US Pro Road Race

Well first Pro road race is under the belt, and it was quite a race. We got into Chattanooga on Saturday evening and went to check out the course the next day. We ended up riding with a large group containing the Jamis guys and a bunch of local cyclists. Once we got to the top and stopped I think everyone had a collective, oh crap moment. The thinking going into the race was that this would be a slightly easier course than Greenville due to the relatively flat nature of the circuits: which turned out not to be flat at all either (they just looked flat on the elevation profile because the climb was so gigantic).

The Lookout Mt. climb not only was long, at about 15 minutes when we just rode up it, it was also steep. A 28 tooth cassette was the way to go without a doubt and my legs were thanking me during the race.

Rolled out in the morning early to the course and were the first team there. Watched the women's finish then kitted up and signed in. Most of the racing on the domestic scene is the type of stuff the same sort of thing I did as a Cat 1 so there's not much difference being a Pro. But rolling around before the start of the race it really felt like a whole other level of racing, it was a true big event. There were tons of spectators all around the awesome downtown area of Chattanooga where the circuits were held. It may seem cheesy but was a pretty big deal for me.

The race had two circuts, small 5 mile laps around town then big ones that went out the climb. There were going to be 4 small laps, 4 big laps, then 4 small laps again.

There was no waiting around whatsoever when we rolled off. As soon as the neutral start ended attacks started going left and right. No one was waiting for the climb (which wasn't till mile 25) to get a breakaway off. It full gas until the last of the small circuits before a large group finally got up the road, everyone stopped riding and the break instantly got over 2 minutes up the road. Curtis made a monster move and tried to bridge up solo, and got some serious TV time in the process (yes now there's actually TV's involved here). The Hincapie Devo kids also did a 3 man team time trial attack, but neither made it up.

It was tough first time up the climb right from the bottom. There were splits all over the place. The last kilometer of the climb really ramped up and I got a little gaped off, but made it back on the descent. Once we got back onto the main road back into town the chase was on. Bissell was setting tempo on the front to bring the move back. The riding through town was the hardest part of the race. It was a windy day and the buildings really funneled the wind, making the cross winds unpredictable. The circuit also crossed the river twice, which not only meant a sizable climb to get over the river, but serious winds as well.

The second time up the climb was a lot steadier than the first, but with the Bissell team fresh off the Tour of California I got gaped off at the top again, and made it back to the field, again.

The speed did not let up and at this point I was really dogging it. The field was single file nearly the entire time we were off the climb. I was done fairly quickly the third time up the climb and rode by myself in a world of cracked, cramping, hurt.

The field was gone at this point and I just wanted to finish. A lot of guys were throwing out the parachute and I passed a few thinking I'd at least place. I rode through the finish line and the official gave me the sign that I was pulled, and I thought sweet, top 40 finish (or something).

Turns out getting pulled in a pro race does not equal a finishing position as USACycling shows me as a DNF. It's not a big deal, DNF or 45th or whatever I would've been. But I would've like to be listed as a finisher (yes I know it's not a fondo). Although as soon as I finished the end of the caravan: Ambulance and last few cars blew past me (oops).

So I learned a lot. Mainly that if I want to do well at big events...which is kinda the whole goal here. I need to do a lot more racing (in a constructive training way) or motorpacing. While the climbs were, well just OK for me, the real tough part of the race was the sheer speed that we were going on the flats. There was no rest, and that lack of recovery really hurt me once we'd get back onto the climbs.

So lesson learned. It was a great experience and hope its the first of many.

Training for US Pro plus Assault on Mt. Mitchell

As you may have seen I've been a little light on the racing of late, but that's because I'm doing something totally foreign to me: training mid-season. Yes gone are the days of simply going to local races and hoping 60 minutes plus 5 laps will keep me in shape, now I'm off to bigger and better things...like riding 2 hours BEFORE doing 60 minutes plus 5 (big difference).

I had a weekend off from racing and went up to the big hippie music festival: LEAF. It was a lot of good music, overpriced free range burgers, and camping. But most importantly it was in Black Mountain...which meant mountains!! That was the start of my block of training for nationals, things continued through last week with an uber epic ride coupled with an uber epic bonk through the Pisgah forest:

 Then it was some Asheville Ring of Fire racing on the track (except it's not really a track and nobody's on track bikes), then two days easy, then racing in Raleigh NC.

Saturday was a 62 mile road race. As you may know the now-dead superweek would do 62 miles around a  0.8km parking lot...so doing it in a road race ain't no thing.

