I bailed today. After meeting up with the guys at Speedy Reedy (39 degrees) we drove down to the race. I rode with Mark T. and we watched the temperature slowly drop as we got closer to Rochester. The heavy rain turned to a heavy sleet and then snow mixed with rain, light snow, and by the time we arrived and I registered for the race it was heavy snow (35 degrees). I talked to the four Blue Rooster girls who had just raced (Sara, Michele P., Sharon, Catherine) and they were freezing. They all finished their race and were trying to change into dry clothes. Sharon offered me her chemical hand warmers which she said were still warm. I took these wet soppy cold hand warmers from her and had to tell her that they were not actually warm that she was just hypothermic so they seemed warm!
Then I wandered outside and talked to Carol from Group Health. She had just gotten back from rescuing frozen riders and helped convince us not to race. It was just too much like Tahuya a few years back. I talked to Michele and she was bailing too. We talked to the other Blue Rooster guys and they were not deterred at all. Even our sponsor - Kevin, was all psyched up to race! I can't wait to hear their reports. We drove back to the Lakewood Starbucks and had coffee with Sara and Catherine. It was really nice. They were discussing the pro's and con's of racing with or without glasses in the snow. Having the grit go directly in your eyes or having your lenses get frosted up with snow. I had heard that there was gravel on the downhill but they said they couldn't actually see the road.
When I got home I did a 45 minute workout on the rollers with spin ups. It felt great.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tour de Dung #2
I raced Tour de Dung last week but didn't feel very good. I had an upset stomach and when we got to the race I threw up. That was bad because I needed my breakfast to have enough energy to finish the race. I decided to race anyway since I was already there and didn't want to wait in the car. It went fine until the last 1/2 lap when I ran out of energy and got dropped by the group. It wasn't too bad though for how I was feeling.
La Casita - a great Rental in Tucson
Below are some pictures from the place we rented in Tucson. It is a small guesthouse that is attached to a main house. We rented the guest house and the owners live in the main house. They are very nice and love to have cyclist stay in the guest house. The house is about 5 miles from Mt Lemmon and is perfect for a training base. It has a nice kitchen and a BBQ and is in a quiet neighborhood. If you are interested in renting it email jamesboschert@aol.com with the subject line "La Casita Rental". You have to put that in the subject line or it gets lost in their junk mail.
Friday, March 20, 2009
More Mt. Lemmon
Mark and I couldn't stay away from Mt. Lemmon. I think the people we are staying with think we are crazy!
Yesterday was really hot when we headed up and I think I was dehydrated from the previous rides. I was really sore and we stopped at the 14 mile point and headed back down. Mark said that we could just come back tomorrow. We stopped at Auga Caliente park for a nice relaxing break before the last 4 miles home. The park has natural springs and is a favorite stopping place for local birds.
Today Mark was not so excited about going up Mt Lemmon again but I really wanted to go. We headed out under slightly overcast skies. It was much nicer, still sunny but not so hot. I did much better and wasn't so sore so we went all the way to the top again. It was a nice ride. We chatted with some of the other riders as they were going up. People are pretty friendly and you get a good mix of riders. Some are trying it for the first time and some are pro riders riding with their teammates. Some riders have sag wagons to carry extra food and water. I have Mark, who carried an extra big camelback with extra water. (Thanks!) :)
I enjoy the descent more than I used to now that I know the road better. I can watch the amazing scenery go by without stressing about the next turn. The funnest part for me is waving to the riders heading up the hill. They seem happy to see other riders.
That's it for this trip. Mark said we did about 18,000 feet of climbing. I will do well at the next race with a 20 mile climb! Just kidding - no climbs that long in Washington.
Yesterday was really hot when we headed up and I think I was dehydrated from the previous rides. I was really sore and we stopped at the 14 mile point and headed back down. Mark said that we could just come back tomorrow. We stopped at Auga Caliente park for a nice relaxing break before the last 4 miles home. The park has natural springs and is a favorite stopping place for local birds.
Today Mark was not so excited about going up Mt Lemmon again but I really wanted to go. We headed out under slightly overcast skies. It was much nicer, still sunny but not so hot. I did much better and wasn't so sore so we went all the way to the top again. It was a nice ride. We chatted with some of the other riders as they were going up. People are pretty friendly and you get a good mix of riders. Some are trying it for the first time and some are pro riders riding with their teammates. Some riders have sag wagons to carry extra food and water. I have Mark, who carried an extra big camelback with extra water. (Thanks!) :)
I enjoy the descent more than I used to now that I know the road better. I can watch the amazing scenery go by without stressing about the next turn. The funnest part for me is waving to the riders heading up the hill. They seem happy to see other riders.
That's it for this trip. Mark said we did about 18,000 feet of climbing. I will do well at the next race with a 20 mile climb! Just kidding - no climbs that long in Washington.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Mt Lemmon!
