tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184920512024-03-07T19:46:12.903-05:00just riding alongThe general goings on of Adam Rodkey, half-assed amateur biker racer.adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.comBlogger662125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-34366381335065741782012-12-28T10:31:00.003-05:002012-12-28T10:31:57.437-05:00Weak week.Howdy all! I thought I'd drop a post on you to ease the separation anxiety.<br />
With racing done for the season, I took a full week off of everything exercise. I still commute to work daily via bike, so I pedaled a bike for a total of about 20min per day, but otherwise I just lazed out. And I still am for the most part, though I'm starting to get a little activity in; just not too regular. <br />
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Christmas eve I went out and rode the gravel roads. It was pretty nice out, about 42* and the sun poked through a few times. This was my first ride in 8 days. I made a conscious effort to go easy. That means overtaking the urge to push harder when the road goes upward and instead easing off, shifting down. It was nice ride, but it was on the loop which features the gnarliest hill in these parts known as the McGowan climb (though I think it's technically on Gilmour ridge Rd, not McGowan Rd.) So I took it easy on every part of the ride <b>except </b>the hill; you can't go easy up a hill like that. Even if you have to get of and walk it (which I didn't!) you're gassed. Anywho, it's normally an 1hr40 or so minute ride and It took me 2hrs. So I went slow. That's a good thing.<br />
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The next day, Christmas day, I didn't really plan to ride, but there was rumor of some heavy weather coming in. So I decided to roll over to the local MTB park and see how the trails were. I expected it too be too muddy to be (responsibly) rideable, but it was in really good shape. So I shredded for a bit. It's crazy how rusty my MTB riding is. It's so much different than CX. People assume they're much more closely related than they are. They definitely compliment each other, but they truly are they're own unique skill set(s). Whatever though, I had fun riding the MTB. I mainly stuck to the "new' stuff at the park; the N/W area. There's a lot of new trail there and it's actually pretty good. it's very 'turny' because there's not a lot of real estate, but it's cool. Plus I came across the sick double black super advanced area w/ jumps and skinny elevated bridges. Not usually my thing, but I hit for a while. Kinda fun. <br />
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I also used the week off to get my road bike overhauled/freshened up. New cables, new BB (crank bearings), new chain, new cassette, complete disassembly, all that. So it'll be running clean and smooth when I get it back out...and it will probably get totally thrashed thanks to the aforementioned blizzard. <br />
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Sometimes <a href="http://www.silvertentacle.com/images/ozzy%20osbourne%20-%20blizzard%20of%20ozz.jpg" target="_blank">blizzards can be cool</a>. But this one just buried everything. This is pic out of our backdoor. It's relevant because it's where Lindsay's "square foot gardens" are and the boxes for them are built with 2x12's. And they're totally buried. Which means the snow is > 12". Bloomington officially recorded 11.5", which is the most in 5 years. The temps are scheduled to stay low for awhile as well, so this may be sticking around for a stint. <br />
Lindsay went home to Oklahoma for the Christmas week and she gets home today (Friday). We are going to jaunt up to my parent's house on Sunday for a Christmas get together with our nieces, et. all.<br />
Then it's back to "reality." I'm going to keep the training very loose for the next several weeks. A couple/few rides per week, outside if I can get it, rollers if not, maybe a trainer sesh here/there for some more work than the rollers provide. And some strength stuff to hopefully take care of my long-lingering back/hip issues. I think I'm feeling better in those regions, but it's hard to tell. I'll just keep at it and do what I can.<br />
Happy new year folksies! <br />
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<br />adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-60641012408935982862012-12-20T23:26:00.002-05:002012-12-20T23:26:25.989-05:00The (bitter) End: OVCX #a million, Major Taylor Velodrome IndyThis weekend was the finale` of the 2012 OVCX series, which marks<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjo5goCMe3c" target="_blank"> the end...of something</a>. That would be the end of my CX season.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">check out the mud roost above my head.</td></tr>
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And things didn't go as planned. But sometimes they just don't. I don't want to get overly dramatic, or "philosophical" (as they say) about it all, but I have to admit I am disappointed with myself. <br />
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I sat in third place in the 35+ Elite men's series overall from the first race. I came into this last race with a slim, but holdable gap to maintain that position. The numbers had been crunched (<i>for me</i>, not <i>by me</i>) and I knew what scenarios had to play out. The person behind me in point, who is a good friend and teammate, had to have a really good race and I had to have a not-so-good race. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I rode this section in the warm up, but didn't want to mess it up during the race so opted for the safe route (running it)</td></tr>
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He had a great race (his highest Elite finish ever) and I had a slightly-worse-than-average-but-not-terrible race. And that was enough to knock me off the final podium. I am glad it was a teammate and not a full on rival, but it still bummed me out. But that's how racing goes. <br />
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It was a good course and it had rained all the day and night before. The course as muddy. The flat sections were heavy wet ground. And the hilly sections were loose, sloppy and difficult. I was fast on the downhill sections, but that constituted about 1minute of the 8-9miunte lap. It wasn't enough to save me. I did all I could and I couldn't have ridden any harder. Sometimes it's just not enough. <br />
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I feel as though my form has been dwindling a bit over the past few weeks. I am probably "overtrained." But it's a hard balance. I've been "at it" for nearly a full year now. This has been a really good season, even though I fell short of the final podium. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9g7UU_Yt5rpFNUnhH3TmTqCFOLEssaWUrfI9Y5BUkl4M5Tl2V0Qd4iwBRG4KTWSxiRZTj3YytVxW-ibsoodzeJyxAW7nDCJuyxas-leEIgCsJUk1VMEBKTTHIPdR2RgKejLC/s1600/mtvfinish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9g7UU_Yt5rpFNUnhH3TmTqCFOLEssaWUrfI9Y5BUkl4M5Tl2V0Qd4iwBRG4KTWSxiRZTj3YytVxW-ibsoodzeJyxAW7nDCJuyxas-leEIgCsJUk1VMEBKTTHIPdR2RgKejLC/s320/mtvfinish.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last finish of the season</td></tr>
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I am going to do things a bit different for next year and take some more time off and build slower into (MTB) race form. I have some lingering use/overuse issues that just aren't ever going to get any better if I keep going full blast all the time.<br />
So that's that. The end of sweet CX race posts for this year. I don't have a good idea of how many people actually follow this blog, but thanks. The posts will continue, but probably with a little less frequency and a little less interesting content (if that's possible!) <br />
Thanks again for reading and following my season. The fact is, I enjoy writing, so keep checking back!<br />
Happy holidays, all.<br />
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-- adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-72816769628649513132012-12-11T22:32:00.000-05:002012-12-11T22:32:17.459-05:00OVCX 12, Yellow Springs, OH. That just sucked<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You can probably figure out from these two pictures how this story will go. <br />
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Too bad for you you have to read though it anyway!<br />
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This passed weekend was OVCX #12, the penultimate of the 2012 series. It's a long haul from here over in Yellow Springs, OH, home of<a href="http://handson.provocateuse.com/images/photos/dave_chappelle_01.jpg" target="_blank"> Dave Chapelle</a>. <br />
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I usually like this race. Even though I have crashed somewhat badly two
years in a row now. Bummer is I rode a pretty decent race and had good
legs this year. <br />
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This was another "forecasted rain
all day" scenario. Again, it didn't happen though. I think it did rain
most of Friday and Saturday, so the course was plenty muddy. Plus it
rained for a bit during the day, but it was clear skies for our race
(and by "clear" I mean totally clouded over, but not raining).<br />
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They changed the "normal" start at this race and moved it form a
really long uphill paved road to a shorter, but still uphill grass
start. No big thing, roll w/ the punches. However, I missed my pedal on
the start, something I rarely do. This didn't cost me much, but
definitely a few places going into the turns. <br />
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Shortly after the first series of turns cam another off camber series of
turns. I had ridden and re-ridden this series prior to starting and
decided that running the exit of this series of turns was fastest.
