A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Thankfully no rain for today's race and the roads were bone dry. Everything started out innocuously enough; easy roll off the start, so within a couple miles I thought I'd take a dig on a descent managed to stay away for a little while but I was hoping to be joined in my breakaway efforts but it was not to be. My legs certainly needed some rest after the dig and I sat in the pack getting pulled along, taking a pull every now and again. Finally the group's constant surging and slacking (wholly unable to maintain a constant speed), constantly braking, constantly jumping out of the saddle to hold a wheel, drove me insane and while some little guy was holding a ridiculously low pace I shot off the front, again hoping to be joined by a small group but yet again was all alone; this time I managed to stay away even longer, but I knew that with half the race left I wouldn't be able to stay away on my own for the whole time. Despite sitting up and soft pedaling it still took the peloton half a lap to catch up with me. After another couple of miles, two of the strongest riders (one of them has won twice this year, came second today and is an Ironman just bike racing to improve his cycling splits) attacked and I jumped--at first alone, but eventually joined by three others-- to try and cover but they were too strong. Got sweeped up by the peloton and we eventually caught the other two (both were on S-works Venges wearing black kit, if you're curious to find them in the pics). Relatively uneventful after that besides the poor form surging, until the finale when I got caught, yet again, too many wheels back to seriously factor in the finish and I think I ended up 12th. All photos labeled "Team SixCycle" are obviously from "Team SixCycle"while all other photos are from SKN Photography. Check out the FB links for the full galleries, pictures below are only of my group.

Ronde van Nieuw Amsterdam

Racing is never easy. It's always tons of fun but some days are better than others. Today was one of the hardest races I've done. Only 17ºC/65ºF (cold for here) with soaked roads showing Flemish mirrors (rain stopped no more than an hour before the start and started again about 2/3 of the way into the race),  I had to dress as close to my Flemish finest as I could for the race, and it ended with some lovely Flemish tan lines from riding in a group all morning. All in all it was like being right back in Northern Europe. (Quick history lesson, New York City was first settled as "New Amsterdam," thus the title, by the Dutch, the linguistic forefathers of the Flemish.) The cold was compounded by a very consistently high pace caused by constant breakaway attempts and constant reel ins. I was lucky enough to be on the front to work in both for most of the time. I was drained after the first couple laps and had to sit back and get pulled along for a little bit. By the time I started hitting the front again, the carnage began. Close to the end, a rider went down on the first curve of the descent (The "S" curve on the top right of the map). He was fine teammates were helping him out and marshals were slowing us for the sector to get us through safely. On the final lap we pass by the same rider, still down, only now being attended by the ambulance; we're funneled down into barely half a lane, I'm pushed towards the middle of the pack in the funnel. As soon as the first seven pass the ambulance, they attack hard (really jerky move in my opinion, it's not like we were racing for the rainbow jersey) one guy almost hits the ambulance as he goes down since he can't cope with the increased pace on the descent. At the bottom, halfway through the final turn two guys go down hard. The nastiest crash I have ever seen by light years; they're supposed to be ok (according to the club, but they definitely needed to go to the hospital just from what I saw). I hit the brakes and just made it around but I lost my rhythm for chasing the break and another guy who I had been collaborating with on and off for the race--there's a picture of us alone--just sat up and didn't bother chasing, they were too far up. We talked to the finish line, not caring about our placing, just thankful we managed to keep the rubber side down and the hairy side up. The most mentally taxing and stressful race I've been in, I now have a window into why the PROs say the early season races are the hardest on the mind: everyone is trying to be on the front in lousy conditions--at least we have enough road to deal with this. I've only posted photos from my group, there are more posted to the following facebook page. All Photos courtesy of SKN Photography (save for the one of my Flemish tan). https://www.facebook.com/SKNPhoto



Finish Line Video:

Home Sweet Home*

For some ridiculous reason I thought that the day after a 7hr flight home would be a great day to have my first race. Less than optimal preparation immediately preceding the race meant that my only objective was to finish in the bunch. After getting lost on the way to the race as well as procrastinating while eating my breakfast and changing, I was rushed in signing in; I thought I'd only have a mile warm-up, but luckily the race was delayed and I could at least do a one-lap preview of the course, which as it turned out proved to be more useful than usual.  But great success for the day, managed to finish around 10th I think, without having to dig too deeply yet partially because of a stupid tactical move on my part. The course was pretty boring, a lot like NASCAR, just a trapezoid with easy corners. Too short to be a road course, yet a little too long to be a crit the distance fell in a weird middle ground. The racing as still fun as always. No hills but ferocious winds at times help separate the field.





