Long time, no talk...

Hi All,
Happy 4th! Hope everyone has a great day, and enjoys the freedoms this great country has to offer. No place better! Sorry for the big gap between entries. I've come to realize that maintaining a blog is a lot of work, and often difficult to remember it even exists. I just returned from vacation on the 30th. Seventeen days of vacation to be exact, the longest I've ever taken. I had a GREAT time! Managed to see Yosemite, Crater Lake, and finally arriving in Astoria, OR to prepare for the reason for taking the trip in the first place. Riding down the Oregon coast to San Francisco with my father-in-law:)

The trip was absolutely beautiful! I have to say, the roads in Oregon, and the scenery, make the rides around here in So Cal pale in comparison. I had to keep reminding myself there was a dark side to what creates that beautiful scenery. RAIN!!! Fortunately for us, we only experienced one day in the nine that we rode, that was really wet. Other then that, the rest of the trip was on the cool side, but highly enjoyable. Our ride numbers...Nine days of riding, 639 miles total. Other then a pair of sore kness, everything was perfect. Not even a flat tire between us!

On to the racing...WHAT'S THAT??? I haven't raced since the State TT Championships back in May!!! I'm getting a little nervous that I won't remember how when I do finallly get ack in the action. My next race will either be the Sisquoc RR, or the Mt. Charleston HC, or both, or neither. To be honest, my focus has faded from the race scene this season. Not that I'm not enjoying it anymore, just have other things I've been focusing on, and life has stepped in the way more then once this year. I've learned to be OK with that, reminding myself racing is what I do has a hobby, not as a living. Well that's about all for now, until next time...

The Change...

Well as you can see, there's been a change not only to my blog header, but to the team I race for now. This is sort of a homecoming of sorts. I started racing with Team Ranchos back in 2007, and have now returned. Nothing against SDBC at all, one of the greatest teams out there, full of guys who I thoroughly enjoyed racing with. Sometimes a change is what's needed to further one's progress in the sport, and sometimes that change involves taking a step back. I have absolutely no regrets about racing with SDBC, and no regrets about leaving Ranchos back in 2007. Had I not done that, I would probably have never met the people I now call friends on SDBC. Until next time...

A change is gonna come...

Hello All. Writing to you from beautiful, sunny San Diego! Man what a nice day! Got out on the bike today for a good 3.5hrs, moderate-to-high intensity, just trying to clear the legs out some after yesterday's State Time Trial Championships. 40k, in the high desert, my goal, break an hour. This was my first 40k time trial so I had no idea on how to pace myself, so I played it smart and rode within myself for almost the entire distance. 55:20 is the time I ran, so the goal was met. Next season, a 54:00 flat. I'm finding out that any race with a "championship" designation really brings out the big guns. I had a vision of cracking in to the top ten, but even running a 55:20 only netted me 28th! Next race on the calendar, the State Road Race Championship. This race is an "A" race all the way for me, and I'm hoping the form I had out at San Luis Rey is still there come June 7th. As for the change is gonna come title of this blog, more on that when it happens. Until next time...

SLR

San Luis Rey! Damn fun race! Entered this race with the intention of getting a great workout, not to place high. That's exactly what I did. I didn't think I'd have good legs for this race, after my miserable performance at Punchbowl, but guess what! To keep it short, it was sooo easy to get to the front, and even attack at will. One of my attacks actually succeeded and I managed to get about a 40-second gap on the field. Rode solo for almost 8 miles! Good fun:) Next up, Fiesta Island TT this Sunday, 40k. Wish me luck!!! Until next time...

Devil's Pukebowl

Hi All. Reporting to you from sunny San Marcos. The word for the day is HOT!!! 91 degrees here and sunny. Also reporting with my second cold this year! WTF!!! I'm getting sick of being sick. Typically, I only get sick once a year, usually around Christmas and that's it. As usual I was sick then, with a severe case of bronchitis, (first time for me), and now I've managed to pick up a head cold a few days ago. I'm sure I received this gift from my mother, who recieved it from my four year old nephew. I love those kids, but at this age they're a step above a carrier monkey when it comes to germs!

