Racing With A Canadian Legend

Hello from Quebec. I'm up here for the Canadian National road and time trial championships. I did the TT yesterday and finished 4th, 15 seconds slower than last year on the same course under virtually identical conditions. I am actually pleased with the result considering the fight I've been having first with getting back from the hip replacement and probably more impactful, recovering from that horrendous crash 4 weeks ago.

The road race was today and at 120 km it was going to be more of a fight just to hold onto the handle bars that long given the nerve and muscle damage and pain in my neck, shoulder, arm and hand that the whiplash from the crash caused. The weather was a bit of a challenge too with rain off and on throughout the race but I bit the bullet and fought it out to the finish.

It was a quality group of racers as every National championship should be. Up here we race in 10 year increments and I am at the very old end of my group, 50 to 59. The quality was exemplified when Steve Bauer showed up at the start line. Imagine that, an Olympic road race silver medalist, a bronze medalist in the world championships, raced in 11 Tours de France, won a stage and once finishing 4th, and wore the yellow jersey for 14 days in 2 of those Tours. He finished second at Paris Roubaix, losing to Plankaert by 1 centimeter in the closest finish ever. He also won a World Cup race in Montreal, once won by Eddie Merckx. Up here he is considered, bar none including Ryder Hesjedal, the greatest Canadian cyclist ever and he was in my race today. Very exciting!

Back to my race. Steve Bauer finished 4th, not even on the podium so that kind of tells you how good this group is. And he is not out of shape, apparently racing in local pro races here in Quebec, Ontario and south of the border in some races in Vermont. I was in a group of 9 chasing two escapees 150 meters up the road with about 13 km to go. The end of the race was peppered with short punchy climbs, generally about 500 meters long, not really in my wheel house. Bauer punched it hard on the second to last of the steep ones, maybe 12 or 13% and I finally cracked. I never quite got back on and finished alone in 12th place, just about caught by a group chasing from behind. I suffered through it as far as the injury pain is concerned and, unlike Sattley where I actually harmed my recovery, I think this one helped. With 2 and 1/2 months to worlds, if I can stay off the ground, I just might be back to my old self just in time. And how cool is it to race with a Canadian cycling legend.

Best, Rob

It's time, the Nationals!

                                           
                                         IT'S TIME , THE NATIONALS

It's that time of the year again summer time . Which means here comes the heat, it also means it's time for the Nationals. You all knew it was coming, as I did too. I have carefully prepared
myself all year for this special event. I have as well as my team targeted certain races, such as
San Dimas where the Team took the top four places, and Sea Otter we didn't win but we took the other two top spots. Jack has recently won State TT, Jason won State Crit, with Jack taking 2nd. Gage has just won State TT in Colorado, Owen won State Crit. Matt won Cats hill Crit., Grant's been
tearing up the cat 3's up in Oregon, Nick's been doing the same down here in So Cal., Jules just
came back from a broken foot and finished 3rd in State RR.
            
I, on the other hand, since the beginning of May, my racing form has started to come around.  I raced State RR, TTand Crit. and was lucky enough to have won. But more importantly, it
let me know where I stand in my own age group, and - I still need work. Also during the month of May the Tour of California came to my town of Palmdale. That was so cool.  I got to get up on stage and meet the top pro's as they signed in.  During Memorial Day weekend we had a team mini-camp up north.  We stayed at Jason's house, a special Thanks to Jason's Mom and Dad for having us. The team raced Mt. Hamilton RR  Jack finished 10th in the pro 1,2,3 race. I finished 3rd in the cat 3 race ,but got droped on the hill climb at the top, and had to fight back on the down hill to get back on. If it wasn't for the help of Jason I wouldn't have finished 3rd.  Thank you Jason. So this race really let me know that I need more work before the Nationals.
            
Which leads us to where we are now.  Although these races have helped my confidence, it has also showed me my short comings. So, my Dad and Larry have been helping me with my training. Every day I continue to improve and every day it get's closer to the Nationals, with the dream of winning the Nationals again.

So see you next time, hopfully a few of us will be wearing National champions jerseys. 