*Awesome Song

Evolution

Some rides just evolve. I wanted to take Quique to Devon Pass, and we both adore Eden Ridge Road so we rolled out of St Andrews heading East. We warmed up thoroughly, spinning all the way through Ceres; we spun for most of the ride in reality, just relaxing and chatting--a lot about the apparent ticking time bomb that is RadioSchleck-Nissan-Trek-Jingleheimer-Schmidt (Red Kite Prayer shout out for that gem). We hit the bottom of the northern approach to Devon Pass--what I now think is the hardest climb in the area after the Lomond Hills--and we made our way up, not too slowly, but the steep pitches necessitate super low gearing. The climb is beautiful, lots of fun, and it tapers out towards the top: the hardest climbing is really on the lower slopes before the road swings to the right. A fun, fast descent ensued, and we were soon on the Eden Ridge Road, one of the most scenic stretches of tarmac, if also one of the roughest at times. Both of us had good legs, so we decided to take a slight detour and extend our ride, something that we did again, heading towards Peat Inn before veering off again and rolling towards Largoward. We wanted to keep going, the legs and minds felt fresh, it wasn't too cold, and it was still sunny. While I'm always a little wary about extending past a plan (as that's usually when bad stuff happens) the day was just too nice to give up on. Taking more descents to Kingsbarns we just kept talking away the miles, I barely believed what my Garmin was showing me. Turning back towards St Andrews, I realized my legs had never felt this fresh for so long. I felt the miles (its hard not to from my bike), but it didn't affect me as badly. Cooling off along St Andrews, both Enrique and I were surprised at our apparent fitness, always a nice feeling before you enter race season. Some rides just evolve from just a spin with a friend, further, more time, into a great confidence boosting ride that lets you know you may be ready.

Almost Made It!

Beautiful day today, picturesque blue skies, incredible visibility, not too too cold. Went out with a Uni employee, Clifford, and had a lovely ride--almost. Chatting, spinning away the opening miles up to Strathkinness, down to Kemback before climbing back out to Ceres opened up my tired legs nicely. We turned onto the Eden Ridge Road (now listed in the "Easy Climbs" map in "The Climbs" tab; the one that heads to Star and eventually Falkland) and made our way through its rollers, admiring the views and the weather. I was sad to reach its end, but was wonderfully surprised by Devon Pass; climbing higher and higher, by the top we could see Edinburgh and most of the surrounding valleys. A fun descent ensued (I'm sure it would be a savage climb--will have to check it out soon) and more relaxing rolling miles ticked by, going down into Cupar, skirting the edge, before climbing back towards Pitscottie when my rear goes flat. Not a big deal anymore with all the practice I've had; as I'm about to jump back in the saddle, the tire literally explodes. Manage to patch it up and cover some of the spoke holes in the rim, re-inflate, turns out I have to true the rim--by the time I'm done, I hear a hissing noise. Find the hole, patch, pumping up with Clifford's frame pump, as I'm centering the brake after I pop the wheel in hear more hissing and decide its cab time, only seven or so miles away from being a fantastically good ride, my bike almost made it all the way. At least I didn't flat on a descent, something that always worries me and makes me squeeze the brakes early and at least I didn't flat like this further away from St Andrews.

Early on while riding the Eden Ridge Road

Eden Ridge Road

Eden Ridge Road

Eden Ridge Road

Eden Ridge Road

Devon Pass

Lomond Hills from Devon Pass

Towards Edinburgh from Devon Pass

Looking towards the top of Devon Pass

Gravel

After two straight days of rain, the stuff was absolutely everywhere. The roads were covered in debris which led to near constant weaving around the stones and pebbles, cringing at every pop of the gravel under my tires. Luckily no flats throughout today's ride, and despite the bike handling practice, it turned out to be a very nice day. Blue skies for the most part, halfway warm, with a bit of wind to cool things down: took a normal route up to Ceres d'Huez, but went down to Leven instead of Largo, finding some nice quiet farm roads along the way before the fast descent down to the coast. A few miles of slamming into a headwind before climbing back up and over the hump and going down a fun, technical descent that began in New Gilston.

February in May

Days like today make everyone want to shake their fists at the weather gods of Scotland, to put it mildly. 6-7ºC/42-44ºF, the second full day of rain (driving at times), and 15-20 mph winds. We literally had these exact conditions in February. Even January. And December. In fact, for the most part that was the average weather for the whole winter. But after a long riding-free exam diet, I'm looking to boost mileage as much as possible before my racing season starts in the summer, which destined me to get in the saddle as miserable as it was. With this type of weather its difficult, nigh on impossible to get the legs warmed up, despite starting out with the wind at my back. I turned to head up to Martyr Road (opposite the Strath High Road on the other side of the Low Road) and made my way to the Mossmuur where I was greeted by a large truck doing some form of cleaning, and taking up the entire road. I was forced to unclilp as we squeezed past each other, taking away every last ounce of crucial momentum for the nasty wall in front of me. The first section of the climb had me pushing straight into the wind as I was trying to get back up to speed, luckily as the climb really picks up it also turns, giving me a solid tailwind. There's no other way for me to get up the final section of the Mossmuur except to grind, and grind away I did. Turning back towards St Andrews meant more headwinds; throwing in the rain and cold made it feel like thousands of needles were pricking my face as the rain had picked up and was lashing away at my body. Thankfully I ducked into a forested area for a little respite before finally rolling home.