tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53123595377152202942024-03-06T03:20:22.313-06:00Bicycling Author Shares ExperiencesJerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.comBlogger435125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-43032743110790005382024-03-04T16:24:00.003-06:002024-03-04T16:31:25.599-06:00Pace Bend 2024 Post Mortem<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZlTjLSl8XA26lMFGe6yK_GSrSwqtuXIIeLE3NMnQTT7vcax2s9OIleTis4Z2LDwtgVM8EBvByKlxE8agjahZaw1tK_udHL0F9JkB3tC1JkjiAZIuZU55xK9a6-1vz_YLxZkzkCYjegiCMKjRwLkKi49iLkhaUU75pvrYhokzBq5QxOj_7opgEv-qWZ0/s4032/IMG_5094%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZlTjLSl8XA26lMFGe6yK_GSrSwqtuXIIeLE3NMnQTT7vcax2s9OIleTis4Z2LDwtgVM8EBvByKlxE8agjahZaw1tK_udHL0F9JkB3tC1JkjiAZIuZU55xK9a6-1vz_YLxZkzkCYjegiCMKjRwLkKi49iLkhaUU75pvrYhokzBq5QxOj_7opgEv-qWZ0/w240-h278/IMG_5094%5B1%5D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Regular readers know I really don't like racing at Pace Bend. Don't get me wrong, it's a great place to ride. It's a 10k loop with twelve or so inclines, a couple in the 8% range. I just get dropped so quickly my ego takes a beating, and has for the last ten plus years. I looked at who signed up in my age group and had a good news/bad news moment. The good news was that Fred and Bob were coming. I hadn't seen them in a couple of years (but follow on FB and Strava) so we could commiserate getting old since that's what old people mostly talk about. The bad news was that both of them are faster. Fred is two years younger so I only compete against him for three years but he is much faster. Bob is my age and is faster in the road race but I can usually beat him in the time trials. There were three others signed up but two of them were not competitive and the third was totally unknown (I tried looking him up but was unsuccessful). So, I anticipated competing for bronze.<p></p><p>The racing order (with which I totally disagree) is 40k road race, 20k road race (clockwise), 10k time trial (counter clockwise), 5k time trial (counter clockwise start, out and back). Fifteen minutes between the last place finisher and the next race. I skipped signing up for the 40k, as did Fred. Bob raced it, but the other riders didn't show up, so he had no one pushing him. This is a difficult course to start with and a stout south wind made the first two miles and the finishing mile quite a challenge. That may have been a bit too much for Bob's legs.</p><p>In any case, after a warm up lap, I lined up for the start. In other races, the younger riders are at the front and the older riders, in age order, behind, then the women. They might start the different age groups with maybe thirty seconds between and then the women. Here they start everyone together. I was only five or so riders from the front, on the outside. Fred, on the inside, another three back, and Bob also on the inside another two back. It never fails that some riders won't get clipped in on the first (or second) revolution. I took my time and clipped in quickly and moved up a few more spots and found a broad back to hide behind. While it wasn't chaotic, the first two miles were quick. I think Fred got caught behind some clipless guy and missed the first group. We got to the first turn and picked up the south wind as we climbed the hill that usually gets me dropped. I put in the effort to stay with the group and did so for the next three climbs but the fourth one gapped me. About that time I saw Fred in my mirror. Not long after, he had closed the gap, along with a younger rider. We let this young guy pull us for about five miles, until the second time up the backside hill, when we couldn't keep up. I pushed hard up the remaining hills, into the downhill and the finishing straight. Fred easily pulled away.</p><p>My stats for this race show 99.4% of the race at threshold and 13 seconds anaerobic. My speed, 18mph, was higher than the last two years, as was my heart rate and max heart rate. A lot of that had to do with staying protected longer, and the wind.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zYGuZlGlsBE3VJyPanMCRtlRF2tU31GHSFdJkV56FsWo_wtABjELkWOwKtKNt9-UoFBCDu4jjLqNm5DwIXHnCUFwM3Pr6AJDMM1Gh8rQmmlJRyQYyxiyk9NxPVfCMQ_tmkWAgRuWn8tZ-h-Jfng5XcBdgZOcX-qhI_tDBT1vQYg3fGxPLpmih8rHNf4/s4032/IMG_1496%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zYGuZlGlsBE3VJyPanMCRtlRF2tU31GHSFdJkV56FsWo_wtABjELkWOwKtKNt9-UoFBCDu4jjLqNm5DwIXHnCUFwM3Pr6AJDMM1Gh8rQmmlJRyQYyxiyk9NxPVfCMQ_tmkWAgRuWn8tZ-h-Jfng5XcBdgZOcX-qhI_tDBT1vQYg3fGxPLpmih8rHNf4/w156-h124/IMG_1496%5B1%5D.JPG" width="156" /></a></div>Before the races I bemoaned the fact that I had given up a sure silver by not racing the 40k, and would get a bronze in the 20k. As it turned out, Bob had fatigued his legs in the 40k, so I still wound up with a silver. But it turns out that I had also worked Fred above his limit, so he skipped the 10k time trial. In the time trials, you just line up without any structure. The computer sorts you into the proper age group. Therefore, in either race was I able to get a feel as to position by seeing Bob or Fred. I wasn't feeling all that chipper, but still managed to come in first by a comfortable margin. In the 5k, I controlled what little oomph I had left going up the one hill and gave a burst at the turn around and going back down it. The finish was the same as the road races, wind in your face, but I was able to put some power in the legs in the aero position and ended strong. As it turned out, four seconds faster than Fred, so I brought home two golds and a silver. <p></p><p>My stats for the time trials reflect how tired I was. In the 10k I only produced 82.5% HR at threshold and no anaerobic. I averaged 18.5 mph. My time of 20:04 was 1:40 slower than my best time, which btw is second fastest in the 75+ Strava records. My 5k is 51 seconds slower than my best time, which btw is fastest in the 75+ age category. But I still held a 19mph average. My 79.8% at threshold was acceptable, in that the lower numbers were at the start and I didn't slack off in the middle of the race. Training Peaks gave me gold medals for 1 minute and 5 minute HR.</p><p>I slept well last night, didn't ride today, and had a power nap this afternoon. I'm learning that I need more down time as I get older. I find this post is a bit rambling, sorry.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-29561578320232144022024-01-16T11:39:00.000-06:002024-01-16T11:39:01.528-06:00OLD DOG, NEW TRICKS<p> Last Saturday I was ready to leave for the Trek Parmer Pedaler ride at 9:00am. It had been a week since airing up the tires, so at 8:15 I pulled the front tire out of the car (the bike being already loaded) and took it inside to pump it up. It showed sixty pounds, so my thinking it needed air was correct. Since I had a few more minutes before leaving, I went ahead and pulled the bike out of the car in order to air the back tire. Pook, ding-fu! The back tire was flat. Normally it takes me fifteen minutes to change out a tube because I take my time. That would put me late for the start.</p><p>Last October I posted my formula for correctly changing a tube, something I repost periodically. We will get to that shortly, but I took a few shortcuts and got the tube changed out in record time and made it on time to the ride. But without a spare tube in the saddle pack. Fortunately, I didn't need one. Later that evening I got around to doing a post-mortem on the offending tube. It took dunking in water to find the pinhole. I always recommend finding the hole before installing the replacement, because that gives you an idea where to look on the tire to see if the cause is still embedded and ready to prick the next tube. But I digress.</p><p>In opening my tube repair kit I saw that I only had larger size patches and try as I might, the edges would have to wrap around the tube. BTW, Park Tools has an excellent video on how to change a tube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0F_hibWHlU) . Using the patch, I glued it on and rolled up the tube and was going to put it in the saddle pack. Another aside, I had no new tubes. I just ordered some today (I use Continental tubes because they have removable valve stems). My confidence level in the repaired tube wasn't very high and my new tubes were a few days away. My Roark is currently doing duty on my trainer, so I switched tubes with it, thus giving me a patchless tube for the saddle pack. I should have been more confident in my patching abilities, as the tube is doing fine.</p><p>All of the foregoing was just getting to the theme of the blog title. Back in October Ray actually did my replacement, using a boot. But I learned something new: he puts his tubes in flat, without rounding out the tube. Because you don't want to air up a patched tube outside the tire, I was "forced" to utilize installing the tube flat. All went well, the tire filled out nicely with all of the bead hooking properly. So thanks, Ray.</p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-35310005387066438452023-12-29T11:07:00.000-06:002023-12-29T11:07:37.693-06:00SO, YOU WANT TO GET FASTER (BETTER)?<p>But first, a digression. Those folks with whom I ride probably are not aware that I am a very picky bike companion. If you have poor bike handling skills, are not respectful of traffic, or are habitually late or perennially slow, I won't ride with you. Of course, I give new riders some slack, but it only takes a few rides to improve. </p><p>Because I also race, much of my time is training. Even on group rides, like the Trek week-end rides, I find some sections to get in a bit of training. Winter time is the beginning of training and I am looking to get faster than I was last year, as the competition will be stiffer (faster guys are moving into my age category). With that in mind, I was looking for a group that is faster than me, but at the same time willing to let me hang with them without dropping me. I don't really like being the slowest rider in the group, but if they are willing to put up with me, I'll try to get faster. This is my pearl of wisdom to you: ride with faster riders. It's not necessary to continue reading, I'm just going to relate a few previous rides.</p><p>Earlier this year, I rode with Tom who leads a ride out of Pflugerville for Bike Austin (https://rides.bikeaustin.org/). This was recommended to me by Sherry, who does the Trek rides plus others. This was longer than what I had been doing (47 miles) and I struggled, but mostly kept up for the first 35 miles, then needed to be paced. It wasn't like I was really far behind, they had to wait at the turns for maybe a minute. I thanked Tom for the ride and that I'd be back later in the year. Then I increased my long rides to 50+, at my pace, in order to increase my stamina.</p><p>This Tuesday I rejoined Tom and as it turned out, it was the same route as a few months earlier. This time I lasted until the last few miles, which turned out to be against the wind. For my effort Training Peaks gave me two gold medals, for 60 second heart rate (132) and 90 second heart rate (130). Strava gave me two PR's. I took Wednesday off. But I was back again on Thursday, with a different route, but still over 50 miles.</p><p>The route was Pflugerville to Weir and back (different return roads), 52.7 miles. Chilly start with a slight NW breeze, forecasted to stay that way. There were ten of us, all experienced riders. Tom led the way at a brisk pace. After a longish break in Weir, we started back. Although, we continued north for a short time until turning east. It was a relief to get the NW wind, now more than a breeze, at our back. I occurred to me that I was enjoying the wind at my back a bit too much. Sure enough, once we turned south, it seemed like the wind was now WNW. Not as much help as I'd hoped. I dropped back a bit on the hill out of Jonah, but when we turned east on CR 101 I held my own in the 17mph range. Sadly, the turn south had me dropping back. The wind was a bother most of the whole way back and I was looking for a broad back to hide behind, mostly Steve who was doing sweep duties. BTW, there were three of us he was helping.</p><p>Bottom line: if you want to get faster, go with riders who are faster and be prepared to work a whole lot harder than when you ride by yourself. For this ride, Training Peaks once again gave me gold medals in the last 90 days, for 60 minute HR (133) and 90 minute HR (132) plus 60 minute power (138) and 90 minute power (129). The HR numbers are good, about the same as when I did Nationals in August. The power numbers are weak, about 30 watts lower than August, and 60 watts lower than what they should be. Part of that is the wind. </p><p> </p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-64967193087529802872023-10-09T06:41:00.000-05:002023-10-09T06:41:07.590-05:00OKLAHOMA SENIOR GAMES<p> Some background: Several years ago I determined that I'd cycled in forty-three States, none of which were the ones adjacent to Texas. To remedy that I turned to Velo View Bike Tours and took trips to New Mexico and Arkansas. Then, on a trip to New Orleans, we took my bike and I did a thirty-three mile ride on the levee. That left Oklahoma. I'd been ignoring my partner, Dean, when every year for fifteen years he would ask me to join him at Fort Sill. This year I finally made it, though without Dean who crashed a few years ago and is no longer riding.</p><p>The first thing I liked about going was the very inexpensive registration. When I looked at the course maps, I liked the very straight out-and-back designs and minimal elevation change. Getting on to Ft. Sill was easy once you filled out the request online. I didn't particularly like having to race after doing the Texas Road Race Championships, which is traditionally the last race of the year. But this would put a pin in cycling in Oklahoma. I also didn't fancy going on I35, especially on Texas-OU weekend. Therefore we took 183/281/44 to Lawton, seeing very few cars.</p><p>The weather turned out quite nice, but with a chilly start. The 9:00 44k and 22k road race ran simultaneously, but different routes. It looked like thirteen guys for the 44k and ten for the 22k. The 44k started first. After a decent interval, I started with the 22k guys. This would be eleven kilometers out, with some inclines (not steep enough to be called hills), against a moderate breeze. I planned to find a big back and hide behind him on the way out. As it happened, one very strong guy immediately took the lead followed by another who had the type of back I looked for. One other rider came behind me, but the other six were gapped and were soon left behind. I hung with them for the first couple of climbs, but on the third one, at about three and a half miles, they finally dropped me. Without my escort, speed dropped 3mph. At the much anticipated turn-around, I could judge the third place guy to be about a minute and a half in front of me and the fifth place guy about the same behind me.</p><p>It took around twenty-six minutes going out and twenty coming back. Unfortunately, the guy behind me came on strong and overtook me about a mile from the finish. I came in fifth, about ten seconds out of fourth, but first in my age group. We now had a two hour wait before the time trials. </p><p>Another thing I liked about the setup here, they had chipped numbers to attach to the seat post and none to put on your jersey. I unloaded the TT bike and switched the number, then loaded the Emonda back in the car. By the way, I warmed up and raced in my tights (under 65 degrees cover the knees) and wind jacket. The jersey had long sleeves. The temperature hovered around 55 in the shade and 60 in the sun, which only hit a few spots this early. I brought chairs, but since we parked within yards of the start/finish line and registration canopy, the car seats were more comfy and warm.</p><p>The time trials were a unique format, one I really liked. The 5k racers would go out the same road we had in the 22k race. At the end of 5k they would just continue, at a reduced, no-racing, pace to the start of the 10k, which was an additional 5k. The 10k would take them back to the original start/finish line. If you only wanted to do the 5k, you would just turn around and noodle on back to your car. I think only one person did that, and no one did only the 10k.</p><p>The order of the race was youngest first, so I came last. As it turned out, there was another gentleman who wasn't on the registered list. He was last. He was also in the 80-84 category and in talking to him later, his birthday in March of 1942 put him older than me. For a relatively flat course, I found myself changing gears a lot. Cadence and heart-rate were quite steady. My time and speed were not particularly impressive, but the finish time was good enough for fifth overall, and, of course, first place in my age group. We had about a half hour to hang out at the 10k start. They had a few chairs and refreshments. </p><p>I did well in the 10k, it being downhill with the wind mostly at my back. I held considerably faster speed, averaged 22.4 mph, and for the third time was first in age group and fifth overall. But an interesting stat, which I've known for years, is that I could hold my heart-rate five beats higher going with the wind than against it and cadence was up five rpm. That is, I worked harder going downhill than up. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNnvDzN731RlW_KgsIzcBzFoMe4-WJDStWyJDcFXhsochgMVljDqxHam6A5yBi5jvXzy6vJlf9Us3QTAg6qwfhiqcDiP1VONoZFkF7IdrrTT6ET4SC291aA2X8yKKt1-j_jmU0pt5YCdj1xl3iHVlbUarV5TBWfUKmXwZ9YpBmwBo-6mjuwNfNHMulQBM/s4032/IMG_2153%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNnvDzN731RlW_KgsIzcBzFoMe4-WJDStWyJDcFXhsochgMVljDqxHam6A5yBi5jvXzy6vJlf9Us3QTAg6qwfhiqcDiP1VONoZFkF7IdrrTT6ET4SC291aA2X8yKKt1-j_jmU0pt5YCdj1xl3iHVlbUarV5TBWfUKmXwZ9YpBmwBo-6mjuwNfNHMulQBM/w161-h191/IMG_2153%5B1%5D.JPG" width="161" /></a></div>The awards ceremony took a bit longer than anticipated, but we wrapped up and were on the road home by 3pm, once again utilizing 281/183 and avoiding the disappointed Texas fans who clogged I35. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYSZ_67qs6Ao1V3vTMQ5DX0joNhBumcI_D-sjLSNEFE8CkvTRWBakXd3X2SnlwPrJKaZm2_BD0iSvj8p7VDgg8G5KEmxt8yo6NkvTGXN14bP0Ct6bHayje1u28Uziekc32pH3mq8f7VcG2nPiHDPGGPTYyTqHLeeIfMf3hiqottNmkqhPLeLq-E8mC0GA/s4032/IMG_1235%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYSZ_67qs6Ao1V3vTMQ5DX0joNhBumcI_D-sjLSNEFE8CkvTRWBakXd3X2SnlwPrJKaZm2_BD0iSvj8p7VDgg8G5KEmxt8yo6NkvTGXN14bP0Ct6bHayje1u28Uziekc32pH3mq8f7VcG2nPiHDPGGPTYyTqHLeeIfMf3hiqottNmkqhPLeLq-E8mC0GA/w166-h221/IMG_1235%5B1%5D.JPG" width="166" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_IYgHWkmMQmZ5h1cD0G8pckF0azDZpex3NKcsfQrmat-pUxDQKWRy6KspXgFCZ3dFi5VTqR1G_a50-W1UXveDDONZbqeKjSZ5n4Oxiqrl1LamaH3YXZhhFatIc42e_ZFGI0pVJuZmqvAhd_8bGNEq__RXo69z4vr2yiaWMLCxpAJkbWCZnf1aDnGbHK4/s4032/IMG_1235%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_IYgHWkmMQmZ5h1cD0G8pckF0azDZpex3NKcsfQrmat-pUxDQKWRy6KspXgFCZ3dFi5VTqR1G_a50-W1UXveDDONZbqeKjSZ5n4Oxiqrl1LamaH3YXZhhFatIc42e_ZFGI0pVJuZmqvAhd_8bGNEq__RXo69z4vr2yiaWMLCxpAJkbWCZnf1aDnGbHK4/s4032/IMG_1235%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-64968226057804281582023-10-08T12:20:00.002-05:002024-01-16T11:00:04.186-06:00CHANGING OUT A TUBE<p> Tubes may becoming obsolete, but we had two flats on today's ride, both of which pointed to something I had blogged about earlier. Craig had a run-of-the-mill flat and shortly thereafter I had a spectacular one. First, here is what I blogged on 8/29/22:</p><p> My friend, Randy, at <a href="http://www.natcheztracetravel.com/biking-the-trace.html">Natchez Trace Travel</a> asked me to jot down a few tips on what to take when doing the Trace, or any other ride for that matter. He advises these will be on his website next week. While cycling this morning, it occurred to me that I had seen many riders, whom I considered experienced, flumoxed when it came to a simple tire change. In my tips, I assume good changing abilities, but to cover myself, I'll expand on the tire/tube changing experience. </p><p> The three most common causes of flats are: 1) Tube malfunction, e.g. the stem leaks; 2) Pinch flat, caused when you hit a hole or rock and the tire momentarily allows the tube to crash against the rim, resulting in two holes that look like a snake bite; 3) Puncture, as when glass, nail or staple, or sharp rock, penetrates the tire and tube. I shan't mention operator error, when you goof up when installing the tube. We will assume this was done correctly. If you are going on a long ride, like the 444 miles of the Natchez Trace, put new tubes in before you go, practically eliminating cause #1. Keep your tires properly inflated, thus minimizing cause #2. Use a product like Tire Tuffy, minimizing cause #3. </p><p> But, things happen. Let's assume you are cycling along (not racing) and a flat occurs. Here is what you do: 1. Find a safe and comfortable place (as best you can) to work. 2. Remove the wheel (we all hope it is the front, but it usually is the rear). 3. Remove and arrange your tire changing tools and the spare tube (I use new tubes on the road, patched at home, as this cuts down on the frustration of a installing a defective tube and having to start over). 4. Before doing anything else, inspect the tire to determine the source of the flat. If found, mark the spot with the chalk you carry in your saddle pack. 5. Release one side of the tire, pull out the tube, again marking the tube at the site of the puncture before completely removing it. (I'm assuming knowledge of tire lever usage) 6. Run your fingers (slowly) around the inside of the tire, with special attention to the chalked area, to find the pin, glass etc. that caused the puncture. You may have to remove the tire completely and turn it inside-out in order to find and remove the offending object. I saw one person go through 3 tubes before an experienced traveler interceded and found the glass. Don't skip this step, even if you removed the nail (for instance) from the outside. It is an opportunity to inspect the whole tire. Once satisfied all is clean, move to the next step. 7. Blow a little air into the tube, enough to give it a round shape (maybe 10 pounds). This makes it easier to move out of the way when re-installing the tire. Be sure one side of the tire is already in place before putting in the tube. 8. Be very careful not to catch a piece of the tube with the tire lever when putting on the tire. This will cause a pinch-flat before you even get started. That is also why you put some air in the tire first. 9. After the tire is re-installed, with hands about 3 inches apart, pinch the tire away from the rim, visually making sure the tube didn't sneak out under the tire bead, all the way round the tire. This only takes about 30 seconds and is very important. 10. Air up the tire half-way. Inspect again for bulges or the tube not being inside the tire. 11. Air it up completely. You are finished, except for cleaning up and putting the wheel back on. </p><p> Forcing yourself to take the time to go through all the steps will result in much less frustration and only adds a few minutes to the whole operation. Occasionally you will receive a gaping hole in the tire, usually a nail or staple. Simply installing a new tube is inadequate, in that when inflated, it will push through the hole in the tire. I carry a 3 inch section of old tire (called a boot) in my saddle pack, and put this over the hole between the tire and tube. This works quite well, especially when the hole is in the sidewall, although each revolution of the tire produces a slight (annoying) bump. I also carry some duct tape and a small section of this over the inside of the tire also works well. In an emergency, paper currency will work, as will a mylar candy wrapper. Park Tool sells a nice one which is less bulky than a section of old tire.</p><p>In Craig's case, while he was getting a new tube, Ray ran his fingers around the inside of the tire and found a small wire which had penetrated tire and tube. Had he not done this and Craig inserted the tube to inflate it, he would have punched a hole in the new tube. In my case, whatever I hit blew out the tube, leaving a sizeable whole in it and also took out some of the tire. I have faithfully carried a boot in my saddle pack for twenty-plus years and have only needed it twice, counting today. Once Ray got it and the new tube installed, it worked fine. And since we were on rather rough roads, the bump caused by the boot was not as pronounced as it would have been on smooth asphalt.</p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-84872965507977130192023-09-26T07:04:00.002-05:002023-09-26T07:04:28.162-05:002023 STATE ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIPS, FT HOOD (CAVAZOS)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIt3PO0i9KD37TfgmNphQHPBrlC-GErrPuDKQWs2d9pudGn1myN7y4Ortc3k90XN8_9968rKKtG2-7M97Q5Ak4pMRdRZqX5-E_KhcubAe7PsVq_ln__zKk4t-E2wFN0yk-UxAUwf_iD5b6qsNvtRXp9DdcYbHjO20onj1-18Ktf3YQp-Svd6GmBKQyOw/s1080/kit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="803" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIt3PO0i9KD37TfgmNphQHPBrlC-GErrPuDKQWs2d9pudGn1myN7y4Ortc3k90XN8_9968rKKtG2-7M97Q5Ak4pMRdRZqX5-E_KhcubAe7PsVq_ln__zKk4t-E2wFN0yk-UxAUwf_iD5b6qsNvtRXp9DdcYbHjO20onj1-18Ktf3YQp-Svd6GmBKQyOw/w113-h136/kit.jpg" width="113" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;">This post starts at the awards ceremony for the USAC Nationals in Augusta. Marilane and I were sitting with Fred (I've written about Fred for years) and his wife and a few other members of Fred's team, Geri Atrix. Since I regularly am on the podium, Susan asked why I wasn't on their team. I replied that I'd never been invited. A few days later I received the invitation, which was quickly accepted. Team leader, Whitney, opened a purchase window with Voler so I (and others) could order a team kit. Besides individual awards, Geri Atrix won Best All-around Team. Whitney did some minor changes to the jersey, including putting Best All-around Team 2023 on the back. But these wouldn't be shipped until late October. </span>Wanting me to look part of the team, Whitney said he had a loaner jersey I could wear at Ft. Hood. <br /><p></p><p>I'd taken a few preview rides this year, both had strong south winds. Both giving me times in the 2:25 range. I hoped for a north wind, but alas, it was even stronger out of the south. When I first started racing here, we raced in the afternoon. This year our start time was 7:50am. We were scheduled to start with the 60+ guys, but enough of us 70+ signed up that race director, Andy, gave us our own group and a five minute delay behind the young guys.</p><p>I need to give a shout out to Andy Hollinger. His race-directed events are always well run. This year's race is called the Bill Weidlein Memorial honoring a longtime race assistant who was killed while riding his bike. All of the races honored deceased cyclists, most of whom were hit by cars. We were reminded of this at the start, then Andy just said "roll on out" or words to that effect. No count down or Go!, just roll out. It took about a hundred yards to get into some racing semblance, and I had a fleeting hope that we could go at a reasonable pace. Didn't happen. I hung on while we were going downhill but once it flattened out, I was gapped and they were putting the hammer down. </p><p>One guy with a neck brace on passed me so only Fred was behind. In past races I was always ahead of Fred up to the first big climb, would be first off the climb, and then he would either catch me soon after or maybe after the turn, but would always catch me. Well, we got to the climb and I caught neck brace and put maybe a minute into him. At the turn, 15 miles, I didn't see him so figured maybe two minutes.</p><p>Now I had 15 miles into a headwind, not to mention some long climbs and a couple of steep climbs. On one of the long straights, I thought I saw a rider. I was twenty watts (or more) low and only doing eighty rpm's, and when I inventoried my energy, I concluded there was no way to up anything. With about eight miles left, neck brace passed. I tagged on for awhile, but couldn't hold his wheel. With a mile and a half before the turn out of the wind, I could see him just topping the last steep climb as I started up. Finally the turn came and I relaxed a bit. I'd been passed by the really young guys who had to do two laps, and now a few of those stragglers starting passing me. I kept checking the mirrors for Fred, but he never materialized. He's finally slowing down more than me.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhlYyUFBviO-yBPf1HkGx7Wy8N56_gd1CN7HkK5s4gJLDSBYwS8VR07tTk6-oauOp6mnHeFT9TEar0lb8TBWV_hEhd0Cp9nNSDoesHzSqe3sFkFvk_H9XXc1K08YEQuOhw2s3wWlldnV7fV_Sn-ijHR1_QZpdxRsaA_uOvUjwuoXVKxbj3_ffNMc9kTA/s940/WQCY8874%5B1%5D.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="940" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhlYyUFBviO-yBPf1HkGx7Wy8N56_gd1CN7HkK5s4gJLDSBYwS8VR07tTk6-oauOp6mnHeFT9TEar0lb8TBWV_hEhd0Cp9nNSDoesHzSqe3sFkFvk_H9XXc1K08YEQuOhw2s3wWlldnV7fV_Sn-ijHR1_QZpdxRsaA_uOvUjwuoXVKxbj3_ffNMc9kTA/s320/WQCY8874%5B1%5D.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I'm not happy with my time or performance. I wasn't able to access my leg strength, for whatever reason. I'll ponder that for the next few months. What I am happy about is being on the Geri Atrix team. For this race there were 12 registered riders, but only 11 raced. 7 of them were Geri Atrix. Andy really likes us old guys. Even though the official registration was for 70+ he expanded the awards to do 75-79 and 80+. The results were 70-74, Tom and George 1st and 2nd; 75-79 Whitney and Tom 1st and 2nd; 80+ Jerry and Fred 1st and 2nd. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4N1wTtq9wja5yInuw2ilm3VlFhhP-eKUY_ohE734Kq0qpaYnF7ZyWsY16hckSo7esU3nr-SSee2nB2cijtIB_P1zP4N4Xho5EbToJyKAA90I29ZLRYJYB3g-sfFuJnbDWZUVHnngazusZm_X-n4vw8Cd35mXGzyqmZxXdpdsXesNohK-Pp2H6PIWV-bc/s939/IUWX7852%5B1%5D.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="939" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4N1wTtq9wja5yInuw2ilm3VlFhhP-eKUY_ohE734Kq0qpaYnF7ZyWsY16hckSo7esU3nr-SSee2nB2cijtIB_P1zP4N4Xho5EbToJyKAA90I29ZLRYJYB3g-sfFuJnbDWZUVHnngazusZm_X-n4vw8Cd35mXGzyqmZxXdpdsXesNohK-Pp2H6PIWV-bc/s320/IUWX7852%5B1%5D.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>My history of racing Ft Hood:</p><p>2010 1:59:13</p><p>2012 1:41:51</p><p>2013 1:43:16</p><p>2014 1:49:03<span> </span></p><p><span>2015 1:54:43</span></p><p><span>2019 2:15:55</span></p><p><span>2023 2:17:02</span></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-9645165883447042172023-09-06T10:35:00.005-05:002023-09-07T08:25:42.954-05:00CLIMBING ACHIEVEMENTS<p> Awhile back someone asked me if I had cycled up "can't remember the name" mountain. The answer was "yes" but it got me to thinking of all the mountains I've been on. And as I listed them out, some of the other significant climbs that weren't mountains came to mind. I'm sure I've blogged about all of them, but this post is a list of those adventures. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEN2Bo_eVOOdyd1aNQhuFbU0nBdaWbT9SLLCabN-OBmIwdZbvvxhrXO6USCKMfCS7KMXjTY6yeOSDpfeY5iJMKSQBqvv2uEhuf7K5U-cy6n-xEMQkXNueI8MGIA4cByZ73_0JYyxKIR0k6Sp8pBe8nR9lEy0fxHXc_BU0sGVqyZwkHC2dhbqDc8TJDYR4/s706/mtns.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="383" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEN2Bo_eVOOdyd1aNQhuFbU0nBdaWbT9SLLCabN-OBmIwdZbvvxhrXO6USCKMfCS7KMXjTY6yeOSDpfeY5iJMKSQBqvv2uEhuf7K5U-cy6n-xEMQkXNueI8MGIA4cByZ73_0JYyxKIR0k6Sp8pBe8nR9lEy0fxHXc_BU0sGVqyZwkHC2dhbqDc8TJDYR4/s320/mtns.jpg" width="174" /></a></div>The first group was on the Cycle Washington ride. Then we took our first cycling vacation to Vermont. Next came Cycle Montana and our #1 tourist destination, Glacier National Park. Bicycling Magazine listed their top Ten roads in North America and I planned to do five of them in one trip. The Koocanusa Highway is pretty, and it does go up, but not like a mountain, so it didn't make the list. The Kananaskis Highway in Canada was a possibility that didn't pan out. On the way home from Montana I cycled the West Summit in the Beartooth Mountains and Rim Rock Drive, Utah. The West Summit was an up-back ride. I planned to ride clockwise on Rim Rock, giving me a relatively short climb and long descent, but ended up counter-clockwise resulting in a long climb but thrilling descent. In 2001 I cycled coast-to-coast. Later, after retiring, I went with Marty Jemison on two Tour de France trips and rode in the Pyrenees and Alpes. <p></p><p>I've ridden the Blue Ridge Parkway three times, once with Black Bear Adventures, once with friends, once by myself. Each time, I climbed Mount Mitchell. On a New England vacation I cycled up Cadillac Mountain (but didn't make it to Mount Washington). I put some books on consignment in the bookstore in Leadville. The ride down Independence Pass was cool. I've cycled up to the McDonald Observatory once, and stopped a bit short on another occasion. Velo View Tours allowed me the opportunity to ascend Bobcat Pass. I made it up three-quarters of the Flagstaff climb in Colorado before needing to stop. Which is why it isn't on my list of places climbed.</p><p>Brasstown Bald is the highest point in Georgia at 4,784, although the parking lot, which is as high as a bike can go, is 4,593. This is two and a half miles, with a couple of 16% ramps and a 24% ramp. I guess because it goes by "Bald" instead of mountain, I didn't list it, or the six gaps that I do in Georgia. So I'll list them now: Wolfpen Gap (3,260, three mile climb); Woody Gap (3,160, five mile climb); Neel's Gap (3,091 eight mile climb); Unicoi Gap (2,949 3 mile climb); Jack's Gap (2,940 five mile climb); Hogpen Gap (3,525, ten mile climb). My highest speed was 49.x going down a long straight on Hogpen. It is almost as strenuous as Brasstown Bald.</p><p>Climbing a mountain is not like climbing a hill. I have one day of hills that stands out, and is mentioned here: On the coast-to-coast trip, from Chillicothe, Missouri to Kirksville it is only 82 miles, but we pushed up 214 hills.