Michigan Massacre Part D

With the season coming to an end the Michigan was the last chance to improve the team’s ranking before regionals. 11 points ahead of 6th and 44 points behind 4th meant it every race, every result, was going to matter.

Since my background is mountain biking I was excited to race on some dirt. Upon seeing it wasn’t single track, wasn’t a fire road, but a wide smooth road dashed by enthusiasm. I decided to stick to my standard habit and stick to the front, launch one attack to see how everyone attacks and see if I can cause pain. Nothing much seemed to be happening so I relaxed expecting a large field sprint. But as I relaxed going into the last lap, the pace picked up, I was gaped. Looking behind I realized there was no one. I hadn’t just been gaped but flat out dropped. It was time to dig deep and redeem myself. Gradually I brought myself forward, jumping from wheel to wheel as Tommy dropped them from his little group. It’s painful to see the peloton ahead and know that it’s just out of reach and then to see two more of your teammates fall off is heartbreaking. But you make the best of what you’re given. Tommy and I collected Nate and Taylor along with an IIT guy who was sticking with us. I tried to get an echelon going but IIT was refusing to work with it so I said screw it and jumped to try and drop him but sadly we only dropped Tommy. Taylor made sure I was awake as he nearly misses the last turn. IIT and I ride to the line together where I out “sprinted” him. Looking back, with 4 on 1, we should have just boxed him in at the line. My mental game is what I learned needed improvement.

My mental game was what I wanted to focus on Sunday at the crit but warming up it all felt wrong. The weather was cold, my legs were sore and the team needed every point I could earn. I decided to go for the prems and get as many points as I could before falling off the back. However something strange happened, after winning the first prem I felt great. I hadn’t felt so good in a race in a long time (never mind how long it had been since my last race). It was time to sit in and come up with a plan to win. Our team had 7 people in the race but there was no formal strategy, simply a goal to ride together. Going into the second to last lap 6 sets of polka dots appeared on the front. 6 teammates all together in total control. You could feel the panic from all the other schools stuck behind. I shouted for an attack and began a surge of my own. In front with Brad we built a small gap from the field as I pulled him through the lap. Unfortunately Brad didn’t have the strength to pull through the bell lap and we were caught but the rest of the team was still in good position. A counter attack saw a group of five get ahead, including Tommy. It was time for me to be defensive and just mark. A Serotta began to chase and I sat on his wheel. Looking up I could see Tommy sprinting, clearly winning, so it was time for me to sprint too and make up a few places. Surprise surprise 4th, and only about half a wheel from 3rd! Northwestern D men finished with 3 in the top 5, 5 in the 10 ten!

Best personal results of the season and best D team results of the season was the perfect way to cap off a fun weekend with 21 fantastic people. Setting up for a strong show at Purdue Regionals.

"It's not really a nice feeling..."

So, one might ask, what the hell happened to me?

First, for an appropriate analogy, more or less, watch this video:

http://www.cervelo.com/en_us/testteam/video-documentary/

Basically, I echo all of Haussler's sentiments.

For those unaware, I have injured my IT band and haven't been able to race since the DePauw race weekend four weeks ago. I originally agitated my leg at the Lindsey Wilson road race. Even though I was able to win the time trial; that effort, combined with nearly 80 miles in the hills, was simply more than my legs, being only accustomed to the flats of Evanston up to that point, could take. I made the break in the next day's crit, but my leg was already beginning to act up, even then. I tried to ride early in that week, but my knee hurt, so I rested and stretched, and assumed I would be good to go at the Depauw road race. I wasn't, and the 50 mile race in 40 degree rain really did my leg in, and I was in a lot of pain after the race. I skipped the next day's crit and took that week off the bike. In the meantime, I saw the doctor, who gave me some stretching and strengthening exercises.

The next week was our spring break trip, and I wasn't going to let anything stop me from riding. Sadly, I wasn't able to kill it with Scott and Ian, but instead was resigned to riding by myself or with Axie and Hannah, who were also injured at the time. When we returned to campus to start the spring term, my leg was better, but still not ready for any hard efforts, so I again took a whole week off. Since that time, I have been riding, but only as hard as my leg will allow. I was upset to have to miss Marian and then again miss racing at Hillsboro/ OSU this weekend.

