Bear Lake going Once, Twice, Three times!

75°F
Ergomo Pro/Spin
Wasn't sure how today was going to go. I was concerned about the distance, didn't have 100 miles under my belt yet this year and my feet were really hurting at the end of last years race and I got popped with 5 miles to go. I covered an attack 5 minutes in with 2 riders and the 3 of us kept it going off the front for a couple of minutes just to see if the field would let us go or not, but they brought it back. I continued to cover a lot of attacks throughout the day. At the 30 mile mark, ET got in a 4 man move that went up the road that the field let it go and they quickly got a 1 minute gap. A little while later, Candelaria and one other rider bridged across, I heard it took them 20 minutes. The rest of the day we just covered attacks and sat in, letting the disorganized Cat 3's try to figure out how to chase. Ira Tibbets kept throwing in hard attacks over and over. We covered every single one, his tactics weren't working for him and he was tired for the field sprint. We caught sight of the break on the last lap on the East rollers and the field became re motivated to catch them. The field took its time, waiting until the very end. With about 5 miles to go, I covered several hard attacks from riders trying to get away. I was a little worried I had burned myself up for the field sprint. After I covered one attack and started coming back, another one went up the road. Patrick was behind me and gave me a push to cover it. I went again but came back when I knew I was giving too much, but the field went with me and everything was back together. Everybody was really fighting for position now. I was in the top ten the rest of the way. We came to the left turn and I went around on the right side on Tibbets wheel. We started the drag race and I went past him right away. Then we were coming up on ET and another rider that almost overlapped his wheel and nearly crashed as we were coming, and we had to go around them on both sides and the speed let up just a hair to get by safely. I felt bad that we were passing Eric in the last K after being in the break for 70 miles. Pretty soon Connor O'Leary (the UCA Leader) came around me with some pretty good speed so I jumped on his wheel. Then I noticed Patrick on my left getting some draft. At about 400 meters we were all out. I came around Connor on his right hammering, passing the 200 meter sign. The legs were screaming, but I just kept them spinning and stretched as far as I could at the line. There was one rider to my left that got me by a few inches and Patrick was just ahead of us. He took the field sprint, but Cameron managed to hang on just 10 feet ahead of us for 2nd and another rider in front of him for 1st. I ended up 6th overall, and I'm happy with that.

TTT
We got a good warm up and set out at a nice pace. Wind was pretty calm. The N end was the worst. We went to a rotating pace line and got across pretty well. I was feeling good and coming through strong on my pulls. I was focused on keeping it smooth so I didn't mess things up. Canyon (Jeff Clawson, John Gardner and Louis Riel) caught us mid way on the East side rollers. They must have put in a big effort to make the catch, because we passed them on the next hill. Towards the end of the rollers my legs were starting to get tired and weak and I wasn't able to pull as strong as I wanted to. Todd really started to come through here and do some great work. I had 2 gel packs and I forgot to eat one at the line, and I just couldn't find an opportunity to eat one on the course. I only drank 1/2 a bottle, but that is all I felt like I needed, temp was great. Bill pulled hard right before the final small climb a few K from the finish and I used it as a spring board to power up with Todd and give it everything to the line. Todd came through and started riding me off his wheel to the line, it was a great finish. 1:51:28. Ave speed 27.4 mph. Canyon caught us and passed us with 500 meters to go. They started 2 minutes behind us. We had a great time, just off the time of about 3-4 cat 1/2 teams. I was very happy with it and very happy with how well my teammates did.

Sohm is back!

86°F
Ergomo Pro/Spin
This was a hard wko. Aaron Jordan attacked on the second lap and it was on. Didn't try to do anything to heroic tonight. I was too close to my limit, and I knew I would blow if I over did it. At one point, about 30 minutes in, I was gapped off a little and hurting and I was close to pulling the plug. I kept turning the pedals over and fortunately everybody was hurting and I was back in. With about 12 minutes to go, Mike Sohm attacked and Kuenneman went with him. I was in position to go with the jump, but it caught me off guard and I still didn't dare to go, unfortunately that was the move. They stayed away and took 1 & 2. With 3 to go and I was watching Bryson Perry, I knew he was committed to having a go. Coming up the hill into the final lap I was on his wheel, but we were on the right side. He managed to slip up and get around the corner, but when I tried to follow the door slammed shut and I almost came to a complete stop as I got pinched. I looked left and I was at the back. You can't do well at the DMV when your this far back with one to go. I battled my way on the last lap through the turns, and jumped coming out of the 3rd turn to go on the straight. It was a good jump and I passed a lot of riders, cut a hard left to pass a few more and gave it everything up the hill, but still only ended up about 12th. I had a great view of Kris Henthorn's spectacular crash as he went to power up the hill. I guess his drive train locked up and threw him right into the ground. Again, I'm really happy that I was able to finish strong and hang in there until the end. Good things are coming. Later in the B flight, there was a crash. Shortly after, 2 of the riders that were involved that had dropped out went into shock and both had to be treated and taken away in an ambulance.