</p><p>Nowadays going up takes a lot more effort, but I haven't lost the thrill of descending.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-2327544078069071752023-08-30T09:47:00.003-05:002023-08-30T10:00:36.850-05:00USA CYCLING NATIONALS, AUGUSTA 2023<p> To be clear, I race in the 80-84 age category. Racing in August in Augusta may have prompted some competitors to stay home and avoid the oppressive heat and humidity. But we begin this adventure seven weeks prior, after a short setup.</p><p>Plan A, formulated in January, was to race Senior Games in Pittsburg, visit family in Maryland, vacation and ride the great gaps in North Georgia (based in Suches), come home and prep for Augusta, then drive to Augusta. Because the Pittsburg folks couldn't decide on a racing venue until after regular registration closed, I decided this would be a poorly run race, so we cancelled reservations and we didn't go. We also skipped Maryland. The dates for the Augusta races were finally announced, and rather than drive from Suches home then turn around and drive back we would just extend our stay and make the short jump from Suches to Augusta. Therefore we left home six weeks before racing.</p><p>I was doing my last time trial training on Great Northern and was twenty minutes into a one hour workout and pushing 20 mph. Great Northern is a mecca for cyclists and runners. I was coming up on a runner who decided to cross the street. She turned left and I turned right to miss her. She then did a "squirrel maneuver" and reversed course right in front of me. It was a frightful collision. I'll spare you the details, we both came out battered and bruised but with no broken bones. The bike was ok, except the left shifter looked a little wonky, so I took it to the bike shop for evaluation and tune up before going to get myself cleaned up.</p><p>Later that afternoon the bike shop called. It seems my fifteen year old bike's Zipp wheel (front) has a hub that had been recalled. In good conscience, they could not give it back to me and had to send it off to replace the hub. I brought them my road bike wheel so they could complete their tune-up, which they did the next day, Saturday. Tuesday we left for Suches.</p><p>I had a fine time riding the gaps and enjoying the mild temperature. But I learned quickly enough that the five years since our last vacation here had taken a toll on my muscles and cardio. I had to forego even attempting Brasstown Bald (I've written extensively about this in the past) and restricted my riding to the lesser, but still challenging, gaps. The problem with being in the mountains is there aren't any flat sections of any length. While I was riding a lot, none of it was fine-tuning my racing chops. I finally hit on a relatively flat place to practice time trialing, the parking lot at Brasstown Bald. The three practice sessions I did there were mainly to stay in the tuck and acceleration drills.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjDoKVaB57GqWId3IRKAVnx0OVJuktwQxULCerI6h8frLjSvvVJEAG3pMHIUAEIDdDmjXHnlFdVjX0VS-Vb8YePyWXxYXl6o_ZMolccIEBH3Ct1ZGIz2oAVNOTuga8M-o-ej7_DEOZ2Er-Q8BVOzUO3GDGq18arutSC6KMAOvCJHdvtUQU0Ialt5dEGk/s4032/IMG_2118%5B1%5D.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjDoKVaB57GqWId3IRKAVnx0OVJuktwQxULCerI6h8frLjSvvVJEAG3pMHIUAEIDdDmjXHnlFdVjX0VS-Vb8YePyWXxYXl6o_ZMolccIEBH3Ct1ZGIz2oAVNOTuga8M-o-ej7_DEOZ2Er-Q8BVOzUO3GDGq18arutSC6KMAOvCJHdvtUQU0Ialt5dEGk/s320/IMG_2118%5B1%5D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Nationals consist of three races: 20k time trial, 40k road race, 45 minute criterium. It occurred to me that I might need some out-of-saddle accelerations in the criterium, so I used a short flatish section not far from our cabin to practice. What that practice told me was that I had one 15-second acceleration in my legs and no more. It was too late to build them up. I would have to stay seated and hope that would be sufficient.</p><p>My races were on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. The para racers were scheduled mostly on Wednesday, thus I wanted to preview the course on Tuesday. As it turned out, Tuesday at 1pm had temperatures in the triple digits according to my Garmin. In any case, there are numerous hills and it took 66 minutes to complete the 14.7 mile course and I was completely worn out. I had planned to also preview the TT course but put that off until after the races on Wednesday. </p><p>There were only four guys in my age group for the time trial. One, Don, I'd raced against in Florida and was faster and one, George, was new to me and had no history with USA Cycling. The third guy, Durwood, is so much faster than everyone that his first place was assured. As it turned out, Don was a no-show and George started 30 seconds in front of me. The course starts flat then has a steep downhill (7-9%). The entire course is rolling, some steeper than others and is out and back. Because of the downhill, Durwood didn't catch me until mile two or so which is about the time I caught George. So he passed both of us at about the same time. I averaged 19.1 mph with 35.5 on the steep downhill and about 8 going back up. My heart rate of 144 was right where it should have been at 92% of maximum. Durwood beat me by four and a half minutes and I was ahead of George by about five minutes.</p><p>There were five guys doing the road race, which turned out to be 47k. As we were called to the start line, I saw George but couldn't see the other two. I don't even worry about Durwood. This course goes in the opposite direction of the time trial, but the start is similar in that it is flatish then a steep downhill. Then comes a really long, steep uphill. I need to back up a little. Even though there were only five in my age group, for the road race and criterium, we are grouped with the 70-74, 75-79, and 80+ riders. This makes for a pretty big group, all but two of which are stronger and faster than me. In any case, it is incumbent to go all out on that first climb in order to stay with the peleton. My high speed of 41.3 came on the downhill. About three-quarters of the way up, I got gapped and by the time we topped the hill and made the turn, they were gone. There were a half dozen riders behind me, and I hoped they included my competitors. The support vehicles came around, including the ambulance. Another rider and I hopped on behind and we almost caught the peleton, which had slowed. Another incline had us dropping back. I also lost my companion on this climb.</p><p>My guardian angel was looking after me. Up ahead I could see a couple of riders dropped from the peleton and it was obvious from their posture that they had given up racing and were in cruise mode. Cruise or not, it was about my speed. One of the riders had on the pink and black Geri Atrix team jersey. This team is based in Waco and I know most of the riders. After a mile and a half of exertion, I finally caught up to them and announced my presence. It turned out that the Geri Atrix rider was Tom Hall and Tom and I have raced each other for years. When I said I needed to draft awhile and wanted to put a little distance between myself and the guy following me (about a quarter of a mile back), Tom said he'd give me a pull. So I hopped on his wheel and he sped up a bit. He pulled me over three miles up to the finishing hill where he eased off and I continued up. That was lap 1 of 2. I had to do it all over again. About half way up the big hill Tom caught up with me again and once we had eased our way to the top he said to hop on and he'd pull some more. We didn't push the hills this time but when it came to the rollers he upped the pace and we enjoyed the ride, at our speed. At the finish hill he powered up and I finished about twenty yards behind. As it turned out, my three competitors had all been pulled after the first lap, so I wasn't in any danger of losing my silver.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3w4iAVTfqK2a0e2wM8j2HC0F6LWUXi9aHuw1JULix4_UP7EQRsgMIOaBCaPGRdtrHJJtqAq9BJsPfYXVLDsBMkcPGVvyyhY5uKa3S4FzrVCabekAV_cw5PzV_V0rjelTlGx-vqfEOcH_QMOuEaGUjtlHPbdj-1mSuYZNcn6X6RYNivSHYMYto5ZtUVM/s4032/IMG_2117%5B1%5D.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3w4iAVTfqK2a0e2wM8j2HC0F6LWUXi9aHuw1JULix4_UP7EQRsgMIOaBCaPGRdtrHJJtqAq9BJsPfYXVLDsBMkcPGVvyyhY5uKa3S4FzrVCabekAV_cw5PzV_V0rjelTlGx-vqfEOcH_QMOuEaGUjtlHPbdj-1mSuYZNcn6X6RYNivSHYMYto5ZtUVM/w140-h154/IMG_2117%5B1%5D.JPG" width="140" /></a></div>Us old guys had the first criterium of the day on Sunday, 7am. Sunrise was at 6:58. I had worked out some signals with Marilane to let me know where my competitor was, not counting Durwood who would be ahead. I couldn't find Don, and as it turned out, he once again didn't do the race. No pressure for the silver today. Five years ago I stayed with the peleton for seven or so laps. This year only about a half lap. As explained, I had no power when I jumped. As it turned out, I didn't need to. But Tom Hall was having a bad day, relatively, and had also been dropped. It took a bit of effort to bridge up to him, and I latched onto his wheel and let him know I was there. Once again, he dragged me around the course lap after lap. I'd occasionally take the lead and give him a break. About half way through, the peloton caught us on a straightaway and it was a bit dicey as they came on either side of us. Shortly after, we caught up with Fred Schmidt, 90 years old and also a member of Geri Atrix. We slowed a bit so he could catch on. With about four laps to go the peloton caught us again, but this time it was on one of the turns. We knew they were coming and stayed 'way wide, next to the barriers. I heard some yelling as some of the riders had to adjust their line but no crashes. Once clear we resumed our pace. Tom took the lead on the second to last lap and I lead the last one. <br /><p></p><p>So, I was lucky. I get to brag about being a Nationals Silver Medalist even though I didn't have my best stuff. There were a dozen guys at the Senior Games Nationals in Pittsburg, why only one came to Georgia is not for me to ponder. Now I need to start work on my jumps.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6bHp_8we1JFCgAwIgYbW5pwe0nLL8GH07mcuH7Gqc7Xsz9SBd8Wjz5g4DaP78CiVXGps0BFD80kBWSlxOEBGM4HMyUszoHS4bPIbajlVNptVGB63ce735_hpj1naGfz5vX2g-GJv35GUYpnLFbJThXF_nxxe5gZhE2z2aIe39iGeousdP4sVD7FM62Q/s4032/IMG_1207%5B1%5D.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6bHp_8we1JFCgAwIgYbW5pwe0nLL8GH07mcuH7Gqc7Xsz9SBd8Wjz5g4DaP78CiVXGps0BFD80kBWSlxOEBGM4HMyUszoHS4bPIbajlVNptVGB63ce735_hpj1naGfz5vX2g-GJv35GUYpnLFbJThXF_nxxe5gZhE2z2aIe39iGeousdP4sVD7FM62Q/s320/IMG_1207%5B1%5D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-69323488070123644292023-06-26T12:12:00.002-05:002023-06-26T12:12:51.719-05:00BEE CAVE ADVENTURE<p>The Sunday ride out of the Bee Cave Trek store is usually a challenge. Yesterday I made it even more so. I blame it on old age. Here is how it unfolded. Due to the heat, the 8:00am wheels down time was moved to 7:30. I was reminding folks of this on the Saturday ride. When I got home from that ride, I prepared for the next day, including setting Waze to take the fastest route. Why, I don't know, I set the arrival time to be 7:45 thinking I'd arrive fifteen minutes before departure. That meant leaving home at 7:11. Never gave it another thought.</p><p>The next morning I loaded up the car, taking two 24 ounce water bottles (one with electrolyte) for the bike and a 32 ounce bottle of protein drink for before and after the ride. All I needed to do was walk out the door and leave. At 6:25, still oblivious, I sat down for a few minutes, thinking I'd leave at 7:00 and be early. Thirty-five minutes later I woke up. It took a few minutes to get myself together, but when I got in the car Waze advised I'd arrive at 7:48. Ok, no problem. Duh!</p><p>I was tooling along Bee Caves Road noticing all of the cyclists out and about when I saw a group of five coming toward me. I recognized Sherry and finally it dawned on me that I screwed up. I did a quick analysis, ruling out riding to the shop to start. So I did a U-turn (no traffic) and caught up and passed, giving a honk of the horn. That was a mistake. I should have slowed down, rolled down the window, and identified myself. I had assumed that the honk would get their attention and they would recognize my car. They didn't. I then drove another three or so miles and pulled into a Circle K and hurriedly started getting ready to ride. In retrospect, maybe I should have gone all the way to Loop 360. In any case, they went cruising by and couldn't hear me hollering and jumping up and down. As it turned out, it was a four, maybe only three minute head start before I could be mounted and riding.</p><p>Rather than a leisurely warm up, I was pedaling hard from the start. At one point I could see them cresting the hill after Weston, so I knew I was gaining. It took six miles and four pr's (given by Strava) before I caught up. Regular readers know I hate rolling through Rollingwood. Mikey took pity on me as we approached Zilker Park and pulled in for a potty stop. That gave me relief on two counts. But my legs were toast and just in case there was any life left in them, we turned on Azie Morton Rd, a really tough climb. </p><p>The next seven miles were easy on the body so I cruised along. Then we hit Southwest Parkway, Republic of Texas, and the Travis County Circle, Southwest Parkway, Hwy 71. The wind was supposed to be out of the SW, but I swear it was always in my face. I was doing ok on liquid and handled Travis County Circle okay, but had nothing left for SW Pkwy. Thankfully, it had some good downhills where I could recover. Same for Hwy 71.</p><p>We took the back way to the Trek store and I pulled in to rest and ask Sherry what her mileage was. That's when I calculated I had another four plus miles to Circle K. My rule of thumb is to not rest more than five minutes when riding by myself. I find that the muscles start tightening up after that. However, I have another rule of thumb that says wait for your heart rate to return to normal before getting back on the bike. In this case it was nine minutes. Interestingly enough, my average heart rate for the whole ride was what I usually do. So, in terms of bodily functions, breathing, heart rate and hydration were as they should have been. Only the legs had no life.</p><p>When I left the shop for the final four miles, I thankfully had the wind behind me. I kept the cadence and power low and took it super easy on the hills. Once at the car I rested some more and drank most of the protein drink. I'm taking today off but will give the legs another test tomorrow.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-84836309983897213682023-04-19T14:27:00.005-05:002023-04-19T14:32:43.794-05:00WALKING YAUPON<p> On today's regular Wednesday 10:00am ride, I experienced something that hasn't happened in twenty years or so. I walked up a hill, Yaupon (in Austin) to be precise. I have never had to put a foot down going up this climb, ever. Until today. But it wasn't my fault! It is an involved story and we need to go back several months.</p><p>I have two road bikes, the Roark (custom titanium) and the Emonda (super climbing, full Dura-Ace carbon). The Roark had a triple chain ring, the Emonda a compact. After racing thirteen years on the Roark, I got the Emonda and, truthfully, became faster. In order to keep up with the times, I decided to upgrade the Emonda with Di2 shifting. This included moving to a 12-speed cassette and 52-34 front chain rings. That was accomplished last month and I'm extremely pleased with how they work. But the Roark had ten-year old ten speed components. Therefore, I asked Trek Research to put the old Emonda drive train on the Roark. They were happy to oblige. There were a few new parts but not germane to the story. </p><p>For the last six weeks I've been riding the Emonda and the Roark (which is for sale at $2,000) has been hanging in the garage untouched since I picked it up at the shop. Until today. Starting a few weeks ago, the Di2 had trouble charging and a few times stopped working. Last week I voiced my concerns at the shop and they were going to look into it. Meanwhile, I kept the bike and rode it four more days, the last being Monday. This morning I was going to clean the chain, and for whatever reason, turned on the computer and rode up and down the street not getting any response from the shifters. I hooked up my E-Tube app and learned the battery was DEAD. I hooked up the charging cable and got no response. Tried several times with different plugs. Time to take it to the shop.