An Apology................

hmm.......................where to start? I Owe an Apology to a couple of guys. the following words are meant to be a background and not by any means an excuse.
i'll be the first to admit i can be an asshole. i am extremely opinionated, and can be quick to judge. however, one of my few(admittedly) redeeming qualities is that i can admit it. i can also admit it when i am wrong or have made a mistake, without excuses.
i posted a blog a few days ago calling out a couple guys about an incident during a race a couple of weeks ago. i didn't say anything too derogatory, however i named names. and after some introspective thought on my ride home from the 'tuesday nite training race' i realized a few things.

first; someone actually is out there reading my random thoughts. which means my words have power. they have power because they provoke thought. after tonites' race, a few of us were hanging out afterwards telling 'war stories' from the previous painful 45 minutes. a guy commented to me how he had read my post about this 'said' race and remarked how ;he had found it rather funny. somewhat taken aback that this guy(or anyone for that matter) would be reading my worthless blog. without letting him say anything else about it, i almost instantly expressed to him that i regretted naming names. i that time, i don't know if that regret was because i got 'caught' or because an honest feeling of regret of the words i said were actually out of line. know this guy who commented on my blog is a guy i respect and even look up to as a racer and just an all-around really 'good guy'.
so my ride home tonite consisted of me contemplating his remark and my written words. now this guy by no means criticized my words. he did however say that he tries not to use his blog to 'vent' about racing 'incidents' on his blog for that very reason.
so, thanks mark! for letting me know that someone is reading my words. and indirectly educating me that my words can have a negative impact, on both someone else or myself for that matter.

second; racing for a fifth season means absolutely nothing when you compare it to some of the guys and the years they have raced that live in our little world here in the kc metro area. i read steve tilfords blog, the guy is a living legend in the world of cycling and he lives and races right here in our little world. not once have i read a blog on his website that called someone ot like that. mark studnicki, a guy that has raced at an elite level in mountain and cx, and someone that i look up to as a racer. never once that i have read has he called someone out like that. hell, i even got a lecture from my friend dan(also a racer, bike shop owner and another all-round good guy) on my posted blog. on the phone dan had to remind me what it was like to be a 1st or 2nd year racer. he had to remind me of what it felt like to be surrounded by a bunch of over-competitive assholes in spandex at a race wher you were inntimidated as hell and how intimidating that could be. dan reminded me that i was just a '4'. my first thought when he said that though, was that just cuz i am a '4' doesnt mean i dont care any less than that 2 or 3 fighting it out with a bunch of 1's trying to prove he belongs. however, i did realize i dont want to be that 'guy'. that guy that the rest of the group is talking about and how big of an 'asshole' he is. i remember talking about 'pricks' like that........hell, i still talk about Pricks like that to this day. they are still in the pack, acting bigger or more important than they really are. I DONT WANT TO BE THAT GUY! i realize that i dont hang out with anybody like that, and the guys that i do hang out with dont want to be associated with anybody like that!

Third(and most importantly); no matter how i have arrived at this point, i am sorry. i Regret having named names and what i have said in my previous blog. for all of the above reasons.

so.........to william prann and jan(skc racer). I Apologize! i hope you will forgive me if you have read or heard about my posted blog and i have offended you. and to other readers, cycling friends, and non-cycling friends........ i hope you will accept this apology as well. and forgive me if i have offended you as well.

sincerely,
josh

almost 'dry trails'

