Jim's Guts

Cyclefest & Street Sprints...

For the last couple of years Cascade Bicycle Club has put on "Cyclefest". The event started back in 2004 when Lance was going for #6, as a way to watch a stage of the Tour with a bunch of other cycling enthusiasts and has grown ever since. Now in addition to watching a Tour stage (this year it was Stage 17 - Alpe d'huez) there are a bunch of other things to do. There's food (or you can bring your own), music, a beer garden, and activities leading up to the viewing.

Among the activities is an event that's put on by the team I race for - CycleU's Street Sprints. The concept is simple, but different from other road races. It's a two person, head to head match-up on a 500 meter street course. Both riders start, go 150m, make a 180 degree turn, race back up 250m, another 180 degree turn, then a 100m blast to the finish. First rider to cross the line wins. It sounds a lot harder than it really is, the turn is plenty wide, and it made for some great racing.

Sorting price swag before the race at the CycleU headquarters

This is what the course looks like (this was taken during a warmup lap:)

At the start of my first heat (thanks to Coach T for taking the pic)

The racing was in a bracket format, guaranteed two races, and though I lost both my races I had a fantastic time. It was a great antidote for the funk I was feeling coming back from Boise. I was able to keep it close in the first race (losing to a guy that had a commuter rack on his bike), and was actually leading in the second race till I pulled out of my pedal (that's now happened in my last three races, Boise and both Street Sprint heats, I need to figure out soon if that's a problem with my cleat, my pedal, or my mechanics).

If you're familiar with bike racing you won't be surprised to know that the finals were contested by two track cyclist, with a CycleU teammate winning. As for me? I'm already looking forward to next year.

Congratulations MikaNator!

Idaho State Cat 3/4 Champion!

One of the benefits of being in Boise for the "Twilight" was that the L&T and I were also able to catch the Idaho State Criterium Championship. Ms. "m" (closest rider) first rode in the juniors to support a BYRDS teammate, then immediately raced in the Category 3/4 event where she used a fantastic finishing sprint to win the Idaho State Championship (the rider farthest away is winning the Masters' race which was run at the same time).

Thanks to M & m for hosting us for the weekend and congratulation again to the MikaNator for a great win!

Catastrophic injury fund for cyclist…

Whatever you might think of Michael Ball and Rock Racing, this is a very serious and excellent idea. The idea, in short, is to create what is essentially an insurance fund for professional cyclist. The guys you see at the Tour don't need it, but the domestic Pros, the guys that are at events like the Boise Twilight Criterium, Tour of California, and such don't. It's nice to get a little safety net for them too.

Riding in style…

Because of the great weather we've had in the Pacific Northwest over the last week or so I've been able to get outside on the bike with great frequency. What you notice as you ride around the greater Puget Sound area is a plethora of, let's call it "personal style". From the wannabe "Pros" in their pro team bib shorts and Maillot jaune (and really, are you that omnipotent that you know you're not going to hit your head so you can leave the helmet at home?) to the ultra casual with a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt, and everything in between can be seen on the streets and trails around the area.

With that in mind I thought I'd share some highlights from a great article by Josh Horowitz at Pez Cycling News. The whole thing is worth a read, particularly if you're a cyclist, but here are some highlights;

The Kit – "(U)nder no circumstances should a replica pro team kit or a national/world champion kit be worn unless you've earned it." (This is a big one for me, you don't touch a trophy unless you've earned it, a jersey is no different – Jim)

Carbon Wheels – "Carbon wheels are for racing! Never under any circumstances should they be brought out on a training ride. Training wheels should be strong and heavy with lots and lots of spokes. Carbon wheels say to the group, I'm not strong enough to do this ride without my $2,000 feather weight wheels. If you have the money to tear up a carbon wheel set on the road, then you'd be better off spending it on a coach who will get you fit enough to keep up with the group ride on regular training wheels."

Ornaments and Accessories – "This one is simple. No stuffed animals or figurines mounted to your handlebars no matter what it signifies to you."

Shorts – "(P)lease, throw out your bibs when they start to wear out. Enough anatomy is revealed by the skin tight Lycra, we don't need to see a transparent butt panel. And this may seem obvious, but the jersey goes over the bibs!"

When to Dress – "Believe it or not there are a whole bunch of rules regarding when to get dressed for a race or a ride. In general, the less time you spend in your chamois, the cooler…Don't eat breakfast or walk the dog in the morning in your full kit! The neighbors think you're goofy enough for cycling as it is!"

