Vitamin C and Cancer: The ignored story.

Flash forward to the present time. What are cancer researchers in the US doing about this? No news is forthcoming that I have seen but just a couple of weeks ago, the leading medical journal of Canada duplicated Pauling and Cameron's results in three cases detailed in this journal article.

Perhaps it is a bit early for any conclusions to be formed, but I am thinking that the deeply in debt Canadian health care system might be more open to alternative therapies which are significantly cheaper than basing all of their approaches on expensive pharmaceuticals. Maybe there is a silver lining to socialized medicine after all?

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TSS Revelations

The Cycling Peaks software which I mentioned before has these calculations built into it so you can track these numbers easily. The very useful part of TSS is knowing the effects of these values on needed recovery. A very practical guide to this is listed in the book. Well, one thing I discovered is that doing my commute to work through Forest Park is producing a greater load than I thought it was. Last week for example I rode to the park early in the morning a couple of times and did some intervals before going to work. Then after the commute home I had a TSS value around 180 for the whole day. As a comparison, on Saturday I did a pretty hard workout on the trainer with a set of 4x10 intervals slightly above my threshold wattage. I also included a longish warmup with 4 sets of spinups. The workout totaled 1.5 hours but the TSS score was only slightly over 100. My legs were a bit tired but I knew that I would very likely be recovered enough by Sunday afternoon to do a moderately hard workout again and so I had a good idea of what I wanted to do the next day. In fact, Sunday afternoon I was able to do a good 45 minute interval at a power level around my current cp 60 power output and I could complete this without too much difficulty. So this calculation alone is giving me a better handle on how to manage weekly training loads.

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Sylvan Springs Criterium (good start)

Intro

Race

Compared to how I was going last week when I was riding around the course with Jaquemaert and a couple other cat 3s on the team, these opening laps were much easier. The field slowed down significantly up the steep hill after the start/finish. At the top of the course, the wind was more noticeable on the outside and it was much better conserving energy on the inside. For the first half of the race I just stayed put near the back or middle. Some of our guys were trying to force the pace at the front but it didn't seem like many people were being hurt or being dropped.

At one point in the middle of the race, Mark from ICCC was next to me and he says something like, "what do you think would be the best way to move up?" I replied that maybe you could go on the outside of the downhill section. As we rounded the turn and headed downhill, Mark passes me and shoots around the pack into the lead. But then he dropped back a little later. Well that was interesting I thought. But I determined that the best way for me to move up was to go inside on the two steeper sections. I was able to make up ground here several times for the rest of the race. One time I moved way up front and squeezed into the lead at the top of the course as we rounded the sharp turn after the hill. Craig was behind me and took over right after. I dropped back. So this was the way I could move up.

The tight turns of the course were tricky if you were on the inside. The guys on the outside were tending to pinch in things could get dicey at times. I started to yell, "give 'um room on the inside" and "keep it straight" as we came to these sections. Nothing wrong with yelling at people during the race, it get's their attention.

On the last lap I was trying to help Patrick or at least protect him if I could. But I was running out of gas just a bit as the pace picked up on the last lap. As we round the turn to head Downhill, I eased off. I didn't have any desire to mix it up from the back on the downhill section. Just not worth the danger. To place in this race, you must be up front for the last couple of laps. I was fortunate to be able to hang through the whole race but I didn't have quite enough juice to do this at the end.

Conclusion

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In the Pack

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Training Days

Need lots of cooling when riding the trainer inside.	My new shoes are really nice. Very light and stiff on the bottom. And comfortable.

Tried doing another 30 minute test on Saturday. I started out in a little too big of a gear (53x18). I was putting out around 225-230 watts. Cadence at about 85-86. By 15 minutes I was having serious doubts. By 20 I shifted into the little ring and finally stopped. This was still useful as I can use Hunter Allen's idea of threshold by subtracting five percent from your best 20 minute time. That number is 219 watts. This seems about right. My cp 30 from a couple of weeks ago was only 191 and that was obviously low. But 219 is still on the poor side of typical cat 4 abilities. Would it be too much for me to hope for an FTP (Functional Threshold Power) of 250 by April? Probably but I can only try to find out for sure.

I did a 5x8 set yesterday at around 185 watts average per interval. No more than 1.5 minute rests in between. This felt ok. Legs were just a bit tired afterwords. HR was in solid zone 2 for these. Doing some sweet spot intervals is going to be right around 200 watts I think. Will try a few of these this week.

Froze Toes, the first race of the season is this coming Sunday. I will not be doing it. I will not race on Sunday morning this year since it would cause me to miss church. Local races on Sunday afternoon are ok and I will probably do a few of these. The state TT is scheduled for a Saturday which is a first so, if that stays, I will do my first state TT this year. More incentive to keep banging on the ftp!

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A Closer Look at the new Looks

These are my new Look Keo pedals. So far I like them. Entry is definitely different. Harder? Perhaps but only slightly. Exit is just as easy. The feel is quite different. The degree of float was more noticeable than I thought it would be but I don't feel any discomfort at all and the pedal has a more solid feel to it.	The cleats are larger but much simpler compared to the speedplays. I don't know what they cost to replace but I also wonder if they will need replacement as frequently. I typically would break a Speedplay spring around 1.5k to 2k miles. Then $40 to replace them. That adds up!

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Racing This Weekend

Last weekend I did about 30 minutes worth of laps around the course with a couple teammates. Following Jaquemaert around the whole time was a good workout. I was consistently pulling about 640 watts on the steep part of the course which was a bit intimidating. But I did manage to keep up. Taking the lead a couple of times was very tiring. So I will not be surprised if I get dropped. A lot will depend on how much I can rest up on the downhill section. The course is actually very much like the Greentree course in Kirkwood although not quite as hard as that one. It's also a very nice park to watch a race at. There's a nice play area for the kids. and plenty of room around the course. Come on out and watch if you are in town. Directions: I-255 to Telegraph Road north, right on Sheridan Rd. and then left on Boundary Rd. Hope to see some of you there.

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Worlds Photo

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Testing the Truth of 40k

One thing I have always admired about sale boats and sailers is the ability to recognize which way the wind is blowing. I don't know how people figure this out without a wind vane. When I am on a bike and it is windy, it just seems like the wind is always blowing in your face no matter what. And it was very windy at Riverport when I did the TT. The course I used is D shaped. There was a very strong headwind on the straight part of the course and it didn't seem like I had any tailwind expect for maybe one third of the whole thing. This made pacing somewhat difficult. A power meter helps a lot in this circumstance but there is a lot of gear changing required when you switch from headwind to tailwind.

