Lance Armstrong Busted for Banned Substances
PARIS, France --
Lance Armstrong's record setting seventh Tour de
France victory, along with his entire Tour de France
legacy, may be tarnished by what could turn out to be
one of the greatest sports scandals of all time.
Armstrong is being quizzed by French police after
three banned substances were found in his South France
hotel room while on vacation after winning the 2005
Tour de France.
The three substances found were toothpaste, deodorant,
and soap which have been banned by French authorities
for over 75 years.
Armstrong's girlfriend, American rocker Sheryl Crowe,
is quoted as saying "We use them every day in America,
so we naturally thought they'd be ok throughout
Europe."
Along with these three banned substances, French
authorities also physically searched Armstrong and
found several other interesting items that they had
never seen before, including a backbone and a testicle.
***pretty funny, I just had to pass that along
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Introducing...
On the ride sunday morning, a certain member of the GCC expressed his disbelief that I am truley married. Aparently, the many refrences I've made about my wife throughout all the rides over the year(s) have created what some feel to be a myth. With no visual confirmation of my wife, a "certain member" has generated the theory that I don't actually have a wife, and I only make refrences to one in order to conceal some sort of "alternate lifestyle". (not there is anything wrong with that)
So, I am now going to confront this issue and put an end to all the conjecture.
I do in fact have a wife, her name is Jennifer and we have been married over four years. She occasionally writes comments on this blog and has even met certain other members of the GCC in person (see Scott P., Joe B.or Doug F.). She is more a fan of cycling than she is a participant. Since there is no faith in the fact that I DO have a wife ( Faith- n. Belief that does not rely on material evidence) For the much needed visual confirmation I now send you to a link of my wife.
***editorial note: linked image may ruin appetite...view with caution.
Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!!
Well college football season is once again upon us. Tailgates, bar-b-ques, roudy fans, orange and blue everywhere, the gator chomp and exciting games! With the arrival of Urban Meyer to Gainesville, there is a buzz in this town that hasn't been seen since the Spurrier reign came to an end.
I've been to some of the team's open practices, I've been to luncheons that featured presentaions by Urban Meyer and I've watched, read and heard just about everything our new coach has had to say. Am I convinced you ask, HELL YES I AM! This coach has approached his new position with the confidence, dicipline and attitude that will return our football program to the national spotlight. We may not be playing for a national title this year, but my guess is that we will sometime before Meyer's 7-yr contract is up.
Bottom line is, I hope you all are as excited as I am about our first game this saturday at the SWAMP. I'll have my tailgate set up, orange and blue on my back and a beer in my hand ready to lose my voice for the Gators.
no, really...
I was just kidding about that hideous image that I linked you to earlier. This is the REAL Jennifer:
Here we are on the ski lift in Breckenridge, CO. Now you can clearly see her...
... just kidding again, yes that's her, but she is a bit obscurred by the goggles and ski jacket.
Here she is for real:
and here she is again,
this was in NYC last october.
Here she is again,
...this was taken on Brasstown Bald during this year's Tour de Georgia (that's the cycling fan part)
Finally, this is Jen and I in Colorado last december.
So I hope this puts and end to any curiosity any of you have concerning my "mythological" wife. Maybe if yer lucky enough, one day you'll have the absolute pleasure of meeting her.
Editorial note: Jen's work bio can be viewed here
So, I am now going to confront this issue and put an end to all the conjecture.
I do in fact have a wife, her name is Jennifer and we have been married over four years. She occasionally writes comments on this blog and has even met certain other members of the GCC in person (see Scott P., Joe B.or Doug F.). She is more a fan of cycling than she is a participant. Since there is no faith in the fact that I DO have a wife ( Faith- n. Belief that does not rely on material evidence) For the much needed visual confirmation I now send you to a link of my wife.
***editorial note: linked image may ruin appetite...view with caution.
Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!!
Well college football season is once again upon us. Tailgates, bar-b-ques, roudy fans, orange and blue everywhere, the gator chomp and exciting games! With the arrival of Urban Meyer to Gainesville, there is a buzz in this town that hasn't been seen since the Spurrier reign came to an end.
I've been to some of the team's open practices, I've been to luncheons that featured presentaions by Urban Meyer and I've watched, read and heard just about everything our new coach has had to say. Am I convinced you ask, HELL YES I AM! This coach has approached his new position with the confidence, dicipline and attitude that will return our football program to the national spotlight. We may not be playing for a national title this year, but my guess is that we will sometime before Meyer's 7-yr contract is up. Bottom line is, I hope you all are as excited as I am about our first game this saturday at the SWAMP. I'll have my tailgate set up, orange and blue on my back and a beer in my hand ready to lose my voice for the Gators.
no, really...
I was just kidding about that hideous image that I linked you to earlier. This is the REAL Jennifer:
Here we are on the ski lift in Breckenridge, CO. Now you can clearly see her...
... just kidding again, yes that's her, but she is a bit obscurred by the goggles and ski jacket.
Here she is for real:
and here she is again,
this was in NYC last october.
Here she is again,
...this was taken on Brasstown Bald during this year's Tour de Georgia (that's the cycling fan part)
Finally, this is Jen and I in Colorado last december.
So I hope this puts and end to any curiosity any of you have concerning my "mythological" wife. Maybe if yer lucky enough, one day you'll have the absolute pleasure of meeting her.
Editorial note: Jen's work bio can be viewed here
Friday, August 26, 2005
I didn't ride, so now what?
I heard that there was lightning is Ft. Lauderdale, so I thought it'd be best if I didn't ride thursday. (ha)
I'll tell ya what...
The thursday night ride aside, there have been some news stories that I'll comment on. There have been a lot of comments on the previous post, some of them have dealt with the Armstrong-EPO acusations.
First off, let me just say that I'm SICK of all the doping talk! Not just cycling but baseball, football, olympics, whatever. I just don't care anymore...sure I'd like to be able to know that every athlete in the world in playing fairly, but that's just not the case. It's gotten to the point that doping allegations are the #1 sports stories. Case in point:
Once the Armstrong allegations came out earlier this week, that became top story. Sure, it should be mentioned...but I don't think it should take precedence over news stories such as Levi Leipheimer winning the Tour of Germany. Sports Center never even mentioned it! Even on cycling related web sites, the doping issues are the lead story and you have to search to find out that Levi just popped a cap in the ass of the ToG!
I hate the fact that the media is consumed with the negatives of sport so much. I hate that every sports channel that I watch is talking about EPO, steroids, doping, perormance enhancement. I just want to hear who won last nights baseball game, or how many yards Leftwich threw for last night.
Thank god for the Little League World Series. A bunch of kids out playing a game they love. No cheating, no doping contraversy, just throwing, catching and hitting....the basics!
...and by the way, I still tink Armstrong is a bad ass cyclist!
Now that I got that off of my chest...
Here is an Ulrich propaganda chart that was sent to me pertaining to the past 7 TdF's. If your not interested in being subjected to more anti-Armstrong rhetoric...DON'T click here.