 

Cycling / Fitness quick hits…

Interesting story in the NY Times about sports nutrition, the gist of which is that you really don't need fancy recovery drinks you can get the same benefit by eating/drinking normal food. I don't doubt that their science is sound, but it's not till the end of the article they touch on what I think is the biggest selling point for recovery drinks – Convenience. Yes, you certainly can get all the proteins and carbohydrates from eating "real" food, but the reality for most of us non-professional athletes is that we don't always have time to fix ourselves a meal after working out and recovery drinks help fill that void.

While I'm talking about stuff from the "Old Gray Lady", who knew that the New York Times had a cycling blog? Yep, and it's not too bad either. There's a great post on climbing from former pro cyclist and current Directeur sportif of Slipstream Chipotle Jonathan Vaughters who was a great climber in his pro days. The whole thing is worth a read even if you're just a recreational rider but here are some highlights:

Rule 1: Get on with it – Climbing mountains on a bike is not fun. So, to do it properly, you need to accept this fact and get on with it. I see so many people looking for that secret technique or training method that will make climbing painless and suffer-free. This will never happen. Training and techniques will make you suffer slightly faster up hills, not suffer any less. Climbing is painful, period. The sooner you just accept that and stop looking for ways around it, the better you will learn how to climb. Let the suffer-meter serve as your internal tachometer, letting you know how close to your limit you are. Accepting and really allowing yourself to feel that pain will make you a better rider. Trying to ignore it will distract you from the task at hand and make you ride slower.

Rule 2: Don't be self-conscious –Suffering isn't pretty. It isn't meant to be. If you are going about your business of climbing properly, you will be breathing like a water buffalo, sweating like a chain gang, and probably have snot dribbling off your chin. If this is not the case, you aren't doing this correctly. Over the years I've ridden with so many people who are always worrying about breathing too hard in front of their buddy. You're supposed to be in pain and you're supposed to be breathing hard, I mean the harder you breath the more o2 you'll get to your muscles, so let the image thing go, and get down and dirty with the hill. Anyway, if your buddy is two miles behind you, he can't hear you breathing anymore, can he?

Rule 5: The Little Engine That Could – "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…"….Think I'm joking? No, I am not. The rhythm of your breath and thoughts are crucial to grinding your way up long Cols. You must synch your breath, your pedaling, and your thoughts in one monotonous, focused, and plodding rhythm. Exhale forcefully and inhale naturally in time with every contraction of your muscles; let your body sway to the rhythm that creates; then set the metronome in your head and be The Little Engine. Laugh all you want. It works.

Finally, here is a fun piece on "Men who shave their legs". For the record, when I decided to start racing on my bike I also decided that I needed to shave my legs. I do it for a myriad of reasons (easier to clean wounds if you crash, easier for massages, and yes I think they look a little better too) but aerodynamics isn't one of them.

Right turns!?!?

Racing goes to the left. NASCAR? Left turns. Indy Racing? Left turns. Track? Horse Racing? Left FREAKING turns! Every crit I've done (including the 2007 Boise Twilight Criterium)? Left turns! So imagine my surprise when I registered for the 2008 Boise Twilight Criterium and then looked at the map (pdf). RIGHT turns! Not only that but one very sharp 80 degree turn! Excuse me, I've gotta go practice making right turns at 28mph…

DDW Day 3…

Do you remember when you were back in school what it was like the day before school was let out for summer vacation? It's not the last day, so there's not quite that giddy feeling, but you can sort of see the last day from there? That's what the next to last day at a conference is like. Attendees have already done the exhibit hall and are just going back to follow-up on stuff or get more schwag (known by the derogatory term "schwag-whores" because all they want is the goodies, they don't care what it is or who you are, just give them the stuff), so it's mostly standing around an counting the time till the conference is over.

Of course, I'm not just standing around, I'm on the bike – Here are the updated totals – 2hrs 4mins (8hrs 10mins) / 31.01 miles (114.76) / 91rpm / 143bpm.

DDW Day 2…

DDW places all of the not-for-profit booths in "Foundation Row", which sounds like a good idea. Reality is slightly different however because we're tucked back in a far corner of the exhibit hall and consequently haven't had a lot of traffic. The event has been a great opportunity for us to meet with current and potential sponsors, which has been excellent, but the walk-up traffic has been sparse.

That's not to say that there hasn't been any excitement. At about 2pm there was a very loud bang that shook the convention center pretty good. I thought it might be someone hitting the building (we're near the loading dock), but it turns out that I was very wrong. The Hilton is directly across the street from our booth, but we were never in any danger. Fortunately no one was killed, though there were several workers seriously injured, our thoughts and prayers go out to them.

