The Chronicles of Fatguy Racer

Crit Racers PSA - Free Lap Rule Scenarios

2010-04-28T09:20:00.007-04:00

From your favorite Ducati riding motor ref...

I've worked a few pits the past couple of seasons and even I get a stumper. That's not good, but what i have noticed is that it's the same questions all the time even on the ones I do know. The following info is direct from the May 2010 USA Cycling Officials Newsletter and I thought (with permission from USA Cycling) I would share it with you all.

Free lap or No Free Lap?

1. Rider drops a chain.

[1A13] No free lap. Failure of an essential component? Only if it’s come off due to a bent chain ring, missing teeth on the cogs, or caused by some other failure of an essential component (broken derailleur, for example) then it is a recognized mishap. Furthermore, can you imagine what would happen if a dropped chain were a mishap? Is there a rider anywhere who could not throw his chain off any time he wants?

2. Rider gets a flat tire.

[1A13] Free lap, unless it’s a flat due to inadequate gluing or some sort of fraud. If you suspect fraud, you should ask the mechanics in the pit to pump up the tire. If it holds air, then the rider who took a free lap should be put down a lap.

3. Rider hits a pothole that causes his saddle to tilt towards the ground.

[1A13] No Free lap. Adjustment or insufficient tightening of a component does not get the rider a free lap.

4. Same as 3 but you note the seatpost bolt is broken.

[1A13] Free Lap. A seatpost bolt is an essential piece of equipment.

5. Rider breaks the cleat on his shoe.

[1A13] Free lap. A cleat is an essential piece of equipment

6. Rider crashes and breaks his frame. He runs to the pit for a new bike without carrying the broken bike with him.

[1A13] [3D5(a)(b)][1Q9] No free lap. A frame is an “essential component.” But the question is further complicated by coming to the pit without a bike. Bicycle inspection and repairs must be made in an official repair pit. The pit official is responsible to make the determination. No bike, no ability to inspect, no free lap. Furthermore, a rider may make no progress unaccompanied by his bicycle. This includes getting to the pit. Again, no bicycle = no free lap.

7. Rider enters the pit with a trashed bike and gets a new one from the neutral support company. After taking the free lap he gets back in without incident. Five laps later, the rider comes back into the pit saying he wants a free lap so that he can switch back to his normal bike that was fixed by the mechanics.

[1A13] No Free Lap. For the second entrance to the pit, there was no mishap. The mishap rule does not recognize the rider’s preference to ride a particular bike compared to another.

Keep the rubber side down and stay out of the pits if you can!

Cheers,

FGR

I'm not dead yet...

2009-12-09T10:48:00.005-05:00

I'm felling better. I want to go for a walk.

You can dress him up (Clarendon Cup Edition)...

2009-06-01T10:39:00.009-04:00

...but you still cant take him anywhere.

And I'm not talking about Stefan.

Look at that mess! Tie on backwards, button missing on blazer (it popped off just before I got there!), wires dangling everywhere.

You can tell I stayed at the hotel by myself. If my wife Dana had seen this, she would have killed me.

Lou Strader had to have this picture taken of me an Stefan. He said no one would ever believe that moto refs wear ties.

My family follows this blog, so here's some proof for them too.

Just an aside, I'm starting to look pretty good! I better keep on that bike.

The Air Force Classic.

Since no picture exists, lemme just say that it is possible to eat a Chipolte Burrito and pilot a motorcycle at the same time. I had to do this at the Air Force Classic since I didn't know where the food for the crew was and I had to get a hand up from Greg Hoffman at the feed zone. It was a good burrito.

Some other observations...

I think I got spoiled working as a Moto Marshall for the Air Force Classic. The speed of the caravan was incredible. Up to that point, I had thought our own P123 races moved at a pretty good clip. The Pro caravan is a thing of speed and beauty. It's just like it is on TV. I never bogged anywhere that I can remember. The whole ride was smooth and steady. Even when I was behind the breakaway that got caught with 2 laps to go.

I hope I get to do this again next year.

Oh wait...I get to do this next week in Philly. From behind the wheel of the Team Latitude/ABRT Elite Women's team car. with long time ABRT cornerstone and all round good guy Arch McKown as Director Sportif.

So I'll be in the caravan. Sweet!

Cheers,

FGR

Diagnosing the Problem

2009-05-28T14:06:00.012-04:00

In my last post I recanted how much I was disappointed at not doing well at RFK. A personal favorite course for me, and not just because of all the great memories I had of the 3 day all access VIP passes I enjoyed at the ALMS/Speed World Challenge event, The Cadillac Gran Prix of DC back in 2002...

...that the place was built for. It's not often in life a gearhead like myself gets close enough to touch a Le Mans winning race car...

...or hang out near the podium or in the garages...

...or stand 5 feet behind William Shatner with his VPL showing thru his Sparco race suit...

...during the Celebrity Race (His female driving partner wrecked the car on lap 1, effectively canceling celebrity race. He was pissed).

But I digress...

In the two races at RFK I noticed sharp drop offs in performance. Like one moment everything is A-OK and then boom! Nothing. I am chalking this up to a lack of short intervals training. Being fat at RFK is a non-issue. The real issue was not being able to repeatedly go with the accelerations and recover from them.

Monday I took off the bike completely, even though the PPTC Memorial Day Metric from Southern High School was on. I wanted to rest. Tuesday I was one of 3 to show for the D'ville ride. The weather was perfect for a mudder like me. So I had a good z123 ride. I felt great when I was done.

I spent all day Wednesday debating about doing Greenbelt or doing easy laps around BWI airport and taking pictures of airplanes.

I waited and waited for the announcement of the impending cancellation of Greenbelt, but at 3:45, it was ON and I said what the hell. That started another internal debate about doing the B race and suffer or do the C race (which im not really supposed to do) and maybe suffer a little. I made up my mind in the parking lot and signed for the B like the big boy eternal Cat 4 I am.

I lined up with my teammates, pretty nervous about how quick I was gonna be shot out the back. The race started and off we go down the hill. I had a good start and quickly let gravity carry my fat arse from the back to the front of the pack before the corner.

An there I sat for the next 5 laps. Never far from the top 10. At that point I was feeling pretty confident that I had nothing to worry about. Then on lap 6, it all fell apart. As we hit the little steep pitch by the parking lot entrance, it all went away. I went out the back faster than creamed corn thru a goose. It was like someone turned off a light switch in my legs. I decided to not panic and jump back in the next time they came around. Well they came, but it was neutral since the A race caught the B race and I was on the wrong side of the road to jump in. I had to jump on after both races went by and chase like a mofo down the hill to catch the back. Well that's not a good way to start a new set of laps. And 2 laps later, OTB again, only this time I decided to just keep going since there were only 7 left to go. I got caught one more time by the A's at the top of the hill and let them pull me all the way around to the bottom of the hill. I got up the hill and rode till the B's showed up again and got in another lap or two. With two to go I was on the back of the B race and when they surged up the hill, my legs said "no way buddy" and started cramping. I rode the last 2 alone.

I finished 2 laps down, but I was much happier at the end of the race than I was on Sunday at RFK. I don't know why. I guess I didn't expect much at Greenbelt and wasn't as let down by my lack of performance. I went home happy with a renewed sense of purpose and a new set of objectives to remedy the problem.

Every week, just keep going until I cant go. Maybe by early July, I'll have it in the bag.

Cheers,

FGR

Inspirational Photography II - The Evolution Of A Final Sprint - The RFK 3/4 Race Finaly

2009-05-26T11:31:00.016-04:00

After I was OTB and out, I got a good spot for to take some photos. Something I havnt done at a bike race since I started officiating. As you can see, I'm a little rusty or I would have not backed off the zoom so hard mid way thru the sequence.

In this sequence Stephen Wahl, D.J. Brew and Jose Nunez duke it out for top honors. You can see Stephen leading it out ahead of DJ. Jose is hidden behind DJ until he pops out to the left. Stephen had the lead right up to about 10 meters to go, but DJ just barley nipped him at the line. Jose Nunez held on for 3rd.

Note how far back Stephen and Jose were before hitting the final bend.

Great job fellas.

Cheers,

FGR

Inspirational Photography - RFK Crit 2009

2009-05-26T10:22:00.009-04:00

(photo-Amy Jones)

This one goes on the refrigerator door. I'm hoping it will inspire me to leave it shut and walk away.

I could spend an entire day whining about why I am the suck right now, but it's all there in one picture and whining would be a waste of time, serving no purpose. Look at that fat bastard! If it weren't me in the photo, I'd think this pour schmuck is ready to keel over and give birth to that baby he's carrying. Normally I have no problem making fun of myself, but it's starting to not be funny anymore.

My wife, being the voice of reason and brutal honesty she usually is, is probably right about one thing. I should either stop half-assing my commitment to dieting and training, or give it up racing altogether and just ride with the tourist. I really love this sport, so I think it's time to really put the other half of my ass into it.

The day wasn't a total wash. I turned 46 over the weekend and got to spend the day with my dad who was really great about hanging out all day. In spite of my ego bruising not once, but twice, I had a really fun day.

Thanks Dad!

(photo-Lance Lacy or Paul Bayer, using my camera. Those are Lance's wheels, so ask him about them. LOL!)

My next mass start race will probably be the Bowie Crit, since it's so close to home and 8 weeks away. Plenty of time to get some quality training in. In the meantime, the Greenbelt B race is gonna be for me. If I start now, maytbe buy the last one in August, I may make it thru an entire race without going OTB.

In a more positive note, watch out for the Ducati ST4s screaming around Crystal City in all it's dry clutch and carbon fiber exhaust glory during the Air Force Classic on Sunday. While my racing is going backwards, my officiating career is moving well forward. I got my B moto upgrade last week, so in the words of Navin Johnson...

"Things will start happening to me now!"

Cheers,

FGR

How to look Pro...

2009-05-03T13:31:00.009-04:00

...without the years of sacrifice and monk like devotion.

(photo: Dad)

In the interest of full disclosure the pro look didn't help me one iota from getting dropped half-way up the first of the 3 stair step hills a mile and a half before the start/finish in the Turkey Hill Classic 4/5 race.

Because I was looking all pro, I stayed in until I got thrown out. As fate would have it I had photo featured teammate, team co sponsor and all round good guy Brad Phumphrey for company with a few of his Cat 5 racers for a couple of laps after they got dropped in their race. Brad finished much higher in his race than I did in mine. His group was 2nd group in the cat 5 race and there were only about 10-12 finishers in the main Cat 5 group. Me, I probably finished 70 out of 75.

I'm not going to whine here, because it's totally my fault I'm as big as a whale. All I want to say is I love this race and cant wait to have another go at it in 2010.

Cheers,

FGR

"GamJams Reviews: Shoes - Carnac Lemond

2009-04-30T00:20:00.003-04:00

I bought the black Lemonds in 1996 from Mt. Airy Bicycles. I am still wearing them on a regular basis. They are with out a doubt the most comfortable cycling shoes ever made. They might also be the ugliest too. The words "clown shoes" has been mentioned more than once over the years.

The newer Ellipse model there next to the Lemonds are pretty comfy too, but I like the old school laces under straps.

I wish I could find a new in the box pair of Lemonds (or Legends as they were called after Carnac dropped Greg as a spokesman). I live a tragic life in that I cannot find a shoe that fits the way I like otherwise, I wouldn't be wearing 13 year old shoes.

I wear a size 43. ;-)

Cheers,

FGR.

Still hanging in there...

2009-04-09T11:16:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile, but I'm still around. I'll get back to some regular posting soon. FWIW i've been riding as much as I can and have lost about 8 of those 12 lbs i picked up after Christmas.

And for chrissake everybody, keep the rubber side down.

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 3/13/2009

2009-03-14T23:05:00.003-04:00

Howdy Ho Everybody!

Believe it or not, I didn't disappear into a vast pile of work, never to return. Although in spite of the way things are going with the economy, I'm happy to say so far I've been keeping very busy. I have managed some good rides in the past few weeks and I have been managing to keep a hold of some of my base fitness even though I'm not where i should be with my weight. The sad (and embarrassing)fact of the matter is that I am only about 8 lbs lighter than I was on November 1st when I started this feature. Whoever said that being in business for yourself will give you all the free time in the world to ride was wrong. I work more now than I ever did before. I'm not complaining, but It's a little disheartening to see the best laid plans got to waste for the greater good. These days racing and training ain't everything. Work has to come first no matter what. That's just the way it is. Like Jim Koch of Sam Adams fame says, "Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life." Well, that is very true. I love what I'm doing. I'm the best there is in the field and as long as I keep my head on straight I will be very sucessful with this venture.

There is a silver lining on the cycling side. Things have been easing up a bit lately and I hope to put in more time on the bike and less time with a fork in one hand and a beer in the other.

In other news, my team CADD9 came in 2 weeks ago. The parts I needed arrived 2 days ago and next week I should have the time to get it cobble together and get it tuned up in time for Walkersville. I can't wait. It's one of my favorite races. I had targeted it as my "A" race of the spring, but with me scrambling to drop 10 more pounds before the event, I don't hold out hope of a good result. Well see...

In unrelated news, my Ducati is running like a scalded dog. I guess those expensive spark plugs did the trick. Now I need to get belts and shims done before Jefferson Cup. Christ, this stuff never ends.

Cheers,

FGR.

About the face - Ben Spies passed Noriyugi Haga in race 2. That's all I'm gonna say.

The price of stupidity: $31.50 and a slight loss of self respect

2009-02-21T10:56:00.005-05:00

That's $31.50 for each plug. My ST4s takes two. I have no idea why I didn't walk out of the dealership laughing my ass off.

Somebody pass me the Prep-H.

Live and learn.

Cheers,

FGR

GamJams Reviews: Chamois Cream - Vagisil

2009-02-17T20:04:00.005-05:00

I need to state for the record that I have never in my entire 46 years used chamois cream. And I started riding when shorts were wool and chamois was real. I can also state for the record I have never had a full blown saddle boil either. I have had the occasional chafe and rash. And by occasional, I mean maybe twice a year. The chafe and rash have never been severe enough to warrant the use of chamois cream on a regular basis. That's were Vagisil comes in. If i happen to have a little irritation down in the man parts region, Vagisil cures what ails me and in less then 24 hrs, it's like it never happened.

I guess I'm just lucky that way. I can tell you all that during race season, on race day, I've got cycling shorts on for 12+ hours. (Yeah i know, yuck!) I wear them under my protective overpants when I ride the moto. I've found nothing that will stack up to a pair of cycling shorts for an all day ride. I cant say I've never had Monkey Butt after a 400 mile day, but chamois cream wont help that anyway. There's a powder for that!

I don't use that either.

Cheers,

FGR

(In case you're wondering, I am man enough to buy my own damn tube of Vagisil. I dont make my wife get it for me)

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 02/13/2009

2009-02-16T19:25:00.005-05:00

Howdy Ho Everybody!

I'm back.

Well, I'm late with the post and truthfully I shot this on Monday the 16th and not Friday the 13th.

I may not look it, but I am in fact in the best shape I have ever been in for a February since 1999. Maybe better, I don't know. In 1999 there was no C race at Tradezone, but the B race then was a 4/5 race like the C race is now and I think the riders were tad slower then too.

I can see that I'm gaining lot of tone everywhere but in the middle. My legs are really shrinking! The middle is getting more obvious as I shrink overall. First on, last off is the cruel rule of weight loss. I think I'll still have a gut even when I reach my goal weight of 175 pounds.

I rode the C race at Tradezone on Sunday the 15th and I had a great time. I didn't do squat but ride the bike and sit in the wheels and stay out of the wind. So basically it was a 17 dollar group ride with 45 strangers and other teammates. Going into it I wasn't sure what to expect as far as pace and how I would handle it. I havn't raced there since the 2006 Turkey Day Cat 4 race and I got dropped 1/2 way thru it. I was in bad shape mentally that summer, so I didnt expect much. The last full race finish I had there was 2005 Turkey Day Cat 4 race. That was the year I lost 60 lbs. The first time.

Back to yesterday. After about 5 laps, I had no doubt I would finish all 16 with the group. I never felt like I was gonna be dropped. There was a time or two where I felt like stopping, my legs were like two bags of cement, but I never thought I was gonna be spit out. On the last lap I was just so glad to not have gotten dropped that I felt like my work was done and sat up. Thanks to wooden legs, I had nothing to contest the sprint with and well, it's a training race. I seem to have bad luck sprinting for inconsequential shit, like training races and group rides. I'll save it for when my season really starts in April. If I'm gonna go out in a blaze in a sprint crash, by gum, it'll be someplace cool like Wilmington or Reston. Not fracking Tradezone. Well not Reston either. I just remembered I'm gonna be a moto ref at that race again.

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Weeks 1/30/09 & 2/6/09

2009-02-07T10:53:00.002-05:00

Howdy Ho Everybody.

No pictures again for 2 more Fridays.

On the plus side, my business is moving along very steadily and it's very hard work. I remember reading in Bryan Vaughn's blog a year or so ago how he ended up getting very large while building his business. I completely understand. I work harder for myself than I ever did for someone else.

I'm not gonna say I am putting this feature on hiatus, I just need a few moments to workout time management issues so I don't burn myself out and get back up to 260lbs. right now I've probably picked back up to 205, but I haven't lost too much of the base I worked hard on in Nov and Dec. I'm probably about 3 weeks behind the 8-ball.

Cheers,

FGR

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 1/23/09

2009-01-28T15:23:00.005-05:00

Howdy Ho sports fans!

You may have noticed that there is no Roller Pic. That's is due to the fact that I've been off the bike for 7 days straight and don't have one to put up.

I'm back on the bike today and will be back with a new entry for January 30th.

So why have I not been riding the past week?

Well I'm glad you asked.

I've been growing my new business, JEK Design & Drafting Services.

I'll talk about it more later...right now things are going good so far, I dont want to jinx it.

Cheers,

FGR

Update - Back on the bike. I think i picked up a pound or so. But the ride didnt seem any hard then usual. I did 2 x 20's while watching Sukiyaki Western Django. Cool movie.

Fatguy Racer Roller Pic of the Week - 1/16/09

2009-01-17T19:30:00.003-05:00

Howdy Ho Everybody!

Another week goes by and I shrink another pound or so. White is not very flattering. I don't care. This feature goes on warts and all.

I'm not sure what the look is about. It might have something to do with what I was watching on TV. I finally got around to putting in a Netflix DVD i've had for 2 weeks now, Atonement. What a dire movie that was. I need to make a note to watch something alittle more upbeat, like Leaving Las Vegas, next time.

Well, until next time...

Cheers,

FGR.

GamJams Reviews: Hydration - Gatorade

2009-01-14T12:32:00.012-05:00

Howdy Ho Everybody!

This weeks review topic is indeed one that I have plenty of experience with. Over the last 15 years of cycling I have tried many hydration products. Some were good, some were bad and some were just plain WTF? I'm calling you out XLR8 or whatever that urine colored liquid concentrate was called, with the funky bottle and measuring cap. What I have discovered in those 15 years of trying everything under the sun is that it's all a bunch of marketing bullshit.

I am of the old school mold in all things cycling. I'm not a Luddite by any means, I embrace technology as much as the next guy, but I will only invest in new tech only If I believe it will have a payoff in performance for me. Cycling tech is not cheap, and like a seasoned investor I want a return on my investment. When it comes to gimmicky crap cycling has not been immune to the hucksters and their snake oils with promises of increased VO2, lactic buffering, etc, etc, ad nauseum. I was not immune to the sirens calls of those snake oil salesman and their promises of better, faster, stronger.

I bought into the hype on some of these products and gave them an honest run. I can report that the only thing they did for me is to part me with my money. They worked no better than Gatorade. Some of those products have actually hindered my performance. Cytomax, for instance, always made me sick to my stomach because it sat very heavy down there after ingesting it. My number one criteria for a hydration product is that it should not make me want to belch. Especially when I'm on the rivet. The problem with most products is they have too much sugar or sweetner. Powerade comes to mind here. If you can think of a worse product than Powerade, I'd like to know about it.

Having tried and rejected almost everything that has come to market in the last 15 years I have come to accept the ubiquitous Gatorade as my hydration drink of choice. I like it for many reasons. The first and main reason is that it just plain works. I have never been on a ride where I have bonked or hit the wall when I've had access to Gatorade. I have come close to dying on a ride from running out of fluids and like an oasis in the desert even the most run down backwoods country store has Gatorade. It's no small coincidence either. Gatorade has been around almost as long as I have. I remember buying it as a kid at the local 7-11. Back then it came in quart size glass jars with big mouth lids and metal caps. Which brings me to my 2nd main reason I like Gatorade. I can buy it anywhere. Have you ever been to a convenience store that didn't sell Gatorade? Me neither. It's as omnipresent as Coco-Cola. It's a great product that works and their marketing is 2nd to none in the performance drink market. And since I've been drinking the stuff since childbirth my body is used to it and doesn't reject it even under extreme duress. Even in the high heat of summer when the stuff in the bottle is hotter than jacuzzi water, I can put it down without drama. My body knows what it wants and it wants Gatorade.

