POA, stand for Piedmont Orthopedic Associates. They are in Greenville, and this year, they have been doing a crit series over at the old G-Braves stadium, which is now the Municipal Stadium of Greenville.  Joey and Trey had been telling me about going over there, and this past Thursday I decided that it was time to go out and turn the cranks in anger. I emailed TD (Thad Dulin) to see if he was coming out to play, and he came back with a big affirmative, so I was ready to roll.

The course is in a parking lot, so no traffic worries there, it circumnavigates the old stadium, short course, rough road, but hey, it is a cheap race, which is good.  TD said that he would be there around 6pm, and I figured that would be close to when I would get there.  That would give us about and hour and half to spin around and try to get used to the heat, which was pretty nasty, considering this parking lot as most parking lots, does not have any trees or shade, sorta like a large frying pan with people as the eggs.

Thad and I met up after getting our numbers and headed out, the conversation quickly turned to our guv’ner and his exploits, and the jokes insued.

Back to the race. The crowd was not big, but it was a good field none the less, this is a P123 race, so a good mix of all were in there.  The course starts on an uphill, takes a left over the top, then descends down to turn three. Turn four is the tightest, but not bad, then you have the uphill.

A couple of moves took off, I hit it one time up the hill, got away, then was joined by Jim Cunningham.  We were coming around for a prime for some Cytomax, and here come Alan Trip.  We fight for the prime with Alan nipping me at the line…Sucka, I could have used that mix.  We roll back into the field, and a few more moves try to go. Nothing is really getting any distance, so I sit for a bit.  I did not know what time it was, but on the way around, the field slowed, one of those “We have been hitting it for a little while, let’s all slow down a bit feelings.” HMMMM, I think I will see if I can get away…”Who said that?” That little voice in my head said that…”Why do you want to do that?” I say…”Because we can right now.” “Good enough.” I roll off on the left hand side, kinda of Leduc style, not standing, just ramping the speed up to see what happens.

Well, it happened, I got away, and for the next thirty minutes I fought, and I mean I fought.  It was rough, but in the same instance, it was great.  Ten minutes left and I am struggling though, and the pack is starting to really gain on me now, the hand is quickly going toward empty, like someone shot a bullet in my tank, and then I see it…Here comes TD….Classic TD move, let things happen, then strike like a cobra at the end and sley everyone behind.  I am passed, but not after collecting a prime and some good camera time…(Aside: There was no camera, only the imagination of someone in oxygen debt, dehydration, and sicko mind.) Thad passes and I scream at him to rip it, then here come Alan in a small group of three chasing and I scream at him as well.  Then I keep rolling around.  The announcer has been collecting bones from the crowd for a gamblers prime, and the pot is at $48.25.  He tells me on the next lap that I can get in and go for that prime…I point to the guys coming up from behind and motioned that, “I am not going for that, these guys have been working for it and that would be lame on my part to do something like that.”  I roll around until 5 to go and then pull over. Being the publicity hog that I am, I promptly go over and grab the announcers mic to let everyone know that I was throwing in the only dollar that I had to help up that Gambler’s Prime, and just to get to talk on the microphone. I almost broke out into some singing, but was unsure of the way the crowd would take it…Just kidding. 

Thad put the hammer down on them, Alan got second.  I had a great time, and I am sure that next month I will be back over there, trying my hand again.  This is one of those races, that since it is in the same place all the time, you get a chance to try different strategies and see which one works.  That is cool, so I will do that.  Come out and try it, entry is $15 bones, and you have a chance to at least make your money back, and get in a good workout.

HUMP

Today as I said earlier, the Ceasar’s Head Challenge took place, and it was a heck of a ride.  Boyd Johnson had told me about it back in the winter, how he was going to have a hard ride that ended at the top of the mountain. I have not climbed CH since probably 5 years ago, so I was in for a treat.  I also had Thad Dulin coming, and since he and I have not ridden together on a ride in a while, I knew it would be fun.  We had emailed each other back and forth on Friday about seeing how fast we could do it.

What I hoped was that more people would be up there and willing to put in the work, to make it roll fast.  We were to head out from Cleveland, SC at 9:00, and then tool around the upper end of Greenville, Pumpkintown, Pickens and anywhere else up there that I did not mention…It was hot. (Side note: you will see this statement frequently, so get used to it.)

Right out of the parking lot, we were climbing, and right off the bat, Thad and I were on the front.  Up and over the first climb and there were three other guys with us, then we spotted a larger group back a bit.  We rolling along fairly well, when the group caught us on a miss directed left turn.  We righted ourselves and started working well with the group.  I saw a couple of people I knew, George Meyer was there, Mr. Mt. Mitchell himself.

