Chillin' In Da Hood

Long week of cycling. Although I rode OK this week, I will say it was not a good training week. Every time I rode, I rode hard. When I should be resting, I did not ride - So every time I was on the bike, It was like full throttle - I want to be in top form by Gateway - It is a goal. To get there, I need to set two goals - First is eating right and the second is training right. Summer school is over this week so my plan is to go into effect soon.

First, the only photo of me at Winghaven - a picture of my ass (#587) - quite appropriate


Tuesday Night Crits - A good time - Temp was HOT, HOT, HOT. I felt OK - I wanted to lay myself out for part of the race - so I chose the prime. I took to the front, on 5th wheel going into the turn at the top of the hill and got blocked out by two Big Shit guys - however, good effort - unfortunately, I was toast. I finished with the pack. After the race the ICCC treated everyone to some nice refreshing snowcones!



Wed Night Throwdown - I hung on for dear life - Fell off on Conway but caught back on.

Thursday and Friday - Sat on my ass. I really want to ride the Marquette ride - maybe in a week or two.

Saturday Hub ride - fast, but not that fast. Started off really fast, but eased up after awhile.

Ok here it is - THE HUB WEBSTER GROVES CRIT!!! Bring it on...It was broughten!

Highlights from the day as seen by me:
Arrived at 7:00 felling very hung over from the night before - Went to a buddies 40th party and saw Gilbert Gottfried - Freaking hilarious.

The day began with set-up:

My job for the day was registration - set up and prepared for the chaos. Everything throughout the day went great - the beauty is having Ron Clipp as the promoter. The only complaint I had was this one guy who bitched about the extra release form - I tried to blow it off, but true to asshole form, he kept bitchin. I finally said, "you know who loves to hear complaints like this - Ron Clipp - he's right over there." The guy said, "that's Ok, I won't bother him." And I replied, "Now that's a good call." The best thing about Ron, he can out-crazy the crazy!

I must admit I did not see much racing - registration sucks - and is constantly busy. Everything comes your way- registration, questions, comments - it's like the focal point for people to go. The highlight was this one dude who got a one day license to race the Cat 5's. I swear the guy was not right - he showed up to race without a helmet, found one, and signed up for the Cat 5 and 4/5. I asked if he has ever raced before - The answer - I raced Collegiate at the University of Arizona! I was like, man, you're going rock out there. And rock he did - by crashing out a few in the field like Andy Berger before the third lap and riding like a nuthead. By the forth lap he was gone. After the race he came back to registration and wanted to drop out of the 4/5's - So, instead of letting him sulk away, I had to give him shit - like: I guess Missouri racing ain't like Arizona racing, is it? Man, was that funny.

The Saxton Kids did the kids race - super cool

After the race, they rode in the pace car for the 4/5's. It was hilarious seeing Gracie's head sticking out the rear window every lap with a huge grin on her face!


The best racing highlights included the super crash in the 3/4's - Ambulance and all and the great work int he 4/5's - coming into the last lap was The Hub train on the front - get the fuck out of the way!

If you want a detailed report - see Bill's blog

For the 1,2,3 race, registration was closed, so I jumped in the car for a ride, but ended up driving because Andy was sick of driving - as always - super fun.


And for the conclusion - it wouldn't be a Hub race without copious amounts of beer!


Good job to The Hub - a great racing team!

A View from the Cheap Seats

It has been awhile since my last update on the riding journal - so here it goes.

Saturday - did the Hub ride - felt tired. Took it easy and cut the ride a little short and rode with Ron. The group caught us and I rode with the group the rest of the way in.