Which brings me to my third reason for favoring Gatorade. It's cheap. Even though the marketing is huge for Gatorade, they have an advantage over all the others and it's price. I buy the huge can of powder at Sam's Club and I get more the twice the amount of drink than I would get with the other products. With the powder I can also mix it to any strength I like. I prefer to mix my own batches on the heavy side. That way when I'm out on the road for a long time, I can top up with water and still have a bit of electrolyte in the bottle. Speaking of water, that is my number 2 preferred hydration drink. In fact if I am only going for a short ride of of an hour of so, I only take one bottle of water. On any other ride one bottle of water, one bottle of Gatorade.

I will admit that right now I am out of Gatorade and am using a big bottle of Heed powder that I scored as some feebee swhag. It has the weirdest taste, mine is Strawberry, but it is almost as light as water. Remarkably Heed comes closest to delivering on what it promises for a hydration product. I've been using Hammer gel for a couple of years now with good results, so maybe I might actually spend my own money on another bottle of Heed when the one I got is gone. Than again, maybe not. Sometimes that weird taste just gets to me.

One thing is for certain. Like death and taxes, there will always be Gatorade. It's always there, somewhere, anywhere, when you need it most.

Cheers,

FGR.

Recipe Corner with the Fatguy: DIY Pizza

2009-01-10T00:02:00.025-05:00

Howdy Ho Boys and Girls!

I didn't get to be a plus size individual without knowing a thing or two about cooking. Just because I'm dieting down to a normal bike racer size doesn't mean I'm willing to give up food. I have just changed my habits to accommodate my choices. One of my favorite is pizza. And not just any pizza, but pizza you can make at home far cheaper and better than what you can get delivered to your house or purchase in the frozen foods section. The best part is that it takes the same time to make one as it does to wait for one to be delivered. So why bother with DiGiorno or Dominos. Make it yourself. Here's how I do a pepperoni & Canadian bacon pie...

First I start with the oven. I set that bad boy to 425 degrees, just like it says on the dough package. I use ready made pizza dough from Trader Joe's. This one is a plain dough. They have whole wheat and herb doughs too. My wife like the herb doughs which I use to make her favorite. A 'white' pizza with fresh Roma tomatoes, whole basil leaves and Asiago cheese. That's the beauty of these things, I can do what ever my imagination inspires me to do. To get the dough ready I set it out and let it get to room temperature. While the dough is getting up to temperature, I gather the rest of the ingredients. Here I have a can of Hunts tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil, Italian seasoning, granulated garlic, thinly sliced Roma tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, Canadian bacon and the aforementioned dough. Also in the picture is my favored cooking utensil for pizza, a well seasoned Pampered Chef pizza stone.

The next thing I do is to take a sheet of wax paper, set it on a flat surface and place a heaping scoop of flour in the middle of it. This is where I prep the dough. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that. So here's what to do. I place the fresh dough ball in the middle of the flour and scoop some more flour on top of it. I lightly spread the flour on the dough ball all over so it's not sticky to the touch. Then I work the dough into a 12-15" flat round pie. I even get fancy and toss that sucker in the air too. I learned how to do that 20 years ago working at a pizza place.

I like to get the pie bigger than the pizza stone so I can make a shoulder around the edge. That's the crust. Once done tossing, I place it on the pre-oiled pizza stone. I prefer olive oil. If you don't want to use oil, spread some corn meal on the stone. My wife says that works, but I have better luck with the oil.

Next comes the sauce. I pour it evenly on the pie and then pick up the whole stone and wave it around to let gravity evenly distribute the sauce so that I get a nice even coverage. Don't worry, the dough will not slide off the stone. Another reason I prefer oil. Also, I am not shy with the sauce. The gravity method works better than using your fingers (gross) or the bottom of a spoon. Then I sprinkle the garlic and Italian seasoning on the sauce. Sometime, when I am not in a hurry, I will figure out an uncooked recipe for sauce, In the meantime speed and ease are king. Trust me, it will not taste bland.

Now comes the tomatoes. I place them all over in a single layer right on top of the sauce. It's hard to beat the taste of fresh tomatoes on a pizza. Dominos doesn't do that! Bastages!

Here's the good part. The cheese. This is where home made trumps all. I can put as much of that good stuff on there as I want. There is no skimping at Casa Fatguy. Cheese is a personal choice. I prefer whole milk mozzarella. I grabbed this part skim stuff by mistake. I wont be doing that again. You can use what ever you like. My wife likes Asiago. I do too, but I like to sprinkle it on top of the mozzarella. It gives the cheese a nice aroma and bite to it.

Now the pepperoni. This brand is actually very low on greasy scale and it's thin. The thick stuff is good too. Traders Joe's has a nice Pancetta that I like to top my pies with, but I didn't have any.

Next up is the Canadian bacon. I like to slice it in half. The cheese and pepperoni underneath cooks better if its not covered up with whole slices of bacon. Trial and error learned me that.

Last but not least, extra cheese! I loves the cheese. There is nothing in the world that cannot be improved on with addition of cheese. I also sprinkle on more Italian seasoning and garlic. Time to put it in the oven...

I set the timer for 20 min and check on it from time to time. This pie took about 23 min and I turned it 180 degrees one time to get the cheese to evenly cook. Timing is key to get the cheese melted without burning the heck out of it. A pizza is not a roast. You cannot put it in the oven and forget about it. My oven has a speed bake feature. I don't use it! The cheese cooks OK and quicker but the dough is left partially raw. Slow and steady wins the race.

Once done you should have a beautiful pie like this...

Slice into 8 pieces, pours an expensive Belgian ale with the money you saved and enjoy! I guarantee that this pizza will be better than anything that ever shows up at your door in 30 min or less.

Cheers,

FGR.

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 1/9/09

2009-01-09T19:47:00.004-05:00

Howdy Sports Fans!

Welcome to another weekly installment of my adventures in weight loss. I've lost the holiday weight and I'm back down to where I was before the holidays. About 202-203 lbs. I was really hoping for 195 by Jan 1st. Thanks to that nasty bug I got for the last week of the year, I had no chance. My new goal is 190 by the Latitude/ABRT 2009 season kick off party in early February. At that weight, I'll be in decent shape for the training races at Tradezone.

Oh yeah, the kit? It's what I had left that wasn't in a dirty pile on the floor. I need to get on that this weekend.

Cheers,

FGR

Gam Jams Reviews: Best Cycling Gift - A handmade winter hat.

2009-01-08T13:14:00.002-05:00

My wife made this hat for me to keep my head warm on cold days. She did it in Latitude/ABRT colors. I wear the darn thing everywhere. It makes me look like a dork, but I don't care. I love this hat. And I love my wife, she's the best.

Oh and she did buy me a Park TS-2 pro truing stand for Christmas too. So I got that going for me now!

Cheers,

FGR

Fatguy Racer Roller Pic of the Week - 1/2/09

2009-01-04T11:39:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year!

Here's the first pic of the 2009.

Right about now I am 8 weeks into my 2009 training season. Unfortunately I only have ridden for 7 of those. From Dec. 25 to Dec. 31 I had been off the bike completely battling some kind of cold/flu bug that seems to be the talk of the town. I am feeling much better now and have resumed training. However, I have had to put off my first all out TT test until my next rest and reco week.

The bad new is that I have not lost any weight in the last 2 weeks. I gained a pound of two instead, thanks to the holiday cooking and parties.

Now that the new year is upon us I look forward to making it a better one than last year. I didnt think anything would top 2006 for suckitude, but 2008 was right up there. I hope every one else had a good 2009.

Cheers,

FGR

FGR's Beer in Review - 2008

2008-12-31T22:33:00.006-05:00

Howdy Ho!

I have reached a milestone this week. I have reviewed 100 different beers on my Ratebeer.com account. I signed on to Ratebeer in Oct 2007 and have done my level best to drink as many different beers as possible. Thanks to establishments like Perfect Pour in Columbia, it's not very hard to drink a different beer every day of the year. However being of the limited income of a working stiff, i cannot afford to drink a 5 dollar bottle of beer every day. So on many days, I drink Yuengling Lager or Sam Adams Hefenweiss. Those two are my favorite everyday beers. Yuengling gets the nod for #1 everyday beer as it costs 20 bucks a case and actually tastes good. However I was at least fortunate enough to enjoy at least 80 to 90 different beers last year. Going over my list there is a definite trend toward beers from Belgium. My favorite styles seem to be Trappist Ales and Saisons. It might seem a bit strange, but there is no real middle ground for me. I favor dark and heavy (Bocks and Quads) or light and citrisy (Wheats and Saisons). My number one favorite is Saison Dupont. I've gone over my rate beer listing and have complied a list of all the beers I've rated at least a 4.0 or higher. 23 total beers got a 4.0 or better. That breaks down to 10 Belgians, followed by 8 German brews, 4 American micros and 1 Dutch brew. I didn't really go out of my way to rate Belgian beer higher, It came down to the law of averages. My purchases over that last 15 months have leaned toward Belgian brews. Of those mostly Saisons and Trappist Ales. This year I will be doing more reviews of American micros. Without further ado here is my top 23 of 2008. The list reads across; Beer name, Brewer (Country), Style and My Ratebeer rating.

1. Saison Dupont Vieille Provision -Dupont Brasserie (Bel)- Saison - 5
2. Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock - Brauerei Aying (Ger)- Doppelbock - 4.6
3. St. Bernardus Abt 12 - St. Bernard Brouwerij (Bel)- Abt/Quadrupel - 4.5
4. Rochefort Trappistes 10 - Brasserie Rochefort (Bel)- Abt/Quadrupel - 4.4
5. Victory Storm King Imperial Stout - Victory Brewing Company (USA)- Imperial Stout - 4.4
6. Schneider Aventinus - Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn (Ger)- Weizen Bock - 4.4
7. Duvel - Brouwerij Moortgat - Belgian Strong Ale (Bel)- 4.4
8. Rochefort Trappistes 8 - Brasserie Rochefort (Bel)- Belgian Strong Ale - 4.3
9. Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux - Dupont Brasserie (Bel)- Saison - 4.3
10. Ommegang Abbey Ale - Brewery Ommegang (USA) - Abbey Dubbel - 4.1
11. Spaten Optimator - Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu (Ger) - Doppelbock - 4.1
12. Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Märzen - Paulaner Brauerei (Ger) - Oktoberfest/Märzen - 4.1
13. Paulaner Hefeweissbier - Paulaner Brauerei (Ger) - Hefeweizen - 4.1
14. Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier - Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan (Ger) - Hefeweizen - 4.1
15. La Trappe Quadrupel - De Koningshoeven - Abt/Quadrupel (Hol) - 4.1
16. La Moneuse - Brasserie de Blaugies (Bel) - Saison - 4.1
17. Ommegang Three Philosophers - Brewery Ommegang (USA) - Abt/Quadrupel - 4.0
18. Rogue Dead Guy Ale - Rogue Ales (USA) - Heller Bock - 4.0
19. Lindemans Framboise - Brouwerij Lindemans (Bel) - Lambic; Fruit - 4.0
20. Paulaner Salvator - Paulaner Brauerei (Ger) - Doppelbock - 4.0
21. Saison dEpeautre - Brasserie de Blaugies (Bel) - Saison - 4.0
22. Delirium Tremens - Brouwerij Huyghe (Bel) - Belgian Strong Ale - 4.0
23. Spaten Oktoberfest Ur-Märzen - Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu (Ger) - Oktoberfest/Märzen 4.0

There is one glaring omission from the list. Chimay Gran Reserve. I have a bottle I will be opening in about 1 hour to start 2009.

Happy New Years!

FGR

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 12/26/08

2008-12-27T10:40:00.004-05:00

Howdy Ho!

Well now, this is a little more current. Taken on Christmas Day.

Now I'm sick and haven't ridden since that picture. I think my 2 hr day out on Wednesday doing cruise intervals may have put the nail in the coffin on a throat thing that I've been trying to stave off all week.

I have made it thru the holidays without too much damage. I may have gained only a pound or two. So far my size 34 jeans still fit comfortably.

This week was supposed to be the last week of Base 3 for me. 12 hrs total. Well that ain't happening. I'll be lucky to get in 7 hrs of that. Next week was supposed to be my rest and reco week, but it's looking like this is my rest and reco week. I'll have to move my 30 min TT test from Saturday to Wednesday so I will be as fresh as I can be for it. If I'm still feeling under the weather by Monday it'll be another rest and reco week for me with 6 hrs on the rollers.

I hate winter.

Bonus photo:

Believe it or not, I actually do workout. Here I am doing my best Eddy face. And I'm really sweating too. All you 45+ Cat 4/5 pukes better watch out next season. LOL!

Cheers,

FGR

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 12/19/08

2008-12-27T10:37:00.001-05:00

Howdy Ho!

Well better late than never...

Cheers,

FGR

I Hope I Die Before I Get Old

2008-12-17T14:37:00.002-05:00

Reading glasses!

At 45.

Kill me now.

Please.

But do bury me with the cool Latitude/ABRT winter hat my wife knitted for me. She is the greatest.

I'll miss her the most.

Cheers,

FGR

First Test of Fitness for 2009 Season

2008-12-14T11:22:00.005-05:00

Here it is. My first E-wang chart of the 2009 season. I did this ride yesterday. These tests will pop up every three weeks on my training schedule. This one was a Sub-Threshold 3 mile TT. Not much, I know, but interesting to me none the less. For periodic 3 mile TT testing I use the flattest stretch of road I know in AA County, near my home in Crownsville. It's a stretch of Paxtuent and Conway Roads between Piney Orchard and Crofton. I was surprised to see in my results, viewed using WKO, my avg. speed and avg. watts were as high as what was recorded. The whole test only rated about a 6 to 7 on the perceived exertion scale. I guess that's why they have you do these things on rest and reco weeks. I was pretty fresh to say the least. I've also got a solid 6 weeks of base in right now too. There in I think lies the key. My HR max is 194 and my last tested value for FTP is 265, but that was back in April. I suspect it's higher now. My avg HR for the interval was 4 beats lower than my lowest zone 5a number. The interval called for it to run at 10 beats below, but believe me when I tell you i was not as miserable as if I were doing a 30 min all out test. That's the next test, 3 weeks from now. So in this test I'm only cranking out 85% of max HR. I'm thinking that when I do that next all out test I will find my FTP being closer to 300 watts.

My weight is down another pound to about 205. It's slow going, but it's going.

(Edit 12/15/08) Correction. Weight down to 203 as of this mornings weigh in.

Cheers,

FGR

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 12/12/08

2008-12-13T11:39:00.005-05:00

Howdy Ho!

Well here it is 6 weeks into my 2009 training season and I've only managed about 10 lbs off. I feel like maybe I'm 4 lbs behind. I know what the problem is. Too much idle time. I do hate this time of year. The shorter days mean more time lounging on the couch in front of the big screen, which means unnecessary snacking. I wish I could fall asleep really early like my wife does. She's out like a light by 9pm on most days. If I could do that I'd cut out 500 more calories every day.

It's hard to tell if I'm looking fitter than I did 6 weeks ago. I think it shows mostly in my face. My gut is still there. I cant complain too much, my feelings on the road are improving with each ride. I'm getting plenty of rest and I'm not stressed. Each new day I feel like a tightly wound spring. Especially so on this rest and reco week. It's very hard to hold back. But I've got very good discipline and am managing very well so far. Now if only I could get that kinda handle on my extra curricular eating.

I've also managed to keep a hold on my gains with the free weights. This in spite of not lifting a anything more than a beer glass for the last 2 weeks.

In case anyone is really wondering what my routine is here is Wednesdays workout:

Leg Ext: 33x12 50x12
Leg Curl: 33x12 50x12
Squat: 135x12 155x12
Calf Raise: 155x12 155x12
Dead Lift: 135x12 155x12
Bench Press: 95x12 115x12
Bent Row: 70x12 70x12
Seated Mill Press: 70x12 65x6
Triceps Ext: 50x12 50x12
Bicep Curl: 55x12 55x12

Back in 2000, my last real full season where I did anything worth talking about, my squat and dead lift numbers were in the 300+ lbs range. I could probably one rep close to that, but it's too soon to be in the hospital with a wrecked back. I should be up there come April/May.

Cheers,

FGR

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 12/05/08

2008-12-05T16:29:00.007-05:00

This weeks photo is totally bogus (but was taken today). So is the fact that I have not ridden my Ducati for 2 months. Believe it or not, my training is getting in the way of a good moto ride.

I've been riding outside all week, so the rollers and my motorcycle have not been getting any love. Nor has my weights. For some reason I just don't feel like lifting. So 12 hrs cycling will have to do. Next week is rest and reco, So I'll do some lifting and motorcycle riding then.

As of this morning I'm down to 206.

For what it's worth, i didn't last 4 days until I had to have a beer. Those Spaten Oktoberfest were screaming out to be drank. So I did. And I bought more yesterday. I went to my local to get a 12 of Yuengling (my favorite budget brew) and saw they still have Oktoberfest. So I grabbed a six of that too. Unfortunately in my zeal I didn't realize I picked up Yuengling Light Lager. It's not bad for light beer, but I'll never make that mistake again.

Gimme a shout James! I ready for some drinking. We could do Max's Taproom during the afternoon next week!

Cheers,

FGR

MABRAcross Champs - Some Photos...And Big Ups to Pete Jensen

2008-12-02T09:51:00.005-05:00

Here a link to some very poor photos. The Casio works great when it's sunny out, but not so much when it's overcast. Even in 'sport' mode, the shutter was only doing 1/60 sec.

I'd like to give a shout out to my teammate and great guy Peter Jensen. Pete snagged a silver in the Masters B on Sunday. Pete's the kinda guy who wont blow his own horn, so I'm going to do it for him. He deserved it. I've watched him race by race improve his finishing spots. If he races at Reston next week he should win it if trends are reliable. Congrats Pete!

Also present in the Masters B was teammate Chris Adair. I finally got a decent picture of him. He's a big guy like me. It's great to see him out there suffering like a dog and enjoying himself. My hat's off to you too Chris. Next year I hope to line up at some of these CX races with you guys.

This is my last event working as an official until 2009. It's been a long rookie season for me and I had a great time doing it. The best part is of course all the people I got to meet and seeing some old familiar faces from my first competitive phase back in the 90's. Now it's time to train and get the moto ready for next season.

In early 2009 I'll hope to be taking and passing the B level officials and B level moto exams. As a B I'll have the minimal qualifications to break into working national level events. Even if it's just as a volunteer.

I plan to race allot more than I did this year too. And to do it better than ever before.

Cheers,

FGR

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 11/28/08

2008-12-01T12:05:00.004-05:00

Well, better late than never. It was a busy week and I never got much free time since my wife had the whole week off from the ice cream factory(Dreyers, where they and she specifically make Haagen Daas). It was a great week. I had off too so we spent a lot of quality time together in spite of me reffing at 3 cross races and doing 12 hours of training during those 10 days.

The payoff?

I'm down 2 more pounds to 207. Woo Hoo! That's 8 pounds from 11/1 to 12/1. I feel great and my clothes make me look like I'm malnourished. I'm shooting for an even 10 from 12/1 to 1/1/08. That will keep me on schedule for 170-175 before my A race, Walkersville Mas 35+ 4/5. While I don't expect to duplicate my old high school buddy, Marc Lefkowitz's win in this years event, where I got dropped on the hill by the barn, I will not be dropped in 2009.

To do this I am swearing off beer and ice cream for a while. I told Dana to not bother ordering ice cream for a while. It'll be tough giving up those pints of Dulce Le Leche, Vanilla Bean and the Dark Chocolate/Chocolate bars on a stick, but a mans got to do what a mans got to do. It'll be Skinny Cow ice cream bars (80 calories per) indefinitely.

Cheers,

FGR

A Non Traditional Thanksgiving at Casa De Fatguy.

2008-11-27T22:36:00.006-05:00

Turkey? We don't need no stinkin' turkeys!

Broiled crab cakes, steamed shrimp, homemade skin on fries and a Saison Dupont!

(Hey Dad, looks good eh?)

Oh and I rode my bike today. What a disaster that was.

Lemme recap it for ya:

I woke up later than I wanted, no time to eat or have coffee.
I got my stuff together for the 10am ride.
I left the house 1/2 before ride.
I turned around 2 miles from home to get water bottles and cell phone I forgot.
I left the house again.
I turned around again 2 miles from home to get seat bag and frame pump I forgot.
I ate a Cliff Bar en route and rolled into parking lot 5 min late. But no one left yet. Phew!
We all rolled out. Pace OK for first 1/2 hour.
I got dropped on first big hill. I not sure if they dropped me or if I wanted to get dropped. It's November and I have no desire to be hitting 92% max HR all morning doing the Hills of Crownsville.
I catch up to one other guy who dropped himself for same reasons.
I ride for next 1/2 hr at a nicer pace and chat awhile with my riding buddy.
My chain starts skipping, and doing that autoshift thing, but I ride on.
My chain is skipping on every pedal stoke now and we still have 10 to go to Park & Ride, but I'm 3 miles from my house.
I apologize to my bud and turn off and head home to either get another bike or quit and get my wife to take me to the Park & Ride to pick up Jeep.
I get home. 23 miles done and 1 1/4 hrs in the saddle. 1/2 hr more than was called for on today's workout schedule.
I ask wife to take me to get Jeep.
She says OK and I go get Jeep.