So, onto the festivities..It was HOT! We kept onl rolling along and so did the terrain.  Next up was a rest stop, good deal I needed some water and some other things, then it was off again, this time to head up the Greenville Watershed.  This is my type of climb, not steep, so you can really get a good tempo and keep it rolling.  We catch back up to the main pack and roll on thru.  That left myself, Thad and a guy from Outspoken.  Did not get his name, but he had a foreign acscent.  Anyway, we made a right where I thought we were heading toward Mt. Olivet, which I knew was a tough climb…..It was HOT! We then made a sharp right onto a road at this time I cannot recall the name and up we go again, this one was a bit steeper than what we had just came off of, but we got up to the top fairly well.

This is where Outspoken showed his tail…This guy could go downhill, he had never ridden the area, never saw what was around the next corner, but he was flying.  Thad and I rode down fast, but this guy was moving.  Thad rolled up beside me and said that the climb there had popped him, I was feeling it as well, our early escapades were telling on my legs and I knew that the day was going to get longer.  We made out way off of this road which came out on Pearson Falls road, made a left and was onto the old Saluda grade.  Good climb here as well, but the theme for the day was really taking shape now, down, up, down, up.

We stopped again to top of the bottles and off we go thru Saluda, left onto another road that….You guessed it went up!  Did I mention that it was hot? By this time I am feeling like maybe close to 90 degrees. This is where we head down now and come back out onto the watershed to go up the last leg of it to the top and back down the other side onto another beast, which is Olivet.  Boyd told me once before while he and I were out training that Olivet was a little over 7% for the whole climb.  By this time my legs were starting to rebel, the climbs were not getting me, it was the flats and downhills in between, because we did not let up, we kept pushing a good tempo thru those as well.  Up and over.  Outspoken once again spoke out and took off downhill like he had saw the boogie man.  I think this is where we lost him, because this is where my right leg said “HAHA!” and cramped.  We worked thru it and kept on.  By this time as well, the temp was scorching, and being as we were near creeks and such, it felt like the jungle…Well at least what I think the jungle would feel like…For those of you reading this, it felt sorta like Belize after it rains.

Thad and I decided that today Boyd would not get to time us up CH.  I know, wuss.  We both decided to forgo the last climb and head back to the car for a Coke.  We got back with over 95 miles, and average speed of 19.5 that is with hills and with the last leg of our trip not really pushing.  I was tanked, I headed down the road into Greenville, Thad was in front of me in the sweet Beamer, when a huge hawk, I swear about takes his front windshield out.  I stop and grab some grub and then head down the road to the house.  I can tell you I am tired, we did not let up for the majority of the ride, we would ride the hills hard, then tempo hard between.  It was a good ride though, first time TD and myself have actually ridden out of competition in over a year.

This ride should really start to catch on after this year, the first is always the teaser. The staff learn what they need to do better, and more people do like I am doing and tell you that you need to get up there and do this ride next year.

HUMP

Going to do a big organized mountain event this weekend in the northern part of Greenville County, stay tuned for my post.

I also have something else in the works, so stay tuned for something…..Let’s just say a little twisted

Since deciding to slow down on the racing for a bit, my training time has actually increased, go figure. Two weeks ago, the family went and bought a round of running shoes, and being the over enthusiastic person I am some times, I commenced to going out and running 2.5 miles my first outing in the shoes…There is nothing inherantly wrong in wanting to run, who doesn’t? I mean that is the easiest way to jump out and get some fitness right? And think about when you were a kid…Come on.

Thing is though, that when you have been focusing on a specific sport, there are things that are not ready to handle a new sport. Think of it this way, you are building your first Hot Rod sick car you have always wanted, you have the body work finished, the engine is built, and what an engine, but the last thing you need are good tires to handle that engine, but just for kicks you go out one Saturday afternoon, and start laying down on the gas, problem is, you have the engine, but the tires as they are cannot handle the load and you slide into a tree and mess up the body work…I know, the analogy is broad, but here is what I am getting at. For the past 10 years almost, I have been riding and training on a bicycle, my preferred means of fitness, I have gotten pretty efficient at doing it, and my engine on the bike fits the tires..Stay with me.  Running on the other hand is like the Hot Rod, I have the engine, but the tires are not the ones I need to be efficient and enjoy it. So I ran twice that week, the second time I did an indoor 5k. I say all this to say that this past week, I have had to really back off everything, because I wrapped it around a tree, I mean I stressed my knees by not giving my body the time to build up to the mileage and have actually messed my self up for a bit.  The knees are coming around now, and I think the best thing is for me to take it easy, run walk, wun walk, maybe for a bit to build the legs up to handle it. I really want to be able to run, so I will at least give it another try, but I do not want to mess up my legs, because the first love is the bike.

