Spring Ahead and Speed Up

Loving the Maxxis Hors Category tire, great for training

Spring fever has struck for real, and never mind the road grit, this has been a glorious week of cycling. This is such an exciting time for cyclists, as we finally see ample riding opportunities on the horizon. Who cares if it's raining, as long as the temperatures are in the 40s or warmer.

I finally eked out a 100 mile+ mile week, and today I shed my jacket  and tights for the first time. It felt pretty strange to be suddenly so liberated, especially on the climbs.

As I headed up to Terpening Corners for me pre-work commute/workout, I noted with delight that my average speeds kept climbing, and then it just got better on the return trip down East Shore Drive, as a friendly tailwind pushed me all the way to work. I managed the 15 mile ride (900+ ft of vertical climb) averaging 20.9 mph, which was by far my fastest ride of the year. This has me wondering how much aerodynamics is a factor—my rain jacket  does flap around quite a bit, so riding without it probably does increase my speeds, but also, the wind direction is truly a wildcard variable. Either way, it feels good to be pushing the speeds up, especially as racing season is nearing.

Tuesday night racing starts up in a few weeks, and Hollenbecks is on the horizon, so I look forward to riding with others again soon.

Finally, AIDS Ride for Life 2010 Recap

From left to right, Walt, Steve, me, John and Hank. Taken by Mary Kaminsky right after arriving at Cass Park at 12:00 noon. Precisely.

It's been almost a month since the 2010 AIDS Ride for Life, and so before I forget any more details, finally here is a brief summary of yet another inspiring event. Thanks again to all of you who sponsored me and supported the Southern Tier AIDS Program. (Just a little disclaimer: Please note that I fully recognize that the AIDS Ride for Life is not a race! It just happens that group at the front of the pack tends to treat the last third of the ride as a fun competitive challenge.)

The weather was gorgeous, albeit a wee bit chilly, so I headed out with arm warmers and the hope that the day would warm up quickly. I had the chills pretty bad as I waited around at the Stewart Park pavilion, trying desperately to find a way of warming up. There were so many familiar and friendly faces, and the opening ceremonies once again reminded us all of our family members, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. (By the way, The Southern Tier AIDS Program will gladly accept donations any time of the year, and if you're not familiar with this terrific agency, just follow the link to learn about their many programs for an 8-county region of Central New York and the Southern Tier.)

We left at 7 am after a somber ceremony, and I headed out in the front of the pack and was quite surprised that I had no company until just before King Ferry, about 20 miles into the century, when I was joined by three cyclists who were not participating in the AIDS ride—they coincidentally chose to ride a century around the lake that day. (I found out later that the Out Spokin' group stopped to help a teammate who had a flat.) Included in this trio was Changxi, a Cornell Cycling Club and Tuesday night races regular, and a really nice guy. These gents kept me company until Union Springs, at which point Changxi and I dropped the others and were joined by Matt, a young, relatively new and very strong rider.

The three of us led the pack until the 55 mile point, when Changzi had a minor mechanical incident and went off the road. While he was surveying his body and bike for possible damage, I noticed the formidable train of strong cyclists heading our way. We took off quickly, but it didn't take long before we were caught, which was good news for my average speed and spirits. I felt great that I was able to ride strong with this bunch of riders, some from the Out Spokin' team, as well as a few Glenn Swan/Chris Cookies teammates. This group included Walt and Steve (Out Spokin') and John and Hank who you see in the photo.

From the 65 mile point, we were pacelining at a really good clip with about a dozen riders in the mix. By this time the weather was absolutely perfect, with only a light breeze, no humidity, and temps in the mid 60s. Hank was an incredibly strong and inspiring rider who effortlessly worked his way up and down the paceline, providing valuable coaching about when to slow down and when to accelerate. Thanks to the paceline and Hank's great coaching, we were able to maintain a very strong and consistent pace right to the end.