saturday i got word from a friend, joe that the trails at shawnee mission park weren't too bad. so i coaxed ted into joining me for a sunday easter a.m. ride. he had done 4 1/2 hrs on saturday with another hammerhead, so he wasn't a positive for sunday, though.
sunday rolls around and ted calls. its a good thing he called to say he was ready to ride. cuz a couple of late nite car accidents that my crew and i ran had me really thinkin' about crallin into bed with the wife when i got home from work this morning. peer pressure can be a positvie thing and keep you from wimping out on a training ride.
anyway............the trails were not too bad. 4 or 5 spots where it was really swampy for 10 to 30 meters or so. other than that, 90% of the trail was ideal. next 3 or 4 days should be great trail conditions.......................and maybe the rain forecasted for thursday/friday wont happen and the heartland marathon mtb race will kick off the mtb racing season this saturday. cuz we all know the midwest craptire series is about as well run as an 78' AMC Pacer. thats a whole nother' topic in itself. i'll leave it for a later post to rant on.
so an hour ride from my house to the trails, an hour offroad and ridin' with a friend turned into a great 3 hour ride with a little sunshine mixed in. if i was warmer than 38 degrees you would've thought it was spring. %%#@, who am i kiddin', its still friggin' winter. oh well, still a good day to be outside on the bike and not wussing out and going for a run instead.

anyhow........go ride!

road racing with friends

perry road race, march 16. #3 in th series was 7 laps instead of the 5 from the 1st race of the series. i actually had 2 other teammates there. 10 guys toed the start line and 3 of us were wearing the 360racing kits. i have or had no idea what to do with more than one teammate anyway..........so what the hell, let's have some fun. jason, ted and myself didn't even bother to discuss tactics. i just assumed that was due to all of us knowing we were chasing a soon to be cat 2 racer in shadd schreiner from cowtown cycling. all he needed to do was fet one more race win and he should have enough points to be a 3 and then its on his way. trust me this kid is super talented. lots of mtb racing in his past and 2 seasons of cx under his belt........he is FRIGGIN fast. the previous 2 weeks he has won the cat 4 race rather handily. actually he has been rather kind to us and stayed with the group. i truly believe he doesn't know his own strenth and he could of left us at any time over the last couple of races. with the one good climb on the circuit it would be easy for him to do. his tempo up that hil is everyone elses 'redline'. relative to us cat 4 guys.
anyway. end of lap one rolling down the hil onto the dam and into a head wind, jason just kind of road on up the road away from the other nine of us. ted and i were on the front with the group kind of dissorganized behind us. by the end of the mile lenth section before we turned downwind jason had a 20 second gap on us. shadd tried to light it up a little on the downwind section to bridge and i chased. that lasted for a few seconds and he shut it down, not wanting to do all the work or not wanting to bring me along for a free ride. i decided there that i would be chasing anthing and everything as long as jason was off. i think the rest of the group either didnt want to help shadd or didnt think jason could last the final 6 laps. hell i knew he couldn't but i still think they were a bunch of pussys just sitting back and waiting for shadd to do the bulk of the work. a full lap later and jason was still 25 seconds up the road when the group turned west down wind. marking shadd, i could see he was getting antsy. and did i call it, i was out of my saddle sprinting almost before shadd was. so for the next mile or so i don't think my computer went below 38mph thanks to shadd and a stiff wind at our back. i really thought it was going to be shadd bridging me and him up to jason. but the 6 or 7 behind us barely creeped back on when shadd backed it off a hair.(maybe , naw i couldn't help) but it would have been cool me and shadd rollin up to jason. cuz basically 3-4 of those guys were dead weight. didn't do a friggin thing all day. so the group ended up reelin' in jason about halfway up the 3/4mile climb on the circuit that has the start/finish line at the top. and of course over the top. everybody sits up as we roll downhill towards the damn. shadd proceeds to roll off the front in slow motion with the 'dead weight' staring at eachother like idiots. i wanted to let shadd get a little furthur up the road and join him but about the time i am grabbin a drink a teammate rolls by me to join shadd. and all the idiots just let my teammate go to him. alright.............guess i am going to be chasing down everything today, cuz the winning break is shadd and somebody who has a teammate in with the pack. an that would be the 360 guys. thanks alot, deadweight! that truly was the race. an Oz racer and a capp's rebound racer put in a bunch of digs over the next 4 laps. i probably cover 7 or 8 of them and once ted got his racing legs under him he covered a bunch as well. we even chased or bridged up late with 2 laps to go when the Oz guy took a hard dig downwind that caught all the lazy bastards and me and ted by suprise. not only did SKC(jan), the trekof KC(william) and a couple of others not want to do any work, they couldn't even holler with some guy sprinting from the back of the group. friggin assholes. hell, the one time william comes to the front, its with less than a mile to go in the race.........he proceeds to overcook the final turn, which turns uphill mind you. so he overcooks the right hander and takes ted and i into the grass with him on the oppisite side of the road. SO much for sprinting for third. fucking asshole!!

