KC Crit

What a fine night for a crit! Mild temps, and a bit of wind made it a very different from the past races. Once again the race was a little bit off due to different agendas for some riders. Some are resting, some training, some a little bit of both. For me it was the last one. I was feeling pretty recovered from the weekend but after 20 min I knew I was on the edge. Pretty amusing riding at the back and chatting with Fuzzy, I don't think I've ever just sat in and goofed off. Overall it was a good night and I got in the ride I wanted. As for the race, I think there were some tired legs out there. Once the break got away the chase didn't seen too spirited. Then again, it's hard to tell from the back!















Had the boys with me again tonight. I spent quite a bit of time looking over at them to see what they were up to while we were racing. Makes it kind of hard to focus on racing when you look over and they are doing what you see in the picture above. Oh well...... boys will be boys!

Results: Chris only had some of the places so I'll give what I have. He missed 4th place so let me know if you know who got 4th.

Revised: Our unknown rider is..........wait for it...............Andy Lucas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Results:

1. Shadd Smith
2. Adam Mills
3. Phil Gronniger
4. Andy Lucas
5. David Hedjuk

Points as of 6-30-09

Shadd Smith 60
David Hejduk 21
Brian Bradley 20
Phil Gronniger 18
Brian Jensen 17
Tom Price 13
Mark Cole 11
Joe Schmalz 10
Adam Mills 9
Adam Miller 7
Bill Marshall 5
Stefan Rothe 5
Matt Ankeney 4
Nick Coil 4
Jason Knight 3
Lawrence Simonson 3
Andy Lucas 2
Chris Hall 2
Lyle Reynolds 2
Marlin ? 2
Paul Fancher 2
Patrick Angell 1
Jeff Winkler 1
Jeremy Pych 1
Andrew Coe 1
John Sieczkowski 1
Doug Plummer 1

Tour of KC Part 1

Congrats to Justin and his whole crew for putting on an awesome weekend of racing. Best way to describe the whole event is smooth! I can't wait for round 2 when we go back to the traditional courses. Don't forget that this weekend is The Tour of Lawrence, big money, cool courses, don't miss this one! IF YOU ARE ON THE FENCE DON'T MISS ONLINE REGISTRATION! THE LATE FEE IS $20.00!!!!!! I believe the deadline is Thursday night but I would check www.touroflawrence.com to be sure.
















The Lincoln Industries crew at the Tour of KC. We even had KB's kids down for the Jr race. They took 1st and 4th.

For me the weekend was a mixed bag, some good races, some bad. One of these days the stars will align and everything will fall into line, but for now I'll take what I can get. Sure had fun hanging out with these guys!















When I wasn't racing I was trading child care with JT. Don't these two look innocent?


















OK not so much, my ears are still ringing after this weekend. Saturday they decided the church behind them was haunted.
















Food and electronics slowed them down for a bit on Saturday, but then the rains came.........

Through all the chaos this weekend we had a blast. Pretty much a boys weekend at the house while mathgeek was in Lincoln. Who knows what next week will bring............

Tuesday KC Crit, Hot, Hot, Hot!!!!!!

Yep......... it really does say 121 degrees! OK, it really was something like 100 degrees or so as we headed out to the race. It really didn't feel that bad to me but I like the heat, Scott was not so happy when we were riding to the race.

Even with the heat we still got a pretty big group out for the races. Again a different kind of race with most of the big guns sitting out again this week. Shadd made a cameo appearance and rode a lap before going home. Kind of funny, tailgunning with Shadd on the first lap I ask him who's here that can make the race go? Hmmmmm, Stefan and Phil are here, have to watch those two. So Shadd drops off and I roll up to the front. Didn't take long for Stfan and Phil to go and I jump with them. It doesn't work and we sit up as the group catches us. A few laps go by and again and Stefan jumps with Phil, Cam, and a Colvita guy on his wheel. I was kind of boxed in but got out before the gap got too big and got across to the break. It took a 3/4 of a lap to get there and I was gassed. Problem was that Cam and the Colvita guy were gassed too. I needed a lap to recover but they were opening gaps. Soon the Colvita guy sat up and not long after Cam came off. Luckily I started to recover and we got our pulls figured out and started to open up the gap to the field. As for our pulls, Stefan is a Cat 1 rider for the Mercy team that was top 20 in last weeks Winghaven NRC race. He was pulling for most of the lap while Phil and I pulled the start finish straight. Did it hurt, oh yea, but I can tell that the training with Adam is working. I would of never been able to close that gap earlier this year. So in the end Stefan won, I was 2nd, and Phil third. Mark Cole won the field sprint with David Hedjuk right behind. Now for the points....

