Posts Tagged ‘Matt Tebbetts’

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The promise of the rainbow

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Yesterday I pulled myself onto the bike to head out for some laps in Cleveland Park.  The desire to do so was pretty neutral.  Still, some things you need to do.  However, my plans got changed when Matt Tebbetts’ name appeared on my phone.  I rode straight on through the park and meet him at the intersection of Buncombe and Shaw.

I’m glad he called.

We headed toward Green Valley by way of Furman – much like my Saturday ride started out.  As we were crossing Hwy 25 the rain began to fall.  It was one of those instances where you get hit by huge raindrops (enough to make it sting as you ride through them), but the sun is shining at the same time.

Matt commented, “We should see a rainbow at some point.”  We continued riding to get to Green Valley country club so we could find some shelter. With cellphones in our jersey pockets, we needed to find a dry spot.  As we headed there we kept our eyes open for the rainbow.

Just as we were passing by the club house, the rain eased up.  There in front of us was the rainbow we were looking for.  We were able to see both ends of it.  Through the clouds beneath the arch we could see the outline of Paris Mountain.

The rainbow at Green Valley

The rainbow at Green Valley

There was hardly any rain now as we started off again.  The conversation had turned from talking about that certain race in Europe and race tactics for the POA Cycling Summer Series to rainbows and wet cellphones.  Most of all, I felt refreshed from the rain and my spirits were lifted.

The rainbow was following us as we returned home – or we were following it as it always appeared just before us.  Several times it looked like you could ride right up to the end of it, but of course when you neared where the colors met the earth it would always move.  Guess we’ll never know if there is a pot of gold there!

We were treated to one more really neat scene as we neared our turn onto Old Buncombe.  Up ahead we would see the end of rainbow coming down onto Paris Mountain.  I have a picture, but it really doesn’t do it justice.

Rainbow over Paris Mountain

Rainbow over Paris Mountain

As we headed home we were pushed along by a tailwind. The rainbow stayed visible off to our left for some time, but by the time we reached home the sun was shining through a partly cloudy sky. It had been another incredible ride in the Upstate of South Carolina.

I was reminded of the Biblical story of the rainbow. The rains of the great flood had ended and Noah and his family came out of the ark. God showed Noah the rainbow and let him know it was a promise that He would never destroy the world again by water. More than that, it was a sign of God’s grace and mercy.

Things have been pretty tough on some levels for me recently. With the car break ins, wrecks, and deadlines it is easy for me to feel overwhelmed – like a flood is washing over me. However, I know that God’s grace is there to help me hold up against the waves. He will not send anything my way that I cannot bear.

My ride turned into a spiritual lesson for me. That rainbow was sent for me.

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Posted in Life, Rides | 2 Comments »

Am I ever thankful for my helmet!

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

I’m writing this late Tuesday evening because I’m not certain if I’ll be able to get out of the bed in the morning.

Things started out very well. After arriving at Donaldson Center for the Tuesday Night World Championships, I met up with some of my teammates. A group of them were about to go out on the country route. This is a route that does not follow the normal Perimeter Road circuit. They called to me to join them.

I started to follow, but then remembered that Reece was in the house and I was feeling pretty good. It would be very hard to pass up mixing it up in the A Group tonight. Finally, I decided to turn around and head back to the main group. Part of me is glad I did. Another part of me wishes I hadn’t.

Several of us POA guys were on the front to begin. I figured that if we were up there, we could pedal as slow as we wanted! That didn’t last long as some others came around and picked up the pace. By the time we were over the railroad tracks and headed for the start/finish there was an organized move to get away.

I worked to help bring that group back after a short time and tried to stay up near the front of any chase group. Most times one of my guys – normally Randy or Reece would be up in the break. As soon as one break would get caught another POA rider would attack with the next group to go off the front. During the evening, I only went off on one of those.

The rest of the time I was sitting on riders who were trying to chase back my teammates. It was in the process of this that I learned something about cycling I did not know. It was a good thing to file away for the future.

I have learned that when you have a teammate up the road, you don’t do anything to help close the gap. At the same time, you have to be aware of riders who are dangerous to your teammate. Say, if a Spinx guy starts to bridge across and he already has a Spinx rider up in the break, you don’t want him to get up there and turn the odds in their favor.

You handle this by not working with him as he attempts to bridge over. You also want to be in position so that if he does manage to bridge over, you are there to help even the odds. There really aren’t any written rules about this, but there are some unspoken rules of etiquette. That is what I learned tonight.