Still, It was a beautiful day for a ride. I lost 2 more pounds this week and I have beer!

Is that a pretty sight or what?

Cheers,

FGR

(photos: My crappy cell phone camera)

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 11/21/08

2008-11-20T20:38:00.004-05:00

Since the first picture in this series, four Fridays ago, I have dropped five pounds. I don't look much smaller, but I do feel better when I'm riding the bike. Like yesterday for instance. I'm enjoying some time off so I went and geared up for a cold forty degree three hour LSD ride on my TT bike. Aside from having fun going fast with little effort, riding a TT bike is a good choice on a windy day. Very handy bike to be riding when riding directly into a 20 mph head wind. I also rode with my Rudy Project TT helmet too. Again, a great choice on a cold windy day. No vents, half face shield, and ear flaps. As cold and windy as it was, I was very comfortable the whole time.

Base training is going very well. My mileages are not gonna set records, but my training time is significantly higher for a November than any time in my life that I can remember. So long as I can keep it going, I feel I will be going great for next season.

I haven't done any lifting as of today, so I leave it this post with a picture of my curious dog, Sophie. She almost stuck her nose in those front wheel spokes! You'll notice a different front wheel on the bike. What you cant see is there is a different rear wheel too. In the time between both photos I got 2 flats. I can't catch a break I tells ya! Hahaha!

At least my trusty beer fridge didn't let me down. As soon as the hour was up, I reached in to find a that I still had a couple of Spaten Oktoberfest left. Now I only have one left.

Cheers,

FGR

(Photos: Me and a tripod mounted Nikon D70. Taken on Wednesday night.)

211

2008-11-17T07:19:00.007-05:00

That's what my trusty doctors office quality analog Health-o-Meter scale read this morning. I'll forget what Kyle's fancy digital scale was reading in the D'ville parking lot after we got done riding for 2 hours on Sunday afternoon.

I was expecting the worst as I dreadfully pulled the scale out into the middle of the bathroom floor. I really expected to see the weight go up, not down. It was a pleasant surprise to see 2 more pounds off from the week before. What ever I'm doing, I need to stick to it. I've lost 4 lbs in about 2 weeks since I started my 2009 season training on Nov 3.

What I've been doing is lots of zone 1, 2 and 3 riding and lifting weights. One the rollers during the week and outside on the weekend. On the dieting side I've been keeping track of food using the meal log feature in Training Peaks. I've been down the dieting path more than once, so using it is nothing new. Staying with it is the hard part. It does get tedious after awhile. In the past, whenever I have used a meal log to track food is when I've lose the most weight consistently. There is something to be said for accountability. It does keep a person honest. To a degree, of course. I can always omit something, but what good is lying to myself? The problem is sticking with the log. I should have done it all year. Maybe the fourth time will be the charm.

Week 3 is a rest week, so I have to eat light. I use the Virtual Coach feature of training peaks also and since I'm over 40, 45 1/2 to be exact, the training cycle reverts to 2 weeks on 1 week rest. I thought this was odd, so when I made my 2008 schedule I lied about my age so it would do the traditional 3 on, 1 off schedule. Looking back over the season and how effective my training was, I have to say I shouldn't have lied about my age. 2 on, 1 off may give the extra recovery time I need to keep from burning out.

On an unrelated note, Ratebeer.com has gone tits up. Seems they got hacked pretty viciously (from what I've gathered) and they will be down for quite a while. I was 8 beer reviews short of reaching the 100 beer club (not to shabby for being a member for less than 1 year and not turning into a real fat bastid) when they went offline. So I've got to keep track of them somewhere. Well why not here? Here's what I've sampled this week.

Rouge Dead Guy Ale - Awesome deep translucent amber color that was almost pearlesent. Big fluffy, merange like butterscotch head that unfortunately disappeared quickly. Aroma of sweet hops. Crisp and dry on the palate with a nice bitter hop aftertaste that didn't linger longer than necessary. Malt undertones are welcome presence. No trace of grassyness like you get with an over hopped ale or IPA. This is one very well balanced ale. One of the best i've had in a long time. A pleasant surprise for me, as I have avoided buying it for the longest time. I've often dismissed Rogue brews just because the bottles and beer names seemed too gimmicky. I glad I was wrong

Rouge Dry Hopped St. Rouge Red - Its a wonderful red ale. One thing I've noticed about Rogues brews is how great they look in a glass. And this one is no exception. It pours a pretty reddish copper color with a reddish creamy head. The carbonation is pretty high and the bubbles were beautiful as the climbed up the side of the glass. The aroma has a subdued hoppyness and the that carries over to the palate. Unfortunately the taste is average. It's not a bad brew by any stretch but the taste doesn't match up to the appearance. If Rogue could combine the appearance of St Rouge with the knockout taste of Dead Guy, I would be a fan for life.

Cheers,

FGR

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 11/14/09

2008-11-13T23:24:00.007-05:00

Well another week goes by and maybe I've lost another pound or so. I feel better, so that's got to count for something. Last week I managed to put in 8 of the scheduled 9 hours of training. I only missed out on a 1 hour ride on Sunday. It was my wife Dana's birthday so we spent all of Sunday together. This coming Sunday is my Dad's birthday. He's in Texas staying with my sister Nancy, husband Kurt and the grand kids, Hank and Bill (Henry and William). I like to call them Hank and Bill 'cause it annoys the heck outta my sister and probably my brother in law too. Kinda funny the sophomoric crap you engage in with your sibling even when your both in your 40's.

Anyway, this ones for you guys. Happy Birthday Dad!

Extra lift pic. This week, the Bench Press.

Cheers,

FGR

A Night Out With The Homies

2008-11-10T16:49:00.003-05:00

Friday night as I was riding home in the car with my wife, Dana, I get a call from one Lance Lacy at around 4:30pm. He tells me some of us who live with 10 miles of each other were gonna be getting together with spouses and girlfriends for dinner at the Sakura Japanese Steakhouse on Housley Road (near Westfields Mall) in West Annapolis and follow it up with some drinking and fun at Stevie D's house in Millersville. My wife had a long day and didn't want to go, but I was up for it, so long as I got a ride in before. Dana gave me a pass and told me to have lot fun. So after doing a 45 min stint on the rollers, I got dressed, put on the sharp, new Team Latitude polo and headed on over to the restaurant. I got there and everyone except Sue Estes had already arrived. Ali, aka The Wheelsucker, was there sans date too. That's good, so now I wont feel like a total loser being by myself.

L to R: Amanda Wu, Amy Jones, Lance Lacy (partially hidden), Kyle Jones, Sherry Collison (Lance's girlfriend), Ty Wu (mostly hidden) and Ali Meller. Not shown, is me who took the picture.

They seated us pretty quick and took drink orders. I was kind of disappointed at the beer choices so I ordered the old standby, Sam Adams. Mind you they had every Japanese beer and Sake, but I'm not a fan of either.

They seated us a a really large grill horseshoe style. I took and end seat directly facing the Teppanyaki chef so as to get the best opportunity to get my eyebrows singed off. He did warn me...

Amamda, Ty, Sherry and Lance

Kyle, Amy and Ali

Me, and Amanda. Only Sue is missing.

That's Sue on the right.

I ordered the Filet Mignon and Chicken combo with Teppanyaki Shrimp and fried rice appetizers. The chef did all the usual stuff, the egg on the spatula trick and the onion volcano. It was pretty cool to see a Teppanyaki chef work the grill in person versus watching it on The Food Network. The food was excellent. I left nothing on my plate.

After we were done, we all packed into our vehicles and headed to the beer store and then Steve's place. While at the Waterbury there was much discussion about the proper 40 to pick up. I was looking for a 40 of Bass, but ended up with a 24 oz Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Kyle Jones on the other hand went right for the good stuff. We all thought he was getting these for Amy, but he said they were for him. You draw your own conclusions...LOL.

When we all got to Steve's he was out on his back deck blowing off fire crackers and bottle rockets at his neighbors. Seems the party was already going. After tiring of lighting off noisemakers a hasty retreat was made back into Steve's kitchen for some shots of Bourbon. Doetch went all out and picked up a bottle each of Makers Mark and 1792 Ridgemont Reserve. First up was the Ridgemont. I took my shot and slugged it down expecting the burn and gag, but not this time. It was like drinking a shot of ice tea. 1792 is probably the smoothest Bourbon I've ever had. I'm normally a vodka guy, but I will buy this. The Makers Mark was next and it was quite good also, but not nearly as smooth as the Ridgemont. Just to be sure we had another shot of Ridgemont. Did I mention this stuff is really smooth? After this I was ready for a beer so Steve handed me Grolsch to go along with the Sierra Neveda. Needless to say I drank them both and I think there was more Ridgemont too. After awhile things were getting really warm and fuzzy. I also think there was some guitar playing going on too, but I don't think I could call what I was doing guitar playing. It's been 13+ years since I played out with a band, and when I stopped gigging, I pretty much stopped playing for myself too. I've picked it up for longish stints on occasion over the years, but I'm very rusty to say the least and being drunk doesn't help.

All in all we had a great time and around 11 pm we all took off. I live 5 mins away from Steve, so my ride home, while not kosher, was not a big deal.

So now I've learned a few things about my teammates. Outside of racing, they're all great people and lots of fun to hang with. I need to start practicing my guitar on a more regular basis. And lastly I still get hangovers. I didn't do my 3 1/2 hour training ride until 1pm. By then I was able and the weather had cleared up. I did a pretty decent solo ride from the Park & Ride to North Beach and back. Using my TT bike I stayed mostly in zone 1-3 and came in with a nice 18 1/2 mph avg with 2500 feet of elev. gain for 60 miles. Maybe I should drink more often.

One last thing before I forget. There is no such thing as a free lunch when your married. Dana had off work on Sunday and her birthday is tonight. Happy 39 hon!

Even so I spent the whole day with her on Sunday and we went to Stitches 2008. A yarn and knitting expo at the Baltimore Convention Center. I think we actually spent more time at the light rail stops waiting for the damn train then we did at the expo. Still any day I get to spend with my wife is a good day.

Cheers,

FGR

(photos: Me-Casio Exilim Z600)

Also posted on the unoffical ABRT Blog.

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 11-07-2008

2008-11-07T06:46:00.008-05:00

Another week has gone by and I've managed to do seven hours of training since last weeks picture was taken. Seven hours in one week in November is pretty good considering my track record with off season training. Although I don't look any better, I do feel better and with 2 lifting sessions done for the week I am not nearly as sore as last week.

How about that shot? I took it doing a warm up set of squats. No one ever looks pretty doing squats do they?

My weight on 11/1/08 was 215. Great. This is gonna be much harder than I figured. One of the things I may be doing is skipping club rides until 2009. I've been doing a little reading about base training and I have come to the conclusion that for myself they might be counter productive right now. In the mean time I will more than likely ride with one of the slower groups that meet at Davidsonville or ride by myself. I will definitely be giving Big Jim a call for some winter LSD once he's done racing cross.

Cheers,

FGR

Umbrella Girl of the Week

2008-11-05T09:46:00.011-05:00

It's all over. Formula One crowns its first black champion, Lewis Hamilton. Hammy won it on the last corner of the last race on Sunday in Brazil. Despite the best efforts behind the scenes all season to hand the title to a Ferrari driver, Hammy pulled it off and I hope he walked right up to Max "I like Nazi Hookers" Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone and gave them both big "Fuck Yous!". Well, I'm sure he didn't 'cause he has class. But I don't, so I would have. Congratulations Lewis Hamilton!

In other news - Barrack Obama became our first black President elect.

Almost forgot...This will be the last one. Kyle Jones is back posting bike babes.

Cheers,

FGR

(Photo Hamilton: Crash.net, Photo Umbrella girl: unknown.)

Do people really drink this stuff?

2008-11-04T15:40:00.007-05:00

I thought perhaps being a prodigious coffee drinker, I may have sampled pretty much every thing there is to offer coffee wise. I was wrong. Whist being dragged by my wife, Dana, to Big Lots I found a whole end cap of these. 2 bucks for 4. So I grabbed one. I got this at the Lexington Park location, but she dragged me to Glen Burnie too and they had even more of the stuff and also two more coffee flavors. Mocha and Vanilla. They are probably cold now, so maybe they'll be my drink of choice while I workout tonight seeing as they are in the beer fridge next to the rollers.

I'm thinking it must really suck bad. Seeing the organic blessing stamp on it means that Whole Foods couldnt pass this dreck off and Big Lots ended up with a truckload to sell to unsuspecting morons like myself.

Cheers,

FGR

(Photo: Me-LG Rumor cell phone camera)

Rockburn CX 2008 Masters B Race Pics

2008-11-02T22:35:00.004-05:00

Howdy Ho,

First off, many thanks to LSV and Matt B. for hosting a great event. It went off like clockwork and I think all us on the officiating crew had a good time.

Here are some pics from the 10am Masters B race and a other random shots from the pits. I only had the chance to take a few. Today I was working many places besides the pit. To be a good official, I have to learn all the jobs. My apologies for the quality of the pictures. I was shooting these with a pocket Casio Exilim Z600 and not my camera of choice, my Nikon D70.

Here is the link to the pictures

It's pretty heavy on my ARBT peeps, Pete, Mike, Ali (his first race) and Chris. Also quite a few of other riders I know, Jim, Jon, Shaun, etc.

Cheers,

FGR.

Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week - 10-31-2008

2008-10-31T09:57:00.003-04:00

"Has it been an hour yet?"

I'm going to intro a new feature on my blog today. The Fatguy Roller Pic of the Week. The idea here is to post up a new pic of me riding my rollers to chronicle my weigh loss over the next 16-20 weeks. My first planned peak is Walkersville at the beginning of April. A race I didn't do so well at last year. In 2009, I'd like to be able to finish in the front group of the Mas 35+ 4/5 race instead of riding tempo off the back like I did this year. Prior to this years race I had only been training for 7 weeks and weighed 216 pounds.

In this photo taken last night (10/30/08)I am hovering around 210 lbs. The lightest I got to this year was 198 lbs. My goal for 2009 is 175. I don't think my frame will carry much less than that without looking awful. If I only make it to 185 in the next 20 weeks I'll be happy, but 175 is the goal. Looking at the picture you can see that I am carrying too much upper body mass. Mainly in the gut, the shoulders and upper arms. I'll be working hard this winter to get rid of that.

Once the 20 weeks are up and I didn't fail in my task, I'll throw up a montage animation that shows how I shrank.

Note: I am still sore as hell from lifting weights for the first time this season on Tuesday. I skipped them last night, but still rode the rollers for an hour with some tempo efforts mixed in. After the Saturday group ride I hope to feel well enough to get a session in.

Tonight I'm going to a Halloween party with Dana at her girlfriends house. She's designated driver and I'll be throwing back some Paulaner Salavator. I know some kind of pumpkin ale is the proper Halloween brew, but I'm not a big fan. One another note, I hope everyone else on the team gets hammered tonight too so tomorrow's 3 hr group ride will be sedate.

Cheers,

FGR

(Photo: Me-Nikon D70 w/wireless remote)

Down in the Dungeon

2008-10-29T12:21:00.015-04:00

One of the things every man needs is a place in the house where he can get away from everyone and everything. Since my house doesn't have a garage yet, that place is in the bowels of the basement where my wife, Dana, and I keep all our years of accumulated flotsam and jetsam. I keep telling her that one day soon I'm gonna get a rollback plopped down on the driveway and we are going to really clean house! The beauty of this setup is that I have everything I need for an extended stay if need be. I also have everything I need to do my winter training too. I have no excuses for why I cant get it done. Here are a couple of pics of where it will all happen. So when I'm kicking ass next season, remember it all began here. If I'm not kicking ass next season, then remember it didn't happen here but it should have.

Here is the view from the general direction of my rollers. I have a a couple old TV's (the 25 incher is hooked to basic cable), some old stereo gear, some newish stereo gear, a VCR and a DVD player. Everything I need to keep me occupied while I grind away on the rollers and *sigh* the trackstand too. I am a pack rat when It comes to bike stuff. I could get rid of half of what you see and I would still have too much.

This is the view looking back toward where I set up my rollers. On the left is the beer fridge and on the right is my free weight workout setup and about 350 lbs of Olympic plates, bars and lots of solid dumbbells. I have a routine that I've been using forever and like it very much. There is nothing exotic about my routines and in a later post, I'll share. The beer fridge doubles as my bulletin board where I put up workouts to follow for the rollers or trainer. The rollers are a set of Performance Travel Trac Technique's. They work quite well and if I put it in a huge gear and spin at 110+ rpm I get enough resistance to do VO2 max intervals. But since it's early, I'll be skipping those for a few months.

Since Tuesday night was cold and windy, I wimped out and worked out down in my little indoor cycling paradise. I started with 35 min on the rollers, then changed shoes and did weights for about 75 min and finished with 15 min cooldown on the rollers. The workout was long enough for me to watch a short movie that I've got from Netflix and had laying around forever, Good Night and Good Luck. The movie was meh at best, but the workout was great. I'm still very sore since it was my first attack of the weights this season. Tonight I'll just doing it all over again. The last Thursday ABRT ride is tonight, but i'm skipping it. Thinking about how to work recoveries in I may change my weight lifting nights to Monday and Thursday. My hard on the bike days will be Tues/Thur. Wednesday will be an endurance type night and Friday will be recovery spins on the rollers. That leaves Saturday for the group ride and Sunday for a 1 1/2 to 2 hour long LSD rides to enjoy the outdoors or an hour on the rollers at night if I have to work a race. I guess we will see how all that works out. My only goal right now is knocking off 25-30 lbs by Feb 1. Totally doable.

Here's one more picture. My squat rack is a real multi-tasking piece of equipment. When not working out it's a perfect hanging rack for all my wet kit. Speaking of, does anyone really need that much kit?

I told you I was a pack rat for cycling gear.

Cheers,

FGR

(Photos: Me and my Nikon D70)

Umbrella Girl of the Week - Special Nicky Hayden - Ducati Edition

2008-10-29T09:04:00.006-04:00

Sunday was the last MotoGP race of the year. It was also the last race for the 2006 World Champion, homeboy Nicky Hayden, on a Honda. After 3 years of being kicked around like a three legged mangy dog at HRC/Repsol by Puppetmaster Puig and little boy made of wood, Dani Pedrosa, he will be pairing with 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner at Marboro-Ducati. The factory Ducati team will have 2 of the last 3 World Champions taking it to the rest of field next season on the baddest of all MotoGP machines, the Desmosedici. Go Ducati! Go Nicky!

Are you paying attention HRC? This is how you treat a World Champion.

It shouold be noted that on Monday, his first day on the Duc at the first of 2 test days at Valencia, he equalled the fasted lap of outgoing sad sac Marco Melandri. Nicky was also fastest of all the riders who switched to new teams. On day 2, yesterday, he posted the fastest times of all in the wet. Not bad for never having riden a Ducati GP bike or Bridgestones. I think next year is gonna be great!

Cheers,

FGR

(Photos: Crash.net)

One Week To Go To "Go Time"

2008-10-28T12:27:00.007-04:00

Well damn time flies when your having fun doing nothing. As I get closer to my 'official' date for starting my 2009 season training, I find myself getting a little nervous about it all. Will I stick with it or will I be 30 pounds overweight on March 1st? My biggest weakness is staying motivated in the bad weather months. It's always been my biggest weakness and I hate myself for it. Every year it's the same thing. Get fat in winter and waste fair weather months getting in shape just in time for the season to be over. I've got to break this repeating cycle of bullshit behavior. The reason I started doing a blog this year was to keep my head in the game by being accountable to something a little more concrete than a pipe dream of upgrading to Cat 3 (I've been a Cat 4 since 1998) in my head.

It didn't work out so well this season but it's been a better year than the last three previous ones that I wasted trying to put it together. I really love riding and racing a bicycle. I am a very competitive person, ask anyone who knows me real well. The thing is, I am not a winter person. And like many of you I hate the stationary trainer more than anything else. Because of these two mental road blocks I just am not motivated to suffer and sacrifice to get to thru winter training.

The worst part about it is that I know that I have the physical tools to be more than a pass/fail racer. I firmly believe that anyone has the potential to make it to Cat 3. What separates those who are from those who aren't is desire, training, level of commitment and a willingness to make the sacrifices to achieve a goal. So using my own self as a example of shit or get off the pot, I am proclaiming that this is the year that I will break the cycle once and for all and embrace as best I can, Winter Training.

I have all my tools together. My plan for next season is laid out. My bikes are in fairly good working order. My rollers are out and ready to go. My bench, squat rack, and plates are set up and ready to go. I should have my new Polar replacement Wearlink strap this week. I'm ready to go!

It all starts Nov 3.

Wish me luck

Cheers,

FGR

Cyclocross - Who opened the asylum doors?

2008-10-27T11:25:00.021-04:00

There is a fine line in cycling between being hard and being crazy. Cyclocross blurs that line more than all the other disciplines combined.

I believe he finished the race after riding with no seat for 3 laps.

