Strasburg Race: Much better than last Year

Saturday was the Strasburg Race and our first race as the new Chester County Velo - IronHill Team . We had a full compliment of racers SANS arguably our best racer Jim Walls. Right now Jim and Bryan are ahead on fitness and when they turn up the pace I have a real hard time hanging in. So when Jim told me on Friday that he was totally out of it sick I felt bad for him as I thought he had a real good chance for a win. It also meant the strategy to work for Jim went out the door and we had no clear replacement to work for in the 3/4 race. So the plan was hang in and see who felt good in the last 500M and try to line up a sprint for that guy. Turns out Tim, Kyle, Kieth and I ended up in the final pack at the end of the race and Keith in a totally selfless move jumped from the back of the pack and sprinted out. His effort broke apart the pack and allowed Me, Tim and Kyle to sprint to the line in 5th , 7th and 8th... So not bad team results. In the Cat 4 Race Bryan ended up 4th which was another good finish for Bryan and with it he will probably upgrade to Cat 3. Full results

So for an early race it was a good time and actually not as hard as last year. The wind was not bad and it wasn't raining and/or 30 degrees :)..

Its kind of boring to continue positing about training, but if you want to know what I do basically its 6 days a week 10-15 hours a week I ride the bike. In the middle of summer I might even get to 15-20hrs on the bike with 2 races on the weekend. As Cindy will attest to its a big time commitment and when I'm not riding I'm recovering, working or whining about how bad I feel(Sorry Honey). So I would like to thank Cindy for her considerable Patience and Understanding.. I'm sorry I was such a mess on Sunday and not able to go to the Floyd fairness fundrasier.

ADDED (by Cindy): Photos!
Matt took some photos at Strasburg (I didn't attend the race). Obviously, no 3/4 race photos (I'm guessing it's hard to race and get photos). Just click on the photos for a larger image.

Man I need more training.. Tuesday Night Oh Fun

So this week is the beginning of Daylight Savings Time and with it brings the first Tuesday night ride of the year. Tuesday night is my favorite training ride, its a 25 mile loop that starts out with a tempo pace and then kicks into high great with 20+ speeds over the hills and 25+ on the flats. It took me about 3 years and 30lbs to be able to hang with the ride :). It was good to see many of the guys from our team and our friends from Team Alliance(Jeff and Evan), and Geoff from High Gear.

Its a fast ride with a couple of hard sprint hills that the group pounds with no mercy for the weak(which currently would be me). The pain starts at the bottom of the 842 Climb and ends 35 minutes later.
Tues Stats for the ride:

• Avg Heart rate 141
• Max Heart Rate 193
• Alltitude Gain: 2400ft
• ~ 40 miles
• 2 Hours
• 1 pair of tired legs :)

I got dropped on the end of the last climb when the tough guys jump to break the pack, luckily had Tim and Keith to finish the ride up with. We could see the front group, but just couldn't quite catch them.

After Tuesday's fun, I thought I needed to punish myself with some hill repeats up Gypsy Rd near work in Upper Merion. Its a tough hill and I use it to help gauge my fitness or in my current form: lack of fitness. It felt good to hit the hill hard. I know this work will all pay off in a couple of weeks. Try to have some fitness for Kirkwood and Ephrata
Wed Stats for ride:

• Avg Heart rate 163
• Max Heart Rate 188
• Altitude Gain: 1500ft
• ~ 15 miles
• 45 minutes

Well, I may get to ride today. Looks like rain, but we'll see.

1 week before Strasburg - Cram week

In my effort to jump start my fitness for the up coming race season(Strasburg is next weekend) I spent some hours on the bike this weekend. Friday I went hard on my own hill workout and felt good, but I may have over done it... Evidenced by the 5 hours of pain I spent on the bike on Saturday: not so fun. Of course the tempo part of the Wilowdale ride wasn't too bad but I could tell that this damn head cold/sinus thing is still lingering. It might even be a touch of fatigue. Anyway I kept going and when the ride got fast at the end, I was there up the first hill but just could not keep up the pace on the flats. Once again I fell off the pace and finished behind the lead group. Then Jim asked me to do a another loop after the ride and I stupidly went with him. Another 1.5 hours later, I ended up with 90+ miles and a splitting headache and some serious bonking... Oh well, falls under the pain has to be good for ya..

Sunday was a good recovery ride, but my muscles were sore and my calves were aching. Think tomorrow is time for a day off and then go slow this week. Everyone wants to start Tues and Thursdays this week, so we'll see.

Move Over Hugh Jackman

Ah the new racing kits arrived today. I dug thru the boxes to find Matt's (seems no one else wears a small on the team). We decided to do a quick fit check when he got home.

The new kits look great! and I'm sure that the new skin suit will take minutes off his time trial time!

Now we're just waiting for the new wheels to arrive, and he's all ready for race season! (well, those legs are looking a big hairy....)

Winter Pain, Getting Dropped .. Time for New Wheels

I had to take off most of Dec and Jan due to my calve problems and that wasn't fun for anyone, ask Cindy :)... I'm back at my training trying to whip myself into shape for the first race of the season Strasburg. I've been feeling like crap and can't seem to kick this damn head/body cold, but being a gluten for punishment I went out on Saturday for our 60mile march of the penguins(It did warm up but it was still below 32 when we started)...

All the usual suspects were on the Willowdale ride including one of our local pros on the Rite-Aide team Stephan. Luckily I flatted a couple of miles before the ride kicks into high gear so Scott fixed my flat and we re-joined the ride after the first hard climb.. Stephan, Jim and Jeff had about 45 secs on the group and they were setting a blistering pace.. We jumped on the lead group and Stephan proceeded to kick our asses.. I managed to stay on for a while, but my fitness wasn't good enough to keep up and I had to drop off within 1 mile of the final sprint...

That leads up to my decision that I better get new lighter wheels so I can hang on...I know its mostly mental.. But if it makes me think I'm faster then It's worth it.. So I order the American Classic 350's with Sapim spokes and Ti skewers... Should be right at 1300grams! I'll do whatever I can to try keep up :)