Well Done Rabo!! Except loosing with 3/8 is Fail.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Instinct
What is it that tells a rider when to make that attack to finish off the group and ride in solo? How did he or she know that NOW was the time to go?
Answer: Instinct.
How do you get "instinct"? By racing a lot. By making a lot of attacks that went absolutely nowhere. By making attacks that caused counter attacks that got you dropped! Kind of embarrassing! And even by occasionally making the perfect attack at the perfect time and riding off to a glorious victory seen only by a couple of officials standing on the side of the road. Ah, it's a glamorous sport. :-)
My point here is that instinct is something that you get by RACING A LOT.
Over time you may start hearing a voice in your head that screams "GO NOW!". Listen to that voice. I have won races by listening to that voice. I have lost races by ignoring that voice and "being smart". In fact one time I ignored that voice because well, "I was smart". Not two seconds later another rider who obviously heard the same voice made "my move" and won the race. 1986. 23 years ago and I still remember it. Listen to that voice. Don't listen to the voice that says "my legs hurt". Or the one that says "They will just chase me down". Because the others are hearing those voices too. Those voices will make them hesitate. "Maybe Mike will go after him and I can follow." The first step to losing... Next thing you know the gap is 10 seconds and growing. Game over, here's a nice parting gift for being a good sport.
I even remember watching a Tour stage in 1986. Four guys away at the end of a transitional stage between the mountains. The attacks started, and after a few counter attacks there was a lull. You could see that they were ALL gassed, but I heard the voice. "For the love of God, somebody needs to attack right now and win this race!" About two seconds later, Niki Rüttimann, one of Lemond's La Vie Claire team mates countered and won solo. He was hurting, but he listened to his voice. The good voice. The others listened to the other voices... I still remember that stage 23 years later. I remember that it was Niki Rüttimann who listened to his voice. I have no idea who the other three guys were.
Beautiful, I found it on YouTube. Listen closely at about 1:25 into the clip. Do you hear the voice?
"Being smart" is a good thing. But sometimes over analyzing will get you into trouble. It was certainly not "smart" when Chris Phipps attacked on the downhill at the UCSC RR in 2006 on the last lap. I even remember thinking "that's not very smart". Attacking on downhills never works! Well, Chris was listening to his voice that day and as we all tried to get the other guy to chase, Chris was on his way to a nice solo win. Instinct.
In summary:
Race a lot. Then race some more. If you are either young enough or old enough to do multiple groups at criteriums, do it.
It's good to be smart and tactical and plan tactics in races. But sometimes you need to just listen to that voice. It may say some things that sound insane. But it knows things that you don't know. It knows when it's time to go.
Bye.
Answer: Instinct.
How do you get "instinct"? By racing a lot. By making a lot of attacks that went absolutely nowhere. By making attacks that caused counter attacks that got you dropped! Kind of embarrassing! And even by occasionally making the perfect attack at the perfect time and riding off to a glorious victory seen only by a couple of officials standing on the side of the road. Ah, it's a glamorous sport. :-)
My point here is that instinct is something that you get by RACING A LOT.
Over time you may start hearing a voice in your head that screams "GO NOW!". Listen to that voice. I have won races by listening to that voice. I have lost races by ignoring that voice and "being smart". In fact one time I ignored that voice because well, "I was smart". Not two seconds later another rider who obviously heard the same voice made "my move" and won the race. 1986. 23 years ago and I still remember it. Listen to that voice. Don't listen to the voice that says "my legs hurt". Or the one that says "They will just chase me down". Because the others are hearing those voices too. Those voices will make them hesitate. "Maybe Mike will go after him and I can follow." The first step to losing... Next thing you know the gap is 10 seconds and growing. Game over, here's a nice parting gift for being a good sport.
I even remember watching a Tour stage in 1986. Four guys away at the end of a transitional stage between the mountains. The attacks started, and after a few counter attacks there was a lull. You could see that they were ALL gassed, but I heard the voice. "For the love of God, somebody needs to attack right now and win this race!" About two seconds later, Niki Rüttimann, one of Lemond's La Vie Claire team mates countered and won solo. He was hurting, but he listened to his voice. The good voice. The others listened to the other voices... I still remember that stage 23 years later. I remember that it was Niki Rüttimann who listened to his voice. I have no idea who the other three guys were.
