Cracker Barrel Pace Lines

It’s Christmas Eve, I’m Jewish, I really very strongly dislike Chinese food, and this here blog hasn’t been updated in a month, so I might as well do some blogification... The topic: Holidays, food, and (some) cycling.

1) The holidays are no fun for a Hebrew; everyone else gets his Christmas trees and lights, his eggnog and mistletoe, his happy church songs and merry family gatherings. We; however, are forced to dine at nasty Chinese food buffets.
2) The above brings me to my second topic: food. I take my food seriously. Each meal is planned for maximum effect: carb potential, lipid saturation, cycling impact, and - most importantly - taste. Of the three factors, taste is by far the most important. Joe Stone Crab’s Key Lime Pie or carrots? Haha.
3)Cycling is fun, but it takes effort. I don’t like putting forth much effort. It’s too much effort. However, cycling with a tailwind on a downhill while eating a Payday takes little effort, wherefore I cycle.

Why "topic" is singular and not plural:

I’m staying with family in Jupiter, FL. The weather has been petulant -- strong winds blowing clouds and storms from off the coast to drench the ground with rain and shade. The wind throwing up white thrashing arches of waves and the sand being torn from the beaches to pelt the humidity from the air into a salty and strangely sterile mist. [Ok, ok. I get it: “an utter failure, an ignorant, incompetent, pretentious, unwelcome, penniless” (Pygmalion) paragraph, but I’ve been reading a lot, so give me some leeway here].

With this weather, my riding has been limited to quick, hard rides. Today; however, I was determined not to be deterred from the roads. I decided to wake up early -- 6:25 -- and meet up with a local group. I savor my blubbery muffin and coffee, pack up my bike, don my “Team Pro Wanker 69” aero booties (because I’m that cool) and head off to the start of the ride.

It’s a fairly large group, but a potentially turbulent mix of riders. Down south, in these parts, they do the crazy Cracker Barrel pace line: a double pace line where the front two riders both pull off to the left of the road. Insanity... So, I’m a bit nervous to start. Soon, someone takes a flyer and we’re off! A group of the 7 "fast" men and one laggard - me - forms and we take pulls. Things are going well. We’re racing across Jupiter island. We streak past Tiger’s house. We pass golf carts and break the speed limit. We go flying through blind turns. For about the tenth time, I hit a reflector and PING, something new: a broken spoke, brakes rubbing, Scott fishtailing - nearly taking out the entire ride. But, he recovers and quickly pulls out a banana chocolate chip muffin to celebrate. Just don't forget to bring the wheel in, Scott.

The rest of the ride was uneventful and culminated in a stop at the Juno Beach Cafe after dropping off my wheel. I love little places like this - local hotspots of great greasy food. I order my favorite mid morning, post ride, pre-lunch meal: skillet... a layer of butter infused hash browns covered by an oily layer of cheddar and mozzarella cheese dotted with onion, jalapeno, and tomato covered in 3 scrambled eggs. I also had an english muffin and a raspberry flavored ice tea, of course... Just don't forget to pick up the wheel, Scott.

About 12 hours elapse with another 1000 Calories and it’s time for dinner: pecan encrusted trout served over a bed of rice, flanked by broccoli, and followed by a slice of Key Lime Pie, a favorite of mine. Only water to drink this time, smiling to myself.

Thus, the day concludes with me forgetting to pick up my wheel from the shop and me now unable to ride this weekend.

PRO WANKER, baby.

winter riding

hey all

so i am at home for an extended winter break, and i have been making the most of all the nice riding available to me. i was in vermont over thanksgiving weekend, and two of these pictures showcase the hilly terrain and beautiful weather that i was lucky enough to be able to ride in. the other picture is from a regular ride of mine in guilford, connecticut that goes by the coastline.

so here are some pictures.

hopefully everyone is finding a way (whether it be riding outside or in, running, stair climbing, weight lifting...) to stay fit as the winter approaches. only 3 months until racing season!

Belated Northbrook Cross Update

So, it's ridiculous that no one has updated the blog since October 5th...get with it people! Anyway, as an offending non-poster, I figured I'd do a gigantic post on the always awesome Northbrook cross race that happened a few weeks ago. Hopefully, this will encourage all of you to come down and witness the Championships at Montrose Harbor on Sunday. As I am lazy, this will be more of a photo montage than me actually explaining what happened.

First, there are the obligatory pre-race photos. In attendance were Courtney, Josh, Bryan and I. Bryan has a sweet skinsuit, many were jealous.

Courtney's race came before ours, so I took pictures. Per her usual routine she dropped the hammer on a bunch of fools.

Start

Technical Descent

Showin' them fools how to hit the sand

Then it was our turn. 75 people in a cross race is fucking insane on the start. Josh and I seemed to make it out okay.

Over the first barrier to a run-up

Up into a switchback section

Josh showing the sand who's boss

Bonus glamor shot of my calves

Also, there was a video shot during the race that I made a few appearances in:

CROSS II The Hecklers from Paul Michna on Vimeo.

Fall Fling - Part II

The Art of Bike Racing - Julia Child Style

Bike racing is a lot like cooking; it’s a big, often tasty, sometimes scalding, and always painful mess. Like each dish, each rider has his own flavor. Some riders are big and hearty - a thick stew. Others are light and wispy - cool whip, perhaps. And others, some rare few, are a bit salty and a bit sweet, filling but not vomatorium inducing - maybe a Wiggins or a Lance. Everyone aspires to be such a dish and I, thankfully, do not. I’m more like some haphazard creation. Take some cookies, some ice cream (preferably cookie dough flavor), some caffeine, and some butter, heck, some I can’t believe it’s not butter butter, throw it in a bowl and then get two more and eat them as quickly as you can. I’m that rider and that’s how I race - like a fool. And somehow, sometimes, it works.

And each race has it’s own identity too. If the Tour de France is the pinnacle of cycling, glamor, and luck, it is, then, the soufflé. By that measure, the Fall Fling is maybe a brownie that was left over from last weekend's party and is now a bit stale and hard with some random powdered sugar sprinkled on top. ( No offense to ABD. It’s a great and fun series! Just no TDF.)

