After a 3 am wake up in Philadelphia and a 9 hour layover in Miami Prokic, Alex, and I arrived in the DR. We were picked up an hour after our arrival by two guys in a bus who spoke not a lick of English.
At first sight the country was decent but it was night time. Lights lined some streets but were not lit up. People drive around on scooters almost getting hit in the dark. There are potholes you can get lost in. The way people drive here is scary. Nobody regards traffic lights or stop signs. Every car has at least 10 good sized dents in it. The maximum speed we can go in the city is like 10 mph. It really is something else.
After much confusion and driving to one hotel a few times and eating dinner at some sport hall we arrived at our run down hotel. The hallways are narrow and so is the staircase leading up to the second floor. It was a fun task to bring up all of our luggage and put it in a tiny two bedroom room where beds take up most of the space. The toilet has no seat and is blocked by a wall. The shower has just one weak stream of water pumping out. There is also no sink. We have fans, but air-conditioning is something of the past. This trip is going to be crazy.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Tour of Virginia
The Tour of Virginia is a 6 day 7 stage event that started started this Tuesday. It started off with a 4 mile individual time trial on an out and back course near Natural Bridge. The course went up a gradual climb of about 700 meters then the rest of the way out was downhill, and the route back went up that hill to a pretty fast downhill into the finish. I started off pretty hard on the first uphill and just set into a decent rythm on the downhill. Then at the turn around I hammered it home as hard as I possibly could. I was satisfied with my ride afterwards. Then about an hour later some people from the race came to my hotel room to tell me I got third place only 2 seconds slower than the winner. I was pretty happy with that result at my first big stage race. As an added bonus to my third place ride I was given a jersey for best U-23 rider.
The next stage was a short 50 minute crit on 4 corner 1 mile course in Lynchburg on Tuesday afternoon. The course had a large downhill between turns 1 and 2 and a steep uphill between turns 3 and 4. I got called up to the line because of my good ride in the time trial. Early in the race a rider in front of me came to a halt in turn 4 and I had to unclip and moved back a bunch of places in the field. I didn't want to waste any energy by trying to move up, so I pretty much stayed in the middle of the group for the rest of the race. The race stayed together so I retained the U-23 jersey for yet another stage.
Stage 3 was a 180k road stage from Bedford to Covington. Along the course there were 2 category 3 climbs and a 12k cat 1 climb at about 140 k into the race. There were also many rollers along the way. I felt pretty good for most of the day. A break went about 80 or so kilometers on one of the rolling hills and stayed for the rest of the day. I was too far back for this split, but two of my teammates made the split. I felt ok at the base of the cat one climb, but about 2 k later just lost my power and started to go backwards in my group. As the climb progressed I went further and further back and felt really bad. Over the top I was in a group of three people and just chugged on to the finish that was 30 k away. I finished 12 minutes down on the winner and lost the best young rider jersey.
Stage 4 was the toughest stage of the race. It was also about 180 k long and started with a cat 3 climb to start the day at about 50 k in. Then at about 80 k there was a 12k long cat 1 climb, and at 145 k there was another 9k long cat 1 climb to finish off the day before a decent into Waynesboro. I didn't feel that good today but mentally told myself I could do it. I was ok on the cat three climb and was in decent position on the first cat 1 but felt horrible. I was going as hard as I possibly could which was horrible and just started going back and back and back. I crested the climb with a group of 3 or 4 guys and we worked together for a while until about 10 or 12 more guys caught us. This was around 100 k in. I didn't have any more water and food and just felt horrible. There was a feed zone around 125 k and I got some food and bottles from other teams and decided to keep going. I ate and drank but still felt horrible. I started getting dropped on little rollers and knew that a cat 1 climb loomed in the distance and there were still 50 k to go. I knew there was no way that I could stay with the people in my group over that climb and decided to pull the plug at kilometer 135. It was a very tough decision, but I didn't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere dehydrated and cramping.
I am a little disappointed that I didn't get to finish this race, but it is literally one of the hardest races in America as far as terrain and distance go. I also know what I have to work on for race like this in the future and am confident in myself. I am also very happy with my result in the first stage.
