Snelling Road Race, 2/21/2015 - My First Road Race as a Team Rider

Some of the Cushman & Wakefield Squads at Snelling L to R: Me, Norrie Quinn, Armin Pressler, Dan Tkach, Neil Leary, Henrik Schubert, Long Nguyen, Tony Low, Jaime Madrigal

I was more nervous than usual about this race. While I dove into the Early Bird training crits in January, and had a good showing on New Year's day at San Bruno, I have felt like I've gotten a late start to the season, racing for my new team. This would be my first opportunity to learn how to ride with a team. But this course seemed to have a reputation as being best for big, crit-types, so I was expecting a physical, argy-bargy bell lap with lots of potential for crashes. My season goal is to perform as a valuable and integral team rider, so I definitely want to demonstrate to my team and others that I'm dedicated.

The original plan

During our team phone conference two nights prior, our primary goal was to work for our A-rider, Mark Carson. Tony Low, Norrie Quinn and Dan Tkach would work to protect Mark in the pack, while Henrik and I would police any breakaways and make sure that if any occurred, CW would be represented. If possible, I would support Henrik for a win.

A new plan

Henrik and I carpooled from San Rafael to the race. On the way, we got an email from Mark that his cold had progressed and he won't be able to race. Our race strategy would now be revised. With a brief pre-race discussion, Tony, Norrie, Dan, Henrik and I agreed that our new plan is to protect and work for Henrik.

My understanding of my current role and goals

Work to protect Henrik if I can. If I can't (and I wasn't able to do much for him until the final lap), be aware enough to notice what else needs to be done. Also I did not want to place top nine because I wanted to avoid picking up another upgrade point so early in the season.

A change in duty

I can't figure out why, but on completing the slow, first lap, my left hamstring cramped violently and relentlessly. I hydrated with electrolyte amply during my prerace warmup on the rollers. And my training efforts have been strong in recent weeks. Whatever the cause, I quickly found myself at the rear of the pack approaching the feed zone. Unable to stop the seizing, I thought my race was done. I got dropped at Copperopolis last year with the same affliction. I rode out of the saddle to use different muscles. For insurance I took a bottle from Paige, guzzled a bit, and as if I'd been “sha-zammed” by a genie, my cramping subsided. I don't know if it was the fluids, or real magic, but thank you for the change in circumstances Paige.

Back in the peloton, it was still challenging to thread through, to ride near Henrik, Tony and Norrie in the front dozen riders. Even though we have the luxury of covering both lanes of the closed course, the right side still bunches up, so it turned out that it was easiest to move up on the left. The breeze was practically nonexistent, so there wasn't much of an issue with echelons.

Crash avoidance, luck, team headcount, moving on

A crash (on Los Cerritos Rd, during lap two, spawned a breakaway with three riders (FSB, ? and ? represente–do any of my teammates remember what other teams?). Due to the post-crash scramble and confusion, I'm unaware at this point that these riders got away. I notice a bit late, that Tony is working hard at the front all alone. I come alongside Norrie and ask what's up. He tells me that Tony's trying to reel in the break by himself. I felt like such an idiot for not noticing sooner. Once I understood, I got up there and helped Tony, knowing that every second counts. Norrie is working to protect Henrik. Dan is working well forward in the pack. Tony explains that FSB has a rider in the break, which explains why he's receiving so little help from other teams. Tony was a beast throughout these efforts. He has hinted that work and other obligations have reduced his training time, but it did not show. He almost single-handedly reeled in the breakaway.

I remember seeing one of the three leaders fade and get reabsorbed. I'm not absolutely sure when we picked up the remaining two. But by the beginning of the fourth lap, I'm pretty sure we were gruppo compacto.