The more of these I attend, the more I wish I was doing it. I haven't done a cross race since Trek sponsored a weekly series 10+ years ago at Patapsco State park. I remember it being harder than anything else I had done on a bicycle and decided to stick to the road. I may change my mind in 2009.

The fashion statements at yesterday's event (and previous ones too) gave me an idea as to what I would wear next season were I to compete. My motoref zebra stripes and black brain bucket. Of course I would have to find a cheap cyclocross frameset and paint it Corsa Red and label it Ducati. I figure it to be good for a laugh and divert the attention from how much I will suck at cyclocross. One the other hand, It may look perfectly normal to see me in zebra stripes bringing up the rear, just like I do at the crits on my motorcycle.

Shout outs to my Latitude/ABRT teamates, Mike, Pete, Kyle, Chris, Andreas, and Tom. Great job fellas. I hope you could hear me cheering for you.

And to the dood who placed 3rd in the C race. Please get sick behind a bush next time. Big Jim can show you where is proper. The drive by puking you laid at my feet while I was working the pits was just gross.

Oh and one more thing to all; If you gonna hang around in or near the pits drinking beer while I'm working, you better got-damn bring one for me too! I sure would appreciate it.

A BIG BIG shout out to the organizers who didnt fold up the beer tent after the 123 race was over. Speaking for all the officals there, thanks for saving us a brew or two. They were good. Stoudts Pils is one I havnt seen before, but it's hoppy goodness was certainly appreicated on a crisp fall afternoon.

Cheers,

FGR.
(photo – My LG Razor cell phone)

Umbrella Girl of the Week

2008-10-22T15:50:00.007-04:00

Last Sunday was Sepang. Malaysia is not as loose as say Indianapolis, so umbrella girl fashions are a bit more conservative. Still, she is a cutie!

Rossi wins again, and my beloved Ducati team only placed as high as 6th with Stoner. I'd say Mrs. Stoner kinda sums up Ducati's performance.

Cheers,

FGR.

(Photos: Crash.net)

Training Route Test Embed

2008-10-15T15:14:00.008-04:00

This map is my route from last nights training ride. This is also a test of the embedding feature of mapmyride.com

Columbia One Hour Route #1
Find more Bike Rides in Columbia, Maryland

Click on VIEW FULL

Then once that window is loaded click on VIEW THIS ROUTE IN 3-D MAP to load it into Google Earth

It seems to work. Yeah!

Cheers,

FGR

Umbrella Girl of the Week (Formerly Hump Day, but renamed since Kyle already has that)

2008-10-15T09:24:00.006-04:00

There was no racing last weekend, so no current grid girls. I found this doing a google search. I'm not a Hentai (Japanese anime porn) fan, but this is pretty dam awesome. I found this on a Honda forum (they didnt have a Honda one, go figure). But hey, Ducati's rule so yeah baby, here you go!

Cheers,

FGR

Ready to begin anew

2008-10-14T11:41:00.010-04:00

It's with no small amount of joy that I've managed to drop about 3 lbs in the last week or so. Riding 5 days out of last 8 will do that I suppose. Now I just hope I can keep the momentum going. My biggest hurdle I feel is going to be fighting the desire to say to heck with it and watch TV. For the next few months I will be doing most of my riding from my office door in west Columbia to take advantage of every minute of daylight available. I have several loops I can do in the area and Ellicott City's hills are a 20 minute ride away.

Sunday was the big end of season ABRT blowout. The day started with a ride from Doetsch's house (that's me, the big dude in the middle), which is about 5 miles from mine. I threw some clothes in a backpack and headed on over for the ride. I made sure to pack my 1 liter beer stein to enjoy the Spaten Oktoberfest that was reported to be on tap. The pace for the ride was predetermined to be slow. Slow being a relative term when talking about a ride with a bunch of hammers. True to their word, it was a good ride and stayed calm. I only had big trouble on St. George Barber and Huntwood Road. Serves me right for leaving the house on a empty stomach. It's serves me even more right for slacking off in August and September and gaining 10 lbs instead of losing 10 lbs. I downed both water bottles and my gel flask, but it wasn't enough to prevent the legs cramps that would keep me from getting dropped on the hills in the last 10 miles of the 35 mile ride. Since it was a no-drop ride, they waited and I got back on. I was OK on the flats, but I had nothing in the tank to get up the short steep rises that are all over central Anne Arundel County. After about 2 hours the ride ended where it started. My only concern was getting to that keg! One thing I know for sure is that beer is a cure for leg cramps. I found this out a couple years ago after a hard and fast Seagull Century ride. The Beer Garden saved my life that day. I never had a single cramp that day or the next. So once we got it tapped it was bottoms up!

Is that a mug or what? I only had one. Honest.

My lovely bride, Dana, came by later after she got off of work from the evil ice cream factory. We both chowed down on the excellent BBQ that was catered by Red, Hot & Blue. I love their food. We've eaten often at the Cape St. Claire location, off Rt-50 before the Bay Bridge. She was tired so we didn't stay long after eating. In fact we kinda scooted out of their with a few goodbyes. On the way home she expressed a craving for a Krispy Kreme donut. I told her to go for it and we went to Glen Burnie and picked up a dozen. She got 9 chocolate creme filled and I got 3 pumpkin spice. I love those. I only ate one and took the other two to work the next day. Once we got home she was sound asleep on the couch by 8 pm.

Today will be the first time I've ridden in the Columbia area in about 4 months. I think the last time was a 3/4 century ride I did with some friends back in early June.

My real program for 2009 begins on November 1st. Right now I'm riding in that period known as a transition. The transition is giving me the chance to get all my gear, goals and routines in order.

Next week I will need to test for FTP. I haven't done a test ride in months. I'm thinking of heading to the Eastern Shore and doing it on the Church Creek TT course. It's not that far from home and it's about as controlled an environment as you can get outdoors. It'll be good to get some hard fast numbers.

Cheers,

FGR

Hump Day! Indy Rewind

2008-10-08T07:41:00.008-04:00

Even though Indy was almost a month ago, it's too good not to share.

I'm sure gonna be sad that the motorcycle racing season is winding down. I may have to follow Australian V8 Supercars to get a podium/umbrella girls fix.

Speaking of OZ, here's one from last weekends event at Phillip Island.

Nice angle Mr. Camera Dood.

Shout out to my favorite scooter jock, Troy Bayliss and the Ducati Xerox team for a 3rd World Superbike Championship. 3rd one on 3rd different Ducati SBK (996, 999, 1098) for Troy. It will be sad to not see him on the grid next season.

Cheers,

FGR

(photos from Crash.net)

Where the hell did my summer go?

2008-10-06T08:40:00.023-04:00

Howdy Ho!

It's been ages since I've actually wrote anything worth reading. I think that may be due to the fact that I've done nothing worthy of writing about. My fitness took a work/life stress related nosedive at the end of July and by the time I started coming around again, it was too late. Funny how stress can sap the life right out of you. One day I'm flying, the next I'm dragging ass and I cant do a thing about it. For me it felt like being overtrained. Except at the point in time when it hit me, I was not even close to being over trained. In fact I was approaching my planned peak. Since that didn't go well, I abandoned my racing plans for the rest of the season and decided to concentrate on doing as many officiating gigs as possible.

In the last 3 months the only cycling related note of interest I have is that I broke my 10 year old Indy Fab Crown Jewel beyond repair. The seat tube cracked off above the welds at the bottom bracket. I sent pictures to IF and they told me that it's not a warranty issue. And they were right too. Corrosion from the inside killed my bike. I cant bad mouth IF for this. I never took the seat post out as required for regular maintenance. I couldn't. The seat post has been cold welded into my frame for years. Here's a shot of the damage.

It was such a beautiful bike too. Here's a shot of it in it's glory.

IF offered me a great price on a replacement frame. I've decided to take them up on it, but only after I get a new Latitude/ABRT team edition Cannondale CAAD 9 first. There is an order deadline for those and IF doesn't care when I replace my frame. Given the current financial situation, maybe later next year. Hopefully in time for fall 2009 century season.

After breaking the bike, I really kinda lost interest in training. I didn't have a readily available bike to keep on plugging away and I was too busy to finish building up my Trek2100 as TT bike. 2 weeks after I broke to IF, I did get around to it. It turned out pretty nice and it rolls pretty fast for a budget TT build. I didn't spend a whole lot of money on it. Here's a couple of pictures of my low budget rocket.

For my shakedown ride I stuffed myself into a skinsuit and put on my new Rudy Project Syton TT helmet and headed for a 2 mile stretch of flat road not far from my house. I got in a nice warmup getting there and as soon I as arrived I kicked it into high gear. Wow! Aero is frigging fast. With very little effort I was up to 26+ mph. I was surprised at how easy that was. Of course I couldn't hold that for much longer than 4-5 minutes. The lactic acid in my arms was building up quicker than in my legs. Bah! It doesn't matter. I'm hooked. Aero is free speed and speed is fun! I'll be working with this bike all winter.

In the meantime, I've gotten the junior loaner bike from teammate Doug Milikin. Nobody was using it and he insisted. Thanks Doug! It's an old Team Snow Valley steel Lemond, size 56cm, with a Wound-Up straight bladed carbon fork. I've always wondered about those forks. They're not really blades, but tubes. The low down on them is they were the shiznit back in their day. I'd have to agree. They are very stiff and compliant. They are also the ugliest forks ever. The Lemond as given to me had a mish mash of parts and a Campy 9 speed drive train. None of it worked very well, so I stripped it all down and rebuilt it up with Durace 9 speed take-offs from my Trek and my broke IF. I still have plenty more stuff left over for the Cannondale when it arrives, but I may make the upgrade to 10 speed. Depends on money and how work goes over the winter. I did about 70 miles on it last weekend during a camping trip on the Eastern Shore with my wife. It works fine now, but I do miss the carbon K-Force bars that are still on my IF. Even so, I'll be fine with this ride for the next 6 months until the 'Dale shows up.

Now the bad news. My August and September sloth as cost me 12 added pounds. I'm back up to 210 from a low of 198. That was a real eye opener when I stepped on the scale. I knew I was slacking but I didn't think I'd get it back on that fast. Winter training is starting early this year and I will not be slacking. My focus for next season is to be as light as possible and to be able to crank out the watts. Light is relative for me, as I'm never gonna be a flyweight climber. As a large rider I should be able increase my power to weight ratio high enough to hang on the worst climbs MABRA racing has to offer. I plan to focus on road races and time trails next season as a competitor and work the crits and cyclocross races as an official. My goal is to have my 1st peak in time for Walkersville. That gives me 6 full months from now to lose weight and increase power. The weekend riding on the Shore was the kick I needed. I love riding over there. No traffic, shoulders on 90% of the roads and good road surfaces. It may be mostly flat, but wind is the great equalizer out there as the wide open spaces affords very little in the way of shelter from it.

This year I have worked every race I possibly could with the goal of getting as much experience as possible in the shortest time possible. To be quite honest, I had a great time working all those events on the moto. I'm still having a good time working on the ground at cyclocross too. Hopefully I'll have enough events under my belt to qualify for an upgrade to B level official and B level motor ref. My goal as a motor ref is to work the big pro NRC and UCI races on the national calander.

Well that's enough for now. I'll leave it with this last pic from my last moto ref gig of the year, Bobby Philips Turkey day. Look for more and timely posts here as I turn myself into a science experiment once again in my quest of a Cat 3 upgrade while I'm still in my 40's.

I will be bringing back my beer reviews too. I think I've been thru about 40 different brews since the last brew review. Maybe I'll do a mini update just on those.

Ugg that helmet has got to go. It looks like I'm wearing half a bowling ball on my noodle. Time to look into a modular Shoei. My full face Shoei is looking like its been worn all season by Randy DePuniet. It needs replacing.

Cheers,

FGR

Hump Day! Motegi 2008 edition.

2008-10-01T10:39:00.004-04:00

Rizla always has the hottest umbrella girls on the MotoGP grid, or maybe just the hottest outfits. Anyway, who cares, these ladies are smoking.

Congrats to Valention Rossi for winning the 2008 Moto GP Championship.

(photo credit: Crash.net)

Hump Day!

2008-09-17T08:24:00.005-04:00

Since Kyle says he's gonna be taking a sabbatical from blogging, I thought I would help pick up the slack.

From Sunday's MotoGP race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway!

(photo snatched from SuperbikePlanet.com)

I will be back to blogging soon. Offseason training is upon me and I'm raring to go and get to it. I plan to get back to what I started doing here and keep track using my blog as a glorified training log. If only to prove that someone like me can train hard, drink beer, eat donuts and still not suck at the bike racing!

Cheers,

FGR

Moto Italiano Fatguy!

2008-07-16T07:59:00.008-04:00

From Reston Town Center GP.

(Photo credit: Ralph Robbins)

This was a fun corse to blast around on on a Ducati. Thanks Evo doods!

Cheers!

FGR

A Long Time Comming...

2008-06-27T13:37:00.010-04:00

It's been a long road since I did this to myself in June 2006.

That photo was taken in July 2006, about 5 weeks after the crash. Here's how it happened; I was sprinting for the sign at the end of a Davidsonville Thursday hammer ride leading "Rocket" Rick Schize with about 100 meters to go when my bike suffered a catastrophic chain failure and the rear wheel locked up while in a full 30+ mph gallop. I landed on my knee. I was out of the saddle sprinting so there was no way to save it. Had I been seated, it would have never happened. Aside from the chain, my Indy Fab Crown Jewel took a beating too. The straight bladed Steelman OEM fork was a goner, as was my rear D/A-Open pro wheel. I ended up rebuilding the bike with all new stuff, so it looks great now and rides even better than before. The crash had me in the E-room at Annapolis Med Ctr. the rest of that night. I got stitches and pain killers and was told no riding for 2 weeks. That was very optimistic. It ended up being closer to 5 weeks. My season was shot. The heartache of it all? I was doing great in my quest to comeback to full strength after a 5 year layoff. I had quit just about the time I was a couple top tens short of an upgrade to Cat 3. So my goal was to get those races done and get my upgrade. I can tell you that for the last 2 years it's been nothing but a struggle to get to where I'm not getting schellacked by Cat 5 doods. My biggest struggle these last 2 years has been to get back to the form I had before the crash when I was able to do the Davidsonville ride from start to end without getting dropped.

It finally came together for me last night. I'm happy to report that I didn't get dropped. It wasn't the fastest night and all the A guys stayed home but for me it was still harder than any race I have done so far this year. We covered the 32 miles in about 1 hour and 25 minutes. That works out to a 22.5 mph average, including the warm up and cool down. I can tell you that when it was on, it was on, 'A' guys be dammed. I had to dig deep to not let myself suffer the humiliation of getting spit off yet again. There were a couple times where I almost lost it, like the hills at Harwood, S. Polling House, finally Pax River. But I managed to find something deep inside that let me HTFU and suffer the pain. The payoff was tremendous. I cant even begin to describe the feeling that came over me when I crossed the line at the sprint sign before Governor Bridge Rd. I can describe the pain! It was horrible. But it was the sweet horrible pain of success and not failure. Whoo Hooo!

It's kinda funny when I think about the reasons that I have been killing myself training. Last night I realized that since the crash It has'nt been about getting myself a Cat 3 upgrade. It's been about exorcising my demons on this hard as hell training ride. Demons that dig themselves ever deeper into my pysche every time I fail or give up. To be honest with myself, I've been beating myself to death for a lousy training ride. A lousy ride that to anyone else on the club that is routine, but for me it's been anything but.

Cheers,

FGR

I Have Found The Garden Of Eden in Columbia, MD

2008-06-20T11:20:00.018-04:00

It's next to the new Trader Joe's in the Columbia Crossing Shopping Center.

http://www.perfectpourcolumbia.com/

I had read about it on Ratebeer. So I had to go and check it out since it's a five minute drive from my office.

Hands down this place beats Chevy Chase Wine and Spirts and Corridor Wine by a country mile. Astor's? Forget about it. Bay Ridge in Annapolis? Not even close.

Since gas is expensive, I'll have to wait until I'm up Elkton way again to hit up State Line. From what I've read, they are the closest to Perfect Pour for sheer volume of selection. Maybe even better. I may never make it there. Perfect Pour is just too close to me to even wanna bother. I don't even have to go to Village Liquors in Waugh Chapel any more with their modest but quality selections (a little less than Astor's or Bay Ridge).

There were so many choices, I had a hard time deciding what I wanted. I ended up getting a untried 750 ml bottle conditioned brew from Brasserie Dupont called Avril, a 6-pack of Leffe Blond and a 500ml of Saison Dupont Vallie Provision, my favorite beer in the whole world (right now). Apparently it's a favorite of many other people because they were fresh out of the big 750 ml bottles.

Once I got all this beer home, I salted up a bucket of ice water and threw a couple of those warm bottles in. After an hour the Leffe was as ready to pour and drink. I also bought a Leffe glass too. Leffe is good stuff and it's and not expensive as other Belgian brews. Its right up there with Duvel.

Go check this place out. You wont be disappointed.

Cheers,

FGR.

Weeks in Review: June 1-15

2008-06-17T06:44:00.007-04:00

Howdy Ho!

Back in the saddle again. It's been a while since my last posting so I thought I would update. More for myself than anyone in particular. Just so I'd have a record of how the wheels fell off of my season before it really got started. As I have written before May was a lost month for me as far as training goes. June didn't really start off much better. But it doesn't really matter. I have changed my focus to weight loss and maintaining whatever fitness I currently have. I have suspended the Hunter Allen training plan for a while. For the next few weeks I'm going to work on doing a good TT in August. Lots of tempo, cruise intervals @ threshold etc and the lots and lots of endurance miles to work the weight off. Thanks to the high price of diesel I am commuting to work a couple days week by bicycle. Mostly on my wife's days off from the ice cream factory. Last week was a pretty interesting commute. I took a route that I normally avoid like the plaque and to my surprise I found it to be quite easy. In fact allot of old route that I used to dread I'm finding to be quite enjoyable. I can only guess that removing the stress of high intensity training coupled with continued weight loss are having a positive effect on me mentally and physically.

Two weeks ago I couldn't get out of my own way and I was sliding backwards on the Tues/Thur hammer rides. During my rest week, i took 3 straight days off the bicycle. The timing was perfect. Those three days were the hottest of the year so far. One one of those hot days, I worked as a race moto for Ride Sally Ride crit and baked my brains out. That was a long day. 6 am to 8 pm on the motorcycle. The day started out at 80 degrees and only got hotter. I heard over 100 degrees hot! It was still in the low 90's when I got home. I have to give props to the Whole Wheel Velo Club for keeping an ample supply of cold water and grub on hand. I went thru at least 15 bottles of water that day.

I'd like to think that all my bicycle fitness is what keeps me going on the moto race after race. It's what most motorcycle racers do for fitness training. I do need to find a solution for my bars as my wrists are taking the worst of it. By the end of the day I can barely squeeze the clutch lever without searing pain shooting thru my wrists. I wish I had not sold my Helibars. I may have to get another set if I continue with the Ducati next year. I will for sure change out the clutch slave to easy the pull at the lever.

I've been seriously considering a replacement or another mount just to do races. Something like a big Beemer R1200T or R1200TP. Maybe even a R1200GS. I'm not a fan of the K bikes or the small Rotax engined thumpers. If i get a BMW, its got to be a boxer. In spite of sore wrists I still feel pretty good when I get home from a long day on the moto. I've been wearing bib shorts under my armored overpants. They are perfect for the job. I haven't come close to having 'monkey butt.' A common ailment of long distance motorcycling. What ever choices I make I will always have a Duc, so if I get rid of the ST4s, I will replace it with something like a Monster S4R or a 1098 superbike.

Back to the training. Not much to report. I did an unsupported century a couple Sundays ago and had a blast. Otherwise it's been mostly easy riding and tempo efforts. I haven't been back to Greenbelt to race since my last post. I was going to last week, but they needed a ref, so I said OK. I will be there this week to race. I'm looking forward to it.

What I have done is a whole lot of moto ref gigs. Murad in the rain, Ride Sally Ride in the heat, Church Creek TT on a hot, but not as hot as Sally Ride day, Jason Gundel Crit on a perfect day. My favorite one so far has been the Jason Gundel crit in downtown Wilmington. It's not often a rider gets the chance to blast around real city streets riding curb to curb unencumbered by such things as obeying traffic signals, pedestrians, cars, speed limits, etc. I don't think I could have had as much fun if I had went to Summit Point or VIR for a track day. The fact that I get a check for doing this makes it all the more sweeter.

I am looking forward to the Reston GP. If the 8 turns at Wilmington are anything to go by, Reston should be a blast too. But before that I am working the Washington County Road Race in Smithsburg. I like working the road races too. My clutch hand doesn't take quite the beating it does at a crit. What I'm not really looking forward too is getting up at 4 am to make there by 7 am.

Somewhere in between all this work I'll be hitting the bicycle training and getting in my hours as needed to stay on top of my weight loss. I haven't stepped on a scale lately, but I'm sure I'm getting close to the magical 200 lbs mark. Once I cross that barrier it will be much easier to keep at it.

