It's no longer scooter-ific...

for reals, i think my scooter was stolen.  can't find it anywhere.  i guess i'll report it tomorrow.  total suckage.

okay, so i never finished up the story from valley of the sun.  you're dying to hear it, right?  everything went peachy keen and minty fresh, right?  wrong.  we lost.  uneventful race until...  crash.  failure to communicate.  flat tire.  we lost.  no more GC points - no $300 payout - no nuthin.  that's bike racing.  suck it up.  end of story.

VoS Road Race - 89 miles - about 3 hours, 50 minutes or so

Phoenix, AZ

 

not very hilly - supposedly only 470 feet of climbing per lap (we did 5.5 laps - but 6 of those 470' climbs)

 

Oh word, this race was off the chain.  remember how i said yesterday that my teammate, danny boy, finished the time trial ahead of me by about a minute and in 22nd overall?  yeah, so we rode for him today.  there's just 3 of us in this race - me, dan, and jordan.  jordan is sick - sick enough that he really shouldn't be racing this weekend - but he was hoping to "clear the lungs".  anyway, he put in some wicked little attacks in the early laps of the race.  meanwhile i was chillin like a villain just floating in the back of the pack.  dan was cruising too, but by the 4th lap, there was still a breakaway up the road.  he asked me to not be shy about putting in an effort or 2 to help chase, but i said to just be a little patient still.  we absorbed the breakaway the 5th time up the hill, and it was now a race.  nothing was off the front at the time, but people were getting ancy again.  about 1/3 into the final lap and a little group of 3 guys just starts to meander off the front.  i'm sitting in about 20th spot, but my boy dan is just about riding point at the front.  i briefly consider slingshotting through the front of the group and joining the break, but i just knew that dan was feeling itchy and would gun it to get in the break.  no sooner and my boy makes a blistering effort and goes across alone.  now it's 4 people up the road, and the peloton totally throws the brakes on.  it was really quite shocking.  no one up the road was a "threat" to gc, but little do they know.  i almost went to the front of the field to help block for dan (just ride a little slow, but not so slow that people want to come around me), but there's simply no need.  the peloton has completely thrown in the towel.  really, quite shocking.  now we're going into the final hill and the finish is at the top.  i can't really believe it, but i'm sitting at the front of the field, ready to duke it out for a field sprint.  i mean, this might as well be a mountain top finish for me!  ridiculous that i'm here for this!  i weigh 190 lbs - most of the competition only weighs 150!  *ludicruous*  bottom of the hill and i'm in top ten.  run and gun, bump and grind.  i love it.  things are a bit physical, but i'm holding all good.  the only handicap trying to climb.  okay, so we're at 1 km to go, and by some miracle i'm in the top 5.  huh?  at his point, some quick accelerations are made, and i'm out of the saddle to follow, but all of a sudden my legs cramp.  total suckage - not enough electrolytes on a warm, dry day.  was getting water bottle handups, but what i really neded was cytomax.  i'm powering it in the saddle as best as i can, and i manage to come in 25th place.  a respectable result, but i really could have gone better - but this bodes so well for the races in the next coming weeks it's not even funny.  my boy dan in the breakaway?  *WINS THE FLIPPIN RACE*  and guess what?  22nd on gc up to 2nd.  back in black, baby.  he's 9 seconds down on gc, and we're going to totally get him the win tomorrow.  sweet!  we made $75 solid today, and gc #2 is worth $275.  when we win this sob tomorrow we're gonna get gc #1 worth $375.  that's split 3 ways folks - cha ching.  dan's gonna get his upgrade to cat 1 for after this race - but not before he sandbags to help with my points a little bit...

 

blast from the past - erik koep from rowing daze is in this race with me!  he got 2nd in the time trial, but then he missed out on the breakaway glory, so now he's sitting 5th or 6th on gc.  he's just so wicked strong, though - yeah, guys who row at the world championships tend to be...