Last lap

Midway through the fourth and final lap, on Olsen Rd. I move up along the left side, to the front, and our blue train leads the peloton. I'm pretty sure it looked pretty cool... at least it felt very cool. We're winding it up, beginning to stretch out the field after a tough chase to reel in the leaders. Taking the sharp, sandy, right onto Los Cerritos, with Henrik on my wheel and at least Norrie and Tony tucked in, I decide to try to string out the field with a hard, sustained effort, expecting to burn all my matches, hoping to sap some energy from the sprinters to give my guys a better shot. 3/4 mile after the turn, I have to take a break while we're neutralized by the moto-ref so the P1/2s can get past us. Somewhere in that group is Airgas rider Chris Horner, but I don't care. I was hoping for a consistent effort all the way to the steep-ish climb after the bridge. The ref holds us back until there's a gap, for about 3/4 mile. I'm recovered a bit, unfortunately so is everyone else. But I know I'll get the word first from the ref once we're released. As soon as he signals, I hit it again hard and burn my last matches up and over the climb. I don't know for sure if I'm doing any damage, I just hear Henrik yelling "Go Go Go!" I hope at least that I helped keep my teammates up front, instead of inside the swirling “squaredance” that can occur in a prolonged windup to a sprinter's race like this one.

The finish

Left turn onto Figmund, I drift back, mid-pack, spent. I see Henrik and Dan have hit the hard, uphill right turn onto Fields Road, in good position for the bunch sprint. Henrik gets to the turn about 5^th or 6^th wheel, and Dan is in there a few riders back. At the line, Henrik gets 3rd! Dan is 5^th! I “wander in” for 22nd place.

Blue on the podium L to R: Henrik Schubert (CW), Ron Stofan (BP/Sierra Nevada), Krag Rasmussen (Eden Cycles) 

Where I might have “dropped the ball”

The cramping really got me off to a bad start. My experience has been that severe cramping like that is more due to lack of fitness than lack of hydration, but I know I'm fit, so who knows? Whatever the case, it affected my ability to stick to my job. Fortunately another teammate took over that role, and once I recovered, I was able to take on new work helping Tony reel in the breakaway. I also feel like I didn't demonstrate confident pack riding skills, in that I found it difficult to find slots in the front dozen riders. Next time I'll communicate better with teammates, signaling that I want to drop in line ahead of their front wheel.

Job done. Tiny blue guy (on the left) finishing mid-pack

What I think I did right

Not that I “did” anything to achieve this, but my training has been excellent so far this season. I've been extremely lucky with family, work and general health. I have so much to learn about cycling on a team, after riding, essentially solo, for over four decades. But I feel like this race presented several great examples of why it's important to be receptive to the dynamic nature of racing, as plan “A” gives way to plan “B” and “C”. In my own “fantasy world”, so far, I feel like my hard efforts in the final lap served some purpose to improve my teammates' chances in the setup for the sprint.

What I think could be improved

That crash was a close call for nearly all of us. Granted, riding in the front of the pack is always safer, but isn't always possible to stay there. As far forward as Henrik was, he was actually closest to the incident. He was lucky to do a fast move to the right to avoid being caught on the fringe of the tumbling wad of legs, arms and bikes. I was farther back, with an extra second or two to react, but the evasive moves by others were amplified like waves. My safest line, took me off the right side of the road, into the sand at the edge of the almond orchard. Fortunately the ground was firm enough to stay at speed and cx ride a bit, then get back onto the road. My first thought was to check on teammates. It looked like all five blue kits were upright. But if not, what does a teammate do? I am inclined to stop and do anything possible to get my mate back in the pack. Give up a wheel, a bike, whatever. The experience of CA rider Greg Pacheco tells me that the race is not over if you go down–he was in the crash, got up, chased back on, and finished 4^th. We were all lucky this time. I feel like I need to be ready to react more rapidly to situations as they arise though.

I recognize that I've had some time to knit this yarn into a tale that makes me look like less of a wimp. But I'm riding with you guys to learn, so please call me on any errors you notice. I'll keep an eye out for your reports to see what else I've missed.

My First USAC Event of 2015: The San Bruno Mtn. Hill Climb Time Trial

Hoisting my "holiday belly" through he final 200 meters
photo: Katie Truong

This is a mass-start time trial from Brisbane, California, that ascends approximately eleven hundred feet up San Bruno mountain for 3.4 miles. I rode in the master 45 cat 4/5 group, although we were combined with the master 45 cat 1/2/3 group. Though the event is billed as a time trial, the fields ride as packs and there don't seem to be any rules against drafting.