By the way...I know it's in German so I'll translate for you... it says, "Ulrich just placed second to ANOTHER American"..."and this time it was on his home turf"
***the editorial staff would like to point out that this is not a direct translation
Ask Dr. Mike
I know that some of the viewers aren't privy to the Team Florida (UF's cycling team) listserv. Recently there were a few emails that went back and forth about cycling and how it relates to overweight folks. It was a lot more involved than how I just explained it, but that was the jist of things. Anyway, I wanted to copy the banter between two of the "post-ers" so you could read it for yourself. One of the "post-ers" is Mike Robinson, who frequents the GCC rides...I found it entertaining how Mike was just trying to make a basic statement about burning calories and another Dr. responded with a very academic and long-winded rebuttle. Then Mike countered with his own academic response. Arguing Doctors are funny!
by the way, the emails start at the bottom chronologically...so in order for them to make sense, read the bottom email first.
I've made this available in PDF format. Since this is new to 5count, I hope you have Acrobat reader...if you don't, get with it, it's 2005.
Get the PDF
I'll tell ya what...
The thursday night ride aside, there have been some news stories that I'll comment on. There have been a lot of comments on the previous post, some of them have dealt with the Armstrong-EPO acusations.
First off, let me just say that I'm SICK of all the doping talk! Not just cycling but baseball, football, olympics, whatever. I just don't care anymore...sure I'd like to be able to know that every athlete in the world in playing fairly, but that's just not the case. It's gotten to the point that doping allegations are the #1 sports stories. Case in point:
I hate the fact that the media is consumed with the negatives of sport so much. I hate that every sports channel that I watch is talking about EPO, steroids, doping, perormance enhancement. I just want to hear who won last nights baseball game, or how many yards Leftwich threw for last night.
Thank god for the Little League World Series. A bunch of kids out playing a game they love. No cheating, no doping contraversy, just throwing, catching and hitting....the basics!
...and by the way, I still tink Armstrong is a bad ass cyclist!
Now that I got that off of my chest...
Here is an Ulrich propaganda chart that was sent to me pertaining to the past 7 TdF's. If your not interested in being subjected to more anti-Armstrong rhetoric...DON'T click here.
By the way...I know it's in German so I'll translate for you... it says, "Ulrich just placed second to ANOTHER American"..."and this time it was on his home turf"
***the editorial staff would like to point out that this is not a direct translation
Ask Dr. Mike
I know that some of the viewers aren't privy to the Team Florida (UF's cycling team) listserv. Recently there were a few emails that went back and forth about cycling and how it relates to overweight folks. It was a lot more involved than how I just explained it, but that was the jist of things. Anyway, I wanted to copy the banter between two of the "post-ers" so you could read it for yourself. One of the "post-ers" is Mike Robinson, who frequents the GCC rides...I found it entertaining how Mike was just trying to make a basic statement about burning calories and another Dr. responded with a very academic and long-winded rebuttle. Then Mike countered with his own academic response. Arguing Doctors are funny!
by the way, the emails start at the bottom chronologically...so in order for them to make sense, read the bottom email first.
I've made this available in PDF format. Since this is new to 5count, I hope you have Acrobat reader...if you don't, get with it, it's 2005.
Get the PDF
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Better Safe than Dead
Tuesday (8-23)My tuesday ride was cut short due to inclement weather. There was lightning all over, but the final straw was the strike that cracked just above our heads (i looked at my computer and instead of average speed is just read "TURN AROUND") I know many of you are going to want to give me s**t for turning around and heading home shortly after the ride started. To those of you let me just respond like this:
To those of you who were on the ride... you should hve a little more value for your own lives. If you were smart, you would've turned around and followed me to safety. Bottom line: yer all CRAZY!
To those of you not on the ride...you weren't even out there at all so shhhhhhh.
Anthony, Mike and myself rode home and called it a day. Anyway, I had a dozen things I could be doing instead of being electricuted.
In other news...
� Levi Leipheimer held on to his lead in the Tour of Germany to take the final yellow jersey. Jan Ulrich once again placed 2nd to an American, but he did win the penultimate stage (TT) convincingly.
� The Discovery Channel team has announced its roster for the Vuelta a Espana which starts Saturday, August 27 in Grenada and finishes Sunday, September 18 in Madrid. The team, which has won both grand tours this year, will field Jose Azevedo, Michael Barry, Manuel Beltran, Tom Danielson, Stijn Devolder, Leif Hoste, Benoit Joachim, Benjamin Noval, and Max van Heeswisjk.
I'm jealous that Anthony will be in Spain for a portion of the race, but I hope he has a good time and gets some great pics.
� Tyler Farrar has achieved his goal of securing a ProTour contract for 2006 with the news that he will line out it the colours of the Cofidis squad next season. Farrar is seen as one of the most promising young US riders, with a stage win in last year's Tour de L'Avenir to his credit, as well as national under 23 titles in the 2004 criterium and time trial championships. Tyler has also just won the US Pro Criterium championships last weekend in Chicago.
The Attack in the Hills...
Sunday (8-21)
I'm afraid that I may have missed my window to acurately depict the happenings of sunday's GCC ride (8-21). But I'll go ahead and throw something up here so that those of you who love to comment will have something to comment on.
• About 22 people on the A ride
• About 70 miles in length
• A civil ride all the way to the rest stop with no attacks (other than a couple of sprints to the city limit signs)
• As soon as we saw the first hint of elevation change...all hell broke loose!
• Strong men on the day were by far Jim and Tony.
• At one point they were the only two pulling at the front. The rest of us were sucking wheel, hoping for the pace to slow so that we could get our heart rates down below 400.
• The group was wittled down to The Elite Eleven by the time we came out of Alachua.
•• If memory serves me correctly the 11 were:
Jim
Tony
Anthony
Lambert
Me (Paul)
Mike
Scott P.
Scott ?.
Jayson
Huan
Ed
• At one point, I noticed that we were ascending a pretty substatial hill on 241 at 28 mph...we crested the hill and only descended at 25 mph. The point is, we went up the hills very very fast!
• In the closing miles Jayson made not 1, not 2, but 3 huge attempts to get away. Each time he was brought back, but kudos for the efforts!
• Anthony was in good position at the end to do a nice lead out for the eventual winner, Jim.
• Jim left sunday evening to return to his home in Chi-town...and we are all going to miss the suffering he put us through...NOT!
• Tony took a hard faught 2nd to the unstoppable Jim.
My mountain bike ride on Saturday
My wife and I didn't even get a mile into the ride and my saddle came off. Confronted with the dilema of calling it a day or persevering with a dilapidated seat, I chose the latter and forged ahead. Going back to the truck would have been futile as I didn't have the appropriate tools to mend my defunct perch.
Long story short: I stood up the entire ride and my calves paid the price. (mental note...bring tool box when going out to San Felasco for mountain biking)
I'm afraid that I may have missed my window to acurately depict the happenings of sunday's GCC ride (8-21). But I'll go ahead and throw something up here so that those of you who love to comment will have something to comment on.
• About 22 people on the A ride
• About 70 miles in length
• A civil ride all the way to the rest stop with no attacks (other than a couple of sprints to the city limit signs)
• As soon as we saw the first hint of elevation change...all hell broke loose!
• Strong men on the day were by far Jim and Tony.
