Spinners REPRESENT! Day 6 of the Greenville Spring training series

Wow! What a great day of racing! The weather was nearly perfect (some wind late in the day) and the Greenville Spinners brought it to the table and kicked some serious butt!

I arrived at the final race of the spring series near the 2nd half of the Cat 4 race. There was three Spinners out there working the peleton - Tim, Clark and Robert. When I arrived, they were just coming through for their final lap.

What a sight when they came around for the sprint! Since I had been otherwise occupied in the morning, I wasn't sure who was out there, but what I saw when they came across the line was two Spinners' kit at the front! Clark and Robert brought it home for the top two podium spots! What a great job by those guys. Really great to see team-mates getting those podium positions.


The cat 4 race results from Day 6 of the Greenville Spring training series - Spinners Represent!
As for other races that the Spinners were involved in, the race in which I would normally be participating had just one of my Teammates representing - Ed (my Polka Dottay team-mate from the Austin Ride) rode to finish with the peleton.

Where was I? I was taking a chance that I would be able to stay in the Spring training series ominium top 10 without racing at Donaldson today. Instead, I represented the Spinners in an off-road triathlon.

These off-road tris are a little different from the traditional tri - the off road tri (of course) includes three events - a trail run, a flatwater paddle (kayak or canoe) and a mountain bike ride. I had signed up for this event weeks prior to signing up for the spring series, so I decided to get out there and have some fun. After all, there will be plenty of opportunity to get out and ride laps around Donaldson center this summer!

I loaded up my boat and my mountain bike saturday afternoon, so I was ready to leave bright and early sunday morning. I was about the 2nd person to arrive at the event site, and immediately met a first timer as she was off-loading her boat. She asked me a few questions, and we had a nice chat. She would be doing the 'sprint' event, while I would be doing the 'endurance' event. I outfitted myself in my Greenville Spinners Racing kit so I could represent the team.

What's the difference? The sprint event is a 3 mile trail run followed by a 2 mile paddle and a 7ish mile mountain bike ride. The endurance event is a 5 mile trail run, followed by a 4 mile paddle and a 12ish mile mountain bike. When I had checked earlier in the week, the field for the endurance event was only about 20 participants (women and men). When I asked about it during packet pick-up, they told me the field would be about 35 participants. A good number of peeps waited until the last minute to get signed up it seems.

The two events would start together and follow the same course for the first ~1.5 miles of the run (and the last mile), the early part of the paddle and parts of the mountain bike. This made it interesting as I was doing my event - At times, I wasn't sure who was doing the sprint and who was doing the endurance.

Another of my Spinners team-mates was also there at the off-road tri. Abhay came out with his rowing skull and his mountain bike to give it his shot.

The run started on an uphill, but thankfully, my buddy Pip suggested a warm up so I started off feeling good. By the time we crested the climb, a clear seperation had formed between the top 10 or so runners and me. My first mile was 7:24, which was a bit faster than I expected - especially with that hill. Pip was up in that front pack as they pulled away from me. I could hear some peeps behind me, but it was pretty spread out.

The run came through the transition area on it's way up to a trail called Grinder. You can imagine - this trail is aptly named. It is a long grinding uphill about a mile long. Not terribly steep, but you feel it - every step of it.

We came out on a paved road for a short distance before plunging back into the forest to run down the Clemson Freeride Club's downhill course. It's pretty fun to run down that course.

Before we arrived at the boat transition (about a 1/2 mile from the boats), the leader of the sprint race was already on his bike and heading out. Super strong effort from that guy (he did end up winning it).

I arrived at the transition with three other runners from the endurance race. The three of us ran together for most of the run. I got suited up with my camelback and my pfd and jumped in my boat.

I knew I had to make up some time on the boat - I would only be able to make up so much on the bike. As there were many peeps from the sprint event out on the boats for the first half of the race, It was difficult to tell who was who, although the speed differential was somewhat obvious.

The sprint boaters turned right at the 2nd bouy, but the endurance competitors kept straight to round a third bouy before turning back to the takeout. As I came around a point of land, I could see the endurance competitors spread out in front of me. I counted the boats and I found that I was in about 7th position (or 6th maybe). One of these peeps was the woman who was right behind me for most of the run. That put me in 5th or 6th place at the end of the boat.

I ran up to the bike transition and began to get myself squared away. The woman was staged just a few bikes away, and I saw her take off slightly before me. I got on my bike and gave chase. As far as I knew, no-one had escaped on the bike in front of me (from the endurance event - i.e. left the boat after me, but made a faster transition).

It took a few minutes, but I caught and passed the woman (who ended up winning first overall for the women in the endurance event) and kept chasing those in front of me. This first two miles was on a fire road and there was a good number of sprint event peeps out there. The only thing that made it obvious who was doing the endurance was their relative speed - we were traveling quite a bit faster than the sprint folks who were out there (because the fast guys / gals in the sprint event were already out on the singletrack part of the course).

I can't say for sure if I passed any of my endurance event competitors during this initial fire-road portion of the ride. I was tucked and in the big ring going about as hard as my legs and lungs would let me go. These fire road portions of the course had to be taken advantage of.

When I crossed into the singletrack and onto the Lawrence trail, I noted a rider behind me (to be called red shirt because of his red jersey). Anyone I saw on these trails was an endurance participant, so I knew I had to do what I could to overtake and prevent myself from being overtaken during these periods.

I learned a little about this guy on the climb up lawrence trail - I am a stronger climber than he is. I pulled a larger gap on him on this little climb coming out from the five forks intersection. He was a better mountain biker though as he reeled me in a little on the flatter portions of this trail.

There were periods where I was riding in the middle ring on the front and the smaller cogs on the rear. When I was in this configuration, I began to hear rattling from my rear hub! I was also having a bit of trouble shifting - thankfully, there was no ghost shifting, only imprecise shifting - I could live with that.