The pace for the first mile was comfortable, but at one mile, the speed increased and a gap opened up. I was able to stick with the lead group of a dozen. The pace picked up more, and soon the gap to our chasers grew. At mile two, fellow Low Key Hill climber (and cat 2 racer) Daryl Spano (team San Jose BC) and I drifted off the back of the group. My heart rate was averaging 178 bpm, which is about four beats faster than I can usually maintain (for efforts that are to last more than ten or fifteen minutes at least). Daryl is usually one to two percent faster than me on climbs.

At 2.2 miles the course leaves the main road, loops under, then climbs a narrower service road for the final 1.2 miles to the summit finish. I tried to regain contact, but as Daryl slipped further behind, I ultimately rode alone in the widening gap between groups.

At the line I had no idea how many cat 4/5 riders had finished ahead of me, due to the mixture of categories in the field.  I didn't care too much at the time, as I was experiencing some respiratory distress that turned me into a coughing, spitting, snotty mess. The air has been chilly lately, and maybe my airway got a bit chapped and fried.

After putting on my vest, booties and leg warmers from the sag wagon, I pulled myself together long enough to stand with the rest of the team for a photo, then rode back down to wait for results to be posted. I was happy to see that I placed third, with a time of 17:55.9, yet less than thrilled that I was nearly a minute and a half behind Rob Easley (iRT-Reactor p/b JL Velo) and Shane Kinney (Body Concepts). Teammates Neil Leary (cat 5) and Rob Lytle (cat 4) placed fifth and sixth respectively in our group. Teammate, Jim Forester, chose to ride with the master 55 cat 4/5 group, placing first.

My average heart rate for the entire climb was about 178 bpm. The estimated average power for the nearly eighteen minute effort was just under 4.6 watts/kg. While that's nearly my highest sustained power for that amount of time to date, my time on the final 1.2 miles was about twenty seconds slower than it was for the same section a month and a half ago. Prior to leaving the house for the race, I stepped on the scale for the first time since eating myself silly through the holidays, and I was five pounds heavier than I was the last time I'd ridden part of this hill.

While I've had several top-three finishes, this is my first podium ceremony.
Left to right: Shane Kinney (2nd), Rob Easley (1st), and me (3rd)
photo: Jim Forester

So what did I do afterwards?... did I cajole the rest of my buddies to go for a ride? No, I went to brunch with Rob E. and his wife Kelly.

Here's to the New Year

For cycling, 2014 was my best year ever. While I did crash while training in late February, I learned from the mishap and generally improved in all areas.

2014 Statistics

• total miles ridden: 7,391
• average distance per week: 145 miles
• average time per week: 8.5 hours
• total hours: 445.5 hours
• total elevation in feet: 590,617
• number of rides: 234
• 2014 100-mile (unsupported) days: 3
• One 107-mile day (61.7 mi. point to point road race, with a 42.8 mile ride back to the car afterwards, and 2.9 mile warmup prior to the race)

2014 Summary

In 2014 I raced 22 times. Of those, eleven were road races, one hill-climb TT, and ten criteriums (5 official and 5 pre-season during the Early Bird clinics). Riding unattached, I had one first place finish, three top-three finishes, eight top-five finishes, and nine top-ten finishes.

In January, after a 26-year break from road racing [since USACycling was USCF (United States Cycling Federation), I started over from scratch in category 5. After participating in all five Early Bird Criterium clinics and races, in February of this year, I upgraded to cat 4 with a third place finish (Early Bird road Race) and a top five finish (Cherry Pie Criterium).

The weather was really favorable for cycling this year (unfortunately due to continued drought in the region) so I only had to race in the rain once. My early season results were mostly mid-pack, but later in the season I performed much better. This was partially due to increased fitness, but mainly experience–I learned to stop covering every break, and contained my nervous energy that often had me sittiing on the front of the pack. Counting the Early Bird criteriums, my 2014season consisted of 22 races: ten road races, one circuit race, ten criterums and one hill climb time trial.

By my count, I've earned 21 upgrade points, which makes me eligible to apply for an upgrade to category 3, although I’m not required to do so unless I reach thirty points within twelve months.