</p><p>Not a problem, I also took the Roark so that I could ride with the Wednesday morning group. I moved over a bottle holder, aired up the tires, and practiced in the street. All was in working order. At the shop, I dropped off the Emonda, told my tale of woe and was assured they would take care of it. While waiting for Craig's arrival, I turned on my computer and rode around the parking lot. Strange, the power meter wasn't connecting. I hit a few buttons on the Garmin and from about twenty yards away, it picked up somebody else's power meter. Dang! It wouldn't pick up mine. Turned the whole thing off and tried again. Success! The ride started. To finish the power meter story, if you look at my Strava analysis you will see that there were gaps in my cadence. I will change that battery.</p><p>The first climb on Wednesday is Floral Park and I noticed when I got past the 5th (from the top) cog, the chain would hop back and forth between cogs. Double Dang! The next hill was Fire Oak and I could get up that without using the top cogs. Same for the others, until Yaupon. </p><p>I briefly considered not going down to the bottom, but we had a stout south wind which would be at our backs going up. Well, for the first of the climbs I needed the top two cogs but when I shifted to them they went nuts. Hopping up and down like crazy. I had to unclip and get off and walk maybe thirty yards to the cul-du-sac. I mounted up and shifted down to the fourth cog and hoped that would hold. As it turned out, I could shift up one more cog going up the second climb and after that I was down in the lower cogs and moving on rather quickly. As a matter of fact, Strava gave me silver medals for two climb segments on Yaupon that I cycled. And a PR for the decent (35 mph avg). When I got to the shop and explained my situation, it was an easy adjustment to the cable.</p><p>And, my Di2 fix was apparently just as easy. The cables to the battery were too tight and not making a good connection. The wires were given a little more slack and the battery is charging (at the shop) as this is being written. Hopefully, I'll get the text to come pick it up shortly.</p><p><br /></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-26036968405458937542023-03-06T14:31:00.004-06:002023-03-06T14:33:18.566-06:00BACK AT PACE BEND SENIOR GAMES, 2023<p> I whine a lot about racing at Pace Bend. This year is no different. But if you want to read about them you'll have to look up my other posts. Just do a search for Pace Bend. Without the whining, this will be a short post.</p><p>Because the organizers format the races with the 40k road race first, I skip it and save my legs for the 20k road race. I only did the 5k time trial this year for the same reason. The course is just a tad short of 10k per lap. Last year it was cold with a bit of a wind, this year a very nice 70+ but an ever-freshening wind. I didn't recognize anyone in my age group so assumed I was racing myself. Not that it matters, I use it as a training ride. </p><p>Last year I was dropped on the first climb, this year I was staying up, close to the leaders, easily until the first turn, about 1.8 miles into it. I made the turn with the bunch but a couple hundred yards later, when the road turned up, I slowed more than they did, and folks started to pass. I latched onto a couple of guys and was able to draft until the last big hill on the back side. I could keep them in sight but couldn't close the gap as we started down, around, and back to the start line and the beginning of the second loop.</p><p>This time I was on my own into the wind and speed dropped precipitously. In my mirrors I caught sight of two guys and knew they were faster than me. Eventually they caught up on the back side hills. Like the first pair, they were about ten seconds ahead but holding steady. On the last big hill, I detected a slump in one guy as the other left him. I started closing. But once we made the last turn and headed into the wind, he was able to hold his gap. Thus I finished third in my age group. </p><p>The first place winner was several minutes ahead, and the second was 28 seconds ahead of me. The second place guy (Richard) I had forgotten about because he had serious health problems a few years ago and hadn't been riding. The winner (George), I looked up and apparently he, too, took a bunch of years off. His last races according to USA Cycling were crits in 2015. He has no record in Senior Games. I suspect they are both aiming at Nationals in Pittsburg. Richard has always been faster than me.</p><p> But both Richard and George used a lot of muscle in the road races. Richard skipped the time trials and I was faster than George in the 5k. That in itself is a story. As I switched bikes and did a little warm up on the tt bike, my shoulders and neck started to cramp. I couldn't get down on the bars. As I slowly pedaled back to the car I contemplated not doing the time trial at all. I remembered that my neck starts to cramp when I get dehydrated. So I downed a bottle of water and hoped that would do the trick. </p><p>The race itself was routine. Once started I gingerly got down on the bars and was pleased that I could stay there. My legs, on the other hand, wondered what I was doing. It took a few minutes of complaining before they would get to working. I felt pretty good on the way back (out and back course) and as we neared the finished actually had some oomph left to ramp up the cadence and finish strong. As it turned out, George was 27 seconds slower. So I managed to come home with one gold medal.</p><p> As I write this, my whole body still aches. It was a hard workout. One more thing. My upgrade to Di2 was completed on Friday. I familiarized myself with the shifting and paired it to the Garmin on Saturday. I really had fun with it on the 20k, shifting effortlessly in order to keep up with the peleton for the first 1.8 miles, shifting up and down the cassette and in and out of the chain rings. Going between chain rings was especially handy with the multiple hills.</p><p> </p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-56937012732457523582022-11-17T08:07:00.001-06:002022-11-17T08:12:29.479-06:00REALITY OF GETTING OLD<p> Last week my friend, Chris, was gasping for air as we stopped after a long climb. He is about fifteen years my junior and asked how much speed/endurance (not the words he used) drop-off I encountered as I aged. I thought about my race times and answered that not much changed. Now that I've had a chance to consider the question in totality, I need to expand on the answer. Chris rides a lot but doesn't race, yet.</p><p>I started racing Senior Games at 62 and was pleased that in the first four that year I didn't finish last. I was no where near first. I also started doing cycling vacations of various lengths several years prior to that, including riding coast-to-coast. There is nothing like 52 days (48 cycling, 5 rest) of 80 miles per day average to increase strength and stamina. But let's get back to the question at hand.</p><p>From 62 to 77 my racing times didn't drop off much. The reason for that is the amount of race training I did increased quite a bit. It also included a dramatic change in equipment. The new bikes/tires are 'way much faster than what I had been racing on. I spend a lot more time in the gym (3-5 days a week), beginning several years ago. Since Chris doesn't race, I started thinking about my routine rides. I've been taking the same road up to Walburg for twenty-five years. There is one particular short climb (maybe fifty yards) that I remember taking in the big ring without a problem. I haven't been able to do that in fifteen years. I can still make it up Courtyard and Jester without stopping, but I'm using bigger and bigger cogs to achieve that. So, a slightly different answer to the question: if you keep doing what you were doing, yes, you will get slower. You have to do more. It takes more reps (like twice to four times) to achieve the same strength. Pay lots more attention to your cardio-vascular system.</p><p>Here is what I suggest: a weekly hill ride and a weekly HR ride. The Wednesday ride out of Trek Research has a decent amount of climbing, but there are other challenges around Austin. There are several drills I do: 15 second accelerations followed by 45 seconds rest by ten times; rest five minutes and do it again and a third time. Increase that to 20/40 and 30/30 as you develop. Or, 3 sets 5 minutes each 60, 100, 80 rpm with five minutes between. Both of those can also be done on a trainer. Another HR drill is Jumps. Starting at 90 rpm, do a 15 second out of saddle acceleration. After 15 minute warm-up, do ten of these with 5 minutes between (actually, 4 minutes, 45 seconds to keep timing simple). </p><p>One more caveat: exercise is one of the easiest habits to break. CONSTANT VIGILENCE! As Professor Moody would say.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-37329659521968911362022-08-29T08:33:00.000-05:002022-08-29T08:33:26.777-05:00CHANGING FLATS, UPDATED.<p> My friend, Randy, at <a href="http://www.natcheztracetravel.com/biking-the-trace.html">Natchez Trace Travel</a> asked me to jot down a few tips on what to take when doing the Trace, or any other ride for that matter. He advises these will be on his website next week. While cycling this morning, it occurred to me that I had seen many riders, whom I considered experienced, flumoxed when it came to a simple tire change. In my tips, I assume good changing abilities, but to cover myself, I'll expand on the tire/tube changing experience. </p><p> The three most common causes of flats are: 1) Tube malfunction, e.g. the stem leaks; 2) Pinch flat, caused when you hit a hole or rock and the tire momentarily allows the tube to crash against the rim, resulting in two holes that look like a snake bite; 3) Puncture, as when glass, nail or staple, or sharp rock, penetrates the tire and tube. I shan't mention operator error, when you goof up when installing the tube. We will assume this was done correctly. If you are going on a long ride, like the 444 miles of the Natchez Trace, put new tubes in before you go, practically eliminating cause #1. Keep your tires properly inflated, thus minimizing cause #2. Use a product like Tire Tuffy, minimizing cause #3. </p><p> But, things happen. Let's assume you are cycling along (not racing) and a flat occurs. Here is what you do: 1. Find a safe and comfortable place (as best you can) to work. 2. Remove the wheel (we all hope it is the front, but it usually is the rear). 3. Remove and arrange your tire changing tools and the spare tube (I use new tubes on the road, patched at home, as this cuts down on the frustration of a installing a defective tube and having to start over). 4. Before doing anything else, inspect the tire to determine the source of the flat. If found, mark the spot with the chalk you carry in your saddle pack. 5. Release one side of the tire, pull out the tube, again marking the tube at the site of the puncture before completely removing it. (I'm assuming knowledge of tire lever usage) 6. Run your fingers (slowly) around the inside of the tire, with special attention to the chalked area, to find the pin, glass etc. that caused the puncture. You may have to remove the tire completely and turn it inside-out in order to find and remove the offending object. I saw one person go through 3 tubes before an experienced traveler interceded and found the glass. Don't skip this step, even if you removed the nail (for instance) from the outside. It is an opportunity to inspect the whole tire. Once satisfied all is clean, move to the next step. 7. Blow a little air into the tube, enough to give it a round shape (maybe 10 pounds). This makes it easier to move out of the way when re-installing the tire. Be sure one side of the tire is already in place before putting in the tube. 8. Be very careful not to catch a piece of the tube with the tire lever when putting on the tire. This will cause a pinch-flat before you even get started. That is also why you put some air in the tire first. 9. After the tire is re-installed, with hands about 3 inches apart, pinch the tire away from the rim, visually making sure the tube didn't sneak out under the tire bead, all the way round the tire. This only takes about 30 seconds and is very important. 10. Air up the tire half-way. Inspect again for bulges or the tube not being inside the tire. 11. Air it up completely. You are finished, except for cleaning up and putting the wheel back on. </p><p> Forcing yourself to take the time to go through all the steps will result in much less frustration and only adds a few minutes to the whole operation. Occasionally you will receive a gaping hole in the tire, usually a nail or staple. Simply installing a new tube is inadequate, in that when inflated, it will push through the hole in the tire. I carry a 3 inch section of old tire (called a boot) in my saddle pack, and put this over the hole between the tire and tube. This works quite well, especially when the hole is in the sidewall, although each revolution of the tire produces a slight (annoying) bump. I also carry some duct tape and a small section of this over the inside of the tire also works well. In an emergency, paper currency will work, as will a mylar candy wrapper. Park Tool sells a nice one which is less bulky than a section of old tire.</p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-28081051908621008732022-06-05T20:06:00.000-05:002022-06-05T20:06:02.113-05:00NOT WHAT I PLANNED<p> After racing at Nationals it was clear I needed another two mph in my time trial. I took a few days off then eased back into riding. The day designated to find what gear and rpm ratio would give me 24mph turned out to be a no-energy day that turned into a simple recovery ride. This past weekend I planned to do a 26 miler with the Trek Parmer folks on Saturday and a longer ride with Trek Lamar on Sunday. Saturday morning spawned a two hour thunderstorm and the ride was canceled. The Sunday morning ride turned into more of a social which included stopping for breakfast tacos. Not what I needed.</p><p>But all wasn't lost. The Saturday ride was announced for Sunday. I was good for that. Seven of us showed up and all were experienced riders, so it would be a good workout. We were clicking right along, not having to regroup. Training Peaks gave me four PR's for the first part of the ride. Then, as we toodled along, we approached a lady walking her dog. I recognized her as a former co-worker who I hadn't seen since her retirement. I called out and circled back to say hello. I intended to do a quick thirty-second stop and return quickly to the group. It was more like two minutes. But the guys didn't stop. </p><p>I've done this ride three or four times but with the various twists and turns, really had no idea of the route. I mis-remembered a turn and missed the actual turn. After a few minutes I came to an intersection that looked familiar. I took a right turn and verified I was back on course. But was I ahead of the group or had they already passed? I went back about a quarter mile but became unsure of the turns so gave up and headed for home (Trek Store). But that's not the end of the story, because I still didn't know the way. As it turned out, I knew enough of the route plus general direction. I took a few wrong turns but since I knew what direction, it was only a few blocks out of the way. Several times this happened. Finally, I found Great Oaks Drive and was able to retrace my steps back to Trek.</p><p>I was about ten minutes ahead of the group who had stopped and waited for me and looked for me for about fifteen minutes before giving up. I apologized profusely for getting lost and not hooking back up. I guess I need to learn how to download the route to my Garmin and learn how to follow it. Plus, I will now carry my phone with me. Chris called looking for me, but the phone was safely in the car. I blame this all on Covid and getting out of the habit of group riding. </p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-22329737940318694802022-05-27T08:56:00.000-05:002022-05-27T08:56:00.305-05:00A WEEK OF RACING, MAY 2022<p>To be precise, this was four races plus a warm-up day over eight days. It started with the USAC Texas State Time Trial Championships in Hempsted, Texas, then two time trials and a road race at Senior Games Nationals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We had planned to take three days driving, starting on Saturday, May 14 in order to race on the 18th, 19th,and 21st. Then I found out about the State Time Trials scheduled for the 14th. Fortuitously, Hempsted is on the way, so we just backed up our departure time a couple hours, did the race, and immediately got in the car to head east.</p><p>USA Cycling generally attracts a faster group of participants than Senior Games. And their distance is more challenging at 20k (younger riders do 40K). At Senior Games the time trials are 5k and 10k. However, this was going to be a pressure-less race, in that, for whatever reason, there were no competitors in my age group. Our arrival time was on schedule and I could get in a good thirty-minute warm up which included cadence repeats. I've found that short bursts of high cadence (preferably around 120 rpm) gets the heart rate up over 130 bpm, or about 80% of max. </p><p>The Hempsted course is quite simple: out-and-back on a straight, smooth asphalt, mostly flat road. I eschewed the small starting ramp and just held onto a rail and eased into the start. It took about a quarter mile to stabilize HR, cadence, and speed at around 90 rpm and 21 mph. Interestingly enough, even though I was into a slight wind going out, I was faster, using less watts than on the return. The small dips in the road made the difference. The average speed of 21.2 met my goal of 21mph. For Nationals I felt I should be over 22mph. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwJ2toqrw9nsLoEHinWHHqPwNEtFaPqxbiLGBceiPvkle3N7Nrxyf0PNPGWh4oixrFkWMhrPoMdNlu25GVU6lcO0u_SFvTervJ9Y5BaKDTwMXGGJHZGpzpJQ5LZaPrTXMqdHRwcsQxBohD9STjPPAMpzwD_7iS6xdaRLdzE1tvBTfPDvOSm7qyu9y/s4032/IMG_0643%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwJ2toqrw9nsLoEHinWHHqPwNEtFaPqxbiLGBceiPvkle3N7Nrxyf0PNPGWh4oixrFkWMhrPoMdNlu25GVU6lcO0u_SFvTervJ9Y5BaKDTwMXGGJHZGpzpJQ5LZaPrTXMqdHRwcsQxBohD9STjPPAMpzwD_7iS6xdaRLdzE1tvBTfPDvOSm7qyu9y/w84-h112/IMG_0643%5B1%5D.JPG" width="84" /></a></div><p></p><p>Before the race, I asked the race director if I could pick up my medal after the race so that we could hit the road toward Fort Lauderdale as soon as possible. Not only was my medal waiting for me, he held an individual ceremony and announcement. Classy!<br /></p><p>We arrived in Fort Lauderdale Monday afternoon and immediately went to credentials pickup at the convention center. I was a bit put off by the apparent lack of organization. The goody-bag was sparse. A portent of things to come. On Tuesday I first drove over to the time trial course to preview. It was a loop around the parking lot of the Panthers hockey rink and included several turns which required coming off the aero bars. I tried the one corner and could maneuver on the bars at 18mph but not higher so resigned myself to not trying it. This only costs at most two seconds, probably just one. It would be more should there be a slower rider entering the corners ahead of you. The road race course was a thirty-minute drive and would be conducted on city streets with coned-off lanes. Naturally, there were no cones on Tuesday. I made the decision to just ride a square portion of the course, avoiding a left turn in traffic. As it turned out, I also mis-read where the start line was. Not previewing the whole course was a mistake.</p><p>My start time for the 5k time trial on Wednesday was 7:36am and I arrived at 6:15 and prepared to warm up. The course would be closed before the first person went off at 7:00, but I was able to get in three loops before that which allowed me to bring my HR up. The remainder of the warm up was on a road around a shopping mall and this is where I did my cadence drills. I left time for recovery and took the opportunity to observe the early starters in order to get a sense of how things would go. The starter called the age group up, but because this was chip-timed he didn't feel the need to have them start in their assigned times, just so long they were in the assigned group. I took advantage of this in my race and when my group was called, I was first in line. Because the 5k was a loop and a half, Marilane chose to see me at the finish.</p><p>The race itself was uneventful. You would think that at Nationals they would have a start ramp and a bike holder. They had neither. I pushed off and clipped in at the first rotation then accelerated. In the past I'd push too hard at first and miss the clip. The first turn was only about thirty yards from the start, so I didn't get into the aerobars until after that. Then it was quickly up to speed, coming off the bars for the left turn, and back into them. Cadence, heart rate, and speed were all according to plan and I finished strong. Third place (22.6 mph), not close to second and well ahead of fourth. First place is always Durward. He is a nice guy, my age so I can't age away from him, and much faster than me.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2R51GNauGVwT9Thq1SXf8y_bykGmQk3FO65KDJBnHjRgtOhaY7ix0ahoaGZ7GUYRK2f4Abhtv5zh18gOPaUrV5c60VWFZklobZcd5Keo6rShykqYSerUZBE6TDll-S1KjUyduoxVwv5TyhST64UgJfPUGoZxQW9MXDh43vH5OmRH_qnMw006Xc2kM/s908/IMG_0872%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="720" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2R51GNauGVwT9Thq1SXf8y_bykGmQk3FO65KDJBnHjRgtOhaY7ix0ahoaGZ7GUYRK2f4Abhtv5zh18gOPaUrV5c60VWFZklobZcd5Keo6rShykqYSerUZBE6TDll-S1KjUyduoxVwv5TyhST64UgJfPUGoZxQW9MXDh43vH5OmRH_qnMw006Xc2kM/w170-h214/IMG_0872%5B1%5D.JPG" width="170" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>But that's not the end of the story. Even though we were chip timing, apparently the computer wasn't programmed to sort everything out. Rather than take ten minutes after the last person in the group finished, after several hours of waiting it was announced that awards would be done the next day after the 10k. There was some hope results would be online at 3pm, but it took almost 24 hours before they were posted.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LyBaynwPs7NuSDyAXy55S9mwE6ra5cK4PhZG48_naXfgWZ7IRQLtipxvdAn10nknIz-4Luqz68VIhVVubDmqTaS6IvsJkbDU1KKCZ4gFBnUroD_wRM6RvmDVMqED_OdCg-aO5vRMsn-1pHLLMmifKZ2pOOGNnLoE83tFvEP148PmZ4uoV8_XMhJN/s2592/IMG_7780%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="2592" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LyBaynwPs7NuSDyAXy55S9mwE6ra5cK4PhZG48_naXfgWZ7IRQLtipxvdAn10nknIz-4Luqz68VIhVVubDmqTaS6IvsJkbDU1KKCZ4gFBnUroD_wRM6RvmDVMqED_OdCg-aO5vRMsn-1pHLLMmifKZ2pOOGNnLoE83tFvEP148PmZ4uoV8_XMhJN/s320/IMG_7780%5B1%5D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>For the 10k, warm-up was identical to the previous day. However, they had learned their lesson and we now had to start at our assigned times. Carbon copy of the 5k except twice as long. Actually, the 5k was a tad short and the 10k a tad long. I made a change in tactics and went with a slightly lower cadence (6rpm) and higher gear for the first three laps then picked it up for the last third. My computer speed and the official timing isn't the same. They have me at 20.9 and I have 21.7mph. They are also off by at least ten seconds in the finish time. It didn't matter.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYh0_RiSHAdxpHMUm1lsTegZFoqwy9nnS8blk-0om2LzbUEuiz5MjH_nQOorL3x73vm2Hzrq5pl76a95X0GSWBl8FQ9JU8BhwCRlwY8PYZm4Ud1A7CgntK18ptt8tfkUgp1BOcSZYGrYUK4Jmbz8VbJ4UUw44hsf2GmVLRoI0FSh_z7xl0NV7hWzS5/s4032/IMG_0642%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYh0_RiSHAdxpHMUm1lsTegZFoqwy9nnS8blk-0om2LzbUEuiz5MjH_nQOorL3x73vm2Hzrq5pl76a95X0GSWBl8FQ9JU8BhwCRlwY8PYZm4Ud1A7CgntK18ptt8tfkUgp1BOcSZYGrYUK4Jmbz8VbJ4UUw44hsf2GmVLRoI0FSh_z7xl0NV7hWzS5/w118-h157/IMG_0642%5B1%5D.JPG" width="118" /></a></div>When calling the groups to the awards ceremonies, they skipped ours. Apparently there was a discrepancy. Well, let me tell you! This is where I found out these races were being held without a race director!! The head timing guy was tasked with making all the decisions. Here's the whole story. Some old people come to the Senior Games with very little race experience and some with very little common sense. The race map very clearly shows the 10k as 3 1/2 laps of the course. That means you go through the finish line four times. Multiple times the starter would announce the course as three and a half loops but sometimes would not add that that meant passing the finish line four times. One guy in our age group did a 5k and stopped. The guy who was second in the 5k stopped after the third time. Rather than being penalized with a DNF, they were allowed a Mulligan. He was slower on his second attempt but still faster than me, so I got the bronze medal (21.7mph). It only took a couple of hours before getting my two medals.<br /><p></p><p>Friday was thankfully a rest day. It rained off and on all day, some of it quite a downpour. When driving to the road race on Saturday we passed the time trial course and it was under water. A 7:14 start time meant leaving before 6am. Bummer. The races started at 7:00am with various age groups going off at two or four minute intervals. There were twelve guys in our group. Durward, me, and nine other guys who did the time trials and were slower than me. And George. George didn't do the time trials so was coming in on fresh legs. I knew all I had to do was hang behind Durward and I'd coast to a medal.</p><p>As we started, one guy led out and I grabbed his wheel. This lasted about a minute before Durward came whistling by and I jumped on his wheel. We got a gap immediately and it got bigger and bigger. We were about a mile into the race and I checked my mirrors and saw nothing and announced that it was just us. Less than a minute later George had caught us. The three of us were around three and a half miles into it when two younger guys came past. Durward jumped on their wheel, I on his and George was gapped. But they were cruising at 28mph and I can't hold that for very long. Sadly I had to let them go and not long after that George had made up the gap. But he made no attempt to share the front and sucked wheel for a couple of miles. An aside, the first lap is 10.5k and has a left turn and the second lap is 9.5k and you go straight. After a right turn you need to be on the left to set up for the turn. There were no signs and the volunteer wasn't very loud. George and I didn't immediately set up for the turn and unfortunately a large group of fast guys on their last lap almost ran us over. Anyhow we got through unscathed and got back up to speed. Since George was on my wheel, I decided I'd ride at a comfortable pace and get ready for the final sprint. But I had about seven miles before that occurred. At around the eleven mile mark the other guys caught us. For me, that was a blessing, in that now I could draft. George continued to draft. With a half mile to go one guy accelerated but was quickly caught. That put us into sprint mode. We made the final turn and upped the speed. I had managed to maneuver myself five guys back and knew I'd made a mistake. It was now a free for all and one guy and George were distancing the rest of us. I upped the cadence, dropped down a gear, and immediately passed the four guys and saw the other two coming back to me. It felt like I was around 130 rpm but the computer says only 114. I needed another ten yards, losing silver by 12/100ths of a second.</p><p>But that's not the end of the story. The race computer didn't record my time at all. I didn't know this until about a half hour later when I inquired at the awards area. I had to go back to the finish line to register my complaint (because there was no race director). As it turned out, there were a handful of people in front of me. I don't know the whole story, but after about an hour of waiting, I went back to the car, Marilane gave me a 3x5 card and I wrote out my complaint and cycled back to the computer truck. Once again, they announced they would get things straight and make the awards the next day, or mail the medals to those (me) who wouldn't be racing the 40k road race. To their credit, they also had a camera at the finish, and that is how I know how close I came. Durward, by the way, finished 4:15 ahead of me.</p><p>Three bronze at Nationals is not too shabby. Fort Lauderdale gets a D- in organization. Next up is USA Cycling Nationals in Albuquerque. I'm thinking seriously about going, even though I really don't like altitude. Next year Senior Games Nationals is in Pittsburg. </p><p><br /></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-932490149647250332022-03-29T21:57:00.000-05:002022-03-29T21:57:02.546-05:00WHY I CYCLE ON GREAT NORTHERN<p> I just received notice from Strava that I lost my Local Legend on one of the segments at Great Northern. I lose this segment on a regular basis, as me and someone else have the same regimen. Truthfully, I care not a whit about being a Local Legend. So, the short answer as to why I'm riding up and down this stretch is quite simple: I'M OLD!!<span> </span></p><p>Of course, there is more to the story. But the truth is, the older you get the less you like change. Let's start with Great Northern itself, for those not familiar with it. This is a 1.3 mile straight, flatish street with a dual bike lane and no cross streets/stop signs. During the day, when I ride, there isn't much traffic and what traffic there is is accustomed to cyclists, runners, and dog-walkers. I can do my various drills in relative solitude, staying mostly in my lane and dodging walkers. It runs north-south and is next to a railroad track (hence the name) and is maybe twenty or so feet below the tracks. As a result, between the houses and the track, the street is somewhat protected from the wind. My other practice spot is Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, where I can do my "jumps" practice and acceleration drills. I'm not spending a lot of time at Old Settlers currently because of the wind. Unlike Great Northern, Old Settlers is on a hill and always has more wind than in Austin. Hopefully I'll spend more time there in April.</p><p>The length of Great Northern lends itself to my cadence drills and acceleration drills. One cadence drill calls for three sets of five minutes each at 90, 100, 110 rpm. It takes not quite five minutes to go end-to-end so whatever it takes is what I do. This drill doesn't require a specific watts output. Another drill is a cadence ladder: 3 sets of 10 reps 30 seconds each at 90,100,110 and 30 seconds rest. I might have to fudge a bit when I turn around at each end. I also do acceleration drills. I accelerate for a set time, like 15 or 30 seconds at a set wattage. There is one other drill I do here that I can't do at Old Settlers. It is a "white line" drill. I do this when warming up or cooling down or anytime I'm not doing another drill. It consists of seeing how long I can ride on the white line separating the bike lane from the driving lane. This drill helps with balance and smoothing your cadence. Of course, I still have to dodge walkers and I move over for cars.</p><p>Another reason I go back and forth on Great Northern is that I hate riding on Shoal Creek. Most of the "regulars" I see do the loop. I did too, until the city installed a "protected" bike lane. Back to my original reason: this street fits my needs quite well and I see no reason to search out some other place. But even as I type the last sentence, I'm reminded that I announced last Sunday that I need to change my 50 mile Sunday route. Chandler Road out to Taylor has become too busy. I love the smooth asphalt, the few inclines, no stopping. But the traffic is fast and too many drivers are getting too close. This was the road I'd use for my 20-minute FTP test. So yes, I can still change. </p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-87716279779941330292022-03-08T19:48:00.000-06:002022-03-08T19:48:02.062-06:00DESTINY!<p>Somethings are meant to be. And some are not. Today was one of those days where my desire was continually thwarted. The original plan had me riding in the kitchen; so planned because of the weather forecast of cold north wind and scattered showers. First, I slept in. For those who are not regular readers, my usual waking hour is between 3:30 and 4:00. This morning I dragged my body out of bed at 5:00. My usual routine when not going to the gym takes between 60 and 90 minutes and includes coffee and a few word games to exercise my mind. </p><p>Time slipped away and before I knew it, a crew arrived to take out our dead and unwanted bushes. This landscape has been in the ground for almost 40 years and I wanted no part in having to get them out. They were still hard at it when I left to get my hair cut. The appointment was at 11:00 and I was home by noon. Then came lunch. I wasn't feeling all that energetic so delayed setting up the bike in the kitchen. Instead, I reclined in my recliner and relaxed. That morphed into a nap. I came to refreshed but really not feeling like riding the trainer. We have the display for the outside thermometer set up in the computer room and upon passing by on my way down the hall I noticed the temperature was 50 degrees. Hmmm!</p><p>I went outside and found that the sharp north wind had abated and the sun looked like it wanted to come out. Eureka! I could get in an hour at Old Settlers Park. Immediately I went inside and changed into bike gear, filled a water bottle and jumped in the car. The bike and gear live in the car so I didn't have to load anything. Off I went.</p><p>The new plan was to do my "oval" workout. This is a steady one hour in a parking lot doing an oval about 333 meters per lap, similar to the size of the Alkek Velodrome. I parked and prepared to unhook the bike from the rack. Then I noticed I'd forgotten the computer. We all know that if it isn't on Strava it never happened. After a momentary pause and expletive, I realized I had my phone and could run Strava on that. I wouldn't have cadence or power but for this ride I knew what gear to use and really didn't need the stats. So I went to the front seat, got my phone and returned to grab the bike.