Beautiful, I found it on YouTube. Listen closely at about 1:25 into the clip. Do you hear the voice?
"Being smart" is a good thing. But sometimes over analyzing will get you into trouble. It was certainly not "smart" when Chris Phipps attacked on the downhill at the UCSC RR in 2006 on the last lap. I even remember thinking "that's not very smart". Attacking on downhills never works! Well, Chris was listening to his voice that day and as we all tried to get the other guy to chase, Chris was on his way to a nice solo win. Instinct.
In summary:
Race a lot. Then race some more. If you are either young enough or old enough to do multiple groups at criteriums, do it.
It's good to be smart and tactical and plan tactics in races. But sometimes you need to just listen to that voice. It may say some things that sound insane. But it knows things that you don't know. It knows when it's time to go.
Bye.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Snelling Race Report Jr. 15-16
The race started with a 3 mile neutral ride to the course. When we got to the course, Andrew Lanier went from the gun attacking over and over again with Alistair for the first 2 laps. This was part of the strategy. At about 1/4 of the way through the 2nd of the 3rd lap, I attacked. I stayed out front alone for about 1/4 of a lap. Right after the feed zone, James caught up to me, and about 1 min after that, we saw the pack on our tail and decided to give up on our attack. As I got back in the pack I saw that Alistair and Andrew kept attacking over and over again to make the competition more exhausted, but I noticed, the "stop and go" of this was wearing me out as well. I went to the front to tell both of them to take it easy for a while. As I was doing that I saw Bjorne Fox attacking at full throttle, I was warned before the race that he would be my biggest competition. As tired as I was, I decided to get on his wheel to bring him back. After about 1 min on his wheel I saw how strong he was, and it made me think that we could stay away, I therefore pulled through and started to work a bit. Eventually the ref moto, told us we had put 50 seconds on the pack in about 1/2 a lap. This drove us to go faster. We kept an about 1:15 gap the whole race, and with 2k to go I decided to start the attacks. I went right as he was telling me to pull through. He managed to stay on my wheel so I slowed a bit, and we started the little games of attacking and slowing. Finally with 1k to go I went again, saw him on my wheel again, I slowed again and he passed me, I got on his wheel. He thought he could power me off to the finish, and with 200m to go, I went again giving it all out, and I won!!!
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Just Pedal a bit Longer
One aspect of being a competitive cyclist that I have always thoroughly enjoyed is when I get to do physiological tests on the bike. I did my first test over three years ago at a USA Cycling National Talent Identification Camp and have looked forward to every test since. Tests provide reliable, comparable, quantitative data that is hard to get otherwise. This year our Junior team has the luxury of being tested at the Stanford Human Performance Lab, a cutting-edge lab that does both physiological testing as well as research in a variety of sports.
The most common type of physiological test that is performed on cyclists is a Lactate Step Test. In a Step Test athletes start at a given wattage and increase every few minutes. Their blood lactate level is taken at the end of each "step" and is then used to determine a number of things including their Lactate Threshold and their wattage at OBLA (Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation). But, before I got to hop on my bike for the Step Test I got to have a body scan. Most body scans are done with either a hand held apparatus that sends shocks through the body to determine percentage of fat among other measurable things or with skin calipers. The machine at Stanford however is quite a bit more advanced. After getting dressed in my riding clothes I lay down on the scanner, when the scan began a large camera went back and forth taking pictures of my body. After about 6 minutes of lying there and having hundreds of small photos taken of me I was done. I then looked over at the computer screen and saw the image of my body. It was quite amazing to see a full picture of my body that measured density and showed my skeletal structure.
