Well, as my previous post alluded to, this past week kicked off the first TTs of the year for me. I'll tell you - a cold beer and a hot shower are AWESOME after doing 40ks worth of time trialing on a Thursday night! Our new shower is sweet by the way . . .
Last Saturday my friend, Mark, and I drove down at 5AM to Gainesville, GA to compete in a 30k TT (right before I moved all weekend). The course was great, hilly, slightly technical, but all big ring. I got beat by a solid minute, but considering I'd never ridden the course before, I was satisfied with my ride. I achieved my goal wattage, got a baseline for training, and had fun with Mark! I also learned a couple things that day: 1. Pre-ride a TT course if at all possible, and 2. Don't move all weekend after a TT - my legs were still shot Tuesday!
Tonight was the first TT at the River. What a great series! (check out a picture here: http://joelilly.printroom.com/ViewgalleryPhoto.asp?userid=joelilly&gallery_id=1516399&image_id=200) My goal was to break 25:30 for the 20k distance (my PR was 25:33 after Nats last year). I came close - 25:36 - on a slightly windy day, but had my highest power output ever, so I'm happy with that! I was 3rd overall, Jason scored a great win with a 25:08 and Josh Whitmore rode a PR of 25:17 to beat me out of 2nd. Then for the fun - Jason Sprouse, Andrew Erskine, and I teamed up for the TTT. Mind you, we've never ridden together in a paceline, let alone a paceline on TT bikes, but Jason and Andrew do the pursuit on the track together and I've done my share of TTTs, so we gave it a go. Not bad for our first time - we rode 24:57, and were narrowly beat by the 'team' of Andy Applegate and his wife Cara. Now Jason and I are thinking a tandem may be in our future . . .
So with my belly full of beer and Indian food, and my body happily cleaned, I'm going to throw on the compression tights and get into bed with my wife. Good night!
** Thanks to our sponsors, but a big thanks to Marios, Biowheels and ABRC for keeping this event alive this year!! **
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
UNCA Race Report: Conference Championships
FROM JED:
Hi Folks,
With the end of school in sight and finals on our minds, 7 UNC Asheville road racers traveled over to Brevard this weekend for Conference Championships.
The weather on Saturday was perfect, and the course consisted of mostly flat roads with a mile long 13-15% grade hill right in the middle of each lap. The Men's C race was two laps for 31 miles and the Men's A was four laps for 62 miles. As we suffered up it on the last lap I was wondering if it hurt or helped us, but one thing thing is certain and that is it helped Lee Meroney as he road away from the whole Men's C field to solo his way to a Conference Championship by close to three minutes. Drew Cistola also road really well finishing 4th. Dave Peter did not have such a good day because he tried to help a rider who lost his chain and then that rider swerved into him and crashed him. Not a nice way of saying thanks.
In the Men's A, a break went away early, and Travis Fender tried to go with it, but did not quite have the legs. He then got gapped by the group but managed to time trial his way back to the field. The field was over 50 riders of mostly Cat 1 and 2s.
It was a tough day where Lees Mcrae and their 12 riders dictated the field, but Travis and I hung in there for the field sprint and he ended up 13th and I was 20th overall. We were both in the top 10 in division two schools, and scored points for the team. Mike Small helped with some pulls but I think he got frustrated with the antics of these young brash riders, and Brendan Dillow did not have his best day after suffering from sickness the previous week. That seemed to be the story of the season.
On Sunday, Drew Cistola came out firing in the Crit and he and Lee Got in a 4 man breakaway early in the race, which stuck, and he won the sprint with Lee finishing 4th. So, UNC Asheville won both days in the Men's C race.
I road the Crit on sunday, and we went from the start. Man was it fast, and the field was stretched out single file for the whole backstretch at about 30 mph. I was in a full sprint and still could not get to the front. Not my best day, but a good learning experience, and I road hard the whole race.
We now are just waiting to find out if any one us qualified for Nationals, and there is a good chance that two of us did.
All and all a good season and we had a lot of fun and learned a lot.
