Friday, March 16, 2007

Yeah Baby!

So I'm leaving for England tomorrow. This has been a tough week for training. I got a good 4 hour ride in on Wednesday and actually got some sun on my face/legs. I don't recall having a tan this early in the season and the "awkward" tan lines are coming in nicely. Besides the mid-week ride, I've had a tough schedule at work and only time to spin on the indoor bike a few times this week. Tomorrow morning I'm going to try and squeeze in a very quick ride before I take off for 12 days. Maybe the break from the bike will do me some good? I'm going to make a hard effort not to gain too much weight and really watch what I'm eating while overseas. Plus, the hotels I'll be staying at all have fitness centers, so really I'm hoping to just cut my losses, maintain a semblance of fitness and go from there...

I'll try and send a post while in England, but we'll see...

Keep the rubber side down...

Tim

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Round 2

Just got done racing the Stazio Criterium in Boulder... The race was well populated (I would guess there were about 40 riders) and the corners were a bit congested. My goal for this race was to sit in, not do anything too stupid and see what kind of gas I had at the end. My legs felt a bit chunky today after a couple of hard rides last week, including a brief ride with some pro guys (CSC, Slipstream/Chipotle, BMC, etc.) that caught up with my team north of town. There's this "crazy" group ride that leaves Boulder on Saturdays called the "cycle - logic race" and has everything from pro riders to beginners. We were cooking along at a pretty good tempo, but I was racing today and didn't want to push my luck.

Back to the race...the pace was comfortable for most of the race and I was able to sit in without too much difficulty. The Stazio course has a decent sized hill just after the start/finish corridor so you really need to conserve and get up over the hill in a good spot. The best part about racing up the hill is racing down on the back side of the course, which really gives you an opportunity to "recover," for the next lap.

The finish was a bunch sprint (again) and my version of contesting the sprint consisted of sitting on a Vitamin Cottage rider's wheel, dropping some gears down and pedaling my legs out while remaining seated. I'm going to leave those crazy bar-bending sprints for later in the season.

Next up is a crazy week at work where I'll have to stay focused on training while not actually being able to get too much quality time on the bike. This is followed by a 12 day sojourn to Britain with my two younger brothers. If I can get through the next couple of weeks and not lose too much form I'll be damned happy. Next race is an early season TT in Denver, early April.

Coming back to racing and having the epic RAAM journey to look forward too is really all a guy like me could ask for. I'm on a great team, both for road/mtn racing and for the RAAM adventure. It's a priviledge and an honor to be living/working in Boulder and returning to the greatest sport on earth.

Keep the rubber side down...

Monday, March 5, 2007

Crits and crits and crits, oh my!


Fish eye! Thanks to Dr. Dan and company for the testing last week in Minnesota. I was in the great white north for four days and spent more time shoveling and snow blowing than time working out.

Met up with the team on Friday and barely made it to the airport for my flight back to sunny, warm (relatively), Colorado.

I've been training with long rides mixed up with shorter "rides" on the trainer at work. Last Sunday (yesterday, actually) I raced for the first time in about a year. Hit the Stazio crit in Boulder and snuck in as a Cat IV in the morning. I felt good throughout the race and found it relatively "easy" to move around the field with a few elbows and some imaginative lines around the corners (i.e., gutter riding). Job well done, I must say. Next Sunday is another race day and hopefully I'll find more form.

The upcoming weeks are going to be extremely challenging for me professionally and personally. I've got a bunch of extra training to do at work, including time spent on my usual days off and then on Saturday, March 17 I'm leaving for a 12 day trip to England with my two younger brothers....

Keep the rubber side down.