Sunday morning - Knucklehead - Felt really good - except for a "little" problem. While we were waiting for the ride - I had to take a major dump - It was really bad. I tried to sprint ahead to Starbucks on Clayton in the strip mall - ran to the door and... They were closed! There is hardly anything open at 6:30 on a Sunday morning. So I sprinted to Schnuck's, ran inside and the bathroom was locked. I was in shit hell. Rode across the street to the other Starbuck's and... SUCCESS! So, after I dropped 5 pounds and missed the ride, I decided to ride Clayton to Kher's Mill and ride the route backwards until I caught the group. The Hub guys were on the front (Kevin, Ron, Adam, Mark) and I joined in. It was a great ride - the best was Mark who got up front and laid the hammer down. We got stopped at the light at Baxter and I looked back and Mark demolished the ride - all that was left was us!
Mark The Anihilator!
Tuesday night crits - rode down with Kevin and raced - felt really good. The race started out and there was a crash on one of the early laps on the back hill - I was behind it but was able to move around it. A gap formed and I tried to sprint to close the gap and instead pulled to whole group back together. Oh, well. I was doing great and with three laps to go moved up into great position. Some dude was yelling for me to pull through the group but with three to go - I held up. I do not know if that was a mistake or not. The last lap got really sketchy and bunched up - guys were bumping like crazy and I got pushed back and finished with a group sprint.

Wednesday - did The Hub throwdown and felt really good. Although the pace was a little slower - I stayed with the whole ride and finished strong. As we went through RocK Hill, the Hub ride caught up with Team Rev's ride and I saw Judy and finished the ride with her - I know, I'm romantic!
That night we had the Webster Crit meeting complete with...beer! We stayed at The Hub pretty late drinking and planning!

Could not ride Thursday or Friday for personal reasons.

Saturday - did the Hub ride and I felt really good. Took it a little slow with some good pushes. When we got back to The Hub, members from Jelly Belly - in town for Winghaven - were there doing a plubicity thing for the Tour of Missouri. It was cool talking to a few of the guys - and the best was the free shit!

Sunday - Winghaven. Hubbers Bill, Bryan, Robert, Eric, Greg and Eddy

The big race - the only NRC race in Missouri. It was awesome having the Sram cars and motos with Zipp wheels following us and two police on motos leading us. Cars with guys with cameras were all around us while racing. Our race was really early and I arrived latter than I wanted to and so I was only able to take one warm-up lap - instead I took two and lined up at the end of the pack for the start with Bill and Robert. Eddy was on the front line. We than sat and waited at least 30 min. in the heat because things were not set up. We did have some scenery to keep our minds off the wait, unfortunately the heat factor increased (I was not as descriptive nor detailed as Bill! - but the socks with the shorts kicked ass!) Finally the race got under way and the three of us moved up nicely after the first round-about. Tucked in down the big hill and up the short steep climb there was the first big crash on off to the side. The race was going fine except for the back stretch. Guys would break hard into the really sharp turn and then blast it through the major hill on the start/finish line. The fourth lap, I was headed down the back hill and up the steep climb and right next to me - another big crash, taking out a few guys. When we came into the turn for the fifth lap, I was on Eric's wheel and was hurting big time. The temp was really hot and I had drank very little water. The heat was totally getting to me. The sprint out of the corner left me falling off Eric's wheel and falling off the pack. By the time we cleared the second round-about and headed for the hill to the start/finish line, I was gassed and lost all contact. My race was over in a bad way. I regrouped with Eddy and robert and we punished ourselves to stay in the race. We all finished somewhat together. Although I was not there for the sprint, Bryan said he ran out of gas going into the hill, Bill sat up and blocked and I think Eric finished in pretty good standing. After the race we were all so dehydrated and zonked that we just sat on the grass unable to stand because of the heat. When we finished the temp was around 97 and climbing.

Other races I saw:
Mark and Michael raced in the Master's 1-4. I didn't see much of the race - I was passing out at the time but I did see the end and Mark - a steady blog follower!- finished with the pack in the sprint - an awesome job considering the talent in the group.

The ladies race featured Alice and Kate. Kate followed my racing strategy and Alice stayed with the group and finished strong. I had recovered by then and took a couple shots:
Kate:
Alice:

Alright Louie - ville

Louisville: Title=Jamie Curtis from Trading Places - you know, "Alright Louie"

First let me give props to my wife on her second century of the year - way to go Judy! With company from Andy Bergermeister, Judy rocked without me. 2 down, 3 to go.

Well, I have been out of the normal regiment for a week and I am sure I have ballooned to a fat ass. The Louisville trip is done to grade AP Exams and hang out with some buddies. By hang out, I mean beer, food and more beer. An example:

The Famous "Brown Sandwich" from the Brown Hotel in Louisville: 1/2 pound of Turkey, heavy bread and a Bashamil sauce with cheese I do not know the mount of weight that has been gained here, but to get ready for Winghaven I am going to have to do some pretty hard-care detox.