TSB: 5.1

82°F
Ergomo Pro
TSB was 5 going into todays effort, so I was hopeful. I wanted to make sure I got into a break if it went. 8 minutes in a break went and I threw down big and bridged across and started setting pace with the others, but it was too early and was nullified. That was a hard effort and I decided to sit for a minute and get my legs back. Then the bell rang for a prime lap. I was kind of far back, but I was feeling good again and wanted to contest it. i was trying to move up the entire lap, but only got about 15 riders back on the straight. I was just about to put in an effort to move up more, but then Mitch laid it down and I know how hard he can go, so I saved it. It was just up and down the rest of the time. I just sat in the wheels while riders tried in vein to escape. With 5 to go I just focused hard on staying towards the front, yet not going too hard that I would be blown at the end. I came around the 180 for the final time about a dozen back and had to smile inside, I felt like I had something left and DH was in front of me. A bunch of riders went hard way too early with the head wind and soon we were rolling past them. Suddenly Dave jumped hard and went all the way to the right where nobody was. I wish I would have been watching him closer and went with him. It would have been a sweet lead out. I ended coming up the middle around 10th, but they didn't give it to me. I counted 9 riders in front of me twice, but I'm not going to contest the last place point. That's my best showing at RMR in the A's, so big ups to me!

The bugs are back

Saltair has a little problem with nasty little bugs that bite when the temps start getting warm. They'll die off in a month. I was 20 seconds or so faster this time than last. My PR is 15:09, can't seem to break the 15 minute barrier. I think I might be able to in about 4 weeks though.

Secret's Revealed

Here is my current Performance Manager Chart. Where will it go from here...

Oh yeah, East Canyon

77°F
Ergomo Pro/Spin
This definitely wasn't the hardest race I have ever done thanks to Todd T in the break. The first climb on the way out was no problem. In fact, I was right at the front at the top and I wasn't pushing the pace. I just don't think the pace was that hard. Wasn't hard all the way out and back because we had Todd in a 4 man break about 1 minute up the road. Patrick and I had a little plan to create a break on the big climb on the way back just before the interstate to shed some climbers, yeah right. We were at the front about half way up when Ali Goulet decided to throw down. We were on his wheel in nothing flat and flew over the top. That was a pretty intense effort. Gathered ourselves and kept it on for a minute. Ali wouldn't get off the front for us to pull through, kind of hard when your going 30-35. I looked back and the 3 of us had a decent little gap but I could see the cavalry coming. We kept going for a little more, but then we lost our gap and let it come back together. I forgot about the little hill right before the interstate, and Ali attacked again. Goo in hand, I sucked it down and jumped with them. That effort seemed to hurt me a little more, I had to dig a little deeper. All together again except for the break. Everybody was content to let the big climb back do the separating. I got into 5th spot and just sat there comfortably as we started out on the mild grades. Piece of cake. Came to the left bend and started up the steep kicker that snaked a little. Getting tough but hanging 5th still. Still going. Still going. Then pop, there went the gasket. Somebody clicked down a gear and went one speed faster. I tried to go with the acceleration but it pushed me over the edge. Suddenly everything went out the bottom of my shoes and I was having a hard time keeping an ok pace. Getting passed a lot. Got into a rhythm for the final straight to the summit which I was pushing and feeling the pain but maintaining. Hit the top with only one, rotated for about 5 minutes until 3 more caught on (including Todd from the break). The 5 of us rotated as fast as we could trying to chase back on. We could see the 2 groups, but they had a good gap. With 2k to go we knew it was amongst us. I was feeling confident and attacked after what I thought were the 2 threats took a pull. I dug really deep this time trying to find a maintainable speed and hold it. Looked back and they were on me, crap. Hurry up an recover. Hit the final climb, got attacked, tried to go. Lasted about 10 seconds and know I was totally blown. Everybody caught me and passed me with 200 meters to go. Oh well, that's the first time I've had the opportunity to finish this race without a mechanical.

Trampled by Buffalo

I like this course. Several small power climbs per lap, just my style. Felt great Tuesday and Wednesday so I was expecting to do well, except Thursday and Friday I didn't feel that great. 2 days of form this season and no results, awesome. I hope it comes back soon.

51°F and windy as HELL, says 18, felt like 30
Ergomo Pro/Spin
Started out at a good pace. People were breathing hard after the first hill. I was concerned about the way my legs felt, they just didn't seem 100%. Every lap continued to get harder, but I was doing fine, staying in the top 10. I knew this was how the race was going to develop. It was going to get harder and harder till there were several real hard efforts and that would determine how things looked. On the 3rd hill climb, Tibbets was setting a pretty hard pace, I was second on his wheel and it was hurting. We hit the base of the big climb and he backed off a little. Other riders started to come by and were pushing it. I dug deep to go over the top with the group. When we hit the top the speed kicked up and everybody started going by me pretty fast. I tried but couldn't respond, I needed a second to recover. A small gap formed. We made the right hand turn into a really strong head wind and I was toast. The field was riding away and I couldn't close. This broke me mentally. Dropped on the 3rd lap. A few minutes later Todd T and Piotr S caught me. I'm surprised by that little guy. He's tougher than he looks and finishes his races. We started working together. Piotr didn't last long. Todd and I were pulling hard. We finally picked up Lance Christiansen and he had the strength to work with us. The 3 of paced for 3 laps as hard as we could and were getting nothing. There were a few 3's way up the road, but it didn't look like we were catching them. I wanted to quit the lap before. I was battling in my head. Constantly struggling to stay motivated. I gave in and quit. I felt bad because I was leaving Todd and Lance to work on there own. I wanted them to quit too, that way I would feel better about quitting. I wanted one of them to give up before me so i didn't have to be the one. I tried to look on the bright side, enjoy the course, the nice bike I had to ride, but I just quit. I've had a good discussion with Jamie about this, she will be disappointed. I'm disappointed in myself now that I DNF'd. I watched everybody finish. Only 30 more minutes. How hard is it to ride for 30 minutes? Even 60 if necessary? I justified by deciding I was racing for a spot out of the top 10 and it wasn't worth it. But I wish I would have finished now.