Hickey Racing

A Hickey Racing PSA

2009-05-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

~Or~

"Don’t learn this stuff the hard way – I did it for you."

1) Do not make your gmail password painfully simple. When your account is hijacked, so is your life.

2) Under no circumstances should you plan a vacation that does not involve bike racing. This is wrong, and will result in a swine flu outbreak at your travel destination (Sorry Mexico, my bad)

3) Drunks who appreciate their DD are great – but when they buy you a ride on the mechanical bull, remember – this is a drunk person idea.

4) If the afore-mentioned bull is absolutely unavoidable, keep a bag of ice handy, for when you pull your groin.

5) Marathons: probably easier when you a) have trained, b) did not pull your groin three days before, c) do it on the same day as everyone else, and get to use the aid stations.

(But we are le tired!)

6) When stumbling across dead bodies in the woods, it is best to not *actually* stumble across them. Footprints = police paperwork.

Well, that's out of the way! I know this blog is supposed to be about bike racing, so here’s a math problem for you:

If I:

- show up to 4 of the last 5 Wednesday Worlds,
- make it past Owl Canyon 3 times,
- sit on the tail 5 miles per week at 28mph,
- and drink 8 fl. Oz of Horizon Organic Strawberry milk after each ride…

How long will it be before I’m fast enough to follow Rahsaan Bahati around at Super Week and figure out how it’s done???

CU race update - the bland version

2009-03-14T17:22:00.001-07:00

Well, true to our word Lila and I have been not training. We have an meticulously designed training routine that involves a lot of hanging out, chilling, couch-sitting, gymming, and a minimal amount of bike riding.

Today CU put on a race at the Qwest research park. Lila had a very solid 8th place (2nd in the field sprint) in one of the strongest fields she's ever raced in and I managed a 4th place in the cat 2/3 race. Overall a good day.

But it's Stephanie's birthday so we're off to engage in some beer drinking and shenanigans. We've got some pictures, that may or may not suck and even now Lila is conjuring up a retelling of this very story that will be neither bland nor boring. Check back soon.

Back In The Blogging Saddle!

2009-01-28T21:22:00.000-08:00

A thousand pardons: between minor injuries, assorted illnesses, travel and future-travel-planning, we have been afk.

And now, a filler post!

You know how everyone has some little weird physical quirk that sets them apart and makes 'em special?

For example, I have wings:

(I was in high school before anyone told me this was abnormal and that I was a freak of nature.)

Teenagers can be so cruel sometimes.

Will's superpower is looking like a younger, paler, Wolverine->

(In actuality, these are "before" pics - expect to see some "afters" around June - if all goes well, we will be tanned and toned).

To answer your next question, the wall is covered with Will's bicycle storage system. I suspect it is equally useful for the dorm-room-livin' college student and the married weekend warrior whose wife needs the garage for potting soil.

And when you move out, just fill the holes with toothpaste.
Ty Pennington - and your wife - will be unimpressed, but your RA/landlord won't know the difference.

(Will hung a full-sized kayak from the ceiling of his dormroom for at least two years, and still got his deposit back. True story.)

In other news, I'm pondering inserts. In past, I've always used Superfeet and been very pleased, but when I stopped by Full Cycle today, I came across a heat-molded brand called Sole. Honestly, they looked pretty tricked-out, so the battle begins:

Sole?

Or Superfeet?

It’s Not All Fun & Games, You Know!

2009-01-26T12:13:00.000-08:00

…Unless you’ve decided to “do it all with less fitness than our competitors,” (as Brother Will put it) at which point, it pretty much IS all fun and games.

So you’re allowed to have brownies AND birthday cake, complete with delicious ButterCream frosting:

(I think I have the diabetes now, incidentally).

And you can dance til the wee hours of the morning,
with absolutely no concern for whether or not your legs are
recovering from the day's workout:

(Please keep in mind that the locomotion is the least harmful dance available, beating out such favorites as the foxtrot, waltz and moonwalking when it comes to next-day muscle pain and overall recovery time required.)

Aerodynamics no longer need be a factor when making personal-grooming decisions:

(Look! It's Prodigal Brother Phil!)

AND we can stay up really, really late! But there's still no reason not to rep the heck out of your (old) team while you're at it...

(Brad Cole is wearing ciclismoracing's 2009 line of casualwear, while Will Hickey reps an instant classic - their 2008 Legacy T-shirt with white piping detail on neck and arms. Regina Hopkins is just fuckin' style-y, in something red and something white, with crazy funky hair)

So thanks to everyone who came, and made it a most excellent birthday...

But to those of you who didn’t come, it’s only fair to let you know you’ve been moved to the “Terrible, No-Good, Very-Bad Friends” list…

…Unless you’re just not on the Facebook, in which case...what the heck are you doing in the blogosphere anyway?

