Tues KC Crit

This weeks Tues Crit was as fast as usual. I haven't downloaded my PowerTap yet my guess is that it was in the 26-27 mph range. After a few slow laps the attacks started and then it was go time. I tried hard to slide into the break but just didn't have the legs to make the final push with the big boys. Spent the rest of the race taking pulls on the front to get a workout. Never felt recovered so the pulls were pretty lame but that's how it goes. Then I ended up flatting with 5 minutes to go and then my night was over. Managed to get back and fix the flat and with just a few laps to go I figured I might as well take a few pictures for the blog.














The break with a few laps to go.














The pack heading up the hill.













The sprint, Shadd ahead of Phil. Phil attacked up the hill with one to go and blew the break to pieces.

Tuesday Crit results:

1. Shadd Smith
2. Phil Gronniger
3. David Hedjuk
4. Jason Knight
5. Bill Marshall

Overall Points as of 4/28/09:

Shadd Smith 37
Brian Jensen 12
David Hejduk 12
Brian Bradley 11
Phil Gronniger 7
Joe Schmalz 6
Mark Cole 6
Adam Mills 5
Tom Price 4
Matt Ankeney 4
Nick Coil 4
Jason Knight 3
Lyle Reynolds 2
Bill Marshall 2
Patrick Angell 1
Jeff Winkler 1
Jeremy Pych 1
Andrew Coe 1
Paul Fancher 1

Gods Country DU/MTB

Busy, busy, week. lots of work to do, too many practices for the kids, the list goes on. That's life.....any other way and it wouldn't be a challenge. Decided to do the MTB race after the God's Country Duathalon. Scott and I rolled out early to get a chance to ride the trails before the race. It had been a while since I've been on the Superfly so I figured I better get a lap in before the race. Got to the venue in time to see Ted run by and hit the transition. For a guy who claims to hate to run he looked pretty good.










Here's Ted after a lap on the mtb, he rode a great bike leg to end up 3rd in his age group. Well done!

Now it was time for Scott and I to get out and get a lap in on the trails. Ended up riding a pretty quick lap so we could be able to get back in time to refill bottles and head to the line. Just about perfect timing, only 15 min before start time and we are lining up. Sitting on the start line there weren't many Experts but we did have some horsepower, Eric Stuckoff, Doug Plummer, Aaron Elwell were going to make it fast.

Experts are 1st off and then it's time for the Sport's.

I'm front row for the Expert start and what do I do............bump my shifter and suddenly I'm in the wrong gear and going backwards. At least it's a 1/4 mile on the levy before the first turn . Did my best roadie impression and punched it up the edge of the grass to take the lead going into the first turn. I knew it would be hard to pass in the next straight through the field before the single track so I wanted to get there first. Unfortunately, Aaron blew by me like I was in park and by the single track he all ready had 8 bike lengths on me. By the end of the first lap Aaron probably had a minute on me and I might of had a bit more on the Stuckoff/Plummer battle that was raging on behind me.

Second lap was kind of weird, not too motivated to chase Aaron. Note to self, don't read other peoples blogs. Aaron has been out to California a few times for some US Cup races and I figure unless he ends up in the river and his bike floats away there is no way I'm going to catch him. I can't see the guys behind, so........I start day dreaming. Hmmm.... wonder where Cam and Sudnicki are, huh....oh yea, focus, go fast. Motor on and before long.........wonder how work is going for the wife with kids there, focus..........wonder if kids still alive.......focus. Better get this done and get home for Jonas's b-ball game and kid swap.......focus. Ended up blowing quite a few corners but still held a pretty good pace for the 2nd lap. Total time for the race was about an hour so we went pretty fast. I'll take a 2nd, and in case you're wondering.......I didn't crash!















Scott flying the Lincoln Industries colors.
Scott had a great day and had his 1st Sport class win! Using his roadie fitness to score the hole shot he rolled into the single track first and was only passed by 1 guy who happened to be on a single speed. Nice ride for a guy who doesn't race the MTB very often.

Great times at the River trails! Hat's off to Chris and his whole crew for putting on another well organized, fun event.

Crit points ect....

I was told that I angered the cycling gods by writing about crashing and then paid the price by going down in the next race. As payback I give you this shot. I don't think I've ever gotten road rash that burned the elastic of my shorts into my skin. That's all I have to say about crashing from now on!













Another good turnout for the Tuesday KC Crit. The difference this week was that a few of the strong guys went straight to the front from the start and started rotating. Alex was the gatekeeper and for 20 minutes or so it was ripping fast. Even after a few guys got through and messed up the rotation it was still fast. It looked like Phil and Adam were going to make a last gasp run for the line but they got pulled back by the field with 2 to go. 45 minutes with an average speed of 27 mph, awesome. Results from the field sprint are below.












