Read about my adventures in Cobbles & Rain: Champaign and Cedar Point!

April 26 & 27, 2003
A Proper Diet

When racing, it is wise to carefully consider your diet. Proper pre-race nutrition makes all the difference. While in the past, I've carefully consumed Clif Bars, protein drinks, GU energy gel, and other carefully constructed man-made products, this weekend I tossed that out the window and tried a different approach that I'll "The Truck Driver". On our trip down to Springfield IL we made our stop at the Dixie Truck Stop, a longtime fixture on Route 66 or now I55. Kim and I have driven past it many times, but never eaten there. This trip, we decided to give it a try. Walking in you're greeted with much 50s décor, relics of the classic driving vacation where the family would pile in the old station wagon for a trip along Route 66. After carefully considering chicken fried steak as my entrée, I opted instead for the buffet. This allowed me unlimited quantities of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, rice, corn casserole and dessert. I would imagine that you wouldn't find such meals being served to the USPS team at the Tour, but I know that my pro contract will not be forthcoming, so I went for it with gusto. After a satiating dinner, we continued on to Springfield where I ended my evening with a bottle of not Cytomax, but rather Leinie's. I was ready to roll.

Saturday morning dawned with lots of sunshine and the smell of sausage & egg casserole. This was joined by a jumbo (home-made by me I might add) pecan roll, cherry coffeecake and plenty of coffee. This was a far cry from a handful of fig bars and cyto mixed with protein powder. Frankly, it tasted a lot better. After breakfast we journeyed to Athens for the 39 mile road race. I've done this race before so I knew that it did have some climbing. I know ... you'd expect this to be pancake flat, but it isn't. While most of the 25 of us that lined up opted for knee and arm-warmers, the temps were rising and it appeared to be about perfect weather for racing.

After our final instructions, the 25 or so of us set out for what I hoped would be a nice ride. But, Team Mack showed up with 5 riders and they planned on keeping the pressure on. At Mile 0 the first Mack rider attacked and off we went. No easing into the race, warming up gently on Lap 1 of 3. No, 10 minutes into the race my heart was about coming out of my chest - I was anaerobic and the HR monitor confirmed it by telling me that I was beating at 187 thumps per minute. Ouch. Then, we caught that rider and the tempo relaxed a tad. My heart rate eased back down to Earth and I was starting to feel okay. Then Mack attacked again, this time wasn't as hard. The team sponsored by the Wheel Fast shop in Chatham IL (the apparent owner of wheelfast.com) had two guys and appeared to have a bit of a rivalry with Mack, so I was content to sit near the front and let them do the brunt of the work. A couple of newbies were willing to pitch in so I didn't have any qualms about not helping much. A rider bridged and joined the Mack rider, but we never let them get more than 100 yards or so off the front. With a bit of a breeze they weren't going to stay away forever. We pulled them home and Mack attacked again. This time we were in no mood to let them go and the race stayed together. On the final lap as we rolled through the hills I felt really flat. I stood on the pedals and just couldn't come up with anything. Then I ended up at the front taking a long pull just as my stomach started to argue about breakfast. Nobody would pull through, so I was content to ride an easy pace in the wind and hoped I'd feel better. That strategy worked. My stomach improved as riders began to pull through. Cool. At this point there are probably 15 of us left and it looks to come down to a field sprint. The tempo jumps a couple times, but nobody can get away. Finally, we make our last corner about 300 yards out and the sprint begins. I put in as hard an effort as I can, hitting about 28.5, and coming in 10th. After rolling back to Kim and her friend Chris, I discover why I felt so flat. I -was- flat. My rear wheel while not totally deflated, was probably down to its last 30-40 psi and would be totally flat within minutes. Who knows how long I'd been leaking, but that explained why I felt so sluggish in the hills. That's racing. I was pleased with my performance - an average speed of 21 mph for 39 miles with a bit of a breeze and some rolling hills seemed good and sustaining an avg HR of 163 bpm for nearly two hours seems a good omen for my fitness. But, I had a flat to fix and dinner to consider.

If you've never been to Springfield, you may not be familiar with the culinary delight called the Horse Shoe (or for those of lesser appetite, the Pony Shoe). This wonder starts with thick toast, with meat on top of it (ham or turkey for those traditionally minded, burgers, buffalo chicken, and tenderloin for the adventurous) and then to top this, Fries with Cheese Sauce. Truly one of my favorite meals. This combined with a black & tan made for what I considered to be a dinner rich in protein and carbohydrates. While I imagine Lance Armstrong would pass on such treasures of haute cuisine, I couldn't resist! I opted for the buffalo chicken horse shoe and waddled away from the table. So much for the calories burned racing!