When we turned to go up collarbone, I could see two or three other guys in front of me. I was trying to count, but I was unsure of where I stood because of the confusion of the shared courses. These guys became my next targets and I dispatched two of them on this climb up collarbone. The third would fall (as in I would overtake him) as I rode down the dam road.

The Dam road was really fun. Once again, I was in the big ring and pushing for all I had. A big part of this fire road is downhill, so the speeds were probably over 30mph (maybe as much as 35mph). As I approached the intersection with the lake trail, I looked back to see two guys behind me - blue shirt who I passed on the dam road, and red shirt who had been following me since the lawrence trail.

Red shirt had passed blue shirt and began to gain on me quickly as we made our way along the lake trail. As he was getting close, I came upon a root system that stopped me in my tracks. I tried to quickly get out of his way, but was not able to. He had to stop, and because I felt I owed him, I told him to go ahead and pass me.

Luckily for me, his body chose that moment to cramp up on him. I waited for a moment, but when I realized he wasn't going to be able to pass, I continued on my way. I think blue shirt passed him at this point.

The rattling in my rear hub was getting worse - I can remember clearly thinking "ride it until it breaks!" The shifting was getting worse - It's critical to be able to cleanly shift into the proper gear when on a technical trail and I was fighting the imprecise shifting.

We were overtaking a number of the sprint competitors on this trail, and they were really great about moving off to the side to let us pass. since I was in the front of this little 3 bike train, I would call out "rider coming behind" and the would pick a safe spot to pull over for me (and the guys behind).

As we began to run out of lake trail, we came upon another root system that hung me up. Blue shirt was able to get by at this point, but I felt pretty confident that I could catch him on the fire road if I could just keep him in sight.

He exited the singletrack a few moments before I did, and red shirt exited a few moments after I did. I was in chase mode to catch blue shirt when red shirt pulled up next to me. We chatted for a short time before I let him pull a little in front of me. I pulled a roadie on him and began to draft. He pulled for a bit as we passed by blue shirt, then he pulled out to the side and told me "I think I'll let you pull for a while". Who was I to argue - turn about is fair play (only later did I talk to a friend of mine who told me that drafting was usually not allowed in traditional triathlons). I don't think it was an issue, I pulled him for at least as long as he pulled me.

I knew the course, and so did he. He had gone to school at Clemson and started mountain biking on these trails. I knew we had one final climb on this fire road before the trail went down hill to the finish.

I opened it up on him a little as we made that climb - the strength I have gained from road riding payed huge dividends here. As I crested the hill, I looked back to see I had pulled 10 or so bike lengths on him. At the top, I clicked it over to the big ring and started hammering. He was working hard to reel me in, but the gap appeared to hold steady.

I crossed the line with that gap intact. I was pleased. I felt I did well - perhaps in the top 5. Red shirt, blue shirt and I chatted a little as we made a cool down ride up the hill (same as where the run started). It was great fellowship.

When I got back to the bike transition area, I hung up my bike and started to get out of my biking gear. About that time, I looked up to see Pip crossing the line. He was about 5 minutes behind me. Great result for him.

Somewhere in there, I walked over to the folks doing the scoring. I asked how I did overall, and they said I was 29th overall (sprint and endurance competitors). She asked if I was in the endurance race, and told me that I might have gotten third place! Third!! I was stoked, but I was trying to keep myself from getting too excited before she finished with the official results.

Abhay came in while I was at my car getting my bike squared away. He had fun, but he had trouble with his racing skull that delayed him for about 10 minutes on the paddle.

We hung around for the results and I was super-stoked to find that I actually came in 2nd overall for the endurance event! What a great way to finish a race.

JD takes 2nd overall for the Clemson Off road triathlon!!

And what about the spring series for me? Without racing today, I dropped in the ominium standings from 6th to 8th place. I'll take that - a top 10 finish in my first ever road racing series, to include a win.

Cat 5, 35+ ominium standings as posted at Donaldson this afternoon.

Two weeks in a row

For the second week in a row, I have volunteered to lead a C1b group out at Donaldson on Tuesday night. In fact, tonight, Jay assumed I was leading the ride - I didn't really volunteer. However, since I do enjoy it, and I seemed to have a lot of support, I thought it would be fun.

Last week, I did volunteer to lead, and we had a great ride. I can't go into a lot of detail - mostly because I'm beat and I need to go to bed, but I will say that we averaged 20mph at the Michelin Rd / Antioch Church Road and we stopped at EVERY stop sign. It is surprising how much average speed you lose when you stop at a single stop sign. I have looked at my computer and seen as much as 0.3 miles/hour drop in average speed for a relatively short stop. Longer stops (especially on high traffic roads like 418) can lose more than that.

I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but three tenths of a mile per hour is actually quite a bit of speed over the 34 mile route which is typical for Tuesday's at Donaldson. Tonight there was a bit of a headwind, so our average started out quite a bit slower than last week. Shaun and I led out from the start down perimeter road, and the headwind put a hurtin' on us before we even exited Perimeter road! Folks were really good about moving up and pulling into the wind - I'm really glad for that. I like to get out and control the pace, but when you are fighting a headwind, it really works you over.

We maintained a 18.5 - 19 mph pace for a long time. I was concerned that we wouldn't hit the typical speed goal I set for these rides - 20mph. Although we were working pretty hard, our average when we made the turn off of Woodville road was right about 18.5. We had some mechanicals in the group - Jeni had a worn out tire, and Perry nearly broke his chain, but we pushed on through Woodville road where Jeni split off from us.

The rest of the group continued on to old hundred road. Of course, the pace began to pick up. Folks started to get up front and push the pace a little - I was not about to slow them down as we were behind our normal pace. I did as much as I could stand out front to help bring the pace up.

I did a pretty good pull along Hopkins / McKelvey road and onto Holly road. In fact, I was out front all along Holly road until after we started up the other side of the Holly road hill. I knew peeps were sitting in just waiting for me to blow up so they could pass me. Solid ride strategy for sure. As we came up the hill, there went Perry and Ed - a couple of my Challenge to Conquer Cancer team-mates flying past me. After leading the whole of Holly road up to that point, I could only watch as they passed by. I tried to push the pace on that stretch - our average pace was climbing. We were over 19mph by the time we reached Reedy Fork Road.

