack finished 3rd in the 9-10 year old division. Ethan did great too, he finished 23rd in the same 9-10 year old division.

Check out some pictures we took of the ITT on Facebook.

This was the final race in the 1379 Kids Tri series for Jack and the 1st triathlon for Zeb and Ethan. Zeb competed in the 5-6 year old division and Ethan was in the 9-10 year old division with Jack. The Hill Country Tri also has a parent division as well where the parents time is added to the kids time to form a team. Initially the plan was for Jennifer to compete since she's been swimming and running on a consistent basis again since coming back from a lingering ITB injury.

Two weeks before the race she pulled a muscle in her shoulder and wasn't able to get into the pool and the possibility of competing wasn't looking good. I stepped in to save the day. In the 2 weeks leading up to the race I got into the pool twice just to make sure I could still float and I ran 1/2 mile that first week. I had hoped to get a little more training in but with birthday's and work deadlines I wasn't able to get more in, thus I was a bit worried, mainly for the swim.

The race was in Kyle, TX and had a 5:30am check-in time for a 7am start, thus we had a 3:00 am wake up call. We got marked, picked up chips and set up in the transition. It was here that I learned that Zeb's run was longer than what I had thought. The 5-6 year olds were running the same course as his brothers, a .6 mile run. I had thought it was a 600 meter run for some reason. Zeb was in the first wave of kids and did a good job on the swim and got through the transition and headed out on the bike for a 1/2 mile out and back. The first half is on a slight uphill.

He quickly returned and was onto the run. He started out like a firecracker. Jennifer yelled at him to slow down and pace himself as it looked like he would fizzle out at the pace he was setting. He crossed the finish line in 16:12.81, for a 4th place finish.

While Zeb was out on the running course I ran over to watch Jack enter the pool to start his race. He looked really strong in the swim and I could tell his endurance from swimming all summer had paid off. He improved his swim time and also improved his transition time as well. Both Jack and Ethan had to do 1 lap of the course which was 2.6 miles long. Jack road a personal best for any of the other Tri's he'd done, beating his speed by 2 mph.

With Jack out on the bike course and Zeb done it was Ethan's turn in his 1st triathlon. He got through the swim, not the fastest but that was to be expected as he just this summer passed through the Nitro swimming lessons and just got on the Nitro swim team. As he was getting on the bike course the volunteer wouldn't let him out on the course and fiddled with the straps to his helmet. I was surprised at this as beforehand I double checked the fit of his helmet. I had him bend over, there was no slippage and when he came back up it stayed in place. The chin strap looked good as well, there was a little clearance, about a finger and a half. Well the volunteer would grab it and pull it up and I guess he didn't like it so he messed with it for 2-3 minutes. In the end I don't think he made any adjustments before letting him proceed out onto the bike course. Once Ethan got through the bike course he was off on the run and onto completing his first triathlon!

There was 1 more wave of kids between me and my first triathlon. The time came way too fast, luckily I was seeded next to last so I figured I wouldn't have too many people passing me. There was only 1 other person behind me by the numbers, but there were a few other competitors that didn't feel comfortable with their starting position and moved to the back.

Finally the time of reckoning I got the go signal and took off and jumped into the water and started my swim. I actually caught and passed a few other swimmers. About 1/2 way through as I got to the end of a lane I needed to pass the person in front of me. She ducked under the lane line as I pushed off and attempted to streamline under the lane line to come out ahead of her in the other lane. I didn't quite make it and whacked my head pretty hard on the lane line. I finally made it through the swim, now I knew the likelihood of finishing the tri was at 98%.

I ran to my bike and started my transition to the bike. This included putting on socks and my bike shoes along with my number and helmet. As I was attempting to put on my socks my legs were wobbly. This made putting on my socks and shoes difficult.