All this was floating around my mind as I prepared for the race (nothing like food to get you focused). A series that, coming into Sunday, I was leading in the 3s by about three points over my gracious and damn strong teammate, James Bird (IsCorp). My lead was courtesy of Will Novaks’s help in last weekend’s road race, lots o’ luck, and my win in the TT.

Naturally, I threw out the whole damn recipe at the start of the race... Q: What do you do if you’re leading a series coming into the final day? A: NOT attack into head winds, drop yourself multiple times, burn all your matches. Suffice it to say, my race was an exercise in what not to do. I did not respect my fellow riders and underestimated their strengths. My frequent attacks left me unprepared to cover the break or help Will out. I even botched the sprint. The haphazard creation that is Rosy Weiner was a failure. I was a melted ice cream sundae or a diet coke. Something was off. It was a miracle I won the series.

Were it not for Will, I would not be writing this blog post. It was due to Will’s help that I won. See, he threw a small and intimate get together for the cycling team on Saturday evening. With my getting to sleep early and having a good, carb filled meal (courtesy of Nate, Hannah, and Axie), my legs had enough reserve in them to survive the day. Carbs rule! Actually, the cheering of the team and the shame that would be loss before them got me through it.

NU Cycling rocks...

Some random thoughts:

Will is damn strong. Attacking into a headwind and sticking it for second place. Contador material.

Axie and Hannah have, um, great taste in music. Enough said.

Based on race results, Subway > Coolata + donuts as a pre-race food.

Hartley = god.

Food poisoning can be your friend - when it happens to your opponents.

Fall Fling Part 1

This past weekend the Fall Fling began with a crit Saturday and a road race Sunday. The Northwestern team was well represented both days with many new faces. Courtney, Scott, and I raced the crit which was an isolated oval with only one moderate corner. A heavy headwind on the back stretch did keep things interesting. I raced first with the cat 5's. The race was pretty uneventful until a prem let one rider develop a nice break and eventually won. I began the chase with 2 laps to get but was unable to get anyone else to take up the chase on the last lap. The field sprint passed but I managed to stay strong enough for 10th. Courtney raced women's cat 4 and worked well with her competitors to maintain a high pace and keeping a lead group of 5-6 riders. She sprinted for 2nd in the prem and 4th in the finish. Scott raced 1/2/3 but sadly Courtney and I weren't able to stick around and cheer him on.On Sunday the school was very well represented with veterans Hannah, Axie, Will, Ian, and Alex along with new racers Nate and Joe joining Courtney, Scott, and myself. This time the girls raced first with Axie's cat 3 girls racing with the Masters 50+. The race was fast and she did a great job of hanging with those crazy old guys to finish with the pack and the other girls. Hannah and Courtney had some drama in their race with a small crash dropping Courtney from the pack. Luckily no one was injured and Courtney rode hard to get back up to the next 3 laps to get back with the pack.
Will and Scott rode hard in an animated 1/2/3 race in which no large groups remained by the finish. Taking part in a break Will went out to an early lead. That break was caught but Scott took off with the next group. Will battled up to that break and the two of them kept in the mix to the finish with Will getting 4th and Scott just a little bit in back of him. With Ian, Alex, Nate, Joe, and I all racing cat 5 we were well in control of the race from the beginning. Ian and Alex fought hard to bring back the breaks. Nate did an excellent job of maintaining a top position for his first race. Ian had one scary moment when the rider in front of him pushed him off the road. Using his cross skills he kept riding and got right back into the field. I made a break for it on the last lap but no one was able to come with so I was out alone in a strong cross wind. Upon looking back after a stretch and seeing 3 riders on the front working hard to catch me, I decided it was better to sit up and take it easy. Ian, Alex, and Nate stayed with the top riders into the final stretch. I sprinted too early and ran out of gas but Ian and Nate finished in the top 10 of the field sprint. Joe took some time to adjust to racing with a large group but finished strong.

I hope Northwestern can bring an even larger group to the circuit race next Sunday!

Andy K>

CX Bike

So, I'm psyched for the cross cup to start this Sunday (4B represent). And, because no one else seems to be posting to the blog, I thought I'd grace it with some pics of my baby:



I feel like I need to throw some compact bars on this thing...but I'm never in the drops anyway.

Sheared Chainring Bolt

So, I've gotten in the habit of getting on my sweet trainer setup to do some intervals before I eat breakfast. This morning I was mid-sprint and heard a pop from my BB area. I stopped and found that I had straight sheared one of my chainring bolts in half...badass:

Track Win

So, I had to update the blog with a sweet photo of my win at the track:


Suck it, other people. That face is my "I won't be denied" face.

Also, I got 12th in the State Championship RR in part because I took the final turn of the race too quickly and jumped up into the lead at the bottom of the last climb. This was very unintentional, but I was delirious at that point, so I tried to gap people FTW. Unfortunately, I was not strong enough to make that happen, and thus faded and let mad ppl pass me. Needless to say I was pissed. Other than that, Alex, Andrew, and each did really well moving around the pack and marking wheels. Alex and I even got a little gap together for a few moments while we tried to chase down a flyer. Anyway, shit was fast.

Green mountain stage race

This will be, unfortunately, a brief post.

I traveled to Waitsfield, VT over Labor Day weekend to partake in the Pro/1 Green Mountain Stage Race. Friday was a 9K ITT that was Merckx style- meaning that time trial bikes were not allowed (which is good for me, as I don't have a TT frame). It is a pretty fun course, held on super smooth pavement; the first half is uphill and the second half is false flat downhill, so you can really smash it at over 30mph. There was a stiff headwind, so the times were slower than last year. I came in at 15.07, which was good for 35th/130 riders. Not excellent, not bad.

The next day was the rolling 72 mile road race. My plan was to try to get in a break and go for KoM points. Well, I was aggressive enough, but nothing went away, and I didn't succeed in scoring any classification points. The break of the day finally went about 55 miles in, and I wasn't in it. The backside of the course was so fast, though, that it all came back together for the finish. Coming into the last K, I was not in any position to sprint for a good result, so I just focused on crossing the line safely. This wasn't to be, however. A few guys went down right in front of me, and I had nowhere to go. I went down hard on my head and shoulder. I eventually dusted myself off, and rolled across the line, given s.t. and ~90th place on the stage.