A quick stop and I got out front again. I was determined to get our average pace back up in the 19.5mph (or more) range. Of course, the stop sign at hwy 418 didn't help that average, but we made it through without much delay. I tried to lead for a little while after we crossed 418, but I really didn't have it - I had to pull off and let someone else get out front. Thankfully, several other people did get out front to help increase our pace. As we pulled our way up Reedy fork Road, I watched our pace increase. We increased to 19.6mph or so as we passed through W. Georgia Road.

From there, it is a nice ride along the rolling hills next to the cool red roofed house. Peeps were getting out front and pushing the pace, but our average wasn't climbing fast - it was climbing, but not quickly. As we departed from the stop sign at Griffen Mill Road, I knew something had to be done to kick up the pace a little more. I decided to do what I could to make that happen.

As we made the turn onto Michelin Road, Perry pulled up next to me and cautioned me about the ride along Perimeter road. He (correctly) stated that those folks who have been sitting in the back for the whole ride would be kicking it on Perimeter road (thus putting the smoke to those of us up in the front). His point really was valid - however, I didn't care - I was going for the increase in our average speed. I continued to push the pace and Perry helped greatly by pulling out past me as we passed in front of the Michelin Sales Training Center. Many other riders also pulled past me, but that is what I was looking for - to push the pace and get us up toward the 20 mph mark. We stopped at the Michelin Road stop sign and I showed an average pace of 19.8mph.

That is a full 1mph increase from when we croseed 418 for the first time (I mean crossed - like at the Hopkins / Mckelvey road intersection). That is a pretty big increase in our average pace. Since I'm an Engineer, I should be able to calculate for you the difference in average speed necessary to increase our pace in that distance - however, It's way too late for that kind of mental activity. Suffice to say, we were kickin it.

As we made the turn onto Perimeter road for the final stretch home, I found myself out front again. Shaun was next to me and we pushed the pace for a short distance. I looked over and realized that he was pushing wind all by himself out there - and I told him. He added a little to his pace and pulled out in front of me. I tucked in behind and he pulled us along perimeter road up to the intersection with Ashmore Bridge Road. I took a short spell, then was passed by the guys Perry warned me about earlier.

Yes, all of a sudden, here come two guys (who I should know their names, as I have seen them out at Donaldson before) who have been sitting in for pretty much the entire ride. They came by me and Shaun and set a great pace. They led us up the rollers and they rotated out as we approached the golf course hill.

How this happens to me, I really need to figure out. These guys rotated out as we approached the bottom of the golf course hill, and who ends up leading us up the golf course hill?? ME! Am I sick? Do I need someone to smack me down when these kinds of things happen? Whatever....I did my duty and pulled the group up the hill. I was still shooting for the 20mph average pace, so I pushed for about all I had.

At the top, it was me, Shaun and one other dude who I failed to get his name. We had about 2 bike lengths on the rest of the pack. That set us up in our own little rotation as we continued around Perimeter road. The pace was still climbing and we were approaching the target average speed.

This dude and Shaun gave some great pulls and that put me back out front. As we made the little climb up the far end of the runway, here come the other dudes who had come up to the front just a little earlier. By this time, I was really starting to feel it, so I did my best to stay with the group. As usual, by the time we started up that last roller on Perimeter road, the group was blowing past me.

One of these days, I'm going to figure out that I don't need to spend so much time out in front of this group....

None-the-less, it was a really great ride for which we averaged 20mph and truly stopped at EVERY stop sign. Thanks to everyone who rode with us tonight.

Tuesdays at Donaldson - They're still a blast

Tuesday's at donaldson. Maybe the best night of the week. I went out again tonight and had a great ride. I met up with some of my P3C3 friends and we tagged onto the back of a group that had a bunch of riders that usually ride in the C1b group (19+ mph).

Tonight the Spinners tried something new to reduce the size of the groups. I'm not totally sure how it worked out, but our group ended up merging with some others that were out there. We probably had 25 or so riders. I don't think it started out that big, but as we started to pass groups, we picked up more people. These folks probably wanted to get a good fast ride in, and our group was moving fast - for sure.

A difference I noted - while the previous grouping method was not perfect, and all ride leaders have different styles, it seemed that tonight - without a clear ride leader, there was a little more chaos on the ride. Not that it wasn't a great ride, just that there seemed to be a little more speed when it came to the stop signs. We made maybe 3 full stops. Compare this to previous rides where we might make 5 or so full stops.

At the start of the ride, I was in the parking lot with Jeni, John and Perry - my P3C3 buddies. We saw a group head out and Perry thought Cunningham Sr. was leading the group. It turned out it wasn't him, but the group was about our level anyway.

We had to chase for a while to catch them - Perry did an awesome pull all the way down Perimeter road to reel them in. We sat in at the back for a while. The pace was pretty spirited - even for this group. I saw a lot of guys I recognized.

As we made the turn onto richey road, I decided it was time for me to get out and pull a little. I made my way up to the front and sat in for a little bit in the 2nd or 3rd position. As we started up the rise on Richey road, I got out for a little pull of my own. It felt good to stretch my legs, but of course, as we made our way up the hill (really just a gradual thing), some other folks came past me. Perry gave a really good effort to stay with the front pack. We passed a lot of people along that road as well. Some of them may have jumped in with us.

We got out on Woodville road, and I sat in 2nd position until just before the bridge crossing. I pulled around a guy on a tri / time trial bike (who was pulling) and Perry came with me. I think the rest of the crowd was right with him as well. Jenny was right up near the front too. I did my best to give a good pull up the hill, but started to weaken about half way up. Perry pulled around followed by another guy and Jeni. I pulled in behind Jeni and tried to keep the pace. It was a strong pace!