I had Hank up in a break about halfway around the circuit. A Barley rider and Steve Baker (Hincapie) were working hard to get across the gap. I was not wanting to help in any way. However, I knew if either of them made it up there, I would need to be there to help Hank. So, I sat on them.

This was the right tactic. However, I what I didn’t realize was I was violating the unspoken rule of etiquette. I was getting in the middle of their rotation. As the Barley rider came by me once he yelled, “Pull through! Don’t be afraid of the wind!” I yelled back, “I’m not going to help you pull my man back.” I wanted to come back with the fact that I had already done my time in the wind. “Well, if you are going to sit on then at least go back and sit on fifth,” he replied.

Here is were race awareness comes to play. As far as I knew, it was only the three of us. They were the only two I was aware of around me. I didn’t realize there was a fifth rider! Even if it was only the three of us, I should have hung back in third place and let them know I wasn’t going to help them.

Hey, I’m still learning. One thing is for sure, I don’t want to be one of those guys no one wants to ride around because he is either dangerous or a jerk. I learned a lesson and I’ll try to follow it next time. I do have to add though that I won’t be intimidated.

Speaking of being a dangerous rider. On the fifth lap I slipped back a bit as I had Hank, Matt, and Reece up ahead of me. I was tired from covering all those moves through the race. However, I was satisfied that my team had good numbers. I got on the tail end of a string of riders to recover some for the last lap. Unfortunately, I realized too late and I had latched onto a slowing group!

A gap formed and I tried to come around and catch them. Soon I was stuck in no-mans land with one other rider. I don’t know who she was, but she was stout! The two of us kept digging to see what might happen. I kept hoping that the group might slow as a break will sometimes do when it is larger.

As we went through the dip at the bottom of the hill leading up to the start/finish I could see the group nearing the top. I decided to just put my head down and put out a good cadence and if I had them in sight as we began the final lap, I would give it one more push. I started off taking the lead.

As we began the climb, I heard the rider following me let out a gasp of air. It distracted me for a moment and I started thinking that soon, I might be all alone. I looked down at my computer to see if I was to far into the red zone. It was at that moment I heard her say, “Watch ou…!” She didn’t even get the “out” out when I slammed into a cyclist in front of me.

I was going 20 mph at the moment I hit him. My wheel rode up the left side of his rear wheel. It flipped my bike up over it and I was slammed down on my right shoulder. My head followed and I felt the pain in my neck as it whipped to the ground and my head bounced off the asphalt. For a moment everything was spinning, but I never blacked out.

Before long there were riders around me. They asked me if I was okay. I told them to grab my leg. The only thing that was hurting right at that moment was my right calf that was seizing with a cramp! We got that under control and I stood. Wow! No blood. I think the reason why is because I didn’t slide at all. It was just a body slam into the pavement.

My helmet was busted in the back. Looking inside, I could see where the material had a crack across the inside. My jersey was just a little roughed up on the right shoulder. My left brake lever was broken – though the shifter still worked. Only thing I can figure is when I went down, I grabbed the shifter and broke it. Besides that the bar was askew. I’m really hoping my steer tube was not bent. As for the carbon frame and fork? Not a bit of damage. Not even a scratch. I was amazed.

I apologized to the guy I ran into and helped him make sure his bike was okay. Again, amazingly, it was just fine. Most thankfully, so was he!

Another lesson learned. No matter how hard you are digging. Don’t assume you know what is happening ahead of you. Always look out at least 10 feet in front. What happened to me was I looked up and saw the group. What I didn’t realize was that it was made up of two groups – the A Group breakaway and some C Group riders returning from the country route. I took off after the faster group and didn’t look up again thinking they were the only ones ahead of me. I found out otherwise.

I made my way to my car and just sat on the back staring at the ground. I felt like I had been beat up and I was very embarrassed by my accident. I was about to mist up, I felt so bad. Then Reece came by and told me that the POA guys had pulled off the win! There were enough guys up front to help get Reece to the line.

What is it they say? All’s well the ends well.

Good night.

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Posted in Racing, Rides | 12 Comments »

Brain dead

Friday, June 26th, 2009

It was the June segment of the POA Cycling Summer Series last night.  I arrived a little fearful.  My calf muscle had bothered me for the last couple of days and I had visions of it seizing up early on in the event.  Turns out it wasn’t my leg that cost me a good finish.  It was my brain!