Met up with Tom Z. from Truman U. at Kirksville

Yes, I did give him the customary Big Shark crap like God, Big Shark riders are like roaches - they are everywhere, they multiply and could survive a nuclear war, bikes and all (after all, they say "Big Shark" on them - the words themselves are like a nuclear force field) - Tom is one heck of a rider and a few of you probably recognize him from Masters races - he used to ride with Jelly Belly before Big Shark. I rode with Tom one day and we rode the Masters Nationals course in Cherokee Park. It is a cool as hell course 5 miles with one substantial climb (not as steep as Herman, but longer) and another noticeable climb. It is an awesome course that winds through the park - it does have some good turns. Tom smoked me up the two aforementioned hills - come on, I'm a suck-ass cat 4 and I read exams for 8 hours.

Did do some solo rides and one group ride with the Cycler's Cafe.

This was supposed to be a Tuesday Night Throwdown - this was told to be the racer ride at throwdown pace (a step below race pace)
The ride: for a group ride - it was huge - I guess about 50 guys - all racers from mostly three teams, the biggest was Team Louisville - and it was a drop ride. I sported The Hub kit in Louisville determined not to embarrass the store and the hood - and I did not disappoint. The ride was really cool. This ride took over the streets - I mean, the entire lane, blasted through stops, etc - It was a wild. Tom took over at the front with another guy and my ass landed near the upper middle. This ride had a lot of build-up. This Cat 4 guy next to me said when I asked about the ride - you picked the best one, Cat 1 and 2 guys up front, Blah, Blah, Blah, etc. I will not knock their ride, I had a great time, however, these are a group of guys in desperate need of a Tuesday Night Worlds Crit. This ride was like a road race, guys jockeying for positions, covering breaks - all on the road with cars - in this way it was a little crazy. The pace itself was fast, but these guys have never done The Hub Wed. night throwdown. This ride was almost all flat and needed some hills - however, when we pulled off, there were only about 20 guys left. I could have done more, but with not knowing the course - I am far from Tom, knowing me, I would get to the front, hit the only hill on the course, and blow up! So I was fine were I was and I covered two breaks.

OK - coming home to the land of milk, honies, and my biking. From Louie-ville, peace out (man, was Jammie Lee Curtis hot as hell in that movie)

A Damn Stupid Move

Riding: Monday Night - renewed the Monday Night fixed Gear ride - It was an awesome night. We left when it was still light. In attendance was Andy, Tom Eaton, and El Cavano. We had a nice headwind going out - mostly downhill and a delightful tailwind going back. The pace was great - an awesome ride.

OK - now for the Stupid moves. Tuesday looked horrible as far as rain - so I bagged on Tuesday Night Crits - and the rain never came. The race would have been dry and by the time it rained, I would have been home. So... no riding for me

Wednesday Night Throwdown - Man was this tough. Either I'm a fat ass or I'm fucking slow (or both) I was second from the front going down Geyer headed to Geyer Hill (which is a very steep two tier hill) At the base before the turn, Chris Miller comes up and says - let's attack, or some shit. I politely tell him no, I want to be here in the end. Well off he goes - I do not chase, but pick up the pace around the lead guy into the hill - I hold the front of the whole two tier hill and edge up by the top to Chris' wheel, closing the gap. Chris begins to pull the stretch to Clayton and then falls off leaving me to finish the pull. By Clayton, I was smoked. When we turned on Clayton, David Mark and Danny F took massive pulls up front. The Pace was something like 27 mph - super fast considering the incline. When we hit the light at Ballas, Bill says next to me that he was 5 seconds from bonking - My response was - your ten second ahead of me - I'm out. We continue the ride and I fall off on Clayton but am able to catch up and on Conway near the top, but once again, close enough to catch up. I was toast on the sprint. I swear I never recovered from the first part. I looked like I was beat too - so much so that people commented - AHHH!

I'm off to Louisville for the week. Yes, I'm bringing my bike and I think I hooked up some group rides - will see how they go. Also, wish Judy luck on her second century on Saturday. Andy Berger will watch over her. As a parting shot - check out this dude's mailbox I ran across while out riding: