Back to the Roads

I hit the roads with the team tonight after nearly a week off from any hard riding. It was pretty brisk out there! Mat and Russ took a flyer from the group before we got to Frierson and the rest of the ride consisted of chasing them. As Russ said, it was nothing but little nuclear bombs being dropped out there and I believe him. The hardest part for me was after we passed through Frierson, Arnold (who's incredibly fast on a bike for a 62-year-old....I'm serious, he's fast) and I slept a moment and let a huge gap open up between us the main group...we spent the next couple of miles chasing back on....more than a few times the two of us wanted to give up. It was like we had the group in our grasp but couldn't close it, very frustrating and very tiring. I hate going 28 mph in a training ride and not close a gap in that section of the ride. But we did finally hook on and we sat in the next couple of miles to regain our lungs. Then, before we got to the I-49 overpass, four others took off...because they could...and the rest of us worked the next 5-6 miles chasing them down. We finally caught them on a large hill on Linwood but it was killing us to do it. I led a charge over the other side of the hill to catch the remnants of that group. Then the rest of the way on Linwood was just cranking it out to see who'd heave a lung first...I tried to win that contest but couldn't do it. There are times it's pure agony to push that bike as hard as I do but then it's also pure joy many times. It's fun in it's own punishing way and I do enjoy the experience every time, no matter how much it hurts or if I get dropped and left behind. I guess it's elegant and spiritual to me.

Jonnene had her own hard ride, too, and was complimented on how well and steady she rode. I already knew that but it's always nice to get an unsolicited compliment. Her group wasn't exactly just touring around...they were putting on their own speed clinic despite the wind that was blowing around out there tonight. I was impressed with what I heard. They spent a good chunk of time hovering around the 22-23 mph mark on the way back and that's not bad at all.

Actually started doing some work today. I forgot that it can be fun (sometimes) to be busy and accomplishing things. Had lunch with Dad. He and my step-mom are going to Arizona to visit his sister and he's looking forward to it greatly. I rarely see him so excited to make a trip...he really enjoys it out there and loves the area. I know he'd move there if he could.

It's Wednesday and I'm eating chocolate!

We went to Minden last night to eat out with some friends and got a gift of a chocolate Easter bunny...we've eaten half of it now! One of my age-old buds is a CPA and will be doing my taxes for me from now on. I brought my 2005 form and some other stuff for him to look over while we were there, and he sounded positive that he could do some good things for me. That's nice to hear since I've been doing my own taxes for the last 4 years and I know I've done a sucky job at it. The good thing is that the IRS has never audited me during that time so I must have been playing on the safe side. It was nice to get together with Kent and Steve (and his wife Margaret) again. Outside of my family, they've known me longer than anyone else on this planet....wow, about 45 freakin' years! That's wierd to think about. All three of us were in the same second grade class (got the class photo to prove it) and we've kept up with each other in some form or fashion ever since.

Jonnene went with me on her first ride with the morning ride group, the "Six o'clock Highland Ride That Starts at 5:50 am". She did very well for a ride in the dark though it did wear her out a bit, mostly since she wasn't familiar with the route and didn't know when to conserve her energy. She knows now! She took her pull, #4 in line, with no worries. I was next and kept it at about 23 mph for my section, it seemed that everyone had no problem keeping up (I think). It'll get faster as the year goes on and we'll start having those sprint contests up the overpasses on the parkway.

After almost two weeks of doing mostly nothing, work is starting to pick up. I got a call from an old friend in Michigan who needed some artwork for a cycling jersey for her ride group. They do the RAGBREI in Iowa every year and I've done their "official" artwork for them the past four years. Now it's their 30th year of existence and they wanted a logo to symbolize that. It shouldn't be hard to do at all, they always seem to like what I put together for them. I'm also getting into preparing art and print material for the Red River Triathlon being held here on June 3rd (Jonnene and I are going to be a team for this one). Plus I have another ad for Blackwell Research to get out at the end of next week...I'm hoping I can get some new product photos taken for the ad.

