I didn't think losing my cellphone was that big of deal, but after looking at the cost of a new replacement (CraigList and eBay are a helluva lot better) and also realizing how many numbers I'd lost, I got a little more motivated to try my hand at finding the thing somewhere in Lake Fairfax Park. Finding the phone was also a great motivation to get out for a second day on the 'cross bike riding some trails and I conned Jess in to coming along for the ride.

We rode the Difficult Run section several times looking for the phone and made many loops of the fields, but we came up empty handed again. I spent the rest of the time exploring the park with Jess and finished things up with a few mounts and remounts.

Ernesto decided to hold off on the big rain for a day. Tomorrow we should see plenty, but today was just a Boston-like kind of day. It feels like Fall and the overcast skies and getting me ever more prepared for a cyclocross race.

Today was the first of what will be weekly cyclocross practices with the team. It was the day that Ernesto started to rear its ugly head, so Judd and Melanie were the only ones to come out in the misty rain. We started from Michael Faraday Ct. and rode on Difficult Run to Lake Faifax Park. From there we rode loops around the fields there to warm-up some.

All was well until Melanie noticed a tool fall out of my seatbag. As soon as she mentioned it, my heart sank because I knew my cellphone, drivers license, and credit cards had probably already fallen out. I was right and so we started retracing our steps around the fields. Melanie found my license and credit cards, but after several loops we were unable to spot the cellphone. We gave up and then rode back along Difficult Run to the W&OD and headed East.

We rode the gravel trails alongside the paved trail that I commute on and I was decently pleased with my bike-handling. Occaisonally, we'd dismount and run with the bikes for a bit, then remount and continue on. We finally made it to Vienna, and for lack of a better place, we found a spot in the park there to do some barrier drills. Judd set up a board against a lightpost and we were set. I did more mounts and remounts over that barrier than I probably did all of last season. And for that, I know I'm already better. It's going to be a great season.

I had to leave Vienna with enough time to make it home before it was terribly dark. I had to ride the last few miles with the guide of the trail lights, but I finally made it home around 8p. My bike definitely looks like a cyclocross bike now--there's plenty of dirt and mud to go around.

I had to take a day off from work to go with Jess up to Pittsburgh to meet the movers bringing her stuff to the Steel City. More precisely, it's the West Mifflin area, but in any case, I sure wish we could have the place she'll have there for what that rent will be. The drive's about 3.5-4 hours. I'm sure I'll have those roads memorized soon enough.

When we got back this evening, we grabbed the bikes and went out on the trail for a bit. I took the 'cross bike to slow me down a bit. We rode mostly on the W&OD with a few explorations on the Four Mile Run Trail. When we finished up, I spent a few minutes outside behind the apt. working on my dismounts and remounts. I'm already lightyears better than I was at any point last year.

Negatives? Well, I'm not liking it when I hit the tire on my foot in a sharp turn. I moved the cleats forward a bit to match the position of my road shoes, but there's still too much overlap. I'm hoping I get used to it because I almost crashed messing around on a hill tonight because of it.

Probably the bigger concern is the front brake chatter. It's ridiculous. I'm not sure what I can really do about it. If I'm braking going downhill, it's almost not worth using the front brake at all. You can actually see the fork deforming when it chatters. I guess I can setup the front brakes not to have so much mechanical advantage, but then what's the point? I won't have much stopping power. Ideas??

My Ride

My cyclocross bike is a 54cm Javelin Primitivo. The top tube is effectively 53cm--giving me a shorter reach than my road bike by 2cm. With the slightly raised bottom bracket (1.5cm higher than the Amarone) it's just the right standover height. The frame is made from 7005 butted Aluminum tubing. It has S-bend seatstays and chainstays. All the cables are routed along the oval-shaped top tube.

I have a Zero 1-1/8" Cyclocross All Carbon Fork, which so far likes to chatter quite a bit. The Alpha Q CX is a bit out of my price range at the moment. Perhaps that will be a future upgrade? Changing very little from last year, I think I'll remain with the Mavic CXP-22 Rims laced to Shimano 105 Hubs. The came with the bike off eBay, so I'll use my Mavic Cosmos' as a spare set. They're up for a beating.

I plan to ride clinchers for a while unless I happen upon a pot of gold. I'll be using the Michelin Mud 2 (700x30c) when the rain starts and until then, I'll probably run the Ritchey Alpha Bite Trail Mix (700x35c). Whatever tubes I happen to have on hand will work just fine.

I picked up an old Shimano Dura Ace FC-7700 172.5mm crankset off eBay. I added a Shimano Ultegra FC-6500 42t, 'A type' chainring along with a pair of Rapuano Carbon Guards. Since I didn't shift once last year, I think the single ring setup will do just fine. It's simple, clean, and lightweight. It should eliminate the problem of dropping the chain.