We stopped briefly for a nature break and a quick snack at Thee Amish Village, and then headed out for the last stretch. (I was off the bike for a cumulative 12 minutes.) Our lead group kept getting whittled down until there were about eight of us heading up that last tough Glenwood Pines hill, which is much easier if it's not coming at the 95 mile point of a century ride! After the climb, I looked back and realized that Hank and I gapped the rest of the group, but I had no time to think about this, since Hank turned on the afterburners and dropped me like a stone! He graciously allowed me to catch him, but as soon as I caught his wheel he dropped me again, and the once more just before we arrived at Cass Park.

Hank and I at the Cass Park finish line.

As you can see by this photo, I was only about 50 feet from Hank as we arrived at Cass Park, and needless to say, I was totally elated! This was by far the best single day I ever spent on a bike, and it was a real high point for my season. Fortunately I'll have plenty of opportunities to ride with this fun and friendly group next summer and on occasional weekend rides in between.

Hank and I arrived at precisely 12:00 noon, and we averaged 20.8 mph for the century, 1.1 mph faster than my last year's average. After downing my new favorite miracle substance Hammer Recoverite, followed by a restorative massage, then a beer and some kalamari with my new friends, I must say that I've rarely felt more alive!

Cascadilla Hill Climb

The annual Cascadilla Hill Climb was my last race of the year. Much like a tennis tournament, Glenn Swan paired up riders with similar abilities, and they faced off on the .35 mile, 204 vertical ft. climb up Cascadilla Park Place, the prettiest street in Ithaca, with plenty of switchbacks and steep bits. 


I won the first round, lost the second (against Peter Ozolins with an electric assist bike), won the third and fourth rounds, and finally lost my 5th round. By then I was just thankful that it was over. I love hills, but riding full bore on this ascent over and over was fairly brutal. I can't wait 'til next year, however!

Le Tour Challenge Recap

This year's MapMyRide/Le Tour Challenge competition was a memorable experience and certainly a high point of my summer. Thousands of people around the world took part and were encouraged to ride every stage day of this year's Tour de France and submit their gps data to compete for stage points. Only verifiable (gps) data was considered for stage points, but I suppose someone could mount their Garmin unit on a moped and fake it!

Obviously not everyone took this very seriously, but there were a bunch of us submitting rides almost every day of the Tour. I did this event last year and was the lucky winner of a Polar unit with heartrate and cadence. While I was dreaming of winning something fabulous like a new bike, a carbon wheelset, or a trip to France, my primary goal this year was to get as high up the leaderboard as possible, and while I didn't win anything, I'm pretty pleased with my results.

This year I rode in 19 of the 21 stage days (all solo rides, squeezing my expeditions between family obligations and work), and finished in 10th place overall and 2nd place in the 46-50 age category, accumulating 103 stage points. My highest stage ranking was 4th, a lap around Cayuga Lake in ridiculously high humidity and temperature in the mid 90s. (Stage winners get 25 points.) MapMyRide kept tidy track of my stats, comparing them to the pros in the Tour. I averaged around 19.8 mph over the 678 miles, which obviously pales in comparison to the ridiculous 24.7 mph pace of Contador over 2260 miles and an unfathomable 428,000 ft. of ascent!

My Stats:
Stages Completed 19 (between 7/3 and 7/25)
Total Distance: 677.87 mi
Total Time: 34 hours, 18 minutes
Total Ascent: 29,518 ft

Alberto Contador's Stats:
Stages Completed 21
Total Distance: 2260.34 mi
Total Time: 91 hours 30 minutes
Total Ascent: 428,182 ft

I tried hard to mix it up, taking on the hills during the mountain stages and looking for flatter, faster routes for the sprint stages, since it seems to matter—I don't know if they're relying exclusively on software or if there's a human element used to determine stage rankings, but hills mattered a lot more on the mountain stages and much less on the flat stages. Distance always mattered, so if you took a long ride at a brisk pace, you stood a good chance of winning points. I visited Ringwood and Snyder Hill a bunch of times, suffered through a Yellow Barn climb, rode around Cayuga Lake, and even climbed Bear Mountain on a family trip to Putnam County.

