Killington 2013: Where the Stages are known by Weather, not event

The weather was looking primo for the race weekend. That went to absolute trash on Tues/Wed. Rain, cold, wind, chance of snow Saturday night into Sunday.

Also - no pictures posted yet...sooo there is minimal photographic evidence that the weekend even happened...

Ford Transit - award for "Best Bike Race Car" of the year.

This is how we warmed up for the Circuit race:
Simultaneous Tour of Belgium & Giro spectating!

This weather only made the very dangerous circuit race even more dangerous, thanks to numb hands, inability to think, and slick roads/poor visibility. Our circuit was reduced to 3 laps by the start (54mi vs 72mi). The 15% descent with a tight turn was crazy. FULL on brakes, still moving fairly fast. Luckily there were no crashes here. I want to state right here, the new BBS rain/windjackets are out of this world. The VOMax jacket with the Invexus coating is phenomenal. Both Andrew and I were dry under out jackets. Hands were obliviously pretty cold. With about 6K to go on lap 2, the referee comes by telling us that we are only doing 2 laps instead of 3. I knew this late in the lap it was going to lead to one situation known as a CFS or, among cyclists, "bat-shit crazy". People immediately began launching attacks off the front, but it was clear nothing would stick. Serious crosswinds, hard rain, and FAST finish meant one thing: more danger than we anticipated. With 3K to go, I was moving up and I heard the classic pre-crash noises: crunching, shouting, scraping. Then I saw it: mid-pack there was (likely) a touch of wheels, then 5-6 guys go down, sliding at about 35mph on the slick road. I immediately bail to the right, off the road and into the dirt. Success. This made me decide to finish the race in the pack and not go for the sprint. Result: Same time, 40th or so place, and 12sec behind the leader.

This is what happens when 6 guys take over a 4 person condo...insanity.

Road Race: 75 Miles, 2x7Km climb, 1x3K dirt climb, 1x8K (very hard) summit finish. This was the stage that will set the GC basis, with the final TT allowing some small place changes. It was "decent" weather: sporadic light rain, windy, and about 45F. The race was of a normal pace for the early portions. Andrew had a valve issue with both wheels that resulted in needing a double wheel change at mile 3 of the race. This was not a great start to the day, but fortunately I was nearby when the issue began up the initial climb from the start. I dropped with him for the change/chase, which actually was a pretty serious effort to get back onto the field after losing about 1 minute! After that it was recover and relax on the long (15mi) downhill section. First time up the 7K climb was hard, but nothing big happened. I worked to try to get off the front after the KOM point, and (finally) after a handful of efforts a group of 5 of us got some distance...I did not know we were hitting this same - rather brutal - climb again or I would have sat in conserving energy - which ended up not being my theme of the day, more to come on that. The mini-break got about 20-30 seconds into the next time up the climb, which was very quickly erased. I quickly realized the cost of my move - the big guns whom I had pegged (Keith Kelly, Dereck Treadwell, Anthony Clark) were pushing the pace HARD...and I had no legs to hold their speedy climbing, especially when coming into the climb on a hard effort. I tried to stick to them with Eric Follen (who was in the small break effort) and we really tried to mentally keep each other on target, but both of us soon became detached and were suffering just to hold the front of the main pack. After the KOM point, it was clear that the break up ahead had a notable gap and the firepower to be a serious race winning threat. The peloton didn't chase, but didn't sit up. The gap remained steady while Keith Kelly got far ahead from the rest of the break. What happened next I still can't figure out why I did it. We were 1K from the feed zone, coming into a long 2-3% grade and I just slammed on the gas, hard, from the front of the pack and didn't look around for about 20 seconds. I had gotten off the front by about 15 meters. I kept the effort high and now had 25m and could see I had moved towards the break, which had about 1 minute on us. Settling in, eyeing the break, I quickly realized I could make the solo bridge - especially if they decided to slow down and take on water/food in the feed zone - but it was going to be tough. I did a couple looks back and forth, and then committed. Shortly thereafter, I checked to make sure I wasn't being chased down.

Yes, snow.