• At one point they were the only two pulling at the front. The rest of us were sucking wheel, hoping for the pace to slow so that we could get our heart rates down below 400.
• The group was wittled down to The Elite Eleven by the time we came out of Alachua.
•• If memory serves me correctly the 11 were:
Jim
Tony
Anthony
Lambert
Me (Paul)
Mike
Scott P.
Scott ?.
Jayson
Huan
Ed
• At one point, I noticed that we were ascending a pretty substatial hill on 241 at 28 mph...we crested the hill and only descended at 25 mph. The point is, we went up the hills very very fast!
• In the closing miles Jayson made not 1, not 2, but 3 huge attempts to get away. Each time he was brought back, but kudos for the efforts!
• Anthony was in good position at the end to do a nice lead out for the eventual winner, Jim.
• Jim left sunday evening to return to his home in Chi-town...and we are all going to miss the suffering he put us through...NOT!
• Tony took a hard faught 2nd to the unstoppable Jim.
My mountain bike ride on Saturday
My wife and I didn't even get a mile into the ride and my saddle came off. Confronted with the dilema of calling it a day or persevering with a dilapidated seat, I chose the latter and forged ahead. Going back to the truck would have been futile as I didn't have the appropriate tools to mend my defunct perch.
Long story short: I stood up the entire ride and my calves paid the price. (mental note...bring tool box when going out to San Felasco for mountain biking)
Friday, August 19, 2005
A potpourri of things...
In regards to Levi's wife
There were a few comments about Levi Leipheimer's wife, Odessa, in yesterdays post. Yeah she's a good looking girl, and yes that's a great catch for a short, skinny, bald man...But she isn't even half as hot as Ivan Basso's sister. And the way she totes her two little "rat-like" dogs around all dressed up leads me to think she's one of those wacky high-maintenance chicks, like Paris Hilton without as much money. I'm not that intrigued with Odessa, and what kind of name is Odessa anyway?
Here's something odd
Check out the link below. It's a homepage for the 2008 presidential campaign of Christopher Walken. Most of you will remember Walken from his roles in movies such as; Pulp Fiction, Joe Dirt, Catch Me if you Can, The Rundown, Kangaroo Jack, Gigli, Wayne's World 2 and Biloxi Blues, just to name a few of the 96 major motion pictures he has apperared in since 1953. None of you probably know him due to his staunch political stand on issues such as; stem cell research, abortion, finance reform or war. None-the-less, this web site appears to have a serious tone to it. I spent a little time perusing the site, always anticipating a punch-line...but no punch-line ever came. Is it a hoax, or can Christopher Walken actually be serious about running for president???
http://www.walken2008.com/index.html
Thursday night's ride
We varied from our normal route last night in order to avoid some inclimate weather. The alternate route took us home on a flat 121 as opposed to the hilly 241 option.
All in all, a nice ride...we had planned on sprinting to the intersection just before the light at 441, but the intersection had traffic and a red light. Safety prevailed and the sprint never came to fruition, however, the lead out was sick with Danny and then Anthony pulling at 32 mph for the last mile or so. Anthony did mention how good he was feeling and had hoped for our normal route so he could attack on every climb. This makes me happy in our decision to avoid the rain and come home fast and flat.
The route was slightly shorter, but with Danny flatting...things worked out perfectly. I would like to thank myself for proposing the alternate route idea...I'm a genious!
• The funniest thing on the ride...was when Scott made an attempt at comedy with a reference to some old movie (the actual reference escapes me at the moment, that's how unfunny it was), but then Ira made the Saturday Night Live reference about Chris Farley as his "El Nino" character:
"I am El Nino! All other tropical storms must bow before El Nino! Yo soy El Nino! For those of you who don't "habla Espanol", El Nino is Spanish for... THE Nino!
Here's one more quote that I think is very funny...do you know what movie this is from...?
"Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time."
here's a hint
There were a few comments about Levi Leipheimer's wife, Odessa, in yesterdays post. Yeah she's a good looking girl, and yes that's a great catch for a short, skinny, bald man...But she isn't even half as hot as Ivan Basso's sister. And the way she totes her two little "rat-like" dogs around all dressed up leads me to think she's one of those wacky high-maintenance chicks, like Paris Hilton without as much money. I'm not that intrigued with Odessa, and what kind of name is Odessa anyway?Here's something odd
Check out the link below. It's a homepage for the 2008 presidential campaign of Christopher Walken. Most of you will remember Walken from his roles in movies such as; Pulp Fiction, Joe Dirt, Catch Me if you Can, The Rundown, Kangaroo Jack, Gigli, Wayne's World 2 and Biloxi Blues, just to name a few of the 96 major motion pictures he has apperared in since 1953. None of you probably know him due to his staunch political stand on issues such as; stem cell research, abortion, finance reform or war. None-the-less, this web site appears to have a serious tone to it. I spent a little time perusing the site, always anticipating a punch-line...but no punch-line ever came. Is it a hoax, or can Christopher Walken actually be serious about running for president???http://www.walken2008.com/index.html
Thursday night's ride
We varied from our normal route last night in order to avoid some inclimate weather. The alternate route took us home on a flat 121 as opposed to the hilly 241 option.
All in all, a nice ride...we had planned on sprinting to the intersection just before the light at 441, but the intersection had traffic and a red light. Safety prevailed and the sprint never came to fruition, however, the lead out was sick with Danny and then Anthony pulling at 32 mph for the last mile or so. Anthony did mention how good he was feeling and had hoped for our normal route so he could attack on every climb. This makes me happy in our decision to avoid the rain and come home fast and flat.
The route was slightly shorter, but with Danny flatting...things worked out perfectly. I would like to thank myself for proposing the alternate route idea...I'm a genious!
• The funniest thing on the ride...was when Scott made an attempt at comedy with a reference to some old movie (the actual reference escapes me at the moment, that's how unfunny it was), but then Ira made the Saturday Night Live reference about Chris Farley as his "El Nino" character:"I am El Nino! All other tropical storms must bow before El Nino! Yo soy El Nino! For those of you who don't "habla Espanol", El Nino is Spanish for... THE Nino!
Here's one more quote that I think is very funny...do you know what movie this is from...?
"Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time."
here's a hint
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Levi news
Leipheimer wins mountain stage of Tour of Germany
Americans are winning in Danny and Susan's homeland. Levi took the stage today as well as the overall jersey and the polka dots. He now stands 15 seconds over his teamate Georg Totschnig and 50 seconds over the race favorite Jan Ullrich. Link to the full story on cyclingnews.com by clicking on this posts title.
See I told you that the American cycling future was in good hands.
In other news...
Levi has been dealing with premature baldness for the last decade. He has undergone massive hair-replacement therapy in the weeks following the tour de France. Below is a file photo of Levi before his therapy taken at the beginning of the year.
Click on the image of Levi to see the progress made due to his massive hair-replacement therapy...
...amazing huh?
Americans are winning in Danny and Susan's homeland. Levi took the stage today as well as the overall jersey and the polka dots. He now stands 15 seconds over his teamate Georg Totschnig and 50 seconds over the race favorite Jan Ullrich. Link to the full story on cyclingnews.com by clicking on this posts title.See I told you that the American cycling future was in good hands.
In other news...