Post Season Climbing Series

My friend Rob Easley suggested I join an informal team that he was on, to ride the Low Key Hill Climb Series, a different challenging climb each of nine consecutive weeks, from early October through late November. All levels of riders are welcome, and while times are recorded and data is elaborately parsed and reported on the website, it's all just for fun. It's a great way to stay motivated to stretch out the tough efforts beyond the end of the road racing season. I joined the Sisters and Misters of No Mercy and rode all but two of the climbs. 282 men and 46 women participated in at least one of the climbs. Our team had the largest roster at each ride, which contributed to our winning the overall team competition. I ranked 13th among the men.

Because most of the climbs are less than five miles long, many of us would join up for a longer fun ride afterwards to make the car trips worthwhile.

My general “take” on the year...

In general I'm happy with the year in cycling, if bit melancholy. This year, for various reasons, I missed more weekend rides with my closest cycling friends. This is, for the most part, due to my involvement in racing. Races take place on weekends and that's when our weekend rides took place. Training for races became my focus for the types of riding I did during each week. I worked hard to increase my average speed on rides over all types of terrain. While I've met many new riders through racing, I plan to ride as much as possible with old friends and new.

Health-wise

In general I feel like my health improved in 2014. I continued the body weight loss which began in 2013 while training for the Mt. Tam Hill Climb. At the start of 2013 I weighed 152 lbs. By June 2013 I weighed 135. A loss of three more pounds followed until November. After reduced mileage this early winter, and many holiday meals, I'm back up to 135 lbs., which seems to be optimum. I've lost a bit of muscle mass in my upper body, and while I don't do any other exercise, I feel like my back and core are stronger than in years past. I don't wake up stiff and crooked anymore. I've had just one brief head cold this year. I didn't experience discomfort due to allergies at all this year, where in years past I had weeks of sinus and respiratory reaction to pollen in spring and late summer. I had one significant injury in late February, when I crashed on a training ride. Fortunately I was only banged up, combined with some ligament strains. I only missed two weeks of riding, and missed no races. While six months later I don't have any any lingering physical issues resulting, I am still working to overcome some timidness on fast, technical descents.

Fitness-wise

Without any means to measure real power, I can't compare accurately, but my perception is that I'm faster and stronger on the bike this year. The average speeds show that. I think I can safely attribute this to pack riding. In 2013 I focused mainly on climbing. This year I added sprints, intervals and overall speed on flat to rolling terrain.

Cycling Expenses

I spent quite a bit more money on cycling in 2014 than in recent years. With race registrations averaging a bit over thirty dollars each, that's around $660. Fuel and tolls for the 1600 miles driven to and from races, adds another $300. I won't include the cost of cycling gear because I would've had to spend that anyway. Although I did upgrade three significant components, all of which improved safety: Brake calipers $120, shoes $120 and helmet $180. Exposure to my competitors' lighter carbon fiber bikes made me wish I could replace mine, but their admiration for both my classic bike, and my performance on it, made it easier to stick with what I had. However in October, I discovered cracks in the frame of my steed, and while I was able to outfit a substitute, replacement became unavoidable.

What's ahead for 2015?

I've renewed my USAC license and joined a team: Cushman and Wakefield Racing

The parent club is Lamorinda Cycling Club. The team has a large category 4 masters squad. While the club is based across the bay, there are a good number of teammates here in Marin county to train with and carpool to races. I plan to travel across the bay to train with the rest of the team whenever time permits on weekends.

The support of a team will motivate me, and generous sponsorship should help ease some of the financial load that this sport creates.

In November I celebrated my 54^th birthday. USACycling considers a rider's racing age to be that which they are on December 31^st of a given year. While my racing age for the 2015 season will entitle me to race in master 55+ groups, I plan to continue to race with the m45 group.

Even as an unattached rider, with only my own aspirations to pursue, I did well in 2014. One of my goals for 2015 is to learn how to ride for the team. Besides the value in learning and executing good tactics, if I can help several more teammates boost their upgrade points, perhaps there will be more of us who can race together again after upgrading.

