Got Me a Call-Up

You guys... It's not every day that I get a call-up. It's something I've been working for all month long without even knowing it.

you know... the hours and hours on the trainer

But if you're like me... you don't make a big deal out of these things. Sure I'm honored, humbled, and no less heartened to know that I haven't been forgotten. I've been tuning my mind, body, and spirit for an opportunity like this. Here's the thing, folks... this type of call-up to the line is an astronomical opportunity ... I'm not gonna lie. But as I said - I take it all in stride.

Did I shave for it? I mean, wouldn't you? This "call-up" is no big deal or anything... like I said. Also, if I'm being honest, it was more of a text situation. But okay, yeah - I shaved for this.

The longest my hair had been in maybe 7+ years?

So what's this all about, you're asking?

A sweet, sweet group ride, baby!

Shout-out to Young Horse Power, Woody, and the boys at Bicycle Pro Shop in Springfield for the "Clifton Crusades Ride" this morning.

gonna have to pick up one of these soon

The winter weather was perfect with me banking HARD on the forecasted sunny skies. Like the nice, modern gentleman that I am, I checked the weather forecast last night when I got the "nod" for today's ride, and you KNOW when I saw the call for morning sunshine that something special was about to go down. Maybe it was because I was 1.5 beers deep that I decided shaving my legs was necessary and correct. Maybe it was a cosmic alignment. You can decide which. All I know is that Clifton did not disappoint. In fact, it was a treat to share some of those roads I've had the pleasure of punching miles into with some riders that are new to them. It hurt at times, but our 5-rider crew was up for the mixed terrain and technical twists of the morning's classic Clifton ride. There were definitely points where I tuned into how much I enjoy riding bikes.

Indeed this morning's ride is the start of what is hoped to be a weekly, Sunday morning jaunt out of the Bicycle Pro Shop Springfield location. That is truly what makes this ride so special. It can be hard to establish a weekly ride in this area. I have my fingers crossed that this one makes it even when I cannot once school picks up again for me.

beachy

Beyond all that, the co-captain and I took a New Year's day stride along the C&O Canal. It was much needed before spending the rest of that day taking the last of the leaves off my parental's property.

stay loose, America

That's all I've got for now.

Thanks for reading.

A 2018 Closer

Having spent post of this year at the tremendous age of 29, I suppose the term "end of an era" comes to mind. Not that I can fully comprehend what my physical "peak" was or was not, I do know that, physiologically speaking, I am forever on the down-slope of my physical prowess. Be that as it may, I know my best days on the bike are still in front of me and I can hardly wait. No rush, though. I still have another year and a half of school. But I know I will have hard battles ahead of me for years to come once I hit the masters categories. Those are still years away, but I'll plant the seed now as I mentally begin my patient return to this sport I love. 

many cinnamon rolls were had this holiday season.

Today's ride was short, not so fast, and altogether painful. I still enjoy the pain even when there is no need for it. I do not believe I will have another month off for the rest of my professional-oriented life. I have ridden my bike 13/14 days so far - not to mention one of those days I did a 2-a-day workout while another I was without my Garmin!!! Again, there's no ascertainable reason for my riding except for just that - I want to ride. It's just one more blessing I want to appreciate as much as I can.

brr

These past few rides have afforded me the ability to do some exploration of trails right in my backyard. I haven't discovered them all on my own thanks to the fiance, but they are exciting to ride and explore further after so many years of managing road riding in this area. It must be said that these trails so far are incredibly flat, but at least there's usually a creek nearby.

taken with a very tight grip on the phone

I found this 200lb TV curb-side with a clear sign on it with big capital letters spelling "FREE." I did a number on my biceps transferring this hunk into my car's trunk, but it'll be well used before I'm done with it!

Sweet, sweet FREE! How lucky is that!!?!

This little guy was almost lost, but a vigorous hard-reset brought it back to life... do you see the indents from button mashing on my index finger!?!