As I got out onto the course I saw a guy in a Joe's Pro skin suit, I heard him telling someone that he had the fastest bike leg in last years race. I figured he would be a good rabbit. My plan was to average about 95% of my RunFar power, which is 107% of my FTP. The course had 2 roundabouts to negotiate which normally wouldn't be a big deal, but getting around them with other people weaving through the road I braked more than I would normally to get around them. After the first turnaround I caught and passed the Joe' s Pro rider. After the next turn around with my average power now at 110% of my FTP I decided I better hold back a little so I have something left for the run. On the 2nd and final lap the section with the roundabouts was pretty clear so I didn't have to slow up. I think I scared the volunteers as I entered the roundabouts at over 20 mph as I don't think most people carried that much speed thru.

Now all I had to do was run the 1.2 miles. The first .3 miles of course are on a slight grade. The first lap was the hardest, my legs didn't want to cooperate. When I returned to the start the boys were there to cheer me on and run with me. I turned around for the 2nd lap while the boys ran with me. Not sure if my legs finally opened up or it was the fact that the boys were watching that kept me going and not walking. The final bit the boys ran with me egging me on with the promise of shaved ice afterwards.

I got my shaved ice and we waited for the results to be posted and the awards ceremony. When results went up my overall wasn't that great and figured we were out of contention for a family award. I did place 4th in the bike, 1 minute and 20 some seconds behind Kevin Livingston. Not too shabby, but wish I wouldn't had held back. Upon looking back I don't think I could have ran any slower so I should have went harder on the bike.

When Zeb and me didn't win in the 5-6 year old parent category I figured Jack and I wouldn't win anything. I was totally surprised to hear our team being called for the 9-10 year old parent category for 3rd place.

Everybody had a good time and the boys are raring to do more races, me on the other hand I didn't get bit by the tri bug. I could see doing another family tri as they are short enough that I don't have to train for the swim or the run. If I was going to do a full on triathlon I wouldn't mind doing a relay where all I had to do was the bike portion.

This past Sunday saw me compete in the Fredericksburg Road Race for the first time. I'd heard good things about the course, that it was hilly and challenging. Oh and for the record it's not in Fredericksburg, but 23 miles outside of town in Doss. We had a full field in the 35+ 4/5 with 72 preregistered for the race. The course is billed as hilly with cattle guards and low water crossings and a rolling enclosure. So as long as you stayed between the follow car and the wheel truck you had the whole lane to race, which is good cause most of the roads were quite narrow.

I was looking forward to this race as it would be the first time to race with fellow Southwest Cycle Sport teammate Jeremy Humble. He's a very strong rider, last years State TT champion. The course was on a 22 mile loop and we were doing it 2 times so we'd get to enjoy the King of the Mountain (KOM) hill twice, but unfortunately in our race there was no KOM points like there was in the Pro 1/2 race. Our's was just for bragging rights I suppose. Of all the low water crossings there was 1 that had water and we got the warnings on it. As we got started we left at a mellow pace, even after the neutral roll out. Not sure what people were thinking, we might have had too many city boys up front because when we would come to a cattle guard we'd almost come to a stop. This was very nerve-racking as I heard someone say there were 31 cattle guards on the route. I didn't verify that number but I'd say that it is probably right.

As we hit the KOM I was still up near the front so I felt good at my positioning till I looked to see who was near me and noticed that I was boxed in by big guys. These were the guys that rushed up to the front in the hopes of not getting dropped by the time they slid off the back of the hill. I quickly shot through openings and got clear of them as not to slide down the KOM with them as they were shot out the back. The pace up the KOM wasn't bad at all. Near the top however, my back tire started to feel weighted down and spongey. At the top I asked the guy riding behind me if my tire was flat and he confirmed what I was afraid of, I was in the beginning stages of a flat.

Luckily there was neutral wheels as I didn't bring my backups as I don't have a usable cassette for them. I pulled to the side, sipped some water. Shifted to the 11 cog, looked back for the wheel truck. Took the rear wheel off, waited for what seemed like an eternity as the last of the clydesdales crested the KOM and the wheel truck finally got there. The tire change was real fast once they got there, but I was about 4 minutes down on the leaders as I found myself DFL.