On a happier note GYGIG has some fantastic sponsors and one of our Presenting Sponsors, the great folks at UCB were kind enough to invite us to a wine and cheese reception they were having tonight. It was an excellent opportunity for us to network a little bit and get to know some of their team members a little better. It was a lot of fun (and pretty excellent wine and food too).

Pictures were taken today so as soon as we get them loaded on to a machine I'll get some posted, till then here are the updated totals – 3hrs 4mins (6hrs 6mins) / 43.71 miles (83.75) / 81rpm / 131bpm.

DDW Day 1…

Greetings from beautiful San Diego, CA (and I do mean beautiful, the weather has been fantastic these last two days). For those not aware, I'm in SD working for Get Your Guts In Gear in our booth at Digestive Disease Week ("(T)he world's largest gathering of physicians and researchers in the field of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy, and gastrointestinal surgery"). Yep, I'm a "booth babe". Actually what I am doing is spinning with my bike on a trainer (lent to us by Eric at Zumwalt's here in SD). Having the bike in the booth is a good conversation starter, and gets people that might not otherwise stop into the booth which is great. It's not the best training as I'm basically staying in zone 1 while spinning, but saddle time is saddle time, so it's hard to complain too much.

I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow, but the totals from Day 1 are – 3hrs 2mins / 40.04 miles / 84rpm / 130bpm

The evening was capped by dinner with our Ride Director (Jay), and Seattle (Karen) and Texas (Diana) Logistics coordinators at a little Mexi-Cali place called Gringo's in Pacific Beach. Diana is leaving us tomorrow afternoon, so we followed dinner with quick stops at Mission Beach and then Sunset Cliffs just so she could get some local flavor.

The L&T joins me down here in 3 days, I can't wait!! More tomorrow…

Pimp my ride...

I needed new handlebar tape so I started thinking do I want red or black? Then I thought, why not both? So I got both  colors of standard Specialized tape and tried to come up with a way to do it. After several failed attempts it occurred to me that someone else must have tried to do this in the past, right? On to the Great Gazoogle...

Sure enough, there were a couple of good examples (the internets are fantastic), and while I had the right idea, I had the wrong equipment, I needed cloth handlebar tape which I was able to find online for $3.25/roll. I'm not going to lie, it took me a few attempts to get it close to what I was looking for, and while not perfectI"m pretty happy with the results. I added a couple of coats of shellac after the pictures were taken to add to the durability. You can click on the pics for a closer veiw
 
Thanks to FixedRider for the awesome how to!

A good ride…

It's easy (particularly when you see races coming up on the calendar) to get too focused on training and goals and to forget that part of the fun of cycling (or any sport) is the actual doing. I was reminded of that on Sunday when the L&T joined me for a ride. Mostly the L&T is a runner, so when she mentioned the idea of going for a ride, I was pretty stoked. We went out on that afternoon to the Burke-Gillman trail and did a nice 15 mile ride, chatting, and joking, and just riding along. It was great.

I can always put my music on and my head down and get on the trainer or go outside, but it was nice to remember that sometimes just getting on your bike and pedaling around laughing and talking is the best training there is.

Race report – Carnation TT Series #1

There has been some delay in getting this posted for a couple of reasons chief amongst them was that I got round 2 of the cold/flu thing. It started a bit on Saturday evening, was a little worse on Sunday morning, then it hammered me hard on Sunday afternoon after the race. Many thanks to the Lovely & Talented Mrs. Smith for taking care of me! The other part of the delay was it's never fun to write about less than stellar performances, and Sunday's Time Trial certainly falls into that category.

Quick primer for my non-cycling friends – A Time Trial (TT) is a pretty simple race; it's just you, your bike, and the course. Courses for TT vary by event and there's no usual distance like there is with Criterium type events.

Sunday's course actually suited me pretty well, it was 20km (12.4 miles) and mostly flat (there were a couple of very small elevation gains, but just enough to get you out of the areo bars (in my case additions to the standard handlebars that allow me to have a more aerodynamic position while riding, they're only used during Time Trials) and/or saddle, and even though the forecast had called for rain it was only overcast with a bit of wind.

Okay, starting with the bad stuff – I had an 8:12am start time in Carnation which is about 30-45 minutes from home. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to warm up so I targeted leaving the house at 6am. Because of my usual morning UC issues that meant a 4am wakeup call which was a little ugly. I normally have oatmeal on race day, but the way I prepare it takes about 2 hours in our slow cooker so I made it the night before. It kept pretty well, I think I just need to add a bit more water next time. Finally, as I mentioned above I wasn't feeling 100% and my performance (42.36) reflected that.

What went right? I'm please to say that actually quite a bit. I seem to have dialed in my night before pre-race routine. I know what I need to pack, and have it pretty well setup so that all I have to do is grab the bag and bike and go "so I got that going for me, which is nice". I feel pretty good about my pre-race and race day nutrition, there's a little additional tuning to be done but I think I'm close. The weather wasn't bad, no rain during the race itself (though the bike and rider got very dirty) and only a little wind and even that was on the outward leg so that you had a little tailwind coming towards the finish. The race was really well staffed (including my friend Molly in the start house, she actually counted me down) and the course was in good condition. My warm-up was good, and I remembered to take my PowerBar Gel and use my peppermint (a little bit of peppermint oil on the back of your glove help clear the sinuses, which needed all the help they could get Sunday). Oh, and the areo bars are excellent and I felt pretty good using them.

Recovery was obviously a little difficult to gauge because I was sick, but I will say this it's great to have a massage therapist who understands cycling/racing. It's good to get your leg worked and help flush the toxins out of the system. This is an unpaid endorsement, but if you're looking for a LMP on the Eastside, Laura at In Good Hands is fantastic.

Overall, I wasn't pleased with the results, but I was pleased with the race as a whole.

Local girl makes GREAT!

Gotta give a shout out to Kirkland's Jennie Reed who won the World Championship keirin title in Manchester, GB on Sunday. Though she's now living in Southern California (there aren't any keirin races up here), she got her start in track cycling out at the velodrome in Marymoor Park. Congratulations Jennie!!

Hard “week” part deux…

After nearly 6 months my InCycle class is starting to wind down (it's over at the end of March) and as we get closer to the end instead of leveling out, the pressure has actually turned up a couple of notches. This week is another "hard week", but to be honest with the exception of rest weeks, they've all be pretty solid workouts usually lasting between 90 to 120 minutes (it's usually around 100 minutes or so after warm-ups and cool-downs).

This week is on the training plan as another "hard week" which means the intensity is way up there. Tuesday started with 6 repetitions of 5 minutes each at what is known as VO2 max. To put it less scientifically, you're going as hard as you can go and holding it for the duration of the time at 90 to 100 pedal strokes per minute (if you're interested, for me zone 5 is a heart rate in the 165 and up range I haven't had my VO2 max tested yet). Today was especially cruel with two sets of 6 minutes max then 6 minutes "rest" (never dropping below zone 3), 4 minutes max/4 rest, 3 max/3 rest then 2 max. The mathematically inclined will notice that both workouts total 30 minutes, but the variables in today's adventure made it seem much more difficult. In short, much like the previous ones, this week is kicking my arse.

As for the "guts" portion of it that I mentioned back in January, well Wednesday was no picnic, so we'll have to see what tomorrow is like. The body is an amazing machine and it's interesting what putting stress on one part of it will do to others. That said, if I'm faster this summer it will all be worth it…

Frostbite report…

I know I'm late in reporting this, but between my fulltime job with LexisNexis and my fulltime job with GYGIG, time to blog has been one of the things that got shuffled out. With that kvetching out of the way;

The Frostbite Time Trial was "frostbite" in name only; Sunday was a perfect day for a race – Very little wind, temperatures in the upper 40s, and light cloud cover. The course itself was great, very flat, pretty clean, and generally in good repair. The route was a straight out and back, and there was a small issue with the turn-around (it wasn't marked when I got there) but that was corrected shortly after I finished.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was rider #1 and scheduled to be first out of the start house. It was far more intimidating than I thought it would be. I'm used to the mass starts of crits and 5k's, but not having to be the focus of three people in the start house (two USCF officials and the bike holder) and all the riders lined up behind me. I really had to focus on myself and what I was about to do. As for the start itself, a Time Trial (TT) start is different from a mass start in that you go to the start house, someone holds your bike, you clip in, and when it's your time to go, you go. There's no fooling around with pedals or the like, the holder releases you and you're off. I realized Saturday afternoon that I had never made a TT start before so I asked the L&T to help me with a couple, which went pretty smooth, I even figured out which gear I wanted to be in at the start. So Sunday I roll up a couple of minutes early and the USCF official asks me "would you mind clipping in? Our holder has never done this before and we'd like him to get a little used to it first". D'oh! (he did a great job by the way).

