Leroy TT

For most of July, I've been feeling pretty ragged; like I imagine I'd feel if I spent a whole weekend watching a 122 episode Nash Bridges marathon. The Tour of the Valley, the Chapel Crits, getting beaten up at Westlake, training rides, and perpetual rain started to add up.

This week I started feeling human again. By Thursday I was actually feeling good and was looking forward to my trip up to Leroy. I haven't done the TT since July 2nd, so I was wondering if I could beat my best time of the season so far.

As 6:30 rolled around, a big group turned up to try their luck on the course, nearly exhausting Jim's supply of popsicle sticks. Chris started #1, I ended up drawing 8th and had a few other Mercxx riders ahead of me to chase after.

As Mark rolled off from the start, a person (I think it was a woman) in a Porsche drove past the fire station on the TT course/Leroy Center Road and got very annoyed at being delayed by a kid who was riding his BMX bike on the left side of the road and the TT riders on the right side. Of course, instead of calmly waiting for 10-20 seconds for the situation to be safe and to pass in a civil fashion, she threaded the needle between the two bikes and gunned the engine. It reminded me of our CRC training ride this spring where a dude in a Porsche blew by us on Chagrin River Road over a blind hill around a blind curve.

I remain baffled where the people driving on Leroy Center road are hurrying to. The immediate neighborhood of the firestation is rural/residential where kids ride their bikes, people, dogs and ducks walk on the road. It connects to Brakeman Road, which then heads south into BFE. Maybe they are commuting from Cleveland, and still have the freeway mentality when they are driving there.

Anyway, I got off to a good start on my TT run. I was pretty easily maintaining 350-400W across the field since there was a slight tailwind at that point. I try to accelerate all the way to the first turn, but was running out of steam this week. Usually I hit the corner at about 25-27 mph, but was only at 23 mph. Chris who started about 10 minutes before me was on the return leg and was already rounding the corner just as I got there, so he was on a good time.

The white line on the road had been painted, apparently, and there was some sand down to protect the wet paint in the corner, and it had been scattered across the lane by traffic. I kept the bike straight up and down and moved my weight way over to negotiate the corner more like a bus than a bike.

I tried to pick up the pace up the climb, but was wilting a little bit. I managed to make a good effort over the top of the hill, but felt off the pace for a new personal best time for the season.

I didn't have much snap on the return leg and finished with only a 20:28, average power dropped to 300W, a meager 3W/kg. The weather conditions were pretty good for a fast time, too. It's pretty interesting to see how my week-on-week improvement reversed after my July race-fest.

Westlake #10

This past Tuesday it was pretty hot and humid all day. Storms were popping up all over the place, but I decided to drive out to Westlake anyway. A big group turned out for both the A and B race.

I followed my usual routine, a few laps until 6:10, then go to the parking lot and goof around until the start. This week, I made a breakthrough with my trackstands. My discovery was to move the focus of concentration to my center of mass instead of my hands and feet. I did a couple really good ones, but I'm not to the point of standing there indefinitely like some people can do. And I'm nowhere near the point of doing one no handed--I saw a woman do that before the MidOhio race a couple of years ago.

The race followed the usual routine. While the breaks are trying to get established, the pace goes from really fast to super fast, a few prime laps were thrown in for good measure. The wind was out of the south east, so on Ranney Parkway we got pushed over by a crosswind onto the double yellow, which was a virtual gutter.

One lap I was congratulating myself on good positioning and efficient riding, the next lap, I was behind traffic that was slow through the corners, and I ended up on the back dangling in the crosswind. I felt my HR redline, but managed to recover. The next lap, a whole swath of riders came unhitched and I was behind them. I probably could have sprinted around to latch back on, but I didn't want to prolong the agony.

I felt like crap, so I decided to just head home early. When I got off the bike, my head was swimming. Even though I've been out riding in the heat quite a bit this year, I don't feel like I've really adapted.