Especially in the first lap scrum. As I was running this short steep
rise, another rider was trying to ride it and cut across the hill
ramming into me. No big deal, this is racing and this stuff happens
(especially in the first lap scrum). But after ramming into me he starts
yelling, cussing and calling me names, etc. I know who this guy is and I
know he's faster than me, so as we're approaching a 180* turn onto
mud-scattered pavement, I looked back as he's berating me to say "chill
man, that wasn't intentional." As soon as I got out those words I lost my
front wheel on the slick pavement and crashed. Cut knee, shown above, and
my bike was damaged too.<br />
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I had people waiting and ready in the pit by the time I
got around, but having to pit messes up (my) rhythm. I had already lost a
lot of places and my "B" bike doesn't have mud tires on it, so on a muddy course I am
slower on it. I think I did 2 laps on my "B" bike
while they got my "A" sorted out. Once they did I was able to get back on
mud tires and ride faster. <br />
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I bet I had dropped nearly 20 places, so I had a lot of passing to do to get back into it. Passing isn't as easy as it sounds or seems. You have to set up for passes and take them cleanly so as to not crash out yourself or the person you're passing. Point is: it takes time. And time spent is time lost. <br />
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I eventually clawed my way back into 24th spot for the finish. Among my worst results, but these things will happen. <br />
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This coming weekend marks the finale` of the OVCX 2012 season. Ans since I've decided to not go onto Nationals or Worlds this year it also marks the end of my 2012 season. I'm ready for the break, but at the same time I already know I'm going to miss racing. But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, I still need to get through both this week and this weekend. Then we'll worry about missing the racing. <br />
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adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-4579110212494045192012-12-05T22:57:00.002-05:002012-12-05T22:57:42.024-05:00OVCX 11. Brookside Park, IndyThis weekend was the 11th stop of the OVCX in Indianapolis. It was "unseasonably" warm for December and the forecast was calling for most-of-the-day rain. The temps hovered in the low to mid 60's and the rain came the night before; it didn't even sprinkle during the race day. But the course was left mostly muddy/slick from the previous night's rain. <br />
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Despite taking several (3, 4?) sighting laps, I had completely forgotten the start sequence. I thought it far further up on the pavement than it did. So while we're setting up to transition from pavement to grass, I'm still rallying with my head down full blast. Luckily I sensed/saw peripherally that people around me were setting up for a transition and was able to react; it could have been worse...(me plowing through tape, etc)<br />
But for some reason I had the entire first part of the lap out of sequence in my head, so it was pretty much like I hadn't ridden it yet. I didn't have a particularly great start anyway and this didn't help matters.<br />
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I don't know if it's the little cold I've had lingering that cost me a % or two, but I felt completely gassed the entire time. I rode a decent race, but just felt totally <i>at</i> the limit the whole time. I doubt that anyone rode a completely flawless race given how slick/muddy it was, I made very few mistakes. I just felt throttled.<br />
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This race had a good number of fast guys toeing the line. If I had one of my best races of the year, I'd still probably be looking at 13th place or so. Given the way I felt, I was happy to have finished 19th; one spot still in the money! <br />
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This race was put on by my team, so we helped tear down the course afterwards. Speedway Wheelmen are absolute aces when it comes to course set up/tear down. Because I'm the last race of the day, I have to go to my car and chill out for a minute and change clothes and stuff before I can help. They are normally most of the way done before I even get a chance to help. I'm usually too tired to be of much help anyway, but I do what I can.<br />
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This weekend is the penultimate round in the OVCX at John Bryan Park in Yellow Springs, OH. That's right, the same race that last year I "hung out with" Dave Chapelle after. Maybe we'll see him again. I'm sure he want to catch up w/ me.<br />
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After this weekend it's just one more race for me and it's in Indy. This season is feeling long and my body is feeling tired. I decided awhile back that I wasn't going to do Worlds this year and I thought I may change my mind. But I am good with that decision. I don't want to or really think I can squeeze another 4+ weeks out of this season.<br />
But I am looking way forward to going and watching the Elite World Championships in Feb. It's going to be awesome! <br />
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<br />adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-19665520299747711462012-11-26T19:55:00.002-05:002012-11-26T19:55:14.945-05:00Easy week (thanksgiving), groupies, down w/ the sicknessThis weekend was off of racing. So I took this week easy for training. No intensity, extra day off, you know all the luxuries of being a half-assed amateur<span class="st"><em></em></span> bike racer. <br />
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Thursday of course was Thanksgiving. Lindsay and I made the trip up to
my parent's house for the obligitory meal and to hang out with our
nieces. They're good girls and are a lot of fun to be around.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nice change from the sick action photos normally found on this lame action-packed blog</td></tr>
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Saturday I woke up with that 'I'm getting sick' feeling; scratchy throat, little cough, sneezing, stuffy head...I started hitting the hot tea and echinacea hard. My immune system has been rock-solid this season and I was hoping it would hold on for another few weeks. But there's no fighting it when it hits.<br />
I had planned to do the Sunday group ride (or groupie as I like to call it) with the Bakehouse group. I wasn't sure how it wold go with a cold hampering me, but it was a nice day so figured I'd go and ride whatever pace I felt good with. If that meant getting dropped, whatever. It turns out I did get dropped. But because I got a flat! I actually had really good legs and was feeling pretty good. I was on the front on the causeway climb when I felt/saw my rear tire going down. I had flatted on a short ride Friday and had missed a tiny piece of brown glass that was still in the tire. I told the group to go on (I absolutely hate having a group wait for me). It's an out/back ride, so I would just get it fixed, ride on and catch the group on the return route.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bakehouse groupie hitting 446</td></tr>
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I ended up riding considerably harder than I wanted to because I was on my own for ~30min. So I assumed I'd have an "easy" ride back in being able to sit in. But the group decided the way back would be the harder section of the out/back. So as the group started splitting I was trying to play fair and gradually bring the group back to the splinterers in front, rather than making fast/quick efforts to move up. But the group straggled anyway, so it was just 4 of us for a good portion of the way back. It was a good solid ride and I'm glad I went. Like I said, it was harder than I wanted to ride with a cold, but I don't feel any worse off for having done it, so I guess that means it was a good thing.<br />
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I had some TV to watch when I got back as the Formula 1 season closer in Brazil was on. The world championship was to be determined at this race; down to the wire. The weather conditions wee crazy going form rain, to dry, to drizzle, to rain, to drizzle, etc. They must have pitted for tires (tyres) like 10times! Young German Sebastian Vettel ended up wining his third (consecutive) world title. That's a big deal. Only two other people in history have won three in a row. I have a ton of admiration for those guys. I can't imagine how difficult to would be to drive a car that fast for that amount of time making no mistakes. It's like CX: 100% form gun to tape, and no mistakes. And if you do make a mistake, you have to be able to recover from it quickly. Good stuff.<br />
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This weekend is the classic Indiana CX race at Brookside Park. This race has been run longer than I have been into CX. But I've done it every year since I started into the CX. It features those famed "Brookside stairs." It is a venue on the less fortunate side of Indy (read: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XydbxeAcD0E" target="_blank">in the ghetto</a>) and as such the famed steps deteriorate more every year. I'm wondering if this will be the year the trip up the stairs will take a different route to avoid the steps that are falling apart. We will see I guess, right?<br />
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Three races left in OVCX series.<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtsL96cjBFQ" target="_blank"> It's coming down</a>. Hopefully I can kick this cold. I am definitely not <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzak8Gq3KO0" target="_blank">down with the sickness</a>. (btw: I didn't know who sang this song, and I think these guys are a bunch of pussies. But I used it anyway) I don't know which is worse down with the sickness, or <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNt1IdNEJ-c" target="_blank">Down With Disease</a>. Actually I do: it has to be The Sickness. Those guys suck.<br />
Lates.<br />
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Here's some<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgpzLUCY0rU" target="_blank"> Slayer</a> for putting you through all the above BS. My apologies. <br />
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<br />adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-77769696459877206672012-11-21T23:01:00.000-05:002012-11-22T23:03:04.507-05:00CX'ing in horse country (Lexington) OVCX #10 This passed weekend's event was the OVCX's annual long-haul to Lexington, KY. It's a long way, but a pretty drive; the rolling KY hills and all that horse pasture. Plus a lot of really luxurious barns and (people) houses along the routes. I get the feeling there's a lot of money in Lexington. Every part of the city I've seen looks like Carmel, IN, but more real somehow ("old money?").<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_xA78QvMueGOq7T4DkCSvUrClOjBPc6hfNFH-yh02mcSHP3CzKT-ctwdx8DWyqzcEwrd53-D9aBbzkUpVxJvUPj-dAztvg4Exi36nPz7I1T4lHzJWC7IOJKF8FRLYAuw9HLU/s1600/LX1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_xA78QvMueGOq7T4DkCSvUrClOjBPc6hfNFH-yh02mcSHP3CzKT-ctwdx8DWyqzcEwrd53-D9aBbzkUpVxJvUPj-dAztvg4Exi36nPz7I1T4lHzJWC7IOJKF8FRLYAuw9HLU/s320/LX1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Got my new HiVis shoes in finally.</td></tr>