Yesterday Mark and I rode up to the 20 mile point on Mt Lemmon. It was a lot of climbing. I'm still adjusting to the heat and the elevation. It was a fun ride though. The cornering clinic I took with Kenny came in handy for the descent. 20 miles of descending at 30-40 mph!
It was really warm. In past years there has been snow at the top but not this year. We didn't even need our coats.
Today we rode mostly flat again. We headed down to Colossal Cave but this time did the Pistol Hill loop. It was a really nice road without much traffic. The last mile was the old road to the caves that is being overtaken by the desert. Bikes can still get through though but no cars at all on that road.
Afterwards we played some boules with our hosts Mike and Daniel. We are staying at a guest house that is connected to their house. If anyone wants a great place to stay very close to Mt. Lemmon I can give you their contact information. The guest house is for rent all spring and winter. Perfect for cyclists!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Tucson Training day 1
We used our first day of vacation as a day to acclimatize to hot weather and hills. We rented bikes again from Cycle Tucson so we didn't have to fly with ours. We rode out to colossal cavern - about 30 miles. Very nice roads and not much traffic except if you count road runners and chipmunks! Riding behind Mark was like motorpacing. We were flying along at 25 with little effort - or maybe we had a good tailwind.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tour de Dung #1
I was happy to race my first road race of the season. Hooray!
When we got to Sequim we almost turned around. It was snowing and the morning races hadn't even started yet. We were tempted to not even get out of the car but Michele's dog needed a walk so we got out and watched as the first groups started. The officials told the racers to watch out for the slush on the bridge and to be careful on the hill where the snow was accumulating. I didn't want any part of that! We were pretty set on going home but the early racers made it through the first loop with out any major incidents and it stopped snowing. We decided to drive the course to see for ourselves. It didn't look bad at all so we decided to stick it out.
The race was only delayed one hour instead of the two they said at first so it wasn't that bad at all. I was racing with just one teammate, Michele. The field was about 20 and had a large contingent from the Wines team and about four from Group Health and three from Hagens. We were definitely out numbered so we had to be very strategic in how we raced. We talked before hand about which breaks we would cover and which ones we would let go. Our discussions served us well during the race. The overall goal was to get Michele into a winning break.
The race started and right after the first corner there was an attack. I covered the first one and was ready to share a pull but the main pack was eager to pull everything back. We were doing good keeping things in check but at one point I looked up and the three main teams were represented in a break that we had missed. I quickly jumped out of the group to join. I think they gave up when they saw they had company. After I while we backed off and let the other teams pull things back which they seemed eager to do. I was getting pretty tired and then there was a solo break. I wasn't too worried but Michele jumped across and joined it. I was so happy to see her get in there. I went to the front to try and disrupt any group efforts to pull them back. But that was hard work too because there was much more wind at the front. When they were safely away I went back to the back of the group to rest.
The break stayed away and Michele got second place. We were pretty happy with the result. I finished with the pack but did not have a good final sprint and wound up in the wind with tired legs. I was in third rounding the final corner which I thought was good positioning but the pace slowed way down. It was almost like a match sprint with 10 riders. The jump came hard from the right and I was on the wrong side and couldn't not catch the train going by. I pretty much blew the finish. I was expecting a fast finish and was caught off guard when it slowed down.
I was very happy we had stayed to race though. It was sunny for the whole race too. We stopped for Crepes before getting on the ferry for Seattle. They were yummy.
When we got to Sequim we almost turned around. It was snowing and the morning races hadn't even started yet. We were tempted to not even get out of the car but Michele's dog needed a walk so we got out and watched as the first groups started. The officials told the racers to watch out for the slush on the bridge and to be careful on the hill where the snow was accumulating. I didn't want any part of that! We were pretty set on going home but the early racers made it through the first loop with out any major incidents and it stopped snowing. We decided to drive the course to see for ourselves. It didn't look bad at all so we decided to stick it out.
The race was only delayed one hour instead of the two they said at first so it wasn't that bad at all. I was racing with just one teammate, Michele. The field was about 20 and had a large contingent from the Wines team and about four from Group Health and three from Hagens. We were definitely out numbered so we had to be very strategic in how we raced. We talked before hand about which breaks we would cover and which ones we would let go. Our discussions served us well during the race. The overall goal was to get Michele into a winning break.
The race started and right after the first corner there was an attack. I covered the first one and was ready to share a pull but the main pack was eager to pull everything back. We were doing good keeping things in check but at one point I looked up and the three main teams were represented in a break that we had missed. I quickly jumped out of the group to join. I think they gave up when they saw they had company. After I while we backed off and let the other teams pull things back which they seemed eager to do. I was getting pretty tired and then there was a solo break. I wasn't too worried but Michele jumped across and joined it. I was so happy to see her get in there. I went to the front to try and disrupt any group efforts to pull them back. But that was hard work too because there was much more wind at the front. When they were safely away I went back to the back of the group to rest.