Valley of the Sun Stage Race - category 2 only event

Phoenix, AZ

Feb 17-19 - Time Trial, Road Race, Crit

 

Time Trial - 33:07 - 43rd of 104

22 km time trial over a pretty much flat course.  This one went okay, but was nothing stellar to speak of.  not so much to say - time trials are kind of boring.  you just go hard and see where you stack up against everyone else.  i haven't been doing so much training for the longer time trial efforts, and it kind of showed.  maybe i could have pushed it a little harder, but then again maybe not.  the winning time in our category was just under 31:00 - pretty quick indeed.  a teammate of mine came in at 32:08 (22nd), so it looks like we'll try working for him in the race.  there's King of the Mountain time bonuses, stage win time bonuses, etc, so maybe we can make some money out of this race yet.  it'll be cool if i can lead him out for some intermediate sprints and what not - should be interesting - i've never really been in that position before.  road race tomorrow.  later.

okay, folks, i'm a little late on this one, but here's last week's race update:

 

12 feb 2006

st. valentine's day massacre

90 minute crit

 

new course from last year.  start/finish on top part of a hill, take a right into a downhill chicane, continue down a bit, then a sweeping right into an uphill and into the finish.  not a super technical course - the corners were wide - but it was a fairly hard course compared to the usual simple 4 corner crit.

 

one of the major domestic pro teams showed up for this race, and we all knew it was just going to be a painfest.  the first 45 minutes were averaged at 30 miles per hour - that's pretty quick.  anyway, we were all surviving but i'd have to say my highlight of the day came at about 8 laps or so left in the race.  i was taking the inside line into the corner into the uphill.  all of a sudden a kid from the echelon-santa barbara team sees a hint of daylight and dives the corner on my inside.  i let him by, but then he fails to hold his line and bumps his left thigh into my handlebars.  this gives me a bit of the wobbles, but it's okay.  just an idiot kid.  like 3 seconds later and we're getting up the hill.  ivan dominguez (one of the top pro sprinters) flies by me on the right, hovers right in front of the kid, looks him in the eye, and then flicks his back wheel into the kid's front wheel *really* hard saying, "don't f-in do that again!"  after that a couple guys yelled out, "hey ivan, this isn't cuba!  cut it out!"  yeah, wild - total road rage.  the kid was lucky to not totally crash.  me, i was just glad that i wasn't the one who screwed up.

 

anyway, that was the major excitement.  we went into the final 2 laps, and i was feeling okay - getting up for the sprint - when i just totally bonked.  little homer - on shift at the mucha power station - must have decided it was the appointed time for a little coffee/donut break - and that just sucked.  we were into the bell lap and i was just losing spots right and left.  finished in like 35th.  blah.  didn't eat enough breakfast - how could i do that?  more pancakes, please.