oh well, jason got second. so i guess ted and i did our job. it was fun working fo a teammate. and ted and i received another lesson in why we really want to cat up and race as a cat 3.

till next time.

chasing upgrade points

round 2 of racing for upgrade ponts. the weekend of 8th and 9th was a dissappointment at best. and with a few days to put it into perspective............well, i'm still pissed. saturdays 'spring fling' crits was fairly standard cat 4 racing. however, the 'bicycle shack' guys really impressed. i think 4 guys finished in the points. they seemed to be everywhere, chasing down attacks, initiating attacks, and dominating the point sprints. yet somehow, this dumbass could never find one of their wheels once the bell rand for a sprint lap. go figure. i am not a guy thats going to outsprint a bunch of guys to the line. i am going to have to be smart and follow the right wheels if i want results in a crit. at least for now, with no sprint work added into my training yet, i have got to race a lot smarter than this past weekend. i have no excuses, i just really really %^$# al 3 sprints up. i finished 5th on the to midrace point sprints, missing out on points by 1 place each time. then.............racing to the line on the bell lap of the race, i had a shot at 3rd with 2 guys just up the road and probably out of reach. i was following a really good wheel in Tyler Henson into a 20mph headwind...........still 500-600 metres to the line............i proceed to lose all sense of intelligence and leave Ty's wheel to go it alone............like i am actually going to bridge up to the 2 up the road(frigin' dumbass)............even if i did get to them, i wasnt going to get them at the line, cuz i already killed myself just to get on their wheel. instead, i go from having a 'wheel out' for he sprint for 3rd whith probably a finsh no worse than 5th and garnering some valuable points...........to getting swarmed by 7-8 guys at the line.............which left me in 9th place on the final sprint and again 1 place out of the points.
Swallow that bitter friggin' pill! Friggin' Dumbass!!!
obviosly i am still pissed, pissed at myself. i thought i knew better.
perspective...................hmm.................lesson learned and get better from it, i guess.

so sunday's road race.............i bagged it. i didn't feel good, and ifelt like a couple of days rest and time off the bike would do me some good. i didnt think or didn't realize that the previous weekend of racing both saturday and sunday would hit my like it has.
so a day early into a 'down' week of training and maybe i'll be rested for this weekend of racing................
Saturday(today) is the 'heartland spoke-pony 3/6hour' mtb race at landahl reserve park............NO GO...............friggin 1/2 inch of rain and friggin dusting of snow on an already oversaturated ground has canceled the second mtb race of the year. WOW! how friggin depressing.......... oh well, that means i'll be rested for tommorrows "perry road race".

i will try to give an earlier update of results next post, along with some pics. here is a link to last couple of weekends results...springfling#1http://www.sunflower.com/~cmartell/kca/files/2008/results/spring_fling_1.pdf
springfling#2http://www.sunflower.com/~cmartell/kca/files/2008/results/spring_fling_2.pdf
perryRR#1http://www.sunflower.com/~cmartell/kca/files/2008/results/perry_rr_1.pdf
perryRR#2http://www.sunflower.com/~cmartell/kca/files/2008/results/perry_rr_2.pdf

until next time.

a goal is set

alright, its been a while. typing is really painful though. posting on this blog thing is tough. or maybe i am just lazy. i keep meaning to get some photos posted, but of course i haven't.

