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It has been a while, but hopefully the Twitter/Facebook updates have kept folks abreast. I have been busy, but not all my time has been spent on bikes. In fact I find it a bit refreshing to have cycling as an escape to fall back on — as opposed to living and breathing it 24/7. Bikes are fun, first and foremost… even when they are a bit unpleasant to ride.

Like I mentioned, personal pursuits and otherwise have kept me from maintaining a semblance of proper training for racing. While I love racing, it’s not the sole reason I ride — in fact it’s kind of secondary. Anyway, the Glencoe Grand Prix is a great event and a crit I plan to continue racing in every year — regardless of my fitness, etc. (unless I become dangerously out of shape).

Yesterday’s event was, again, run superbly. Every volunteer, official, etc was really cool (they we’re probably actually very hot) and helpful. Everything within their control, IE: not the weather, was great. All that was left for me was to have a good race. Well…

While I know that my fitness is not its best right now, outside of training with power, there’s really no way of determining just how much of a downturn I’ve taken without testing myself. The scale let me know I’ve gained ten pounds — that’s about all the measurement I’ve got to work with. So, on the hottest day of the year, I lined up with about 50 other racers, soon to find out just how out of shape I’d become.

Not ideal conditions to do so. I was more frightened about this race than any in a while. The course is a great one, but pre-race I honestly felt like I could be a liability. I hadn’t raced a criterium in close to three months and I was out of shape I honestly did not know what to expect of myself.

While you could pedal through three of the four corners, there was immediately a ton of braking going on in each. I found myself towards the back of the pack and with each l corner it became a bit more difficult to stay on. There were a few laps that I solidified a middle position, but more times than not I was dangling off the back. Then I got dropped. My only goal was to not let this happen, but there was no way around it. I felt like garbage and rightly so.

Quite a few others we dropped before me — and there was some work in vain done by myself and a few other to bridge/keep from getting lapped, but at the bell I looked back to see the break and the peloton chasing closely behind. I promptly pulled myself for a DNF as to not pose a threat to the field.

Most of my surprises, though, were pleasant ones; that my base fitness is still there for the most part, that handling and pack riding are still strong points of mine and that I can still recover very easily after hard workouts — it’s the intervals that I’m not doing that effect the opposite of that though… It really makes me think about shifting focus next year… we’ll see. Congrats to Tom MacNeill-Zimmerman on his podium in the men’s 5! Also to Stanley Sterlinski for 6th place in our race (men’s 4) and the rest of the team that braved the humidity!

Hanging out for the remaining races was a blast — after I attempted to “cool down” with some fluids. The women’s 1/2/3 race in the rain was awesome to see. And, as I’ve said before, just hanging out at the event was nothing but a good time. The only bummer was I broke another rear wheel on my ride home. I’ve broken four so far this year. Wow!

I gotta get fast (maybe lose the ten lbs.?) and get a wheel sponsor… Check out some great photos from teammates/friends of the team.

It’s tough to say this; but not only have I been a bit too busy to post on the blog a lot, I’ve also not been getting in much riding. But, like any good blogger/bicyclist I’m justt gonna barrel headlong back into both the best way I know how; with short and easy rides and with these bits of information:

I just got back from a business event in Keystone Colorado. Their mountain bike park didn’t even open ’till this past Friday but I can tell you, regardless of the lack of my own rubber-to-ground experience, that this place is a mecca for all serious cyclists. Check it out if you can!

Speaking of mountains, Le Tour begins Saturday! I am not a gambler nor even a good judge of sporting event outcomes, but I still think Contador will give the peloton hell. But I’ve got to pull a little for my all time favorite; Ivan Basso.

Finally, on the home-front, Ive been tuning up the blog and my bike. Changes are in the works, but check my Twitter for more frequent updates and be-friend me on Facebook. I just might be the life of the party — I know they can hook one up to a trainer, but this is dedication!

Ride safe over the holiday!

It’s worth mentioning, before I get fully into this report, that I crashed at my first (and possibly last) mountain bike race about 2 weeks ago. My thigh was bruised pretty badly and it kept me off the bike for a week. When it felt good enough to ride again, I still didn’t push it. Then, I barreled headlong into the Vernon Hills Grand Prix.