My shoulder felt worse and worse that night, and a lingering headache made me fear that I had suffered a concussion. The shoulder was still immobile Sunday morning and led to a D.N.S. by my name in the results. Stage race over. Season over.

Bad way to end the '09 racing campaign, but I'm almost all recovered now, and plan on being in top condition for this fall's Walker Bros. rides!

See you all in one week,

Will

P.S. NU Cycling congratulates Seth Meyer (WCAS '08) on his third place finish in the P/1/2 IL State Championships Road race, making him the new P/1/2 IL State RR champion!

Soldier field and track racing

So, I'll start with the uneventful stuff. Alex and I both went to the last soldier field race and had wheel problems (a flat for me and a rolled tubular for Alex). I ended up in 5th, which I guess was alright. It was dark so the pictures sucked.

Then I went on to do the Chicago Triathlon and finished 7th in the men's 20-24 category out of a lot of dudes. I basically pwned people on the bike and sucked hard on the swim (surprise, surprise). Anyway, the winner of the entire thing was only 7 or so minutes faster, so I might win next year. As you can see, participating was painful to both my body and my dignity:


Anyway, seeking to regain some dignity, I went out to the last night of track racing at Northbrook and straight up won my first bike race! I totally schooled some people to win the first sprint lap of a Danish and take the victory. I later got 3rd in the Belgian win-and-out too. The best part was that the prize for winning the Danish was $12 and a 4 year old Northwestern jersey donated by the Pony Shop. Here's a picture of me putting a little Cavendish on it for effect:


Anyway, I should probably get to sleep because Alex, Andrew, Courtney and I are headed out to blow up the State Champs in Willow Springs in the morning. Respect the jersey.

Soldier Field Cycling - Plus Bonus Product Review!

Ian and I decided to hit up the 4/5 race of the Soldier Field Cycling series last Wednesday evening. It had been raining all day, so there was a lot of standing water on the course when we got there (the biggest pools located just before what was already the sketchiest turn of circuit).

My race was going well for about thirty seconds, then my rear tire rolled off its rim. I went down pretty hard and thought about throwing in the towel, but was deeply disturbed by having paid $25 to race 1/3 of a lap. I hung on to the back of the lead group for a several laps, got tired, made a friend, got confused about who was on the same lap as me, remembered how to go around corners, realized that dark glasses were a poor choice, and eventually rolled across the finish line (mostly) intact.

By the way, if you find yourself with moderate road rash, you should check out a product called Tegaderm. It's magical. I know, $15 for a box of four 4"x4.75" clear plastic dressings seemed outrageous to me too, but bear in mind one will last for at least three days (longer once you've had some time to heal). Once you've cleaned the wound you just put one of these things on and you can mostly forget that you have road rash (I still wouldn't recommend sitting directly on the affected area). You can even shower with no apparent loss of stick (and complete invulnerability to the agony of shower-on-fresh road rash). The most recent thinking on abrasions suggests that you're supposed to keep them moist and "unscabby" for as long as possible, and Tegaderm seems to do a great job of this. It's not absorbent though, and you're going to "ooze" a lot in the first couple days, so if excessive fluid collects you might need to drain it. It's kind of gross, unless you're into that kind of thing.

Downers Grove Cat 5 Race

So Alex and I raced at Downers Grove on Sunday morning and Andy came down to watch. The story of the race was that two guys who looked like complete jokers broke away on the first lap and no one would work to bring them back. I realize now that there were several times when I should have attacked, but I was just trying to be conservative and assumed that someone else was going to try and bridge and I would get on their wheel...but it never happened.

The start of the race was good because Alex and I got up front on the left side:
So the race was super short, only 11 laps or so, and I stayed top 5 in the pack (or the 1st chase group b/c it was down to 12 people by the end). Here's me second wheel at the top of the hill on the second to last lap:

I had to annotate the photo because when we came into the second corner on the last lap, the guy in the orange came into the turn super hot and tried to squeeze around on the inside. When his back wheel started to slide out he straightened his bike out and rode me directly into one of those metal posts you see holding up the netting. Needless to say, I was super pissed and yelled some choice expletives at the guy. I'm a little banged up on my right side, but my bike needs some expensive attention.

Anyway, the conclusion is that I could have pwnd those guys and gotten 3rd and I should have followed the early break or attacked at some point.

Downers Grove National Criterium Championships

This past Sunday was the National Criterium Championships, held in downtown Downers Grove, IL. It seemed like a good time to finally get out to a USCF race. I raced Cat. 5 with Ian while Andy and Meredith acted as our photographers and cheering section.

Although my day started way too early and the better part of my mind was probably still wrapped up in the sheets, arriving early afforded us lots of time to ride the course. It was mountainous for a crit! The circuit was about a mile long and consisted of 8 corners. Turn 2, a narrow 90 degree left, was one of the hairiest and was the site of several crashes throughout the day. Between turns 3 and 4 there was a short, steep climb leading to a super-fast downhill section.

At 8 AM, the race began. From the gun, Ian surged out in front of the race and led us through the first two turns. I fumbled with my cleat even worse than I usually do and wound up in the back of the pack. At only a little more than 20 minutes in duration, the pace remained quick throughout the race. Ian looked strong throughout, remaining in the top 5 positions as far as I could tell from my rearward perspective. I never really found my legs and was generally too terrified by the constant cornering to venture forward in the pack. The yo-yoing took a harsh toll on me (especially turn 7, which the pack handled excessively shrewdly) and although I tried to gain position a few times by riding hard up the finishing stretch's moderate grade, I couldn't make it stick.

up the hill, somewhere in back

By the end of the race there wasn't a whole lot of snap left in my legs, but the pack was down to under 20 and it looked like Ian had a great shot at winning the field sprint. Unfortunately, on turn 2 of the final lap, Ian was crashed out by "an asshole" and sent into the barriers. In the mass panic that ensued, another rider and I became entangled, and although we both managed to stay upright, lost contact with pack. I chased hard for the rest of the lap, but following the kicker between turns 3 and 4 there wasn't much left in my legs. When I turned onto the finishing stretch, it was with one other rider that I'd been dragging since the altercation at turn 2. I tried to sprint all the way to the line, putting a gap on the other rider, but embarrassed myself when I decided that the agony I was experiencing wasn't worth it and sat up with about 25 meters to go. I wish I hadn't, 16th sounds a lot better than 17th for some reason.