It was a miserably rainy road race. We had a bunch of guys in the field so were the ones to watch, however me being new to the south have no idea who to watch. Regardless I ended up in the breakaway of 11 guys (we had 4, so we were the ones to watch, again). We all worked well together and got out a gap. I joined in the attacking with my teammates a bunch on the last lap out of 6 (we did have the numbers). Finally one of my attacks stuck going up the finishing climb. It was the first win of the season for me, and even being a local race, it's good to get it out of the way.

This is the best I can do these days victory salute wise, what with a Bankart Lesion in my Labrium and all (I don't know what it is either)

Did a little training before Sunday's crit as well. The crit had a noticeably smaller field of 17 or so. It was a tight tough crit circuit, but I was starting to feel some fatigue in my legs. It was just Pat and I from the Smart Stop squad, I eventually got away with an NC State guy in the final few laps and sprinted for the win.

Ok now here's the point where you get overtained:

I had previously registered for the Assault on Mt Mitchell. Seemed like a great idea at the time, round out 3 days of hard training with a big ride. That was until we got stuck in Charlotte traffic for over 2 hours driving home (PRO tip: Never go to or around Charlotte if you value getting anywhere in a timely manner).

The result of this was getting into Greenville late, stressing about waking up early for AOMM, and subsequently not being able to sleep. Regardless, I had to do Mitchell (at least once).

Rolled out of bed at 5 and drove out to Spartainburg for the start. It was HUGE, over a 1000 people rolled out at the 6:30 start time. It was a foggy start, which kept the heat down. It was a leisurely pace for most of the ride, but I could tell my legs were fried...like REALLY fried.

 After going through Marion I did my little efforts I wanted to do then just hung on for the rest of the climbing.

Let me just quickly say once you pass through Marion, there's 28 miles of climbing to Mitchell, which took me around 2 hours. If you're not cracked after two hours of climbing...there's something wrong in your head. I spent most of my climbing time staring down the wheel of a Greenville Spinners guy who said "Oh, this is my first group ride."

Aside from my totally ruined legs at the time, it was an amazing ride. Great views, great people. Definitely something to do at least once, but I cant wait to do it again.

Yes, there was helicopter coverage

Hopefully all this translates to going uphill fast...at least 4 times...or at least faster than those "sprinters" out there.
I mean, let's be honest here: Mt Diablo is ONLY 10 miles, look out Farrar.

Speedweek Wrap

So when I called up the orthopedic surgeon office last week after dislocating my shoulder, they said I should take a few months off the bike to let my shoulder heal. I must have misheard and interperited it as ride 3 'balls to the walls' SpeedWeek Crits.

The last time I did SpeedWeek was WAY back in 2011 after spending a week in NM feeling like I was breathing through a tube at Gila. I raced a pretty similar schedule as then (minus Walterboro).

I had to shake off the cobwebs quickly before jumping into the Spartainburg 1/2 mile crit course of doom. At least that's how I remembered it (good number of crashes last time I raced it). Since this past weekend was pretty stacked between Gila and Collegiate natz, the fields were about 1/2 what they were in 2011. This made the races in general WAY safer.

Additionally there were a few dominant teams racing the majority of the series: the DII team UHC, Predator Racing, and us. I swapped out for Shane so he could go out to Cali to race Dana Point, with good results:
I took up the role as another infantryman, covering early moves (which I'm slowly getting the hang of) and closing gaps.

Since Spartainburg was a flat relatively non technical crit, things ended as expected in a field sprint. We were working for Isaac keeping him sheltered and on the UHC lead-out train. Their crit leadout is VERY good and has been the challenge all week for us to figure out how to beat them. We let him ride their leadout and protect him from the chaos behind, he ended up 3rd.

The Belmont Crit Saturday was a new addition to SpeedWeek and a really good one. At 50 miles with a BIG climb on the start/finish straight it was a very selective course. UHC hit out immediately, by the first corner we all saw what was happening and had a bit of an "oh crap" moment. The field was totally decimated by the 5th lap. There were 22 some riders off the front of the 10 rider field. I covered an attack and was promptly dropped, luckily I was able to tag onto another group that eventual caught the leaders as they were lapping the rest of the field. Frank got off with 5 other riders in the final few laps and we jockeyed with UHC for the remaining places. Overall it was a SUPER hard race, and I hope it stays on the calendar.

The day of racing Sunday was Sandy Springs in Atlanta. Another hilly crit on tap with the threat of rain, and rain it did. It rained just before the start of the race so the start was very stop and go and crash marred. The field again split, and Frank again got off the front with a single UHC rider. Smart Stop and UHC both mercilessly covered every attack on the front, but it was no use, Frank was driving the break and stayed away for 2nd. With about 10 laps to go it started pouring again and the crashes also resumed. I managed to only go down once. Thomas and Isaac finally succeeded in overtaking and then out cornering the entire UHC lead out train on the last lap to take 3rd and 5th. I rolled in for 11th....which is what I got in 2011, coincidence????