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I've only raced here once before and that was last year. It stormed/poured rain all day then, so I can say I came home with a favorable impression. But I want as many solid points/results as I can get for the series; and hey, what else do I have to do on a Sunday? So it's off to Lexington!<br />
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The course isn't all that exciting, but it suits me pretty well. It basically just twists around a baseball field a whole bunch. It's not "overly technical," but it's pretty "turny." It doesn't feature much long, opened, flat, straight crap and a lack of that crap tends to suit me better. <br />
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I felt good from the beginning of the day. From when I woke up, through my morning stretching routine, the drive, warm up, etc, I felt really good. But that isn't always a sign of a good race. It's hard for me to know how I'm going to race until I'm actually racing. I don't know if it's like that for everyone, but sometimes when I feel great I do bad, and sometimes when I feel like crap I do well. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjot9AG_NPQeDjg68-dXaJHD-GzZYBiJopS-saL-9jglr1scYe-DXpmHN80je1DsA5mHnWee8v_B0yp1uAPUi3MCXY7qic7sUrrgPWCTW5-E95b4n2UB-PBRuiXtcis14dEYm7T/s1600/LXstart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjot9AG_NPQeDjg68-dXaJHD-GzZYBiJopS-saL-9jglr1scYe-DXpmHN80je1DsA5mHnWee8v_B0yp1uAPUi3MCXY7qic7sUrrgPWCTW5-E95b4n2UB-PBRuiXtcis14dEYm7T/s320/LXstart.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The start is a long uphill drag. But at least it's on pavement.</td></tr>
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But this day I felt good and rode good. I got a good start, which I've been doing lately, and rode a solid first lap coming through easily in the top 10, probably more like 5 or 6. I didn't want to over-do it though. A few guys got around me who I know are faster and I settled in to good hard effort-rhythm that I (assumed) I could maintain for an hour. I rode a pretty much flawless race technically speaking and rode good and hard effort wise. If I had to make a complaint, I would say that their barriers were too far apart and I found myself having to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l2O-JOXG_I" target="_blank">half-step</a> between to get over them. Not a huge thing, but knocks off the flow.<br />
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Top 10 is my ~general~ goal fro OVCX races and I never rode worse than 11th here. I was "working" with a guy most of the race and we were trading 10th and 11th spot throughout. But with two to go he crashed and I had to capitalize on his misfortune. I felt legitimately bad for taking advantage because we had ridden together for like 4 laps, and he's a buddy, but that's racing and I wanted that top-10. I held onto it and got 10th. Pretty sure that's my best ever OVCX Elite finish. And I was 2nd on the 35+ podium! Good day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMysB2hIipXlR7B7eJGQETEF-enHhjkkyPoH2IFOPeWsZbPUwCI_ZN-93fvUK9GTVnf0IScotcRjBLUeBVopCxK1cXPX1V9wmo-lxIOm7mFaT7Zg_Ydk0QA1g9OnbL_CiwwcH_/s1600/LXpodium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMysB2hIipXlR7B7eJGQETEF-enHhjkkyPoH2IFOPeWsZbPUwCI_ZN-93fvUK9GTVnf0IScotcRjBLUeBVopCxK1cXPX1V9wmo-lxIOm7mFaT7Zg_Ydk0QA1g9OnbL_CiwwcH_/s320/LXpodium.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm pretty sure I've managed to sneak a can of Monster into every podium shot I've been in this year</td></tr>
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So this being Thanksgiving week, there is no race this weekend and as such I'm taking this week "off" of training. The normal: extra day or two off, no hard intervals, etc. And I'm looking forward to a weekend off of travel/racing. Plus I get to hang w/ my Chi-town nieces Thursday. And eat a bunch of protein. You know, to rebuild muscle and what-not.<br />
Happy T-giving all. Too much to be thankful for to list; if I tried you'd all be here reading for hours instead of spending time w/ family. adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-27751925284829497552012-11-13T13:14:00.001-05:002012-11-13T13:14:52.286-05:00USGP Louisville Weekend This weekend was the big USGP of Cyclocross weekend in Louisville at Eva Bandman Park, home of the 2013 World Championships.<br />
What's extra cool about this is that they were using what is supposed to be the actual course for Worlds. I went down to LV Friday after noon to get a few laps on the course. I
thought it was a good course. It wasn't overly technical, but the
technical features were difficult. It had less open/flat stuff than this
venue normally does, but still some.<br />
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It
also had a couple of sand pits. One was long, but ride-able for the
most part. It kind of went uphill/downhill a couple of times went from
deep to shallow sand depths. That made it very tricky. <br />
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Friday after pre-riding I got checked into the hotel and then there's a
number pick up "party" thing downtown. My hotel-mates were running late
so some other friends and I went over to the party thing and got our
numbers. Then we went to dinner, went back to the hotel and had another "party" and the hotel bar. The racing starts early in the day for us at these pro events, so it wasn't a totally<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReeD_igZ6EY" target="_blank"> massive night</a>, but let's just say those guys can <b>drink</b>. <br />
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I "earned" second row call ups for these races this year (via order of registration), which is awesome because think I've always started these races near 80-90th or so. I was pretty stoked to start at the front. Especially given that there was a run up, sand pit and <a href="http://velonews.competitor.com/files/2012/11/The-permenant-Green-Monster-flyHYPHENover-Lyne-Lamoureux-634x421.jpg" target="_blank">fly-over</a> all inside of about 2minutes of the start. <br />
I got a good start and was ticking off some decent laps. But on one lap I biffed the last section of the sand pit and while I didn't actually crash I did end up stomping my foot into my front wheel. I wasn't sure what damage I had done at the time; all I knew was my front brake was dragging hard on my wheel. The good news was that I was only about 20seconds from the pit and my "B" bike. These types of things always cost you more than the actual time lost though. You loose some focus and that costs you as well. I soldiered on on my B bike and finished an okay 13th. And luckily I only knocked my wheel out of straight in the drop out. So there was no damage and it was fixable in like 5 seconds time. Nice (I like a no-money fix). <br />
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Saturday night was another dinner/hang out at bar sesh. As noted before, those guys can <b>drink</b>. It's a good time hanging w/ them all.<br />
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Sunday the course had been changed a little. Most notably the aforementioned sand pit was run backwards. What this did was change it from ~3/4 ride-able to ~1/4 ride-able. And it was long pit which made it a long run on Sunday. And the section leading into it was a long open grass section, so you had to conserve energy leading into the sand, or pay the price. <br />
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I got a good start again and rode a good race. I really didn't make any mistakes and ended up 9th. Our team put 3 guys in the top 10 for this race. That's a pretty solid showing. I had a fun weekend and as you can see from the pictures the weather was awesome. It was in the mid 70's and sunny all weekend. People were walking around in shorts/t-shirts all weekend. We raced at 9:30am, so it was mid 50's for our race which is abut perfect. The pro's said it was too hot for them (it was 70's by the time they went).<br />
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This weekend it's back to standard OVCX racing in Lexington, KY. It's a far away race, but we're chasing series points here! After that (Thanksgiving week) it's a weekend off. And I'm ready for that. There's been a lot of travel lately plus I'll use the week of T-giving as a week "off" of training, which I will appreciate too. Oh, and turkey. I like me some turkey too. <br />
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<br />adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-90384473751927333782012-11-07T23:01:00.001-05:002012-11-07T23:01:39.654-05:00Breaking All The RulesA sweet<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMhDmoY9BI4" target="_blank"> Ozzy referrence</a> for the post tile. <br />
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I broke one of my own CX rules this weekend: bring everything you own, and bring two of it. Especially in November. Forecasts can be way wrong; and boy was it wrong Saturday. And since I packed my bag based on forecast rather than the rule, I was not prepared for the conditions.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">39 and rain. Hypothermia anyone?</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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This weekend was the big Cinci-nasty UCI 3 race weekend. I skipped Friday, so it was the big Cinci-nasty UCI 2 race weekend for me. UCI races are the biggest races in country, so they bring bigger fields for all races as well as top pros for the pro races. Cool weekend to be a part of.<br />
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Saturday's forecast called for low-mid 50's, 30% chance of rain. That's short-sleeved base layer, long-sleeved skinsuit and light gloves racing weather. It rained pretty much all day and the temps never reached 50. Word was at the start of my race the temp had dropped to 39. And it was raining. That's nasty, nasty weather. And because it had rained all day, the course was totally muddy. So after about 1minute of racing, your caked in cold mud. <br />
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So this race just started off bad for me. I was shivering uncontrollably before we even started. I got a decent start and held a good position for mot of the first lap. But there is a feature that they use at this venue called "the camel hump" that is a big hill jutting out of nowhere. Some years it's been a simple up/down but this year it was traversed 3 times, two of which were off-camber (both off camber up and off camber down). It would have been difficult in the dry. But wet, it was very hard. I lost places nearly every time up this thing. I don't know how many laps we did, 5 maybe, and I made it up all three parts of the camel only 2 (making it up meaning riding up). And the times I didn't make it up it wasn't a graceful momentum carrying dismount either. It was a 'struggle, struggle, stop, half fall over, get off and start pushing' type of affair. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGcDgg7UspifNVxuLQy0pijO6rLcVyNwX81SX2xSS4_yIRxUABFbyGD4CD8cA7gU6bhGmBDeTUicM9MTxlOOSM3M7hvRc295CijT_9plTkgSgc71bLC0IXKKxULcQe2QVMNI4/s1600/kx10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGcDgg7UspifNVxuLQy0pijO6rLcVyNwX81SX2xSS4_yIRxUABFbyGD4CD8cA7gU6bhGmBDeTUicM9MTxlOOSM3M7hvRc295CijT_9plTkgSgc71bLC0IXKKxULcQe2QVMNI4/s320/kx10.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Cinci-nasty Defeet socks flyover</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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I know how to ride mud, but it was pretty much a crap race. I really just didn't handle the cold well. I think I finished 24th or something.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't know it, but I was being chased/sprinted to the line. I sensed it late and barely held Will off.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miserable after the finish line.</td></tr>