Sunday, after just cherry coffee and another pecan roll, we ventured to the village <??> of Loami, pronounced Low-am-me as we discovered. As we had an 8 AM start time, it was a bit cooler. As Kim would discover, there is nothing to do in Loami. Yesterday she was able to visit New Salem during the race, but Loami offered no such cultural treasure. Carl and the other official, didn't show till probably 20 after or so. They'd thought it was a 9 o'clock for most of their leisurely breakfast, realizing too late that it was to depart at 8. So we were late getting off.

A huge field of seven riders appeared to contest the Cat IV race. Several fresh riders met those of us that had suffered yesterday. ABD brought 3 riders and I figured they'd be the team to watch. We set out for 4 laps of just over 10 miles. We were warned about a rough bridge. Little did we know that we would face nearly a mile of life-risking excitement with each lap. 200-300 yards before the bridge, a little dog of no more than 15 pounds would run right into the road, between us, at us, and very nearly lost his life. The advantage of the small group is that none of us wrecked though I did take somebody's pedal to my leg in the excitement. After surviving Cujo, we faced the bridge, 10 yards of jarring pavement that sent one rider's bottle out of its cage and it bounced among us behind. Surviving the bridge, we then faced a blind highway crossing that had smooth but rather un-level pavement. Putting our faith in the marshals, we buzzed across, hoping that oncoming semi's would yield to the two guys trying to stop traffic. After a brief climb beyond the highway, our lives were once again safe another 10 miles. We dropped one ABD rider towards the end of Lap 1 and I realized that with 5 medals it would be pretty embarrassing to be that 6th place. Then, on Lap 2 in what is probably amongst the dumbest things I have witnessed racing that didn't end in a wreck, one ABD rider heads to the front and sets a pretty hard pace for a mile or so. 4 of us had no real trouble, but he popped his own teammate off. After his pull, he drifted back and I said, "Great pull, man, you just popped your mate off." He replied simply, "Oh." So, we were 5 - medals all around. Cool. Lap 3 saw us once again attacked by the vicious dog, but no serious action. We shared the work and thoughts began to drift to the finish. On Lap 4, the dog was gone. On the hills the wheelfast.com rider attempted several attacks, but anticipating these, we kept together. More attacks were ventured to no avail. I had to get in on the action and about a mile out, jumped out a bit, but was quickly brought home. We entered the closing half mile or so and one rider jumped and then cut me off. Nice. The 5 of us hit the final corner together and it was to be a drag race to the line. The ABD rider took it, followed by the wheelfast.com rider, followed by me and the two others. 3rd place was mine. We averaged 21 mph again for the 41 miles.

So, after spending over 180 miles on my bike in the last 7 days, I'm taking a much needed day off. Next on the agenda is the Monsters of the Midway crit at University of Chicago on Sunday May 11. I think I'm going to venture to Elizabeth this coming Saturday for the hilly 100k ride that Marc T mentioned last week. Figure that with Cedar Point coming, more hills will be good.

Anyway ... I'm going to have to carefully review my diet given the performances eating like a truck driver. Hope all of you had a great weekend, too!

March 23 & 30, 2003
Welcome Back to Racing

Well, the 5 months since my last report have flown by! It was back to where last season ended - UW Parkside. After spending a very relaxing week in wonderful Mazatlan Mexico on the beach drinking cheap Pacifico beers and eating great tacos with Kim, I was a tad concerned about how the body would handle the transition from leisure to racing. Thankfully we were blessed with a beautiful day for racing - upper 60s with a bit of a breeze. John and Rich arrived to give Wheel Fast three riders. Hopefully next week we'll see more?! Warming up with Rich I discovered that I had not quite tightened my rear skewer enough and while cranking up a hill, my rear wheel pulled forward, lodging wheel against seat tube, and rapidly halting forward progress as the tire skidded under me. Thankfully it happened at 12 mph while warming up rather than at 25+ in a crowded field. I felt good and John and Rich seemed to be feeling well enough for March. We took a lap and then rolled up to the line. I was a bit nervous as I hadn't been in a pack since the last race, training mostly alone on the trainer through the long winter. I expected a certain amount of squirrelly activity and my brake pads most likely reflect this. I think there were probably around 60 guys at the start - a great turnout for March!

