Weekend Report

Sorry I didn't post much last week, but I really didn't ride the road bike until Saturday. I rode my commuter bike to & from work and did other things in the evenings. On Saturday I rode to the Perry Welcome Center for the usual group ride. I got there just before 8 am, but no one was there at all. I waited for about 10 mintues, then just headed out on my own. I rode down the Perry Parkway to Boutwell Rd, then past the Perdue plant, then down 247 to 96 then home. I was in the big ring the last part of the ride & the legs felt good. Today I went out & started doing the Sunday route, but I changed it up a bit. I took 341 all the way through Perry, then went past the Perdue plant, then onto 247, then Bear Branch Rd, to Houston Lake Rd home. My legs felt pretty good the entire ride. I'm hoping to get more riding in this week, the weather is starting to get cooler again & I love riding in cooler weather. That's about all I have for now, thanks for reading.

Trying something different

Today I did something I haven't done in quite a long time, I went mountain biking. I borrowed a demo Gary Fisher Caliber full suspension 29er from The Bike Store here in Warner Robins. I rode the trails at L. H. Thompson. I started out quite cautiously, not know what to expect riding the dirt. I can say one thing, riding a mt. bike takes a lot more upper body strength than riding a road bike. My arms & shoulders definately got a workout riding the trails. I didn't do too bad on the first lap, I only hit the dirt one time. I decided to try a second lap, and I guess I got a bit on the cocky side. I learned the hard way never get too cocky on the trails. They have a way of biting you when you least expect it. During the second lap I hit the dirt twice and brushed up against a tree. Needless to say, I'm a bit sore, but I have to admit, I had a good time riding the trails. I might have to look into getting a mt. bike in the future and giving some races a try. Later in the afternoon, I took the road bike out to do a recovery ride. My right knee was a bit sore from hitting the stem when I went down one time on the dirt, but after doing about a 17 mile easy spin ride, it feels much better now. I told Charles I might have to borrow the other demo mt. bike they have to compare a 29er and one with 26" wheels. All in all it was a fun day and definately a learing experience.

Saturday Jordan Hill Loop Ride

Today I went up to Epic Bikes and rode the Jordan Hill loop. I hadn't rode that loop for over a month. The usual group was there and we took off just as it was getting brighter outside. We started out as usual, a brisk pace for me before my legs warmed up, but after a bit they started to come around. Once we hit Hillview Rd, my legs started to feel the climbing. I did my best to stay with the group, but I dropped back a bit. I was able to catch up on the flatter parts of the road. We hit Jordan Hill Rd and my legs hurt going up the climb. I was happy that at least my speed didn't drop into single digits like it did the last time I climbed it. We regrouped at the top of the hill and just rode a paceline the rest of the way back to the shop. Tim showed us the new location of Epic Bikes. The new location is bigger than the current shop and what Tim told us the plans for the new shop are going to be, it's going to look awesome. He's planning on having the new location open on Feb. 3rd of 2009. It was great to ride with those guys again & I hope to be able to get up there and ride again soon.

Back online

I finally got my computer fixed. Thanks so much to my friend Darren. You are the man!!!!! I did a short ride in the big ring yesterday seeing as I had been off the bike for the past 6 days due to other obligations. My legs actually felt pretty good during the ride, the only downside was that my back did start to get a bit sore. I'll just have to get back with the strecthing program from Cyclo-Zen. I'm looking foward to doing a ride in McDonough this October. It's called Friends Helping Friends Century. It's sometime late in October. I guess with the weather getting a bit cooler, it's time to get more miles in the legs & start getting ready for the Peach Peleton rides coming up in a couple of months. I'll do my best to keep everyone updated with my adventures.....