So we took it easy this week, getting out a couple of times and just letting the legs get back strong again. I bought a new heart rate monitor/cycling computer yesterday, and I really like it. It is the Polar Cs200, it actually has the caloric consuption that I have been looking for, and if I can get a microphone for the computer, it will uplink to the internet.  I tested it out yesterday on a 30 miler and it performed superb. I wanted the higher model, but I got this one on sale at Performance.  I can get the higher model later I suppose. Cheaper than a power meter, and for now that will do.  It also mounts right on the stem, which I like.

HUMP

If you have read my latest post, you know that I have taken a break from racing to focus on taking care of some personal debt so that I can do some racing and not have to think about whether or not that money could have been put toward something else.

These past couple of weeks have been a very eye opening experience to say the least.  You never know how much you miss being at home until you are able to be at home and not think about going somewhere.   To tell you that I have not enjoyed it would be a lie, because I have.  I have gotten back out with the guys here in town on numerous occasions, the last two Saturdays, we have left out early and gotten in 5 hour training rides with some heated moments leading back into town.  It has been great! This past Saturday, we followed along as competitors did a triathlon up in Kings Mtn National park.  Some of the riders had never been to this area, we past one girl who said that she was from Myrtle Beach, so I am sure the small hills in Kings Mtn were giving her a rough time.

What about the Giro? Man, that was exciting. I know I may get stoned for this one, but I think I like it better than the TDF…..The thing is, and the guys and I were talking about this..It seems as if they just never got a break in this race, stage four started going up hill, and it seemed that every day, there was some sort of hill, or something that pulled the group apart, and what about Menchov and Diluca? Man, that could not have been a better fight if you would have had to pay 50 bucks pay per view to see them get in the octagon!
I also would like to take this time right here to give a big round of applause to www.universalsports.com. If you have not been on there, go, sit and watch each stage, no commercials, great commentary, and great pictures.  This is another stoning in the making, but Versus could take notes.  This is where the media type is going, I love to hear Bob Roll, and Sherwan and Ligget are also the most noted commentators to us here in the U.S., but the coverage is less than stellar except for the races Lance has decided to come back to (That is another stoning).  I can remember one year watching all three grand tours on Versus, cannot remember what the name of it was then, that was insane, Le Tour still gets decent coverage, and I guess the reason is that even Joe the hermit down the street knows who Lance is and that he road a bike all over France for three weeks wearing a yeller shirt.

The other thing, is that it was free, no subscription needed, if you missed the live feed, go back and watch the video where you could still see the whole deal, adn fast forward thru the early break to get to the fighting.  I hope that they will show more races, and I can tell you that I will be sitting watching the small screen with my ear buds in sipping a cup of Joe.

Training- What does HUMP do now that he has backed off racing, really no need to put in the hours training right?…..Wrong! I have actually gotten in more training in this past month than before, more gym time and I even picked up running as a cross training to cycling.  How is that? I think that is because I have no pressure to ride or race, so I am just getting out riding, riding hard if I feel good, and riding easy if I am tired.  Yesterday was a perfect example. Monday I had ran, Tuesday I did sprints, since it was raining, I decided to stay in town and just do sprints, sprint after sprint, dead stop to rolling down hill.  Wednesday, I went to the gym with Stacie and ran an indoor 5K. Thursday got out and rode steady tempo for close to two hours. Friday we did nothing, rested. Saturday, early morning, headed out, 5 hours in the saddle with some tempo, and then a final lead out from Trey the Carolina Missile…That kid is getting fast, well fast! Sunday, like I said, I woke up, ate breakfast and still felt like I could take a nap, so around 12 I did for a little while, got up and then rode down town to meet up with Joey. I could tell as soon as I got on the bike that Sunday was going to be chill day.  I had in over and hour of said chill when I met Joey.  Then I maxed out the chill mode outside of town, where I told the guys: I am heading back in. 2 hours of total chill on the bike.

Now I am off to Jury Duty for the week, maybe I will get picked and get to sit a see a case, that would be cool, but if not, so be it.

HUMP

This is a quick one, but Stacie and I paid off another credit card the first of this month, and are on track to pay off my Dad at the end of this month, for some money I borrowed from him for….Guess??? Yes, a bike.  How about that, isn’t that ironic?  After that one, we should be on track to pay off the next one by the end of July or August, and with the OT I am getting at work, it may happen faster than that.  That one will be the highest payment that we pay out each month except for the house payment, so when that one is gone, I am going to run and shout around the yard and hope someone calls the cops so I can tell them how happy I am to have that one gone.