Yeah, that was a weird moment. I almost lost my Garmin a few days ago. I turned it on as one does a few moments before heading out the door to ride, and the sucker decided to punch out. Determined to not let a little computer get in the way of me having a good ride, I set out without it and came to terms with its demise somewhere in those 1.5 hour jaunt. At some point the next day I looked up the hard-reset and it worked - though I had to hold it for longer than what the various instructions said to - nothing to lose I guess. Before resuscitating it, I did look up and weigh up replacements. I almost pulled the trigger too. Holding true to my non-impulsive nature during my 24 hours without a Garmin, I was of course reminded that I did not need a computer that tracks my every effort in order to ride. It's a nice thing to have, but there is no way I need it. Part of me finds it completely unnecessary to even train with. It's a coach's tool, but for me - I do not believe I actually need it to train. Anway, I don't actually have to be without it so I'll table this debate for another day... or never.

I had to replace my rear tire last week. This bump was unbecoming of the trainer rides I so diligently put myself through.

I usually have longer runs on my cheap tires

I think this is where I will leave this aimless post. I'm hungry and need to drink more water.

Thanks for reading.

It's Been Too Long

Let's not drag our feet here... I've not been on this for a long time.

Since my last postings, a lot has naturally happened. It's the end of 2018 and I have caught my mind drifting to the time and effort I used to put into this. By whatever role it serves me, I always look fondly at this space.

the atrophy is real

Reflecting now on what brings me back... I would have to say it began at my legs. I was out for a ride the other day... other week - recent memory nonetheless, and I had a feeling from my legs I haven't experienced since my first year of riding. It was internal. Something purely in the language of my mind, body, and the billions of connections between. Tied to memories of my developing legs where there's fatigue, but it wasn't quite that.... The jungle gym my brain is trying to negotiate to explain what I felt is irrelevant. What I felt during that ride effectively brought me back to when I began riding and when I fell in love with it.

I've kept up riding since I last posted here. I've had my biggest cycling success (keep reading for a touch more on that) as well as my absolute toughest personal trials (and a triumph or two) since I last posted here. I'll keep this primarily to cycling, but I will say that over two years on from my last posting here, I have so much to appreciate in life. I am headed into the future with a direction, purpose, and partner that has backed me through it all.

"yes" in her words, not mine (also we got that stone down-sized since)

That ride that put that apparently indescribable feeling back into my legs also planted a seed that has me excited to revisit this as well as the future I still have in cycling. I'm in a doctor of physical therapy program in Northern VA until August, 2020. I will not likely be racing until the spring/summer of 2021. How old will I be then?... (literally taking a minute to think on this one) 32! I'll be 32 years old. I imagine I will be riding as much as I can during that summer of 2020, but racing will probably not be in the cards since I will have spent these last 3 years full-time in this program. My body will have changed from now and then. I have already noticed changes, but I also know that I will be able to control them when I focus up again to train to race. I wish it could start in earnest now, but I won't act like I haven't enjoyed putting so much effort to gaining the knowledge and skills that I will be using for years as a physical therapist... and cyclist.

note the light mount here... I really need to get a proper commuting bike.

I last posted here a few months before this, my third ever win. It was huge for me. I cried on my long drive home from it. It meant so much... more than I realized. It felt good. Really good. Addictive good. Even now I can still tap into it. It put a lot of self-belief back inside me. I will look back on it when I begin to train again and it will fuel me. You all deserved me posting in a big way about it, but I've just boiled it down for you. It won't be my last time I find the podium (and the top step thereof).

1st is so rare for me... the unnecessary bike throw is just how badly I needed to make sure I had it. also, I pinned my front wheel to the black between the yellow lines for that sprint to be sure I kept myself straight through to the line after I flew past a rider I had fooled into leading me out to the last corner. this race had everything I wanted to win with.

spot the garmin, then spot how much wind it's hitting...

Anyway, glad to see you're still here.

Maybe I'll post some stuff about my PT school journey to occupy some time and space. I do ride my bike the 13.5 miles in when I can (mentally or otherwise). Sorry-not-sorry for the poor writing this post. I'll work on it as I post more.

Thanks for reading.

Where's The Podium #25: All American - 18th

If I'm going to be honest, today was a disappointment. I could've/should've/would've done better. Like a thick fog, a certain weakness stifled my race today.

My teammates took 2nd and 3rd in our Cat4 race, and 4th in the masters-35+ Cat3/4. Awesome. I am happy that they have performed, and expect that they will be upgrading soon.

