bikeblogchicago.com

here: at Bicycling (Magazine).

#30 is one of my favorites — calling to mind a drive home from Hillsboro Roubaix and my comment that traffic was acting as if in a Cat5 road race. #38 while riding the North Branch Trail loop on my track bike mid-day during the week is actually what I credit the most for making me a competitive cyclist. And thankfully I’ve never experienced #s 43 or 55.

Being a cyclist is quite a unique thing, as the article clearly explains. There are constantly moments when you have epiphanies that deepen the significance of cycling in your life as well. Then, it’s the sights and smells that bring back memories of that first UCI race experience, an epic climb, even a horrific crash.  That said, here are some of the more poignant moments that have solidified me as the cyclist I am today:

1) The experience of getting paid to ride my bike and how it still motivates me when I look back on it; when it’s raining out, when where I’m sleeping – as comfortable as it may be – is not as desirable a locale as the cold morning streets, etc.

2) Descending at 50+MPH, laughing hysterically and being unable to hear it due to the wind’s howl past my ears

3) The smell of embrocation beating out the smell of my first girlfriend’s deodorant as all-time favorite scent

4) Watching several riders bumping wheels around me while in a fast chase group during a rainy crit and not being frightened, but getting goosebumps due to the fact that so few people get to experience that thrill

There’s maybe a dozen of those “rights of passage” I haven’t experienced — for one reason or another — and I can’t believe they omitted any mention of gluing/riding tubular tires, but it definitely shines some light on the oft misunderstood life of a cyclist. Even mine.

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.

We’re all guilty — who can blame anyone for wanting to enjoy great weather? The problems I have though, are when my safety is threatened. I was thinking the other day about how it had been a long time since I crashed (while NOT racing) or had a collision with a car or other thing. So, I was not very surprised when I took a spill into the intersection of 18th and Halsted on my way to the lakefront for a workout Friday morning. While unpleasant, it helped put things in perspective especially now that there will be many more bikes out on the roads/trails/etc. It reminded me that stuff happens and that we all need to be conscious of what we’re doing.

I have to cover a lot of ground in the city. Of course, this is because I choose to ride for transportation so often. The reason Chicago’s trail and certain bike routes are ridden so often is that they’re effective. However, this means they are crowded when warm months roll around.

While I am occasionally guilty of hopping on the trail on weekends, possibly late for something, and riding at a pretty fast rate, it’s really not practical to do this. Yet, I encounter unsafe riding all the time. There is absolutely no sense in arguing that other trail-users need to get out of the way — there’s far too many of them so it will never happen. They also have the same right as anyone to be out there. But when I’m out on the trail just trying to get home and other riders are attempting hard workouts too many dangerous variables are created. I find it’s pretty simple to remember not to take the path in a hurry during peak hours, workout in the early am on the southern sections and slow down if you end up on it having had a lapse in judgment on your route planning. It’s not worth getting hurt.

The streets also get more crowded as the temperature climbs. There are enough things cyclists have to worry about while commuting, so when other cyclists become a problem it can be very disheartening. Simple acknowledgment of other cyclists and how they’re  riding can virtually eliminate any potential conflicts.

Far too often riders I pass in the middle of a block will blow right by me while I’m stopped at a light. If a rider passed me it would seem pretty obvious that they’re traveling at a higher rate of speed. So, why must riders have to pass again, almost certainly causing the other to venture out into the flow of traffic that is much heavier having just left a stopped intersection?

Even racing, now that forecasts are much more tolerable, has become a bit more dangerous. There’s really nothing that can be done about this except to stress to the utmost racing within ones ability. Saturday was the first of several criteriums that are held in the city each summer. No doubt, with the shape of the economy and gas-prices, the race attracted many that would not otherwise take part in this style of racing. I witnessed several crashes during my race, and while again — there is really nothing that can be done to avoid crashes in races, racers can take precautions. Myself; I will probably only attend this latest race as a spectator in the future. I have no shame in that. I, like all racers, am extremely competitive but I value my safety above any potentially successful result.

So, hopefully it won’t take being in and/or witnessing a crash to raise riders consciousness this season. Riding bikes is way too much fun to have to forego it due to preventable injury. Sure, things will happen but we can all take steps to minimize the risk. Ride safe!

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!

