Racing bicycles is a lot harder than normal people think. One thing that makes bike racing different than other endurance sports is that in bike racing much of what happens is in reaction to other riders. You cannot control or predict when you're going to have to do a maximum effort, or for how long. Plus, you have no idea when you'll have to do a maximum effort again. Put enough of those maximum efforts together in close enough succession and people break. The strange thing is, often people break because of the unknown factor, not because they're unable.
Shane, Greg, Rich and myself at the start of the NBC.
That's why it is important to be the person dishing out those attacks, instead of responding to them. If you can dictate how the race unfolds then it's so much easier emotionally and mentally. You pick how hard to go, when and for how long. You decide how to rest and when to go again.
This past week was the Nogales Bicycle Classic, my hometown "race." It's not a sanction raced, it's classified as a Gran Fondo by the USAC. But, in my opinion, a race is when you have two or more people riding together.
For NBC (Nogales Bicycle Classic) I had three teammates with me. Since it was my hometown race and my anniversary, they picked me as the guy to work for. It was my job to win, their job to set it up for me. We had a few contingency plans for the race, but as the race unfolded, I ended up in a break away about 3 miles into the race. Around mile 5 or 6 another rider caught me and we worked together until I started to hammer on him. I dictated those attacks, the duration, location and frequency. And I'm glad I did, it really sucks responding to those things!
Our plan was to break up the race on the first hill, about 3 miles in. Shane, Rich and Greg set a furious pace up the hill and I was sitting in. It was hard just following their wheels. But, when I saw my friend Jacobo on the side of the road taking a video on his phone, I had to belt out, "ROCK AND ROLL!" as loud as I could. Here's a video of that:
So I got away on the downhill part and my teammates blocked. One guy got up the road and caught me. We had a long way to go!
The thing is, I actually feel bad about how it all unfolded. Because I had two teammates riding behind me, trying to bridge up, I didn't need to really work with Alfonso, the guy who caught me. But if I could stay away and break him, then I win. If we don't stay away, then we have a 3 on 1 situation and we break him. Either way, I'm in a good spot and he's in a bad spot.
So, when we "worked together" I made sure I went a mile or two per hour slower than he was pulling. I also made sure he pulled on the uphill portions and I did so on the downhill. Then, when he could see me, I hung my head and looked tired. When I was behind him I coughed and spit and coughed and coughed and coughed and coughed. I wanted him to think I was dying. And that deception, is what makes me feel bad. I don't like to deceive people for personal gain, even though it's perfectly acceptable in this application.
When the time came to go, I went. I attacked and attacked and attacked. Eventually, Alfonso, who is recovering from knee surgery, had enough and called Mercy. He told me to go ahead, "You win," he said.
Alfonso came in 2nd and my teammate Shane came in 3rd to round out the podium. It was a good day on the bike!
Originally I had planned on racing the 112 mile version of the NBC, but because Tour of the Gila is about a month away I need to really dial in my training these next few weeks. I can't totally trash myself on a brutal route and distance like that because I would miss several days of training to recovery.
Here's the gopro footage of the race:
These next few weeks I need to really dial in my diet and training, especially my sleep. I'm not going to step on a scale until after Tour of the Gila. At this point I need to be as strong as I can be. That doesn't give me license to pig out, but the weight doesn't really matter at this point, nothing I can do about it now without losing power.
I appreciate your time reading and I hope it's been informative and or entertaining.
Until next time!
Oh, and here are the last two videos from last week's TBC.
There's something that normal people (should read, don't race bikes) don't understand about bike racing. Their misconception is exposed in the common question, "How long is your race?"
The Tucson Bicycle Classic begins with a short time trial, or prologue, just over 3 miles long. However, that 3 miles is the most painful racing I've ever experienced, both times I've done it! It's all about intensity.
99 degrees, time to go!
This past week I participated in the TBC (Tucson Bicycle Classic), Men's Category 4 race. We had a huge field, 58 riders! Most of the riders were teenagers, split up between four teams. I was in for some punishment. Unlike a lot of masters teams, these kids are well coached, in similar levels of fitness and willing to sacrifice themselves for their team.
Stage 1 is the short time trial, about 8 minutes of hell! It's a tricky course, some hazards in the road, but the roads twists its way through the Sahuaro West National Monument, which is beautiful. There's a positive elevation gain, and the second half of the race is uphill and that's where a good time is made or lost!
I used the advice from a veteran racer and the information I got from Best Bike Split (bestbikesplit.com) to come up with a plan for stage 1. Basically, punch it at the start (totally different than a 40K TT), and then ride sub-threshold on the flats, just working to maintain the high speed, conserving momentum on the small undulations in the road over the first half of the race. The idea is to have only burned one match, at the start, to punch that speed up high. The rest are needed for the last half.
