Jack Training June

Race day -
Good job to Joe and Ken today. I had a good race, but in the end the podium places went to better men. Hopefully the guys from Rt 1 velo forgive me for egging them on during the race - sometimes I just can't help it. I get super excited during the races . . . . I'm glad that I now know I need a 53 - thanks Jeff for finally counting it for me. Had you not done that I would probably have ridden that crankset until it fell apart. So, it was a good race day, made better by Bens beer and getting to watch everyone else race. I'm going to recover as best I can tonight, e ride tomorrow, and then do my best to terrorize the B race on tuesday.



The day after the race found my legs feeling decent . . . . . which is a good sign for tomorrow. Did an E ride today, just to get out and sweat a little. Nothing really interesting to report there.

Race day - 6/2 - Not too shabby . . . . but I'm hard headed until the end. I did too much work and pulled a 7th or 8th place. Its ok though - I did race smarter this time. Sadly, no one I knew was there, and even sadder was that the girl I had been admiring in the B race moved to the A race. Oh well, thats motivation enough to train harder and move up.

6/3 - A coworker was arrested so I had to cover his shift. I left work (in Fred.) at 6, and from there went to the park. There had been rumors of rain all day, but whats a little rain? Upon hitting the park everything started to go downhill quickly. Fat drops of rain started showering down, followed by quick gusts of wind which led the way for marble sized hail. Quickly realizing that I would be the only rider out, I hung a left on the road that bisects the park. It was pretty brutal - the hail was hammering my arms and neck, and the heavy rain made it hard to see. Many cars stopped and or took refuge - I just kept on hammering. I figured if I made it to the shop I could call for a ride, finish my spike shooter and laugh about it. Funny thing was that by the time I made it into town the rain had really slowed. So, I pointed the bike towards Spotsy and went home. It was an interesting day, but in the end the rain stopped me from training with and BWR guys or other gades . . . . oh well. There is always tomorrow.

6/4 - Nothing interesting to report - it was a recovery day for me, so a short ride was in order. When will this rain let up? Tomorrow will be my renegade equivalent of a hard day, so there should be something interesting to read then.

6/5 Got a good ride in, but this rain has to go. Its one thing to have a rainy day where you can ride on the trainer, but after a certain point it just gets old. I rode in the rain this morning, and upon arriving at work realized I had brought all my dry clothes except for boxers. So it was a commando day at Honeybaked. After work I headed over to GNC to discover that they had hired a nice looking blonde - that brought a little light heartedness to the day. I bought some new protein, which is made entirely out of beef protein isolate - no soy or whey, just bovine goodness. The fruit punch flavor tastes strange, but hey, if it helps recovery I'm game. Drank some down and continued the ride home, trying not to gag the whole way. Today the legs felt pretty dead, but my guess is that once the weather clears up the spirit will as well. Good luck to everyone racing this weekend . . . . .

6/6 - Kinda of a junk mile day, even though I didn't intend for it to be. A sleepless night had me convinced that a ride would be better put off til a later date, but the change in weather brought a strange euphoria which led to an aimless E ride. It was an interesting day - when I pulled into the park I was greeted by Ed leaving and by the flashing lights of a park ranger. Seems he felt I didn't pay enough attention to a stop sign. I had to bite my tongue, because I didn't want to get banned or anything. Decided to chase Ed. We rode around for a bit, speculated whether or not the gay pride parade was in town, and then parted ways. I continued to ride, and ended up getting in some good time in the saddle which will be sure to have me snoring tonight.

6/7 - Had a good ride with Joe this morning. He was a little tired from riding with Ben on Sat, and I was looking for a low to medium intensity ride to end the week with. Joe thoroughly defeated me in every sprint, so after we finished riding together I did a little work on my own. Ended up dehydrated and hungry, but that was solved by going out and getting some Italian.
Before I really started racing I had no idea how addicting it really was . . . . . now I'm looking forward more and more to every race. Its frustrating sometimes to race and know while I'm racing that I should be more conservative during the early and mid stages, but all in all its been rewarding. Looking forward to the training race this week . . . . . hope to see some more local guys out!