A canned video created by Strava, using my annual stats

First Spin On the New Bike!

My new 2015 Emonda SL6
(pretty soon I'll cut the steerer tube so I won't chip my buck teeth on all those spacers;-)

Since Tweety's sad retirement from service, Sylvester has been performing surprisingly well. Yet I don't have much faith that Sylvester's frame and worn components would last another road racing season. I gaze in wonder at the level of equipment that many in the masters peloton are riding on, as I piece together whatever machine I can just to be able to ride. Work has been slow this year and unlike 24 years ago, I can no longer spring for a grand tour level bike. But I have to ride. Tweety lasted almost two decades, and a well-cared-for bike is almost like a piece of real estate–it even could be considered an investment. So a couple of weeks ago I started shopping, hoping I'd find a modern bike that I could almost afford, without feeling like I was settling. If I felt like I'd be “driving a Rambler” I'd just stick with Sylvester, as that bike actually rides like a classic 80's race bike. What I bought today is far, far below the level of what many of my fellow racers are riding, but so far I love this bike. It's a Trek Emonda SL6. The Emonda is new for Trek in 2015. The SL frame is Asian manufactured, with 500-series OCLV carbon fiber. The “6” means it's Ultegra 6800 11-speed equipped.  The bland wheels are Bontrager Race, as are the alloy stem and bars. Higher level Emondas are U.S. Made frames that are quite a bit lighter. With my clunky old Look pedals, this bike weighs 16 lbs (five pounds lighter than what I've been riding–now the combined weight of bike and rider are less than my body weight alone three years ago). While the new Ultegra group has a lot more thermoplastic and pressed steel in it than past generations, it works solidly. Trek "splits the difference" on many of their 2015 bikes, using an integrated seat mast with a longer mast/cap/post thingamajig. I don't expect a fantastic saddle with an off-the shelf bike, but the Bontrager one that comes with the bike isn't bad. What is so remarkable to me is the ride of the whole bike. I had about an hour to take it for a spin this afternoon. Like I told Jen tonight at dinner, there's no way I can describe how amazing this bike feels on the road, but that won't stop me from trying over and over until you're all sick of hearing it. What I notice most of all is rigidity of the frame at the bottom bracket and the front end, yet there isn't any jarring feeling. It feels like a really good italian steel race frame in that there's a liveliness that's not the result of flexibility (If that makes any sense). Equally impressive is overall handling. I've only done two test rides from the bike shop, and then today's ride. Today's ride covered a mix of good to poor pavement. You can hammer hard for 14 miles through the curves and rollers, powering over rises and through turns. I didn't beat any of my personal records, but I was really impressed with the handling. It's hard to crow about neutrality, but with this frame, I think Trek really struck gold. I've ridden old 70's crit bikes with 74-degree head tubes and they weren't any fun in a 60-mile road race. This Emonda is about a degree more relaxed in the front, while still having a 74-degree seat tube. The fork offset is a cushy 45 mm so the steering is predictable, yet lots of fun in turns. I think I found the bike that's in that sweet spot of the market–one that performs solidly, yet comes in well under three grand. Most shops are selling the SL6 for $2999. My new race team's sponsoring shop offers a generous discount, but it's inconvenient for me to drive all the way over there for multiple test rides, etc. I'm very lucky that my local City Cycle in Corte Madera was willing to match the deal. For convenience and the impressive level of customer service I experienced there, I purchased the bike there today. Major kudos to Scott Green for his great service.

Meet Sylvester

Sylvester

I'm hoping Sylvester will suffice as my primary road bike, since Tweety's retirement. He's a mid-eighties “Raleigh of America” (which has to be a joke because his frame was crudely brazed by robots in Taiwan). This was the Raleigh Competiion model, which came with Shimano 600 components. I found it on eBay for $150 several years ago, and built it up initially as a fixed-gear bike. The frame is halfway decent, made from Reynolds 531 double-butted tubes, though the quality of the lugs and the brazing is poor.

I harvested Tweety's “organs” and installed those that would fit onto Sylvester.