My leg is improving, but it is taking much longer than I would have liked. It is a pretty frustrating injury, on many levels. When I ride, I can spin lightly, but the pain starts up if I really try to hammer down with my left leg. I keep hoping that I will get on the bike and be able to ride as I usually would, pounding on the pedals and going (somewhat) fast, but this hasn't happened yet. In addition, after so much time off, even if I am able to come back, my goal of performing well at collegiate nationals has been derailed, as I don't think it is possible for me to regain nearly the form I would need by then. And lastly, as Heinrich says, "I miss being out there, with the guys..." It's not fun to miss racing with a team that I take ownership in, having seen almost all of our riders start out as complete beginners, and progress to the point that they are at now. I miss watching them race, and hanging out with everybody before and after the races. I also miss racing, and riding hard and fast, and just partaking in the friendly banter of the Men's A field.

I know when we are at races every weekend, we often wonder why we do it. When we wake up at 5 A.M. to go sit in the cold rain, we think, why don't we just stop racing, and just become normal? Sleep in on the weekends, and not punish ourselves with this crazy bike racing stuff?

Well, having done that for two weeks, I can safely say that I don't like the "normal life". When I woke up at 9 AM today and got a text telling me that Tommy won the Men's D race (!), I was super stoked for Tommy, and the team, and also extremely upset that I wasn't there to be a part of it.

Anyways, I hope to be back out racing as soon as possible, and I'm trying everything in my power to get better. If anyone has any tips or suggestions with how to deal with this injury, please let me know. After all of this time off, I just want to get healthy and fast again.

I will end with a Haussler quote:

"I just wanna come back next year and absolutely kill 'em, and that's what I'm gonna do."

My Season So Far, Part 1

Well, I figured I should post up some bloggification on my race season so far. I'll devide it into two parts, to make it easier to read.

Murray State, er, Hayward, WI

While most of the team traveled a long ways South to Kentucky, I instead held out for the last bits of winter, and headed North. Hayward, WI is home to the American Birkebeiner, the largest cross country ski race in North America with over 7,500 participants. I got up there midday Thursday, and had a couple of days to actually get back to the feel of skiing on snow before the race.

The race itself is a 50K, which is a bit more than a standard running marathon. With no ski specific training to speak of for two months leading up to the event, I was mainly hoping to finish coherent enough to enjoy some brats (the greatest part of Wisconsin) after the race.

Starting off flat, the race soon kicks uphill with a 5K climbing section known as The Powerlines. I was mainly trying not to blow up at this point, but in looking down at my watch at the 10K point, I saw I was on pace for 3 hours, which would be a great result. The next 30K were kind of a blur, and at 40K I was still roughly on pace. However, my legs decided to be a bit uncooperative, and the last 10K were a grind, with 7K of climbing (including an infamous hill full of hecklers) and 2K across a lake into a headwind.

The best part of the race is that it finishes on the streets of Downtown Hayward. Everyone comes out to cheer, and it really gives you a boost of energy (that, along with the shot of Jager I grabbed from a spectator at the beginning of the lake). I finished in a respectable time, got my stuff, and went to find some brats. Fortunately, an enterprising group had set up a brat stand directly across from the changing area, so I didn't have to wait long.

But I didn't forget about the team, and rocked the whole way in my purple polka dots:

I even got a few "Go Northwestern!"s, which I think was more due to my hat.

Lindsey Wilson

So after my journey to the Northwoods, I was excited to get back on my bike and actually get out bike racing. The next race was Lindsey Wilson, and with the Blue Raider Omnium competition, I was hoping for a good result.

Saturday started off with a 10K TT, which I was confident in. However, my race was basically over before it began, as I was unable to get my left foot clipped in at the start. Since I was fumbling with this, rather than making sure I was in the proper gear, I lost even more time trying to push a large gear from the start. I did get my right foot clipped in, but still couldn't get my left. Given a choice of spending a lot of time getting it in or continuing on without full use of my power, I opted for the later, hoping that the time penalties would be less severe.

Will and Scott, on there aero machines, eventually passed me, which was expected. At this point, I was cursing USAC for there incredibly stupid ban on aero equipment for non-A riders. At least let us have clip on aero bars! They are cheap, and make it a heck of a lot safer when trying to get into an aero position on a road bike [/rant].

I wound up 10/18, which I was upset with. Upset mainly at myself, for not properly lubing my Speedplay cleats and causing myself to lose time. Let that be a lesson kids: Always do the routine bike maintenance!

The road race was next, and cautious of another cleat episode, I made sure I was clipped on on the left well before the start. However, as overzealous as the D's pack was to get going, we nearly forgot to let the Women's A follow car through. This resulted in my being towards the back of the pack at the start, definitely not a good place to be. I had to wait until the first big climb to work my way to the main pack, which I was only able to catch the back of thanks to the yellow line rule. Fortunately, the pack wasn't accelerating too much, so I didn't have to do a lot of needless yo-yoing.

