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2010 Ride for Mike route: Day One

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

It is time to start seriously mapping out my route for the 2010 Ride for Mike. It is a 700 – 750 mile trip from Memphis, Tennessee to Raleigh, North Carolina. My plan is to go southeast out of Memphis to go below the higher elevations of the Appalachians. It will take me near Atlanta before swinging northeast toward Greenville and then on to Raleigh. Whatever the route, I’ve got to do it in 7 days.

I’ve set some target cities along the route. These are the locations where I will bed down at night. I plan to reserve some decent hotels so that I can make the most of the rest I can receive. I’ll ride to get as close to each city as I can… or ride past it if possible… then I’ll stop, get in the car, and head to the hotel. The next morning I’ll get up and drive back to the spot where I stopped the day before. Then it is off to the next target city.

Here are my plans for Day One. The target city is Corinth, Mississippi. If I can get 100 miles in, it will put me near the town of Burnsville. The two major roads that would take me in the direction where I need to be are 64 and 72. However, the road I’d like to get on is Hwy. 57. My plan is to conceive of two to three alternate routes. If I find that traffic will allow me to take a road like 64 or 72, I will in order to make the best time.

The third route I am considering is to Hwy. 57 as quickly as I can. I would then continue on that road until I reach Wolf Pen Road. Of course, it would be a simpler route just to head down 72! The problem with that is there are numerous sections where the traffic lanes are three wide. The 57 route would allow me to take a rural road for most of the route. The distance would be only about an extra 7 miles.

Anyone have any suggestions? I’d also like to find a good bicycle shop in the Corinth area just in case I need a mechanic. If you live in the area, I’d love to have you come out and ride with me. I’ll be leaving from Eastside Baptist Church, 3232 Covington Pike, Memphis, TN on Sunday, September 19. I’d appreciate some company… and a good draft!

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Cranking it on a cookie ride

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

First, let me say thank you to David Enter, a Public Safety police officer at Furman University. I appreciated his response to my concerns about the incident I had on the campus last Saturday morning. Cyclists in the area should be appreciative of the welcome we so often receive on the campus.

Now to the subject at hand. I received some grief for my post from the weekend. I was taken to task for turning a “cookie ride” into a “crank fest.” “It’s a ride… not a race,” I was told. “You’re a racer now. You don’t have to prove anything now.”

The thing is that I agree that a charity ride is not a race. I’ll even mention that as I was getting sucked into the breakaway, I felt a tinge of remorse and even embarrassment. However, I paid the entry fee and donated my pledged amount — I was going to have as much fun on the ride as possible. For me, that means looking for a challenge.

A cookie ride is a ride with many people of varying abilities. The point is to hang out and enjoy a social time together as much as it is to reach the end of the ride. Most cookie rides are not “timed events.” This means that there is nothing to gain by going fast.

What I was getting chastised for was not being a social creature and riding along within the group. In addition the indication is that it is beneath someone who is considered fast by some to participate in a phantom race for nothing. Be cool and let the ones who have something to prove go up the road.

On the other hand, take a group of cyclist, tell them that there is a route and a finishing line, and one of them is going to want to be the first one across that line. Also, there are those who are constantly monitoring themselves and while they may not be racing the other riders around them, they are trying to better a previous time for an event. I have never been on a cookie ride where you didn’t have some people that fell in these categories.

So, why did I do it?

First, I didn’t intend to do it. I started off near the rear and really planned to stay there. However, as I mentioned in my last post, it got a little sketchy in some of the climbs. I kept saying to myself, “Okay, I’ll just move up through this one group so I can have some clear road.” Of course, I would then see another group just up the road. “Well, I might as well go catch up with them so I have someone to ride with.”

Second, the above actions ultimately left me at the front of the field. I was not attacking. I was just sitting there pedaling along waiting for the group to crest the last hill and come to me. It was at that point that David Bright came flying past me. Then John Frame caught up to us. This is the point where I argued with myself what to do.

Finally, the siren call of the front was just too strong. I could drop off and fall back into the field and take it easy for the next four hours, or I could connect with these guys and work together as a challenge to finish the ride as quickly as possible. This was not for the purpose of “being done with it.” It was for the goal of enjoying the ride.

The bottom line is that I was riding the event for Meals On Wheels. I was riding it to enjoy a day on my bike. At that moment, the way I could best do that was to accept the challenge. True, I have nothing to prove. At the same time, I am not so proud that I felt I needed to act according to a certain social construct.