Yet, seeing/writing as how this blog is all about me... I think I should focus on my performance and result.

Horrible.

You know that feeling... how it feels like to be left out? - that's how it feels from this race. I was left out, and nowhere did that feel most pungent than during the post-race discussions about how good your form is and how good you are right now and how good this teammate or that teammate is .. those comments were not directed at me, nor should they have been. Don't feel sorry. Get away with that. No one congratulates, commends, or cares about my mid-pack finish - least of all me. No one cares that I was boxed-in, that I still had matches to burn, that I still felt strong during the sprint, or that the 'yellow-line rule," slow race pace, dodgy braking from other riders, or moto-ref all may have combined to keep me front doing anything to move up. No one should bend an ear to listen to my post-race recap of the final meters and how I "felt strong," "finished strong", and avoided all the near crashes for a false opportunity at a result because of this or that, and everything else. No one cares how you feel stronger this year than you did last year.

Prove it.

I hate excuses. They are worthless.

Thus, my race day ended up worthless. I will not waste your time explaining each of the four laps in great detail, but they followed a fairly expected path:

• Lap 1: Slow pothole orientation with a heaping side of moto-ref horn-blaring - the hills were easy - I've seen these road before.
• Lap 2: Less slow with more of the moto-ref mating call to each and every road without a center-line - this moto-ref is an ass.
• Lap 3: Some found it fast, I found it expectedly paced. Any breakaway, I knew, would be caught and I was glad for finally having a faster pace to this lap. The moto-ref was enjoying his authority to relegating about 1/3 of the actual offenders to the "yellow-line-rule" he so passionately pursued - which is why riders kept blatantly doing pissing all over that rule.
• Lap 4: I was focused, but expected and actually hoped for worse. For half the lap I thought the moto-ref had taken a back-seat to let the race pan out as it may, but he kept his necessary-annoyance known, and "nowhere to go" is a lock-in unless you are in the top-10 from the final turn even though I apparently inflated my final placement after the team's excited post-race chit-chat. Honest mistake, guys. I know I was better than some, but obviously not as good as I thought today.

Needless to say, my race finished with a terrible top-20. I usually leave right after finishes to these races, but I stuck around to try to soak up some of the good vibes from the WWVC results (not to mention the next wave of racers lined up right behind my car so I was stuck for the next half-hour regardless). As annoyed as I am at myself, I was happy to see my teammates enjoying their results. I decided to hang around the registration/results paddock, yet unfortunately, I was well out of place. Honestly, I did not belong with the top finishers - even though they were teammates of mine. Through no fault of their own, I had teammates talking about how good the team was, looks at me and exclaim.... "oh and that you're am a good sprinter sometimes too." Yeah... I needed to go.

That is what happens when you get complacent. That is what happens when you get lazy. That is what happens when you lose discipline, control, and self-confidence.

Complacency is a virus.

I am sick of letting myself down and hanging on to this if I am just going to tell the same story over and over again no matter how "strong" I feel.

The only truly good thing about today for me is that my car did not fail after having me run it on "zero" gas for miles on end until my gps could get me to a gas station. I need to get my oil changed, a tire replaced, and apparently a brake replaced... I smell exploitation from a grubby gas station, no?

Tomorrow looks to be a solo ride.

Thanks for reading.

Where's The Podium #23-24: Carl Dolan Back-to-Back 3/4-4/5 ? unknown & 27th

Well, my teammate took victory as the top Cat4 finisher (2nd in the race overall) of the 23rd Annual Carl Dolan Spring Classic Circuit Race in the 3/4 field. Another teammate took 4th in the Cat4 results. That makes for a pretty successful outing for this team in one day.

Not to mention that the guy on the top step here also went on to race the 4/5 race with me 20min after the 3/4... we had a lot of fun!

And I mean that. I made sure to give him a hug after the 3/4 finish. When I heard he took 2nd in the sprint (totally forgetting bout how that most likely meant he took 1st in the Cat4s), I was truly proud and happy for him and WWVC.

Aside from that... I was just as happy about my performance that day. Sure, I didn't get scored for finishing the 3/4 race because the official's camera (iPad?) died after the first 10 crossed the line even though I wasn't contending the finish anyway.... Sure, I finished an abysmal 27th in the 4/5 field that in no way seems like anything out of the ordinary for me given so many of my races finishing mid-pack or worse... but believe me when I say: I had a great day of races!