I quickly caught the first group of clydesdales lumbering up the rollers as my goal now was to see if I could Time Trial my way back to the main group. I mean why let my good form go to waste. Which I should point out this was a B race for me, so I did do a mini taper for it, so I had high hopes on a good finish. I was flying in most cases hitting 28 or 29 mph and only the rollers would slow me down.  The nice thing about being solo was I didn't have to slow down for the cattle guards. On the first lap I passed a former Discovery Channel rider, but I blew by him and all I could make out was he was in a Team Discovery jersey. With 3 miles to go on the first lap was the big hazard on the course, the low water crossing with water. There was only about 2 inches of water in it, but we were warned it was fairly slick even though it had been scrubbed to get the algae off several times. As I flew down the hill leading up to it volunteers gave the universal sign to slow down by pushing their hands down. I could see one rider on the ground with officials around him. He wasn't getting up, I later heard that 1 rider was taken away by ambulance with a broken leg. There was quite a pileup when he went down. This wasn't my first water crossing so I knew what to expect as I went through it and more importantly how to pedal out when I had cleared the water.

On the 2nd time up the KOM  I caught and passed big George Hincapie in his full BMC kit. I wasn't attacking the KOM hill, I was going at a moderate pace, in fact I couldn't attack, it seemed whenever I'd stand to attack the cassette and chain would slip. Remember I'm not using my own wheel because of the wheel change so my chain and the cassette aren't use to each other. So all I could do was sit and spin my way up. I didn't seem to have any big issues when I was in the 53T and pushing the higher gears. That left only 1 other rider I needed to beat and that was either Chris Horner or Levi Leipheimer wearing their full Team Radio Shack kit. Low and behold off in the distance I could see 2 riders working together and one in a bright red kit. I suspected this was indeed the Radio Shack rider, one problem the 2 seemed to be working well together and I couldn't reel them in as quickly as I had hoped. It took awhile but I closed the gap and at the low water crossing I knew they were mine. Especially when the non Radio Shack rider got off his bike to walk through the water. And yet again there was a rider down in the water, well I suspect he went down, he might have just decided to take a break from the heat and humidity. I pass the Radio Shack rider on the hill coming out of the low water crossing, but I still can't stand and power up the hill. This lets him stay in contact with me on the final 3 miles.

When we make the left turn for the final approach to the finish, I now believe it was Levi as I think Chris is racing in Europe, so Levi passes me. I grab his wheel. He's pretty big and seems like he has a much better finishing sprint than I do. So my strategy is to get him to start his sprinter further out. With about 800 meters to go I act like I'm winding it up and pull to the outside and act like I'm going to go. He takes the bate and starts his sprint, I get back into his draft. With about 150 to go, I come out of his draft as he starts to slow and start my pounce. Only as I look up a truck pulling a horse trailer that has been stopped by the officials decides he's had enough and pulls around the cars stopped at the finish line and proceeds to take 1/2 of our lane! Since I was going on the outside this was directly in my path, not wanting to be a splatter on his bug guard I pulled up and moved over to the right. So I lost a spot to Levi Leipheimer, instead of 40th I got 41st out of 63 finishers.

My placing wasn't where I wanted it to be, but I had good legs and felt fine on my 41 mile solo effort. Next time I might have to try a solo effort again, but instead of going solo off the back I think I'll go solo off the front. The other great joy I had in the race was to see a steaming fresh cow patty in the middle of the road with bike tires through it. I saw a couple of these and especially the first one, really made my day as I pictured the peloton rolling through that. I wonder who got it worse the guy who rolled through it with his $2400 wheels or the rider directly behind him.