Some people get great pleasure out of the cookie element of the ride. That is great! The racer who looks down his nose at these riders ignores the backbone of the cycling community. At the same time, not every rider who rides off the front to finish as fast as he can is trying to prove something. For both groups of riders, it is the same goal — enjoy the ride. They just happen to enjoy it in different ways.

Is one way right and the other wrong? I don’t think there is a moral question here. There is no need for judgment on either set of riders. The end result is the same, Meals On Wheels raised a lot of money to help feed citizens of Greenville County, and hundreds of riders had a great time.

In the end, it doesn’t matter who got to the line first — or how they got there. What mattered was that they all had fun in their own ways helping a great cause.  You can enjoy both the cookie and the crank.

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Wheeling for some meals

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

Saturday morning I had the opportunity to ride in a favorite charity ride of mine. It was the Upstate Meals on Wheels’ Wheels for Meals metric century. Once again it lived up to being a wonderful time.

To be honest, I almost made the decision to make my donation without doing the ride. Word from the weather man was that it was going to be a wet and soggy one. However, looking at the weather map, I could see that there was a horseshoe of rain activity and right in the middle (and in the clear) was the area where we would ride.

Arriving at the campus of Furman University, I started to see rain drops fall on my windshield. I was here now and I might as well get out in it. Besides, I pulled up beside my teammate Randy and he saw me. No way I could back out now!

Jonathan Pait and David Bright

David Bright and I came across the line first together

I started out the ride near the back with my teammate, Billy White. Randy was somewhere near the front and I couldn’t see him. The pace was nice and easy and I had no intentions to go off and do something crazy.

Yeah, right.

As we made our way to Old McElhaney Road and the climbing started, I knew I would go absolutely nuts if I tried to stay in the group. I began to weave my way through the slower climbers, not so much to get ahead of them, but to maintain a pace with which I was comfortable.

By the time we crossed over Keeler Mill Road and started down Hunts Bridge Road, I was alone off the front. Then a guy came flying pass me. He was wearing a Metro Reprographics kit. I sped up to get on his wheel. When we reached 186, we were then joined by another rider wearing the Team Metro kit. It appeared they were hanging together.

In my mind I began to argue with myself. It wasn’t my intention to go out in a break. As a matter of fact, the instructions from my coach were to stay under 300 watts for the ride. If I went with these guys, I could throw that instruction out the window!

Of course, I got on their wheels and we started to work a pace line. Just before we started to make our way toward Caesars Head we came upon my teammate Randy and a guy on a time trial bike. Hmmmm, this would be interesting. I was certainly glad to see Randy… I didn’t know what to think of a guy doing this ride on a TT rig!

Much of the rest of the ride to the 31 mile mark – at the front entrance to the Cliffs at Glassy – was spent with us roadies trying to hang on while Shay Eskew blistered the road on his TT bike. Shay also had a red bib with the number 2 on it. Another cool thing about Shay was that he raised the second most amount of money for the event!

Thankfully, there was a port-a-john at the midway sag. The two Metro riders, David Bright and John Frame, along with Shay got tired of waiting while Randy was trying to get finished in the john with his kit. By the time he was out and I was able to get in, the three guys were gone.

Randy and I started to chase – a little. Neither of us really felt like taking up the effort. They had a several minute lead on us. So, we rode on together talking and let a faster pace just come to us. We continued that way until we reached the climb up to Camp Old Indian.

“You go ahead at your own pace,” Randy said. “You don’t have to wait for me. If I catch you after the top, then I will.” So, I started to tap out a tempo that I hoped would allow me to close in on the riders ahead. I reached the camp and still not lead group. However, just as I neared the top (about 40 minutes after we were separated) I saw them.

Then I caught them and sat on the back for a bit. We were right back to how we started… but without Randy. I kept looking back on occasion to see if he would join us, but I finally realized he wouldn’t be hooking back up with us. I then just tried to avoid dropping off myself.

Clearly, David was the strongest rider of the four of us. I was starting to feel it each time I went on the front to pull. Bright would get up there and just hammer away. Shay would go on front and crank it, but now it wasn’t for quite as long. John also still had some juice, but he was fading as well.