okay, so today i wake up fresh and i'm feeling just right.  morning vitals are 191.4 lbs and 45 bpm.  sweet, cause today's a hard day of training (5x10' overthreshold junkies wrapped up in an endurance ride for 4 hours total).  but before all that, there's an 8:15 systems engineering team meeting at work.  yeah, these used to be at 7:30 am and i was always 5 minutes late or so.  they got moved back to 8:15 to accomodate more people's schedules, etc.  i'm still always 5 minutes late.  yeah.  some things just never change.  but i was actually running 'on time' this morning.  was gonna make it for 8:15 for reals.  and then i'm driving past the KK.  hmmm, donuts?  yeah, donuts...  yeah, i picked up 2 dozen (not the baker's) to bring to the meeting.  now, of course, by stopping to get the donuts i'm no longer on schedule and am destined to be 5 minutes late.  but i've got donuts, and they're hot.  fresh.  now.  word.  i get to the meeting, waltz in, and pop the first box - there's still a tiny hint of steam from the hotness.  appointed.  half the room cheers, cause hey, it's the KK.  the other half groans, because guess what - they're on a diet.  the meeting proceeds, we go around the table telling what we're working on.  my turn, "yeah, i'm working on an MOA and a budget proposal for Capt. Pope and it'll prolly be routed up to Baumann in the main PEO."  everyone's ears perk up and they're staring at me intently - what is this that jeremy could be working on that's so important?  "this was ranked as one of the top enablers to fleet readiness and effectiveness."  but what could it be?  new SATCOM?  new CONOPS?  "it's concerning a strategic agreement and a perpetual supply of hot glazed donuts from krispy kreme."  awesome.  nobody even rolled their eyes - just laughter.  mission accomplished.  a couple guys said that, hey, you know the fleet would probably be really into a krispy kreme agreement!  yeah...  so then i say some random things that i'm actually "working" on, and all is good.  sweet.  the meeting continues then finishes and we're breaking up, but no one's going anywhere just yet.  it's that awkward time when if you get up too quickly and run out, then you're rude, but what are you hanging around for - the meeting's over.  i throw my hand into the middle of the table and say, "can we all get together for a huddle and team cheer?"  "no, buddy, we're not cheering - are you serious?"  "you see, that's the one downfall of all the sugar in these donuts."  "no, i think it must just be the naive misguided youthful exuberence."  "hey buddy, isn't the best way to spread cheer to sing loud for all to hear?"  that seals it for the meeting.

Red Trolley Classic Criterium

65 minutes

 

Pretty hard course - long downhill followed by a really steep little hill with bit of flat after that.  This race usually ends in a breakaway, but not today - today was a field sprint.  Beautiful weather for the race - partly cloudy and in the upper 60's or so.  The race was going fine - there were plenty of attacks, but nothing really stayed off the front for very long at all.  Not so much boredom in this race - it was difficult enough that you had to concentrate the whole time plus you had to work up the hill each lap, etc.  That and there was one move I thought might go somewhere that I followed, but it turned out to be nothing.  Oh, well.  Anyway, it was shaping up to be a field sprint.  I was getting into position with 5 laps to go, and was holding my wheel just fine, but things were pretty hairy.  The peloton would bunch here and there and things were getting pretty precarious.  I was latched on to the back of the SDBC sprint train - not a bad place to be - and people wanted my spot - I had to throw some elbows and nearly knock a guy into the curb to keep them from muscling in.  But that's just what it's all about.  Either you blink or they do.  It's your job to make them back down every time.  Chicken.  That's just the game.  So it was just getting at 2 laps to go, and a guy comes in hard from my right side to take the wheel I'm following.  I'm not budging, and even if I was, there's nowhere on my left to go.  The dude's back wheel gets right up in my front wheel, and my front skewer (holds the wheel in) rips out a bunch of his spokes (That'll show him).  Fortunately, both of us are still upright - he's out of the race since his back wheel is gone - I lose about 20 spots due to the loss of speed and momentum.  I'm still in it, though, but there's not really too much of a chance.  We're heading into the bell lap, and there's just simply no time to get back up in position.  The sprint happens and a Polish guy wins the race.  Turns out the SDBC train (they took 1st, 3rd, and 4th last Sunday) wasn't the place to be - they didn't get anything higher than 14th.

Lunch ...

... was truly Appointed.

okay, sports fans, racing season is officially here!

 

report for week #1 (of 36...)

 

 

28 Jan 2006

 

ADT Winter Classic

track racing on the indoor wooden velodrome up in carson, ca.  this was just a local track race, but the polish national team showed up, so that made it pretty difficult.  the poles are down in san diego training in the winter sun for the world track championships in april (in bordeaux, france).  anyway, the polish allrode as a team (as opposed to competitively against each other), so the rest of us really didn't have much of a chance.  we tried, though.

 

20 - lap tempo

this race is 20 laps long, and usually 2 points is awarded the the first finisher on each lap and 1 point is given to the second finisher each lap.  the person with the most points at the end of the race wins.  well, they changed the rules without telling us and it was just 1 point for the first finisher - nothing for second.  yeah, that blew all kinds of strategy, but whatever.  i picked what i thought were a couple 2nd place points, but actually got nothing.  oh, well - no big deal.  i was also undergeared in a 50x15 gear - was just spin spin spinning along - no real margin for extra sprint speed.  oops.