since the last post, its been more of the same. trainer time at work, mtbing in the snow and ice a little, but the weather has been slow to break. its NOT south dakota by any measure, but it has been a tough winter to get the base in.
however, i have managed to get from base to build in a matter of 10 weeks. and with a couple of days of some intensity mixed in the last week and a half, i felt i was furthur along than previous winters, when it comes to preperation for first race of the year. which just happened to be this weekend. originally on my schedule was a mtb race on sunday march 2nd. the'heartland mtb series' race opener was set for landahl park in blue springs, mo. but with our crazy weather and winter here in kansas cty, i think everybody had a good idea a week or two out that it wasn't going to happen. so early season schedules can't be set in stone when you race in the midwest. it will only lead to more frustration. you gotta be flexible and willing to race different disciplines to progress in your fitness, or you are just spinnin' your wheels.

the winter plan laid out after cx was to focus on the mtb racing thru the spring and into early summer until the life altering arrival of my kid comes. but, like i said, plans must me tentatively laid out to accept some shifting and schedule changes, and that is what the weather has brought us. so, with this crazy weather here, i have always been hesitant about setting hard concrete goals for the mountain bike and for spring racing as well.

however, with the change of focus(i am thinking half of my 6 sceduled mtb races will get canceled/postponed to later in summer due to wet conditions) comes on old quandery i have not really dealt with the last couple of years. do i/should i make the effort to go after the points to 'cat up' on the road from a '4' to a '3'???
the last couple of years my focus in the spring has been the mountain bike and hit a crit or road race when my shedule allows. which meens 2 or 3 races with the road bike into august and prior to the 'tour of kc'.this about all i have gotten in the last couple of years. and that doesn't lead to many chances to gather upgrade points.other than 2 or 3 'tues nite training races' a month or the wednesday nit 'hill' ride on the road, i haven't entered a lot of official road races the last couple of years with the focus shifting to the mtb, which really seems to help my cyclocross skills.

the decision has been easy for a couple of years........i am not a world beater, so i am not going to win a ton of crits or rr's so i need to enter more races to gather the points needed to upgrade.....i am stuck in the middle as far as the talent thing goes...... i am neither a sprinter or a climber and i dont really even time trial worth a shit(hell, i have been beaten by a 13 year old and a woman). i think the only reason i dont take anymore heat from friends about the kid and the woman beating me is i generally kick the 'shit' out of those same friends on a 'cx' or a mountain bike. i am a cat 3 in cyclocross but that is a whole different animal.
so anyway...................i have realized i want to upgrade to a 3 on the road becuz there are a bunch of 3's on the new team i am on and i really want to race with these guys. so...............how do i get the points to upgrade?? first> i decide i want to......second> make it a goal/priority..........third>for it to be a goal you have to write it down or voice it to somebody.................this third thing i have done. i starting telling teammates midweek when the mtb race was cancelled.

so, its official. i am now chasing upgrade points. i am COMMITTED.

the weekend went like this: saturdays racing wazs part of the 'spring fling series" that takes place just west of lawrence, ks at clinton state park. critirium racing to me, is fun but nerveracking, especially in a 4's race. its scetchy as hell and usually you cant race for 45 minuteswithout having a couple of wrecks. this scenerio plays out due to sub 24 year olds and newly ugraded cat 4 racers. i just cussed out 1 kid on saturday, so it was a good day in that regard. cant quite figure out why someone is diving into corners and cutting people out of their line midway thru a race. GO TO THE FRONT if the pace is not fast enough or stay to the outside in turns ir you want to go faster. oh well.............
saturdays race is a 'points' race. meaning the promoter is to cheap to award cash or prizes for prims or pay out deep into a 50-60 man field, so the promoter just creates a 'series of races over a month or two and gives shitty prizes at the end of the series and stroaks everyones ego by saying you did really well in my series', 'here is some herbal remedy and a gift card to the local holistic dork store for $2o'. 'thanks for racin'!.