HUMP

P.S. Went to a wedding this past weekend, will post about that and the great riding that I got in up in Cashiers, NC.  For those who have ridden up there, you know what type of terrain it is.

If the title has you scratching your head, here comes the clincher.  As of today, I will not longer be racing for this season.  Stacie and I laid in bed last night and had one of our coversations that has been coming up since this past winter.  How are we going to keep on going like this???

I have fought this season with the prospect of not racing, to allow us both the time to take care of old ignorant bills and get ourselves to a better financial place to provide better for our family.  We have talked about getting a new house, about car maintenance (Notice I did not say buying a new car, I refuse!), Clothes, taking care of Kolbie, other little things, and all along we have tried to juggle that with racing.  If you have been reading my blogs for any time, you know that I love to race, but this season, something has been missing, and I knew what it was, everytime Stacie and I had a conversation about what it was going to cost this time to go….(Fill in the blank), all I could think was that I could take that money and pay this off, or that would get us that much closer to paying that one off.  My mind has not been into the joy of racing, which made it hard for my heart to be in it as well, it became as you always hear about, a chore.

I could not enjoy myself unless I was just at home and riding just for riding.  I made the decision laying there last night to call Chris today and let him know that I would not be racing the rest of this season. Now is the time for me to step back, and take care of so many things that I have putting a hold on or not doing to the full extent that I can.  I had thought about this at the first of the season.  I am 34, will be 35 next season, and I could race Master’s at any race I go to.  I can tell you from racing in Charleston that I really enjoyed the Master’s race, because the playing field was even so to speak, all working guys with families.

There you have it, I have officially semi retired for racing, semi because I do not plan to not race the rest of my life, think of it as a subbatical.

HUMP

This weekend the team is racing in sunny Charleston, SC. We do these races every year, and they are always fun fast races.  Day one is Ion Village in Mt. Pleasant, just over he Cooper river from Charleston.  Stacie, Kolbie and I left out early Saturday morning and drove down to the race.  Chris has ask me if I was going to race the Master’s race, and I had looked on the flyer to see that they had not stipulated an age for Master’s, so I went to sign in and told them that I wanted to do Master’s, Pro 1-2, and then Pro 1-2 again on Sunday.  The sign in was having problems getting me logged in, it was saying that I was not old enough.  Master’s is considered 30+, so I am old enough.  I walked over to Glenn Thrift who was officiating the event, and told him that they had not stipulated an age for today’s Master’s race, and seeing as I qualify for 30+ I should be able to sign in.  He radioed and let them know that the door is open, and I got in.  Good thing too, because the team rode great! Harkey and I got up the road in the four man break with two other guys and we were rolling along well. This could have been the ticket here, but Globalbike put up a fight and reeled us back in, good job on their part for taking the responsibility and doing some dirty work.  When we got pulled back, Adam and Darren went on the offensive. Darren had told Harkey to keep this thing to a sprint, since Darren knows this course so well he could race with his eyes closed, he knew if we did it right, he could win, and win he did.  One lap to go, I am on the front, Harkey is in my ear right behind me and Darren is sitting in the spot.

Harkey: “Keep it steady, keep it steady.”

Turn One.

Harkey: “Alright pick it up some.”

Turn two and into the back stretch.

Harkey: “Alright, give it everything.”

At this point, I am leading out the backside, full bore as hard as I can push, into the next to the last corner.  I swing out, my job is done, get out of the way. Harkey takes it thru that corner and winds it up to the last corner, where Darren takes over, comes out of the last corner and takes the win!!!  Excellant.

We had a small break while they did the kids race so I rode back to the car, grabbed my other bottles and hit the course again to get my legs back under me for the P-1,2 race. This was to be 75 minutes of racing, same course, different outcome.
We raced hard for 75 minutes, Thad Dulin jumped away in pure Thad fashion to take the win Cancellara style, by time trialing ahead of any sprinter’s. By now we all should know this move, but hey, get it when the oppurtnity arises, if I could have I would have done the same thing, good move.
Last lap I was done, so I just rolled into the finish. Justin ended up 6th for the day, not sure where everyone else was. We sat there full chamois and watched some more racing, before getting cleaned up.
Stacie, Kolbie and I were staying in the Holiday Inn Express up near Charleston Southern University, and we could not have been any happier, it was a very clean motel, full free breakfast, and very comfy beds. To say we will stay there again would not be an understatement.
Sunday-SC State Criterium Hampton Park.
I am not sure that a course could get any more flat or simple, four corners if you want to call two of them that, pancake flat, and usally fast, typically a field sprint…Can you say predictable?
Say it with me.
Yes it is. I tried a couple of times to get in moves, even tried with four laps to go to pull a cheeky move, but to no avail, this was coming down to a sprint. The last corner is hectic to say the least, and the sprint is funny, because it is so long. Needless to say, I was not in the best position, so subsequently, no I am not the SC state champion.
Thing is, I have only won that race once, and that was as a Category three racers, and let’s face it, I was in a break, and that is probably the only way for me to win this race.
Fitness wise, I felt good, things are coming along, I am not at 100% and I do not want to be, I am just mixing ingredients right now to a bigger cake that will come in a couple of months time, and that is Master’s Nationals.