Congratulations to Tornado Tom! I knew he was going to do it again, but it’s amazing none the less. WIsh I could’ve seen the whole race (sounds like there were a lot of crashes). As for me, I’ll be racing Mountain Bikes(!?!?) this weekend. Check back in soon for more posts, though.

… as a Cat5. Also the last race I completed. The last road race for a few weeks too. Anyway.

Hillsboro Roubaix delivered yet again, with drop-dead gorgeous weather, great racing and a banner day for my team.

As for my race; it seems as though I was one of the only ones in the field that had raced, possibly at all, this season already. There was almost a crash not 2 miles in and on a straight. The pack could keep no semblance of steady pace, so i attacked at just about mile 5 (of 22). I felt good. Too good. As I kept looking back I really started to believe my break could stick, so I stopped looking and put my chin on my stem.

After a while the wind got the best of me (they should call it Windsboro Roubaix). 2 other racers had chased me down and we began to work together. After we all took a few pulls, I was unable to hold their wheels up one of the climbs. It wasn’t such a bad ascent, but I was cooked and it was beginning to show. I decided to let them go.

Apparently I did a good job of breaking up the pack. Another chase group of about 6 picked me up and in in was my teammate, Stan. Again, we all tried to work together and I tried to keep Stan out of the wind. After getting stuck behind the women’s PRO field on a descent — rendering us unable to pass legally — the climb back up “broke” me (according to the wheel-truck driver’s assessment of my facial expression). The rest of the group got away and I was alone.

Recovery being a strength of mine, I was at least able to catch up with Stan again. He was having a hard time getting his heart-rate down so I kept him in the gutter (see photo) as best I could until the final climb into town. Having just ridden Georgia’s mountains, Hillsboro’s “toughest” climb seemed like a cakewalk compared to last year. So, i just spun up it as fast as I could. I did not realize that I was dropping Stan.

The 40+mph descent into town is always one of my favorite parts, so I laid it all down. I had slight concerns regarding the remaining pack and I wanted to ensure a spot for both Stan and I in the top 10. Unfortunately Stan got nipped at the line in a sprint with a xXx rider, but he still got 10th. I got 8th. Our teammate, Mia, in her first race ever got 9th in the women’s Cat4.

I wish all road races could be like this… but it’s back to “reality” now. Can’t wait ’til next year.

Welcome to April in Chicago. Windy, cold, impending threats of snow. Maybe this is worth the exorbitant price? I could see using it for 5 or more months a year around these parts. Sidi needs to get those to shops here, stat!

The Spring Super Crit also delivered on the Midwestern promise of “spring.” While I was able to get both of my races in before the moisture fell, it was obnoxiously cold. I still had fun though, and am pleased with the results from myself and teammates.

check out this video of the bunch-sprint for the finish:Burnham 4/5 sprint

Georgia was amazing! I really didn’t even realize the magnitude until i rode to work last Monday morning. i was FLYING (i ran into my friend Ben, too). the fact that there was no grade anywhere had become foreign to me. every time we rode in Blairsville, and the surrounding area, it was either up or downhill. a totally new experience for me. in fact, most of the team’s derailleurs were in some sort of dis-repair duing some point of the trip — (who needs a derailleur in Chicago, right?)

i had no idea what to expect. i had ridden a mountain bike down an actual mountain when i was in high school, but i had never ‘climbed.’ i left my 11-23 cassette on — that goes to show what little insight i had. the ascents were the stuff that could break mere mortals, and every time i thought i could stop pedaling without going backwards i gave serious consideration to quitting.

the descents, on the other hand, were mind-blowing. miles of road to play with at speeds approaching 40-45 mph. several times i could not stop laughing hysterically; my voice obscured to others as winds howled past ears. as far as training goes, i am about as fit as i figured i’d be (not very but not bad at all). i am also positive i gained weight due to the team chef’s amazing meals.

today offically begins the road racing season. or, for me, “training for ‘cross” and hopefully being super-domestique to some of my teammates. we’ve got 5 days of racing for all to enjoy, so come down whenever you can! the new RIVAL is awesome, but i wanna race it a couple times too before my review. here’s a picture

i am back from camp and i have never felt faster on a bike… well, at least not for how much effort i’ve been putting out sine i’ve returned to Chicago. it’s amazing how much a little grade makes just riding around that much more of an ordeal!

RIVAL report asap! for more info on camp, check the team site again