so for the 4's race. ther are 2 mid race sprint prims for points for 4 places, points go 4-3-2-1 from 1st thru 4th. thru 20 minutes of racing and feeling the group of 60 or so racers out, the bell for the sprint prim rang. i was up in the top 15 going into the 2nd and 3rd corner. coming into the 4th and final corner i moved up to about 10th not sure if i had the legs to contest the sprint but just wanting to stay in contact with thes guys in case a few happened to try and sneak away. so sure enough, out of the 4th corner guys start to stand and wind it up, i proceed to stand and..............and...................and.................umm.............it suddenly ocurred to me that i may not get a 'frickin' point at all today. my legs seem to have no snap, just that same low torque diesel gear that is left over from cyclocross. WOW, that was a shocker. didnt really contest anything and nobody got off the front. i guess i will slowly add some sprint training intervals over the next couple of weeks.
the course was a 4 corner(soft and fast corners) 3/4 of a mile loop with the wind gusting at upwards of 35mph. the wind in itself made it difficult, nevermind my lack of snap in the legs to mix it up in a sprint. i must have gotten smarter at some time over the next twenty minutes. or 40 minutes of racing must've taken a toll on some guys legs, cuz the next point prim sprint went much better. again, i worked my way up to 10th wheel before turn 3 and a couple of more positions into turn 4, from there i had the wheel of a big strong wind block and just hopped from wheel to wheel until the last 100 meters where i proceeded to pass 2 more guys and nick another at the line by no more then an inch and somehow got 4th and won a single point. from there we were staring at an even hour of racing by the time the 'bell' rang for the last lap and you could actually see all the guys that got spit off cuz they were watching the finish from the corner of turn 4. with two guys off the front and another getting swallowed by the thirty or so of us left, we were sprinting for 3rd with the top 8 places getting points. wheel hopping again i managed to get 5th in the group which meant 7th and 2 more points. a total of 3 points put me 9th on the day. i started with bigger ideas but considering the first point sprint and no sprint work coming into this weekend, it could've been a lot worse. no upgrade points, but still a successful day for a 'non-sprinter'.

day 2 march 3rd race was located at perry lake state park which lies between topeka and lawrence, ks. this 5 mile circuit race was going to be dictated by 35mph wind and a really good finishing climb. race went like i expected it would. the few guys that would go to the front and work only did so at 'tempo' or a little above. most everybody was just trying not to get blown over or into the next guy and conserve as much energy as possible until the 3/4 ,mile 10% average grade hill to the start/finish area. being a 'nonclimber', this conserving energy and doing as little work as possible was me. hey, i figured i raced yesterday, let's let some of these squirrelly little guys burn up some matches before we get to that last lap and maybe i can get them up that last hill. the most exciting part of the race for me was starting lap 4 after the climb, 3 of the guys i had marked were off the front bombing towards the dam at 38-40mph trying to get away. about 20-30 meters in front of me were a couple of guys trying to get up to this 3 man break. i felt that this was a decisive moment in the race and i was going to have to do some 'bridge' work to get some points at the end of the day. it was a dangerous 3some up the road. the two guys i worked up to didnt' seem to want to put it in a bigger gear and get to them...........so i left em'. and made the committment to get to that front 3. which was now a gap of 100meters or so with that damn 30mph cross wind. it was a 1/2 mile and a couple of my 'matches' burned to get to them, and as i get in contact with that last wheel, i hear someone from behind say 'good job taylor'. 'FRICK", I turn around and realize that i had just pulled 8-10 lazy #$%*suckers up to this group. oh well, a few more latch back on with a lull in the tempo when we turn back to the head wind. i realize here, that of the 30 or so that started, ther might be 20-22 left, and its going to be a dragg race up the hill to the finish line with the ringing of the bell for the last lap. my lone teammate jason killed himself at the base of the finishing climb and kept a couple of guys close as we passed 2 or 3 with a 1/4 mile to go in the climb and i finsihed 5th with jason a bike lenth or so back for 6th. not bad for a nonclimber or nonsprinter. this 5th place actually got me 2 upgrade points as well, but i just missed out on winning my entry fee back. i have somehow gained 4 lbs since the last cx race 2 months ago. so maybe i'll be climbing even better in a month or two with the shedding of a few lbs.

my hands er my two fingers hurt, that's all ive got. i will update sooner next time. same races and same time next weekend. more chances for upgrade points.

i better hurry and get as many as i can before ted starts racing in a couple of weeks.

later!