Levi has been dealing with premature baldness for the last decade. He has undergone massive hair-replacement therapy in the weeks following the tour de France. Below is a file photo of Levi before his therapy taken at the beginning of the year.
Click on the image of Levi to see the progress made due to his massive hair-replacement therapy...
...amazing huh?
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Tuesday (8-16)
Well, it's definitely getting darker quicker these days...by the time I got home tonight, it was pretty much sunless. Our rides are going to either have to start earlier, or go a bit shorter here within the next week or two. Like Lambert pointed out tonight, we can still make it in time...but if someone were to have a flat, we'd be cutting things too close.
There was some new blood out on the ride this evening. Rachel Hallum, of the Orlando Road Club had just recently relocated to G-ville to work on her Masters degeree, and Travis (last name unknown) who is an eager 17 year old looking to seriously get into road cycling. Rachel had been racing for a while and plans to do some collegiate racing this coming year with Team Florida. Travis is new to riding in groups, but obviously has a good base of fitness...we just need to educate him on the finer points of the pack dynamics.
As far as the ride went...I'll keep it simple. There were about 15 of us at the start, which is one of the larger size groups that we've had. Shortly after turning north on 239, Lambert attacked hard which opened a flood gate of attacks by Ed, Scott, Danny and Mike R.. That was all it took for us to drop half of the group. Realizing that our first-time participants were dropped, Lambert, Ed and Danny stopped to wait while Myself, Mike R., Scott and Ira slowed to 13 mph so that the group could reform.
Once back together, we headed south on 241 as a civil group...UNTIL, the young Travis "attacked" on the Moby Dick hill while Danny was on the front. Aparently, Danny wasn't havin any of that and launched an incredible pace all the way up the most brutal climb of our tues/thur ride. That was to be the final selection as Danny, Ed, Lambert, Ira, Scott, Mike and Myself would ride it out to the end.
On the way up Millhopper tonight, Bambi strutted out into the middle of the street and stood perfectly still as she stared at us while we approached. We slowed in order to avoid hitting her and she darted off into the woods.
We Quickly ascended the I-75 overpass and without much of a chance to recover, Danny had us sprinting up the last hill of the ride. That accelaration knocked a couple of guys off the back (don't ask me who, I was close to throwing up at that point). We rolled towards the sprint sign as Mike burst into a 30+ mph lead out, followed by Ed who left me with too much road for my sprint. Danny was on my wheel and I let him start the sprint. I was able to hold his wheel as he went around me, but that was it...I was cooked.
Second aint bad considering the early hammering. But Danny has proven to be the man to beat when the going gets tough.
Following the ride I wasn't feeling "tip-top" if you know what I mean. A headache, dizzy and overall not good...I guess I shouldn't try to join in on the hammer-fest on the days that I skip lunch. Let me just nip the inevitable trash-talk in the bud...
Yes, I did call my wife to see if she would pick me up at the gas station and save me from my hellish 3 mile ride home.
No, she wasn't home and I peddaled my weak a** home all by myself.
so I don't want to hear any crap about getting a ride home
There was some new blood out on the ride this evening. Rachel Hallum, of the Orlando Road Club had just recently relocated to G-ville to work on her Masters degeree, and Travis (last name unknown) who is an eager 17 year old looking to seriously get into road cycling. Rachel had been racing for a while and plans to do some collegiate racing this coming year with Team Florida. Travis is new to riding in groups, but obviously has a good base of fitness...we just need to educate him on the finer points of the pack dynamics.
As far as the ride went...I'll keep it simple. There were about 15 of us at the start, which is one of the larger size groups that we've had. Shortly after turning north on 239, Lambert attacked hard which opened a flood gate of attacks by Ed, Scott, Danny and Mike R.. That was all it took for us to drop half of the group. Realizing that our first-time participants were dropped, Lambert, Ed and Danny stopped to wait while Myself, Mike R., Scott and Ira slowed to 13 mph so that the group could reform.
Once back together, we headed south on 241 as a civil group...UNTIL, the young Travis "attacked" on the Moby Dick hill while Danny was on the front. Aparently, Danny wasn't havin any of that and launched an incredible pace all the way up the most brutal climb of our tues/thur ride. That was to be the final selection as Danny, Ed, Lambert, Ira, Scott, Mike and Myself would ride it out to the end.
On the way up Millhopper tonight, Bambi strutted out into the middle of the street and stood perfectly still as she stared at us while we approached. We slowed in order to avoid hitting her and she darted off into the woods.
We Quickly ascended the I-75 overpass and without much of a chance to recover, Danny had us sprinting up the last hill of the ride. That accelaration knocked a couple of guys off the back (don't ask me who, I was close to throwing up at that point). We rolled towards the sprint sign as Mike burst into a 30+ mph lead out, followed by Ed who left me with too much road for my sprint. Danny was on my wheel and I let him start the sprint. I was able to hold his wheel as he went around me, but that was it...I was cooked.
Second aint bad considering the early hammering. But Danny has proven to be the man to beat when the going gets tough. Following the ride I wasn't feeling "tip-top" if you know what I mean. A headache, dizzy and overall not good...I guess I shouldn't try to join in on the hammer-fest on the days that I skip lunch. Let me just nip the inevitable trash-talk in the bud...
Yes, I did call my wife to see if she would pick me up at the gas station and save me from my hellish 3 mile ride home.
No, she wasn't home and I peddaled my weak a** home all by myself.
so I don't want to hear any crap about getting a ride home
Monday, August 15, 2005
Ouch!
Picture of the Day...
Ouch! this is no way to finish a race! A 45+ cyclist face plants while racing in the 44th Manhattan Beach Grand Prix in California over the weekend. for full race story, click this post's title
Saturday's ride
A nice day, if you like riding your bike in hell. By that I mean it was HOT, HOT, HOT. But I guess we've all become accustom to hot days in the saddle...or at least we've come to accept the hot days in the saddle.
Our ride was graced by Rebecca Larson, who is back from a busy season of racing professionally with the Colavita/Cooking Light cycling team. Rebecca recently placed 6th against the best in America at the 2005 U.S. Elite National Road Race Championships.Another odd ride as there were attacks prior to the rest stop. I'm not sure what the catalyst was, but never-the-less, we were tearing down 441 in High Springs at 28-30 mph for the final eight miles before we stopped to refuel. At one point there was an effort to slow things down, but Lambert attacked again bringing the speed back up to 30 mph. With about three or four miles before the break, I got gapped when someone about 4 places in front of me sat up. When nobody tried to close the gap I sprinted back up to the end of the remaining cyclists at 35 mph. Needless to say, I was happy to get to the gas station and attempt to cool down.
There was talk of keeping the ride civil on the way home due to the frenetic pace up to that point...and for the first 3 miles it was. But just as I was rotating back to the rear, there was an acceleration at the front. I was now looking at having to chase up to the group AGAIN. I upped my pace and still wasn't closing on them, so after looking behind me and seeing that nobody was coming with I jumped out of the saddle and sprinted again up to the lead group. A few more did eventually bridge the gap as well, but that settled the lead group for the remainder of the ride.
