Barreling At The Edge

Everyone shows up with goals and intentions.  These so called things we say, (goals-intentions), are what makes us push a little further and father significantly on and off the bike to just get back on again...  You cant wait for the perfect days because, you’ll just be wasting your time to come to grips with how you need to handle your self when it comes to race days in the worst scenario of weather.  It shouldn’t be about waiting for the perfect race day nor training because you’ll need a crystal ball plus; you’ll have everyone else wanting to win just as much as anyone else. 

You’ll always be barreling at the edge – even when all feels ‘just right’ we should be perfecting our craft in riding.  Pros are always working on their craft so you should also.  Just because you think you have something down doesn’t mean you cant work on it or anything else more.  Once you have something perfected start working on the craft.

Insider notes: (something ill try and post weekly about preparing for a race, ride, food, recovery, and anything else I can find I can share)...

• ·      Deflate your tires and you’ll be amazed at what the casing and rubber of a tire can conceal from the eye when you have your tires pressure at 88-110.  Pick out the glass-rock-metal. 
• ·      Clean the pads by lightly sanding – inspect them, clean the rim/wheel with water-soap and inspect the nipples and spokes for cracks-dimpling-dents.
• ·      For aluminum rims you can make them good spanking new if you take a green skritchy (brillo) pad and scrub that stuff off the breaking surface; making your wheels good as new. 
• ·      Wipe the chain down, get inside the rear derailleur pulleys, (make sure the bike is in the small chainring if you don’t have a bike stand),– things are caked in there, lube-chain, wipe, and use a cleaner part of the rag and wipe for the last time.  After your next ride of doing the last process of lubing, wiping your chain wipe the chain down – get in the habit of cleaning your chain, hint keep a rag by the door or where you hang the bike when it’s in doors.
• ·      If you know your going on a ride à check your tires NOW – don’t wait till your stepping out the door.  These are just a hand full of things we all need to work on.  

Suffer : I am Ready to Begin

Thinking about how much it takes in order to push to another level; something more uncomfortable, out of place moment as if you’re not in nor out but just in between the two.   It’s a shifty sounded feeling that works its way into the soul.  Suffer – it’s a kindle to a fire and air for the fire to breath.  Suffer when all should feel great, -burning in the lungs, the screaming of the legs, and when the chips are down.  No one gives a shit if your legs are hurting, even now and later.  Suffer like the rest and dig with ever fiber of your being, because everyone knows who made it across the line first that day.  Suffer with the fact that you had the intent of ever thinking of cycling again for competition because you didn’t like the fact you suffered.  The suffer feeling is your best friend – get to know the thought because it will be that thought you feel always.  Get physically closer with suffer because you’ll need to shut it out when the time comes to dig deeper and push to finish.  Make those excuses ahead of time because you'll still suffer.  

Ballets in the rain

Few steps outside the door with a snapping tater of my shoes bring me to grips with the seconds-minutes-hours that are going to be spent in the saddle.  Feeling a few drops of crisp water shutter against my face, I don’t think twice about being a tough guy and put the rain shell jacket on.  Shortly after those same drops of mist turn into ballets of rain that could be found on a sheet of music paper, everything is coated in sleek clear coat saliva.  The submission of water starts to fill my shorts and leg warmers revealing my brown skin underneath.  The cold weather didn’t bother at first but when you feel like the cold is about to seep into the mind, the pedal rotations begins to be pick up.

Warm feeling is supplied by the circulatory system, the rythme and beats of the heart begin to make your mood that much sharper to the sensations all around you. 

Grunts that never echo back are the constant reminder to you as to why we do this to our selves.  Many thoughts and reasons but mainly today was adding that card to the deck.

Always checking over your shoulder for cars is a known fact when riding in this weather we call rain.  Even with lights you can’t begin to trust a soul only thou. 

Sniffs of new sensations hitting the pits in the  nostril appear to be fresh and wondering if there is more fresh soil and grit of earth around.  Different moments occur when seeing soybeans and crops turning colors from green-yellow-brown.

 Is fall coming? 