Here are three of my favorite rides over the last three weeks:

Cold Spring/Bear Mountain

Cayuga Lake

Lansing/Yellow Barn/Willseyville

Ringwood twice/Snyder Hill

Now that the exhausting Le Tour Challenge adventure is over, I no longer feel the need to push as hard. After a rest day, I've been back on the bike, looking for hills that I haven't climbed yet and enough miles to make my goal of 3,000 miles before the end of July. With 3 days and 25 miles to go, it'll be an easy goal. Then hopefully, coming in later August, I'll be doing some riding in the Adirondacks and Vermont. Perhaps the 5 finger lakes goal will slip by the wayside for this year...too much time away from the boys.

A Group then B Group...A Better Strategy

Tuesday racing on a perfect night in the mid-70s with low humidity and a gorgeous sky. I started off tired, and ended up chastened.

Tonight we did the Brooktondale course. I contemplated joining the B group for both of the 8.5 mile laps, but then someone suggested that I alternate. Great idea, really—I can certainly hang with the A group, but I don't have the horsepower to make any moves toward the end. My hope was that the B group would give me more of a fighting chance to make a move toward the end, which ended up being the case.

On the A group lap, there was a breakaway of 4 cyclists, and I was getting increasingly frustrated by the peleton's unwillingness to make any moves to bridge the gap with only 2 or 3 miles remaining. I really regret the move that I made, as I crossed the meridian briefly to make a move to pull toward the leaders—I honestly wasn't thinking about safety and the rules we all need to abide by. It didn't matter that this was a straight section of road with no traffic anywhere in sight, I just wasn't thinking, and I've been beating myself up for this ever since getting a well-deserved warning. I have so much to learn and nothing can replace experience. My tendency to want to master something quickly is getting the better of me, and it's time to just sloooooooow down and keep plugging away.

The B group lap was a much better experience. I really did feel like I had more power and flexibility in that field, and I was able to make a few attacks. I finished in 4th or so, not a bad way to end a humbling evening. 

A Group Race Metrics

Lakefest Road Race on a 3-speed, then 2-speed

The trip in the Chris Cookies/Swan Cyclery team bus to Whitney Point was good fun, with terrific company and engaging conversation, but watching the busy windshield wipers and seeing the steady rainfall and gloomy skies had me thinking that perhaps we were in for a long, wet 50 mile slog. Weather radar gave me hope that the skies would soon clear and the rain would be a thing of the past, but the skies were unrelentingly gray and ominous.

The line at registration was long, and when we were done, we had precious little time to get our gear together and head out to the starting line. No chance to warm up, but it also meant less time for me to get nervous.

The field was small, with only 15 riders in the men's 50 mile race. The faces are starting to become more familiar, and several riders have been in all of the races I've participated in thus far. As we headed out of Whitney Point north toward Marathon, I was trying hard to avoid being in the direct path of rooster tails from other cyclists, but to no avail. I was more successful at staying further out in the road, something that I always try to do when we're about to take a sweeping right-hand turn. 

At around the 10 mile point in Marathon, we had our first climb. It was manageable, and I was feeling pretty darn good at that point, since the rain was subsiding. Fortunately the race was rain-free for the remainder, which made the challenges much more manageable.

I continued to keep up nicely with the pack, and even received a nice compliment from Ernie about my ability to keep re-emerging at the front of the pack, which kept my spirits high, even when I started cramping up a little. The big climb was tough, but not really nasty, and it felt good when I realized that the worst of the climbing was over.

Then at mile 35, my rear derailleur cable snapped. I went from a 30-speed bike to a 3-speed! It was so sudden and unexpected when I realized that I couldn't shift anymore that it took a couple minutes to come to grips with what happened and begin to imagine the consequences. I fully anticipated that I would get dropped by the pack and just limp along to the finish, but I just kept pushing and pounding the pedals. With only 3 speeds, finding the right gear is near impossible. My cadence was all messed up, so I was either standing and pounding the pedals or spinning too fast, and my poor chain was not liking the extreme stretch of the middle ring up front and the small ring in the back. While everyone else was contemplating protecting or attacking Bill, the breakaway (and ultimately winning) rider, I just concentrated on finishing as close to the front as possible.