That pace didn't really slow down as we jumped on Reedy Fork for the short jaunt up to old hundred road. Again, we were passing more people from smaller and slower groups. The guys up front didn't let up when we got on old hundred either. They kept that strong pace for the entire distance. There was no attacking for a sprint - I think everyone was near their limit.

We made our first crossing of 418 and kept that pace along Hopkins road. I did a fair pull along that section until we started up the rise before the next crossing of Reedy Fork. A couple of other guys got out front again and pulled us up to the stop sign and then up to the left turn at Holly road. I was sitting in 2nd position as we approached the turn for Holly road, but the guy pulling dropped off as we made the turn. When I looked back, I had pulled a little gap through the turn onto Holly road.

I kept my pace, knowing that they would catch me anyway. Someone came past me at a good clip, but I decided to just stay at my pace and see what happened. I saw Perry behind me, and then a pretty big gap to the rest of the field. I know Perry is a really strong sprinter, so I figured if I could reel this other dude in a little, Perry would slam him on the uphill section of Holly road.

I did manage to reduce the gap a little to the guy in front, and in fact increased the gap to the rest of the field. It was the one guy up front, me and Perry, then everyone else as we made the left hand bend before the drop into the little valley. Perry came around and ate up the distance between me and the leader like it was nothing. He passed the guy before we got to the top of the hill. I managed to catch the guy shortly after that as well. I backed off well before the stop sign to try to take advantage of a brief rest. The peloton consumed us as we approached the stop sign at Reedy Fork.

I stopped to make sure we still had Jeni, and somehow missed her in the group. I ended up at the back of the peloton as we made our way up Reedy fork. After crossing 418, I got back up near the front. A regular on the C1b route - John did a lot of pulling tonight - again, he was out there as we made our way back towards Donaldson. Perry and I did our share of pulling along that section as well. Perry did an awesome pull to bring us up to Garrison Road.

The pace up the rise between W. Georgia Road and Griffen Mill Road was not as spirited as usual. We passed a bunch of slower riders, but usually there is a bit of a sprint up to the stop sign - tonight it didn't seem like that. However, I had gone back to the back again to sit in, so maybe that is why it didn't seem quite as fast.

We continued our pace onto Michelin Road, then made the turn towards Perimeter road. I started to make my way up front again - I actually prefer it up front (or in the leading 4 or 5 positions anyway). As we got onto Perimeter road, the same guy (guy 1) who had his little breakaway on Holly road was leading, followed by the guy (guy 2) on the time trial / tri bike. I was pretty amused when guy 1 pulled up and asked guy 2 to sit up so he could draft. I think guy 2 actually said no as he kept slowing down.

Being a guy who doesn't like the pace to drop because someone doesn't want to pull (at that particular moment - guy 2 had done his share of pulling throughout the ride thus far), I rode between them and tried to set a good pace. I pulled about until we got to the Ashmore bridge intersection. At that time, some guys came around me and kept up the pace.

I pulled back in the line - maybe 6 or 8 back as we made our way along perimeter road. From Ashmore bridge road, there is a slight downhill, followed by a slight uphill. Then, another downhill before the golf course hill. As we crested that slight uphill, the pace had dropped off. I decided to make my way back up to the front because we needed to keep the pace! Actually it's just because I love getting out there and pulling when people seem to be getting tired.

I set a good pace down that slight downhill, then kept hammering it as we started up the golf course hill. John was right behind me, and I was getting tired about half way up. Nobody came around me, so I kicked in whatever I had left to pull them up to the top. As we crested the top, I called back to John "That's all I got!!". He came around along with one other guy and I was able to drop into 3rd position for a while.

John dropped off after a strong pull and the guy in 2nd position did a short pull before I found myself out front again. I did my best to pull them up the hill next to the small pond. As we headed up the rise, I tried to pull off, but no-one came around me. Whatever I thought, I'll blow it out now and drop off on the next hill. I got them up to the top of that rise, then down the next. As we started up the last rise, I pulled off and told them I'd had enough. My average pace about that time was 21.7mph.

Once again, Tuesday's at Donaldson was exceptional tonight. What an excellent ride.

Two pair wins in poker, but not in the time trial

Two pair, poker, time trial? What am I talking about? I am talking about the time trial held last night at Donaldson Center. This was a free event for Spinners Members - and it was a fun time. Two pair? what does that have to do with last night's time trial? Read on and I'll tell you...

First, I should make mention of what a time trial really is - mostly because I have a number of friends who have posed that question to me. Strangely enough, it is quite simple - The individual time trial is a bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (borrowed from wikipedia). In the Greenville Spinners' version of the individual time trial, the course is a 10 mile total distance (5 each way, out and back) on Donaldson Center's Perimeter Road.

In a time trial, the equipment used by the more serious riders is quite different from a normal race bike. The bicycle is very different (geometry and handlebar configuration are optimized for aerodynamics and speed), helmets are optimized for aerodynamics, some riders will use shoe covers to improve the air flow over their shoes. Very different. See the wikipedia entry for images of peeps set up for time trials.

Since the time trial is an individual effort, riders are sent off in intervals of 1 minute. This is to minimize the possibility of two riders working together. As I learned last night, one rider by himself cannot go near as fast as two (or more) who are working together. With a 1 minute interval, the speed differential between one rider and the next (if the behind rider catches the front rider) is much too fast for either of them to take any advantage of the draft.

As previously stated, last night was the first time for me to participate in this type of event. It was really fun. I arrived at about 5:20pm and got registered. This is a good place to say THANK YOU to the good folks who volunteered their time to get (and keep) this event organized. Also, although I didn't win anything, there was product provided by sponsors (Powerbar, Whole Foods to name two I could identify), so thanks to them as well. Thanks also to the Women's cycling team that did the award presentations.