This past weekend my cycling team, the incredible TEAM LAS'PORT, hosted the Rocky Mount Stage Race. I didn't race...I don't have the endurance yet...but I volunteered all weekend, including being the starter for the time trial stage. I had to concentrate on getting 154 bike riders going off on time every thirty seconds without getting distracted....trust me, it's hard to do after the first 70 or so have gone off the line. My neck was killing me at the end due to my constant eyeballing of my stopwatch. I only sorta messed up once but that rider laughed as he started and he seemed to understand. You can find the results and photos below:

http://www.lambra.org/results/2007/rocky_r.htm

It turned out to be a very successful race. It made money and the Texas racers really seemed to enjoy themselves. I directed the first race in 2005 and it nearly drove me to exhaustion. I'm glad to see it grow bit-by-bit since then and I think it went over a major hurdle this year, and I expect to see it as a visibly established race in 2008. I might even race in it!

Saw Nathan and Shannon as they brought their Compliance Depot teammates with them - http://www.fcscycling.com/ - and I always enjoy visiting with them. Shannon raced the men's Cat. 1-2-3 race for training purposes, so she wasn't expected to be a major part of the effort there, and Nathan won the criterium stage on Sunday with a pretty powerful finishing sprint. Team LaS'port won four of the available 21 stages among the different categories and classifications, plus we had overall winners in the Cat. 1-2-3's and the Women's races. Kiki's criterium win in the Cat. 4's was the most exciting of all...he came out of nowhere in the final 50 meters to win by a few inches and he was excited! The crit course was fast...the 4's averaged 24.6 mph for their race and they weren't the fastest of the day!

It's Thursday!!!!

Sad news....I just read that Larry "Bud" Melman (real name: Calvert DeForest) died yesterday at the age of 85. Anyone who has watched the David Letterman show since 1982 will remember this little guy with the ill-fitting suit and the thick black-rimmed glasses. Even though he was playing a character, DeForest was really playing himself and you couldn't help but love the guy. His last appearance on Letterman was in 2002 when the show celebrated his 81st birthday. He was a file clerk when the show's staff discovered him and from then on he appeared in TV and movies, was a Late Show correspondent at the '94 Olympics, sang a duet with Sonny Bono...pretty much did some amazing things in the last 20+ years of his life. Take it easy, "Bud".

Nice ride at the parkway this morning. Seven of us showed up and the wind was not very friendly, but that was okay. It's always nice to get out once you've forced yourself out of bed at 5:15 in the morning! Of course, that's not as bad as Jonnene's wakeup call....she got up at 4:45 so she could be at LSUS for the Masters Swim session (the same pool used in the movie "The Guardian" with Kevin Costner and some guy named Kutcher). That's tough to do!

Fast, fast, fast

Tonight's ride....chasing down a couple of tri-geeks who are pure motors...never caught them. As Russ said, "Ten of us against three of them and we couldn't catch them. I've never been so embarrassed!" There were three because Vandy bridged up to them and stayed with them...probably drafted off them the whole time. That's what we all figured. The T-G's were with us early and, like most bike beginners, they view their time at the front of the paceline as a time to show how macho they are and never pull off. As bike racers, we're more than happy to let them pull but it really throws off the rhythm of the paceline and we're not impressed all that much with guys who don't know how to work in a paceline. The T-G's are probably thinking about how much tougher they are than us and they haven't a clue as to how they can't ride in a group. Time trialing (or triathlon bike legs) are a different animal than road racing.

Anywho....we're in the dark side of Linwood and everytime I looked down at my bike computer, all I saw was 30 mph or higher....DAYUUUUMM!! And I'm still hanging on and even took a pull one time (I wonder if that's where I maxed out at 34.6 mph?). I was beat and finally got shelled on the second big hill....I'm not in climbing mode yet. I admit I did hide out for a while on most of the ride on 175 to Frierson, just sitting in the back as I tried to reinsert both of my lungs from the push to Crossroads. I did make a big bridge attempt to the front group as we entered the village limits...cranked out 27+ on my tired legs but gave it up before getting to the railroad tracks. I'm toasted but I'm going to sleep well tonight.