I have to end this on a somber note, as I wish to express my wish for a speedy recovery to fallen Masters 50+ racer Craig Clark of Evolution Cycling. Craig went down hard in the 50+ race at Jason Gundel and suffered very serious life threatening injuries as a result. Fortunately there were plenty of quick thinking and qualified persons on hand to care for Craig until the EMTs arrived on scene. I like to offer my best wishes to him and his family as they do their best get him on the road to recovery.

Cheers,

FGR

The Lost Month

2008-05-29T08:11:00.008-04:00

Howdy Ho!

I have not posted a new entry in a while. It's been a very busy and depressing month. The death of a beloved family member will do that. Nothing seems to be very important. However life goes on and things are starting to return to normal. My wife is hating life at her new job, but like a trooper she's hanging in there. Money helps and she's making a pretty decent wage for someone who's never had a real job before. She'll get used to it eventually. As our debts disappear she'll be even more motivated to keep at it.

Allot has happened training wise this month. I have fallen behind schedule on weight loss and the Hunter/Coogan training plan. I'm still hovering around 205 pounds and haven't gone up or down in about 3 weeks. This is because I have stopped tracking my food consumption in the Training Peaks journal. I need to get back to that right away because I am eating too much. Fortunately I'm riding enough to even it out.

Fitness wise, It's been a so so month. Since the last posting about Greenbelt I have done 2 BAR events and did not do well at either event. I have also been sliding backward on the Davidsonville Ride. My tempo pace is increasing, but since I have shirked the training plan, I have not been getting in any quality VO2 max intervals or any sprints. This was painfully obvious at Bike Jam and RFK. It's also comes to play on the D'ville rides too. I cannot respond to the repeated acceleration. I'm OK initially or if I stay to the front. But once the race wicks up, I'm spit out the back.

In light of this I have decided to go ahead and volunteer at every BAR race left on the calender as a moto ref and only race at Greenbelt, and hit the D'ville rides for the rest of the season. I can be of more use to ABRT in this capacity since I earn BAR points for officiating. Weight loss needs to be my focus for the rest of the year. Hopefully I can come good for Cross. I really wanna try that! Right now I need to put the miles in and get the weight off once and for all with out the added stress of high intensity training. I should have done this over the winter. But I didn't and so there it is. This winter I will be more motivated to stay on the bike to maintain the fitness.

No point in recapping 2 DNFs at Bike Jam or RFK. Needless to say I raced them both not very smart. Bike Jam more so than RFK.

On a more positive note, I did do well at Greenbelt last night. I remembered my mistake from 2 weeks ago and did my damnedest to stay on the front. My only spot of bother was the prime with 3 to go, but I was able to close that gap on the downhill and get back on the front for the final 2 laps. At the end of the last lap, I sat up. As a Cat 4, I should even be in the C race, so I wont contest anything. I figure another couple of weeks in the C's and my power to weight ratio should be good enough for a right proper suffering in the B race. All in all, I was very satisfied with my ride even thought I am technically sandbagging it. Practically speaking, it still kicked my ass.

Next week I will be back on track with Week In Review.

Cheers

FGR

Fatguy, You Big Dummy!!!

2008-05-15T10:06:00.008-04:00

Note to self:

Stay up front.

On a whim and since I had my Jeep and my stuff, I decided to blow outta work at 10 till 5 to beat traffic to G-belt instead of just training local roads and going home. I wanted to get there early enough to see if i could weasel my fat cat 4 ass in to the C race. I was prepared to deal with suffering thru the B until they dropped me. Thanks to the Rt-1 guy who said OK for me to ride the C. I hadn't done a race there since 1999. Back then I suffered badly enough on that stupid hill in the B race (they had stopped doing the C for a couple years and I was Cat 4 anyway) that I lost all desire to wanna race there anymore. This season my training has been pretty good and I have resolved to cast out old demons by entering races that I know I will suck at.

How'd it go?

Well...Not bad. I spent the first 7 laps on the front, staying outta trouble and outta the wind. I was pretty comfortable just staying in the front 10 riders. And I was thinking that maybe, I shoulda signed up for the B race after all. I had 2 teammates in the race, Alex and Mike. Alex is riding really really well this year and he was on the front or near the front the whole race. I pretty much sat on his wheel. It's a weasel thing to do, but I know my limitations. One the 8th lap i started drifting back a few spots to take on some water and found myself getting outta the saddle way too much to maintain the gaps. That's when the wheels fell off. I had blown psychologically as my old demons on the hill came to haunt me and I gave up let myself get gapped off. To tell the truth, my legs were feeling like bags of wet cement. It's not easy hauling 207 lbs up that hill 11 times. On the downhill, I snapped out of it and gave chase to get back on. I knew the pack would coast down the hill, so I actually closed some of the gap to within about 100 feet by the time the bottom of the hill started. I did my best to get up there, but the psychology of that fracking hill just works my head over into a pile of goo. Well there was no coming back for me, but I has passed a whole bunch of guys who came off and guys who were already lapped and I decided to do my best to keep the group in sight. For the next 3 laps I did my best to keep up the tempo and I really did keep the pack in sight right up to the end. My last trip up the hill, I was completely blown, physically and mentally. I kinda just slowly drifted across the line, glad that my odreal was over. But I was very happy that I didnt give up. I managed 16th outta 25+ starters.

When it was all done, I kinda felt pretty good about myself. I never do that well here. But tonight I got a nice moral boost. I can do this race after all. Tonight, the only thing that kept me from staying with the group the whole race was my own stupidity. If they'll let me, I want to ride the C race maybe 2 more times and then move myself to the B race. And let the suffering begin anew.

Shout out to Alex, He managed to win the race. I think it was his first race to boot. He's been training really hard too and looking good at all the D'ville rides lately. It was no surprise to any one on the team that he did well. He'll be in that B race soon enough too.

Just a thought.

Perhaps the rules at Greenbelt can be bent a little to let 200+ (Clydesdale) Cat 4 guys into the C race without question. I think I speak for allot of us when I say, that staying in a race for more than 3 laps is a wonderful morale boost. It makes me really wanna drop the pounds off and get where I should be.

Cheers,

FGR

F U Speed Channel - The Monza Edition

2008-05-12T11:44:00.006-04:00

Two races in row with this Sunday race 1, Tuesday race 2 shit? Repeats of Pinks and Two Guys Garage can be rescheduled so you douchbags can air BOTH WSBK races. One the same day. One after the other.

It was fecking M O N Z A you dolts. The Holy Land of WSBK.

You guys at SPEED suck so much ass you need a Listerine enema.

Cheers,

FGR

PS - Thank you for the continued live coverage of F1.

The Ride From Hell. My Day At The Races - Ft. Ritchie, MD

2008-05-11T11:12:00.014-04:00

Last time I wrote about my adventures as a new moto ref at the Poolesville road race. That was a great day. One of the things that made it great was the weather. It was sunny and warm most of the day. It wasn't supposed to be, but it ended up that way. No complaints from me.

Fast forward one week.

I volunteered for the Cascade Crit Race, promoted by the AVC team, and was assigned to be a moto ref for this new crit on a now closed Army base called Ft. Ritchie. I turned out to be the only moto ref on the day. No problems, I love to ride. As long as I get 5 minutes between races to pee or grab a bite and sip of coffee, I'm good to go. Put me in Coach!

About 2 weeks before the race my wife, Dana, tells me she would like to come along for the ride. Not as pillion mind you, but on her bike. Long ago her exact words were, "You ain't getting me on the bitch seat, I'll ride my own thank you very much!" Again, no problems there either. She can ride and ride well at that. Besides, I could use the company on the ride up and back. Not to mention a friendly face to say hello to during the breaks.

After yesterdays event, my wife informs me that she will no longer be accompanying me to any more races that I will be a moto ref.

What an awful day it started out being. We both awoke at 4:15 am to get on the road by 5:00 am. The event staff and officials needed to be there 1 hour before the first race starts at 8:00 am. I loaded the route in my Garmin GPS. It was 88 miles one way. That works about to about an hour and forty-five minutes with my wife in tow. Maybe an hour fifteen had I been going solo.

It was raining. Hard. No worries. I was expecting this and prepped the bikes and gear the night before for a rain ride. We both geared up, put on our rain wear and hit the highway. For the next two hours it was a brutal slog from Annapolis to Ft. Ritchie. The only saving grace of this ride was the hour we were doing it. There is not much traffic anywhere that early on a Saturday morning. My allegedly waterproof gloves were indeed not waterproof. I decided to forgo electrics that morning because it didn't seem like I'd need them. So I left them in the side case. Needless to say that by the time I was halfway there I was cold and wet not very comfortable at all. Dana was doing much much worse. She couldn't find her rain pants and decided to wear her over pants over her jeans. She ended up getting soaked to the bone. Her boots were not very water resistant either. Wet feet and socks. I on the other hand fared much better. My rain gear was first rate except for the collar area. It wouldn't stay closed and thru the course of the ride water seeped into and down my neck and shoulder area. The top of my t-shirt and Craft windproof turtle neck were soaked. As was the collar area of my Olympia Airglide jacket. My Revit Ergo 2 boots were very waterproof and continued to stay that way all day. Phew.

We arrived at Ft. Ritchie after getting very lost somewhere on Rt-550. Damn Garmin had me turning up Ft. Ritchie Road instead of staying on Rt-550. This duped two others heading to the race. Eventually we made our way back to the front gate. But not before riding some seriously twisty, sketchy roads in the pouring rain. Not exactly my idea of fun when my wife is along for the ride. As soon as we parked the bikes the both of us stripped down to assess how soaked with water we were. I managed to get lucky as it was only my gloves, t-shirt and turtle neck that got affected. Dana's jeans were about seventy percent soaked thru. Along with her socks. We brought our small tent for her to hang out in to stay out of the weather. The Easy Up we own is too big to strap to a scooter. It turned out that she never came out once set up and in there. She had her pants off and was wrapped in the blanket she brought sitting in the folding chair we also brought along. I checked on her a couple times and brought her some hot food I picked up while getting gas after the 30+ race. She had managed to hang up all wet stuff hoping for it to dry during the day. I even caught her napping a couple of times too. She's such a trooper. I think I'll keep her.

While Dane was getting set up, I got my bike and myself prepped for the races. This time the electrics came out of the case. My Gerbings jacket kept me warm and toasty until the sun came out. One of the added benefits of the dry heat, aside from keeping me from freezing from windchill, is that it dryed out my Craft turtleneck baselayer. By the time the sun came out close to noonish, my stuff was dry. I brought a couple of extra helmets with me too. Normally I sport a Shoei RF1000 helmet for all riding. But last year I bought an HJC skid lid with a removable ear and neck attachment. It looks like a motorcycle cop's lid. I got it to be able to take photos at cycling events since its easier to put a camera eyepiece up the my eye with an open face helmet. Since I need to be able to work a mic and talk to riders and more importantly, hear them talking to me, I drafted this helmet for moto ref duties. I also brought, on a whim, a third 3/4 helmet with a flip up full face shield in case it rained. Turned out to be a good decision as this was the helmet I used for the morning races while it was raining. Normally I don't advocate wearing anything other than a full face helmet on the on the street, but for races they are perfect. I feel less vulnerable at bike races speeds when I'm wearing them. I think I will purchase a Shoei modular for next season. I mounted up my stop watches on a RAM mount between the clip-ons and broke out the divers writing slate and strapped it to the tank bag mount on my gas tank. Neat little item that is. Lets me write down the numbers of all youse guys and gals who end up OTB in the pouring rain. Works in the dry too.

I was doing allot of writing lemme tell you. Ft. Ritchie is one hellava race course. Fast and selective. It's a 6 (4 rights and 2 lefts) turn crit in about .8 mile around a lake. This is a course you need to pay attention on and not let a gap open up in front of you. If you do, your done. There was quite a bit of that going on. The first two races, the Cat 5 masters and Cat 5 open were brutal. I filled my small slate with numbers in both events. More guys were off the back than were left in the main groups at the finish of both races. One of the guys who placed in the Cat 5 masters race ended up in a bush after the dumpster in the chicane section. He was OK, but his bike's rear brake/shifter was toast. That was the first of only two crashes the whole day. I like that. The other occurred on like lap 2 or 3 of the 1/2/3 race and he remounted and got back in from the wheel pit. The wheel pit got alot of use yesterday. Wet courses have a way of making that happen. Next up were the masters 50/60 the 40+ and the 30+. I'm quite happy to say that the boys in blue and green from the mighty ABRT ruled the roost in those events. I'm so happy to be part of that team. Great bunch of guys and gals, all. During the 30+ race the rain started to let up. Buy the time the women's races were going, the sun came out and much to my relief started drying up the course. I was hoping for this because I knew on this parcours I would need every once of grip I could get once the 1/2/3 boys started hammering it out. Speaking of the women, I have to admit that following them was probably the highlight of my day. You ladies really look good from my vantage point. I'm sorry if this sounds sexist, but so what. You all look great so deal with it. Turns out that women's race had the fewest numbers marked on the slate-o-doom. The big split aside, they kept their groups together pretty well. Speaking of big splits, What the heck happened in the 1/2/3 race? I mean, I know what happened, but fellas, before the split I was kneedragging thru the corners. You guys were fricking fast as shit until that split. Even thru the firehouse section, I never hit the brakes. I was having the time of my life out there on the Duc. It was like being at a free track day, but without the high speeds. I was getting down to bidness out there, especially on that last turn on to the home stretch. The chicken strips on my Contis are almost gone and I even managed to round off my rear tire again. Yeeeehawwwww! Then the split happened, you all sat up and no more fun for the Fatguy. Boooooo!

Just kidding. You guys really rock. It was a pleasure to work your event. You guys taxed my moto the least and never let me get bored. Except of course when I was stuck on the back with the laughing group.

The last two events, the Cat 4 and Cat 3 races were pretty good too. Nobody crashed. The cat 4 race was pretty standard stuff. No breaks got away and it came down to a field sprint. The cat 3 race was pretty wild. The break got established early and on to lapping the the field in short order. I thought they would ride thru and finish for the glory, but they didn't and the race came down to a field sprint.

Oh well.

Once the races were done, Dana and I packed and loaded the bikes for the sunny evening ride home. I got my check, said my good byes and off we went. I was never so glad to be home. Both of us. That was a long day. We climbed off the bikes and left them were we parked them until morning. My total mileage for the day was about 400 give or take a couple miles. We left home at 5:30 am and arrived back home at 8:30 pm. The only thing that hurt were my wrists. They still hurt.

I was supposed to crank out a 3-4 hr ride today as the capper to my rest week. I didn't do shit. My wife and I hit the sack at 9:30 pm and woke up at 5:30am. She went to work at the ice cream factory and I turned on the tube to watch GP2 and the Turkish GP. Later that day I hooked up with my dad and my wife's dad and the three of us went to see Iron Man.

That movie rocked! Go see it.

Cheers,

FGR

Papa's Got A Brand New Bag

2008-05-11T08:55:00.012-04:00

As of May 3rd, 2008 I am a professional motorcycle rider. Note I said rider, not racer. The Poolesville RR was my first gig as a USA Cycling motorcycle referee. After the race, I got handed a check. For riding a motorcycle. I was so happy, I couldn't stand myself. It wasn't a big check, but a check none the less. Thank you, NCVC and USA Cycling! Woot!! Truth be told, I would probably do it for free. I love riding my moto. Finally, after years and years of throwing money away on bikes, parts and entry fees i have found a way to sustain my pass/fail racing and pay for maintenance on the big Duke. Valve jobs and timing-belt replacements on Ducati 4-valve watercooled engines ain't cheap. Lucky for me I know how to do everything else.

Anyway, lemme reflect on my first day as a motorcycle referee. Number one, it's a hard job. I used to make fun of the those fat guys on the Beemers, but no more. I have a new found respect for them all. Riding a moto all day is not for the faint of heart. If i get picked to moto at the Tour of Washington County, I'm gonna check to see if the mileage and time will qualify for an Iron Butt category. While you don't need uber cardiovascular fitness to ride a motorcycle all day, you do need stamina and a strong constitution. In a 12 hr work day a rider can easily burn as many calories as a competitor does in one race hour. So while the effort is not nearly as intense, it is a slow burn that eats away at a riders endurance. Riding the same roads over and over and over and over and over wears away at your will and concentration. I found my self yawning yesterday at Ft. Ritchie during the Cat 4 race. Must be something about Cat 4 races, as I tend to yawn during them as a competitor too.

Poolesville was an interesting event to work for my first time. Before the race, I was as worried as the racers about the dirt section. A 120hp Ducati ST4s with grippy Conti Sport Attack tires is not exactly the perfect tool for off road riding any more than say a Colango C-50 w/Zipp 404's. I was also loathing the wash job I would have to do on my shiny red bike after the day was over too. Dirt like that gets everywhere and that means stripping the fairings off the bike to get it cleaned out. That's never fun. It's time consuming and every time I do it I find that the wellnut fasteners that hold the fairing sections together get wore out a just a little more with every removal.

I can say with out reservation that I was worried about nothing. The bike handled that section of the course with aplomb. The stock suspension on an ST4s is 2nd to none in sport touring circles with fully adjustable Showa Ti-Nitride coated sliders up front and a fully adjustable, remote preload, remote reservoir Ohlins shock on the rear. The bumps and potholes were barely noticeable. Judging by the number of ejected water bottles I saw, I don't think the riders can say the same thing. My first time thru the woods, I had thought there had been was a crash in the 40/50+ race that our caravan was following. There were so many of them in one particularly bad spot. There were a ton a pot holes too. As the lead moto I was doing my best to point them out with my foot and talking the best line down the road. I hope that helped them a little. Here's a tip fellas, take the same line as the moto. My partner for the day, Duane, pointed out to me after the morning session that the Cat 4/5 racers we were escorting were fastest thru the dirt than anywhere on the parcours. He was seeing 30+ mph allot on his speedo. I wasn't really paying attention to mine since I was too busy picking my way thru the potholes on that stretch of River Rd.

The rest of the loop was pretty to look at and pretty uneventful. Except for the 2 crashes that I had the misfortune to attend too. The first one involved NCVC rider Drew Armstrong. Drew took a flyer in the 2nd mile of the 4/5 race and after one full lap had built up a 45 second advantage over the peloton. However before the turn onto West Offut road, after cresting the little bump that leads to the fast downhill section before that turn, I found Mr. Armstrong lying on the side of the road almost in the ditch. I was thinking he had run into one of the OTB 40/50+ guys, but no, he had crashed solo.

Here and now, Lets put a rumor to bed, that I understand from Drew himself, that's going around the local blogs on the interwebs.

I did not crash him out.

Drew was a victim of his own misfortune. He told me at the scene that he had one hand on the bar and one hand reaching for a bottle and hit a bump that sent him ass over teacups onto the tarmac. He looked pretty bad too when I got there seconds after he fell. I got to give a big shout out to the corner workers for helping me relay radio messages to get help. And thank goodness the EMT was following the 4/5 race too, they were on the scene pretty quick. It was quickly surmised that Drew would need alternate transport, so I called 911 on my cell phone to get it there. They got there pretty quick too. Drew turned out to be OK and only suffered a busted chin and lots of rash. Tough kid. I saw him at the Ft. Ritchie crit yesterday not looking any worse for the experience except for an ugly scab on his chin and road rash in the usual places.

While Drew was being tended too, A couple two, three fellas in the Masters 40/50+ race decided that racing was no fun anymore and promptly crashed themselves out right in front of the ambulances that were tending to Drew. How convenient is that? Two guy put themselves into the weeds and one guy hit the road. Two of them were OK and rode the mile and a half back to the school on broken bikes. The third guy got a trip to the E-room. He's OK too.

By the time all the roadside fun had been cleaned up, I remounted and caught up to my race in time for it to be over. Awesome! My first race as a moto and I barely get to ride. Just like my racing career as a Cat 4.

It didn't get any better for the afternoon session. After a very long break, Duane and I took on the Women's 3/4 race. Once again after what seemed like only one lap in (it was probably more) we came upon a nasty crash. This one was about as far away from start/finish as it could be. On an uphill section, a Cat 1/2/3 race participant, Steve Black, was lying on the road pretty banged up not looking well at all. They tell me he lost consciousness at least once. The problem with that part of the course is that radio messages again had to be relayed. After what seemed like forever and several more anxious radio calls later the EMT finally made it there. I let my race go up the road with Duane and I stayed behind to direct local and race traffic around the accident scene which took up the whole road save for a small opening up on the left side. There were some non-racing cyclist doing the Team In Training thing in the area who had sag support with them. The saggers stopped to help out too. A shout out for them! Bravo guys and gals from Team in Training.

Once the crash site was cleaned up and the EMT off and running with Steven Black I remounted to rejoin my field. The field had been well shattered so I took up station with about 4 ladies who were working well together after being detached from the main field. We finished up and I rode back on to the course to pickup another field. I ended up shadowing what turned out to be the winning break in the Men's 1/2/3 race. Damn those guys are fast. I like riding behind these guys. Very steady and not allot of need for braking and riding the friction zone, wearing out my clutch hand. Did I mention that my ST4s has a dry clutch? A Ducati dry clutch is a thing of beauty, but the pull at the lever is a bit much. The winner, David Fuentes of Battley HD elite team, broke away from his 3 companions on the hill leading to penultimate turn for the home stretch and just rode away from them. I followed him in to the finish and parked the bike. The day was finally over. And what a day. Great fun. I couldn't wait to do it again. I didn't have long to wait. The Cascade Crit at Ft. Ritchie was in 7 days...