Doug and Scott, had to take a picture of Doug in all of his spiffy stuff. I just liked the Black/White motif. Yea....I'm a gear geek and his bike is pretty cool.













Crappy picture of the 4 man TTT in Lincoln last weekend. The missing link there would be me, sorry guys, walking was a chore that day.

Tue Crit results:

1. Shadd Smith
2. Brian Bradley
3. Mark Cole
4. David Hedjuk
5. Paul Fancher

Overall Points:

1. Shadd Smith 32
2. Brian Jensen 12
3. Brian Bradley 9
4. David Hejduk 6
5. Joe Schmalz 6
6. Mark Cole 5
7. Adam Mills 4
8. Tom Price 4
9. Matt Ankeney 4
10. Nick Coil 3
11. Phil Gronniger 2
12. Lyle Reynolds 1
13. Patrick Angell 1
14. Jeff Winkler 1
15. Bill Marshall 1
16. Jeremy Pych 1
17. Jason Knight 1
18. Andrew Coe 1
19. Paul Fancher 1

Crashing sucks

Have you ever had the feeling going into a race that you really don't want to race. Something tells you to stay away. Yea, had that feeling this weekend, just didn't want to race on the Tractor Testing Track in Lincoln. But I felt the pressure of a race in our sponsors home town so I entered the race. I got in a good hard ride in the morning and really didn't think I would even have the chance to race as I was watching the kids while my wife attended a function at UNL. She got home early so I hustled my butt over to the race site. Got there just in time to sign up and pin on a number.

As I was signing up I noticed that there were a bunch of people on bikes all bandaged up. Not a few, a bunch. On the line the official has us sign a additional release for the university, hmmmm.....bandages, additional release, the black clouds were forming. Then the notice from the officials that there is a gap in the new cement surface all the way around both turns!

So we get started and the turns are tight, not too sure about how they get tractors to turn that tight, but anyway......... there are a number of riders in our pack of 13 that can't hold their line in the turns. So 10 minutes into the race I'm thinking it's about time to attack and end up getting shuffled across the crack and bam, I hit the deck.

I can tell you this, do not crash on new cement! I did more damage in this slow speed crash than any other crash I've had in a while. That new SRAM Rival group that I put on Friday will be getting some new parts next week. Add to that a Jersey, bibs, gloves, buckles on shoes, and a busted up helmet. At least the bike has a replaceable der hanger.

So as I sit here with a 3 beer buzz I can also tell you that it still doesn't help when you get in the shower covered in road rash.

Maybe it's a good thing........get that first crash of the season out of the way before the big races roll around.

New club member and bike

Meet the newest member of the cycling community, Pengy. He thinks the jerseys a bit tight but he's planning on losing a little weight. Working on the power to weight ratio don't ya know.












Curly's proud of his little buddy.













Pengy is riding the new Fisher ARC Pro with SRAM Red. Yes, after years of riding Shimano he made the leap.

Waiting for the Big One at the Tuesday Crit

Big group in the A race last night, Chris figured about 60 riders or so. Not much wind and warm temps brought out riders of all abilities........and most of them were in the A race, YIKES!

Waiting for the "BIG ONE", as in NASCAR terms, the big crash. Tell all your friends to come out and watch, tell them it's bound to happen, everybody loves to see a crash. Maybe we can get a crowd on Tuesday nights, why not....it worked for NASCAR.

Or maybe someone will finally decide to put limits on who can ride in the A race. Rumor has it the 5's are out starting next week but that's not enough, I'd pull the 4's as well. Then again it's not my call..........

Tuesday KC Crit Results:

1. Brian Bradley
2. Shadd Smith
3. Joe Schmalz
4. Adam Mills
5. Andrew Coe

Overall Points as of 4/14/09

1. Shadd Smith 27
2. Brian Jensen 12
3. David Hejduk 7
4. Brian Bradley 7
5. Joe Schmalz 6
6. Adam Mills 5
7. Tom Price 4
8. Matt Ankeney 4
9. Nick Coil 4
10. Mark Cole 3
11. Phil Gronniger 3
12. Lyle Reynolds 2
13. Patrick Angell 1
14. Jeff Winkler 1
15. Bill Marshall 1
16. Jeremy Pych 1
17. Jason Knight 1
18. Andrew Coe 1

Time in the Saddle and Easter

Got out today for some time in the saddle with Bill, Lil' boy, and Phil M. Some time actually ended up being 113 miles and it was just the ride I needed. Hopefully it will jump start my fitness after the last few weeks.













Feeding time after a long interval. Sweet new kit for the Mercy Team.

Phil looks like he's enjoying the day.

So I got home and decided that the lawn needed to be cut before it rains again so I got after it and got it done. Got some dinner in and then it was time to start preparing for the Easter Bunny.