The results you can see below were a little disappointing. I should have theoretically been able to maintain around 230 watts. But starting out a little too fast and struggling with that wind I think took it's tole. Still, I am encouraged that I made it all the way to 25 miles (which is only slightly more than 40k). And the last 4 miles I raised the power average by about 4 watts. I definitly left everything on the course. Here's an overview of the effort provided by my CPS software:

	Duration:	1:12:37
	Work:	940 kJ
	TSS:	110.4 (intensity factor 0.955)
	Norm Power:	220
	Distance:	24.998 mi
			Min	Max	Avg
	Power:		0	450	216 watts
	Heart Rate:	92	164	154 bpm
	Cadence:	44	133	86 rpm
	Speed:		10.9	26.6	20.6 mph
	Torque:		0	220	72 lb-in

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MO State Road Race, Clarksville (Why I Suck at Road Races)

Intro

I had everything planned out good. The race was at 12:20 and I would eat around 10:30 and then snack on some power bar at 11:30. I hoped that would get me well enough fueled.

We met with Joe Walsh around 11 to talk about strategy. Joe is a senior member of the team who is not only one of the fastest guys in town but someone who has tons of experience. He basically told us to mark the fast guys with our fast guys. The rest of us try to hang onto the front going up the hills and see how things pan out.

The race would be two laps around a 20 mile course. The most difficult part of the course is in the first quarter. There is a longish hill of about 7 to 9 percent. It is probably a mile or so long. Then a downhill of perhaps half a mile followed by another slightly steeper hill not quite as long as the first. I was really hoping and feeling optimistic that I could hang with the leaders at least on the first lap. I have felt pretty strong at the Tuesday night crits. But of course a 35 minute crit is not the same kind of animal as a 2 hour road race.

Warming up was discouraging. I road with teammate Mark back up the road from the start finish. There is a hill which is perhaps 6 to 8 percent with the feed zone in the middle. Then you head slightly downhill into town and the last 200 meters is flat with perhaps a slight rise. Mark seemed to be going fairly hard up the hill past the feed zone and I was hurting trying to keep up with him. Then I road with teammate Chris up the opening sequence of hills, again it seemed moderately hard for Chris but it was a bit painful for me. I felt like I was flat and did not have a lot of zip in the legs. Did I eat too much? Should I have eaten earlier? Should I have done more riding during the week? Harder workout Friday? Your mind really plays tricks on you in this kind of situation.

Lap One

After a while, my teammate Ted A comes by. At the start I asked him jokingly if we could have Pansit after the race (Ted is Filipino and this is a Filipino dish). As Ted caught me he said, "you won't get any Pansit if you don't keep up!" That was what I needed. At times like this a little chuckle can pick you up. So I got into a group with Ted and two other guys. We started to work pretty well together. There was a group ahead of us of about 4 or 5 riders. I thought we could gradually catch them if we just worked it steady. But after a while I got too anxious and I felt I was stronger than these guys so I tried to catch them on my own. I could see one rider had fallen back and it looked like a teammate.

As I took the turn onto route D, I could see that it was Vince and I managed to catch him on the rollers of this section. We then caught up to another rider in a white jersey. I should have stayed with these guys but I was perhaps too cocky here. I felt I was stronger and I took a long pull on the ensuing flat section. It wore me down and I fell behind again. My back was starting to get sore and there was a bit of a head wind here. I was starting to feel discouraged again.

Then Ted and the other two guys caught up with me again. I got into rotation and rested up. I talked with Ted about doing the last lap. He said his goal was to finish. The other two riders agreed to do the last lap also. So I committed to doing it too. Up until this point, I was seriously considering dropping out. One of the riders had a Cyclewerx jersey on. This is a bike shop from Cape Girardeau. I asked him if he was from Cape and he said yes.

Lap Two

We went over the feed zone hill and then past the start/finish line. As we got to the first hill, I decided to take it moderately hard and close to HR threshold (my power meter was acting bazaar the whole race with numbers over 1000). This I was able to do and the three guys fell behind. By the top of the second hill, they were almost out of site. But now I had to try and stay ahead on the flat sections. This would be painful as I would have to stay in the drops most of the time and keep a pretty good pace. I could see a rider ahead of me far up the road. I seemed to be making time on him ever so slightly. This was a good carrot.

As we made the turn on route D, I could see that he was spinning in an easy gear up the rolling hills of this section. I was getting close still. Perhaps 75 feet. But the flat sections he could keep me at bay. The long section after the rollers has some head wind and this was taking it's toll on me. I was in limbo. I couldn't make up any more ground on him and I started to slow. Then I heard some riders approaching. It was two of the guys I had been riding with previously. Ted was nowhere to be seen so I guess he had to fall back. Ted is a strong rider but I know he hasn't been able to train much lately. He will come on towards the end of the season.

This might work out well. We were able to keep the guy in front to within 100 yards it seemed. I was able to rest up in the draft of these two guys as we rotated a pace line. On my turns I could pull a little harder and catch up to the guy in front. By the feed zone hill he was perhaps 40 yards in front. I stood up and gave it a good effort. I dropped my companions and bridged up. This was in fact the same guy who had been with Vince earlier but Vince must have gotten away. Good for him, he's having a better race than me today!

As I got next to the guy I said,
"I just about killed myself catching you!"
"Well, you did it", he said.
But now I had to play my cards right. I was hoping I could drop him by the top of the hill but he clung to my wheel. Now comes the slight downhill to the finish and he would have an advantage. I tried to jump and see if I could lose him but it didn't work. By the 200 meter mark he had drawn alongside and just edged me by a hair at the finish. I told him good job. It really was an excellent effort on his part as he really gutted it out. I went as hard as I could so I was not ashamed at all here.

Conclusion

Our guy Jose got 7th. It was his last race as a cat 4 as he has enough points to cat up to 3. Good for him. Jose is a strong rider. He took a lot of flak from people last year as he was a little wild but he has made tremendous progress this year and deserves the upgrade.

Back to the drawing board for me. It's the functional threshold thing. The crits that I have been doing show an average power output of 210 to 220 watts for the whole race. In a road race like this one, I really need to put out more in the range of 250 to 260 for 30 minutes I think to be competitive. How to get there, that seems to be the question.

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Tour of St. Louis Individual Time Trial (speed and gasping)

Intro

The Run

After spinning about ten or fifteen minutes, I did some low cadence work in the 53x12. Then got off and road around the roads near the starting line a bit. The low cadence stuff seemed to give my legs a little bit of pop. I will have to keep this in mind for Greentree later this year.

Finally I started out. I was on the breaks right away. I let go for just a bit on a straight section. So far so good. I got through the turns ok. But at the hairpin, I was still carrying too much speed and I got in the gravel a bit. I almost came to a stop but avoided falling. Then power up the little hill, make the turn, shift down and stand up. I don't think I actually hit the 25 gear until I was about a third of the way up the hill. I estimate the hill at about a quarter of a mile or a Little shorter but it seemed like forever. Near the top I was sucking air mightily and just barely managing to turn the pedals over. I haven't checked my file yet from the power meter but I think my cadence was in the 40s!

