Stay tuned…
August 8, 2008
July 29, 2008
Piedmont Triad Omnium- Day One Criterium
Spencer drove me and Max up to race in the criterium on Friday night. I decided to double up with Juniors and Cat 4 because it was the only day of the Omnium i was participating in. Juniors was a moderately fast race and we went at the exact same time as the women’s 4 race. Max and I thought we picked up a preme along the way but apparently it was for the women’s race. I ended up with 6th place.
The Cat 4 race was much faster than juniors. It was also my first Cat 4 race. Max stayed toward the front of the field and I hung on in the back. In the end I was just happy that I hung on to the field with a pack finish.
-Eric
July 25, 2008
Fitchburg Longsjo Classic- Criterium
To my surprise I made it to the last day in the four hardest days of racing I have ever done. The course was quite intimidating with an 180 degree turn and two back to back 90s. The finish and most ideal place for attacks was on the the slight uphill to the finish. Unlike the other three races I knew exactly what to expect for this one, constant sprinting and averaging around 25. The pace started off very fast and never let up. I hung in there for twenty of the twenty two laps and was pretty happy I finished 68th overall GC out of 87 starting riders.
What a crazy week in Fitchburg filled with 17 hours of team bonding time in the car. I do feel like I know all my teammates much better though. Also much thanks to Rick and Nancy Hoffarth for chaperoning, driving, and cooking for all of us.
-Eric
July 18, 2008
Fitchburg Longjso Classic- Circuit Race
We were feeling better going into this race thinking that everybody would be worn out from yesterdays finish. The course had a slight uphill, a slight descent, and the climb that we refered to as ‘the wall’. Despite being only a couple hundred meters, the percent grade was impossibly high. The race started out fast as it should, but I was still able to keep up until ‘the wall’ hit. The pack shot right over it as if it were not even there. Not being able to keep up anymore, I got dropped of the back with a number of other riders. We all took turns leading in pace line for the rest of the race only hoping to make the time cut so we could race the crit the next day. On our second to last lap the field cought us on their finish. We went all out for the last lap and were happy to find out we made the time cut. I had higher hopes for the next day but knew how fast this crit was going to be.
-Eric
July 16, 2008
Fitchburg Longsjo Classic- Road Race
I got up the morning of the race only to find a gloomy day ahead of me with a high chance of rain. And guess what happened on the drive to the race- rain, and lots of it. I personally did not mind that it was raining because the course was not technical. What I was not the most excited for was the fact that a cold front had come in for our race. We got there and it was still pouring and cold. While waiting at the line to start the announcer could not be any clearer on how dagerous the descent was on this course. “The second fastest in North America” and “You will be traveling in speeds excess of 60 miles an hour” he stated. It was fast but it was very strait and hard to crash on. The thought of some idiot swerving to miss a manhole cover and taking out the pack stuck in my head the entire race. Myself and a number of others fell of the main peleton when we hit one of the hardest climbs on the course. The eight cat one riders leading the race were obviously not affected as they shot right over it like it was nothing. I found myself with a number of other riders (about fifteen of us) including Max for the rest of the race, fighting to make the time cut. The rest of the race went okay for me and the others, keeping a steady high pace. For the last section of the race we turned off the main loop to climb Wachusette mountain to the finish. I fell behind as I am not the best climber and was completly exhausted. I think it was a two and a half mile climb which felt much longer than it was. I finally made it to the finish which was right on the summit of the ski mountain. Was I relived to find out that I made the time cut. I rolled out, got something to drink, and then started the descent. I didn’t realize how cold it was on the mountain, especially descending down it with all that wind in your face. It was possibly the coldest I have been in a long time. Jake got a pack finish and Max finished under a minute in front of me.
