July

This post is just going to be all about July. While I like to read blogs, I've found it difficult to stay motivated to post routinely, especially since they blocked the site at work, hence the month absence. Anyway.

Had a few races.

Longmont - got caught behind two crashes, jumped a curb and rode though some lady's yard, then did solo TT for 3 laps to get back on - finished with the pack.

Salida - Rolled down with Ty . 10th place in the TT, got poured on the whole race. RR did 3/6 laps and pulled the plug. No since in finishing once your out of the the top 25. Got dropped 1st time up the climb, caught back on right before we started again. Dropped again worked with Jared and 3 others to get back on, but didn't. 3rd time up Jared and I decided to call it a day. Crit - felt pretty good, counter attacked after Jared was caught. Spent a lap solo, once caught there were 3 counters, and I was tailgunning for the next three laps. Once the pack got down to 30, I couldn't close all the gaps in the head wind section, and finally blew. Was bummed about that. Just needed about 30 seconds recovery. Was first Cat 3 crit all season that was single file the last 20 min. Still had a good time, and the road race is still hards as a mofo.

Fed Center, I was sucking wind the whole race, finished 31st?. While I like the fact it is a circuit race, 12 turns with no rhyme or reason is a bit ridicolous. I never knew where I was going next.

Bannock, made a stupid move with 4 to go, ended up 23rd. Race was fairly fast. Did avoid disaster when I got pushed to the curb when some dude changed his line and bumped another guy going through a corner. I basically banked into the curb, scraping my right pedal. Still don't know how I kept it up. Heard that the guys that saw it were impressed. I was just glad to keep the rubber side down.

Cori and I made a trip home to celebrate my mom finishing her chemo treatment for Breast Cancer. Had a great time. The usual suspects were present, and Gordon ended up doing an impression of Capt. Jack Sparrow at about 3 in the morning. Spent a day at Cori's parents pool, then a day on my parents boat at the river. Got in a couple rounds of golf and drank a few cold ones.

For the record 96' Pirates were the best basketball team. If your from Pope County, you'll understand.

Landlord

Pearl is a bitch!

A few I haven't heard

My college roomate nicknamed "Piss" sent me these:

The opening scene of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" is loosely based on games of dodgeball Chuck Norris played in second grade.

Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.

Chuck Norris doesn't wash his clothes, he disembowels them.

Crop circles are Chuck Norris' way of telling the world that sometimes corn needs to lie down.

Chuck Norris needs a monkeywrench and a blowtorch to masturbate

Recharging

I've been trying to recharge this week after last weeks debacle. Got some recovery rides in, road Rash is mostly healed, and finally got some decent sleep. I had to work over the weekend since we were moving the hospital so wasn't able to do the Rocky MTN Omnium, which included the Hugo Road Race. I think I made a good descision considering there was a huge crash at the crit Thursday, and they neutralized the race. I was really disappointed with how the omnium was organized for the 3s, so didn't mine missing it at all. Instead I did some max efforts up Lookout MTN Sat. and Sun. to see where I'm at. More recovery the next couple of days and hopefully I'll be back to 100% for Dead Dog.

Colorado Cycling Festival - Rist Canyon Road Race

My adventures started Friday when driving to Boulder to pick up my bike. About 1/2 mile past the foothills parkway exit, my left front differential and drive shaft blew up on my car. As I'm calling roadside assistance my cell phone died. I then yelled, threw my phone, and said lot of dirty words. This was just icing on the cake for how my past week had gone. Luckily a service technician from the dealership stopped to make sure I was ok and I borrowed his phone to call my buddy Taylor to come get me so I could pick up my bike before the shop closed. Gotta have priorities. We left the car for the tow truck to pick up and headed on to Fort Collins.

After a quick spin to try to loosen the legs from not riding for two days, Taylor and I joined Owen, and Erin for dinner at Enzo's. Big thanks to Owen and Erin for allowing us to crash at their place.

