Month: July 2008

Andrea

The plot thickens…

I’m not sure how many local racers read this (other than Lauren!), but I figured I’d clue readers in on how the state RR championship/Allanti omnium is shaping up for the weekend…

Here are the current omnium entrants:

Womens 1/2/3/4 Overall top
Kailin Acheson Team Reliant Bank/Harpeth Bicycles
Carol Farmer Velo Vixens Cycling Club
Mary Mayhew SCO/Bike Zoo
Debbie Milne ProBikeCycling
Lisa Starmer Team Reliant Bank/Harpeth Bicycles
Andrea Wilson Team Kenda Tire

You’ll notice that Debbie Milne is going to be there. She and I have been swapping wins this season, although hers are usually more of a beatdown, and mine are a little bit more luck :)Â The last time we raced, she and Lauren kicked my butt all over the place (in my home town, no less), so I’m hoping to dish out a little revenge on Saturday!

Other riders of note:
Though she’s not listed in the overall competition, Kirsten Sass, who dished out her own beatdown at the State TT, is signed up for the Allanti TT. She told me last weekend that she was still on the fence about the road race, but that she wasn’t riding in any more crits for a while since she had some big triathlons coming up. I hope she decides to come out & suffer with us as we chase Debbie over the hills.

Also, worth a quick mention is Mary Mayhew. She is ahead of me in the TBRA BAR points at the moment, but since the powers that be changed the points calculations to even the road for those of us that don’t attend all of the TBRA races, I should be able to catch up with her in the next few race weekends.

I’m feeling much better about this weekend than for the Memphis race. My training volume has been high, but it’s helped me drop a couple of pounds and get acclimated to the heat & humidity. See you all on the road!

Andrea

Product Review: Zipp Vuka Base and Clip-on Aerobars

Now that I’ve had a chance to use these, I figured I’d let everyone know that they’re generally as kick as much ass as you’d expect out of anything from Zipp.

I am very impressed by the base bars- they have a fat, grippy section in the middle for the aero extensions to clamp onto. I also like how the base angles downward ever-so-slightly (as opposed to making you choose between either straight across or angled steeply downward). The outer grips are also comfortable for riding since they’re fat & sort of hand-shaped.

The clip-on extensions are infinitely adjustable and the bend is just right to keep your wrists comfortable. I’ve also sweated on the elbow pads like crazy and they’ve yet to become stinky :)

The SRAM shifters & brake levers are nice, and the carbon ties everything together. The shifters are a new style that don’t rotate as far down as the current style, making it easier to pull the lever back up if it’s ever all the way down.

The verdict- get it now! You can’t go wrong with Zipp/SRAM.

Andrea

Mmmm… Heat!

It’s 100 degrees Fahrenheit right now & I’ll be heading out in a couple of hours to practice my hill tactics then join up with the 6:00 Bikes Plus group ride.

Why do I ride in the heat? Acclimatization!

The more time you spend in it, the more tolerant your body becomes. Apparently the race organizers in my area think it’s fun to schedule the women’s races in mid-day time slots. Example: state championship RR this weekend- 11:55 start time followed by a 4:00 time trial. It’s cool, guys… we don’t need time to eat, rest, and rehydrate, or anything…

At least the guys get some heat payback the next day when the pro 1/2 men get to race in their crit at 2:10 :)

Andrea

State Championship Time Trial

No fun! Somehow this course got billed as flat to rolling, but after reviewing the elevation profile, Ryan figured out that there was about 1000 feet of climbing on the 24.something mile course. I honestly don’t remember a single flat spot other than the approx. 1/4 mile stretch before the turnaround (which was just over the crest of one of the course’s many hills.

Anyway- I hadn’t trained for a 40K time trial on any terrain, so the hills were no excuse for a less-than-stellar performance. Kirsten Sass is a monster- she turned a 1:00:01- landing her the championship as well as in 21st overall out of 104 people. My teammate, Lori Jug also kicked some butt and picked up the silver medal with a 01:03:03.