Sean
      
                                                       

Time Trialing Made Simple

For as caught up as we can get in the nitty gritty details of the science and analysis about time trialing, one of the greatest arts of bike racing can be approached quite simply. Don’t get me wrong, you should educate yourself on all the intricacies of the TT and the aerodynamics involved, but don’t forget to spend time in your mental approach and to keep it simple. 

Most importantly, be comfortable on your bike. If you can’t put out power in your position, all the aerodynamics in the world will not make you faster. Maintain a powerful position with a good balance between aerodynamics and power.

Time trialing is all about maintaining consistent power at or around your threshold. The most consistent power will win or achieve the ultimate challenge. Overly eager TTers have a tendency to go out too hard, and not have the ability to kick it up a notch for the finish (e.g., first quarter at 100%, next half 80-90%, and last quarter at 75-80%). For something like PCSD, I suggest going out at 85-90% for the first 5', the next 10' at 95-100%, and ALL OUT for the last 5'.

Make a simple goal at the beginning of your time trial, to build into the effort and once you get up to speed, you settle into your maximum effort for that day.  This is something that is practiced and isn't easily learned by most people. I put messages on my bike to remind myself of my limits for the beginning of an effort, because with the adrenaline and excitement of the race, it is easy to misjudge your abilities. It's just like climbing a hill, everyone feels great at the beginning. It's those who've stayed within their limits that are over the hill first or make it with the lead group. 

Know your limits, challenge them slightly, and read your body accordingly.   Your threshold is what it is, and it may be a little bit better one day than the next, and you are capable of exceeding your expectations, but know when to back off as well. . You are not going to be a superman and crush your threshold for any TT for 10 miles. By exceeding this threshold, you will load your legs and it will have a negative impact on your overall performance and speed. 

This is very easily seen on a power file for a flat course as waves or ripples. A winning file should be a blip at the start, flat or consistent for a majority of the effort, and a gradual linear ramp to the finish leaving no regrets on the road. Time trials are not won on the highest power, they're won or conquered on the most consistent power.

Most importantly, enjoy the challenge of pushing yourself and testing your abilities on any course. Time trialing is about riding as hard as you can for a specific duration, and only you will know what that is.  Be comfortable on your bike, and put out power.  Make a simple goal for the day.  Those that finish the fastest win, not those that start the fastest.  Learn to read your body, and let the time trial come to you.  Good luck!

- Craig Roemer

Back on track

After some horrible rain in March, April, and even May I'm finally getting some real quality track time in. It's always hard when you know your competition has months of extra training time. But that just means when I'm at the track there is no time to screw around. I've been going to the track Monday nights for practice, Thursday nights for omnium racing, and sometimes Saturdays for racing. Last week the schedule came out for track nationals and they took out the points race and changed in to a 2km pursuit, so in the last week I've been out at the track working on my pursuit. I've noticed that from this work on the track that my finishing sprint on the road is stronger, I can time my attacks better and come around guys who used to beat me. I'm also really excited to win our team pursuit at nationals. I think we'll be a really strong team when put together.

Have a good Monday!
Grant McElroy

I Now Understand Why They Hate Us

This last weekend, my mother and I embarked on our usual cycling adventure, same routine, different place. I raced in Davis on Saturday and Pescadero on Sunday. Pescadero was a very eventful day for the locals of Pescadero. There were 3 rides going on, including a race. I finished the hard 100-mile race, and started on our way home. Since I'm going to get my license in a few weeks, I asked my mom if I could drive. We headed home along Highway One where we encountered hundreds of cyclists participating in a charity ride. I followed the riders for 30 miles. For the first time ever,  I felt the frustration that many drivers feel on a daily basis with cyclists. As I was driving, I was forced to put the brake pedal to the floor numerous times because of these cyclists. Their movements were so unpredictable. As my frustration mounted, I realized why so many motorists are so hostile to cyclists. It's nerve racking to have a cyclist swerve in front of your car. It put in perspective of how I should ride on narrow roads, populated by motorists. Ride as far right as possible, use hand signals, always look before changing my line and be predictable. As cyclist's we have to befriend and respect  motorists, if we want them to respect us. After all, we do share the road. Remember next time you are riding, you can be an ambassador for the sport, by riding in a safe and predictable manner.


Jack Maddux