Some observations.

1. Races don't look nearly as sketchy when viewing them from a moto as they do when your in them. But you can still pick out the problem riders easily. I cant believe Ii race with some of youse guys. Catting up to 3 is high on my list of cycling goals for the next season or two.

2. Bib shorts are not the best thing to wear under moto gear. That's allot of gear to remove just to take a piss. I don't own anything but bib shorts, so a trip to Performance for some regular cycling shorts is in short order.

3. Cycling shorts are a butt saver when the day calls for sun up to sun down riding.

4. Race day is not the day to find out your newly acquired radio headset gear don't work.

5. A Ducati ST4s can go slow if it has too. So can it's owner. And both can do it without much complaining.

6. I don't know why pro teams don't use spotters on motos to help develop race strategies as the action happens. You can see more and better from a bike than you can from a team car in a caravan. On the other hand, maybe they do, and I just don't know about it.

7. I need to ditch the stock clutch slave for an easier pulling Evo unit. My clutch hand gets quite a workout. My brake hand, not so much. In fact I hardly touched them.

Look for a Ft. Ritchie write up latter. That was a truly epic day on the moto.

Cheers,

FGR

Lois Wall-Krawczyk 1925-2008

2008-05-06T12:40:00.005-04:00

Bye, Lois. You will be sorely missed by me, Dana and Nancy who have seen the joy and happiness you've brought Dad these last 15 years. Your memory and sprit will always live on thru him and us.

In Loving Memory Lois O Wall-Krawczyk
08/05/1925 - 5/5/2008

Wall-Krawczyk, On May 5, 2008 Lois O (Nee O'Connor) a member of the liver transplant team at Johns Hopkins Hospital who retired in 1993 and a group therapy counselor for HIV mothers. beloved wife of John E. Krawczyk, devoted mother of Michael J. Wall, Patrick T. Wall, Richard L. Wall, Elizabeth J. Kerley, Julie A. Healey, John E. Krawczyk, Jr, Nancy T. Waldrip and Jessica Williamson, dear sister of Kathleen Norteman, James O'Connor, Marge Lucas, Grace Kidwell and Marian Bolle. Also survived by 12 grandchildren. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the family owned and operated MCCULLY-POLYNIAK FUNERAL HOME, P.A. 3204 Mountain Road (PASADENA) on Wednesday 3-5 and 7-9 P.M. Where family and friends will gather on Thursday at 9:00 A.M. and proceed to the Our Lady of the Chesapeake Church for a 10:00 A.M. Mass. Interment Meadowridge Memorial Park Cemetery.

Contributions maybe made to:
Parkinson's Disease Foundation
710 West 168th Street
New York, New York, 10032

No Week in Review this week.

Is It Next Week Yet?

2008-04-30T08:42:00.006-04:00

I'm ready for that rest and reco and I'm only one day into week 3 of base 3. Sheesh, this training shit is hard.

I started my week with a strange ride last night. I was supposed to do 3x15 Threshold intervals @ 250-260w. I hadn't gotten much sleep the previous 2 nights, 6 hrs or less. And I lost 5lbs last week too. That might be too much, even for someone like me who's eager to give it up. I took Monday off the bike. My wife started her new gig at Dryers in Laurel and we carpooled it. Besides, I didn't feel like riding anyway. I was still worn out from 4 days straight of hard, ass kicking rides. Even after the night off I still felt like hammered dog shit. I took off from the office to head home and after a 1/2 hr of warm-up and and some short efforts to test the legs, I determined that there was no way I was gonna be doing 1x15 let alone 3x15. So I rode endurance/tempo for the next 1 1/2 hours. Fortunately I had tailwinds most of the night because I was doing a point to point ride from my office in Columbia to my home south eastward in Crownsville. The winds were pretty strong at 15-25 mph from the northwest. Sometimes its good to get some help. On the flip side, the chill in the air sucked! Hard as I try, i cannot motivate myself that extra little bit to really suffer when its cold out. I need the heat dammit!

I got home and downloaded my 'puter into WKO and lo and behold, I've got a new 20 and 30 min. PRs. I've banged out a 25 watt increase on my FTP in 6 weeks of doing the Hunter Allen training plan from the back of his power book. I've also dropped about 15 lbs too.

Sweet!

I did that new PR with a HR 12 beats lower than when I set the original benchmark 6 weeks ago. In fact I think that's a problem too. I cannot for the life of me get close to my max of 191. Last night my HR for my new 20 min PR was at the mid range Level 3 for me. And to tell the truth, I didn't have it in me to go any harder than I did. I'm sure its because I'm wore out. I'm in week 3 of base 3 and between training workloads and the 10-11 hour workdays at the grind, I'm getting close to the breaking point.

Tonight were gonna try to do those 3x15s.

Cheers,

FGR

F U Speed Channel

2008-04-28T11:38:00.005-04:00

Bunch of NASCAR pole smoking mother frackin' wankers you all are.

FGR

Week in Review: April 21-27, 2008

2008-04-28T07:20:00.015-04:00

What an awesome week its been. The weather was perfect, except for Sunday. A harbinger of things to come. I hate cold. It was great to have temps in the 70's and 80's. I love the heat. I can't explain why but since living in Texas for a little less than a year way back in 1981-82 my body does not do well with the cold and I seem to thrive in heat. I've gotten better over the years with dealing with the cold. But if I don't have to be out in it, then I'm not gonna be out in it. Got bless rollers and TV, I'll never have to ride in the rain and cold again. 500 of the 1500 miles I've logged in the last 10 weeks are roller miles. That's how much I hate the cold. Speaking of time on the bike, I've now logged 10 weeks of solid base and have this last week to go to complete Base 3 of my training plan. The following week is a rest & recovery week. I'm very much looking forward to the time off the bike. The last 2 weeks have been brutally hard and this week will be no different.

My body is responding well to the overload. After the brutal beating I took on Tuesday at Davidsonville, I traded my off day from Friday to Wednesday. My week started with one off, on on, one off. Not a good way to start a 11 hr week. I knew I would have to hump it hard the remaining days of the week and that's exactly what I did.

Thursday was a particularly nasty workout that called for 6 x 6 minute mock TT efforts at 250-260 watts. Since we all know that more is better I did them all well in excess of 265 watts. The first two were rather weak at 295 watts average, but its hard to find a road in Columbia where you can go more than 2 minute without stopping. I did the first interval going down Snowden River Parkway out toward Rt-108. Once past the Kripsy Kreme its a false flat all the way to Tamar Drive. But it's still too short, so I had to turn right into the 'hood on Tamar to keep it going. The road goes downhill into some short rollers, so I pedaled my ass off to keep the watts up. Even on a 53x12 its still hard to generate 200+ watts going downhill. Girth and gravity make it all to easy to go fast when the road goes down. The 2nd interval was a bruiser heading down the new section of Montgomery Road. I hammered that sucker all the way from the golf course past the Giant to the top of the hill on Lawyers Hill Road. I humped that for about 300 watts. Which wasn't easy since that stretch is mostly on a downgrade. My goal for the night was to get over to Race Rd in Elkridge to do most of the 6 intervals. Lawyers Hill Rd is my short cut to Levering Ave and to Race Rd. It also goes by Speeds, the 2nd best Ducati shop in a 100 mile radius of Balto/Wash. (The 1st is Duc Pond in Winchester, VA in case you were wondering). Race Rd is pretty much flat from start to end except for the part on the other side of Hanover Road that leads toward Cocoa Cola Drive. The stretch from Furnace Rd to Hanover is roughly 5 min 30 sec from start to end at TT pace (1 min. 30 at Ducati pace) so I extended it past the stop sign up the false flat on Hanover Rd that leads toward BWI Airport. The road is closed to all but local traffic and pretty chewed up with road construction. I hope they finish that soon. That little section is part of regular Sunday loop for me. I managed 3 intervals there. All of them over 315 watts average, the best at 330 watts. My goal FTP number. The last interval I saved for the trip back to the office. I cut thru Patapsco State Park on the MUP that now connects up to Illchester Rd. Every local rider knows Illchester Rd! 18% of pain, pain, pain! I skipped it. Instead I did the steadier climb up Bonnie Branch Road. Illchester is too short. Once you get to the top it runs flat all the way to Montgomery Rd for about a mile. Bonnie Branch on the other hand is a steady 4% average climb all the way from it's bottom, where its meets the bottom of Illchester, to it's end at Montgomery Rd. The last 300 yards are some it's hardest tarmac. It's also very bucolic in its scenery. There are a couple of abodes on the lower parts of the road, where the feeder streams into the Patapso run along side the road, that are beautiful. I would give my left arm to live in one of them. I imagine their current owners did. If I lived in that neck of the woods I'd probably never be fat again. That little enclave is the nexus of some of the best and hardest climbing in the area. I have one hill routine that hits them all. I'll save that for another blog entry.

After that last interval I was toast. I limped back to the office, got my shit together and went home. I could barely walk the rest of the evening. I downloaded my data and saw that my TSS scores were all above 1.0 for those intervals. The one I did at 330 watts was like 1.35. And I had already increased my FTP in WKO to 265 watts a couple days prior. Testing is in 2 weeks and I'll be surprised if I don't see big gains.

Fridays workout was supposed to be an active reco ride. Well it was, except for the sprints I did to make up for not doing them on Wednesday when I was supposed too. Those didn't go as well as I expected. The workout was 5 small ring sprints for 50 yards to warm up the legs followed by 3 big ring sprints starting on a 53x19, spin out, shift once to 53x17, spin out and done. The next 3 sprints start off in a 53x17, spin out, shift, spin out, shift again, spin out and done on the 53x14. The very last sprint was a start in a 53x15, spin out, shift, spin out, shift again, spin out and done on the 53x13. The goal of these sprints is not all out power and pain but to teach me not to dump the chain onto a 53x12 or 11 when it comes time to pay the bills. Even though I was not doing all out power and pain I never got past 1025 watts for all those sprints. I was kinda disappointed as I was hoping for a new 5 sec number to be proud off. 1025 watts puts me squarely at 'Untrained' on the Allen/Coggan chart. I dunno what to make of it. Maybe I didn't have fresh legs. Maybe I held back too so I wouldn't get dropped on the Davidsonville ride 12 hrs away on Saturday morning. Whatever the reasons it's still disappointing to see what you thought was your strength turning out to be a weakness.

Ahhh, the Davidsonville Ride. The bane of my existence. It's the kind of ride you just cant keep away from no matter how many times it all ends in tears. Much like my golf game of many years ago. The occasional flashes of brilliance give way to total suckage and pain. But its those spurts of greatness that keep me coming back to repeat the pain and suffering with the hope of extending those moments of glory.

It all ended in tears.

Again.

This time it wasn't my fault. Well it it was, but not due to fitness. I found out after the first hump on Sands Road that I had great legs on the day. I was having one of those 'chainless' rides. (Andrew Coggan, you were right about the sprints. Thank you!). I also found out that my rear wheel was about to come flying apart like the Bluesmobile at Daly Plaza. I knew I had a sketchy wheel before we even left the parking lot. I was gonna just bail and go to work and switch out the wheels on my other bike at the office. But Deutchman said, "fuck that shit, ask around for a wrench" I asked about 15 people there for a spoke wrench and that last guy I asked, a really cool guy name Les, gave me his. It's on my key ring now. I worked the wheel enough to not worry about bailing on the ride. But after that hard short sprint up the hill on Sands, the spokes worked loose again. I could feel the brake rubbing and so I opened up the brake caliper so it would stop. That got me another couple miles to ride but that wheel started wobbling worse than a drunken sailor on shore leave. By the time I got over the last hard hill on Rt-408 past the golf course it was toast. My ride was over with the main group. Shit!!!! I was pissed. At myself mostly but the wheel in particular. I, finally, was having a good day. With no worries about getting dropped I'm waylaid by a mechanical. I stopped and worked the wheel with the spoke wrench for a good 5 minutes. I TT'ed it back up Brooks Woods Rd and with no hope of catching them on the road I turned off for RT-2. My aim was to get ahead of them at the new roundabout at Friendship Rd. and get to the store stop and fix my wheel some more before they got there. That almost worked out. They got there before me, but not before Bill N., who was dropped. As I was turning down the road to the store Bill shouted out what I thought was "They all went straight." Meaning they skipped the store stop and the beach and went straight on to Fairhaven Rd. Turns out that it was only Bill who was skipping the beach. D'oh. Anyway, I rode the rest of the ride with Bill and we took it easy (relatively speaking) back to the park & ride but still maintaining a good pace. We never did get caught. I had to stop 2 more times. Once to fix the wheel again and at the new gas station in Harwood to get some water. We turned out a pretty solid 19 mph average for 48 miles. Once the other fellas came in I found out they had done close to 23 mph for 62 miles. Damn! I wanted to be part of that. Unfortunately I wont have a chance to be for the next few weeks. I have motoref duties for the next 2 Saturdays. Poolesville RR on May 3rd and Cascasde Crit the following week. I'm really looking forward to those gigs. Getting paid to ride the scoot rocks!

I'm gonna wrap this up with yesterdays ride. The weather sucked ass. I was supposed to do 3 hrs easy with my non-racing cyclist friends at 8:30 am. They live off Millersville Road and I always just ride over there from my house 5 miles away in Arden On The Severn. The plan was to head out Rt-175 to WB&A and loop the BWI Trail, ride up the B&A Trail to Annapolis, past the Naval Academy and cut thru West Annapolis back to Bestgate Rd and Generals Highway and then down Sunrise Beach to home. I stayed in bed. It was raining and I was in no mood to get wet. I spent the morning being lazy instead watching a freshly DVR'd F1 race and later Race 1 of WSBK in Assen. FUCK YOU SPEED CHANNEL! Troy Bayliss is the man, but I wish he'd stop adjusting his hat with his right hand during post race interviews. That pinkyless maw of his (he lost it in a crash at Donnington last season) grosses me out. I was gonna ride the rollers for 3 hrs while watching all the AMA races from Fontana. Luck was on my side because at 4 pm the roads were dry and it wasn't raining. Whoohoo! I'm outside baby. Besides, AMA Superbike sucks and as long as Mladin and Spies are still in the series it's gonna keep sucking. At least Spies is moving on to MotoGP next year, but old man Matt should find something else to do. He's worse than a sandbagging Cat 4. 7 times AMA Superbike champ is not as prestigious as one would think.

But I digress. My ride on Sunday picked up where Saturday left off. With great legs. At least until mile 45. Buy then, I was outta fuel. I did what most us fat guys do to lose pounds quickly. Ride long with no food. I did the first 2 1/2 hrs on 2 bottles of water and thats it. I almost made it home too, but once I hit Bestgate Rd, I had to stop for Gatorade. The Berry Rain got me home. My ride ended up being 55 miles at a 17 1/2 mph avg. Not bad for a solo Active Reco/Endurance ride. My avg HR for the whole ride was 136 bmp, about 79% of LTHR. I never hit above 161 bpm. My body is tired!

Look out fellas, the Fatguy is getting fit!

Numbers for the Week

Training

Hours: 10:47
Miles: 191

Physical

Weight at the beginning of the week: 213 lbs
Weight at the end of the week: 208 lbs (OMFG!)
Calories consumed: 18,221 calories
Calories burned: 24522 calories
Net gain/loss: 6301 calories

I cant explain a 5 lbs loss in one week. Maybe I underestimated my workload? I did put in almost as many hours on the Ducati as I did the bicycle. So maybe that's where the missing calories are. I dunno, I don't care. Gone is gone.

Power

5 sec: 1127 (carryover from 3/2) Seems I'm stuck with this until a really hard sprint workout.
1 min: 468 watts (carryover from 4/12)
5 min: 355 watts (carryover from 4/2)
20 min: 253 watts (carryover from 3/15) I need to test and soon!

I did have new numbers for 10sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, and 60 min. I could even say CP6 went up too, but I don't use Friels protocol so I wont. But I know it's there if I wanna extra moral boost.

Testing is in a couple weeks. I fully expect all these number to update. Especially 5 min and 20 min power.

Beer

My favorite part of training! The reward.

This week I bought a variety 12 pk of brews from Flying Dog Brewery of Colorado. In the box are 2 each of 6 of their many styles available. To be quite honest, they make good brews, but not great ones. None of the ones I had really stood out as exceptional.

The ones that were in the box.

Gonzo Imperial Porter - Very good. As good as Sam Adams
Old Scratch Amber Lager - Tastes like Sam Adams Boston Lager. Looks like it too.
Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale - Reminded me of Bass Ale.
Tire Bite Golden Ale - Too close to Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale
Snake Dog IPA - Good stuff. Not as hoppy as Dogfish Head 60 Min. IPA. A plus in my book.
In Heat Wheat - A good Hefe, right up there with Sam Adams too, but there are betters Hefes for the money. The one I reviewed two weeks ago for instance.

All good beers. The 12 pk was 13 bucks at Village Liquors in Waugh Chapel in Crofton. My new favorite beer store since finding out they stock the corked 7-fiddys of my favorite brew, Saison Dupont Valle Provision.

See you all at Poolesville and remember to stay to the right of the yellow line. Oh and if I find one discarded Gu wrapper stuck to my Ducati or sucked into the airbox, heads will roll. Under my fat 180 Conti Sport Attack!

Cheers,

FGR.

Davidsonville - My Cross to Bear

2008-04-24T08:24:00.012-04:00

I have a love-hate relationship with this ride. I love the loop. It's is without a doubt the most perfect weeknight training loop in the Metro area. I come here and do intervals on my own quite a bit. There are only two times in 32 miles that you have to stop for traffic and both of them are at the same intersection. Paxtuent River Road and Central Ave. The intersection is 15 minutes into the ride and 15 min from the end of the ride. How perfect is that? Built in warm-up and cool-down zones right where you need them. In between those zones is a loop that has everything you need. A big kilometer long hill, A long stretch of flat fast roads with slight gradient changes, but nothing that would ever slow you down. And very little traffic. I love this loop, but I hate the fact that I have to drive to it to train on it during the week. Except on the weekends when I can ride to the ride from my house 13 miles away in Crownsville.

I went to D-ville for the first time this year on Tuesday night. Kyle from Pedal'n Around had a write up for his adventures there last week. Here are mine.

After a rest day on Monday, I was gonna just do all my workouts from my office in Columbia. I find that if I stick to my program I get better and faster quickly. The problem is I need the suffering that goes with getting your head bashed in from the team hammers. So throwing caution to the wind and the fact that I took the Jetta to work instead of the Ducati I chose allot of constant drawn out pain over allot of short sharp pain with rest periods. I threw my bike back in the trunk, clocked out and headed to Davidsonville.

Here comes the hate part.

Since my crash in June 2006, on this ride no less while sprinting for the win ahead of Rocket Rick at the very end, I have not been able to get from start to finish with the main group. I was having a breakthrough year in 2006 after 5 years of no racing or any real training. I was actually riding better than when I had stopped after the 2000 season. It's been an uphill struggle ever since that soul crushing sprint crash. It's been 2 years and my knee scars don't look any better.

Once again, after going the entire 2007 season without finishing with the main group on a Tuesday night, I got dropped again on Waysons Corner. I didn't even make it to Harwood Hill. Shit!. Dolan was way easier than this ride, I was thinking to myself. But I was not alone this time, like I had been mostly in 2007. This year this ride is shredding a lot of folks. Funny thing was just as I was getting gapped off on Bump #2 on Waysons, my cell phone started ringing. I had to take it, cause it was my wife and she only calls during this time if it's an emergency. The last time she called me during this ride one of our dogs had a nasty seizure (I have an epileptic dog) and we needed to go to the vet right away. With dread I answered it but this time it was a personal crisis not medical one. Phew! I kept on the route and stayed on the phone talking my wife off the ledge all the while panting and now climbing up Harwood Hill one handed. She was OK by the time I reached the top so I hung up and put the phone back in my pocket. Now my back was so sore from riding up the hill twisted to one side to balance myself I thought I was gong to have to stop. Note to self: Never climb one handed. Its not good for the back muscles.