Bioooooooo-Metrics

This morning's ride was a brisk affair. We had 11 show up...wow, we looked like a real biker-type group! Overall, the speeds were fairly moderate and everyone had to get used to riding in a larger group in the dark...well, mostly dark anyway. The route has been temporarily changed due to some road construction going on along the Shreveport-Barksdale Highway's frontage road. The interesting part is that the riders from the Shreveport side of the river are actually riding about 1/2 mile less than they did before. Coming over from the Bossier side, I'm putting in 1.5 miles more than I did before! Odd but true. I don't know how long that's going to last but I have the potential to put in 115 extra miles total if I ride all five mornings of the week...I doubt that's going to happen. I like to sleep in every once in a while.

Jonnene and I spent Sunday night in Jackson, Mississippi so she could do her bio-metrics processing at the immigration office in the federal building there (after Oklahoma City, I get a strange feeling going into ANY federal building but that passes) in the downtown section. That part of town is the scene of the old Tour LeFleur criteirums which used to be held there and where I would pop a lung when I did the races. The streets are in horrible shape...no way I'd do a race there now. Anyway, we probably spent around $200 on this trip in the hotel, gas, and food (not counting time) for about 10 minutes of time on this bio-metric thing consisting of Jonnene being fingerprinted and photographed. None of this will hurry the processing of her work permit but it's one of those things that has to be done to secure it. We will still have a trip to New Orleans coming up eventually for the immigration interview and probably one or two other things.

It's amazing that people wanting to be LEGAL immigrants have to go through all these hassles. Jonnene should be allowed to work (and pay taxes) while going through these other procedures...at least I believe that. Illegal immigrants...and I hesitate calling them immigrants...have it much easier. There are groups, as well as some in the government, more than willing to help them and coddle them. I could easily do a rant on the subject but not today. While I was waiting for J to get documented, there were three Hispanics in the waiting room but they were doing things the right way, filling out the forms and asking questions. I had absolutely no problem with that. If you come into the USA the right way, then I welcome you with open arms. Yeah, the right way is a major hassle but it's the only system we've got right now. Hopefully, those in Congress will someday have the guts to revamp the immigration/citizenship system into something that works efficiently and is fair to all. Honestly, it's not really that hard.

There's a busy weekend coming up. The Rocky Mount stage race is nearly upon us and I'll be everywhere, volunteering, driving follow vehicles, seeing a bunch of old racer buddies. I'm not in shape for this race yet but that won't stop me from helping out and enjoying the festivities. Nathan and Shannon will be here with their ComDepot/FCS team and it'll be great to see them. I still have to plan out a few events I'm putting on later this year and I need to get on the stick!

Good day on the bike....finally!

Just a short one...I'm ready to go to bed. Tonight's training ride was a speed-fest. It was for me, anyway. We were missing the truly fast boys: Russ, JHam, Whale, and PMarr but we did pretty good without them. With a slight tailwind we were flying down Ellerbe Road around 28-30 mph at times with various team members taking chances up front and others just hiding in the pack. I even made a couple of attempts to string the field out, not with much success but I was doing it and that's the thing. I pulled the pack up to Vanderlick, who had gotten way off the front earlier. I slowed as I passed him, thinking some others would come by me but nobody did. I weaved over to the left to allow some room but still nobody was coming through. I could see the shadows of the riders behind me so I knew they were there and even heard someone in the back yell something about somebody move up to the front and quit making me do all the work (thanks!). I decided to jump again and did, and the shadows were gone for a while. Vandy pulled up alongside after a while with a grin on his face...he thought it was a smooth move on my part. There were a few slower moments when the efforts were wearing everyone down but we pushed on to Frierson. Kiki and T-Bone were dishing out the punishment off-and-on. We hung on into a headwind but still knocking out 25-26 mph speeds. My back was starting to hurt.

