'09 Kansas State Time Trial

Missouri State TT is fast approaching so I needed to get a 40K in my legs. That usually means a trip to Arkansas. Unfortunately this year schedules conflicted so I head to Walnut, KS for the Kansas State TT. I figured cool, its Kansas it will be dead flat & fast. Nope! Take a look at the profile. Just a few speed bumps, right? Not even close. Driving in I was shocked at the amount of climbing. Don't get me wrong the climbs aren't Mountains but enough to put the hurt in your legs. I figured I had better come up with a pacing strategy or I was going to be toast the last 10K since the hardest part of the course is 10-30K. Especially since I had a very hard week of training in my legs already & was feeling the load.

I got to the race in time to register & learn I had to kill off 3 hours before my start. It was 80F & humid @ 6:30am so I kept up my hydration plan & kicked up my legs & watched the officials set up & racers start to show up. I chatted Bill Hall & his wife up for awhile. Then it was time to start warming up. Of course now the blackening clouds decided to drop some liquid humidity. I set the trainer up under an entry way & put into action my secret hot weather warm up strategy.

Start time is within 15 minutes so I put the trainer up mount the disc wheel & put the pointy helmet on. Time to get in line. I'll give this race props for having their crap together. 3 tents set up in a row for staging. No standing around in the hot sun, or rain in this case. The rain did let up about this time though leaving the roads wet.

Missouri could learn a thing or two from Kansas on how to put on a time trial. They have plenty of officials & volunteers. The start area has the road all painted up with sponsors logos. They even have a holder. Something Missouri used to do & has given up in the last few years.

I get my turn & the count down from ten begins. The official says 1, go & I push off & spin a wheel on the painted logos. Oops. I only loose a little momentum & I'm rolling. I decided not to go out crazy fast & get up to 45kph in about 30 seconds. I feel comfortable & the heart rate climbs to only 165. About what I want(normally I do a 40K @ 171). Pacing plan is in full swing. It feels weird not going balls out but I don't want to over cook it. I hit the first climb & I keep my rhythm. The course is L shaped & right after the L turn I hit a slight cross/head wind & my legs give me that first Oh Shit feeling. I work through it telling myself I'm not going that hard & can recover. I get my legs back & keep ticking away @ 40KPH. Shortly I see Willy Gualt hauling ass on the return(on his way to a high 52!) He's on one of the descents & I decided I need to really kick it up on the steeper descents on the 20-30K Section.

I hit the turn around @ just under 29 minutes & Laterne Rouge Roger is warning me to slow down the turn is very slick. I get around safe & I hear him yell good job now get your ass moving! OK Roger I'll see what I can do. Turns out not much. The 20-30K section beats me up but I keep my pacing strategy & roll on. I'm still on pace for a sub 59. At the 5K to go mark my one minute guy catches me. Oh well this is just training. I let him get the legal distance & I get to the side of him to avoid his draft. I hit the line in 58:56 feeling fresher than I ever have @ the end of a 40K.

Probably paced myself a little too well. I figure I had a 57:30 in my legs. The course is deceptively fast. Next year I'll know better. But a sub 59 after a hard week I'll take any time. Now I have to keep my focus, make it through Tour of KC part 1 & do some specific work. If the weather cooperates on race day I might finally get that 56 I've been shooting for.

Good thing is my worries about my new TT position seem to be unfounded. I made quite a few changes this spring & in testing this week it seemed fast but I wasn't able to put out the power #'s I have in the past. I figured either it was better aerodynamics or it was a crappy set up. Either way I'd find out in a race. Turns out, I think, its better aerodynamics. Now a few more tweaks & I should have it dialed.

A must read

Read what the flying Scots have to say. Crazy, crazy, crazy. Its a sign of the times I guess.

In a nut shell:
Lessons learned:

- Ladies get no respect in the bicycle industry, regardless of ability level.

- Boutique bike builders lack quality control and R&D found in the big bike companies.

- If you have to buy your team kit you haven’t really joined a team.

- and drum roll please….buy your own stuff!

I agree with all on some level, levels.

The almost unheard of almost mid week post

I know I hardly ever post during the week anymore, busy, busy. Racing the Kansas State ITT this Saturday so taking a rest day today. More like letting my body recover from the first ride on the TT rig of the year. Got out last night on the TT after breaking the Excalibur; broke the seat post binder. Totally my fault, over torque issue. Turns out the brass piece is made to fail if over torqued(pretty good design on 4ZA 's behalf, an engineer must of had his head out of his ass that day or was designed by a millwright). Anyway I have a plan. Take apart a scrap 3/4" gate valve, turn down the stem, & viola I'll have multiple spare brass pieces to over torque @ my leisure.