Finally, we came to a turn and I yelled, “Slowing!” I looked back to see there wasn’t a rider behind David and myself. The fractures were beginning. John and Shay caught us once again, but then with 20 miles to go they were finally dropped off for good.

Now I was left alone to deal with Mr. Bright. Actually, it wasn’t so bad. We worked together and finally I realized that he was not going to try to ride off from me. We were going to finish this together.

I could tell that my training and fitness has made a huge change in me. Getting on the front and powering along at 300+ watts I would reach the point where I was about to pop. In the past, I would go back and it would be all over. However, I found that I was able to recover behind David and then go back up there again for a few more moments of pain.

The improvement isn’t that I can go on and on and on. I am now able to recover to continue the fight. That realization slowly started to make its way into my fatigued brain. It was a realization that bolstered my confidence and my pulls on the front began to grow just a tad longer.

Closer and closer we came to the finish. It came to me that David was also feeling the effects of the ride. As we neared the back entrance to Furman we pulled up side-by-side. We finally came to the entrance back to the start. As we neared the sound of the ringing cowbells, we patted each other on the back and crossed the line after 66 miles in 3 hours and 12 minutes.

I was happy to use my wheels — and my wallet — to support the Meals on Wheels organization. Here is hoping there will be many meals served from the money raised during this event. Oh, and did I mention that after the first 15 minutes or so, we had no more rain and it was a perfect day for riding?

Glad I didn’t go home!

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Short video along the Reedy River

Friday, April 9th, 2010

This blog often covers the workouts involved in my training. However, not all of the rides are heavy duty. Sometimes it is just an easy hour of spinning. Often, the course isn’t made up entirely of roads.

Such was the case yesterday when I went out for an early lunch ride. A thunderstorm was forecast for the early afternoon and into the evening. If there was going to be a ride, it would have to happen then.

Sorry that it is so shaky. I was using my iPhone and the sidewalk had slight ripples in it. Even with the iMovie image stabilization feature, I still ended up with the jerky movements.

Still, it is a enough to give you an idea why so many of us love Greenville so much. This is just a portion of the lovely areas that are available for you to ride — and walk. Now that the rain came and washed away some of the pollen, it is even better!

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Ahhhhh, a rest day

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

After only three days back on the bike after a rest week, I’m very happy to announce that today is a rest day! It has been a hard start to my next segment of training. Tomorrow I get back at it with repeats on Paris Mountain. Someday I think I’m going to take a real rest day.

Saturday was my FTP — a 20 minute all out time trial with a build up and cool down. Sunday really wasn’t that bad. It was my opportunity to cleanse my quads from the effort of Saturday. With the weather the way it was, I ended up doing some easy spinning on the trainer while watching some TV.

Monday was a different matter. I did my VO2 max workout with some 30-30’s. The 3 minute and 2 minutes were all over 300 watts. Then it was time for the 3 sets of 5 30 second bursts. I managed to average over 500 watts for first two sets and over 450 watts on the last one. By the end of the last one my chest was hurting. I might have thought I was having a heart attack, but the pain was on the wrong side. Maybe my right lung was getting ready to pop out!

Then last night it was time to head out to Donal… I mean, SCTAC… for the World Championships. Before the race (and it is a race, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise) I was talking with Jim, my coach. He was telling me that my power was looking good and that I should have a good opportunity to participate in the action. At that point, I was wishing I could share in his optimism.

My legs were tired. They felt good… that bad kind of good… where they feel heavy and relaxed. As a cyclist you want to feel that your legs have snap. Instead my legs felt like they were on cold medicine.

To make matters worse, I had not time to warm up. The first lap was going to have to be my warm up lap. On a night when we planned to do only four laps, that is not good. The hounds would be unleashed early and things would get moving soon.

It wasn’t until about 2 and a half laps in that I felt good in my legs. Up to that point I was really struggling to stay up with the pace. My heart and lungs weren’t giving me much trouble, but my legs felt like they were working really hard. Finally, in the third lap I was able to ride at pace without feeling like I was about to drop.

By that time the break of the day had happened. Thad Dulin, Boyd Johnson, our man Hank McCullough, and a couple of other riders had a sizable gap. I wasn’t even aware that Hank was up there, so I was working a bit to help close that gap. Had I known, I would have backed off a bit.

