Redemption?

Well, I guess the new name was the talk of the ride for a little bit here and there -- actually it was more like wise crack comments..." Hey Andy, do you have your keys????". Yeah, I get it. I wont be able to live that one down - its okay, I enjoyed the race and I was happy with how I did.

Tonights ride was interesting - threat of rain...the reality of rain...the enjoyment of salt, sand, spitting rain in the face all funneling down to the shoes. It started out fine with 7 riders in all - Bernie, John, Me (andy), Madonna, Jay H, Hemi and Andrea. Good to see Dave's single speed. It misted on and off while we did the Neilorator...going into St Michael it rained. Dave and Andrea headed back to the shop before then but the stupid few that went on were blessed with turning a light shade of brown. I felt stiff - slightly cold - mentally a bit wore out. I enjoy the severe weather riding, dont get me wrong, you just have to adjust a bit. We rolled out over the 144 stretch slightly offset to not get a mouth full of road slime and then we slowly ramped up the speed...no surprise...Bernie was with us. Me, Bernie and John broke off and kept up the speed...once again maxed out on rpm's as the single speed is not a high speed machine.

We made the turn to Dayton River Road and then to Pineview...super prime. It seemed all so quiet - Bernie said he didnt want to sprint in the rain so I assumed it would be casual...Then John lights it up the wall and I pick up chase. He is about 30 ft in front of me and I bridge the gap at the top of the first climb and latch onto his wheel...half way across the false flat I get the legs going like a sewing machine and pull off a win for Team Cannondale...its not really a team I guess - i was just riding one.

I must have been upset about dropping my keys - Redemption? Maybe so - but more importantly we had a blast riding with friends in some not so friendly conditions. If you can have fun in this stuff - what can stop you? Kudos to the group for one heck of a ride - if we could have taken a picture of us after the ride - it would have been priceless...we were a mess and we loved it!

I am the Keymaster....

State Championship Road Race - Avon MN. wow, how fun was that? Master 4/5 had what...12 Loons in the mix. Seeing that I have not done this in a LONG time, I was a bit nervous. I kept telling myself - its just a big group ride and a hockey match rolled into one. 51 miles - 3 laps of 17 miles. Nice set up - some good climbs with matching downhills - good speed for sure. Aside from the corners - we typically sat at about 24-28 mph. This is just fine in the group. I really did not like riding with handlebars touching - cutting lines and such - I know its part of the deal but instead I spent alot of the time near the front. The first lap was fast and about 20 sprinted or sped up for the finishing of lap one - I think I was 5th. We eased back on the 2nd lap and I spent some time in the pack. When we hit the half way point on lap 2, things took off again. The whole group accelerated and at those speeds - I wanted nothing to do with the pack. Up to the front where the riders were single file. I was sucking wheels for most of the 2nd lap and when we came to the last leg of lap 2 - I led out first on a pace line and held it to the finish of lap2...man, that was cool. The people were lined, the cowbell dinging, the cheering...that was addicting for sure. I really felt strong - or at least really good - no lasting fatigue, no burn in the legs...yet. My plan was to sit back for the rest of lap 3. As we headed into lap 3, I was riding next to Neil Thunderstorm and when I saw him reach for a bit to eat... I thought to grab a bite too...the only problem was that my car key ( here it comes) was in the same stupid back pocket as my bar. Out comes the bar....and out comes the phrase from a few riders back..." someones key just fell out...in the ditch". Yup, my key. I cannot remember why it was there, it normally isnt. But now, it was in the ditch. Stop, go back, pick up key and get going - solo and they were 1 min up on me in a flash....at 25 mph plus.

Well, that was 1 mile into lap 3, sucky. I did finish however by myelf - I reset the computer and maintained an average of 21 point something for 16 miles. Too bad a group of 62 rides a bit faster. On the last leg, there was a crash and it left one Loon to go to the hospital with a broken collar bone and Neil got some SERIOUS road rash...I saw the aftermath as I was in back...way back...I did finish strong - glad I did it - i was happy with how I did just not happy with my key placement...now let me see - where did i put my keys????

Thursday night Spin...kind of.

Well - the thursday night ride was great - the weather was perfect. Good to see John out there - thanks Holly for letting Johnny out to play. 5 headed out from the shop and we met Melinda on the way to Fletcher. We did the TT loop in reverse - which is interesting - we almost got turned around. lol. It was supposed to be an easy night for me anyway but of course it was fast...thanks John. I took the SS out again and it was a spin session from the nether regions - good thing it wasnt a long ride. Trying to draft behind John and Melinda when they go aero is like drafting behind a toothpick. I did practice staying in the pack - not jumping on every sign prime - tough to do. Great ride however - and today....I will not ride. Avon here I come - should be fun to race once again. Now back to lunch - pasta....more pasta and protien shakes.