The Race - I cracked....Not much more to say about the race than that. 4 crits, 2 crashes, travel, little sleep, and stress from work all within a week finally caught up with me. I had no power from the beginning and knew I was going to be in trouble. I got dropped up the climb quick then rode the rest of the race with Brian Huggins from HART. I ended up 46th/60+ starters giving up 13 min to the winner. My race turned into a training ride, and I was able to enjoy the course and views. Even though my effort sucked, the course was awesome. It had a little of everything, flats, long climb, long descent, and steep rollers. My favorite section was the downhill and and the steep rollers across Horsetooth Reservoir. Here is a pic of me on the back of a group of 4 going across the rez. My favorite road course to date. I thought the event was well run, and the BBQ after the race was great way to catch up with everyone and make excuses for how bad we did. I would highly recommend doing this race next year. After detonating, I decided to skip the race Sunday and instead had a great day with my better half. Breakfast at Crepes n' Crepes. I went with the Nutella and strawberries. Lunch and Beers at the Irish Hound. Followed by a afternoon nap and a light dinner at home watching the Soprano's finale. WTF with the ending, hated it.

Tulsa Tough

First let me say this is well run event, with cool courses and a community that is totally behind it. I represented VC for the weekend along with Jon Baker. It was also relative easy travel. Caught a flight from Denver, took the complimentary hotel shuttle to the Race Hotel, which was within a mile of all 3 courses. I would highly recommend doing this race, if you like Crits.

Friday - 7pm start, poured rain the whole race. 10+ crashes. Every time we came through the wheel pit, there were 4-5 dudes getting a free lap. I like racing in the rain and was feeling great. Sitting 10th wheel with three corners left, when the guy on my inside layed it down, sliding under me. I basically rode him across the pavement. Got up adjusted my brakes and rolled in 23rd/100. Minor scratches.

Saturday - Sitting 15th with 5 laps to go, when I heard the infamous "inside, inside" then got t-boned. The guy high sided me and I landed hard on my butt and back. Wasn't able to get up for a while, so didn't get the free lap, plus my bike was screwed. DNF/100

Sunday - crit had a steep climb. Stayed towards the front. 3 guys got away. I goofed up coming through when I saw 1 lap to go on the counter. It was actually for the break that was catching us. I hit it hard up the hill pulling away a group of 4, but then realized I didn't hear the bell, so we got caught going through the start finish again. I was able to hang towards the front the last time through and finished 14th in the field, 17th overall out of 100.

Overall I felt pretty good all weekend, without the crashes, I think I would have pulled some good results. Sunday I was quite sore, especially my lower back which started to act up the last couple of times up the climb. I ended up a lot of road rash on my right elbow and arm, and I left my right butt cheek back in Tulsa. Tailbone was bruised as well.

Other Damage - Broken handlebars, Broken seat, cracked frame, worped both my wheels, broken barrell adjuster on the front brake. I didn't find the crack in my frame until wednesday the following week, after I raced sunday and the Mead training race on Tuesday. Luckily Excel was able to warranty my frame and had me rolling again Satuday for Rist. Big props to Dan at Excel for taking care of me.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend

Cori and I had a great Memorial Day weekend. I got some good long rides in, played a couple rounds of golf, and got to spend some QT with Cori's family. Cori and I squeezed in a quick ride friday before her parents and her brother and his girlfriend arrived. Later that night we had a nice dinner at Table 6. Saturday morning I took off for a 4.5 hour ride from Cherry Creek to Evergreen and back. I had a great ride going up Deer Creek to Parmalee Gulch, Bear Creek, Kerr Gulch, then down the frontage road from Genesse to Golden and Back. It' hard to get my ass out of bed before 6am, but I sure like riding early in the morning. That afternoon, we headed up the the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch. We love that place. Totally relaxing. Cori's Dad is a golf nut, so we played a couple rounds at Red Sky Ranch. Probably the nicest 2 courses I've ever played. I didn't play to bad, considering the last time I swung a club was February. I even managed to get in a good ride Sunday morning out to Wolcott and then up to top of Cordillera and back to the Ritz. We had perfect weather and it was nice to get away for a weekend.

SOLD

2004 54cm Specialized Allez Pro frame and full carbon fork.
Frame is the exact same as the S-Works E5 frames that year, its component mix was less expensive, which is why it was branded Allez.
Fork is also the same as used in the S-Works lineup - however this one is BRAND NEW. Steerer tube is uncut and expander plug is included.
Also included is a new Specialized OS road stem. It has the flip-flop internals so you can adjust the angles in 2 degree increments from -8 to +16.
The pictured seatpost is not included in the asking price but you can make an offer if you're interested.

