Superweek

So the big lesson from Superweek this year is that brakes are bad. I'd joked about this before but in all seriousness, brakes are for slowing you down which is bad. So, when riding crits brakes should be considered a last resort. You are much better off not braking and if you can avoid crashing in the process that will also increase your chances of winning :-)

Also, when it's raining and you have an urge to slow down in the corners, please don't.

I didn't get a photo of it but somewhere on I-80 (I think near Des Moines) there is an Adult Super Store. Initially this seemed odd but once I thought about it a bit I realized that lots of chains have "super" versions. One can only assume that in addition to the standard wares peddled by porno outlets this Super Store sells groceries and may even have a Tire and Lube. I wonder if they're open 24 hours?

progress

Lila and I went down and did the Pseudo-Mead crit again on Tuesday. The field was quite a bit deeper than in past weeks with Ian and Timmy, several Vitamin Cottage guys, and a bunch of the Real Aussie kids. There was also a slight wind out of the south.

I managed to contain my enthusiasm long enough to let the right break go before I tried to do anything. Got on Aaron Heun's wheels, he attacked in way too big a gear from second wheel so I stayed with him and then drove it really hard up the false flat to the finish line (tailwind section of the course, so good time to take a pull and set things up for a counter attack). I peeled off as we turned into the crosswind and sat about 6th wheel while a couple of other guys took big pulls. A VC rider attacked and I followed. I couldn't get on his wheel so we both ended up bridging to the break solo.

The break had all the right guys (3 Assuies, Jorge Espinoza, 2 VC, Timmy... can't recall if Ian was there) but it was way too big. I was waiting for an attack to rip it apart but in fact it was very much an issue of attrition. Turns out I didn't have the smarts to last very long up there as I was way too aggressive and worked more than I was able to. Went back to the field and barely latched on to the tail end.

A frustrating day, but probably the best workout I've gotten at any of the Pseudo-Mead races yet.

introductions, etc.

i, lila, am the person on the right. behind me is the kitchen.

anyway. injury makes me sad. :-(

but will cheered me up, via a demonstration of why i would fail a roadside sobriety test.

duly noted.

as of monday, i am back on the bike :-)

as of yesterday, i got dropped at pseudo-mead for the first time :-(

as any basic mathemotician can tell, this adds up to :-/

...but i haven't told you why i was off the bike in the first place, have i?

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three hours into my blissful 4th of july training ride, i was charged and knocked off my bike by a dog.

oh man. heh. sometimes my fingers move faster than they should. i just wrote "knocked off my bike by a god."

if greg henderson knocked me off my bike, that would be true. and you know what? greg henderson can knock me off my bike any day he likes.

if only.

getting back on topic, the aforementioned dog...well, there were two, actually, but one was in the business of flanking, and the other was in the business of charging. the charging pit bull took me down hard, and was pressing the advantage when i was rescued by the arrival of two guys on touring bikes.

and when i say pressing the advantage, i mean the dogs were circling slowly closer, like sharks. i may be a little sensitive on this point, but i think the three-inch gash on my right elbow was the focus of their attention.

the bad-ass sounding part of this story is the bit about how i then rode home (about 20 miles) with blood slowly coating my forearm.

the not-so-bad-ass part of the story is how i called my parents from marina hill and asked them to patch me up.

to their credit, they freaked out not at all. and they spent four hours sitting in urgent care with me.

in other news, i have a lot of stuff to do today. this is only one facet of my personality, etc. etc., enjoyed our time together, must be going, so on and so forth.

~li-lacious

bouncy rubber ball

Coming back from lunch I bumped into coworker who had his family with him including two small children. Then as I climbed the stairs I heard the unmistakable sound of a bouncy ball but since I had just seen children it didn't seem at all unreasonable to assume that there was yet another coworker's child, bouncing a ball at the top of the stairwell. Then the ball comes bouncing down the stairs. I round the corner onto the next flight and come face to face with Chris, one of the people who work here who's under the age of 30. He's got a sheepish grin on his face and is scurrying down the stairs after his rubber ball.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Anyway since the stairwell's security has already been compromised I think I'm going to start roller skating to work and parking my skates on the landing between the 2nd and 3rd floors. I'll be improving office efficiency by making good use of that dead space!

I know nobody comes here to read about the happenings of the office so I promise future postings will be race related... like Bush's cabinet appointments.

I'm tired

Well, I made it through my big build phase. Yesterday was the last day of my 3rd consecutive week of at least 20 hours on a bike. Prior to 3 weeks ago I'd never done more than 16 hours of training in a week (I think I might have gone over 16 at Superweek last year but that's different cause all you do is race, eat and sleep). I've been pretty shredded but my fitness has improved pretty markedly and my climbing is pretty good. I've been pedaling downhills like a madman to build leg speed. I've come down from Stove Prairie twice this weekend and both times I was keeping up with the cars and motorcycles which was sweet.

I've got 10 days now before I leave for Superweek which should be just enough to rest and build a little more speed. Then Superweek should get me in really good shape for the crits in August and September :-)

First post

Welcome to Hickey Racing. Since myself, my younger sister Lila and our older brother Phil all race road bikes it seemed fitting to have a blog for all 3 of us.

And I'm going to start carrying my camera more often so the blog won't be boring :-)