Monday, March 30, 2009

Training Week March 23 - 29

Monday - 60 min lunch spin
Tuesday - GG Park sprints - 2 hr total
Wednesday - 60 min lunch spin
Thursday - Polo field paceline - 90 min total
Friday - 60 min lunch spin
Saturday - RVB crit - 2nd to Steve R in 35+ (2:15 total riding)
Sunday - RVB circuit - 1st in 35+. Ran out of gas in last 2 laps of P/1/2. 3:15 total riding.

Weekly totals - 9 hrs riding, 3 hrs spin class

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Angry Drivers who Hate Cyclists

A few weeks ago I was riding with a few teammates in west Marin, when a driver coming in the opposite direction started honking his horn and flipping us off.

As far as I know this individual didn't recognize any of us, and since he was traveling in the opposite direction, we obviously were not slowing him down at all,  so I have no reason why he was so angry with us.

This was not an isolated incident.

Though this disturbs me, it's not nearly as bad as the "I'll show them" drivers who blow by us at 80 mph, driving as close to us as they possibly can, often within 6 inches or less.  This is not only illegal, but extremely dangerous.   I just can't 

Why do drivers do this?  Is it because they often come across pack of cyclists and have to slow down for a minute or 2 before going around them?  "These cyclists cost me 2 minutes and I'm so angry I want to scare them within an inch of their lives."

That's kind of like being in line at the grocery store and being angry at the person at the front of the line who is just standing there doing nothing while the cashier scans their groceries and they pile up.  If that person wasn't so lazy and bagged their own groceries, we'd all be out of here 2 minutes sooner!  I should take my gun and fire a few rounds a few inches above their head to show them how angry I am about being delayed for 2 minutes!

What's even worse for cyclists though is that ALL of us have to take the road rage created by the actions of those who ride irresponsibly and take up the whole road.  When I ride alone, I ride as far to the right as possible and if I hear a car approaching, I move even further to the right, often into the gravel, just to be safe.  When I'm riding in a group, and a car comes up from behind the person at the rear of the group will yell "CAR BACK" and we'll all move as far right as possible until the car or cars have passed.  Simple.

Drivers, please stop the hate.

Brisbeen


Good day at the races.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Training Week March 16 - 22, 2009

Monday - 60 min lunch spin class - feeling tired from Madera
Tuesday - GG Park sprint/race simulation sprints - great workout:  1:45 riding
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - Left work a little early and rode over to Stinson with Paul, then rode the Tam HC course.  Incredible night for a ride.  3:30 total ride.
Friday - Lunch spin class - 45 min - easy
Saturday - Long ride from home started with Roasters ride, then broke off with Paul to add Marshal Wall & back along coast with Pan Toll climb.  Went hard on the hills & felt good. - ~105 miles, 5:45 riding.
Sunday - OFF


Weekly totals:  11 Hrs riding, 1:45 spin class, 12:45 total.

Caved to the peer pressure and finally joined Facebook this week......probably won't be blogging as much now.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Pack of Cyclists fined $12,000 in Mill Valley for right turn on red light

Mill Valley, CA - March 14, 2009 - A pack of approximately 30 cyclists were pulled over en masse and each issued a citation for $400 for failing to stop at a red light before making a right turn from E. Blithedale onto Camino Alto.

That totally sucks!

I'm all for riding safe, but the punishment should really fit the crime. I believe moving violation fines shoud be based on kinetic energy (1/2 MV^2). So, if a 155 pound cyclist on a 20 pound bike going through a red light at 8 miles per hour is fined $400, then a person driving a 6,000 pound SUV going through a red light at 40 miles per hour should be fined $342,857.14.

