Monday, July 31, 2006

Salida, RR, some strange turns of speed?

with the TT not going as well as i had hopped i was prepared for a long day alone in the RR . but i would give it everything i had. the pervious week i had logged a long hard week of training. i felt good and i was now hopping for a good showing. of some kind. even the smallest would do. that morning was early. the race started at 8am! uhg... but after chocking downing some muesli and a few cups of coffee i was coming around. i drove down the vally back into town with increasing confidence. they were putting out cones already on the course and as i came into Salida proper i found myself a bit lost. i got off the phone with the lady and got my barings straight. “ahh I am just to far north. a few blocks that way and i'm all set!” salida is not big. its very small in fact. as i looked around, through some yards and down some streets for my location i was feeling even better. the legs good, plenty of time till the star- BAMB!! OH my... what the Fuc'jodiiuklnHo poqwjejedo;f ppwspjfpi

the sound of tearing medal, screeching tires, that flash of adrenalin, pumped through my body quickly followed by that terror of "ohh my good i just killed someone?!” I don't even remember my car stopping i just remember jumping out off it and running back to, thank god, another car and not a cyclist. i was traveling through one of the hundreds of 4 way intersections with out any stop signs while a small, 2 seater, MG that was the exact green as all the grass and tress around had left its house precisely at the right time to meet me in that intersection in a perfect T-bone “how’s your morning going” automobile equivalent chest bash. My wheels didn't even get touched. Perfect T-bone. His matchbox car was worse off than Silver (my cars name. named for "silver" the horse of the lone ranger). The shock was pretty severe. After the cops, fire truck, and ambulance left I put myself together drove back to the hotel to check out and was on my way home. I missed my start to the RR. I am not sure if I would have started anyway, but it was a moot point now. After about 30 minutes of driving I wished that I had calmed down enough to park at my hotel and go for a ride. The scenery and terrain there is unreal! 14,000 foot peaks around and tree line so close you could touch it.
I was pretty reflective on the way home. By the time I got home I was over it. Pissed yeah, but in the grand scheme of things its all really minor. I drowned my sorrows in a chilly dog with Lindsay. Then, that night we had some people over for dinner and I drowned my sorrows in some more liquid items.

In my quite 3 hr drive home I got to thinking. about all the "great athletes or public icons" that we know. why are they great? is it because they had a perfect season, perfect training and a flawless race. maybe but not really. most of the time there greatness came from what they had to overcome to achieve what they did. I am not saying i want to be "great or a public figure". i remember hearing a while back (i can't remember from whom) they said, "you are defined by how you overcome adversity." sounds good to me, until your faced with something you didn't plan for. Didn’t even think of or consider! moving out here has been tough. real tough for many reasons. the only thing we really have control over in life is how we react to adverse situations, how we deal with them.
so remember that the next time you start to crack in your big race. you get lost driving somewhere, or someone is out of the blue rude to you or your friends. anyone can be cool and look good when everything goes there way. but what happens when it all falls apart? what then. That’s when you'll find out what there really made off...


the good stuff is coming, any minute now. It coming…

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Salida Omnium: Salida, Co

Salida is nestled, in the Rocky Mountains. It sits at about 7000 ft. with many peaks all around that stretch up to 14000 ft. it is a truly magnificent area. The TT was on Friday evening. start time. 7:25.00. after getting there early, checking into my lofty hotel at 9000 feet. (that ought to be good for the recovery)
check out teh race report...

my results were less than i had hoped for. I finished out of the top 20, out of the top 50% in fact. Which was a bit disappointing. I have not had a chance to obsess over the results yet but I am pretty sure a rear disk wheel would have giving me 20-30 seconds. And I lost around 1 minute to the winner so… again I am the last one to make excesses and I haven’t really had the time to mull over the race and the results yet. But I will…

Sunday, July 16, 2006

more pain

today was the Mike Horgan hill climb in Boulder. the climb heads out boulder canyon on gradual inclines for 4 miles or so to sugarloaf road where things get nasty quick. 12% plus for a while, it then eases back just long enough to make you think you will be ok and then right back in your face. 8% at the least and up to 12 with no rest. none!! i feel like i am coming around a bit finaly and while i am not upset with my proformance today i am not realy pleased either. nervous energy played havoc with me the whole race. In a worse case this would cause anyone to have to simply stop. i did beat my times from training but i should have. carbon wheels and riding in the pack for the first bit should have made up that time. so while i did nothing great today i also did nothing real horrible.
ok enough of that. check out the race report.
after the race Linds, a friend in town and myself had a sweet late breakfast over looking the rockies. can't realy beat that.
hopefully my confidence will come around soon. i think that now that is the only thing holding me back.
no results yet but i will put them up for a good laph and ridicule from people who have been up the climb. if not. do like your mother said. if you can't say something nice don't say anyting at all!
results should be here soon: http://www.boulderracing.com/Horgan.asp
or maybe here.
http://www.americancycling.org/results/2006/july/horgan.htm

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Some coaching things

Still lots of clients and friends of clients asking for training plans for riding tours. multi day tours, one day mega rides, etc... more training plans have been made and more are on there way.
check out the "training plans" link.

big race this weekend as well. well big for me. lets hope I am breathing with both lungs! a mass start hill climb. 18 miles of pain. I have ridden the climb a few times. the middle section is 30' long or s. i ride it in the 39/27 and i am not going easy... at all. so yeah its steep, long and doesn't ever let up. some dirt roads at the end and a rolling 2 miles to the finish just to make you think about tactics. check back for that!