Raced this weekend, wind fights back...

The dreaded highway 48!

Well Saturday I went out to Brownsville for my second race in the valley. It was going to be a 54 mile suffer fest that I signed up and paid for.  I should have figured something out when I started hearing guys signing up for the Intermediate category that should have run open. I signed up for open anyways, I came out here to race and getting a beating on the road will only make me a better faster cyclist.  Well the pain began from mile 1, these guys are no joke, they start attacking doing 34 mph speeds.  I took my place upfront to try and catch any attack I could cause these guys take off from the way back and by the time they get to the front, I only have to haul for a couple of seconds.  That worked out great until we got to highway 48, all the pulling I had done finally took its toll on me.. I felt great one second and the next second I was dying.  At that point they did three quick attacks and we hit two hills.. On the second hill I popped.  Thats all she wrote,  I tried to latch on but my heart was going crazy...  I just made my own group of people and we brought it in at a normal pace....   Hey I'm new to racing, and there are lots of strategy that needs to be done....I'll figure it out soon!

Maybe later...Felt Nine Trail...

http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2011/Mountain/Nine-Series/Nine%20Trail.aspx

It's more of a want than a need.....but hey why not!  My schwinn bike has taken a beating and well I wanna feel how smooth a 29er will feel.  Looks sweet too. Mountain bikes are great tools for training because like a baseball  player uses a weight on his bat so that when he takes it off he can hit an easy home run, this bike will make my legs extra strong so when I get on the road bike I have more power.  Also they are fun!  Maybe just maybe!

This is a video of us last year messing around on the trails. Great fun!

Mid-Valley Crits - It's getting good...

This weeks crits were very fun having one of the largest beginner groups to date. We have started something big. We got a few visitors wanting to check it out before taking a dip.  Next week things should be even bigger.  I felt  good on the crit yesterday, this video shows me in action. I'm the larger dude lol... Hey I give it all I got!

Here is the video of the beginners in action. If you have a chance to get your feet wet in racing, it will make you even more addicted to the sport!

Sidi Zepher Carbon cycling shoe Review

A couple of weeks ago I got myself some new Sidi's because my old ones were completely thrashed. The Velcro straps were holding by one hair, the cooling system was a nice hole where the pad used to be, the buckle would slip....  I loved my Sidi's though so when I was set out to buy new shoes this was the brand I looked for because of the perfect fit they have on my delicate feet lol... 

I went for price and at just above 100 bucks was just right.  They are comfortable and the three straps secure my feet good allowing me to put it as tight as I want.  They are stiff and combined with my speed play zero pedal system, they put all the power I need to the crank.  I give them a 9.9/10  

http://www.zappos.com/sidi-zephyr-carbon-black-black

Mid-Valley Crits - I think we started something big...

So that little idea we had on our trip home from a race in San Antonio has really took off... We just wanted to get together to do a little mock criterium so we could get used to taking the turns and accelerating but now it has become a event of it's own.  These are the kind of things I love to do.... Make and impact, Make others get out there and get into something fun, this is a good example of what a little bit of action can do. We are getting more and more people to show up at our little Tuesday rides.  We are on our third week hosting the event and we are getting more spectators, more racer, more divisions.  I set up a Facebook account to let everyone know when we have events, I make sure to get video of the events, I even bring my sound system so people can experience the atmosphere that others have up state.  I think we are doing something great for our local cycling community.  I even give credit to this ride for my recent PR on the time trial.  Doing a 30 min crit is the same as doing a 30 min interval.  It has made my heart get used to the abuse of hammering hard.  Tonight is the third one, let's see how things turn out!!!!!

Another PR at the Time Trial...

How can it be?  How can I keep getting faster?.... These TT show exactly that. Every month I have been getting new personal records on my time.  Am I stronger, am I working harder, am I in better shape.... Well yes... I think I earned this new record, it was the hardest I have gone of the three. I felt good even though the day before I had the Mercedes Race.  My legs were in sync with my breathing and I took off at an ever increasing pace.  All this work is paying off.  My heart rate is beginning to follow at a speed that my body want to preform.  Before now I could only go as high as 164 bpm HR, now it is maintaining at 178 which is helping me pump the power through my veins! lol  I ended up with a time of 24.15!  Awesome feeling!  Goal for next month.....under 24!  Will I do it..... YES!!!!

When you set goals, it's not about the goal at end, it's about all the things you need to do to get there that will make you the man you want to be!!!!

Great race. Mercedes mid valley challenge...

Awesome race! Kinda weird that this morning I went out to do my warmup and I had that feeling where I felt like I knew I was gonna get tired, I did a little short acceleration and I was out of breath. Kinda scared me that I'm signed up for a 62 mile race and I got winded just warming up. Lol. Well I went out anyways and instantly off the bat they start doing attacks after attacks. It's a strategy they use to drop people quick. Make them work hard to catch up and eventually they will break off. I felt good. Weird. Well it was like that most of the ride. I was actually in the breakaway group which held it till the end. We gained 7 min over the peleton. About 5 miles before the finish my legs started cramping real bad. I needed water, salt, I don't know but it was bad. They never healed up so i just took it in slow and just finished the race. I was still 2 and a half min ahead of the next guy so that was awesome. Big difference from last years drop lol. Come a long way. I still need to lose more pounds if I want to do even better. I got the power but I'm wasting lots of it hauling the extra pounds. Good ride.

It's always good to look back...

When I feel like I'm going off course a bit on my diet, it is always good to look back and see how far I have come. I am such a happier guy now. I got so much more energy. It just gets better everyday. I can not say that it has been easy but it has been worth the ride. The early mornings, The hours put in....

All those times I rode on my own.....worth it...

Those long solo 13 mile rides on the hybrid.....worth it...

The times I was left stranded because I did not know to to change a tube....worth it...

Making others ride with me and forcing them to love it....worth it...

Riding long hours just to do your first 40 miles with your buddy...

Achieving goals....

Lots of riding...

Inspiring others...

Awesome friends....

IS IT WORTH IT?

Time to Race.....

This was a picture of me at a race last year. I was dropped soon after this picture... That was how I rolled.  I would show up... give it all I had....come back for more!

Well tomorrow will be the first official race I will do in the RGV.  The Mercedes Challenge.  62 miles of wind, pain and suffering.  Some top competition from the valley and Mexico will be there and we know it will be a hurt-fest but we are going to go out there and go toe to toe with them.  Last year on the Mercedes race, it was unorganized...many people got lost, took wrong turns, did extra miles.  Hopefully this year they got that fixed and marked the course a little better than a flag that will eventually be blown away by the wind, as was the case last year.

Morning rides....

Race ready, should be there by now. We have been putting in the miles and now it's time to lay it out on the pavement. We have had a couple of races in which have been eye openers. Everyone else seems to be getting faster and faster. That's the way it rolls.