"Oh Yes It's Ladies Night"

Heading into the driveway and this Saturday's crits I decided to do a little Michael Jackson tribute. Notice the Black and White motif - Black tire on rear, white on front. (Actually this was more of a fact that I wanted a 25mm tire on the back and 23mm tire on the front and that's what I have on hand.)

Ah, ladies night at the Driveway Series. 1st Thursday of the month is Ladies night with special clinics and races and prices for the ladies.

Team B-H has the most beautiful soigneurita, Beautiful Vernette. She is getting the "Thriller" ride ready for action in the men's master's race.

If you are extra lucky, your beautiful racing partner will pin you before the race. Here Catie hooks me up. Foxy looks amused.

This is not a teenager! This beautiful little woman has boundless energy and runs around the crowd collecting money for the cash prime each week. Besides racing and doing registration, etc.

Life is good when you have a little Moet et Chandon in hand to watch your team race.

Catie and Jim are ready to go. Catie looks half asleep, but trust me she wasn't sleeping in the race. She is a great and powerful racer.

Our Houston Buddies, Nathan and Angela. Aren't they cute. Nathan has the privilege of supplying B-H with Shimano wheels and parts and Scott Bicycles.

Before we raced we got to see or favorite San Jose racer, Rachel, who had raced earlier. Craig looks very bemused in the background - and this is before he had the ride of the night.

We were on the lower loop of the driveway (in red) as the Ladies Night activities were held on the upper loop (in gray.)

Superfast race tonight, nearly 27 miles per hour. Docile for first 4-5 laps, then steady and hard.

Every Thursday is a great night to race at the Driveway. This was post race last week! Catie and I had raced the Master's race together for the first time.

Turk and the boys are still in Myrtle Beach today. Here JW is recreating the famous Beatles "Abbey Road" album cover. 1 degree of separation - Michael Jackson owned the rights to most of the Beatles songs, as I recall?

Another action packed, fun filled Thursday night at the Driveway in Austin. As mentioned before, the course changes each week. This weeks was held exclusively on the 1 mile lower loop, which is wicked fast (and safe.) Last week on the full course we had 2 wrecks, and the whole race was a bit sketchy. Tonight was smooth smooth smooth.

Craig, Doug and Jim have been making the trip regularly on Thursday nights, the racing, crowds, organization and venue are just that good. Turk has joined us for a couple and Matt for one. Catie has joined us for the last few (man the car smells better with a woman on board, what's up with that.) Tonight BV was able to join us making for a rollicking trip.

2 weeks ago, Jim stacked it solo in the 180, last week Doug wrecked spectacularly coming into the final turn. They licked their wounds, learned from their follow and got back on the bicycle, as the saying goes.

Tonight the course was fast. It's always so fun to race with Catie because she will attack which always gets ooohs and aaaahs from the peleton. Jim attacked 3 times early, without success. We had hoped to get Catie across first for a prime, and almost got that done. Doug rode across to the 2 man break with another rider with 3 laps to go and we thought we had the peleton in check to get him on the podium. Unfortunately he and his erstwhile companions blew with 1/2 a lap to go and were swallowed by the bunch.

The ride of the night belongs to Craig. Craig made it thru the whole race - for the first time!! We're not sure if he is getting faster, if BV's presence and cheering stimulated him, if it was Foxy's threat of making him walk back to San Antonio, or a combination of the above, but he did it. And now that he has done it it all gets easier, right???

See you this weekend at the local University Oaks Crits. And join us for a Thursday night foray up to the Driveway!!

Fredburg RR - "The Heat (and rollers) Was On"

Team B-H stepped up and helped the race. Beautiful Vernette drove the follow vehicle for the women's 4 race.

Yeah, we were out in the middle of nowhere, kinda. Doss, TX. 20 miles NW of Fredericksburg.