Sylvester is about one centimeter too small for me in each direction. This means that after setting up the initial saddle (fore and aft) position, relative to the crank spindle (measured with plumb bob and ruler), the shorter top tube and the 10 cm Salsa stem I was using on Tweety resulted in not enough reach. So I installed my spare 11 cm stem. This configuration makes for a twitchier feeling ride, but not in a bad way. I think it actually feels a bit more like a criterium bike than Tweety did. I'll be interested to see how it performs on fast, technical descents.

The Columbus SL fork from my first Ron Cooper frame

For nostalgia and weight-savings, I installed my first Ron Cooper's Columbus SL fork. Since Sylvester is grey and off-white, the grey fork kind of works. It's about 8 ounces lighter than the Raleigh fork too. The 45mm offset is identical on all three of my forks, so handling shouldn't be adversely affected.

This frame uses a clamp-on front dereilleur, which meant I couldn't use Tweety's Dura Ace braze-on one. Luckily the Competition's original Shimano 600 seems to work solidly.

The seat post is currently about 1.8 cm beyond the max. ht. marker

Flipping the stem will raise the bars about 2.5 cm

I got out for a one hour test ride this afternoon, and so far so good. I can tell the frame is too small for me, but I'll try a few tweaks, such as flipping the alloy stem to get a bit more elevation on the bars, and maybe I can find a used seat post that's a hair longer.

In any case, Sylvester is my only option, so he's got to work out.

Thursday Oct. 30th update...
I put Sylvester to the test today at lunchtime. I had set a goal on a challenging climb, which would expire by the end of today. The base of this climb is 14 miles out, and you've got to do about 1400 feet of total climbing just to get there, so it's hard to save a lot of energy for it. I rode at z1/z2 since I was also still evaluating the safety and fit of my new replacement steed.

Back in March of this year I did this 2 mile climb that ascends 669 feet in 12 min. 32 sec. For the past year I've been trying to beat 12:30. I do this climb about 25 times a year.

Today a combination of factors allowed me to do the climb in 12:14. Taking it easy on the approach; using Rob Easley's spare compact crankset; focusing on relaxed, in-the-saddle form; and a really well-timed leadout from a rider named Mark who I had caught just before the final switchback. Mark was out for an easy day with his buddy, but couldn't resist jumping onto my wheel when I passed. I said "Oh cool! I could use some incentive to hammer on this last stretch. I'm trying to beat a goal." Mark said "I can help you with that" and blasted off. I couldn't actually catch his wheel, but having a rabbit to chase did boost my speed for that final 150 meters.

The bike was still doing well so I went on up to the East Peak of Mt. Tam, then returned via the same route.

This weekend I'll be able to do the 5th consecutive climb in the Low Key Hill Climb Series. This one is an 8.5 mile, 2043 ft. time trial.

Goodbye Tweety!

Tweety until hours ago

This past Saturday was my last ride on Tweety, my beautiful nineteen-year-old steel road bike. I'm devastated today after discovering two lateral fatigue cracks in the frame... one across the top tube and one across the underside of the down tube. Both cracks are surprisingly straight, and are located just beyond the points of the lugs. I'm still in shock.

The straight line across the tip of the lug point is the first crack

A closer look at the crack

This is the crack on the underside of the down tube

A closer view

I thought the line across the top tube was just a buildup of touch-up paint after a shoddy bit of cleanup I did after a crash this past spring. But as I was disassembling the bike for an overhaul after last weekend's rainy, muddy ride in the Berkeley Hills I noticed the second crack on the underside of the down tube. I still wasn't sure they were cracks, until I looked closely in direct sunlight through Jen's 10X loupe (magnifier). Then I could clearly see jagged, rusty cracks deep between the fractured paint. The cracks go all the way through the tube wall. It's fairly apparent that these cracks have been developing for the past year at least.

This loss is hard to wrap my head around, but when I think of how fortunate I am to notice the damage before a catastrophic failure on the road, it almost blows my mind. That kind of failure would be bad enough for me alone, but what about the riders in the pack behind me?! This is sad but I'm choosing to feel lucky it worked out this way. I paid sixteen-hundred bucks or so to have Tweety built and I got to have a blast riding for nineteen years... that's about $84 a year.

