Sunflower State Games Road Race

Wow, it sure is hard to catch back up with the pack when you're by yourself. I learned that the hard way on Sunday.


I was feeling really good before and during the race. I did the first breakaway with Rob from Team such and such. I raced with him at the Crit on Saturday as well as the Power and Light Crit where he came in third behind me. Rob just came up beside me and said, "Let's go." We went out at a pace that we weren't going to be able to hold, but that was fine. We were just looking to split the field a little and see who was out to race.


The course was a 16 mile loop. The first loop everything was going great. I felt good and the pace was one that I could hold all day if needed, while I was with the pack of course. It happened just after I had caught a solo breakaway. I moved back to the rear of the peloton to rest a little from the effort. I was making it a point not to spend to much time out front so that I didn't have a repeat of the day before. Just after moving to the back I heard something fall off my bike. I looked down in time to see that my second bottle cage (that I had just put on before I left for Topeka) had come partially off. The top bolt was gone. The cage then swung down and nearly got jammed in my crank. I spent about a minute trying to unscrew the other bolt with my fingers, but I finally had to just break it off. I spent the next 16 miles trying to catch back up to the group. I did a good job of bridging the distance, but I just didn't have quite enough to get all the way there. I did finish, but spent the rest of the race time-trialing. Below is a pic of me still trying to catch the peloton. This was the closest I had got and you can see the grimace on my face as I hammered the pedals, but to no avail. I even picked up a straggler, but dropped him about a mile later. Thanks to Lanterne Rouge for the pictures.

I think the cage bolts got loosened on the drive out to Topeka because they were tight when I left home. I had noticed that they were loose before the race, but I just tightened them with my fingers thinking it would be good enough. I should have just gone back to my car real quick and tightened them properly. Ah well.

Adam, Phil and I had some good after race grub at some cafe just down the road from Forbes Field. Nothing like a big greasy handmade burger after a hard race. Even though I didn't finish in the pack I felt much more whipped than I would have had I stayed with the group. Good workout even if the race didn't turn out well. Good times!

Stay Dirty.

Sunflower State Games Crit

Went to Forbes Field in Topeka on Saturday for the Sunflower State Games Crit. The course was super-flat at 1.5 miles. There was a 15 mph headwind on the final stretch coming out of the North. It was an awesome day for racing with temps at 80 degrees and I was feeling great.

I went by myself to the race. My wife, Karen, was working and no one from the team was racing this weekend so I had little pressure to really go out and get a win. This was also my first race as a Cat 4 so I wanted to just go out and see what it would be like.

The race started and the pace for the first two laps was painfully slow. We'd just be leisurely riding along, hit a corner, sprint like mad out of the corner and then immediately slow to a crawl before the next corner. This was nothing like the Cat 5's at the Tour of KC. Those were fairly fast, seemingly, at the get go and we dropped a bunch of people as the race wore on. Today there wasn't any of that. The issue was that nobody wanted to do the pacing. No one would stay out front and take their turn.

After two laps of this crap, I got tired of sitting 10th wheel and decided to spend a little time out front seeing if we could get the speed up. When I went out front the pace did pick up and everyone was obviously feeling good as they hung onto my wheel and we went around the course. Me, not wanting to over work myself so early in the race, decided one lap pacing the pack was enough for now and I'd let someone else have a go. Share the work you know? Nothing doing. I'd pull off and wait for the next guy to take my spot, but no one would go. I wasn't about to be the dofus out front the entire race using all his energy just to hit the wall and get killed at the line. So I slowed way down and fell to the back of the peloton when someone finally HAD to take some time at the front.

This went on for the entire race. I was either doing all of the work at the front or I was sitting 15th wheel or so. I'd have to say I probably did 80% of the work this race. That may be a little over-estimate, but it sure didn't feel that way. In fact, everyone I talked to at the end of the race said the same thing. "Gee, you sure did a lot of the work there today." Gee, big guy, it was sure nice being on your wheel." Really?

No one went for a serious break and when someone did make a seeming attempt I went with them in hope of getting two or three of us out front, but once I caught them they just shut it down. I knew I wasn't fast or fit enough to hold a breakaway myself, I needed at least one other to come with me. Again, no one was wanting to put in any equal amount of effort today.

Well, that's how the race ended. The entire group, save for a few stragglers, hit the last corner all together and as usual I was first wheel which is not at all where I wanted to be. I was straight into the headwind and at the line five guys used my slipstream to slingshot around me to give me a sixth place finish. Sure wasn't a good finish for all the work I did.

All in all is was a good race. Low turnout though, but I had fun. I just wish that if people aren't going to step up and do some of their share of the work that I had the fitness and speed to just go away and stay away. Road Race on Sunday. Should be just as flat. 46 miles.

