Lake County Stage Race 6/20-6/21/09

This is the last weekend in the first half of the season. It was ridiculously hot. My cycling computer logged 97 deg both days, but with the humidity I think the heat index was well over 100. It was a typical stage race format with a criterium and time trial on Saturday and a circuit race on Sunday.

After placing well last weekend I was hoping to get on the podium this weekend. I did not have the team support of last week, but Ben did upgrade to Cat 4 and joined in the fun. Eric and Amy also raced the full schedule this weekend. Marco came down and represented at the Cat 5 crit on Saturday and Andrea came down to help Eric in the epic 80 mile road race on Sunday. I wish I was able to upgrade to Cat 3 just to participate in this road race. It was an 80 mile loop with a race caravan and everything. This is the first time they have tried this in Florida in a long time. I am hoping they are able to do this again next year when I have hopefully upgraded.

As I said it was really hot on Saturday and the crit course was in a new development with no houses, trees or anything taller than grass to provide shade. Our race was scheduled for 1:45 and even drinking water all morning and popping some salt pills did nothing to ward off the dehydration. Other than the heat the race was awesome. The roads were perfect and there was a nice little hill at the finish to really make things burn. Towards the end of the race I moved up to position myself for the sprint. We came around the corner and I uncorked a vicious sprint up the hill to the line. I put a good gap on the field and came across pumping my fist in victory. As I let up and rolled down the other side of the hill the field came by me and I heard a guy say "You still have a lap to go." Oops! In my dehydrated delirium I lost track of the laps. I managed to roll across the line just on the tail end of the pack. I felt really stupid, but I guess it can happen to anyone. It took the better part of an hour for me to cool down and get enough water back in so I didn't feel like passing out. I don't think I have ever felt that bad after a race.

The time trial was to go over Sugarloaf Mountain. This is the highest point in the Florida peninsula at 312ft. I don't know where they get off calling it a mountain, but it was steep and made for a hard time trial. The climb up the South side was not too bad with a few rollers and stair step ascents. There were a couple of 90 deg corners that would make the descent back down fairly technical. After topping out it is a straight shot down the other side with speeds topping 50 mph. The turn around was almost right at the bottom of the hill so I was not able to build up much momentum for the climb back up. This is the steep part at probably 15% grade. It tops out with a false flat that seems to go on forever then it is back down the other side as hard as you can go. The finish was just up a short hill and I made it about 10 ft past the line before deciding I was done. I finished 5th with time of 21:29 over the 7 miles. The winner put almost a minute on me.

Sundays circuit race was scheduled for 10:15, but they were running late with the start. Most of the delays were because of the start of the Pro 1/2/3 road race getting going. I was really unmotivated to warm up. It was already well into the 90s. I spun around easy for about 45 minutes and lined up to start. My plan was to sit in and follow the wheel of yesterdays winner for the sprint. The pace was fairly easy probably due to the heat. In lap 3 there was a big crash that took out about 10 guys. I just missed it as I was moving up the left side of the field. With just over 2 laps to go there was absolutely no motivation in the field. We were rolling along at a mere 19mph. I was feeling good so I attacked and put a good gap on the field. This was going to be my move, so I gave it everything I had. I was happy to get some help with 1-1/2 laps to go as another rider bridged up to me. He took a couple of strong pulls, but I could tell he did not have as much gas in the tank as I did. It was nice to have him there to give me a chance to catch my breath before the final push. with half a lap to go he was done and could not pull through. He managed to stay on my wheel to the last corner where I found another gear and gaped him. I came across the line in 1st with a 5 second gap on the field. A huge thank you to Ben who seeing me attack went to the front and broke up the chase.

I was really happy to get my first top finish and redeem myself after my mistake on Saturday. I am a couple points shy of the upgrade, but hopefully they will consider my high TT finishes and move me up to Cat 3 for the fall races.

Ocala Stage Race 6/13-6/14/09

I have been looking forward to this race for a while. The course is fairly close to Gainesville and we often go down to the road race course and time trial course on our weekend rides. I have been riding pretty strong and the team was willing to help me in an effort to get a podium spot. There were seven of us ready to go for the Cat 4/5 races. I think we had one of the largest groups out there which was awesome for one of the smaller teams in Florida.

The first race of the weekend was the Marion County Road Race. This was the course we have ridden a number of times. Our plan was to push the pace and cover any breaks that tried to go away early. My team mates would challenge for the King of the Mountains time bonus and Intermediate Sprint time bonus. The final part of the plan was to get me in a break on the last lap to try and get some time on the field.