What I discovered in the fourth lap was that while my legs were working well enough to pace in the group and even do some pulling on the front, I did not have any power to launch. This was evident as we entered the final kilometers. The pace picked up and the group surged. My legs felt like they were moving in slow motion. I ended up fading back from about 10th in the field on the last incline and just hanging onto the rear of the field.

My computer tells me I averaged 25 mph for the nearly 30 miles of racing for 1:08. The average power was over 250 watts.  It still makes me chuckle to think that an A group “ride” at Donald… I mean SCTAC… is faster and requires more power than your typical Category 4 race.

That brings us to this morning. No bike for me today. It is a rest day. My instructions for a rest day are, “Relax, nap, take a bath. Go to bed earlier. Avoid your bike and the world of cycling as much as possible today to refresh your mind as well.” Yeah, right!

I do think that on a week during my taper for an A race, I will take a REAL rest day. I’ll take a day off work and sleep in, relax, nap, get a massage, skip the blog, avoid the bike, and get to bed earlier. It would be interesting to see what a real rest day could do for me.

All I know is that after the last four days, I’ll take what I can get!

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TNWC by the numbers

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Last night was a night most cyclists look forward to in the Greenville area. It was the first Tuesday after the time change… so that means it was time for the first Tuesday Night World Championships of the year! Nearly 200 hundred riders showed up for the first night.

All the groups remembered Perry Lyles who passed away recently. In the country route John Davidson arranged for a “missing man” tribute. The A and B group rides had a moment of silence in Perry’s memory. Perry was not there with us as we pedaled out for the first night, but his memory rode along.

We would only do four laps — though I think we could have squeezed five in before it started getting too dark. However, it is early in the season and some of the riders just came off a busy weekend of racing in Columbia. So, four laps it was, but don’t think it was just a ride in the park!

My instructions for the night were: “Work on your pack skills. Staying up front, being on correct side of road, picking good wheels to draft, safety, etc. Leave this race feeling you could have done more.” Want to work on you pack skills and placing yourself in a field of cyclists? TNWC at Donaldson (I just can’t call it SCTAC) is your opportunity.

The first lap started out as though we would be warming up. Later in the season the easy pedaling can last almost the entire first lap. However, things picked up a bit as we went up 3M hill and the race was on! The first lap was a “slow” 17 minute circuit.

In the second lap I started to work my way toward the front. Jim told me to try to maintain my position up there, so I knew I needed to give it an effort. I tried to make my way there through the middle of the pack as much as possible. One thing that helped me was I got on the wheel of my teammate Eric Christophersen. He has a way of making openings!

The POA guys were making some moves at the front as were some riders of other teams. I wanted to do my part — though I am still in kindergarten when it comes to understanding team tactics. However, I knew that it was a good idea to have a POA rider in any group that tried to go up the road and if we had a guy up there it was best to hold a pace that would slow the field.

One of our riders was dangling off the front of the field as we approached 3M hill. I was near the front when some riders attacked to bridge up to the break. I reacted and got on their wheel. I wouldn’t work to help them chase my guy, but if they were going I would go with them to help our numbers.

They bridged up but really all we did was pull the entire field up to them. I watched Reece fade back and now I was near the point. When the field caught the break, another group of riders surged and I went with them. A weak pace line formed and soon I found myself on front.

I was feeling pretty good so I just set a tempo that I figured would keep the field moving at a good pace and allow my guys to sit in for a bit. Suddenly two riders came fast around my right just before the train tracks. I moved to cover their wheels.

One of the riders was Boyd Johnson and the other was a Colavita rider I did not know. Immediately I was trying to close a gap because of the speed at which they passed me. It meant that for several seconds I was working much harder than they were. Closer and closer I got, but finally I knew I would blow if I kept it up.

I eased off and fell into the clutches of the peloton. I kept sliding back and back and it seemed that the speed was more than I could handle. In the past, I probably would of slid right off the back. However, I knew that if I just put in a bit of effort, I could get back in the draft and catch my breathe.

A gap opened and I ducked in. By the time we rode through the dip and started to coast up to the start/finish line I was back at the pace. Now my legs just needed to come back and I would be okay. We crossed the line that time in 16 minutes and 11 seconds.

Interestingly, I found myself in the exact same position going up 3M hill on the third lap. I had fully recovered by this point, but determined I wasn’t going to go off the front this time. I simply settled into the pack near the front and rode it out. This time we covered the 7 mile loop in 16 minutes flat.