Geometry - Effective TT 548mm, 73.5 degree STA, 140mm HT length. see specialized.com for more details.

The frame is in Excellent condition. Cosmetically, there are very few blemishes - minimal wear to the paint on the drive-side chainstay, a 3M protector strip was always used. Some small scratches to the seattube where the front derailleur cable rubbed a bit. A small paint chip on the drive-side barrel adjuster near the headtube. The paint on the headtube was protected by the clear stickers.

Weight - 1960g including: stem, headset, bottle cage bolts, seatpost clamp, uncut steerer tube.

Post a comment if you are interested.

Panbeh

Panbeh enjoying his summer haircut. He's our minature Lion.

Cherry Creek Sneak

Here are some pics from the Cherry Creek Sneak that Cori and Blenda ran in a few weeks ago.

Coal Miner's Classic

No redemption was to be had. Legs felt crappy and I got spit after 4 laps. Another DNF. Shit! I think I'm in need of some recovery.

North Boulder Park Crit

Not much to report. Just mad at myself. Goofed around all day at the house doing laundry, running errands, then proceeded to show up late to the race. I only got in about 15 min of warm-up before the start. I knew this race would be extremely hard and fast at the start, and probably need a good 45 min warm-up. Not that it mattered, I couldn't get clicked in so I was about 30 deep going into the first turn. Ugh! A big DNF for me. first one in a long time. I wish I had some better excuses, but no one to blame by myself. I'll be looking for redemption tomorrow.

Marty had a great ride finishing 6th. Way to go Brah.

Henk

I watched Henk Vogels in the WOT crit last weekend, then remembered the last time I saw him. I took this last year during a sprint stage of the Giro into Forli. Henk had got caught behind crash in the last 1km and casually rode it in. McEwen took the win. Wow, can't believe it has already been a year. Cori and I are ready to go back. More from our trip here and here.

WOT Pictures

Check out Jared's picture blog for some pics of WOT Cat 3s

Tulsa Tough Anyone?

I made the descion to do the Tulsa Tough instead of City Park and the State TT the first weekend of June. I just wasn't that excited to do the TT, and I've done City Park before, and while it is a cool course, there is always a couple of crashes. The opportunity to do 3 crits on new courses, against new competion won me over. I'll be traveling/staying with Jon Baker, but racing solo, so if you know any other 3s from Colorado going, let me know. Maybe we could work out a game plan for the races as a Colorado Contingent.

Flights on Frontier right now are ~$222 round trip. Cheaper than what I would spend in gas if I drove. Crazy.

CCTT #6

My homie, Wind, failed to show last night. I was left by myself to battle the course alone. I felt good and the course was fairly fast. I turned a time of 24:05. I was shooting for sub 24, but just didn't get there. Maybe a 1500 dollar disc zipp would have saved me 5 seconds, but who knows. I'm still really happy with the effort. I finally broke the top 10 with 9th place. I was only ~50 seconds off the winner, which was an improvement, because I'm normally ~2 min. One TT left next week.

Wheels of Thunder

Had a large contingent of VC on hand. Brent, Marty, Jayson, Lance, and Jared. I had 2 game plans, try to win some primes, or wait for the finish sprint and hunt some upgrade points. I accomplished neither, but felt I had a great race. Instead, I got bored, and chased down several breaks, and was in a couple others. Coming into the last half a lap, I was sitting about 15th on the top part of the course, and saw Brent and Teno top 5. I knew Brent had been sitting in most of the race, so would be fresh for the sprint so I went to the front to group with them. Their was a JDS rider off the front a couple seconds, and no one wanted to chase. We were still to far out for a lead out, but were starting to get swarmed on both sides, so I decided, now or never. Put my head down with Brent and Teno on my wheel, and got us to the last corner. A guy started his sprint about 600m out (WTF) and came around me. I couldn't match the acceleration at that point, so I swung out letting Brent come through, then swung back in. Brent followed some wheels and finished 5th. I held on for 10th. Teno 16th, Marty 18th, Lance 21st. Jared got caught behind the pile-up on the last lap. I was very happy with 10th since I basically led out the whole field for the sprint, I just didn't have any pop left to sprint. I'm glad everyone finished safely.