It all went fairly well. Ben challenged the sprint, and came up just short of a bonus in 4th. He was also very active at the front of the race chasing breaks. Justin went for the KOM bonus, but again was just short in 4th. All the breaks were getting chased down quickly by the field. I think the heat had something to do with this. It was easily 95+ and it was hard to get enough fluid down. I started to get chills on the last lap a sure sign of dehydration. Talking to others after the race I found out I was not the only one. So a small change of plans we tried to line things up for the final sprint. Ben, Justin, Marco and Keith Lad all moved to the front, but I got boxed in and pushed back to about 20th place. There was one final small hill just before the finish. I was able to come around guys over the top of the hill and sprinted hard for the line about 500m from the top. It was a bit clogged up and I had to go around a guy on the grass, but I managed to finish 5th. This was only 1 place out of the money for the road race, but I was still happy with the result.

I was going to have to do a good time trial to keep my position and hopefully set myself up for a podium spot in the general classification. They used the same start finish line and ran us backwards on the road race course. The time trial was short at just under 5 miles, but there were a few hills to really make it hurt. As usual I forgot to reset my computer at the start, so I had no idea what my time was until the next morning. I chose not to use aero bars. With the hills I thought they would do more harm than good as I would have to get in and out of them when I shifted. We were happy to see a thunderstorm coming in from the North. It cooled the temperature down a bit. The only downside was the chance of rain and the wind. Luckily it moved to the East of the course and we did not get wet. I managed a good time of 11:13 which was a 7th place finish for the time trial.

Sunday's road race was in Ocala National Forest. It was on a flat loop course of about 11 miles. There was a short spur road that we started and finished on. The tricky part was going to be getting into position before the spur road and holding it. There was a 90 degree corner at 200m to the finish and I was going to have to be in the top 5 to 10 to get a good finish. Our plan was to push the pace and line up a good lead out on the spur road to keep things fast and safe. The race was fairly uneventful. Unfortunately there was a lot of acceleration and then breaking which really clogged things up. We managed to get 4 or 5 of us towards the front on the spur road, but a couple guys got caught behind a crash and were gaped off the back. The spur road was really scary an you had to fight to keep any position you had. I managed to move up and then got swarmed and was sitting back at about 25th with 1k to go. This was not going to work, so I took a chance and tried to squeeze up the right side through a small opening. I got bumped a bit and almost went into the ditch. I managed to keep the rubber down and got by the guy. I went around the corner in about 10th place and hammered it. I turns out I was a bit too far back and came across the line in 6th.

With my good time trial performance and consistent results in the road races I managed to finish 4th place overall for the weekend. My teammate Keith Lad finished 5th. It was a bit disappointing to not get on the podium, but overall I was really happy with my result. I really appreciate all the work my teammates did this weekend to help me out. I would not have finished where I did without their work.

Next weekend is the Lake County Stage Race. It is the last race before a month off racing. It is going to be a fun race. The time trial goes over Sugarloaf Mountain, the highest point on the Florida peninsula at 312ft. Hopefully I will be able to bring home some hardware.

Trip to the Dog Park

Theresa and I took Sadie to the dog park on Sunday. This was our first trip to the dog park here, so we were excited to see what they had to offer. I think Sadie was pretty excited too. Sadie in the car ready to get her play on.

She does like to run.

and run.

She even made a new friend.

I think everyone had a good time.

Florida State Time Trial Championships 5/30/09

I am not usually a big fan of time trials, but this race is the state championships and it was fairly close. This was going to be my first 40km time trial. It was located just West of Jacksonville. I met Dave and David and we headed out around 7:30.
We arrived to find the main parking lot full, but we double parked and registered before finding the overflow lot. The overflow lot turned out to be a muddy field. With the beautiful Florida sun already hitting the wet ground I think the humidity was 99%. No warming up on the trainer luckily their was a paved trail to warm up on. Ben arrived just after us and we all headed to the trail to warm up.
David was first to hit the course at 9:55, Dave was up at 10:14, Ben was off at 10:27 and I was the last of the Cat 4s from our team at 10:28. None of us had any fancy time trial bikes or disc wheels, so it was a bit intimidating watching people roll around on really fast looking bikes.
All I can say about time trials is when it hurts you have to go harder. My goal for the race was to finish in the top 10 and hopefully post a time under 1 hour for the 40 km (24.85 mile) course. I caught Ben about 5 miles out and could see the next guy ahead. He was wearing a bright yellow skin suit so was kind of hard to miss. Maybe I could catch him by the turn around. My legs burned and I pushed a little harder slowly reeling him in. I managed to catch him just before the turn around. The best part about catching this guys is he was rolling on a Cervelo P3 with Zipp 404 front wheel and a Zipp disc wheel in the rear. I bet the whole set up cost him upwards of $10K.
Unfortunately as I made the turn I could not see anyone to chase down ahead of me. This return trip was going to be tough with nothing to take my mind off my burning quads. I got the speed back up and the finish line came into sight faster than I expected. You could see the finish from probably 3 miles out and this helped the morale. Shift down let the pain come I knew I was almost done.
I finished in 9th place with a time of 59:45. David finished in 14th and Dave in 20th. Ben was in the Cat 5 group and finished in 17th. Our other team mates who raced in the Cat 3 race also finished well Andrea took 1st and Eric was in the top 15. Amy represented the women and finished in 8th. I am really happy with my results and am looking forward to the Ocala stage race in a couple of weeks.