Storck Demo Ride & Cherokee County Road Race Report

On Tuesday of this past week, The Bike Store in Warner Robins, had a Storck bicycle demo. I saw the sign about a week before & had Charles reserve a bike for me. I rode there straight from work so I could get set up on the bike. Most everyone who was riding a demo bike was planning on doing the usual Tuesday route. I got to the store & was given an Absolutist 0.9 with SRAM Red component group. I was given a quick tutorial on how SRAM Red works & it was very easy to get used to shifting with it. Once on the road I noticed how stiff this bike is, but it was comfortable also. We hit the hills on Lakeview & that's when I noticed how light & how very stiff this bike was. I climbed up the hills it seems quicker on this bike than I do on my Orbea. Once we hit the flatter parts of the ride, this bike is very capable of taking whatever I could hammer on the pedals. I just wish I could afford one seeing as the bike I was riding would cost me about $6500. All in all it's a great bike & it was nice to ride what seems like pro level bike at least once in my life.
On Saturday I was up in Cherokee County for the Cherokee County Road Race. I was in the Cat 5 class. There were about 35 racers in our class. The course profile looked like it was going to be a bit of a hilly route & it certainly lived up to that. I was with the pack when the transmitter for my cyclocomputer became loose & dropped to the bottom of my front fork. I was just hoping that it wouldn't go into the spokes & cause a crash. We were going through this development passing a roundabout when the road went up a bit on the steep side & with some curves thrown in for those of us who are a bit on the weight challenged going up a hill. I lost the pack on that hill & did my best to catch up but no such luck. I was starting to feel my back getting sore, & I almost didn't do the second lap, but I decided that I was going to finish this race no matter what. I did feel a bit better on the second lap and ended up 27th overall. All in all I survived another race and didn't finish last. I'll have to see what other races are coming up in the next month to see if I want to do any more.

Legs coming back around

Last week was a good week of training for me. My legs are starting to come back around. Last Monday I did the route the bike club in town does for one of their group rides, only I did it backwards this time. I'll tell you it's tough doing it in reverse. My legs felt good the entire ride & the climbs that you usually would do early in the ride are a challenge after over an hour in the saddle. I did manage to average about 19.5 mph for 46 miles so I really can't complain. On Tuesday I rode the group ride. I was able to stay with the group the entire ride & even tried some attacks. We all rode hard that day even in the heat & it was a good feeling to be able to stay with the fast group. The rest of the week was pretty much just steady riding. On Saturday I did a ride with Will. It's been some time since he's been able to ride, so we just kept a steady pace for most of the ride. On one part of the ride I decided to put the hammer down to see what would happen. I was able to keep a steady pace of over 27 mph for a good distance. Will was doing all he could just to stay on my wheel. I decided to slow things down for the rest of the ride. Going down Bear Branch Rd, it seems that Will's shifter broke. His bike was stuck on the 12 cog in the rear. The only way he could change gears was to pull on the cable & hold it there, not the most effective way to ride. I rode back to his house with him to make sure nothing else happened. All in all it was a good ride and a great time to spend with a friend. I did an early recovery ride on Sunday morning before church. My legs felt quite good. I was surprised at how they felt. I'm planning on doing a race near Canton, Ga. this weekned. I'll post a race report if I get to race.