Go WEST, Young Man

2009-01-21T21:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, I admit it - Horace Greeley probably wasn't recommending more time in the mountains for aspiring cyclists, but you know what? If we desecrated his grave, reanimated his corpse, strapped it on a bicycle, and turned it loose on the Front Range...well, I don't think he would gravitate towards his namesake.

Ironic, no?

I suppose the real irony (or at least oddity) is a sprinter calling for more climbing, but I have my reasons.

As it turns out, the plains are pretty boring. I would know: not only have I driven through, to and around Kansas on numerous occasions, I also spent the winter of 2006 training exclusively on the flats north and east of Fort Collins - the only roads not under two feet of snow at the time.

Since I've started riding again, I've been hitting the mountains, and my state of mind is...different:

Winter, 2006: "Aaand it's the Rawhide Power Plant, YET AGAIN. Snow sure is blowing... Wait a tic, what's that up in the road ahead? Is that...is that..yep, it's a yeti! Huh. Would anyone care if I got eaten by a yeti? Would I care? Probably warmer in there than it is out here...hey, yeti! Wait up! ...Oh. You're a cow."

Lately, things have been more like this:

Friday, on the way back through Eden Valley: "Sunshine, on my shoulders, makes me happy...aaand I'm singing John Denver. Oh fiddlesticks, who cares? This weather/ride is sweet!"

Saturday was slightly rougher - thanks to Friday being my first long day in more than a year. I'll admit that my thoughts started more like... "Fuck. FUCK. Oooh, Sweet Baby Jesus, my sit bones. I know liposuction is cheating, but what if I just asked them to move some body fat down to my ass? That seems legit...hey! I made it to the Wall! Sweeeet!"

Sunday, Will & I hit some dirt roads east of town with Don Spence & Rich Taranow. Captain's log as follows: "Recovery ride has turned to dirt and wind. No sign of safe harbor for miles. Rations are running low, and the group is restless. But....I just realized I have a blueberry cobbler cooking back home! That...well...that really is going to be sweet, cause it's cooking in a cup of maple syrup!"

Aaaand then on Sunday, I might (maybe), possibly have run the Arthur's Rock loop out at Lory...and then the Reservoir Ridge loop, too! But if Will asks you, I totally didn't.

....

And that was sweet too, metaphorically. Literally, it mostly tasted of alkali salts.

Here's to switching it up, playing on the power hills, even suffering up the long ones... and not wishing for death by yeti or cow.

and we're back..

2009-01-14T22:53:00.000-08:00

First let me remind everyone that this is a shared blog. All the funny posts are Lila's. All the excruciatingly boring posts that ramble on in monotone about the particulars of various races and group rides are mine. But with Lila setting the amusement-bar so high I will attempt to do better.

Anyway, the Hickey Racing Clan (TM) is back with a vengeance. Our goals are to slit throats, win money, drink beer, and do it all with less fitness than our competitors. I am going to learn to race like a big guy... I've gotta haul this 80kgs around so I might as well start using it to push little guys out of my way.

My riding fitness is currently really bad but a lot of other stuff is good. Work is more stable and structured than it was a year ago. My core is solid. I am squatting more than I ever have and my diet is the best it's been in years. Plus I invested in an electric razor so when I start shaving it will be faster and with fewer cuts (in the meantime I'm using the razor on my face which is working nicely).

Lila and I have been getting the bikes tuned up in preparation for our awesome training regiment. Coming up... expect pictures, a tentative race schedule, and an insiders perspective on which crits offer the best opportunity for public drunkenness.

Setbacks, Forward Leaps, & Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead (Tired)

2009-01-14T17:55:00.001-08:00

One thing I really do NOT miss about being a competitive cyclist is structured workouts – and the guilt that comes when you miss one.

So nowadays, I do whatever sounds fun, which lately has been a lot of upper body lifting, haphazard pilates, squats, some dance classes and….bouldering?

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. I now climb on rocks, and it is all that I dreamed it could be.

Turns out my friend Dan climbs at the gym I use - Miramont North. I figured it would be a good workout, plus I get to spend time with a great friend and add to my "cool skills" list:

Anyway, I’ve hit the wall about 5 times in the past two weeks, and was having a great time – until last night. (If I were an expert climber, I would know all the technical terms to explain what happened, but then again, I also probably wouldn’t have hurt myself)... so here’s the greenhorn's explanation:

"So, I was holding onto this one rock with my right hand, and I needed to grab another,

higher rock with my left hand, right? I swung all of my weight onto my right hand, lunged with my left, reaching for the sky (or at least that higher rock). Aaaaand then I felt a distinct and disconcerting popping sensation in my right forearm.

And then I fell off the wall.”

And this was the face Dan made at me :

I’m fairly certain the muscle is just over-fatigued by my "0 to 60" style of exercise, so I scrapped the rest of my climbing and lifting, did 3 fast(ish) miles on the treadmill and called it a day.

Then I went home and iced my arm for a bit. (Dan advises icing with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, so that when the depression sets in, you can numb that too.)

