Ronde van Brisbeen Criterium

Last weekend I competed in my first road event (EVER) as a Category 5 rider – the only road experience had been from group rides and the Mt. Tam Hill Challenge. It was difficult to fall asleep the night before the race and the techno music across the street did not help my situation. The next morning I jumped into the shower at 5:30am and had a Clif Bar for breakfast with a double shot of espresso. My teammate rolled up to the apartment at 6:15am and we loaded his car with wheels, trainer, bike and my gear bag.

The course was being set-up as we drove into the parking lot and a few riders were already spinning on their trainers. Matt and I unpacked our gear and walked to the registration to get our numbers. Once back to the car we set-up the trainers and spun for about 30-40 minutes with hooded sweatshirts and iPOD in the back pocket of my jersey.

The race course had a few technical areas and a 180 degree turn which caused several people to fall on the 2nd and 3rd lap of our race. I rode up front to avoid the chaos and worked with some riders to push the pace. Eventually, one rider wanted to work together and we rode away from the pack for 3 laps until he dropped back into the main group. There were 12 laps to go and I did not want to slow down, so I put my head down and visualized a cyclocross race or time trial. The wind was strong on the main straight away, so I stayed low and aero in my hoods for most of the race. During the final laps I threw up on myself – it was funny and tasted like cookies and Red Bull. On the last lap I stepped the pace up one more time and finished strong. This weekend I plan on racing the Martinez Criterium and look forward to more road race experience. In the meantime I will do my best to keep the page updated with fresh news and interesting articles.

Thanks for reading

My Ride

In a perfect world free of giant SUVs and other annoying vehicles - you would see me driving this car to the races and weekend outings. There are some great concepts in the world and I can only hope to see them in application during my lifetime.

2008 Road Season

This evening I rode down to the Design Center to meet a teammate who passed along the 2008 racing kit - it's finally in my hands. Tomorrow I plan on wearing the new kit on my evening ride to get accustomed to the fit and figure out what modifications might be needed. The sleeves are a bit tight on my bicep and this is strange since my arms are small. The bib shorts have a larger elastic band on the lower section of the leg which is supposed to compress the crucial areas of the leg during rides or races. This new kits brings motivation to lose a few pounds before any serious racing begins ;)

Thanks for reading

Power Juice

Like cars need gas to drive... I need illy to ride on the weekends.

It's been a blessing and a pleasure to have an illy cafe across the street from my apartment. Some mornings it's hard to wake up and the smell of fresh espresso wakes the senses before a long day on the bike.

My weapon of choice?

Espresso doppio

The Gitana 13

The other day I stopped to take a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge on my morning ride and accidentally snapped a picture of a world record sail boat entering the Bay. I just returned from my morning ride before work and thought the sail boat made a nice picture under the bridge, so I took a few shots with my digital camera. Later I read in the SF Weekly about the sail boat which set the fastest time from New York to San Francisco.

On The Mend

Where do I begin?

It's been 5 weeks since my last bike ride and the knee continues to disrupt my 2008 road season. The Tour of California passed through my neck of the woods and I could not ride my bike across the Golden Gate Bridge to see the event, which tells me something is wrong and I need to see a specialist immediately. My appointment is schedule in the first week of March and it's with a sports doctor who is located one block from my apartment - a perfect commute to the hospital. Last week I got to meet my cycling hero, Tom Boonen, at Specialized Bicycles in Morgan Hill. The entire Quickstep team toured the facility and signed autographs for the employees. Tom and I were sitting in the lobby before an interview and he spoke about the upcoming races and signed a world championship jersey for me - it's going to be framed and placed on my wall for inspiration.

Top 10 Things An Injury Can Bring

1) Reading books and learning new things

2) Down time from the bike

3) Stretching and yoga classes to increase flexibility

4) Learning new programming languages in the evening

5) Resting my body for the road season ahead

6) Working on drawings and sketches

7) Mastering the art of Magic Etch A Sketch

8) Learning to use my digital camera

9) A stronger desire to race my bike

10) A change in routine

What else?

Well, I started swimming this week and it feels amazing. My form was beginning to slip from the lack of riding, so I chose swimming as a way to maintain my fitness. Anyway, I need to get some sleep - long day tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Boonen

More to come...