Ok, there's no two ways around it...this has been one of the LONGEST, COLDEST, UGLIEST winters I have lived through in my 20+/- years in Maine.
I guess if I skied / snowboarded / snowmobiled perhaps I'd have a different take on it, but I don't, so there's no consolation prize for me.
To make matters worse, I convinced my GF (now Fiance) to move here from MA. Now you wouldn't think an hours drive South would make that huge of a difference in overall climate, but
somehow it does. The MA winter was less harsh overall.
One of the worst parts is that my favorite activities are biking and going to the beach (not just to sunbath, but to collect seashells with my son Jack and finace Janine) and both of those activities have been virtually impossible (even at this late date). It's been cruel to say the least.
Well, over the last few days we've heard the gulls and birds coming back outside our window. We've heard the spring rush of the river as the falls are opened up. We've seen the buds on the flowers and trees as we drive to work. Apparently Spring still means to make an appearance in New England and I know of three very happy people living in Saco right now.
Here's to hope, Here's to warmth and Here's to SPRING finally showing her lovely face!
Onward...
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
And so it begins
The 2008 Race season kicked off in fine fashion on Sunday morning (bright and early). It was a CHILLY start to the day (Temps were high 30's, but the damn wind just froze you to the core).
I picked up my friend Chris Volan and off we went to the Scarborough Industrial park, home of the world famous (or not) SIPC (Scarborough Industrial Park Crit). It's an 8 week crit series designed to burn off the winter weight and get us all ready to kick it into high gear for the 2008 race season.
On the plus side, at least it wasn't snowing this year (as it did last year) and with about 20 guys at the start line, there were plenty of bodies to find shelter from the wind.
The course is a 1.2 mile loop that is mostly flat, with just a slight incline coming around turn #3 that is probably a 2 percent grade and about 100 yards long. The front side of the loop (where the start / finish line is) is typically going with the wind and the backside of the loop is typically going into the wind.
Having a solid 15 miles of saddle time since January, I was hoping for a sedate race, maybe even one where we could chat in the peloton a bit. My hopes were quickly dashed, as by lap two (JEEZ, LAP TWO) the speeds had shot up to around 28mph. Needless to say my lungs, legs, calves, toes, eyelashes, and every other part of my body were not ready for this kind of shock to the system.
by lap 4 the peloton had disintegrated. Now we had a group of about 14 riders bunched together holding a steady 24-25 mph pace...I was sitting about 8th wheel wondering what in the hell I was going to do and how I got myself into this (when I could have been home comfy in bed with my Fiance) while simultaneously hoping one of the 22 year olds pushing the pace up front would spontaneously combust into ball of fire.
It was about lap 7 when a group of the peloton peeled away and went off the front. I guessed there was about 7-8 riders and at that point I was sitting about 11th wheel and missed the split (ok, I wasn't paying attention..I believe it's called "oxygen debt").
Once I recognized what was happening, I moved up a few spots to get to the front of the chase group. The breakaway was about 50 meters in front now and pushing their advantage. I wasn't wearing my HR monitor, but I'm guessing my HR was appx. 278 bpm (give or take 1000). The speeds were inching up again, as the breakaway was trying to make their advantage stick and the chase group was trying to decide what to do. I looked around and realized that the chase group was rapidly falling apart. Guys were getting spit out the back a few at a time, reducing our combined chances to catch the break. Eventually the chase group settled in to about 5 guys chasing the 7-8 guys up front.
At this point the breakaway had about 200 meters and were holding pretty steady at around 25mph. We settled into a 5 man rotation to try and gain some ground averaging about 24-25 mph. For the next 5 laps we chased and chased and chased. I was literally cross eyed with the effort and I'm pretty sure I had begun to drool on myself. We lost 2 of our group when they blew up on lap 9, but the group up front also started to shell some of their own as well. I saw 2-3 guys come back to us and then get spit out of our group, as they were cooked with the exertion of being in the break.
By lap 10 I estimated that there were 5-6 guys left in the break up front and there were now 3 of us in the chase group, the rest of the field had either abandoned, or were spinning out the last of the laps in a leisurely manner. As the placings go 1-6, I figured I still might have a chance to grab some points if all went well at the end.
Settling into a paceline, the three of us rode it out sharing pulls until the last lap. I took my last pull coming off of turn #1, figuring I wanted to get set up to be 3rd wheel coming around the final corner (I may be old and slow, but I ain't no dummy). It worked out perfectly, as I was shielded from the wind on the backstretch and was in excellent position to react to any move coming down the finishing straight.
Coming around turn #3 of the final lap the guy sitting second wheel made his move and jumped around the guy in front. I immediately grabbed his wheel as we spit out the poor guy who had led us out. Now just two of us remained for the last placing, game on! The guy gave it one more out of the saddle dig, but I was locked on his wheel like glue and managed to come around him with about 100 meters to go.
I was sooo tired at the end I couldn't even make it around for the warm down lap. I went about 1/4 way around and just doubled back. When I got to the start area I collapsed in the dirt and lay there waiting for my HR to creep back into the 100's. I WAS DONE! Call a medic!!!