The bottom bracket is a Shimano Ultegra BB6500, 68x109.5mm, English Spline V1 BB. If you're wondering about the single ring setup, I used a Sugino triple bolt set of 15mm backing nuts and bolts along with 3.5 mm spacers. Only a single carbon guard is put inside the spider. All else is put outside. Chain line looks to be fine this way.

I actually added the Time ATAC XS to my bike last season but only had the opportunity to try them out once. I didn't have them properly setup and I went on to my worst race of the season. This time, they're ready to rock and should do a great job of clearing mud.


Finishing off the drivetrain is an Shimano Ultegra RD-6600 SS rear derailleur along with an Shimano Ultegra CS-6600 12-27. The chain is my favorite: a SRAM PC-1090. Finally there's an alternative to Shimano's 10 speed chain and this one has a PowerLock--making it that much easier to clean up after a day in the mud.

The cockpit in all it's glory: A 44cm FSA Energy T handlebar (31.8mm) with classic bend. On the right I have a Shimano Dura Ace 7801 10sp STI Lever and on the left simply a Shimano R600 left brake lever. I made the mistake of getting used to the precision of Dura Ace shifters, so there's no going back now.

The cockpit is covered up nicely by a matching color of F'iz:k's silver Microtex tape. It's been great on my road bike so we'll have to see how it hold up to a season of 'cross. I picked up an extra roll to maybe give the bike some clean threads before Natz.

I have the same on my road bike and after hearing horrors of broken seatposts, I'll accept nothing less than a Thomson. This one is an Elite 27.2mm x 330mm. At the end is a F'iz:k Pave saddle with Cro-Mo rails.



Also the same as my road bike, I've got an FSA OS-115 120mm stem. The brake hanger is the ubiquitous Problem Solvers. The Cane Creek S2 headset is of the traditional variety, one of the reasons I like the Javelin. Jess is a big fan of the skink on the Cane Creek label.


I've yet to race on a wide profile cantilever, so this will be an experiment. But these Empella Frogglegs definitely give more clearance than an Avid brake lever. So far they definitely have less stopping power, but I'm still working on the adjustment. The brake pads are standard issue with Frogglegs and both the shift and brake cables are Jagwire Ripcord.

Day two of my sickness wasn't quite as bad as the first. I think skipping the planned race this morning had a lot to do with that one. Tylenol Cold and Sinus is doing wonders along with the fluids that Jess keeps on me to drink. It was great to be in church for a second week in a row.


After church, Jess and I were treated to a tour of the West Wing of the White House. Thanks so much to our guide--one of the guys I ride bikes with. He was a great host and it was a thrill to see so much history before us. The Oval Office is pretty special.


We were also able to catch a glimpse of the President as he exited Marine One on the South Lawn. We had to peer through a doorway to see it from a distance, but it was still neat to see any President in living color. We even exchanged a few words with Josh Bolten, the new Chief of Staff as he was walking along the colonade.


After the tour was over, we met one of the President's personal photographers as well as seeing the President and First Lady's personal aides. Coming in the gate as we were exiting was none other than Karl Rove. I stared at him for a while to make sure I had it right and he gave us a wave. I wonder who else was in the black SUV? His face was so distinctive it was easy to make out.

It's nice to race so close to home and today the race was just in Chantilly. Jess and I made the drive out there real quick. I met up with John Larson and we rode warmup laps on the course. The course was basically a backwards and longer Quicksilver, with smaller rolling hills. For those not familiar with Quicksilver, this course is 'D' shape, with the start/finish on the straight section and the race running down on that section. The start/finish was at the end of a long very subtle rise--enough to make your legs burn, but certainly nothing worthy of being dubbed a "hill." After many laps and a few hard efforts, I was ready to roll and I started from the front row.

On this course, I knew starting at the front wasn't terribly critical and I'd already committed myself to not being aggressive until the final couple laps. I knew this pace would be blistering because of the rolling nature and the immaculate pavement. I was certain that this would be about riding around in circles for a while and then sprinting for the line. Obviously, this is not my kind of race but hey, I still need those points.


The plan was supposed to be most of the Coppis (and there were a few in this race) working for Skubis. He said he had good legs and after Quicksilver, he was the only guy who'd shown any assemblance of a sprint. I'd be on my own, just trying to sneak in for fifth. Well, I'll spare the details of all fifteen laps, but bascially it went like this: I actually made good on my committment not to take a pull and sat mostly in the middle to front of the group. I tried to find the right position for coming out of the final turn, but never really settled on something I liked. A few Coppi's and random other riders took a few pointless flyers off the front and they were all reeled in with ease.