The whistle blew and off we went. The first few laps were interesting. The road narrowing on the 2nd stretch is always cause for concern and this race was no different. Riders come shooting up the right only to run out of road and carom back into the field. I've seen more than enough wrecks in this spot and thankfully this race saw no crashes here, though some pushing. The hill saw more braking <?!?>. Rich took an early flyer and was joined by John. Sadly there would be no long race-winning breakaway for them. I got my rookie mistake out of the way early by dropping back in the field, figuring on taking it easy and moving up at the end. The legs felt great and the pace of about 23.5 was fine. About half way through I started to think about moving up and found myself thwarted. I had moved back too far and the erratic behavior of my compatriots in the back half made forward movement difficult. Argh. I kept trying and finding gaps here and there. I know that we were all once beginners at this sport, but trying to get around riders as they move to and fro with no regard for line is frustrating. Next week I will be more vigilant. Confusion arose as we began catching lapped riders and more erratic behavior ensued. Next week I will stay nearer the front. Finally, we got a prime with 3 to go. The pack took off and as the line stretched I was able to get up near Rich in the front 20 or so. John W was near the front. Cool. Life is looking up. With 2 to go a guy went wide on Turn 4 and launched into the grass. No time to let the mind wander now! We zip through the S/F and get the bell. We're moving pretty quick and I'm feeling ok. John and Rich are looking good. I get to Rich as we hit the "hill" and all sorts of bumping is beginning. I let off the gas for a moment just to stay out of trouble and slip a couple spots. Argh. I'm trying to move up again as people start to blow. We hit the final corner and everybody sails through okay. I keep going hard even though I count over 20 ahead. Rats. Rich and I finish side by side probably in the lower 20s. But, John stayed up at the front and came in around 6th.

Criterium #3

We had a great turnout yesterday for Wheel Fast with John W, Scott Taylor, John Mahr and myself arriving at UW Parkside to face temps in the low 40s (am I being generous??) and some breeze. The skies were mostly gray and flurries were seen during warm-ups. Quite a departure from last week's gorgeous spring weather. Bundling on four out of my five blue & yellow Wheel Fast jerseys kept me warm enough when combined with tights -and- knee warmers as well as neoprene gloves and booties. Ahhh ... March in the Midwest! I changed clothes while blasting the heater in the car in the hopes of gathering some warm air within my layers. While that seems like a logical idea, the reality is that it really didn't work and I still was a little bit frosty. We warmed up as best we could and then took a lap on the course before rolling to the line for yet another adventure in bike handling.

About 60 other riders also lined up. I had a little kid next to me ... he couldn't have been 15! But with youthful exuberance as soon as the whistle blew, off he went and we were racing from the start. John got on him and the line stretched out for a lap or so before things regrouped. Learning from my mistakes of last week I made a big effort to stay in the front half. I was able to move around much easier as in general there was a lot less squirreliness up there, at least for awhile. As has become expected as we approach the hill, we brake. I have no idea why this occurs. Lets be sure to scrub all possible momentum before going up. That makes a lot of sense. So we bunch up and there are the couple of moments of tension as you try and protect your front wheel from attack as riders stand and some fade and some blow shifts and all sorts of chaos reigns for 5 seconds. I had the excitement of having one guy put his handlebars into my thigh as we were rounding the corner at the top. Thankfully for him, he kept it upright. John M and Scott were staying up front pretty well, too, which was great. John W seldom seen out of the Top 8-10 spots. The tempo was a little slower (1 mph lower avg @ 22 mph) due to a stronger breeze I think and I was feeling fine. A prime midway stretched things out, but no major damage done in the field. Some riders were dropped and the danger in the race occurred with them.

I've been lapped countless times ... I doubt anybody has more sympathy to the plight of the lapped rider than I do. I've been there too many times and appreciate the officials letting the riders continue to ride. But, when I've been lapped, I stay the hell out of the way - especially - in the corners. Not these guys. Rather than staying out of the way, they're getting in the way on Turns 3 and 4 where the field is carrying some decent speed and the major opportunities to advance occur. It was harrowing several times as the field was accelerating as we met lapped riders and they were impeding the progress.

Late in the race, Brandon from XXXRacing gave it a shot, but nothing happened and the field shut it down. Finally we got the bell. I was still okay in the Top 20 and feeling fine. As we hit the hill I went outside in the hopes of being able to move up along the outside as we rounded the corner of the hill as I'd done a couple of times already and I liked the outside on Turn 3 as I thought I could advance on the 3rd stretch. Nope. Traffic jammed on the outside on the hill and some riders slipped by inside. Argh. Then begins the battle of trying to get through a crowd at around 30 mph and try and avoid wrecking in the final corners. I spy 3 WFR jerseys ahead of me which is pretty exciting and as we zip through Turn 4 I give every thing I've got to move up, but the spots I lost in Turn 2 cost me dearly and I couldn't crack into the Top 20. So, while I was able to improve on last weeks errors, I still couldn't finish the job. It is still March - It is still only March.