Or conversely, if the SUV driver is fined $400, then the cyclist with 1/857th of the kinetic entergy should be fined $0.47

Training Week March 9 - 15, 2009

Monday - Lunch spin class 50 min
Tuesday - GG Park Tuesday Night race simulation - With the time change, the Tuesday hammerfest is back. Roaring Mouse guys made me work really hard. Who needs to go to Oakland for the Port ride when you can max out your HR just a few blocks from home? - Total ride - 2 Hr.
Wednesday - 45 min lunch spin
Thursday - GG Park - Polo field fast paceline ride, no sprints, just about 8 guys riding fast - 1:30
Friday - 45 min lunch spin class
Saturday - Madera - w/u, crit (pack finish), drive to TT, w/u - rode 22:07 (10 mi.) for 4th (1 sec behind Metcalfe - dang! - Lyman's 21:29 to win was amazing). - Total riding - 2 HR
Sunday Road Race - 68 miles - 2:46 by my watch - 1st 3 miles were slow neutral. 17 mile laps took about 39-40 min each. We kept it together for a pack sprint, I was a ways back. - 3:00 total ride

Weekly total - 2:20 spin, 8:30 riding - 10:50 total.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Madera 35+ brief summary

Lyman killed the TT in 21:29.

We kept it together for him today in the road race and even though Innes took the stage win, Lyman still took the GC by about 10 seconds. The team rode awesome today!

GC
1 Lyman - Morgan Stanley
2 Innes - Specialized
3 Holtz - EMC
4 Metcalfe - Specialized
5 me
6 Roemer - Specialized

Also congratulations to John Ford and our 45+ team! John took the stage and GC wins today!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Madera TT warm up

35+ LaBerge wins the Crit, Holtz 2nd Wire 3rd.

TT up next.

Heading to Madera


GeoTagged, [N37.76424, E122.47278]

Cheer up Drywall!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Copperopolis Part 5


Testing video upload with some of the things I have stored.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Training Week March 2 - 8, 2009 & Berkeley TTT

Monday - Spin class was full, so day off.
Tuesday - Rain - went to 2 spin classes after work - 2:00
Wednesday - Lunch spin class  - 55 min
Thursday - 1st ride on TT bike since July - Several hard 5 & 6 min intervals.  2 hrs total.  
Friday - Lunch spin class - 50 min.
Saturday - Berkeley TTT with Paul.  Good warm-up, felt pretty good.  We went out a little hard and were slow on the hills.  We finished 4th in the 70+.  
Did a cooldown lap with Paul & Nate.  Tried to keep up with Nate on the hills which was much harder than the race. - 3:00 total.
Sunday - City ride - rode 2 hours, with a few hard hills, then ran into Greg from SJBC and rode another hour easy - stopped to argue CVC 21202 with some irate foul mouthed bike hating motorist who said he was an off duty cop.  Right after I told him we had the full use of the lane and that he should change lanes to pass us, we passed a sign that said so.  I sure hope he saw it.

Weekly totals - 3:45 spinning, 8 hours cycling - 11:45 total.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Training Week Feb 23 - March 1 & Merco Races

I really ejnoyed the Merco Races this weekend. Very well organized and fun events. I had several family members come out to watch the crits who had never been to a bike race before and they said it was a lot more exciting than they expected.

Thank you to the organizers for putting on a great couple of races!

So, what did I do last week....

Monday - Lunch spin class (55 min)
Tuesday - Evening GG Park ride - 4 x 6 miles tempo with half lap sprints every 5 min. (15:05, 14:54, 14:30, 14:41) - 2:00 total riding.
Wednesday - Lunch spin class (50 min)
Thursday - Lunch spin class (45 min)
Friday - Lunch spin class (50 min)
Saturday - Merco Crit - Eventually got into a 7 man break that was reduced to 5. We had 2 with Lyman and I, but unfortunately didn't use it to our advantage and got 4th & 5th in the sprint. (2:15 total riding) (Note to self, CONSERVE and save something for the sprint next time).

Sunday - Merco RR - Great workout - There were a couple nasty crashes. I saw D'Aluisio go down right in front of me and missed running him over by the narrowest of margins. I hope he and everyone else are OK. I spent most of the day chasing down or getting into breaks. In the 2nd half of the first lap, I got in a 2 man break with Bryant that lasted several miles. Things looked good when Drywall bridged up with Van Sickle, but we were brought back shortly after that.
Late in the race I was in another break with Sayers, Martin, Nunes and another guy. We had the horsepower to make it to the finish, but too much infighting led to our defeat. It was for the best for our team since I would have at best been 4th in the sprint and we ended up with a 3rd from Cole. (Now there's a smart racer, I need to take lessons from him on conserving energy). (3 hour total ride)


Weekly totals: 7:15 riding, 3:20 spin classes - 10:35 total.