oops

After a second breakfast, we watched the races for the rest of day. Notable occurences included a drama-heavy crash on turn 2 during the women's pro race. Without getting too specific, some choice accusatory words were uttered by a rider who, by all of our accounts, had crashed herself out. The finish of that same race was apparently quite exciting; too bad we didn't see it. Confused about the number of laps remaining, we merely heard the jubilant shrieks of an announcer as we blindly wandered through an alley. Will and Seth's race found itself in a monsoon. I'll let them tell the story.

mo' bike racin'

So there's been some good racing going down lately, and I've been fortunate enough to partake in some of it. Last weekend I raced in both days at Elk Grove, IL. The course featured 5 turns, with turn 1 being a 180. I was feeling good and able to race decently well on both days. On day 1, I raced aggressively, narrowly missing out on several primes, and unfortunately missed the break of the day. I spent the remainder of the race trying to bring it back so my teammates could finish well in the sprint. Well, I failed in this attempt and the break did stay away, but my teammate Mike ended up 3rd in the field sprint, netting him 8th overall and a cool 400$.

Day 2 was better, and worse. I again felt strong, and again raced aggressively, featuring in some breaks that I thought had a chance to stay away, but alas, didn't. I was able to score a 50$ and 300$ prime, so I had that going for me, which was nice. Towards the end of the race, the pace apparently took its toll, and I ended up in some strange split of what ended up consisting of roughly 20 guys. I just sat on the strong riders wheels, and none of us did much work, but the pack was content to let us ride away. I braced for what I thought would be the race winning move, and alas, it came with ~3 to go. Matt Busche of ISCorps (who's pretty darn quick on a bike) attacked and then pulled off going into turn 2. I wanted to keep the pace hot, and clipped my inside pedal, taking myself out. There were no more free laps so I ended up a DNF. Bummer, as it could have been a nice result for the team. It was also the second time in my racing career that a crash was wholly my fault, and I took another rider down, so I did feel bad about that (sorry Brian Jensen!).

This past weekend's racing was a little more low key. Saturday was my sponsor's hometown crit in Warsaw, IN. This weekend was miserably hot seemingly all across the Midwest, and Warsaw was no exception. The course had four 90 degree corners, and measured a track-like .45 miles in length. I ended up lapping the field, along with two Texas Roadhouse riders, two Nuvo riders (Adam Liebo of Marian fame among them) and one other Lot rider. A roadhouse rider attacked the field, and 6 of us (minus Liebo) again reestablished ourselves off the front of the race. It all stayed together in the break, and I was able to fairly easily lead Mike out for the win in front of the sponsors, as well as hold onto second place myself.

Today was a local race in Glencoe, IL. I didn't see any other Wildcats there, which was too bad as this was a pretty cool venue that was super close to campus. A rainstorm rolled through right before our race, which conveniently cooled down what had previously been an unbearably hot day, while not so conveniently making the last 45 degree turn much sketchier. I didn't feel so hot, but tried my hand in a few moves, and failed in a few prime attempts. Nevertheless, I followed ABD's Ryan Freund (of IIT fame) with ~9 to go, and we somehow got a (relatively) big gap, along with a Subway Pro rider and a LOT rider. Each rider was hesitant to do more than their fair share of work (especially the Subway rider), which caused us to unfortunately get swallowed up by the peloton with 1/2 a lap to go. Luckily, my teammate Mike was up front for the sprint finish as he always is, and came in a solid fourth. I stuck it out for 9th, and thus was able to contribute a little more to the winnings of the team.

So, there you have it. I'd love to hear from the rest of you about your summer adventures, so please do post to the blog when you get a chance.


-Will

Grandview Grand Prix/Tour of Lancaster County

I've done two races since my last post, both with less than desired results but hey, I'm having fun.
I did the Grandville Grand Prix with some of my teammates from Vortex (Katie, a 15 year old junior got 2nd.) The crit was a mile long loop with several sharp turns, including two 45 degree turns, that passed through a development outside of Lancaster (the home of the Pennsylvania Amish). The women started off pretty fast but I found a group to hang with for the race and they helped me with some tactics. I didn't realize that many of the women I'd be racing against in PA would be in their 30s and 40s and racing for several years, so I've got a lot to learn from riding with them.
After the race was the best. My parents are from the area so they took me to this sweet dairy with a restaurant and we got awesome food and fresh ice cream, it was delicious.

My second race was the road race from the Tour of Lancaster County. I originally intended to do the whole thing but I was glad I had changed my mind when it poured the next day for the Time Trial and Crit. Once again I got to do a race with the Amish as traffic directors and spectators. It's amusing to come flying around a turn and see a bunch of amish children sitting by the road waving. One nasty hill in the middle of the 10 mile laps torn up our field each time we went by it. I spent a great deal of time chasing a junior down. I finally caught her when the men's field passed me and I jumped in their draft for a while. Then she and I worked together for a few miles until the aforementioned hill where she flew up like a bird and left me chasing again.
This was the first race my dad attended. He previously had little to no knowledge of cycling and he found it interesting to hang around cyclists for two hours while I was out racing. My dad has a somewhat twisted view of people so our ride home was interesting as he 'dissected' the different types of people he observed.

As for now I'm done racing until the end of the month. My team sponsors a crit in an Industrial Park in Trexlertown that I will be participating in. I have a 10 day vaca with the parentals that seperate me and the race however so I'm just relaxing and not thinking too much about riding. After 7 days in the woods with my dad and 4 days at the beach with my mom, I will most likely spend all my free time on my bike, out of the house, when I return.