Still, assuming I don’t brake much, I should be able to ride this weekend, but I am going to stop climbing & lifting for a couple weeks, and that makes me a sad panda.

One exercise that I should still be able to do is jump squats – or at least, my paltry version of them.

As I’ve mentioned, Will has started me on various kinds of squats, and jump squats are, hands-down, my worst event. So much so, in fact, that he suggested I do them without any weights (for now).

There are few things more embarrassing than hopping across the gym holding an invisible 20-lb bar. I say hopping across the gym because, despite my best efforts, I seem to migrate forward slightly on each rep, so that by the time I’m finished a set I’ve hopped all the way across the gym floor.

But it’s the only squat I know that doesn’t require me to stabilize weights with my arms, so for the duration of my forearm injury, it’s the one for me.

Sadly, my plans to spend the long weekend in New Mexico fell through. But since I already requested Friday off, I think I'll take advantage of the (pretty) good weather, and log a nice long day on the bike, followed by a trip to Denver for my buddy Ingo’s going-away party.

Ingo is moving to Germany in two weeks - and we've been making vague plans to hang out for the past three months. Going to the party *sounds* like a great idea and a convenient way to see him off, but I can already see myself falling asleep on his (very nice) leather couch, round about 8pm.

But Denver has lots of cyclists, and some of you must have found yourself faking legitimate social interaction after a long day in the saddle.

Tricks? Tips? Coffee shops with espresso so strong it will curl my hair AND teeth?

trainer? i 'ardly knew 'er!

2009-01-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

why i have decided to race again is beyond me, but one thing i DO know is that if i want to race, i gotta train.

adding in the fact that today was the group ride's flagship Oval, and there really wasn't any reason not to go...

except for two flat tires and a drive-train that skips at the mention of watts.

two tubes and a bottle of degreaser later i was on my way, just in time to meet the ride as it headed out on Vine.

(i think i was one of only three women on the ride, but hopefully that will change when the CSU ladies come back from California and as word gets out that this ride is awesome.)

the ride was moving at a respectable but totally managable pace, and i was staying out of the wind & handling the baby hills pretty easily - not bad for my first serious ride in more than a year!

unfortunately, my bike hasn't handle the inactivity as well as i have - turns out i needed more than a bottle of degreaser, because i ended up on the side of the road with my chain wrapped around my crank arm. yes it is possible.

it only took a minute to fix the chain, and i was optimistic that i might be able to chase back in the tailwind section, or at least find some stragglers, but by the time i got to Windsor it was obvious this wasn't going to happen.

getting dropped because of a mechanical was a pretty depressing feeling, and there was a time that would have ruined my ride. these days, though, i'm focusing on not letting the little things get me down - and on enjoying the other little things - like the fact that the weather was beautiful, i felt strong, and no one tried to run me over!

oh, and the series of items i saw lying in the ditch on 287: a playboy, an empty Franzia box, and a (hopefully equally empty) Plan B wrapper.

(to quote The Mummy, "apparently, they had a very good time!"

revivals and so on

2009-01-03T23:56:00.000-08:00

so according to my last foray into the blogosphere, i made promises to regale you with continued tales of my noteworthy bicycle crashes...

briefly, on the subject of crashing bicycles:
if you were to crash a bicycle on a sunday, and the only place open was the ER, and the stitches cost $600...well, it would be wise to do it 1) on your parents insurance and 2) when said parents are switching providers, and just happen to have double coverage.

on to the meat & potatoes of life:

1) Will finally has me squatting. i would describe myself as "dubiously* intrigued."

2) i'm thinking of racing bicycles again.

* if Andy Clark starts calling me quadzilla one more time, i am DONE.

back on the bike :-)

2008-11-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

It's been a nice long break but I got back on this weekend for a couple of respectable 4 hour days. On Saturday I did the Oval Ride with Brett, Phil and Kate. We did the short south loop and came back over the hills which felt good.

Then on Sunday Phil and Patty and I rode to Carter Lake and back. It felt good to be pushing myself again.

And to mitigate the earlier hotlinking... check out this new Fort Collins website: The Group Ride for all your Fort Collins cycling needs.

Well this is a stupid invention...

2008-07-23T20:36:00.001-07:00

http://www.velonews.com/article/80345/tools-instead-of-water

OK I'm sure someone thought this was really clever and there are probably enough Freds to make it a commercial success. But seriously... if you're doing rides short enough that you don't need both your water bottle cages do you really need that much extra space for carrying tools?

Next they're gonna try to re-market those fancy 1990s behind the seat water bottle cages that everyone thought were so aerodynamic because the bottles "drafted off the rider" (read, *#$@ed up the laminar flow and created turbulence like crazy)

i love going downhill :-)

2008-07-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Lee's ride. We went south to Loveland and then came north along Glade road and back over the hills into town. I knew I could ride hard on such a short course so I bridged to an early break in Loveland and started driving it for all I was worth. I was fairly sure we had the group cracked when someone crashed in the main pack (we were going around a hairpin and could see them behind us). We all sat up, frustratingly. Then a few guys rolled away while we were sitting around.

