good ride today

I had a really good ride today. It was warm, sunny and calm which is kind of a rare combination this time of year. I started with 30 miles of fast tempo on flat roads and then did 3 repeats on Stadium Hill with a downhill sprint after each. I completely cracked during the last one but it was still a good ride.

I like doing stadium Hill repeats because the descents are really good but I didn't get any fast ones today. Cars kept getting in the way and then the last time down it was clear but I hit some oil and stupidly touched my brakes which left me squeaking out of the turn next to the guard rail.

In other news I nearly stepped on Boxi earlier...it was a traumatic experience for me but Boxi (who presumably suffers from poor short term memory) seems to have forgiven all :-)

moving in the right direction...

Well after a rather dismal showing 2 weeks ago Team Legacy Energy got it's shit together today for the P123 crit in Greeley. We all finished (2 weeks ago none of us finished). Brad and Dan were in the break which went early and was gone after a few laps. Phil got in the second break. Patty and Jarred shut down everything else that tried to get away. Paul and I got caught behind a dangerous split about halfway through the race but we both made it across. Paul lead me out for the sprint from the "field" (it was a small field by the end) and he and I went 1 and 3 out of that group. I don't know the exact numbers up the road but Brad, Dan and Phil all ended up top 10 and Paul and I were certainly top 20. Jarred and Patty finished just behind us and may have been top 20 as well.

Dan wins sprint? Really?

Yup. Dan Workman won the sprint at Worlds today. We started out with 12.

I interrupt this ride report to discuss my office mate...
He's a boxelder bug (I call him Boxi). He's been hanging around in my office for at least a couple of weeks now. I'm not really sure what he eats but he seems quite happy here. At first I didn't throw him out because I was normally busy when he'd come crawling through and it was easier to just blow him off the desk and keep working. But now I don't throw him out because it's COLD outside and he keeps me company (turns out working from home is kind of lonely). He's crawling around by my mouse now.

Neway back to Worlds... We started with 12 and rode 2 by 2 almost up to Wellington at which point I got annoyed and attacked. Didn't go anywhere of course but when they caught me the echelon was going which is what I wanted. We rolled around pretty smoothly. Dan Porter put in two attacks but they didn't go anywhere. Then Mike Williams attacked about 6km out and ended up off the front with 2 other guys. In the confusion that followed most of the back group got dropped and by the time we caught the break there were only 3 of us left (so 6 in the front group).

Normally the ride into the sprint is pretty easy since the sprint is so hard but having just shelled half the group we rode hard all the way into the sprint. Andy hit the front at the bottom of the hill and lead it out for way longer than I thought he could. I jumped really hard and thought I had it but Dan held my wheel and then had no trouble coming around! Despite the embarrassment of being owned in a sprint by a climber/TTer I must say I'm very happy that Team Legacy went 1-2... and Dan and I are the lowly cat2s on the team :-)

Oval ride 3/15

Ok I'm tired so here's my summary. We rode hard. I got in the lead group of 6. Andy turned off before Carter leaving me with Rich Davis, Jon Garcia, Dan Porter and a pro triathlete who was riding very well. I got dropped on Carter and did much cursing in my head as I watched the other 4 ride away, sat up and waited for the group behind, rode home with them, won the sprint, such as it was, as we came back into town.

Anyway normally I'd have a nice recovery meal but since I keep getting dropped on Carter I've decided I'm not eating again until I make it over that *#$&ing climb with the group! :-)

Also, Jonathan Garcia is fast.

bad week?

It hasn't been a very good week so far. On Sunday 4 of us from Legacy did a crit in City Park in Denver. I missed the break, caused a crash, missed the second break which ended up bridging and then DNFed when the whole field got pulled. To make matters worse the other guy who crashed with me ended up with much worse injuries than I did. Ugh.

Tuesday I did a good workout... 3x10min LT intervals. Two out into a headwind and then one coming home getting to spin big gears.

Then today was Wednesday Worlds (the first of the year) and only 6 of us showed up. Strong wind from WNW. I felt a bit off in the group and ended up crossing wheels and going down again!!! I haven't crashed in almost a year and then I go down twice in 4 days... something is definitely not right. Neway I didn't get any injuries from this crash except a pretty nice bruise on my butt and nobody else crashed so I suppose it could have been a lot worse.

Anyway, clearly it's time for me to go into hermit-mode. More sleep and work and less socializing and whatnot until my head is screwed on again.

Oval ride 3/8

It was a pretty small group today (there were races in Lakewood and north of FC). We rolled out towards Masonville and then cut down through Eaton Valley to Rattlesnake. I made it over all the climbs with the leaders until Rattlesnake where Ian Holt, Brett Kirby, Paul Esposti, and Joe Saperstien dropped me. We rolled back along the same route fairly easy until we got to the back side of the HTMP climb (aka Masonville Pass). Paul set a pretty good tempo up that climb and then did the same thing on Marina Hill. I figured we'd roll turns around the reservoir into the downhill sprint but Paul just drove it all the way with me on his wheel. A couple of guys came around us on the descent and my gut reaction was to go with them but I told myself to chill and trust Paul. Coming out of the sweeping curve he jumped on them and really lit things up for me... left me with an easy 200m and I was able to hold off the rest of the group.

Oh yeah, and we say the Bustop ride out of Boulder... about 70 of them taking up a whole lane and holding each others hands while they all sat in... good job Boulder. Remember, don't ever pull through because then you might get dropped.

freehub?

Ok so I apparently have a fubar freehub. Well, not beyond all recognition... maybe just a little bit. Anyway, when I'm towards the bottom of my cassette and I coast or backpedal i get slack in the top of the chain. This is bad. I put up with stuff like this during base season because... well there's no need to coast during base season and since I've been training on a fixie I don't even coast when I brake anymore.

But now it's race season and on Sunday I'm racing at City Park which involves a lot of coasting around round-abouts so this needs to be fixed. Initial methods have failed so my plan now is to run a bunch of solvent into the freehub with the intent of dissolving all the grease in there (which has clearly thickened with time) and then oil (rather than grease) the freehub. This is not a good solution but we're talking about an $80 wheel so I don't care.

If anyone has a better idea speak up quickly before I start pouring gasoline into my free hub :-)