Gettin to it

I know it has been forever since I have last posted. Since it has been a month - and so much riding has happened - I though I would break up my cycling onto four sections. I have had a blast riding on my new Giant - It is sooooo sweet!

First: Tuesday Night Worlds
So far I have done two TNW - both with mediocre success. Magic number 171! Overall I am happy that I finished both races with the pack. My only real complaint is the pace has been so fucking fast. The first race average was 25.4 and the second race was 25.5. With such a quick pace, I have had a hard time moving up in the pack. It seems that I hold my place, somewhat and I finish where I started. The first race was to see how I fared. It was good to be racing with so many familiar faces - although very few Hubbers. My goal was to stay on Chuck Pass' wheel. He seems to ride so smooth in the pack and little by little makes his way to the front so when when the 3 to go sounds, he is in good position. I was on his wheel most of the race and with about 10 min to go, I lost it. I finished with the pack - near the back - so nothing special. I was happy that I finished. The second race was really sketchy - the pace was solid and a few guys were all over the place - no crashes - just sketchy riding. I finished like I did in the first race. After the race it was Ron's birthday and there was tons beer!After more than a few Coronas - I headed home!

Second: HUB Rides.
Saturdays: So far the Hub rides have been going OK. The Saturday rides have been super wet. It seems like every Saturday there has been rain. The pace has been fast this year and I hate riding in the early morning, but overall, it has been OK. Last week was the hardest of the bunch - I was sick, but it was like the first beautiful Saturday and the group was huge so I sucked it up and did it - however, the day did not go well - but I still had fun.
Wednesdays: Wed night throwdowns have been a different story. Since I was teaching night class- I have only been able to ride two Wed. night rides so far. Both Wed night rides have been awesome and I have been strong. Both rides have been super fast. The first Hub ride I made it count and was in the top 6 or 7 up Conway to Ballas. It was a great feeling. Tonight felt just as good. Although there were times I wanted to puke, it felt great to stay with the group. The group started out large, but whittled down over the course of the ride. The pace tonight was 20.2 - a solid fast pace. Going up Conway was shell fest - I was near the back and I swear I had to cover 4 breaks with guys falling off. Also I had to cover a beak on Clayton and one after the super steep hill on Geyer. It seemed like that is all I was doing - so even though I was far from the front, I worked hard.

Third: Velodrome
So in my course of cycling to be a jack of all trades and master of none - I went to the track for the first time with my "new" track bike on a Hub track session. Super excited. The Hub rules the track - winning countless state champion jerseys and the team cup last year. I went out with Tyler, Chris(State Champ), Dave Smith, Bill H, Todd and Stephanie. It was a work-out and half, but a blast. We did a 15 lap team time trial, 5 lap scratch, 5-11 lap unknown distance, and three 200 meters. I was really disappointed in my 200 time - 16 seconds - everyone else was in the 14 second mark. I really have to work on my gearing and sprinting - my goal is to work on 15 second road intervals during my training rides - I think this will help. Tyler taught me the most important lesson of the night - don't stop on the top of a turn - you will slide down - ouch! I am looking forward to track starting.

Four - riding with Judy - Man, does she look hot!I took a day off work and we went on a two hour bike ride