 

miss-n-out

for this race, the last person across the line each lap gets pulled from the race.  once the race gets down to only 3 people, then they get a neutral lap and then sprint for the win between the 3 of them.  pretty exciting race - plenty of action with people doing dangerous things to try to keep from being the last person across the line.  now here is where the polish made it really hard.  they pacelined at the front (among 4 or 5 of them) keeping the pace just high enough that no one wanted to challenge them for the lead - and so a real scrum kind of developed behind the last polish rider.  out of 17 riders i finished in about 8th place.  not so much cause i was blown out or anything, but simply due to a mental lapse and getting boxed in at the back of the bunch.  upped the gear to a 51x15 for this one and all was good.

 

40 - lap points race

sprints every 5 laps for a total of 8 sprints, points awarded 1st - 5, 2nd - 3, 3rd - 2, 4th - 1.  the rider with the most points at the end of the race wins.  oh yeah, if you can go off the front and get all the way around the track to gain a lap on the field, then you get 20 points.  this one went pretty well.  a group got off the front to try and take a lap.  they were going good, and were about to make it when a second group went off the front to try to get a lap.  i was in that group.  we got our lap and just as i was rejoining the peloton, i tried to sail right past the group and go off the front again - i had good momentum, so i might was well use it, right?  well, about halfway through the bunch i got totally slammed from both sides and was on a direct trajectory for a guy's back wheel right in front of me.  that was so no good, and i had to really throw the brakes on - for track racing, that means putting back pressure on the pedals, since we don't have brakes.  i almost started skidding - that's how much i had to slow.  that'll pretty much kill not just your momentum but your legs, too.  i didn't have anything for the rest of the race - finished like 8th or something.  2 polish riders got off the front to take a 2nd lap.  overall a good race.  51x15 again.

 

80 - lap madison

sprints every 10 laps.  same points as the points race.  except, in the madison if you gain a lap, then that supercedes any sprint points.  a lap is worth a lap, not 20 points.  it's possible for a team to not score any points in the sprints, but take a lap, and beat a team that simply scored sprints but didn't get a lap.  for this race, i was paired with one of the polish riders.  we did okay, but the polish guy really didn't know how to do a madison very well.  oh yeah, this is the race where you have a tag-team, kind of like wrestling.  one person is "in the race" and the off rider slowly circles at the top of the track.  to make an exchange, the relief rider comes down to the sprinters lane, puts his hand out, and the in rider grabs his hand and slings him into the race.  it's really quite cool, and since each rider gets a very slight break, the pace of this race can be extremely high.  yeah, pure torture.  so i rode this one with a polish guy who was a really strong individual rider, but he had no sense of where he needed to be to make exchanges and what not.  we ride a lot of madisons down in san diego, and the polish guys are actually going to start doing some training with us to improve their skills.  very cool.  anyway, we managed to get through this one and got 4th place out of 9 teams.  not too shabby.  very painful.  51x15 again - just the right gear.

 

and that's it for the track.  no more track races are scheduled until mid-march.  it's all road racing from here, baby!

 

 

29 Jan 2006

 