While we did have a lot of VC guys in the field today, and several where aggressive trying to get off the front, or chasing things down, I think we could have made the race a lot harder and worked on our organization as a team. I think if we have all 6 of us again, we are strong enough as a team to break it up, but that may mean sacrificing individual results. I would take a win for the team anyday, over a top 10 for myself. Hopefully we can put something together for this weekend.

CCTT #5

I was "supper pumped" (man trip joke) about the race yesterday. It was great weather all day and little to no wind. My goal was to break 24 min. I rolled to the start ~7pm, just as this big ominous black cloud started to roll in. I thought it would hold off for at least another 25 min as it didn't seem to be moving that fast. Anyway I started, easing in to the effort for the first couple of minutes. I felt fairly good, then right before the turnaround, the wind reared it's ugly head. The brunt of it hit me past the Forrest section, with a massive 20+mph head/cross wind the last ~3 miles of the race. I hadn't left a whole lot in the tank, thinking I would have little wind the whole race, and I wanted to keep my effort steady most of the race. I went from turning over a 53x11-13 most of the race to 53x21 into the headwind, which also coincided with the small rises in the course on the way back. I also got rained on the last 4 min of the race. What a way to finish. I was pretty pissed when I got back about a situation I couldn't do anything about. Ty was waiting for me inside Tim's truck trying to stay dry, and his assessment of the race was about the same as mine.
Anyway, I turned a time of 24:42 good enough for 11th place.
Got leap frogged by several guys that had early start times. Looks like most times for the early guys were ~1 min faster, were mine was ~ 30 sec. Only thing to compare was that the rider that takes off 40 sec in front of me is also Cat 3, and we had basically the exact same conditions. He has been consistently 5th or 6th every week about a minute faster than me, but this week he only got me by 6 seconds. He probably had a bad week, but I'm gonna tell myself that I'm just getting faster.

To my friend:

Wind,

We've had a close relationship over the past month. Just when I thought you had left me, there you were today. Glad I wasn't alone for the last 4 miles of the CCTT. Thanks for showing the love. I mean it. Look forward to seeing you next week as well.

Your bud,

Casey

Rocky Mounts Crit

Rocky Mounts Crit - One of the best things about upgrading to a 3 has been the later start times. No more getting up at 6am. However, yesterday the later time, meant racing in the rain for an hour. It started coming down right before our 4:30 pm start. About midday I was searching for motivation to race as it looked like it was going to rain, then I remembered what Brent told me after Lincoln. "Dugan, from now on you like racing in the rain. It's one of your advantages." With that in mind I made the trip to louisville. Brent and Marty also joined me. I also wanted to at least finish this crit, the previous 2 times I had done it, I got dropped. This course was actually my first crit ever 3 years ago. I had moved from STL, my goal was a top 20, which I thought wouldn't be to hard considering I was finishing in the top half of sport MTB races bact in STL. I held on for about 1 lap in the 4s, and remember thinking what did I get myself into. Now I can laugh, but that was my first CO racing experience. Anyway, yesterday I just tried to stay up front and wide on the corners so I didn't have to brake. Game time descion had me swith to my training wheels from my zipps, which probably saved my hiney more that once during the race. Zipps don't brake worth a shit in the rain, even with the new zero gravity brakes. I had one guy ask me with about 15 mins left if I wanted to give it a go, to which I replied, "not really". Reason being they were chasing pretty well everything down, or so I thought. He attacked on the uphill and was quickly brought back. With three laps to go Brent, Marty, and I all moved up to the front. 2 guys went on the hill, opening up a gap, then another 2 Denver Spoke guys. I jumped on their wheel, and I think Marty was on mine. I opened up a gap from those guys, not wanting to chase that early, so Marty jumped to bridge and I opened up a gap to get them off the front. Then Collins and another guy came around to start the chase towards the finish, so I just sat on their wheels. My plan was to counter as soon as they caught Marty, but he was holding strong off the front, trying to catch the Denver Spoke guys. I was just following Collins wheel, so when he started, so did I. We caught Marty about 50m before the finish. I tried to come around Collins, I got about half way and clicked for another gear, and got nothing. I had being missing a shift the last half the race, and I guess I was in the lucky gear again. Afterwards Collins said he saw me trying to sneak past him. I'll get him next time :) I was happy with my performance, until I found out 2 guys attacked 1st lap and lapped the field. How did we all miss this? Then apparently 2 more guys got off the front and held on, So what I thought was a top 5 turned out to be 8th. Marty held on for 9th as well. Looking back I should have probably closed that gap to the Denver Spoke guys, so that when Marty attacked, they wouldn't have been off the front. I never thought they would hold it to the end. Oh well.

