Ronde van Veldhoven

A crit organized by my club, so close to home. 40 laps of 1.5k totaling 60k, some 50 participants. Suited up in aero kit (skinsuit and shoecovers, the latter getting me some remarks) for a fast race, I started from the first row, but due to clipless clumsiness (why does this only happen during races?) I ended up at the back almost immediately. Within two laps I had recovered from this mistake and was present at the front of the pack, just in time to try and sprint for a prime over 3 laps. As I'm still not a very strong sprinter, that didn't really work out. It did however result in a break-away of 4, including Dion (a teammate), opening a gap of 50 meters or so.
Just as I was deciding if I should make the jump or try and slow the pack, Peer (another teammate) yelled right behind me "Go, go!", so that's what I did. With him in my wheel, we closed the gap quickly. Soon after, another rider followed and the lead group of 7 was formed. Good cooperation resulted in a solid lead.
Halfway the race however the pace slacked a bit, and being as unexperienced as I am I did way to much pulling to force the pace higher, scared to be reeled in by the pack. Our lead increased to a good minute, but it cost me lots of energy. I managed to get a number of 3rd and 4th places in prime sprints, tho.
All the effort got me with about 8 laps to go, as I was struggeling to hang on from time to time. My plan to escape with 6 laps to go was quickly discarded and saved for a next race. I really didn't have the legs anymore to join in the final attacks and finishing sprint and finished 6th. All in all a good race, did some nice riding, learned a lot (again). Still making good progress.

La Marmotte 2008

174km, some 5000 meters vertical ascent, four Alpine cols: one of the hardest cyclosportives in the world. Only 10 days before the ride I planned to go, joining a teammate whose original riding buddy canceled. No specific preparation, no time to worry. Although I'm in pretty good racing shape and I can handle short, steep Ardennes climbs pretty well, I really don't have the build of a climber and I didn't have any experience with long, grinding climbs at altitude. The feeling of 'what have I gotten myself into' only grew stronger when riding up the Alpe d'Huez, the final climb of the ride, by car the day before to register. It looked like a nice enough climb when fresh, but I really didn't want to think about doing it after all the other suffering...
Well, I was right. I've never suffered so much in my life. The Col du Glandon went well enough, overtaking many many people while taking it easy; one of the advantages of a high starting number. The descent was tricky, but fun. There's at least 5 minutes to gain there if I'm more confident. Another 5-10 minutes to gain in the flattish section leading up to the Telegraphe, if you end up in a fast paceline. Climbing the Telegraphe was good, keeping up with and even pacing small Italians, not being overtaken and noticing lower and lower starting numbers around me. The Galibier really is a bitch, getting steeper and steeper closer to the summit at 2600-something meters, surrounded by rock and snow. Actually crossing an Alp and plummeting down the other side by bike is very special, tho... nice long decent, tricky at times, badly lit tunnels... at least 5 minutes to gain there as well... Then up the Alpe d'Huez. Dying, multiple times, but too hardheaded to drop below 10kph or even to get overtaken. Not wanting to go further anymore, not pushing myself hard enough in hindsight, but not giving up... stopping with planning and thinking, just waiting until it was over... suddenly noticing the last bend, nice. Hey, the finishing line. Good, that's that. No real relief or happyness, strange.
All in all, a breathtaking ride, both literally and figuratively. I do have the feeling it has made me stronger and harder, both physically and mentally, so that's a good thing. I finished in 7h21m, which seems to be pretty fast, as it made me 244th (out of more than 8000) and 56th in my age group. Too bad I'm estimating I can do it under 7 hours, now I have to do it again next year. I'm not looking forward to it.

This isn't working...

So it turns out I'm not good at this blogging thing. Good riddance, I hate myself for having one of these exhibitionist websites anyway. I just can't be bothered with typing up all my experiences all the time. Come to think of it, I can't even be bothered doing it sometimes. Just telling the people of whom I know they're interested seems like a better deal.
Anyway, I'm giving it one more shot. Yet another concept: short race reports. I've been racing all year, with moderate success. Actually, for someone who's just started racing, quite successful... lately, things started to come together. After every race, I find myself giving a quick heads-up to a few people, so I might as well put it here and link to it.
Knowing myself, this also won't work out. And I even don't care about that :).

Knowledge is power

More power makes me go faster. I bought these:




That's Burke's Serious Cycling and Friel's Cyclist's Training Bible, both said to be very good for not only planning your training, but also understanding what's happening and why. I like understanding. Makes for good conversation at parties.