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One interesting thing did happen during Sat's race though: I ran over a squirrel. I was on a short paved section and I saw a squirrel running toward me from my left. I was watching him thinking his timing was about perfect for me to hit him if he kept on. Keep on he did. I ran over him square with my front wheel and he flew up and bounce off my leg. I was transitioning off the pavement and onto (mud), so I couldn't really look back to see what happened to him. But the guy behind me was yelling "that was unbelievable!" I was glad I wasn't the only one who saw it. And I hope the stupid squirrel is okay.<br />
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Sunday was a new day but with a similar forecast: mid 50's and very little chance of rain. The difference was it was accurate this time! Thankfully I did have the good sense to pack two racing suits. Otherwise I may not have been able to rave Sunday my black suit was so messed up. <br />
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The course had some mud on it from the rain the day before, but overall was in fine shape. I've raced at this venue (Harbin Park) since I started racing CX. It has long uphill sections, which tend to suit me better than short, steep 3-4 pedal stroke "climbs." The course is a good mix of technical cornering and more open sweeping turns; I usually like it.<br />
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This race starts with a long pavement straight, then onto the grass with some turns. About 2 or so minutes into the lap there's a tricky down/up, down/up off camber that if you're outside of the top 10 or so, gets balled up and is most likely going to force you off your bike to run it. I did not want to have to get off for this section, meaning I either had to be toward the front, or off the back. I got another good start and was able to easily get through this section without getting caught in traffic. I help position well, but I hadn't gotten a chance to ride the first section in my pre-race sighting lap. So when we hit the first (of the two) sandpit, which is on an uphill bias, I started riding it on adrenaline, but got bogged down ~3/4 through and came off. That cost me a few places, but I rode well otherwise, battled with a few guys throughout and finished a respectable 13th in a big UCI Elite Master's race. Having biffed the sand on lap one made me know better than to mess with it again, so I dismounted and carried every other lap. It was much faster.<br />
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It was a good race and I was happy with my result.<br />
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This weekend is the Louisville stop of the <a href="http://www.usgpcyclocross.com/site/races/derby-city-cup" target="_blank">USGP of CX, The Derby City Cup</a>. That's back-to-back weekends of double racing <b>and</b> watching the best pros in the US race. The weather looks really good this weekend, but I'm packing everything I own just in case! This is always a pretty fun weekend. Looking forward to it. <br />
And that's that. This post is later than normal and probably incomplete, but whatevs. Busy weekends and busy weeks. I'm sure you can find better things to do than wait for/read my awes-rad blog posts anyway...or are you <i>that</i> bored? <br />
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adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-42474067329817267132012-10-30T11:31:00.001-04:002012-10-30T11:31:31.434-04:00OVCX #6 Trick-or-Treat 'cross This weekend was the 6th stop of the OVCX series at Eva Bandman Cyclocross park in Louisville. This venue hosted the Master's World Championship last year and will host the Elite World Champs this year.<br />
It was the annual "Halloween cross" where a lot of people race in costume. I'm calling it the "trick or treat cross" because I got tricked. I felt good, rode good and placed poorly. That's like getting a Snickers bar the proverbial razor blade in it. <br />
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It was windy and a very chilly day. The temp was ~52*, but the sun never poked out and that made it feel cold. Add 20+ mph steady winds to that, and you have a bone chiller of a day. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(great perspective shot of the harder of the two run-ups)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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I really wanted to get a good start at this race. The course was no technical in the least, which tends to not suit me as well. So I figured if I could get a good start I could afford to give up a few positions throughout the race and still be okay. <br />
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I got a good start. I rode top 10 for most of the first lap, but started giving up spots. I was picking bad lines on the run-ups and giving up places nearly every time (2 runs per lap). I have no idea why, but I was taking a right side line up the run ups, but they went directly to a left hand turn at the top. So I'd give up 2 or more spots to guys who took the left side of the run up. It was stupid and it took me a couple laps to get a hold of this. Add to this that the course was wide opened, and had a lot of flat pedal-hard stuff and it wasn't a good race for me. Like I mentioned above, I rode well and felt pretty good. But I ended up 25, which is among the worst of my results. <br />
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But I did have a fun day despite. And I squeaked onto the 35+ podium too. They had champagne for all podiums, so for the first time in my life I got covered in victory wine. Andy Messer (2nd step of the podium) commented that we'd all be screwed if we got pulled over going home; having just showered in alcohol. Pretty good stuff.<br />
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This weekend is the UCI Cini 3 race(s). It is a Friday, Saturday, Sunday event. I have done the triple once before, but I'm doing only Sat and Sun this year. Taking off work, plus racing three days in a row, is tough. Add hotel bills, etc to all that and it's not worth it to me. Should be a fun weekend though. <br />
<br />adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-38095427675954275732012-10-22T23:15:00.004-04:002012-10-22T23:15:53.126-04:00Hometown Racing...(and working) Man, it all started a couple months ago. The leaves on the trees were still green, and we needed to lay out the course for this past weekend's Bloomincross race.<br />
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This was the holy weekend in Bloomington Cycling: Hilly 100 <b>and</b> BloomingX. That also means it one of the busier weekends of my year. It means working on my feet w/ repetitive heavy lifting for ~23hrs in three days...and then trying to race CX on top of that. It's awesomeness at its awesomest. </div>
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Hilly 100 went well. Friday night was cold and rainy. Saturday was not quite as cold, not rainy, but cloudy. Sunday was just about perfect. My work partner, Josh, and I were a little off of our last year's $$ amount, but did well. We were super busy like we always are, but it's fun and a nice change of pace from the shop setting. <br />
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I'm always very unsure of how I'm going to race after working Hilly. I feel okay, but I have no idea how my tired body is going to respond to being pushed to 100% effort for an hour. It seems stupid to even line up, but it's my home race so I have to. </div>
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I didn't have a great start, I came out of my pedal for the first time ever. But I got my crap together quickly and rode a really good race. I felt myself struggling around the 12-20min mark, but I dialed back the effort a bit and rode steady/hard. I ended up battling back and forth with my friend Will and I beat him on the line for 16th. </div>
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Not my best finish ever, but not bad. And if nothing else, at least I got this borderline "epic" sprint picture out of it. </div>
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As you may recall this course was the design of me and a few other local X'ers. I was very pleased with how it turned out and I got nothing but good feedback from it. it made me exceptionally proud. I msg'd the promoter and told him that getting so much positive feedback on the course felt like watching my child grow up to be successful. He, having kids, said he understands what I mean. Of course, we just have cats and they're not going to grow up to do much of anything except puke all over the place. So I guess I'll have to be proud of course design. </div>
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It was a great weekend overall. One for the books. Seeing old friends at Hilly, hanging w/ friends I see all the time at the race, racing, then hanging w/ more friends at a post race bonfire-party-thing. Good times.</div>
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This weekend is the OVCX race at Eva Bandman CX park in Louisville. I haven't raced here since the Master's Worlds last year. And it's the home of the Elite Worlds this year. It's a cool venue and I usually like to race there. They have a lot of options in terms of how they can set up a course and it sometimes has more flat/opened/straight crap than I prefer, but that's CX. I'm looking forward to it all the same.</div>
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The fall weather is totally awesome here right now. I hope you all can enjoy it however you do. </div>
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<br />adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-87032851188202839762012-10-15T22:57:00.002-04:002012-10-15T22:57:36.676-04:00OVCX 4 the Gun ClubThis weekend was the 4th stop of the OVCX tour in Cincinasty at the famed Gun Club venue. The race is held at a well, gun club on the N/E side of Cinci. I assume a gun club is where older rich guys go to shoot guns. I assume they're rich 'cause poor people don't need to go to no club to shoot dem guns. The place it littered w/ clay pigeons everywhere which makes it cool.<br />
The weather was calling for 60% chance of T-storms all day. It stayed dry for most of the day... that is until abut 3minutes before our start.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this is right about when it started to rain</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I had ridden a few laps on intermediate tires prior to my race and really liked the course. This place is considered the "mountain bikey" course of the series. Plus it has some gradual climbing and both of those things suit me pretty well.<br />