And this is why. No traffic, tough tough course. Significant climbing and nonstop rollers on the on all the sections - uphill and downhill. No chance for any rest or hiding in the peloton on this course.

I got popped after the feed on the 2nd lap. (2 lap race, feed zone in the early slopes of the climbing.) Knew I was in trouble seeing heart rates in the 190's on the first lap. Notice the continual rolling nature of the course (and my heart rate on my 2nd lap, essentially solo.)

Power, cadence, speed and heart rate from the Garmin.

Our favorite Ford Fellow, missed out on this since she blew off the race. Pity too since only 7 women lined up for the women's open race - with $700 on the line!

Turk didn't get to ride or volunteer today, since she was graduating from BMW "M" school this week. Yes, she gets to keep the helmet.

Just so you don't worry about me while the Turk's outa town, I was able to put together a fancy schmancy post race meal. Maracona Almonds, Manchego Cheese, Proscuitto, and Anchovey stuffed Olives.

Interesting day. Started at 1am when I got off work and drove the 100+ miles to the race start - Doss, TX. I didn't know what to expect when I got there - the parking area was completely empty, and dark. So, I blew up my aerobed and lay down to sleep. Took me a while to get to sleep, had my alarm set fo 7:15 since I had volunteered to drive a follow vehicle for the early race.

Craig had decided to race at the last minute, so we talked the night before and it was decided that BV would drive with me to follow the race. BV knew she would probably do the driving so I could rest a little more. In their true selfless pattern, when I woke at 7:30 (had somehow turned my alarm off) they had been to the volunteer meeting and had all the details for our duties. The had gotten there around 6am, parked next to me and let me sleep.

When I woke up, in a pool of sweat of course as the sun was now up and it was already hot, the parking area was completely full with 200 cars!! As we say, once I'm asleep, a nuclear bomb won't wake me.

BV drove, we had the pocket nazi official in our car, and we followed the lovely ladies of the Women's Cat 4 race. All went well so I got ready for my race.

Well, the course was too much for me. I was ready for the 100 degree heat, using a camelbak, and hung in for the first lap. The climbs in the first 8 miles were tough with constant rollers. I stayed to the front on the first climbs, then flew to the back going up the steep 200m to the KOM. From there I suffered like an animal for the rest of the first lap, never getting up towards the front of our 60+ man field. The roads were narrow, constantly rolling with lots of chicanes and 12 cattle guards per lap, so the back was not the place to be. We would constantly accordion into the obstacles, the stretch out in single file coming out of them putting excessive pressure on those of us on the back.

My ticket was punched early in the 2nd lap after the feed. I had anticipated this so had given Ryan Haglund a bottle of my coveted (no longer made) Powerbar Endurance Suntea. I still stopped at two volunteer areas and filled my water bottle with cold water. I totaled 1 60 oz Camelbak and 3 water bottles for the 53 mile 2:45 race.

Looking in the retrospectoscope, I probably should have raced the 40+ race. It was earlier, so slightly cooler and 10 miles shorter. Foxy, my racing partner, and I had decided to do the 3/4 race in lieu of the 40+ race. Course, he stacked it in the finale at the driveway last week so had to bail today d/t injury. Humorously, I was gonna bail on "Cut Off" road which would have taken about 10 miles off the last lap and brought me in before my group so I could see that finish. Foxy was course marshalling the turn off at "Cut Off" so my pride wouldn't let me do that in front of my teammate!

I was concerned about the course - lotsa cattleguards, low water crossings (only 1 with water currently) rollers and twists. Fortunately the race was safe, in no small part due to the excellent organization and logistics. Kevin Barton of Joe's Pro Bikes, and Lisa Nye of Hill Country Bicycle Works, knocked this one out of the park. Since I raced a lap with the group, then rode a lap essentially alone, I had a chance to see how well marshalled, and marked the course and its challenges were. Hat's off.

Come on out to our own Drew Akin's race this Saturday - Univ Oaks July 4 Crit. I'm personally signed up for 3 races, which should be interesting...