The break stayed away and Michele got second place. We were pretty happy with the result. I finished with the pack but did not have a good final sprint and wound up in the wind with tired legs. I was in third rounding the final corner which I thought was good positioning but the pace slowed way down. It was almost like a match sprint with 10 riders. The jump came hard from the right and I was on the wrong side and couldn't not catch the train going by. I pretty much blew the finish. I was expecting a fast finish and was caught off guard when it slowed down.
I was very happy we had stayed to race though. It was sunny for the whole race too. We stopped for Crepes before getting on the ferry for Seattle. They were yummy.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Not Racing Today and 25 Random Things
My ride to the race bailed out today. I had a last minute second offer but due to the late hour I would have had to do some driving and I will not drive if there is snow or even a chance of it. You can call me a wimp if you want. :)
So today's post is a list of random things that get me excited about racing - in no particular order. If you are on Facebook you've seen the latest craze of listing 25 random things - so here I go, but these are specific to bike racing: track, or road.
1. "Riders to the Rail"
2. Marymoor Velodrome Night Lights
3. Hot Dogs at the Track from Caramea's
4. Stiff Cranks
5. Gear Inches
6. Unknown Distance Race
7. Hearing Bilko predict that I will attack soon...
8. Marymoor Grand Prix
9. Kiddie Kilo
10. Shiny new stuff
11. Disco Hubs!
12. The scream of riders coming by at the rail
13. Aero Booties
14. the "200 Meters to go" Sign
15. Carpools
16. Skinsuit
17. "and the Marymoor crowd goes wild"
18. The post race burger stop
19. The Zoo Hill
20. The Bell Lap
21. MADISON Racing!
22. Road trip to Burnaby Velodrome
23. "Get on the moto" (Keirin Race)
24. Checking out the race pictures on Wheels in Focus!
25. Lucky 4-leaf clover!
So today's post is a list of random things that get me excited about racing - in no particular order. If you are on Facebook you've seen the latest craze of listing 25 random things - so here I go, but these are specific to bike racing: track, or road.
1. "Riders to the Rail"
2. Marymoor Velodrome Night Lights
3. Hot Dogs at the Track from Caramea's
4. Stiff Cranks
5. Gear Inches
6. Unknown Distance Race
7. Hearing Bilko predict that I will attack soon...
8. Marymoor Grand Prix
9. Kiddie Kilo
10. Shiny new stuff
11. Disco Hubs!
12. The scream of riders coming by at the rail
13. Aero Booties
14. the "200 Meters to go" Sign
15. Carpools
16. Skinsuit
17. "and the Marymoor crowd goes wild"
18. The post race burger stop
19. The Zoo Hill
20. The Bell Lap
21. MADISON Racing!
22. Road trip to Burnaby Velodrome
23. "Get on the moto" (Keirin Race)
24. Checking out the race pictures on Wheels in Focus!
25. Lucky 4-leaf clover!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Ice Breaker Time Trial
First race of the year! I was really worried about the weather because when Annette picked me up it was just dumping rain. As we drove down I-5 Annette said "look there is a clearing ahead".
I thought she was just trying to put a good face on things but sure enough it stopped raining and by the time we set up for warm up it was Sunny!
I was happy with my time - we are still waiting for official results but I think I was 15 seconds faster than last year.
Every year something goes wrong and I try to correct it the next year but something new happens. This year it was the start. I had the holder lean me to the left but he moved me more than I expected and before I could correct I was off the bike and the chain came off. I missed the start time by a few seconds while the officials were hurriedly trying to fix the bike. I didn't let it bother me though since you can't fix something that already happened. I rode hard and stuck to my race plan but was shocked when Annette passed me about 3 miles into the race. I thought she'd catch me but not that soon. She was riding strong! I got to the turn-around and suddenly my right foot came out of the cleat. I guess I didn't have it locked it properly. The road was still wet from the earlier rain and I found out that one of my teammates wiped out on the turn-around. Happily he was unscathed. I finished the ride and was happy to watch everybody else line up for their race while I took pictures. I talked to several people and it seems like everybody had some kind of story of mishaps to go with their race. I found out later that Annette had missed her start - and still passed me on the way out.
Afterwards we went out for lunch at a cafe in downtown Auburn. I got a hot chocolate with more whipped cream than chocolate!
Kudos to Cucina Fesca for putting on a great race. And they gave out free samples of pasta too! It was yummy! I love that stuff.
Saturday Ride Mercer Island
Heidi and I cruised around mercer island. I was taking it easy before the time trial on Sunday but Heidi was on her race bike and was going fast pretty effortlessly. She has been riding a heavy winter bike with a rack so I don't think she realized how fast she was going. She had no objections to slow down to my pace though.
As we headed back across the bridge some riders saw our Blue Rooster kits and yelled out "Hooray! Blue Rooster!" I have no idea who they were but it was nice to have fans.
As we headed back across the bridge some riders saw our Blue Rooster kits and yelled out "Hooray! Blue Rooster!" I have no idea who they were but it was nice to have fans.
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