Crit Racing

The word 'Criterium' is french for 'Competition'... definately some good competition heading to eastern IA/western IL this weekend. The british call Crits 'roundy rounds'. More usesless trivia, but anyone who races in this area is probably thinking about this weekend.

Today, I am wondering if a taper is in order. Most cyclist don't seem to taper in favor of 'saddle time' so I usually follow suit. Tapering is the key to success for running events, but I am going to hit it hard again tonight, hoping to gain some confidence and maintain my fitness.

I have been doing some reading on racing tactics for criteriums. Strength and fitness are important in criterium racing, but equally important (in some ways more important) is tactical skill and intelligence/experience. A little luck and courage also help.

I am doing all of the Cat 3 events 1) Snake Alley in Burlington, 2) Melon City Crit in Muscatine (my backyard) 3)Quad Cities Criterium in Rock Island, Il. My goals are to hopefully get in the money in some of the races. They pay back deep (20 places or so) however there is such strong competition that I will really have to earn a spot that high up on the leader board.

In the back of my mind, yes I do also want to continue building my fitness and gaining racing skill, so I will be having some measure of success regardless of the outcome. I hope that Iowa riders are confident and ready to get some high placings since this is basically our home turf.

The Iowa Cup continues with Snake Alley and Melon City Crits, so a competition within a competition will be occuring as we can also measure our results against the local racers.

There is no reason to hold anything back this weekend, so good luck to all, and ride strong... real strong.

DICE 20kTT Starting Block

DICE 20k Time Trial

Today was the day to officially put a number to my TT skills with the 8th annual 20k Time Trial championships in Barstow, IL. I had entered this race the two previous years, but this was the first year with an actual TT bike, so I was obviously hoping to build upon my previous efforts.

While there were well over 100 people in past years, the 2008 edition had a rather sparse attendance, but, as we all know, you race against who shows up, not to mention the fact that this is really a race against the clock.

Speaking of who showed up, Bryce Mead, a pro rider from Team Jelly Belly, decided to enter the race, arriving early for this weekend's Memorial Day events. I checked it out to make sure he was the real deal: http://jellybellycycling.com/team/

Anyway, he won first overall, surprise, and beat the old course record of 26:13, set by Paul Deninger with a 25:16 (about 29.51mph ave). This is especially noteworthy because that put me down a spot, finishing second overall with a 26:16 (28.39mph).

I was hoping to do well today, and was very happy when I crossed the line, but floored to hear about some guy getting a 25minute time... I was relieved that he raced professionally (sort of made it seem like he was overqualified to compete with us amateurs, or something), but still would have rather he stayed home today.

The rest of the Muscatine Multisport gang did well, with Eric Furnas and Chris Mann taking firsts in their age group, and Connie Mann achieving a 2nd place overall in the female division.

Ok, well this Bryce Mead guy is in town for one of the region's main events... Memorial Day Weekend Racing. Going fast in a straight line is one thing, but this weekend is about so much more, specifically going fast through corners.

I am pretty sure crit racing is one of my weakest areas, but if luck falls my way I might have a result worth posting.

Muscatine Multi-sport Duathlon

Wednesday was the newly formed Muscatine Multi-sport's group training event. We set up a course at saulsbury rec. center that included a 2 mile run, a 20k bike and then another 2 mile run.

Pretty good attendance, with a few people trying a duathlon for the first time. I imagine they will now be inspired to upgrade their bike and/or their running efforts and equipment to take on this challenging new discipline.

My running times seemed right on track, considering I am only running once per week. I am hoping to simply maintain my runs, and keep amping up my Time trialing results as the season goes on.

I did the course in 54 minutes and 48 seconds. My first run was 5:43/mile and second run was 6:11/mile. I did the bike part in 29minutes and 52 seconds. Thanks to connie mann for doing the timing, which she was forced into, having brought a bike with no brake pads (they were taken out to install some brand new super fast zipp wheels).

I am still tweaking my bike position and fit, but I almost have it locked in to the most aerodynamic I can get without injuring myself or comprosining on comfort and optimum power output.

Local bike shop owner Greg Harper, gets honorable mention, for fixing my gear shifter earlier that day. Yes, I have many cycling skills, but I learn as I go with the mechanical aspects fo the sport, and really screwed up my gears by trying to make an adjustment myself. Greg saved the day for me however, and I am back up to speed.