</p><p>My rack is inside the car and the front fork is mounted. When I grabbed the front wheel preparatory to releasing the bike, I uttered my second expletive, maybe a third. The tire was flat! I took this as a sign that maybe today wasn't meant to be, returned to the front seat and drove home.</p><p>Back home I used my "ride time" changing out the tube. Several years ago (Sept 25, 2010) I posted detailed instructions on how to properly change a tube . First you check the old tube to detect the location of the leak and if found, check the similar location on the tire to be sure the cause still isn't in it. The stupid tube didn't have a leak. I plunged it under water and got zero bubbles. I triple-checked the tire inside and out. All was well. I still installed a new tube. As of this writing, five hours later, the tube still hasn't lost any air. We shall see what it looks like in the morning. And speaking of morning, it looks like I will have two days of decent weather to ride outside.</p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-73831402281292398892022-03-08T09:12:00.018-06:002022-03-08T19:56:51.423-06:00BLOOD PRESSURE<p> It comes as no surprise that my blood pressure is lower than most folks my age. Periodically, news feeds post some article touting the benefits of exercise, and lower blood pressure is one of those benefits. Since I've been exercising all my adult life, I fully expect my BP to be low. That being said, a lot of it is due to genetics. For instance, my wife has a much lower BP than I do and has had all her life, exercising or not.</p><p>Like most of you, after I finish a long or arduous ride I'll get cleaned up, eat something, then rest, usually in my recliner. But after sitting awhile, when I get up I need to wait a few seconds to let my BP adjust. Otherwise I get shaky (not dizzy). In the past if I ignored this warning, I've had my knees buckle. This has been going on for years and I'm used to it.</p><p>Lots of jokes have been made about old guys having nothing to talk about except their health, or lack thereof. I must admit, health takes up much of my thoughts as I get older. To that end, early in the pandemic, we purchased a dosimeter. This was to check our blood oxygen level to make sure Covid didn't sneak up on us. After copious use, I found that my normal level was borderline low, both before and after riding. Occasionally it would register a 98 but mostly 94-96 (my wife is a consistent 98). I'm wondering if that is part of the reason I don't do better when racing. More on that in a later post. Recently we acquired a high-end BP monitor. I get my BP checked a lot. The dentist, the ophthalmologist, the physical therapist, and various other doctors all start by checking it. Most of the time it registers close to 120/70. The last visit to the dentist had me at 168/80, which tells me my body doesn't like the dentist even if my brain does. A similar reading at the urologist. Yes, old folks have lots of physicians.</p><p>Most, if not all, of my doctor visits come before cycling. Since we have this new toy, I'm able to take a reading after riding. The first time it wasn't on purpose. I did my ride, clean up etc. A few hours later I came to the computer (the BP monitor is set up on the desk) and decided to check. I felt fine, hadn't had to wait when I got up from the recliner. When I saw the result, I figured the monitor had malfunctioned. But I just moved on to whatever I wanted to look up on the computer. The next day I checked in the morning and had a 113/79, which solidified my thought the previous reading was a malfunction. Several days later I checked after cycling and registered 81/57. That got my attention and my curiosity. Over the next week I registered 121/69, 119/72, 95/69, and 83/54. Yes, the low ones were after cycling. For the record, we've had the BP monitor for a couple of months and mostly it just sits there. It was only after the low readings did I check it daily for a week.</p><p>After my last one of 86/61 I decided to message my cardiologist to ask if I should come in early (I go annually anyhow). But then, I just Googled "low BP and exercise" and went to a respected site to read what they had to say. I was assured that a lower BP after exercise is normal and to be expected. Nothing I read gave any real numbers. So, while I'm not too concerned, I'll be quizzing my cardiologist if a 30 point drop is acceptable. In the meantime, I'll assume it is and carry on my training as planned.</p><p>Those reading this post all exercise, but maybe they know folks who don't and need a little push to get started. Lowering their BP might be just the shove they need.</p><p><br /></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-18096307089183886442022-03-06T20:32:00.002-06:002022-03-06T20:32:38.499-06:00CYCLING IN THE WIND<p>If I didn't need the mileage, I'd have stayed home. But I do, and cycling on the trainer in the kitchen wasn't going to be sufficient. At least it wasn't cold. Today's was a zone 2, put in a couple hours sort of ride. My schedule calls for two per week but in looking at the weather forecast, that might be a problem. The other days are specific training: cadence, jumps or accelerations, power.</p><p>My go-to, thirty mile, two-plus hour ride has me leaving from home, through the neighborhoods to the Brushy Creek Regional Trail which ends by Kalahari Resorts. Then through Old Settlers Park and more neighborhoods until I reach Chandler Road. It is an out-and-back route. For longer rides I can then go east to Taylor or north to Walburg. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7WEHK29ErzjWjEdf75FzTWqs8V59jB4CQloDFjWv1UDBW_VNmPlH2cg3B0MgW0qaYZ8JSBl6DhVHXFFebtQIYoB3swlOW0iJ4LbonzwjvZ4oKQZzEC_ittRjjXJ-QmiMMBE7bwGlha-6eBDkkryRRdnTMf58HIZH3UOGijmimVI-8QpWNK57NkSee=s1863" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1863" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7WEHK29ErzjWjEdf75FzTWqs8V59jB4CQloDFjWv1UDBW_VNmPlH2cg3B0MgW0qaYZ8JSBl6DhVHXFFebtQIYoB3swlOW0iJ4LbonzwjvZ4oKQZzEC_ittRjjXJ-QmiMMBE7bwGlha-6eBDkkryRRdnTMf58HIZH3UOGijmimVI-8QpWNK57NkSee=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>When I left the house the wind came mostly from the south, with maybe a little SE direction. Most of the first part headed east so I had the wind coming from the side. I was happy for the Brushy Creek section, in that it protected me from most of the wind and is a nice, scenic, concrete trail. Being concrete, it is a tad bumpy but I've gotten used to it. </p><p>Most of getting through Old Settlers was north, so I had the wind at my back. Likewise Red Bud Trail. Then the road turned east at Limmer Loop. County Rd 108 and 119 were also north. The upshot was that I cruised most of the outbound with the wind at my back. Then I turned around.</p><p>First I dropped to the small chain ring, then went up a few cogs. It wasn't like it came as a surprise. I anticipated an hour going out and an hour and fifteen minutes coming back. As it turned out, I was only off by a few minutes. Coming back against the wind didn't seem as tough and I didn't feel like I'd been through the wringer. Maybe I'm finally getting a bit of form. </p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-87178878786276282142022-02-28T08:49:00.008-06:002022-02-28T09:10:53.799-06:00I HATE PACE BEND<p> Don't get me wrong, Pace Bend is a nice place to ride. But I don't just ride there, I race there. In terms of placing, I do alright. But this is a difficult course and an ego-busting one for me. Yesterday was no different. I suppose I should be grateful that the three races exposed glaring deficiencies in my training. And in that regard, I am. I've been exposed to this venue for fifteen years and have never performed well.</p><p>The format for the Senior Games State Finals is 40k Road Race at 9:00am; 20k Road Race at 10:45am; 10k Time Trial at 12:15pm; 5k Time Trial immediately following. Back several years ago this was a two-day event in San Antonio, with 5k and 40k one day and 10k and 20k the next. It was also in late March or early April. I would sign up for all four races. In any case, this was a qualifying for next year's Nationals, taking place in Pittsburg. You only have to place in one of the road races and one of the time trials. Last year I only did the 20k and 5k. The current format guarantees your legs to be toast for the time trials.</p><p>This year I've moved up to the 80-84 category and as far as I know, the only racer in my age group that is faster is Bob C. There is one other fast guy from Dallas but his participation in Senior Games is spotty. This year there were five of us in the age group signed up. I only knew Bob, but recognized the other names and their past results indicated I could beat them. Bob would beat me in the road race and probably the 10k time trial. But as it turned out, Bob didn't make it down to race. So, on to the day itself.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzKMj6bvuzBpOxp_YLEwG__J71ZFJjVF3XJElLKNvo7iwEih6kqinPoF_ugbmywmMppGk0U-5Cj6cruR2vSOI8TOAERRctLMVdlOO_VcNZ50XQQzIn8r6RPll6UwmZB_sQU0gDqX2Qv0Dw8I-jZF-3V3x5B8Pb5QOcR4N-07R6OFB0y0OD8pB58nN7=s4032" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzKMj6bvuzBpOxp_YLEwG__J71ZFJjVF3XJElLKNvo7iwEih6kqinPoF_ugbmywmMppGk0U-5Cj6cruR2vSOI8TOAERRctLMVdlOO_VcNZ50XQQzIn8r6RPll6UwmZB_sQU0gDqX2Qv0Dw8I-jZF-3V3x5B8Pb5QOcR4N-07R6OFB0y0OD8pB58nN7=w150-h200" width="150" /></a></div>The forecast was for 41 degrees with a north breeze for the 40k road race. I arrived shortly before the start and checked in. It was here that I learned that Bob wasn't coming. After cheering the start of the race, I retired to my car to prep the bike (attach timing chip) and assemble shoes, helmet etc. in the front seat. Then I waited, occasionally starting the car to warm up. At 9:45 I started getting ready, attached the heart rate monitor, put on shoes, helmet, made sure I had a water bottle on the bike and left the warm environs of the car to warm up on the road. My warm-up at Pace Bend generally is doing one loop of the course to re-familiarize myself with the hills, then do a half-dozen accelerations to let the legs know what they're in for shortly. I was in full winter gear: wool socks, tights, three layers on my chest, including jacket. My intention was to shed jacket for the race and substitute my wind jacket. After warming up, I just kept the jacket on. I knew I was in trouble when I saw it took 27:09 to navigate the 6.2 miles. Last year it was 24:16. Then I learned the race would start at 10:45. I thought I read that 10:45 would be the staging time for an 11:00 start. My planned accelerations disappeared.<p></p><p>Another thing I don't like about this format is that all the racers start together. We are loosely grouped by age, with the young ones in front. For the 20k the ladies joined the guys, for the 40k they were asked to start behind the guys. Even though Bob wasn't here, I saw no reason to take chances, so I integrated myself with the 60-70 ages. The plan was to leave the old guys behind in the first couple of miles and in that regard, it worked. We started off fast and it took no time for a pace line to form. I managed to find a rather large back to follow. We struggled up the first incline and there was a break in the pace line. At the second hill things really got separated. My quads gave me a signal that they weren't happy and not working well. This was only about a mile into the race. My large back had gapped me but at the second hill he slowed considerably and I caught back up. At 1.8 miles the course takes a sharp right turn and enters the beginning of eight hills of varying difficulty. This year it was also into the ever freshening wind. I was determined to find my large back (his name is Tom) to hide behind. It took a bit after the turn, but I was faster going up and caught him. About half-way up I passed him and slowed a bit to pace him up the hill. He passed me going down and I tagged on to his wheel. This started a routine and easily had me going faster than I could go on my own.</p><p>After the first of two laps, I occasionally checked my mirror and noticed a yellow jacket in the distance. I knew that one of the other old guys had a yellow jacket on. Tom had some real difficulty on the second hill and I left him gasping for air. I didn't relish the idea of eight hills into the wind, and I must have really been slowed because he caught up with me. I paced him while he recovered. On the fourth hill, yellow jacket caught us and passed. I tacked on to his wheel and Tom on mine. The last hill is the toughest, with ramps of 12 and 15%. On the downhill just before, Tom took the lead with me on his wheel, yellow jacket behind. He must of used all of his energy catching us, because half way up the hill, when I took over from Tom, he couldn't follow. It was like he hit a brick wall. I know the feeling.</p><p>I was leading Tom down and thought that at 27 mph, I would lead him into the turn. Nah, he'd recovered and passed me. So we took the turn at a good clip (20 mph) and into the downhill with the wind at our back. He paced me at just over 30 mph for about a half mile before we leveled off. Tom kept checking to see if I still had his wheel, moderating to make sure I did. I think he was offended that yellow jacket had passed us and he was making sure he didn't catch back up. A peek in the mirror confirmed that he was nowhere in sight. In any case, at the 200 meter to go sign, I let up and gave Tom a clear finish. As it turned out, yellow jacket was not the one in my age group, so maybe he was in Tom's. My legs were shot. Here is the sad story: my time of 46:26, with help, was slower than the 41:31 from last year when I was mostly on my own. That's a huge difference.</p><p>I had forty-five minutes before the time trial. This would be one lap, in the opposite direction. I'd originally considered doing the 10k on my road bike because of the hills. But the wind would be in my face on the lesser inclines and at my back on the hills so I switched my timing clip to the TT bike and prepared for the next race. Preparation consisted of getting down in the aero position for a few minutes.</p><p>The starter announced that shortly we would be lining up for the race. I looked around and saw that the riders had already lined up. Bah! We had a good ten minutes so I did some more aero work, then came up to my friend, Clif, who was second in line. I've posted about Clif before. He is a world class racer and former US time trial champion in his age group. We catch up at Senior Games. I lamented I'd have to get to the back of the line and both he and the guy behind invited me to jump in ahead of Clif. I jumped at the chance and mentioned that my time in front of him would be short lived, even with a 30 second headstart. It took him less than a mile. </p><p>Interesting enough, the first racer didn't make it very far before something happened. A couple hundred yards down the road he was messing with his chain on the side as I passed. I suspect he'd started in the small chain ring and the chain jumped when he went to move up. I say that, because that is what happened to me in my early days of racing. I start in the big ring, even if I have to go high on the cogs. Anyhow, as I suffered up the first incline I contemplated how many riders would be passing me. I made the turn and got the wind at my back, although still going uphill. I was in the small chain ring and high on the cogs but confident I'd made the right choice. I kept waiting to get passed, keeping to the right rather than taking the middle of the lane. Eventually the second guy passed me. I spent more time in the aero position than I thought I would and I guess it paid off because I reached the last turn without anyone else passing. The hill after the turn was a challenge and two guys passed me. But my experience got me through the last two inclines, in that a correct choice of gears and cadence got me up them faster than what it looks like you can do. The finish is a slight downhill, giving me an opportunity to rev up the cadence and look like a racer.</p><p>In order to give my legs as much rest as possible, I chose the last position in the 5k. Well, I thought I'd be last, but one of the old, slow guys waved me in front of him. As it turned out, I was third from the end. The 5k was an out-and-back. Wind in your face going out, at your back coming in. I had no power going out. I knew I should be going faster, just couldn't muster the strength. On the way back, I did much better. I probably could have been a few seconds quicker, but lost track of the finish line, thinking I had one more curve before ramping up the cadence. </p><p>My finish time was a minute and a half slower than last year. But last year I only did the 20k and 5k, and had better legs. It really is a tale of stats. Last year in the 20k my 20 minute power average was 181. This year it was 154. In difference in 5k's, last year I had 174 in Dallas (it was the first race) and this year 149. I figure I'm going to need at least 180 at Nationals and would like to hit 200. I have eight weeks to get there. BTW, my heart rate was just where it should have been, holding at 143.