The Off-Season

The 2010 racing season has now come and gone.  While being over 5 months long, the season sure seemed to fly by.  While some established goals were met, others fell slightly short.  Those shortfalls though only lead to new goals to be achieved next year.  

The fall has arrived and the cool chill of the air now forces us all to throw on the arm and leg warmers.  Long and moderately paced rides have replaced the strenuous race preparing rides previously scheduled week in and week out.  The long rides provide for a great opportunity to reflect on this year’s achievements and allows for the development of realistic and attainable goals for the 2011 season. 

Maintenance and cross-training become top of time, but one cannot forget about rest.  The frequency of rides decrease allowing for the body and mind to rest and recharge the batteries from the weeks and months of torture.  This has to be the best part of what we would call “The Off-Season”.

For now we dream about what could have been if we made different choices during the racing season and learn from the mistakes we’ve made.  Everyone will strive to be better than the other, that’s the cyclist’s way.  A selfish motive it is, but it’s one that drives the best out of each and leads to higher levels of competition.  Dedication to goals, structured and disciplined training and support are the key ingredients to a successful season.  Take even one of those elements out and the attainment of goals quickly become out of reach.  Maintain, cross-train moderately, rest and recharge...  next year will be another tough and grueling season.  Start off on the right path with during the “Off-Season”.

Results and Palmares

The 2010 racing season is now over and I've been able to achieve a personal record of 40 races completed.  While a long season, it was a fun season.  Managed to place 1st overall for the Cat 3 WCA series, rank 1st on USAC Cat 3 points in Wisco, and rank 3rd nationally for USAC Cat 3 points. 

For those that don't know what palmares (French) means, it's a list of races a rider has won or a list of achievements.  While I was not able to reach the top step of the podium this year, it was still a successful season.  Next year I'll be working harder than ever to reach that top step with support from my wife, my newest race fan - my son or daughter, family, teammates and friends.  Also, I'd like to congratulate my teammates for another strong showing for Team Extreme Cycling throughout the year and earning 2nd place overall for team points in the WCA.  That's essentially like a win! (ISCorp always has more participation in all events)

Palmares
1st overall - WCA Cat 3 points
1st overall - USAC Wisconsin Cat 3 Criterium points
3rd overall - USAC National Cat 3 Criterium points
6th overall (tied) - Tour of America's Dairyland Omnium points
2nd - LaCrosse Criterium
2nd - Fond du Lac Criterium
2nd - Attitude Sports Criterium

Results

Date	Race	Cat	Place
3/27	Burnham’s Spring Crit	3	6th
4/11	Great Dane #1 Crit	3	9th
4/17	Menomonee Park Crit	3	10th
4/18	Great Dane #2 Crit	3	5th
4/24	Whitnal Park Crit	3	7th
4/25	Fitchburg Crit	3	7th
5/1	Circuit of Sauk	3	8th
5/2	LaCrosse Crit	3	2nd
5/8	Muskego Park Crit	3	8th
5/15	LaRue-Denzer-LaRue	3	8th
5/16	Wheels on Willy	3	16th
5/22	Chiropractic Crit	3	9th
5/23	Sussex Crit	3	7th
5/28	Wapello-Burlington RR	3	16th
5/29	Snake Alley Crit	3	16th
5/30	Mellon City Crit	3	19th
5/31	Quad Cities Crit	3	10th
6/18	Theinsville Crit – ToAD	3	6th
6/19	Giro d’ Grafton – ToAD	3	9th
6/20	Appleton Crit – ToAD	3	5th
6/21	Road America RR – ToAD	3	26th
6/22	Sheboygan Crit – ToAD	3	9th
6/23	Waterloo Crit – ToAD	3	7th
6/24	Greenbush RR – ToAD	3	23rd
6/25	Fond du Lac Crit – ToAD	3	2nd
6/26	Downer Classic – ToAD	3	10th
6/27	Waukesha Crit – ToAD	3	11th
7/16	Capitol Reef Classic – TT	3	17th
7/16	Capitol Reef Classic – CR	3	12th
7/17	Capitol Reef Classic – RR	3	17th
7/24	Mt. Evans Hill Climb	3	30th
7/31	Tour of Elk Grove	3	10th
8/7	Grayslake Classic	3	8th
8/14	Glencoe Grand Prix	3	22nd
8/21	Attitude Sports Crit	3	2nd
8/22	Race the Lake	-	47th
9/3	Lafayette Square Crit	3	28th
9/4	Tour des Hills	3	19th
9/5	Giro dela Montange	3	11th
9/11	Ride the Rock RR	-	11th

Gateway Cup Replay

For those who may not know what the Gateway Cup is, it’s a 4 day racing series held in historic neighbors around St. Louis, MO on Labor Day weekend consisting of 3 criteriums and a circuit race.  This entry will be a quick replay of the experiences I encountered along the way.  Okay, maybe not so quick…

Friday, Sep. 3^rd – Lafayette Square Criterium – 7:30PM:

That’s right, a night race.  In a world in which criterium racing can be inherently risky, the removal of daylight and a slight addition of a few street lights plus portable corner lights made this race not only risky, but extremely FUN!  Talk about an adrenaline rush…   The race started like all cat 3 races I’ve ever been in: hammer, hammer, and hammer some more.  As expected, the pace never ceased to be intense.  Sprinting out of each corner to speeds of 30+, then jamming the brakes because 3 separate individuals all try to cut each other off on the inside of each corner.  Seriously, figure it out guys.  Stay in line and pedal smoothly through the corners and everyone is happy, and safe.  This race was on in which there was no way to hold a position within the pack, if you’re not moving up, you’re moving backward.
 