Weekend Training Race

I decided to do the Two Bee Race last saturday, called Tech Tach Teicher. I wasn't sure what to expect, but usually the races put on by Conn Day and friends are a little bit more low key. They are great options, however, to break up the predictability of training with the same people.

My pre-race train of thought was to make sure I got a good work-out, so I wasn't planning on sitting in the back, or letting breakaways loose, if possible. Once I arrived, however, I was excited to see a much larger turnout than what I expected, 38 starters.

Most notable was the fact that 'Bikes To You' had basically their entire Cat 1/2 team, yet all the Cat 3's were absent (racing in arkansas I believe). Also, was the large team 'Atlas' representation.

Ok, so this was going to be a hard race without me going out of my way, because some of the best of the 'east coast Iowa racers' were lining up.

Basically, the race consisted of Bikes To You and Atlas taking turns attacking, chasing and blocking. I was mostly up for the 'fitness assessment' aspect of this race, since I had plenty of Michelob Ultra stockpiled from the Two Bee time trial races I have been doing. So, I chased the attacks down as well.

This meant I got to follow the wheels of some big hammers like Lee Venteicher (hey is this race named after him?), Tracy Thompson, Josh Madsen, Jim Cochran, Sean Walker, Ryan Jacobsen, etc. I used tons of energy bridging up to these attacks, and really I didn't have any specific reason for doing it (tactics wise).

Towards the end of the 27.5 mile race, a field of 14 was still intact. On one of the incline portions, with about 2 miles to go, I was on the front looking to slow down to conserve energy for the final sprint. Just then, Lee V. (I think, didn't look back) literally pushed me ahead with his hand. I guess this was non-verbal communication to 'go for it', 'take a pull' or perhaps even a great tactic to finally get rid of me, by coaxing me into burning my last bit of energy.

I accellerated/pulled for a bit, who knew, maybe some more people would get shelled off... Nope, only the strong had survived, and strong indeed they were. This was a terrible time to attack, and not really intentional, I just went with the momentum of Lee's 'push'. Next thing I know I was being dropped, along with ryan jacobsen (who had done a lot of work throughout the race, so understandably tired).

I watched the group carry onward, and looked down at my spedometer to see that there was only 1 mile left in the race. Well, I felt sort of silly, maybe embarrassed, perhaps dissappointed. Not sure. Because of my confusion, I opted to get the hell out of dodge immediately after the race, as I needed some alone time to reflect on what had happened.

Definately a great race, and thoroughly rewarding to compete with the group that showed up. Hopefully I furthered my fitness, because race tactic wise, I am more confused than ever.

The 'Cat 3' race had five riders, and I came in 2nd. Ian Robinson won the cat 3 division, and Lee Venteicher won the Cat 1/2. A handful of 4's and 5's were in this lead group, so great work for them. Glad to see former Muscatine resident Scott Fett finishing top 10 (7th) in this race.

Let Levi Ride... With Me

I took some pictures of me pedalling my new TT bike, to try and get just the right fit. I scoured over pictures of pro-riders on the internet and compared them to my positioning and adjustments. Below is a picture of Levi and me, posing for the team website.

Here is another shot of my new bike.

An update on the Duathlon I did Sunday... I just got to look at the results and I was a little surprised to see how much slower my runs were than everyone elses. I even lost 20 seconds on the transitions. Fortunately, I had the fastest bike split, with a rate of 28.5mph.

That result is how I was able to still come in second overall, despite only being the 13th and 20th fastest runner in the two running segments. This was only my second time running on anything but the treadmill, so maybe I will have to break down and do some outside runs, but probably not. I better focus on the cycling end of things, because I know all the roadie's are charging full steam ahead with their bike training.

Runnin to my Bike - Duathlon

May 4th was the 'Cinco Du Mayo' Duathlon at the Hummer Lot in Davenport, IA. My spanish isn't perfect, but I believe the event was a day early than it's namesake.

Due to the nasty winter weather, I was sort of forced to cross train on my treadmill in the basement. I didn't have any real goal in mind as I ran in my basement, but I was steadily building up my running pace and mileage. At some point, it clicked that I was a good runner again, oops. This could spell trouble for my cycling season...

No worries, running is sort of boring, and the weather is now perfect for cycling, so I avoided a near castostrophe. However, I thought I would try and hang on to my running fitness just long enough to compete in this duathlon.