Polar Bear Relay Update

I rode down to Gates Mills today via Sherman Road and found a good place to stow the polar bear. It's near a stone fence just off Old Mill Road on Epping.

This link is the Google Maps Street View. Pan the view to the right to see the wall.

If you pick up the bear and move it along to a new spot, find a good place to stow it. Pick some spot that isn't obvious, but is relatively easy to reach from the road, and that won't be picked up by landscapers or kids.

Polar Bear Relay

I'm heading out on a training ride today. I'm going to take the plastic polar bear and stash it somewhere, then leave directions and a picture of the place. I'll even mark it on Google Maps.

If you read this and are looking for a place to ride, pick up the bear and take it somewhere else, leave directions in the comments of this post, or post something on your own blog/facebook page/etc...

The only rule for moving the bear is you've got to carry it on your bike.

Accidental Rest Week

I've been busy with work lately. I've been scrambling to get a project wrapped up and had a couple late nights early this week.

I spent about 5 years doing that on a regular basis. Thankfully, now it's a rare occurance. That's probably one of the less healthy ways to live--mentally and physically--I'm still losing the weight I packed on during those years. Probably THE least healthy way to live is to be a captain of a crab boat (I've been watching Deadliest Catch lately; my current favorite show)--it seems like chain smoking 30 hours straight is part of that job description.

Anyway, I missed Westlake on Tuesday. I probably could have made it, but the weather was a little sketchy and I only had about 4 hours of sleep, so I erred on the side of less driving.

I spent Wednesday cleaning out my window mount A/C. Constant rain seemed to be turning it into a mold/bacteria colony. I don't want to end up with my name in a newly discovered disease title, so I scrubbed it out with some bleach solution and it's practically as good as new.

Thursday, I was deciding between the Chapel Crit, the LeRoy TT, and going to the "Y" to lift, do some cardio, and see some hot sweaty women, well, as much as I can see with my glasses off and sweat pouring down. As the rain persisted through the morning, I crossed the Chapel off the list. As it got closer to 4, I decided to head to the "Y" to do a TT level effort on the cardio machines and to beat up my quads on the weight machines.

Of course, only 15 minutes into my cardio session, the clouds parted and the sun and blue sky made an appearance. Oh well. I wrapped up the cardio--amazing how much harder it feels indoors with no wind flow--and did a little weight work. It's been about 18 months since I had knee surgery and my right quads are still significantly weaker than my uninjured leg.

I'm going to head out for a tough ride this afternoon and hopefully I'll stay dry and the humidity will drop from 90% to something a little more comfortable.

Fairport Harbor Ride

I did a great route today. North on Ravenna Road up to Fay Road, up to Route 86, then north instead of the usual south. Up to Painesville, continued north on North State Street all the way up to Fairport Harbor Beach. The weather was perfect and the wind was cooperating. Sunny and in the 70s. The lighthouse, the beach and the water was a spectacular sight. It's about 15 miles to Fairport, and all downhill.

Since the wind was out of the northwest, I had a tailwind all the way home uphill back to Chardon. I took the bike paths most of the way.

'cross bike upgrades

I'm starting to feel a little road season burnout and am really looking forward to cyclocross.

I've got some preparation to do before September. I started to ease back into running. At this point, I'm only doing 5 or 10 minutes at a time to get my legs used to the pounding. I'll build up a little bit each week.

The good old Redline has gathered a thin layer of dust, but is about to get a workover next month. There's some routine maintenance work to do and some upgrades. With the wide Aluminum bars I've got on the machine and the 'cross tires, it feels more like driving a bus than riding a bike. I'll get some lighter and narrower carbon bars. I'm switching to a single chainring setup. I think I've been on the big ring for a total of 10 minutes over the past three seasons. So, I'll lose it, the front derailleur, and the left STI shifter and replace it with a light brake lever.

Once I get it tuned up, I'll head up to Whiskey Island and try riding around on 25 mm slicks to see how that works. The surface of the fields at the park were packed like concrete last year so slicks should be fine for most of the course. The off camber sections might be challenging, though.