Have a great day


andy

Sultans of Slop...part duex

Pulling into the parking lot at 5 pm...I was thinking - no way is anyone going to show. Then one, two...and a "meet me in the park"....hey, now we're cookin with gas! We had 6 by the time we hit Fletcher. Point being here is that the rain did NOT keep the faithful few off the bikes. On and off rain and the ever popular grit in the craw...gotta love it. We headed out to Fletcher to Hanover and back through St.Michael...then the rollers on 144. Boy isnt it nice to have that road smooth and all fancy?

With the rain I opted for the single speed as it has been beat hard and can handle the rain...plus I need to get one last hard ride in before the race this weekend. The ride was thwart with breakaway workouts, pace line ( kind of) and some strong interval workouts. Brian and I headed two up across 144 in a break away and traded off to Dayton River Road averaging mid 20's for that stretch..Looking back we didnt see anyone so we kept the pace up to super prime. Side by side we climbed the initial wall and then slowly increased the pace to 25 with about 50 yds to go and then old trusty Blue Thunder Single Speed ramped up the rpm's and I pulled away for the prime win...go team Cannondale!

Good show of the women tonight! Holly and Carol pounded out the miles and always smiling - I heard a rumor that Holly is letting John out to play Thursday night for the ride....

Have a great week all and hope to see you at Avon for the road race...

zuko

Sat Morning - no rain

The rain held off until just after 9 am. Apparently I made some claims about certian people being wimps for skipping out of the ride - just b/c it seemed like it was going to rain. I almost didnt make it to the ride in time - and if that had happened...Jorge would have killed me. Everyone was there 13 in all - good group. We did the 144 loop as usual with the TT route added on.

Kudo's to Jorge for sneaking around my blind spot on one of the primes. it was very funny... We held a fast pace the entire ride. We had some fast lead-outs, long burns...good interval training today...Gotta get ready for Fat Tire. I am starting to like the rollers - we took them Bernie style - fast and hard. Super prime was nice too - I got some coaching....Bernie told me to make sure too....oops, cant tell you that..... well, I did take super prime solo. The secret is safe with me.

So with so many ready for bad weather - the rain didnt happen until the ride was done. I hope you guys that did a few laps in the park stayed dry enough. Today I ended up rebuilding my pedals, eating at Culvers with the kids and now watching The Return of the Jedi.... my day is complete.


Have a great weekend all.


Andy

Mini-Donuts anyone?

Last week Wednesday was a sad day indeed. Something so dramatic and crushing...knowing that it could have been anyone...any day...I am talking about the 35W bridge. I do thank God for the lives that were spared as it could have been much more catastrophic that it really was. But today I found something a bit more disturbing...on the stone arch ride.

I showed up late - maybe by 5 mins or so and I knew I had to catch up. I unload the bike, throw all the duds on, grab some water and up to the bridge I go...only to find out I almost have to walk my bike there were so many people. I was like - what the heck is going on? Everyone had cameras, vid cameras...all pointing and staring downriver. Whole families, one's and two's - what were they staring at....oh, the bridge where too many died. There it was and there were the people getting on tip toes to get a better look.

It was impressive - the magnitude I mean. But this was like 1000 people slowing down to look at the car wreck - hoping to see some visible sign of death. It was worse on the way back after the ride - which was great by the way. People going all directions - snapping photos and the vendor selling ice cream ( which i belive is there all the time ) had a real deal going.

My thought was to get a mini-donut stand and wait for the next disaster to strike so I can make a profit off of the folks looking for a little death.

just didnt feel right..

Ever have a ride where you seriously felt about two steps off of center? Tired for no reason? I guess i have nothing to really complain about - at least i wasnt traversing a river on a cable with my bike hanging off my back. None the less - I seemed to have issues and I couldnt figure it out. Last night was a bit interesting...i had mechanical issues but aside from that - things didnt seem fluid, it felt like i was riding in the spring when my body had no idea what i was trying to do. this happens when i ride the bianchi instead of the single speed. i am taking a guess that I have forgotten how to effectivly ride with many gears...not that i was effective before but i am used to NOT changing gears on hills and downhills...and if i am in the wrong gear - i reach threshold reallllllyyyyyy fast.

I think i am going to stick with the SS more - it is fun, easy to switch gears and punishing plus it is really comfy.

I suppose that the cure to my problem is to ride with gears a bit more to get used to it again. heck, just ride more and get stronger and i wont have this fade problem. so instead of trying to be the leader of the pack or sign prime master - maybe the loons can hire me on as a full time domestique - that way i wont have to worry about trying to be the first across the line.

have a great day....

ac