Then the racing started in earnest. Remembering my instructions, I worked to stay in the mix at the front. It is so completely different mixing it up with these higher category guys than racing in a category 4 race! It is faster, but more than that it is a constant ebb and flow with tactics clearly evident. It isn’t just a bunch together until the end and then the fastest man to the line wins.

Approaching the tracks I was about 10th in a line being stretched out by Boyd and Eric up ahead. It was a neat vantage point, but once we entered the dip I was starting to have riders coming around me. It didn’t bother me because I have learned that once we start the climb on the other side, I typically get all of my places back.

Sure enough, as we neared the 1K to go line, I was right there in the finishing bunch. Now things were going to get exciting! It was obvious that Boyd and Eric were going to close the deal, but the field surged into a final sprint.

Me? Once we reached the fire station, I simply worked to maintain my position about 20 riders back. I figured that wasn’t so bad out of 60 to 70 riders. Besides, I was supposed to finish “feeling you could have done more.” At the end of that 15 minute and 45 second lap, I felt I had accomplished my goals.

Consider that in my last Category 4 race at Donaldson I averaged 210 watts for the race. Tuesday night in an unofficial race I averaged 242 watts. The race averaged 23.5 mph. The first TNWC? 26.5 mph. Oh, and that little section where I was chasing Boyd? 370 watts for 3 minutes — and I didn’t catch him.

If you can learn to race up front in the A group, you are ready to race Category 4!

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Sun, rain, wind, and hail

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

It was time at noon on Saturday to start my fundraising ride for BJU The Ride. The goal was to get as many miles possible during a five hour period riding around a .85 mile course. Yes, you read that right… 5 hours going around a .85 mile loop. I’m still going round and round in my head!

The coolest thing about the whole day (other than the weather) was the fact that my son rode over to the event with me. It was his first ride on his new Specialized Allez! He earned it working hard in school and getting this multiplication tables memorized. I kept looking over at him with a big smile on my face. Yep, life was good.

We got there and we started right up. On the first lap it was obvious it was going to be a tough day! After the nice slightly downhill where we were protected somewhat from the wind by large buildings, we made a right hand turn into a howling headwind. It was going to be a long day for my friends, Eric, Dave, Mike, Kirk, Chris, and me.

2010 The Ride

The six official participants finish a lap (Photo Eddie Helton)

Not only was that headwind strong, it was coming straight down the only major climb on the course. It made that 40 feet or so of climbing that much harder. Before the day was done, I would hit that climb and wind 105 times.

The road then curved that made the headwind turn into a crosswind. Turning another corner put you on another downhill — but back into the headwind. Really, on the whole course, you only had one short respite from the wind.

Jonathan Jr. hung with us for several laps. His little body was nearly being stopped by the wind! I tried to work with him to help him find shelter, but it was his first group ride and he wasn’t that confident coming in close to some of the other bikes. It was a little too much for him. I was proud of him though and he did well! I’m looking forward to riding more with him in the days, months, and years ahead.

I was very fearful about the rain. The forecast was calling for it. Thankfully, we only got a few brief showers for the most part. There were a few times when there was rain on the back side of the course and dry as a bone on the front side. Overall, the rain was not an issue. Until later in the ride…

Before long it was every man for himself. The varying riding abilities of the different riders made it so that it was hard to stay together. A few times I thought I was pulling the crew and looking back realized I had dropped them. I mean one of these guys hadn’t ridden in some time. He finished all five hours!

It was really neat to see Eddie Helton show up for the ride. Racers will recognize him as the photographer that takes some great pictures of our events here in the Greenville area. He was so kind to take some pictures of our little event AND get out his bike and ride with us! Several other riders came over to encourage us as we made our laps. It made my heart warm on an otherwise cool day.

Kirk Flinte was there and we ended up connecting and riding for a good bit of time. The two of us put in some hot laps, but for the most part just rode tempo and talked. Shortly before the four hour mark, Kirk went in front of me and pulled me through the wind for about 10 minutes. Then he was gone and I was alone again.

I eased up a bit in that final hour. My legs were starting to let me know they hadn’t ridden this far since October! The wind picked up even worse and the clouds were threatening. The last 30 minutes could be brutal!