In the cat 4/5 race we do 35 minutes plus 2 laps.  This means we normally get 35 laps or so in on the near .5 mile course.  We’ll finish up in less than 40 minutes.

Last night there were 37 of us lined up for the race.  There were a good number of GlobalBike club team members on hand and I figured they would give a good showing.  I had Sam, Luis, and Matt with me.  Oh, yeah, Tyler Crotts was there as well.  He factors into the story later.

Right from the start things got hopping.  Matt took off to start a break and I followed.  Five minutes into the race we had a gap on the field.  Unfortunately, my old body has to warm up before I can start doing things like that!

As we were rotating through, I started to struggle and said to my break partners, “I’ve got to back off.”  I didn’t want to hold Matt up if he was feeling good.  I realized I would just slow them down.  Later I learned that they thought I said, “Let’s back off.”  We all slowed and were caught.

It was time to go to mid-pack and recover.  One thing I’ve learned it that no matter how you feel, you cannot go to the rear of the field – at least not on this course.  I sat in and tried to recover.

Honestly, 15 minutes in I nearly pulled off the course.  I felt really, really bad.  Thankfully, I’ve been there before I knew I just had to ride through it.  I began to concentrate on staying near some of the GlobalBike riders and that took my mind off my body enough for me to effectively recover.

Twenty-five minutes in I started to find that I was unintentionally starting to make my way closer to the front.  I don’t know if it was because other riders were slowing or I was feeling better and speeding up.  Perhaps it was a combination.  One thing for sure, I was feeling much better.

That is when I started thinking about the finish.  It entered my brain that the race was 30 minutes plus two laps.  I decided that at 30 minutes, I would attack going up the slight incline on the backside of the course.  If I could get a good enough gap, perhaps I could hold on for the two or three laps I would need.

Around the time I started my move I looked ahead and saw there was someone else who had already attacked off the front.  It was Tyler Crotts – my trash talking nemisis.  Maybe the two of us could connect and help each other out.

The first part worked.  I came out of mid-pack and got a gap before there was any reaction.  I went through turn four and started to climb.  About mid-way up the climb I caught Tyler.  I looked back as I came around him to see if he was able come along.  Tyler wagged his head and stuck his tongue out.  He was done.  I was now alone.

Oh, well, I would just have to put my head down and give it a go.  After the first lap, I was feeling pretty good about myself.  As I would make a turn, I looked back to see the field.  As I came around turns two and three, I didn’t see any chasers.  Good.  Just nail out a steady pace and try to hold on.

It had registered vaguely in my mind that our race announcer, Blair, had not been calling out any lap countdown.  As I came around to finish my first lap on the break, he still was talking about me breaking away – not the amount of laps left.  Could I stay out here for two more laps?  It did help that I also heard the voices of people on the sidelines cheering me on.  I can’t remember who or what exactly they said, but it was a cool feeling.

The next time around was a heart break.  I had started feeling a little tired and wasn’t pushing it nearly as much as before.  It was about 33 minutes in and I heard Blair say as I passed, “5 laps to go.  5 laps to go.  Can Jonathan hang on?”  Funny, hearing those words completely demoralized me.  “No,” I thought to myself, “He can’t.”  Perhaps I could put pressure on the field to chase and allow Luis and Matt to sit in and then make a move.

I hung in there and lead another lap.  I made it around turn one and looked back.  When I was halfway between turns one and two I could see the field coming out of turn one.  I was done.  They caught me between turns two and three – right where I had started my attack.  I tried to stay on, but remember what I said about avoiding the back of the pack.

Three laps to go and Tyler and I were now riding along together.  We talked and still maintained a respectable speed over those last laps.  The last thing I wanted to do was to get lapped.  Number one, I just hate the idea of not finishing on the lead lap.  Number two, I don’t want to be in the way when the riders pick up speed!

We avoided getting lapped and as we crossed the line, we did it wheel-to-wheel so neither of us could say we beat the other (though I do have to point out that I was scored in 20th place – the last possible scoring position, I didn’t see Tyler on the scoring sheet).  It was a fun night.  Yes, I didn’t get the finish I wanted, but I definitely wasn’t just field fodder.