I was unfortunately at the front of the group as we began to climb Chestnut Hill. I tried to a set a pace high-enough so as to deter the masochistic hammerheads from sprinting up to the top. Half-way up, I ran out of gas and watched as half of the group floated past me. Knowing that this was going to be THE move, I wrecked myself to maintain contact with them as we crested the hill and began the descent. I thought the lactic acid in my legs was going to burn through my shorts...but I held on.
At this point there were just 8 of us: Rebecca L., Danny M., Brett M., Jayson O., Mike R., Ira T., Naked Ed and Myself. Ed pulled off for a nature break just as we turned onto Millhopper, I guess when you gotta go, you gotta GO! I was thankful that nobody attacked over the I-75 overpass, cause I would have surely burst into flames right there on the side of the road. However, shortly after all the climbing was behind us, Jayson smartly attacked and caught our tired group off gaurd. Rebecca and Mike R. were the only ones to chase him down and the rest of us half-heartedly tried to maintain a high pace with the dream that they would come back to us.
We kept the 3 leaders within a hundred yards, but that was as close as they would get. Brett came to the front and put in a good chase at 28 mph but when he pulled off none of us could maintain it...thus ending our ride for the day. Apparently Mike didn't contest the sprint, and Rebecca was unsure of the sprint sign, but even with Jayson's great attack in the closing miles, my bet is that Rebecca was still the best on the day.
RESULTS:
1) Jayson O'Mahoney........
2) Rebecca Larson............ s.t.
3) Mike Robinson............. s.t.
4) Brett Miller................... 00:37
5) Danny Muehlschlegel... s.t.
6) Paul Messal.................. s.t.
7) Ira Thorpe.................... s.t.
***final results are based on hearsay and post-ride BS. They are in NO way "official". Readers should not attempt to refute these results as the editorial staff had basically made them up. Thank-you for reading.
As far as sunday goes...
I 86'd the GCC ride and took my wife, Jen, out to San Felaso for some leisurely mountain biking. This was my first time out on the fat tires in quite a while and the first time my wife had been on any kind of bike in even longer.
The heat and gradual climbs on the unshaded single-track sections quickly got the best of Jen and we cut the ride short and headed back for the parking lot. I still managed to wipe out while trying to be Billy-bad-a** on the power-line trail descent. A couple of scratches, some sore muscles and a bruised shin (and ego), but nothing major. I think we'll try it again next saturday, hopefully with better results.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Thursday's Ride (8-11)
The word is spreading! This "grass roots" blog is bieng talked about, it's being read, it's being scrutinized, it's being enjoyed and it's even being envied (Jayson). Hats off to those of you who faithfuly read and comment...you are the ones that make this blog worth writing; cause if it weren't for my faithful viewers, I'd just be puttin words on screen for myself to read...and if I'm the only one readin, I could be talking about my true love....musicals! (did I type that out loud?)
I got a call from a GCC member earlier tonight requesting the URL address of the blog he has been hearing about. I realize that some of you are shy and don't like to be put in the spotlight (no, I'm not talking about you Huan) so I won't tell you it was Tony (refer to the post titled "Hot, Hilly, Hard and HOT!" from july 18th). But this just shows that people like to hear about what's going on in the local cycling community.
Anyway...
In this evenings ride, there were only 6 of us at the start: Ira, Carl, Ed, Mike R., Scott and myself. We picked up Huan in Alachua and lost Carl somewhere before we hit Chestnut Hill.
We maintained an easier pace and opted for a route without all the climbs that 241 offers. Still averaging a respectable 22-23 mph we came to the bottom of Chestnut and Huan jumped. I went after him and noticed my speedometer was reading 22mph on the way up the catagory 1 climb (that's the G-ville catagorization). Unfortunatly I popped like a balloon once I passed Huan. Everyone regrouped on the decent and we headed for home, all except for Huan who headed back to Alachua where his car was parked.
We linked up with Anthony just before the left turn onto Millhopper, so he was lookin to do a good lead out. Just as we started going up the I-75 overpass on Millhopper, Scott had a very timely flat. Even though we were within 6 miles of the finish, nobody had a problem escorting him over the climb at 10mph into the San Felasco trail parking lot to fix the flat.
Carl caught up to us as we finished the repairs and we were off again. Anthony went to the front and got us back up to speed quickly. At the end, Anthony was on the front pulling hard, Mike jumped from 5th wheel. I was sitting right behind him and saw the attack soon enough to respond and stayed with him as he ramped it up over 30 mph. We were still a ways out so I didn't figure on him taking it all the way in, but he did pull me to within about 150 yards of the sign when I jumped. Ira was on my wheel so I lowered my head and burried it all the way.
Good ride for all of us. It seemed to be a bit darker at the end of the ride tonight. We probably have only a couple more weeks of 40 mile routs, then we'll have to cut it a little shorter in order to get home before the street lights come on.
Thanks for reading...
I got a call from a GCC member earlier tonight requesting the URL address of the blog he has been hearing about. I realize that some of you are shy and don't like to be put in the spotlight (no, I'm not talking about you Huan) so I won't tell you it was Tony (refer to the post titled "Hot, Hilly, Hard and HOT!" from july 18th). But this just shows that people like to hear about what's going on in the local cycling community.Anyway...
In this evenings ride, there were only 6 of us at the start: Ira, Carl, Ed, Mike R., Scott and myself. We picked up Huan in Alachua and lost Carl somewhere before we hit Chestnut Hill.
We maintained an easier pace and opted for a route without all the climbs that 241 offers. Still averaging a respectable 22-23 mph we came to the bottom of Chestnut and Huan jumped. I went after him and noticed my speedometer was reading 22mph on the way up the catagory 1 climb (that's the G-ville catagorization). Unfortunatly I popped like a balloon once I passed Huan. Everyone regrouped on the decent and we headed for home, all except for Huan who headed back to Alachua where his car was parked.
We linked up with Anthony just before the left turn onto Millhopper, so he was lookin to do a good lead out. Just as we started going up the I-75 overpass on Millhopper, Scott had a very timely flat. Even though we were within 6 miles of the finish, nobody had a problem escorting him over the climb at 10mph into the San Felasco trail parking lot to fix the flat.
Carl caught up to us as we finished the repairs and we were off again. Anthony went to the front and got us back up to speed quickly. At the end, Anthony was on the front pulling hard, Mike jumped from 5th wheel. I was sitting right behind him and saw the attack soon enough to respond and stayed with him as he ramped it up over 30 mph. We were still a ways out so I didn't figure on him taking it all the way in, but he did pull me to within about 150 yards of the sign when I jumped. Ira was on my wheel so I lowered my head and burried it all the way.
Good ride for all of us. It seemed to be a bit darker at the end of the ride tonight. We probably have only a couple more weeks of 40 mile routs, then we'll have to cut it a little shorter in order to get home before the street lights come on.
Thanks for reading...
Pro news:
• Bobby Julich wins another tour! Not the Tour de France (duh) but the Tour of Benelux. This is the innaugural year for the the TdBenelux as it is a merging of two tours that are no longer held individually, the Tour of Belgium and the Tour of the Netherlands. For the full story, link to VeloNews by clicking on this post's title.