The Dillo has a special place in my heart, it was my first century ride and each year the family gets out for the Kids & Family ride (2009 report). It's a great value for $15 the entire family rides and gets the t-shirts and goodie bags. The only downside is that it's in Bertram, which is a little further than the regular start of Liberty Hill. This year it was going to be only Jack & Ethan accompanying me, Zeb had a soccer game so Jennifer would take him to his game while we rode.

Jack & Ethan at the start

We got to Bertram a little early, which was good as last year we were late because of Ethan's soccer game and rode alone. Getting out and getting the bikes ready the boys quickly realized it was much colder an windier than they were expecting and wanted to get back in the car. I told them once we got going we'd quickly warm up.

After some brief bike safety tips from the Austin Cycling Association we had a full sheriff escort out of town. We were positioned at the front and were directly behind the Sheriff. As we got out of town Ethan started slowing down. He was quickly falling behind I dropped back to him to see what was going on. We started to get passed and the next thing I realize when I looked up Jack and the Sheriff were out of sight. I finally coaxed Ethan to pick up the pace and on the first hill he finally did, catching at least a few of the people that passed us. When we came to the first turn I saw the Sheriff's car and thought he was directing traffic as we had to make a left turn, then I saw a group of riders and a rider down and it was none other than Jack.

Apparently he took the turn too fast and too wide and crashed into the ditch. He was holding his leg. He had some scratches on the outside of his leg from where he went down, a bruise on his inside right leg where he probably hit the top tube and his shorts were littered with stickers and cactus. He didn't go down on the road surface he found a nice cactus patch to cushion his fall.

He has a high Jens factor as he stood up and we picked the cactus and stickers off his butt and he got back on the bike to finish off the Dillo. We kept it at a reasonable pace and told him to wait for us if he gets too far ahead.  After a mile or so he said he was 100% and I asked him and Ethan if we should kick it up a little and try to catch some of the riders that passed us that we could see in the distance. They responded with a resounding yes. We formed a paceline and brought our speed up. We caught a group of riders as they were pulling into a rest stop. After catching our breath and a shot of water we pushed on.

Ethan was riding Jack's mountain bike as it has a triple and figured he would be able to tackle any of the hills we would encounter better with it than his 1x6. I think he was thankful on the last hill to have the granny gear. He was pleased with himself when he got to the top that he made it.

We made it back without incident and the boys said they had a good time, even Jack. In fact Jack was quite happy and was proud to have his first crash. If you're going to ride and race bikes crashing is part of it. I was proud of his attitude about it, instead of giving up and not wanting to ride anymore he came to the realization that crashing can happen and not to fear it. We talked about it on the way home and came up with a plan that we'd work on his cornering more on his road bike.

The Armadillo was great again this year and can't wait to do it again next year, although the boys are starting to outgrow the 6 mile distance. I know Jack has and by next year Ethan will have as well. With the amount of riding Zeb has been doing lately he will be ready for tackling the longer distances as well. After dinner Zeb and I go out for a 3-4 mile ride so the 6 miles is well within his reach.

The course on tap for the Thursday Driveway Race Series was the notorious City Loop. You may recall from last year this was the course for my only forray into the Driveway last year and I got pulled at the end. I was going for a little redemption this time.

It just wasn't meant to be. I got clipped in quickly from the start line and was ready to go but after the first turns I found myself engulfed by the surge of riders and on the only straightaway I could see the main group slowly starting to pull away.  Small pockets were forming of riders as the field was getting strung out and there I was way in the back. For the next few laps I made my way around guys but with the number of turns that was proving difficult as they would slow so much around the corners. I finally cleared the last of the pack filler that had been shot off the back only to realize I wasn't closing the gap to the lead group. So I rode solo averaging 24.3 mph which was no picnic do to the wind. One nice thing at least with riding solo I didn't have to hit the breaks at all through the corners I could hold a smooth line and a consistent speed.