Had I not been brain dead and started my attack a little later, who knows what the evening might have held?  Oh, my calf muscle?  It felt great during the race.  However, by the time I cooled down afterwards, it was already tightening up again.  The Beautiful Redhead tells me that it is trying to send the message that I need to be on the bike more.  That would be nice…

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Rainy days and Thursday – but the ride goes on

Friday, June 5th, 2009

It rained for almost the entire day yesterday. Since it was Thursday, that meant it was time for one of my favorite rides when a group of us get together for what typically turns into a barn-burner. I figured we wouldn’t ride in the rain, but as I got home from work, the rain subsided and things actually started to dry up a bit. Maybe we would ride!

Not wanting to be the one accused of being a wimp, I sent a text message to one of the other members of our group. “Do we have designs to venture forth into the rain?” Chances are, if we did start out dry, we would end up wet before the night ended. No response as the clock neared 6PM – our scheduled departure time.

Well, I didn’t want to get a phone call, “Hey! Where are you? We’re getting ready to go!” So, I suited up, loaded my bike in the car, and then headed to the rendezvous. I wasn’t going to be ribbed for letting a little dampness keep me from the ride.

The parking lot was empty. Now what to do. I was all dressed up with no where to go. However, I really needed to ride. I needed the exercise, but more than that… I needed to work some things out of my head by turning my pedals.

I turned my car to Cleveland Park. I figured if a gully washer came I would be closer to my car doing laps in the park. As I neared the park I found the roads were pretty much dry. This might not be so bad.

As I was turning into the parking area, I saw a lone rider coming down the road. It appeared to be a red kit. As I was finding a parking place I noticed the rider was on a black Giant. Yep, it was a POA Cycling Team rider – my teammate and friend, Matt Tebbetts.

Had I been smart, I would have started riding counter-clockwise. That would have allowed me to meet Matt as he came around. However, I decided to chase him down. He would be my carrot.

As I continued I formulated my plan for the evening. I would do a solid 20 minute effort then give myself a 10 minute break in the middle. I would finish it off with another 20 minute push.

Turns out it took me about that long to catch up to Matt. It was a good 20 minute push – actually, it turned into a 30 minute one. I averaged 290 watts and over 22 mph for the period. Just about that time I came upon Matt pulling into the parking area where my car was. He had seen it and was looking for me.

Unfortunately, Matt was having to leave, so we rode on together for just a couple hundred yards. Then I was on my own again. That was okay. The exertion had gotten my mind and body loose and I was feeling really good. Yes, it was pretty humid and I was dripping sweat, but I’ve always liked feeling that way.

I pushed on for another 20 minutes and then called it a night. It was about 7:30 PM and while the clouds were not thick where I was, I could see that was about to change. Time to get home.

Don’t know if you all can get to this link or not, but here is a page in TrainingPeaks.com that shows the ride. Speaking of TrainingPeaks… today I am the featured membership profile on the TrainingPeaks blog. So, today you get two blog posts for the price of one :-)

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Posted in Rides, Training | 1 Comment »

Cheese steak and heart ache

Friday, April 24th, 2009

I set out to accomplish two objectives during the last night’s race.  My goals were to keep the rubber side down and finish in the top ten.  One objective was checked off my list.  The other one… almost.

Waiting for the start

Waiting for the start

It was the warmest temperature for a race in quite awhile.  As I pulled into the parking lot of the old Municipal Stadium I could see my teammates already working up a sweat trying to set up and get the route cleaned up.  I joined in, but am afraid I was more in the way than helpful.

Then it was time to get on the bike.  As I was spinning along I started to have some bad feelings.  I was not feeling very snappy.

You may laugh, but one of my mistakes of the day was I had a business lunch at City Range.  I should have gotten a salad or something.  No, I had to go and get a cheese steak sandwich.

By three o’clock I felt like I needed to go take a nap.  It was as though all the blood in my body was taking the oxygen away from my legs and lungs to my stomach.  Now as I was circling the course my legs felt heavy and I was still feeling lethargic.

I got up on the line as we were about to start.  There was a good sized field.  It was a mix of category 4 and 5 riders.  I wanted to be up front so I could avoid any crossed wheels and to be in position to react to any moves up front.

Then Blair and the officials decided to take the field around the course for a couple of pace laps so we could be shown the proper lines and get an understanding of the layout of the course.  I made the mistake of sitting back and letting the field pull be me around.  As we finished the second lap and stopped, I was at the back for the start.

Then we rolled off for real.  For the first several laps, I just stayed in and tried to position myself so I would be out of trouble.  After a number of laps, things began to stretch out and I could see a gap forming on the front between some riders and the field.