At registration, I received a number and a start time. I was also asked which division I would be riding in. This month, they changed up the categories to simplify the scoring. The divisions were as follows:
Men A (Pro/1/2/3): This is men who are licensed racers in the listed categories.
Men B (4/5/Unlicensed): This is men who are or are not licensed in the categories, but are for sure using time trial equipment of some type.
Masters 50+: This is what you expect it to be - men older than 50, although I suppose women could enter this group as well.
Women Open: Of course the ladies of bicycling
Juniors: Not sure what the cut-off age is, but there was at least three riders and each looked to be in their teens.
Merckx: This is my category. From the Spinners' description: i.e. no aero equipment (bikes, bars, helmet, wheels, shoe covers, etc.) allowed.

I watched as the first riders were sent off on their attempt. Thanks here go to Scott who provided support by holding up each bicycle which allowed the rider to be clipped in from the start - no wasted time trying to get shoes clipped into the pedals. Each of them started in the big ring, so this I kept in mind for my start. After the first three or four riders were off, I took off on my bike to get some warm-up time. As my start time approached, I came back to the start area to watch the riders in front of me.

I wasn't really nervous like I sometimes get in other races I have done. Partly because of the individual nature of this particular event. In reality, every event in which I participate is kind of like an individual time trial. I understand my current state of fitness and strength, so I set goals for myself that I believe are challenging for me. Unfortunately, those goals are usually behind the folks who are winning these events. The difference in those other events I have done is the mass start. The mass start leads to a higher level of addrenilin and more nerves. With this time trial, it was me, Scott and the race official. Of course there was also the crowd who cheered me on when the starter released me. A very different feeling than being in the midst of a mass of hyper-energized bodies.

When I spoke to Tyler at Sunshine Cycle Shop yesterday, he gave me some pointers on race strategy. I don't remember all of them, but he did caution me not to take off to quickly. It would be easy to burn out in the first couple of miles and have nothing left for the remainder. I tried to take this into account as I built speed from the start.

The normal tuesday night rides follow the time trial course for the first 2 miles or so. When I lead a ride, I usually start in the front of the pack, so I figured I should be able to set a similar pace to begin, I just had to keep in mind I was not going to be able to sit in after a couple of miles - it would be me pulling myself for the entire 10 miles. At the turn off of antioch church road (where the tuesday night country rides normally turn right from perimeter road), my average speed was over 23mph. It was obvious that I was not going to average 25mph for this ride (see yesterday's blog).

From that intersection, I knew the route and I knew I would be able to carry some speed for a little while. The road gets really bumpy along this section leading up to Ashmore bridge road, but it is also slightly downhill. I carried all the speed I could (reminding myself that I still had miles to go). As I began the slight ascent after that intersection, I caught sight of a rider approaching from behind. My average was still pretty strong (yeah, 'pretty strong is relative to me, not to Lance Armstrong), but had begun to drop. He passed me about the time we finished that first small ascent. Next up was a slight descent leading into the golf course hill.

Surprisingly, as I began the ascent up towards the golf course entrance, I could see the turn around point. It was not all the way up to the top of the golf course hill. In fact, it wasn't as far up that hill as I thought it would be. The rider who passed me quickly pulled a gap on me. Greenville's finest was assisting us at the turn around, so we had a good clear road to make the turn.

Immediately following the turn, I cranked up the heat to descend what I had just climbed. I still felt pretty good, but my average pace was dropping. Making that small descent gave me some improvement in my average speed, but the 3m hill (gradual, but long) was coming up. I did my best to keep the rider who passed me in sight. I was surprised, even half way up 3m hill the initial gap he pulled was not increasing as quickly as it initially had. He was helping my motivation.

As I passed again the country route turn-off, I saw another rider in front of me. This guy had started some time before me, so again, my motivation got a little burst. He was in my sights and then behind me before I passed the Michelin Plant. I was now within 2 miles of the finish and my average had dropped to just below 22mph.

Another piece of advice Tyler had for me was not to sprint at the end. If I sprinted, I didn't push myself as hard as I could have. For the last two miles, I kept pouring on the power. My legs were burning, and my mouth and throat were bone dry - what I would have given for a sip of water! The main obstacle between me and the finish was the small hill coming out from the end of the runway. I tried to keep my cadence constant and used the gears to maintain my speed. My average pace had maintained since the drop coming up 3m hill. I was feeling good about that.

As I approached the finish, I just tried to keep pushing, now back on flat ground, I was shifting back up to regain whatever speed I lost on the hill. Although I wasn't standing, I felt like I was sprinting - I was pushing for all I had. I crossed the finish line with the same average speed as I was showing at the top of 3m hill.

So, what was that speed? After cheering on the rest of the riders, the volunteers compiled the race results. Give-aways were presented to the winners in each category - there was some very fast times out there. The fastest were in the 20 minute range! My time is where the two pair comes from - 7s over 2s in poker speak, but in time trial speak, my time was 27:27. That is an average speed of 21.9mph. Quite a bit below the 25mph I was hoping for.

At the end of the day, there was 12 people who had entered the Merckx division. I was smack in the middle of them. I can't recall the winner's time, but I do recall I was less than 2 minutes behind it. Next month (August 6), I'll have a revised goal.

What's a time trial really about?

Well, I understand the concept. I've seen coverage on TV. I've read about them online and in the magazines. I've heard my fellow riders talk about them, but I've never done one. That will change tonight. Tonight is the third installment of the Greenville Spinners Time Trial Series. One a month for the summer months. Tonight will be my first.

The course is a 10 mile total distance - 5 miles out and back. According to my friend Jonathan Pait, the course is opposite the direction that the A and B groups normally ride. I do know the start is in the same area that the tuesday night rides leave from.

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. It looks like five miles from the parking area in a counter-clockwise direction puts the turn around very close to the top of the hill near the golf course. That means the route would include the more challenging hills on the Donaldson loop. Not that these hills are really that big - they will work to slow anyone down a little.

Here's a generic shot of the donaldson loop. Total distance around the complete loop is 7.17 miles.

In case the map doesn't show up, here's a link to the mapmyride map.

So, how do I set a goal for this time trial? I frequently do the tuesday night rides at a pace of about 20mph. In that average pace is a good number of stops for re-groups. That ride is about 32miles. Normally when I am riding by myself, I don't push very hard and I end up with an average in the 16-18mph range - almost regardless of the distance.