6/8 - Looks like I'm leaving for the wild west tomorrow. If you see me on Wed, it was a no go . . . . I've got a lot on my plate this week and I'm praying that my travel plans work out. I signed up for this training camp a while ago, back in December, before I had a taste of racing. Hopefully I will be able to find computer access so that I can post and keep my blog current.
Riding today was a simple commute to the Fredericksburg store and back. No need to be fatigued now.
Hopefully my girl at GNC doesn't forget about me while I'm gone . . . . .

6/14 - Not back in VA yet, but done riding for now. Did the 500 miles I came to do, and am ready to get back. It was hard, and probably not the smartest thing to do in the middle of a racing season, but it was fun. I would switch my focus to longer events like these, but to tell the truth, these past four days have been like E rides, only much longer. A lot of the time when another rider and myself would go hard, we would be scolded at the following rest stop and told we needed to slow down. It was a struggle, but I finished. Now I'm looking forward to getting back to Fred and seeing some familiar faces. Thanks to everyone who gave me tips and advice throughout all the rides - without those I would have probably have had to jump in the sag wagon and cry.

6/16 - Back in VA! After an all night flight, I arrived back in DC. I'm glad to be back. After work I rode to my house . . . . quite the short ride because I was working in Fred. My legs started off feeling great, but soon after I noticed that there was some residual pain in my right knee, and an overall fatigue. Once I noticed that I wasn't 100% I stopped by GNC and tried to flirt with the girl there . . . So, today was an easy day, and tomorrow I get back to business. Hope to see all the BWR guys and renegades . . . . its been too long!

6/17 - Since the Fredericksburg store is doing more business, thats where I commuted to and from today. Upon returning home I switched to biking gear and went by GNC. Seeing as how the weather was rapidly declining, I shot over to the park . . . only to be passed by a BWR guy TT'ing by so fast I couldn't tell who it was. I chased until he hit the hill, where I hoped it would stop or I would never learn who it was. Fortunately, Greg stopped, and we did a half loop in the park, then rode back downtown. I did a little road bike TT practice myself on River Road, in preparation for the TT I'm doing with Jordan. Didn't he say he was TT state champion or something? I'd better put in more practice, or buy some EPO. Seriously though, I'm looking forward to getting back out in the race scene . . . . .

6/18 - After an eventful meeting at Hyperion I rode home a new man. Now the only thing on my mind is to not disappoint. Everyone at my house checked out the new jersey, asking who all the sponsors were and all. The ride home was a little faster, feeling like nothing could stop me.

This week will be busy at work, so I can't race the upcoming weekend, but next week I'll be TT'ing with Jordan and in Richmond for the WMC.

Thanks to everyone who helped me to improve . . . . and God willing we will all improve in the future!

6/19 - Nice E ride today. Work was really beating my spirits down, so after work I did a longer ride hoping the endorphins would clear my head. It did the trick . . . . now I'm sitting here wishing that I could race this weekend instead of working. Luckily next week I'll be in Richmond for the Working Mans Classic and then TT'ing with Jordan that weekend. The TT should prove to be interesting because besides for a quick warm up / photo session at Ft Lee, Jordan and I have never ridden together. The three day in Richmond for me will be a test of patience - chasing riders off the front isn't where its at. Plus I'm pretty familiar with alot of the guys who will be there from all the practice races I went to.

6/20 - While everyone else is racing, I'm laying low and waiting for next week. Long day at work, short ride to and from, water, vitamins, pizza. Tomorrow will be another work day, maybe and E ride, then I'll jump into the prescribed workouts Monday. Until then good luck everyone, see you soon.

21/6 - While everyone else was doing big things I was E riding and later meeting with my family for Fathers Day at Castiglias. Ended up with about three hours in and later a nice bellyful . . . . my sisters fiance showed up and we had a beer or two together, which was nice because I don't work tomorrow. Truth be told I need to get another job, one that will put more money into my pockets. One that will allow me to get off my tired old Lemond and onto something new and shiny, something that will help me take it to the next level. Until then I'm just going to do my best and help put some hurt onto the pelotons I'm racing with . . . . . . Working Mans Classic here I come!