Towards the end I started to lap riders but still not making any progress on closing the gap. As I was passing a group of 4 or 5 riders at the start/finish the officials told us we were done. To say I was disappointed is an understatement, I was still maintaining 24 mph at that point and the likelihood that I was going to get caught by the field was very low. I could still see the back of them, granted I wasn't going to catch them but I wasn't going to be in the way.

On Sunday Jack competed in his 2nd Triathlon of 2010 and the 2nd in the 1379 Kid's Tri Series. Jack improved all his times in the swim, bike and run.

Swim: 2:58.7
Bike: 12.7 mph
Run: 5:13.696 (8:42.8 min/mi)
Total Time: 24:38.616 (+5:48.476)

Some fancy wheels and bikes

Jennifer, Zeb & Jack

I'm not really sure where to start, I had hoped to have a grand report on my first race  in a 3/4 race where I finished with the pack. Heck I'd even settle for finishing but that wasn't in the cards today. There were 64 of us rolling out on one of the windiest days I've seen in Texas. Let me set the scene a little in case you're not familiar with the Manda area. It's about 20 miles East of Austin, it's fairly flat farm land. No trees to provide any protection from the wind.

Before the start I was getting some sage advice from Enrique, Chuck and even Scott stopped to offer some tips for the wind. They all had raced earlier in the day. The main conclusion was the wind was blowing from the worst possible direction for the course. For the first 300 meters there was a crosswind till the right hand turn heading up to the church where it was a blistering headwind. About 3 1/2 miles in during a crosswind section I'm not sure what happened but somebody went flying into the field. There was a scramble and the race was on. We went feverish for the next 2 miles and then guys started to get popped off the back. More and more were losing contact and then it happened, the wheels in front of me were starting to let the gap get bigger and when I was able to get around it was a done deal. The field dangled in front of me, taunting me but I could not muster enough to bridge the gap in the wind.  On the long stretch on Wells Rd I came upon a UT rider all alone, I slowed down and offered my wheel. There was a small group of 4 or 5 between us and the field. I did my best to pull and as I was burning up he would pull we started trading pulls and then I had nothing else in the legs. After the next right turn it was into the wind again head on.

As I rolled through Manda the school house lot was filling up with 3/4's dropping out. I marshaled on, as I turned into the wind there were guys turning around and heading back to their cars. I figured I had 1 more lap in me if I had to solo it the entire time. I made my way all the way through the headwind section again passing a rider or two most were from the shattered Cat 5 field. As I was making the right turn I saw a group of 5 or 6 coming up behind me. I slowed up and caught on. They didn't seem to organized, in fact at first I didn't see any rotation and only a couple riders were pulling through. We finally got organized into a 5 man echelon after we seemed to have lost a guy or two. I did get yelled at for pulling through too hard once. 

On the crosswind on Wells Road I got to witness firsthand on how to gutter someone to get them out of the group. Not sure if this was intentional or not, but after I got done with my pull I fell back but the other 4 fanned out across the road. When I fell back I didn't realize it till I got all the way back and was right at the yellow line. There was no draft and it only took a matter of seconds to completely blow up and lose contact. Like I said I'm not sure if it was intentional or not but it was executed perfectly if it was.

Once again I was on my own. As I passed the School House I stopped when I saw Chuck standing around eating BBQ I suspected. He goaded me to do at least 1 more, even he did 3 laps. I trudged onward for another lap. I made the fateful turn into the headwind. The wind seemed to be stronger this time. I was going down hill and only mustering 11 mph and I was at 150% of my threshold power. The wind hit me with a sucker punch, it whipped up and smacked me across the face. My sunglasses flew off my face. For a brief second I contemplated leaving them, you can't turn around in a race. Since I was practically at a standstill I turned to retrieve them. I could see my car and with the tailwind I figured I had had enough for the day.

You got to know when to fold and this was one of those times. I had already racked up enough of a training stress score (TSS) for the day. One thing I didn't want to do was completely blow my self and leave my body in a state where I'd have to take consecutive days off to recoup plus be vulnerable to any sickness that my kids might bring home.