The rows engraved into the farmed landscape -stands best viewed when wet by this rain.  The road is mostly red and brown with the hints of black-n-grey amongst it all.  Riding that white line and just inside of it is comical in such away that avoiding pedals and rocks isn’t the slightest of worries.  Riding that white line brought me to Lawrence and back home.

The Sensations are Different

The Sensations Are Different.

One day-to-the next, rest day, hard tempo, rest again, slow pedal; soft pedal, recovery ride, spirited ride, fast ride, the pedal can be spun different ever time but that sensation.  The sensations could be tension an wrenched on as the spokes on a wheel, laced, rounded, bladed, cx-&-rayed.  This phenomenon of sensation in the legs is happening as you read this, its apart of the cyclist criteria; a fun star crazy sensation -if you want to call the sensation that.  Each day is a new battle when getting on the steed you ride, but it’s also the fascinating factor that keeps rhythm of why you ride and live in a symbiotic relationship of cycling.

It’s almost as if you’re always in the moment of what if… 

I’ll let you make your own conclusion and excesses.  Everything still comes back to that sensation that you feel, its different all the time, more then others, and when you feel the same sensation muscle memory comes into play.  Finding the same sensations is the golden ratio, you might be able to have that extra kick tied along on that Rapha string of gutrench -fleeted feelings and what if you light that a match in your match book. Was it worth following that sensation by making an early jump or should you have waited a bit later on in your final meters to the line? Time to find out more about these sensations what to trust and what to follow. Now it’s a new day, so your sensations are different. It’s hard say.

Keeping 'it' All Together & Finding Balance.

It’s funny, what ever you may call that nostalgic feeling, the overwhelming flow of emotions that compos it’s self of a lushes void into training, eating healthy, resting, also just taking the time to revitalize the soul, and of course racing hard.  It’s rewarding when you can look back and put it all into prospective also look forward, taking the time off the bike to check in with yourself.  What I’m trying to pin down here is that when you find that balance of being off the bike and on it’s a great synergy. 

“It’s not just about riding hard though, there’s a mental aspect.  You need to balance between not caring at all and being totally obsessed, otherwise you’ll go crazy.” –manual for speed Everything is Fast.

What I’m getting on about is that if you want to move up and excel at anything we do in life we have to take it day by day.  Setting goals and working at achieving them is a great thing and getting to write them down on paper and cross them off with in some time is good enough for me, some are faster and slower then others but that’s life.  Nothing is instant; everything takes time and all that gibber gabber.  Just keep pedaling and keep you’re head up!

Check out some good reads on Manual For Speed, (Everything is Fast) and Red Kite Prayer, (D2R2 2012).

KBAR Champ CAT III

KS State Road Race - in Arma KS

Last road race for KBAR and I am 19 points off from 1^st place.  Justin Leopold didn’t show up for the crit neither the road race so that’s allows be to place top 5 at minimum to take first in KBAR.

The race has some faces and kits I do know and have raced against in previous races, the race last year and years past people just gun it from the start because there isn’t a neutral start so that’s how groups from years past have won the race out right.  The race started like this but one would let Kent or a few of the Walmark/Baught Financial get away.  Strong teams like Athlete Forward, Walmark, Kent, & Spencer I had to look out for.  I had a few teammates there Joe Anderson, Blake Romine, Kenny Englart, and Spencer if he still counts us at TC/PC.  There were a few attacks back to back and nothing really took away and a lap back through the start finish attacks came again with Levi Baker, Benjamin Silk, and Ryan Heydenryth where up the road, a walkmark and Athlete Forward where up the road so those these teams didn’t work at all at the front with a lot of blocking by both, Joe finally took me up to the front and I launched myself off his speed with a good dig of an attack.  I bridge up just after the 4^th turn and Levi is the only one that is strong in this group out of all of them, later on Kent join our group and we have a 5 man break away with a 3 or 4 min lead, out final lap out on the 3^rd lap we get caught by a train and there is an official with a timer that me water and shade as I wait on the other side of the tracks,  we get a 3-4 min lead because the field stops at the train tracks also and so coming back in for the finish was easier without the headwind.  Levi ups the speed on the final climb and rides in the gutter but there wasn’t enough wind to do something like that tactically and he is definitely hurting but doesn’t show it Kent, Levi and I are all abreast at the crest of the hill and Kent punches it, I don’t really have any gas because I feel my cramp about to grab the muscles in my inner thigh and they do before the finally turn for the sprint, Levi has a good gap but Kent rides away with no one on his wheel for the win, Levi 2^nd, I try and do my best to shake the walkmart guy-Ryan and I can’t and cramp at the turn and slow down, Ryan at this time has already pulled in front of me because I put in so much of an effort ride him off my wheel that he also sits up with a cramp some where I am sure because he has to take his foot out of his pedal to roll in to the finish same for me.  I end up 4^th wishing that I got 3^rd because it was mine because Ryan never really worked in the breakaway.  I win KBAR meaning that I get free entrée to any of the KBAR races next year. 

