One last hard effort

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. I went for one last hard effort before the race in Albnay this weekend. I did the Tuesday route that that club does once we start the weekday rides. I really pushed it today to simulate a race pace. It was one hard effort, but it should be worth it. My legs felt good the entire ride & my average speed was over 20 mph for 40 miles. I'm hoping I will be competitive this weekend, but we'll just have to wait & see. I'll post my report after the weekend. Stay tuned......

Beautiful day for a ride

Today was a beautiful day to ride. I went with Will & we pushed it pretty good. It's nice riding with someone stronger than me to push me to get better. My legs felt great today & Will noticed it. I did some good long pulls & we switched off pulling. He told me I should be ready for the Cat 5 race in Albany this weekend. I haven't done a criterium in quite awhile so I don't know what to expect. I'm going to give it my best this coming weekend & let the chips fall where they may.

Felt good to ride

This hasn't been the best of weeks for me to ride. I've been feeling under the weather most of the week. Last night I was very tired & just relaxed in my bed after coming home from work. Today I was able to get back on the bike & ride. It felt great!!!!!! I did an easy ride & rode at a comfortable pace. Tomorrow the Ambercrombie & Fitch pro cycling team is inviting people to ride with them. They are doing a loop that lasts about 2 hours & they are doing that loop 3 times. I haven't decided if or when I'm going to go, but it sounds like it could be a blast. I think it would be a good training ride to get ready for next week in Albany. Stay tuned to see what I decide......

Back to training

Well today it's back to training. I rode with Will today & my legs felt heavy. I guess it's due to not riding at all yesterday & having to do an acceptance inspection at work. I'm sure climbing the ladders & all over the aircraft didn't help things either today. I'm probably going to take it easy tomorrow, but we'll just have to see. Will is a strong rider & I'll either get stronger riding with him or I'll get hurt in one way or another. LOL I'm looking forward to the race in a couple of weeks. We'll just have to see how things go & do the best that I can. Stay tuned.......

Tundra Time Trial Report

Today was the Tundra Time Trial in Hiram, Ga. Boy was it freaking COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I heard that at the start of the event it was only 25 dergees outside. I was totally amazed by the number of cyclists that showed up for the event though. I thought that the cold weather would keep people away, but I was sadly mistaken. The weather really didn't help me today. I usually don't mind riding in cold weather, but I could never seem to get my legs comfortable the entire ride. Maybe it was just because of the cold weather, but I really don't have an idea. I was hoping to do it in under 28 minutes, but fell just a bit short of that. I managed to complete the 9.4 miles in 28:08. I had forgot how hard a time trial really is, but I've got one event under my belt so far this year. My only real goal for this event was not to finish last in my category. I can safely say I wasn't the last one, but I was about 6 minutes behind the winner in my category. I have some work to do on my time trialing & will try to get better as the year goes on. Well, the season is off to a start & we'll see how things go from here.

Getting Ready for the Tundra TT

All this week I've been getting ready for the Tundra Time Trial on Saturday. I just wish the weather had co-operated a bit more so I could have ridden a bit more, but I'll just have to deal with it. I rode home from work on Monday then went riding with Rob. He was feeling a bit froggy so I let him stay up front for as long as he watned, then took over. I gave it one really hard effort before the weekend & my legs felt great doing it. I somehow left Rob quite a bit behind me when I went to the front. I gradually picked up the pace & didn't really look back until I was doing about 24 mph before I noticed that he wasn't behind me. I slowed down & let him catch up then we continued the ride at a pretty good pace. Tuesday & Wednesday really didn't lend to getting much riding done outdoors. I should have ridden the trainer easily, but really don't care for doing it. Today I went & did 17 miles at an easy pace. I'm heading to my parents house tomorrow & might do an easy trainer ride before the TT on Saturday. The forcast is supposed to be cold. I'll just have to deal with it & I'm going to give it my best shot during the TT. Stay tuned for the race report........

I've gone & done it!!!!!!!

I went & done it the other night!!!! I got my USCF racing license for this year. Yep, that's right, I'm going to race the bike this year! I hope I can be competitive & not get spit out the back at every race, but we'll just have to see how things go. I have my first competition on Feb. 17th. I'm going to do the Tundra Time Trial in Hiram. Hopefully 2 weeks later, I'm going to Albany for the first race of the Maxxis Georiga Cup series. Yesterday we went on a group ride & headed out towards Haynesville. Once we hit the big climb I shifted into a lower gear, but it keep slipping & upshifting on it's own. I couldn't find a good climbing rhythym the entire ride. We cut the ride a bit shorter than usual, but some of us took a side trip down Gilbert Rd. It's a nice little loop that has some climbing. Some of the guys got a bit froggy so I tagged along, then the next thing I know Shane tells me we broke them. We slowed up a bit & they caught on, then Shane took off on a flyer. I tried to catch him with a new guy Will on my tail, but all we could do was to keep the gap the same. Will told me when we got to the stop sign that he was just able to hang on to my wheel & was sorry he couldn't help out any. It was ok, we didn't go as far as we may have wanted, but we made up for the lack of milage with some intensity. All in all it was a good ride. I have the bike fixed now (hopefully), but won't really know till I go climb some hills. I'm planning on one more hard effort this week, then just doing some spinning until this weekend. Stay tuned for race reports........

Catch up time!!!!!

I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately, but other things have had to have my attention. Last week wasn't a great week to ride. The weather really wasn't great for riding. I did manage to ride the trainer earlier in the week & my legs felt pretty good. I did manage to get 50 miles on Sunday, but it was a workout. Earlier this week I bought some new toys for the bike. I bought some new components & had them installed. I tried them out yesterday, but when I shifted onto the big ring, I heard something rubbing. Rob was riding with me, but neither of us could find out what was causing the problem. I took the bike to the shop & they found out that the front derialleur cable was causing the problem. They fixed that quickly & I finished my ride home. I did try the big ring & the legs didn't feel that bad using it. I really haven't used it much this year due to my old shifter not working properly. I'll have to push the bigger gears here in the next week because I have a time trial to compete in on Feb. 17th in Hiram, Ga. Then two weeks after that is the first race of the Maxxis Georgia Cup series in Albany. I guess I'll have to start getting serious now about training. That's about all for now, stay tuned.........