Somehow I just kept working hard and tried to ignore the grinding sounds of my chain being stretched in extreme angles, and kept with the front group until 2 miles to go, when my chain got trapped between the two smallest rings, and the smallest chainring got all bent up. After freeing the chain after a few minutes of struggle I faced the final pretty climbs with a 2-speed. As you can see by the profile, those last two climbs were painful in the gearing I had remaining. Still, I finished 10th in this 50-mile race, about 3 or 4 minutes back, averaging 20.4 mph (Ride With GPS data is wrong...I forgot to turn off the Garmin). 


Satisfied and tired! Congratulations, Bill Erickson!

Bonus Training, Glorious Weather

After 3 1/2 months of cycling in sorts of less-than-ideal conditions, it's easy to forget what perfect weather riding is like. Well, today was one of those stellar days that foreshadows what will surely be a long and superb summer of riding. Temperatures in the low 70s to upper 60s, low humidity, barely a cloud in the sky, long shadows and a picture-perfect sunset...what more can you ask for? Not only that, but this was an unexpected bonus ride, the kind of lucky break that you just HAVE to embrace.

I've been thinking a lot about Ernie's comment about avoiding the number roads, and tonight I took the comment to heart, taking the low-traffic Van Ostrand to Munson, instead of taking Rt. 34 all the way to Gulf Rd. In spite of the fact that 34 has a smoother road surface, Van Ostrand is much more fun, and less traffic means that you can enjoy the scenery even more. The chip seal pavement is really in pretty good shape as well.

I'm really happy with my time tonight (20.3 mph average over 25.6 miles), as well as with the 11-tooth cog in my new cassette, which gave me a couple extra mph on the final East Shore descent.

Tomorrow is the cycling component of the Empire State Senior Game, which is happening at the Hollenbeck's course in Virgil, and I'm marshaling, and then Sunday is the Lakefest race in Whitney Point, so it's a very velo weekend!

Topping Off A Great Month

Without a doubt, this May has been my most memorable month of cycling, with my first two bike races under my belt, 700+ miles accrued and over 42,000 vertical ft. climbed. What a whirlwind of activity and apprenticeship, as I have learned so much from the likes of Cookies Ernie Bayles and Bill Erickson, to name only a few. I've also learned quite a bit about mystery noises and have received great assistance from Keith Thompson, Glenn Swan, and the good folks at Cayuga Ski & Cyclery.

Today I topped off this memorable month with a ride up Ringwood via Lansing, an old favorite. The weather was once again perfect, and I had a time deadline that was excellent pressure to ramp up my average speed on the return trip. Above are the metrics for today's ride—this is a terrific feature provided by RidewithGPS that allows you to study how much time you ride at specific speeds, and how fast on average you ride at specific grades. I guess I have to gather up this data from the same loop over a period of time to see how my performance improves.

I believe that the explosion of web tools to help you analyze your rides can really make a difference in improving your training and adds to your cycling enjoyment. Without these tools, cycloblogging would be far less interesting.

Here is my log for the month of May. My goal is to exceed 2,000 miles before the end of June, but I'll likely be around 2,200 miles before July 1.

Big Effort & Reward

What better way to celebrate a smooth drivetrain than with a massive ride? I had to get an early start, due to family plans, which was just as well, considering my route. Today I took on Yellow Barn Rd. from the Dryden side, a bit of a monster climb that you have to really get mentally prepared for. With over 700 vertical feet of climbing over a 2 mile stretch and a portion that exceeds 13% grade, it's best to take that one on before the heat of the day kicks in.

My preliminary plan was to do Yellow Barn, then take Midline to Rt. 79, followed by the Ellis Hollow/Ringwood climb for good measure. Climbing the bear that is Yellow Barn, I tried conserving more energy for the first part of the climb, in order to push harder on the final rises, the section that never seems to end. This strategy worked really well, and my recovery time after finishing the climb was remarkably fast.