What I saw was quite a shocker: Andrew got away from the bunch with John Herrick! I refused to slow my chase, as I had found a perfect rhythm for my chase (and I knew Andrew/John easily had the strength to swipe me up without me slowing). Through the feed zone we worked and then caught the break. I thought to myself, "This is it - we have made the winning move". Pacelining, the 8 of us built up what could only have been a pretty solid gap on the field. Over the next 25 miles we worked our asses off to keep steady and smooth. Regardless of our strong effort, the Hot Tubes team was not going to be okay without a rider in the break. A group of 8-10 got away from the peloton and (impressively) chased us down. We were now 17 guys, who definitely would be battling for the victory and GC spots. Only problem with such a large group...you get a lot of dissent and refusal to work for the group. Our group of 7 was doing a great job, and so was the other group of 10. Combined, however, was much different. We still kept moving (into the massive headwind), but it was neither smooth nor steady at this point. With 10 miles to go I knew I didn't have the legs to make a contending effort up the Cat 2 finishing climb. I convinced myself I had a single option: bank some time from the group that wasn't working together. I attacked 3 times and got nothing. Chad Young (Hot Tubes) rolled off the front and no one chased. After he got a good gap, I attacked and bridged to him solo - thankfully dragging no one with me. We caught Keith Kelly and worked with him, trying to gain on the group behind us. I was so burnt at this point that it came my turn to pull through and I literally couldn't get around Keith to take the lead...this was the defining moment that came about 5 miles too soon: the entirety of the climb would be survival for me, rather than the last 1000 meters where it gets ugly.

Rolling into the climb with a 20 second gap, I knew it was only a matter of time until we were swept back into the break. What I didn't know - is how freaking quickly it would happen. Dereck Treadwell took to the front with the purpose of a man who wanted to win this race for the second year in a row. He was also fresher than the rest because Keith (his teammate) was up the road the ENTIRE day, so he was able to relax and not work in the breakaway. (Actually, he did take a few pulls to keep the break's pace high enough to fend off chasers but not high enough to reel in his teammate. Sadly there was no way to do both of these with the Hot Tubes squad and their impressive chase...overall Dereck ended up doing the smart thing). As the group came through, I did my best to accelerate up to their pace, but just couldn't do it! It was now simply a matter of suffering and not letting the stragglers get away. The race was already blown apart 500m into the climb. I knew a top 5 was long gone and the chance of a top 10 was disintegrating fast. Finally, one last guy came by with about 1K to go in the first section of climbing. Without actually speaking, we agreed to pace the climb then work together on the ensuing flats/downhills to save ourselves from losing as much time as possible...we were both struggling, wanting to recover before the final kick of the climb. He started to cramp right when the road went upward and I knew that pushing on alone was the only way to reduce my losses. There was a MetLife guy up the road and I hyperfocused on him. He had 200m on me with 1K to go. I came into the final climb and told myself that I could not go into a gear smaller than my 39x24 until I caught him. This actually worked until I was about 50m back when I could no longer turn the gear. I shifted and just worked to bring down the gap. Finally, with just under 500m left I came past him and made sure to not hesitate for an instant. Tomorrow was the TT and I was absolutely shelled (along with everyone else), but needed every last second of time gap on those behind me. I ended up finishing 14 seconds ahead of the MetLife guy (Landen Wark-Acebo) and in 11th place. Ugh. All that and I barely missed the top 10! Nevertheless, I was now in 11th GC - easily in the upgrade points, which was something I wanted to be in for this weekend. Top 10 or 5 was really what I desired...so it was all up to the TT.

The TT rig, known as Rabbit. So far it has lived to the name of going out too hard and dying...
Thanks to my Coach, Kurt, for setting me up with some laaagit wheelz!!

TT: 11miles, insane winds (head/cross), and actually nice weather! I was hoping for a big day today, as I was only 22 seconds from the top 10 and 24 seconds from 9th place. Warming up, I knew it was going to be tough, but I focused on the task at hand. Landen (the guy who was only 14 seconds behind me in GC) missed his TT start by about 15 seconds...which meant that my buffer from 12th place was now about 30 seconds, which helped settled my mind a bit. I went out on the TT with the effort I expected to hold for 25 minutes. I felt labored (as expected) but strong, considering. I caught Landen within 2 miles and worked to keep the effort steady and drop him as I forged on, now with my focus 100% on gaining time on those who were behind me (higher placed riders start later - so they have the advantage of seeing the competition who are placed lower down). Whatever momentum I had going was completely gone. I had no gas left and felt like I was running on fumes...it was only 3 miles into the 11 mile race! Landen passed me, and we would yo-yo within 5 seconds for the entire rest of the race. Not a good sign for me gaining a place in GC, but at least it meant my nearest competitor would not overtake me.