Going back to that racing at night thing, when you only have street lights, there are many shadows following and passing you throughout the event.  The instance in which your shadows smoothly slides past you is one which caught be looking over my shoulder a number of times because each time, I thought I had someone coming up on my left to pass.  That wasn’t the case, just that pesky shadow.  Another anomaly that I experience was the little neon LED blinky lights that racers put on the spokes of their wheels.  Yes, you read that right.  The racers had them on their wheels.  This insanely quick flash accompanied with constant whirling around the wheel almost gave me a seizure as I followed directly behind.  Yikes, nothing like going cross-eyed at 30+ on dark streets in a pack of 100.

All in all, this race went smoothly until the last lap.  A number of crashes occurred which resulted in splits in the field.  My result ended up to be burning legs and lungs and finishing with the main pack in 28^th place.  Average speed for the race was 27.6 mph.

 

Saturday, Sep. 4^th – Tour des Hills Criterium – 2:00PM:

Whoo!  Daylight, back to the basics.  Wide open, 4 corner course with decent pavement and slight incline on the start/finish stretch and the final stretch before turn 4.  This was another great race with a large field.  Pace was fast again and relentless throughout.  My plan for the day was to sit in a safe area of the pack and wait for the last few laps to make a move.  All went to plan.  Nothing exciting occurred throughout the race until the last 3 laps.  Pace whipped up even higher and I moved from the back of the field up to about 20^th wheel.  Once there, it was battle to stay there.  Again, everyone tried to jam the inside of the corners and as a result a nasty crash occurred mid-field on turn 3 of the final lap.  I stayed in front of the mess and was able to make it to turn 4 but then the fella in front of me over-cooked the corners, lost his balance and went down on his own.  HA!  Anyway, it was a field sprint from there, finished 19^th.  Average speed for the race was 26.8 mph.

Sunday, Sep. 5^th – Giro de la Montagne – 3:00PM:

Italian district here we come!  Another 4 corner course with a long front and back stretch each presenting 50/50 split with half the straight being a descent and the other half an uphill battle.  Wide corners?  Nope.  The corners of this race were drastically different from those of the previous two races.  100% concentration was needed on these tight and bumpy left-handers.  Turn 1 seemed to cause the most problems, but only for specific individuals who pushed the limits too far and found themselves having a make out session with the pavement.  Ouch!  Surprisingly though, there were no instances of crashes that I was aware of in the 3’s race.  No one lost concentration and actually held their lines and speed though the corners.  I worked hard throughout this race to stay near the front of the field.  I was determined to finish higher than the previous day’s results.  On the final lap I was sitting 15^th wheel going down the back stretch.  I moved up a few positions but quickly got swallowed up by the field sprinting up the sides.  Whoops!  They blew their load early allowing the rest of us to really ramp up the pace in to the final corner and down the long straight to the finish.  I had a sprint and threw it down as best I could, passing about 8 prior to the finish.  11^th was the result of the hard work put in.  Getting stronger each day!  Average speed for the race was 25.7 mph.

Monday, Sep. 6^th – Benton Park Criterium – 1:00PM:

Sweet!  A race that includes 10 corners, two overpasses and rolls in front of Anheuser-Busch.  Yeah, no so much.  The race I’m sure was truly a blast but I didn’t participate.  To my dismay I plagued with a flu-like virus and was forced to miss the final “points” worthy race of the year.  A crummy way to end the series, but on the bright side, it was a good and long racing season in 2010.  Also, I made the front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch paper.  Just a photo, but still pretty cool.

USAC points races for the road are now wrapped up for the year.  One “fun” race remains for tomorrow and then it’s some time off the bike.  But not too much, I am determined this year to not lose all of my fitness.  This therefore means that I’ll most likely be riding on the weekends (weather permitting) for those long base miles before the snow flies.  

Finally, good luck to all of those participating in cyclocross races this fall!  Later...

Rounding The Final Corner

It’s been exactly 5 months since the beginning of the 2010 road racing season and we’re headed around the final corner prior to the sprint for the finish line.  That final corner for the 2010 season ended up to be the double-header race weekend in Fond du Lac in which on Saturday was the Attitude Sports Criterium and Sunday was the 90-mile Race the Lake.

The Attitude Sports Criterium was held in Lakeside Park on a flat but interesting 4.5 turn course.  A quick right-left turn shortly after the start finished accounts for the ½ turn prior to the initial tight left-hand corner 1.  Another tight right-hander for corner two which leads down a long back straight to the “wheel buster” turn 3.  Finally, turn 4 rounds out the course with a super tight 70 degree corner which is the make it or break it point of the final sprint.