With two laps to go, I started contemplating when to get aggressive, but I was not at all feeling strong. So I spent those final two laps trying to rest until the last possible moment. I was able to get into a good position near the end when Coppi teammate, Eric, took a flier that people actually got a bit worried about. There was no need since we were pretty far from the finish, but the pace picked up anyways. Well, Eric did an incredibly stupid and dangerous thing and sat up right in the middle of the road. That meant the pack was closing on him probably ten mph faster and he was in the way. I'm amazed no one crashed. But I made it around his outside and into good position in the final turn.


I came out of that turn with a chance to make good on my goal and I gave it absolutely everything I could muster. At some point Jose and another rider sprinted away, then another two did the same. That left what was left of the field vying for that fifth spot I so coveted. I wasn't in a great position, but I hammered to see what I could get and started having some hope when I passed several riders. But with probably twenty meters to the line, I had to sit down and pedal. I got passed by three guys, ending up in eighth.


Immediately after I crossed the line, I felt horrible. I'd woke up this morning feeling a bit strange, but nothing too bad. But after I crossed the line, it was pretty obvious--I was sick. After waiting around forever for results, I finally left before they were official and headed home to bed. I slept for four hours and pounded the liquids. Then I woke up and watched the night race at Bristol. I was running a fever and possibly the worst headache I've ever had. But I think this'll blow over in a day or two--it usually does.

Finishing eighth is frustrating since it seems like it's been an eternity since I finished in the points. But really to finish eighth on a course so poorly suited to my strengths isn't all that bad. Perhaps if I hadn't been so under the weather I might've had what it took to sneak in there for fifth or even take a flyer to win. Since Pfeiffer Hill, I've raced five criteriums, two road races, and a time trial. I've finished 7th, 8th, and 11th (twice) but otherwise haven't been a factor. I think my time off is the excuse for Toona, the competition the excuse for Christiana, and the rest are just crits that I haven't quite mastered yet. But I'm still close and staying positive.

Unfortunately, since I'm sick, I won't get to try my hand at ending the wait at the Back-to-School criterium up in Charm City. So I guess I've got only a few more chances this season: Wilmington Crit., two weeks from Sunday, followed by the MABRA RR Championships and Turkey Day Race the following week. Ugh! I'm ready to focus on 'cross.

See all of Jess' pictures here.

I rode in to work today on the 'cross bike mainly to show off my handiwork to Thor and Larry. But I hit a few dirt trails on the way and had a good time. I even ended up cranking the Powerhouse section with another commuter. He turned off in Reston.

When I got to work, I was just about to head for the showers when I realized that I hadn't brought any pants to work! That's the first time I've made that mistake and thankfully Jess had the day off. She drove out with a pair of pants and I was showered and ready to go just in time for my 10a meeting.

Jess joined me for lunch at Olive Garden then ran a few errands before I left work early to meet up with David, Onu, and Onu's friend from Cambridge, Keith. We were taking Keith to see the Orioles game and introduce him to the wonderful sport of baseball. Well, at least that was the plan. The traffic on the beltway had other ideas and we were stuck behind a big wreck. It took us two hours to get to the ballpark and we ended up missing the first inning, but after that it was enjoyable.


I sat next to Keith and told him everything I could think of to explain the game. He seemed to have a good time and actually comprehend all that I was spewing out. It wasn't a terribly exciting game, but at least the home team won, pitching very well to shutout the D-Rays 4-0.

In honor of my one year anniversary here at blogger.com, I decided to get my butt in gear and post a flurry of updates. There's about a month of time missing . . . but just be sure to catch some of the highlights.

Wedding and Honeymoon
Tour de Toona
Tour de Christiana
Building of the 'Cross Bike
Williamsport Crit.

As for today . . .
Riding to work today, I came across a downed cyclist at mile 22 of the W&OD. The cyclist, while riding together with his wife, crashed when the bolt which holds his saddle to the seatpost broke. Apparently he'd been descending one of the small hills when it happened and he looked to be in a lot of pain. He was wearing a helmet. He was complaining of back pain and we tried to get him to relax some. 911 was called and they arrived in fairly short order. I met up with Keith Blinn, another Orbital engineer, and we left the scene just before the EMS team made their way down the trail.

It's stuff like this that always makes you think long and hard about the quest for lighter and faster equipment. This guy was riding Spinergy carbon wheels and a nice Cannondale with older Dura Ace componentry. Shouldn't all this cost ensure a little more safety? Well, it at least makes me glad that I'm riding a Thomson seatpost with two bolts rather than the one this guy's post had. The bolts on my post are high strength steel alloy, plated to prevent rust and corrosion. Hopefully that's enough.

I spent a good portion of this ride riding with a guy on a Specialized Tarmac. It kept the pace nice and strong and he turned off just after Reston.