-Eric
Fitchburg Longsjo Classic- Time Trial
I really didn’t know what to expect coming into this race as it was my first time trial. We rode the course two days prior only to find that over three miles of this six and a half mile time trial was climbing. Also the roads were not in the best condition. We got there, warmed up, and was ready to go. I had the first start time out of everyone on the team. Also I was excited because Max let me use his disc wheel. I started of going way to hard in the beginning of the race. Six and a half miles seemed a lot shorter in my head, not taking in to account the vast majority of climbing. The first climb hit me hard- it seemed much shorter the day before so I took it at a fast pace. To my surprise it didn’t let up for a while, which hurt my time and myself. I got passed twice by two Cat 2’s and almost passed the guy in front of me. I finished with a time of 00:20:46 which was not the best. I knew I could not let this get me down with three hard days of racing coming up.
-Eric
June 29, 2008
Blood, Sweat, and Gears
Max and I were the only ones that came out from the Cartel for the 10th anniversary of Blood, sweat, and Gears- most of the team was at the Georgia cup think. It was really cool seeing all 1300 cyclist lined up at the start. I was amazed that this was technically a ride because every aspect of it was race like. The only thing that separated a ride from a race that day was no division of categories, ect. The race started of good with a couple of crashes at the start (it was bound to happen seeing that 1300 cyclist were trying to squeez through a ten meter start. About four or so miles into the ‘ride’ I made the mistake of downshifting to the small ring for the first climb. My truly awesome 105 front deurailler put the chain right past and off the ring. It was one of those where the chain gets stuck inside of the small ring on the crank. It took a couple of minutes to pull it back out and on track again (upshifting and pedaling did not work). So the rest of the ‘ride’ I had to drill it by myself to catch up. I passed a couple hundred out of the four hundred or so that were in our group on the first climb with help working with some 100 miler that was a strong rider. When the turn came that split the pack into the century and half century groups I had no one to work with and was left by myself. About eight or so miles later I caught up with a small pack that I guessed fell off of the bigger one ahead. Disappointed in their lacking efforts I decided to work by myself once again. That continued on for over ten miles without catching up with what I though to be the main, bigger pack. Soon enough they caught up working together so i stuck with them for a while. With ten miles left, me and another rider made a break and worked together. Only one other rider caught up with us. I was the first to finish the Old Shulls Mill climb with about 75 feet to the next rider behind me. I started the descent down 194 by myself but the other two caught me about half way down (they did not have to run junior gearing). Passing cars and staying over forty, one of the other riders made another break with less than 300 meters to go. I followed and beat him in the sprint to the finish, only to find that there was no massive pack, simply three other guys that finished in front of me including Max who got second place. I ended up in fourth, only twenty seconds behind third with a time of about 2:28. If it weren’t for the chain incident, me and Max would have grabbed second and third out of about 400. I couldn’t complain about the results though, after all it was only a ride. (Max might have some pictures up on his blog).
-Eric
Training in the mountains with Robin and Max
Max invited me to go spend a couple of days in his mountain house with his grandparents to train in general and Blood, Sweat and Gears coming up that Saturday. It was extremely helpful to know the fifty mile course before we embarked on it for the real thing. It was especially good having Robin there to help with climbing seeing that I am not the best climber in the world. Max’s dad somehow got us in to climb Grandfather Mountain so that was really awesome. It was possibly one of the hardest climbs I have ever done. So thank you the Robbs and Robin for a great week. (Max might have some pictures up in his blog).
-Eric
June 18, 2008
Post Race Report: NC State RR Championships- Day Two
I was feeling better coming back for the Cat 5 on day two. The feild was pretty big which was typical for a Cat 5. The race was at a semi- fast pace the whole time without that many breaks, however a number of people dropped out. It was hard racing with my banged up knee that streched out every pedal stroke. I sucked it up and kept with the pack for the race. At about 30 miles in, some strong breaks started going off and the pace went up immensely. There was two guys who went off at a very fast non cat 5 pace and it looked like we would never catch them. The rest of the race we attempted to work together to catch them but nobody would actually work. Typical cat 5. Anyway the finish was crazy- we turned off the course and the sprint already started with about a mile to go. It also had two uphill rollers before the end. I would have placed about 7 places better if I caught one of the final breaks but I did not have time to get on the guys wheel. I ended up placing 11th out of a ton of people. It was a good race that showed me the areas I need to improve in.
-Eric