Why We Like Drew

Sunday, Drew put on the 4th crit this year, at University Oaks.

You can't beat a race like this. First you ride to the race, from home, in 30 minutes, getting your warmup and "keeping it green."

Then you ride around, like a gerbil on a wheel, for an hour.

Finally, recover by riding 30 minutes home!!

My data from the race, courtesy of SRM, Garmin and Ascent.

We are blessed to have people like Drew, his band of helpers, race officials and race support to put on races like this. Local, safe, consistent and convenient. I'm working 4pm to 2am shifts this weekend, but was still able to do this race because it is so close to home.

I asked the Turk if she wanted to drive over (I would ride for my warmup) then I would drive home and she could get her ride in.

She said she was riding to the race and home with me! Doh. Why didn't I think of that.

This race was a little different than last week, now that everyone knows who to mark. The first 10 minutes were docile (unlike last week when it was balls to the wall from the gun.) Then the fire works started (you can see that above by my heart rate and power curves.)

Team B-H is no quite finding its form yet this year - we're close. Just not quite getting a rider in the right break, and just not quite able to help our e'sprinter in the last 2 laps, but hey that's why we line up right? To give it what we got.

After the race Craig had much welcomed ice water. During the race it helped alot to have Killer, Pammo, Turk, BV, et al cheering during the rough sections. Thank you all.

Turk and I rode home, only mistake we made was riding up Blanco from Huebner to Wilderness Oak - that stretch of road is still not ready for bikes!!

Thanx Drew!! Keep these coming!!

See you July 4th for a special version of this race.

Compact Gearing - Magic or Mental?

Everyone who rides compact (generally 50/34 chainrings) proclaims it is an improvement over traditional gearing (generally 53/39.)

I planned to, then rode, compact for the first time at this year's Tour of The Gila. Afterwards, Matt asked me what I thought - he was a bit dismayed with my report that "gears are gears." Caveat, I am one who jokingly refers to compact as "ladies specific gearing" and now that I have ridden it "senior specific gearing!"

Back up, to the genesis of compact gearing, as I know it. The compact "revolution" might be attributed to Tyler Hamilton. Apparently he figured the easier gears would allow higher cadence climbing. My cynical position was that he used it to prevent his riding away from the bunch on flat stages - that would draw attention to his doping!!

Prior to the compact gearing era, I was intrigued by a time trial Lance rode (and won, natch.) I believe it during his 2nd Tour de France victory. The course was rolling, say 25 miles, and his average cadence was 108! This has stuck in my memory to this day.

Conventional science has positioned the freely chosen cadence around 81 +/- 7, the energy optimal cadence at 73 +/-5 and the theoretical mechanical optimal cadence at 90. It seems Lance, by chance or science, had found a better way - his average cadence of 108 is way above any of these and he was known for his high cadence throughout his 7 victories.

Part of this reason this intrigued me probably has to do with my affinity for all things German. Those that know me know my preference for German - cars, foods, cycling teams, etc. For some reason. German cars run at about twice the RPM's of a comparable American car at a given speed. So maybe higher RPM's is better. It certainly is different.

To train my cadence I race crits and Tuesday nighters using a 25/15 cassette. I figure that this will force me to spin and I rationalize that if I ride in the 11,12,13,14 I am not "racing." I'm simply sitting in "just riding along." You never attack or chase from getting dropped in the 11, you spin your butt off when you are "trying."

Traditional training was to ride fixed gear in the off season, train your spin and don't push big gears. Then came the era of incorporating weight training into your training plan, particularly during the off season to build power.

I ran with this and have decided to push big gears in the winter ("off season") and spin in the spring and summer. I ride with an 21/11 cassette in the winter and 27/12 in the summer (now 28/11) and that is where I initially came up with the idea of using "junior gearing" 25/15 cassette for the Tuesday nighters and crits.