As you all know, I've been updating the website and also reconnecting with some incoming members of the team. I'm excited to get back to school and start riding with everyone. I'm planning on doing the Fall Fling with Axie and Will and anyone is welcome to come along, it'll be a blast. NU Cycling 09-10 is going to be awesome.

evanston crit and chicago crit

hey everybody

so last weekend was the evanston superweek crit. the course was crazy tight, 6 turn circuit. it was my first superweek race, and after hearing all the horror stories, i was a bit intimidated. turns out the stories were more or less true. there were a lot of crashes (a few right next to me) and it was pretty fast too. the legs felt good, but the cornering confidence was not where it needed to be. at the end of the 100k, what hurt most was my back and hands, rather than my legs. but anyways, i kept it upright and finished i think 54th, one of the last riders in the main field. my teammate mike (who i did pretty much nothing to help) ended up 20th.

this past weekend was the chicago crit in grant park. what a cool race! it was a beautiful day and the course was ideal for me: wide open roads, only 4 non-technical corners, and the scenery was hard to beat too- quite different from your standard industrial park crit. i felt really good for this race too, and this time was able to make something more of it. well, not really. i still finished 57th, but i raced the front and got in a few breaks (one featuring chris horner), although nothing lasted longer than a lap. anyways, after being as active as i could, i again tried to help out mike in the closing laps by pulling him up the straights, but he is a crazy man in the corners and turns out to be quite hard to follow around a criterium course. he got caught behind a last lap crash, which was unfortunate for us.

thanks to all who came out to cheer me on in these races. it makes it a lot easier with your support. i hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for some intense walker brothers rides come september.


- will

Mt. Evans Hill Climb

Last Saturday I raced in the Mt. Evans Hill Climb in Idaho Springs, CO. The race started at 7,555 ft and ended at a lung-searing 14,130ft. So almost 7,000 ft of climbing in 28 miles up the highest road in North America. Yeah, ouch.

The women's field was pretty big: about 45 girls started. The climbing was steady, and the group broke up pretty quickly. I got dropped by the leaders about halfway up, and rode solo for the rest of the race. For the most part, I felt like I was going at an excruciatingly slow pace. Those 28 miles took a full two hours and 40 minutes. But again, the plus side was that the scenery was spectacular. If I keep racing in Colorado, I'm afraid I'm going to give up trying to go fast and just enjoy the views.

At the summit, (which I finally reached after 14 diabolical switchbacks: no joke, I could see the top for a good hour before I reached it), there was a baby mountain goat! And you know, the finish and all that- at this point I was more concerned with getting to the top without getting high altitude pulmonary edema than trying to go fast. I finished about 15th.

The descent was awesome: not all that fast, since a lot of the turns were really hairy, but it was nice not having to pedal at all. A really good ride, and as usual, I was wishing the Northwestern cyclists could have raced with me.

Axie

Tour of Mt. Nebo

Hey guys!

So I've finally started racing in PA! After a canceled race and a conflicting work schedule, I managed to head to southeastern PA to race in the Tour of Mt. Nebo. The race was a very challenging first. Two huge climbs (though nothing compared to CO) dominated the course. I made a silly mistake on the second climb during the first lap (which included forgetting that I had another ring in the front that would have made the climb 10x easier) but I felt very strong on the flats and descents. I was able to convince my parents that they should come watch me race (my m.o.: they'd pay for tolls, gas and food) and it was nice to have someone there to cheer me on during the hills and to listen to my race recap afterwards. I realized that racing by yourself is definitely not nearly as fun as when you're with a team. Another plus with the parents: I convinced them to go with me to watch the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium in West Chester, PA. It was a pro/1/2 mens and womens crit in the historic Philly suburbs. It was great to see some of the East Coast cycling world. For the men's race, a Harley Davidson guy pulled an Leibo (a la Regionals) and drove the crowd wild. Many of the people there had just stumbled upon the race and it was cool to see a the world of cycling open up to some new people.
I've got two races in a week, a weekend of crits and I'll update you guys then. Besides riding my bike, working and the tdf dominate my life right now. Northeast PA holds very little else to do though the riding here is beautiful.

Triple Bypass- Riding in Style

So this wasn't a race, but it was still an awesome ride and I'm going to write about it anyway. Every year for the past 21 years, Team Evergreen has hosted the Triple Bypass, a 120 mile supported ride over three mountain passes for a total of 10,300 feet of climbing. Epic. 

I got started at 6:00 a.m. in Evergreen, CO. Almost immediately the route begins climbing Squaw Pass, whose summit sits at about 11,300 ft. The climb was pretty easy, and it was absolutely spectacular. At one point, the right side of the road dropped off about 800 vertical feet, and you could see forests for miles and miles surrounded by the 14,000'ers of the Front Range, (one of which was Mt.Evans, the mountain I'm racing up next weekend). Not a hint of civilization for as far as I could see. After about 16 miles, I reached the top where, (this being a supported ride) the race organizers had bagels and cream cheese, oranges, bananas, muffins, energy bars, gatorade, fig newtons and water. Mountains and delicious, free food- riding should always be this sweet. The descent was a lot of fun with some sharp, steep corners that made for good bike handling practice.  

The next 40 miles of the route were all uphill and into the wind. Not steep climbing, it just wasn't much fun. The next high mountain pass, Loveland, sat at mile 60. It's a short but steep pass that climbs up to 11,990 ft, well above tree line. Again, more beautiful sights and another fast descent. 

After Loveland came Swan Mountain, a short climb over a small mountain, before I finally reached the bottom of Vail Pass at mile 88. Vail Pass from the direction of the Triple is relatively easy, and after 10 miles, I was at the 10,300 ft summit. It was all downhill from there and I rolled up to my front door at 2:00 p.m. 

The ride really was too much fun and I wish you all could have joined me! Next year perhaps??

Axie 

Sunday Ride

Sunday Ride

Saturday I turned down two different group rides; a mountain bike ride, and a road ride. Instead, I planned to do a fairly long ride alone. As I drifted to sleep, I planned out my route. However, I was planning a pretty intricateroute, so I decided to map it out, using BikeMap.net. I got out of bed, and mapped it out. I wanted to ride it, but I wasn't sure if I'd actually get around to it on Sunday. This was the first time I had ridden my road bike in about three weeks, so I had planned a vigorous route to get me back in the saddle. I tried to get every possible hill in, regardless of the quality of the road. Sunday morning rolled around, and I decided to amp up the route, and bump the mileage to over 50. That also brought the total vertical climbing to over 5400 feet; about 108 feet of vertical per mile. I had bit of planning to do, and packing, but I was on the road by 1pm.