• The Discovery Channel team was also at the TdBenelux and managed a 3rd place finish in the overall with the Belgian (is that the correct way to say that Lambert?) rider, Leif Hoste...not too shabby.
• The Disco team had been making some rider aquisitions as have many of the Pro Tour teams. Egoi Martínez and Angel Gómez Marchante, two Spanish climbers, are expected to finalize the deal within the coming week. Does this mean that Johan is bulking on the climbing power in order to support Popo in the mountains in the 2K6 tour?
• Just out of curiosity, who does everyone think will be standing on the top step of the podium in Paris next year? Just comment on this post and tell us who your ON Evote is.
In Closing
...I'll leave you with the thought of the day:
You're like a slinky-
you are completely worthless...
but it's always amusing when
you're pushed down the stairs.
• The Discovery Channel team was also at the TdBenelux and managed a 3rd place finish in the overall with the Belgian (is that the correct way to say that Lambert?) rider, Leif Hoste...not too shabby.
• The Disco team had been making some rider aquisitions as have many of the Pro Tour teams. Egoi Martínez and Angel Gómez Marchante, two Spanish climbers, are expected to finalize the deal within the coming week. Does this mean that Johan is bulking on the climbing power in order to support Popo in the mountains in the 2K6 tour?
• Just out of curiosity, who does everyone think will be standing on the top step of the podium in Paris next year? Just comment on this post and tell us who your ON Evote is.
In Closing
...I'll leave you with the thought of the day:
You're like a slinky-
you are completely worthless...
but it's always amusing when
you're pushed down the stairs.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
No more Joe (8-9)
Our first ride withour Joe...
• I was recovering from my cold
• Danny was taking it easy also due to a cold and actually went short today
• overall average speed went down about 1.5 mph
• Huan won the sprint
• I never got out of the saddle in the sprint because I skipped so many pulls
• Those present: Huan, Myself, Lambert, Scott, Ira, Susan, Naked Ed
• Speaking of Naked Ed...it was good to have him back in the mix today
The Tues/Thur group of cyclists decided that Joe Brew had earned the "white jersey" for being such an outstanding young rider. Even though it didn't come in on time, we got him an actual white jersey to commemorate his abilities. This jersey also may keep Joe from wearing old, thin cotton t-shirts. (see Joe magazine cover from previous post).
The jersey finally came in (big thanks to Danny for ordering and overseeing that whole process) and it was brought to today's ride. We all took a picture with it and will send it along to Joe in Tenn..
Finally...to commemorate Huan's win today, and his ability to replenish his blood supply, I give you his magazine cover!
***click on image to enlarge***
• I was recovering from my cold
• Danny was taking it easy also due to a cold and actually went short today
• overall average speed went down about 1.5 mph
• Huan won the sprint
• I never got out of the saddle in the sprint because I skipped so many pulls
• Those present: Huan, Myself, Lambert, Scott, Ira, Susan, Naked Ed
• Speaking of Naked Ed...it was good to have him back in the mix today
The Tues/Thur group of cyclists decided that Joe Brew had earned the "white jersey" for being such an outstanding young rider. Even though it didn't come in on time, we got him an actual white jersey to commemorate his abilities. This jersey also may keep Joe from wearing old, thin cotton t-shirts. (see Joe magazine cover from previous post).
The jersey finally came in (big thanks to Danny for ordering and overseeing that whole process) and it was brought to today's ride. We all took a picture with it and will send it along to Joe in Tenn..
Finally...to commemorate Huan's win today, and his ability to replenish his blood supply, I give you his magazine cover!
***click on image to enlarge***
GCC weekend (8-6 to 8-7)...
• Well this past weekend was full of great riding.
• Even though saturday morning was overcast and foggy, there was a great turn-out for the ride on the south end of town. I like to think that the number of cyclists in attendance was a direct result of this blog and my email to the GCC list serve. We wanted a good number of folks out for Joe Brew's last ride of the season with us...and we got it!
Saturday started off nice and easy, apparently too easy for Danny who started the attacks only 15 miles into the ride. Of all the rides I've done with GCC, I think that was the first time that I saw attacks go before the rest stop.
All in all it turned out to be a great ride and Huan or Danny won the sprint on Williston Road (depending on which sign we were sprinting to, there was some confussion???).
Joe's ride turned out great and we all wished him well up at school.
• Sunday morning brought georgous weather and it also brought me a cold. With my throat feeling quite swollen, I opted to sit out the ride. I pretty much laid on the couch for the better part of the morning and only got up to go and get some lunch.
I hear from some of the other guys that sunday was about a 75 miler with about 25-30 on the ride. Ryan Sailor, who wasn't riding his single speed, pretty much beat the tar out of everyone in the closing miles. I wish I could've been there.
• Some other notes:
- Jayson O'Mahoney was giving me crap about this blog on saturday...Jason, if your reading this now, then you're obviosly jealous. And by the way, I heard you got dropped on sunday's ride.
- Danny sent me over some pictures from rides gone by, so I'll be posting some of those when they're appropriate.
• Even though saturday morning was overcast and foggy, there was a great turn-out for the ride on the south end of town. I like to think that the number of cyclists in attendance was a direct result of this blog and my email to the GCC list serve. We wanted a good number of folks out for Joe Brew's last ride of the season with us...and we got it!
Saturday started off nice and easy, apparently too easy for Danny who started the attacks only 15 miles into the ride. Of all the rides I've done with GCC, I think that was the first time that I saw attacks go before the rest stop.
All in all it turned out to be a great ride and Huan or Danny won the sprint on Williston Road (depending on which sign we were sprinting to, there was some confussion???).
Joe's ride turned out great and we all wished him well up at school.
• Sunday morning brought georgous weather and it also brought me a cold. With my throat feeling quite swollen, I opted to sit out the ride. I pretty much laid on the couch for the better part of the morning and only got up to go and get some lunch.
I hear from some of the other guys that sunday was about a 75 miler with about 25-30 on the ride. Ryan Sailor, who wasn't riding his single speed, pretty much beat the tar out of everyone in the closing miles. I wish I could've been there.
• Some other notes:
- Jayson O'Mahoney was giving me crap about this blog on saturday...Jason, if your reading this now, then you're obviosly jealous. And by the way, I heard you got dropped on sunday's ride.
- Danny sent me over some pictures from rides gone by, so I'll be posting some of those when they're appropriate.
Friday, August 05, 2005
My Tour de Georgia story
I previously mentioned on this blog that I was going to have a story published in a local "outdoor" magazine. You may have heard of it, it's called Adventure Healthy Living Magazine
You can click on this post's title to link to the online version of the magazine and read my article. It has to do with my wife and I going up to Georgia to watch the last couple of stages of the Tour de Georgia. I'm told that the printed version will be in all local Publix's this weekend and then other places to follow soon after. I've seen them at The Bike Route and at Gator Cycle...and they're free!
You can click on this post's title to link to the online version of the magazine and read my article. It has to do with my wife and I going up to Georgia to watch the last couple of stages of the Tour de Georgia. I'm told that the printed version will be in all local Publix's this weekend and then other places to follow soon after. I've seen them at The Bike Route and at Gator Cycle...and they're free!