Tues Crit Result

1. Stefan Rothe
2. Tom Price
3. Phil Gronniger
4. Mark Cole
5. David Hedjuk

Overall Points as of 6/23/09
Shadd Smith 55
Brian Bradley 20
David Hejduk 19
Brian Jensen 17
Phil Gronniger 15
Tom Price 13
Mark Cole 11
Joe Schmalz 10
Adam Miller 7
Adam Mills 5
Bill Marshall 5
Stefan Rothe 5
Matt Ankeney 4
Nick Coil 4
Jason Knight 3
Lawrence Simonson 3
Chris Hall 2
Lyle Reynolds 2
Marlin ? 2
Paul Fancher 2
Patrick Angell 1
Jeff Winkler 1
Jeremy Pych 1
Andrew Coe 1
John Sieczkowski 1
Doug Plummer 1

Going back home......and the Tour of KC Part 1

Now here's a hallmark of rides in Lincoln, NE, Denton Hill. Many a ride has been blown to pieces here over the years. Typically the hill comes after a hard tailwind run through the Denton Alps, a long stretch of rolling road that's a 53x11 spun out on the downhills and run what you got on the uphills. Super fun in a group. This week is was a solo ride, as all my rides have been the last few weeks. Hard to meet up with others since I never know when I'll be able to ride until the last moment. Since Mathgeeks Dad has been ill I've been able to get out for 2-3 hours when we are in Lincoln and I'm pretty sure I've been on the bike more in Lincoln than in KC. Strange how things work out sometimes. Anyway, it's been fun riding all of the old rides that I did when I first started racing bikes.

So tomorrow is another Tuesday KC Crit and it's going to be a burner, hot, hot, hot! But it will get you ready for the Tour of KC Part 1 this weekend. Don't forget to get signed up online before tomorrow at midnight. Late entry for all categories $10.00! That makes it $40.00 to enter most races if you wait until day of race(Pro 1-2 it's even more) Tough call for me, pre-enter, save $30.00, and hope I'll be here, or wait and just race a day or two. I'll be sitting here tomorrow night, in the same seat, staring at the screen, and pondering that same question.

I'm a coaches nightmare

Got a sweet new jersey from the crew at Source Endurance. Interesting construction and fabrics. I guess it's supposed to manage heat better than what most jerseys are made of. Today was a pretty good test and it seems to work. It's made by Hincapie so I guess it's good to support George.

Back to coaching...........as I said it's been difficult to say the least since I started. Since I started working with Adam at Source Endurance it's been race weekends, sickness, and family issues that have made sticking to the training plan difficult. Through it all Adam's been great, making the adjustments when needed and keeping me going forward with what time I've got. Hopefully things will settle down in the next month and we can get on track.














I saw this picture of Steve from the Nature Valley Stage race. I like the new kits, they stand out in the field. It doesn't hurt that the TREK Store Logo really stands out in the pictures!

Tue Crit and life

Curly tried to get a good shot of the B race but his camera skills a bit iffy. Good sized fields in both races tonight. Summer may finally be here with sun and warm temps, it's about time. Interesting race tonight, most of the fast guys were doing half the race and sitting up so they can rest for the Winghaven NRC race this weekend or they were cooked from Nature Valley last weekend. That ment that the race wasn't going to have a breakaway and it came down to a field sprint. I felt like I was going to cramp from the very start but never did and ended up 4th. Not too bad for where I was with 2 turns to go.