My route sent me down a familiar section of dirt road for the first bit, which helped me get the joyous feeling of riding back before I hit the hills on this 80 degree day. I was cranking along in the high 20s on this section, and then I made a sharp U-turn to begin the first hill of the day. Ten minutes later, I was at the top. Then back down the other side, and up to another summit. I stopped and took a panorama. (Peckville) I ate a bar, and pounded down the other side, across a 50mph highway, and up some more to a friend's house, where I chatted a bit, and got some water.

Continuing on, I hit the highest point of the day, took a few more panoramas (Washer's and Patten), and crept down a steep gravel "road" on the other side. Even after it became paved, it was still incredibly steep. From there, I had the chance to ride a flat paved section, so I put in a quick sprint, stepping it up to 34 mph. Up another hill, back down to a different section of the same 50 mph highway, and up another dirt hill, which is the highlight of a local 10k running race. On the other side, I stopped briefly to talk with my grandfather, and then took a 20 minute break to eat my two egg sandwiches. A group of cyclists also chose this spot for lunch, and we exchanged pleasantries.

Then it was back out onto the 50 mph highway, and up a gentle hill, and then a geographically straight shot to the next big town. This section of the routewas the most difficult for me to navigate, having only ridden it once before, and not all at the same time. There were many four way intersections that I paused at, before deciding the correct road. On more than one occasion, I found hills I had forgotten about. Fortunately, a long descent on the other side welcomed me, and then a short cut through a section of abandonded road spared me from riding through a traffic circle.

I rode back toward home, along a familiar commuting route, but then I veered off east, and dove down to a covered bridge over a river, before the steepest climb of the day. A short steep, but steep nonetheless. I came out on an other commuting route, the one I took to elementary school, and now to my job on a film set. This road had been recently paved, so that was a nice reprieve from the dirt I had encountered earlier. I stopped to watch a farmer wrap round hay bales with white plastic, a fascinating process I had watched at the same farm on a bike ride years before. Further on, I noted the exact location of the Leyden/Bernardston town line.

The best downhill in the county now awaited me, and I unfortunately was not able to break 50 mph, coming in at 49.3 mph. Then it was on and down a long gentle downhill into Vermont, and then back along a dirt road beside a winding brook. The brook fed into a river, and I went up, following the river, past a beautiful waterfall, and up onto a section of road I hadn't been on since elementary school. From there, I headed due north, and then came about on to a due south road which had more hills in it than I had previously remembered.

Out past a dairy farm, and down the central road of Leyden. I managed to avoid any significant hills, save the one I cranked up in my highest gear, courtesy of the downhill before it, and the speed I had worked up. Then a few more dirt roads, and I was home!

53 miles

4 hours riding time

5.5 hours elapsed time

13.1 average velocity

5400 feet of vertical climbing

http://www.bikemap.net/route/234223

fitchburg

so i spent my fourth of july racing a 4 day stage race up in MA. i was racing the pro/1 category, and the field was stacked as it was an NRC event.

day 1 was the TT. i rocked aerobars and borrowed a zipp 808 rear and 404 front from my teammate brett. i felt good, and still only came in 100th out of like 171 starters i think. more aero equipment would have helped some, but there were a lot of fast dudes. mike friedman of garmin slipstream was there and he raced in paris roubaix earlier this year. i avged around 27 mph. tom zirbel won and beat me by over 2 mins on the 9 mile course. he avged more like 31 mph, but then again he did beat levi at the USPRO TT championships last year. yea, he's fast.

day 2- circuit race
this race is a 3 mile circuit with a tough hill, a flat backstretch and then a 45 mph downhill leading back into the uphill. this race was crazy from the gun. people everywhere bumping bars, crashes, super fast...just chaos. i was feeling good physically, but i was too far back, trying to stay away from the crazy people, which seemed like everyone. eventually people started opening gaps on the back stretch and after closing a few i came off for good. it was not a crit, so i still had to finish, and rode ~72 miles because i was lapped by the field. there were 80 finishers and one was my teammate mike, so that was a good ride for him.

day 3- road race
110 mile race, 10x on an 11 mile hilly loop with a feedzone/finish climb that really hurt. it was again crazy fast from the gun. people were opening gaps all over on the hill, and i was too far back again and forced to jump around. eventually, 4 laps in, the field was starting to get down to a manageable size, but i broke a spoke before the fast descent. sram gave me no pace back up, and it was game on at the front, so i was unable to catch back on. i linked up with two other riders (one being OUCH pro bobby lea) and we rode the rest of the day, and finished ~40 minutes down. if i hadn't broken that spoke, i am not sure how i would have fared. i was already in the hurt box, so it was bound to be a long day for me whether or not i was in the field.

day 4- crit
after getting my face smashed in the first 3 days, i was intimidated for the crit, as these are not my strength. however, it was a manageable pace from the start, and the corners were not too fast or sketchy. like all nrc crits, it got pretty fast towards the end, but i was able to finish in the field in 76th position- nothing great, but i guess i'll take it after days 2 and 3.

i ended up 100th overall on g.c. not stellar, but i finished, and it's good to have my first nrc stage race under my belt (after crashing out of joe martin earlier this year).

i hope that you are all doing well. I am still home now, but will be back in evanston in a couple of weeks and look to get in on some rides. i also hope that everyone is able to watch the tour, because it is awesome. post to the blog and let us know what you are up to!


- will

Alex and I did the Turin ride at six o'clock tonight. It was a pretty easy pace and the group was smaller than usual. I think that there was a race downtown tonight. I'm just getting back to riding after a couple weeks of cross training, but Alex looked strong.

Hey all,
Last weekend I competed in the Dead Dog Classic stage race up in the mountains of Wyoming. Saturday was a hard, 53-mile RR that climbed the Medicine Bow Pass just outside of Laramie. The race started at around 9,000 ft in a little town called Albany (population: 15). The first twenty miles of the race weren't too bad and I was feeling strong. The serious climbing was in the middle of the course- 2,400 ft in 9 miles. Not too bad except for the 25 mph headwind. The group broke up really quickly on the climb and I ended up riding solo for the rest of the race. The descent was awesome- 59 mph, baby! So fun. The last 11 miles of the course, all uphill and into the wind, were not so fun and I ended up finishing middle of the pack.