Georgia Games Races

Last weekend was the Georgia Games. On Saturday was the road race. The course was described as gently rolling hills, but I think that was an understatement. There didn't seem to be a flat section on the course at all. I felt like I was either going up or down the entire race. The Cat 5 race was said to be 35 miles, 2 laps of the course. I was with the pack the first part of the first lap and when we hit the turn around point, the peleton was stretched out. I was towards the back of the peleton, and tried my best to catch them. I was doing 35+ mph trying to catch them with no luck. My main goal was to stay with the pack & seeing as that wasn't going to happen, I just wanted to finish. I settled into my own rhythym and caught a rider from the MACC club in Atlanta. We worked together very well, each of us taking turns up front. We caught another rider from his club and told him to catch on, but he couldn't stay with us. We just kept up our pace, working well together. We did catch another rider on the second lap just before the turn and he joined us. He didn't want to seem to take any turns up front, don't know if he was that tired or just tagging along until the finish, waiting to pounce and leave us. The other rider with me noticed this also & we made this third rider take some pulls in the front. On the back part of the last lap, we caught a rider from the University of TN. He joined us for a bit then on the second to last climb, he went off the front. The finish was an uphill one & he wasn't that far ahead of us as we headed towards the finish line. I decided to give it a go & see if I could catch him. I figured the worst I could do was not catch him & get passed by the other riders with me. I surprised myself and I think I really surprised the UT rider, because he didn't have any kind of reaction to me when I passed him. The rider from MACC gave it a go with me in a sprint, but I was able to hold him off at the line. I know I was well down in the placings, but it felt good to race again. On Sunday was the criterium. Last year it poured the entire race. I woke up that morning to dry weather. Great I thought, no rain this year. I get to the venue, register, and start warming up when guess what started to happen? If you guessed rain, your a winner!!!!! Before the race started I was already soaked, but I was ok with that. Once the race started, it was fast from the get go. It was much faster than the pace last year. I was shelled off the back of the pack before the first lap was over with. I was joined by 3 other riders & we worked well together on each lap, each of us taking a pull up front. We were coming towards the start finish line when I noticed my rear wheel feeling a bit soft. I was hoping to use the free lap after changing the wheel, but when I looked at the lap counter it said 2 laps to go, so no free lap, my race was done. All in all I had a good weekend racing, it felt good to get in a peleton & give it a go. I'm looking foward to my next race.

Work, sickness, & back problems

I haven't been able to post much here lately because I haven't really been able to ride. I was up in Atlanta for work most of May & I was on night shift. It's hard to get used to sleeping during the daylight when you're not used to it. I would only get about 4 hours of sleep after work, then doze off & on until time to leave for work. On my time off, the hotel I was staying at really didn't have very many safe roads to ride on. I've ridden on roads with traffic lots of times, but the drivers in Atlanta are some of the rudest drivers I've ever met. They're just as rude when I'm in my car as when riding my bike. Needless to say I wasn't able to get much riding done up there. Once I got back home, I came down with some sort of bug & was extremely tired & congested most of the time. I took the first week back home off the bike just to recover. I think I caught the bug was because I was so worn down by lack of sleep up in Atlanta. Once I recovered from the bug I started back on the bike, but now I'm having problems with my back being very sore. I just can't seem to win for losing here lately & I'm getting frustrated with not being able to do much in the way of any kind of training. I'm hoping this coming week will be much better for my training. I guess I'm going to have to just suck it up & deal with my back for the time being. I'm going to try some stretching routines before & after my rides to see if that might have any kind of help getting my back to quit bothering me. That's all I have to say for now, come back & see what happens in my adventures on my bike.

Life & other things

I know it's been quite a long time since my last post & I'm sorry. I am up in Atlanta for the summer doing mods on aircraft for work. The only thing bad about that is that I'm on night shift & I'm having a hard time getting a routine set up for training working that shift. Right now I'm on a short vacation visiting family & old friends. I brought the road bike with me to get some rides in, but I haven't gotten to ride as much as I would have liked to. I rode last week in Oklahoma & it was a bit hillier than I thought it was. If the terrain wasn't enough, the wind was worse. I've heard about the wind, but it's worse than the wind back home. My legs were certainly feeling it after riding against that wind. I'm in Arkansas right now visiting some old friends of mine & was able to get out yesterday & today. I'm never going to complain about the back roads in Georgia again after riding some of the farm roads in Missouri yesterday evening. They are the worst roads I have ever ridden on. I felt totally beat up after only about 22 miles on them. I was planning on going farther, but weather was moving in & I really didn't want to get caught out in it with no where to go. Today I went out & rode around on a former Air Force Base near where my friends live. The wind today was about as bad as the wind in Oklahoma, but I rode out into it for about 45 minutes then turned around & headed back. The trip back was much more enjoyable. I gave it a good hard effort for a bit,then just put it in cruise mode for the rest of the ride. I ended up doing about 34 miles today. I'm driving home tomorrow then going to go for easy rides the next two days. I'm hoping to do the Georgia State Championship Road Race this Sunday. I'll let everyone know how things go. Stay tuned for more updates.....