Stay Dirty.

VO2 Max results

Well, this last Monday I did my last VO2 test for the study. I also got my results from both tests.

First off, that was the longest I've ever been in the TT position. To be honest, besides my SLR saddle not being too comfortable in that position, it really wasn't too bad. I figured it would be uncomfortable as heck, but I could see staying in that for long enough to race at TT.

Well, like I said, I got my results from both tests. Let's just say they weren't impressive by any means. They weren't bad and I don't really know what I was expecting, but I guess I was expecting me to be a little better than I was. I was just in the bottom half of what is considered an cycling athlete, ouch. I guess I have been out of race shape for so long that I thought my improvement was more than it really was.

I am in the best shape that I've been in since my second year in college, but when I really look back with honesty that isn't saying much. When I was running cross-country in high school I was in way better shape, in fact the best shape I have ever been in. I had let myself get out of that race shape so much during my college years that I thought I was closer to my best now than I really am. Granted I have never had a VO2 test done before, but I know that I could have performed better 10 years ago. Huh, as I write that I realise how silly that sounds. Most of us can say that no matter what shape we were or are in.

In reality this gives me more fuel to train even harder and be even better so that I can say that I am now in as good shape or more than I was in high school. Maybe a tall-order, but who says I can't shoot for the stars?

Stat Dirty.

Cat 4!

My request for an upgrade was accepted so I am now offically a Cat 4 road racer.

Well there goes my first place finishes! Hah!

Stay Dirty

VO2 Max Test

So, I got my first test in on Monday. I'll have two tests, one in the TT position and one on the hoods and I'll do them a week apart. It's a study that some of the team are participating in at KU Med to help out some friends. It looks at the effect of riding position on power output. What it is to me (while the study is interesting) is a chance to see where I'm at in a test that is pretty much the end-all test of fitness.



I did my first test on the hoods. Next Monday will be the TT position, not something I have a whole lot of experience with. It should be interesting.



I kind of thought that I would do a little better than I feel like I did. I figured I'd be able to hold out longer, but that's why you do the test. It was also a little weird trying to only breath through your mouth with a bite block and your nose pinched off. I also didn't know how much I'd drool all over my bike and the floor since I couldn't swallow.

It was a good experience though. Looking forward to how I do next week.

-Stay Dirty

Tour of KC

Well, after my first road races this weekend I can say two things: I'm happy and I've learned a lot.


The Friday crit didn't have a Cat 5 category, but I still went to support the rest of the team and try and get a feel for what crits were all about. As I didn't race in this one the rest of the team has some good reviews to check out.


Friday was hot and Saturday wasn't any different. After the race on Friday the team went to the Sawmill just across from the course for some food and drink. Karen and I didn't stay too long as I wanted to get enough sleep for the race on Saturday. The Cat 5 race was at 4:30 and it was the first of the category races. Karen and I got to the course a little after 2:00. We had driven around the course the night before so I had a pretty good idea what to expect. It was relatively flat. The two longer sides of the rectangle made up the climb and decent of the .63 mile course. The start/finish was in the middle of the decent and the backside was the climb. This was a really good course for me. It was fairly fast with some good corners and the climb was perfect for really cranking some bigger gears.

I got registered, got my kit on and got the bike ready with about an hour and a half to go before the start. Karen and I found a good shady spot on the course in the beautiful downtown Lee's Summit and I left her to do some warming up, not too hard in that heat. While out riding I ran into both Phillip and Marcus who would be racing the fives with me so we got warmed up together. The time to race started to get closer so we made our way back to the start line. Once they opened up the course for pre-riding we got to get out and get a feel for the course. No real surprises here except for the pre-race jitters. It's been a little while since I've had those before, but it didn't take much to get rid of.

I started the race on the second row on the outside. I knew that I wanted to stay up front because my biggest fear was getting stuck and getting into a situation that I couldn't find a way out of. I was confident in my bike handling skills, not everyone else's. Without much chatter they blew the whistle and we were off. The pace wasn't really bad at all and the turns weren't nearly as hairy as I thought that they'd be with everyone else so close. It didn't take long for the groups to start forming. I did, however, find it hard to hang onto a wheel. The issue wasn't in keeping pace, it was in me feeling comfortable being that close to someone. Moving at race pace, however, I got a real feeling for how important that really was. It didn't take nearly as much effort to hang on to the group when you were right behind someone. This was something I was going to have to work at.