Time to color some eggs!

Had to finish up our little Volcano science experiment. the boys were disappointed the lava didn't hit the ceiling.

Happy Easter to all!

Wednesday Ride

Since I got to ride the Tuesday crit this week I was a little tired come Wednesday morning. Scott and I talked after the crit about sneaking out for a ride Wednesday if we could find the time. Well........we got out around noon and headed north for Leavenworth. I figured I could finally use a gift certificate that I won 2 years ago at a cross race. Nice day, fairly warm, and the promise of a decent tailwind on the way home, yeaaaaaa.

So we got to town and rolled into the Santa Fe Trails Bike Shop feeling a bit tired from the effort. We got some coffee from their coffee bar and chatted with the crew for a while. Nice shop and some good guys, nice place to hang out and have a cup a' joe. Spent my gift cert on as much energy food as we could carry and headed back to KC.

As soon as we got back on the bikes I knew I was in trouble. I guess a big cup of coffee on a empty stomach is not good, my head was spinning and it wasn't long before we had to hit a gas station on the edge of town for cokes and food. We sat around and ate and once we got rolling I was much better. I still had dead legs but at least I could go in a straight line. So on we went......pushing on, rolling south on a road just west of hwy 7, no traffic, nice.

Now you know as cyclists you never let your riding partner know when you're hurting, that is, until you blow. And I never knew Scott was hurting until we were approaching hwy 24 and he looked at me and asked, "Is this Shawnee Mission Parkway." Uh...no, we still have 25 mile or so to get there. Time to dig into the energy food.

In the end we made it back to the shop in decent time and got in 80 miles. The suffering on the ride was not totally surprising. It's still spring and the fitness is just not there to do two really hard days in a row.

So now it's time to plan another gift certificate ride. I've still got 1 for a shop Lawrence and 2 in shops north of the river in KCK. All I need is a jersey with bigger pockets.

I'm baaaack

The old blog 's been a little lean on the post side but what can I say.... I've been busy. After a pretty good run of training the last 3 weeks has been a bit lean on the training, about 4 hrs a week lean. That's life, spring break with the kids and working nights, crappy weather, a very busy shop, and a week of being a single parent while the wife works a ton of overtime. Hopefully the stars will align and I will again be able to get out on the bike.













Now it's time for spring sports to start for the boys. Soccer and baseball is going to make for a busy schedule!














Or you can just play in the sand instead of watching you brother play soccer.











Can't forget the 4th grade music program. Jonas got to sing a few lines solo.

The Tuesday Crit.........better weather this week, still a bit windy and a bit cold. We had about 50 or so at the start and even though there were a number of attacks and breakaways nothing stuck for more than a few laps and we ended up with a field sprint. Not a bad night for me, 6th in the sprint, not too bad for so much time off the bike.

In the "can a old dog learn new tricks" category. Dean, Scott, and I, (ok Scott's not that old)(and Dean's really old...) we all got PowerTaps and now we just have to figure out how they work. So comparing max watts for tonight's crit, Scott-1300, Dean-1030, Tom-999. Should be fun to compare tomorrow once we download the data. For now it's time to gather some date to see what I've been doing on rides and then see about a coach.

Tuesday Crit

Tuesday KC Crit Results

1. Shadd Smith


2. David Hedjuk


3. Adam Mills


4. Brian Bradley


5. Jason Knight

Overall Points as of 4/7/09

1. Shadd Smith 23
2. Brian Jensen 17
3. David Hejduk 7
4. Tom Price 4 5. Matt Ankeney 4
6. Nick Coil 4
7. Mark Cole 3
8. Joe Schmalz 3
9. Phil Gronniger 3
10. Adam Mills 3
11. Lyle Reynolds 2
12. Brian Bradley 2
13. Patrick Angell 1
14. Jeff Winkler 1
15. Bill Marshall 1
16. Jeremy Pych 1
17. Jason Knight 1

Tue KC Crit results

Missed this weeks crit but thanks to Scott I did get the results. Sounds like it was hard again this week. Cold temps with strong winds resulted in a early break that lapped the field half way through the race. ouch.

Tue KC Crit Results 4/1/09

1. Brian Jensen
2. Shadd Smith
3. Phil Gronniger
4. Nick Coil
5. Jeremy Pych

Overall Points:

1. Shadd Smith 18
2. Brian Jensen 12
3. Tom Price 4
4. Matt Ankeney 4
5. Nick Coil 4
6. Mark Cole 3
7. Joe Schmalz 3
8. David Hejduk 3
9. Phil Gronniger 3
10. Lyle Reynolds 2
11. Patrick Angell 1
12. Jeff Winkler 1
13. Bill Marshall 1
14. Jeremy Pych 1