Fast and Hot.

That's the two things I will say about today's Covered Bridge Race. I raced in the A group and right off the bat there were attacks. My legs felt pretty good today, and I was surprised they felt good too. Yesterday I wasn't really able to hop on the bike because I had firefighter class from 9:00-1:00 in the morning and then when I arrived home, we did quit a bit of yard work and car washing. By the end of the day, I just wanted to sit around and relax. This morning, when I was warming up with my Dad and Phil Hines, my legs didn't feel too good. But, as the race went on, they felt good. My legs started to cramp on the last lap and I really couldn't sprint at the end. I finished with the field and it was a good race. We had Shawn, Brant, Todd, and Jeff in the A field as well. It was another fast race, but it was very fun and I'm looking forward to next weekend.

In the Masters race there was Dad, Brian D, Nate, and Scott C. My Dad said it was a great race. He said he felt good and he had better legs than yesterday at RATL. Although his legs started to cramp up at the end also. Lots of attacks and lots of work up front but a great race. Nate ended up taking the win in the Master's field also! Great job Nate! We probably won't race RATL next week, just race on Sunday. Nice job to everyone who raced today in the 90* heat.

LATE

Lookin' forward

to the weekend! From what the weather man says, it is going to be 83 on Saturday!! And just as warm on Sunday. Can't wait till the race this weekend. I will most likely have to miss Saturday's RATL because I might have firefighter class, but I will be definitely racing the next day at the Covered Bridge Race. Really looking forward to the racing this weekend and hopefully the weather will turn nicer so that I can get out on the road. So far, it looks like it is going to rain for the next day or so. Trainer will work I guess......... drag. But at least warm weather is coming!!

Peace out.

RATL

Today was the first Race at the Lakes. As soon as Dad and I arrived we saw the red lights flashing from the ambulance. Way to start off the RATL series. Dad's race was really fun to watch. Lots of attacks going on and it was super fast. Dad finished great. He thinks he finished around 9th place. He looked strong, and while he was in the parking lot section, he attacked the group and got a really good gap. It looked like a car taking off around a corner, it was that fast. Especially with those new Zipp 404s.

My race was pretty good. I felt great in the beginning of the race. I had some attacks and
I brought some other racers back a few times. About 5 laps into the race, I looked down at my wheel and it looked like I had a flat. It sure felt like I had a flat too. CRAP!! So, as everyone was finished passing me, I pulled over to the side of the road and felt my tire. No flat........... So I rode a couple laps by myself and waited for the main group to come back. When they caught me, I moved in with them and finished with them. Jeremy and Paul were together in the break, so I don't know who won. Even with me riding by myself for a little bit, I still averaged close to 26 mph. When we got home, we put on the work boots and crappy jeans and shorts and did mulching and mowing the lawn. I'm pretty beat right now too.

C ya.

Almost race time!!

RATL tomorrow. Im really looking forward to the race and I know that it will be another wicked fast field again.

Race write up tomorrow

Roubaix Ride.

After church this morning, Scott, Dad and I headed out to Middlefield for the annual Paris Roubaix Ride. Last years ride was cold, windy and raining. And only 5 people showed up including me and Dad. Today the weather was fairly cool, sunny, but still really windy. A big jump from last year, 10 people showed up including myself, Dad and Scott. Starting off was crappy. 4 flats in about 4 miles. The ride was great, including some awesome Amish country roads and some nice hills. There were 8 total flats during the ride, which had to be a record. Luckily, me, Scott, Jeff Craft and a few other folks didn't flat. Dad had 2 flats in like 6 miles into the ride. Next year we need to bring a lot more tubes. We finished with a hair short of 35 miles in a little over 2 hrs. That was ride time. It took a lot of extra time changing tubes. So really the ride had to be close to 3 hrs haha. Thanks Jim Behrens for another great Roubaix ride and I'm already looking forward to next years. Next week is RATL on Saturday and a Valley race on Sunday. So I will be on the bike lots again this week.

Happy Easter
LATE

Duathlon

Today Dad, Scott and I raced the Headwaters Trail Duathlon hosted by Janet Edwards and the CTC. I started off running with Dad and we didn't really want to kill ourselves because the bike course was very hilly and it was very windy. So we both were running in 3rd and 4th place until the first transition. I put on my cycling shoes and did a cyclocross remount and started the hilly bike loop. I was first place out of T-1 and I was still maintaining the lead after I finished with my bike. The last run was hard. It is a weird feeling when you jump off your bike and start running. But after about a mile or so, I was back in my groove. I ended up finishing 1st overall in 1:22:49, which was a course record. So I felt really good about that. Dad finished 2nd with a great time of 1:23 and Scott finished 5th, and this was his 2nd or 3rd mulisport race. Awesome day today and looking forward to eating some good Easter food, since we are having Easter Dinner tonight. Dad, Scott, and I are headin out to Middlefield in the morning for the Roubaix ride.

Late.

Paris Roubaix Ride

this Sunday. Since Easter is the day when the the real Paris Roubaix is on, Jim Behrens is hosting his annual Paris Roubaix Ride. It starts of in Middlefield and you ride all through the Amish Country and lots of dirt roads. This is my 3rd or 4th year doing the Roubaix Ride, and I have a lot of fun every time. On Saturday, Dad and I are racing a duathlon, so hopefully the legs won't be too spent for the Roubaix Ride. Everyone is welcome to come and it will be a great ride and you will have a lot of fun.

word up!

Palm Sunday Ride.

Today looked great to get in another long and hilly ride. Since we were in good spirits this morning after church, Dad and I decided to ride the old Greater Cleveland Triathlon half Iron-Man course. You would expect a triathlon course to be flat with some high speed sections. Not this one though. This course consists some of the biggest climbs around and some hills that aren't really big, just like miles and miles long. I think this was the third time riding this course so I didn't really know where I was going. I had to rely on my Dad to show me the way. When we arrived home, we had 65 miles in 3:30. Great training ride, great training speed and a great day. Now I'm just waiting to eat some bacon cheeseburgers made from our new grill! Perfect food for the training diet. ;)

Late.

Windy nowhere ride.

Had another great ride today. Started off riding East into Austinburg, along with doing quite a bit of intervals. With those hard intervals came the gusts of wind. Yesterday, my Dad rode the TT bike and had a tail wind going out and a major head wind coming back from his ride. Well today was opposite. Major head wind going out. The fastest speed we saw was 23 mph in the head wind (including our intervals). At the half way point of our ride, we stopped at a funny looking intersection in the middle of nowhere Austinburg. We took some pictures and started to ride back home. When we started riding again, we looked at our computers and it was reading 19, 20 mph while we were riding up a short little hill. TAILWIND!!! yes. Finally the head wind was over and now we have a tail wind all the way home. We ended up riding for 43 miles with good intervals. Tomorrow is looking pretty crappy so I'll most likely go for a run, maybe ride an hour or so on the trainer.

Over