Continuing onward down RT-2 there was a lot of police activity ahead past the short cut turn down Polling House Rd. I went to see what happened and to really make sure it didn't involve anyone on the ride, as they had blown thru there a couple minutes earlier. Turned out to be just a fender bender. Some poor sod had his new Mini's front end smashed in by a non-descript mini-van. I hate mini-vans. Well, mostly I hate the vapid soccer moms who drive them. The van is just an object so my hate is misplaced. Once i was satisfied there were no ABRT'ers involved I turned around an headed back to Polling House. Just about this time Greg S, Bill N. and El Presidente Doug S. were coming to the same intersection, so we four got together and pounded out a pace slow enough to get caught from behind. That didn't last long. Greg notched it up (goddam he is fast!) and we were soon flying down Polling House, up the bump and onto Bayard. Greg gapped us all at the corner and I chased back onto his wheel with Bill in tow. We lost Doug. So now the three of us hammered all the way up Sands with Greg and I trading pulls, but with Greg doing about a an 80/20 split it the work. (Did I mention he is fast?). After my last 500+ watt pull up an incline, I sat up to rest and wait for the inevitable catch from behind as Greg and Bill rode away. Just as I was reaching the 2nd sprint point solo, the breakaway group with all the fast guys came up and blew by me like I was standing still. Bastards! I noticed that the group was really small, so there were others coming up too moving much slower. So I rode tempo hoping to catch Bill, who I see up ahead, who got dropped by Greg. I never got up to Bill before a group of three came up, Alex P. (riding strong, good job Alex!), Bob W (always fast) and Tom (always fast too) , from behind. Bob W says, 'Hey John, your ride is here." as he rode past me. I eeked out a sad "Thank You" and jumped on the back. We only had about 3 miles to go, as they had caught me after the light at the aforementioned Rt-214 intersection. Bob, Alex and Tom kept the pace high while I just stared at what ever back wheel was in front me of hoping to hold on to it like a hobo to a ham sandwich. We got to the last sprint and I sat up. I will not ever be contesting this sprint. I made my mind up after that fall in '06 that if I was going down, It was gonna be in a race where it mattered. We all coasted back to the Park & Ride. Much to my surprise there were stragglers still wheeling in after we got back. I thought we were the "Tail End Charlies" tonight. Nope.

Post ride reflections and data reviewing revealed pretty much the same thing as Dolan. I'm wasting my energy riding my slug of a training bike on rides I should be riding the A ticket bike, my IF Crown Jewel. The IF is far less fatiguing on a fast ride than the old Trek2100. That might be because its 5-7 lbs lighter and the frame is a marvelous synergy of steel and carbon that puts every stroke of power to the rear wheel while having the ride quality of a Ferrari GT car. Fast and comfortable. The power numbers, like the Dolan race, are not impressive when looking at things like 10 minute power and up. It's the same hammer and coast, hammer and coast affair. When I'm not coasting, I'm hitting it hard in high power 30-60 second spurts. I can do that on my IF and from now on and save myself untold fatique. And from now on I will be. The Mule will only get used for interval days when specific workouts need to be done. At least until i get a 2nd Polar Power kit to put on the IF. Or I break down and get a Power Tap. I think that will have to wait though. Neuvation is still selling 50mm carbon tub wheelsets for 650 bucks. I have 3 of his wheelsets and I love em. I've broken both of my sets of M28 Aero 2s and he has replaced them both with the newer design flaw corrected Aero 3s. Free of charge. Neuvation's customer service is 2nd to none. Thank you John Nugent!

That is my tale of woe for the week. The rest of the week here is Sprints, VO2 Max and long endurance rides this weekend. No races for me until the end of May.

But I'm sure by the end of business today, I will load up the car and head out for the Thursday edition of pain and do so for the rest of the year until it ends in October/November.

One of these days I make it the whole way. For my own peace of mind, I can only hope.

Cheers,

FGR.

Week in Review: April 14-April 20, 2008

2008-04-22T13:39:00.013-04:00

Week in Review – April 14 to April 20, 2008

What a week it was too. Lots of good things happening training wise. Most of it can be refered to here.

On Saturday I went to Davidsonville to do the group ride again. The week before I had gotten blown off where the group makes the turn off of Rt-408 onto Brooks Woods Rd. I knew I had good legs last week, so there was no reason I wouldn't still have them again this week. It turned out to be true. I had good legs and this time the rest of me was good too. The ride was pretty hard, but not as hard as the week before. Most of the hammers didn't show, though we still had our hot cat 3, Ryan, and former Rite Aid pro, Pete, and riding the front keeping it real. Quite a few of our fast masters riders were there too, but since most of them were racing the next day too at Carl Dolan, we were all trying to save as many matches as possible. I know I was. As always (for now), I am still a weak link on this ride, but not the weakest for a change. The pace lines were happening where they normally do, the rests where the normally do, etc. This week I decided to be smart and stay toward the middle so I never had to show my face to the wind during the hammer sections. That worked out quite well. I had a comfortable and fast ride on most of the roads I would have been dropped. I even made it over the wall on McKendree Road. I really thought that's where it would get zapped. But I HTFU and humped it over. I'd be lying if I said I made it all the way to the store stop with the group. I got dropped on Wilson Rd at the false flat following the steeper uphill part. As we were going down the hill, I was on the back. Not wanting to get dropped going up, I shot past everyone in a wicked acceleration up the hill thinking at the top the road was flat. There's a slight curve to the right at the top of the steep section and I didn't see the false flat that I had forgotten about that goes on for about another 1/4 mile to the left turn on Friendship Rd. D'oh! Oh well, lesson learned and the store was only 2 miles away at that point. So it was not much of a defeat. Another fella, Will, was OTB on that hill. I waited for him and we rode easy to the store. Every one was there except the hammer guys. They cut the route short and headed back to the Park and Ride. After getting some water, Will and I went back the short way too while all the others went to the beach. I didn't want to waste energy climbing that big hill out of Rosehaven, so we cut the 6 miles off the beach route, but still coming up Fairhaven, Franklin-Gibson, Nutwell-Sudley, etc all the way to Rt-2 in Harwood and back to the Park and Ride. Even with just Will and myself for the last 90 minutes, we still managed a total ride average for the 52 mile short route of 19 mph. That first 25 miles to the store was quick. I felt great all day. This boded well for the race the next day, Carl Dolan in Columbia on the Gateway loop.

The race...

I haven't done a 3/4 since Battle of Manasass in 1999 and on that day I did a double. Cat 4 and Cat 3/4. Back then I was in shape and faster. I haven't had a full race season since 2000. (Back story coming soon.) But since the 40+ was being combined with the 30+ I decided to do the 4/5 instead. Then the field filled out in less than 2 hours when registration opened on BikeReg. I hate BikeReg! Anyhoo, I signed up for the 3/4. How hard could it be? Well, for me in week one of Base 3, very hard. My A races aren't until July.

There was supposed to be more than just two of us ABRT'ers racing the 3/4. But for reasons beyond my control it was just two of us. Me and another fella who just joined the team named Marc. He's from NY. He was telling me how he thought the racing here was harder than up there. I told him not to worry. Nobody gets dropped on Gateway. Not even a tub-o-goo like me. The race didn't start out very hard, but the pain was sneaking up on me as the laps went by. Up to the lap 8 crash i was hanging in quite well. It wasn't really all that sketchy of a race. The biggest problem I had was seeing where i was going. The road spray from the downpour just before the race started was brutal. My glasses were fogged and water spotted. From a mental aspect that may have contributed to my lack of pack confidence and contributed to my backward slide through the group . I think what was getting to me physically was the high pace, no thanks to the 'every other lap' primes (uphill sprints, Oy Vey!), the group trying to close down all the breaks that went up the road and the monster efforts I made to get my fat slab of beef ass up the fracking hill. Every lap it got harder and harder to maintain my place in the peloton. Since I'm still in Base mode, all of my workouts have been endurance, tempo and threshold. Very little VO2 max and Sprints. But I am losing weight. So i got that going for me.

As nice as Saturday was, race day turned into the polar opposite of a nice day. In fact it was shit. Pissing rain on and off all day. Sometimes very hard. The 30/40+ guys got the full brunt of a micro burst. My wife thought I was crazy for wanting to do this. I told here that if it didn't let up by the time my race started I wasn't going to do it. So I sat in the car and hoped beyond hope that it would stop raining. I really wanted to race. In fact I told her f'it. If it didn't stop, I was gonna race anyway. She said OK but if i wrecked I had to take myself to the E-Room. I said "fair enough, dear." Wouldn't you know it, it did stop raining. About 20 minutes before the race start. And it stayed stopped all the way up to the 1/2/3 race. Those poor saps had their race cut to 3 laps. I was already long gone by then eating Peking Duck and having a beer.

I didn't get to see what set that crash off, but my recollection of it was too many guys trying to squeeze from three lanes into two as the crash happened on the fastest part of the course going downhill just after the right turn where the merge lane disappears. The road there was still wet. I remember coming off the turn in the back of the group and up ahead of me I hear a couple shouts of "CRASH!" I did my best to pick a hole or a soft spot to land because the way my bike was responding to the wet brakes on the wet road I just knew I would be kissing the asphalt or plowing into a fallen comrade. A couple of "stoppies", some sliding around and a few butthole contractions later I managed to remain standing when my forward motion ceased. I gotta say, it was a very bizarre crash to see. I don't think I've seen anything like it in 15 years of bike racing. It reminded me of the sprint finish crash in last years Giro D'Italia. Guys were just falling down everywhere sliding on wet roads with wheels locked up. I have to give it up to my motorcycle riding skills. They may have saved my skin.

I thought my day was done, but the ref, Steve Stone, said the race was stopped and I could get back up the road to rejoin it at the top of the hill. Sure enough, when I got there everyone was there waiting. They had us riding circles at the top of the hill to keep warm while they cleaned up the crash site and got everyone to the hospital. After 20-30 minutes of circling, they called us up for the restart. The race was shorted to 4 laps to go. Every lap a prime. Great! It's gonna be a sprint race for the next 15 minutes. And damn if it wasn't. I was having trouble right from the gun. The break in the action did me no good at all. I was done. As the race came by the start finish, I was dangling off about 10 feet. I took the opportunity to drop into the 'race' parking lot as we came past start/finish. My legs were screaming, and head wasn't into it anymore. I know I should have HTFU. I probably would have made it OK, but hey, plenty more racing left this season and I'd like to not have my season screwed early like in 2006. That lap 8 crash really f'd with my head. The '06 one still does too.

All in all and all things considered, I'm quite pleased with how I did for being grossly overweight and only having 10 weeks of steady training so far this year.

My next race might be the Cat 3/4 Wilmington Crit on May 17. Hopefully it hasn't filled up yet. I should have some high end work in place by then and another 10 lbs lost.

For sure my next race is RFK and Bike Jam the last weekend in May. I think I'm signed up for the 4/5 races at both of those events.

Here is a nice graph of today's race from WKO. Note all the coasting and 350+ watt efforts.

I managed another 3 lbs this week. I was 213 this morning before the race. I've lost about 20 lbs in the last 10 weeks

FWIW-I checked my log from the 2006 40/50+ race that I did successfully and that race was a 1/2 mph slower than the 3/4. We clocked a 26.5mph avg. A couple of those prime laps averaged close to 28 mph. Sheesh!

It was a hard race. For me anyway.

I'll be doing my first MotoRef gig at Poolesville in 2 weeks followed by a couple more races as a ref or a moto ref. I'm looking forward to it. Nothing like getting paid to so something you love doing. It'll also give me a chance to blow off some more body weight with some long rides in addition to the interval training without having to worry about race tapering and what not.

Look for the man in black on the Corse Red Ducati ST4s. And stay to the right of the yellow line. I don't wanna have to get all that way with youse guys. LOL!

Numbers for the Week:

Training

Hours: 9:40

Miles: 164

Physical

Weight at the beginning of the Week: 216

Weight at the end of the week: 213

Calories Consumed: 16,702

Calories Burned: 22,765

Net Loss/Gain: 6063

Good job! Yeah me! I rode my motorcycle about 10 hours this week also, so there is some calorie expenditures there too that I'm not accounting for and makes up the extra 1 lb loss.

Power

5 sec: 1127 watts (carryover from 3/2)

1 min: 468 watts

5 min: 355 watts (carryover from 4/2)

20 min: 253 watts (carryover from 3/15)

Only a change in 1 minute power. My 30 second power went to 624 watts. That happened on Saturday's ride.

Beer

I tried to stay away from the beer, but...

Samuel Adams White Ale - Nice, refreshing, crisp and hoppy. Much like most of the brews that come from the BBC.

Samuel Adams Summer Ale - Same as the White ale, just a slight color difference.

I had these on tap Wednesday at the Italian Bike night GTG at the Rhodeside in Arlington, VA. Since i rode the moto there, i didn't drink but the two brew over the course of the 4 hours I was there. The place was packed downstairs. Karaoke is catching on there. I only got to do one song. But it was a good one. Gimme 3 Steps, Lynyrd Skynyrd. A real crowd pleaser. It helped that i nailed it. Normally I'm good for 3-4 songs. Maybe this week I'll get more than one song.

Tsingtso - I had it with my post race meal. It's basically Chinese Bud. Nothing special.

This coming week is no racing or officiating. I'll be doing the long rides on the weekend for sure. Maybe another 3 lbs off too.

Cheers,

FGR.

15th Annual Carl Dolan Memorial Circuit Race - April 20, 2008

2008-04-21T10:47:00.005-04:00

I can sum up my race with this one picture:

Thanks to Kyle (Pedal'n Around) Jones' wife for the picture. (That's Kyle being blocked out by my massive girth)

The 3/4 race was hard. Harder than any race i've done at Gateway. Including the 40/50+ race in 2006 with all the cat 1 and 2s in it. I dont care what any of those other skinny bastards in the race say about how easy it was. When you roll like do I do (pun intended) it's never easy.

I did have that beer!

My wife who came with me (and never got out of the car), accompanyed me to best Chinese place in Maryland, The Hunan Manor. Right there in Columbia off Deepage Drive behind the Three Brothers. I had a Tsingtso with my Peking Duck. Not the best beer in the world, but it hit the spot none the less.

Cheers,

FGR

Next up - Carl Dolan Circut Race on 4/20/08

2008-04-18T10:42:00.009-04:00

And I'm bringing the beer.

I cant wait. I love this race. The Gateway Loop in Columbia, Md is a course I know like the back of my hand. I've been training and racing on it for 15 years. I think I have one DNF here and that was due to a crash. I'm signed up for the 3/4 race in the afternoon. The 4/5 race filled to quick for me to get in. The last time I did this race was in 2006. I finished mid pack. It was my first real race after a 5 year layoff and it was the 40/50+ race to boot. Very fast. This year they combined the 40+ with the 30+. That might be more than I can handle at this stage of my training so far season. I think the 3/4 might be a better choice for me. Since I want to upgrade to Cat 3, I'd like to get a feel for it. This is the kind a race circuit where I can sit in the wheels, stay out of trouble and help a teammate with a lead out at the end. And if I'm still there at the end, maybe go all out for myself. The finish hill is not an issue as the pack literally sucks you up. All I have to do is spin a 53x19 at a high cadence and it's over. 12 times. I hope so anyway. The killer will be the end sprint up the same hill. In 2006 I went way too early after being in the top 10 at the bottom of the hill. I gave it all I had and I blew in spectacular fashion half way up the hill to the line and drifted in mid pack. I was spent. It was a wonder i made it to the line at all. I think I keeled over when I got there. It was an immensely satisfying race.

This weeks training has been good in quality even if i haven't been feeling very motivated to do it. I did some L7 work with 6x2 min intervals on Monday and 2x15 L4 threshold intervals on Tuesday. All my work was completed above the prescribed wattages. I think i need to test soon, lest I waste too much training time not going hard enough. Strange enough though, when i was doing the rides on Monday and Tuesday, I didn't feel like I was firing on all cylinders. I was sure my numbers would be low, but WKO says no. My wattages were higher than the minimums.

I think I'm just having a bad week. Yesterday i didn't feel like riding at all and I had another L7 tempo sprints workout scheduled. I didn't do it. I knew something was up when on Wednesdays active recovery ride i felt awful. My stress levels have been high all week and I have not been resting as much as I should. Maybe it was the 2 Sam Adams I drank the night before at Italian Bike Night with my other hooligan Ducati riding friends from the Ducati Monster List. I bet I was just pissed that the Rhodeside was so crowded I only got to do one song. But it was a good one though. Gimme Three Steps. I love karaoke. Dont tell anyone.

I feel good today. I weighed myself this morning and I'm down another 2 lbs to 214. About 2 lbs heavier than i was the 2006 race. The loss is a nice morale booster. I thought I was hitting a plateau. I'm still on track to make my power to weight goals. Taking the book advice about not making up missed workouts, I'll do the scheduled active recovery ride tonight, do the group ride tomorrow with some tempo and threshold efforts to open up the legs and then the race on Sunday.

I hope to do well. At the very least I hope help a teammate do well. I know i'll be drinking beer one way or another. Isn't that what it's all about anyway?

Cheers,

FGR

Week in Review: April 6-April 13, 2008

2008-04-14T12:50:00.006-04:00

Hello again.

This week was a rest and recovery week for me. Week 4 of 16 on the Coggan/Allen 250w Intermediate plan. Every workout for the week except Saturday called for a Active Recovery pace. Meaning i didn't have to do squat but noodle. So noodle I did. On the IF during the week I noodled all over Columbia. I explored some of the extensive trail network they have here. Very impressive. I managed to get from my office off Guilford Rd to the far end of Columbia to Executive Park Dr by trail only. The going was slow so that worked out out great for the ride intent. I also found a nice road route to Laurel, MD from the office too. Surprisingly I had good legs all week and the hills on that route didn't put the hurt into me.

Going into Saturday I was plenty rested and felt I would have some good legs for the weekly hammerfest to Chesapeake Beach. Unfortunately that turned out to be only half true. Once the heat got turned up on Pax River Rd I found myself working hard to stay up front. I was trying not to do any work or as little as possible, but I got really suspicious when I noticed nobody was coming past to pull through when i eased up. A quick glance back and I saw why. There was no one there. About 8 of us were flying up the road in a breakaway. I was doing pretty well to hold my own with these fellas who had far more hard miles in their legs than I had. As we kept motoring down the road, I eventually had to take a pull. Riding 2nd wheel put me at the cusp of my AT, but I was determined not to blow up just yet. For some reason, and i suspect it was the beer and vodka the night before and the 3 day old donut i scarfed down for breakfast, whenever my HR went past 170 it felt like someone had punched me right in the gut. Breathing was very hard and my kidneys were in a lot of pain too. I don't know what that was about, but it would be my undoing. My legs felt great, but the rest of me was in a world of shit. After another 20 minutes of this, I detached myself from the break and tried to catch some relief before the chase group swept me up. The swept me up and spit me right out. I was done. I turned around and headed back to the car. I was hoping to see some new power numbers from my efforts, but it was not to be. They were average. Which means that my PE and HR were off the hook, but the workload was not that hard. I guess that explains why my legs felt good, but the rest of me was out to lunch. Note to self; lay off the alkyhol the night before a hard ride.

This week is sure to be a ball buster. No days off, some anaerobic work added to the mix and a Cat 3/4 circuit race on Sunday afternoon.

Numbers for the week:

Training

Hours: 5 1/2
Miles: 90

Physical

Weight at the beginning of the week: 216
Weight at the end of the week: 216
Calories Consumed: 17983
Calories Burned: 19750
Net Loss/Gain: -1767 deficit.

I need to step it up here if im to make my weight goals by taper time. Time to layoff the beer and junk food for a little while and step up the easy pace riding. Perhaps some commutes to work will help.

Power

5 sec: 1127 watts (carryover from 3/2)
1 min: 446 watts (carryover from 4/2)
5 min: 355 watts (carryover from 4/2
20 min: 253 watts (carryover from 3/15)

Move along, nothing to see here.

Beer:

New beers tried (and accounted for in the Meal Log)

Delirium Tremens. A nice Belgian Strong Ale. Light in color, very spicy and fruity in taste with a strong hop presence. Not bad at all, but I've had better. Duvel for instance is a better Belgian Strong Ale. I drank it the night before the Saturday ride along with a whole shaker of martini. Big mistake.

Achel Bruin 8. A really good genuine Trappist dark. Those monks sure now how make beer over there. This is an 8% alcohol. The dark amber color and fluffy off white head was equisite. The brew has high carbonation, much like the superior Rochfort Trappist 10. But unfortunately as good as Achel is, it lacks the full flavor experience of the Rochfort Trappist 10. You can tell the 8% abv of this brew. I was buzzing pretty good off of just the one. I would like to find a bottle of the Blond 8 too for a comparison to other Belgian Strong Ales.

One a side note, I managed to get out of the cage four out of the five work days this week. It was nice to get back into the swing of things on the moto. I got the brakes bleed on Sunday and they feel good as new. Good thing to, as I had no pedal on the rear brake. I kind of need that for dealing with stop and go traffic.

Cheers,

FGR

Week in Review: March 24-April 6, 2008

2008-04-07T09:58:00.011-04:00

Oy! What a week. After the previous 12 hr week I had a lot to do to keep the pyramid going. I had scheduled 13 hrs worth of workouts with only one rest day and had hoped to complete them all. And if it weren't for the rain all day on Sunday, I probably would have.

Where to begin...

Lets start with the fact that i ended up with 2 rest days. After a normal Monday off, I had to bag Tuesdays workout for family reasons. By the time I got home that night I had no desire to train. Not even on the rollers. I was worn the frack out. I think that Sunday 4 1/2 hr ride kicked my butt more than I realized. With only one more race this month and then a month of working as on official, I'll have a chance to put in some ridiculous hours in the saddle and not have to worry about being overtired on a race day.