Computer down, that's why no posts lately

I'm sorry for not posting here lately, but my computer is messed up somehow. I can't seem to get it to register my log in when I turn it on. Well, I've been riding as much as possible here lately. I've done the group rides here with the local club the past few weeks. It's been fun. A couple of Mondays ago, I rode down the the Perry Welcome Center to see who was going to show up for an easy ride. I had ridden to & from work, so I was looking foward to taking it kind of easy. I met Steve, his wife, & another couple there. Kim & her husband Jim showed up & said that they weren't going to ride as fast as I was. I told Kim that I was there to do an easy ride, so not to worry. Kim, Jim, Steve, & I headed out on the Perry Parkway towards Hayneville. Kim & Jim were doing over 20 mph at the beginning of the ride. I looked at Steve & asked if I had heard things that they said they weren't going to ride fast. He thought the same thing. I then got to the front & slowed the pace down a bit. I told them that the only time I was going to go hard was climbing up the hill to Hayneville. We kept the pace about 18 mph till the hill. I then proceeded to ride up the hill hard. I never had the speed drop below 17.5 mph up the climb. I'm definately stronger this year. We then just did the B loop. They did the extra horseshoe, but I still had to ride home & told them to have a good time. All in all I did 50 more miles on top of the commute to & from work that day. I did intervals the next day & my legs certainly were feeling it after all was said & done. I was only able to do 5 sets, but they still hurt. That Wednesday was a pyramid workout, & my legs felt even worse than after the interval workout. Thankfully the rest of the week was all easy rides. The following week I decided to do the local group rides. I went on the Tuesday ride & after the first climb, Jesse was with me & told me we had a gap on the other riders. He asked me what I wanted to do & I replied "Make them earn it" & proceeded to keep a steady pace from there on. I caught the earlier group not too long after the silo & was never caught after that. Wednesday was a tempo ride & ended up doing about 2 hours on the bike. I did the Thursday group ride. On the hill into Hayneville I got a gap on the rest of the group & just went with it. I saw them getting closer in Elko, but once I turned on Elko Rd, I had a tailwind & was able to pick the pace up. I saw a rider up ahead of me & it turned out to be Eddie. We hooked up on the horseshoe part of the ride, he pulled me the rest of the way, but we never were caught. My legs were really feeling it after that ride. I took Friday off to recover. This past Saturday, Shane & I drove up to Cumming to pre-ride the race route for May 10th. We got up there & it was raining. We drove the route once to get an idea what it's going to be like. The beginning of the route is going to be tough. It's all up & down. The rest of the route isn't anything I haven't seen before. We drove back to the start & were going to ride the route when it started raining again. We drove the route one more time to familarize ourselves with it. Yesterday I did a tempo ride to Perry & back. My legs felt good the entire route. Today was intervals. I did 6 sets of 5 x 5's & my legs are certainly feeling it. I'm glad I get to take it easy the rest of the week. I'm looking forward to racing this weekend. I'm going to give it my best shot & we'll just let the chips fall where they may. Stay tuned for a race report next week.....

I know it's been a while since last post.

I know, I know, it's been 2 weeks since my last post here. My computer decided it doesn't like me much anymore & doesn't want to work right. I'm going to have to get it looked at here sometime soon. Since my last post, I've just been doing my training that Mike has so graciously provided me. I've done hill repeats, my 5 x 5 intervals, only this time with another twist. Once I have 2 minutes left in the hard 5 minutes, I'm to increase the intensity, then do that again with 1 minute left, & finally give it everything I have the final 30 seconds. I'm telling you, that is one hard workout. I did that last Tuesday & my legs were shot after about 5 sets, the only problem was that I still had about 15 miles to ride before I was home. Needless to say, those last 15 miles were at a recovery pace. Last Wednesday was a recovery ride & boy it was very welcome. On Thursday I took a rest day then did mock sprints on that Friday. I was going to go on the group ride last Saturday, but Mike called me just before I left to tell me not to waste my time seeing as it was raining up in McDonough. I then decided to head to the Perry Welcome Center to see if anyone was going to show up for a ride there, but then it started raining there also. I just decided that it was not meant for me to ride that day. Last Sunday afternoon I headed out & ran into my friend Eddie & joined him for about a 45 mile ride. We put some hard efforts in & my legs felt good. This past Monday was a high tempo ride which was done on the trainer due to rain. I rode for about 90 minutes. On Tuesday, it was the same interval workout as the week before, but this time I stayed closer to home. My legs still hurt after the workout. Yesterday was a pyramid workout, starting out with a 15 minute warm-up then 1 mintue hard, 1 minute easy, increasing the hard & easy efforts by 1 minute till I hit 6 minutes. After a 6 minute rest it was another 6 minutes hard, but the rest periods on the way back down were a minute shorter. I'm telling you, my legs were shot after that workout & are sore today. I'm planning on going for an easy ride today & keeping it on the small ring. I'm hoping for good weather this weekend & doing the group ride on Saturday. Stay tuned for further reports on my suffering......

Group Ride with Southern Crescent Group

Yesterday was my first weekday group ride with the group. I really had no idea what to expect & was just looking forward to a good ride. The pace was fast from the start. It's a good thing I warmed up before the ride or I'd have been in a world of hurt. We headed out & just kept a good paceline going, taking turns up front for a bit. I did my share up front & was feeling good. I tried to stay near the front seeing as I hadn't ridden this route before. We got close to Atlanta Motor Speedway & I was dropped a bit on a climb. I was alone until I turned the corner to the back side of the racetrack. I caught Scott there, he had been dropped from the other riders. I left him briefly, trying to catch the 3 guys up front. I followed them & they had gotten out of site. I turned the wrong way at one intersection & had to catch up to another rider to make sure I was going the right way. I hit a stop light & Scott & David caught up to me. We decided to work together till the end of the ride. We hit Mt. Carmel & picked up the pace with me in the lead. I took a good long pull, then let the others take turns up front. We made the final turn towards Epic bikes & just cruised in from there. It was a fast ride. We did about 27 miles with an average speed of 22.4 mph. This is one fast group to ride with. I just wanted to say thanks to Mike for all the workouts, they helped me stay with the group for most of the ride. I still need to lose some more weight & work on my climbing. All that will come in time & with effort. I know I'm much stronger than last year & look forward to getting stronger & faster. All in all a good time with a good bunch of riders.

Wrap up from last week

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but life has been keeping me busy. I was pretty busy with my training all last week. On Tuesday, I was doing intervals, the usual 5 minutes on, 5 minutes off, but Mike threw a twist in it. In in the final minute of the on section, I was to increase the pace & then let it all hang out during the final 30 seconds. I was to do this 6 times. The first time it really hurt, but I survived. I thought I had picked a route that would give me at tailwind for most of the workout, but the wind shifted & I ended up doing all 6 sets with somewhat of a headwind. My legs were quite tired when I got home. On Wednesday it was an easy tempo ride. My legs needed it. On Thursday, I rode with the bike club in Warner Robins. I just sat on till we hit the big climb. I just kept a steady rhythym & actually rode everyone in the group off my wheel. I never dropped below 17 mph for the climb. I've never climbed that hill that fast before. We regrouped at the church then headed out. I was in the lead & got a gap & kept my cadence steady. The group was behind me, when I acutally got stopped by a train. That's the first time in 6 years doing that route that has happened. Needless to say, they caught up to me. Once the train passed we started again. I just stayed with the group till we hit the horseshoe part of the route. For some reason the group slowed up & I just kept on going. I just put it in cruise mode & kept a steady pace. I was getting near Elko Rd, when I noticed that they were getting a bit closer. I decided that if they were going to catch me, they were going to have to work for it. I kicked it up a notch & put it in time trial mode. I was able to stay away & was pleased with my effort. On Saturday it was the Peach Blossom ride in Byron. Some of the Securtiy Bank riders showed up & I knew that they were going to hammer the ride. I stayed with them as long as I could & we ended up doing over 21 miles in the first hour of the ride. They decided to pick it up a bit more, but I thought better of trying to stay with them & keep my own pace. The ride was fun, I rode with another group of riders for a bit, then went off on my own up one of the climbs. I finished the ride by myself & I was feeling the effort about the last 3-4 miles. I ended up doing 66 miles with an average speed of 20.3 mph. The hard work is paying off & I can tell I'm stronger than last year. I'm planning on doing a group ride with the guys from Epic this Wednesday, that should give me a good indication of how fit I am right now. I'm looking forward to a hard, but fun ride. I'll let eveyone know how it goes.

