House report, June 24, 2007

Not much happened with the house this weekend, except one major thing: I got the dishwasher hooked up- supply, drain, electricity... It all works. And at the moment, there are no leaks.

Bryan Park Circuit Race report

Bryan Park Circuit Race
Richmond, VA
June 17, 2007

6am came very early, as I had to pack up and leave to go to the race... I volunteered (free entry fees) for course cleanup, and by 7am had a backpack blower strapped to my back. For the next 2 hours I walked the 1.6 mile course (part of it twice, when I ran out of gas and had to go back to the parking lot), and blew the leaves and sticks off the course. In the process I also stirred up the dust and the mosquitoes, and am currently suffering those consequences.

I got to go home between cleanup and my first race- I showered and napped briefly, then got everything together to go back to the race, including a Clif Bar and some Gatorade.

The first race I was doing was the Pro/1/2/3 race. There were 7 Time Factory Development Team riders registered, as well as Ben King and my teammate Jeff Buckles, so it looked to be a hard race. It was. We did 21 laps, for 31 miles, in 1:17 - averaging over 25.5mph. The course was fast, and the attacks came from Time on almost every lap for the first 10 or so. With a lot of teams represented, nothing was going away at that point.

After the half-way point, though, a Time guy went off the front, solo. He got a good gap, and from that point on the rest of his team shut everything down. They chased well, and played tactics for the rest of the race. I even got in a break of 5, but with 2 of them being Time riders, the other 3 of us weren't going very far...

At the end of the race a few more attempt were made at chasing the lone Time guy, but nothing worked. At one point Jeff Buckles asked me to try to bridge up to the guy off the front. I made an attempt, but I wasn't able to get enough of a gap to make any progress. The field was 20m behind me when I pretty much blew up. I sat back in and finished the race in the field, only half-sprinting for the line. I wasn't there to do well, I was there to help Jeff. I think he got 7th. I probably got 25th.

I started the 3/4 race later in the day, but after 4 laps my legs decided they wanted to go home. I hadn't eaten enough to do 50 miles of racing, and it was close to 4pm- I'd been out at the park for much of the day, and while I'd been drinking enough before the early race, I couldn't possibly refuel for the second in the hour I had between them.

Crystal City Classic race report

Crystal City Classic
Arlington, VA
June 16, 2007

Let me say that I love technical crit courses that offer something other than flatness and turns in one direction. The Crystal City course was ultimately 8 turns- three rights, two lefts, two turns comprising more of a tight 180 degree turnaround, and another right. There was a long gradual climb (with a turn in the middle) and a short descent. We also went under and through an apartment building's twisty parking deck entrance. I can't say I've ever done a race with that feature...

The race day started with a tragic ending for one racer- a 51-year-old Masters 35+ rider, Keith Mitchell of Alexandria, VA, passed away after having an apparent heart attack in the race. We cyclists all think we're uber-healthy, but genetics determine a lot of things, and maybe his heart was problematic, or maybe the effort was just too much strain on it. We may never know. It's something I'll never forget- hearing someone had crashed in a race, only to find out later that the reason he crashed was because his heart stopped beating in the middle of the race.

Enough with the sad parts - on to the Cat 3 race:

I wasn't ready for the race. I don't mean I was unprepared in training. I mean we were sitting on the start line, and there was not much said about starting, or preparing to start, when the whistle blew. My hands weren't even on the handlebars at the time. Surprise!!

The first few laps were spent moving up towards the front, and trying to get a feel for the course. There were some excellent spot to move up, and I found them early. I was moving around pretty much at will in every spot but the straightaways where the speed was high.

We were doing 13 laps of a course that was just over a mile. I spent 5-6 laps moving around, but not ever poking my nose into the wind. I wanted to do well here, and I didn't want to expend any unnecessary energy.

With 7 laps to go, I felt my bike slow down when I stood up to power out of Turn 1. This is not normal- my first thought was that someone had grabbed my seat (this happens. Really.) I then thought maybe my wheel was out of true, and standing flexed it. On the next lap, it did the same thing. I realised my skewer was loose, and the wheel was moving in the dropouts... I decided to go to the wheel pit and change my wheel out, finding out then that my problem was considered a "misadjustment" rather than a "mechanical", negating my free lap (which we can take in case of a mechanical problem in criteriums). I changed my wheel, and only lost half a lap- maybe 1 minute.

I rode the last 6 laps solo, empathising with my teammates who were at the State Championship Time Trial, and riding my own TT for 34th (and last) place. But, I stayed on the lead lap, only losing about 30 seconds on the remaining laps.

Not a success, but still a decent performance considering the circumstances. I did figure out later that my hub was what was loose- not the skewer. I have since remedied this problem.