2009 Ronde Von Manda Report

The Manor course was 3 laps for a total of 36 miles, it was the same course as the Cronometro Time Trial so I knew it well. In fact I had a plan going in. The plan was to try and get free and clear with a small group on the hill on the first lap. I had it all worked out in my head, ran it over a few times the night before and on the way to the race.

My plan started to unravel during warm ups. I was out on the road warming up when my tires felt a little low on the PSI. Of course this is the first race I forgot my floor pump but Jack & Adams had a tent set up for such an occasion. After I got some air I walked over to the portapotties crossing the open field and to my dismay my shoes and tires were covered in "mud". Well I'm hoping it was mud anyway with the number of horses that were there at the Cronometro start I'm not too sure. The mud was so bad my tires stopped rolling. I went back over to my car and with a rag wiped down the tires and had to take a screw driver to the cleats to get the "mud" out of them.

Staging for the race was starting but there was still 15 minutes so I took a quick spin to make sure my tires would spin and I could get clipped in. Upon returning to the start line the field was amassed so I had to settle in at the back.

We rolled neutral for the first .24 miles and as we passed the neutral zone the attacks started and the pace quickened as we jumped from 20 mph up to 27.4 mph. Talking with a few folks afterwards this really thinned people out. About 62 started and I believe 40 of them finished. So back to my plan, I couldn't get good positioning to get upfront where I'd need to be to launch an initiative. Plus the wind wasn't bad but was coming from a direction I wasn't expecting, we had a crosswind on the long 4 mile stretches and a head wind on the hill section and a tailwind on the 2 mile stretch to the finish. With the headwind on the hill and my position I was content to sit back on the first lap to see how everyone handles the course and the elements. A rider would attack here and there, getting up the road no more than 10 seconds. With the tail wind we easily reeled in the break but then someone else gave it a go and once again got a 10 second gap.

On the second lap I was still mid to back of the field, sitting in trying to get out of the wind as best I could and avoid any cracks in the road. A rider to my right failed to hold his line and we knocked handle bars, luckily neither of us went down. This was all I needed to motivate me to move up in the pack and while everyone was hugging the yellow line to seek shelter from the cross wind I blistered it up the right to move up. As we made the turn into the wind I found myself up at the front. A Wooly Mammoth rider didn't like the gap and was trying to organize everyone to chase it down and took off. I wanted a free ride to the hill so I jumped on his wheel. He took me and everyone else almost to the base of the hill. About 600km to the hill I was up front and pulling everyone. I wasn't pulling hard I knew we'd catch the breakaway rider on the hill so I shut it down as I was expecting a throw down on the hill.

Glad I read it right because on the hill Kevin Kimbell and the rest of the Brain & Spine crew set a stiff pace up the hill and I caught onto the train. I believe we had a small gap but we couldn't do anything with it and was caught in the crosswind. The Shama Cycles crew came up on the left side to let their presence be known and I figured the teams were getting ready to duke it out. There was a K.O. when a Brain & Spine rider and a Shama Cycle rider crossed wheels sending them into the ditch. The Shama guy seemed to get the worse end of the deal as he got airborne. Hopefully both are ok. In a show of unity the Shama team stopped for their fallen comrade and I don't believe they finished the race.

I had another close call on this stretch when a rider to my left leaned into me to protect myself I shoved him off me with my elbow and shoulder. He shot me a dirty look, hey if you're going to invade my space I'm going to protect myself by all means neccessary. For this reason I ride in the drops most of the time during races, from what I've noticed I'm one of the only people doing this, most everybody is up on the hoods until someone is attacking and then the go to the drops.