But I made it over the top and I feel relieved just to have survived. Now start shifting down a bit to pick up speed and see if the legs will come around. One problem now becomes apparent although I didn't realize it enough at the time. I don't know the course at all after the hill. My impression was that there wasn't much after but in fact, there is. So I am riding kind of blind. There is another hill which is shorter and not as steep but still hard. My legs are still a bit tired but I huff it up standing all the way, gasping hard by the time I reach the top. Now I come to a longish stretch which is kind of a false flat. I'm riding like a road race now. Not hammering but just wondering what is next. I think there was another turn and I can see Mark sitting up ahead. Ah, he is calling out numbers so the finish is near. I try to pick it up a bit and finish. I go by and start down the road leading to the start area. I forgot to turn off my interval on my PT but it looks like I was around 8 minutes or a little over. A pretty poor time it would seem.

Conclusion

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Tilles Park Crit, Masters (Charge of the Lite Brigade)

Intro

My first masters race. This is a good course to do it on as generally people don't get dropped much in this race. I got to the course before 8 and did a few laps. The nice thing about the masters race is that you get plenty of time to ride the course since it is typically the first race of the day. After I registered, I road around some more and was able to chat with a few guys. There were two team mates there, Joe Walsh and Tom Z (don't remember his last name exactly). Joe is one of the better racers in town and a guy with lot's of experience. He does a lot of track racing in Indianapolis. He told me he had not be riding a lot yet this year. Mostly teaching spinning classes. I was able to chat quite a bit with Tom who told me he has been racing since '91. He gave me some interesting ideas on how he train to improve long solo efforts. There was also Max in the race who is kind of on our team. He is an airline pilot who rides with the team when he is in town (which is fairly often). He brings a steel bike which has two joints which allow the bike to be disassembled and carried more easily. The bike is heavy but he rides it very well.

Race

After the warmup, I lined up next to Ethan (another very accomplished racer and still one of the quickest guys around). He is one of those guys that you just feel like some of his experience and knowledge might ooze off onto you if you stay around him long enough.

At the start, I think I tried to follow Ethan for a couple of laps and kind of shadow him. You could almost sense him thinking through the race even in this early stage as he tried to position himself and be aware of the developing situation. There were people going off the front right from the git-go which was very different than the cat 4/5 races. It was kind of entertaining to look ahead and see who was attacking at any particular moment. I seemed to be able to move around pretty easily in the group which was encouraging. My legs felt good and snappy. At one point, I think Tom had launched a strong attack and I was near the front. He had perhaps 50 yards on the peloton and then two guys jumped to try and bridge to him. At once, I tried to latch on but I was late and didn't get in their draft but I let go a huge effort. Bad move on my part as I had to give up and ease off considerably. My legs were shot and I could not hold on to the back of the pack. As we came around the back side of the course I almost felt I might try to get back but as they approached the front part of the course, I lost them big time so I went around and off the course. End of this race. I just bit off way more than I could chew. Better luck next time I suppose.

Conclusion

The rest of the masters race was a real treat to watch. Eventually, Joe, Ethan, and Lonnie Kennedy got off the front and made it stick. Joe pulled quite a bit and they managed to extend their lead. On the last lap, Joe attacked hard at around 300 meters but Ethan got on his tail and just got a nose ahead at the finish. What a great effort from both of those guys.

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Tour of St. Louis Criterium, Carondalet Park (change of weather)

Intro

I was just a bit late getting to the course. Since this series is sponsored by our team, I offered to help out by stopping by Companion Bakery in Clayton to get some goodies and prize money. Companion not only is the primary sponsor of this series but also the biggest sponsor of our team (besides the shop). It was the first time I have been in the place actually but it looked fantastic. Definitely give them a try if you are near Clayton anytime. And many thanks to them for doing so much for our team and racing here in town. Companion has also been supplying goodies at our team meetings which gives extra incentive for showing up to those as well!

Warming up, my legs actually felt a little tired. I was surprised at this because I had rode moderately from Wednesday through the rest of the week. Maybe it was something to do with the change in weather. Also, the gusting wind was troubling. This would really favor the guys who have good time trailing ability and make it hard to sit in.

Race

At about 12 minutes, the bell for the first prime sounds. I am able to stealthily move up to the front on the back stretch. But I feel that my legs are tired and not responding. To launch an attack this far out would be pure suicide for me. So I toy with a couple of guys at the front, staying off one guys shoulder a bit to see if I can conserve energy but be ready to latch on to anyone who makes a move. Suddenly, someone jumps off the far right behind me. He quickly has about 5 links. I try to catch him but after just a few strokes, I can see this is useless and I am only going to force myself out of the race quickly so I back off. Fortunately, I stopped myself in time and I am able to resume my mid pack position, even with the acceleration of the peloton.

Now I cool off and try to regain composure. All is going well and now I am resolved to adopt a boring strategy and try to stay put without doing much. But the thing that starts to sink in with the gusting wind is that, as everyone is getting more tired, moving out of the pack to gain position is becoming more and more costly. So it seems that it could be very hard to move up at the end. This starts to worry me.

At about 25 minutes, I am feeling like I am going to get stuck at the back. Things are more and more squirrelly here and I am uncomfortable. Finally I make a move on the outside heading up to the dogleg before the final little hill before the finish line. Rich is also making a move and I latch unto his wheel. We go across the line and I am suddenly feeling pretty tired. I fall back to the back and sense that my legs are burning pretty good and not responding. I drop off the back on the backstretch and am gaped pretty good. The gusting wind is demoralizing and I finish the race and pull off the course.

Conclusion

After my race was done, I did course Marshalling on the far side of the course. It was not very difficult as there just were not many people out to see this race with the weather being the way it was. I was able to take a few photos. During the cat 3 race, I was on the backstretch and our guy Nate Rice attacked mid way with another guy behind him. He motioned me to call out intervals which I did for the rest of the race. Justin a few others bridged up and they proceeded to pull out a 30 second lead on the peloton which they held to the end. I called out times for them during the rest of the race. That was a fun race to watch and kind of be a partner in.

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Tilles Park Crit (Jabbing with the left)

Intro

After completing the masters race, I went home (we only live about 5 minutes bike ride away) and ate lunch and refueled my energy drink bottle. I had plenty of time to rest up for the race at 1:45. This worked out good since I registered for both races.

When I got back to the course, I road around with teammate Mark a little bit. But my legs felt a little tired so I didn't stay with him too long and eased off not wanting to over do it. After a little bit longer I ran into Mark H. from ICCC and we chatted a bit and then road down Litzinger again. But I still didn't want to overdo it so I backed off and let him go ahead a bit. I was a little worried because my legs felt tired and I didn't feel like keeping up with these guys as they warmed up. I went back to the course and just road easy around in the entrance to the park and outside the course.