B-Day

I turned 29 yesterday. Wow. Can't say I'm all that pumped that I'll be 30 next year, but there's not really anything I can do about it. Cori, Ty, Jen, and I hit up Sushi Tazu last night. The Volocano Roll is the bomb. I had a few Sapporos, and some Chocolate Devotion from Cold Stone Creamery. Even my bro remembered to call me. "Happy Birthday Fagwad!, your gift is in the mail, yeah right." That was the message he left. If you know him, that wouldn't suprise you.

CCTT #4

Wind was the flavor of the day, again. 20-25 mph. I felt decent going in considering, I was feeling pretty shattered Monday after a hard weekend. A massage from Nicole at Eden II set me straight. Blew the cobwebs out Tuesday on the trainer, and was looking forward to Wednesday. My goal was to just go faster than the week before, and break the top 10. I turned in a time of 25:17:89 good for 10th place, again. So I was faster than 2 weeks ago in the wind, but still didn't break the top 10. I've finished behind Curtis Leschyshyn 3 times now. This week he got me by 15 seconds. I'll get him before it is over. Now I've got some motivation. The winner turned in a time of 23:05, that's just stupid.
I still don't have a rear disc, so If I ever decide to get one, that will hopefully get me a few more seconds. In the past I never liked TTing, but it has definately growning on me.

This weekend is the Lookout HC and Rocky Mounts Crit. I'm planning to leave Lookout to the skinny butts, and get in a long training day, then rally for the crit.

Sunday

Yesterday got up and went and watched Cori run the 5K at the Cherry Creek Sneak. I've tried to get her into cycling, but she likes the running thing right now. It's been cool to watch her change from a goofy looking runner to someone who knows what they are doing. I glad she is doing something healty. She placed 52nd/222 in her category, and I know she was taking easy.

After the 5K I picked up Gunz and we headed to Boulder to meet Brent and Jayson. We did the Boulder-Old Stage-Left Hand-Ward-P2P-Raymond-Lyons-Hygeine-Boulder Loop. 75 miles (4.5 hours) It was great weather, beautiful scenery, and good company. I totally bonked about 10 miles from Boulder, even though I ate/drank a ton during the ride. Guess I was pretty wiped from Deer Trail. It was good to get a long ride it with friends.

Later that afternoon, Cori and I treated ourselves to hot wings, beers, and a burger from the Cherry Cricket. Yum!

Deer Trail RR

Deer Trail (74 miles) - My goal was to get in the early break, so Brent, Marty and Lance could sit in. The race was active from the start. First move went about 6 miles in, with a group of 4. I tried to bridge, but the pack wouldn't let me go, so I helped bring the group back. As soon as we caught them there was a solo counter, then a minute later, another solo move to bridge. At this point, I was recovering, and had drifted back 10 places. We hit the turnaround, and another group of 6 got off, including Brent. This move should have stuck. All the large teams were represented except for 2, and most of the teams at the front were blocking for teamates up the road making it difficult to form a chase. I was hanging about 15th in the pack keeping an eye on things. At this point several guys started blowing the yellow line, moving up 30 spaces, or trying to bridge to the break. This happened repeatedly over the next 40 miles. These were such bullshit moves. The whole pack was calling the dudes out, but they kept doing it. The moto ref was with the break, so he was no help.