Here's what I'm talking about. Driveway crit w/ 23/11 cassette. Average cadence 92.

Driveway crit with 25/15 cassette. 102 average cadence. Limiting my "biggest gear" to 53 x 15 took my average cadence up 10%! After these type of training races I now find my "normal" cadence higher than before also, which is the goal.

Of course in our sport there are always those who must be different. Our friend Jason Sager rides only compact (teasing him I started referring to compact as "ladies specific gearing.") He now seems to feel that the optimal chainring combination is 52/38 (how that is "compact" relative to a standard 53/39 is beyond me, but hey, Jason is about 50% faster than I on the bike, so I have to let him have that.)

My conclusion is that compact gearing is indeed magic for us cyclists in that it saves us from ourselves. We don't have the discipline to keep the gearing "easy" when we get stressed on the bike, we subconsciously drop it in the biggest gear we have when we get into a spot of bother and this is counterproductive.

When in danger of getting dropped, if you make the gear easier, you enhance your chances of staying on. This is not intuitive or natural. When we increase our cadence we feel as though our heart rate goes up which will ensure we get dropped. Subconsciously we drop it into a bigger gear which paradoxically feels easier. We maintain contact for a very short time, but this seals our fate and we get popped.

My conclusion? Compact Gearing - Magic or Mental? Yes!!

Gears are gears. Ride compact, and don't put on an 11 tooth cassette, if you seek to race and do group rides at the best of your potential. Compact can save you from yourself and save you from losing contact with the bunch at crunch time (plus give you the easiest possible gear to spin when the road tips significantly upwards!) So if you want to maximize your potential, race and train with a combination of "Senior Specific" (compact chainrings, and "Junior Specific" (14/25 or 15/25 cassettes.)

1 week 5 crits 1 contact

As Rob mentioned, last week we had the chance to race 3 different venues. It has gotten super hot - crit season is here. These races are 30 - 60 minutes, so the heat isn't the factor it would be in a 3 hour road race.

First up, on Tuesday, the New Braunfels Camino Real Cycling Club Crit at the Tree of Life church off of I-35. This is a slower race due lots of turns including 2 180's. Great, safe venue. 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month thru the summer.

Althought it is dead flat, the turns yield the "slowest" of the 3 crit venues averaging just under 24 mph for the A and B races.

B-H's own Addison McAuliff won the C race (juniors, Cat 5) in convincing fashion.

2 days later, on Thursday we went up to the Driveway Crit in Austin. Raced on a go kart track and although there is elevation change, the flow of this course makes it super fast.

It was "Ladies" night with clinics and a race on the "top half" of the course (the gray course left in picture, so we raced only on the "bottom half." This yielded a 1.05 mile course. Other weeks the course has 2-3 alternative configurations making this venue fresh each week.

Barn burner of a race yielding a 27.1 mph average for the Open event, 26.5 mph for the 3/4 running.

Finally, 3 days later on Sunday we got to race 10 miles from home at the University Oaks Crit, put on by B-H affiliated Peak Fitness racing. 1 k nice, nice venue. Well organized and run.

I love the occaisional idiosyncracies of the Garmin - here the ever "sinking" elevation profile (in black) of a fixed loop? Perhaps it's my ever increasing heart rate (in red) pushing the ground downward!?!?

Amongst the many benefits of being old and without much talent, is the variety of racing options afforded. At the CRCC crit I raced the Masters (B race) and the 1/2/3 (A race.) At the Driveway crit I raced the 3/4 race and 1/2/3 race (later this month they add a Master's race giving me a third option.) So those 4 races plus the University Oaks Mens Open race gave me 5 for the week.

I went to the eye doctor Monday, hadn't been in years, since I lost a contact at the Gila. Somehow I made it thru the 5 races seeing out of only 1 eye (shhhh!!) since my new contacts came in this week!

Come race these. They're "fun."