Let's take both races one at a time...

3/4

Fast. Hard. Hurt. Finished mid-pack...

4/5

Less Fast. Sketchy. Finished mid-pack...

Overall

Things were fine. It was a difficult day out with my legs certainly feeling the efforts. No one would know how "active" I felt I was. Of course, it was all for naught. Nothing I did added much to the race. I hoped me bridging to a breakaway, chasing a move, or riding tempo on the front could have helped a teammate, but I think we all know in a Cat4+/- field... those efforts mean nothing. I for sure know that my teammates would have come up with their results regardless of my "efforts" - congrats to my teammates. 

I need to focus on myself.

Thanks for reading.

Riding Through Early Season

It feels as thought I'm stronger and more prepared going into this season than any previous. Suffering has never felt more familiar. My training is focused and I am using what I have in front of me to get them most out of what time I have. From investing in a new training program to upgrading my bike frame, excuses are worth truly less than ever.

This post might be a rolling along a different tone than my last post singeing in the burns of a poor race outing, but I must commit to my process. Obviously, there is a lot of room for improvement. It is not difficult to point where I can make gains...

Mass. -- More on that later.

On the positive, I have made gains in other targeted areas. I am learning more about how to handle my new frame. I have noticed skills and abilities sharpened. It's as if riding with control has become a matter of second nature.

The second nature of riding should not be much of a surprise, but what makes this a point of encouragement is the depth to which I sense it now. It is maybe part of what I keeping me fulfilled when riding. My senses on the bike are solid and allow me to continue to focus on areas of opportunity for improvement.

That's a nice way of saying I still have a lot of areas to which I can improve. Paramount of which brings us to that aforementioned word: mass. Beyond natural ability, success in cycling is predicated on the age-old ratio/concept of "strength-to-weight." That ratio is something to live and die by. I mean, maybe it's not all that dire, but it is. Your max and FTP powers might be "impressive," "high," "better than the next guy," or even "elite," but its means nothing if your mass (weight) is also higher than it could be.

There is no need for me insult you by going further on this topic where others can explain it better. What I will go on to say is that the strength to weigh ratio is an area that I have had room for improvement my whole cycling career. I know that I am not alone and that others have gone to great lengths to limit this as a liability. I know of riders that have found great success through putting in effort to improve this area as much as they do to improve any number of the others.

This, now, is where I must place my focus. You all should know by now how lucky I feel to be able to ride, race, and have this as part of my life. With that, I feel I owe this life experience and myself the effort to make the most out of it that I can.

My training leading up to this season has has me put myself through things I was scared to before. I feel very much in tune with my body and the efforts I am pushing further and further. I can sense the responses my body and mind are making to efforts. What I now aim to do will go hand-in-hand with that. I have nothing to lose, and maybe some things to gain by losing mass that holds me back. My afternoon's ride setting a new max power in a sprint means nothing but a new bar to exceed.

That's enough... I have work to do.

Thanks for reading.

Where's The Podium #22: Route One Rampage - 17th

The first race of the year/season/campaign/2016 push...

Honestly, not so great.

Subjectively, this race was fine. It happened. It counted. It challenged. It passed.

Objectively, it was a disaster. I mean... what do you push through 30x30's for but for races like this? What are you even making trying to train for but for races like this? And why did I not ride the 3/4 race?

If I really, honestly, objectively look back on how I raced this season opener... there is nothing to find solace in:

• I did not line up at the front - happens, but I know better than to let that dictate anything
• I caught up to the front group after riding hard - dropped back rather than suffer though suffering
• I accepted defeat.

Speedbumps pitched my handlebars aggressively beyond confort.

I do not think there is much else to say. I am not very balanced as a rider right now. Power means nothing if you cannot make it work for you. Sure, I can drive hard and catch back on to groups and out sprint the riders I was with at the end, but to what success? No victory was left for me at the line. 

I know where my weaknesses lie. I am working on the self-discipline that I believe will help me achieve what I want. 

I will conclude by saying that I need to not be so afraid of things. It's getting on my nerves.

Not from race day, but I like it anyway.

Thanks for reading.