Things were looking good, until a small rise before the final climb. In a moment of inattentiveness, I came off the back of the pack, and watched as a 5m gap turned into 10m, which turned into 20. I knew my chances of winning were done, but I still wanted to do a good final climb, which I managed to, even passing the Women's A follow car ahead of me. At the top of the climb, I saw what I thought were two NU riders just ahead of me (it turned out to be Taylor and a Butler rider), and I went into attack mode to try and catch them before the line.

Ka-chunk!

Rats, my gears jammed up upon doing this. Fortunately, I was able to right my wrong before anyone else caught me, but I ended up having to solo in to the finish.

Now throughly out of the omnium, I wanted to use the Sunday crit as a training ride, mainly since I hate crits. The course suited me fairly well, with its one short steep climb. However, I didn't quite have the gusto to stay with the main group, but Red Beard and I got together just behind them, eating up anyone shot out of the back of the pack like a pair of hungry alligators. I would pass RB on the climb, and lead through the next 2 corners, where he would take over on the backstretch. I thought I had him in the final sprint, until I looked and saw him on my wheel. I let up, letting him place ahead of me due to all the hard work he had done.

Overall, a good weekend was had at the Dreamland Motel. I think I'm finally over the incredible smallness of the rooms.

Look for Part 2 coming soon!

Southern Illinois University Team Time Trial

We had fun. Bottom line. Will was happy that his dream for the past four years was finally coming true. He wanted to have a big team with dedicated riders who were putting team aspirations over personal priorities. He wanted a team of good friends who had fun. We had fun making ourselves look funny, and not taking anything too seriously. I wanted to wear my KONA jersey for the TTT, but I had to take it off, and deal with just riding on my mountain bike.

Wait, mountain bike?! TTT? What was I thinking?! Lets backtrack a little. Last Tuesday on spring break, before our morning ride, Nick noticed a crack in my seat stay on my road bike. A crack, that upon further examination, enlarged when flexed. I decided that even though I had probably ridden it for at least the day before, I didn't want to ride it that day. Just the day before, I had put my mountain bike together, enhancing the flat pedals with some longer 2mm pegs for better traction, and a new super heavy-duty rear tire. So, I decided to put the road bike away, and ride the mountain bike. I put in 45 miles on the mountain bike that day, keeping pace with some of my teammates. I rode Wednesday and Thursday on my mountain bike as well, and then we got some slicks to put on for the races on the weekend. But I put my bike on the back of a car with hot unfiltered exhaust, and the front tire had a melted hole straight through the tire and tube when we pulled into the hotel on Friday night. I had to throw out the melted front tire, and then swap out the rear slick to the front wheel, and then mount up my least knobby mountain bike tire for the rear. UGH.

So, Saturday morning, I was riding around on my mountain bike, with my Carhartts and Kona jersey on, looking like I was just having fun, but really getting used to the new feel of my mountain bike. When we lined up for the TTT, people asked us if I was really riding it in the race. I was. We weren't going for the win. We were going for fun, and for points.

Will, Tommy and I lined up for the start, and watched our other A team and our Womens A ride off. A Lindenwood team rode off, we waited a minute, and then rolled out slowly. Will led us most of the way for our 14 mile time trial, and the team behind us didn't catch us til a mile and half. The Marian team caught us a little later. We had a nice time, going along around 15mph or so, went up the long hill, and then around the turn around, where we noticed another Lindenwood A team on our tail. They passed us at the top of the hill, but we kept pace with them on the downhill and the flat following the bottom of the hill. I was spinning really fast, with my 44:12 gearing. According to Tommmy, we hit 36.5; much faster than I expected. We had some nice conversation on the return trip, slowed for a flatted-out Lindenwood rider, who was fine, and kept on for the finish. We rode across the finish three abreast, which was fun, and although we were last, it had only been about 45 mins, which was faster than we had thought it might have been.

"That was what I wanted us to be like. And thats what we were like. It was awesome. " ~ Will Nowak, President

Southern Illinois University Criterium - Mens D

I had only had one banana to eat for breakfast; I had meant to eat more, but I hadn't had time. As a result, I was not feeling particularly strong. After all, I was still riding the mountain bike(explanation to follow in a subsequent post), and I had decided to keep my gearing to two gears: middle or big ring in the front, and my 12 tooth sprocket in the back. It made things simpler, and I could still spin fast enough to get up the hills, and that way it made shifting simpler. At the start, a bunch of riders mentioned that I had the upper hand today, with my better gripping tires.