Florida State Championship Crit 5/17/09

I woke up after a decent nights sleep in the hotel Eric found us in Lakeland. I was definitely happy I did not have to drive back after the race the night before. I was pretty dead, and I don't think the gut bomb pizza for dinner helped much.

My race was not until almost 3:00, but we headed to the course to watch Amy and Eric race in the morning. Unfortunately the coffee shop didn't open until 11:00, so I had to survive on Accelerade and Clif Bars until they opened.

They ended up using the same location as the twilight crit the day before and just ran the race in the opposite direction. This was a little disappointing because the other course looked more challenging with a short hill each lap coming up off the lake. I heard there was some sort of issue with the promoters insurance, and I guess we were lucky to even have a race.

I got on the trainer to warm up and it was pretty hot and humid after yesterdays rain, but at lease the skies were still clear. I was having a hard time getting my heart rate up. Usually a sign on not being completely recovered. Not unexpected after the hard efforts yesterday.

Remember those clear skies, well I spoke too soon and just as we were lining up for the race the rain came again. It was even harder than the day before and there were quickly puddles in the corners. David and I had both already paid, so we decided to race despite the conditions. If we felt unsafe we could always pull out. Our teammate Keith decided it was too risky and didn't line up.

The race started and everyone was taking it really easy around the corners the first few laps and then sprinting down the straights. I got gaped with a small group that did not really want to work and had to time trial to catch back on to the lead group. I managed to catch the end of the group, but I knew I had used up most of my reserves just doing this. I tried to move up the last few laps, but the legs did not want to cooperate. I didn't challenge the sprint and rolled across the finish in 13th place. Even with the heavier rain the race seemed safer than yesterday. I was still happy to finish and keep the rubber side down.

No races next weekend, but I am looking forward the State Championship Time Trial in a couple weeks. It should be painful.

Lakeland Twilight Crit 5/16/09

This was going to be my first race after almost a month off of racing. Lots of training on the legs, so I was excited to see how I would stack up against the competition. I picked my teammate, David up at 11:30 and we were on our way to Lakeland. My goal for the race was to finish in the top 20 so I would qualify for the Amateur Finals race in the evening. David said he was feeling good and wanted to get the win today, so I offered to lead him out for the sprint. Our plan was in place now all we had to do is execute.

I got my usual poor starting position on the line and was going to have to work hard to move up and avoid getting gaped off the back. As expected the first few laps were fast and I had to work hard to move up and close gaps as people started to drop off. As I moved up into the top 15 places I started looking around for David. He was not there, so it was time to figure out what the new plan of attack was. I was feeling good so I opted to make people suffer and moved to the front and pushed the pace for a couple laps before dropping back into the group to recover for the sprint.

About half way through the race the heavens opened up. I usually avoid racing crits in the rain as I like to keep my skin and bones in one piece, but I really wanted to make the finals, so I stayed in. It was a very weird feeling to have the cold rain hitting you from above and warm water splashing up off the pavement. I was sitting in the top 10 to 15 guys, and was glad I was there. The last five laps were insane and I heard guys going down in the corners behind me. I came around the last corner in about 15th and hit the gas and was able to pass a few guys to finish in 8th. I was not in the money, but was still happy with the result considering the conditions.


The rain was letting up as I got back to the car and changed into dry clothes. I had a few hours to relax before the amateur finals at 8:00. We watched the Cat 3 race were my team mate Eric qualified for the finals as well finishing in the top 15.

I was nervous about the finals race and my whole goal for the race was to finish with the main group and if possible give Eric a lead out in the sprint. The field was made up of the top 20 Cat 4, top 5 women, top 15 masters 45+, top 20 masters 35+ and top 25 Cat 3. Most of the masters were Cat 1 and 2. I knew this was going to be hard, but at least the road had dried out.


After a weird neutral lap the pace was quickly pushed and we averaged 26+ mph for the whole 40 minutes. I hung in and made a move to the front with 3 laps to go, but could not hold my position and dropped through the pack to finish just off the back. Eric finished in the top 15 again with a good sprint out of the last corner.

It was a fun day of racing and I definitely gained some confidence racing in the rain. This was also my first twilight crit which was fun. We stayed to watch the Pro race which started after the amateur finals. I am always amazed at how fast these guys can go.

To Blog or Not To Blog

Theresa made fun of me for deciding to blog. Apparently she said she wanted to start a blog and I made some comments about people who blog. "What makes them so important that they think everyone will want to read about their life." I don't remember this, or maybe I just think I am that important now.

Anyway, I intend to write about what we are up to here in Florida and any other fun and exciting things we do. This will mostly include my bicycle racing, hiking, camping and other outdoor activities we do together. I also intend to write about any other trips we take.

I hope you enjoy it and won't be offended if you don't read it. Not everyone realizes how important I am.