Summary

January 28th through February 4th, 2008. The last couple weeks have been kind of a bust because of the rain.

Monday

Heavens parted for the first time in a while, sunny beautiful crisp day. But I had class and work so my workout consisted of 30 minutes on a spin bike and some core and lower body work at the RSF.

Tuesday

Headlands ride with the Freewheel crew, met Andy, Garret, and Josh for the first time. I had a weak initial bridge crossing and climb, but got my legs after going down the backside. I wasn’t too far off the back going back up the saddle (skipped the beach climb) and I put in a decent sprint through the Presidio. Still got to get the hang of how many gears to drop when sprinting with the Record shifters.

Wednesday

Slept through Twin Peaks Dawn Patrol, but did my first spin class at the RSF. It was brutal, easily just as hard or harder as any race I’ve done. I guess since you control the resistance it’s only as hard as you make it, but I was sweating buckets.

Thursday

Slept through Tempo Thursdays, need a day off just commuted, rollers for a little bit at night.

Friday

Anticipated an all day SCRUM meeting at work so I’m putting off the lunch ride recon, instead just a commute and some rollers to keep the legs loose for the weekend.

Saturday

Track day. Another beginner session at Hellyer taught by Terry Shaw. Much smaller turnout this time which made the warm up go very smoothly. Unfortunately there was still just as big a gap in ability, so the team pursuits and team sprints were all won by one strong group, of which only two or three out of the four riders actually finished. No big deal but it cut our pursuit short because we got caught at the line. We also did a few handling and sprint drills for getting the hang of how the banked track can be used for accelerations. Finished up with an Australian pursuit again.

The Ride the World Cups fundraiser was postponed until next week, so no spectating or racing. Just as well since I got enough of a work out in the beginner session and I would have been toast the next day for the final Early Bird. It was really cold too, which would have made watching the races miserable.

Sunday

Early Bird #5, the real deal.

An ideal list of the local races I’d like to do. Exceptions include: work schedule permitting I’d like hit Superweek (2008-07-11 through 2008-07-27 or a portion thereof). I may end up taking a weekend off here and there to catch up with school, to avoid burn out, or to do some track racing during the week and take it easy on the weekend. Also, some back to back races that are in different areas might require too much coordinating to make it worth it if I’m already wearing a little thin.

• 2008-01-13 – Early Bird #2
• 2008-01-20 – Early Bird #3
• 2008-02-03 – Early Bird #5
• 2008-02-23 – Snelling, Sick!
• 2008-02-24 – Merced Crit, Sick!
• 2008-03-01 – Merco Crit
• 2008-03-02 – Merco RR
• 2008-03-08 – Menlo Park Grand Prix
• 2008-03-16 – Zamora RR
• 2008-03-09 – BBC TTT
• 2008-03-22 – Coperopolis
• 2008-03-29 – Brisbane Crit
• 2008-03-30 – Brisbane Circuit Race
• 2008-04-11 – Madera Stage Race
• 2008-04-12 – Madera Stage Race
• 2008-04-13 – Madera Stage Race
• 2008-04-18 – Sea Otter Classic RR
• 2008-04-19 – Sea Otter Classic Circuit Race
• 2008-04-20 – Sonoma Mountain Village Crit
• 2008-04-26 – Wente RR
• 2008-04-27 – Wente Crit
• 2008-05-04 – Berkeley Hills RR
• 2008-05-18 – Modesto RR
• 2008-05-31 – ICCC Dash for Cash
• 2008-06-08 – Santa Rosa Crit
• 2008-06-14 – Pescadero RR
• 2008-06-28 – Pacific State Bank Crit
• 2008-06-29 – Burlingame Crit
• 2008-07-04 – Davis Crit
• 2008-07-05 – Leesville Gap
• 2008-07-06 – Vacaville Gran Prix
• 2008-07-12 – Carrera de San Rafael
• 2008-07-13 – Lafeyette Crit
• 2008-07-20 – Albany Crit
• 2008-07-26 – San Francisco Twilight Crit
• 2008-07-27 – Foster City Gran Prix
• 2008-08-03 – Timpani Crit
• 2008-08-09 – Patterson Pass RR
• 2008-08-16 – Dunnigans Hills RR
• 2008-08-23 – San Ardo RR
• 2008-09-01 – Giro di San Francisco
• 2008-09-06 – Benicia RR
• 2008-09-07 – Benicia Crit
• 2008-09-13 – Mt. Tam HC

All in all that’s 42 races.