Brent said there were 2 guys in the break of 8 that wouldn't work, and after repeated attempts of trying to drop them, the break was brought back. When I saw
they were going to get caught, I moved up to ~7th place waiting for the counter, but as we caught them a handful of guys flew the yellow line again, and I got boxed in behind the guys getting caught from the break. So another group of 6 got off, but were quickly reeled back with some help from Lance who had moved up. At this point I was sitting about 20th, but wasn't too worried, as Lance was now covering moves.
We then went through town, getting ready for the last 25 miles of rollers, and Lance flatted right before the first roller and feed zone. Brent was sitting in recovering from the break, and Marty was somewhere behind me. Of course a group of 5 got off through the feedzone and we weren't represented. The last 25 miles are lot of huge rollers, so if we let them have a minute or two, it could be hard to get them back. I then saw Marty who said he was feeling good, and moved up to Brent to see how he was. He said he had recovered and was feelin good as well, so I decided I would go to the front and help work to bring the break back, while they sat in. I went to the front helped push the pace over the next 12 miles. We ended up catching the break right before the 2nd to last turnaround, leaving 12 miles. At this point I thought the race would start to split up so I stayed very close to the front covering any late moves. We made it to the last turnaround, and I was starting to feel pretty worked, and it looked like it was going to stay together till right before the finish so I drifted to the back to recover. There ~40 left in the main pack. From the previous 2 times I had done this race, the group splits up on the last two rollers leaving plenty of time to move up once the road opened up, so I
decided to wait for that. However this time 4 guys blocked the front, not allwoing anyone to get around and held the pack together until the last 200m, when guys started crossing the yellow line (again). At this point I was still on the back, and lost my nerve to even try to pick some guys off in a 40+ bunch sprint, so I just tailed in on the back of the group safe and sound. Marty got 13th, Brent got boxed in from yellow line passer for 21st, and I rolled in 36th.

I was happy with my performance, as I was active all day, and did a lot of work for the team.

I was frustrated with how the race turned out, especially with all the yellow line crossings. I was working hard to move up, and maintain my position with 86 guys, when they would just take a flyer to the left passing 30 guys. As a team I thought we did fairly well with only 4 guys considering there were 5 teams that had 6+. I thought with that many large teams a break would get away, or the last 12-15 miles would be hard enough to split it up. I never thought we would roll all the way to the finish with 40+. I guess if I wanted to shoot for a top 10, I should have just sat in all day, but what is the fun in that? I always want to get a good result, but lost my nerve at the end, and didn't want to take the risk sprinting on the
narrow roads. ugh! what a frustrating race.

CCTT #3 4.25.07

I finished 10th/25 in the TT last night. They
shortened the course considerably due to flooding.
Therefore we had the short but steep climb about 1.2
km into the race, and they added a 1km 3-5% climb
towards the end. I went out too hard, not knowing how
to pace my self since the effort was going to be
short. With it being short I wasn't able to settle
in. I was cooked by the time I saw the 1 km to go
sign. Couldn't get out of my 13 at that point, but
was able to hold on for 10th at 14:50, 23 seconds off
top 5. Still a pretty good time compared to everyone
else.

Purple Posse

pic

from Marty's Blog

Lincoln Plating Spring Cycling Classic 07

Teton, Scott, Ross, Marty, Brent and I made the 7hr trip to Lincoln for the LPSCC last weekend.

TT - Saturday morning. 12 mile loop around a lake, with lots of rollers. We had wind also 30+ mph. We got in late friday night so didn't get to preview the course, just took advice from my teamates who had done it before. Also didn't get any sleep after having to call the front desk on the college frat party in the room next door. Cops finally escorted everyone out of hotel room at 2am. I was slightly pissed and took it out in the TT coming in 7th/23 riders. I went hard, and felt good. I was pretty happy with my placing.

RR - Satuday afternoon same course as TT, more wind. It was unbelievable. They shortened the course by 24 miles b/c of it. I actually took my zipp 404 off the front and rode my training wheel, to help with stability. Ran our race with the Masters so the field was 60+, which sucked when they were chasing down 3s trying to start a break, WTF. I got guttered and dropped on the first crosswind
section of the 2nd lap, and chased back on with a group of 7. I then got dropped on the last crosswind section at the end of the 2nd lap. I then chased for half a lap with 2 other guys and got back on again. At this point I figured I would get dropped again in the crosswind section, so I went to the front of the pack to give Marty some shelter. Once we hit the crosswind, I picked up the pace strung the pack out, and popped. I did spring Marty and Brent in a group of 8 with the move, but they got reeled back in the next couple of miles. I then rode the last lap solo, losing 8 min on GC dropping me to 17th/23 in my cat. I couldn't handle the accelerations in the crosswind when the pack was strung out, and I was already at threshold. I was fine riding at threshold, but when I had to go over repeatedly to close gaps, I couldn't recover at LT. Brent took 2nd and Marty 9th on the stage.