The Frostbite had a slightly different category setup than regular racing which included a "retro division" for those of us without specific time trial bikes or TT equipment (aero-helmets, special wheels, that sort of thing). I was not only the first rider to go, but I was the only "retro" for about 30 minutes which meant that no matter what my time, I was going to be 1^st in the clubhouse for at least a little while. But it also meant lined up behind me was a serious collection of speed, which would start every 30 seconds after I left.

I think I warmed up pretty well, but my cadence monitor died while I was on the trainer and I wasn't able to get it back before the start. Not horrible, I would still get distance, speed, and heart rate, but it threw me off my game enough that I forgot my PowerBar Gel. After the countdown in the start house I left with a pretty good push, but was trying to hold back a little bit because I thought the return would be hard based on the wind and my test ride. I should have gone harder, because my split coming back was significantly faster than the out. Overall I finished with a time of 32.00, last in retro and men's.

Even though my time wasn't as good as I thought it should be, I still enjoyed my first time trial, and I can see the attraction. It's just you and your bike, no teammates on the road, no excuses, and I really enjoyed that. While this was my first TT, it definitely won't be my last…

One man and his dream...

...The Amgen Tour of California is quickly becoming one of the premier early season races on the Pro calendar. This year's edition started with a short 2.1 mile individual time trial that finished on the campus of Standford University. While I admit that this may not be quite as funny if you're not a cyclist, you've got respect the man's efforts (BTW - Important note, this took place before the course was open for competition)

The hypocrisy of le Tour…

For a lot of US cycling fans Sunday marks the start of the 2008 Pro Cycling season with the opening stage of the Amgen Tour of California, and yet…

As excited as I am about the ToC (I've already got it setup on TiVo), I can't help but be disappointed and a little dismayed, at the announcement on Wednesday that the Tour de France will not allow the Astana team (which includes the defending TdF champion Alberto Contador and 3^rd place finisher, Levi Leipheimer) to race in this year's Tour. Unlike most US pro sports where, if you're a recognized team you get scheduled, cycling is more like NCAA Basketball tournament, and teams are invited to "play". To carry this analogy forward, this move by the TdF would be something akin to holding the NCAA tournament and not inviting Duke (currently ranked #2).

Quick history for my non-cycling friends – In the 2007 edition of the TdF Team Astana was, quite correctly I might add, disgraced and kicked out of the Tour midway through. The team responded in the offseason by firing pretty much everyone, and starting freshPretty much the only thing that didn't change was the team's name and colors.

So why has the ASO (the company which owns the Tour de France) decided to exclude Astana? Because of "the damage caused by this team to the Tour de France and cycling in general," Don't get me wrong the ASO has every right to invite whomever they want to le Tour, what bothers me is the hypocrisy of it all. Astana can't race, but Robobank (they fired their team leader, who was in Yellow at the time, during last year's race because of doping concerns), and Cofidis (the whole team was kicked out of the 2007 Tour) are welcomed? Had the ASO came out and said "Astana can't race because we don't like them" I would have thought them wankers, but well within their rights, but to exclude Astana (and 3 guys with a real chance of winning) because of "the damage" they caused? Please.

So, will I watch the TdF? I think that honestly depends. If Team Slipstream (a new American team) gets an entrance probably, but if not…

“F*cked his sh*t up…”

In October of last year I signed up for a fantastic offseason workout program at Cycle U, called InCycle. When asked what "it" is the only thing I can say is imagine the hardest spinning class you've ever done, and then do it for 90 to 120 minutes. Three times a week. And this week the coaches turned it up to 11.

I understand the philosophy and some of the physiology behind it, next week is a scheduled recovery week for the class (more technique, less "hard" time") so the general idea is to stress the rider's system to the breaking point this week and then allow us to recover next week. Like I said, I get the idea, but damn this week was difficult on the system! I have class Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and besides feeling wiped out, it's wreaked havoc on my GI system! The three days following class have just torn me up. Look, if this makes me faster (and I think it will) and if it makes me able to compete (ditto), then it will be completely worth it, but "Jim's Guts" aren't happy about it right now…

BTW – I really like all of my coaches at Cycle U, they're excellent coaches and really great people, so when I say this it's with the uttermost respect, but Coaches Craig, Tammy, and Toby, I hate you… ;-)

Riding outside…

It was great to see my niece and nephew, and of course my brother-in-law and his wife. We just don't get to spend enough time with them, and it's always nice to catch up. And Thanksgiving was fantastic, with lots of awesome food, wine, and conversation. But one of the best things? Riding outside.

