Saturday, March 28, 2009

Spring Break Update

I had the week off due to "economic slowdown" at work, so I spent some extra time on the bike. I realized I haven't update this blog in awhile, so here's a summary of the past month.

I raced in the 2nd Bananna Belt race as a category 4. I found out that I need a few more races before I can officially upgrade to a 3. It was a good race. The 2 highlights for me were at the end of the race. I made it up the Lee Hill with the lead pack on the final lap. That tells me the work I've been doing on the 1 minute power is starting to help out. That is the first time I haven't been dropped on that hill in the final lap, so I was happy with that. That allowed me to jump to the front and ramp up the pace and string out the pack. That allowed my team-mates with the high end power to move up and take over at the 1k sign. It setup our sprinter for a victory so it was a great team victory. There were good comments from other teams in the parking lot and on blogs about our teamwork.

That inspired my new favorite quote.... "Let them hate, so long as they fear", Lucius Accius, a Roman tragic poet. A good quote for us guys in the pack causing havoc at the front.

A week or so later, I had a crazy blow-out on my rear-wheel. I wish I took a photo. Basically, the sidewall of the tire blew out at 30mph downhill and somehow the tube wrapped around the cogs and brake which ceased the wheel from spinning. My carbon rim lost about 1/4" as it slid across the pavement. I've been without my powertap wheel for 3 weeks. I should get it back this week.

This week I did some weekday rides with the club. This got me some extra miles in this week before I taper for the Cherry Blossom Stage Race. This will be my first stage race and I'm looking forward to it. It will also be my first time trial (race against the clock). My strength is my 20 minute power so I think I should do good in that. I've been riding well, so I'm hoping to crack the top 15 (currently 85 riders in the field). I'll be racing in the category 4 group.

Other stuff in life..... Luke went to sports camp a couple days this week at the community center. He loved it. He's growing up way fast. Work is interesting since the economy is hitting high-tech sector hard. It's a big company, so they aren't going away. I'm sure there might be some more reductions in the next couple months. Good thing I'm good at a$$ kissing. Finishing up the spring break painting project at the house.... bedroom and small bath. No fun looking at the same brown around the entire house.

That's it for now. Cheers...........

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