Race

At the 30 minute mark, I got pretty winded and dropped back to recover. Tim (gateway cup promoter) was back there and asked me if I was ok. I must have been panting pretty hard. I think I stayed back here for the next 10 minutes and tried to take it easy. Fortunately, the peloton also seemed to slow down (the lull before the storm). At 6 to go, I tried to move up. This was a tactical error due to me being overly excited I think. It was too soon to move and I got winded again and at 4 to go, I had to fall back again. I should have waited until three and then tried to move. At 2 to go, I knew I just didn't have anything left in the tank and on the last lap, I sat up on the far side of the course and road easy back to the finish.

Conclusion

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Soulard Criterium

Intro

When I got there the races were all delayed due to cars being towed away. This is a fairly typical occurrence from what I have heard. In fact, I have never done this race before. It has a reputation for having a lot of crashes. So I was naturally a bit intimidated off the bat. I was not able to do a pre lap of the course at all as everyone was lined up on the side while the masters race (before ours) wound down. The course is actually so twisty that I cannot even remember it to even attempt to describe it. There are 10 turns I think and all of them were sharp ninety degree types. I spent some time before the race talking with my teammate Loren who is around my age. He had done the race last year and gave me a few tips and suggestions.

Race

There was one turn which led to a slight uphill section and this part was a real killer. The acceleration out of that turn and up the hill was just major intense. After a couple of laps, I was hurting. Teammate James was right in front of me and I decided to go around him. Now passing on this course is a very difficult thing. You have to use a real burst of energy to get around the person. Once I did this, I was really deep in the red zone. About a lap later, my legs were just toast and I gradually gave ground. Tim, on the back marker scooter caught me and he just kind of chuckled at me as he went by. Yep, off the back again and that was the end of it for me today. It was fun while it lasted.

Conclusion

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SIU Edwardsville Cougar Criterium (Major Dropage)

Intro

So I had 15 minutes or so to get some kind of warm up in. There is plenty of room around the course to ride with lot's of open spaces. I put in a good effort and lined up with some time to spare. Then I did a lap of the course. I had never done this race before so it was important to get a lap in. It was an L shaped course (but longer than Rolla) with a nice chicane in the base of the L. Mostly flat but the turns are all pretty sharp and the road is on the narrow side. There is a slight uphill after turn one. Maybe a sixty yards long at about 6 percent.

Race

Conclusion

The week off was probably a set back. And that coupled with no race miles for two weeks also probably had an effect. Back to the drawing board...

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Sulking

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The Season so far in Photos

Bubba 1 was in Carbondale Illinois on Saturday but I was unfortunately unable to attend. So I started the season at Bubba 2 in Tilles Park right near my home. In the race, I got off to a fast start but had a flat about fifteen minutes in.	In the A race, Josh and Ryan had a slugfest. I really thought Josh might have the best of Ryan on this day as he looked really strong. But Ryan launched a strong attack on the last lap and held off Butthead's late surge by half a bike link. It was a thriller.	Old fart Ethan Froeze (in the lime green jersey) showed himself to be up to the task of cyclocross by placing in the top five and continuing to do this in the following races.
In the C race at Bubba 3, Greg from Mizzou lapped the entire field and was promptly given the title of team Mizzou sandbaggers by the race officials. At Bubba 4 Greg did the B race and finished on the lead lap even while having lost his rear shifting. And at Bubba 5, he managed to win the race easily! Could we be seeing a challenger to the thrown for next year's series?	Ethan's son Nolan started to show his ability at Bubba 3 with a solid second place.	I had a good race but couldn't hold off my teammate Phil who still beat me despite having a mechanical problem midway through the race. Phil is the current points leader in the C race series.	Another benefit of showing up early for the C race is you get to watch the elite women race. It's always interesting to see how many of the men these ladies end up passing and I confess that last year I was a victim on several occasions but so far I have held them off this year.
Everyone seemed to think that Bubba 4 was the fastest cross course they had been on. I nailed the start and held the lead through the first lap in the C race.	I like this photo (taken by teammate Jim). You can see me at the start of the second lap hammering away in the drops on the out section. It was really fun to blast down that part of the course. On the next lap I blew and finished well back of the leaders.	In the A race, Dr. Mark treated us to an excellent display of bunny hopping. And both he and Ethan seemed to be giving Butthead a little bit of trouble during the race. But in the end, Josh attacked hard on the last lap and made it stick, winning easily.
I had a good race at Bubba 5, pulling off a last lap pass to secure sixth place and my first point of the series. This photo shows the bunched up first lap at the first set of barriers at the end of the slight downhill section. I didn't get any photos of the B and A races due to my battery running out. Stay tuned and I will grab a few more from other sources.	This photo has a lot of information and tells a bit of a story to me. First off, notice the Halloween decor to the left. Yes, the race was the day before Halloween. Right behind me is one of the elite women, Becky who gave me some trouble last year. This year, I'm lapping her so that's a clear sign of increased fitness. In the background, the white line running across the field is the gravel downhill section. And to the far left, you can see a racer on a mountain bike in a green jersey. He's the guy that caught me on the last lap but who I was able to re-pass on this very downhill section. Cool! Thanks to John Mussleman for this excellent photo.		This little guy was having a blast at Bubba 4, hamming it up for his dad in the grass field and on the composte pile in the field.

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Bubba 9 Cyclocross, Creve Ceour Park (grinding at the wall)

Intro

It started raining hard Saturday night and it was raining Sunday when I woke up. I was seriously tempted to wimp out and skip the race. But I got all my gear together and loaded up the van. Once this was done, I was pretty much committed. After church service was over, It had stopped raining and after a little bit of fellowship in the fellowship hall, I took my gear and got changed in the bathroom and then headed out. Now I am pumped and ready to give Bubba 9 a good shot.

Course Description

The rest of the course was fairly tame. It wound around going the opposite way (compared to last time) on the lower portion near the parking lot. There was a nice little chicane which could be taken somewhat fast. This was where one of the double hairpins was last time. It was a little soft here and it might get a little slippery as the day goes on.

The bumpiest section was right after the last hairpin where there were several moderately deep ruts. Taking a careful line could minimize most of these but they could prove troublesome in the heat of battle so I had to make a mental note of taking care in this section.

Race

After another lap or so I began to lose the leaders. This is my habit and I don't really force the issue. I don't have the endurance to keep up with these guys, some of whom would probably place mid pack in the B race. There is one guy on a Specialized bike which looks rather strange. The frame almost looks like a mountain bike with a steep sloping top tube. It had disc breaks and drop handle bars. This guy is ahead of me and for a couple of laps I toy with trying to catch him but I just don't have the strength to make up any more ground on him.

I am determined to stand up and grind hard at the hill, shifting up into my biggest rear cog (a 26). I think this is serving me well although the ensuing straight (after a hairpin) is somewhat downward and I am tending to go slow here to catch my breath. For the next few laps, I am running alone as I am separated from the leaders and fairly far ahead of any pursuers.

At 7 laps to go, I start taking stock. I look back and see the women and then teammate Michael R. behind me. They are still pretty far behind but could be catching me ever so slowly. Amy is leading the women and after a couple laps, she has separated and is starting to catch me. I am trying to keep the pace up and several people are cheering me around the course. At this point, I am having a pretty good race but I feel I am starting to fade.