With only about 15 minutes to go, I was starting up that climb into the wind. It had just started the rain and the wind was whipping my bike about. Then the rain started to hurt! It was like it was cutting my face. “What is going on?” I thought to myself. I had to bind my head to keep the rain from hitting my face.

As I looked down, I noticed the “rain” was bouncing! “That’s not rain,” I thought. “It’s hailing!” Then I made that turn from the crosswind to a headwind. I could not look up to see where I was going. Thankfully, the brim of my cycling cap was protecting my face.

Before the lap was complete, the hail let up and not longer afterward the rain did as well. The wind never did. It fought us the entire time.

I have ridden 100+ mile numerous times in 5 hours. This was one of the hardest rides I have attempted. The course wasn’t exactly thrilling, but it was the conditions that made it hard.

One thing I know. It is the hard rides that you remember the longest. The easy rides are most enjoyable at the time, but they are so many they all meld together. “Remember that ride where we got hailed on?” Any one of us can say that and it will bring the ride back into full focus.

The funny thing is that time will make the pain enjoyable.

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Around and around we go

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Hey, if you live in Greenville, ride a bike, and want to help me keep from losing my mind; consider coming over to the campus of Bob Jones University any time between noon and five o’clock today. I’ll be out riding around what would make a great criterium course on the back campus. Five other cyclists will be joining me as we raise money for a campus project.

If you can’t come ride a couple of laps with us to keep us company, perhaps you would consider supporting yours truly as I do my part to pedal. You can go by the BJU: The Ride Web site and learn more about the participants and also give a pledge. Either way of showing support would be appreciated… and I’m serious about inviting you to do some laps with us!

I did this last year. I didn’t make my 100 mile goal on that day. I’m not sure I’ll even try for that much today. I’ve got some people who have pledge an amount per mile though and I really do want to make them pay! :-)

The five hour criterium course

The five hour criterium course

You can learn more about the ride at the official site or on Facebook. If you would like to join us and don’t know where to go, just ride onto campus and ask someone where the Davis Field House is. They can point you in the right direction and if you hang around for a minute or two, you’ll see one of us come riding by.

Join us for a couple of laps and then head off for your favorite non-repeating ride. Just make sure you come before 3 PM. If you come later, you might get wet. For us though, we’re riding rain or shine.

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Drawing with Crayons: My first UWBL of the winter

Monday, January 18th, 2010

It wasn’t until this Saturday that I was able to make it to the Upstate Winter Bicycle League. It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted to earlier, but it seemed that something kept coming up that kept me away. The first one was canceled due to weather and then I was either out of town, sick, or had another obligation. So, it was with a little bit of caution I approached my first one.

Why the caution? One reason is the fact that I hadn’t ridden over 60 miles since October. This one was slated to go 84 miles with three sprints and attack zones thrown into the mix. I was seriously wondering if I might just come dragging in behind the SAG after the four hours on the bike.

My second reason for caution is the fact that I had not ridden in a competitive group since the POA Cycling Team Fall Extravaganza. Let me tell you… UWBL A group is a competitive ride! It is a training ride not just for getting in your base miles. It is a training ride of practicing race tactics and sprint technique. It takes a little bit to get back in the swing of things going nearly 40 miles an hour down the road only a foot away from people on either side of you!

At least the weather started out nice. It was in the mid-40s, but after the days in the 20s and 30s we’ve had recently it seemed like a heat wave! By the time we finished we were in the 50s, but the rain set in and we were all wet.

I figured there were at least 80 riders out. There were a good number of POA Cycling Team members representing. It had been awhile since we had that many at the event. Jae Bowen was our man for the ride seeing how he had points towards the Pink Jersey.

It was fun to get back out there. However, it wasn’t supposed to be all fun for me. I had training to do. My instructions from coach were to 1) stay near the front and be efficient, 2) amass 350 TSS points, and 3) play around in the final sprint if my legs felt up to it.

With the final sprint in mind, I tried to tuck in and hide for a good portion of the ride. I still had memories of last year in my head.  It seemed that anytime I attempted to participate in a sprint, I would come dragging home. I didn’t want that to happen on this day.

I was helped out a bit in the first sprint. Just as we neared the attack zone, we approached an intersection. There were cars coming on our right. Some of the cyclists went on through, but as I got closer to the road so did the traffic coming toward us. Perhaps I did the wrong thing, but 1) I don’t want to get hit by a car, and 2) I don’t want motorists to hate us for being on the road. So, I disengaged my left foot and called, “Car right!” as I slowed to come to a stop.

