Hammer Head Racing Blog

I Rode to leesburgh at 3:15.  I left my job for the last time today. I got home early and saw it was almost 50 degrees so I couldn’t pass it up.  I took the trainer wheels off and put the road wheels on and headed out north.  After almost a year off the bike running an experiment to see how out of shape I could get I have been hitting the trainer pretty hard for the last month and my Hamstrings are feeling stronger.  But as soon as the rubber hit the road my Quads were screeming like they havent been used at all.  Into the wind I managed 17.1 mph. 

As I turned home I felt better.  The tail wind helped plus my legs are warmed up.  I managed 20 mph returning for a pitiful 18.2 average.

Gotta start some were, now there is no were but up from here.

If anybody knows how to get a better Quads work out on the trainer let me know.
-Sgt

{Pops, Bull, Kong}

What a great day for the middle of winter.  I thought Kong or Bull might be in shorts but they decided to keep the legs covered.  We headed out to the 200S hills like last Friday.  I felt a bit better going through the hills today and actually never fell off the pace.  We had a 17.2 average at the 800W turn.  Kong & Bull then pulled most of the north leg taking us up to 28-29 mph.  Coming back in on CL road we backed it down a bit as Kong & Bull were feeling the effects of their morning workouts (overtraining, perhaps?).  With about 2 miles to go Bull slid off the back while Kong pulled me up to 400W.  I led up nursery hill and then Kong came to the front to lead us in.  I went back in front one more time for a bit and shortly thereafter Kong accelerated around me and opened up about a 10 yard gap.  I shifted into my biggest gear and finally caught him right before the line.

{Kong}

Kong sent me a note saying he went and did 15 miles on his own.  I didn’t even bring in my riding gear since I thought it was too crappy outside and there was still some snow & ice on the county roads. 

{Pops, Kong, Bull}

It’s been almost 3 weeks since my last outdoor ride and the indoor training has been sporadic so I knew I would be hurting today.  Bull and Kong have both been diligent in their training regimens so I figured they would ride away from me.   We started off slow into the wind and I could tell right away that Kong seemed stronger than the last time we rode.  We headed south on 400W to the 200S hill route.  Bull and Kong seemed to be evenly matched and I just struggled to hang on.  I got gapped a bit on the short steep hill half way across but they let me catch back on and we had a 17 mph average at the turn.

The north leg was difficult into the cross headwind with Kong & Bull doing most of the work.  The CL road east leg was sweet relief but it was evident that Kong was pulling the strongest as even Bull was starting to labor a bit.  Kong pulled up to 400W and then I tried to match his pace pulling up nursey hill.  Bull took a short pull but Kong came right back to the front before we got over the last rise and just kept pushing the pace to the line.  Bull gave up shortly before the finish as I just stayed on Kong’s wheel and then slipped around him at the line for a cheap win.

{Pops}

What a great weather day for the first ride of 2012.  Unfortunately I had to go it alone as everyone else had various reasons for not riding.  I was very sluggish starting off into the strong headwind (must be all the pounds I gained in December).  I went down to the 200S hills and struggled through them.  Once I got to the turn on 800W I checked the average and it was a slow 16.5 mph.  Things got easier on the way back in as I cruised along at 21-22.  Going past the lake I saw three AB riders (I think Matt, Matt, and Anthony) out doing some training.  I only reached 28 on the final leg to the line resulting in an 18.5 average…I’ve got a lot of work to do. 

{Pops, Bull, Kong, JM}

Even though it is still technically fall by the calendar we usually don’t get these nice temps this late in December.  Bull thought it was so warm he wore shorts.  A train stopped on the tracks forced us to start our ride on the Greenway.  We decided to take the north route out and do a lap of Alpes de Puke and then head back to CL road for the nice tailwind on the way in.  Kong was on his old heavy bike so had trouble staying on our wheels.  We slowed every once in awhile to get him back out of the wind.  The hills killed Kong & I both as neither of us could stay with JM & Bull.

We regrouped on the way back to CL road and then slowly picked up the pace.  Kong dropped back and a short time later Bull said he felt nauseous and fell back too after JM had hit it hard across the flats.  I took the lead after that and JM stayed glued to my wheel until we started up the rise to 400W.  I struggled to stay on his wheel as he hammered up to 27 mph.  I caught a little breather before we started up nursery hill.  JM’s pace wasn’t quite as fast this time so I came around him and hit it hard the rest of the way up and noticed I had a small gap.  I thought this will never last and as I labored over the last rise I figured he’d be right back on my wheel.  But I still had the gap so I clicked down one more gear and took it to the finish. 

{Pops, Bull, Bones, Kong}

Nice turnout of riders on this cold windy day.  Bull was wearing a thick wool cap under his helmet and I thought he might overheat.  Bones got us warmed up before Bull took over and picked up the pace.  We headed down to the 200S hills for a bit of wind protection.  The hills created some gaps, especially the short steep one that left Kong and I off the back.  Bull & Bones played nice though and let us come back to them.

Going north on 800W we cranked it up into the high 20′s and then headed back east on CL road.  After another rotation of pulls, Bull hit it a bit hard and we lost Kong.  Bones and I just tried to hang on when Bull pulled with our rest coming as one of us pulled.  Heading into the finish I went around Bones I tried to put out enough speed to keep Bull back but he stormed by me as we hit the downslope before the finish to take the win.       

{Pops, Kong}

I had to leave late and get back quick so Kong joined me for a trip on the old 15 mile route.  Kong got us started and then we went all the way out on CL road to 800W, then south to 100S and headed back east with a 20+ average.  Turned north on 650W back to the egg plant and then back in on CL road.   

{Bones, Pops}

I think this might have been the coldest temperature I’ve ever seen Bones ride in.  He may have overdressed for it though.  We started out nice and steady and decided on the flat Dutchman route so we wouldn’t hyperventilate going up the hills.  With all the gear on and cold temps 18-19 mph was about all we could muster on the way out.  We hit the turnaround with and 18.5 average and I thought we’d do better on the way back in.  It didn’t seem any easier as we started to bog down trying to stay at 20+ mph.  Bones started overheating (that’s my theory) and had to back off the pace.  Once we got to nursery hill he had recovered somewhat and went right past me.  I finally caught him on the run in to the finish.      

{Pops, Bones, Kong}

Winter is coming and this might be our last ride for a few days (rain, followed by snow tomorrow).  Kong got us started pulling strong up the first rise (thought he said he was going to go slow?)  Then Bones pulled before I took over in the flats heading straight out CL road enjoying the tailwind.  We cruised along at 21-23 most of the way out and then slowed a bit going south on 800W.  Kong dropped off and informed us he was shortcutting on 100S.  Our average at the 200S turn was 21.8 mph.

Then things turned ugly for Bones as we headed through the hills.  He was having trouble breathing and kept dropping back on the climbs.  I slowed a few times and waited to make sure he was ok.  Once we got back to CL road he gave what he had left on nursery hill (made me hurt!) and then his engine exploded at the top and he told me to just keep on going.  So I finished on my own and kept glancing behind me to make sure Bones was still rolling.  My theory is that since Bones has not rode much in this cold of weather his cardiovascular system protested and just shut down on him.