"Ride It Like You Stole It" Criterium

This race was just around the block from the ADT Center, and it's a pretty easy fairly flat 4 corner course with really wide roads.  100 km (62 miles) in just over 2 hours 15 minutes.  a good race - i thought i might be a bit tired from the previous day's racing, but no, i was fine.  this crit was a cakewalk compared to racing against the polish guys on the track.  the polish guys raced here as well, but they went just for the in-race premes.  these are little prizes given for the leaders of laps throughout the race.  for example, the halfway preme is $100 - not to shabby at all.  it's possible to make more money through premes than by winning the race, if you are savvy enough.  anyway, the polish just went for premes and did interval training throughout the race.  they were nowhere to be seen for the final sprint.  speaking of the sprint, here we go.  with 12 laps to go (these are like just under 1 mile laps [for a 69 lap total]) i was on a guy's wheel that i was sure would figure into the final sprint.  the peloton was totally back together , so it was going to be a field sprint - no breakaways.  glued to the wheel from lap 12, but then johnny sits up and pulls out of line.  he doesn't feel like sprinting?  whatever.  i find a new best friend - an ex-Subway pro team rider - and am sitting pretty into the bell lap.  between turn 1 and 2 (2/3 of way through the lap) my man gets totally hacked and almost goes down.  i'm left hangin high and dry and start scrambling.  it's not so easy, as the pace is lightning with the sprint approaching.  i do what what i can, but i have no position.  End up in the top 20 - maybe between 15 and 20 or so.  100 starters or so.  didn't check the results.

 

good race - biggest factor in this one is just lining up for the sprint well.  that and combating boredom.  track races are short and wickedly fast - not usually longer than 30 minutes or so.  this crit was 2:15 and quick, but not too too hard until the final sprint.  a good day, though, and a nice weekend.  good start to the season.

okay, so i was just minding my own business at home when i heard a tormented yell and then a crash.  i go out onto the patio just to see if the whole world is burning or if the cold war has finally come to fruition.  no such luck - instead, i find the cd (pictured below).  pretty badass.  someone must have been having a nicotine withdrawal fit of rage and just couldn't take the "audio support" portion of the "stop smoking" cd anymore.  awesome.  small bits of cd were spread everywhere.

Need help quitting?

sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

 

well, the final qualifier for the national track team '05-'06 was this past weekend, and it went okay i guess.  i didn't get any slower, but i didn't really get too much faster either.  5:04 for the pursuit and 3:48 for the mass start test.  not quite the time standard, but whatever.  nothing really to dwell on for this one - track is pretty much over for me until april - road season starts in 2 weeks, and thank goodness for that.  it's time to do some racing against actual people again - just so tired of time trials.  it'll be fun.

okay, so here's a random one:

i had to go to kinko's to pick up some sweet 'happy martin luther king, jr day' cards that i had printed up. they weren't ready yet, so i went over to the grocery store to get - guess what - some groceries. yeah, always running out of groceries. anyway, strolling around with my cart picking up stuff. pop out of an aisle toward the meat department, and this girl is just totally staring at me. hmm, not sure what's up with that. peanut butter - yeah need that. huh, girl is still staring. and she's right in front of the steaks. dang. and then she says, "i see you!" and I'm like, woah, do i know this girl? no... I look around, but there's totally no one else around. but then she continues, "hey, i can SEE you!" wow, is this some kind of new pick-up line? but she's with a boyfriend. and she's hanging all over him. ok, this is just weird. i'm pretty dumbfounded and just stand there speechless. "i can see you in your bright colored jacket." uhhh...? and then she finishes off with, "you look a lot like will ferrell!", giggles and runs off with her boyfriend to finish their shopping. I'm thinking - wow, and i don't even have an elf suit on? but i manage to let out a "that's ri-DIC-ulous!" a la buddy the elf. the chick giggles from over in the produce section. and that's it. last items were camembert and rochefort.

what can i say - that was weird.

Will Ferrell?

Jeremy Mucha?

Trained up at the indoor velodrome (ADT Event Center) in LA today. It was a sweet noontime session, and there was like nobody up there - had the track almost to myself. 3 minute efforts were the order of the day, and they went pretty well. Nothing stellar, but good solid efforts. I've got a power meter on my back wheel that measures my power output (wattage) - it's very Star Trekky. Computer display on my handlebars. Anyway, it helps to keep the efforts consistent. Too bad, though - when I'm going for 3 minutes, I can only power like 7.8 sixty watt light bulbs. And they're not the compact fluourescent kind. Need to get that up to 8.

Riding the boards

Christmas dinner, SoCal style