Catch up time

This weekend, I went to the Perry Welcome Center to see who was going to show up for a group ride. Chip was there when I arrived, then John, & Tom arrived. We were getting ready to leave when Shane showed up. I told everyone else I'd wait for Shane & catch up to them. Shane was saying he wanted to do 130 miles to get ready for the Bike Ride Across Florida. I told him I couldn't go that far, but I'd ride with him until we got to a point where he wanted to go farther. We left & proceeded to try to catch the other guys. We ended up catching them on Hayneville Hill, once we got to the top, the other guys changed the route we were going to ride. They didn't want to ride down Pitts Rd, because of the hills. I told them, that was fine with me & I would catch up to Shane & wait for them at the turn they said. I then put it in the big ring & caught up to Shane & rode a bit further with him. He was headed to Hawkinsville, but we were headed to Unadilla. I got to the intersection & waited for the others to arrive. We headed down Klondike towards Pitts Rd, I had gotten a gap from the others, so when I got to the intersection, I had to wait for the others. Chip & I decided to ride our pace & we waited for the others once we got to Unadilla. After leaving the store, Chip & I headed out on our own. Once we hit Elko Rd, we put it in the big ring & started hammering it. I pulled most of the way, my legs were feeling good. Once we hit the final climb, I kept a steady pace, but seemed that it was a bit much for Chip. He dropped back, but I thought he would catch up at the top of the climb. Once I saw that he wasn't catching up, I put it in the big ring & hammered down the last downhill. I figured that if he was going to catch me, I would at least make him work for it. I hit the intersection at the parkway extension & saw that Chip was a bit behind me, I waited for him & he asked me what I've been doing to get better. I told him that it was due to doing the Peach Peloton rides, & other workouts I had been doing over the winter. I also told him that losing about 20 lbs. didn't hurt eaither. Today was hill repeats. The wind outside was brutal, it was out of the NW @ 16 mph with gusts. I drove to the Perry Welcome Center to ride out the Perry Parkway to use Hayneville Hill for my workout. I wanted to keep a consistent pace up the hill on each climb. I am happy to say that I succeeded in doing that. I kept it between 14.5 -16 mph each time up the hill. I did 4 climbs & thought about doing one more before common sense kicked in & told me that I had a headwind to ride into in order to get back to my car. The wind was a pain, but I suffered & managed to get back to the car. All in all a good workout, my climbing seems to be getting better. Stay tuned for more.....

