Back to Old Pueblo

To prove I am a racing fool. I’ve got my biked dialed up. My shoes velcroed tight and I really hope I don’t get into a fight. Especially not with a Cholla Cactus! That’s right, this weekend is the big show at the Old Pueblo. I’ll try to post updates as the race progresses but don’t count on it. It sounds like I’ll be doing the first lap because no one else wants to do the running.

You can get live updates here too.

Later,

Jeff

 

Four Races in Two Weeks

It's barely February but the racing calendar is pretty busy. I had started the MTB racing season a few weeks ago but the road racing season got started on Super Bowl Sunday with the Avondale Criterium, put together by Procon. My last road race was the Summit Center Stage race back in June 2008, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I toed to the line with about a dozen or so "old" guys in the 30+ category. I mainly hung in the back trying to get comfortable and stay out of trouble. After 20 some minutes of racing I decided to make a big effort but was quickly brought back by the bunch and we stayed together until the end. With half a lap to go, Swiss American and Bicycle Haus formed their trains and picked up the pace. I was planning to just watch from afar and stay out of trouble but when both teams hesitated waiting for the other one to launch the sprint, they left the whole right side of the road open. I saw the opportunity and gave it a go! I even attempted to throw my bike forward at the line and it seemed to have paid off as it required a camera review to confirm that I had won the race. Yeay for me! Later in the day I also did the 3/4 race. Procon had a huge showing on this race, so we knew it was a race that we could easily control. After a few timid attacks, I chased a few of them but tried not to work to much then on one of the primes I chased two guys and beat them for the prime. We had also opened up a pretty good gap on the group, so I put my head down and gave it all I had. With all my teammates blocking and marking in the back I was able to get up to a half a lap gap on the field then we started to count down the laps. With 4 to go the gap was shrinking but I felt I could hold them off then with 3 to go I hit one of the road reflectors with my rear wheel and pinch flatted. I tried riding it in but I had too many laps to go on a rim and was quickly picked up. Unfortunately for my team, they all had done a lot of work so our highest placed rider was 5th.
Sorry no pictures of that weekend.
We did take Koko out to McDowell for our MTB pre-ride and he loved all the attention.

Then this Saturday was the real thing. I had Koko for a warming up partner at the Team Adrenaline set up then it was time to head to the start of the 2nd race in the MBAA series.

Norma race too. Although she was dissappointed with her finish, she was able to shave 10 minutes off her best time on this very same course, so kudos to her. Her she is with Wendy and Lisa from Adrenaline who did the 1 and 2 in the Cat 2 Women.

I had a great start and managed not to blow up in the first part of the race. All position chances took place during the first lap. I started the second lap in 5th place and that's how I finish, not before having to push really hard to keep Eric Neat from catching me. Here I am coming into the finish and you could see Eric getting to the corner a few yards behind.

Lance Runyan, Tim Allen, Scott Keller and Kam Reedy (not pictured) rounded up the top five.

Then on Sunday it was time to head back to McDowell again but this time for a road crit. RPM team put together a race up there and eventhough it rained a lot earlier the skies held up at least for the majority my race (30+ again). The field was a little bigger and with the wet and cold conditions I wasn't too concerned about attacking, however I gave it a try once and got a little gap but couldn't hold it.In the end Jeff Kluve, Jarrod Barnes and I ended up policing the front while teammate Ryan O'Connor was up ahead with another rider. Unfortunately for him his gears weren't working so he lost the final sprint. I completely lost track of the laps and when the rang the bell for the last lap I thought it was a prime and tried to go for it, but decided to sit up at the end just to find out that I could have gone a little longer and get 3rd. Three other guys went by me within yards of the finish so I came in in 6th.
Overall it's been two great weeks of racing. Now it's time to start looking forward to this weekend's mega event at the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo. Chris Sutter and I are teaming up with the Schultz brothers (Andy and Sam), so it would be interesting to battle it out against the always strong Kona Team. It sounds like both Barry Wicks and Ryan Trebon will be in attendance, so that makes things more exciting.

Stayed tuned for updates!

Pura Vida!

New Family Member and Redefining the term "Running out of"

Last week was one of those weeks where I truly enjoy living here. Temperatures were in the 70s, calm winds, slight chance of showers one day and little humidity. What else can one ask for? World peace? Well that...

Anyway, this week we also welcomed a new member to our family, so we have been busy.

His name is "Koko" and he's a 6-week old Chocolate Lab. His mom is an American Chocolate Lab and dad an English Yellow Lab. So far he's been really good. He cried just a little the first night and with the exception of a couple of "number 1" accidents, his potty training is right on schedule.

We brought him home on Thursday, so we could have the weekend to get to know him and figure out a routine. On Saturday, I left for a ride and when I came home he looked so happy to see me, anyone would have thought we had know each other for years.

Sunday, we spent the day doing some chores at home, trimming some plants and getting the backyard puppy proofed. Then, of course we had to allow play time and cuddling time, so I didn't get on the bike until 3PM. About 1 hour into my ride my heart rate monitor strap stopped working. Oh well, time to focus on perceived effort. I had an easy ride, so I had no problem staying in the right zone. Then 30 minutes later my iPod battery dies. Oh man, I was totally rocking to Queen with it died too, so that was a bummer. I also made a last minute change to my riding route and figured that I could make it to Casa Grande and back home before dark. I completely underestimated how long it is from I-10 to the Casa Grande/Maricopa Highway. I had my last power gel right before that, so I had no food left. A few minutes later I also drank the last drop of water from my bottle. By now it's starting to get dark, so I pulled my cell and called home to let Norma know so she wouldn't worry. I barely got through the call before the cell phone battery died. I pushed a little harder, not sure how hard with no HRM monitor, to beat the sun home but I lost, so now I am out of daylight. To make it even better about 2 miles from the house I completely ran out of power, so I barely could turn the pedals to make it home.

Thankfully my wife had dinner ready and after some carboloading and some wine and lots of water I was ready to play with this guy again.

(Here he is "playing" with one of his favorite plants)

Next weekend is Super Bowl weekend, but it'll also mark my 2009 debut in the road racing scene. I'll be racing the skinny tires at the Avondale Crit. This will also be my first race since getting the upgrade to Cat 4 roadie. Now I just have to go relearn how to take corners at speed on the road bike.

Until next time....

Jeff