My new Trek TT bike arrived Wednesday, so everything was working out well. I had just enough time to practice riding it before the event (more on my TT bike and some action photos to come later).

Duathlons, for me anyway, are bike time trials, with an annoying run up to the bike, and then an even more unbearable run across the finish line. This was a 'sprint' duathlon so it was full gear for a 3k run, 17k bike and 3k run. The running portions don't really 'help' your bike time, but once your heart rate subsides from the run, you can actually get a pretty good clip going.

So, how'd I do? I rocked it out with a 2nd place overall! While I was about 10th or so after the run, I passed everyone on the bike except a guy from the Univ. of Iowa Triathlon team who actually was in the process of setting a course record. I was really nervous that I would get passed on the second leg of the run, but my gap on the third placed competitor ended up being large enough that I held on to 2nd.

There was a lot of good competition there. Not really any cyclists that I could recognize, but the University of Iowa brought up about 8 men/women from their Triathlon team, and they were very strong. There are also many regional multi-sporters who compete in this event, as it is the first real race of the season for triathletes and duathletes.

I am still going to run once in awhile, because I think my VO2 Max is improving because of the cardio work-out I get from running. I won't overdo it, I understand I need the weekly mileage on the bike to hang on to the Cat 3 caliber of racing.

The new 'Muscatine Multi-sport' club is having training races the second wednesday of may, june and july at saulisbury rec center, 6pm. These will help keep me in shape for the du-state du and august and harvest hammer in september.

Photo above is by Joe Mann, thanks.

Crit Happens

Whew, that was an intense race!I felt like pulling out after about lap #3 of this 25 lap free for all. I stuck it out though, and ended up 'in the money', so I ultimately had a positive experience, once it was all said and done...I didn't crash, I finished, got paid, improved my skills, gained experience, added fitness, etc.

I started the race in dead last position. Not sure why I let that happen in crits, I guess I am just not very confident in this discipline. Anyway, that meant about 3 or 4 agonizing laps being whipped around the six corner course at the tail-end of this monster that was the main Cat 3 field.

Everybody was full-on up the hill. More importantly, they would keep pushing at the summit all the way to the corner, making each lap challenging. About mid-way through the race though, either the field slowed down, or I sped up, but I was able to regain my composure and begin charging up the hill in the front portion of the group.

For some reason, there was a lot of braking in the race, which usually isn't necessary on the downhill portion. Chris Reed mentioned this to me after the race, and I agreed. He has raced this crit many times, and is good at it (He came in around 5th overall this year), so he knows what he is talking about.

Crit racing is such a different form of racing. Especially criteriums with 90 degree corners. It becomes so important to be comfortable and agressive with respect to obtaining the proper positioning. I wasted so much energy taking bad lines, braking, etc. Everyone is strong at this level, so 'wasting energy' is less than ideal.

I took a couple of non sequential laps at the front of the chase group, in hopes of feeling out the field and giving some of my fans (ok, my mom and step-dad), something to cheer about.. The announcer called out my name as well.

So, I was dead last at times, in the lead at times, in the midst at times, all over the place. Towards the last 6 or so laps, I was actually gaining ground on riders on the uphill, in that they began to become obstacles as I ascended. This is a good sign, because that is basically the opposite of getting dropped.

Now that doesn't mean that I felt good about a top finish. A lot of the guys that showed up for this race were from all over the midwest, and they seemed determined to make this race worth their drive.

Bryan Moritz and a guy from West Liberty (now Nortre Dame) made a break. The odd thing about this break, though, is that some of us were so busy hanging on for dear life, that we didn't even notice it. My first clue, was that I couldn't see the pace car up ahead. I just assumed we didn't have one anymore.

It wouldn't have made any difference to me, if I would have been knowlegable about the break, I was simply just doing what I could do. However, it is just an interesting side note. I thought I was 'at the front' of the entire field on those laps that I pulled, I guess I was just in the chase group.

This race paid out $1500, for 15 places and I came in 13th. I don't know how many started and/or finished, but I believe there were around 27 starters. I definately feel more prepared for the rock island criterium now. I will also be better prepared to know what to expect from future cat 3 crits.

