Can't Wait

Another June week goes by

It’s been some week in the GL camp.
I did decide to race Tabor last week and so the GLs were eight deep. I got in the early break with Seth and Austin. After we were off for five laps, the other Lovers kept things interesting until I went off the front with Kyle and two others for the last four laps. I was able to attack the group up the last climb and roll in with clean wheels.
On Thursday Mark and Tony left their mark on the velodrome, going one-two in the omnium with me playing support guy. I haven’t been feeling amazing on the track recently, so it is nice that they have. Dean Tracy was in town for the week, so we got to bang bars and have some fun.
Saturday was the Cirque du Cycling crit. Mark and I went for a spin in the morning and I watched Andrea race track for the rest of the day. The team met up and we rolled over to crit like a pink and red army ready to battle. And a battle it was. HP Chiro pulled out all the stops right from the gun, constantly attacking and trying to isolate me. But, when you have the best teammates in the world, you don’t have to worry too much about that. The Lovers cleaned up fairly well as we took both big money premes and I took the final sprint with Pete right behind, for the second year in a row.



I ran around all day at the track trying to be a race promoter, host and racer for the second Alpenrose Heartbreaker race. Although the weather was not the best, I think that the event was still a huge success. Everyone raced hard and seemed to have fun. We also gave out 12 Unicorn trophies! I wasn’t feeling too hot, but Mark and I won the Madison and I placed second in the Keirin behind Benny. I also got to race on the Speedvagen for this first time this year. Such a sweet ride.



But now it’s another full week of racing for me. Come out and watch the racing at Mt. Tabor tonight.

Road Trip

Dear faithful blog readers, I must apologize for my lack of diligence to keep you all up to date on my doings. It has been nearly a month since my last report, when the Giro was in full swing and I was lacking motivation for some reason.
I am happy to report that things have changed. It’s summer time and my motivation to race is in full swing, and for good reason. Things have been going well for the Lovers and myself. Here is a rundown.
Track Racing:
Real track racing finally started. Mark and I tool first and second at the first Thursday night Omnium. I somehow pulled out wins at the two Fast Twitch Friday sprint night that I did in May. The Cat 3 guys rode well and are earning there much needed upgrade points. I have also been working hard to put the finishing touches on the Heartbreaker, which is this Sunday!! The great people at Thinker Toys in Multnomah Village special ordered us 14 Unicorns to be used as our race trophies. Come down to the track on Sunday to try and win one (plus $1750 in cash) or just come out to watch some great racing.
PIR and Tabor:
I honestly thought that hell would freeze over before I heard that Mark Blackwelder raced at PIR. But all of sudden he is all into it. So the team has been out the last two weeks and cleaned up both times. It’s actually great training to race with them so we can get better at racing together like a well oiled machine. The Mt. Tabor series starts today. The Lovers are always big into this race and usually do fairly well at it. I don’t think that I am racing today, but I will be out there to yell for sure. Any maybe give it a shot next week.
Road Trips:
Andrea and I met Dan up in Seattle last weekend for the Ballard Crit and Ravensdale Road race. I did Ballard a few years ago when I was with Team Rubicon, and got dropped in the first 20 minutes of the race. So I was bit nervous going into the race, but I knew I am a lot better now than I was back then. The race was fast, but not overbearing. The big teams there kept things together fairly well, letting small breaks dangle off the front for a bit before bringing them back. I tested out my legs in a few premes, including one for $100. Things got crazy in the last lap, so I tried to take control of things going into the second to the last corner. I knew it was going to be a long sprint, but I had a few bike lengths gap on the field coming out of the last corner. I put my head down and kept the gas on and came over the line still with a few bike lengths between me and second place.


Ravensdale was great for Dan. He placed himself in the break that went off 4 miles into the race (it’s an 84 mile race) and they stayed off the whole time. He placed 5th after the legs cramped up going into the finish.
Up Next:
The Cirque du Cycling Criterium on Saturday and The Alpenrose Heartbreaker on Sunday.

It’s That Time of Year, When Real Men Wear Pink

Not a lot has been going on since I last posted. My motivation has been down the last few weeks and the race schedule has been thin. Luckily track season has finally started (more on that in a bit). The Giro also started, and it’s time to watch the best racers in the world fight for that coveted pink jersey. These guys should try it more often.