It's chilly in Sacramento this time of year, with highs in the 50's, but there was no rain, brilliant sunshine, and only a little wind at times. It started on Thanksgiving morning with a ride from the hotel to the in-law's house, with some detours along the way I got in 15 good miles before lunch. On Friday, my sister-in-law helped me find a really nice 13 mile loop on good surface streets with bike lanes. I even found some time to do a little "cross" practice (this picture is actually taken while riding [not fast, but still rolling], I won't say how many shots it took to get one good picture, but I will say that I'm happy I was using a digital camera and not paying for film).

In all I was able to get out on the bike 4 of the 5 days I was in Sacramento, and while I wore a long sleeve jersey, and long pants, I was never really cold, and there was defiantly worth the time and money it took to take the bike with me. After a couple of team rides out in the cold and rain of Seattle, it was a great reminder of why I love to ride…

Crash photos

If you want to see the "carnage" you can find it here – http://jimsguts.typepad.com/photos/crash_pictures

CRASH! (updated)

Get Your Guts In Gear starts Friday morning (you can still donate here). I was out for around a fairly flat 32 on Saturday, and figured I'd follow it up with some hill intervals yesterday. The new development in our neighborhood has a couple of good short climbs (7-9% grade for about a third of a mile, perfect for intervals).

I descended to the bottom for my first lap, started the clock, turned and shifted down… back wheel locks up… no control…down I go. When I try to survey the damage it's not good, back wheel is frozen, derailleur cage is no longer attached and around the middle of the chain. I can't really see what's happened to the chain, but it's twisted pretty badly. Derailleur hanger is bent, and one of the spokes was cut in half.

I walk the bike up to the house (thank goodness it happened close to home) in what was probably a pretty pathetic site (bike on one shoulder, helmet in the other hand, trying to walk in my racing shoes). I then headed down to the local bike shop, and thankfully Dylan (the tech who's worked on my bike a fair amount) is around, and puts my bike on the stand. In addition to the above, the chain is wrapped between the flywheel and hub, there are blemishes on the chain-stay but nothing looks to be more than superficial, and at least one additional spoke is probably compromised.

Then comes the really bad news – Prognosis is that it will be at least 2 to 3 weeks for repairs. Which means no Roubaix for GYGIG. I'll be back on my old Trek 1200 for the 210 mile jaunt.

The shop is going to call SRAM in the morning and see if they've seen this before. If so it may reduce the cost for me to fix the bike, which would be great, if not then I'm probably looking at $350 to get her back in the road. I'll try to post some pictures later…

Update – I didn't get really hurt, my right hip is sore as blazes and a little stiff, my elbow hurts and has a little road rash, and my back is a little achy from the sudden stop, but I'm in relatively good shape considering.

Le Finale Grande (The Grand Finale)

Some random thoughts as the 94^th edition of the Tour de France finishes this morning…

Fantastic TT on Saturday, and it was fantastic to see Levi get a stage win, and he won it in amazing fashion. Watching it for a while, I thought he might just be able to pass Evans. It was just a great way to end the Tour.

In not exactly Tour news Christian Vande Velde is going to join David Millar on Team Slipstream, which will automatically make them a contender. They don't have entrance into next year's Tour yet, but I'm pretty sure that will happen. Of course my premonitions about the Tour aren't exactly that good, speaking of which…

Could I have been more wrong on my predictions?
- Yellow – My pick was Levi, who finished 3^rd, which is as close I got.
- Green – My pick was Robbie who abandoned due to injury in Stage 8, but I'm glad I was wrong about "Boom Boom" Boonan who not only finished but won!
- Polka dot – Even without Rasmussen's withdrawal, Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez would have won the KOM, just a great ride.

Every year there are the standard French TV shots; sunflowers, old buildings, farm art, cows painted in the various jerseys (my personal favorite) but going into Stage 20 we were missing a biggie. There had been no people on horse "racing" against the peloton. Fortunately, that happened this morning so my Tour shots bingo is complete. It's always the little things.

It's not good to watch the Tour right after you've recently purchased a bike. You see so many bike commercials and tech spots you start to think your bike, one that is less than 12 months old, might be already out of date.

The wildcard teams this year were just that, wildcards. At the low end of the spectrum was Vinokourov's Astana team had to be withdrawn after he tested positive for blood doping. And then you had Team Barloworld with a fantastic and wholly unexpected Tour including a stage win, a rider in contention for the Green Jersey and won the "King of the Mountains" (and he had the points to beat Rasmussen even before he was pulled). You like to see teams come in and make the most of their chances, Barloworld certainly did that.