Wednesdays workout was fantastic. A 5 min blowout followed by 2x10 at threshold wattage. This is the part of the program where I start working up to the famous '2x20' workout. However, my body was fresh and my power is up. I was trying to hold my threshold wattage, but it was too slow. So i gauged my effort on PE and HR and much to my surprise my 10 min wattage numbers were great. My 5 min wattage jumped from 323 to 351 in the space of 3 weeks. My 10 min wattage jumped to 297 watts in the same workout. The real surprise was the dramatic drop in PE and HR at those wattages. My HR was 10 beats lower for the same efforts and speed remained constant. Now i need to step up the HR during my intervals next week and I hope to see increases in wattage and speed. Hopefully that will bode well for me to shift my AT closer to the magic 93% of Max I'm looking for before the June Church Creek TT. With some good training and luck, I hope to hit my 33o watt FTP goal by then.

Thursday's workout was not as much fun as Wednesday's. The plan was 45 minutes at tempo interval followed by a 10 minute threshold interval. I was hoping to hit the Thursday Davidsonville ride at 6pm and just let myself get hammered into the ground by the fast guys and call it a day. But the weather again intervened and forced me indoors to work these intervals proper on the rollers. For the 45 min tempo interval I was to hold 190-225 watts. As easy as the higher wattage intervals were the night before, this one was torture. I had thoughts of quitting it more than once, and it was only 225 watts max. I didn't quit it and ended up averaging 216 watts for the 45 minutes. After that torture, I thought for sure that 10 minute threshold interval wasn't going to happen. But it did. For that bad boy I averaged 265 watts. 5 more than I was supposed to. I was very glad to get off the bike after that session.

I must of got a good nights sleep, because on Fridays reco ride, I felt great and I got to be outdoors riding on my reco loop instead of the rollers. I had dared to hope that things would go good for me for Saturday's Walkersville event. My first race of the year and first real road race in 8-9 years.

But it was not to be.

The race. What can I say. I failed. But at the same time I also succeeded. How's that possible? While I did not manage to stay with the main field after Ramsburger Road (the failure), I did not abandon the race either (the success). After getting dropped, I tried to chase back on on the faster tail wind sections. I thought I might succeed too, but as fast as I was motoring solo, they were just that much faster as a group. I let of the chase and decided to just keep on motoring at tempo and hope for attrition to place better than DFL. Half way up Devilbiss Bridge Rd I looked back and could see riders strung out all the way to the horizon. I knew I had some company if I eased off a bit so I wouldn't be riding solo into the wind for 4 more laps. Well it didn't quite workout that way. Only 3-4 riders came up from behind. The first 2 were just going too hard. The next two were about right, but I ended up dropping one of them and got dropped by the other on the very last time up Ramsburger. Well he was about 50lbs lighter. The last time up the hills toasted me for good, so i didn't bother to chase him. After the race he thanked my for letting him suck my wheel on the flat parts of the course where I had the power advantage. He was a nice guy, I wish I had gotten his name.

Let me start from the beginning. I got in my warm up by riding the back roads for about 45 min. I was still feeling really good. The wind was howling much harder than forecasted. A definite 15-20 knot NW wind. That will make Devilbiss Bridge Road a leg burner as that portion of road is dead into the wind. I lined up well at the staging area and was 5-6 riders from front during the roll out. After the real start things got a little faster, but i was feeling no pain and was holding my position on the road. Then we got to Ramsburger Road. The first bump was not problem. It was the next series of bump that did me in. My weight is a serious disadvantage and I knew it. I was grinding out the watts as best I could and hoped that I would still be in contact with the tail end of the group after The Barn. If the field had been just a little bit bigger I would have had it. I got my legs back on the downhill section and was chasing hard to get to the back end. I just couldn't seal the deal. Frack! Now I kept going as hard as I could until I could no longer see the field. I had made up my mind even before the race started that if I got dropped, I would not quit the race. So I kept on going until the end, getting in a great tempo workout.

All in all, I'm not terribly disappointed in my race. I knew I was too heavy. But the race still confirms for me that the workouts I'm doing are working. The glaring hole is in VO2 max and short intense efforts. Everything has been Tempo and Threshold work up to now. And that makes perfect sense too, as I'm only at the end of the Base 2 phase. I feel confident that my course of training is correct. By the good races at the end of May I should me much lighter and much stronger. My next race is the 3/4 Carl Dolan circuit race on April 20. I'm looking forward to that one. It's one of my favorite races. I always do well at it even when I'm not in top shape.

Here's a nice picture of me taken by Sue Estes. I was warming up at the time. Quite a bit of heft going on there. But hey, my IF looks bitchin!

That's all for the race.

I had planned to ride 5-6 hours on the W&OD trail and catch some action at Tyson's Corner to cheer on teamates. Again with the farging rain! Sheesh! I miss the drought. I slept in instead and spent the afternoon with my wife shopping. I needed that time with her. I glad it rained. What i ended up doing is watching a great Tour of Flanders race on Versus while doing 2 hours of reco on the rollers. My ass was sore I almost couldn't finish. That's was quite a display of power by Stijn Devolder. I'm glad he won. The last 10 minutes I was so caught up in the action, that i hadn't realized my speed and HR were going up on the rollers.

Lots of good racing this weekend. In F1 Filipe Massa not only finished after 2 straight weeks of DNF's, he won the race. Good for Fill. Hamilton is turning into a hard luck kid after his win in Melbourne. I've said if before, Raikonnen will be the one to beat this season. It will no surprise to me if he repeats as WC. As long as the Ferrari don't break.

I missed out on World Superbike. Speed really sucks for motorcycle racing coverage. Bastages. They only had race 1 on Sunday. I have to wait until Tuesday for race 2. So now I have to avoid all my favorite moto websites so I dont get spoilers.

Numbers for the week:

Training

Hours: 8.5
Miles: 144

Physical

Weight at beginning of the week: 217 lbs

Weight at end of the week: 216 lbs

Calories Consumed: 18158 (2594 per day average) Oooof! That's a lot.

Calories Burned: 22,396 (15400 rmr + 6996 riding)

Net gain/loss: -4238 calorie deficit

I need to be careful here! Too much food.

Power

5 sec: 1127 watts (carryover from 3/2)

1 min: 446 watts

5 min: 355 watts

20 min: 253 watts (carryover from 3/15)

Some new number in the short ranges. Nothing changed to the big numbers, but numbers dont always tell the story. I may have new 20 minute numbers after the Thursday hammer ride.

Beer

New beers tried this week (and accounted for in the meal log):

Franziskaner Weissbier. A brilliant German hefe. Put out by Spaten interestingly enough. Hefe's are one of my favorite styles of beers after Belgian & English Ales. This one is excellent. I may rethink my purchasing habits and buy this instead for an everyday Hefe over the Sam Adams hefe I have been drinking.

I capped my weekend off last night with a 7-fiddy of my all time favorite Belgian Ale, Saison Dupont Vallie Provision. Its a bottle conditioned farmhouse ale. If you have never tried a saison, do so. They are the best warm weather beer.

Perfection in a glass.

Cheers!

FGR

Walkersville RR Is Tommorrow..

2008-04-04T14:37:00.013-04:00

...And I am really nervous about it

I haven't done a proper yellow line rule road race in at least 8 years. It's been all crits, circuits and TTs for this fat dood. Even when i was a strong rider, I've always avoided road races because they all seem to have some little hill that kills me. The old Hump Race was brutal on me and the old Tuckahoe race was downright dangerous. To make it worse, I've never fared well in Poolesville either. It was always the humps that did me in. Give me a road race on the board flat Maryland Eastern Shore (like Tuckahoe, but safer) and I'm there. Trouble is that there are none. This year is gonna be different. I am going to HTFU and embrace my fear and make it my beayatch, so to speak. So I will do as many road races as possible. Maybe just maybe, I'll do well as my power goes up and my burdensome weight goes down. Any way, back to Walkersville. I pre-rode the course last week and did a couple two, three laps of tempo for my troubles. I like the course and feel my chances here of not getting dropped are as high as 50/50. It'll all come down to wind direction and how fast the others in the Masters 35+ 4/5 field will be jamming up the bumps on Ramsburger Road. If the planets align just right and my training up to now has been good, I see myself getting to the very end, where maybe i can make a decent sprint for it. I have no aspirations of being a world beater here. It's my first race of the year and its a C priority one at that. My peak races aren't until July for the MABRA Crit and TT championships. I need races that will help me upgrade outta of Cat 4. Masters 35+ 4/5 i don't think will qualify. You'd think that as a USA Cycling official I'd know the answer to my own question.

Going into tomorrows race I am about 2 lbs lighter and my bike will be about 5 lbs lighter than the one I used to pre-ride the course. On the downside I will not be getting any power numbers for the race. This might not be a bad thing. I really don't want the distraction and I feel more comfortable and faster on my race bike. It also climbs better too. I'll take any edge I can get, even if it means not acquiring some really choice data.

I've had two really good workouts this week to finish off week 3 of my Base 2 period. I'm looking forward to some forced time off the bike next week. I'll probably use the time to work my ass off at the grind and spend some quality time with my wife. We've been like ships in the night lately. I might get some work done around the house too.

I've got some good power numbers for this week too. During Wednesday's Sub Threshold workout I earned increases in the following areas. 30s, 1m, 2m, 5m and 10m. The big surprise was the increase in my 10 min. power. My jump put me close to 300 watts. While doing the interval I kept thinking that I could go longer at the pace I was working. My guesstimate of my FTP now would be in the 275 watt range. Up 25 watts from when I tested it 3 weeks ago. I've gone down about 10 lbs in that time frame too. That bodes well for the all important power to weight ratio. Checking the Power Profile Chart, I've see that moves me from being barely a Cat 5 to a middle of the road Cat 5/ sucky Cat 4.

Perfect!

Cheers!

FGR

Week in Review: March 24-30, 2008

2008-03-31T08:57:00.012-04:00

What a week a training that was. I've already described the beginning of the week in the previous post. The weekend block after that active recovery day was very intense and physically draining. I felt great on Friday. The workout plan called for a 5 min blow out interval followed by seated gear mashing of a 53X13 gear for 10 seconds every 5 min. Well, I screwed it up and thought it was every 10 min. So i only got half of them done.

My plan for Saturday called for 60-240 straight minutes of Tempo @ 190-224 watts. I had hoped to do this on the Davidsonville group ride. It was not to be. I went to work instead and decided to trip on out after work to Walkersville to pre-ride the course for the race on April 5. This turned out to be a good decision. I needed to see the course and it was closer to 24 hrs since the last ride. I was able to get a power profile of the course and find where my weak spots will be. They will be on Ramsburger Road. If I'm to get dropped that's where it will happen. Those short sharp rises really put the hurt in my legs. I can crank out the power, but I'm giving up 30-40 lbs on the other guys in the race. I'm hoping that another 1-2lbs off me and using my IF will be the difference to help keep me in the race. I had a very hard time with the 3 bumps in the road on a tempo ride. I'll be dead meat on a hook in the race. During the ride It didn't help that the wind was howling in my face. I will have to remember to stay sheltered as much as possible and just gut it out and hope to get recovery on the flatter tailwind side of the course. I rode 4 laps of the course for a total day of a little less than 2 hrs and 32+ miles. Training wise it's still early days and I shouldn't get discouraged if it don't make it all the way.

This graphic shows some marked improvement in one weeks time based on two Tempo rides that were identical in length and protocol. The graph shows rides one week apart (March 22, red and March 29, green) against my personal bests (yellow).

I had made plans to ride with some of my non-racing buddies on Sunday since it was supposed to be a Zone 1-3 type ride. I woke up feeling pretty rough and expected to have a tortuous 3 hours in the saddle. It didn't help that the temperature was only forcasted to be in the 40's. When I left the house at 9am it was 35 degrees. Brrrrr! One mile into the ride I wanted to turn around, go home and ride the rollers 2hr instead. I kept on going. I got to my buddy Doug's house and him and 2 other guys, Kurt and Bob were there waiting. We decided to ride to Galesville and back. I figured it would be fun to take a long circuitous route to get there and I found one. We explored the new section of the WB&A trail that's not really open yet. It ends at Conway Rd. at the Campbell sand & gravel plant. The last 200 yards weren't even paved yet, so it was a jaunt across double track and loose gravel to get to the road. We all wanted to see where the road went so we added about 3 miles to find out that Conway is a dead end road. Early in the ride it became kind of obvious that my fitness is a bit ahead of these fellas. Every rise in the road I ended up dropping everybody unintentionally. I wasn't going that hard, because i was hurting too, but pain is relative from one person to the next. One person's annoyance is another's torture. Kurt was suffering the most, as he had done a hard Metric the day before. Bob was hurting too, probably for the same reason. Doug was the best of the three was able to match pace with me most of the time. After awhile I started to feel very good. We got to Galesville in about 2 1/2 hrs and took another 1 1/2 to get back. It was nice to have the tailwind home. On the day, the pace was easy for me and i was happy to have to have a prescription of easy zone 1-3 work. So easy that it was a 4 hr 15 ride to go 65 miles. I could have probably gone another hour or two, but I wanted to get home to catch MotoGP on the tube and have a few beers.

Numbers for the week:

Training

Hours: 12

Miles: 183

Physical

Weight at beginning of the week: 220 lbs

Weight at end of the week: 217 lbs

Calories Consumed: 16365 (2337 per day average)

Calories Burned: 25448 (15400 rmr + 10048 riding)

Net gain/loss: -9083 calorie deficit

Power

5 sec: 1127 watts (carryover from 3/2)

1 min: 426 watts (carryover from 3/23)

5 min: 323 watts (carryover from 3/15)

20 min: 253 watts (carryover from 3/15)

No changes to these numbers, but I did have changes to other parameters

30 sec, 30 minute and 60 minute power all went up.

Beer

New beers tried this week (and accounted for in the meal log): No new beers. I finshed off the 6er of Harpoon. I'm all out of beer!

Cheers!

FGR

Doctor, this man is dead!

2008-03-28T08:26:00.001-04:00

Hahahaha.

Just a little humor based on last nights graph of my active recovery ride. It was a ride done on rollers in my basement. The green altitude line is meaningless. Whats really interesting is the noticeable cardiac drift. The 3 spikes in the graph are from standing on the pedals to relieve saddle pressure. My workout started off around 118 bmp and drifted to 126 by the end. I drank plenty, but my fan wasn't as close as i would have liked it. My guess is heat buildup.

This ride came the day after a pretty intense tempo sprints/hill repeats workout at the Gateway loop crit course. The loop is 2.2 miles around and is used for the Carl Dolan Circuit race. You can see on the graph the peaks for the sprints and the smaller peaks for the hill repeat where the start/finish line located. The beginning part is my ride over to the course from the office and the end is my ride back to the office taking a different route. I was hoping for high wattages for the sprints, but the workout prescribed said only do them about one gear down from tempo gearing (I was sprinting a 53x19 or 17), so the cadence was high but the power and speed remained low. Carl Dolan is one of my favorite races. It's in one month and I'm signed up for the 3/4 race. I'll be here every week until then getting in my repeats.

Even after last nights sedate roller ride I still feel like a hammered dog turd. I may be dehydrated. I have another tempo workout for tonight (I might skip it), a fast paced group ride tomorrow (I'll get dropped by McKendree Rd.) and a long day in the saddle on Sunday at a tourist pace with my B group buddies.

I sure hope all this overload is doing something, because I really am feeling overloaded and I've got my first race of the year next Saturday.

On the plus side, the diet is working and i've dropped another couple pounds in the last few days. So im down to 218. With any luck i'll be hovering around 213-215 for Walkersville next weekend.

Cheers

FGR

Week in Review: March 17-23, 2008

2008-03-25T17:00:00.000-04:00

This will be a regular feature on my blog. A recap of past weeks training.

March 17-23 was my first week on the Hunter/Coggan 16 week intermediate plan. Truth be told, I started it by picking up the action on Thursday. Tuesday and Wednesday workouts were Friel power based plans from trainingpeaks.com.

My Annual Training Plan (ATP) called for 8:20 hours of workouts. My completed workload was 8:55.

The workout load was unusually hard coming off a relatively easy CTS training plan. 4 of the 6 training days were 'break through' type workouts. Tempo, Form Sprints, Lactate Threshold and more Tempo. 3 days on rollers and 3 days on the road. One of my road days was in a crappy cold drizzle on Saturday. After spending all day at the Crofton Library attending the USA Cycling Moto Ref Clinic (which i passed) I decided to treat myself to a hard workout. I'm glad the day called for a Tempo workout. I was able to generate enough heat to keep warm. The cool down part of the ride was brutal, as I started to freeze up pretty good after about 10 mins. I was glad to get home. At the same time, I was glad I didn't do that workout on the rollers.

Some numbers for the week.

Physical

Weight at beginning of the week: 222 lbs
Weight at end of the week: 220 lbs
Calories Consumed: 16863 (2408 per day average)
Calories Burned: 23020 (15400 rmr + 7620 riding)
Net gain/loss: -6157 calorie deficit

Power

5 sec: 1127 watts (carryover from 3/2)
1 min: 426 watts (3/23)
5 min: 323 watts (carryover from 3/15)
20 min: 253 watts (carryover from 3/15)

So the only improvement has been in my 1 minute power. Probably from all the form sprints and VO2 Max intervals.

Beer

New beers tried this week (and accouted for in the meal log):

Harpoon UFO Hefenweiss (Ok, but not as good as Sam Adams)
Youngs Double Chocolate Stout (Pretty good, but I think it's overated on Ratebeer.com)

Cheers!

FGR

The Story So Far...

2008-03-24T15:46:00.001-04:00

In order to kick this blog off let me dive into the 2008 season so far. Like most things in my life, I am late to the party. I didn't start my base training until mid-February. Why? I've got no idea. Lazy I guess. It could be that my target A event is a time trial in August. Because of a late goal, I didn't see the need to get started early. So I've pretty much cut my nose off to spite my face. My goal is to get back to the same form or better that I had in the 2000 season just before I quit racing after 6 seasons. Back then I was 30-35 pounds lighter, I could hammer out a sub hour 40K and I could ride crits and short circuit races well. I still sucked at hilly road races though. Now in 2008 I'm gonna suck at all the early season races.

Moving forward...

This 2008 season sees me trying again to lose 40 pounds. I was hoping to be done with weight loss by now. I didn't ride at all in November, December and not enough in January. So from 200lbs in October 2007, I've gained 20+ instead of losing 20+. So there it is; the 40 lbs. Again.

I have all the tools available to me to keep going in the winter including a great team/club to ride with, ABRT-Latitude. However, until Christmas 2007 I was missing the one tool that I thought might save me from myself. Rollers. And bless my darling bride, she got me a set of Performance technique rollers for Jesus' birthday. Yeah Jesus, and yeah me! I was right. Rollers are the shit! In the last 6 weeks, I've only had 3 days off the bike and only 6 days on the road. The rest of my training has been on rollers. Never less than 30 minutes and mostly 60 to 90 minute sessions. Some people hate them, that's fine, but they have been and will be my savior from winter sloth and crappy weather days.

But I digress...

Looking to kick off the training I went looking for a simple plan I could stick too and not have to think for myself. Enter the Lance Armstrong 7 Week Plan for advanced riders. Right out of the book! I did the first 4 weeks to the letter. And believe it or not it helped. Three weeks ago, a teammate, Ken McDowell, came through for me and sold me his Polar Power Kit. I've been using a Polar S725 hrm since 2005. The power kit was my cheap way into the power club. Now I'm working on the 16 week plan straight out of the Hunter Allen/Andrew Coggan book Training and Racing With A Power Meter. Let me tell you, it's a ass kicker. Thanks to those 4 weeks of CTS workouts I have been handling it well so far. But better yet, I don't have to think. I just do. Lucky for me my FTP is the same as the prescription watt ages in the plan. The only drawback is that I have to type them into my Trainingpeaks.com workout calender.

So here is where I am so far as of today:

Weight - 220 lbs (100 kilos)
Height - 72"
FTP - 250 watts
P/W ratio @ FTP - 2.5 watts per kilo.

Goal by August District TT:

Weight - 175lbs (79.5 kilos)
FTP - 300 watts
P/W ratio @ FTP - 3.8 watts per kilo

A pretty tall order. But one I think that is realistically obtainable. My blog will be my chronical to this goal and beyond.

Cheers!

FGR

Welcome to My Blog

2008-03-24T14:48:00.000-04:00

Howdy ho!

Welcome to the first post on my new blog. On this blog I'll be chronicling my efforts to become a competent and competitive Masters racer after a long absence from the MABRA racing scene. I'll also be sharing my thoughts on the local racing scene from my aging racer's point of view and from my point of view as a newly minted class 'C' USA Cycling official/moto ref.

The purpose of my blog is to provide me the motivation to keep at what I'm doing, to document my progress and hope that what I'm doing might help someone else down the road. I will do my best to keep the content relative to the topic at hand except for the occasional post about beer, Ducati motorcycles, MotoGP or F1. I don't have a desire to share my private life outside of cycling anymore than someone else would want to read about it. I will do my best to keep my blog cycling related.

Look for the back story coming soon...

Cheers!

FGR