Poured on
Todays ride was one of those ride destined to not happen. I came home and had to mow the lawn. Then I hurried up and jumped on bike planning to cool down in the dark. I left my house and rode out the driveway. I got my first interval done and looked at the black sky coming down on me. Then I started my second interval early and it started to pour. It was like in Forest Gump we went through all types of rain sideways rain, rain coming up from the ground, ity bitty rain, rain that hurt, all of it. I finished up what was probably the worst interval I have ever done and rolled into the driveway. The lightining was closing and I thought I should call it a night. I went inside cleaned up grabbed something to eat and relaxed a little about 5 minutes later the sun came out and the birds were singing and I decided I can't win.
Mukewanego Crit
The Rockcut Race was cancelled again:( The rain over the last few weeks has been horrible. I really hope that it clears up soon and we can all get back to having a life. But in the mean time Holly and I decided to have the craziest day of all time. Holly is moving on Saturday night and we both want to race. We can do all that right. So we decided to race the crit in Mukwanego (I am sure I am spelling that wrong) Jason was looking for a little help and I was looking for a good training race so I said I would kill my self for his cause.
Start the race. So truth be told I never road race. My goal for this year is to road race more often. Holly also never road races but I am convinced she could juggle fire while riding her bike so this should not be a problem. We bith did the cat 4/5 race. I jumped in the pack and we were off. I decided to lay low for a little while and let the pack get comfortable then half way through the race I went hard really hard pulling a group of 5 or 6 riders off the front with me. My goal was to make them suffeer as much as possible and break them with out breaking myself. I would attack every time it was my turn in the front ramping it up to 30 mph. While Jason sat in the pack and rested. After i couldn't handle any more I moved back into the pack and rested. Letting the pucking sensations disappear. I rolled closer to the front and Holly said in amazment are you lapping us. Funny I was just trying to hold on for dear life! So I rested and recovered after successfully blowing a large portion of the pack to peices, and prepared for another hard attack closer to the end of the race to put Jason in the position he needed to be in. I took a few more hard pulls to let people know I was serious and take the eye off Jason, then with 3 laps left Jason went hard. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? He faded and a guy counter attacked. This guy went hard and was successful where Jason failed. I jumped to the front of the pack made sure Jason was on and pulled hard. I closed the gap to about 500 feet and went into the draft. The pack let him get away again. Worse yet Jason was gone! GRRRR. So I hung in the pack dying and pushed up the final hill to take 15th.
The tank was empty! Holly did a great job of hanging for most of the race. After that we flew back to Madison and in a fury moved Holly in 2.5 hours. Stuff was flying everywhere!
Iola = Pain
So the first WORS race of the year has come and gone and with it my first experience of the speed of the expert men! Those guys can move and I suppose as the year goes on i too will have to move.
This race was a big jump for me and I had no idea what to expect. I came into it thinking I need to not blow up and finish the extra lap strong. That seemed like a reasonable strategy. So I jumped in the pack nervous and clueless. then the start. I sat in the middle as planned and did not feel as if I was having any problem with this. I let the front guys get and away and figured I was a middle of the packer no biggy. Then everyone started passing me. I didn't have the legs on me to ramp it up any so I just try to stay smooth and have fun. I was feeling a little low on fuel so I popped a couple of clif blocks and my stomache instantly let me know this was a bad Idea. SO I suffered for the rest of the race and decided to situp and enjoy the course. Which was kind of nice. It is not often I get to leisurely ride a race course and I rather enjoyed it. I eventually broke my chain and had to quit but a day of nothing going right was a pretty good day all in all.
Sweet Tire and the Pains of Getting There
Today was one of those days where you can't wait to go ride and then it all blows up in your face. I had a plan to go out to Camrock following work today so I bailed out a little early and flew to the course. The riding was great the weather was perfect and I felt awful!! I was sketchy on the bike and felt really out of wack. I rode for a while then I got to a down hill and I was sliding every where. My tires felt like I was riding on ice. I looked down and sure enough flat!
I tore a hole in my rear tire about the length of a nickel. No amount of stans will fill that so I packed up shop and rolled home. My plan was to throw on a new rear tire, a pair of sweet Maxxis Crossmarks, and go finish my ride in town. Enter the struggle! I could not for the life of me get the rear tire seated. I finally broke down and went to Farm and Fleet in full spandex mind you and bought an air compressor and some Armor All. This still took some major effort to work the tire onto the rim but it did work eventually.
But let me tell you it was all worth the trouble these tires are great! They are like fast glue! I can corner on rails and fly on the flats. Love them! I got in a great night ride and found some new tires that seem like they will be a really good find.
I also finished up the new header for the Michaels Cycles website this week check it out at www.michaelscycles.net
Been a while
Hey all,
Its been quite some time since I updated my blog. Whoops, I have been really busy and just had to push something to the side. So heres whats been up with me.
I got a new job Hooray. After graduating college I actually got a job. I work for Broadcast Interactive Media as a web designer. Its a really good job and I love all the people I work with.
I got a new car. During a wicked snowstorm I hit a 16" fishing boat on I-90 crazy. Who has a boat on a highway during a snowstorm? So I got a 2001 VW Jetta I love it.
I went to Sea Otter--- BONK you don't want to bonk at Sea Otter trust me.