I was passed by Jonathan Brown (the guy in 10th place) at the halfway point, which sealed the deal on me beating him. I tried to use Jon as a motivation to keep pushing on, but there was nothing to give...my heart rate couldn't even get above 170bpm - I usually can hold a 180 HR for over half an hour! I focused on getting through the race as quickly as possible...but the "# kilometers to go" signs seemed to go by even more slowly. The last little rise on the main road nearly brought Landen and I to a standstill. Ouch. We were both about as ugly as we were the day before. The last 2K is mostly downhill, so I absolutely gunned it around the turn to get up to speed. I pushed through the finish and felt like I was done for with 500m to go. My effort was exactly as hard as I wanted to go, but my performance was rather poor. I finished in 26:53 and 27th place. Brad Warren, the guy who started 24 seconds ahead of me finished 11 seconds faster, so I did not gain a GC place. I actually lost a place overall and slipped to 12th place GC.

As crappy as the performance was, I went as hard as I could have and only lost 1 place. The highlight of my day was my teammate Andrew, who absolutely crushed the 11 miles course...riding but 5 seconds slower than the Cat 2 winner. He got a decisive 2nd place finish on the day! It would have even been good for 2nd place in the Pro/1 Race. It was a phenomenal race and effort, especially after he was in the break with me all day. He also chased on early in the road race from that double-flat...and chased on again because he flatted once more before the second climb. Chapeau to Andrew for the awesome performance...and the only photo in this report, because none have been posted yet.

Andrew, a mere 5 seconds from THE Keith Kelly. Everyone else was so far back they kept the podium to 2 people.
(Okay, fine, 3rd place didn't show up)

Andrew's effort gained him a massive 8 places and put him into 13th GC, right behind me in 12th. It was a good weekend just to sack up and race hard, it was better that we were both able to make the break on Sunday and finish in the points for GC.

Fatness to Fitness: Pursuit of Progress

In a corollary to my previous post that discussed progress on an intellectual and self-understanding basis, here is that progress realized in my own recent training.

It's (almost) completely true what they said: "If you want to take cycling seriously then go south for winter training, your gains will be huge." The almost is thrown in there because you need to be prepared to work better, harder, longer than you have ever before. And you have to do it while recovering far better than you ever have before. I was riding with a long-time pro cyclist (thanks Kurt for setting me up with a Tucson guide!) and he flat out said, "If you came here to train like a pro, you will recover like a pro." This was in response to me saying I woke up before my alarm. I was foolish enough to ask "why", but glad I did. Answer: You sleep as long as you need. No less, and usually more.

Nota bene: I make this next statement knowing that my weight fluctuates quite insanely, likely because I am more cut out to be a professional eater than an amateur cyclist. Seriously. Anyway, I have dropped some serious weight in preparation for the training and season. After travelling to Italy and Israel, the difficulties of this summer, and detoxing after a very (situationally) disappointing cycling season - I only actually raced until June 26, of which my result was "best road rash". I came back at the end of August and yet again got in an unfortunate scenario, and was lucky to only have a broken derailleur hanger. I hit a lifetime high in weight (173.5lbs for a 5'6.5" 'athlete' is not good) and was in relatively poor fitness on November 4th, 2012. Luckily my 'fatness' yielded 'fitness' in the local end-season race the Doppio Ciclo Saturday Morning Ride, because it is very flat and sprint focused...plus, I rode close to textbook in the ride aside from a flat tire (never discount the factor that your head is part of the game).

