Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Random Questions

Why do students who do poorly on exams skip class the day after the exam? They're doing poorly already, why make it worse?

Why do people think that getting drunk and then playing the whale is a good thing?

Whose idea was it to say that everyone who gets a 3.0 should get free money and then make the teachers responsible for that grade?

Why do people drink Budweiser when there are so many better options? Why to people drink Keystone Light when there's Budweiser?

Why do poeple not think and then decide to blame someone else for what happens?

Why do we pay entertainers millions and police officers, firefighters, teachers and all the rest salaries they can barely feed their families on? Why do we get mad when these same people decide "to hell with it".

Why do we believe the media when their real purpose is to sell newspapers and ad time?

Any takers?

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Tuesday, March 30, 2004

All Racing, All the Time

That's what this weekend was. Two B level races to test fitness and to try for some results. Saturday was the Macon Cherry Blossom Festival Road Race. A little history is in order at this point. The first race I ever did was a Cherry Blossom Road Race on the same course. It was organized by a group of mountain bike promoters and so the classes were beginner, sport and expert. I didn't know any fast cyclists so I thought I was the bomb and entered the Expert catagory. The plus side is that I can say I got to race with Tim Johnson who is now a European Pro and he even gave me kudos for single-handedly pulling back a dangerous break. The minus side was that I got dropped about 32 miles into a 52 mile race and most likely looked like a bit of a "fred". I don't think I've ever let that experience settle. The course is a rolling course with one short, steep climb and one long grinder to go with the constant ups and downs. It's probably no coincidence that I'm a rider that does best on this type of course. I think I've trained for three years to go back to this course and redeem myself.

On Saturday, that's what I did. I raced with the Masters 35+ group for the first time. I expected the first lap to be "piano" or soft and easy and for things to get really interesting on lap 3 or so. Right after the first climb the attacks started on lap one. Wow! I chased and attacked and hammered and stayed at the front for most of the first lap. My form felt good and I really thought that maybe I had a chance. Near the end of the lap, things settled down and I yet tot he back of the group for a rest and to plot a bit of strategy. As we went up the steep climb on the second lap I was back towards the front and ended up chasing down a couple more short lived breaks. This was crazy! If I kept this up I would be worn out by lap four so when the next break went, I didn't chase. Neither did anyone else and up the road they went. Argle-bargle! This was "the break". Once they got about 30 seconds on us I decided that enough was enough and I went after them. Four or five guys jumped with me, including the state champion. We got a gap on the pelaton but then I found that our champion wouldn't work with the rest of us. He just sat in and demoralized some of the guys who just didn't pedal hard. Once we got caught the champ wouldn't let me off the front. Finally, I eased up and he rolled up alongside to check me out. I was a new guy in the group and obviously I was riding strong and aggressive so he wanted to give me the once over. I took the opportunity to ask if he had a teammate up in the break. He gave me a sort of sheepish look and said "yeah, he's good enough to win the race so..." That made a lot of sense to me and I couldn't fault him though I really wanted off the front. Still though, I had everyone afraid of me and I liked the situation a lot. So when we hit another section that required a bit of extra effort, I set a solid pace and decided to see who wanted to try to ride with me. The answer was no one. All of the sudden going into a long, slightly downhill section of the course I had 30 meters and I thought, "let's see what happens." So I rode at a steady 75% of Max HR pace and did a bit of time trialing. I kept expecting to have the peloton pull up alongside me but they never did. Finally three other guys bridged up and we formed a four man group off the front that would last the entire rest of the race. I managed to take sixth in the race which is outstanding for this early in the year. Last year my first top ten road finish wasn't until the end of April.