With about 4 or 5 to go, Amy gets me on the straight after the hill. But I am able to stick with her for the rest of the lap. As we go by the start/finish, Mike says, get her Bobber and I stick to her wheel up the paved section. Around the rest of this section and we go up the hill and I am totally surprised to see Amy take the hill sitting down! She must have a very big rear cog on that cassette. And here on the straight, she starts to gap me. Now I am feeling tired and I need to rest a bit. But I can see Michael R. is getting closer. It will be a real challenge to hold him off.

With 3 to go, Michael passes me on the straight running down and parallel to the paved section. I am able to stay with him up to the hill. I am surprised to see him dismount and start to run up the hill. I am able to stay mounted and pass him by the time we reach the top. I think he got me back at the end of the straight at the barriers but I take him back as we reach the chicane. I stay ahead as we reach the pavement but he goes by me pretty fast as we pass the start/finish line. Now he gets a good gap as I just don't have much juice left to do much good on the pavement.

Coming to the hill again, I almost catch him back, getting to within maybe 20 yards but that's about all. I am now pretty much spent and I am getting a bit discouraged so I am just going to ride it out to the finish. Oh well, you win some and lose some. I will have to be content with 9th place today. One consolation is that I finished pretty far ahead of the guy on the blue Trek who beat me last week. And there were lots of people going down on the course today, I didn't have any trouble keeping the bike up and yet still going fairly fast.

Conclusion

In the B race, Greg from Mizzou crashed out early. The race was won by some guy from out of town riding a nice Alan cross bike. The A race was a surprise win by Fletch. Butthead was racing in Iowa were there was supposedly more money to be had. Next weekend is the state final in KC along with a UCI cross race on Saturday. I will unfortunately not be able to make this one. Maybe next year when the US national championship race will most likely be there. Best of luck to all my teammates and fellow races who will be racing there. And thanks especially to all my readers and those who cheered for me during the races, it's been a blast and I will miss it. Let's all come back next year!

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Hillsboro Roubaix Road Race (Ouch Time)

Intro

Race

At the start, Ted moved up right away. I was on the inside. As we made the left heading out of town, the pace picked up. Jose was behind me and I told him to go ahead. I moved over and allowed him to get in front of me. No sense holding him up. As we moved further out, I could tell that my legs were not responding in the best way. They were a little tired and perceived effort was harder. I was in the front half but still buried in the pack. Coming out of the turns was difficult. There also seemed to be almost no draft to take shelter in. The wind just seemed to be coming from everywhere. I slowly sunk back and at around 10 to 12 miles was off the back.

I rested up a bit feeling dejected. Then I managed to get with a group of 5 or 6 guys. I stayed with them for quite a while trying not to pull too much. At one point, one of the guys was a little ahead. Another guy attacked hard and bridged to him and they proceeded to go harder. I rode up too them and just shadowed without pulling. No reason to help these guys if all they want to do is attack me at an opportune time. Finally, the rest of the guys caught us. I took a few pulls. Michael from Mesa was in this group who I like to talk with once in a while. I was able to move to the front of this group easily on the hills but the flat sections were harder for me to maintain pace.

My back was gradually starting to hurt and I was getting tired. I faded off of this group and was dejected again. Toying with the idea of just quiting after the first lap. I then came upon Tim (Gateway Cup promoter). He's always a jolly kind of guy and he made a few jokes with me and picked me up a bit again. We kept asking each other if we were going to do another lap. I said I would wait and see how I felt after the cobbles.

Surprisingly, as I came to the long cobbled section leading to the start/finish strait, I could see Michael from Mesa ahead of me. I decided to catch him and I left Tim and bridged up to Michael. I asked him if he was going to do another lap. "Yep", he said, "I paid twenty bucks and I'm working on my ten right now." "Might as well get my money's worth." That sounded good to me so I decided to try and stay with him. We crossed the start/finish line together and Luz and the kids were cheering me. That was a boost too.

I traded pulls with Michael a bit and we caught a few guys. But my back was getting more and more sore. At around 30 miles, It got really bad. Worse than I have ever felt before. I just couldn't pedal very hard. It wasn't like an injury pain, just a really sore feeling. I had to let up and let Michael and those guys go. The rest of the course until I got to town was almost pure agony. I didn't feel like riding and was debating pulling off before I took the last hill. But as I came to the feed zone hill, I decided to shift down a couple and stand up. This actually helped. My heart rate was fairly rested at this point so I could stand the whole way. I had now caught a couple of stragglers and I was feeling committed to completing the whole lap. At the last hill, I stood up again and caught another guy. My back was a bit better so as I made the left turn and crested the top, I got down in the drops and approached the cobbles at a pretty good speed. There were still two guys within site so I tried to get them. On the last section of cobbles, I caught the second guy. I tried to finish strongly across the line. I was way behind the leaders but at least I finished and finished strongly.

Conclusion

My race was won by a guy from the Dr. J team who went solo off the front from almost the beginning of the race. Hats off to that guy, he's obviously very talented.

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Michelobe Ultra Criterium, Carondalet Park (Phoenix emerging?)

Intro

But my legs were still feeling tired from the race yesterday. The muscles in my buttocks still feeling a little sore. My back was better but a little on the tender side. I did not have great expectations for this race. My main thought was to get the miles in and be done with it. Don't be surprised if I get dropped.

Race

There were three primes in this race. Two for forty dollars and the last one for sixty. I would gladly take one of these and drop out from the effort if I was in a position to do it. But the first two I just wasn't close enough to the front to make a go of it and the last one came very close to the end and I just didn't have enough gas to go for that one.

With 4 laps to go, I moved up a little to try and hang on to a group that was starting to pull away. Surprisingly, this was no trouble and I was able to hang in there and recover a little from the effort. At two to go, I found myself close to the front on the back stretch. There were a couple of guys in a small break. My team mate Jose was not in it so I decided to try and help him out (he's our strongest racer in the cat 4s this year) and take a pull. I didn't chase down the two completely because I didn't want to blow so I eased off a little. My legs were tired and that probably cost me a higher finish than I could have gotten. But still, I recovered on the back stretch enough to get into the main pack at the end. Going up the little hill before the finish I gave it all I had and I think I was for sure in the top 30 or so. What am amazing race! I was level headed through most of it and despite being tired, managed to finish fairly strong.

Conclusion

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Tour of the Hill Criterium (missed opportunity)

Intro

Race

I finally reached the course at around 1:30. Unfortunately the race had started 15 minutes before. No problem, I payed my money, I'm going to get some racing in today. So I latched on to the group on the back stretch. I had to hammer it really hard to reach them at the top of the little rise at the end of the strait. Next lap I was off the back. I collected a couple of companions and we circled around for a couple more laps (maybe three) and then they pulled us. That was at least a little fun and I got an idea of what the course was like. The turns were kind of technical but not as hard as the Rolla course.