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-18094477012533964502022-02-03T12:42:00.000-06:002022-02-03T12:42:38.862-06:00WHAT AM I DOING NOW?<p> What I'm doing now is not much of anything. I follow my friends in the UK, The Cycling Granddads, and they do a lot of local touring and an occasional epic ride. Their itinerary usually includes a lunch/snack/coffee stop at the halfway mark and they always take pictures of their ride. Most of my rides are solitary with the only snack stop on the side of the road with a Clif Bar. I don't usually stop to take a picture. But I'm slightly envious of their rides, so I'm going to try to include a picture or two of my environment. The downside is many of my rides are the same route. All the same, they are long rides so the pictures won't be the same landscape.</p><p>Before the weather turned nasty I did my usual route to Weir, although it was Almost Weir. In any case, the low-water crossing afforded the first of my pictures. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhb6r1lDmwU3xn1p3FjjfjdoZAdXKlcKUeeqxrLLoZhF7SMxnlIP7O_rg533TDQ5Auwj6KX1GykuA-SsMfU8jQ6NoQuD-mBE7ZRbX6ESzDynK6f7vnDSDncVlgAMYTn8aaquE_tUexKCcZz_feIrDRfxFPQl5-uihvbwZh1Wwe7CMni0jKLzHnAoKU-=s1920" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhb6r1lDmwU3xn1p3FjjfjdoZAdXKlcKUeeqxrLLoZhF7SMxnlIP7O_rg533TDQ5Auwj6KX1GykuA-SsMfU8jQ6NoQuD-mBE7ZRbX6ESzDynK6f7vnDSDncVlgAMYTn8aaquE_tUexKCcZz_feIrDRfxFPQl5-uihvbwZh1Wwe7CMni0jKLzHnAoKU-=s320" width="320" /></a></div>The shot is from my Fly-6 rear light and camera. I carry my I-phone so I can take a picture with it should the occasion arise.<p></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-24601736827173482992021-12-02T08:12:00.021-06:002021-12-02T12:55:03.560-06:00MY TRIP(S) TO THE ER<p>This post has nothing to do with cycling, but it easily could. It has nothing to do with yesterday's post. It has to do with hydration, or lack thereof. I won't use the term "dehydration" because that has a specific medical definition. No, my trip to the ER yesterday was caused by ignoring what I know needs to be done prior to exercise. As the title suggests, this wasn't the first time lack of hydration sent me to the hospital. So, when I experienced symptoms yesterday I knew I'd screwed up, but also knew what to do. You can skip to the last paragraph if you just want my cycling hydration recommendations.</p><p>My regular morning routine has me waking up at some ungodly hour, usually between 3:30 and 4:00, going to the kitchen, taking a thyroid pill and drinking 12 ounces of water. This routine was initiated after my first trip to the ER, about ten years ago. Yesterday I was wide awake at 1:30, tossed and turned until 2:30, then got out of bed and wrote yesterday's blog. Because I was up so early, I took the pill, but only drank enough water to get it down. Then I blogged. That took me to 4:15, which was when I started to get ready to go to the gym. Before leaving I had ten grams of protein drink, about 5 ounces.</p><p>At the gym, my warm-up was on the chest machine, followed by pecs. Three sets of 65 lbs by 12 reps. I got a little twinge in my left pec after the third set. I didn't think anything about it since I was working on pecs. I did two additional shoulder exercises, and my left shoulder was tighter than I thought it should. But that's the one where I destroyed the AC joint ligaments, so I shrugged it off. The next set was lateral raises, only ten pounds. After just one rep, I put the weights back on the rack and sat down. The left chest pain returned. I took my pulse and it was weak. Realization dawned. </p><p>I picked up my coat and water bottle and headed toward the door. After about ten steps I stopped to sit down at one of the machines. The weakness subsided and after a few minutes I stood up. It returned, so I sat down, then, remembering previous instructions, laid down and put my feet up. That helped. But when I sat up, I knew I couldn't stand. At that time, I motioned one of the other guys over and asked if they would go to the front and have them call 911.</p><p>The EMTs were very fast in arriving. They did their thing, being very thorough and professional. I was happy to go to the ER because I wanted verification that I hadn't actually had a heart episode and nothing was damaged. The other patrons were very good in not gawking. I give St. David's Round Rock ER high marks. A bunch of tests confirmed I'd done no damage. Take a few days off.</p><p>In my experience, lack of hydration actually occurs the day prior to poor performance. Yes, you should be consuming at minimum 16 ounces of water, or supplement, per hour of cycling. Drink up, whether or not you feel like it. Of course, in hot weather or heavy exercise, drink more. I find that if I'm only cycling for an hour, draining a 20 oz. water bottle isn't a problem. It is in the three-hour-plus rides, when I use my Camelbak, that I fall short. I weigh every morning. If you have an unexplained drop in weight, like a pound or pound and a half, that is most likely water weight that needs to be replaced ASAP. If your HR is ten or so beats high relative to the effort you are putting out, you need more water and probably electrolytes. If you have an unexplained headache, drink water. Most people take an aspirin with water. Probably the water is all they need. Be cognizant of all of the diuretics you consume (caffeinated drinks, alcohol, chocolate) and offset that with water. Better to pee more than leave your body under hydrated. Perhaps TMI, but I monitor urine color. Anything other than clear or pale yellow will dictate one or more glasses of water. And, just as important, include electrolytes. Potassium and sodium facilitate absorbing water into the system. I was in serious trouble after hiking the Grand Canyon even though I drank enough water. I hadn't included salt. My companions were traumatized and as luck would have it, our vehicle was being followed by an ambulance. On non-cycling days I consume about 36 ounces of water. This is less than what is suggested, but seems like enough. Food and other liquids make up the rest of what is needed. Lack of hydration in younger folks will probably just be manifested in a lackluster performance, but eventually the body will take more drastic measures. Make daily water consumption a priority routine.</p><p> </p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-38173944797831910982021-12-01T18:06:00.006-06:002021-12-01T18:47:39.388-06:00MY JOURNEY TO THE HOUR-RECORD ATTEMPT<p><span style="font-family: times;"> There were two diverse elements that went into my abrupt decision to attempt the hour record. The first was the fallout of the pandemic. 2020 was motoring along nicely, cycling-wise, until March 16. I had put in some good preparation for the upcoming races and felt quite ready. On March 12 I raced at The Driveway and was quite pleased with my results. Then the race calendar was erased. Not in one fell swoop, but as it turned out, all my practicing went for naught. Racing wasn't the only casualty. Group rides also took a hit. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with solo riding and did a lot of it. But riding with a bunch of youngsters who are faster pushes me beyond what I do when by myself. And the outlook for 2021 was just as bleak. It wasn't in my conscious thought, but I knew my fitness was deteriorating and I needed some goal to get me back to peak performance.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Let me back up a bit. In 2019 I felt the need to strengthen my upper body, specifically core and triceps. Especially triceps, since in longer time trials they complain much sooner than the legs (the neck actually complains even before the race starts). In a previous post, I explained that I had one session using Activtrax, a computerize trainer the Y offers, before the Y closed down for a few months. But it came back and I'm there most weekday mornings.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">The second random element was a post by my friend, Carolyn. She displayed a picture of her new bike, a fixed gear track bike, and noted that it was fun riding around the veloway. Carolyn is a competitive cyclist and former national champion and probably will be again next year. I saw her a few weeks after that post and casually mentioned that I already knew one hour-record holder and would be delighted to know two. We chuckled and moved on. Shortly thereafter, one early morning sitting at the computer, that remark returned and I wondered how fast my friend, Clif, went to obtain his record. Fortunately for me, Clif is about twenty years my junior and regularly abolishes his competition in Senior Games time trials. Well, the list of record holders is displayed by age-categories, so I wandered down to the 75-79 and 80-84 categories. When I got to the 80-84 and calculated the speed (it's shown in distance), I caught my breath (figuratively). Then I pulled up ( I have a spread sheet with all of my races) the Heads or Tails Time Trials from 2018. This race is the only 40k TT I've competed in, and I've done it three times. My speed, outside, with an incline that kicked my butt in the latter part of the race, was the same as the hour-record. Eureka! A goal for me to train toward.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">First I had to find out if I could even ride a fixed gear bike without injuring myself or others. As it so happened, my friend, Brian, had a commuter fixed gear that was sitting unused in his garage that he was happy to loan me. This was perfect, in that it had front and rear brakes. Track bikes have no brakes. I took it out to Old Settlers Park, to a deserted parking lot and pushed off. It had old-fashioned cage pedals and for the life of me I couldn't flip the left pedal up in order to insert my foot. So I ignored it and slowly pedaled around the lot getting the feel of never coasting. Once back home I switched out the pedals for mountain bike clip-ins. It took a month of practice before I determined I could ride a fixed gear at speed, as long as I didn't have to stop quickly. This was in February, 2021.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">As we learn in Business 101, in order to satisfactorily attain your goal you must have a plan. You implement the plan, but be willing to deviate or revise if the plan isn't working. Part of my plan was to have benchmarks that had to be reached if I were to continue. So far, my goal hadn't cost any money. But now I needed a track bike. And a coach. I contacted Carolyn and inquired who it was she knew who could help me out. She put me in touch with Willy, now my coach. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Just because it's a bicycle doesn't mean it doesn't have it's own lexicon which was entirely foreign to me. I had zero idea of what to look for in a bike, what components I needed, zilch. That was part of Willy's job, which was done admirably. Willy's "track" is the veloway, a three-mile loop restricted to bikes and roller-blades. His assessment after our initial ride was I needed more time to get acclimated to fixed gear without brakes (at this time I was still on Brian's bike) and lots of time on rollers. I would also need aero bars.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Back in 2000, in anticipation of my coast-to-coast trip, I obtained rollers and used them in the winter months to train. I might have been on them a half-dozen times since, preferring to use a trainer, which requires less concentration. While I highly recommend rollers, until you get used to them, they can be daunting. Getting clipped-in can be tricky. At first I'd have to hold on to something with my right hand as I warmed up. After two minutes or so, I'd let go and hope I wouldn't veer off the rollers and crash. I never did, but it was still sketchy and adrenaline spiking. After about a month I got to where I could let go after twenty seconds and keep it straight. Then I could practice going from the hoods to the drops, because the final goal has me in an aero position. The benchmark of facile use of rollers gets a check mark. BTW, the implementation of the rollers is to increase my cadence from where I'm most comfortable at 80 rpm, to 90 rpm. It also makes me a more balanced rider.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">All of this riding at the veloway is good, but the record attempt will be made in a velodrome. I was at a velodrome in our coast-to-coast trip but didn't ride on it. The slanted sides were quite imposing. That was the next benchmark. If I couldn't ride around a velodrome, there was no point in continuing. I suppose that should have come before purchasing the bike. In any case, Brian and I ventured down to Houston to the only velodrome in Texas, Alkek. Stuart is the track manager and was very helpful in getting me the information needed to decide when I could get in my initial velodrome experience. In order to ride a velodrome, you must take a class. Let me say that Carl did a superior job in putting on the class. We had a lot of fun, learned a lot, and came out feeling that riding a velodrome was no problem at all. In fact, Brian is making noises about coming down and racing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">My plan is to make maybe a half-dozen trips to Alkek. After which, I will determine how many more times I need to go. To that end I purchased a Silver Pass which allows me to schedule unlimited practice sessions. Because I'm retired, it doesn't impact the track calendar at all to schedule a late morning weekday session. Stuart was available on my first trip, to show me what I needed to do. But subsequently, I would have the track to myself. The only requirement is there must be at least one other person in attendance. My first trip after the class was just for an hour, consisting of a warm-up, thirty minutes of concentrated riding, and cool-down. The goal was twenty miles per hour and keeping the bike steady close to the black line without going under it. I was very pleased to have met the mph goal, not so much with keeping steady. Just like the rollers, this will require more hours of velodrome riding than I first thought. Plus, this first ride was in the drops and I needed to obtain aero bars and see if I can control the bike properly. I'm confident I can, the question is how much practice will it take. But that is why I started a year early. I graduate to the 80-84 group next year.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Let me say a few words about Stuart and Carl. Complete strangers when we met at the class. And yet they immediately took it upon themselves to do whatever they could to help me achieve my goal. Carl happily supplied me with articles on track racing when I inquired about gearing. I peppered Stuart with questions which he graciously answered. As we were leaving the track after my session, I mentioned that if Stuart knew anyone with an aero cockpit (combination handlebars and aero bars) they had in their garage and would like to lend, rent, or sell, have them get in touch with me. He thought a moment and said the track might have one, and walked up to the storage area to see. He came back with cockpit in hand, a very nice Zipp. I could take it with me, see if it worked, and if so could pay for it online or just bring it back next time I came. The price was extremely reasonable.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Back home, I installed the new addition and took it out to Old Settlers Park to give it a try. Previously, in order to practice taking corners in the aero position, I used my time trial bike doing ovals that approximated the velodrome. Time trial bikes are not known for their agility, but I had an acceptable workout on it. I was quite pleased with how much more control I had on the fixed gear. Because I had a strenuous workout the day before, my legs weren't up to pushing hard or long, but two fifteen-minute sessions convinced me that the transition to being aero was not the problem I anticipated. Now I needed to see how that translated at Alkek.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">My next session on the rollers brought an unwelcome, but not unanticipated, hurdle. By now my roller sessions had progressed from four fifteen-minutes to two thirty-minutes. And, as previously mentioned, I could change hand positions from the hoods (there aren't really hoods on a track bike, but the area where they would be if there were) to the drops. It took several weeks before I became proficient in going from one to the other. With the new cockpit, there are no drops. I was too chicken to move to the aero bars. As a result, after twenty minutes my hands started to go numb and at twenty-five minutes I lost feeling in a couple of fingers in my left hand. I stuck it out for the full thirty minutes before safely coming to a halt. My next session consisted of practice getting on and off the aero bars.