Vandy did a lot of damage the rest of the ride...the guy never looks tired! He gives you an honest smile and a laugh when you tell him to take it easy on the rest of us. He seems to really not believe he's riding that fast. We hit the "dark side" of Linwood Road and got back up to the high 20's again but I was having fun at this point. I took another flyer off the front but yielded the position eventually to Paul. He's riding better than he thinks he is. Well, the thing is that I stayed with the pack all the way to Mayo Road and I was quite pleased with myself. I also did the morning ride, too, so I put in 62 miles for the day. Not bad. I'm taking Friday off because I seemed to have developed a raw spot under my left butt cheek so that's a little tender. I'll give it a rest before the Saturday long ride.

The rest of the day was largely uneventful. Big surprise, hey?

Ridin'

It was so easy to sleep last night. Did the morning bike ride, followed by a short run, then followed that up Tuesday evening with the first weekday group ride south of town. I stayed with the group for the first half of the ride then rode the rest of the way with Jonnene. Yeah, she was ahead of us but she left earlier so we caught both her and Kathleen as we got into Frierson.

The first half of the ride bordered on brutal since we were flying down Ellerbe Road at 25-27 mph into a strong headwind. Everytime I thought I was going to lose the pack, I'd find myself back into the middle of it. Part of that was the disorganization of the pack in establishing an effective paceline. There had to be around 22 of us, the biggest grouping of the team this year, and I think everyone was looking for someone to take charge...of course, nobody did. Patrick and Jason sat in the back, Bolt wasn't there, so that first six miles resembled a mass of riders looking for places to hide from the wind, finding a wheel to follow, failed breakaways, etc. It was a mess but I've been in races that weren't much better. I even got into a small break with Patrick, Mack and Frankie G....the latter two and myself all over the age of 50 and we're pulling away from the field! But the wind beat us up and we would be swallowed up by the others in short order.

After we got to the Crossroads, we slowed up to wait for Kiki since he got there late. He lost his father a few weeks ago and hadn't been able to ride much but it was good to see him back outside on the bike and it was probably good for him, too. Once he latched on we were back to speed again, and we were blowing and going toward the village of Frierson. My legs were getting fried but I was rather pleased that I was still with the group at this point despite my low mileage this year. The Wife had left earlier with Kathleen, and we caught them getting into town. Kathleen, being the monster biker she is, went with the group. I spoke to her and said I was going to ride the rest of the way with Jonnene since I knew my legs weren't up to going hard the rest of the ride. Off they went, I dropped back to J and we rode together at a pretty brisk pace. We ended up with about 30+ miles but when we got home and went to bed we were out like lights! I ended up with 55 miles for the entire day. I'll take Wednesday off and get back at it on Thursday.

Recovering

Here's the funny thing about the difference between being well and being sick. When you're well, you may not be as enthusiastic about getting things done or going outside. When you're sick, all you can think about, and desire to do, is get things done and going outside. Suddenly you WANT to do yardwork, you WANT to ride your bike, etc. I guess that shows we all should take advantage of the times (hopefuly plenty) that we are capable of doing things and do them! Get'er done! Just do it! Now or never!

I'm recovering pretty quickly from my weekend of being sick. I didn't cough at all once I fell asleep last night. Got up this morning and met the Six O'Clock Ride guys. There were only five of us and I guess the threat of rain scared everyone else off. We probably averaged an easy 21-22 mph on the parkway and it was still dark as I headed back home (time change over the weekend). I tried a new route on the jogging path back to downtown Shreveport since I didn't want to ride the parkway in the dark by myself...once it's light, I'll be fine. Had no problem seeing the path in the dark but you had to be alert for some of the tighter curves along the way. It didn't really lower my average speed too much and the distance was about the same, around 21+ miles all told. There seemed to be lots more traffic today than usual.

Being sick over the weekend, I missed the final two days of the DEATHBLOW, our racing team's annual training camp. Just as well....Saturday is 124 miles and Sunday is 126 miles. After my 102 on Friday, I can't say I missed doing those rides! I had planned to do Sunday's originally after planning for an easy ride on Saturday, but I rode the couch instead of my bike. I think Russ, who plans this event, was the only one to do all six days this year, about 650 miles total. The most I've done was three days, 325 miles, last year. The saddle certainly makes an impression on you after a while!