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I tend to do well in wet conditions also. That's not to say I like it raining, in fact being wet and cold and muddy kind of sucks, but I tend to race well in it, so whatever. Point is: several cards were in place for this to be a good race for me.<br />
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And it was! I felt great and rode well. Just prior to starting I made the call to switch over to mud tires and I was glad I did. The course conditions were changing about ever 2 laps due to the rain/no rain/sun coming out scenario. That made things difficult because lines were changing nearly every time you went through a section. But that's racing: you have to adapt. But for a good portion of our race it was very slick. <br />
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A few of the OVCX heavy hitters were out in CO at the USGP race, so the field wasn't as "top heavy" as it usually is. Due to this I was riding inside the top 10 for most of the race. <br />
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I rode hard and finished 12th. I was happy with my race. I really started feeling the pain with three laps to go, but I dug and kept it going. I can really fool myself when I see the "3 to go" number. I think to myself, 'well, that's almost 2 to go, which is one away from 1 to go.' Which is all true, but still like 20-25min of all-out racing. <br />
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But I got through it and was pleased w/ myself. <br />
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I also got on the 35+ podium again! Rob Kendall is getting comfy on that middle step, but I'm trying to make my self more than an <a href="http://www.showbiz411.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/seinfeld-kramer.jpg" target="_blank">occasional visitor</a> here.<br />
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This weekend is the Hilly 100 tour AND stop #5 of the OVCX series here in B-town, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4_PhMsUupI" target="_blank">Bloomingcross</a>. So the weekend is basically the busiest of my life. But it's going to be great fun and (so far...) the weather is looking perfect. Should be awesome! See you on the other side!! <br />
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adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-156876014665311392012-10-08T18:47:00.003-04:002012-10-08T18:47:48.703-04:00OVCX 3: feeling good, riding bad, going backwardsThis weekend was stop #3 of the 2012 OVCX series. It was anew course outside the town of Xenia, OH. Xenia is the town made famous by the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119237/" target="_blank">movie Gummo</a>. If you've seen Gummo you can imagine my excitement to have to go to Xenia. If you haven't seen it, don't. It will depress you (and/or gross you out). <br />
I woke up feeling good. I slept well and felt ready once I got up and going. Once we hit the road, however, we ran into road closers, traffic jams, etc. I should have just turned around.<br />
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We got to the venue with no time to spare for my buddy Erik's race. He had to rush, but made his start. I had plenty of time for normal preparation and felt good warming up, etc. Admittedly, this course wasn't really my style, but I rode a couple warm up laps and wasn't feeling too bad about it. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I guess I didn't fare as bad as that guy</td></tr>
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But then the race started and all of my good feelings were blown away as if by the tornado that wiped out the town years ago, giving us Gummo. <br />
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The course was on very rough ground, mostly flat and with pretty much all wide opened non-technical turns. The kind of course that favors strong guys with big raw power. i have good power to weight but only because I'm really light; I don' have big raw power. <br />
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I'm sure there's more to it than just that, I think I just had an off day. I felt like I was really struggling to move forward all day and in fact in terms of positions, I was moving backwards. <br />
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And there was nothing I could do about it. People were coming around me and I just sat there and watched them go by. I couldn't respond. I just had no legs. I finished 25. I think that was the first time I've ever ridden myself out of the money. I've crashed myself out of the money a couple of times, but I don' think I've even finished outside of the money spots and not crashed and lost lots of time due to it. <br />
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I'm happy I gutted it out because I really wanted to quit a few times. Plus at least I got to wear my new hi-vis helmet and I got some pretty good pictures out of the deal. That's about all I can say though. I wanted to forget all about this race, which was on a Saturday, so Sunday I went out for longer ride where I enjoyed being out in the Southern IN Fall. I met up w/ a friend on the road and rode w/ him for a bit (he had already been out for a couple hours), then carried on alone. It was a nice ride and I had good power. So even though I felt demoralized after Saturday, I was till able to turn the pedals Sunday. Whew.<br />
This coming weekend is the OVCX classic Gun Club race in Cinci-nasty. It's one of the more technical courses and generally one of my fav's. The temps are dropping here, but I'm looking forward to a solid week of training and good race weekend. Then the weekend after that is Bloomingcross, the OVCX race here in town. I am part of the course design team for the race so I am stoked for it. We made a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4_PhMsUupI" target="_blank">promo video</a> for the race and I think it's really going to be a crowd pleaser (the race, that is). It's also Hilly100 weekend which means busy, busy, busy for me. But I'm pretty good at time/stress management. <a href="http://newauthors.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/what-me-worry.jpg?w=560" target="_blank">So no worries here</a>.<br />
Enjoy the Fall everyone; may favorite time of year! <br />
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<br />adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-69113945637866634872012-10-01T23:25:00.001-04:002012-10-01T23:25:43.755-04:00St. Mary's CX, IndyThis was the third year for the St. Mary's Children's Hospital CX race in Indy. It was the first year the weather wasn't atrocious. The first year there was about 18" of snow. Last year there was inches of rain (it poured <b>all</b> day). This year was damn-near perfect. <br />
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I went up Saturday to help set up the course. Once done we got to pre-ride it some and I deemed the course very, very hard. The course "raced" easier than it "rode." That may be hard to understand, but at speed and with race adrenaline, etc, the course seemed easier. Plus the grass was beaten down from hundreds of people being on it before my race; that didn't hurt either. <br />
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I didn't feel like this course played to may strengths overall. It wasn't very technical, and the climbing was short and hard. The start was long and paved. I slotted in okay and tried to stay up in the lead group (which was big). I found myself gapped off the main group, but others were getting popped off as well so there was pretty much always a small group to race with. <br />
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I felt pretty good and rode a pretty solid race. I tried to stay smart and not ride too far outside of myself and hoped that consistency would pay off over the eagerness to catch/get around people. <br />
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I finished 15th, which isn't bad, but I was just off a group of 4-6 guys the whole day. I can't help but think that I could have done better.<br />
You can notice in the pic of the finish I am on my orange bike. With a couple laps to go the shifting went to crap on my black bike and I had to switch. Sometimes that sort of thing can be dealt with, but with the hill on this course I couldn't have my bike shifting for me. Luckily I have tons of friends at these races and get a pit-crew whipped up by yelling that I need my other bike. My team-mate and good friend Josh has his hand in a cast, so he wasn't racing. His girlfriend Sarah has a minor concussion so she wasn't either. I yelled to Josh that I needed to pit and when I came around he and Sarah were there ready to catch my A bike and hand off my B bike. The exchange went super smooth, I lost no time and I was able to ride with confident shifting (though the brakes suck ass on my B bike, but at least I know and expect that). <br />
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I entered the race as a 35+ Master's Elite (CX racing age is based on the next calendar year, which makes me 35). It's the same race, for the same money, but I can get on a podium for the same result! Pretty cool. <br />
This weekend is a far away-ish Ohio race. I like to minimize the 3+hr car trips, but I also hate to give up my points. I'm undecided as to whether or not I am going to go...I probably will though. Between racing, work and Bloomington's Hilly 100 bicycle tour (at which I work) October is always the busiest month of my year. Today's Oct. 1; <b>BRING IT</b>. adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-88761454147388115352012-09-24T19:18:00.002-04:002012-09-24T19:18:50.820-04:00Nice (needed) rest weekThe worst part of a rest week is I don't have any awesome race pics to share. The good part is I actually feel more rested. I took this week "off" meaning I didn't do any intensity training, just "endurance" riding. I had a pretty decent week and go tin some steady miles. It got kind of cold out all of the sudden, which is fine w/ me, but means I have to get out the fall gear.<br />
I decided to end the week with a Sunday group ride. There's a group that does the same ride, north to Martinsville via Low Gap road and back, every Sunday. I've heard it goes pretty fast and is a strong group of guys so I wanted to get one of these in. It was a pretty big group and a lot strong guys as expected. But I felt like a million bucks; one of those days you hope for, but can't predict. I wanted to maximize the benefits of the workout so I was taking big long monster pulls on the front. Like some 10minute pulls, 5minute and never less than 2minute. The other guys were doing a big share of work too and the group dwindled until it was down to just 4. They have a "finish" line painted on the road for this ride, but it's like 30min from town, so after the "sprint" I just kept riding while the others sat up. One guy followed me and I pulled him all the way to the next climb (the fire station climb). We rode hard up the climb but he turned off into the fire station parking lot and I kept on riding hard until town. It was a great ride and exactly what I needed. Plus it was a great day to be out: great clear day and cool temps. Perfect. <br />