There was no ride home for me today since Jess met me and we went out to dinner and a movie.

I took today off from the bike and met Jess at the Fort Myer bowling alley for a going away party of sorts her section was having for her and her colleagues leaving next week for training at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. They'll be gone for ~6 months and the movers come tomorrow to sort Jess' stuff from mine. Ahhh, to be single again. ;-) There should be plenty of room for my new bike now.

Today was just a typical commute. My legs felt surprisingly good after yesterday's long solo attempt. More than likely the soreness is just delayed, but I took the opportunity to get in some tempo yet again. I wanted to ride the 'cross bike, but I've got a few more things to tidy up before it's ready.

I thought more today about the problems I was having installing the crank. When installing the crank with the carbon guards and single ring, it had no clearance with the chainstays and was rubbing on the frame. Well, chatting with Peter over email today made me realize that I probably had the guards and ring on the crank arm incorrectly. Sure enough, I had installed the ring, spacers and inner guard inside of the spider. I corrected that to put only a guard inside the spider, with the ring, spacers and outer guard on the outside. I tried it as soon as I got home and it worked just fine. I was worried that I would need to get a new bottom bracket to increase the spindle length from 109.5mm to 118.5mm. Fortunately, I ordered the right one and I'm ready to roll once I tape the handlebars.

My excitement for the road season has been on the wane since Toona. I'm still searching for those two points I need to upgrade, but the fire to race for them isn't there much anymore. So much the same way I was wishing I was home last week in Christiana, I wasn't thrilled even to drive up to Williamsport, MD, just outside of Hagerstown. At least I was finally able to get back to church this week and the race wasn't until 3:15.

Once I got there, I was focused on doing my best. I warmed up with Jordan Cross around the streets of the town before doing a few hard efforts and then making my way to the start line. I didn't want to spend the first laps getting to the front the way I had at Christiana, so I got there early. I was able to clip in fairly quickly and it didn't take much effort to make it to the front.

The course was a very short loop of just over a kilo in length. It finished on a slight uphill and was basically a four corner course. The second corner led into a fast downhill section and the final corner was a bit acute--that's where 3 crashes happened in the race.

From the gun, it was pretty clear that Harley would be controlling this one. They did a great job of sending rider after rider just up the road. The attacks were a bit half-hearted and were each brought back easily but slowly. At any one point there would be 2-3 Harley riders leading the field. It's pretty obvious what you can do when you have guys like Fife, Escobar, Samuuel, and Chamberlain in the same race. They're all very capable and strong crit riders and when working as a team they're tough to beat alone.

For my part, I had Steve and Jordan in the race, but together we couldn't really do much. After a few laps of seeing Harley dictate the pace, some attacks from other folks started to drop in. Ken Young attacked once and I latched on along with three other riders. It was pretty early seeing as we had 20+ laps to go, but I figured seeing the way the Masters race before us had gone, this was a course where a group working together could get away. I think I was right, but we'll never know because my shouts of, "Let's work together," and "Pull through" went unheeded. We were brought back in short order.

A few laps later, I got bored and decided after a half-hearted attack that hey, the gap behind me is kinda big. So I put my head down and started time trialing. I was hammering with all I had and I was gonna find out one way or another if I have any fitness after my lack of training. Well, I kept hammering and the gap kept getting bigger. I had Jess as well as a Jordan (lapped) and Walter giving me time gaps.


My lead ballooned to it's highest point at 22 seconds up on the field. That was pretty big and I started to ponder whether I actually had a chance doing what I was doing. I still didn't think so with all the heavy hitters that were chasing me, but ya never know. My lead started to drop some and my legs were crying Uncle with about 12-13 laps to go. To make matters worse, I had a stitch in my side and my Gatorade was horrible since it was so hot out.

My lead went to 15s, then 12s, and then they were on me. When Jose came around me I told him, "It's about damn time." After that, I sat up behind him and tried to open up to get the cramp out. I worked only marginally and I was hurting so bad cardio and leg-wise that it was the least of my worries. I tried to settle in to the pack, but given there were only 6-8 laps remaining, there wasn't much settling going on back there.


I think it was with about four laps to go that I started to fade and a group of eleven riders went up the road. By the time I started to make up any ground on them, I heard the bell and it was too late. I held my position alone with an LSV/Kelly rider on my heels. Coming out the last corner, I noticed Ken Young had gone down leaving 10 riders finished. I thought I had the LSV/Kelly guy beat but I looked behind the wrong way and he came around on my right. I gave it my best effort to sprint, but he got me and I finished a not terrible, but not helpful, 12th.

