I got a coach this year so it has been good to see a schedule that is geared toward the races I want to upgrade into. I am riding on a plan that should make it more that feasible to reach and surpase my next year’s goals, but it is still a long road ahead. Solo rides have become infinitely more important. Learning to blow the hell out of other people and staying strong on my own will be a factor next year. Team Undiscovered is building a stong cat3 team with our racers winning many of the jerseys for that cat and others this year. Getting onto that strong 3 team will proove imperative to my success as there is not really a racers at these levels who wins alone, even when they are solo their buddies the EPO, HGH, T, PCP, and tiger’s blood might keep them company while coursing through their veins. Having good team mates with a solid plan for each race is how I will be able to make it into 2s in this state. Races typicall include a 1-2-3 race that makes for tough shit for 3s trying to upgrade or 2s trying to upgrade. It can be quite difficult but the way to make it happen is as a group. A team of like-minded people can successfully accomplish almost anything. The Art of War is a great example of how this tactic is employed in the toppling of governments or armies, so imagine the ruthless nature of a sport with such money as cycling, or any other pro sport for the matter.

Each mile into the wind that I ride and some other guy didn’t ride will make me that much faster in the end of the day. Getting coaching advoce has been a real relief of tension in that I don’t have to consider the plan, I just have to trust in it. I think that the 3 week cycles of five or six days on the bke that I am doing now contributes, but I don’t have to analyze why. I should have heeded my friend’s advice when she told me that having a coach was boss, furthermore I should have believed her legs when she climbed onto the podium. Getting on that gravy train is a great way to check out of the thinking part of a racer. If I were to design a video game of cycling, it would have to let the player create not just one racer, but one whole team or brand. The fact that this is so competitive at a team level removes the individual rider’s power to influence the race. Unless the nicest guy on the planet was also the strongest rider and he could make deals on the spot with other racers at every race, everytime, then it would be difficult for one guy to take on the whole system of professional cycling.

Base miles are the best time to get your head right though. Riding at a pace that is not overly exertive and looking more at the clock then the speedometer or HR or PM. Feeling the road and looking ahead for the next series of hills and the next long stretch with a grin that you might just get to see it coming the other way too. Living the dream, as I call it. Riding into oblivion and back is the only way I can really figure out what to do about myself. I am being eaten alive with school this semester and I am having the best year on the bike yet. The dichotemy of success in new beginnings and stress from current tribulations makes for a tumultuous attitude in the overal. Seemingly unstable yet gridlocked in paralysis from trying to maintain a status quo. Radical change and enormous application of energy in new areas is the best way to progress from something like this. Cycling and school are eating my time and will continue to do so, but I have to relearn some social skills in order to keep my brain at its sharpest. Maybe a new language. I will have to go into German or Russian or something because my Spanish is beyond conversational. I am inclined to learn a language outside the romance language family as well in order to get a new perspective on the world and gather a new cultural history in the process. Either fucking way I will be on a bike.

Base miles are the basics of competitive cycling. Hell any regular cycling requires a down time that’s more of an idol than a stop in order to continue. Racing is the pinacle of the cycling world and the racers in this world dedicate time and money to their pursuit of beating the hell out of ourselves. Start here and learn the burn. Ride safe.

Sept. 9 is the OK State TT Championship race on the Blue Canyon course again this year. This is a great course of smooth roads and little traffic. There is one long slight inclune that serves as a bump in the late middle of this race course. The scenery is gorgeous though I really wont get to enjoy it much for the enormous amount of pain I will be in driving myself through this region, but I plan to ride the course more than once that day to enjoy the view. Starting past Lake Lawtonka with a backdrop of Mt Scott you speed through rocky plains and wildlife preserves, no building and few houses. Only the blinking lights from the police car at the top of the next soft roller. It leads you thought the wildlife preserve near Mt Scott in the valley to the windmills 12miles or so down the road. Riding past the huge sweeping fan blades that are bigger than blue whales in length hearing the wind rushing past you and through the wind power of American ingenuity really pumps me up for the return trip. The course is an out and back that closes on a long flat coming away from the long bump that makes up about the only hill on the course.

The State Championship Road Race is the weekend after that on the 16th and this race should be exciting. My friend Gabby has a really high probability to podium if not champion this race this year, and it’s always exciting to know a winner. My team mate Terry Storch has ranked number one this year overall by one hundrewth of one point and the whole team is going to protect him into the line for the best finish possible. This race course is the counterclockwise version of the Lake Draper Route. This course is relatively flat with some short hills on the north side of the lake. Really the enemy in this race is the wind. In order to control it a rider would have to push away at the right time and stay alone to blast away with the tailwind and some timing and then beat the others through the wind to exploit the solo tailwind again. With 5 laps for my Category I think that any break will be caught pretty quickly and it will be an elbow nudge finish sprint. I have been working my ass of in tuning my bike for this race and the next one. My TT bike is the next bullet in the gun for races, but I have had to replace my cassette and chain because of “wear and mileage”!! I have never heard such blastphemy. My bike feels worn and ridden and has miles that exceed the lifespan of the chain? but I only got 5500 miles off that drivetrain. They say that is enough. So the upgraded Ultegra cassette and Chain set me back a bit, but then I see that there are threads peeking out from a bald spot on my rear tire. Geez Louise, tires are on the way and I am getting to the point in my year that the bike has to get some new shoes and a new bra and purse and all that stuff that girls need to feel pretty and wanted.