Ride re-started and I got away with 2 other guys from the original break. We were flying into the headwind but then one guy sat up. Two guys in the headwind hurt but we still had a big gap so we stayed on the gas. I just wanted to make it over HTMP before they caught us so we wouldn't have to handle attacks.

We made really good time up the first climb and picked up Don Spence near the top. Then my break-mate hit the bottom of Marina hard and I let him go (rather ride my own pace than crack halfway up). At the south end of the resevoir one guy bridged up from what was left of the main group. He, Don and I rotated, chasing my break-mate. Just before the final downhill I jumped and got a gap. Went through the two corners on the downhill way faster than the other 3 and caught the guy up the road in the process. He was dumb enough to keep riding hard while I sat on him until about 100m to go at which point it was fait accompli. The fitness is definitely coming back.

Hey I finally have something to write about!!

2008-07-09T22:30:00.001-07:00

I did the Lee's ride today. Normally I skip this in favor of Worlds but I haven't been riding in a month and Lee's is a little slower and more forgiving. We rolled out with a pretty large group (40 maybe?) and took a round-about loop through Timnath, up towards Wellington, down Hwy 1, then turned west on Douglas road and did the sprint at the cement plant. I felt mildly bonked the whole time which is probably because in my month off I've learned that I really dont have to eat on any sort of schedule. I tried to split the group once but didn't really have the legs.

Coming down Hwy 1 I thought we were going to do the speed sign sprint by the lake so I started jumping wheels to get to the front. But we turned right and all my crafty wheel jumping was for naught. Then I got dropped on the little roller on the north end of shields (~3k from the sprint). I chased back on at the stop sign and clung desperately to the back of the group knowing I needed to move up for the sprint but afraid I'd get dropped again if I tried.

We hit the base of the sprint hill and I was about 20 guys back. I stood up and gave it everything and was suddenly reminded that I wasn't on the oval ride and nobody can suffer worth a damn on the Lee's ride. Both legs were cramping with every pedal stroke but I managed to get around everyone but Steve Shepherd who had a huge gap already by the time I hit the front of the group. I think I'll try to win next week and then get back to Worlds the week after :-)

And this weekend I'm contemplating some sweet hikes. Probably Longs and then a hike up near Crystal Mountain in search of a couple of B-17s that crashed up there in the 40s.

flagstone classic?

2008-06-18T16:01:00.000-07:00

My last race as a cat3 was Boulder Roubaix (April 2007). I rode the final 3km like an idiot but came to my senses at 600m and got the job done. (The rider on the ground was OK. The Einstein's rider behind him is about to go over the handle bars... he wastaken away in an ambulance but was ultimately OK)

And I got a sweet trophy...
The trophy has been sitting in my shed for 14 months but I finally set it in the walk in front of my house. The plaque is still attached to the underside of the rock... that should be an interesting thing for someone to dig up someday when they reset the stones.

nostalgia and reposting

2008-04-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

as you may have heard, should you NOT be in a cave, on mars, with your eyes shut and your fingers in your ears,the town of ordway burned this week.

we used to live in ordway. nostalgia led me back to my old blog, and an incident from those days. feast your eyes on young, headstrong lila:

part I of a multi-part saga...

the other day, i called myself "invincible" in the pack. my good friend contests this point, seeing as i have matching scars on my elbows.

i can explain.

you know that learning curve? the one you're supposed to reach, but not cross? well, i crossed it a few times in my early bike-riding days. but i learned faster for it.

and i will prove this to you. i'm going to detail every single crash i've had. when i'm done, you're going to say, wow, she is invincible!

why am i doing this? well, like i say, so you'll realize i'm invincible.

yes, the rumors are true: we celebrities are nothing without our public. so, without further muttering, i give you...

part I.

early july, 2002, ordway co.
..

so. Will bought me a road bike. it was awesome. steel frame, downtube shifters, 6-gear cassette. oh, and clipless pedals. i *thought* that was the rub.

so i was re-learning to ride a bike. i had (mostly) mastered it, after a couple awesome captain's falls.

i thought the difficult part was over. i thought wrong.

picture Will and i riding down the street, side by side. i should mention he had *just* gotten a new, carbon frame specialized epic, and it was definitely his baby.

(i'm not even kidding. i think he slept with it. )

...and then, i inexplicably swerved into him. i have no explanation. i'd like to say there was a squirrel in the road...but really, i was the squirrel.

we lock handlebars. i proceeded to flail like a trapped rat (actually, i don't know how accurate that is, i've never trapped one).

we both went down. i was bruised; will's derailleur was bent.

and then there was wrath.

lessons learned:
1 - you can ride out of a jolt if you lean into each other instead of freaking out. in fact, freaking out is pretty much always the wrong thing.