Conclusion

Study the map better and have contingencies when it's your first time going that direction. Oh well, I did feel fairly fresh today and that was a good sign.

Stayed and watched the pro, 1,2 race. Dan Schmatz was in it and he put on an awesome show. A group of 4 had a break of about 18 to 20 seconds with three laps to do. Dan bridged up and took the win. Incredible display of power.

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ICCC Criterium (Lesson in futility)

Intro

The first race of the year for me. I was hoping that I would have a little bit of form to stay with the main group.

Course Description

The degree of difficulty might rival the Greentree course.

• The start is at the base of a slight uphill. It levels off to a false flat before a nice rise of about 50 yards.
• Then turn left onto a straight which is a slight false flat for another 200 yards or so. Then turn sharp left with a big drop off on the outside. This brings you to the down hill section which is pretty long with some slight undulations.
• The turn at the bottom is perhaps the most technical part of the course. It's a kind of sharp 90 degree turn, plenty wide but fast. Then head slightly downhill to the start finish line.

Race

I didn't bring my trainer to warmup at all for this race. I just rode over to the course a little early. This was about a 30 minute ride. After registering, I rode around the roads near the course for a bit trying to keep the heart rate up. As usual in most crits that I do, I struggle with a combination of paranoia of crashing and fear of using up too much energy through the corners if I am stuck in the middle of the pack. So I lined up at the front and jumped into the lead right at the start. Ok, I thought, I will just go slow. So I went at a pace I thought was pretty easy. At the top of the course, Todd from ICCC launched an attack and got about 30 or 40 yards in front. No dice, I'm not going to chase. But everyone else stayed behind me for the first lap. On the second lap, a few passed me. This continued until about 10 minutes in and I was gradually fading to the back. Then going up the hill to the left at the top and I could not hang on so off the back I go. That was fun while it lasted.

Then I sort of recovered a bit and caught a few people. I came up to Rich and we road together for the rest of the race. This was kind of fun and I was hopping I could make it without being lapped. We made it to 5 laps to go before we got caught at the last turn by the pack.

Conclusion

It was a good workout at least. Could I have hung if I didn't lead that first lap? Hard to say but I think probably not. I just don't have the endurance to keep at it. As is typical of me I just don't have good ME (muscular endurance) and I really need to try and use the power meter to get it better. Unfortunately, I just don't have much time during the week these days to make much of a dent in this. It will get better when I can start commuting most every day. Hopefully this will be possible in the next couple of weeks. I am really wondering if next year, I can try to work up jogging so that I am doing it three times per week by mid January and maybe my ME would be a bit better for the early races. Don't know for sure but it's worth a try I suppose.

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Lafeyette Criterium (a small breakthrough)

Intro

Since the ride over to the course from work was pretty short, I needed to get more warmup time in. I finally settled on a road with a slight incline near the course. It was about 120 yards long. I went up and down this a few times. However, I was way too late getting to the line and I lined up near the mid back.

Race

Things were also pretty dicy during the first few laps. Coming out of turn three one time I brushed wheels with Michael from Mesa. I was overlapping his rear wheel a bit and he took a wider line than I had and we touched. It sounded much worse than it was in reality. My Ksyrium spokes clanking kind of loud and I pulled off and people behind kind of panicked. It's important to not overreact in these situations but just go with the flow and minimize any imbalance.

A lap or so later I was taking a wide line going into turn two and the guy just to my left I could see was in the drops and was going to go real wide exiting the turn. I had to get on the breaks and get behind him so he wouldn't take me out! Then I pulled along side him on the strait and said, "dude, you just about took me out on that turn!" Got to take every opportunity to teach the rookies when you have the opportunity.

Saturday morning I saw Michael from Mesa and I told him it was me who touched his rear wheel. He explained that the guy in front of him had changed his line, forcing him to adjust and that's why we touched. But we were both fine with it as it was just one of those things that happens in crits.

The early race pace was pretty hard and I was hurting at times, not feeling like I was really going anywhere. But at about 20 minutes, things started to settle down a little. The anaerobic monsters having been tamed a bit perhaps. During this time I began to think that I could really make it to the end and I started to think how I could get up a little closer to the front when the time came to do it.

Turn 2 seemed to be a good place for me to make a move. Strangely, if I took this turn in the drops, I would understeer a lot coming out of it and go pretty wide. Taking it on the hoods seemed to handle it much better. So I could power out of the turn on the outside and then accelerate out hard on the following strait and make up several positions. The only problem was that turn three was the slowest turn on the course and if I accelerated hard down the strait leading into it, I had to get on the breaks and lose all that momentum and then accelerate again coming out of it. And so if I was a bit winded coming out of turn three, I would immediately lose several positions which I had just previously taken.

As the race reached 35 minutes, I was in good shape and I was beginning to think about getting an optimum finish perhaps in the top 20 which was my goal. I latched onto my old teammate Mark from ICCC at one point and moved up. But he was going towards the front and I slotted in a bit earlier than that to conserver energy. Maybe I should have stayed with him. But I was trying to save as much as possible for the last lap. I was hoping that the pace would pick up and the pack would thin out enough to allow me to make up lot's of positions at the finish. On the last lap, things did pick up quite a bit but it was still pretty dense in the top third of the pack. Going into turn two, I chose a line toward the inside as everyone was trying to go wide. I accelerated hard but then things bunched up again and did not really open up until we got on the finishing strait. I kicked it hard and picked up a few positions but I shut things down early as it was clear that I was not anywhere close to top 20. I estimate I was in the top 40 or 50 for sure though, upper third of the pack perhaps.

Conclusion

Supper stud teammate Shane (who is not only a good racer but a medical student in the MSTP program at Wash U) managed to win the race. And super domestique teammate, Patrique gave himself totally for the team in the last couple of laps by chasing down a break of two guys who looked pretty strong. Good going guys!

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In the Nightmare

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Greentree Criterium (another 6 and out)

Intro

I got to the race Saturday in plenty of time. I was somewhat optimistic that this year would be different and that I would last longer in the race. My form at Lafayette was encouraging and my legs felt ok despite my hr being a bit high. I took my trainer to warm up on. This never seems to work out. The races on Saturday are always late and then I never know when to start my warmup. In fact, I didn't get that great of one considering what my plan was. But I lined up with some of my teammates probably ten minutes early hoping to get a good spot on the line.

No dice on the starting spot. They sent everyone around for one lap before allowing anyone to line up. This was effectively a pre-race lap at race pace. I didn't feel that great going up Adams road, a bad omen. I ended up lining up near the back!

Race

Conclusion

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Rolla Criterium (How deep is this hole?)

Intro

I had a moderate week of training. Tuesday night worlds, jog at lunch Wednesday, commute on Thursday and Friday. Friday I took the flat and straight route in to work. Just taking it easy. Saturday I woke up and felt good. No tiredness or soreness and the legs were rested.