Sunday was the GAP MTB race at Dauset, my home course. I wanted a good finish but I was worried about how I would recover from the previous effort. Still I had ridden the course several times in race mode and I had a good feeling about my set-up. The course had been packed a week earlier and I felt like I had found a set-up for the bike that was extremely stable which would let me take a few extra risks on the technical bits and then hammer up the climbs with maximum efficiency. Unfortunately, the dry weather and high number of riders on the trail over the course of the next week had taken the course from dry and hard to dry and powdery. I didn't take that into account and so didn't make the appropriate bike adjustments. I climbed great and my fitness was there but crashing four times in soft corners on the singletrack just killed my results. I ended up in twelfth place out of a field of 60 so I met my level two goal of finishing in the top quarter of the field but I'm frustrated that my lack of technical knowledge and skill keeps holding me back. Practice will make perfect so I'll just keep on plugging along. With two events in the book though, I'm in the top tep for the state series which may set me up for qualifying to go to the NORBA MTB X-Country nationals. I doubt I'll be able to go if I do get invited but it's always nice to know you can go to the big dance.

Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you out there (the weather's getting to be too nice to stay inside...get out and ride your bike, or run, or walk, or whatever...just get outside already...)

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

A Great Weekend

This last weekend was the "official" beginning of the road race season here in Georgia with the 13th Annual Brooks Omnium being held just north of our little burg. More importantly it was also the tenth anniversary of the best decision I ever made, namely that of marrying my wife, who not only happens to be the most wonderful person in the world but also the most stunningly beautiful (blessings follow blessings they say). I had decided to forego the racing to spend time with Kathy over the weekend doing something to celebrate our live together thus far. However, between her having oral surgery, the busy-ness of having to run a campus ministry and the lack of appropraite facilities we couldn't quite come up with a plan. As the days to the event dwindled we decide to spend the time together near home and plan something more extravagant for May when our lives will settle down a bit.

So, with that in mind, we decided to head down to Pine Mountain for an evening and a day in the vicinity of Warm Springs and Callaway Gardens. We spent the evening in a really romantic little cabin near Pine Mountain (I highly recommend Pine Mountain Cabins for those who'd like to get away for a bit-Google it) and the day looking through Antique shops in Warm Spring and riding our bikes around Callaway Gardens enjoying the time together. It really was one of those cheesey, romantic times that you see in the movies where the couple goes from one improbably cute activity to another, all the while smiling and laughing. We were pretty worn out by the end of the day but the time was wonderful. Getting home Saturday evening allowed up to spend some time with the dogs and unwind.

The following day I went up to race the time trial for the Brooks Omnium. If I ever had a question that I have the greatest wife, it was erased when she not only agreed to let me go race on our anniversary weekend but actually encouraged me to do so. So up we went with boys in tow. The weather the day before had been perfect but Sunday morning was much cooler with a strong wind blowing out of the north. It would be at my back going out but in my face coming back. Upon arriving I also found out that the course would include Griffin's hardest hill, the Futral Road hill, a 5% 3/4 mile climb in the last quarter of the TT. So I warmed up, got ready and when my time came I was off with a good start. I flew on the way out averaging around 30 mph. I didn't make up much time on my 30 second man, however, as he seemed to be cranking as well. I figured that the wind was going to be a bit of an equalizer and any gains would be made on the second half of the course. Once through the turn-around we were into some low rollers and I began to make up some real time. I also began to push my heart rate right up to lactate threshold which was a bit higher than I wanted. As we made the left turn to hit the climb I was beginning to worry about how hard I had gone out. I motored well up the first half of the climb but I began to falter on the second half. My HR was over 180 and I could really feel the burn. I didn't want to explode but I could let up too much. I made it over the climb and reset for the short descent and last mile run tot he finish line. My HR recovered a bit and I was able to power into the finish. I didn't feel like I ridden a good race since I hadn't caught my 30 second man. That's the first time I hadn't done that ever and I wasn't sure I had even made up much time on him. I was very surprised to find that I had, in fact, won the race with my rabbit taking second 8 seconds back. A good start to the "official" season.

After the race we went back home and crashed. All the time out in the sun the day before had drained us both and I was exhausted from the effort of the TT so Sunday was definitely a lazy day with lots of napping, a little NASCAR race watching (almost as good as golf to nap to) and a good bit of time spent enjoying each other's company.