• 23 crits
• 14 road races
• 2 circuit races
• 2 3 time trials (including the HC)

Maybe a little ambitious for my second season, but I’ll play it by ear somewhat to avoid early burnout. I may swap the occasional crit for another time trial instead, just for fun.

The Weather

Forecast called for sunny skies, unfortunately just as Ashley and I were picking up Nole in Daly City on our way to Fremont a few drops of rain started falling from the heavens. By the time we got to the course it was drizzling enough to need the windshield wipers but still not quite raining. Unfortunately sunglasses do not have windshield wipers so that meant 45 minutes of eating spray and road grit with my eyes.

The Crew

Big Mouse crew today: Nole, Seth, Timmay!, James, Josh, Andrew, and myself. Seth was pretty wiped from the day before and the rest of us weren’t feeling too jazzed about trying anything very risky given the weather. Everyone, including the rest of the pack was hoping for a safe race.

The Race

The name of the game was keeping it strung out. Otherwise the race seemed fairly predictable. I either bounced around in the first third of the pack or stuck close to whatever mice I could find near the front. I drifted back a few times to mid pack and then took a ride up to the front either with Seth or Andrew, or whatever other racer happened to want to move up the outside at the time.

I spent more time practicing moving up through the middle in this race than the previous week, but it was significantly easer since we weren’t spending as much time bunched up. About half the race was either spent in single, double, or three-up pacelines bunching up occasionally on the straights and on some corners.

As mentioned, few surprises, mostly people keeping it steady and safe. There were a few squirrelly moments, some brake grabbing, but nothing to put anyone on edge. There were more groups of teams this week than individual riders, but still no one team tried for a break. DP said afterward, that contrary to the initial plan I had hatched, with a race this strung out and flat that the pack would not let a group, especially a team go off the front. I began to see why when the few gaps that opened were quickly closed.

I spent a lap up front sitting third wheel for a while after the lap cards went up and briefly pulling until the pack surged and bunched before turn three.

The Finish

With three to go the Mouse train was pulling and keeping the pack strung out, but with Seth pretty tired and Nole kind of burnt from a previous effort we didn’t line up a sprint very well. Part of this was lack of planning. Timmay still managed to get third or fourth, and Nole in the top ten. I was boxed in the middle of the first third when the first sprinters went so it took me a second to react. I found a fast wheel moving up the outside and expected to follow it all the way in for a top ten as well, but he let up and I was a little too cold and worked to move around him so I rolled through in about 15th or so. Definitely a few spots up from the previous week but with less of a dedicated sprint effort.

The Reflection

Pretty happy with my individual and team race, we pulled off a few somewhat well organized team efforts and it was good to have sweepers to help keep our team somewhat organized in the front. Though with lack of previous planning and communication we didn’t time or keep our Mouse train together. We needed to plan to do certain length pulls and have a caboose to let the leader come back into the paceline. We spent a little too much time working during the last few laps and perhaps should have let some other teams take a pull. Then we could have taken a rest and lined up to lead a protected sprinter to the line. Regardless, many commented on how good we looked dragging the field around toward the end of the race.

My first rain race, though it actually stopped raining, and the rain itself was but a little drizzle. Rain isn’t much to worry about, except for making your face and fingers cold and dirty.

Thanks to all the girls, DP, and Ben for providing a cheering section. Ben shaved his beard off, a little creepy, but he’s still the man.

Summary

January 21st through January 28th, 2008. Good start to the new year. Forecast calls for a full week of rain, if not more. School started this week, the stress and confusion kind of ruined this week.

Monday

Day off, commute to work.

Tuesday

First day of school, wussed out on Twin Peaks Dawn Patrol, but commuted to school, work, and back.