TdG Wrapup

Leaving Silver we pass the San Lorenzo Copper mine. Now shut down. We passe it twice this week racing, this was the only time we got a chance to take in the view!!





Monday after the Gila we drove home. We went over Emory Pass, which the Cat 2's do an extra out and back climb during the Gila Monster. It was out of the way, but beautiful and on the way to Hatch, NM, ground zero for Green Chili's!!






Emory Pass tops out at 9,000 feet.






The day of the crit we ran into one of Silver's characters, Dom. Dom and Craig raced together last year in the 4,5 race and Dom is one of the centerpieces in the Gila Cyclophilia movie.






Dom was cruisin around the crit course delivering water to the volunters. Perhaps Silver's version of our Silverback?






You see a little bit of everything in Silver - here a dog wearing slippers.






Beautiful Vernette with equally lovely "Soigneuritas."






The day of the crit was windy - evidenced by the flag at full tilt.






BV had the B-H logo goin as she and Craig enjoyed the pro crit.






Jim and Craig seemed to enjoy being close to the pros.






Horner getting orders from Lance at the front of the bunch during the crit.







Punchy climb on the back side of the course.






And again.






We shared the 3rd floor of the Holiday Inn with the "Ouch" team.






Floyd sat on the back of the crit for the first 2/3's.






Floyd's bike ready for the crit.






Later he moved up to midpack.







What I refer to as the "Streets of San Francisco" descent on the back side of the crit.






Another view.







Climbing up to the Streets of San Fran descent.









Even Silver has a "Yellow Bike" project. C'mon San Antonio.






All I have left to say is, come on out next year and join us. You won't be disappointed and you will go home tired.

TdG Gila Monster - Karma

Tired tonight so short post.

Similar to our road stage 2 days ago, this counterclockwise starting in Silver City, finishing in Pinos Altos.

Route profile of the "Gila Monster." The 2's add 1 tougher climb and the pros add 2 tougher climbs than we did.

I had the most fun of any stage to date at the Gila. Up the first real climb of the day I got dropped, but half of the field stopped to pee 1/2 way up giving me a chance to get back on. I got nearly dropped nearing the very peak before the 4 mile descent but toughed it out and made it.

Head wind across the Mimbres valley kept the group together (miles 22 to 52 where we gradually climb up to the Continental Divide then gradually descend from it. The feed was on a significant climb and I got dropped but chased back over the top. Our race leader attacked on the little jagged hump before the end of the valley at about mile 46 stringing the group out and I almost got dropped there.

When we started the last significant climb at mile 52 all I could do was ride my own tempo. My friend (60+) Steve Betton caught me after about 3 miles of climbing and we paced each other for the last 20 miles, content with our week.

Craig had a similar day today, finishing near the back, but taking an hour off of last year's time. We're improving, so is everyone else. We just gotta keep chasing!!

Vernette had a near heart attack when our car wouldn't start after I rolled out this am and Craig was just about to. She found a nice city worker to jump the car (prolly not too hard for BV) then had to chase and got caught behind the women's pro race for an hour. She was sweating getting to the feed on time, plus had to pee really bad. She came up with a creative solution to the problem, one of those things which fall under the category "what goes on the road stays on the road." She made the feed on time so all was well, just a little extra stress for the most important person on the tour - the support person!!

5 days ago, during our first stage, on a gradual downhill, our perennial race winner, Michael Carter was peeing off the back of the bunch and started drifting backwards. I pushed him for about 1/2 mile which he appreciated. Today on our first climb Michael got off to pee, causing about 1/2 the group to stop with him, the other 1/2 rode piano for a few minutes which gave me the chance to get back on, as I had been dropped. That was the only reason I was able to get over the first climb with the group (one of my goals) and ride across the valley with the bunch. The farthest I have ever gone with the main group. See? Karma!

More in the next day or so. Come race with us next year, you won't be disappointed.