I finished 4th with a 1:05:30. I was pretty bummed because it was 8 seconds slower than the 3rd place finisher. I’m pretty sure I lost that time when an SUV pulled around me just before a blind hill and curve in the road and decided they couldn’t get around the slow guy I was preparing to pass, so I was forced to slam on my brakes and wait for what seemed like an eternity for the car to figure out when it could safely pass a guy going about 20mph (I was railing down the previous hill at about 35 when they passed me). LAME! That was at nearly 5k to go, and really took what little wind I had left in my proverbial “sails” at that point.
Oh well. At least my bike was awesome…

I got right back to training this morning with a 72 mile trip to Shelby Forest and back. My legs actually felt pretty damn good considering the effort I put in yesterday. Maybe I’m destined to be a stage racer :)

Andrea

Danny Pate- A man after my own heart

Danny- I feel your pain!

Danny Pate and three other riders had a successful breakaway in yesterday’s stage 15 of The Tour (first Alps stage so far w/2 huge climbs). As they approached the finish line, the Credit Agricole rider (Simon Gerrans), who was almost dropped at the bottom of the finishing climb, attacked and won the stage. Danny ended up in 3rd place- still an awesome feat of riding strength, right?

Not in Danny’s opinion!

In a post race interview, his disappointment was obvious (even though he was trying very hard to act slightly happy about his placing). He looked as if he were on the verge of tears. He and the riders had a heroic breakaway, and he was upset that he didn’t win. Most people would be thinking “WTF”? You won 3rd in a hard stage in the freakin’ Tour de France!! What do you have to be disappointed about?
Well, Danny, I feel your pain! I’ve been there before- albeit on a “slightly” lower level of competition… We’re out there to win- not “do our best” and come in 3rd. You can come over & cry on my shoulder if you want, because I’ve felt the same way after several races, and I understand :)

Andrea

Trek Demo Day

I found out last week that Trek was holding a demo day at a nearby park. So, after Ryan and I got home from the Outdoors group ride, we grabbed some lunch and headed out. Last time I tried riding off-road, I ended up falling off of an over-tree ramp/platform and coming face to bark with said tree. I was convinced that my off-road skills were just bad, but I was riding a heavy, rigid-frame Univega MTB purchased sometime in the early 90’s…

Enter the Trek Fuel EX-

Hey- I was curious to find out just how much of my bad off-road skills were due to a pretty crappy bike, so I asked which one of the many they had out there was the best. Ryan tried out a full suspension Gary Fisher 29er, and we headed out on the 6 mile Herb Parson’s Lake loop. Before we left, the woman at the demo trailer let me know that “this trail doesn’t do this bike justice”

Well, I don’t think I really did the bike justice because I chickened out more than once with log/bridge crossings, but what I DID realize was that (chickening out aside) I’m not that bad of an off road rider. I could definitely get more skilled with a decent bike. Riding off road really appeals to my ADD personality, so I’ll probably end up getting one for winter training/general shenanigans. Will it be a top of the line carbon rig? We’ll have to see about that…

Andrea

Longest Ride Ever…

I’ve been riding for about two years now, and I’ve never really felt the need to seek out very long rides, though I’ve done a couple of solo and group 70-75 milers without too much of a problem. Today I went out with the RB’s cyclery B group (which now includes other racers who are looking for a long, slow base ride). I swear that Ryan and I started that trend…

So Rod, the shop owner/ride leader mapped out a 75 mile route (he’s trying to help people prep for the upcoming MS150 ride). We rode to/from the ride and ended up clocking 87.5 miles- making today’s venture my longest one yet. Other than having a sore backside, I felt good at the end.

306 miles this week, and I feel better than I have in a long time! Time for another 75 miler tomorrow :)

P.S. I also found out today that David Lacek, a well-respected local, also has weapons-grade sweat. We talked about how to deal with it until he got tired of the sketchiness of the group and took off on his own. I don’t feel so bad now.