This week it's back to some intensity and intervals.We're a few weeks into this race season and though my results aren't stellar, I'm feeling pretty good racing. I'm hoping that if I continue on, the results will come. Plus I've been dealing with some pretty serious hip/lower back issues for awhile now and I feel like I ~kind of~ have it under control right now. Under control means my "normal" is like a 2 (on a 1-10) and it jumps to a 4-6 rather than my "normal" being like a 4 and it jumping to a 7-9. That may sound terrible, but it's an improvement. Dealing with injury is part of being an athlete. (period) <br /> So this weekend is one of the Indy CX races put on by my team. Last year it poured rain all day and it was one of the muddier race I've ever done. I tend to do okay in the mud, but I never really <i>hope </i>for it. Everything is a total pain in the ass after a total mud fest. But we race in the conditions that <a href="http://blacklordgod.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/600_mother_nature.jpg" target="_blank">the goddess mother nature</a> gives us. Lets' hope for a good weekend...whatever that means. adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-76681631500998806032012-09-17T23:18:00.001-04:002012-09-17T23:20:59.086-04:00OVCX #1 The Apple OrchardThis weekend was the series opener for the major midwest CX series, the OVCX (Ohio Valley CX). The venue is in Indiana, but really considered Louisville because it's just over the river, a few minutes up I-65 from LV.<br />
This is the third year for this venue, but I've only been once, which was two years ago because last year I was up all night throwing up the night before this race. It's a cool venue, though the ground is exceptionally rough. It is an apple orchard/pumpkin patch/family fun destination (mini golf, corn maze, hay rides, that kind of crap), so tractors drive over the grounds all the time. This makes for some bumpy, bumpy ground on a bicycle. Plus it's been s dry this year that it was a major dust bowl too.<br />
I'm not sure of numbers or stats, but this was one of the bigger elite fields we've had at an OVCX race. I think there were like 70+ people. This made the start pretty important because if you got shuffled way back, you had a lot of work to do get in a good spot. There was some start line drama that for all practical purposes made the third row the first row available. Long story. I was in that third row. <br />
It wasn't so bad though. Things got pretty strung out pretty quickly. I went back and forth with a few guys for most of the race. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I corner knee out moto-sylee.</td></tr>
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I felt pretty good and rode a good race. I started somewhere around 16th-20th and finished 18th. I would have liked to have been more like 13th-14th, but that's racing. I can't really look back and think of anything I could have done much differently do have done much better. And hey, 18th is in the money!<br />
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Having two races under my belt so far I feel that I'm able to push myself really well. CX effort is so hard, it's difficult to predict whether you will be able to push yourself to the limit or hold back like 1%. My heart rate files are telling me that I'm pushing hard. And I'm feeling okay while doing it. I've been doing some good training, which brings me to this week. "Rest" week. I'm going to rise easier miles and do no intervals this week. There's no race this weekend, so I'm going to make it a recovery week. I've been at it for at least 5 straight weeks now (I lost some data with a computer switch, but it's 5 or 6 weeks) and this is a long season. So I need to remember to schedule "rest" when I can. But I'm having fun and feeling good. And that's what it's all about. I'm looking forward to the season! <br />
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<br />adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-11855256888491617202012-09-10T23:35:00.003-04:002012-09-10T23:35:53.402-04:00One doneWell, the seal is broken on CX season 2012. The first race of the Indiana Cross Series (ICX) was this weekend just outside Muncie, in Yorktown. Muncie is my "'adopted' hometown" so I can't miss this race. I see a lot of old friendly faces as well as a lot of new faces that I don't know, but are on the scene in Muncie; you know, my old scene. So it's cool like that.<br />
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Plus it's a CX race, right? And given that it's a non OVCX race, but still with good competition, it's a great way to get reintroduced to what CX is all about. Because let's face it, you have to race to get that kind of effort in. Theres' no way I can train at 180bmp for an hour. No way. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">downhill "plunge'</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Last year at this race there were 4 Elite men. 2 were way fast and the other two of us were racing for third. That totally killed my motivation to go all out. This year there were 13 elites. Pretty good turn out. Enough for a race anyway. <br />
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My race went pretty well. I've been doing some CX riding, but you never really now how racing will go until you get one done. I was able to tolerate the effort and I rode technically well too. This was set up as a pretty technical, but also really difficult course. So lots of hard up-and-down, but also a lot of hard cornering. I rode in 5th-8th or so most of the race. I crashed once and lost two laces, but battled them back. It took 2-3 laps to get back up to the guys who passed me while I was down, but I made it and ended up 5th. I was pretty happy with how it went. <br />
This week will be more of the same training leading into the OVCX opener this weekend. The big leagues. Or the big(ger) leagues anyway. I am rather looking forward to it. adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-33377903461209349762012-09-03T23:17:00.000-04:002012-09-04T08:21:26.435-04:00Blame it on the RainI can't resist a good<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwrL9MV6jSk" target="_blank"> Milli Vanilli</a> post tile. I may have even used that one before...and I may well again. Just too good. And I don't really have anything to "blame on the rain," but it did rain like a bastard yesterday (Sunday). <br />
We had planned to go out to Karst Farm Park and work on the BloomingX cyclocross course, but w/ all day rain that plan was a bust. I wanted to get a couple-to a few hours of riding in though. The hourly forecast and radar basically were a wash, so after waiting around for couple of hours for a respite in the rain, I decided to just leave in the rain. Cyclists know riding in the rain pretty much sucks. But there's a big difference between getting caught in the rain and leaving in the rain. My ride buddy Erik was all-game to ride in the rain, so we set out. I wanted to get in 2.5-3hrs, but when we got to the point where we would have had to turn off to get more miles, I decided to head straight back into town. Ended up with about 2:15, but it poured rain on us the entire time. As Murphy's law would dictate however, within 5minutes of getting home it stopped raining for the rest of the day. Marvelous. Oh well, getting out in the rain every now and then is good for your mental game, right? I hope so, 'cause it's not particularly good for you bike. <br />
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Anywho, since it was Labor day and we weren't working we got out to Karst Monday. We spent a few hours and have the course 98% set. We marked most of it and are going to start riding it. I'm pretty stoked on it; I think it's going to be a great course.<br />
The combination of of a rainy Sunday and Labor Day Monday allowed me time to get a lot of house cleaning done too. The stuff like mopping the wood floors, etc that I don't do regularly but should do more often. <br />
Otherwise the week was mostly uneventful. Training is keeping on keeping on. Racing is, well, starting to happen. First CX races are this coming weekend. There is a Saturday race on the far side of Cinci-nasty that I'm not going to go to. But Sunday is the series opener for the Indiana Cross Series. I won't be able to do many of the ICX races as most are on Saturdays, but this is the Muncie race (Yorktown actually) so I can't miss my "hometown" race!<br />
Hard to believe CX season is here already. Let's get it! <br />
adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-4081658144699055162012-08-30T08:11:00.001-04:002012-08-30T08:11:06.217-04:00Farewell Ye MTB Season(FYI: I had this written and thought I had posted it earlier this week. Apparently I didn't hit 'post.' Sorry to my loyal reader[s?])<br />
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This past weekend was the finale' of the DINO MTB cross country races. As I mentioned last post it was at a venue I had never been to before (Southwestway Park on Indy's south/west side). The trails were really well made and I liked the course. It had a bit of everything: tight twisty tech stuff, open flowy fast stuff, flat straight hammer sections and a legit climb. I had heard talk of "Mann Hill" at SWW, but I though 'how bad can this climb be, it's in an Indy park?' I have to say, it's totally legit. Below is a pic of me on it, suffer face and all. Our race was 4 laps, and it was getting difficult toward the last of those laps. <br />
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The course also has several log jumps/crossings on it. No huge deal in-and-of itself, but when you're on a course you don't know, logs can throw you for a loop. And one about threw me over my bars. In the first lap I was leading a group of 8or so guys through one of the wide opened 20+mph sections. Just after this head-down hammer section there's a tree down that, in the center of the trail, is probably ~3' high. However, if you move left it is only about 10"-12" high and totally jumpable. Well not knowing that I came into this tree head down, full gas. I looked up and about shit myself with no time to react I had to dismount and jump it cyclocross style. That works fine in a CX race, but when everyone else knew the line over it I was passed by like 6 guys. I was able to slot back in the middle of the group, but I didn't want to be that far back. When we hit the climb on the first lap, I passed them all back and only one guy stayed with me. (pic'd above). <br />
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Eventually I dropped him as well and caught some ahead. My friend Will, pic'd above, had a great start and was ahead of me. I caught him and we duked it out for the rest of the race. It was a good race between us, but his front wheel came out from under him in the final single track section and he crashed. He got back up and finished just behind me. We were 4th and 5th Cat1's. It was a good race. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(The start was close to a mile open gravel double track. Seems ideal for passing and what-not, but it was fairly loose, so you had to be very careful to not slide out)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Otherwise the training is coming along and things are pretty normal. Getting in my intervals, riding some CX, working the core/rest of the body and taking my easy days. First CX race is 2 weeks away. Hard to believe, but that's what the calendars say. adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-2515369374788117732012-08-20T10:32:00.002-04:002012-08-20T10:32:35.519-04:00The bumpy season ahead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This week, among other things, we started out weekly Wednesday evening cyclocross practice rides. I've been on the CX bike plenty in the past few weeks, but not on grass. And the ground here is extremely hard right now and that makes for some bumpy riding (hence the post title, get it?). It was cool to do some off road cornering, barrier hoping, etc. Things are starting to roll toward the CX season.<br />