The field for the 3’s race was quite small with only 22 riders toeing the line for a chance at the win.  I believe that the ISCorp team had to have nearly half the field themselves, somehow having a large contingent of juniors freshly moved up from the 4’s.  Some of the names I’ve never even recognized so I am still unsure of how they upgraded.  Nonetheless, these ISCorp junior put the hammer down throughout the race and really made their presence known.  I have to give them an A+ for the tactics utilized.  About mid-way through the race, ISCorp sent a rider off the front.  Once caught by the field, another would attack.  While members of the field tried to cover the gaps, there was always another ISCorp rider on their wheel.  It was inevitable that either an ISCorp rider would solo to victory or it would come down to a field sprint.  A field sprint is what I had in mind so I hammered multiple times to cover the gap up to the break rider.  I had a lot of help from my teammate throughout the race who threw down some massive efforts to keep in contact with the break riders.

Eventually it came down to the last lap with the field together.  Little did I know that it was the last lap because as we were passing the start/finish I looked up to see 1 to go and heard the bell ring.  Well, I was already out of position sitting on the back of the field getting a breather.  With one massive effort, I moved to 4^th wheel going through the ½ turn on the front straight.  That was the make it or break it.  The field strung out.  Going through turn 3 I cornered smoothly and found myself on the front of the field.  No problem though, I sat up and maintained pace with the riders coming up the inside.  Turn 4…  middle line, plenty of room. Jumped on J. Jacobo’s wheel.  Jacobo has a huge sprint and I knew he’d be a good leadout.  Sure enough, there he went.  I followed, moved to the inside and scooted past.  Bike throw!!!  To my dismay, an ISCorp rider was able to toss his tire just slightly further than I could…  What I thought was my first Cat 3 win, turning into yet another close 2^nd.  I believe I’ve got the close 2^nd thing down pat so far this year.

So with the Attitude Sports Criterium wrapped up, the WCA series comes to a close; however the racing is not finished just yet.  Sunday morning brought about the 3^rd annual Race the Lake event which this year featured a number of pro teams vying for the coveted $20k prime for the winner of the race, should he finish with a high average speed than the previous year.

An early 2:45AM wake-up time got the day started.  A good breakfast prepared by the best wives in the world (a big thanks to Amy and Jeramey’s wife Tammy) got myself and my teammate well fed for what was to be the longest road race of the year for both of us.  Our early start got us up to Fondy early allowing for ample time to suit up, roll around and get to the start line early.

5:50AM snuck up quick on us and we were off being led out by Team Aerocat and Team Kenda p/b Geargrinder.  The pace was fast, as expected but being in the middle of the field and having the draft made it easy to keep up.  The first 20 miles or so were pretty uneventful until we were taking a right-hander out of Oshkosh.  Of course, some moron takes the corner too wide, slams into one of the cones marking the center line and tosses it at me.  The cone smashes into my front wheel and catches my right foot hard.  Luckily, I kept it upright and there was no collateral damage to the bike.  Back rolling, blood pressure elevated…  To make matters a bit worse, bottles were being jarred out of everyone’s holders in very rough sections throughout Oshkosh and Appleton.  One of my bottles also became MIA when I smashed a pot hold.  Down to 3 bottles… fail.

Again, the race continued on fairly smoothly.  No crashes!  Next up, High Cliff State Park, the point of the race where it is guaranteed that the race will break up.  And go figure, it did.  The park marks the $500 King of the Hill prime.  The pros went hard.  So did I, but I was being taught a lesson on hill accelerations.  Unfortunately, a teammate of mine had an ill-timed mechanical that took him out of the race.  He was sure to finish highly if that didn’t happen.  While I was tossed off the back of the field on the climb, I was in good company.  A group of about 12 strong riders including a former Olympic silver medalist rotated a ridiculously fast pace line over the course of 7 miles at 33+ mph to catch back onto the main field.

Boo-yah!  I’m back.  Well sort of.  After consuming two of my three remaining bottles, the one I had left for the last 45 miles wasn’t enough.  With 15 miles to go, I was out of water and no feed zones to pick more up.  The leg cramping set in and I knew I was in trouble.  Hiding in the field I was able to keep with the lead peloton and make it back into Fondy.  The pace really ramped up through town as the lead-out trains for the pro teams began to work their magic.  Again, no crashes through the tight city streets lined with cars and tight corners.  No sprint for this guy!  I tucked in and hammered the pedals to the point just before cramping sets in.  Rolled across the finish line in 47^th place with a time of 3:13:47 and an average speed of 27.4 mph.  27.4 mph!  That’s the fastest I’ve ever covered the ground on any race and quite an increase over the previous year’s average speed.

A number of my teammates also had great showings increasing their average speeds from the previous year!  Well done Team Extreme! 

And so, that wraps up the double-header weekend of racing which metaphorically stands as the last corner of the race until the sprint.  The racing season sprint comes in the form of the Gateway Cup in St. Louis, MO on Labor Day weekend.  The Cup includes 4 days of criteriums around historic neighborhoods.  It is sure to be a blast and a great way to round out a solid year of racing.  Thanks for reading this novel!