I had this frame built in 1995 by Ron Cooper. Ron brazed Tweety together using Reynolds 853 OS (oversized) tubing into his gorgeous custom lugs. For each of the first sixteen years I likely rode Tweety only about 2500 miles. By 2012 my mileage increased to 4000, then 5500 in 2013 and as of late October in 2014 I'm just beyond 6000 miles. In total I've ridden Tweety over 50-thousand miles.

As things have turned out, this past year was a fantastic swan song for Tweety. Coming off of a 27-year break from racing, Tweety and I started over in cat 5, upgrading through cat 4, doing twenty two races, with one win, two 3rd-place, two 4th, two 5^th and an 8^th place finish. Along the way I accumulated 21 upgrade points, so if I was completely nuts, I could move on up to cat 3 before next season... but I'm not that nuts yet.

It was challenging enough, drawing stares, often, the only racer in the pack on a heavy steel bike with primitive 9-speed components. At least it was Tweety, who generated at least a few respectful compliments from fellow rolleurs. Now I'll harvest all of Tweety's components, and install them onto my eighties, Taiwan-built Raleigh that is now promoted from spare to primary road bike.

Well so long dear Tweety! You were an ass-kicker!

StoVeHenge – Why I Won't Be Doing the Winters Road Race This Weekend

Nigel Tufnel: In ancient times, hundreds of years before the dawn of history, an ancient race of people... the Druids. No one knows who they were or what they were doing...

I had to take a week or so off from riding to take care of an important home repair. Jen says I traded one obsession for another. As of yesterday, the job is officially done, and today I got out on the bike for a couple of hours.

Before: The Contempo III in most of its splendor

Over the past sixteen years, the broiler, the top oven, and then the bottom oven quit working. Appliance repair techs said parts were no longer available, so we closed the valves to each unit, leaving only the cooktop operational. The day before my most recent race (the Dunnigan Hills Road Race–I haven't done a post on this one, as I punctured thirteen miles in and proudly, chased solo, for 30 miles, unsuccessfully for a magnificent "DNP") our great, 1965 O”Keefe & Merritt Contempo III started leaking natural gas. This tiny 1954 stucco house is our first. We've been hoping to update and remodel it dramatically, but over the last decade and a half, haven't settled on the design, finances and logistics. But this “dead stove” did present us with a simple, one-week, super-inexpensive opportunity to improve our little kitchen.

Tweety would have to wait

We had been hoping to go camping for a short getaway before Jen starts school in September, but a fully functional kitchen is more important. And when I start a project, it becomes my number one priority, from sunup to sundown. I had no freelance production jobs scheduled, so this was the time to crank this job out. Training rides were off my calendar.

Our trusty backup during repairs

This is my family's Coleman camp stove. It's about 55 years old. We also used our gas grill, microwave, and our toaster oven in the interim.

After

Our friend Ryan helped us shove the old stove out the door and up to its current (temporary) resting place. Jen found a great deal on a used stove, which our fantastic friends Shaun and Stacy brought in their pickup, and helped us haul it up to our living room for storage until I finished up the framing, electrical, gas, sheetrock, and painting.

Over the next days I opened up the wall, built a bar-counter, and installed the “new” stove.

"These go to eleven"... well... to "HI" anyway

I haven't totaled the receipts, but I'm pretty sure we did this whole modification for under $400, including the stove! Jen and I are “fighting” over who gets to cook, while the “loser” actually wins by getting to sit at the cool little bar/counter, chatting with the chef of the moment. Still hunting for some bar stools Today I finally had a chance to get out on a ride. My very rested body was able to hammer pretty well. I ascended Big Rock within one second of my best time, with a VAM of 1452. I managed a decent average speed of 18.9 mph for today's 44-mile ride, however I can tell I've traded some fitness for freshness.

While we still haven't reshaped this 940 square foot mid-century house into the domicile of our dreams, this fix has at least opened up the long, skinny, galley kitchen a little.

Now while I drum up some more freelance work, I'll start disassembling the old stove so I can load it into the truck to haul to a salvage company. Then I'll check the racing calendar to see what road races are left before the season wraps up.

Today's ride: