Hyde Park Blast...was a blast

Last Saturday found the team down in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Hyde Park Blast. The race was in an awesome older neighborhood a little northwest of downtown Cincy. It was a mile long circuit that ran up and down one of the main avenues with a turn-around by a fountain on one end and a fast uphill/downhill through a residential section at the other end of the course. There were big crowds on hand...probably the biggest spectator turnout at any race so far this season.

As far as the actual racing....it was fast, fast, fast. Luckily our team got a call-up to the start line before the rest of the field, so we were all able to have an advantage at the start. It was full throttle from the gun and never let up once. I almost crashed twice coming around the fountain - once from coming in to the turn a little too hot and sliding out towards the barriers. That resulted in some nervous noises from the crowd behind the barriers. The other was from another rider in front of me coming really wide out of the corner almost pushing me into the curb. No worries though, just fast racing.

The race was so consistently fast that it was very hard to move up. It was a fight not to lose any position and you had to be careful not to let up at all or tap the brakes when you didn't need too or else you'd be shot out of the back with little hope of catching back on to the group. I ended up finishing mid-pack, but came away with probably the most fun race I've done in a while thanks to the crowd and a great circuit.

Here's a good look at the crowds that came out.

And a little pain-face after the finish.

Tour de Olmstead

Basically, long story short....we dominated Louisville this past Saturday. From the gun, Spencer attacked and from that point on, we had at least one team member off the front of the race at all times. We were in every single move that went, and ended up placing Blake in a three man break that stayed away to the finish. I had the luxury of sitting up just behind the bunch sprint to see Blake cross the finish line with his arms raised in front of the other two escapees. It was great.

The circuit was awesome. It was in Iroquois Park just south of Churchill Downs. The course was a 4 mile loop through dense trees and the only straight and flat part was the quarter mile finishing stretch. Everything else was up and down and really twisty. It made for fun and exciting racing in a great setting.

No racing this weekend, but June 27th is the Hyde Park Blast down in Cincy.

Pre-Race Prep for Tour de Olmstead

I figured I'd take an unorthodox approach to my preparation for this weekend's Tour de Olmstead in Louisville, KY. Instead of the normal intervals, tapering, and diet watching I normally go through before races, I decided to let my dog Jack take care of my pre-race nutrition by finding my stash of Clif Bars and consuming 740 calories in about 5 minutes. He weighs 30 lbs, by the way....that's going to be an unhappy stomach. 

He's so embarassed about how fat he's going to get, he can't even look at the camera. 

Now that my pre-race "carb loading" was all taken care of, all that was left was to get a good pre-race warm-up ride in. Normally this consists of a 15-20 mile ride that's nice and easy with a couple of moderate efforts thrown in. Nothing too taxing, just a nice ride to loosen up the legs. Well, I decided to forgo that nonsense and get some cross-training in right before the race. This consisted of a lot of shoulder and torso workouts, minimal walking, and absolutly ZERO time on the bike. I took a picture that I'm thinking of sending to Chris Carmichael so he can use it to help all those rich dentists tear it up during their weekend group rides.

The burn I got from this workout made me feel like a middle aged mom...not a bike racer. Such a refreshing change of pace!

Okay, in all seriousness....I had a great week of training leading up to this weekend's race. I'm feeling good and am ready to be aggressive down in Louisville. Maybe I'll give Mine That Bird a run for the money. Race report to come early next week!

State Champs Update/Obstacle Course

This past Saturday in Fishers, IN was the Indiana State Road Race Championships. Upon arrival at Chris Pfeiffer's house, we learned that there was a giant trench that, days before, had been dug right through the middle of a section of the course. Crispy was really concerned that the race organization wasn't aware of this new development and had probably been practicing his cyclocross dismounts at 27mph.

Luckily, the organization did know about the construction and had made some adjustments to the course that avoided  this impassable construction, but took us through a couple other sections of less-intense road constrution. The field only had to worry about bunny hopping a plank of plywood, jumping off of a couple small drop-offs, and praying you didn't get a flat running over a large patch of broken pavement. Oh...and also keeping your fingers crossed the person operating the backhoe wasn't digging up riders as they passed by.

The race was pretty uneventful and pretty fast (we averaged 25mph for the 60+ miles we did). The selection, instead of being made my the "hill" or attacks, was made by multiple racers getting flats every lap. Unfortunately, we had a couple of teammates flat that weren't able to finish. New teammate, Brian Richter put in a solo attack early in the race only to flat after getting a sizeable lead on the field. 

After 9 laps of the course, it was time for the sprint...unfortunately, I didn't have my banana that morning and began to cramp a little in the final mile. I was able to maintain my position going into the sprint, but once it started my legs weren't working like I wanted, and I fell back a bit to finish 33rd. Overall, it was a frustrating day for the whole team...no one did terrible (I think 3 or 4 were in the top 25), but all of us were expecting a lot more. It's a tough course to have any type of finish other than a 40+ man field sprint, so unless you're a pure sprinter, or get lucky during the lead-in to the sprint, there's little chance of making a big impact.

Next on tap for me is the Tour de Olmstead this weekend down in Louisville, KY...it's a hilly 4 mile circuit. That makes me drool :)

Benefits of a White Saddle...

...you know when your saddle sores pop.

Gross, I know...but I figured it'd be a great photo to share on the blog.

So, after having races every weekend since the end of February until the beginning of May, I've taken a month's break from racing and have been focusing on recovery and ramping back up for the second half of the season. Next on tap is the Indiana State Road Race Championships in Fishers, IN...just north of Indianapolis. It's basically in the backyard of my teammate, Chris Pfeiffer or, more affectionately known as Crispy. We're looking for a solid result (like a WIN) at this race and should have a great chance at it. Everyone seems to be on great form and the motivation is definitely there. I know I'm at least chomping at the bit to throw down some aggressive racing.

In other news, the rumor mill (aka Facebook...and now my blog) has let me in on the sweet secret that Sustainable Cycling now has a new team member - Isaiah Newkirk. He's from Bloomington, IN and raced for Marian College during the collegiate season. I raced alongside him during the collegiate season and found that he's a really nice guy and a strong rider. He's going to be a valuable addition to our quiver and I'm looking forward to racing together with him.

Well...I'm off to tent to the aforementioned saddle issue. Wish me luck and send me some DZ Nuts if you're feeling generous :) 

Legit Update Coming Soon...

....until then, here's a sweet picture to stimulate the right brain.

Italy goes all out.

Now I'm just poor...not a poor college student

Well...after four years at Purdue University, I'm a college graduate. The full magnitude of what I have accomplished never really hit me until I was on stage looking at my name on the big screen just before I received my diploma. That's when it hit me that all of the work and late nights I had gone through were finally paying off. Even better than that, I realized that never again will I have to do math homework, or B.S. an essay about some obscure topic of philosophy, or pull an all-nighter to hopefully pull off a miracle on an exam that I was no where near ready for. It's a huge sense of relief and accomplishment to have completed my undergraduate career.

The only downside to all of this is that I haven't secured a job yet...which means that I'm making the transition from being a well respected, unemployed, struggling college student to a dead-beat, unemployed poor person. Should be an interesting year ;)

In cycling news....Morgan-Monroe appears to not be happening, so my next race will be on June 6th up in Fishers, IN...the Indiana Road Race Championships. This race is a huge target for Sustainable Cycling, so all of our riders are expecting to be in fantastic shape to hopefully get Crispy the win in his backyard. 

I'm back down at my parents house for the week for a mini vacation and the weather looks like it will be dandy all week long. That means lots of miles put into the legs and perfecting the tan-lines.