There's not much on tap next. I have to get an MRI on Thursday to see what's going on with my shoulder, then it's off to Chattanooga for the US Pro National Championship.

Anniston to Joe Martin

Hitched a ride with a few guys from the team out to the second big stage race of the year, the Joe Martin Stage Race.

Along the way the team hit up the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston Alabama. In NCC criteriums there is a six rider maximum per team. On Smart Stop we have 15 good riders, and I'm since I'm doing the stage races currently, I was happy to spend the race somehow wandering into the VIP tent.

It's always bittersweet to watch a race that isn't on a live Sporza feed but thats how it goes.

Sunday was the foothills road race, a good number of guys from the crit on Saturday all stay over for the 74 miler. It turns out Alabama is really hilly. Anyway I was in a very promising breakaway that got brought back by a local team (who then all promptly were dropped). The counter attack contained two of ours, I followed into a second group and misinterpreted some teammate instructions to set pace for our sprinter and instead attacked the group I was in over the last climb (I'm working on it).

On to Joe Martin and the spring break stomping ground of the Purdue Cycling club.

Of all the NRC races out there I have a fair amount of experience in this one. However I did about the same in the TT as I've done in the past, partly I think because I paced myself WAY to easily in the first part of TT.

In Friday's road race I covered a few early moves before Curtis got into a 4 man break for us. I was feeling pretty good, went back for some bottles and was hanging out with our sprinters for the finish when I flatted...at the base of the 10 mile climb on the course: Mt. Gaylor. You'd think I'm getting good at pacing back onto the field at this point. However the Smart Stop car was up the road at the time, helping Curtis, so when I flagged down the neutral service car, the Shimano guys came speeding up with a bottle of purified water in had asking "Feed??!?!"
Oh Shimano (another reason to stick with SRAM)

Anyway normally you can pace up through the cars, using their draft for help. However since I was on a climb the cars and their heavy footed drivers gave me little help. So I settled in for my 1 hour tempo ride back into town to make time cut (I did this time).

Saturday's 114 mile road race was again a rainy/cold affair. After following moves early in the race I was a little poorly positioned once the climb hit and the breakaway went. Optum (who had the lead) set a hard chase. On the 3rd of 4 laps 5-hr (who was within striking distance of the lead in Paco Mancebo) lit it up going up the climb. Things regrouped and Optum went back to the front but the message was clear: the last time up the climb was going to be tough. We worked together to get into position and things went crazy again. This time 5-hr brought the break to within a few second to put one of their riders in the move then let Optum chase again. The gap yo-yo'd a bit, but when we made the left hand turn towards the finish the group was getting really close. Mancebo jumped across with Chad Haga (Optum's rider in the leaders jersey). We were following the Jamis sprint train at the time and got caught a little far back. I did a turn at the front to try and bring the move back within striking distance but it was too late and the large group stayed away.

Sunday's Crit is always tough. I kept towards the front in the beginning but drifted a little too far back into the vortex of suck common in these techincal crits. Once there you have to sprint out of every corner, have to sprint to move up...and eventually end up getting dropped, thus is life.

In other news after a long trip back go Greenville I am taking it easy to recover for Speedweek this weekend. On my one easy MTB ride I made the accident of not watching where I was heading and clipped a tree at the blistering speed of 5 mph (garmin confimred) and dislocated my shoulder:

Which resulted in a trip to this place:

Shoulder is now back in place and should be ready and raring to go this weekend.

West Coast Wrap

Well I've been a little delinquent about doing a write up for Redlands because Redlands was tough, and then we had a tough travel day to get back East again.

Redlands was the last race of a month long trek to the west coast that started with the Tucson Bicycle Classic, migrated to Cali for the the San Dimas Stage race and finally wrapped with Redlands.

Redlands has always had a storied place in the American race calendar. Before the advent of the Tour of Cali, Tour of Utah, Tour of (insert soon to be bankrupt state tourism agency here) Redlands shared the top of the American calendar with the likes of the Coors classic.

It's also the first race in the NRC calendar. The series of stage races for the US. A big stage race will always draw a different caliber of rider. While 95% of American racing is Crit racing, every big team has dreams of stage race glory since the currency of success outside of America is in the stage racing.