Jed
Hi Folks,
With the end of school in sight and finals on our minds, 7 UNC Asheville road racers traveled over to Brevard this weekend for Conference Championships.
The weather on Saturday was perfect, and the course consisted of mostly flat roads with a mile long 13-15% grade hill right in the middle of each lap. The Men's C race was two laps for 31 miles and the Men's A was four laps for 62 miles. As we suffered up it on the last lap I was wondering if it hurt or helped us, but one thing thing is certain and that is it helped Lee Meroney as he road away from the whole Men's C field to solo his way to a Conference Championship by close to three minutes. Drew Cistola also road really well finishing 4th. Dave Peter did not have such a good day because he tried to help a rider who lost his chain and then that rider swerved into him and crashed him. Not a nice way of saying thanks.
In the Men's A, a break went away early, and Travis Fender tried to go with it, but did not quite have the legs. He then got gapped by the group but managed to time trial his way back to the field. The field was over 50 riders of mostly Cat 1 and 2s.
It was a tough day where Lees Mcrae and their 12 riders dictated the field, but Travis and I hung in there for the field sprint and he ended up 13th and I was 20th overall. We were both in the top 10 in division two schools, and scored points for the team. Mike Small helped with some pulls but I think he got frustrated with the antics of these young brash riders, and Brendan Dillow did not have his best day after suffering from sickness the previous week. That seemed to be the story of the season.
On Sunday, Drew Cistola came out firing in the Crit and he and Lee Got in a 4 man breakaway early in the race, which stuck, and he won the sprint with Lee finishing 4th. So, UNC Asheville won both days in the Men's C race.
I road the Crit on sunday, and we went from the start. Man was it fast, and the field was stretched out single file for the whole backstretch at about 30 mph. I was in a full sprint and still could not get to the front. Not my best day, but a good learning experience, and I road hard the whole race.
We now are just waiting to find out if any one us qualified for Nationals, and there is a good chance that two of us did.
All and all a good season and we had a lot of fun and learned a lot.
Jed
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Time Trial Season
So this weekend begins my 'time trial season'. I'm going to head down to Georgia to the time trial in Gillsville. It should be a good baseline test for the National Championship TT this year (about 16mi.). My TT machine is ready to roll, with new cables, chainrings, shifters, an overhauled SRM, and a sweet SRM mount by Andy Grabowski! If you can't go fast on this then maybe you just aren't fast? I also honed my position in the A2 Wind Tunnel last year and have been working a lot more this off-season on holding my position to help reduce the wattage difference between my road and TT rigs. Hopefully all this preparation will translate into some new PRs down at the River TT series in Asheville, and in the other time tria
ls I compete in this year!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Tenacious E
My sister might not race bikes anymore, but she's still badass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhAdmW6BJDc&feature=channel_page
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
UNCA Race Report: Lees Mcrae
FROM Jed:
Hi Folks,
Just wanted to let people know how the race went this past weekend at Lees Mcrae.
We had 4 riders go up for the races, and brave the cold weather, high winds, and killer climbs.
On Saturday three of us competed in the Team Time Trial: Mike Small, Brendan Dillow and myself. The course went from Blowing rock up to the entrance for Grandfather Mountain. There was a 20-30 mile an hour head/cross wind for a lot of it and it was 38 degrees when we started. It was tough!
We still managed to score a 4th place finish and we were 3rd in division two schools.
Later that afternoon we had a Individual hill climb and what a climb it was. The course went from Valle Cruces straight up for 5.5 miles with sections that were up to 13% grade. Lee meroney road a great race and was Second in the Men's C class.
The three of us who had ridden the TTT were a bit fatigued, but still road strong with a 10th place finish by me being our best result. I was 4th in the Division 2 schools.
On Sunday Lee road another great race and won the Men's C class.
We now have a weekend off and then conference Championships in Brevard. We are very excited and like our chances of doing well.
Jed
Hi Folks,
Just wanted to let people know how the race went this past weekend at Lees Mcrae.