Race

The course was technical. It was situated on top of a slight hill. The layout was kind of an L shape. The last two turns forming the base of the L. These were both fast and off camber. The back side of the course was slightly uphill and coming out of the last turn was more uphill. The finish line was at the top.

At the start of the cat 4/5 race, I was in the middle of the pack. I just wanted to see if I could keep up and conserve energy. The heat and humidity were oppressive. This seemed to be the first hot weekend of the summer and it was feeling like it right off the bat. I managed to keep up for about 5 or 6 laps. But each acceleration out of turn two and then even harder up the hill after the last turn was hurting. after that 5th or 6th lap, I just faded off. I got off the course after passing the start/finish. I just had no power and felt totally flat.

Conclusion

I don't quite understand why I was so flat here. Either the heat was hard on me or I am just not warming up properly. I'm just going to try and forget this one. I need to regroup and see if I can get back to where I was a couple weeks ago.

I do think the course was good though. Technical and challenging. I will try to come back next year for sure. There was also a road race today but being at 9 and an hour and a half away is just not worth the effort and missing church so I decided not to do it.

[/cycling/races/2005]     2 comments     permalink

Bubba 8 Cyclocross, Queeny Park (Queeny is my friend)

Intro

We had some friends over for dinner Saturday night and thanks to my wonderful wife, I made sure to eat a good bit of lasagna which would hopefully guarantee that I was carb loaded for the race Sunday.

Course Description

The next feature was a twisty technical section which I totally enjoyed. There were a couple of hairpins and a nice chicane. At the end of this section as a hairpin which featured a burm on the entry. This was fun to take riding up the burm and then down at the apex of the turn, leaning in and turning sharp.

The paved section was similar to last time but extended quite a bit. I inflated my tires near sixty as I didn't want to bog down on this pavement. The course was not nearly as bumpy as many and compared to Faust Park last week, it seemed almost as smooth as glass!

Race

I lined up on the front at the start and got a good jump. In the twisty complex, I made a move on the inside and passed a couple of people. This set me up well for the first time up the run up and so I hoped I could get off to a good start and put some time into people. This worked well. As we reached the paved section I was able to hang with the leaders at the back of a bunch of about 6 or 8. I was surprised that this group was going pretty slow and I did not expect to hang with these guys for very long. Never the less I kept them in sight for several more laps. Teammate James on the single speed niner MTB passed me early on but I think his gear was a little steep and I passed him back a lap later. The run up was definitely hurting some people and I believe all of my running practice really payed off here as I was able to gain on some people here.

About mid race I was starting to slow. It was hard going up that hill. I finally resorted to counting pedal strokes again (I should have started this earlier) to try and get into a rhythm and not lose too much time here. James finally got me back and passed me on the hill saying something like, "This really hurts" when he passed. Two more guys passed me here and we had a nice battle for a couple of laps. Both of them were obviously taking time out from me on the hill but I was taking lots of time back on the technical sections. So they both passed me on the hill and then, as we entered the twisty technical part after the paved section, I got them back. I could not believe how slow these guys were in the turns. They were going really conservative and not using the whole course at all so it wasn't very difficult for me to pass them here. But keeping up on the hill was definitely hard and I had to give ground. After a couple of laps, I had to fall back and let them go.

Now it was about 6 laps to go and I started looking back to see who was there and if they were gaining. At first I saw Rudy and I was concerned that he might catch me. Right behind him were the ladies and that also worried me. I tried to start picking things up ever so slightly now to see if I could hold these guys off. After a couple of laps, it seemed that Rudy was fading but the ladies were perhaps gaining. I really thought that they would get me.

But also about this time I started to notice the guy in front of me on a blue Trek who was one of the two I had battled with earlier. I was gaining on him. On the third to last lap I botched the dismount at the run up. I didn't slow down enough and ended up stopping completely before I got off so this really slowed me down here. But still I was able to keep up with the Trek guy. On the next lap, I actually passed him at the top of the run up but botched my mount and he was able to lead me up the hill and get away. I clawed my way back on the rest of the course giving it a good effort on the paved section. I think I was within 50 to 75 yards but just couldn't close the gap any more. That was a good race on his part. He obviously saved himself until the very end.

The ladies never caught me. I could see Pam and Amy at the base of the hill as I crested the top and that's about where we finished. Score another for the old fart staying ahead of the ladies one more time!

Conclusion

The most notable incident in the B race was when King Soder (Greg from Mizzou) rolled a tire on the far side of the course while in the lead. Bad luck for him, he had to pick the bike up and run it back to the wheel pit. Good guy Ethan and Josh helped him get a spare wheel and he continued. Unfortunately he was way back and would not contend for the lead.

Butthead rolled to an easy win while Fletch and Doctor Mark had an excellent battle for almost the whole of the A race. Fletch seemed to have the best of Doc on the last lap but botched and fell in the technical section near the finish and lost second place there. But that was a great race to watch.

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Bubba 7 Cyclocross, Faust Park (bumpy nightmare)

Intro

Course Description

The near section went out to the barn again but instead of going around it, continued on straight for a while and turned back with a tight hairpin. But after the barn, instead of going on the little paved part, the course detoured around to the right and beside a clump of trees. This section was incredibly bumpy and with it being slightly downward, it was a real body shaker. There was a wideish 180 which headed back toward the start and this too was very bumpy. The barriers were near within eyesight of the finish line which was near the same location as the past.

The lap seemed long and hard. Not much in the way of inclines and bumpy, brain rattling path almost all the way. This year, Faust Park equates to a very bumpy ride it seems.

Race Report

As the race started, I gave it a good effort. I was in the top half and I moved up a bit after two more laps but after that, I was just totally unmotivated. I got slower and slower. I just couldn't bring myself to keep it up. Amy was on a roll today and even lapped me. I finished way back.

Conclusion

I have to try and regroup and recover some form. I seem to be stuck in a rut. I know I can do much better than the last two races indicate. I think I will take an extra day off this week and do a little milder training. A rest week might be just the ticket here. Let's see what happens. Two races to go before Bubba 2005 is over.

In the B race, Greg from Mizzou outclassed everyone and won easily. The C race didn't turn into the slugfest I was expecting. Ryan Pirtle was there with his brother but Butthead had some mechanical problems early on and finally DNF'd. Ethan rode fantastic and got second. Dr. Mark was strangely off pace here as well as a few others. This seemed to be a strange race all around. Suited to the stronger, beefier riders it seemed.

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Bubba 6 Cyclocross, Creve Ceour Park (mega suffering plus mistakes yields no points)

Intro

Lot's of rain Saturday night made me think we were in for a mud fest for sure on Sunday but when I got to the course, it was not bad at all.

Course Description

This course had three major elements to divide it up in. A set of hairpin S turns which were really tight in the first half of course. A barrier set of four barriers in a row spaced close together (two to three steps in between) followed by another pair of hairpin S turns. And a long paved section two thirds of which was a steep hill. There was also the pavilion section which we used last year but this time, we were going through the opposite way.