Wednesday

Wussed out on Headlands Dawn Patrol, did Cyclo-core at home at night.

Thursday

Commute to school.

Friday

Pouring today, didn’t feel like getting soaked so I took Muni today.

Saturday

Winter training camp was cancelled. I woke up with a sore throat so I slept in, a lot, then did an easy hour and a half spin down through the park, up through the Presidio, Marina, and back home.

That night we had another road team meeting to talk tactics. Federico layed down his decades of experience in a nice, if general talk, about knowing your bike, your team, fellow racers and probably most importantly yourself.

Sunday

Nothing, rain in the morning, scratchy throat so we skipped Early Bird #4.

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The Course

The Early Bird course in Fremont on Dumbarton Circle is three corners, flat, smooth exposed road. Wide corners, two 90 degrees and one sweeping to a slightly downhill but long sprint finish. No wind cover, but luckily there was no wind.

The Racers

In attendance were Jay, Nole, and myself. Also Travis and Connor from the Freewheel were there. Knowing how Travis and Connor ride I expected them to try something toward the end, so I made an effort to stick close to them. I recognized a few of the other 50-60 or so racers from previous races, including the yellow Madone Synergy guy who rode like a squirrel on crack the previous two times we raced together. Luckily I didn’t see much of him after the first couple of laps.

The Race

The pace started of mellow enough, but not because any of the racers were being too cautious, everything was very smooth. A little brushing elbows here and there in the corners. One guy really gritted his teeth when I brushed him but didn’t spaz out. Nole brushed a guy on a straight and he freaked out about it.

I sat in the first third of the pack most of the race, yoyoing a little back and forth in between sitting top ten and sinking back to mid pack as people moved up the outside. That seemed to the be the theme of the day so I used the opportunity to piggyback off of wheels to the front rather than taking a face full of wind myself.

No surges until the lap cards went up with five to go, 24 minutes into the 40 total. The pack surged but everyone soon realized a hot pace with five to go wasn’t going to help because the course is so long, almost 2.2 kilometers.

I kept my eye on Travis and Connor in green. They were mostly in close proximity and would occasionally jump up the outside to the front, so I’d catch a ride just so I’d never lose them. With three to go I saw Connor jump to the front to chat with Travis who was sitting about fourth or fifth. I knew something was going to happen but didn’t expect it so soon so I didn’t move to catch up at that point. I wish I had because just as we entered the third corner before two to go they bolted.

Nole and a few others took off in chase but I was boxed in. A few other riders who made an initial jump popped quickly in the wind and I was left at the front, rather than tow the whole pack I jumped and tried to bridge without taking too many riders with me. We quickly passed a few riders who popped trying catch Freewheel. Nole popped after about two thirds of a lap of chasing at a blistering pace.

My small chase group just about caught up to the remainder of the initial chase group and Travis who was trailing off of Connor at turn three. But just as I caught the chase group they let up and in a second the pack caught up as well. I couldn’t make the second jump before getting boxed in so that left Connor off the front solo and the pack chasing on the bell lap. I sat in the first third trying to find a good position for the sprint but the bell lap went by so fast that I didn’t move up fast enough to get an ideal position. Just before turn three I slotted myself in right next to Nole, even though he was tired from racing at the track the night before I expected a good sprint from him and wanted to follow that in.

The sprint is a lot longer than it looks, especially since the practice race doesn’t have a well marked finish line. The entire group bolted just as Connor got caught with about 400 meters to go. Nole and I jumped passing a handful of others just before the line. If the race was scored we probably would have taken somewhere in the vicinity of 20th and 21st.

The Reflection

This was the second race (see Benicia) where my result wasn’t limited by my fitness (or lack thereof). I felt comfortable with the pace the whole race, never let myself get exposed in the wind or trapped for too long. I could move up mostly easily by jumping up the outside on someone else’s wheel, but I moved up through the middle a little bit too despite being a fairly tight pack.

One tactical mistake was letting Connor and Travis get together with two to go and not being right behind them because I did expect them to do something exactly like that. If I had taken off at the same time I’d have either gotten a free ride in the break or there would have been enough of us to sustain the break through the end.