Now, on to the reason for writing this blog entry. Devil's Punchbowl. Yes, yesterday I raced the DP. This has been my third year racing in this event and I absolutely love it! The course is just kick ass, plain and simple. Of course looking back at my results you'd never guess my love for the event. 38th out of 75 racers yesterday. My poor result partly due to a side stitch cramp I experienced fifteen minutes out of the gate, followed by multiple inner thigh cramps later in the race, but mostly due to my lack of overall fitness. Getting sick and crashing will do that to you. Regardless, I still had a great time, and reaffirmed my love for road races over any other form of racing I've competed in. Now on to the report...

Lined up at the start line right where I wanted to be. One row back, on the outside. Whistle blows, get a good clean clip in to the pedal, and off I go! A guy takes a flyer in the first 500 feet of racing, we all just look at each other and laugh. Go get em buddy! As we approach the bottom of the climb which is in the first mile or so of the course, I'm pedaling hard to maintain my position (about fifth in line), too hard. We reach the top of the first portion of climbing, and I round the corner still in fifth, but now my heart rate is way too high, and I'm having trouble recovering in time to tackle the three large rollers just ahead. As we reach the first roller a pack of twenty or so guys goes motoring by me. I can't respond, still having trouble breathing! Shit, there goes the winning move! To keep a long story short, the rest of my day consisted of chasing the lead group until I could no longer see them, and trying to do battle with every rider that either caught me, or that I caught. All in all, a good solid 2-1/2 hours of hard riding that can't hurt in the quest to gain some fitness.

Next up, San Luis Rey. Originally I was on target to be in top form for this race, but having now to deal with this cold, who knows? I suppose not every season can go according to schedule:) I've also decided to quit posting my training schedule. To be honest, I'm just not that in to keeping track of all the numbers. One of the reasons I decided to sell my PowerTap. Just get out and ride hard when I feel good, and easier when I don't. I think at the Cat 4 level, that's all that's needed. Until next time...

Training Week

Training Week -- 03/23 - 03/29

Mon: 2hrs; light-to-moderate spin out to coast and back
Tue: 0
Wed: 1.75hrs; light-to-moderate spin out to coast and back
Thu: 0
Fri: 1.75hrs; TT bike
Sat: 0
Sun: 0

Total: 5.5hrs

Doing what I can...

Hi All,
I'm more then halfway through with my 12-day work stint! A couple of things I've realized from this. 1) Working everyday really isn't all that hard. As a matter of fact, I'd work far more days if it wouldn't cost me losing an employee. 2) With daylight savings time, it's possible to work everyday and still train, although it's difficult to log some serious miles.

My current training schedule during this work period has been to ride every other day for 90-minutes, moderate-to-hard intensity, attacking every hill I come across on a 30-mile loop I've designed for myself. My goal is to just keep the level of fitness I've achieved after my bout with the back injury and bronchitis I suffered over most of December and January. Throw crashing at the Tour of Murrieta in on top of that, and my performance at the upcoming Omnium stage race will be questionable.

Although the Omnium was originally an "A" race for me, I have to give it a little less priority in the grand scheme of things now, and just hope for the best. My plan, (now that I'm not racing crits anymore), is to kill it in the TT and RR, and accumulate enough points in those two events to place high overall without even racing the crit. We'll see!

More importantly, my focus as shifted to the Devil's Punchbowl RR on April 18th, and the San Luis Rey RR on May 3rd. I'm not sure I'll be in top form for Punchbowl, but should be by San Luis. As soon as the Omnium is over it's back to logging some seriously long miles in the saddle with large amounts of climbing and interval work.

I still have yet to race a TT this season, which makes the Omnium's TT even that much more iffy! There's times when I wished I would of skipped the Bulldog RR, and instead opted to race the Santiago Canyon TT just to have a TT in my legs, but trade my only top ten road finish this year, I THINK NOT!!!

We'll that's bout it for now. Until next time...