2 - big racers throw their weight around, but they play the elephant to us small riders' mice. and by that i mean, they get real skittish when we're diving under them. will still shows the whites of his eyes when i sneak up on him. truth.

3 - you can bend derailleurs back into shape with pretty standard tools. like a hammer, and a vice.

coming next week: part II, or "Lila's parents make money off her injuries"

Boxi is dead

2008-04-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

Alas, he came wandering across my desk last night with a leg missing and was dead this morning.

But that's not important now... what IS important is that I'm healthy, not procrastinating as much, moving my circadian cycle backwards (earlier to sleep, earlier to rise) and riding again.

This weekend is Koppenberg. Probably the shortest RR in Colorado which despite it being god-awful hard is probably good for me :-) I don't really know how I'll stack up but with Redlands going on the really fast guys should be in Cali so I'm excited to see what I can do against the normal Boulder cat1s. Also, it is sunny.

My season, thus far...

2008-04-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

So here's how my season's gone so far... I train, I get faster, I procrastinate on a deadline for work, I pull an all-nighter to finish the work in time for a demo, I get sick, I don't train, I get slower, I get healthy, repeat.

This is NOT a recipe for success.

Anyway for the last week or so I've been doing a lot of sitting around sick (and working late into the night while sick which is bad) and generally being annoyed with myself for procrastinating last night and getting sick. So this week I'm gonna work consistently and not procrastinate.

good ride today

2008-03-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-03-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

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.

verification

2008-03-21T10:57:00.001-07:00

firstly, i would like to point out that i am now convinced of Will's ability to do big things on the bike. this has nothing to do with his riding, and everything to do with *that bug.*

i say this because my coach always used to tell us that to be the best in the world, you don't just have to be insanely fast and insanely smart, you have to be insane, too. and i'm firmly convinced that Will is. insane.

he actually threatened me with a bat when i suggested removing boxi to more utopian climes. the relationship, i feel certain, has begun to border upon smeagol-esque devotion.

in other news, i need your help: what should i send to an american in holland? more specifically, an american *racing* in holland?

Dan wins sprint? Really?

2008-03-19T21:15:00.001-07:00

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 :-)

the plus/minus account

2008-03-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

three rides this week. and lots of realizations, like the fact that i:

- can no longer come around Will in a standard sprint
+ can still come around when he leads out a headwind. barely.
- found out my bike handling skills are not what they once were
+ but was relieved to find out i can still hop railroad tracks.
- realized i have no sprint...
+ but that i can still sit on Will's threshold workouts
+ and survive the Lee's ride,
- but not over the dams

all this adds up to something i've suspected for a long time: bike racing, like life, is a zero sum game

wait. wait, wait... i forgot something:

+ robert downey jr. is making a superhero movie.

AAAND, we're in the black. if you don't believe robert downey jr. as a superhero is a positive, just check this out:

(told ya.)

Oval ride 3/15

2008-03-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-03-12T22:09:00.001-07:00

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.

Forgive Me, Jan

2008-03-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

For I have sinned. It has been like, six months since I rode a bike.

Well, ok, not really. But it has been six months since I trained on a bike. Hence the lack of bloggery, because, hey, let’s face it: no one wants to read about my trip to the supermarket

Oops.

Anyway, I’m thinking about getting back on the bike, after a winter of this:

In the meantime, I’ve been running pretty consistently and am tentatively planning to do the Horsetooth Half.

If you wanna stop by and yell things at me, like "Silly cyclist, running is for people with eccentric leg strength," I will probably need the encouragement.

Oval ride 3/8

2008-03-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-03-07T07:22:00.000-08:00

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 :-)

Of bikes...

2008-02-29T20:59:00.000-08:00

Here's the bike I'm riding this year. It's a 5-dollar thrift-store frame with a frankenstein-esque hodge-podge of components (including a replaceable der. hanger, despite the fact that the bike was not originally fitted with one!):

Now, you're probably saying, 'uh, Phil, isn't that the same bike you rode LAST year?'

Yes. It is.

But...

THIS year, I put real pedals on it:
And a shorter stem (turns out 145mm is a bit too long for me...):

It's starting to feel a little like the old farm axe - which has had 2 new bits and half a dozen new handles over the years, but it's still the same old farm axe :) I'm still running 9 speed. My left shifter is almost as old as the frame. My bar tape is dirty and scuffed...

But it was still good enough for a top-10 finish at the Scottsdale Grand Prix last weekend, and I think there might just be another win or two in that old bike... I'm excited for this season!