Trying to hold my own in the turn

Trying to hold my own in the turn

I was feeling like crud.  From the very beginning I felt like I was chasing.  That feeling that you can move anywhere at anytime wasn’t there.  It was replaced with a feeling that if anyone did something drastic, I would be left sitting.

The gap was growing and I began to move myself up toward the front.  There seemed to be some loose organization to try to bring the break back.  I joined in.

We were about a third through the race and I could see that the riders off the front were basically doing just enough to maintain the distance.  Here I had a choice; I could stay where we were and launch an attack at the end of the race in hopes of overtaking them at the end, or I could work to bridge up to them and then recover before the finish.

Bridging the gap

Bridging the gap

I moved to the front and started to pull and the field stretched out even more.  It would have been nice if I could have bridged over and stayed away.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough to build a big separation.  I basically pulled the field up to the break and those riders gave into field.

It pretty much wiped me out.  I got on the wheel of my teammate Matt who had followed me up to the break.  There were multiple times at that point where I felt like getting off the course.  Hearing the encouragement from spectators helped keep me in there.

Matt giving me a break

Matt giving me a break

About time I felt like I could make it another attack came.  I couldn’t go after them.  There was a lot of chatter in the group about who was going to do the work to bring them back.  The way I saw it, I had done my job on the first break and those guys could fight it out on this one.

There was a point where I realized I was racing for a top ten.  There would be no win tonight.  I looked around at the riders.  I knew what was going to happen.  The three man break would stay away.  There was a particular rider that I knew would attack for fourth place.  It would be a field sprint for the rest of us.

The sad thing was that I knew what was going to happen but felt helpless to do anything about it.  I had to save myself to just hang on.  There was no chance to take control.

Sure enough, the rider I had marked attacked in turn three.  I let him go.  I set up for turn four with the plan of letting it all hang out on the climb up to the finish.  It felt good to start moving up past some of the riders ahead of me.

Digging for the line

Digging for the line

As we neared the line, I could see that I had the possibility of getting one more spot.  I moved up beside him and he looked over.  He started to react but it was a little late.  We neared the line and I threw the bike forward to grab the spot.

A friend told me as I came off the course that he thought I might have gotten 9th or 10th.  After the way I felt out there, that would have been a happy result for me.  I would have to wait until the results were posted to find out.

As I was loading my bike into the car I discovered I had a flat tire!  I must have picked something up during the race that caused a slow leak.  Wow, had I had a flat at the wrong time out there and my objective of keeping the rubber side down might have gone out the window.

11th.  I got 11th.  Just one pass away from my goal.

The questions I ask myself are 1) Was my ride indicative of my fitness overall or was it just a bad night?  2) Will I ever learn to understand what is going on around me and, more importantly, know how to act to turn it to my adavantage?  I guess only time will tell.

Here are the numbers for the night: 28 laps around a .45 mile course for just over 30 minutes.  My max power (1094 watts) during the race happened early on the second lap.  I averaged around 1:06 per lap.  My peak 20 minute reading from my Quarq CinQo Saturn was 291 watts.  The number for the entire race was 287 watts.

The bottom line is that I was putting out about the same power as I typically do.  I just felt a lot worse doing it.  Also, what the numbers don’t show was WHEN I was using the power.  That is what I’ve got to learn.  I feel that I misuse my power – wasting it on wrong moves or doing more work on the front than I should.  What I’m saying is that with a little more intelligence, I could probably place higher without using as much energy.

There are still more opportunities ahead.  I’ve just got to put more effort into improving my stamina and my intelligence.  First intelligent thing to do?  Avoid cheese steak sandwiches the day of a race!

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Great teammates and a dangerous Volvo

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Yesterday I posted the race report for the weekend.  Still there was more to the weekend than just riding bikes.  There was time to spend with friends — both old and new.

Some of my mates at SC State Criterium Championships

Some of my mates at SC State Criterium Championships

This was the first opportunity for me to spend any amount of time with my new teammates.  My first race with the POA Cycling Team was a quick up and back to the River Falls road race.  Since I was a late comer to the team, I also missed the early training times.

Because of my kids’ activities on Saturday, I was unable to be there with the team for the Saturday races.  I headed down later that day with plans to join them for the afternoon races on Sunday.  So at 6 PM I rolled onto Kiawah Island to join a number of the crew.