But tonight, I'll be riding a fixed, known distance, on a course that I actually know quite well. I know I can do it in 30 minutes (20mph). To do it in 20 minutes, I'd have to average 30mph. If I shoot for 24 minutes, that is a 25mph pace. That sounds like a good goal.

So, wish me luck. I'll let you know how it goes.

It was like coming home

Tuesday nights at Donaldson, a favorite of mine for sure. Although I missed last week for rain, I made it out this week. Matt, a friend of mine from work was coming out for the first time, so I told him I would stick with him through the ride. We talked about the different pace groups, and he decided on Group 2a (18-19mph pace).

As we were lining up for departure, I saw several of my friends out there. Bryant was there and we chatted - I told him I was going to ride the 2a group with my friend. Just about that time Bill called out for a ride leader and without hesitation, Bryant pointed right at me and said 'Here's your leader' (or something of the sort). Being a good sport, I accepted the nomination.

We departed with a much smaller group than I thought we would have. I started up front with Matt and we set a reasonable pace down Perimeter road, on to Antioch church road and then on to Michelin Road. As we turned on lost swamp, some other folks came up to the front.

Our average pace picked up quickly - We were over 18mph by the time we hit griffin mills road. I had to hold the front guys back a little along that stretch of road. Since we started out with a pretty good pace, it kind of went that way for most of the ride.

There were the normal zones where some of the stronger folks would get out front and push a little - the hill along Richey Road and then the hill on Woodville road. Thanks to everyone in the group. Both stop signs following those two areas were great re-grouping spots.

After the turn onto Reedy Fork, we had another little pace increase - along old hundred road. This is a great road with great visibility. Folks just like to turn it up through there I think. Another re-group and to let some cars pass at the stop sign. A brief soft pedal after the stop because we got split by some traffic crossing 418.

The pace was pretty much hanging right around 18.9 - 19.2mph. A little fast perhaps, but with the re-groups, I think we gave opportunity for folks to stick with the group. Another re-group as we crossed Reedy fork. At this intersection, we caught up with Dan and some of the ladies who had started with the 1b group. Apparently, that group is becoming the hammer group it was last year - I know Dan tried to keep it together, but strong wills and strong riders are tough to keep a handle on. The 1a group is nearly non-existent.

Then it was on to Holly Drive. This is an awesome road. Tuesday night, we came upon two cars heading in the opposite direction. Not fun for us or the cars, but everyone made it through cleanly.

Once we got on Reedy Fork for the ride back, the pace started to open up again. We stayed pretty cohesive up to about Garrison road - except for Tyler and Bryant. Those guys took off and stayed in front of the rest of us until we caught them right around Garrison Road. Matt was still with us although I could see that he was slightly off the pace as we approached and passed through Garrison road. After Garrison Road, a small group splintered off the front and stayed up there till the end.

The rest of us continued along at a pretty good pace up to the Michelin Stop sign. If I recall, I had us clocked at about 19.1mph for an average speed. Just outside our target pace, but I think it was close enough.

On to Perimeter road and we opened it up a little. Eventually, I got out front for a while until a guy came around me to pull just past the golf course. He and I set a pretty good pace for a while, but I had to drop off. The rest of the crowd was only a couple bike lengths behind, so as soon as I dropped off the pace, they came flying by. I may have gotten my average pace up to 19.4mph by that time.

So, it really was a great ride for me. Leading that group, seeing the cooperation between the other riders in the group, the excellent comradery - it really felt as if I had returned home after being away (riding the 1b group) for so many weeks.

How do I break writer's block?

Ha! you thought I'd have some secret recipe for getting out of a writing rut? Sorry, don't have any special advice. After my little blog about my personal assault on Mt. Mitchell, I was having a little trouble finding some inspiration. Leave it to a group of cyclists to help me find some. I did have a great ride tonight at Donaldson. I volunteered to lead the 1b group (19+mph group ride). It was a lot of fun. I can say the group was quite strong tonight.

We left the assembly area with about 60 bikes or so. I think we finished with about 35-40. Yes, we did drop some folks, but I feel like we did a pretty good job of giving folks a chance to stay with the group. We started with a good warmup pace, but by about mile 8 we were above the 19mph mark. Of course it just climbed from there.

I 'led' the group from the back for a while - that's how strong the group was. The folks up front doing the pulling were really rocking it out. I felt good enough towards the back, and did get back up front as we came up Reedy fork road and on to Michelin Road.

Once again, it was the ride around Perimeter road that drove the average speed up by a bit. I think I had us around 19.8mph when we came onto Perimeter road. The group hammered pretty well, and actually stayed quite cohesive for a while. I took a little lead near the golf course, but I knew there was others out there stronger than I, so I let them have the front instead of pushing myself over the edge.

It was a great feeling to be flying around Perimeter with the group tonight. Thanks to everyone who I met tonight and to those who took their turn out front. Also, thanks to those who helped keep the group together by calling for soft pedals and stops at the stop signs. This is what it really is all about!

How do you know...

...when it's time to bump up to the next pace group? This story actually starts a few weeks ago, before Dan stepped up and created the 19+ mph group (with lots of help from Lori of course!). If you recall, I was not the most complimentary to the hammers, but that blog actually resulted in me making the suggestion to Dan to start a faster group.

That has really worked out well. The folks who were ready to ride faster than 19mph, certainly needed it, and those of us left in the 18-19mph group benefited from it as well. We now were able to maintain the advertised pace. I led the C2a group a couple of weeks ago, but when I arrived last week, Dan had already volunteered to lead it. That was great with me, I got to just do a ride-along.

It was this experience where I made my realization. I realized if I'm not leading the group, I should ride in the next faster group. What happened that I realized this? Well, I saw myself as one of the hammers. Not that I was out pushing the pace out of the advertised pace zone, but I was out front quite a bit. Absolutely, I'm not saying I was in front for the entire ride, many others worked the lead positions, but I found myself out in front (and sometimes by myself) during those parts of the ride where it gets a little spirited. Maybe the others were just taking it easy on me that day, maybe I was feeling stronger than usual.