HUMP

This was the first time that I actually took time off for nothing…Yes, nothing.  We did not have plans to go anywhere, we did not have racing this weekend, we just took time off to be together with Kolbie since he was out of school, and it was great!!

Oh yes, I trained, but I also shot basketball, hit practice golf balls (He does not need real ones at this time, since I do not need to replace windows.) 

I trained on Tuesday,it was windy, but I got out and got it done. I had worked Tuesday, so it was a regular day, but Wednesday was not, I got to sleep, got up, ate a good breakfast and got on the stick.  I actually rode over to Spartanburg, taking my time just riding.  Thursday was a ride with the guys in town, it was good to get back out with them to talk and act up, really relaxed pace, so that was good.

Friday I did nothing! I rested, and a proper rest, just kicked the legs up and chilled. Kolbie was with mom, so Stacie and I went to get some goodies for Easter.  I ended up buying the new HULK movie, so that is what I did, I watched movies.  I finished that one, and grabbed another old one to watch.  Nice day.  We got out that evening and built a fire out in the field, my dad had plowed a section of the field, so we dug a hole and lit it up.  That was really fun, we just sat out there and watched the fire, Kolbie ran around beating a couple of pieces of bamboo, until we threw those in the fire as well.

Saturday, I had picked out a route a couple of weeks ago based off another ride I had done, so I was intent on finding my way up to Pine Ridge Golf Course.  I headed out, the wind was in my face the trip out, but it was a great day.  I got out to the golf course, turned in and started trying to find the hills that I knew were in there.  I found them!! Holy Crud!!  These were small walls,  They were short, but I have not climbed anything in our area that even came close to this steep.  I was in the smallest gear I had, just grinding.  I liked it though.  Heading out, I checked the mileage, and I was already at 50, so I was thinking, I am going to get near 100 today. I was feeling good.  I took a turn that and did not know where it went, but my internal GPS, was telling me I was heading back in the direction I wanted, I ended up stopping at a small church to ask directions, just so happened, I was right at the road I wanted to be on…Good job internal GPS.

Heading back was even better, since I had a tailwind in some sections, I could really roll on the gas.  I made it back home, right at 90 miles…I have to go on past this, so I stopped at home, grabbed my debit card and headed to Subway.  That way I had my miles and my lunch.  A great ride, and I still had the rest of the day with the family.

HUMP

This week is spring break for my son.  I had initially planned to go to Belize, but things fell thru, so instead of going into work, I decided that I would take the rest of the week off to get in some training, and to just relax at home with the family, since Stacie also took off all week.

Wouldn’t you know it, I could have slept in this morning, I did not have anything to do that would warrant waking up, but dang it, I was awake at 5:45.  I slept well though, so I cannot complain, and there is just something about getting up and enjoying your breakfast with thought that you do not have to go anywhere unless you absolutely want to.  I did however want to get out and ride.

I had trained the night before, so I wanted to get out and get in some more riding, and what better way to do that than to tuck some cash in the pocket and ride over to Spartanburg and Starbucks for a good ole Americano.  That also is so much better when you can sit in the cafe’, and drink it out of a ceramic cup.  I left there and headed out to BikeWorx.  Eric Tuner has been hooking me up for years, he has let me come in with my stuff and work on my bikes with his tools for a long time, always lending advice, but he figures it saves me and him time, since he knows that I want my bike that day and he usually has them lined up.  It is also a place to see some slick stuff, he just moved from his old location which was busting at the seams to a new bigger location in a different area of town.  So I stopped by and shot the bull for a bit.  Left there and headed around the back way over toward the Glendale area, stopped to grab a snack at the store and then headed back home.  It felt good to just get out and ride without worrying about where I had to be or if it was going to get dark on me.

I will be posting more this week, since I have time, so stay tuned.

HUMP