The crit on Sunday in downtown Laramie was sweet. One of my GS Boulder teamates ended up winning it and I took 5th out of 25.

The crit was followed by an individual TT. The 10 mile TT is supposedly the highest 'flat' TT in North America at 8,800 ft. Not what I would call flat, the course had some pretty good hills in the final 5 miles. I finished a mediocre 15/25.
Fun, hard, windy weekend that left me exhausted and stoked to race again mid-July.
Axie

tour of americas dairyland

hey all

the past few days i was up in WI racing the tour of americas dairyland. its a new 10 day series and seems really well run. the 1st stage was awesome. 4x22 mile loops with ~2200 ft of climbing per lap and then a 8% finish climb. i was feeling OK, and making splits on the climb. as the race passed the halfway point, i still had some gas and bridged to some breakaway groups. the race would shatter up the climbs and we would drill it on the flats, but it would still come back together , which was annoying. i eventually rolled in 12th/26 finishers out of 79 starters, so i was pleased considering the caliber of the field (riders from bmc, kbs, bissell, amore...)

the next day was a neat 1.6 mile circuit race with a slight hill. i felt great this day and was very active. i missed the main 2 man breakaway of the day, and worked some to bring it back for my teammate mike, who is sprinting really well. i stayed up front until the final laps, when it started to rain. i fell back because i was tired, and with the rain, i couldnt get back up to the front as the corners were too slick.

saturday was the grafton crit. a cool .8mile crit with another slight hill. i tried to be active at the beginning, but only lasted about halfway through until i started to tire from the previous days. i wasnt much help in the finish, but mike was able to get 9th in the sprint.

a couple of days off for me, and ill be back racing tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. then its home to CT for a while, and fitchburg will be the racing highlight of that trip.

hope all is well, and congrats to our seniors who just graduated!

Sherman Park Post Script

So it's weird that I'm hardly a year out of undergrad and I'm already being called "old school", but, yes, someone indeed called my breakaway with Will this last Saturday "an old school/new school Northwestern combo". Thanks, Will, for posting and not making me sound too crazy slow. For those who weren't there (and even those who were, but just didn't get to see the backside of the course), I've got one simple sentence for you: New School > Old School. Billyboy pulled way more than his share in the break, and I was thanking god every second I wasn't dropped from the front. So, Wildcats, keep this whole new school fastness thing going. It's awesome!

Oh, and this site Chicago Personal Photo took a bunch of pics and put them online. Here's one of the move with Will looking like he's going (to borrow a Jake Rytlewski phrase) "comfortable hard" while I am dying:



Thanks, Will, for making me feel fast like the glory NU days of old. Hopefully this will kick-start a new chapter of fastness...even if I'm old school! ;) Go 'Cats!

P-p-p-pancakes.

When good weather rolls around, occasionally we lose all desire to go fast, and still find ourselves deserving of a pancake reward afterwards. Today was one of those days.

Ten of us came out on this social ride, and in the short miles we put in, we probably broke every traffic rule in the book. We aren't usually reckless, but five abreast at a crawling pace is what tends to happen when everyone wants to talk to everyone else in the group, separately, at least three times.

Walker Brothers pancakes traditionally follows Sunday morning rides when the weather behaves. Food comas are guaranteed every time. Someone mentioned today that the worst part about pancake rides is the two miles home after the meal.

Today was particularly special for me because it was my last ride with the team before my graduation this weekend. I love these guys dearly.

Faye

Cycling Cape Town

Hey guys,

It’s been a while since most of you have heard from me. For the guys who don’t know me, I cycled with the team fall and winter this past year and I just got back from a quarter abroad in South Africa. I managed to do some riding while I was out there and figured I would update everybody on what it was like.

I actually didn’t go abroad with a bike. There were a lot of unknowns in terms of how safe the roads were and how my bike would fare over 10,000 miles of shipping. I just didn’t want to risk it. It took about a week of not riding and seeing the occasional cyclist on the roads for me to start actively looking for a bike. Bike rentals, even the long term ones, are really expensive. I found a decent used bike shop through a contractor doing some development work for our design project. Long story short I managed to get a decent Cannondale for not much money.

One downside of biking in Cape Town is the traffic. For the first few miles of any ride leaving from our neighborhood, you’re dealing with minibus taxis (which obey no traffic rules other than their own), full size trucks, tons of pedestrians, and cars parallel parked everywhere on the streets. You’ve got to pay attention and pray for no flats (high risk of getting mugged if you stop in some of the rougher areas). I wish I had pictures from this area of town, but I didn’t really want to pause and take any on a ride. It’s an amazing change when you make it to the waterfront though. The road gets better and there are other cyclists.

The picture to the right is along a ride I did pretty regularly. The mountains in the background are called the Twelve Apostles. The main road is excellent for riding with almost no potholes – a nice benefit of warm winters. It runs all the way to Cape Point, and is part of the Cape Argus Tour, a huge cycling race that happens every year in March. Tens of thousands attend. I road the 65 mile route once and it alone was worth the flight.

Another training ride I did on occasion was climbing Signal Hill. It’s a bit shorter than Table Mountain, but will make you want to puke your brains out about half way up (or maybe it was just me). At the top, the road settles out for a rolling couple of miles to an overlook where you can see the construction for the 2010 World Cup stadium.

There was another ride which I regret doing only once. Chapmans Peak is closed to cars because of the danger of falling rock from the hills above. This was a blessing in that there was no traffic once you made it to the pass. I went out there on a sunny mid-afternoon and I guess the lack of cars made the baboons a bit more courageous because I saw a couple walking alongside the road. Unfortunately I didn’t bring a camera, but if you ask google what it looks like, here’s what comes up.

I wish I had written this a bit sooner, but things are the same with the quarter system no matter where you are – it’s always crazy busy at the end. I ended up selling my bike through gumtree (a South African version of craigslist) and actually made some money off of it.

I’m back in Cincinnati now, working for GE Aircraft Engines and doing some riding most days after work. For anybody that might be in South Africa in the future, if you feel like you can manage heavy traffic (or figure out a way to avoid it), the rewards are tremendous.