With that in mind I also continued ramping up the intervals this week. Still not over-the-top major stuff, but getting there. Working. Building. You know.<br />
Sunday there was a group riding gravel from Story, like we did a few weeks ago, but I opted to just stay here and ride road form home. I wanted to do this one ride I like, but haven't done this year (that I can remember at least). It goes up Catholic Cemetery Road into Morgan Monroe State Forest from the east. Cath Cem is a really tough climb no matter what, but the road has been seriously degrading over the past couple of years and I don't think it is being maintained any more. So it goes from really gnarly pavement, to gravel, to gravel with chunks out of the sub layer, back to nasty pavement, over and over making it exceptionally difficult. I like it. It was a super nice day and I probably <i>should </i>have ridden more, but I wanted to get home to catch the Moto GP race live from Indianapolis. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbhrdGWlo571sGvCPWgBAW94BRlcQ1VYf6UfmdTfO3mzmNXXFTbm1PSBGVnNptZp8qNcWa1-rS0gD34JSLSugHrSFOFP02nAzPLiEA5RA5Xy1yZsXeB7WJRyoUxjqHzqOXfN5/s1600/watchmotogp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbhrdGWlo571sGvCPWgBAW94BRlcQ1VYf6UfmdTfO3mzmNXXFTbm1PSBGVnNptZp8qNcWa1-rS0gD34JSLSugHrSFOFP02nAzPLiEA5RA5Xy1yZsXeB7WJRyoUxjqHzqOXfN5/s320/watchmotogp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the rest of my afternoon</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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So I only rode a bit over two hours. It was a totally solid ride though. Good power, etc.<br />
In (more) uninteresting news: I also mowed the yard this week. It's been awhile.This drought is bad news for sure, but I usually have to mow once a week throughout the summer (and <i>could</i> mow more than that), but this summer I've gone 5-7week stretches w/out starting the mower. I dig that. Although my neighbor gives me $20 to mow her yard every time I mow mine so that's quite a bit a scratch I'm missing out on, but whatever. Mowing sucks.<br />
With CX season looming there is one MTB race left that I have been on-the-fence about doing. I am leaning toward doing it at this point. It's less than an hour drive, it's at a trail I've never ridden and surely I can use the racing. I have to admit though: the thought of racing on a course I've never ridden is kind of weird to me. I don't mean this in a bad way, but the DINO series uses the same courses year after year so I know most of them very well; I know the corners, what's around the corners, where the logs are, etc. it will be weird to be a "new" course. But kind of cool too.<br />
So that's how things are looking! adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-59693265675623191892012-08-13T23:12:00.003-04:002012-08-13T23:12:53.206-04:00Getting stuck, Going home, MTB Racing..If you're a regular reader you may remember that June 16 (day of the DINO race at French Lick) I woke up with a blown out back. Well to be honest, it never really got (much) better. I've been training, racing, working, living, etc in a fair amount of discomfort for nearly 2months. I have a friend who does acupuncture and I decided this past week to try it. It helped. A lot. My back has bothered me to varying degrees for years, and it's not like it's magically 100% well after being poked, but I had been operating at probably 40-60% for a long time and I'm feeling much better now. I need to keep up with posture and core work to keep this thing in check though.<br />
Also on Tuesday my leg really began to swell from the sting I had gotten last Sunday. I took Benadryl and it is under control at this point (over a week later), but I was a little worried there Tuesday. <br />
On the subject of bike riding, I started back up with some intervals on the bike last week. Nothing major, just some efforts to get back into the groove of structured stuff. I'm keeping on the core workouts as well, so that means two-a-day workouts a few days/week. It's no huge thing, but when you work 40+hrs/week, and "have" to work out before <b>and </b>after work, it gets tiring. <br />
I wanted to race MTB's at the DINO Logansport race this past Sunday. It's a lengthy drive from Bloomington, and Lindsay didn't want to go anyway, so I went to my parent's house Saturday night to stay. They live ~1hr from Logansport, so it cut the drive way down. When I got there they were Skyping w/ Ramona (my niece/their granddaughter), as it was her actual birthday (even though we celebrated it the previous weekend). I got in on the video chat action and it was nice. She was more interested in the playdough that she had than any actual "chatting" but whatever. It was nice to be home and hang w/ the fam for a bit.<br />
Sunday I got up to head to the race. I felt pretty good, but it was chilly outside; a feeling I was not used to at all. It was perfect weather for racing, but as hot as it has been here, I wasn't sure how things would be. But we got going and I went straight to the front. I spent the entire race never further back than 3rd or 4th place, sometimes in first, mostly in 2nd or 3rd.<br />
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I was in a group of 2-5 for the entire race. It felt really good to be really racing, rather just stuck in no-man's land hammering away. One guy got off the front and was not seen again. He won. The guy 3 back in the photo, in blue, got 2nd and I was 3rd. It was a really good race and I felt really good the whole time (for the most part, this course has a very steep, very long run up that started to make my calves cramp after the 3rd time up it, but that kind of stuff is bound to happen). Plus I rode well, didn't make too many mistakes and had fun.<br />
It was a fun day. A lot of friends were there so we convoyed out and all ate in Kokomo. What a shit town.<br />
There is 1 MTB race left and I'm not sure if I will do it or not. We'll see. I'm starting to shift focus to CX, so I'll just play it by ear and see what the weekend of the race looks like. It may be nice to have another race in, but other things may be happening. Not sure. <br />
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<br />adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-90277568082900164972012-08-06T10:41:00.001-04:002012-08-06T10:41:12.414-04:00Partying, bike riding, you know how we doThis weekend we went to my brother's in-law's house on Heritage Lake in Putnam county for a 2yr birthday bash for our niece, Ramona. It's always a fun time at their place and this time was no exception because Ramona was in full party mode. <br />
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We had a great day and a lot of fun. We had various types of tacos from a home-made make your own taco bar and of course the above pictured cake which was rainbow colored inside. Killer.<br />
This week I continued on with core strength routine and got some good riding in as well. I'm still off intervals, but I did a good hard gravel ride Tuesday which included the McGowan hill which I've mentioned in the past. I made it up it once more making me 3/3. I'm getting pretty confident about it now, but I don't want to get cocky, because I feel that there is no guarantee that I will make it up that hill (riding) on any given day. it's hard.<br />
I also went out and did some MTB riding Wednesday. I just went and busted out some laps at Wapahani park here in town. By the time Thursday came I hadn't ridden the road bike all week (or since the previous Friday actually). I've been taking a new guy out on Thursdays and showing him some routes. It's a good way for me to do an endurance ride and a good way for him to learn more routes and it gives someone to ride with. So we went out and did a route w/ Shilo Rd, which is one of my favorite roads for climbing around here. We did a fairly climb heavy 30-35miles. Pretty good ride. <br />
Sunday I wanted to get a longer ride in but couldn't really decide what route. I used to ride over to Spencer fairly regularly, but I haven't for a couple years. It's a nice rolling ~2hrs straight over and back, but you can add some stuff onto the end to make it longer, which I did. <br />
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I always thought the giant chicken at the park in Spencer was funny. I
was glad to see it was still there. I haven't done this ride since I've
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Though I got rained on and stung by something (that I think was bigger than your run-of-the-mill bee), I still had a good ride. I wanted 3hrs and got just under that. Good day. </div>
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I'm going to start introducing some intervals this week. Nothing crazy, just some stuff to get back into the swing of it. </div>
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Our old computer started loosing drivers last week so I decided to pull the band aid and gt a new one. I'm not opposed to new stuff, but the old computer has years of data on it that has to be dealt with. Some of it won't transfer over. I have used Polar's training software for over 10yrs and have all of that data on that machine. I knew it wouldn't transfer over, and that's why I've been hesitant to replace the old machine. But I knew it was going to happen sometime (the old PC is from 2001!), so I just did it and cut my losses. I'm going to switch to Training Peaks to store my data now so it's online and not tethered to a machine. I've used TP before when I had a coach, so I'm somewhat familiar w/ it. So far it seems to be working out pretty well. I'm still working on getting some other things switched over (pictures, music, etc) but it's going pretty smoothly. I just knew it was time...attitude is (pretty much) everything. </div>
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Finally, I think I am going to have my first exp w/ acupuncture this week. My back/hips have been bothering me badly for a few weeks now (and bothering me in general for years), but I think I need to do something more than my normal stretching routine and the strength routine I've been at for a few weeks. I have heard good things about acupuncture and I have a friend who does it, so I'm going to give it a go. Hopefully it helps. </div>
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<br /></div>adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-26603651301792192352012-07-30T23:22:00.001-04:002012-07-30T23:24:05.736-04:00Something(s) DifferentI mixed it all up this week; did some different things. I need to get my fitness more rounded, you know, even things out going into CX season. I had a pretty strong week, though it was probably a little short on pure cycling. But I'll get back into that in the coming weeks.<br />