On my way down Midline, I first entertained the notion of adding Snyder Hill to the tail end of my ride, in order to get more climbing in. After Yellow Barn, the Ringwood climb didn't seem all that strenuous, so I was raring to take on Snyder Hill when three fellow Cookies, Mark, Wayne and Matt, caught me on 79. I was disappointed that their ride didn't synchronize with mine, so I was thrilled to ride the Snyder Hill leg with those very nice gentlemen.

This ride gave me a good perspective on the year's training and how one advances through the year. Today's adventure exceeded 3500 vertical feet of climbing over a 48 miles, and I'm ready for more tomorrow. Well, just a little more...total miles for the month of May is currently 665 miles, and I have one more day to give that number a boost. My goal is to exceed 2000 miles before the end of June, which seems doable. So far I have 1450 miles logged for the year, with 84,000 vertical ft. of climbing, so this looks to be my best and biggest year of riding yet, provided I can keep up the pace. (By the way, that's the awesome Mr. Keith with his Park Chain Checker tool, the one that got me on course to a smooth drivetrain.)

Tour de Syracuse Results...Feeling Good!

I'm positively euphoric about my experience in the Tour de Syracuse Road Race, a 2-lap, 55 mile, pedal-stompin' good time. I stayed with the lead group right until the bitter end, finishing the 55 mile race in the lead group, just 45 seconds behind the winner, in spite of some annoying cramping in the final miles. This road racing thing is seriously addictive! I finished in 20th place, just 20 seconds behind the awesome Ernie Bayles, a fellow Ithacan and Finger Lakes Cycle Club/Chris Cookies/Glenn Swan teammate. Ernie is just astonishing in his ability to hang back, assess the field, and rapidly accelerate to get right into the action at just the right time. So long as I kept Ernie in my sights, I knew I was doing OK.


Tapering off on my training this last week really paid off, and I had plenty of energy for the climbs and occasional rapid accelerations of the peleton. In spite of this more careful approach to race day prep including going to bed early, I had race day butterflies and lost 2 hours of sleep in the night. None of that seemed to matter much after the neutral zone climb past Song Mountain resort and onto the real race start, Otisco Valley Rd.


Once again, I was supremely focused and quite a bit nervous about riding in such a tightly packed bunch for the first 15 miles until the Amber Rd. climb, which separated the riders out for the first time. I was involved with a little bit of inadvertent jostling, when a fellow racer's handlebars hit my sides on a few occasions. That certainly did nothing to ease my anxiety, but halfway up the first Amber Rd. climb, the pack was a bit more separated and I could concentrate more on positioning myself best to respond to short climbs and accelerations. 


The first Amber climb had me struggling to catch the back wheel of fellow riders on a few occasions, but I remembered some really helpful advice from a fellow Cookie about how if you are suffering, you can be pretty much guaranteed that others are suffering equally, so as long as you can push ahead and grab that wheel, things would surely settle down before too long. This suggestion proved to be true time after time, and I was elated to be still in the lead group leading up to the short but insanely steep Hunt Rd. climb, a.k.a. THE WALL.


There's a temporary reprieve after the wall, followed by a second short steep climb, and I attacked the wall too aggressively, which meant that I spent the next mile or two chasing to get back in the group. Sure enough, after catching the group, it was fairly easy going up to the second Song Mountain climb. At this point in my ride I ramped up my consumption of weird bike nutrition. All in all, I had three gels and a power bar, along with my two bottle of 60% water and 40% gatorade. This was just the right amount of fuel for this race.


My average speed for the first lap was 21.5 mph, and the second lap was quite a bit faster, at least until just after the wall. On the second lap, I felt about 10% stronger, and it really helped that the pack spread out substantially. I was able to match each and every acceleration and climb, including the wall. 


With about 12 miles to go, I started cramping up in my calves, something that almost never happens to me. Also, my lower back was starting to hurt, so standing gave me a temporary reprieve, and I had enough fuel left to do quite a bit of standing as we approached the third Song Mountain hillclimb. With about 7 miles to go, I joined the leading 5 riders for a paceline that lasted about 3 miles until once again, the group reassembled. 