Was I stupid to try a solo break 20K+ from the finish? Of course ;-) But that's what I do every now and then and this was the course to try it on. As they say the pros do, at least I got our name out there. The announcer was at least saying Coppi for a while.

As soon as I finished, I was immediately aware of how hot it'd become and it was all I could do to get over to the concessions area, find some shade and get a nice COLD Gatorade to drink. I just sat on the floor and held my bike up with one hand. My head was pounding and I was exhausted. As far as crits go, I enjoyed the course. It was generally pretty safe--with that last turn excepted. And I'm too much of a fraidy cat to take that turn to hard anyways. It's also nice to go such a short distance (1:30) from home--at least until I-70 backs up!

Since we got married, Jess and I haven't had any time home on the weekends. We've been on the road constantly either racing bikes or visiting friends and today was a day we'd both been looking forward to for a while: a Saturday with absolutely no plans on tap.

How'd we spend it?

We went kayaking on the Potomac with Chris, Lindsey, Will, and Liz. It was great fun and quite the workout for my biceps and shoulders. We paddled out from Thompson Boathouse to Memorial Bridge, around TR Island, West on the Potomac along the Cap Crescent Trail and finally back to the boathouse. We ate lunch in Georgetown and then bid farewell to each other. C&L are headed back to Beantown (lucky dogs), Will is headed back to Brooklyn, and Liz is off to England. Have I mentioned Jess leaves for Pittsburgh pretty soon? Everyone's leaving!

After all that paddling, Jess took to taking a lengthy nap, while I stripped the 'cross bike of it's parts and started building it up with my own. I was able to get the brakes mostly sorted out, but had some problems with installing the crank. I generally had fun and it would have been a great way to spend free time had it not been for the third Boston massacre occuring on TV at Fenway Park.

After picking up the new 'cross bike last night, I was too excited not to ride it in to work today. Even though it's slower, I left on the knobby tires so that I could give some of the dirt a try next to the W&OD.

I had to leave on time this morning in order to meet Will on the trail. I still left a tiny bit late though, and so I didn't end up meeting him till the Vienna Depot. He joked that the only other time he'd come to meet me in the morning was the day I got hit by the car. Since he hadn't run in to me yet, he was starting to worry if I'd suffered the same fate. I hadn't.

We rode alongside each other chatting and I had a hard time holding the pace he was setting with road wheels. But at the same time I was surprised how fast the bike really could go even with knobby tires on it. We started gaining on this one road rider and we couldn't help but try to dust him. I think on a road bike it would have been a piece of cake, but today it hurt. My stomach wasn't feeling so hot and I started having shifting issues with the 'cross bike. It kept skipping out of gear under pressure--almost like an automatic transmission might work. Evenutally though, we were clear of him and I could breathe normally again--all while Will was laughing about how this was his one chance to put the hurt in me. I showed him the beautiful new underpass at Church Rd. and then he made the turn for his home and I continued on to Orbital.

On the way home, I left a bit early from work and went in search of any and all off-road sections of the W&OD. I hammered with all I had up and down some hills I never thought I could ride on a 'cross bike. My nerves were a little be up but I handled things a lot better on the slippery gravel than I ever did last year at Lilypons. I'm really amazed at how much better the Javelin handles things than the Sirrus did. I guess I shouldn't be, but part of me was wondering whether or not a real 'cross bike really would make much of a difference. Well, then jury's back and it does. A carbon fork makes things swell too.

I didn't ride in to work today so that I could drop by Leesburg and pick up the bike. Turns out I'm buying it from Jesse Saldana, a former Evo rider. He and his Dad won it down at one of the VACX races last season. His Dad rode it a few times and now just wants to sell it.

I was able to get all the cash I needed from 2 ATM's and cash back at the grocery store. It's funny how hard it can be to get that much cash without going to a teller. I would have used a check, but we haven't gotten any checks yet with our new account.

The transaction went off well. I rode it around a bit in the driveway/street, then forked over the money and was on my way. I'm very pleased with the fit. Even though there's a 90 mm stem on there now, I can tell that with my 120 mm stem, it'll be just fine. The standover is perfect and the frame is pristine. I think the only thing I have against the Javelin so far is that I'm feeling a bit awkward with such a high bottom bracket. That's a remanant of when toe clips were used I'm told.

I rode it around in Bluemont Park in some sand and dirt and plenty of grass. I can already tell that I'm going to handle the bike much better than I did the Sirrus last year. And I'm happy that I've adjusted to drop handlebars well enough that I feel totally comfortable.

I've been slowly but surely building up a killer cyclocross bike during road season. I've done this by scouring eBay for the parts I want, watching several of them sell, then swooping in to get a good price. I've picked up carbon chain guards, a saddle, crankset, a stem, and various other parts over time. If I couldn't beat the discounted Bikeman.com prices that I get from being on the team, then I added that to the final order and picked up the remaining components from them.