Also, yesterday was the classic 100-mile Rouge-Roubaix road race down in St. Francisville. Four of my teammates went and had a wild time. Jason sent this race report below, and I've left in his typing as he did it early this morning:

"I can give a quick breakdown of the Race from the 1-2-3's. Started off with Several attacks, Patrick got in a move with the right people. Guys worked got it back together then I went with the next move. Couple of more small attacks then a larger group got up the road. Not one of the contenders were in the group so we didn't jump. Got to the rock section and placement was everything. I didn't get positioned correctly and everyone was all over the roads. I finally find Patrick and Bolt, bad wreck behind me and where Bolt was and at mile 30 Bolt flats. I get with a small group and we start moving through the 12 mile gravel part pretty good. Get on the road and we caught people and had some bridge up, one being Pat. We had around 20 guys sitting in, I was working with Scott from Herring Gas, we get away from that group, catch 2 guys - 1 CD guy and we drop the other guy. Pat comes across with a CD guy and Scott and I work b/c CD sat in b/c they had Matt up the road and Pat sat on those guys in case of an attack. We got within 45 seconds of what was left of the main field, then we hit the steep section of the gravel road and that was my only problem, both Pat and I picked the wrong line and hit sand. Spun out and had to walk. Bain pulled the group behind us and we get caught up the hill by some of them. Pat and I got back on our bikes and I was able to haul ass through the dirt roads. Caught 2 groups and we were making good time, lost all but 1 guy and he and I passed a couple of other riders. I ran out of fluids around mile 76 and we came upon a CD and Tiger Cycling rider, that is when I started cramping and hitting the wall a little, more hitting the wall than cramping. I worked with the Tiger Cycling and about mile 95 I had BONKED completely, mile 96 Bolt comes by me with Pat and I just waved goodbye. I have never hit the wall that bad, I was so hungry and thirsty that I was getting dizzy. The last 10 miles seemed long, but the last 5 lasted longer than the whole race. Overall the race was good, you definitely need a handup in this race, I carried 80 oz of fluids and still ran 1-2 bottles short. Fitness wise I believe all of us were fit, the guys that got away at first had experience racing this race. The winner is just a freakin' beast. He dropped the group he was with at mile 65-70 and won by over 8 minutes. My advice is if you don't have really good handling skills, skip this race. If you want to attempt this race, by a mountain bike and ride it for a year, then attempt this race. Mountain Biking helped me out through the off road sections.

"I tought the race was awesome, I don't think Pat will be back. Bolt, I don't think it matters as long as it's a race.

"T-Bone believes he got top 15 and possibly top 10, he enjoyed it also. Nobody got hurt, I wrecked in a 180 turn but nobody was around, going probably 5 mph. Pat and Bolt didn't wreck, Bolt just wrecked havoc...."

The Rides of March

This will be short for now. I put in 102 miles of quality road distance on the bike today at our team's "DeathBlow" training camp with ten other hearty (stupid?) souls. We rode through parts of Northwest Louisiana and East Texas, and I am BEAT! Plus I'm trying to get sick, so I doubt a ride on Saturday is going to happen for me.

I went through the first fifty miles pretty well considering how few miles I have in my legs in this calendar year...maybe 450 before today. I even chased down a few guys and did my share of pulls. The last fifty miles brought in that sense of reality, which I was quite aware of before, that tells me that I'm not in THAT good a shape for bike racing yet! It was so nice to hit the showers and take a nap this afternoon but then I started getting congested and now I'm pretty darn miserable. It hasn't affected my appetite...I've already eaten a bit and could still do more, no doubt.

The marriage thing is going good. I'm glad I did it and got to be with a person who appreciates me and likes to hug on me! There's so much I'd like to do for her which I can't right now but I will find a way.

Work is trudging along although what I'm doing for Blackwell is keeping me hopping. I still need things to pick up so I can feel I'm carrying my share of the load here at home.

Well, that's it for now. My nose is running and distracting me, so writing more is difficult at best. More to come later.