Matt and Reece met me as I was driving onto the island.  I followed them in my car to the Kiawah Island Club where I unloaded my bike for a ride.  I just wanted to go out for a quick 30 minutes to loosen up a bit.

As I headed down the road back toward Charleston I was moving along 25 and 30 mph along the four lane divided highway through a mixed residential and commercial area.  I had spun for awhile and was now opening things up a bit.  My plan was to do several of these accelerations before heading back in.

About this time I noticed a car to my left in my peripheral vision.  It was flying up in the inside lane beside me and I could see the flashing of the right turn signal.  The car suddenly slowed and I could see the driver about to turn right – across the two lanes of traffic – and at the same time I saw the passenger grab the armrest.  The driver made a move on the wheel and I saw the car swerve toward me and then brake.

Thinking back, I tried to figure out what I might have done wrong as I continued along my way with the driver’s horn blaring behind me.  I was traveling along the white line with the flow of traffic.  I made no motions to indicate any turn or change in speed.

What I think happened was the driver was wanting to make a right turn into a street off the road.  He completely misjudged the speed at which I was traveling.  He thought he could get past me and then turn into the street before I got there.  However, because I was going much faster than he thought, he didn’t make it around me soon enough.

So, why the horn?  Frankly, I think he was scared and embarrassed.  Of course, he wasn’t going to take that out on himself.  He had to aim it at the stupid cyclist – who was obeying the rules of the road.

I returned to connect with Matt and Reece before heading to the place where we would be staying the night.  There I found a good number of the crew.  Matt was working on some sort of pasta dish and Samantha was loading garlic into another one.  I had stopped by Chic-fil-a on the way down, but this looked like a worthy second dinner.

As we ate we talked about the races that day and various other topics from social media to our favorite dog chase stories. It was nice to get to know everyone a little better. Later several of the guys and gals actually sat down and watched NASCAR with me.  Now that is the beginning of a great relationship!

Cycling is a team sport.  The POA Cycling Team showed how it can work in the 35+ Masters race the next day.  Not only is it important for strategy, it is also good to have trust in the fellow riders around you.  When things get dicey, it is nice to see that teammate beside you.  Building that trust happens both on and off the bike.

Thanks for a great weekend, POA Cycling.  I appreciate you all letting me come onboard.  Here’s hoping I can get a couple of good results for the team this year.  Even if I don’t, I’ve got your back – that is unless I get taken out by a baby boomer in a Volvo.

Oh, and a huge thank you to the Petersons for opening their homes to us.

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You race and you learn: 1st Cat 4 criterium

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Sunday afternoon I participated in the South Carolina Criterium Championship with my POA Cycling teammates. My category 4 race was the last one of the day at the Hampton Park in Charleston, SC – right next to The Citadel. It was a beautiful day – just a little windy when Billy White, Matt Tebbetts, Blair LaMarche, and I took the course.

My first category 4 criterium race

My first category 4 criterium race

First the bad news. I got 14th place. I did two stupid things that put me in that position.

One – a few laps into the race (19 laps total) I was near the front. I noticed a rider kept stretching his lead. There was some movement up front to bring him back. My turn came and, like an idiot, I pulled for about half a lap.

It is one of those things I have to learn. How do you get off the front gracefully? I don’t want to be in the way and cause an accident. Also there is that fear that I won’t have done enough of my part. Chalk that up as something to learn.

The worse thing about it is that the guy was going to get swallowed up anyway. As we got closer to him, I could see him glancing back and starting to soft pedal. That was a bunch of energy for nothing.

Two – just before the start of the five lap countdown there was a prime. At first I was thinking correctly to myself, “Don’t worry about the prime. What you want is the podium.” However, as we came out of the fourth turn I saw a gap that would take me past about 20 riders who had decided not to contest it. There wasn’t much of a gap to the sprinters.

I shot up the gap and actually gained on the two guys going for the prime. I ended up third. As soon as we crossed the line the announcer called, “Five laps to go. Five laps to go.” Oh, great. Now I just had five laps to recover and those would probably be the fastest five of the race.

Now the good news. I got 14th place. It could have been worse.

Thankfully, I was able to back up a bit after the prime attempt and recover. By the time we reached the final lap I was sitting in the top five riders. My teammate Billy was right there as well. My goal was to stay in contact with him. Hopefully, we would set things up for a good finish.