On to the physically demanding part, the Step Test. I did a good warm-up on the compu-trainer that had been set up and after a few calibrations we were ready to go. My first wattage was relatively easy, which was to be expected. Every 4 minutes the wattage increased by 35 watts and every four minutes added more and more pain. It is THAT pain that I enjoy about physiological tests; pain that builds and builds until you just can't take it anymore. Again, a blood sample was taken from my ear at the end of each 4 minute step so that my blood lactate level could be measured. The goal was to complete as many steps as possible; the longer the test is the more likely you are to have a high threshold or OBLA which are good indicators of endurance.
After cooling down on the trainer I had the chance to discuss the results of the test with the Exercise Physiologist that had been testing me, Phil Cutti. Phil helped to explain what was going on in the body at every lactate level and how that related to training and racing. I continue to be amazed by the amount of information that is gathered during a test such as this. With Phil's help, the help of my coach and others I am able to improve the quality of my training and hopefully my racing.
The most common type of physiological test that is performed on cyclists is a Lactate Step Test. In a Step Test athletes start at a given wattage and increase every few minutes. Their blood lactate level is taken at the end of each "step" and is then used to determine a number of things including their Lactate Threshold and their wattage at OBLA (Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation). But, before I got to hop on my bike for the Step Test I got to have a body scan. Most body scans are done with either a hand held apparatus that sends shocks through the body to determine percentage of fat among other measurable things or with skin calipers. The machine at Stanford however is quite a bit more advanced. After getting dressed in my riding clothes I lay down on the scanner, when the scan began a large camera went back and forth taking pictures of my body. After about 6 minutes of lying there and having hundreds of small photos taken of me I was done. I then looked over at the computer screen and saw the image of my body. It was quite amazing to see a full picture of my body that measured density and showed my skeletal structure.
On to the physically demanding part, the Step Test. I did a good warm-up on the compu-trainer that had been set up and after a few calibrations we were ready to go. My first wattage was relatively easy, which was to be expected. Every 4 minutes the wattage increased by 35 watts and every four minutes added more and more pain. It is THAT pain that I enjoy about physiological tests; pain that builds and builds until you just can't take it anymore. Again, a blood sample was taken from my ear at the end of each 4 minute step so that my blood lactate level could be measured. The goal was to complete as many steps as possible; the longer the test is the more likely you are to have a high threshold or OBLA which are good indicators of endurance.
After cooling down on the trainer I had the chance to discuss the results of the test with the Exercise Physiologist that had been testing me, Phil Cutti. Phil helped to explain what was going on in the body at every lactate level and how that related to training and racing. I continue to be amazed by the amount of information that is gathered during a test such as this. With Phil's help, the help of my coach and others I am able to improve the quality of my training and hopefully my racing.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A Special Specialized
It was a beautiful sunny day, the first Saturday in 2009 and Mick and I were hooking up with a relatively new cycling buddy, Ben Capron, the director of global marketing at Specialized at the Java Hut in Fairfax. I was riding the bike on which I put about 20,000 miles a year, my Specialized Roubaix. I mentioned to Ben that for racing I used something a touch less hefty. When I told him what my Specialized Tarmac SL2 weighed he seemed pleasantly surprised. We thought it would be fun for folks to get a look at the ultimate racing machine that gets ridden in every race I do on the road.
It was a beautiful sunny day, the first Saturday in 2009 and Mick and I were hooking up with a relatively new cycling buddy, Ben Capron, the director of global marketing at Specialized at the Java Hut in Fairfax. I was riding the bike on which I put about 20,000 miles a year, my Specialized Roubaix. I mentioned to Ben that for racing I used something a touch less hefty. When I told him what my Specialized Tarmac SL2 weighed he seemed pleasantly surprised. We thought it would be fun for folks to get a look at the ultimate racing machine that gets ridden in every race I do on the road.
For those of you that know me, you’re probably quite surprised to hear that I even fuss over something like bike weight. Here is what goes into a bike the UCI would ask me to add a kilo to so it would conform to bike weight minimums.