I had to dig really deep for the final ascent, and this is where I dropped back a little bit. I just didn't have what it took to keep up with the leaders, though it wasn't devastating. When I think about the fact that I finished somewhere between 45 and 46 seconds behind the race winner (20th place out of about 60 in my 45+ Masters category, and most likely in the top third of the 35+ Masters category), I have no complaints about my performance, especially considering that this is my second race ever. Now I'm waiting not so patiently for the final results, so I can compare my stats with all other riders who did 55 miles. Should be interesting.


Finally, one more shout out to Ernie Bayles, who really helped me out with pacing and some priceless advise afterwards about waiting until the last mile to make your move, not to mention his encouragement throughout.

Tour de Syracuse training week

Today I managed to squeeze in a total of 36 miles of hilly riding before and after work, as I sought out a more balanced race week training strategy than my first attempt. Finding the time to train in the midst of work and family obligations isn't easy, but it's a fun challenge. My morning extended airport commute was an example of using every available moment. Gail had a workshop, so she got the boys to school and I got an extra 15 minutes of early morning cycling bliss. I love figuring out continuous improvements in the morning route, and today I took the shortcut through the west end of the Cornell campus over to Warren Rd., then down Warren all the way to Hillcrest, a road I've never cycled on before. Then it was over to Triphammer, Asbury, and back on East Shore Dr. to work.

The best part of today's ride was that workers closed down the downhill lane of East Shore Dr. to fix the shoulder and add new barriers, which meant that traffic slowed down, and I was able to own the entire lane on the long, moderate descent! What a great way to start the day.

Now my plan is to taper off the training in advance of Sunday's race. I'll just do the morning commute tomorrow and Friday, followed by another moderate 10 mile ride on Saturday, and see how that works for boosting my energy level and performance for race day. My bike racing books are pretty vague about this whole tapering business...

Tour de Syracuse Preview

Today I was lucky enough to get to ride the course of Next Sunday's Tour de Syracuse. I'll be participating in the Masters race, a total of 55 miles and two laps between Song Mountain and Amber, NY, just south of Rt. 20. Maps and elevation profiles alone cannot tell the whole story of a course, and a recon ride fills in so many details and gives you the opportunity to take in the scenery without worrying about tangling with other riders.

As you can see by the elevation profile, the race starts off with a quick climb up past Song Mountain ski resort, then heads north toward Otisco lake, a long, gradual descent until you get to the lake level. You can see by my messy map that I missed a few turns. Road names provided by Google maps weren't accurate in a few locations, and in other locations roads weren't properly marked, but none of this really mattered—with a route so beautiful, a few wrong turns were actually welcome.

The most memorable part of the ride was the climb up Amber Rd. The climb itself was only moderately challenging, but the views were stunning, and some of the older houses and what looked to be a former schoolhouse have been lovingly restored. The other notable part of the course was the steep descent down Fox Rd., followed by an insanely steep short climb on Hunt. GPS data doesn't seem accurate, because the grade had to have exceeded 15%. This was much more manageable than the wall on the Hollenbeck's course, since it levels off quickly.

Lots of other cyclists were on the road, most going in the opposite direction. This seems to be a very popular road biking destination for Syracuse residents, with good reason. Looking forward to next Sunday...

A group or B group?

After being subscribed to the "Cookies" racing team listserv for just two days, I must admit that I'm fairly overwhelmed by the friendly and supportive welcome I've received. It's definitely an intensive immersion into a world that I previously knew so little about.

Today I decided to race the Tour de Syracuse Road Race on May 23rd, a 55 mile, 2-lap event. This gives me a few weeks to get prepared, and it should be load of fun.

Tonight was another fun Tuesday night race, and once again I joined the A group. I'm beginning to think that I need to try the B group, since I tend to get dropped just at the end of each lap, and I'm thinking that the B group would help me to better learn tactics. I can't say that I'm disappointed with how I did—I was feeling so much stronger than the last Tuesday race, and I'm learning better about when to push and when to hold back. Still, I think I'll learn more from a few turns with the B group. I averaged 23.4 mph on lap 1 and 22.3 on the second, so I'm definitely getting faster.

Photo by Keith Thompson.