Next week I’d like to see what Mice we can get together in the front toward the end and try something similar, working together smoothly to see if we can get a Mouse across the line first.

Summary

January 14th through January 21st, 2008. Second week with the new bike and I’m loving it. Did my first race with it last Sunday, handled great. Got to get better about not sleeping through morning rides, but at least I still got in workouts on days I wussed out.

Monday

Day off, commuted.

Tuesday

Twin Peaks Dawn Patrol. Got owned by Josh and DP and got a great workout. Commuted.

Wednesday

Slept through Lake Merced Dawn Patrol so I did Cyclo-core when I got home. Surprisingly I didn’t wake up with my legs feeling like they got steamrollered. Commuted.

Thursday

Slept through Headlands Dawn Patrol, instead did a Twin Peaks Lunch Ride. Beautiful weather, clear, sunny, cool.

Friday

Commuted.

Saturday

Stayed home, lazy ride through the park with a few harder sprint efforts.

Sunday

Early Bird #3, a bit drizzly, but a good race. Pace a little hotter than last week but still nothing too fast. Lots of mice. Early Bird #3.

Summary

January 7th through January 13th, 2008. First full week with the new bike.

Monday

Day off.

Tuesday

Dawn Patrol, Twin Peaks repeats. Good hour and a half of climbing trying to follow DP, Will, and Josh up hills. Did well for me, but still ended up getting dropped most of the time. Very pleased with how the new bike climbs though.

Wednesday

Wimped out on the Lake Merced/Presidio Dawn Patrol. Commuted.

Thursday

Rainy, no Dawn Patrol.

Friday

Birthday ride, did a quick 2 hour Barber Shop loop before heading to the shop for a fitting with Chris. Got a massage later from Daniela which was awesome.

Saturday

Headed out with the biggest Mouse training group to date, must have been about twenty of us. Woke up feeling like I got hit by a truck because of the massage, but once I got spinning I felt better than ever. We split up in Fairfax with our group just heading up BoFax to the summit before the long descent to Alpine Dam. Did repeats until everyone got to the top, then descended and headed back. Ashley is getting better and better on the climbs, she just spins away and is improving a lot. My new bike climbs like a banshee.

Sunday

Early Bird #2, great 4/5 practice race at 8:30am in Fremont. The second race (see Benicia) where fitness was not a limiting factor in my placing.

Did the mentoring session too which ended up being a semi-waste of time. Practice is always good, but there were so many new guys it was very disorganized. Got a little cornering practice out of it but I’ll probably skip it next week.

Ashley did great in her first (practice) crit ever, she was in the first third most of the time, never got too exposed and looked very comfortable.

Dreaming

Saturday morning Ashley, Ben, and I drove down to Mountain View. This is what I came back with.

It’s a 51cm Beyond Fabrications Think and it is a freakin’ beast with wings. Spec’d with Full ‘06 Campy Record Carbon and Eurus wheels I couldn’t have asked for a lighter, stiffer, or nicer spec’d bike for even double what I actually paid for this beauty. This is a dream bike.

Sometime back in December Ben worked out a deal with Jim from Beyond Fabrications to get us a new bike sponsor. Jim was more than happy to help us out with screaming deals not only on his frames but on groups and wheels. Sadly few takers from the rest of the Mouse crew, but Ben had already placed his order for a Think with Dura-Ace and Mavic Ksyrium SL Premiums as well as some of Jim’s carbon wheels.

Before the deal got settled I was all set to buy a Felt from the shop, but the Think was too cool to pass up and I waffled back and forth between Shimano and SRAM for the group and which level Mavic wheels to get. A tighter than expected budget lead me to leap back from Force/Red to Ultegra and I sent in a order for an Ultegra Think with Ksyrium SLs. The next day Ben called me too excited to talk and forwarded me the message from Jim saying he had a left over show model, full Record, Eurus wheels. The next day I was standing over it in Jim’s living room in Mountain View with my jaw on the floor.

After getting the shifting dialed later that day and having the rest of the crew drool over it at the team party I managed to get out for a few hours this afternoon with Ashley. We did a short ride, Barber Shop with a bonus up the bottom of Conzelman and a sprint through the Presidio to the Arguello Gate. It was short, but it was enough to get some first impressions and get comfortable on my new steed.