Time trials are neither my strength nor my favorite thing to do, so I'll just skip over the details of Thursday (let's just say my GC asperations were dashed....haha jk I have no GC asperations)

Friday was my first crack at domestique duties. One of those duties, covering the early moves, is always a little tough. At the beginning of any of these races of 200 guys, at least 100 of the riders fancy themselves getting into a "day long" breakaway. Due to all the fresh riders with the same idea the starts are always chaotic and really fast. Going off the front in this situation requires a TON of energy. Cutting it short I missed the breakaway after gassing myself following other moves. Then it was onto my other duty: water. I had never been big on going back to the caravan, mostly because I've never had a car to go back to.
In normal race conditions it wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined and I would have gone back more often, but our team was a little over-staffed on that task, ever time I went back there'd be a few other guys already getting bottles.

I only barely made it over the KOM the penultimate time, and narrowly avoided two crashes on the finishing straight. I was pretty blown and used the last of my energy to bring Clay back up to front of the pack with the rest of the SS guys.

I was definitely more excited going into the crit, thinking that it would be more up my alley and I'd be able to show myself a little more. This again I was mistaken for a couple reasons, mostly cobwebs. Riding a national level crit takes a lot of nerve in terms of fighting for position in corners and just cornering ability, being my first real crit of the year I was definately a little rusty and burned through all my matches trying to get/stay up front, but the front was headed by Paco Mancebo's team, followed by 30 or so sprinters who would all kill you rather than let you move up in a corner. That combined with the technical nature of the course equated to never being able to even get to the front to attack.

The final day was the infamous Sunset loop. A 7 mile loop that was all climbing and descending. I simply hung on for dear life, followed a few attacks, then blew up, I lasted until 4 laps to go.

Overall a good experience, it's early in the year and my legs are still coming around (which is good).

Did a few small races in NC this past weekend, then It's a good block of training before going off to Arkansas for the old standby of the Joe Martin Stage Race.

West Side

The first big trip I've undertaken with the Smart Stop guys and now as a free man is halfway done. Since there's a bit of a shortage of good racing out east this early the team is out here getting the race miles in and team tactics dialed in.

We've were in Tucson last week for the Tucson Bicycle Classic, are in San Dimas for the stage race here, and are headed to Redlands in a week. We've been bouncing around a fair bit and I finally have a chance to blog from the luxurious RV I'm currently calling home:

It's really been a learning experience riding with the team so far. It's totally a different mentality. In the past the team would go into races with the following strategy: follow some moves, hopefully one of us gets into one, freelance the sprint. Not that this was wrong by any means, but it's the best way an amateur can fend for themselves in a big race.

A lot more is expected now; I'm no longer looking for cues from the big guys in the peleton, I'm part of a team of big guys and we're the ones trying to dictate what happens in the race. Each of us takes a part in forcing the race to go the way we want it to go (usually winning). This sort of mentality is easy to adopt, and is taken by many teams through every rank in cycling, but the plan commonly falls apart once put into practice. Proficiency seems to be only achieved through a mix of talent, knowledge, experience, and commitment to the team.

It's a big change for me, I won't lie. I'm very used to riding my own race. Very rarely have I had to REALLY ride for anyone else. Not that I'm unwilling or anything; I've just spent so many years hiding from the wind and saving my energy for the opportune moment that I have to do some serious re-wiring of my racing brain. It's a huge mental block or me to ride on the front, surf the edge of the peleton waiting for the team train that's headed to the front, or do the pacing to the front myself. It's been a learning experience, the more I figure out the more I realize I don't know.

Experience and knowledge exp. points have been acquired, now it's prep time for Redlands.

Continue if you want more punishment in the form of race report (in complete excruciating detail)....

Taking a break from the Cube-Farm

I know I know, JUST had a post extolling the greatness of commuting by bicycle to work and how it can save you SO much time in training that you can race the Pro/1 division while working a full time job.

Well I just quit my engineering job.

Alright just kidding...I didn't really quit, but am going on a "Leave of Absence" to focus on cycling and today is my last day.

This had been brewing  for a long time. After a lot of discussion with family, friends (thanks for putting up with all my fretting), and co-workers I finally took the deep breath and had the talk. I had been going back and forth with work a few times about ways to make this work: through either part time, or remote work, but ultimately it was decided that LoA was the best route for everyone.

My co-workers/managers was actually very supportive of me taking time off (contrary to any nightmares I had before talking to them). They didn't find it that odd that I wanted to leave my engineering desk job to try my hand at being a professional athlete. I didn't want to have to describe how much less glamorous being a professional cyclist is than being say a pro baseball player, but hearing them say that made me feel pretty good regardless.

I'm really happy and excited about this, I'll really be able to focus on the cycling 100%.

I'm also pretty psyched to be doing it with the Smart Stop guys too. The team camp gave me a lot of good vibes about the guys on the team and the goals they're trying to accomplish.

So today is my last day in the cube farm for a while. Tomorrow I'm flying out to Arizona for the Tucson Bicycle Classic, then it's off to San Dimas, followed by Redlands!!