Hollenbeck's Road Race Report

Just about a month ago, after riding with the Tuesday night competitive group in Ithaca, I decided to go for broke and try out bike racing for real. The intervening time has been filled with a certain amount of anxiety, along with a stepped-up training regimen. The last two weeks have been particularly intense, as I struggled to squeeze as many rides into a tightly-packed family schedule. Many thanks to my lovely family and dear friends who put up with me as the race day got closer.

Before I bore you, dear reader, with the details, I must say that my first bike racing experience was awesome and inspiring. Having never competed in anything athletic before, I was so nervous and unsure of how it would turn out. While I'm a fiercely competitive person when riding against my own stats, I have been trying to convince myself for many years now that I had no interest in competing against others. To be fair, that feeling hasn't changed much, but now that I know that I can do pretty well, especially as a novice, I'm totally hooked.

I competed in the Masters category on the recommendation of one of the race organizers, and I'm very glad that I did, rather than with in the Cat 4/5 group. The Masters are quite an experienced bunch, and I felt relatively at ease in their midst, with the exception of the first 5 miles, when we were all packed together like sardines. One wrong move and it would have been ugly, and there was a moment when a car stopped just ahead to help a rider in trouble, and the pack had to make a quick maneuver to avoid the vehicle. There were times when I wanted to make a move to chase down other riders, but was stuck in the middle with no chance to advance.

Fortunately the climb up Parker St. spread the riders out substantially, and I was very pleased to discover that many thousands of vertical feet and over 800 miles of training this year really paid off. I was able to stay with the lead bunch of roughly 14 riders from that point forward. It's lucky that the big climb came early when I was still fairly fresh, and after that, it was pretty much just about constantly pushing forward and not letting up. There wasn't a lot of pacelining on the back stretch, but I was able to comfortably keep with the lead group, and we eventually passed a number of Cat 4/5 riders who started five minutes earlier than us. It was at this point that I realized that I would be able to finish strong and feel pretty good about the results.



At the 17 mile point, after a long, very manageable 3-4% grade, there's a 1/4 mile stretch with a 15% grade. That's a killer climb, even though it's short, especially on such a hot and humid day. That climb really had me suffering, but I was buoyed by seeing my friends Natasha and Keith at the top of the hill, cheering me on. Keith had his camera with him, and took the great photos of my suffering! I'm so appreciative that he did this.

After the killer climb, I started to lose a little steam, and the lead Masters pack started to drift out of my grasp. A kind rider passed me and encouraged me to catch the group, and even though I made some headway, it just wasn't meant to be. The race ended on a last brutal climb, and though I was a bit wobbly toward the line, seeing my wife and boys gave me that extra encouragement to finish strong.

I finished in 14th place out of 45 in the Masters category, and my time would have placed me 13th in Cat 4/5 out of 65 riders, which really has me feeling good and motivated for future racing opportunities. I was only 1.5 minutes off of the winning Masters and Cat 4/5 pace, so I have no complaints about my showing.

Next step: Join the "Cookies," the Finger Lakes Cycling Club's team and get my racing license from USA Cycling. The adventure continues!


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Hollenbeck's Road Race Tomorrow!

Last training ride before the Hollenbeck's Spring Classic. Good thing I got an early start, since the temperature has reached the mid-80s this afternoon. Even though I tried not to push it, I ended up with an average speed of 19.6 with 2300 ft of climbing over 37 miles. Now I'm wondering if I rode too hard the day before the race. Oh well, too late to worry about that.

Trying not to feel to nervous before my first race. I think some Eno is in order! Now it's time to get my kit all packed for the morning. Trainer, towels, gatorade, gels, power bar, lucky jersey, best shorts, iPod...the boring list-making mode helps to keep me relaxed. Also, great news that my friends Natasha and Keith are going to show up and maybe even take some pictures. Thanks, guys! Who knows, maybe the family will even show up.

I guess I'm always this nervous about something new. I'm discovering that while I am fiercely competitive when competing against myself and the clock, I am afraid of failure. Not humiliation, just failure. So now I have to just adjust my expectations, and hope to finish somewhere in the middle of the Cat 4/5 and Masters pack. Anything better than that would be awesome, and worse than that will be a reality check.