22/6 - Woke up, thinking I would be a little hungover, but I felt fine. There wasn't really too much for me to do today - just prep work for tomorrow, which includes getting the bike in tip top shape. There had been some sort of problem which I thought was due to an old cassette, but after Andres inspection turned out to be a really worn down big ring. There wasn't much he could do because the parts had to be ordered, so at first I just told myself I would just race in my smaller chain ring. Then I realized what a fool I would look like riding around in the small ring with a super high cadence . . . . so I called Uncle Ben and explained my dilemma. He agreed to look at it, and luckily for me he had an old 54 that would fit. I hope it makes a difference tomorrow. I really need to do more preventative maintenance and all, and not just try to fix stuff after its all fubar'ed . . . . .

WMC Day 1 - Falter. First race with the team and I faltered . . . . . this was due in part to my confusing the number of laps to go. I went for a preme, thinking that there was one lap to go after that. Turns out there were two, which threw my rhythm off. I could sit here and type any number of reasons why it wasn't my day, but let me try again tomorrow before I bring them out. Good job Ken, who brought in a sixth place - I need to learn to be patient like that. The race itself wasn't too fast or too hard, but going at the wrong time cost me alot. In another note I really tried today to be respectful when I was racing. Someone said something slick to make me mad when I was racing, and I slipped, but caught myself after remembering my actions now reflect upon the team, not just me. I went and spoke to him afterwards, and squared things away. So, tomorrow if I feel energetic I'm going to try to pull Ken to a win . . . . . or at least be a better teammate.

WMC Day 2 - What a day! Had a better time today. Started in the back of the peloton, and learned first hand that working your way up in the 4/5 is no joke. Once semi close to the front I jockeyed for a good sprinting finish i.e. with two to go I settled behind a rider who I thought was strong enough to pull me home . . . . . only to find out his energy was waning. So, coming around the last corner I was close enough to try to urge Ken on . . . . I couldn't tell if I was motivating him or just being annoying, but nonetheless he finished well in 8th. I noticed that afterwards a few young ladies were looking disappointed that he left early . . . . it seems he has developed quite an entourage in Richmond. In the A race Bill and Jinks were looking strong . . . . at one point Jinks was working to close a monster breakaway that consisted of three Harley guys and one Richmond Pro . . . . Bill came to a stop with what I first thought was a flat, turns out that his shifter was malfunctioning. I wanted to run behind him and give him a push when he was going to join the peloton again, but he was off too fast for me. In the A race a Mountain Khakis guy won . . . . and soon afterwards looked like he was going to pass out.
I'm psyched for tomorrow . . . ..

WMC Final Day - Crashed in the first corner. Not sure if there was debris or if I hit a wheel or what, but the only thing on my mind was get up and get going. One foot was still clipped in, so I unclipped and got up, did my best to catch the pack. Someone from the sidelines yelled "Free lap!", but I didn't know the exact etiquette - so I just gritted my teeth and caught the pack. Once there I settled in, and maybe 5 laps later raced a Natures Path rider for a prime lap. Won the lap . . . . from then it was trying to find a good position . . . . when I was mid pack there were shouts for someone to catch a rider who had been off the front for a while - no one went. I waited and went, figuring any rider off the front would be taking all the good prime prizes - better to spread the wealth. For the final sprint I didn't have the juice, but Ken had a magnificent sprint with about one or two laps to go. Had the timing been different he would have taken it all. Anyway, the three days were fun, and hopefully in a couple weeks time it will pay off.

June 26th - Short recovery ride . . . . sweated like crazy while riding. Legs felt ok, but I noticed some fatigue like feeling overall. I'm looking forward to the TT though . . . . Jordan has me psyched. So I'm off to bed early, wish us all luck for tomorrow.

June 30 - My internet is out, so I'm posting from work. will post again tomorrow when it gets fixed. Until then good luck everyone, train hard . . . .