The rest of the course was fairly straight forward. From the start/finish, out to the end of the near section was a 180 which went slightly downhill. This could be taken fairly fast. The ensuing straight was soft ground and felt slower and slower as time went on. The first set of S hairpins was at the end of this straight. I did not have much trouble with these. I would take the first very wide on the entrance and the second one I had to get on the breaks quite a bit. Then there was a slight rise through some bumpy semi-soft stuff.

The barriers were on a very slight downhill. It was hard to get into the pedals after finishing the last one as there was a very small gully running across the course and I was hitting this just as I was trying to clip in. The exit to the ensuing hairpin was very slippery and I actually got stuck and had to put my foot out on the first two practice laps I did.

Now on to the paved section. A nice little downhill for the first part of it and then start going up. This hill was perhaps 250 yards long and maybe 10 to 12 percent. It got a little less in the middle and then slanted up again at the end.

Immediately after reaching the top, the course goes off pavement, right around the pavilion and down into a fairly steep off camber section. You go straight for about 20 yards, turn left and go up a steep rise for about 15 yards.

The lap seems hard. All the turns are pretty slow requiring lots of grinding to get back out of them. The turn after the barriers is very frustrating. And as usual, there are lots of bumps to sap your strength.

Race

On the second lap I did nearly the same thing. But I am making up time on the paved hill. Before the race I thought the main thing was to save yourself for that hill. Don't worry about going too fast on the other parts of the course but really nail the hill. I was standing up and grinding hard for the first third, sitting in the middle, and standing up again for the end.

Around the fourth lap I think, I was riding hard trying to keep the leaders in site. I made it through the turn after the barrier ok and was set up to pass several people on the hill. This I did well but when I got to the top, I decided to be conservative around the pavilion. I took the lowest line. This was a bad mistake as the bike just slipped out from under me and I completely fell. Now I got up and started walking the bike through this section. The extreme off camber and sharp little rise on the exit makes it difficult to remount. I watch helplessly as all the guys I passed on the hill get me back. I have completely lost momentum along with motivation.

The next couple of laps are hard as several people pass me and I am hearing that little voice inside suggesting that it wouldn't be so bad to quite this one and just say you are having an off day. But somehow I keep going. I gradually start making up some time and getting some people back in my sites.

The interesting thing about cross is that you really have to pay attention to the course and pick the best lines around it in order to be fast and avoid those energy sapping bumps. I am now learning this course better. I take the barriers on the extreme left and seem to avoid the little gully. This allows me to get clipped in and start thinking about that difficult turn immediately after. The ribbon post has fallen down on the exit and this also helps as I can run over this section. At the pavilion, you have to stay up high. This looks counter-intuitive but it is really the fastest and less slippery line through.

Two of the elite women have passed me in the first part of the race. Amy on our team also passes me but I get her back a couple laps later along with my teammate Phil (not the guy who's leading the series, this is Phil the photographer) on the paved hill. There is one more guy in front of me who I am getting close to. I have to bide my time and not get too anxious with him as he seems to have pretty good form. But after a couple of laps, I finally pass him and immediately open up a gap.

I get lapped by four or five guys I think so I make note of the fact that I get a lap taken off of my race (every little bit of relief helps). As the race winds down, I can see no other person behind me so I kind of take it easy on the second to last lap and just pick it up ever so slightly for the last.

Conclusion

I'm a bit disappointed by my results and Rudy has beaten me again today but it was encouraging just to have hung in there and finished this one. It was actually much harder than last weeks race.

In the B race, Greg from Mizzou looks strong but Chris from our team is doing this race (he also races the A race) and takes the win after Greg stumbles over the barriers on the last lap. Butthead won the A race again without much trouble but Dr. Mark did a good job of keeping him in sight through the whole race.

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Bubba 5 Cyclocross, Queeny Park (much suffering yields a point)

Intro

Also make sure I topped off the vitamin C through the rest of the day. It's easy for me to forget taking my vit C every three hours during a non-routine day like this so I had to make special effort to get it in. Other supplement included whey protein drink in the morning and again right before bed. Other vitamins were according to my normal routine.

The other recovery factor is that I had to mow the lawn before sunset. I managed to get this in and it didn't feel too bad. And the extra honeydo points were worth it as well!

We were fortunate to have nursery duty in church on Sunday so that allowed me to continue drinking water, eating fresh cantaloupe and grapes as well as some fresh beef jerky which I had put in the dehydrator over night. This should get me well fueled and ready to go for the race.

Course Description

From the start/finish, you go straight for about 50 yards, turn right and start the first climb. This climb has some gentle bends and is perhaps 100 yards long. It felt like about a 10 percent climb on the road. Left turn and onto the downhill section. This was relatively smooth but the main thing was to get slowed down for that set of barriers at the end and the really sharp hairpin right which is half asphalt.

The uphill paved section is maybe a 6 percent grade but about 150 yards long. Right turn off the pavement and downhill kind of parallel to the climb. The turn at the bottom is 180 degrees but somewhat wide so you can gently apply breaks and start pedaling as you come to the apex. Now stand up and grind up the second hill which is a little more steep than the first but not quite as long.

At the top of the second hill, there is the turn complex. The third (and last one) is a bit slippery and I am going off course on the exit just a bit. Now there's a little peak before you come to the gravel downhill section. This can be taken pretty fast but you have to apply the breaks as you start to turn into the off camber section. Carry a little speed up to the last set of barriers and the rise up to them will bleed off the rest. Remount quickly, turn sharp right and give the pedals some good turns on the little dip that leads to the flat run up to the finish line.

My legs felt a little tired warming up on the course. But I feel this course will suit me well if I can keep grinding it out on those hills through the whole race.

Race

By the second and third lap things are starting to sort out more. I think I passed at least one guy on the second climb, maybe another. Both Man in Black and BillH are well behind me now. I am not surprised about BillH as he is a bit heavy for those hills but Rudy is short and lean and I expect him to give me a little trouble today.

Somewhere during the first third of the race, an independent guy passes me. I later found out his name is John. He has finished ahead of me I think every race so far and he looks to be around my age so he is a goal target for me this year. The other guys ahead of me (including teammate Phil) are clearly faster and much younger (I think). The leader is way ahead early on and should probably think about the B race soon.

I can't seem to stay with John so I settle into my pace riding alone for a while. But behind me I can see teammate James who is doing the single speed MTB thing again. He is definitely gaining every lap. I later found out he changed his gear from yesterday and seems to have it dialed in just right for today. About mid way, he gets me on the paved section and gives me a little push with his hand before he goes by. "Come on Bobber" he says and I tell him, "good job man" and "keep going" as he moves ahead of me. All my cycling friends call me Bobber by the way.

Both the mild downhill before the first set of barriers and the paved uphill sections are giving me some trouble. At least my tires are inflated a bit and that helps but still I'm not real motivated here and both of these sections feel slow. On the mild downhill, I start using this time to take a sip of e