The last few weeks have been hard ones. I always seem to hit a lull this time of the year as the spring road race season ends but the summer season has not quite begun. Motivation for training seems to fade. The sun starts to come out and I want to do other activities other than ride bike. And apparently I am not the only one that feels this way.
Track racing season started last week and I was still a bit unmotivated by it. Per rode an amazing time and I rode around what I thought I might ride considering my training schedule for this year. It was the first time I have lost a kilo TT at Alpenrose since the AVC in 2005. It kind of feels a little odd. But the Eric K race on Saturday was great fun. While my legs were feeling the shock of the first real track race of the year in the 50 lap points race, Mark was acting like the seasoned pro that he is, taking two laps on the field. It could have been the Mark Blackwelder Points racing clinic. I am hoping for a few more of those this year, maybe for AVC or when we go traveling this summer. The Miss and Out was fun as Mark and I kept pace on the front and Tony used his Devilish good looks to distract people out of the race at the back. Darrel seemed to not be affected by Tony’s Charm and knocked him out of the final three. But Mark and I cleaned up in the final sprint. This got me a bit more motivated to race bikes. The last race was a progressive points. I did what I had to do to keep second in the omnium. Mark, once again, showed that he was a man among boys (including me), taking the win handily over Zak.
Sunday was the Icebreaker. Bear, Pete, Sammy and I show up with tired legs. I will spare you the details, but three guys got off the front and none of them were wearing pink. But Pete and I did go 1-2 in the field sprint and won enough cash to pay for tacos and gas for the team.

Fail, once again

Yup, if you were at the Eugene Roubaix on Saturday, you should have thought that the GLs would have won the race. Especially with two laps to go when there was a break of six guys and two of them (Mark and I) were GLs. But, somehow we failed to close the deal. I rolled in with 3^rd place and Mark got 6^th. But, on the bright side, we were the only team with two guys in the break and the team rode very well together once again. But, at least there were prizes. Yes, after placing 3^rd in this race and waiting around for 30 minutes plus for them to post results, I was awarded a pair of socks. Mark received the Iron Man award for the day after soloing off the front at the gun and never seeing the main pack again. Three laps off the front and then two with the break. That’s hard man stuff.

Track cleanup day was a huge success. By the time that Mark, Andrea and I got there after the Estacada TT, we found most everything had been done and there was only detail work left to do.

Other News:

- The Lovers had super secret training last night and I almost threw up about five times.

- Andrea’s new track bike showed up. I need to build it up tonight.

- Willamette Stage race is canceled. Apparently the racers in OBRA don’t like stage races consisting of three hilly road races and an uphill TT. Weird…

It's about time...

to write about Cherry Blossom.

 

So, the beginning. Andrea and I packed up all the bike racing stuff that we own into the Saab and headed out I-84 to Hood River. It just so happened that there was a 10 lap crit happening on Thursday evening when I went to pick up my race packet. Why no race? 10 laps later, we had dropped half of the field (4 guys) and the rest of us four sprinted it out. It was my first win of the season (if you can call it that) and it was a good start of the weekend for my teammate Sammy, who placed second.

 

Cherry Blossom Stage 1, 80 mile road race:

My head was not in the game. I got dropped on the first climb, which was something that absolutely should not have happened. So, a few of us rode most of the race together and came in 40 minutes down. Good course, super windy.

 

Stage 2, 8 mile TT:

Did it, on the TT bike, with an aero helmet. Good times were had by all. I even full out sprinted Kevin to the finish line.

 

Stage 3, 30 min Crit:

A crash in the Women’s race caused our race to be delayed and shortened. I don’ think it would have had any effect on the outcome. Nobody was letting anything good off. The Lovers did a good job of lending a hand to keep things together. I beat my coach for a $100 lap, and then cut through a few lead out trains to find Roman’s wheel. I couldn’t get around him in the end, but I feel like second was fairly good for the day. It was my first good result of the year.

More Details: http://www.oregoncyclingaction.com/2009/04/van-unden-bailey-hagen-pick-cherry-city.html

 

Stage 4, 86 mile road race:

I achieved my goal of staying with the pack for the first lap. This included the first time up the seven mile climb. The second time up, Kevin and I fell off and we continued to ride the last two laps together. What a great course it was. Great views, warm weather and calm winds made it the best training ride of the year so far.

 

That was the racing. I think the most enjoyable part of the weekend was spending time with Andrea and my teammates. Great food, fun games, funny movies and non-stop laughter until we almost threw up. Thanks guys.

 

 

From Taylor Phinney himself

“The kilo is hard..”