Well, I now have everything I need except for a frame. And for the last couple weeks, I've been getting closer and closer to getting that frame ordered directly from Javelin. Mainly the delay has been with talking to the guy on my team in charge of being liason to Javelin. But it's also becasue Javelin is acting very strange at the moment. Their website hasn't been updated in quite a long time (kinda like this one) and there's not number posted on their website that will get you to talk to anyone that knows any more.

But finally, today I got a call from Rob Henley at Javelin. He informed me that the price I thought I was going to get for frame, fork, and headset was for frame only. Well, that made the "deal" not such a good deal anymore and I wasn't terribly happy. They had a great price on Alpa Q CX forks, but it was still more than I'd been planning on spending. So I started looking for other options.

But when I started looking around, I realized I'd become a bit attached to the Javelin frame. I liked the top tube cable routing and the conventional headtube. Kona routes on the downtube like a road bike and Ridley and a bunch of others use integrated headsets. I also liked the silver color and I've been happy with my Javelin Amarone--quirks with the company nonwithstanding. So I wanted a Javelin.

And I found one: a 54 cm Primitivo on eBay. And whatdya know but the thing is already built up, at a great price, and resides in Leesburg (15 mins from work)! It was a pretty impulsive thing to do, but just before I went to bed tonight, I bought the whole thing. I plan to strip it of its parts and sell 'em to recoup some of the cost. And whatever I don't feel like selling, I'll probably save to build up a SS/Fixie for after 'cross season.


My only real worry about the bike is that the 54 cm may be too small for me. But after trying Peter's 57 cm, I think the standover is a little bit too high on that one--and this is one size below. The top tube is awfully short at 53 cm. Hopefully a 120 mm stem will be just right and the headtube isn't too low.

I'm pretty sure I commuted today. It's hard to remember, but I seem to recall riding to work with my legs just feeling like dirt. They didn't recover well, even after yesterday's slow spin, but I got back on the bike anyway.

I understandably took today off from bike commuting to let my traumatized legs recover from the weekend's effort. I can't ever recall operating at the red-line for so long as I did on Sunday. The TT and the crit absolutely killed me. I had nothing left and I experienced exactly what it feels like to struggle and hold on to the back of the peloton.

Instead of doing the forty miles of commuting, I rode about twenty miles of small ring slow rolling and I did the Muffin Ride on my own. My legs handled it ok and it was actually enjoyable to ride at a relaxed pace. I tacked on a few more miles at the end just for good measure.

Hindsight being 20/20, I should have mailed it in during the TT this morning. But instead, I wanted to see what I could do in my first ever race against the clock. I love riding with TT bars and despite my already aching legs I couldn't resist the urge to hammer. Well . . . I hammered. But I didn't fare nearly well enough to get anything out of the effort. I finished 31st, doing the 10.3 mile course in 24:23.


Much to my chagrin, I had no :30 man to chase. He was a no-show and left me all alone. I got off to a decent start--probably a bit too fast, but ok. I settled in and tried to maintain 25 mph and otherwise keep a big gear rolling. I was in a bit of a daze and wondering for a minute if I'd made a wrong turn, when the guy :30 behind me came by with a "On your left" warning. That woke me up and I tried to hold his pace without drafting and I kept focusing on keeping him at a respectable distance. I rode a lot smarter the rest of the way even though my legs were crying uncle. I really wish I would have had a :30 man to chase. I think I would have done much better. Even so, I'm not terribly upset about finishing 31st to lots of guys with TT gear. My time would have put me 11th in the Cat. 4 and likely would have assured me the overall GC place I needed for an upgrade. Instead, I was an also-ran with legs that would be able to do very little in the afternoon criterium.

Jess and I went to Friendly's and pigged out, then headed over to the crit course to watch my teammate, John Larson, in the Cat. 4 race. I had several hours to kill before my race (thankfully) and I spent the time chilling in the shade and polishing up the Javelin. I took it for a bit of a warmup spin and I knew I wouldn't be able to do much in the race. I hate to think like that before a competition, but I don't think I've ever gone into a race feeling so out of gas. My legs burned with each pedal stroke no matter what the gear I was turning.

The course was 1.25 miles with a kicker of a hill at the finish. The start was about 200m from that hill and just after a slightly acute turn. I got to the start line a bit late and found myself about three rows back. My typical horrendous start to clipping in left me near dead last going up the hill on the homestretch. The race was only 9 laps (praise God) and I knew it would be a struggle to hold onto the peloton. Guys were getting shelled early, but I managed to hammer the hill each lap and actually was able to get on the front of the peloton with four laps to go. I led for about a lap there before getting swarmed in a turn that I took too slowly and was never really in contention again. I was happy just to have made it to the front.