Whatever it was, I decided I would move up for this week. When I arrived, Dan had already volunteered to lead the C2a group. Lori was looking for someone to lead the C1a and C1b. Dan just about had me talked into leading the C1b group, but Bob came over and checked with Lori about leading it. Not knowing how I would really do in this group, I decided it would be better if I just rode along for today. I was happy that Bob stepped up.

As we departed the parking lot, I found myself out front and Bob asked me to set the pace initially so he could get a head count. He came back up front and we chatted a bit as we rode down Perimeter road. I told him I was ok leading while I'm fresh, but was unsure how things were going to work out. I was actually a little nervous, and that nervous energy translated into a pace a little faster than Bob wanted - he had to ask me to back it down.

I stayed up front for Perimeter road, and got back in close to the front as we made the turns that put us onto Michelin Road. Somehow, I ended up in front again as we made the right onto Lost Swamp and again onto Griffin Road. As we began that long gradual grade on Griffin road, Bob and I peeled off and went to the back of the pack for a while.

Unsure of my own strength, I decided to sit in the back for a while. While it was a really good group, I still found a little accordion effect being all the way in the back. Not a big problem and it started to give me some confidence. I did my best to work that effect in an effort to minimize the gaps with the rider in front of me. This required some bursts of speed from time to time, and I found that I did indeed have the strength. As we forked left off of Garrison Road, I decided it was time for me to see about getting back up towards the front.

We made our way along Richey Road and up that nice grade towards the stop sign. My confidence was returning, and I began to push myself. Nothing special about what I did as there are some very strong riders in that group. For me though, just being towards the front, and hanging on the wheels up there was giving me an extra boost.

The group was excellent. We did a stop at the left turn onto Woodville road to make sure we still had everyone. With fear of repeating myself, this is part of what makes these rides so fun, and being out there with other like-minded people makes it so very worth it. We were spread out a little at the stop, but when we resumed the ride, I moved quickly up towards the front.

Bob seemed like he was feeling his oats a little, or maybe it was some inner madman seeing who he could draw along with him as he pushed the pace a little early along that road. I managed to work my way up next to him as we crossed the bridge before the ascent. I was feeling good - I was out front with a great climb ahead of us. It wasn't long however, before we were caught.

My confidence had returned in full, I now felt I could hang with this group. In fact, I felt I could do my share of pulling. While Bob and I were out front at the beginning of the ascent, we were quickly passed by some half dozen or so riders. I tried to latch onto someone's wheel, and kept pushing up the hill. The strong riders in front of me give me motivation to ride with this group again - I know I have some improving to do.

We made the turns onto Reedy Fork, then onto old hundred road. I was a little out of sync with the ride I think. As we made our way along old Hundred road, I waited and waited for someone to break away...it didn't happen, so I took a shot at it. Nobody chased and I ended up at the stop sign by myself briefly. I took a turn out front for a little while on the next stretch along Hopkins Road, but again, the strong riders in the group ended up pulling us to the next stop sign (at Reedy Fork road).

To let you know how awesome this group was...I needed to step behind a tree about that time. We were taking a short stop to allow some others to catch up, so I decided to take that opportunity to find that tree. I jumped across the road, rode a short distance and found that tree. Plenty of nice comments as the group rode by, I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me in catching them. To my delight, they had stopped at the next stop sign. THANK YOU!! I really didn't want to finish the ride by myself.

We made the turn onto Holly road, and Bob was riding strong with one other rider along with him. The pack was moving well, but didn't seem to be catching them. I took that opportunity to push a little to bridge the gap. It took a lot of effort, which didn't help me in the long run. I managed to bridge as we came down the hill and I passed both of them as we went up the hill. My effort cost me, and four or five people passed me as we crested the hill. I dug as deep as I could, and managed to re-take a couple or three of them. Really nice move by those guys who ended up out front.

Back onto Reedy Fork Road, and the ladies from the Every Woman team got back out front. I give both of them a lot of credit - they spent a lot of time pulling us guys around the countryside tonight. I managed to do some more pulling and our pace was right in the zone it is supposed to be. I was showing about 19.6mph. {late edit: pace was not 19.6 because I got out front, the pace was a result of the combined group effort}

Along Reedy Fork, leading up to the four way stop at Griffin Mill road, we had a small group out front. I felt good when I was able to catch / stay with them after that gradual ascent. Quick stop at the stop sign to regroup and we were off again. We stayed cohesive along Michelin Road and to the stop at Perimeter Road.

Bob had us all stop and thanked everyone for the ride. He also told us it was every man and woman for himself (little inside joke here). As we turned onto Perimeter road, it was the ladies leading a small pack of about 6 riders. I don't like when a pack gets away, it is so much work to reel them in. I quickly bridged the gap to join them. They set a strong pace about up to where Ashmore bridge road peels off.

About that time, our peleton began to absorb our little breakaway. The ladies peeled off the front and resumed positions in the pack. We continued to push a strong pace, and I found myself up near the front again as we approached the golf course. I followed a strong rider up the hill next to the golf course entrance. We backed off slightly at the top, and were quickly absorbed by our peleton.

As the ride got closer to finishing, people really started pushing. I tried to do my share up front, and as we came up the last hill, I was in the front, but I waved the others around - I was BEAT!. I expected to be immediately absorbed by the main group, but I found there was only about 10 or so riders nearby. I took a quick look back and saw how spread out the rest of the group had gotten over that last couple of miles. This actually gave me some motivation, so I pushed myself and re-took a couple or three riders. At about that time, my average pace was showing 19.9mph.

At the end of this ride, I still felt pretty good. I don't know if I could have maintained any faster pace, but I certainly was able to hold the pace of the group - even getting out front in the second half of the ride. Considering I had low confidence at the start of the ride I now know riding with this group was the right move for me.

p.s. for Bob: You asked if I was going to lead this group next week - I told you I might. Unfortunately, I am having a little surgery on thursday of this week, so I doubt I'll be up for riding at this pace by next tuesday. I'll be out there, but it will likely be in a slower group.