There were so many subplots in this year's Tour, a lot of them not on the bike. In the end I hope that this drives this sport, my sport, to cleaner and better heights. And so I'll close with the words of Phil Liggett who said "I think in the long run this will be cycling's finest hour, as the cheats are being caught". I hope he's right.

The “Twilight”

The only bad thing about being away from the office and not checking your e-mail is the amount of time that it takes to catch up. All of which is a lame way to say that I've been neglecting my blog again…

Last Thursday (19 July) the L&T and I headed east to beautiful Boise, ID. In addition to being the home of Kirsten's best friend and her daughter ("M" & "m") it's also home to the annual Boise Twilight Criterium (or "Twilight" as the locals refer to it), and I was scheduled to race in it but that's getting a bit ahead of myself.

After a small delay leaving Seattle we arrived safely in Boise about 8:30 local time. This was the first time I've shipped a bike, so there was a little relief at baggage claim when the bike box appeared to be in good shape. The car and drive to Kuna were uneventful and I planned to wait till Friday to put together the bike. Then "m" regaled me with her bike shipping issues (in short the TSA had inspected her box and rather than rewrapping everything, they just put the extra padding in the box and away it went). Knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep unless I know, I took a quick look and all was well.

The morning of race day Saturday was a flurry of activity. There was a 10am BYRDS training ride and thanks to both "M" and "m" they were able to procure a road bike so the L&T would be able to join us on the ride. Let me start by saying the L&T doesn't like to ride, I think she does it because it's a chance to be together, and because she knows I like it. That said, the L&T is no wimp! Not only was she going out on a barrowed bike, with barrowed equipment, but for the first time she was going to go clipless! (she did great by the way, only falling once in World Cycle, and that wasn't her fault). The ride itself was fun, moderately paced, and we did about 20 miles. I had a small mechanical issue with my handlebars, but that was easily corrected, it did lead to one humorous exchange – I asked the L&T to have "m" come back and pull me back to the group, and by the time she got there I was ready to go. It's important to note here that "m" is about 5'1" and maybe 100lbs, while I'm 6' and 190 so there's not a lot to draft behind. When I informed "m" of that fact (""m", you're shit to draft behind") she sat up as high she could and pushed her arms and shoulders out. Didn't help…

Anyway, with the ride in the books, and the temperature rising, it was time for us to head down to "Twilight". The L&T and "M" went down a bit early to secure seating and take down a trainer and cooler. I arrived about 90 minutes before the start of the race, and was trying not to throw-up. I got in the queue for check-in with my registration form when they asked for my license, which was….Mmmmm….Rats (only I didn't say rats). That was back at the house, and registration said no license no number. Big rats (again, I didn't say rats)! House is 30 minutes each way, so the L&T and "m" start driving there, "M" calls my new Coach, to ask about options, and I'm told to get on the trainer and start warming up.

A quick and important aside – I can't thank the whole crew, the L&T, "M", "m", and Coach enough. They went above and beyond to get me ready for the ride, and I'm incredibly grateful. Thank you all.

The PS on this is the we went back to the registration tent about 5 minutes before the start to see if there was anything I could do. They said nope, not unless they could look me up online. What a minute, what? Yep, they could look me up, but forgot to mention that part earlier. So I get my number right about the call to the line, pinned on quickly, and there I am.

The race? Not so much, I got pulled I think about 5 laps in. It was fast, but not as fast as Redmond, I just couldn't maintain the pace. The only highlight is that I didn't finish last. I couldn't pout because "m" was around and I didn't want to set a bad example, so instead I started looking to next year. With a new coach, and new training plan, I'm looking to start finishing these things. I realized on the trip home, that racing is providing that need to compete that I haven't had for the last couple years. I've missed it, and I'm glad to have found a new outlet for it.