The separation we got after the crash didn't last long and as we made the turn for the final lap we were all together. I made sure I was up front to make sure I could get in with any group that tried to get away. I figured the last lap is when people would try to make a move. As soon as we made the turn the attacks started to come, short little bursts one after another as someone would try to go but nothing was getting away. Kevin Kimbell was the most prolific attacker but he was heavily marked. As we hit the hill I braced myself for more of the good stuff, but I was surprised nobody attacked and I wasn't in a position to give it a shot.

When we were about 5 or 6 miles from the finish I told Enrique Varela (NWCC) this is when we should go but we were fairly boxed in. The field was saving their energy for the sprint at the finish and it was just far enough out that I don't think anybody would have been expecting an attack or at least expecting it to stick.  In the next mile sure enough the pace picked up as everybody was jostling for position for the final sprint. The road to my left started to open up so took the opportunity to try and regain some positioning. I wasn't the only one as I was moving up another rider had the same idea, but he didn't check his blind spot and ran right into me. He knocked me across the double yellow line briefly, he did apologize. As I regained my composure there was one problem, in the heat of battle I think I tensed up and it sent a cramp through my left quad. For the next few seconds I had to pedal it out. I thought for sure I was done but it lasted only 20 seconds or so and I was able to keep going but my position was lost.

As we made the final turn Enrique came around me and yelled some encouragement to get on. I got my second wind and sprinted to his wheel. For the final 1.73 miles I averaged 33.4 mph topping out at 42.5 mph. I was spinning my 12 for all it was worth but it had nothing left to give. For the final 300 meters I spun out averaging 35.3 mph. Enrique gave me a great lead out and as I came around him I gave him a thank you pat and a final word of encouragement for him.

When it was all said and done I finished 21st and I made it 2-1 in the Coke bet with Chuck. It was a great time. My pre race plan didn't come to fruition but my pack sense of the game is coming along and I'm finding that I can read the races. Up next is the Ronde Von Manda and I'm jumping into the 3/4 race which is twice as long as the 4/5!

With the change in daylight savings welcomes back the Driveway Race Series. I've raced at the Driveway 2 times before and had less than spectacular performances. This year I wanted to give it more of a shot and hopefully string a few more appearances than 1 per year.

For this first Driveway of 2010 I signed up for the 4/5 race, I didn't think I was ready to jump into the 3/4 race. I wanted to get at least 1 good showing in the 4/5 race and mainly get a handle of crit racing before throwing my spokes into that realm.

The race started like my previous 2, right from the start I lost my positioning and was finding myself at the emptiness and the silence with the silence of not having anybody behind me breathing down my neck. This time I was having difficulty getting clipped in, serves me right as I switched out my cleats that morning. Once I got clipped in I easily caught back on and moved into the middle of the pack. I used a tip I picked up from David Wenger in the Skills Clinic, I won't divulge it here, you'll have to sign up for the monthly clinic to get this gem. This was my first time doing the Grand Prix course so the first lap I made notes of what lines to follow through the turns and what to expect. Early on lap 2 or 3 I believe there was of course a crash. Not sure exactly what happened but a couple guys got tied up and went down a few bikes in front of me. I was able to safely maneuver around them and not lose contact with the main group. After that I caught onto Charles Bippert's (A.K.A Chuck) (Team Brain & Spine) wheel and followed him around most of the race. He and I have an ongoing bet, loser buys the other a coke. I figured my best bet was to follow his wheel till the end and hopefully out sprint him for the Coke.