So, all in all a great way to kick off the season. Got on the scoreboard (which took me until week 3 last year to do) and managed to keep my bike upright. I would have preferred a more sedate start to things, but now I know what awaits for the rest of the season...going to be a long year chasing some young 'uns around the course, so I'll have to try and make sure to make it into the breakaway next time...then let them pull my old ass around and hope I have enough in the tank to make a sprint out of it...we'll see.
Kudos to my friend Chris for competing in his first crit. It was definitely a trial by fire kind of thing, but he's already said he'll be back!
Keep the rubber side down...
I picked up my friend Chris Volan and off we went to the Scarborough Industrial park, home of the world famous (or not) SIPC (Scarborough Industrial Park Crit). It's an 8 week crit series designed to burn off the winter weight and get us all ready to kick it into high gear for the 2008 race season.
On the plus side, at least it wasn't snowing this year (as it did last year) and with about 20 guys at the start line, there were plenty of bodies to find shelter from the wind.
The course is a 1.2 mile loop that is mostly flat, with just a slight incline coming around turn #3 that is probably a 2 percent grade and about 100 yards long. The front side of the loop (where the start / finish line is) is typically going with the wind and the backside of the loop is typically going into the wind.
Having a solid 15 miles of saddle time since January, I was hoping for a sedate race, maybe even one where we could chat in the peloton a bit. My hopes were quickly dashed, as by lap two (JEEZ, LAP TWO) the speeds had shot up to around 28mph. Needless to say my lungs, legs, calves, toes, eyelashes, and every other part of my body were not ready for this kind of shock to the system.
by lap 4 the peloton had disintegrated. Now we had a group of about 14 riders bunched together holding a steady 24-25 mph pace...I was sitting about 8th wheel wondering what in the hell I was going to do and how I got myself into this (when I could have been home comfy in bed with my Fiance) while simultaneously hoping one of the 22 year olds pushing the pace up front would spontaneously combust into ball of fire.
It was about lap 7 when a group of the peloton peeled away and went off the front. I guessed there was about 7-8 riders and at that point I was sitting about 11th wheel and missed the split (ok, I wasn't paying attention..I believe it's called "oxygen debt").
Once I recognized what was happening, I moved up a few spots to get to the front of the chase group. The breakaway was about 50 meters in front now and pushing their advantage. I wasn't wearing my HR monitor, but I'm guessing my HR was appx. 278 bpm (give or take 1000). The speeds were inching up again, as the breakaway was trying to make their advantage stick and the chase group was trying to decide what to do. I looked around and realized that the chase group was rapidly falling apart. Guys were getting spit out the back a few at a time, reducing our combined chances to catch the break. Eventually the chase group settled in to about 5 guys chasing the 7-8 guys up front.
At this point the breakaway had about 200 meters and were holding pretty steady at around 25mph. We settled into a 5 man rotation to try and gain some ground averaging about 24-25 mph. For the next 5 laps we chased and chased and chased. I was literally cross eyed with the effort and I'm pretty sure I had begun to drool on myself. We lost 2 of our group when they blew up on lap 9, but the group up front also started to shell some of their own as well. I saw 2-3 guys come back to us and then get spit out of our group, as they were cooked with the exertion of being in the break.
By lap 10 I estimated that there were 5-6 guys left in the break up front and there were now 3 of us in the chase group, the rest of the field had either abandoned, or were spinning out the last of the laps in a leisurely manner. As the placings go 1-6, I figured I still might have a chance to grab some points if all went well at the end.
Settling into a paceline, the three of us rode it out sharing pulls until the last lap. I took my last pull coming off of turn #1, figuring I wanted to get set up to be 3rd wheel coming around the final corner (I may be old and slow, but I ain't no dummy). It worked out perfectly, as I was shielded from the wind on the backstretch and was in excellent position to react to any move coming down the finishing straight.
Coming around turn #3 of the final lap the guy sitting second wheel made his move and jumped around the guy in front. I immediately grabbed his wheel as we spit out the poor guy who had led us out. Now just two of us remained for the last placing, game on! The guy gave it one more out of the saddle dig, but I was locked on his wheel like glue and managed to come around him with about 100 meters to go.
I was sooo tired at the end I couldn't even make it around for the warm down lap. I went about 1/4 way around and just doubled back. When I got to the start area I collapsed in the dirt and lay there waiting for my HR to creep back into the 100's. I WAS DONE! Call a medic!!!
So, all in all a great way to kick off the season. Got on the scoreboard (which took me until week 3 last year to do) and managed to keep my bike upright. I would have preferred a more sedate start to things, but now I know what awaits for the rest of the season...going to be a long year chasing some young 'uns around the course, so I'll have to try and make sure to make it into the breakaway next time...then let them pull my old ass around and hope I have enough in the tank to make a sprint out of it...we'll see.
Kudos to my friend Chris for competing in his first crit. It was definitely a trial by fire kind of thing, but he's already said he'll be back!
Keep the rubber side down...
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