I had to laugh at the way I finished up the race. I fell off the back of the peloton by about 100m with a lap to go and I was suffering. But rested enough on the downhill backstretch that I knew I could sprint a bit at the end. So I focused my efforts on picking off one guy who was dangling off the back of the peloton and coming down the homestretch, I left it all out on the course. I blew by him right before the line to finish . . . yep, 34th! Haha. We both laughed when I passed him. All I could say was, "Sorry, man. I had to have something to do back here." It was a fitting end to a weekend of butt-whipping. I certainly know where I stand in the field of strong Cat. 3's: I've got a lot of work to do.

This weekend was more disappointing because I should have been in the Cat. 4 race and finishing off the points I need to become a 3. But it was also disappointing because of how out-gunned I was. I think I was amongst my peers in the RR on Saturday and since that's my thing, I'm happy about that. But in TT's and Crits, I have no skillz. As I said earlier, I'll have time to hone my crit skills in the next two weeks as I plan to race 3 criteriums in my desperate bid for a 5th place finish. Arghh. I need to do well again!! Then I can shut it down, build up my 'cross bike and start having fun again. Perhaps next season, I'll actually come up with a good training plan and not let silly weddings get in the way. ;-)

I knew before the start of this one that my legs didn't have a solo breakaway or even a two up breakaway in them--esp. in light of the competition. But I figured they were good enough to do some damage anyways.

This was a course fairly well suited to my strengths. The start/finish line was on top of a hill and at the beginning/end of a quarter mile offshoot of the main course loop. The hill was pretty long and steep. The main loop was eight miles long and wound along a scenic creekbed till about four miles when the big mile long staircase climb started. At the top of that big climb there was about a mile of smaller ups and downs before the road plummeted straight down and the rest of the main lap was flat to slightly downhill. We were slated to do six laps.


I was a bit nervous about riding in the big peloton winding along the creek. The road was somewhat narrow and I found myself riding awfully close to the creek side shoulder. At one point I hit a patch of sand in the shoulder and it took a moment of heart pumping handling to keep my rubber side down. Felt like 'cross by surprise. I gradually worked my way near to the front and on the climb, I reached the front rather easily. I did this mostly because I didn't want to descend at 60 mph with folks all around me.

And that was how things went for the first four laps or so. I would conservatively pass a lot of guys going up the big climb, descend in the front, then drift to the back on the flat sections. That's generally backwards from what most people try to do in a race, but it just naturally happens for me.

On the fifth lap, things got a bit more interesting. After we crested the climb, there was a small gap of about five riders. It wasn't really a breakaway yet, but after the descent, we formed up and briefly tried our hand at it. The organization was pretty poor--as it always seems to be and we were swallowed up after a short time in the open. Curtis of Snow Valley gave it a few more tries but he mostly served to bump up the pace for the final lap.

By the final lap, that staircase climb was hurting pretty good. And unfortunately for me, I wasn't near enough to the front to climb past. Instead, I had too many people crowding the road and I had to almost do a trackstand on the hill as the pace dropped. Eventually I was able to get around some and wasn't too far from the front. I was positioned well enough with about two miles to go.

Just before the climb back to the finish, Pete Whitlock of Siegler Imports attacked and I went after him. I know he's a strong rider and I was hoping to catch his draft up the hill. Unfortunately, I did a fine job of pulling the field with me since I attacked from around second wheel and when the climb started, riders where everywhere.

Boy did that climb kill. It was brutal on my tired legs and even though I was climbing pretty well, I was getting passed by ten or fifteen guys. My impression going down that hill at the start had been that the start/finish line was not far after the crest of the hill. But apparently my recollection was bad because after we crested the hill, the line was nowhere in sight. Not only that, but the guys who passed me had a gap that I wasn't going to be able to close. I outsprinted the few remainders that were around me at the finish, but by the time we got to the line none of us were sprinting all that fast.


I finished in 19th place, earing two points towards the GC. That would be my best finish of the weekend. I'm not sure with the legs I had whether I could have done anything differently. I guess I would have like to try a major attack on the final climb, but I'm not sure I could have made it stick with such a quality field in tow.

To keep myself from doing further damage to my legs before Saturday's race, I took off the TT bars for my commute. My legs are feeling rough, so it was a good thing that for the first time I can remember, I ran into Pat riding in to work. He's busted a few spokes in his electrified Gary Fisher, so he's taken up riding the manual Panasonic again. I decided to save the legs and chat with him for the rest of the commute. It was nice to chill out some and the weather was absolutely terrific. Temperatures were in the 70's and the sun was perfect.