One of my fears of criterium racing is the turning. Thankfully this course had two very sweeping turns and only two corners that were close to ninety degrees. Corner number two was one of those sharper turns.

I started feeling comfortable about the turns and was finally feeling confident about holding my line. It helped that there were road markers and it gave me something to concentrate on as we went through the corners in a pack.

During our final time through corner two I was setting up to accelerate out of the turn and move into position to sweep through turn three. It would be very important to be near the front going into turn four. That would all start here in turn two.

Suddenly I heard some commotion behind me. Next thing I knew a rider – who I could not see – banged against my left hip. It was a hard enough of a jostle that it knocked me out of my lean. That caused me to straighten in the turn and the bike to wobble as I started to tip over my center of gravity.

I didn’t even think about what might happen. I just gathered my Giant after a bit of squirrelliness and then smashed the pedals to try to make up the ground I lost. I kept waiting to hear the dreaded sound of riders going down behind me.

Billy was still up there, but I was now stuck on the outside with riders streaming around me. I was now in the top 20 riders, but was not in a good position. After turn three I started to attempt to move closer to the front. After getting boxed in a bit I was forced into turn four on the outside.

Going into turn four I lost more positions as riders took the shorter inside turn. Now it was time to let it go. Thankfully, the outside was open because the field was stretching out for the sprint. I started moving past riders and moved into the top ten just as we were passing the restrooms on the right.

At that point I started seeing some riders coming up to my left. I tried to increase my cadence to stay up. It was then I noticed I was about three rings above my 11. I shifted a couple of times and things leveled out. However, the momentum couldn’t get me past them.

It was about 30 meters from the line when I felt the earlier efforts. I saw riders going past me on my left – one of those was Tebbetts. I gritted my teeth to try to beat him, but he and one other rider got past me to take 12th and 13th. I immediately rued the two earlier efforts. Not a doubt in my mind I could have had a top 10 – even with the near crash in turn two – had I not put out that needless energy.

Observations: It is great racing with a team. Granted, Tebbetts and I don’t know a thing about strategy. I’m sure we were frustrating to Billy. Still, it was great to know they were there. There is a comfort that comes going into a tight corner when you know the guy beside you.

Tebbetts is strong. Early in the race he was right on the front for multiple laps. Then on the final turn he was pushed off the course. He still recovered and came back to put pass me.

Billy is one competitive dude! This was his second race of the day, but when the line was in sight he wasn’t going to go down without a fight! It earned him an eighth place.

What can I say about Blair? He is the consummate promoter. It was obvious that the fast, flat Charleston course was right up his ally. The greatest thing about Blair was his excitement over the success of the team as a whole. I’m sure he’ll have a blog entry up at POACycling.com soon.

Final observation… I’m not a criterium racer. I don’t have the high end speed you need. The max the Quarq CinQo recorded was 1132 watts on a lap where we averaged 356 watts. I sure hope I get a chance at a couple of road races this year.

Excuse the long entry. It was really an exciting race for me. The whole weekend was a blast. Thanks POA Cycling Team!

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Posted in Racing | 3 Comments »

It was like an evening time one day classic

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Last night I managed to get out on a group ride. Wednesday was a short spin for me, but that was the first time back on the bike since Sunday afternoon. It has been even longer since I had ridden in a group.

This was just an unofficial ride with some friends. Eight of us headed off toward the base of Paris Mountain and over near Travelers Rest. We would turn around out there and then head up Paris and then back home.

John James was out of the blocks fast. Matt Tebbetts, Matt Turner, and I were hanging on. Before long, we were away from the other riders.

Understand, this is not a No Man Left Behind kind of ride. It varies in purpose. Sometimes in the past it has been a conserve and then see if each member of the group can get his personal best up Paris. At other times it is simply a hammerfest to see how many riders are left at the end.

This ride was one of the later. Turns out John was working to keep his average power for the ride over 250 watts. Several times I looked down and saw numbers of 300 to 400. On one section where John and I were pulling up the road together I saw sustained wattage of over 500.

The four of us went looping through some roads between Furman and TR. On the way back, we turned onto the Swamp Rabbit trail and did some rough riding in honor of the classic going on over in Belgium. That was a lot of fun.

As we flew along the road we had John, Matt Tebbetts, and I in POA Cycling kits. Matt Turner was the odd man out with Les Amis colors. John slid back to me once and said, “I feel like we are away off the front in some one day classic.” If so, Mr. Turner was in trouble. Actually, he was riding very well and had put a hurting on me during a couple of pulls.