The next stage was a short 50 minute crit on 4 corner 1 mile course in Lynchburg on Tuesday afternoon. The course had a large downhill between turns 1 and 2 and a steep uphill between turns 3 and 4. I got called up to the line because of my good ride in the time trial. Early in the race a rider in front of me came to a halt in turn 4 and I had to unclip and moved back a bunch of places in the field. I didn't want to waste any energy by trying to move up, so I pretty much stayed in the middle of the group for the rest of the race. The race stayed together so I retained the U-23 jersey for yet another stage.
Stage 3 was a 180k road stage from Bedford to Covington. Along the course there were 2 category 3 climbs and a 12k cat 1 climb at about 140 k into the race. There were also many rollers along the way. I felt pretty good for most of the day. A break went about 80 or so kilometers on one of the rolling hills and stayed for the rest of the day. I was too far back for this split, but two of my teammates made the split. I felt ok at the base of the cat one climb, but about 2 k later just lost my power and started to go backwards in my group. As the climb progressed I went further and further back and felt really bad. Over the top I was in a group of three people and just chugged on to the finish that was 30 k away. I finished 12 minutes down on the winner and lost the best young rider jersey.
Stage 4 was the toughest stage of the race. It was also about 180 k long and started with a cat 3 climb to start the day at about 50 k in. Then at about 80 k there was a 12k long cat 1 climb, and at 145 k there was another 9k long cat 1 climb to finish off the day before a decent into Waynesboro. I didn't feel that good today but mentally told myself I could do it. I was ok on the cat three climb and was in decent position on the first cat 1 but felt horrible. I was going as hard as I possibly could which was horrible and just started going back and back and back. I crested the climb with a group of 3 or 4 guys and we worked together for a while until about 10 or 12 more guys caught us. This was around 100 k in. I didn't have any more water and food and just felt horrible. There was a feed zone around 125 k and I got some food and bottles from other teams and decided to keep going. I ate and drank but still felt horrible. I started getting dropped on little rollers and knew that a cat 1 climb loomed in the distance and there were still 50 k to go. I knew there was no way that I could stay with the people in my group over that climb and decided to pull the plug at kilometer 135. It was a very tough decision, but I didn't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere dehydrated and cramping.
I am a little disappointed that I didn't get to finish this race, but it is literally one of the hardest races in America as far as terrain and distance go. I also know what I have to work on for race like this in the future and am confident in myself. I am also very happy with my result in the first stage.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Perry-Roubaix Stage Race
This past weekend my teammate Bobby Sweeting and I took part in the Perry-Roubaix stage race in Perry Georgia. It started off on Saturday morning with a 9.5 mile out and back time trial on a rolling course. I went as hard as I could and thought I would do a good time. My time was 19:14 which was good enough for third place. Bobby clocked a 19:06 for second, and Dan Larson (Cycle Science) won with a time of 18:57.
The next stage was a 52 mile circuit race which was 20 laps on a 2.6 mile circuit. The circuit was relatively flat and there was no wind. Bobby and I tried to get away for the first half of the race with no luck. By the halfway point we came to the conclusion that we wouldn't get away. I just saved my energy sitting in for the remainder of the stage. Bobby covered a few moves but nothing came of it. Two guys who were lower down on the general classification managed to get away in the closing laps. I set myself up well for the sprint but still didn't quite have the snap that I had before my knee problem and came in 11th on the stage. The GC at the top stayed the same going into Sunday's road race.