Sunday - 2 mile circuit race with a couple false flats and a 800m long climb that was substantial going to the finish. Since I didn't know how I would react, we
decided that I would try a move early and Marty sitting 6th on GC would counter or try later depending on how he felt. Brent was is a sprinter, and hewas going to sit in for the sprint. On the 3rd/8 laps I countered a move on a false flat section. I got about 10 seconds, and spent a lap off the front until they brought it back. Once I was caught another move went with 2 guys, that was quickly brought back, and then a counter move that got about 30 seconds. I recovered during the next 1/2 lap, then tried to bridge solo going on the climb. I got within about 10 seconds of the leader, and stayed that way for then next 2 laps, with the pack chasing about 20
seconds behind me. I got swallowed up on the last climb about 200 meters from the finish. The guy 10 seconds ahead, held on for the win. I was close, but didn't have any power left going up the last climb and got caught quick. Brent and Marty rolled through 9th and 11th. I felt a lot better during the crit, and was happy with my effort and experience I gained. It also rained and hailed during our race which made it very interesting.

My result in the TT/ciruit race, really has me puzzled as to why I couldn't hang on in the RR. Must just be that I haven't got the V02 max training in yet.

Overall the weekend was great, the race was well run with fun courses, and the prize money was good. Mad Props to John Lefler Jr. who was the promoter. I definately want to go back next year.

CCTT #2 - 4.18.06

We had 25-35 mph SSE wind tonight, not fun. My legs didn't feel as good as last
week and I started out a little too hard, but overall, still felt like I had a good ride. My time was 25:57. I was 6 seconds faster than last week, but considering the wind I think it is pretty good. Most people had a time 30 sec - 1 min slower. The TT setup, and position (Thanks Teton)made a huge difference. I moved from 18th place to 10th this week.

Finally

Got My TT frame in Saturday was up to 1:30 am building it Monday night. Got Teton to hook me up with a bike fit Tueday, and rode it for 1:30 that evening Just in time for CCTT #2 on Wednesday.

Boulder Roubaix & AFA 4.14.07

Roubaix - Rolled to the race with Taylor. I was excited to finally get to race with him, since we train a lot together. Since it was so nice out DBC Events added a lap at the start to make it 62 miles of fun. Pretty uneventful race besides the roughness of the road, every lap guys would pop off the back. I found some good lines and tried to stay in those areas most of the race. Last lap couple guys attacked, so I moved to the front to see what was going to happen. My calves were starting to crap into and over the last hill, so I backed off a little. I drank 2 large and 1 small bottle with electrolyte mix, and didn't feel dehydrated, so i don't know what caused that. Was sitting about 25th coming out of last corner, (had about 50/85+ guys left at that point). I then moved up trying to get ready for the sprint. The pace really picked up about 600m out, and I lost the draft behind a guy that poppped and couldn't close the gap. Held everyone else off for 16th place about 5 seconds back from the winner. Taylor rocked a 6th place. There was a spectacular crash at the end of the 3s. heard everyone was ok, which was good, b/c it was nasty. Overall I felt great about the race. My goal was top 30. Big confidence booster considering there were 85+ starters and that course is hard. Felt 10 times better than Koppenberg. Only
felt like i was going into the red one time before the finish, and I was able to recover pretty easy.

AFA - Ouch. 4 laps/50.3 miles with +1000ft climbing per lap on the 1986 world championship course, 65+ starters. 1st time up the long climb field shattered. Kept 10 leaders in sight. Got back on after descent with a group of 9. We had a huge crosswind on the descent and a huge headwind on the flats leading to the climb. About 35 guys in the main group for start of the second climb. Got dropped again. Rode a teamates wheel the rest of the climb. I regrouped with 6 other guys and we
chased. I popped on a flat headwind section, about 100m off the main group. I almost got back on, but we then started the climb again. Rode solo for half a
lap. Another rider caught me and we rode the last lap together picking off a couple guys. I finished 27th. I was tired when I started so I was happy with my
finish. Chalk it up to training. I was absolutely cooked after the race, and the next day. Man that course is hard, especially with the 20+ mph wind. Marty had a great day scoring a 9th place. Kid can climb and should pull some good results this year.