The bike

2008-02-27T23:27:00.001-08:00

So this is a bit overdue but here's the bike I'm riding this year. It's a 57cm Orbea Opal with mostly Ultegra components. I'm not normally much of a gear head but this thing is very nice. Definitely the best bike I've ever ridden. The seat tube angle is a little shallower than I like but I'm not even sure if my old geometry was UCI legal so this is fine :-)

And... count those teeth.I'm running compact cranks. 50T and 34T. A 50x11 is equivalent to a 53x11.66 so I'm not giving up much on that end. And a 34x23 is about like a 39x26 so even when I'm running the 11-23 on the back I've got a great climbing gear. For the really nasty climbing races (like Gila) I'm gonna run an 11x26 on the back which will give me a gear equivalent to a 39x30. I may still not be able to climb but at least I won't have to grind :-)

sound off

2008-02-24T21:51:00.000-08:00

Ok, Dave Zabriskie is the man! There's a video interview on Velonews of him saying:

"Honestly, you didn't interview me because of the mustache? Then I'm gonna keep it; stay away from me... crazy people."

And in other news... former Rock Racing soigneur says Leogrande confessed to doping, then rubbed soap on his wrist before the urine sample was taken so he could use the soap to screw up the sample (VN article). OK dope control, listen up... if this allegation is even remotely true you guys need to go find a local probation officer and have them teach you proper UA technique... you gotta observe the urine exit the subject's body.

Which brings me to my next point... have we seriously come to this? Are people really racing their bikes for reasons other than seeing how far they can push themselves?

I gotta work a LOT this week so there will be very little riding for me :-(

Back from Arizona...

2008-02-24T20:15:00.001-08:00

My second cycling trip of the year is over. Phil and I spent 10 days in Arizona. We started with Valley of the Sun stage race. I DNFed on the second stage as predicted (I wasn't supposed to start since I had been sick so getting 64 miles before dropping out was fine). We headed down to Tucson on Sunday evening and rented a couple of rooms from a school teacher for the week. We did a lot of sweet rides and got some very solid training in. No pictures on the training rides but here are some random shots...

Phil recovering.Our last day in Arizona we did a crit. I did my first cat2 only race and it felt a lot like a cat3 race... no organization and half the people riding like idiots. I rolled off the front with 5 laps to go but got caught in the last lap and finished 18th. I think I'm gonna go do the Tucson Bicycle Classic next month and see if I can beat up on those Arizona guys when I have some fitness. In other news... Phil (orange jersey, teal bike) learned to DRAFT! :-)

After driving all night I got home at 7AM. Never been so glad to see this sign

I'm racing for primes for the foreseeable future. Not because I need XXL socks and gift certificates I'll never use but because I've gotta start racing more aggressively in crits.

a general updating of things

2008-02-22T17:13:00.000-08:00

Well I've been a terrible blogger but I'm ready to make up for it. Well ok maybe not QUITE ready because I have to go eat dinner soon but sometime in the next day there will be pictures and whatnot.

Phil and I are down in Tucson right now riding our bicycles without jackets, neck gators, skull caps or thermal booties. It's wonderful. We haven't climbed Mt Lemmon (went halfway up and realized that the aforementioned attire is required above 6,000') but we've been riding all over the place in the desert.

Oval ride 1/26! :-)

2008-01-27T13:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the first real Oval ride of the year. The weather has been crappy and nobody has been doing them but yesterday we got a good group and did the long south loop minus Carter (86 miles for me). For the first time that I can remember I was calm and collected rolling out of town. I don't have to worry about when/where the move is going to go anymore b/c I'm confident I can make it.

The ppl on the front missed a left turn out west of Windsor. I knew the turn and made it on my own and some ppl behind me followed me including Rich and Andy. We rode hard (but not all out) until we got caught at a traffic light coming into Windsor. Some guys got back while we waited for the light. Nobody wanted to drill it into the Wall so we rode easy. Dan Milano got away coming into the Wall and made it over solo! There were about 10 0f us left at this point and we rolled turns down through Johnston and then turned west into the headwind. Nobody wanted to go hard into the headwind so Dan Porter attacked and made us chase. He stayed out there for several miles which was very impressive.

The group dwindled to 7 without any attacks. Then Brad Cole and Dan started sticking it to us west of Loveland. 4 of the seven got dropped; Phil and then I made it back. Then I got dropped again just before we hit Glade Rd and Andy Clark got dropped just after me. We rode up to HTMP together and caught the front 3 (Phil Mann, Dan Porter and Brad Cole) who had stopped for water. I was completely shot and got dropped again on Marina Hill... rode it in alone a minute or two down for 5th. Not quite what I was hoping for but not a bad start to the year.

Bicycle security

2008-01-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

My race bike is in the shed, partially dismantled (I'm training on my old bike and fixie). There's a padlock on the shed door but that hardly matters now since two of the neighborhood cats have taken up guard posts in front of the shed. Git'um, kitties!

russian people: help me out with the turnips, eh?

2007-11-08T17:23:00.001-08:00

Training started!!

2007-10-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was supposed to be the start of my 2008 training. But last Thursday I rear ended someone in traffic (really stupid and I don't wanna talk about it!) so yesterday I went out to my parents house where my father helped me straighten the front end on my car. It's not quite perfect yet but we got it pretty close. Anyway I got back home too late to go for the 3 hour training ride I had planned so instead I decided to go running...