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">By July my confidence was quite high. The practice sessions at Old Settlers and on the rollers brought me to attempting a serious hour attempt at Alkek. I had also opened a dialog with Felt and had received positive feedback on my inquiry as to having them loan me their $25,000 track bike. That bike plus being on the track in Colorado Springs should add at least two mph to my Alkek speed. So with high hopes we ventured to Alkek on July 18th. Marilane was with me because you cannot ride at the track by yourself.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">As I warmed up on the track I thought how lucky I was to have moderate weather in Houston in July. I warmed up for ten minutes then took a short break to hydrate and prepare for sixty uninterrupted minutes. For the hour record you don't hydrate. The goal was 85 rpm which should generate 20 mph. As it turned out, I averaged 84 rpm and 19.8 mph and my lap times were very consistent. Clif, my mentor, told me the first twenty minutes would seem easy, the next hard and the third excruciatingly difficult. I breezed through the first twenty minutes with a heart rate in the low 130's and the next twenty in the high 130's. My plan was to hold the heart rate in the mid-140's, so I felt extremely pleased with myself, knowing I had enough energy to complete the whole hour. Because of that, I wanted to separate the last twenty minutes in order to evaluate just how much more difficult it was. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">This is where the old wives tale comes in. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. During my practice at the Veloway and Old Settlers Park I would occasionally forget I was on a fixed gear bike and attempt to cruise. This would result in some pain in my knees and perhaps an awkward turn of a corner. As I hit the computer button, muscle-memory kicked in and my legs stopped powering the pedals. With one hand not on the bars, my knee jerked and hit them (I think) and I instantly went down. Both feet were stuck in the pedals, and I had pain in my clavicle. Still on my side, I gave a thumbs-up to Marilane who saw I had gone down (opposite side of the track) so she could lower her anxiety level just a tad. </span></p><p></p><span style="font-family: times;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOl8_mqRi3M2ALeLsh69YloIKEuatoJo_y6dCaT72l15D7cfy0Yf8NDvlZKFXI4Pc3UQ1rx5JL1hYnIde4yEXXx0fmPaKCyN_qoH891VLMmOEor6wI1ad_cP5IAFNC6PTfh1Ayt6uOyU/s2048/IMG_0503%255B1%255D.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOl8_mqRi3M2ALeLsh69YloIKEuatoJo_y6dCaT72l15D7cfy0Yf8NDvlZKFXI4Pc3UQ1rx5JL1hYnIde4yEXXx0fmPaKCyN_qoH891VLMmOEor6wI1ad_cP5IAFNC6PTfh1Ayt6uOyU/w129-h172/IMG_0503%255B1%255D.JPG" width="129" /></a></div>She loosened my shoes so I could get my feet free. After a few tries getting to the car and not having the strength to walk, she went to get it. Once in the car, we rode back through the narrow gate and stopped to load the bike. Fortunately for us, a gentleman and family happened to be going by the velodrome and had come in to let their child ride around. He was helping with the bike and I got out of the car to instruct to put the back end in first. Big mistake! As I was talking, I fainted. According to Marilane, he caught me before I hit the ground, picked me up and settled me back into the front seat. Without him, we would have been at the mercy of Houston's 911. As it was, Marilane thanked him profusely, locked the gate, and headed to the hospital. By this time I had come to and was able to sit quietly while she navigated first to the Children's Hospital then a bit further to the ER. Several hours in the ER revealed no broken bones, a separated AC joint, no concussion, a surprisingly small amount of road rash, and a whole lot of bruising. The bike has not a scratch on it, the left shoe is scuffed, the skin suit has a few holes in it, and both gloves are torn. There is a shallow dent in the helmet smaller than a dime.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYaj_2-IkS9XoCWc1ydWbOYowQhN6DO7qU21AfsHrDwInJxFAQmJqB0kkFyQqc-UzU0mAGiZ2LaHWTI5QthEVFbjGZ1-uZTddYHxgRsmi4FfmljTBsHPqBvPXyE8OD_TST9GkiDcxBQj0/s2048/IMG_0495%255B1%255D.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYaj_2-IkS9XoCWc1ydWbOYowQhN6DO7qU21AfsHrDwInJxFAQmJqB0kkFyQqc-UzU0mAGiZ2LaHWTI5QthEVFbjGZ1-uZTddYHxgRsmi4FfmljTBsHPqBvPXyE8OD_TST9GkiDcxBQj0/w82-h110/IMG_0495%255B1%255D.JPG" width="82" /></a></span></div></div><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdgXLsmbndm1QKpXt0GslbUDjy0dj2-OGUzufGztU5HmZ13EXLBH5YEkopGwpTPGkSdbszWzsFx5XvHYZkXitnHGodNr7kbMErmaJ2kjq9fUi06-u9PP3AQ8bKP4fiPgSesQZ246qZZQ/s2048/IMG_0492%255B1%255D.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdgXLsmbndm1QKpXt0GslbUDjy0dj2-OGUzufGztU5HmZ13EXLBH5YEkopGwpTPGkSdbszWzsFx5XvHYZkXitnHGodNr7kbMErmaJ2kjq9fUi06-u9PP3AQ8bKP4fiPgSesQZ246qZZQ/w82-h109/IMG_0492%255B1%255D.JPG" width="82" /></a></span></span><div><span style="font-family: times;">A whole lot of logistical problems would have needed to be overcome before an actual attempt at the hour record could be mounted, and there is no doubt in my mind I could do it. However, there was also no doubt that I would continue to have lapses in concentration. The next time I might not be so lucky. Therefore, my fixed-gear adventure has come to a close. Should anyone be wanting a slightly used, very good track bike for Christmas, I will give you a super deal on it and various accessories.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG8tW_DWVEmSVlbS-ce3AkaY8yiSKrWnIfc333KuOWxXFUsCdSa7KBzQswnc8hBCCY3Sl-YEJTnUYSDVPutRvHapNaqL0z1oJJpe-R_RmVzTbE9KVq2MsFYyuBcNFENct8LodQOPNMPME/s2048/IMG_0342%255B1%255D.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG8tW_DWVEmSVlbS-ce3AkaY8yiSKrWnIfc333KuOWxXFUsCdSa7KBzQswnc8hBCCY3Sl-YEJTnUYSDVPutRvHapNaqL0z1oJJpe-R_RmVzTbE9KVq2MsFYyuBcNFENct8LodQOPNMPME/w262-h196/IMG_0342%255B1%255D.JPG" width="262" /></a></div></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Meanwhile, time trialing and road racing are still on my agenda. My fitness has taken a hit, but I have until May to get up to speed, so to speak. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></p></div>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-42613069408219456552021-09-27T13:12:00.000-05:002021-09-27T13:12:08.861-05:00PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK This post is a result of some repartee between Todd and Jason regarding my palmares. I have previously posted my racing history, but because of their banter, will repeat it here, with one addition. If stats bore you, skip to the end paragraph.<div> I will point out that I'm fully aware that I'm a big fish in a small pond. A very small pond. But that is what Senior Games and age-group racing is all about. While we are competitive, it is more about the racing than the placement. We pretty much know the results once we see who showed up to race. That doesn't keep us from giving our best shot. Here are my stats dating back to 2004 when I first started racing.</div><div> I've entered 159 races, some of which were ten-year age groups, thus relegating me off the podium. Of those races I've taken gold 47, silver 46, and bronze 30. 36 times I missed the podium. I don't keep track of the number of times I finished last. That's 77% podium finishes.</div><div> Of the 159 races, 109 were time trials. Gold 40, silver 36, bronze 19. That's 87% podium finishes. Road races were 46 and gold was 7, silver 10, bronze 11, and other 18. That brings podium finishes down to 61%. The last 4 were criteriums. I don't count playing at the Driveway because while all the other guys were racing, I was just giving myself a good workout. I eschew criteriums and only enter if they are part of something else. Like USAC Nationals. I managed to snag a bronze in 2018.</div><div> From 2009 thru 2018 I was a State Champion except for 2012 and 2013 where I was silver medalist. In 2017 I was silver medalist at Nationals. So I do okay when the pond gets a bit bigger.</div><div> One other thing about age-group racing: the older you get, the more important it is to be the youngest in your age group. Most of my golds came in the first two years and the off-podium in the last two. Which is why I'm looking ahead to next year, when once again I'm youngest in my category.</div><div> So, Todd and Jason, I have 14 1/2 pound of medals. I only have 115 medals, and have no idea about the discrepancy. It wasn't feasible to remove the medals from the frame, so I could not do a plank with them, and declined to do a plank with the others. As for the plank itself, I just started back up doing them, so can hold it for 90 seconds. A couple years ago I was up to three minutes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWeID328jHofIQc92WPuq0JjktN0mfQkxQo2MC4zhuUV9LakOzvcoU2mtzD5iEAzDyiOsMxT9hMsBzmH2DdBj4TdWcr5icrLuLExhaSv5cQbgOlAe7TcUPhz_cvypcj6kmsbUkPjAEEQ/s2048/IMG_0424%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizWeID328jHofIQc92WPuq0JjktN0mfQkxQo2MC4zhuUV9LakOzvcoU2mtzD5iEAzDyiOsMxT9hMsBzmH2DdBj4TdWcr5icrLuLExhaSv5cQbgOlAe7TcUPhz_cvypcj6kmsbUkPjAEEQ/s320/IMG_0424%255B1%255D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBOykv9fv_fBatBWG77rOkkpXqwEqmIqK-9zfGcUi_9Z9ygNu1cZTsG1jmkhyX93WSkKK7yzURwjSrgm1VtJf897LQiFX7PNvVDeG8Z1GSsOK4Cg3qyLu0rC5rpTqpWh2N5MEurM_WUQ/s2048/IMG_0422%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibBOykv9fv_fBatBWG77rOkkpXqwEqmIqK-9zfGcUi_9Z9ygNu1cZTsG1jmkhyX93WSkKK7yzURwjSrgm1VtJf897LQiFX7PNvVDeG8Z1GSsOK4Cg3qyLu0rC5rpTqpWh2N5MEurM_WUQ/s320/IMG_0422%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312359537715220294.post-24834547332677891812021-09-24T09:59:00.002-05:002021-09-24T09:59:41.495-05:00SENIOR GAMES, DALLAS<p>First a little background. The Dallas games shifted from the Texas Motor Speedway to White Rock Lake and changed their names to Golden Games. And, just like last week's State Finals, moved the time to September. It was unclear to me if this was still associated with the Senior Games. As a result, I didn't feel the need to drive to Dallas for a local event. But in conversation last week at Pace Bend, I found out that yes, they were still affiliated with Senior Games and, more importantly, there would be an induction ceremony into the Hall of Fame for my friend, mentor, and sometimes team-mate Dean Wilkinson. I certainly didn't want to miss this, so signed up to race the two time trials and road race.</p><p>Marilane was going with me but accepted a temporary job offer, so it was just me driving to Dallas on Wednesday. Has anyone driven up I-35 lately? Road construction through Waco is bonkers. I couldn't believe the number of trucks on the road, and everyone was doing the speed limit or above, no stragglers. Waxahachie was another stretch I didn't like. But I was safely into the hotel by 2:30 and changed and heading to White Rock Lake for a preview by 3:00.</p><p>I had a vague idea of where the start line was and rode 3.1 miles and turned around. I did this a few more times and threw in some accelerations to get the heart rate up and a little lactic acid build up for the legs. As it turned out, my estimation of the start line was incorrect by a couple hundred yards, but I generally had an idea of the course. It was mostly flat, but with enough undulations that I'd be constantly shifting gears for maximum output. True, only three gears, but in a race that is decided by seconds, you don't want to give them away.</p><p>Regular readers know my mantra of "under 65 degrees, cover the knees." The forecast for Thursday morning was 58° so I packed my tights. I had my wind jacket in the car, but at the last minute also packed my base layer (shirt with sleeves worn under the jersey, for those not familiar with the term). I intended to warm up in tights and wind breaker and discard them for the race. As it turned out, it was 56° with just a little wind at the hotel. Maybe a few degrees cooler at the lake. I started my warm up and about a quarter mile into it turned around and went back to the car to add the base layer. I really wasn't feeling it and the warm up was lackluster. Then came the news that the race timer, who also had the race numbers, had mentally put this race on Saturday (like it had always been) and so was a no-show and after a telephone call, the races would be an hour or so later than scheduled. So, I was just as happy I hadn't put a lot of work into warming up. And, speaking of warming up, the delay added 5-8 degrees to the temperature, so that made me happy. As it turned out, I still did the first race in tights and base layer.</p><p>The delay also helped my attitude. That and the fact that two of the fast guys, who I know are faster than me, although they signed up, they didn't come. So it was only two of us in my age group. Bob is faster than me in a road race but I usually beat him in the time trials. Unfortunately, he started thirty seconds behind me. My 10k is always better than the 5k, so I determined I wouldn't go all-out for this first race (5k). It took me two minutes to reach a HR of 142. That is about 88% of my maximum and something that I can hold for a long time. With a mile to go I ooched it up to 150 and finished strong. Bob couldn't tell if he made up the thirty seconds, so we had to wait for the results. He had not.</p><p>Due to the hour delay, it was determined the 10k would begin immediately following the 5k. I had about fifteen minutes or so. I went back to the car and removed the base layer and tights. I put on my Aggie shoe covers (at my speed they are only for looks and not really aero dynamic) and switched to my time trial helmet (which actually does help). Given my output for the 5k, I actually looked forward to doing the 10. Once again, it took two minutes go get my HR up to race speed. But this time it was a few beats higher on average. I could tell at the turn-around that Bob was losing ground. I held steady the whole way. Training Peaks gave me gold medals for 5 minute (150) and 10 minute (149) heart rate, which is easily 95% of maximum.</p><p>I had barely enough time to return to the car to switch bikes for the road race. I also switched out the Stages Power Meter crank so I could have data for it. A quick Clif Bar and protein drink and I was back to the start line. Dang! Two additional riders for our age group. Fresh legs, pook ding-fu! Plus, one of the guys I knew was much stronger. Unlike Pace Bend, we were divided into ten year age groups, with the young guys going out thirty seconds ahead of us. We also had an 80 year old who with our group but he was dropped from the outset.</p><p>The two fresh legs led out with Bob then me tagging along. My legs were feeling the 10k and I was determined to draft as long as I could. About five minutes into the race, we could see the younger group wasn't going as fast as we were. That was somewhat of a surprise. Our leader launched out and attempted to bridge up. A minute or so later, Bob jumped and also tried to bridge up. I was happy to continue to draft (the wind was picking up, in our face). Almost to the turn-around, I detected a slight weakness in my partner and attacked and quickly picked up 20-30 yards and another 20 yards after the turn. Unfortunately, my lead was short lived and I saw in my mirror he had accelerated and quickly was on my wheel.</p><p>Dang! I tried slowing slightly to let him come around but he didn't. I was looking at nine miles of leading. If that was going to be the case, I'd do it at my comfort level and I settled into a less stressful output. Bob, at this point, was long gone. At the half-way turn-around I again tried an acceleration but he easily caught back up. I was looking at fourth place. But as we rode along, I noticed in my mirror that he wasn't drafting. He was behind maybe five yards and to my left. In retrospect, the first time I gained ground on him was a slight decline and left turn. With a couple of miles to go, he would come up beside me, then drop back. I was thinking, he's playing with me and can drop me anytime he wants. As we approached the finish, I increased cadence (I didn't have the legs to actually jump) and powered away for the bronze. In talking with him afterwards, he admitted he didn't like accelerating in a curve. And I didn't ask, but I suspect he's new to racing which is why he took the gentlemanly position of not drafting. I feel badly about not conversing with him more. Maybe next race.</p><p>Well, racing season is over for me and it's time to get ready for next year. Next year, my year. I move up an age category and leave most of these guys who can beat me behind. I know my best event is the long time trial and I'll be spending a lot of time honing my positioning. Senior Games is in Fort Lauderdale and we already have the hotel booked. Waiting to see when and where USA Cycling is holding their race, hoping it isn't at altitude. I may go to Senior Games in Arkansas and Oklahoma for the first time, although Dean has been asking me to go for years.</p>Jerry Dusterhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15207307726265645448noreply@blogger.com0