Another think I'm trying to unlearn is my desire to attack when I see someone ahead of me who appears to be within reach. I tried a new approach today, and it worked well. I saw someone ahead of me on Ellis Hollow Creek Rd. who was clearly a little slower, but rather than attack, I slowed down, took a quick snack break, and passed at a moderate pace. Now I've got to internalize this approach.

Last Hollenbeck\'s Training Ride

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Three Days to Hollenbeck's, Feeling Great!

Great training rides today in anticipation of Hollenbeck's Spring Classic Road Race on Sunday. My average speeds continue to go up, thanks to less wreckless climbing. I've had a tendency to stand a bit too much on the climbs, and the Tuesday night informal races have been quite useful in helping me to improve my technique. When you study a number of strong riders ahead of you, it's hard not to analyze individual styles and learn from others.

My after-school ride up to Lansing and returning via Gulf and Conlon gave me almost exactly the distance and the vertical ascent of Sunday's race, and in spite of some brisk winds, I managed to average 20.4, a personal best for that loop.

Two more training rides before Sunday...can't wait!

Hollenbeck's Road Race Preview

I drove out to Virgil this afternoon, feeling very businesslike about previewing the Hollenbeck's Spring Classic course. It was a stellar weather day, partly sunny with highs in the mid 60s. The ride gave me a pretty good sense of how to approach the course on race day—specifically where to push and where to conserve energy, and how many false summits there are on the biggest climb before I really hit the top. All systems go. I felt strong, and I was fairly well prepared for the course, thanks to many trips up Remington, Ringwood, Cascadilla Park, Yellow Barn and others. Once you complete the Parker St. climb at the 6.5 mile mark, there is no significant climb remaining, except for the 1/4 mile stretch at 17.5 miles on Babcock Hollow Rd. that is around a 15% grade. After that, it's a swift push to the finish. I averaged 20.7 mph over the 22 mile course.

I've been studying the elevation profile and even drove the course once, but it's so much different when you ride it. The roads that I worried about were no longer a concern, the climbs were suddenly very real and therefore less intimidating, and it turns out to be a really beautiful loop. There was even a little bit of snow left on top of Greek Peak, which is a bit hard to fathom.

After the ride I did a quick hillclimb up Van Donsel Rd., which takes you up 600 ft. in 2 miles to just above Greek Peak. Nice way to round out a scouting mission.

Tuesday Night Race

Damn, that felt good! Feeling kinda twitchy tonight. My first time racing (albeit unofficially), and while I certainly made some rookie mistakes (early attack where I paid the price), this was more fun than should be allowed. Nice bunch of folks, too. Got dropped on Coddington on the first lap and just couldn't quite catch back up. Sure is hard to catch a paceline, but I learned my lesson on the second, more civilized, lap. I was able to keep with the paceline all the way around and felt more energized at the end than I did halfway through. Now I'm certainly looking forward to Hollenbeck's Classic on May 2nd. Whatever happens, I don't care now. If I get dropped, I'll just ride my best pace.

Stats:

Distance: 30.32 miles

Avg. speed: 20.4 mph

Vertical ascent: 1613 ft.

Calories burned: 2154 kcal

Max. speed: 40.7 mph

Time: 1:29:02

Tuesday Night Competitive Ride: A New Chapter

What have I been waiting for? I've never done a competitive group ride in the area, and honestly, I think I've avoided participating for fear of completely humiliating myself. Pathetic, yes, but at least I'm being honest. So I headed up to East Hill and joined a very nice bunch of people for the unaffiliated Tuesday Night Competitive Ride.

For the first ten minutes I was all nerves, but when I realized that I could hold my own with the group, I had more fun than I could have imagined having on a group ride. The best part was the return trip and the climb up Snyder Hill Rd. It was hard to believe how fresh my legs felt right to the end, and now I'm hooked and flying high, looking forward with great anticipation to next week's ride and perhaps even racing in the Hollenbecks Spring Classic in Virgil. This could be the start of something great...