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Aurvoir Joe Brew
Over the past few months, Joe Brew had diligently attended our little tue/thur gathering. He has proven himself to the entire field of A-group GCC riders week in and week out. He has pulled harder, climbed faster and led-out better than most of us on a regular basis. He's always willing to chase and never fails to attack. He brings all of that with him to every ride along with an infectious positive attitude.
Saturday will be Joe's last GCC ride before he heads back up to college at Sewanee, The University of the South in Tennessee. I've only had the privlege of knowing Joe for the past few months, but I; as most people who know Joe, have been very impressed with his drive and motivation. In talking to his dad, Chris, who rides with us often, I've found out that not only is Joe attending college on an academic scholarship, but he is also a distance runner on the school's track team...that's not all...Joe also finds time to compete on the schools ping-pong team (I know, wierd huh) and had one or two part-time jobs. This summer Joe had not only fit in about 200 miles a week on the bike with the club, but he runs like a million miles a week as well...or maybe like 60-80 miles a week. Joe also spent his summer working a landscaping job cause I guess he likes the heat? If I was that motivated when I was 19, maybe I'd be able to put the hurt on him instead.
I know that all of this sounds like a lot of ego stroking, but that's just it...there is no ego. If I wasn't singing the praises of Joe Brew, you wouldn't have any idea of how many things this kid has got going on (and I'm sure there is more than I've heard about). He's a stellar kid...and with that being said, you should all make sure to come out to saturday's GCC ride (8-6) to wish him well and ride along side of him...if you can hold his wheel that is.
I found this magazine at the newstand the other day and thought it was appropriate for Joe's departure. What a coincidence that Joe made the cover of Cycling Today the same week that he leaves for school.
***click on image to enlarge***
Joe has truly earned the Maillot Blanc (white jersey), as well as the respect of all who have ridden with him this summer!
Good Luck this semester Joe, we'll see ya soon!
Saturday will be Joe's last GCC ride before he heads back up to college at Sewanee, The University of the South in Tennessee. I've only had the privlege of knowing Joe for the past few months, but I; as most people who know Joe, have been very impressed with his drive and motivation. In talking to his dad, Chris, who rides with us often, I've found out that not only is Joe attending college on an academic scholarship, but he is also a distance runner on the school's track team...that's not all...Joe also finds time to compete on the schools ping-pong team (I know, wierd huh) and had one or two part-time jobs. This summer Joe had not only fit in about 200 miles a week on the bike with the club, but he runs like a million miles a week as well...or maybe like 60-80 miles a week. Joe also spent his summer working a landscaping job cause I guess he likes the heat? If I was that motivated when I was 19, maybe I'd be able to put the hurt on him instead.
I know that all of this sounds like a lot of ego stroking, but that's just it...there is no ego. If I wasn't singing the praises of Joe Brew, you wouldn't have any idea of how many things this kid has got going on (and I'm sure there is more than I've heard about). He's a stellar kid...and with that being said, you should all make sure to come out to saturday's GCC ride (8-6) to wish him well and ride along side of him...if you can hold his wheel that is.
I found this magazine at the newstand the other day and thought it was appropriate for Joe's departure. What a coincidence that Joe made the cover of Cycling Today the same week that he leaves for school.
***click on image to enlarge***
Joe has truly earned the Maillot Blanc (white jersey), as well as the respect of all who have ridden with him this summer!
Good Luck this semester Joe, we'll see ya soon!
Thursday's Ride (8-4)
Well, I felt better on today's ride than I have on any ride in the past few weeks!
There are probably a couple of things that factored into that. The first thing is that I just had a brand new Ultegera 10-speed groupo put on my bike. The guys over at The Bike Route did a great job, they stripped the entire bike down to nothing, cleaned it up, put a coat of wax on it, installed all the new stuff (the groupo plus Dura-Ace cables for both the shifters and the brakes...and an upgraded Dura-Ace front derailer) and now it's like a brand new bike. The second thing was that the pace was a bit more civil in the early parts of the ride (by civil, I mean an average of 22 instead of 24 or 25). That left me with some more gusto in the later parts of the ride.
Anyway, we did the same ole 40-miler, there were about 9 of us at the start and we pretty much stayed together for the bulk of the route. The final big hill coming out of Alachua put the hurt on a couple of guys, who were content to finish the ride at their own pace. The weather threatened the whole time, but never dropped more than a few sprinkles on us (thank goodness, cause I didn't want my shiney bike to get gritty).
Huan seemed to be riding strong, always raising the pace when his pull came around. I finally felt like I was able to contribute on my pulls and usually had enough in the tank for a slight increase in speed down twords the end. Six of us came to the bottom of Millhopper together; Joe, Mike R., Susan, Anthony, Huan and myself. We rode hard but stayed together, even over the final two climbs. Mike R. dropped somewhere after the last climb-so we were down to five.
I was feeling good, my bike was smooth and I was looking forward to the sprint. I was hoping that Joe would set me up with another killer lead-out as this was to be his last tue/thur ride before going back up to Tenn. for school. Susan, who is riding as strong as any of us, pulled through and I hit the front with about a mile or two left. I kicked the pace up slightly and then pulled off. While Huan was pulling on the front, Joe moved around me so we would be in line for the sprint. We were still about 2 km from the line and I knew that Joe had a lot of leading out to do. Since I was feeling pretty strong, I decided to jump way earlier than I normally would so Joe wouldn't have to kill himself. I had a good pop of speed and cranked it up to 33-34 mph. At first glance I didn't see a wheel behind me until about 50 meters to the line. I thought it was Huan trying to come around, but as it turned out...Anthony had caught my wheel and got me at the line.
Even though I felt stronger than I have in a while, I still only got 2nd. I should have probably let Joe lead it out a little longer before I jumped (Joe said afterwards that he still had some juice left). But non-the-less, "mad-props" to Anthony on a killer sprint...he deserved that one!
There are probably a couple of things that factored into that. The first thing is that I just had a brand new Ultegera 10-speed groupo put on my bike. The guys over at The Bike Route did a great job, they stripped the entire bike down to nothing, cleaned it up, put a coat of wax on it, installed all the new stuff (the groupo plus Dura-Ace cables for both the shifters and the brakes...and an upgraded Dura-Ace front derailer) and now it's like a brand new bike. The second thing was that the pace was a bit more civil in the early parts of the ride (by civil, I mean an average of 22 instead of 24 or 25). That left me with some more gusto in the later parts of the ride.
Anyway, we did the same ole 40-miler, there were about 9 of us at the start and we pretty much stayed together for the bulk of the route. The final big hill coming out of Alachua put the hurt on a couple of guys, who were content to finish the ride at their own pace. The weather threatened the whole time, but never dropped more than a few sprinkles on us (thank goodness, cause I didn't want my shiney bike to get gritty).
Huan seemed to be riding strong, always raising the pace when his pull came around. I finally felt like I was able to contribute on my pulls and usually had enough in the tank for a slight increase in speed down twords the end. Six of us came to the bottom of Millhopper together; Joe, Mike R., Susan, Anthony, Huan and myself. We rode hard but stayed together, even over the final two climbs. Mike R. dropped somewhere after the last climb-so we were down to five.
