Addiction

There are a lot of things to be addicted to in life. I have a couple of itches that need to be scratched on a regular basis!!

One is caffeine...gotta have it!! As of late I have incorporated it into my training rides when it's not hell hot!!! I ride about 25 miles and stop for a double shot of espresso with a little vanilla...MMMM MMMM, love it, hang out til I get the shakes and head out again for another 20 to 30 miles.

My other itch is riding, and racing...again!!! There are more, but those are not what i'm talking about here!!! I love to race, I love getting ready the night before, waking up on race day and going absolutely NUTS with race day nerves. Heading to the race cranking as much MOTIVATIONAL METAL as I can stand. I love being in such frenzy that signing up is almost an impossibility. Heading out to warm up usually burns up a lot of the nerves, but they always come back when I roll up to the starting line...

After my race on Friday I can't wait to race again!!! Winning the race pretty much sealed my fate on that!!! So I sit here and punch in my thoughts and think about my next race, which if everything goes as planned, will be Saturday in Lawrence. It will be a big race, there's like 20,000.00 dollars in prize money for the weekend series...which is HUGE!!!

The last race was a good sized field of 70 riders, this one will be maxed out at 125 I'm sure. I will definitely have my work cut out to place well...that's most of the reason I want to go...the level of the riders will be higher therefore a faster and more painful race!!! Sounds good to me!!!!

I've said it before and i'll say it again...

I LOVE PAIN, AND I LOVE TO RACE!!!

Competition

Over the years I have asked people why they are competing in whatever race or sport it is they are doing. More often than not the answer is "for fun". The next question is...do you have a goal for this, and the answer is usually "to have fun".

I don't have a problem with any of these answers, the problem I have is...I believe that no one pays to line up and race or compete in any event and not want to win or at least do their very best.

To me doing your very best means selling out and leaving everything you have out there on your chosen field of battle...that in itself is where the fun comes in to play...knowing that you did your best regardless of the outcome!!

I understand being active, hanging out and having a good time with friends...even then...the will to win is there!!!

So next time you are asked why you are doing whatever sport it is that you do...It may be for fun, but ultimately deep down inside...you want to put the screws to that person in front of you, or stomp ass on the team that's on the field with you!!!

Everybody wants to win!!!

Victory is mine!!!

Today is a day that I will never forget!!! I won my race today!!!

The march to this race started about 2 months ago. I heard there was going to be a race REALLY close to home, so I decided to train specifically for that race. I guess whatever I did worked because I crossed the line first!!

On to the race...It was about 95 degrees today, no clouds and an east wind at about 10mph, an east wind...WTF!!! So I get to the venue and register, pin the number on, get dressed and go for a short warm up spin and look at the course.

The course was 1.2 miles in length, with 2 pretty technical turns and the rest were pretty much standard. The warm up is done...me and the rest of the Shacksters get to the line first, which is a good thing, because it was a good sized field of at least 50 riders, probably more!!

GO!! We're off, I get a decent start hitting the pedal on the first try and settling in about 5th or 6th. The 1st lap goes by and I go to the front and push the pace a little, I do this for a couple of laps and a teammate rolls by me to give me a break...WOOHOO!!! He and I sit on the front for a couple more laps and another teammate joins us, just as we head into a prime lap. The pace remains the same and the field is strung out into a long line, we make the turn onto the start finish straight and my teammate takes the prime...YEA YEA THAT'S GREAT!!!

At this point we pick it up another notch and we create a gap, the first time check I heard was 6 seconds, and I think to myself there's no way we are getting away!!! The next one I heard was 12 seconds and about this time another rider bridged across to us. I think to myself SWEET longer break off of the front...we shot him out the back about a lap later...good one less person to sprint at the end!!!

At this point i'm mostly incoherent and thinking to myself when is this going to end!!! The next thing I hear is 6 laps to go. Back to talking to myself...FUCK that's a long time...keep pedaling!!!
We keep the hammer down and before I knew it we have a half a lap left. So as I pull through I say to the Shacksters we are pooling the money and splitting it 3 ways...the right thing to do!! In the end we put a minute on the field.

We come off of the last turn and i'm second wheel and it looked to me that my teammate jumped so I grabbed 2 gears and hammered by him like he had the brakes on to a hands up victory!!!

I have targeted races in the past and not had the success I had today for various reasons, but today was my day, and DID IT EVER FEEL GOOD!!!!

I LOVE RIDING MY BIKE!!!

Fine tuning...

So today at work I realize that my getaway sticks are sore from the past few days of riding. This means one thing...trainer ride...I chose to ride the trainer because it's waaaaaay more controlled, which means an "easy" ride fo sho!!!

I rode this device of winter torture for about 23 minutes. It's hydraulic so there is resistance, I put it in a not too easy and not too hard of a gear, and spun it out at 95 rpm. Good bye sore legs!!

24 hours from now I will be racing, my legs are feeling good...The rest is up to me to be in the right place at the right time.

Closer

Man...it's been freakin HOT!!! I don't mind the heat because I work in it. I think it will help on Friday, you know...acclimatization. The poor souls that work in the A/C are gonna be hatin it!!

Went out for an easy ride today to flush out the legs from the Tuesday ride. I wanted to ride 20 miles but ended with 16 due to Mutha Nature. She was rolling in some weather, and I didn't feel like getting caught in a Missouri hurricane....highly overrated!!!

Legs are feeling good, I think i'm going to be on good form for this race...Now all I have to do is an easy spin tomorrow, probably on the trainer, lay around on Friday for a while, clean the bike...everybody knows a clean bike is a fast bike!!! Then head to the race.

Oh man is this gonna be fun!!!

I'm in...

It's official, I registered for the races this weekend!! So i'm at least racing on Friday night, might do Saturday, depends on how I do on Friday...Anyhoo there will be a story to tell so stay tuned...it'll be a good one!!!

Taper

Taper: A gradual decrease in effort or force. I've only done this purposefully once before. I suppose will do it again this week. The race i've been working towards is on Friday, and I want to be as rested and ready as possible!!

The race...It's a 1.2 mile circuit, and the only real problem I see is the long grinder of a hill that will surely blow the field apart...which is a good thing, unless you are a casualty of it...I'm also sure that this hill is where the race will be won or lost!! I don't know how far past the top the finish line will be, i'm betting at least 200 meters more...It's gonna be a PAINFUL finish!!! On the plus side, the wind will more than likely be blowing up this hill...which is a good thing!!!

I don't know if I will go after any primes on the prime laps...Hmmm...I plan on launching an attack, if i'm in a good position to do so, directly after one of the primes are contested. There are usually at least 2 during a race, hopefully a small group will go with me or I with them.

Either way I would rather race for a win in a small group as opposed to trying to go blasting by a bunch of BITCHES that have been sitting in the group the whole race!!!

From what I rode on Wednesday, it should be fast, with a HUGE dose of PAIN thrown in for good measure!!!

Get your game face on because it's time to play!!!

Saturday ride...

It's waaaaay too early to be awake!!! I have my LEETLE FRIEN caffeine to cure that.

Today is the Saturday ride from the rec center at Longview. It's a good ride, i'll get about 55 miles today. I'll ride to the start, with a pit stop at JP coffee for a double shot of espresso, then it's a huge mass of riders of all abilities that head south to a Caseys in Raymore for a break to refuel and off load extra water...

Now for the fun part...The 17 mile trip back is a hammerfest, which I have been watching my performance on the way back to gauge my fitness for racing. This part lasts anywhere from 38:00 minutes, which is the fastest time back to date, to about 45:00 minutes. This is the length of a cat. 4 crit, which i'm going to line up in on Friday the 26th weather permitting...

It's a good ride, with a little bit of everthing...Time to get ready to roll.

Bonk

Today I did something I haven't done in...well...I don't remember the last time I bonked. If you have never done this, let me assure you are missing nothing!!!

I rode 29 miles today, and 25 of it was the most miserable i've been on a bike in a long time!!! I take off and head south into a medium head wind, get about 5 miles in and just flat run out of gas...I think to my self, i'm not riding hard i'll keep going. That was a mistake...I can usually poke along at 17 mph with no problem, today I was doing good to roll at 16 mph...it was suckin big time!!!

I get to my turn around point, stop and grab a granola bar and a Pepsi so my return ride with the wind won't be so bad, eat and drink and off I go.

So I'm headed with the wind now, still not enjoying the ride at all, and come to a detour on my route that I didn't know was there...That added 6 miles to my personal hell...yea! It's a good thing I brought a little money or I would've been screwed!!!

One more thing...being chased by dogs when you don't have the energy to sprint by them SUCKS!!! Stupid dogs...That happened 3 times...Yes today was a long day in the saddle...

Tomorrow will be better...

Gambling and beer...

The Stanley Cup finals are in the book...Which means there are no sports worth watching until football rolls around, and that means nothing to make bets on for beers!!!

The only good thing coming up is the Tour de France, and I guess I could bet on that but it would take forever...don't get me wrong, I love me some TdF...but trying to talk trash while watching a stage would be like watching the grass grow and yelling at it for taking so long...It just doesn't work!!

For now I will wait patiently for football, in the mean time I will soak up as much of the Tour de France as I can!!!

Motivation

Last week, I had a great week of riding...12 hours in the saddle. This week my motivation is about -4 on a scale of 1 to 10. I haven't thrown a leg over my bike at all this week...It's not a bad thing, I probably needed to take some days off anyway!!

I'm going to do a crit or two at the end of this month, the first in a few years. The time off now will probably end up being a good thing by the time those races roll around.

Ah yes crit racing...If you have never been to a crit, you should go to at least one and check it out!! It is flat out after the gun goes off and just plain NUTS!!! To ride well in a crit you have to be fearless, afterall riding shoulder to shoulder with 60+ riders through 90 degree turns at 25mph+ or faster is totally intense or insane...more like both, mostly due to the fact that the line you want to be on going through the turns is usually taken by 4 or 5 other riders.

After writing this I think my motivation came back, and I have the itch to go crit racing...again...WOOHOOOOOO!!!!!

PAIN!!!

There are some things about riding and racing that will never change!!

1. There will always be someone faster than you!!

2. Pain...If you go on fast group rides or race, the one thing you can always count on coming along with you is...PAIN.

Some days the pain is easy to push aside, and other days you just suffer...

If you like to ride a lot, race, or both, you like to suffer, and PAIN is your LEETL FRIEN!!!!

I love PAIN!!!

Karma revisited...

I have already thrown my thoughts out there on the subject of karmic retribution...Now I have an example...

Yesterday on my 60 mile jaunt I was buzzed by a JACKASS that was a lot to impatient to wait 10 seconds...Up until this point my ride had been uneventful and enjoyable. Dillhole goes by and disappears up the road. I shrugg it off keep pedaling towards home.

A few miles later, i'm climbing a hill on the 4 hill road and spy Mr. Law has somebody nailed to the radar gun...As I get closer I realize it's the JACKASS that buzzed me, since i'm riding uphill, i'm not going very fast and as I pass, I eyeball this knucklehead until he looks at me and when he does...I laugh...and throw the victory fist pump for good...insult to injury!!!

Karmic retribution people...I LOVE IT!!!!

Monday...

Monday was such a beat down!!! I am at a loss for words...I hate Mondays!!!!!!!!!!!