As we neared the base of Paris for the climb up, we saw Mike, Art, and Blair going toward Altamont on the Frontage Road. By the time we got there, they had already turned up for the climb. Too soon it was going to be our time to follow them.

I knew there would be no personal best for me tonight. My hope was that I could just make it to the top without the other riders creating to big of a gap on me. As soon as we turned up I knew that was going to be tough.

Before long it was just a line of red going up the climb as Tebbetts, John, and I got around Mike and Blair. Art was no where to be seen. I didn’t expect that we would catch him before the top.

Tebbetts kept talking about how he would see us at the top. I was jokingly accusing him of sandbagging. I know he wasn’t. The issue is that he just can’t stand not being with the leading group. He was going to work to stay there regardless of how he felt.

John and I were starting to get put into trouble as Matt just kept tapping out a steady cadence. Then John eased up a little to recover some energy. Then he moved to the front and created a gap between the other two of us.

When we got to the wall, I was behind the other two guys. I could see both guys ahead of me. John was going to get to the top first. Matt had a pretty good gap on me as well. Perhaps if he slowed I could catch him before the top.

I shifted to a slightly harder gear and slogged along after them. Matt beat me to the top, but I had gained on him enough to cross the line close to his rear wheel. Still, it was a bad night with a time of 13 minutes.

After waiting for Turner to join us at the top, we started down the other side. Now the group was larger with Mike, Blair, and Art joining us for the ride down. Blair and John took to lead. The rest of us followed.

Blair then went way off the front. I could tell that most of the riders decided that we were not going to allow him to make it to the bottom first. Turner moved up and started pulling us through the rolling sections. By the time we reached the downhill portion, he had brought us even with Blair.

There were several attacks before the final turns, but then it was just Blair on the front with me right on his wheel. I sat there and let his draft suck me down the road. No need to work here. It was just a matter of waiting for the right moment to go around him.

We made a right turn and then started into the final left sweeping turn. I slipped out of his draft and put the hammer down. My bike went by him with ease. It is amazing what the draft can do for you. I came through the final right turn onto the straight with lots of speed.

I’m sure I was hitting close to 50 mph at that point. My WKO+ says I registered 71.8 mph as my max speed. Obviously, the satellites got mixed up on that one! Looking back at my Garmin I see that it registered a top speed of 50.18.  Hmmm, I wonder what makes the big discrepancy?

There was one little sprint to close out the night. Once again I got in Blair’s draft and nipped him at the line. Then John came flying pass me saying as he passed, “I’m not trying to be a pill, I’m just trying to keep my power average high for the ride.” I took a breath and jumped on his wheel.

We finished together and had amazingly similar power averages. He uses a Powertap and I use a Quarq CinQo coupled with the Garmin 705. He is about 5 pounds lighter than I am, but was putting out more at some points. Had we switched power systems, I believe the results would have been the same.

That was a big effort. It was easily harder than any Donaldson Center ride I have been on this year. Come to think of it, that was probably the most effort I have put out in an hour and a half for a long, long time. You know what? It was a blast!

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Posted in Rides | 2 Comments »

Simple things and random sites

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Last night was one of those times when you learn to enjoy the simple things. I was finishing up my day expecting to get home, grab a bite to eat, and then head out to a meeting. However, my wonderful redhead decided that I would stay with the kids while she went to the meeting.

That allowed me to rush home from work and jump on the bike for a 40 minute ride with some of my teammates. Samantha, Joey, Matt, and I had a good time making several laps around Cleveland Park. I even had a chance to uncork a couple of time on two of the climbs and clocked a power max of just under 1200 watts.

But mostly it was just a pleasure to spin around the park at about 120 watts. I would hate to do that by myself, but when you are with good friends it makes all the difference. Thanks, ya’ll!

And… now… for… RANDOM SITE OF THE DAY!

I have a horrible time remembering all the parts of a bicycle. I’m sure I’ve made my mechanic friends chuckle more than once when I called a part something other than what it was… “It is the dohickie that is making the rattling sound.”

Well, no more… I happened upon “The Parts Of A Bicycle Nomenclature Names.” Say what? Oh, just go look at this page: http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/bicycleparts.html.

You cyclists have fun out there at Donaldson tonight. I have the meeting and the wife is staying with the kids. I won’t be able to join you.

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Posted in Life, Sites | 2 Comments »

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