I maintained my speed well, didn't work too hard to do it, and when I hit the hills I had a lot in the tank. Over the next 5 minutes though, that tank was drained! Once the hills hit I made sure to spin smooth and quick, keeping the power numbers up high without loading my legs up with lactic acid and what-not. At the two steepest parts I stood up to get my momentum going and spun at a high cadence and high power as each hill was crested. I ended up getting up to 37 mph on the short stretch between the two climbs!
So, I feel that nailed the TT, finishing in 8:11 according to Strava, but 8:20 according to the officials. Most people reported extra time added to their results, so I think that's fair enough. My average power on the time trial was 379 watts, I'm very happy with how it went, especially since it was well into the 90 degree range, with crazy hot sunshine!
The time was good enough to put me in second place and was a good time on the day regardless of category.
Day two was the road race, three lumpy laps about 20 miles each around the mines in Green Valley, Arizona. My grouped started last on the day and it was HOT, again! The racing was hard, just like I wanted it to be, and I wasn't having to do the work. Late in the race a small group of riders got off of the front and I let them go. The thing I didn't know was that the 3rd placed rider had flatted. He wanted to win overall, and would've been chasing this down!
After the TBC Circuit Race I was TOAST!
So I sat and watched them go, just worrying about being the guy in 1st and the guy in 3rd to try and hold my 2nd place, maybe even move up to first. The belief I had, at the time, was that if I tried to bridge to the breakaway, I'd just end up towing the group up, which would cost me some matches and lessen my chances of beating my closest competitors.
In the end, the break had about 15 seconds, plus a time bonus and one of those in the break jumped from 4th to 2nd, moving me down to third.
To make it worse, my friend and training partner, Tim, had crashed out bad in the Cat 3 race ... concussion and broken pelvis!
Day 3 was the circuit race. I felt okay when I woke in the morning. I spoke with some teammates before the race and we devised a plan that involved the help of some other riders. After the 3rd lap I was to break away with a small group and some other riders would help block, instead of chase. But, once the race started I felt horrible. I was dying to just hold on for the first 4.5 of 6 laps. Once we got to the end of the race I felt fine, finished 10th with the lead group, believing I'd held onto my 3rd spot. But, the race officials said there was a 2 second gap between the 4th and 5th rider. Whether they're right or not, it's my own fault for not being up there.
The racing these past two weeks was very hard, hot and exhausting. But, I had so much fun. It's great meeting new friends, connecting with old friends, and hanging out with like-minded people.
At work someone asked me about my results. I said I was happy with them, it's all icing. He said, "Yup, remember where you were a year ago at this time?"
I wasn't riding at all, was barely able to walk. So yeah, it's all icing!
Now this week is all about recovery...I need to absorb the training stress of 6 days of racing in a 10 day window, all in unseasonably hot temperatures. This coming week is the Nogales Bicycle Classic, my hometown race. I'm doing the 51 mile version with my new teammate Greg and maybe my brother-in-law, Gene. It will be my only difficult workout of the week!
Anyhow, thanks for reading. Here are some great pics from this past weekend's races. Special thanks to Damion Alexander for his work with the cycling community and his amazing pictures!
At any moment you must be willing to sacrifice who you are for what you are going to become.
That's a strong message and if considered forces one to face the uncomfortable sacrifices required to make meaningful change. Sometime during 2015, I started struggling with depression, unhealthy habits and was in a dark place. I had become the person I gave up being some number of years before And I'd tell myself...
Come on, Philip, you're better than this!
Racing is a tone-setter. Racing a bike, for me, is a chance to do my very best at something. There's an inherent value to giving your best effort, holding nothing back, with total commitment. It's a pervasive state of being. People that dismiss their roles in bad outcomes fail to be accountable for much of anything. People that push themselves do so in increasingly many ways.
I'm not that 300 pound person any more, and fear is a powerful motivator to steer me clear of
New Max Power
regression. So when I say I gained 5 pounds in the past two weeks, and there's no guilt or shame, I know it's okay. I'm leaner over the same time period and stronger, too. In fact, this past week I had several PRs UP steep, difficult segments, a new all-time high max power output on the bike and a new 5 second best power output. I feel strong on the bike. The weight will take care of itself.
The weight can be frustrating, especially when Tour of the Gila is such a hilly race. But, as long as my power is increasing and I'm not getting fatter, I guess it's okay. After the season I'll focus on losing weight again.
Along with the weight comes an unhappy knee. Last weekend, after my Saturday group ride, I went out with two teammates, Tim and Rich, and we hit some hills. Rich took us up the road called Snyder Road...nicknamed, The Wall. The hill has LOTS and LOTS of 20% - plus inclines, the average for the whole thing is 15%. My average cadence was just 51 RPM, and at the end I spun up real quick to pass Rich. My knees are very unhappy with me for the effort.