Ouchies

The other day I was using a drill. Using a bit that was past its prime and probably should have been thrown away, I used it anyway. I only needed to drill ONE HOLE!!! But a 1/8" bit is small, and it's brittle, and when heated up it's prone to breakage.

It broke. I had all my weight on the drill, and when the bit snapped, my upper body collapsed on the back of the drill. My upper chest took the majority of the force, and I believe I have a bruised muscle between 2 ribs.

Leave it to me to injure myself doing something menial. It's not the first time, though. No surprises here.

Peter Teeuwen Time Trial #1, June 10, 2007

I'm not a time trial rider. I know this. But I do a few each year just for BAR points and as a kind of self-test. How many times a year do I push myself to my absolute limit for an hour straight? I dunno... About as many time trials as I do each year.

I went out in this TT with the Conquer the Canal TT in mind. I went out too hard in that race, and decided for this one, I needed to ride a smarter race, ease into my LT heart rate, and push a lower gear, too.

I succeeded in doing all of the above. I ramped up my HR to my LT of 168-170 over the first 2 miles, and settled into a good pace. I didn't have a speedometer or cadence, so I was basing my effort solely on heart rate.

I thought I was going pretty fast, but I wasn't sure, without the speedo. I knew there was a headwind on the back section of the course, so I didn't want to burn myself up early, either.

The legs burned, but I kept my HR where I wanted it for most of the race, and even though I didn't know how fast I was going, at times I knew I was making better time than I ever had before.

I was right, too- I posted a 56:09, for an average of about 24.75mph. This beat my previous best on that 23.1-mile course by almost 4 minutes. It also beat my previous best average speed in a time trial (a 12-miler) by almost a full mile an hour.

What I was wrong about was my perceived placing. I thought I may have gotten 8th-10th... somewhere in the middle. Nope! I got 16th. Which, consequently, was exactly how many people raced.

That's right... My best-ever TT and I got LAST FREAKIN' PLACE. I rethought my strategy of how to race a TT. Now I'm rethinking my strategy of ever racing one again. Actually, I'll race them, but I won't put a TT ahead of another race on the calendar- this coming weekend is the State TT Championships, and I'm not about to go do that when there's an awesome crit in Arlington.

Amphibious Assault/State Criterium Championship - June 9th, 2007

I must start by saying this is the worst course ever ridden, and even moreso being the State Championship race. It's flat, open, and boooring. It's on a launch pad for the US Navy's fleet of hovercraft- there's a large opening at the end of the concrete pad, which lets the wind off the Chesapeake Bay come straight through. It's always windy, and there's no shade whatsoever.

Today, the wind was hitting us on the final straight at about 25mph, possibly higher.

Attacks went on every few laps, none getting more than about 10 seconds on the field. I did not play a part in any of them until much later, with about 6 to go, when a teammate was off the front and someone was chasing him- it looked like Ian might bridge to the guy who was off the front, but I couldn't tell, so I chased, not really knowing what the best plan was. I could have wasted a lot of energy chasing a break that wasn't going anywhere, or I could sit up and let somebody else take over. The pace dropped horribly when I was left up front and nobody wanted to help. When the next attack went, I chased that, too.

With 2 to go the breaks were all brought back, and it appeared to be a field sprint in the making.

I positioned myself well in around 10th or so on the last lap, and went to the outside trying to find some shelter from the wind. I got a wheel, and stayed there into the final turn. Coming out of the turn, I stayed on until they both pulled off to the inside, leaving me in the wind. I decided to start my sprint there- BAD IDEA! I looked up and had at least 200m to go, and I felt like I was moving backwards. I moved over into the slipstream again and started my sprint with about 100m to go, still struggling. I then sat down for about 10m and started a third sprint with 30m to go, and passed a few more riders for 10th place at the line.

I'm happy with the placing, but still think if I'd had a better leadout, maybe on the inside instead of the outside, I'd have been up a little higher...

My teammate Jeff got 2nd in the sprint, though, for a silver medal! Rockin', man!

House report, June 6, 2007

Yes, there are still some things I have to do. Mostly trim and paint. I also still have to wire up the dishwasher, garbage disposal, and microwave. But other than that, the kitchen is functional.

Tonight...

I hand-washed some dishes (fixed the leak in the faucet, and the drain appears to work.)


I cooked spaghetti on the stove.


Tomorrow morning, I'm going to make coffee on the coffee bar.


Rest of the pics are here.

Kitchen quagmire, June 5, 2007

I got the microwave installed with Rick's help. The template had the holes in the wrong place as far as I can tell, so it wasn't as simple as popping it into place and screwing it in. We had to put it up twice, and I had to drill new holes before I could get things to line up. Mission accomplished!