Results:

1. Brian Bradley


2. Adam Miller


3. Mark Cole


4. Tom Price


5. Paul Fancher

1. Overall as of 6/16/09
   
2. Shadd Smith 55


3. Brian Bradley 20


4. David Hedjuk 18


5. Brian Jensen 17


6. Phil Gronniger 12


7. Joe Schmalz 10


8. Tom Price 9


9. Mark Cole 9


10. Adam Miller 7


11. Adam Mills 5


12. Bill Marshall 5


13. Matt Ankeny 4


14. Nick Coil 4


15. Jason Knight 3


16. Lawrence Simonsen 3


17. Adam Miller 3


18. Chris Hall 2


19. Lyle Reynolds 2


20. Paul Fancher 2


21. John Seiczkowski 1


22. Pat Angell 1


23. Jeff Winkler 1


24. Jeremy Pych 1


25. Andrew Coe 1


26. Doug Plummer 1
    
    
    

Who me??? Saw this in Lincoln while riding on the bike paths with the boys. Seems like I've done a bunch of that this year!

Road trip up to Lincoln. They look so happy and we are not even out of KC yet. Many road trips to Lincoln in the past 2 weeks taking care of Mathgeeks dad who has been diagnosed with cancer. He has very little time left and it's been rough on all of us. I've got the kids in KC while Mathgeek is in Lincoln. Wish I was there but a big thanks to our friends for the support. Weird how you want someone to live longer but hope for a quick end to stop the suffering. So much more to be said.........maybe later.

I can't wait

The new Fisher Cronus Road bike is here! OK.....the Kelly Benefits Team has them but they look really cool. Velonews has some pictures in the Tech section and the frame looks good. All the good features from the Madone and some new stuff that makes it a Fisher. I'm hoping that our team will have the chance to ride these by next year. The release date is for later this summer so who knows.................maybe sooner than later?

Tuesday KC Crit

My only proof that it really was dry!

Small crowd out for the race tonight, about 25 or so. It stopped raining just in time for the race and then started raining about an hour after. I'll take it any time. Kind of a weird race, guys starting late, guys jumping in and out of the race, kind'a hard to keep track of who was where but fun anyway and hard as usual. It was a bit spooky with 2 turns to go when we went head on into a car coming out of the turn. Got to be careful out there!

Tuesday night Crit Results

1. Shadd Smith
2. Joe Schmalz
3. Bill Marshall
4. Marlin ?
5. Tom Price

Overall Points as of 6/9/09

1.Shadd Smith 55
2.David Hedjuk 18
3.Brian Jensen 17
4.Brian Bradley 15
5.Phil Gronniger 12
6.Joe Schmalz 10
7.Tom Price 7
8. Mark Cole 6
9.Adam Mills 5
10.Bill Marshall 5
11.Matt Ankeny 4
12.Nick Coil 4
13.Jason Knight 3
14.Lawrence Simonsen 3
15.Adam Miller 3
16.Chris Hall 2
17.Lyle Reynolds 2
18.John Seiczkowski 1
19.Pat Angell 1
20.Jeff Winkler 1
21.Jeremy Pych 1
22.Andrew Coe 1
23.Paul Fancher 1
24.Doug Plummer 1

On a different note........ posts here may be a little bit sparse for a while. Mathgeek's dad is in poor health and we are going to try and be with him as much as possible. More on that in time.

Tulsa Tough: Day 3

On the line at the Blue Dome!

Sunday's course is the one I didn't get to do last year and it's a tough one. It's got a climb on one end and a wicked downhill on the other end. The hill itself wasn't that much of an issue, it was the downhill that spooks everybody. There are tons of stories about people crashing there so as soon as we got to the race site Sunday morning I went to the corner at the bottom of the downhill. Sure enough, as soon as I got there the next race started and the 2ND person through crashed in the corner at the bottom. Great........that got me thinking....... I can't crash, period. Mathgeek flies out of KC at 5pm and I have to leave as soon as my race ends to get back to KC and get the kids from the sitter. It would not be good to call Mathgeek and tell her that she can't go on her business trip because I crashed and I'm sitting in the emergency room.

The race itself went fairly well, 13th was ok for not taking any chances on the downhill going into the sprint. I still didn't feel right on the bike, but I think once I get my medical issues figured out I'll be OK. I also have the advantage of getting on a schedule with Coach Mills. It's been race after race since I started with him but now it's time to get on the program.
















Floyd in the break at the Brady District race.


















Too bad I cut off the back of the Pro field. It was a long line going up the hill.

This is my artsy photo. Actually, all of my photos Friday night look this way. A small digital camera is no match for Pro riders in the dark!

Got a good start Friday night!