From the sales blob of Serious Cycling:

"Go faster and train more efficiently by applying advanced science to your cycling. Serious Cycling takes the latest scientific data in the sport and translates it into beneficial applications for you on your bike."

Advanced science, it works, bitches!

I've skipped through both books very quickly and "obsessive" doesn't even come close to covering it. I like it already. Will let you know when I experience an epiphany.

Make yourself comfortable

Everyone agrees that adjusting your bike to your body is better than adjusting your body to your bike. A bike that has the correct size and adjustments is more comfortable, better for your knees, back, hands and various other body parts and handles better. Probably, you're able to get a more aerodynamic position and produce more effective power on a properly fitted bike, so you'll generally be faster. Advantages all over the place!
The issue here is the many variables: frame geometry, handlebar shape and size, stem angle and lenght, spacers on your headset, cranklength, saddle height and front/aft position and maybe I even forgot a couple. Unless you're very experienced, it takes much trial-and-error to find your optimal position. As an added bonus, you might not even know what the best position is, because feeling can be deceiving. Often, you need to get used to a certain position to notice the benefits. Luckily, some people do know what they're doing.
So, this Christmas, treat yourself to a professional bike fit or get informed when you're planning to get a new bike in spring, so you can get one with a geometry that suits your body and riding style. You can get used to a new position and be stronger and more comfortable when the season starts. Most of the time, these professionals even give you some advice on more efficient riding or some exercises to improve some weak points.
I'm sure you can find some guy doing professional fits in your area, but I just want you to point to one I have very good experiences with. If you happen to live in the southern part of the Netherlands or the northern part of Belgium, drop by at Body2bike. Henk and Robyn have many years of experience (they worked for ProTour teams, among others) and really take the time to make sure you leave with a perfectly adjusted bike and lots of advise and exercises. You won't regret it.

Wherein I fix a flat

Twice. But we'll come to that.

So, yesterday I was merrily pedaling on a nice 100km ride on a moderately sunny and windy afternoon, when the rear wheel was starting to feel a bit wobbly and my rim started to come closer to the ground as it was supposed to. Yeah, a flat tire. Well, no worries, it doesn't rain, I have a spare tube and I've done this hundreds of times before, right? Actually, no. Thinking of it, I've never fixed a roadside flat, lucky me. At least I know how to do it, right?
Well, wrong again, as it turns out. I have these superlight tubes (Continental race 28 supersonic, if I recall correctly), not because I'm a weight weenie, but because they fold up into a very nice little package that's easy to carry. Although they are way too expensive for tubes, but hey. What was not so easy was making sure the tube went in the tire and not underneath the bead of the tire. Etcetera. Long story short, I managed eventually, but there's an important lesson to learn: practice replacing your tube, using the actual wheel, tire, tube, pump and tools you would use on the road. On a stormy, rainy night you want to be able to do this in 5 minutes without pinching your new tube. Read up on how you're actually supposed to do it (e.g., on the Park Tool repair help site). Probably you're perfectly able to do this, but checking your gear and reassuring yourself can't hurt.

Later that night. At home, I thought I'd inflate the new tube somewhat more. Moments later I was contendly looking at a nice 8 bar pressure when I started to hear a loud hissing. Turns out the tube got pinched right where the valve meets the tube. Now I'm wondering if this is due my clumsy replacement earlier or if these superlight tubes are actually superweak. Replaced it with a more normal tube, but for now I will keep carrying superlight ones with me. Probably until one pinches right after replacement so I'm left with a flat on the road. I will rue that day.

PS: I just realized I admitted publicly that I have problems replacing a tube. Had! Really, I can do it now. I think.

It's alive!

We're back and we're going to do things different! With we, I mean I, there is no we in team. I've given up on running proprietary web applications and even on hosting anything myself. Or, on letting friends do it for you, for that matter. But that's not the only thing that's going to change!
It turns out that I'm not really funny, so for teh funnies head over to BSNYC, 'cause he is funny as hell. Also, it turns out that I'm not really an asshole. Although I like bitching about people, nobody likes to listen to a bitch. So we're going to stop doing that. As stuff is turning out anyway, I might just as well admit that I'm not really good at biking anyway, I just pretend to be. There, see, humility!
No, but really, I could be better and I'd like to be so. I'd also like to know more about technique, training and bikes in general. I bet there are more people like me out there, relative novices that aspire more and have goals. So, every time I discover something useful or cool that I didn't know already, I will make a nice story out of it (not a funny one!). If I'm not too lazy. Yeah, let's try that for a while.
By the way, the time spent on customizing the look-and-feel of O-B is like five seconds.Maybe I'll do more and/or import older posts. Probably not.