Photos from bryan.moritzcycling.com

Amish Undergarments

-IOWA CITY ROAD RACE-
You know you are getting close to this race when you start to see the horse-drawn buggies on the side of the road. I didn't know, however, how windy it was until I starting seeing the laundry the local amish had hanging on clotheslines literally flying at a 90 degree angle to the ground. The pantiloons were in full sail.

This is a great race, so I wasn't too worried about the wind, except to opt to keep my deep aero rims in the van, to live to fight another day. Yes, the wind, though, was rather a pain, as a decent group of around 20 or so Cat 3's tore off into the first cross wind stretch. Combining a brisk downhill pass with a 30mph wind was making me a bit apprehensive. So I nestled in the back of the pack for a bit, until I started to feel more connected to the bike.

The first lap everyone kept it cool. Then at the start of the second lap, things heated up for a bit. This is when relaxing in the back doesn't work out. So, I reluctantly worked my way up to the front portion of the race. By now, fortunately, I was feeling the groove, and was remembering how much more carefree things are at the front.

Lap number 2 finally calmed down, and everyone re-grouped, though they were softened up a bit. Riders would have attacked more on the uphills, if it weren't for the fierce headwind that smacked anyone who dared try to attack. I overheard a bit of a conversation and the phrase 'sacrificial lamb'. I just happened to be on the front, at the time, which reminded me that we still had a lot of racing left.

As we turned the corner to start the 3rd lap, I was pushing to stay right at the front, in case things heated up again. Brent Mitchell from the 'death squad' chatted a bit, jokingly... "This is the time in the race when Chad Bishop goes off the front on a solo flyer for the win..." I chuckled enjoying the fact that our heart rates were low enough that we could talk, even though this was a great place to attack. He was referring to my success at the Finchford race two weeks prior.

I replied "yes, I'll give it a try" and accelerated. I was just kidding, however, the move felt so smooth, and there was a guy already up ahead having a dig at the hill, so I decided to attack. Little did I know, several other riders had this exact same notion, and a break was formed!

When the smoke settled, and we could verify that we did have a gap, there were seven of us. A lot of teams were still in the group behind, so we agreed to work together, and smoothly rotated through. We had about 20 miles to go, but this was looking good. Bryan and Will from 'Bikes To You' were in the break, the two leaders of the Iowa Cup. Looked like another good result for their team.

Ok, lap 4, we were definately going to finish ahead of the peloton, so I was good to go with at least 7th... too bad the race only paid back 5 places. So, though we had been the best of buddies for almost half the race, at some point we had to go back to being sworn enemies as the finish neared.

The finish was into a head wind and hilly, so I was almost just wanting to get this thing over with. Being new to Cat 3 racing, I had a good result wrapped up, so I was happy. We jockeyed around a bit. Will went on a flyer, as his teamate blocked for a bit. All in all, Will's move worked, as he took another Cat 3 first place (also won in Altoona).

I ended up 6th, so I beat out one guy in our breakaway, though we all basically finished with the same time. Didn't get money, but, I think I got some points towards the Iowa Cup, since only four of us in the break were from Iowa. I raced all last year, and some of this year as a Cat 4 and didn't even come close to getting on that Iowa Cup leader board. I will be very happy, if I finally made it, and in the Cat 3's.

Speaking of that race... Will and Bryan have a huge lead, so calling out Adam Price, Steve Robinson (currently 3rd and 4th), and all other strong Cat 3 riders... if you want a shot at taking home that prize, they are the guys to beat.

Tuesday Night Team Ride

Pictured above are riders at our last Tuesday Night Ride in Muscatine. We staged sort of a 'Team Photo Session' with those who had jerseys and were able to attend.

Like most training rides in Iowa, we start off at a social pace, working our way to the county roads outside of town. Pictured below is a photo of the group stopped at the light, nearing the edge of town.

Here are some nice action shots of the group enjoying a beautiful night in Iowa, just minutes before 'the hammer went down'.

After racing un-challenged to a stop-ahead sign, I pulled out my camera to try and capture just one more shot. Unfortunately, I believe the group was annoyed with my sprint to the sign, and took advantage of my hesitation as I fumbled for my camera. No matter how I hard I pedalled, I couldn't gain any ground. Holding the camera in my hand wasn't exactly helping my pedalling effeciency. Below is a picture that should be memory provoking for everyone... GETTING DROPPED...

The group eventually re-formed and I was able to get the photo I had been seeking... "The Gold Chain".