Frame: Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL2, Size 49
Fork: Specialized S-Works FACT carbon monocoque fork
Headset: Specialized S-Works Mindset headset
Stem: Ritchey WCS 100mm 6 degree
Handlebars: Bontrager XXX Race Lite 38 cm
Tape: Fizik bar tape
Front brake: eecycleworks eebrake w/ Swiss Stop yellow brake pads
Rear brake: eecycleworks eebrake w/ Swiss Stop yellow brake pads
Brake levers: Shimano Dura-Ace STI Dual Control ST-7800
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace FD-7800-F
Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace RD-7800-SS
Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace STI Dual Control ST-7800
Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace STI Dual Control ST-7800
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-7800, 12-27T
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-7801
Chain Rings: Rotor Q Rings 53/39
Chain Rings: Rotor Q Rings 53/39
Crankset: Zipp 300 crankset and 175 bottom bracket, 170mm
Pedals: M2 Racer ORBII
Wheelset: Lew Pro VT1 Tubular
Front tire: Torelli Lugano Tubular 23mm
Rear tire: FMB Criterium Silk 23mm
Saddle: Fizik Arione Ti Rail
Seat post: Specialized S-Works SL FACT carbon seatpost
Bottle Cages: 2 Arundel Sideloader and OtherSideloader Carbon Bottle Cages
Wheel Skewers: M2 Racer Quick Release
It weighs 12 and ¾ pounds and here is what it looks like:
Wheel Skewers: M2 Racer Quick Release
It weighs 12 and ¾ pounds and here is what it looks like:
Early Bird Race #3
On January 18th the third Early Bird race kicked off. I was going to race Elite 3/4, but I was very nervous. The last Early Bird, there were three crashes, one of them was on the left of me.
The race was at 8:30 in the morning, and I had one teammate with me in the race, David Benkoski . At the start gun, one guy attacked. David followed and stayed close behind him, leaving both of us at the front of the pack. I stayed in the top 15, to avoid crashes. Less than halfway into the race. A guy in a white jersey went wide and attacked. After a few seconds, the guy had more than 10 bike lengths ahead of the pack. I attacked and broke away, but was unable to catch him. About halfway through the race, there was an attack and David followed and then went around him. I stayed back as David was getting a lead on the field. About less than half a lap, David caught up with the guy up the road. I stayed in the pack and sometimes went to the front to slow the pack down or I didn't work in the pace line.
When there was three laps to go the pack was pushing it. There were also several attacks after another. I stayed up to the front in the top 10 of the pack with two laps to go. I saw they were ganging on the breakway. They took turn two at high speed and some guy cut me off. When there was one lap to go, David and the other guy were only about less than 5 bike lengths. I followed this big guy to front of the pack. On the first turn, the pack caught the break and big guy, I was behind sped up through the turn and I passed the break. The next two turns I was trapped and had to go narrow. In the final sprint, I went as close as I could go to the sidewalk and sprinted to the finish line. I ended up finishing in the top 15 out of 40-50 people who started the crit In all, this was my best crit I had done so far.
The race was at 8:30 in the morning, and I had one teammate with me in the race, David Benkoski . At the start gun, one guy attacked. David followed and stayed close behind him, leaving both of us at the front of the pack. I stayed in the top 15, to avoid crashes. Less than halfway into the race. A guy in a white jersey went wide and attacked. After a few seconds, the guy had more than 10 bike lengths ahead of the pack. I attacked and broke away, but was unable to catch him. About halfway through the race, there was an attack and David followed and then went around him. I stayed back as David was getting a lead on the field. About less than half a lap, David caught up with the guy up the road. I stayed in the pack and sometimes went to the front to slow the pack down or I didn't work in the pace line.
When there was three laps to go the pack was pushing it. There were also several attacks after another. I stayed up to the front in the top 10 of the pack with two laps to go. I saw they were ganging on the breakway. They took turn two at high speed and some guy cut me off. When there was one lap to go, David and the other guy were only about less than 5 bike lengths. I followed this big guy to front of the pack. On the first turn, the pack caught the break and big guy, I was behind sped up through the turn and I passed the break. The next two turns I was trapped and had to go narrow. In the final sprint, I went as close as I could go to the sidewalk and sprinted to the finish line. I ended up finishing in the top 15 out of 40-50 people who started the crit In all, this was my best crit I had done so far.
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