Perry-Roubaix Race Report

Well, the first mass start races for this season are in the books. On Saturday was the circuit race. It was a short course with a couple of small climbs. The class I was in was scheduled for 15 laps of the course, which they said would be 21 miles. The pace was fast from the beginning. The pack was staying together & the pace was comfortable for me. A couple of times other riders tried getting away, but the pack chased down each & every attempt. I even tried my hand at getting away with another rider. One of the Aaron riders said he was going to try a break on the back side of the course & wanted to know if anyone would go with him. I said I would give it a go & one other rider said the same. He went up the right side of the pack with both of us in tow, but we really didn't get much of a gap before we were caught. The pace was high enough not to allow anyone much of a gap. We stayed together until the last turn, I was in a good position for a top ten finish, but coming out of the final corner, I was cut off & had to let up a bit & finished 13th out of 31 riders. I was quite pleased with being able to stay with the pack the entire race. The workouts Mike has me doing are helping for sure. On Sunday was the road race. I know the course well, but it's not really my forte. There is just too much climbing on it. The first climb up Elko Rd was a bit fast for me but I managed to catch the pack on Gilbert, just as I got back on, someone up front must have attacked, because the pack picked up the pace. My legs started to cramp up & I knew that if I tried to catch the break, I'd never finish. I just settled into a fast pace that was comfortable for me to finish the race. The dirt section of the course was packed pretty good, so I was able to keep a good pace on it. Each time up Elko Rd hurt a bit more than before. I was able to catch up to a couple of other riders from my class & we rode together for the rest of the second lap. On the third lap, I thought I wasn't going to be able to get up the climbs, but I just dug deep & gave it my best, knowing I could recover a bit on the back side of the course. I rode with another rider who came up from Florida for the race & we worked well together. We both decided that we were going to finish the race, no matter what. On the finaly lap, he got a gap on me going up Elko, but I just kept a steady pace for me. I even managed to pass another rider from the other Competitive class. I kept up a steady pace on the dirt & gave it all I had on the back part of the course. I managed to finish 29th & made the finish list. I'm just happy that I finished 4 laps of that course. All in all it was a fun weekend of racing & now it's time to get ready for my next races. Stay tuned for more.....

Getting ready for Perry-Roubaix

I've been getting ready for the races this weekend in Perry. I did my intervals on Monday & it was hard as usual. On Tuesday I did the Ride to the Capitol & we put a hard effort on the way back. On Wednesday I was just cruising & ran into my friend Rob, who is back from being deployed. We just cruised around & caught up on things. Today was mock sprints. I did my 12 sets of them & then met some other cycling friends of mine & just rode easy with them. I'm looking foward to this weekend of racing. I'm going out there & giving it all I have. I'm borrowing a set of Kyrsium SL wheels for the races from my friend Will. I used these wheels on my ride today. I might not want to return them. This is one nice set of wheels. I'm probably going to take tomorrow off & have the bike checked out by Charles just to make sure things are working great for this weekend. Stay tuned for race reports this weekend........

Ride to the Capitol

Today was the Ride to the Capitol to let legislators know that cycling is an alternative mode of trasnportation worthy of more funding. We all met at Epic Bikes in McDonough. There were about 30 of us doing the ride. We left the shop with a police escort. We had one patrol car in the lead, one following, & 2 motorcycle officers blocking the intersections for us. We had one lane of Jonesboro Rd all to ourselves. That was probably the coolest thing I've ever had done for me while riding my bike. I know what the pros feel like when they get it done for them. We met the McDonough mayor at city hall & he rode with us for about a mile. He then got into a vehicle & rode in it until we arrived at the Marta station. The route was nothing but rollers with a few good climbs. We pretty much rode together the way to the capitol. We had one rider who kept getting flats till he changed wheels. The only other incident we had was one rider was trying to help another up the hill & lost his balance & fell. Everything turned out alright & we made it to the capitol, hooking up with another group from different parts of the city. We listened to the speakers, ate lunch & then got ready to head back. We started back towards the Marta station, & Mike was feeling really froggy. It was a sprint fest between each set of stoplights. My legs were hurting seeing as they weren't warmed up that much at the time. We were doing about 27 mph trying to catch up to him. We got to the station & decided what the plan going back would be. It was if you couldn't hang with the fast group, the truck was there to pick you up if needed. We headed out back to the shop & the pace was much faster than on the way there. I tried keeping up with Mike & was doing good until he decided to let the group go by & catch up from behind. I caught the back of the group, but by then Mike was off the front with another rider. We all grouped together & tried to catch him, with not much luck. We just settled into a good rhythym & rode on our own. We made it back to the shop & we really had a good ride. It was a good time & great company.