I began mixing in some walking/jogging and general core/upper body exercise(s). For a while now I've been looking at those "fit core" stations that are on walking/jogging paths and thinking about things I could do on them. You've seen these things: monkey bars, pull up bars, dip bars, etc. There are two within a 5-8min (depending on my walk/jog ratio) of my house. I threw together a couple circuits that involve monkey bar crossing, ladder climbing, balance beam walking, dips and pull ups. Nothing crazy, but something different. Plus I am working on hanging leg lifts and some other "<a href="http://www.whosay.com/bestworstadvice/photos/115101" target="_blank">killer ab workout stuffs</a>" for inner core strength. <br />
Also this past week I did some different bike riding as well.<br />
I have kind sorta had riding the Schooner Trail at BCSP on my to do list for a while. For those unfamiliar, Schooner (or Schoo-gnarr) is a the super-black-diamond-ultra-mega-advanced trail at BCSP. If you can ride the whole trail, you are legend. (and I've only heard of one person who has actually ridden the whole trail, and a couple who can ride "nearly" everything) Anyway, this trail consists of several natural obstacles like crazy downhill rock gardens, etc that are specifically made to be extremely difficult to ride at any speed, but they're generally set up so you carry no speed into them. It's not my type of riding <b>at all</b>. It was about 30min of putting my foot down, dumping my bike and crashing. It wasn't too fun really. But I'm glad I gave it a shot so that I can now say I have done Schoo-gnarr. If I'm totally honest: it was way harder than I expected it to be.<br />
Sunday I met a teammate over in Story, IN to do some gravel road riding. I had planned on doing a gravel ride form home anyway, so when this opportunity popped up, I though 'what the hay?'. It turned out to be a lot of fun. We rode some roads I've ridden before and some neither of us had. We ended up right around 3hrs with lots of climbing and mostly gravel. We did have to hike-the-bikes in a place or two though because it appeared as though a tornado moved through there Friday. There were stretches that had tree after tree down across the roads. The because these are rarely traveled gravel roads, there's no huge hurry to clear them. Oh well, it made for an adventure.<br />
This week will probably look pretty similar: "fit core" stuff, some different types of riding, etc. Then next week I'll probably re-introduce some intervals. Light stuff at first, then work up. CX is like 6 weeks away or something... <br />
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adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-89353621984690303392012-07-23T23:09:00.002-04:002012-07-23T23:09:53.628-04:00After the reignMy stronghold on the Cat 3 Indiana state time trial has ended. It didn't really leave me asking "what if" because I was beaten by almost a full minute. No amount of "what if" could have made me up a minute. I rode a good ride and felt really good. I kept it under control, but rode very hard. The wind was pretty strong this year. It was a tail out/head in scenario. My speed reflects that fact well: I av'd 29.5 out and 25.3 back. And I had to <b>work</b> for that 25.3. My time was 55.39, which is just under a minute over my best on this course. I wanted to go inside of 55min, but it just didn't happen this day. My heart rate av was 176, which is threshold and right where it should be for a TT; any higher and there's a very real risk of me blowing sky-high.<br />
I got 2nd in the Cat 3's, so I brought home a silver medal. I will admit I'm a little disappointed, but not shattered or anything. I was 7th overall to the usual Indiana TT specialists: Painter, Sperle, Maple, Manfred, etc. These guys I think are all over 50yrs old and blazing fast at the TT. But this race pays out, so 7th netted me a cool $16. That helps in a big way to offset to ~$200 weekend to do this race (gas, hotel, food, etc). <br />
As you may recall we went up for a friend's wedding also. It was a very nice wedding and it was good to see an old friend. He and his (wife) live in Florida currently so I don't see them often. But it's looking like they may be moving back (to Ft Wayne area) soon-ish so I may get to see more of them at races and what-not.<br />
Also, I had more friends in B-town this weekend. So once we got back to town, we out for some drinks w/ a friend who I haven't seen for a few year because he moved to California and hasn't been back for a while. Plus another friend was in town who I haven't seen for a few months since he moved to Colorado. It was kind of a crazy weekend of seeing old friends. Pretty cool really. <br />
So I'm going to kind of dial things back a bit this week and re-introduce some non-cycling exercise. I need to get my core/lower back in order ahead of CX season. There's still an MTB race or two to do, so I'm going to keep on the bike of course, but for a week or two I'm going to take it easier. Just kind of ride. No intervals.<br />
Plus the Olympics starts this weekend so I have to have time to devote to watching all that. I get excited about the Olympics. I cant wait! adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-36154978409832359912012-07-16T10:30:00.001-04:002012-07-16T10:30:22.159-04:00Riding bikes, working on bikes, etc...I rode every style of bike that I own this week. That's road, time trial, MTB, CX and commuter. I don't know that I've ever done that before. I was kind of up and down this week. I went out and did some TT intervals on Tuesday and felt pretty good. I was feeling a bit tired , but had a hard workout planned for Thursday, so I decided to ride the MTB for a bit Wednesday. Fair enough, I didn't set any records Wed, just road a few laps on the trails at Wapahani park. Then Thursday I set out for 2x20min threshold intervals and really struggled through them. 2x20 TH is a very hard workout and sometimes you just don't have it. I was at the low end of my zone for both of them. I barely made it. But I made it. So although I wasn't as good as I wanted to be, it was mission accomplished.<br />
Sunday I wanted to do something different. I haven't been out on the gravel roads on my CX bike in many months. So I decided to go out and do a couple hour "CX" ride. It's been so dry that a lot of the gravel is displaced and the silty powder underneath is exposed in a lot of places. This makes it nice on the flats, but on the hills since there's not a layer of gravel to absorb the car tires, the braking bumps are really bad. I noticed this early on while descending Gross road. I was being thrown all over and was borderline out of control. I looked down at my computer as I hit 43mph and knew if I braked it would just make things worse. So I just loosened my grip and rode it out. A little scary I will admit.<br />
About an hour later I hit another big hill, but this time going up. It was completely cross-rutted with braking bumps as well. This hill is extremely to get up when conditions are perfect, so this was extra hard. But I made it up that bastard. And that's an accomplishment.<br />
I also stared getting my "A" CX bike back together this week. <br />
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I cleaned it real good before taking it apart last winter, but it still has some frozen parts that had to be overhauled. I enjoy detail work, so this is "fun" for me. I almost gave up on freeing this bearing. I had to soak it in the strongest penetrating agent know to man, the creeper (orange can), work it free w/ pliers (this took probably 5minutes of constant working of it), then once it started turning I gave it a bath in 711 general lube (silver can) to clean out all the creeper. Once I had it cleaned/dried I filled it w/ Rock and Roll Super Web grease (white tube) and re-sealed it. Good as new; better actually.<br />
So I'm getting my CX bikes ready and preparing for the State TT. I'm not sure if I've ,entioned this already, but a friend of mine is getting married this Saturday in Ft Wayne and the State TT is Sunday 20minutes away form Ft. Wayne. So it worked out perfect that I can go to both. Which is good because there's no fckn way I'd drive up to Ft Wayne two weekends in a row if it had been scheduled that way. I69 between Indy and Ft Wayne is a total shit drive. Once a year is enough for me.<br />
I'm going to do another Morgan-Monroe TT this week, then my next report will be post-State TT. I am borrowing a friend's high zoot Zipp disc rear wheel, so hopefully I can tear it up (the course, not the wheel, I can't afford to replace the wheel so hopefully I <i>don't</i> tear <b>it</b> up).<br />
See y'all! <br />adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18492051.post-53226727650884031722012-07-10T08:26:00.002-04:002012-07-10T08:26:38.571-04:00MTB, TT, 4th of July, more TT...I rode quite the variety of bikes this week.<br />
I went out and hit the local 10mile TT on Tuesday night. It was extremely hot (100+*), but I haven't done one of these yet this year and I want to get a couple in before the State TT. Plus for the last two or three years I've done every single one of them, so I need to get out for tradition's sake! Anywho, it was too hot for aero gear. So I went at it with no shoe covers, no aero helmet, no skinsuit and jersey 3/4 unzipped to boot. I was of course on the TT bike, but otherwise I was about as un-aero as one can get. I felt really good and really strong. I was 30seconds off of my best on this course. Given that 1) I hadn't done one this year, 2) I was basically a sail and 3) i was hot as balls, I was pretty happy with that time and the feeling. Good stuff.<br />
Wednesday was July 4. And hot again. A big group of friends was going to meet at Brown County park to ride MTB's in the 100+* heat. Sounded like a good idea. It was actually a lot of fun. We had a big group of varying skill/fitness levels, so we spent a good deal of time waiting and regrouping. We did what is normally a ~2.5hr ride in a little over 3hrs, but it was a fun day with a big group of good people. Thursday I wanted to get a solid road ride in, but nothing major. I went out for a little over an hour (under 1.5hrs), but at a good clip. By Friday I was feeling tired. Then I thought back: I raced Saturday, raced Sunday, ~raced~ (did the TT) Tuesday, rode ~3.5hrs MTB Wednesday and rode fairly hard Thursday (all in 90-100+* temps). Yeah, I should have been tired.<br />
Sunday I wanted to get back out on the TT bike for a long ride on it. My purpose for this ride was to stay aero as much as possible (getting up for the few hills that are on the route) and to hold steady-moderate power; not kill it or anything, just lay down a good hard number and keep it consistent. Not including getting in or out of town the route is a touch over 20miles one way. My power was within 7watts out and back. That's pretty consistent. It was actually within 1watt on the way in, but at around 1:40-1:45 I started to fade a bit. I blame the heat. I felt pretty good otherwise, but it was hot and while I'm not a big "sweater" I was loosing serious fluid. With town on each side I got ~2.5hrs on the TT bike and felt pretty good the whole time, save for a few back stretches. <br />
With all that I ended up with a fairly big week. Well, bigger (more hours) than normal anyway. It's all because July 4 fell on a Wednesday of course giving me the day off of work, but I'll take it. I'm going to be on my TT bike a few more times over the next two weeks and I feel like I'm going good. I'm already feeling ready for the State TT even though it's nearly two weeks away. <br />
Sorry for no pics, just didn't have anything relevant. adamrodkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11543060137853459081noreply@blogger.com0