21.4 miles. From my house west along Poudre River Trail, over Bingham, up the North Dam Hill, down Maxwell, behind the stadium, around Dixon to Cottonwood Glen and then home along Spring Creek Trail and campus. My goal was to maintain a 9min/mile pace so I had the run split up into 5 mile sections to be completed in 45 minutes each.

I was ahead of schedule at 5 and 10 miles, then at 12 miles I realized that I was in dire need of a "suicide kit" which is bad. With neither a kit nor a porto-john in sight I was forced to improvise but was able to make good time after that. I was 1 minute behind schedule at mile 15. Somewhere around 17 miles I cracked pretty badly and wasn't able to keep my pace up anymore. Ended up 5 minutes behind schedule by the end at 3:17. My goal is to complete the loop in under 3 hours sometime in November

gmap: i love it more than i could love a human baby.

2007-10-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

we were planning to do a full 13.2 miles, but our skirts kept getting stuck...

eh, i'm not going to say it, but you ride bikes, you know what i'm talking about.

what really happened was Will made an executive decision based on my lingering shin splints.

so we skipped the last loop, and did ~11 miles, total.

now, a general assessing of life:

-nine days til i run a half marathon.

i gotta say...i'm not even worried.

-three days til i purchase a bmx bike and try the new trials course.

that i am mildly worried about.

2007-10-25T01:35:00.000-07:00

I've Gotten Scrawny in the off-season ;)

But my wounds have almost healed :)

And I've got a plan for fixing the scrawny-ness :D

My body and brain have been complaining about my lack of physical activity, especially now that I'm officially not playing hockey for a month. The excess energy is spilling over, keeping me up nights (as evidenced by the hour of this post).

The time is coming.

So is the veloswap.

No gimmicks. No gadgets. No fancy-schmancy expensive wheels. I'm gonna need Assos, tires, a drive-train or two, and maybe some more bibs so I don't have to take any days off to do laundry.

Bring on the cold and the rain (I've got SCUBA gloves this year). Bring me my skull cap (yes, Will, this means you). Bring me that Horizon (Yes, Johnny Depp, this is plagiarism)

It's time to get ready to be fast.

It's time!

2007-10-24T12:43:00.001-07:00

Training starts this weekend. Saturday is the Veloswap, the grand opening of the new trials park on the west side of town, and most importantly Ghettoween 2, The Drinkening which will be hosted by the coolest racing family in the Alta Vista neighborhood!

And then Sunday morning, 10AM at the Oval, the training will begin. I'm doing 3 hours of tempo on Sunday. Probably the Buckeye loop. I think I'll start with 9 or 10 full weeks of base training, aiming for something like 200 hours. And then the first or second week of January I'm going to start doing intervals so that I can be fast in March.

This makes me a sad panda

2007-10-01T09:45:00.001-07:00

As some of you may have already heard, China is reducing the number of panda loans
they make and tightening the rules under which they make them. This is horrible news for me as I fear Sister Lila ™ and I may now be unable to acquire the 4 adult pandas that we had planned to use as waiters at our Halloween party.

But at any rate we're having a Halloween party and despite the fact that we won't have pandas mixing drinks and booting drunks I predict the party will still be a rousing evening of bad costumes, good music and just the right amount of booze (which is to say less than last year for Lila and I).

So, Saturday October 27th starting at 8:30PM and going until 12-1ish. We'll provide booze and food. Parking is limited so ride your bike. Bring your friends. We live here:
View Larger Map

happenings...

2007-09-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well life hasn't been very blogable lately but I'll make an effort to generally catch up with the goings on of the Racing Hickeys. Here's what we've been doing... in pictures:There's been a lot of hiking. Not always in matching shirts mind you. Months of doing nothing but riding bikes have turned us into strangely soft-bodies athletes so we look pretty gimp when we're expected to support our own weight.

There's been a lot of skating. For me, it's been topless skating for obvious reasons. I seriously didn't realize how white I am until I saw this picture. Anyway the situation has improved somewhat since then. And my skating skills are coming back too :-)

Lila is also learning to skate which is awesome. Here she executes a text book beginner emergency stop: run franticly off into the grass; windmill arms for balance and visual appeal. In all seriousness though, she's getting pretty good on the skates. Which is cool because despite the fact that Rollerblades haven't been cool for about a decade now, they are a really good way for cyclists to work their core, especially the obliques.