I can’t wait to see you guys in the fall!

James

sherman park and mt pleasant

yoyo everybody

hope summer is off to a good start for everyone. this weekend I raced the xXx sherman park crit on saturday afternoon. it was a field of ~50 with many riders from xxx and the vitaminwater team. the sensations were good from the gun, and i was active trying to get away. eventually, ~20 mins into the race i initiated a move and it just so happened that NU alum seth meyer was on my wheel. with the help of his xxx teammates blocking, we rolled away. i was feeling good and confident that we could take a lap, especially once our gap reached a minute. but, unfortunately we started to tire and were gobbled up after about 45 minutes out there. i was toasted from the effort and rolled in in the bunch

check out seth-meyer.com for his recap. add it to your favorites, along with nucycling.blogspot

saturday was the tour of mt pleasant, michigan. it was a 105 mile rr that i decided to do with 2 of my alderfer bergen teammates on a whim. by this time, i was pretty tired, as i also did a hard 3.5 hr tempo ride friday afternoon. the field was strong with some kenda and bissel pros, as well as a full panther and priority health elite teams. my legs didn't feel good, and i was happy when my teammate brett stewart got in the breakaway that established around mile 10. so then it was slow for a while, then fast, then slow then fast. after brett's breakaway got 6 minutes up on the field, i tried hard to get in a second move around mile 80, but the field wasn't letting us go. again, i was tired, and rolled in in the field.

so two mediocre finishes, but hopefully a lot of fitness gained for the upcoming tour of america's dairyland which starts on thursday, and then the fitchburg stage race in MA on the 4th of july weekend. wish me luck!

Rockin' the River: Dotsero, CO

I love racing in Colorado. That pretty much sums up my feelings after today's 55 mile RR. I raced women's 1,2,3 in a field of about 40 for my new club team, GS Boulder. We rode along the Colorado River for about 25 miles before turing around and riding the same stretch back to the finish. For about half the race we were riding on dirt. Not bad except for a potholed section around mile 18 that made Sheridan look smooth. So many women lost their water bottles it was like a minefield. Luckily no one flatted or crashed. 

I don't know how I placed, but it was a lot better than I anticipated. What with altitude, mountains and fast CO women, I had pretty much reconciled myself to getting dropped and then enjoying a scenic ride through snow covered peaks, but I stayed with the leaders until a vicious hill at mile 23. After the turn around, I got in with a chase group that included NU's own Melanie Wong and we worked to catch the break. For a solid 20 miles, we had a beautiful, speedy pace line organized. We caught the break at mile 47, but some girls got away again almost immediately. My group ended up finishing about a minute after the leaders.

And apparently Lance Armstrong was there. One of the other GS Boulder women saw him and snapped some photos. Next race is in Laramie, WY on the 27 and 28 of June. It's a stage race called the Dead Dog Classic that is going to be epic.

Wish y'all could have been there to race with me! 

Axie

Finals week is over! If you haven't seen NU jerseys on the road for the past few weeks it is because some of us have been pulling all-nighters and sleeping in libraries. Those of us that are in town for the summer will be out on the roads and on area rides, so look for us! Hopefully everyone will be able to get out to some of the uscf races over the summer.

Hot Dog Cookout

Last Friday, members of the team sold hot dogs in an attempt to shore up our budget for the year. I was joined by Faye, Hannah, Axie, and briefly by Josh and Adam. At noon, we parked our borrowed grill next to the sidewalk south of Tech and began catering to the starving hordes of pre-exam week engineers. As one of the first beautiful days in an unusually cool summer, it was the perfect day for a barbeque.

I consider the event a success; not only because we broke even (and then some) but foremost because a good time was apparently had by all. Throughout the three hours that we were in business, volleyballs were lofted and footballs were tossed in the grass behind our table, we were visited by hungry friends (some even clad in hot dog suits), and sales jingles of debatable effectiveness and artistic merit were formulated. Finally, we promoted the presence of the cycling team on campus; many of our patrons weren't aware of our existence beforehand, but all were enthused by it. I'm confident that this is something that we'll be doing again.

The day I discovered chamois butter.

Today was Chicago-based team XXX's three-state ride. The intended route consisted of riding north to Wisconsin, back to Chicago, south to Indiana, and back up to Chicago. It was apparent by mile 20 that the goals of completing the ride were ambitious.

This is the whole route. We NU people started and ended at Northwestern.

Alex Neckar and Aaron Greco accompanied me today. We started out at a no-drop pace typical of XXX's usual Saturday morning rides, with about 50 people. We took a pit-stop at Highland Park (mile 12), and the group split up. We were left with about 25 people going to Wisconsin, and from there the pace really picked up. The group was going anywhere from 22-25mph most of the time, and I was sure they would slow down when people realized how much farther we had to ride. Uh, nope.

At around mile 20, I got caught at a long light, and had to pace back with three very Euro-looking guys. I was just about to shoot myself for getting popped so soon, but we caught up to the group just in time. After that it was smooth going all the way to the state line.

The ride was gorgeous on the way up. Instead of taking dicey Sheridan Rd north, we went west, and looped around the more rural roads of northern Illinois. Few cars, good roads, expansive fields, hay bales, horses, even rolling hills! However, the different route also meant that at any point in the ride, I had absolutely no idea where I was, which was further incentive to stick tightly to the group.

I fell behind the main group a few times, especially when they accelerated on the windy sections, but there were always stragglers around me to help catch back up. I made sure to keep Aaron and Alex in sight, and tried to stay in the front third for buffer in case I fell back. Also, red lights are good to me.

We stopped at mile 50 for an arrival break at a gas station, where chamy butter proceeded to brighten my appreciation for life. Chafing cured, we turned around to go home, keeping the same brisk pace, taking the less-scenic Sheridan all the way down.

The ride back was uneventful, save for a crash in a gnarly turn before Highland Park. Our own Alex took the turn too wide, but graceful as he is, managed to land in the grass, very much like a cat, with not a scrape. Another rider wasn't as lucky but got back on. We three NU riders left the group and rode back ourselves from Highland Park, and Alex and I rewarded our 87 mile day with the best part about cycling: lots of food, with hot sauce of course.

Happy riding,

Faye