What's it mean to be a ride leader - part 2

Why part 2? Well, because last night I wrote part 1. Therefore, tonight it is part 2. What's so special about tonight? Obviously you didn't read last night's blog ;). Tonight was my first opportunity to lead a large road ride. Last week, I had such a great time (and wrote about my experience) that I was asked to come back this week as a leader for the Country II (18-19 mph average pace) ride organized by the Greenville Spinners from the Donaldson Industrial Center. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect as ride leader, so tonight was definitely a big learning experience.

As Lori called the Country II group to the front, I actually became a little intimidated with the number of people lining up. As we rode out of the parking lot and made that right turn onto Perimeter road, I took a look back to see the size of our group. We started with a HUGE group!

As the group started down Perimeter road, I was working side by side with Jackie - a recent transplant to the Upstate with her new husband (Congrats!). She's a racer, and her husband works for Hincapie sports. We did our best to match the early pace that Dan set for us last week. Big thanks to her for pulling along with me. Taking it a little easy on the early part of the ride really helps establish the group dynamic and I think we end up with a much stronger overall group. This lesson I learned from last week's ride.

What other lessons were out there for me to learn. One of them is, as group leader, people really showed a high level of respect. So much in fact, that for a short time, I was afraid that I would be out in the wind the whole ride. I really think this is an honest expression of respect from the other riders allowing the ride leader to set the pace. Pretty humbling. Here I was (and who am I? I'm just a regular guy), leading this huge pack of riders - I didn't count, but I think we started with upwards of 60 riders. Many of them could probably step out there and blow me away (many of them did!), but they gave me a little gift tonight, and it is well appreciated.

However, the gift that meant more to me at that time was when Richard pulled up to the front and gave me a break on the pull. THANK YOU! We had started into a head wind, and my legs were feeling it already - we were only 5-6 miles into the ride at this point! The last thing I wanted to happen was to get dropped from 'my own' ride!! We started into some rotations with different folks taking their turn at the front of our twin pace lines.

I stayed near the front, and again, another gift from my fellow riders. A few times, I felt the pace was picking up a little too much, so I simply asked the leader(s) for a little break on the pace. There was no question at all, just a subtle adjustment of cadence resulting in a slight relaxation of the pace. Very cool.

Dan and I had exchanged a couple of emails regarding sprint zones. Early in the ride, we chatted about where and when, we tried to communicate to the group that we would do this - I hope folks got the message. It is a work in progress, so bear with us.

Our first sprint zone (Dan's suggestion) started after we turned on to Old Hundred road. The exact start and end points are not clear at all - I have to admit, we were pretty much winging it. Everyone was a good sport about it and I think we all had a great time pushing the pace for that (approx) 1.5 miles. I didn't get the name of the number 1 sprint winner, but he had a big smile on his face anyway. Lesson learned (thanks to Jackie for the tip) - I will take my handy paint can out and mark a start and end point for future rides. Also, I'll purchase a whistle (or something suitably loud) to signal the start of the sprint zone.

Thanks again to the group - everyone was really great about staying together. I mean, what's the point of a group ride if the group gets so spread out? Tonight, our large group stayed large for the entire ride. We soft pedaled after big intersections to give the group a chance, and we stopped at the end of each sprint zone for the re-group.

The next sprint zone was my suggestion. After crossing Reedy Fork Road and a short ride on McKelvey you make a left turn onto Holly Drive. Holly Drive is about 1.5 miles from the left turn through the twisty, rolling section and back up to Reedy Fork Road - This is my favorite part of the ride. Learning as we go, I tried to pick a definite start point but the end point was still vague (the stop sign). I held back a little to communicate to the riders further back in the peleton what was going on. I didn't see how the sprint ended up, but the folks up front were flying!

We re-grouped at the stop sign and continued our ride. At this point, my computer was showing an average pace varying between 18.7 and 18.8 mph. We had some really strong riders out there tonight, and some of them had done some big pulls. Some of those same people were still out front pulling. It was great to see others getting up front for the pull. Even though you can't really see the group behind, being out front is an incredible experience.

As we crossed Garrison and W. Georgia roads, Jeff (the lab rat), an adventure racing friend of mine really wanted to push the pace. He gave us a great pull leading us through that great farm land between W. Georgia and Blakely Ave. We turned on to Michelin Road still pulling the pace in the 18.8mph range. As we stopped to make the left onto Antioch Church Road, I turned around to see our group. I was awed to see our group was still very large - again, no counting, but we were definitely 40+ (?50?) strong.

I announced that we would have one last sprint - this one from the railroad tracks (on perimeter road) to the parking area. I asked for a soft pedal up to the railroad tracks before we set off. Before we even crossed the railroad tracks, I could see Jackie setting up for the sprint.

Crossing the tracks, it was like she had a rocket attached to her back! One guy stayed on her wheel, while I and a number of others worked to reel them in. As we passed the BBQ place, she and he dropped the pace a little. This gave an opportunity for some others to pull the group. I was with the leader (his name I do not know) as we bottomed out at the end of the airstrip. It was about here that the group came barreling down on us. I dropped completely off the pace as I watched the rest of the group pull for a strong finish.

The question remains; what does it really mean to be a ride leader? I don't have all the answers for sure, but I can tell you this: While we were stopped at the intersection of Michelin and Antioch Church Road, I thanked everyone for a great ride. I got MANY thanks from my fellow riders and even some applause! What a really great feeling!

And what is that feeling? That warmth of a blush coming to my face, the slight feeling of light-headedness as I looked across those 50ish faces shining with sweat. I can only determine it to be a true emotional bond with my fellow riders - most of whom I don't even know. We had spent the last hour and a half working together for a common goal - to arrive back at Donaldson Center intact. That feeling is the glory of our accomplishment. Well done Country II riders!