Perry-Roubaix recon ride

Yesterday I went & rode the road race route & circuit race route for the Perry-Roubaix races this coming weekend. I rode with Eddie & several of the guys from the Security Bank cycling team from Macon. We did 2 laps of the road race course & I did one lap of the circuit race route. My legs were a bit sore the first time up Elko Rd, due to not being properly warmed up. We found out that Firetower Rd is packed down good as of right now. I'm hoping it stays that way all week. You can ride pretty much anywhere on the dirt as of now. I felt better going up Elko Rd on the second lap, & the Security Bank guys were kind enough to wait for me. I told them that they should go & do what they needed to do & I'd be fine. I was going to check out the circuit race route while they went & checked out the time trial route. The circuit race course is different from last year. The only problem I noticed was the turn from the parkway back onto Limerock Rd. There is an island & the turn seems pretty tight to me. We'll just have to see how things go on race day. Today I did my interval workout. Mike had me do the last 2 intervals in a 53 x 12 & boy was that a workout. Legs actually felt pretty good during the ride though. Tomorrow is the Ride to the Capitol. I'm looking foward to this. There should be lots of cyclists to show the politicians that cycling is a great alternative means of transportation & more money should be spent on bike lanes & things to make cities more bicycle friendly. I'll have a report about it either tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest. I'm also scheduled for a power threshold test before the ride. Tim said that would be a good warm-up before the ride. I don't know what to expect, so I really won't be surprised or dissapointed. It's going to be a starting point & we'll see how the season goes & if I get stronger as it goes on. Stay tuned for more.....

Great day for a ride.

Today was a beautifulday for a ride. It was about 70 degrees with not much wind. I was scheduled to do mock sprints today. I did 12 sets of them & my legs were a bit sore, this is only the second time I've done this workout. After doing the mock sprints, I decided to go for a longer ride. I was doing the loop I've ridden with my friend Eddie, & the wind was not much of a factor. I hit the Larry Walker Parkway & put it in the big ring. My legs were a bit sore at the start of this, but after a few minutes, they felt great. I kept it in the big ring the entire parkway, even going up the climbs. My legs were feeling good & I kept it in the big ring the rest of the way home. I rode through Perry & then hit Lake Joy Rd. I just kept a steady pace down the entire road. I ended up doing 35.5 miles with an average speed of 20.1 mph. I'm planning on pre riding the race courses for Perry this weekend, the weather doesn't look all that great, but I should be out there. I'll let everyone know what happened.

Two weeks to Perry-Roubaix

In about 2 weeks my first race weekend will be here. It's just south of me & I know the course quite well. I've ridden it several times over the years. I'm in the preperation mode & getting ready to do some climbing practice to get ready for it. I raced this course last year, but the category I was in only did 3 laps. This year we are doing 4 laps for a total of 50 miles. I'm planning on doing the race distance on Saturday. The past several days, I've been doing workouts that Mike from Epic Bikes has told me to do. Mostly it's been designed to build up my speed. I've done several workouts that involve some type of intervals. This is the workouts I did last week & will be doing. On Monday it was intervals, 5 minutes hard, 5 minutes easy. I did 5 sets of that. On Tuedsay it's a pyramid workout, 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, 2 mins hard, 2 easy & so on until you get to 5 minutes, then work your way back down to 1 minute. On Wednesday, it's an easy ride, keeping it in the small ring. Thursday is an off day & Friday is mock sprints. You ride in the drops & raise your butt out of the saddle for 15 seconds, do this 12 times. Last week I was quite sore from the workouts, but this week I'm feeling a bit better now. I'm looking forward to the races in two weeks. I hope I do well.