Anyway I digress. TT initial ride went well. 8 seconds of practice TT course record(which was set with full TT rig including disc). Not shabby, but not miss leading me for Saturday either. Gimp shoulder is jacked today though. Will spend the rest of the week on the TT rig to adjust & give me time to fix the roadie before the Tour of KC part 1. 3 days of crit racing, oh yeah!

Had salad from the garden tonight. Have been eating lettuce & spinach for a few weeks now. Added Green pepper, banana peppers, jalapenos tonight, & one carrot.


Check out Cyclingdirt.org if you haven't yet

"go really fast guys, go!"

Pro Cycling

Evans being aggressive at the Dauphiné Libéré 2009 - Climb of the Col de la Madeleine final climb of stage 7.

Part 4


Part 5



Also @ the Tour de Suisse

top 10 Stage 1 Look @ 9th place Lars. Also 4-7 for Columbia, wow! Yesterday was a big day for CX racers. Nature Valley the top aggressors are Crossers.

Results

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank                       9.21  (50.053 km/h)
2 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas                               0.19
3 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana                                  0.22
4 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia - Highroad               0.24
5 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - Highroad                   0.31
6 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia - Highroad                    
7 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia - Highroad                0.32
8 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervélo TestTeam                     0.34
9 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank                                      
10 Rui Alberto Faria (Por) Caisse d'Epargne                    0.35

A ride in pics

Rode over to my secret training grounds for some hills.

Cool wooden bridge.

Steep hill, 400 watts for about a minute or so. Heart rate didn't go ballistic which was nice.

Its rained a lot lately

Another steep hill

That made my legs hurt.

7 minutes

That's all it took for Mia's surgery. Getting her down on the table was more traumatic for me than I think it was for her, especially after she started getting the gas. She's home now counting all her stickers she got from the nurses(she hit the sticker jackpot!) & watching Sponge Bob. She was a little sluggish but is really perking up now.

Tubular

Tomorrow @ the Ass crack of dawn Mia goes in for surgery. Nothing major just tubes in her ears. Hopefully it will end the constant battle we have had with ear infections. Unfortunately she inherited my bad ear genes & has chronic ear infections. I didn't have to go the tube route but she does. Though I am getting as deaf as a bat(work related more than genetic) we don't want her to be. They say it is no big deal.

Tonight Mia & I went to a pre op party to get a tour of what we'll go through Friday. I get to go in the operating room till the gas knocks her out. Since we're shooting for kiddo numero dos Amber has to sit in the waiting room while I wear the white antrax suit. The tour was pretty informative & Cox does a good job of putting the parent & the kid at ease for what is happening. Mia even walked away with a belly full of ice cream & a baggy full goodies(I'm sure I'll be billed for it all).

Read this article. while you wish Mia well. A lot of familiar names ie Irwin & Smith. Great pics of my old stomping grounds. Man I miss Gunni!

Tail gunning

Sunday went about as I expected. Hotter than the 7th level of hell, lots off craziness on the climb(goofy spectators with baby dolls). I used all my years of wisdom & got off the line like a bat out oif hell to miss the first lap screw ups on the initial climb. Faded back nicely to the tail gunner spot. "Yelled/scolded" @ JB(a real gamer & class act racer who had his head somewhere else, way smarter than that normally). Big ring on the climb? Not this kid I spent 95% of the race in my 38(which the 235 avg watts will attest too). Only got in the 53 long enough to grab a wheel out of the downhill turn & shifted back down to the 38 at or right after the finish line. What can I say I have mad tail gunning skills. I did about screw the pooch with 8 or 9 to go & had to grab a jr's wheel & let him drag me around 10 guys who split off the back.

Normally the heat KILLS me. Tried a new strategy that worked killer! Plus I rode through the sprinkler EVERY lap. One of the benefits of tail gunning. I rolled in 26th. I beat 4 whole guys in the sprint. Yeah me! Something like 80 starters 30-35 finishers. Mad Attrition. Like I said JB the race is all fluff till the last 15 minutes. Conserve, conserve, conserve.