I knew I had lost a little bit of fitness due to the injury, but I was feeling good about the whole race experience. I now realize that I race much better when things aren’t going so well. 2 of my teammates and I rode up to the race – making for a nice warmup, though.

Upon arrival we all took a pre-race lap to note the turns and the wind direction. Then I registered very smoothly in comparison to some other people, as witnessed at the table. After that I found a field house men’s room entirely to myself (and the cleanest I’d ever experienced at any cycling event). I even wheeled my bike in with me! Done with that, I then went on to achieve a personal best at number pinning (which still needed an amendment later, but a big step forward for me nonetheless). Things were on the up-and-up!

This was my first race in a Category 4 only field. I had raced with many of the guys out there before in combined fields, ‘cross, etc, so it felt no different. The pace was also no different. And, my penchant for making aggressive moves early also went un-changed.

I was unable to start in the front, near where I wanted to be, but after a lap and a half was able to make it up there. After railing the 3^rd turn hard, I found a wheel ahead of me that I wanted and thought could work with on a break. The wind hit me before I could latch on and make the suggestion. Then the rest of the pack swallowed me up and spit me out.

After that I was a bit confused as I looked back and only saw my teammate, Joe. The aforementioned pack now seemed much smaller that the field did at the line, numbers-wise. In retrospect I would find that my jump had dropped tail end of the peloton. So, it was just me and Joe, in “two man’s land.”

Me and Joe; pre-race. Photo: Zach Thomas.

At first I thought we could work together to bridge, so we traded hard pulls and tried to get some other stragglers to latch on and help with the effort. No one else could hang, so my pulls became less and less strong due to the fact that bridging was becoming impossible. That didn’t stop Joe and me from working together and finishing strong. It was truly a team effort and I felt very proud to be out there lap after lap working with him for the crowd to see. I wanted to “fist-bump” at the line but he ended up a little farther back on the final straight and I didn’t want to hit the brakes.

This was the best crit I’ve been to yet. The combination of the amenities, the weather, the team work and the course itself was not to be beat. I, on the other hand, was. I often don’t look for my results, but this time I really don’t mind not knowing. I raced well and am happy. I initially wanted to pass this one up but now am looking forward to next year. I think that says a lot!

It should be somewhat obvious that I am enthusiastic about road racing. So when presented the opportunity to visit the Highland Park Trek Store to meet with the ATA and Robbie Ventura, I was very excited. While I am not a very serious road racer, I have the utmost appreciation for it and train just the same way for cyclocross as roadies do, for the most part. Also, being able to spend some time with the good folks from ATA and some of their members was a pleasure.

As you may know, I don’t own a Trek but do ride some Bontrager components. I had also only been to the Trek store in Michigan Ave downtown prior to Thursday. That did not stop me from being continually impressed by Trek. The Highland Park location is huge. Partly due to the fact that it also houses a Vision Quest training facility as well. I was immediately impressed be the magnitude — and there was a lot of awesome old US Postal/Lance Armstrong memorabilia on display.

The event served as a benefit to ATA members and as a social get-together. The presentation by Ventura was to be the highlight (despite the bicycle powered blender’s best efforts).

small bike or big blender?

He went on to explain Vision Quests’ mission as well as telling some very interesting stories about providing commentary on the Tour de France for VS. It made me, and hopefully everyone else in the audience, even more excited to see what unfolds in July (Contador has it locked!).

I have known people to use Vision Quest for winter training programs and they all spoke very highly of them. During the Q & A portion Robbie also mentioned that the spectrum of instruction they offer at VQ includes lessons on riding in a pack. It made me think back to my first Hillsboro, last year, when I was in a chase group without any of my own teammates. The two Vision Quest riders in the pack were able to keep the paceline organized despite alot of other riders’ inabilities. It really solidified my opinion of them as a class-act — and now I know why.

Overall the event was great! Next time maybe I’ll get to tell Robbie a bike racing story; like about the time I saw him jump a curb on Zipp 808’s at last year’s Glencoe Grand Prix!