We had strategized to have repeated attacks off the front, and Tommy shot off the front from the start. Tommy held the lead for the first lap, which broke the field up very quickly. I was not so quick out of the gates. I took a few pedal strokes to clip in, and I wasn't feeling strong. I held on to the back of the pack. Nick attacked next, and led the field for pretty much the whole rest of the race. Joe kept his place in third position. Occasionally I would get up in the top 8 riders, but I usually would get passed on the finishing stretch. Later in the race, I wasn't feeling like I had the upper hand. I entertained thoughts of dropping off the back so far I got lapped, and then placed. My glasses fogged up several times, often so bad that I had to look over the tops to see. I took the opportunity during one stretch on the finish when I was off the back to take my glasses off and wipe the insides with my glove. That cleared up my view for a while; it continued to fog a bit, but not as bad. As a result of the fogging, the rain, and the fact that the officials moved the clock, I had no idea how long into the race we were.

I knew I had no chance for the primes anyway, so I pretty much waited until I heard the bell ring for the third time, and then punched it on the back downhill stretch, spinning fast, but the field wasn't going too fast. I got into second position, and the guy in front of me took the uphill corner too fast, and went off into the grass. I was pretty sure it was the last lap, but I wasn't actually convinced. I also was prettty sure that a break had been made at some point, so I wasn't actually in first place. I didn't think I could maintain my lead on the field, since I was not feeling my best, and it was probably the last lap. However, I held on, and placed fourth! Even after I crossed the finish line, I still wasn't sure we were done, but no one was passing me, so I kept going and slowed down for the cool down lap, where I talked with Joe about our race, and met up with Nick, who had apparently crashed with two laps to go, off the front. He was reasonably angry about crashing and not winning.

We rolled back to our spectating team, who were very congratulatory for our efforts. I was talking with Axie, who asked me if I was just toying with the D field, by staying at the back for most of the race. I was not, I was actually pretty tired. I guess I got my second legs with about 6 mins to go. As Axie and I turned around, a GVSU B girl barreled into me and my front wheel. She fell to the ground, and I checked to make sure she and her bike were ok. It was then that I noticed the crash had caused my front wheel to "potato chip". That's kind of like taco-ing, but less severe. Either way, it was un-ridable. I remembered that someone had mentioned to me Saturday that some of my spokes were a little loose. So! Now I'm in the market for a new mountain bike front wheel, a new Trek frame(explanation to follow in a subsequent post), a new road crank, a front mountain bike fork, and most of a new component group. Yay!

Oh yeah, and it was raining for the whole race.

Rhythm

In all sports timing is important. In skiing it's all about timing your turns through the gates. Cycling is more than that. It's about rhythm, the rhythm of the race and the rhythm of your ride. When in a group ride these two are always in sync, complementing each other. Individuals shift around in the pack but all have the same goal of completing the designated route safely and efficiently. Racing changes everything. Each person is riding to their own rhythm creating the chaotic rhythm of the race. The winner is the one who can feel both and bring them create a harmony for themselves.

Sometimes the rhythm is for you and sometimes it is against you. Saturday it was against me. Three laps was all the D's race was. Lap one was a dull and simple flow with everyone just feeling out the course. Lap two on the courses kicker is where I knew I would no longer be racing. While standing up to move up in the pack, I strangely found myself moving backwards. My rear wheel was spinning out, low on pressure. Battling just to finish, I lost, losing all pressure about halfway through the third lap and have to wait for a ride back. Morale, if you feel yourself losing air and your tire starts to washout in gentle turns then pull out, don't gamble risking a crash or damage.

A team time trial simplifies the rhythm game. Now it is just you and your team complementing each other. The better this works, the better the result. Dane and I worked together and got 4th for the D's. The A team struggled a bit more to find a rhythm but we pushed as hard as we could but came 1 second short of beating IIT.

Sunday I was pumped! My rhythm was going to be the race rhythm. 50 feet from the start was a 180° turn and I was determined to be the first one through it. The whistle blows, I shot off, low and behold there's someone on my outside doing the exact same thing. Going in hot and tight, I slide out, stand up and laugh, just laugh as the pack rides around me. Walking back to the start I just laugh and relax. Once back in I let my rhythm go and feel into the races rhythm, moving back up to the front. Once there I launched an attack to try and restore my rhythm again but after a lap or two I just wasn't able to keep away. More laps passed and I just rode with the races rhythm. It was great to hear the coaching from my teammates even if it didn't always seem to make sense. When the rider before my jumped for the second prem he gave me themperfect leadout to secure some points. After falling back into the rhythm of the race, our laps were nearly over so I clicked back to my own rhythm, battling up towards the front. Third wheel going into the sprint were my instructions and I was battling LWC for this position when I lost feel for the race rhythm. An attack came up the other side. I jumped to chase, just as we came into the 180°. Hot I exited wide, nearly in the grass and was gaped from the new lead group. In such a short time I went from racing for 1st to 7th, at least I got that and more points for the team. 3 weeks into the season and I have learned so much, hopefully next time I'm in my first field sprint.