Suddenly, I felt the force of someone running into my rear. I knew something bad had happened to my bike. However, I checked things out and it appeared that I was good to go. I got across the intersection and started going through my gears figuring the rear derailleur was going to be the issue. Sure enough, I found when I tried to go into the big ring I got a grinding sound and the chain was not moving smoothly.

I caught the rear of the group and then other guys arrived. We had a continuing “conversation” about the incident. Finally, I knew it was best to just shut my mouth and ride. However, there was a bit of pent up energy I was hoping to release on this first sprint.

It didn’t matter. First, I was at the rear of the pack when the attack started, and second, I was having to participate in my small ring. I was spinning like a mad man just to stay with the main group! The positive thing was that I moved up into the group and ended the sprint to Ware Shoals in sight of the winners.

Once we stopped after the sprint, I had time to take a look at my bike. The rear wheel was true and it didn’t seem that my hanger arm was bent. Still, I had that grinding sound. It appeared to be a front derailleur problem. As I was looking at it, Boyd Johnson came over to help me out. He just reached over and twisted the front derailleur just a fraction. The sound went away. Turns out my right foot must have jammed against the arm and bent it. Now, with Boyd’s help, I was back ready to go.

The mist started to feel a little more like rain as we neared the Dunklin Bridge attack zone. I figured we were heading for some rain ahead. I didn’t want to mix it up in a rainy sprint. I figured if I was going to “play around in a sprint” it was going to have to be this one. The Highway 20 finish would probably be soaked.

I started out near the front as one guy attacked forming a gap. I stayed with the guys at around me which included Thad Dulin and Steve Sperry. In my mind, it made sense to stay near them and see what would transpire. Then the jostling began as there were attacks and counter attacks.

“Watch and learn,” I said to myself and stayed close on Thad’s wheel. Patiently I waited staying close to him. Then he moved over to a group that was counter attacking. I hesitated because it was a little early in the attack for what I thought I could handle (it is a five mile attack zone). Looking back, I realize I should have just laid in on the line and chased after him.

The result of my hesitation was that I was now toward the front of a larger chase group. This meant more traffic. Ahead I could see the main competition flying along in a single file. Here I was with riders all around. My thought was, “Well, no way are you going to get anything out of this… just hold your position.” Some of the other riders started falling away as they must have come to a similar decision. I ended up passing a few riders ahead and finished in the first 20. I wonder what might have happened had I stayed with Thad.

Very soon after the rain started soaking the road and rooster tails were coming up from the bikes in front of me. The ride leader, Steve Sperry, stopped us to explain that the final sprint would be shorter in order to allow us to avoid some slippery train tracks that crossed the attack zone. That was fine with me, I was planning on just keeping the carbon side up!

Thankfully, I felt pretty strong even toward the end of the effort. There was something left in the tank even after the earlier efforts and several pulls on the front of the group. The day showed me that my fitness is coming. If I can just work on my sprint knowledge and confidence, I bet I could land a top ten on one of these rides. I’m really starting to believe that it isn’t so much a matter of my legs as it is my head.

As Sperry said to a guy riding near me, “Sprinting is an art.” Then he added, “Right, Jonathan?” Yes, it is an art, but I’m still drawing with Crayons!

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They call him McPain

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Yesterday I rushed out for a couple of hours around my lunch time to get in my training ride. You may recall my post for that day was on how to beat the funk that sometimes gets you as the race season approaches. I think I found another reason why you may feel down and confirmed the way to beat it. Plus, I ran into McPain.

McPain is Anthony McClain. He is a regular commenter on the site. I told him I would put up some video of him. Here he is…

About the funk business? Well, don’t discount the weather. It is cold and the days are short. It does take a bit of the joy out of riding when you are freezing out on the road or slogging away on a trainer for a couple hours because it is too dark to ride outside.

When I came upon McClain in the park, I had to take my glove off in order to get the video. I ended up taking both of them off as I finished my ride for the day. Amazing what a difference it made to my spirit to feel warm and pedal along in the bright sunshine!

The weather here is supposed to be warm (relatively speaking) for the next several days. Looks like the UWBL might even get out and back before the rain starts. It makes it much easier to focus when you have conditions like that.

Hope to see you out there, McPain.

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