The Frame

These pictures hardly do it justice. For some reason the naked carbon frame is so much more impressive in person. The tubes are massive. The head tube and bottom bracket junction are huge.

Still this is a light bike by any measure! As pictured it’s 15.5 lbs, that’s with cages and pedals. The frame is sub kilogram, the fork a little beefier than some flyweights at 340 grams, but it still lighter than the EC90 SL. Even with a computer it’d be a 16 lb bike. Not that I’m counting grams, I could stand to lose 5 lbs, but it’s hard to not be a weight weenie owning this bike.

I’m a new racer, new rider. People talk about stiffness that and stiffness this and I always wrote it off. No more. This is stiff! Every little bit of power goes straight through the cranks, the frame, and the wheels. It’s solid. On the flats it seems to move even before I pedal. Descends like a bat out of hell, counter steers incredibly smoothly, and takes little direction to take a smooth line through a corner. Climbing, it’s light, spinning up a hill or jumping out of the saddle the frame seems to translate energy very efficiently. It doesn’t creak or sway unnecessarily, it just flies. More miles will reveal it’s strengths and weaknesses but after a few hours in the saddle today on a variety of terrain I’m very pleased with how it performs.

The Group

There isn’t much that needs to be said. Campagnolo is an institution and Record is indisputably about as good as it gets. I’ve been riding Shimano 105 until now and my only experience with Campy up until this bike had been test riding a Veloce equipped cross bike. This mass of carbon practically fell in my lap, I had otherwise written it off as too extravagant.

The shifting is night and day. Campy is much more organic. Being able to chain dump basically the whole cassette is awesome and something that I’m still getting used to and figuring out how to exploit, but I’m extremely happy with it. Rear shifts are extremely precise.

Moving to the big ring took a little getting used to, the degree of trim and the length of the throw is drastically different. It could be that the FD could use a little more dialing, but I got it down and the front shift is fast and smooth.

The Wheels

Again, Campy, not much that needs to be said. The Eurus wheels aren’t as light as the Ksyrium SLs that I picked to build with my Ultegra spec, but at 1550 grams they are plenty light and incredibly stiff. I can’t speak too much to aerodynamics, but the spokes are much beefier than I imagined and the G3 pattern is certainly unique though there is some dispute to their efficiency. Either way I’m sold. They spin up fast and smooth and maintain excellent momentum flat, up, or down. Very pleased.

The Saddle

Jim gave me a Fizik Aliante with the bike. I thought I was going to just swap it for my Specialized Toupe, but once I got my butt on it I was intrigued.

It’s an entirely different shape and ride than the Toupe but it’s nice, hard to articulate, but very nice. Just the right amount of flex, and little more padding than the Toupe but still very firm. The Toupe is very flat with a big cutout. This is very rounded with no cutout. The Toupe provides an excellent platform that the butt bones just rest right on top of perfectly. The Aliante seems to just fit right in, even with no cutout there’s very little to no unnecessary pressure. Time will tell but I’m going to keep and see what happens.

The Build Kit

The Deda Newton Bars and Stem are nice. Apparently they are lighter than many carbon counterparts and they are plenty stiff. No flex at all in the bars in a hard sprint. The Record seatpost is very bling.

On our ride today we stopped by Mike’s Bikes to pick up some bottle cages and I used a gift card to buy some Bikesmart carbon cages. I Sharpied out the lame Bikesmart logo and they look pretty slick. The seem pretty grippy too, but I’ll have to hit some major bumps to see if they keep from ejecting a bottle.

Summary

Overall I am incredibly happy and grateful, not only for the quality of the bike but for the incredible deal I got. I’d like to thank Jim at Beyond Fab and Ben (and Ray Storm) for this finding me this deal and I’d like to thank Ashley and all those in my family that helped out and chipped in to get me this incredible gift. I’ve got some pretty big shoes to fill in order to do this bike justice. I’ll post more and I put some more miles on it.

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I need to get better on the rollers…then get a Wii…