Proof Scott has better timing (that's me passing in the background):

Winds of thunder, kisses from the fair lady of peanut butter and a boy who couldn't possibly be nutter: Depauw race weekend.

The Crowning of a Rain King

They know the whines of engines revving, the tortures of wheels slipping and the danger of things flipping. For them, life is a constant terror.

But as rain falls, they fidget. Men have no place racing on slick rubber when wind and water dominate, they think. No two fears are the same. And the fear of death ushered by rain and crashing is a particularly powerful one. A fear that can render the stoic soft, they agree.

But they are wrong: One of them is unfazed. In what becomes one of his greatest wins, Michael Schumacher moves forward from sixth to first. Despite the rain and his finicky car, he wins—by over a minute in a race usually decided by thousandths of a second.

Now, Schumi is back from retirement. And so is Gregory Christian.

The Return of a Legend

In a race defined by rain and the feeble souls of frightened “men,” Greg earned a title that only Schumi owns: Regenkönig (rain king). Known for his TT prowess, Greg races for Team Panther and Michigan State. And Saturday, the Rain King proved his legs have become nothing but stronger in his brief absence from collegiate cycling.

But just as Schumi’s victory required context, so too does Greg’s—this weekend was no ordinary one.

Stage Setting

To start, Mama Bear (Hannah/NU) had been angered. (They say all is fear in love and war. They are right...) The entire conference felt her weather changing wrath as clouds descended and temperatures dropped. Not even the Sea Otter (Axie/NU) could penetrate the haze and calm her hate. I was a wanted man with little chance of survival.

Under these conditions, I was set to declare my eternal admiration for the conference goddess: Sinead Miller. As much as I adore her, I fear her. Beauty and strength are something, but omnipotence is frightful; the dangers of a vengeful god are numerous. Just ask Job.

I, therefore, risked death as I unfurled my poster—I was disturbing the start of Sinead’s coffee shop spin. Mercifully, she greets me with a smile. She does not strike me down with pestilence or plague, but gifts me the courage to race.

So I line up only to see the Sinead-scarred remnants of the Women’s A field crash and Clara (NU) win the field sprint. Yes, it was practically a victory. But a near-victory marred by the blood and banged wrist of our Sea Otter.

Road Racing or Abitibi Redux

There is little time for sympathy; my race beings. Naturally, conditions turn from nasty to Third World. The laps are fast, my glasses are covered in gunk and my body is soaking. Longfellow (Will/NU) and I fight to make breaks, but he suffers a bayonet blow to the knee and I have food threatening to emerge from both bodily orifices. In the face of such calamities, we resign ourselves to the pack.

Yet, we remain vigilant. Spider-Monkey (Ben Damhoff/UW Platteville) is looking strong. Marian remains dangerous. Lindenwold has the power from down under and up North. Kip, well, no one rides harder than Kip... So yes, we are thinking, but we aren’t thinking about the right man.

On the final lap, the Rain King attacks. He dangles just meters off the front of the pack. But who is there to chase? He crosses the line in victory. In the sprint, I brake for 8th place OA.

(For want of space, I will skip the TTT. But I will say this: Our team showed perseverance and several riders showed their potential.)

Critification

Having witnessed the strength of the Red Baron Rain King and the love of the Black Widow (Sinead), the crit was an exciting but dangerous prospect. Especially, considering it was to be held in a parking lot with a 180 turn. But fear is no match for my fidelity; I began my preparations.

The course required adornment. At each turn and at other key locations, I marked the course with chalk. My writings were simple and reserved: “Sinead, raise arms in victory salute here!” “Lapped the field five times? Time for a tea party?” “How many dreams do you intend to crush today?” and the classic, “Mow them down, chew them up and spit them up!”

Naturally, she prevailed— this despite taking time for a tea party and a short nap. But Sea Otter went down hard, Mama Bear showed signs of rage and my race was soon set to begin.

On the line, the Hyena-Komodo Dragon (Alder Martz/LWC) saw my wanton eyes and called over Sinead. In a moment of terror and bungled saythings, I handed over my green cookie. It read: Kiss Me.

Well, she did.

Frankly, the rest of the day was a wild blur, a reverie. When men are touched by the gods, little can they be blamed for daydreaming.

Until next weekend,

Rosie

(P.S. The rumbling [near synonym] winds of hill country have little to fear. Things are never as they appear—they are there only to deceive. For what purpose? This you should know.)