I digress, basically from that day in November - disappointed and sick to think of the number I saw (I sit around 150-155 at heaviest when in shape) - I knew 2013 training prep was happening NOW. I wrote a post "2013: The Beginning" after Thanksgiving indulgences. From that day I've been in a steady weight decline, and MORE IMPORTANTLY (!!) a steady fitness incline. I stress this so strongly because (especially as cyclists) we are incorrectly taught to believe that low weight always means high fitness. Fitness in cycling is a combination of three things: Power, Weight, Skills. Skills include everything from smoothness in riding to intangibles like having a Steve Prefontaine mindset of pain being an insult and going harder (or everything unlike a classical Steve Prefontaine mindset and being a smart, clever, and tactical athlete). Since that day my weight has dropped 15% and my "tangible fitness" has increased over 10%. I am now back to a weight I only saw in April of 2012 before a week off after Battenkill, when I (unsurprisingly) lost my edge of keeping everything in my life in line. I'm much healthier and much more fit than I was in November. I hope you have improved your health since the holidays as well.

Even though I am 3 weeks into Tucson training. I feel great. A bit tired, absolutely. I owe a huge thanks to some people back home who made this trip possible, but that's for it's own post. I also owe a pretty heavy duty thanks to Kurt Perham, my coach and guide since Decemeber, as he navigates me through fitness levels, training loads, and workouts I have never seen nor knew were possible. Probably his greatest aid has been keeping me smart. I work hard, often too hard to even reap the benefits of my efforts. And I love cycling, to the point I do 'too much' for the sole reason that "it's fun!" One of the key factors in choosing Kurt as a coach was that when I had done a pretty huge week - two centuries were a part of it - he emailed me out of the blue (AKA his reasonable concern for my foolish training).

I am absolutely loving Tucson. Apparently the weather has been "bad" - as I scripted this last week we were about to get some serious rain for the second time in my first 10 days (it's going to be in the low 40's temp) and the temps have been mostly under 70's which is also a touch low. Only in a place this perfect for training is that considered bad! Luckily, it has recovered. This weekend was 80F+ each day, and I survived while logging 9 hours alone! I tend to be pretty weak in the heat...

I've been training solidly since my day off upon arriving here. The first week I had some great workouts (last Thursday's tempo), some nice rides (up to the top of Mt. Lemmon, 8200ft), and getting my face kicked in on a group ride for the first time in a long time (Saturday Shootout). I'm so glad I'm here it is hard to express. The culture is really friendly, despite there being some very heavy-hitting athletes who come this way. I chatted with a group of Canadians at local coffee shop, Le Buzz. I also saw the Jamis Hagens Berman team on a training ride, kitted out, rolling away from Mt. Lemmon as I was on my way to tack on a few extra miles uphill...no I did not ride with or attempt to ride with them.

The most interesting part of being here so far is obviously the cycling as a whole, but I've thoroughly enjoyed the few times I've ridden with Adam Myerson - most of you back home should know the name. Long time pro, ambassador of CX, and the guy who heads the Team Mountain Khakis squad. He rolled out of town last Monday so my training has been 'lonlier' but of no less quality and, at times, even better quality. As athletes training for specificity, we must embrace the solitude of training - today I went out on my TT bike for over 3.5 hours and about 70 miles. My longest ride on it was about 1.5 hours and this would be my first real intensity on it. I was definitely nervous about how it would go: mostly my neck/back acting up from hammering in aero position. Then there was that 98 miles solo yesterday, where I hit a 60min climb pretty hard. Legs were sluggish, breathing was much different in the TT tuck position, and it took quite a bit of work to push through it.

This will be my first workout in A LONG TIME without using my power meter, I felt like a pilot who couldn't look around within his cockpit. But it was something I seriously need: to feel both my body and the bike and not look at a gauge of numbers. This is one area in which I lack proficiency (or skill whatsoever!) due to my scientific approach to cycling and life. I rode by feel, it felt weird, and then it clicked. I was smashing it - the second 30min interval was a 1.5% uphill grade and into a small headwind. I averaged 21+mph and, most important, felt like I hit my tempo dead on! Feel is one of the things in cycling that is unteachable. It is able to be developed, but it requires separation from certain things upon which we so comfortably rely.

A shot from the top (of the road, not mountain) at Madera Canyon from yesterday's ride.

I definitely made a jump out of my comfort zone. I nearly bailed on riding the TT bike because I had the opportunity to use the excuse "well I have to adjust a couple things and don't want to wait". I'm glad I didn't take the easy way out, because today's single ride on the TT bike solidified my enjoyment of it...which I will need to embrace on my 3.1 mile time trial on March 15th! That's gonna hurt.... :)

More progress will be made in the coming weeks, but not without three of my best pals: work, pain, and sacrifice!