Howdy, it's time for another installment of my blog. First off let me say thanks for reading my blog. The last time I tried this I think I had something like 15 total page views for my first three posts, I have had more then that for each posting this time. I even have some international readers (or people using proxies outside the US), with 2 from Canada, 2 from Singapore and 1 from Germany. I guess I am sort of like David Hasselhoff, now I just need the electric light suit like he had when he sang on the Berlin wall when it was coming down!
Let's get to the giant elephant in the room right away and not dance around it...my birthday. Yes, my birthday is on Thursday. This is probably the most I have said about my birthday since high school. I tend to keep things quiet and have always preferred to spend my birthday by myself. It is my birthday. My favorite birthday was probably while I was at UofL and it was Easter Sunday. I went to the Louisville Redbirds game on a sunny and warm day, got a seat just beyond first base and enjoyed the baseball with a beer and a steak sandwich all by myself. What a great day. This birthday I am turning the big four-oh. I still can't believe it, but not in a "Oh, my God, I am so old" kind of way. I just don't feel like I am 40. I don't look 40. I certainly don't act or dress like I am 40. High school doesn't seem like it's 22 years ago. When I see "39" next to my name when I register for bike races, my first thought is that I am not 39 but I am 29. I certainly don't feel physically old, though once in a while I do a race or play hockey or something strenuous and it takes an extra day to recover, but that is the closest I feel to being my real age. Last night I was looking at bike race schedules and was looking at different races in or around St. Louis to plan our next visit around and saw the Show-Me State Games. I looked at the info page to see if I could race even though I am an Indiana resident and saw that they do it by age groups and that I am back to being the youngest in my age group...40-44!
This past Saturday I raced in the Sherman Park Criterium and it was quite an experience! First of all Sherman Park is in the southwest part of the city of Chicago and is a pretty bad area. The park was built in 1905 and has a one mile oval paved road in it, that, supposedly, was built for bike racing, which was very big at the time. Looking at the Chicago Tribune Crime Database I found 62 crimes in Sherman Park in the past year. This is just in the park and not including the area around it. Most of the crimes were "drug abuse violations" but there was also a lot of "simple battery" and "larceny- theft." A great place to live and race! One of my teammates had a great morning in the Cat 5 races, finishing 3rd and 13th. The 3rd being his first podium ever. Then he went to his car after putting his bike in it and coming back to watch the races and found a brick and a broken window, but no bike. Keep in mind this occurred some time around noon on a sunny saturday with hundreds of bike racers in the area. Wait, that's not the worst of it. A rider on another team leaned his bike against the side of his car and then sat on the back to change his shoes (It was an Outback I believe) and someone walked up, jumped on his bike and stole it! Seriously! The guy was five feet away. I actually saw the person who stole it from a distance while I was going to see if my car was ok, so I gave a description of his clothes to the police. I hope I was able to help and that both of them get their bikes back. At that point I was going to go home, but one of my teammates saw me and asked if I had any spare jersey's for a couple of new riders (our team kit is not in yet, so the new guys don't have any team stuff). I did (I am a coach, so I always am over packed) so I stuck around for the Cat. 3 race. What a great decision that was! Our team had a great plan going in and we took the win. A breakaway got away and built a nearly insurmountable lead and then our rider pulled a Cancellara and just rode away from the guys in the break. It was epic! My race on the other hand was not. I warmed up on the trainer and was feeling good, but in getting my bike off the trainer I must have bumped the break because on the warmup lap I was pushing way to hard and going nowhere. I finally stopped and readjusted it, hoping I would not be late to the start, and my carbon Psimet rim smelled like it was burning...not good. I decided to start near the back for two reasons: a) I was late because of the brake issue and b) My legs were already feeling it, so I figured I could take a lap or two to warmup up without being an issue. I was a bit nervous because the races prior to mine had been a crash fest and I don't get to ride in groups much since I am the only bike racer in my small town (or serious rider for that matter). The road the race was on was an oval, so there were none of your typical criterium 90 degree turns, but it was in awful shape. Potholes, gravel and even one giant lump were all over the course. The race started and things felt ok, I even thought about moving up, but decided to conserve and get to know the dangers of the course. One thing I had going for me is that I train on farm roads so they very often have dirt,gravel and potholes, so I know how to ride over them without freaking out or swerving all over. As you hit rough terrain you loosen up the grip and arms and rise slightly out of the saddle. This helps to absorb the bumps and prevent you from being too stiff and flying all over. If you see an obstacle while in a group you simply ride over it or make a slight adjustment, if it is safe. Many people train on good roads year round and have no clue how to handle the bad ones...and it was showing in all the crashes. As I sat on the back feeling comfortable I kept seeing people getting shot out of the back of the peloton. We did not seem to be going to fast but people were dying left and right. Suddenly ahead of me a rider went down. I was in the perfect spot to avoid the crash and to see the carnage happen. The first rider who went down was on the left center part of the road and it looked like everyone was going to make it around him...until he spun around when he hit the ground. A few others hit the deck and one guy on the opposite side suddenly flew off the road and crashed (I assume he simple freaked out and over adjusted). I grabbed a handful of brake, but just enough to get by the crash with some momentum. As I went by I saw one teammate on the deck, one standing on the side and one getting back to speed asking if the one standing was ok. A split in the field occurred and I put my head down trying to get back on to the second group. A glance back showed one of my stronger teammates was on my wheel, so made it my mission to get him back as far as I could. We got to the second group (of three, I think) and he came around, so I stood up to jump on his wheel and...my rear derailleur ghost shifted! Shit! Ghost shifting is when the rear derailleur starts shifting on it's own, usually when pressure is put on the pedals. It's not a lot of fun and usually means your race or hard training is done until it can be fixed. I kept going but it just kept shifting all over. I tried adjusting the barrel adjusters but it did not help and I was losing ground. Eventually I dropped out when it was obvious the main pack was going to lap me. That was my first DNF in bike racing ever (well, sort of, last year I crashed in Michigan, but finished with a flat tire and some minor road rash, ahead of some of the field but they called me a DNF, but I know better! My teammate who was on the ground separated his shoulder, the one standing had a ruined rear wheel and another was in a later crash and has some wicked road rash in a place that makes him wish he had a job where he could stand up most of the day! It would have been a really bad day, based on my race, had I not helped out the two guys with stolen bikes, helped my teammate get back into the race (where he finished 4th) and loaned a jersey to a new teammate who helped our team take the Cat. 3 win.
Well, that's all folks.
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