This went on for a few laps, I'd lose his wheel and then catch back on or at least keep him within my sights, it's good practice for me because he seemed to have a knack for moving up through the field. Then I saw Andy Webb (Hotel San Jose) moving up in the pack. I jumped onto his wheel to see where he was going in such a hurry, it wasn't for the cookie prime as it was the previous lap. As we came through the finish the officials rang the bell and yelled something out, but it was as we passed them so I couldn't quite make it out. I thought I heard 3 to go, which didn't jive with the directions Andrew Willis gave us at the start. It never really materialized into a break, we were mainly up front just pulling everyone around. With the wind and the speeds we were going I didn't think we could get away anyway. It did give my family a good show as when I passed them I was in second place. On the backside of the course we got fully engulfed by everyone. I still had a good position, but that changed quickly. As we were approaching the hill I asked Andy if this was the last lap and when he confirmed it was and just like that my good positioning was done. On the approach to the hill I got boxed in and had to go way wide to try and make up ground. Of course on the next turn that leaves me to get pinched off which happened and I was left to watch the winning sprint. At this point there wasn't much reason to try to sprint for a few positions and risk something stupid, until Charles goes whipping by me. I tried to counter attack but he beat me by a bike length. In the end I averaged 26.1 mph. I felt good the entire time, I think it's time to give the 3/4 a go.

The night wasn't over for the Weiland's either. Jack had brought his road bike and he signed up for the Kid Fun Race. There were quite a few competitors in his field. From the gun he ran into the same problem as I did of getting clipped in. Plus he had to get around the littler ones rolling with training wheels. It took him 1/2 the lap before he really got going.



He can't wait for the next one. He hasn't been on his road bike much this winter, this was the first time in around 3 months so he was a little iffy on the shifting. It sounds like it was just what was needed to kick start his motivation again to get on the road bike. He's already talking about doing the next one. I suspect at some point this year he'll make the jump to the actual Junior race.



Here's some great pictures Dave McLaughlin and Michael Harris took:
Andy and me coming up the hill with me sitting in 3rd

Here's where the race for me was lost, when the Brain & Spin rider pulled everyone up to me I got swallowed up, should have attacked at this moment.

Action photo of Jack

The time trial is known as the race of truth, it's man and machine against the clock. Saturday was the first ever Cronometro Time Trial in Manor, TX (pronounced Main-or). I'd pre-rode the course the week prior so I knew what to expect. Of course the conditions were quite different, last week it was overcast with a strong headwind right from the start.

The conditions for the actual race on Saturday couldn't have been better, sunny skies and a little wind from the opposite direction. Going into it my goal was to hold 24 mph for the 12 miles getting me a 30 minute finish time. With the wind from the opposite direction it threw my pacing strategy out the wind. Instead of starting out conservatively I decided to jump right into it and make speed while I had the wind at my back. The tailwind allowed me to ward off David Wenger (Super Squadra) for 4 minutes. Enrique (NWCC), my 30 second lead out man, and me figured he'd catch me around 3 minutes. So when  I heard the sound of his bell letting me know he was passing rang out at around 4 minutes into it I had a small victory. I did turn it up a notch to chase after him but I didn't want to burn out and turned it back to my planned pace at the hill.

I didn't attack the hill, but rode it aggressive but not all out. I averaged 15.7 mph up the .6 miles, this strategy allowed me to get back up to speed quickly as I crested it. About 1 mph faster than the prior week when I pre-rode the course.

Everything was going to plan until I made the turn on the back stretch and hit the wind. I was struggling with the wind and caught myself losing concentration and was letting my speed drop. I had to dig deep and take it to the rollers. At least I wasn't the only one struggling with the head wind as I passed quite a few people on the back 4 mile stretch. It was close to the final turn when I could finally see Enrique.

The final 2 miles were kind of a blur as I was picking up my pace for the finish. I averaged 26.7 mph on the final stretch. In the end I placed 12th in the 30-39 age bracket and 40th overall, out of 150+ racers. I averaged 24.2 mph, beating my goal speed by .2 mph. The average speed from 7th to 11th was 24.9 to 24.4 mph. I passed more people than passed me. David won the whole darn thing averaging 27.9 mph, congratulations on the win!

I had a really good experience race wise from a pre-plan to execution I nailed it. I'm looking forward to the next one, rumor is there might be another Cronometro in July. Plus it's got me fired up for the Run Far Time Trials that will be starting up in April. I need to get me one of them bells David has on his bike, it was great.

Post ride shot of me, Andrew Collins and Alexis Hamilton