The ride home was more of the same--at least until some dude pulled up behind me and acted like he wanted a piece. So I hammered about a mile just before the Vienna stretch and dropped him. Then I was regretting that since my legs are crap and soft-pedaled the rest of the way home. Tomorrow should be very intersting. At least I don't race till 11a, so I'll be sleeping in my own bed tonight.

The sky did look awfully gray when I rolled out of the house this morning with Jess. She made it in to work just fine, but at about mile seven of my ride, the skies opened up and I got wet. I was too far in to the ride to turn around for home, so I just settled in and actually enjoyed the water a bit. It wasn't the punishing downpours that I've been caught in before, but rather a light but steady rain that did get me pretty wet by the end.

More interesting about this ride was the addition of TT bars to my bike again for the first time ever on the Javelin and the first time really since I was racing duathlons last summer. It felt really good to have them on the bike. It makes for a more comfortable ride--and a faster ride as well. The only problem with this is that I have a very hard time not doing my best Sergui Gonchar impression and pushing the biggest gear I can find for as long as I can stand. In short, I hammer whenever I have TT bars on my bike.

Why the TT bars? Well, I found out there's a 3/4 race at the Tour de Chrstiana, so there's room for me to race. It's likely to be a very very strong field and unlikely I'll get any upgrade points there, but I have to give it a shot.

Coming home, it was sunny skies all around, but more of the same from my legs. I finally made the ride in under and hour door-to-door, averaging 21.1 mph for the journey--a respectable speed considering all the times I have to come to a stop along the way. My legs are now toast. I'm not at all prepped well for this weekend's races.

I barely managed to get out of bed this morning, but Jess and I both left the house about 6:25 and I rode with her along the Custis Trail. I got off the trail at the downhill spiral near Big Wheel Bikes and left her to continue her ride to work. I timed it perfectly and met the group as they turned onto Spout Run. The crew was small and absent any heavy hitters. All the same, this workout still hurt a lot. Joining me in the pain fest that is the HON ride were Peter, Jordan, Ryan, Chris Marrow, Ken Woodrow, and 2 new non-Coppi guys. I could tell instantly that my legs weren't sharp.

The first interval was my usual--I rode hard and gapped the field early. I didn't have the usual speed up the winding road and by the end I was soft-pedaling. I might have had more than I showed, but I wasn't pushed and didn't feel like pushing. The second interval is where I'm usually challenged the longest, but I shook off Peter when the climb started and rode hard from further out than I can remember. The final rise that's usually a sprint against Butts or Tomas was brutal and I tried to put in a good finish.

I'm starting not to fear this third interval as much. It helps when neither James nor Butts is present. But I have beaten each of them in the last few weeks, so I think I can finally do this one well. Today, though, I knew the Muur would kill. I dropped my chain going up the first steep hill but luckily managed to flick it back on with the front derailleur without losing a spot. After that, I was on my own and begging for mercy from the final hill. I put in a nice effort and I was huffing and puffing so hard that I did James proud.

The fourth was more of the first--with an early attack and no answers. That first hill really hurt a lot and I rode the rest of the way seated and in a pretty small gear. The pack was closing as I finished, but I was just trying to get to the top without killing myself.

Not having the spark that I usually have on Wednesday's was disappointing. I think I'm catching up on sleep, but my legs are real tired and I'm feeling a little burned out. I've got to reenergize somehow and get those measley 2 points before I can shut it down for the season. To that end, I registered for 3 crits in the upcoming weekends (Williamsport, Chantilly, and Back-to-School). I got shut out of the Tour de Christiana, so I'll have to learn how to race crits real fast. On an exciting note, the registration for the first Cyclocross race is up on the web. I'm planning to start my campaign with Charm City 'Cross on the 24th of September. Should be a fun day.

The weather has cooled off dramatically and has become the beautiful days of summer that I long for all winter. I was out in it early, and left the house this morning with Jess to make it to work before 8a. It was an easy spin with a bit of a hard effort in the Powerhouse of Vienna. I had some gearing issues after that, but I think it was just in need of some adjusting and I had it straightened out before long.

The ride home was more of the same beautiful weather and I had to laugh when I passed a deer in Vienna just eating away a foot off the trail. It wasn't bothered at all by the horde of cyclists and joggers passing by. I slowed down a bit for fear it'd get spooked and run in to me, but I passed easily.

I continued on the Custis Trail when I got home so I could add a few miles and meet Jess. She wasn't too far away and I turned to ride back with her. She's been putting in quite the workout lately. Last week she rode 100 miles in commuting. That has to be more than some of the Cat 4's and 5's. It's even more than I put in when I'm lazy some weeks. My wife has discipline and it's cool to see. Never mind that it's fueled by hatred for riding the Metro. She loads up her trusty Surly Cross-Check and heads on her way.