Top 10 in a P-1-2

Two good things actually happened on Sunday. Well make that 3 I forgot the sun came out and heated it up really nice and warm. Did the 75 minute Pro-1-2 crit at the CSU Oval. Wasn't sure if I had enough to last through this but I didn't feel like driving all the way to Boulder in the morning for Stazio. At the start there must have been 15 Rio Grande riders, a group of Mob/Einstiens, and a few Hart guys. OOh boy is this going to be fun. At least there were a few of us veterans, one guy was even asking for the "kind gesture" of a head start for us. Not happening. Typical crit start, blistering for the first 5 minutes in which a good size group got off the front. It was represented by all the strong teams mentioned above and then some. I was jsut content to sit in and follow the accelerations over the next. I was told we were dropping riders every lap so that made me feel good. It's a fast course and 30 minutes in the break was waaay up the road. That didn't stop people from trying to go off the front only to be caught and sometimes shelled out the back. I found myself riding next to Forrest Newman from Spike most of the race. He had a cheering section all around the course. I kept hearing "go Forrest" but in my mind I changed it to "ride Forrest ride" and had a good chuckle. With 15 minutes to go we had closed the break down to less than a minute and were gaining on them. They were self imploding, heard from one of the riders they dropped that they were'nt working together. For some reason I didn't try to move closer to the front on the last lap. It was probably the pace, which after easing up with 2 to go was now in full tilt. I hung in there and when it swung onto the Oval, we caught and passed the break. With no sprint in my legs I just motored in a big gear passing riders up to the line. I'll say it was 10th place but it could have been 9th as I finished right on the wheel of an AF Academy rider that finished 8th per the Officials. I think they misread my number as they had no camera and put down rider 345 in 9th and my number was 348. Seeing as they didn't show 10th I'll take it as there might have been a rider that edged me at the line. Doesn't matter though because I had a great race. On the drive home the next best thing was hearing that my Kings beat the Suns 107-100. Whoo-Hoo, playoff hopes are still alive.

1986 Paris Roubaix

I have this on tape but I found the finish on YouTube. This is probably one of the greatest sprint finishes in the history of PR. I can just watch this over and over. Just watch the man in yellow.

Boulder Beer Race

Living here in Wyoming you have to learn to deal with wind if you want to ride. Somehow, I'm not sure how they did it, but they moved a portion of Wyoming south of Boulder CO along hwy 128. It comes complete with a wind reseach center. So yesterday, I drove down to "Little Wyoming" where they closed the road down so we could race back and forth on it. The race for me and a few of my compadres lasted about 2 laps before it became a ride to finish. And finish we did, 5 minutes before they reopened the roads to traffic. Heck, I was the last official finisher... sweet.

Thursday rant

WTF? Monday its 65° and NO wind, Tuesday it's 70°, yesterday it's gale force winds but a manageable 63°, and today a freakin cold 35°. It makes you want to just sit in a easy chair with a beer watching TV, and that's just what I'm doing. Looking at the forecast it's calling for 60° Friday. I may have to drive down to Ft. Collins if I get out of work early as it'll be 65°. Looking at the forecast for Boulder they are showing wind warnings because of 20mph winds for tomorrow. Ha, that wouldn't even get an honorable mention up here in Wyo.

Done ranting, back to my beer.

3-11 Stazio Crit

Here is the post I placed on the Team page. No sense to post it twice or make myself look better here.

Just a bit windy

When the wind blows, it blows hard.

Yesterday afternoon I went out for a spin and encountered a 20+mph headwind. This made for a very good low cadence-Hi wattage workout for the first 3/4 of the ride. the last quarter was spent at Hi wattage-Hi speed as I zipped along at 40-45 mph. Too bad there wasn't a TT here today, there would have been an all time wind aided record set for sure. Worst part of all this wind is how it sounds at home with every window and vent creaking and moaning while getting pounded. Wind Lesson#1: always park into the wind so that you don't lose your doors when opening.

After 2 days of hard (power wise) riding I am looking forward to my rest ride tomorrow and a long steady ride on Saturday before I see what this Stazio stuff is like. Yesterday was 4X11 at LT and today was 2X30 tempo 70RPMs (I actually don't mind those). So now I sit with my legs in the air, eating a "recovery" pizza, and typing on the laptop. It's been warm lately but not as warm as my co-patriots down south who are planning a Stazio takeover. I can only hope that my fitness will be enough to aid in the cause. I always feel like that early on as I never feel like I'm riding well till mid season anyway. Sacramento Kings play the San Antonio Spurs in a short while so it's off to the showers before the game starts.

50+ degrees - WooHoo!

Got out for a ride tody with Carter and 2 new teammates, Andy and Kevin, down in the Peoples Republic of Boulder for 3 hours today. TR tried to drag me into the Stazio but I said no way. Ran into him and DK after their race in which they did pretty good in the 35+ race. Things are looking good for the orange and blue.