The road race consisted of 7 laps on a 12.5 mile course. The course had two decent sized hills at the beginning. It also featured two red Georgia clay road sections that were separated by an interstate bridge hence the name Perry-Roubaix. The total amount of dirt probably was about a mile long each lap. I made sure I was in the top 5 positions every time we hit the dirt because I didn't want to be caught up with a crash. The first two laps were uneventful. Then on the toward the end of the second or third lap Shawn Coleman, who was only about 10 or 15 second down on GC from Bobby and I rolled off the front with one other rider. We figured he would burn up off the front by the end of the day. Cycle Science seemed to think the same thing and didn't chase either. Attacks came and went but nothing seemed to get away. Then on the fifth lap on the dirt section I was near the front and a Jittery Joe's rider was drilling it pretty good, so I kept his effort going to the end of the dirt. This established a move of about five riders for a short while, but this was also swallowed up. At the beginning of the sixth lap David Guttenplan (Sakonnet) got a move going with Jason Snow (Cycle Science), James Sweeney (American Bicycle Racing Team), and a few others. This looked good to me and I bridged up to it just before the dirt section with two other riders. David and I were clearly the strongest in the move and did most of the work. People also looked at me to do work because I was the highest placed on GC and would benefit the most from it. Then at the beginning of the last lap a group of about 15 or so that included Bobby got back on with my group. David attacked with one other rider on one of the hills and I was right there but was starting to cramp in my hamstring so I didn't follow for fear of making a bad cramp. David was another threat to Bobby's and my GC position because he was only about a minute down. Bobby was too tired to do any work in the group, so I set the pace the whole time with some help here and there from some random rider. In the last two k's attacks started coming and I paid the price of my work. I almost got gapped off with one k to go but managed to just stay in the group. Shawn Coleman managed to rough the day out and keep about 1'40" gap over Bobby's and my group at the end. It was a pretty impressive ride. Both Bobby and I finished toward the back of our group on this stage. I am proud of the work I did because Bobby kept his second place on GC by one second over David as a result of it. I dropped down to fourth place on GC by the end. Even though Bobby and I didn't net a win by the end of the weekend, I am happy that I got in some quality training in a rather long race before I go to Richmond, VA next weekend for the US Open.
The next stage was a 52 mile circuit race which was 20 laps on a 2.6 mile circuit. The circuit was relatively flat and there was no wind. Bobby and I tried to get away for the first half of the race with no luck. By the halfway point we came to the conclusion that we wouldn't get away. I just saved my energy sitting in for the remainder of the stage. Bobby covered a few moves but nothing came of it. Two guys who were lower down on the general classification managed to get away in the closing laps. I set myself up well for the sprint but still didn't quite have the snap that I had before my knee problem and came in 11th on the stage. The GC at the top stayed the same going into Sunday's road race.
The road race consisted of 7 laps on a 12.5 mile course. The course had two decent sized hills at the beginning. It also featured two red Georgia clay road sections that were separated by an interstate bridge hence the name Perry-Roubaix. The total amount of dirt probably was about a mile long each lap. I made sure I was in the top 5 positions every time we hit the dirt because I didn't want to be caught up with a crash. The first two laps were uneventful. Then on the toward the end of the second or third lap Shawn Coleman, who was only about 10 or 15 second down on GC from Bobby and I rolled off the front with one other rider. We figured he would burn up off the front by the end of the day. Cycle Science seemed to think the same thing and didn't chase either. Attacks came and went but nothing seemed to get away. Then on the fifth lap on the dirt section I was near the front and a Jittery Joe's rider was drilling it pretty good, so I kept his effort going to the end of the dirt. This established a move of about five riders for a short while, but this was also swallowed up. At the beginning of the sixth lap David Guttenplan (Sakonnet) got a move going with Jason Snow (Cycle Science), James Sweeney (American Bicycle Racing Team), and a few others. This looked good to me and I bridged up to it just before the dirt section with two other riders. David and I were clearly the strongest in the move and did most of the work. People also looked at me to do work because I was the highest placed on GC and would benefit the most from it. Then at the beginning of the last lap a group of about 15 or so that included Bobby got back on with my group. David attacked with one other rider on one of the hills and I was right there but was starting to cramp in my hamstring so I didn't follow for fear of making a bad cramp. David was another threat to Bobby's and my GC position because he was only about a minute down. Bobby was too tired to do any work in the group, so I set the pace the whole time with some help here and there from some random rider. In the last two k's attacks started coming and I paid the price of my work. I almost got gapped off with one k to go but managed to just stay in the group. Shawn Coleman managed to rough the day out and keep about 1'40" gap over Bobby's and my group at the end. It was a pretty impressive ride. Both Bobby and I finished toward the back of our group on this stage. I am proud of the work I did because Bobby kept his second place on GC by one second over David as a result of it. I dropped down to fourth place on GC by the end. Even though Bobby and I didn't net a win by the end of the weekend, I am happy that I got in some quality training in a rather long race before I go to Richmond, VA next weekend for the US Open.
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