I was feeling good, my bike was smooth and I was looking forward to the sprint. I was hoping that Joe would set me up with another killer lead-out as this was to be his last tue/thur ride before going back up to Tenn. for school. Susan, who is riding as strong as any of us, pulled through and I hit the front with about a mile or two left. I kicked the pace up slightly and then pulled off. While Huan was pulling on the front, Joe moved around me so we would be in line for the sprint. We were still about 2 km from the line and I knew that Joe had a lot of leading out to do. Since I was feeling pretty strong, I decided to jump way earlier than I normally would so Joe wouldn't have to kill himself. I had a good pop of speed and cranked it up to 33-34 mph. At first glance I didn't see a wheel behind me until about 50 meters to the line. I thought it was Huan trying to come around, but as it turned out...Anthony had caught my wheel and got me at the line.
Even though I felt stronger than I have in a while, I still only got 2nd. I should have probably let Joe lead it out a little longer before I jumped (Joe said afterwards that he still had some juice left). But non-the-less, "mad-props" to Anthony on a killer sprint...he deserved that one!
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Tuesday Ride (8-2)
Real Quick:
• About a dozen of us at the start
• We did the 40-mile route up 239 and back down 241.
• Huan met up with us on 241 in Alachua
• I got ANOTHER flat about 10-12 miles out, everyone waited...thanks!
• group wittled down to about 8 as we came up Millhopper. (Ira, Scott, Danny, Joe, Huan, Lambert, Mike R. and myself)
• I was dying as we crested the last climb.
• with about 1.5 km to go, my left foot started to cramp so I sat up.
• Huan took the sprint and made sure to point out that I had remarked earlier on this blog that "I had never seen him beat Danny in a sprint". Huan must have replenished his blood supply.
• About a dozen of us at the start
• We did the 40-mile route up 239 and back down 241.
• Huan met up with us on 241 in Alachua
• I got ANOTHER flat about 10-12 miles out, everyone waited...thanks!
• group wittled down to about 8 as we came up Millhopper. (Ira, Scott, Danny, Joe, Huan, Lambert, Mike R. and myself)
• I was dying as we crested the last climb.
• with about 1.5 km to go, my left foot started to cramp so I sat up.
• Huan took the sprint and made sure to point out that I had remarked earlier on this blog that "I had never seen him beat Danny in a sprint". Huan must have replenished his blood supply.
Saturday (7-30)
Saturday's GCC ride met on the north side of town and saw a great turnout. About two dozen cyclists started the A-ride on the beautiful saturday morning.
A photographer from the Alachua County Tourist Development Council had drivin out ahead of us to get some shots for an upcoming poster promoting the outdoor activities in Alachua county. I timed things just right to make sure I was on the front of the group as we rode past the "paparazzi". The photographer followed us and got a few more shots before turning around.
The ride ended up being about 70 miles. The first half of the ride was a comfortable pace that allowed for a lot social chit-chat amongst the group and the temperatures weren't as hot as they have been either. We stopped to re-fuel in Waldo (I think?) and then headed back for G-ville.
After tackling the hills of Alachua every tues/thurs, this ride suited me just fine. The long miles weren't hard because they were nice and flat. That left a lot of people with juice in thier legs at the end of the ride. My rear tire started to go mushy with about 10 miles to go. I was going to just let it go and hopfully make it back to the Chevron, but it practically rolled off the rim when we turned a corner. I didn't think the group would stop that close to the end of the ride, but everyone did (thanks to all of you who waited, I do appreciate it!). With the help of Lambert, it was a quick change and we were back on the road.
A few small attacks went, but nothing serious. The pace was high as we turned onto 441 and contined to be quick all the way down 43rd. Ryan Sailor, who was riding his single speed (with 42x15 gearing), knew that a group sprint wouldn't suit him; seeing as how he was turning about 500 rpm's. He snuck off the front with about a mile to go and got a gap. Nobody was chasing him back and the sprint sign kept getting closer. When I saw Joe Brew jump out of the saddle and start to ride away I figured that he was my last chance to catch Ryan.
Joe's chase turned into a 32 mph lead out...and just before we made contact with the fast spinning Sailor, I jumped around Joe and took the sprint. There would have been no chance in hell if Ryan was on his Madone, but I'll take 'em when I can get 'em.
All in all a great ride...cool(er)...long...not hilly...and a good finish for me. I treated Joe to a cool drink at the Chevron as thanks for the killer lead out.
A photographer from the Alachua County Tourist Development Council had drivin out ahead of us to get some shots for an upcoming poster promoting the outdoor activities in Alachua county. I timed things just right to make sure I was on the front of the group as we rode past the "paparazzi". The photographer followed us and got a few more shots before turning around.
The ride ended up being about 70 miles. The first half of the ride was a comfortable pace that allowed for a lot social chit-chat amongst the group and the temperatures weren't as hot as they have been either. We stopped to re-fuel in Waldo (I think?) and then headed back for G-ville.
After tackling the hills of Alachua every tues/thurs, this ride suited me just fine. The long miles weren't hard because they were nice and flat. That left a lot of people with juice in thier legs at the end of the ride. My rear tire started to go mushy with about 10 miles to go. I was going to just let it go and hopfully make it back to the Chevron, but it practically rolled off the rim when we turned a corner. I didn't think the group would stop that close to the end of the ride, but everyone did (thanks to all of you who waited, I do appreciate it!). With the help of Lambert, it was a quick change and we were back on the road.
A few small attacks went, but nothing serious. The pace was high as we turned onto 441 and contined to be quick all the way down 43rd. Ryan Sailor, who was riding his single speed (with 42x15 gearing), knew that a group sprint wouldn't suit him; seeing as how he was turning about 500 rpm's. He snuck off the front with about a mile to go and got a gap. Nobody was chasing him back and the sprint sign kept getting closer. When I saw Joe Brew jump out of the saddle and start to ride away I figured that he was my last chance to catch Ryan.
Joe's chase turned into a 32 mph lead out...and just before we made contact with the fast spinning Sailor, I jumped around Joe and took the sprint. There would have been no chance in hell if Ryan was on his Madone, but I'll take 'em when I can get 'em.
All in all a great ride...cool(er)...long...not hilly...and a good finish for me. I treated Joe to a cool drink at the Chevron as thanks for the killer lead out.
Thursday (7-28)
I'm going to play a little catch up with my ride reviews:
Last thursday saw only 4 of us show up for the ride. Everyone must have forseen the impending rain. Ira, Scott, Joe and myself took advantage of the lack of attendance and headed of on a different route. We headed to the beautiful town of Newberry.
As the rain got closer, the winds got stronger. Scott took a long pull into the wind as we got to Newberry and it began to rain. It didn't really pour, but it was just enough to get us all lightly dusted with road grit.
Ira broke off in order to get home a bit quicker due to the weather and the remaining three of us continued on at our friendly 20 mph average.
The pace stayed amicable until we got about 3 miles from the sprint sign, then Joe ramped up the pace. Once the sign was in sight, Joe, who was sitting 3rd wheel, swung out wide and tried to gap us. Scott didn't respond as I gave it all I had just to catch the wheel of the sprinting 19 year old. Once I was in the draft it wasn't a problem getting around Joe as he had been holding 30+ mph for a while.
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