But, good news is that I've been spending consistent time on the TT bike, in the aero position, and getting more comfortable.
This past weekend was the Southern Arizona Omnium. A stage race is scored by time on each stage and to compete in the stage race you must race in all of the stages. An omnium assigns points to each race and people that aren't competing in the omnium can still jump in any of the particular races.
Day one was an AWESOME criterium at Musselman Honda Circuit Track. The course was fast but the turns were still a bit technical. The race was at night, under the lights and I was absolutely pumped to jump in and race. Here's a video of the S-turn:
I put myself in a few spots of trouble late, one by hitting a small grate I hadn't seen on the inside of one turn, and then being on the outside of someone I knew didn't take the last corner well (he apologized profusely later, he didn't know ... I did, my fault for being there), and ended up 7th. Still, we had a big field and the only group that was faster on average were the Men 1/2 category. Our final lap average speed was 29.4 mph!
Some horse bathing next to the warm up area for the TT.
The last time I raced, just a few weeks ago, I had hypothermia! This weekend was the opposite. It was HOT. Even the nighttime race was hot. The tarmac radiated heat like crazy and I downed a full 24 oz water bottle in a 30 minute crit! I usually don't even take water on crits.
Day two was a 20K time trial. Usually these start at the crack of dawn, but because the final races weren't over until 11 PM, we didn't start the TT until 11 AM. My time was 11:41. Regardless, there was a huge turn out for this early season TT. It makes me think that the schedule needs to be changed. Most of the TTs in Arizona come after the state championship.
Time trials are what I used to be best at. So I'm a little frustrated that I am having so much trouble with them! I decided that one of my problems was hubris. I don't want to accept the fact that I'm making so little power on the TT bike, so I've gone out too hard and blown up. The plan for the day was to NOT do that. The details were to go out at 330 watts for the first 2 miles, then 340 until the turn around at 10k. At the turn around, drink some water, take a breath, then 350 watts until 5k remain, bump it to 360 for 2 miles and then jump drop the hammer to finish the race.
So I ended up riding a fantastic negative-split 12K time trial. Of course, the race was 20K and I suffered mightly over the last 20K. After the race, talking with my buddy Kyle, he stated the obvious (as he, too, is disappointed with how his TTs are going), which is that we've not been doing those long efforts required to do well on a TT.
Even with the poor execution, I ended up at 28:22 unofficially, but the race officials added 30 seconds to my time, I think because my 30 second man didn't show up. There was all sorts of scoring errors and right now the officials are manually going through to recheck and calculate the times. Even if I'm wrong, and they're right, I won by 2 minutes over my omnium competitors. This was a mixed bag because it only gave me a handful of extra points over the competitors but definitely caught everybody's attention. I was a marked man on the road race.
We had 49 riders in our race!
Going into Sunday's road race I was a little nervous. Saturday afternoon I suffered some pretty bad cramps and wasn't feeling too hot, from the heat, you know. (See what I did there, eh???) But my plan was to make the race hard, and try to get away in lap 3 (of 5). The road race was 5 laps around Pistol Hill, in Vail, Arizona.
I was in 2nd place, or maybe 3rd, the results weren't posted and I calculated on my own, and I wanted to win the omnium. So, I was going for broke. I didn't want to ride to hold onto 2nd place, but the real issue was that if I won the road race and the guy in first, Caden, came in second, he'd still win the omnium, by just 2 points. Caden proved too smart and strong and no matter how I tried, I was given ZERO leash. No matter what I did, someone was willing to bury themselves to bring me in. A few other attacks were successful and two breakaways actually stuck until the last part of the last lap, which is unusual for Cat4 racing. But, it was clear, I was going no where.
Salt leached through the bib number!
In the end, I popped, finishing 12th on the day as I cramped coming up the hill. I felt horrible, totally spent, but also happy that I at least had a chance to play my cards. This omnium, after all, is training. Had the race been scored on time, I'd have ridden easy all day and not gotten the training benefit.
In the end, I came out 3rd in the omnium and made some new friends and had a great time doing it. That's bike racing for you.
Next weekend is the Tucson Bicycle Classic. I'm racing Cat4 again, and again, it's a very large field. This is a big event for me, one where I want to show well! I'm far from where I want to be, both in general cycling ability and weight. But, this year is all about learning and developing and suffering and smiling while doing it all! So long as I keep those priorities, the results are positive.
So I'll leave you with some pictures from the week. Thanks for reading and following along.
Brought Chuggies to the Crit... he was a bad dog though.
At least I wasn't in trouble!
Tim and I warming up before the crit!
A pic I took on a training ride this week.
A pic from the road race Sunday.
I was trying to punish people in the back of the pack coming out of this corner!