Really a wonderful weekend, even if it wasn't all that restful. As I spent time reflecting on Sunday I was amazed that it has been ten years since that day in Salt Lake when we decided to embark on this journey together. Like any marriage there have been plenty of ups and downs and we've both made a lot of mistakes. But more that the mistakes, there's been lots of love and support and encouragement. It blows my mind that Kathy is so supportive of all the strange dreams and impulses that I have from this crazy bike racing thing I seem to be doing to openning our home to a bunch of college students week after week. A lot of women would deeply resent the intrusion of their extrovert husband and his campus group into their home but Kathy has welcomed us with open arms. A lot of wives deride their husbands' attempts to participate in sports usually reserved for those a good bit younger than I am but Kathy keeps telling me to go for it. If I get to Nationals this year or next, it'll be, in large part, because of her encouragement and support through the training and the racing. Yesterday I was talking with a fellow racer at Dauset who I hadn't seen in a while. He dropped off the face of the earth because of a divorce. I'm not sure what all the causes were but I'll bet, in part, the whole thing was a result of not marrying as graceful and encouraging a woman as I was fortunate enough to.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Wheels O' Fire-Part Deux

I went back down to Hamilton this last weekend to do the 3rd Annual Wheels O' Fire Century. Regular readers of these ramblings will remember my post on the event from last year and the fact that the course was very hilly with several leg burning climbs up the Pine Mountian ridgeline. Last year I fininshed the 101 mile distance in just under five hours. This year was a vast improvement with the time being 4:38 over the same distance in the same conditions. That means that I improved about 8% over last year or that I'm around 8% stronger now that I was last year.

This information gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming season. It tells me that not only is my fitness coming along nicely but also that my training is improving my fitness over the long term. The assumption is that competitors are doing the same but my hope is that my improvements are little bit greater than there's are and that over time I'll catch up with those that are going faster than I am right now. Given that I'm planning a late spring/summer peak, I should be going slower than the guys that are flying now but faster later in the season. Hopefully that'll hold true.

For now though, I've gained some confidence from my ride and I'll take that into the next several weeks of racing. This week is rest and recovery and then it's onto the really hard work of the Build 2 period where I go out and do all the big climbs I can find and I do lots and lots more intervals.

Thanks for reading.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Tuesday, March 09, 2004

Race Update

Another weekend, another pair of races. One road and one dirt. I went back up to greenville to do the second race of the training series. This was a six mile circuit with one really good climb and some snaky, curvy descending. The first lap was run off at a blistering pace and as I climbed the hill the first time I was beginning to wonder if I was out of my league. Fortunately I was able to hang on and the pace moderated a bit. I managed to finish in the top third of the racers which was my goal so that was good. The second race was the GAP Yard Sale, georgia's first MTB race of the year. I think anyone who has ever pedaled a fat tire machine turned out to race. My class had 56 in it. I managed to get a good start but got bottled up behind traffic on the early singletrack anyway. Once things cleared, I tried to pass and got put into the underbrush. Once I got back into the race I decided to wait for the climbs and I turned it on there. I managed to wind up 7th which is a lot better than I expected. Once I got the diesel going I motored the course and made up almost all the time I had lost. I think I'm really going to like this longer distance thing. It was a good day and with any luck I'll improve on my results once we get to Dauset in a couple of weeks for race #2.

The Physicist   Link Me    |

Monday, March 01, 2004

Getting Schooled

Short report here. Two lessons learned this very young race season. First, arrive at the race in time to have an adequate warm-up. It makes a difference; your suffering is more effective. Second, don't fast on race weeks if you'd like to do well. I went up to do the first race in the Greenville, SC race series. GCF did our annual 30 hour fast Wednesday and Thursday prior to the race. For some reason I just didn't have much pop in my legs on Saturday. Can't imagine why. Also, I need to practice more SE intervals. I got popped off the back of the pack on a little surge and I just couldn't get back on.

This weekend, my second greenville race and the first GAP race of the new season. I'll be racing in Sport class for that and I'll get to eat a lot of better rider's dust at the Heritage Horse Park in Farmington. Hopefully though, I'll learn something there as well.

The Physicist   Link Me    |