CCTT #1 4.11.07

That TT bike I've been stressing about still isn't in, so I rolled it on my road bike, training wheels and all. Turned in a time of 26:03.3 for 18th/24 guys. I My time was 26:03. I was 2:17 off the winner, and 1:15 off the top half of my field. Just as a comparison my time for the 1st TT last year was 28:37. My fastest time last year was 26:26. While I know conditions aren't the same for every TT, I so feel confident I already faster that my best TT last year.

Koppenberg - 4.1.07

Koppenberg was mr first race this year and as a Cat 3, and it hurt. It was also my first race with VC. I hadn't done any VO2 max training, and it showed. I got spit out the back on the 4th time up the climb and rolled it in with 8 others for 51st place. I kind of expected that it. Looking forward to more intervals in the upcoming weeks.

Catching Up

I'll try to catch up on my post in the next few days. Gunz told me that if your not blogging, you must not be training, so I want to put that myth to rest :)

What's This?

Oh yeah, it's my blog, which I have seriously neglected over the last couple of months. To get up to speed.

Man Trip 06 was off the chain. Highlights - Gordon lost his wedding ring, Ty was a dancing maniac, I had a drunk philosophy battle with some chick at a bar, Todd bought enough cheese for 4 sandwichs, when we had 16 to make. Brian tossed his cookies first night. Clint had a spectacular wipe out on the slopes. I haven't laughed that much in a long time. That all I remember :)

Had a 4 day hut trip 1st of February, which turned nasty. Our group got seprated in a white out on top of a ridge at 12,500 ft. Spent next 3 hours in -50 degree windchill. 2 guys had to drop packs. We all eventually got to the hut. I had frostbite on 2 toes, and nerve damage in 3. Lost all the skin off the left side of my nose and cheek the next day. I was just happy everyone made it ok. Scardest I've ever been for my and my friends survival. Wife wasn't very happy with me when I got home. Toes didn't heal till the middle of March. Lost one toenail.

Got droppped hard on first group ride of the year. Just didn't have the motivation to hit the trainer hard with all the shitty weather. Have had some great rides with the VC guys, and have enjoyed getting to know them.

Went home last weekend for my godson's christening. Got in a epic ride in my home county along the river, and even got some fishing in one afternoon.

First Race is this weekend, and I'm pumped. I probably get spit out the back pretty quick, since I haven't gone into the red much yet this year, but who knows. I finally feel like I'm starting to come around with my training. I behind where I wanted to be, but still better that where I was at this time last year. Shooting to get some results towards the end of April and early May. I've been stressing trying to get a TT bike together. Spent my money for a frame on replacing the tires on my car after someone decided to slash the tires of 4 cars on my block. Guess I'm just lucky ;( Hopefully, I'll have one before the stage race in Nebraska.

Watched Blood Diamond last night. Great Flick. Also the Planet Earth series on Discovery is awesome as well.

Man Trip 07

L to R (Gordon, Casey, Todd, Clint, Brian, Ty)
Man Trip 07 is in the books. More info to follow

Tired of the Trainer?

Then read this. I thought 2 hours was a lot. I've heard of guys riding centurys on there rollers, but this is nuts.

Cali Anyone?

Alright, who is ready to go to Cali for the weekend?

California on Sale!
Purchase by January 11, 2007.
Fly by March 9, 2007

For ALL sale fares and complete details, please click here.

To/From Denver:

Fresno $99*
Los Angeles $104*
Orange County $104*
Sacramento $119*
San Diego $104*
San Francisco $114*
San Jose $119*

Want an update?

Weather in Denver right now sucks, and isn't supposed to improve for the foreseeable future. Need to ride my bike, getting very cranky. Did take my first skate skiing lesson at Eldora Saturday which was challenging. Would have been better, if it was warmer than 15 degrees and the wind wasn't blowing 25mph. Look here for some pics of what Skate Sking looks like. Felt the need to include this b/c most people don't know what it is. Sunday I went with Ty to Keystone to freeze my ass off, ski a few runs, and then sit in traffic for 2 1/2 hours back to Denver - YEAH!