I can spoil her a little, it is the end of the season after all and I am getting psyched about coaching availability through the University’s team. People are coming out of the woodwork after the race last year. All of a sudden people from ten years ago are wanting to revive races and clubs that have been dormant around OU for 8 years. I love the enthusiasm and support, sponsorship at the collegiate level has never been better and There is something in the air about the rejuvination of this sport in this region. I can almost taste it in the desire to be awesome hidden in the tonality of newb riders. I can hear it in myself again. The race event has several people who are interested in helping which means I don’s have to do nearly as much this year to have an even better event. Also the team is trying to liase with a local event coodinator, Steve Slawson, to try and A. revamp the campus corner crit over the summer, and B. create a monthy crit on the OU crit course as a fundraiser for OU Cycling through the summer, and to add another race here in Norman.

Expanding cycling enthusiasm will have to start in Norman, it is the best environment that is not Tulsa for cycling to expand. The University’s pull can be enormously persuasive when we pitch it as a title IX issue and piggyback the boys with the girl’s new money.  Cycling is gender neutral with the venues, so if OU built a track for women’s cycling, men will be on it everyday too. There is no way not to intermingle the genders in this sport. Tulsa has exploded in the cycling scene and makes for a great environment for cycling teams and race promoters, but Tulsa doesn’t have  OU in the same way, no OU Football there, no OU Athletic. Thats what makes Norman an ideal spot for support in this sport to spike.

At the end of the month the Bison Classic will take place and that is also the Masters and U23 State championship road races. I expect to see my afformentioned friends do well in this race as well. OBU puts on this race and while they didn’t host a collegiate event last year, I think that the Bison Classic should be a good course with free food so I am already signed up. Not really but I will soon. The Bison Classic will be a new course for me, I skipped this race last year to do something in Texas but I dont recall which race replaced it. I hope to do OK becasue it will be one of the last races I do this year, and THE last one in Oklahoma. The last ride for my season is technically the Race the Rail ride in Watonka, but that is not a race of cyclists, thats all man vs. machine.

The year is rounding out to be pretty good, I have already received positive feedback on any effort I might make for my license upgrade this year. I have been advised that my places in the races I am doing are inadequate to advance, and I agree but I have to get faster and the resources at OU and among its faculty is starting to pay off in retired pros interested in “helping out the team” which is a nice way of saying “whatcha doin? can I play?” and to that I say hell yeah. I am not a talented person at making new friends. I can have a particularly rocky exterior that is testy or abrassive, but lately I have been talking softer and thinking more-mostly because my program at school is beating wrinkles into my brain with a sledge hammer- but i don’t usually have the energy to ride and goto school and still have much in the way of passion toward other people; I dont want to give up and I won’t, and it’s easier with cyclists because we share a common ground and common goals. Working with other peopple is a matter of letting go and holding on. Mastering the balance is fragile but I suppose in many ways my major keeps me at a technological distance from personability, so i am bit out of practice.

Ride more and be safe. Base miles start soon. One love.

There is good progress in the collegiate SCCCC scene, the University of Arkansas has made consistent impressive showings and stand a good chance to take the season omnium for Men’s D. I like to see their development as it reflects Oklahoma’s growth as they sandbad the D category and take the 1, 2 spots while their TT times are podium material in Men’s B category. Because there are only six racers on their whole team I am glad to see their shared success even if it is cheapened by their ractic somewhat, we did the same thing and it makes it easier to get popular as a winners. The group is solid and I hope to see their continued growth in the scene as Arkansas develops its collegiate programs.

The MSU event consisted of three race, two of which I could race in and the third was a Team TT that I didnt have a team mate for. I decided against riding with one of our D men so they could podium their category. The crit on Sunday was the same four corner crit as last year and I made a bad move that broke up the field and forced some retirements at the halfway mark but not me and I was able to finish out the ride without being caught until the second to last lap. My bad move in the crit was silly and simple I moved out to catch a TCU guy’s break and hold the front for about a lap while we traded out and got caught by the pack, then I just missed the tail of the peloton as it cam around so I got dropped, but the counter move from the TCU guy and myself forced the halfway retirement of about six riders making it easier to bear the dropping as I didnt get cut from the race. The officials w2ere great as usual this weekend, thos TX ladies are a smooth operating crew and I envy the moustache of the Chief Ref because it must add at least 200 stach watts when he rides.

