Tuesday / Thursday Race Simulations

Just a quick post, I went to ride on my trainer tonight and I blew my back tire off. Not exactly sure what happened but it scared me so bad I couldn't get mad. Anyways, the point of the story is I did one of my standard 35 minute treadmill hill workouts instead and felt the strongest I've felt in a long time. I would have to say that I always feel that biking helps my running more than running ever helps my biking. More importantly, though its only been a week and only two days of getting my butt dragged around by Dr. Goates that these race simulation things are already having an impact on me (I also lost 5 pounds, boo). Sooooooo, I think more people should try to get out to these things. This week does not look good but I'll be spinning inside instead, if anyone would like to join me let me know.

(In case you want any Lance or Astana backgrounds to remind you cycling is fun)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trekbikesusa/

I Love Riding, Hate Flats

I went out yesterday for a ride with no plan of time, distance or direction, those usually end up being the best rides for me. The weather was great it was roughly 35 to 45 degrees, the sun was shining. That always makes everything super perfect. I was warm everywhere except my feet, I need to invest in a pair of those thermal shoe cover things. Needless to say from my title I encountered a few problems with riders favorite friend the flat tire. Not only did I manage to experience one flat, but two flats in a matter of a half hour and about 8 or 10 miles. I ran out of tubes after my first flat forcing me to ask a farmer for a ride to Merv's Bike Shop. That worked out well, I had Merv fix my flat and give me a quick tune up. I continued to ride, after I was all fixed up, for another 12 or 15 miles. All and all it was a great ride about 27 or 28 miles, beautiful day and good workout.

mabra...and good deals on used gear

There's a link to the MABRA (mid-atlantic bicycle racing association) website on the right-side column of this blog, but you may not be aware that there is also a MABRA listserv. Subscribing to the listserv is helpful to get a general feel for what's going on, to ask questions, and for finding deals on used equipment.

For instance, just today I got a email advertizing an 58cm '05 Cannondale CAAD 8 (frame, fork, stem) and a 58cm LeMond Alpe D'Huez (frame, fork, bottom bracket, headset), each for just $200. That'd be a good deal for anyone looking to upgrade their ride...or build a road bike on the cheap.

The list is hosted by googlegroups. To join, I think all you have to do is send an email to the following:

mabra-uscf-subscribe@googlegroups.com

Or you can go to googlegroups and search for "mabra-uscf."

tnr #2 -- special thursday edition

We again had four riders (but not exactly the same four) out to enjoy the balmy 40 degree weather and the day's last sunshine for four laps around our Cleversburg training course.

Jon and my race ended in a two-up sprint that was decided by mere inches. Good stuff.

Provided it doesn't snow that day, join us Tuesday for round three! (And when I say everyone is welcome, I mean it. You don't have to be a student--or at all fast--to come and play.)

tnr #1

How cold? Twenty degrees. At 4:15. Probably five degrees lower at 5:30.

Whoa.

There was a bit of a mix-up on the route (Cody & Matthew, sorry about that), but I think everything worked out in the end. We'll get it straight next time.

All y'all are studs for braving the weather.

...

tnr #2 on a special night, Thursday, January 22, 4pm. (I think we're going to try to run these twice a week until the racing starts.)

Temps forecast to peak a whooping five degrees above freezing. Come out and play!

MtBing

I would like to get a consensus to see if anyone would be interested in a weekly Mountain Bike Ride, I know some have Mt Bikes and some don't. Anyone have an interest?????

Some New Things and Dates!

Don't Forget: Tues Jan. 20th, 4pm is the first Night Crit Race

Thursday 22nd, we were thinking of all meeting at Knutes @ 7pm to hang out, eat, talk about some possible racing or group rides around ship.

Wed Jan. 28th We had discussed a Ski Trip night. Wednesdays at Ski Roundtop, White Tail, or Liberty are $30 College Student Night (including rental).


April 2nd: 2009-2010 Officer Elections

When it warms up JUST a bit, we were going to have the Friday afternoon rides w/ Dr. Goates and Long Saturday rides again.

I think it's too cold for a ride but I would be up for Hiking or something this Saturday morning if anyone is interested and wants to brave the chill??? We would have to be back by like 12:30 though. (Sunrise for Sat: 7:27am)

a 2009 race calendar

The official ACCC schedule (remember, we're in the ECCC, but it's okay to do races in either conference):

Feb 14-15 North Carolina State University
Feb 21-22 Pfeiffer University
Feb 28-Mar 1 United States Naval Academy
Mar 7-8 College of William & Mary
Mar 14-15 University of Maryland/John Hopkins University
Mar 21-22 West Virginia University
Mar 28-29 James Madison University/University of Virginia
Apr 4-5 Virginia Tech
Apr 11-12 (Easter) Appalachian State University
Apr 18-19 AC Conference Champs-Wake Forest University

The first two races (both in North Carolina) are likely too far for anyone to want to travel to. However, the Naval Academy weekend race (Feb 28 - Mar 1) is close and should be our first team race (unless there's a better option of which I'm unaware).

The ECCC schedule.

As Cody suggested, we need to get together and hammer out a team schedule--the races we want to focus on as a team. This is important not only for a training and a competitive standpoint, but also so that we use our (limited) funds most efficiently.

Here's a tentative schedule, based only on which races are the closest to Ship:

feb 28 - mar 1: (accc) naval academy

march 7 - 8: (eccc) princeton / rutgers

march 14 - 15: (accc) u. of maryland / john hopkins

march 21-22: (eccc) u. of delaware

march 28-29: (eccc) philly phlyer

The next four weekends the races are much further away...and it's also when the local amateur races will start up. So...all y'all will have to decide if it's worth it to drive for the collegiate experience (and if you're competitive in the points standings or have a chance at nationals, it may be worth it) or if you just want to race and keep it closer to home.

april 4-5: (This weekend you've got West Point (eccc) and Virginia Tech (accc), both about the same distance apart, but both about four hours away. You also have the Philly Two-Day (USCF) this weekend.)

april 11-12: (This weekend you've got Yale (eccc) and Applation State (accc), which are both even further away. There's also a USCF race in Lancaster Co.)

april 18-19: (X-Pot in Boston (eccc) and accc conference championships at Wake Forest...even further away than the previous week. Another USCF in Lancaster Co.)

april 25-26 (eccc) Dartmouth (Also the Tour de Ephrata, a two-day, three-stage race near Ephrata, PA)

And, finally, one we'll all want to go to for sure:

may 2-3: (eccc) Nitany Classic at State College...eccc conference championship

Meeting and Races...

We should have a fun get together meeting sometime and see what races people want to do this year. I'm pumped for the season and if we have a good number of people go to the races... we have a chance to do really well. The more people helping you out, the better!

Anyone interested in going to the X-Pot 3D Race at MIT in Boston? That's the furthest I think I'm going...

Plus, thanks to Jon Marshall and his big mouth, we have to compete against IUP (who hate us now, ha ha)

Heart Rate Moniter

Today on Woot, is the same heart rate monitor I bought off the site last year. If your interested in getting one for training or to at least add another number to look at while biking or running its a great deal. I was never sure how accurate it was but it produced the same results as the more expensive one I used in the exercise science dept.

I think the tuesday night rides are a great idea to prepare us all for the intensity of racing that we will need to get confortable with. I'm already getting excited about doing some serious training to prepare for the collegiate season. I've picked up my training a bit in the past two weeks but I'd like to do so even more once I get back to school.