Le Tour – Stage 1 & 2

Wow. I figured after the prologue things would settle down for some good sprint finishes before getting to the Alps in stage 7. And on the one hand, I was correct, on the other hand (spoiler alert, don't read the stage 2 report if you don't want to see results)…

Stage 1 (203km) – As always, the break leaves early, works together, and then gets sucked back into the Borg that is the pre-sprint peloton. No real surprises here, but it was nice to see David Millar get enough points to grab the 1^st Polka Dot (climber) jersey. It's when it got close to the finish that things got interesting… There's a crash at the rear of the peloton and my Green jersey (points) pick, Robbie McEwen is caught up in it. He didn't look seriously hurt, but was holding his right hand a little gently. Sprinter's generally pull up on their handlebars to help them generate power, doesn't look like Robbie would be able to do that, and now I'm hoping he'll finish and be able to sprint another day. Versus and French television's attention shifts to the front and the upcoming battle between Thor and "Boom Boom" when at about 150m this blur comes up the right-hand side of the group. It's McEwen and he screams by, winning the stage convincingly and scoring the Green jersey. How he worked back to the end of the peloton, then up through it, to finish 1^st is going to be talked about for a long time. One of the wildest finishes I've seen in a while.

Stage 2 (168.5km) – Another sprinter stage another break. This time they manage to stay away till about 3km from the line and it's "grupo compacto" once again. There was a great object lesson in the peloton at about 18km form the finish; it was raining and there was a pretty tight turn to make the preferred line, and with the rain, crowd, and painted lines on the street it could have been a recipe for disaster. But instead of forcing the issue several riders took the slightly longer route rather than risk falling. The lesson of course is when faced with forcing or going a little out of the way, it's frequently better to go the slightly longer path (or as Sun Tzu said "the reed that bends, does not frequently break").

At the finish there are narrow streets and a slight climb and the frenzy in the pack has been kicked up significantly. Just then crash!! And it's a big one! Only about 25 riders off the front got away, everyone else was either in the crash or caught behind it. Now it's a real drag race to the line, with Boonen in great shape behind a train of lead-out men. It's Boonen's stage! Oh, what? What? It's not Boonen's stage, one of his lead-out men, Steegmans wins it by about a foot. The best thing about that really is that the only more excited about it than Steegmans is Boonen. "Boom Boom" may be one of the great guys in the peloton. Nobody has anything bad to say about him, and even though he's the "leader" of the team, he's always thrilled about someone on his team winning (last year one of his teammates won a Classis race and Tom was so happy he was in tears, that's the sort of guy you want to work for and to do well).

About the crash – Here's what it looked like to me (via TiVo's slo-mo feature). A rider from Milram looked to have accidentally unclipped and that pushed him right into another rider (same thing happened to me last week on a training ride with the L&T and I almost crashed all by myself). Because that happened just behind the front and inside the gates, there was no going around it. Hard to tell how many actually fell, but it was a big number. Lots of guys looked hurt, but "Fast" Freddie Rodriguez (an American rider) and Prologue winner / Yellow jersey wearer Fabian Cancellara looked the worst of the lot, I'm not sure about Cancellara, but I'd be willing to wager that Freddie snapped his collarbone. The next 24 hours will be very interesting.

According to UCI rules, riders involved in crashes inside the last 3km are giving the same time as the group they were in at the time of the crash. As the whole peloton was together, as long as they cross the finish line there will be no penalty. This lead to the one amusing moment of the whole thing… Seeing as they were going to get the same time, those back behind the crash, turned around and watched the finish on one of the big screens setup for the day.

My first race

Unfortunately it didn't last too long with me getting pulled after about half way. I thought I warmed up pretty well, but in retrospect that must not be the case. After watching the Masters finish (Mr. Suitcase was right, it would have been nuts to ride in Masters, they were 2 to 3mph faster than the Cat-5 guys), I joined the 50 or so other riders and did a "parade lap" around the course. We stopped, got our last minute instructions, and away we went. I was in trouble right away. As soon as we took off my heart rate Beats Per Minute (BPM) went off the charts. I was in the mid 190 BPM. There was no way I could maintain that so after 2 laps I started to slow down and shortly after that I got lapped/pulled. I can't be angry about getting pulled, I was trying to stay out of the racing line, but with the crowd and speed, it was the right thing to do. After the race some of the guys were saying that it was the fastest pack in years, averaging about 26-28mph. I should have been able to stay with the second pack, who were running a little bit slower as the race went on, but there you go.

I won't lie, of course I'm disappointed. That said I did learn a lot of things. I'm going to accelerate getting a coach this week to talk about how to keep my heart from skyrocketing. Maybe I didn't warm up enough? I don't know, but I've really got to get that corrected. Otherwise, you take the things you learned, try to improve on what you can, and know that you've got two weeks to get better…

Addendum – Those 1^st two laps were awesome!! Flying around at 27mph with a group of 50 other cyclist was one of the coolest experiences of my (admittedly short) cycling career. That speed on a bike is way different than in a car. Fun!