The RR was the most effective and successful race for me this weekend I was able to hang in for most of the race’s drives and rushes, I played out one of the smartest rides I have ever done and I feel greatly confident in practicing more smart riding. Pulling through can be tough and I skipped a couple pulls this weekend using guys up, but I yielded the sprint in order to show appreciation for the wheelsucking free ride. Smarter riding is great fun and I think even moreso if you have a team to go with you. I have to get stronger and ride more with Undiscovered Guys to improve the race quality I am churning right now. My crit intelligence prooved to be pretty low this weekend and I look forward to racing in a crit where I can afford to be smart again and practice that manuever. I need to work on my crits as flatter crits may turn out to be my bread and butter this season. I love to ride protected and have the promise of something like the podium in my sights, you only have to get lucky and ride harder in a few seconds of the race to actually win, the rest is just getting to that moment. I am trying to work on my getting to that moment part instead of the actual moment as my energy and stuff seem jacked enough as I approach for a sprint finish anyway.

Next weekend is the LSU race and the drive toBaton Rouge will be tough but the races should be blissful. Conference championships and green SCCCC jerseys and stuff ;like that. I am happy to see the advancement of collegiate cycling, it represents like a middle class of cycling that encourages the youthful participation of guys and girls in healthy activities that provide comradery and proximity at the same time. We stayed with some wonderful OU Alumni over the weekend, a nice couple with two kids still at home who were also very nice. They were huge supporters of everything OU and even came out to watch the crit races on Sunday. Thanks Jimmy and DeAnna, it was a wonderful weekend. Racing alone this weekend was an eye opener as I remembered what its like to never have support on the road and my time riding by myself paid off, but really it’s the wheel catching that’s the hardest thing on race day, guys and folks are making moves that directly counter something you just did or have been doing. You can get left or practically forced out on the front eating the wind if a group doesnt want to take turn with you and make you wear out, as you may just drop off the back as they pass. Working hard to catch on to an early break benefitted and cost me this weekend in the Crit. I have to ride smarter and the only way to get smarter is to ride again. I really love this sport, when you do something to metaphorically fall off the metaphors for continuing on are all right in front of you.

Leaning is the most common form of turning among novice cyclists and pros alike. This method involves both the rider and the bike leaning into the turn, usually with the outside leg down to allow for greater clearence of the inside foot. This turning method swoops through corners and can be maintained at high speeds if the traction is adequate.Everyone on a road bike knows how to turn like this, in fact, everyone on a bike knows how to turn like this. With a slow pedal stroke one can effectively swoop right through a mild S-curve at speed with a great deal of pleasure.

Obviously not taken this week.

Another cornering method, I will call it the “wet turn” method, effectively keeps the bike straight up and down while only the rider leans for the turn. Practice this turn by yourself and them describe and practice it with your team, because any rainy crit this will be the way to make turns and not spill or over-correct from a slip. The maximun amount of traction happens with this turn because the most surface area of the tire stays on the road through the turn. Slips can and will happen in rainy conditions so beware either way, but this turn can keep a little more speed and control in slippery conditions, and fractions add up in slick crits.

Practicing the turns is the hard part for me. I find different scenarios where I can practice cornering specifically for a while and that can help. For example, in a park where a group ride meets on Thursdays, there is a back section of parking lot that usually is empty except when the little league games come out. This lot is compact and would not be sufficient for more that three or four to ride as a group through the loop one can create in either direction. I use this lot for my croner practice and I think it will help in the long run to have my secret crit course, they have a private track for the montage section of every race movie I have ever scene. You should be so lucky.

The third method of turning I learned about was the “tight turn” method. Oppositely the bike leans and the rider attempts to remain directly vertical. this is a tight turn, and you will feel it as the bike seems to whip around you while you sort of become square with the bike’s new direction. There is a delay in inertia and you CAN INDEED turn too sharply and plant your ass on the grass or pavement or traffic so beware of the limits of this turn and learn them in a safe place where you wont be plunged into a semi-truck. The place to use this turn happens all the time like crunchy corners in crits or even tight turn arounds in TTs. This tight turn has a lot of good and sol long as you can control the inertia that sort of catches you right around the time you square from the turn, you can make this turn a tool in the box that people may not expect from you.

Knowing all the things you can do to keep speed on a bike is essential to improving the race placings. personally I am going to have to train myself to make a later break and wait in tha pack for longer periods so that I can do better in longer races. Crits will be interesting for me in May and June because they will be pretty short, only 30 or 40 minutes. some will be 45 and I will train for hour rides, but the races will be short and hanging on is a great way to wear guys out early in a crit. Just leaving someone out there with no help off the fron of a pack can be a terrible punishment for trying to be cool, but if you don’t have guys to let you back in you are blowing up and then dropping to the back of the line to try again another time. The way you lead a group or even a team into a corner most likely decides how they take the corner as well, so the right choice on the fly can be a tough call. I think that practice practice should make sense but recognizing what the turn is like cal only come from knpowing the particular course. Oklahoma has flat crits, or they will incorporate one grueling climb like Firehill or Crybaby Hill, so the way you corner plays a major role in the race I am doing.

The road is my dojo, and I will be the two wheeled warrior. (that needs to be quoted in a cycling movie sometime)