VA Masters State Championship Crit.... 45 Minutes?

And 80 minutes for the non championship 1,2 race?

Of course with my fitness and training this season 45 minutes might be a blessing.

Balance... Juggling... Multi-tasking

Balance... juggling... multi-tasking - whatever you want to call it. I've raced for over 20 years and it's always been a tight rope act to balance family, work, home (and all the associated upkeep) and training / racing. Essentially in that order although my wife would argue the house comes in behind training / racing. I could sacrifice one to the benefit of another but instead just try and juggle each the best I can.... always accepting that you can't be the best at all 4 (I'll never win the "lawn of month" in my neighborhood, there really is an award....)

So, "this economy".... and one vacation/sick day off since July, ten to twelve hour work days and stress to help keep a small (50 employee) IT company afloat and wham.... the balance is gone. Training and racing.... gone this early season. Family.... they went on a weeklong vacation to Florida.... without me!

Over the last few weeks I've decided to bring the balance back - even traveled to do a few races (after some appreciated emails asking me what was up and if everything was alright) and planning some camping trips with the family.

Balance restored, I hope ....

Some Observations.....

1. In order to upgrade to Cat 3 or above, the requirements should include promoting atleast one Category E or above race (and know what a Cat. E event is).

2. If you plan on competing for the BAR review the current rules.

3. If you are trying to upgrade your racing category, avoid falling within the USAC description of a "marginally qualified rider". That way you don't end up arguing the merits of upgrade points from a Tues. night Bryan Park Crit.

4. If you're training like you're preparing for the tour - race like you're preparing for the tour, or atleast impress us.

5. Being a Cat 5, 4, 3 or 2 doesn't mean you rate a free bike, components or entry fees. And if you're lucky enough to be on a team that provides some of these, provide something in return.

6. What qualifies as a "pro" cyclist? I hear that term thrown out a lot. Do you quit your job, get piercings and tattos, train during the day, drink coffee and hang out in bike shops talking about how your quit your job, got a tatto and trained all day? In most of the 50 states (and a few of the territories) that's just referred to as unemployed.....

fork shoals road race

It was extremely tempting to stay in my warm, dry, and inviting bed Saturday morning, but I was having none of that! Rain, who are you? I was racing, but maybe I wasn’t so gung ho at that time. Especially driving down the interstate watching the rain becoming more intense.

The race was supposed to be sixty miles, but the officials cut the race down to forty-five miles, three fifteen mile loops. I started in the back, and I was able to move with minimal effort. The course was mostly flat with a few rolling hills. At a certain area it was always raining harder and it fogged up my glasses more. It was difficult to see anyhow, which made things nerve racking. However, at times the rain nearly subsided only to make it more painful when it picked up again.

As it turned out there were about ten guys who wanted to do anything in the race, and the same guys attacked. None of the attacks were consequential until the end of the race when a guy was dangling out front going into the last kilometer.

The sprint took longer to start than I thought it would, so I figured I’d just put my head down and go! It seemed tight, and I could not tell how many people were around. Several of us finished in a cluster. I knew I got a top five, but didn’t realize I had won the field sprint for second until the results were posted. The suffering in the rain paid off.

-david

Every Year.....

10th year for the Snowball Crit - with a small team promoting a race is always a pain but being one of the first, if not the first, races of the years is even more challenging. Just getting the whole permitting process going early season (USAC, City of Va Beach, etc) and all the new riders (read that as tons of emails and phone calls asking pretty basic racing questions). Every year I say this is the last year and every year my wife laughs at me....

So this year things really started looking like a complete train wreck. Forecast calling for cold, wind, rain or possibly even snow. AND Bikereg goes off line early Saturday morning. We'd closed out registration at 9:00 the previous night and my plan had been to download all the rider information following the girls basketball game I coached Saturday morning (yes... I coach a GIRLS basketball team and NO, I'm not as hard on them as you'd think - although after raising 3 boys my daughter is finally the basketball player I never had but that's another post...). So Saturday around 2 I go to get the information off Bikereg and wham, site is down. Several phone calls and emails and I get nothing. Oh, and one of the fairly expensive statues / trophies we'd ordered for the C race was crushed in shipping and I hadn't bothered to open the box until Saturday afternoon.

Well the point of this post is that riders were amazingly understanding - waiting in the cold rain to register and racing in those conditions. We had more people say "thanks" than I've ever recalled during a 75 degree spring race day. I suppose it could be because we all looked so cold and miserable running the race.Either way, I guess Snowball 2010 is on, although I'm considering a new name. The whole "Snowball" thing just seems to jinx us....

Thanks to everyone who showed up....

nc state road race and crit

I went down to North Carolina last weekend for the Wolfpack Cycling Classic weekend. This was my first race last year, so maybe it’s becoming a tradition. It hurt much more this year. The race was fifty-four miles of flat with some rolling terrain with two kicker hills, briefly put. Everything started out casual with conversation with familiar folks the first part of the race. A few attacks went off, and I covered a few that were probably going nowhere anyhow. It seemed like wasted energy in reflection. A few danglers were out from nearing the end, and the pack quickly approached them before the end of the sprint finish. I ended tenth in the sprint.

The crit the next day was quicker than I was hoping for, but it seemed it like a good idea on the start line when the official told us they were shortening the race by a few minutes. I had a great starting spot, and went with an attack early only to pull the group back. I had trouble getting off the front at that point, which made the recovery seem harder. I was a bit more cautious in the cornering than I would have preferred to have been, but with the way last year ended I was a little gun shy. Once again, there was a dangler out front nearing the last lap, and we were slowly catching him. A recognizably strong guy went to the front. He appeared to be pulling us back when in fact he was slowing us down, but this was on comprehendible after the fact. At any rate, I came in tenth again in the sprint. Sort of frustrating, but it’s only February after all, right?

-david

KJ Lap Down....

Keith emailed from Florida to let us know he's starting a lap down (see Tan line comments from previous post) and still will kick everyone's ass next weekend (ok, I added that for effect)..... meanwhile I'm taking kids to a weekend after hour medical clinic for strep.... and the garage is 55 degrees this morning....