Luckily, I was fit enough to still hang close to the lead group without actually being right on the back wheel of someone. This got better throughout the race as I got a feel for it. There was a lot of learning going on in those first 5 laps or so. At lap 3 they called their first prime and Marcus went after it. I don't know why, but I went after him too. He got such a jump on the rest of the field and me that there wasn't any catching him, but it did put us way out in front. I knew that the pace we were moving at wasn't something that we could hold so I pretty quickly backed off and got swallowed back up. Marcus had spent all of his energy in that one prime and he fell back to 15th where he eventually finished. Our little breakaway had revealed one thing to me, I could easily pass everyone on the backside of the course up that incline with a little effort. After a little rest at the middle of the pack I started moving back up. Within two laps I had settled into sixth place and traded spots with the fifth and seventh place guys for a while.

By this time I knew exactly how I'd try and win this race. I knew that my fitness level and my current energy level would give me a great chance at top three or even a win. With eight laps to go I was in the perfect position to see and easily reach the front of the lead pack I was in should I need to. As the laps counted down I was expecting to see some attacks off the front, but no one ever went. It was my intention to pull every attack back so that we stayed as a group, but not to go out in front until the last possible moment. With three laps to go and still no attacks I decided to move up to third. I knew what was likely to happen. Everyone was waiting for one lap to go and then it was going to be an all-out sprint. I knew I had enough in the tank to sprint at full-speed for an entire lap. I didn't know what the guy who'd been driving most of the race had left, however, I was soon to find out.


With one lap to go I was in third position and I quickly moved into second. All my passing was done on the back side of the course on that small climb. Everyone picked up the pace into the first two corners and I made it a point to take them all at full speed and on the inside keeping them nice and short. Once we hit the climb I knew it was now or never. No one else was pulling away and I knew I could easily put distance on the entire field. I made it a point to stay in the same gear that I was in on the decline so that I could use that on the climb. The years of riding singlespeeds made that possible. It was here that I was most comfortable, besides, I didn't what to have happen to me what happened to the guy I was to pass on that climb. When I started my attack I was already in the big gear I wanted. When the leader noticed me coming around him on the climb I heard click, click, click real fast, but by the time he engaged the gears I was already one and a half lengths in front of him. I executed the next two turns cleanly and I wouldn't be caught. I crossed the line three seconds in front of the second place guy who was actually in sixth place when I started my attack. I had won my first road crit. Ended up with a $75 card to BikeSource, not too bad. This winning stuff is really cool I'll have to try and make it a habit.


Sunday was much cooler, but the course was very different from Saturday. The course was in downtown KCMO near the Power and Light district. The start/finish was at the top of a climb; there was a small dip just before turn one and an immediate steeper shorter climb before turn 2. After turn 2 the backside of the course had a nice downhill right into turn three. It was flat to turn 4, but it went immediately up the hill to the finish. The turns in this course were awesome. I had a great time hitting every one of them at speed. My new bike really moves and corners well and I often would put distance on people by cornering better than them.


The race started in interesting fashion. I got warmed up and headed to the start line with only a few laps of the fours left. With 5 laps to go in the fours the announcer called out that it would be one lap to go. They needed to clear the course for an ambulance to come take care of one of the crashed racers from earlier. This lead to a delay in us starting our race as the course remained closed until the ambulance left. Once the course was open they let us do one 'parade' lap before we lined up again.

I didn't get a good spot during the lineup. I was about three rows back and in the middle. Bad. I'll make it a point not to do that again. When the whistle was blown I was pretty quickly at the rear of the entire pack. It took me three laps to get warmed back up and seven laps to get back up to around sixth place. I hung out there for about four laps and then decided that the pace was a little slow so I went off the front with 10 laps to go. What I didn't know at the time, but I know now was that there was a guy who went way off the front around lap six while I was still climbing back from the crappy start. When I went off the front with 10 laps to go I assumed I was leading. It wasn't until about four laps to go that I heard the announcer calling out times and realized that he was calling out how far back I was from the leader. By the time I realized this I didn't have enough time to bring him back. I started somewhere around 18 seconds back and at the best I was able to bring it back to was eight seconds, but that was as close as I would get. I would cross the line 13 seconds off first for a second place finish in my second ever crit. Not bad, but I still feel had it not been for my rookie mistakes I could've had a great shot at winning that race.

I should've got a better start, then I may have seen the guy jump off the front and been able to bring him back. Dan told me later what my REAL rookie mistake was. The pace car. There was a pace car and I never saw the rear of it. If you don't see the pace car, you're not leading the race. Duh!! That's Bush League. You can bet I won't be making that mistake again!

All in all, I had a great weekend racing and had a great time being part of a team. I love cheering on my teammates and I do like having a cheering section too. It was also really nice hanging out after the races and talking shop. Team Colavita/Parisi is the first cycling team I've ever belonged to. Before, all of my racing had been solo. Being part of a team can't be beat in this sport and in my mind being a part of this team is the best.

Stay Dirty!