In other news I leave early Wednesday morning (5:30 flight) for Cancun! I'm going to do a half ironman with Robby's sister which is exciting. I haven't ridden in 3 weeks and the last time I ran more than 13 miles was May 2005 so it should be a nice exercise in pain and humility :-) But mostly I'm excited to see Robby's sister.

post season happenings

2007-09-05T11:47:00.001-07:00

There's been lots going on in the way of regaining some semblance of sanity. Last weekend Lila and I climbed Longs... Lila's first 14er. Here we are on the top (14,255')
At this point we were both pretty tired and the Keyhole Route seemed long and tedious so we decided to descend the north face directly. In retrospect this may not have been the smartest thing we've ever done but we made it. It's hard to get perspective but here's a shot of what we came down

There aren't any difficult pitches, but the whole slope is pretty steep so if you slip you're gonna tumble a few hundred feet before you stop. Also there's snow melt running down the rocks so they get slippery and your hands freeze. From here it was a 7 mile hike back to the car, and then an hour drive home, trying not to fall asleep at the wheel. Good off season fun :-)

Season over :-)

2007-08-27T13:41:00.001-07:00

Well, my season's done. Niwot crit was yesterday and it was my last race. It's an awesome course but unfortunately I had no legs. Not entirely sure why... I'm mostly chalking it up to end of season burnout. The thing that stood out was how much braking their was for the corners. It was a no-brakes course, but there were two 135 degree corners and people were braking like crazy for them. On numerous occasions I made use of the sidewalks to get around guys who hit their brakes. Alas, my sidewalk shenanigans did me little good since I couldn't hold the wheel on straight aways. I lasted 45 minutes and then I was done.

So... looking on to exciting things coming up:

Climbing Longs this weekend
Gonna do the Lee's ride... should be fun, not tortuously hard like Worlds
Doing a triathlon on September 9th
Doing a half marathon the next weekend
Doing a half ironman the weekend after that :-)
Nagging Lila to write a post cause my posts are more boring than hers

hiding...

2007-08-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm getting better at hiding. I am in this picture, but you can hardly see me :-) (right behind the 2nd VC guy from the left, talking to the Rio guy who is visible in the gap between VC riders. Now if only I could maintain that hiding job during the race...

Finally!

2007-08-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

I FINALLY won Wednesday Worlds. Admittedly it was a bit of a weak week with only 7 of us showing up, but nobody was less than a 2 and I was 5th in the group in terms of experience and years racing.

Wind out of the south. Not super strong, maybe 8mph? Andy attacked from the beginning just to get things going and I went with him. We only lasted a couple of miles. Then at Owl Canyon I stayed near the front in case there were attacks. There weren't but going up the hill in the tailwind really hurt and I couldn't seem to get recovered. I kept pulling through just hoping I could make it to Buckeye. I was first through the corner onto Buckeye. Dan Porter came around and I jumped on his wheel, then pulled the 2nd half of train tracks hill to make sure I didn't get dropped. Tucker got dropped and I felt kind of bad.

After that all bets were off and there were quite a few attacks. I think I'm the only person who never attacked. I was always ready to make groups but never the aggressor. Once we turned into the headwind I felt good and was able to recover well. I was afraid Porter would attack near the final turn so I kept taking good pulls towards the end. Once people start skipping pulls the attacks come and I would much rather take pulls before a sprint than have to cover moves.

An older guy who I don't know lead the sprint out from the bottom of the hill. I was on his wheel and jumped into the headwind once we were around the left bend. Dan and Andy made runs at me but nobody was able to come around and I won it by a couple of lengths. A small step, but a huge confidence builder!

Superweek

2007-07-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

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?

A general updating of things

2007-07-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

i didn't race mike horgan, because (as those of you who know me have heard many times before), i don't need to pay $30 to find out i can't go up hills.

actually, i would have raced it anyway, but my car was overheating and needed a day of tlc.

kudos to teammate Kate for her podium finish !

i did race at longmont, but other than to say that my focus was not what it should have been, i don't really want to get into that.

on a happier note, tonight is pseudo-Mead, and i'll be damned if i get dropped again. after longmont, i have more riding on tonight's performance than usual.

oh man.

is my wordplay not witty?

(when you actually get a degree in news-editorial journalism, you can get a very poorly-paying job. but when you stop 6 credits shy, you just get to come up with funny little things like that.)

another thing you learn as a journalist is the value of white space, and pictures.allow me to kill two birds with one stone, via a product review.

see that picture up in the corner? (i still haven't figured out how to put them anywhere but the top of the page. no matter)

i'm reviewing it.

yesterday i drove to loveland during rush hour and shelled out the better part of $50 for two of these little jobbies.

definitely worth it.

will and i first switched to assos a couple months ago, at andy clark's suggestion. as far as i'm concerned, andy's word is pretty much law, and poor will was turning into Mr. McSaddle-Sore, so it seemed like a good move.

i didn't realize just how good it is until we ran out, and went back to bag balm for a few days. it may be all well and good for cows, but i'm going to keep on driving to loveland if I have to.

speaking of good, check out the precision photos from cyclimages.com for an excellent play-by-play of the crash in the p12 at longmont.

i have only two things to say about this crash:
~pedals, not brakes
~ where you look is where the bike goes

here's to hoping we all keep it upright tonight :-)

progress

2007-07-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-07-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

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?

--------------------------------------------

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

2007-07-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

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 :-)