I will most likely cat up after Perry Dam/Spring Fling Crit because I don’t have enough points but I am sure I could still get upgraded but it doesn’t make sense + Kent is my coach and we talked about it makes better sense just doing it than.  I am not worried about Cat 2’s about wining or anything just can end on a good note now and making a solid transition through next season with a few Cat 3 races into Cat 2.  I am really excited for the Cat 2, has been a big goal of mine since this season and I am ready but makes no sense getting your mind blown out the back of your head on your last 2-3 races of the year and start from there next year might really hurt a racer mind.  Plus I can help out some teammates for these last few races in Cat 3!!!



http://kscycling.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2012-KBAR.pdf



Finding Other ways of Motivation to train.

I find it hard to ride in this 100 degree of an oven that we call summer.  Some times its bearable and other times is just gets to you in a way you find your self getting angry that is freaking HOT! I also find that its hard to be motivated about riding for more than 2 hours because you want to beat the heat and you would rather not let it eat away your fitness.  It’s a good thing to relish in the fact that I built up a lot of fitness earlier in the season so short rides are more then enough to keep it and just riding in the heat will regulate you for a race day in this hot bubble of heat.  I am also glad I have a cycling coach as well as that person being a great racer him self Kent Woerman.  It’s nice to get feed back from the data and how you are feeling to if you have a troubling pain.  It helps to have a coach to push you and also tell you that you need to chill out.  Having a few good teammates that are really great friends is also a plus, I more then likely would have never gotten into cycling if it was for Team Colavita/Parisi Coffee - I went on a few rides seeing that I could ride with them and even hang on with the faster guys,  I started off from a single speed / fixed bike.  Those feel like so long ago.  Britton even let me ride a few road bikes for longer 80-100 mile rides also let me race is full carbon CX bike for my first season into competitive cycling.... dont know where that last part of my rant was going but seeing how much I have grown from then to now is impressive.

I recently purchased The Feed Zone a cookbook that has some really interesting ways that have turned my work of traditional way of cooking into a whole new array of looking at preparing food.  My family a specially my mother is a great chef her self and she prides her self on making healthy foods from anything you can think of she has a small library of cook books and ultimately I have learned from her.  The Feed Zone takes things pancakes and you replace it with rice flower with rice by just cooking and blending the rice as your base by adding sugar, eggs, other variety of options and you can always add your own kick to things.  The more i've cooked from this book I have thrown in my own spin and that’s what the books wants!  It always breaks down sugar, eggs, hydration, fat, protein, carbohydrates, rice, salt, and other stuff like ‘to carb or not to carb, going to bed hungry, just a lot of neat stuff after that you read and just simply make.  Most of the items in the book are only 5-7 things to make a filling, delicious, energy feed, just simply healthy nutrient food.  I am not saying this book is the end to the way my mother and father taught me how to cook but it has widen my scope of preparing and cooking my food for future events racing and training.  A great quote in the book by Nietzsche, “ you have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, does not exist.” Also the a quote by one of the authors that I find true when I cook food is that, “we believe that by showing you recipes we use and love, instead of arguing over this versus that we can better help you reach goals.” In the end I think this book will help you reach GOALS if you have them then you know what I mean and if you don’t have goals when it comes to cycling you should think about sitting down and jotting down some goals so you have something to work towards…