I also got the drain hooked up! Another mission accomplished!

With the good comes the bad, though, and my brand-new faucet leaks. I'm not certain if it's just a matter of tightening something in the faucet assembly or if there's something wrong with it. That will be tonight's job...

Also, I went to Home Depot to get a few things last night. I got the dishwasher electrical cord and the gas line for the stove. However, the gas line from my house is a 7/8" MIP thread with a reducer to 1/2" flange. The kit I bought only has a 5/8" compression connection, and the two connectors they provide are 3/4"-5/8" and 5/8"-5/8". Back to Home Depot to get a 7/8"-5/8" reducer. CRAP. Stove still in living room for the time being.

6/5 Bryan Park training race

I, again, said I was going to sit in. And I did. For the most part.

This should be short. I sat in until about 5 to go when, on a prime lap, there was an attack, which I chased and sat in on - my teammate Jeff on my wheel. Jeff told me not to work, so I sat on and let everyone else drag us to the line, where Jeff sprinted away to win the prime. Excellent!

With 2 to go I was in the middle, still not doing much work, and sprinted for the line on the last lap just to get a sprint into the day. I probably got 20th or so out of 35 riders.

House progress, June 4th, 2007

Okay, I admit that the dishwasher isn't level (or hooked up to power, water, or a drain, either.) The sink doesn't work because the drain isn't hooked up yet (Lowe's has lots and lots of plastic pieces for drain piping. I am missing ONE piece.) The stove isn't in (I thought it would come with the gas line connector. It didn't. Lowe's didn't have the size I need.) The disposal doesn't have power. The microwave hasn't been installed (that thing is much too heavy for me to install by myself.)

But, the kitchen is REALLY starting to look like a kitchen. Soon I hope it will function like one.

House progress, June 3rd, 2007

As of 11pm Sunday night, the floor has been sealed, the walls have been primed, and most importantly, the main cabinets have been installed, and the countertop/sink put in place. I still need to hook up the drain and garbage disposal before I can use the sink, though.

Photos here!

VBW Smackdown 3/4, Portsmouth, June 3rd, 2007

Rain. Hard rain. Dreary day. I'm preregistered, though, and I decide to make the trip anyway. Tim M also says he's determined to race, regardless of the weather. We pack up and drive...

Portsmouth is wet. It's not pouring consistently, but raining on and off, sometimes getting a little cloud break and letting a little sun through before dumping the deluge again. The wind doesn't seem so bad while we're getting dressed until...

my race starts. The wind kicks up to about 25mph coming off the water. There are 6 of us on the line- 2 guys from one team, and everybody else is racing sans teammates.

First lap is a little slow- there are 2 turns that are about 45-60 degrees, and with the rain, the last turn has sand washed into it. This makes for a really slick turn, one in which a lot of people in previous races had crashed in.

A couple of laps in, the 2 guys from Coastal are taking turns attacking on every lap. I'm the only one of the 4 of the free agents chasing, so when the $60 prime lap hits, I decide I've had enough and I'm going to go for the prime, get my $60, and chill out instead of dealing with a bunch of lazy-asses who won't do squat. I get a spectacular leadout, and then get nipped at the freakin' line by a Cat 4 riding for JRVS. As soon as the prime is over, Coastal go back to their attacking ways, and I get gapped. The JRVS guy gets gapped, too, and we are 2 riders slightly off the back in a windy uphill drag race. JRVS dude is doing nothing but slowing me down- I'm trying to reel in the 4 guys up the road, and I'm gapping him in every wet and sandy turn, and he's slowing me down every time I let him take a pull. This goes on for about 4 laps- so I let him pull on the headwind/uphill section one last time, then put him off the back for good with an acceleration through the top turn.

The next 8 laps I'm solo, trying to close an insurmountable gap, but one that never changes. I really should still be in the lead group, and the time trial I ride is solid, but not solid enough to reach them. One of the 4 flats and is out of the race, and that leaves me in 4th on the road, with a huge gap on the guy who's now in 5th. One of the 3 up the road crashes in the sandy turn with 2 to go, and I try to close that gap, but it's too close to the end of the race for me to make up a lot of time on him.

I ride to the line alone, in the rain, in 4th. Payout was 3 deep.

Side note: Tim signed up for the 1/2/3 race, but nobody else did. They gave him the 1st place prize money. He didn't even have to race. I got 4th after an hour of windy and watery suffering, and get nothing. He doesn't even get wet and gets $75. He gave me some of it, and bought me lunch, though, so I can't complain too much.