We had 4 riders go up for the races, and brave the cold weather, high winds, and killer climbs.
On Saturday three of us competed in the Team Time Trial: Mike Small, Brendan Dillow and myself. The course went from Blowing rock up to the entrance for Grandfather Mountain. There was a 20-30 mile an hour head/cross wind for a lot of it and it was 38 degrees when we started. It was tough!
We still managed to score a 4th place finish and we were 3rd in division two schools.
Later that afternoon we had a Individual hill climb and what a climb it was. The course went from Valle Cruces straight up for 5.5 miles with sections that were up to 13% grade. Lee meroney road a great race and was Second in the Men's C class.
The three of us who had ridden the TTT were a bit fatigued, but still road strong with a 10th place finish by me being our best result. I was 4th in the Division 2 schools.
On Sunday Lee road another great race and won the Men's C class.
We now have a weekend off and then conference Championships in Brevard. We are very excited and like our chances of doing well.
Jed
Sunday, April 5, 2009
I've Got Bruises on My Knees for You
Fortunately I didn't try to 'do headstands for you' like Hincapie did today in the Tour of Flanders . . . but yes, I did slide out in a turn and not only have a bruise on my knee, but a strawberry on my right butt cheek the size of a saucer. Could've been a lot worse though!
The team went to Rock Hill this weekend to do the crit and the road race. Jacob, Chris E. and I went down for the crit and Jason joined us today for the road race. The crit course was one of the best courses that I've done in a while. Technical, with 6 turns and rise to the Start/Finish, but wide-open and safe. Great course and fun! The usual suspects were there: Mountain Khakis, DLP, Global Bike, etc. Of course with 3 guys it was a little tough to cover every move and Mark Hekman from MK got away, and stayed away, for over 1/2 the race! Once he was brought back the counters started and ended with another MK rider, my friend, John Hamblen going away with about 5 to go. He stayed away and MK took the field sprint as I finished in 10th. Probably could have done a bit better had Darren, from Hincapie, chopped me on the inside in the final turn, where I lost 5 spots . . . Chris had a solid field finish and Jacob, suffering from a cold, compounded by allergies saved his energy for the road race. Check out the sprint here: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1137694841596&ref=nf (I'm second from the left).
The Rock Hill Road Race marked my one year anniversary with the team and as my legs were feeling good, I had some high aspirations, and was shooting for at least another top 10. Chris E., Jacob, and Jason joined me, and we planned to 'race smart', follow moves and try to get in any breaks that looked to have the right mix. I figured I'd go with the early moves and followed some Mountain Khaki riders - first John Hamblen, then Mark Hekman. Unfortunately as I went through a series of turns on the first lap I went through a turn a little hot and hit some gravel - next thing I know I'm on the ground sliding with another rider on top of me. Fortunately the only result was a little road rash and a torn up rear derailleur. Unfortunately my race was over and Jason waited for me, causing him to burn a lot of energy to catch back on. I headed back to the start finish to lick (actually clean) my wounds and fix my derailleur. Meanwhile the break gained something ridiculous like 10 minutes . . . I hopped back in with the officials blessing on the second lap and tried to at least get a good workout in while not affecting the outcome of the race. Jacob was still feeling the affects of his allergies and Jason and Chris followed some good moves in the last lap. Unfortunately all the places were really up the road and we all cruised in with the field.
So, as I watch Stein Devolder win Flanders, with my belly full of meatball and spinach soup, Fat Tire, and a grilled cheese, I'm ready to get into bed to recover for another workout early tomorrow!
I hope each of you ended the day a little more comfortable than me. Congrats to Pete and all the winners this weekend, and thanks to our sponsors:
Industry 9, Trek, Hutchinson, Liberty Bicycles, Rudy Project, Honey Stinger, Dr. Miller, PML, Eco Concepts Realty, ABRC, Champion, Velosports, and Affordable Home Inspections. We couldn't do it without you!
You can check out their websites here: http://www.ashevilleelitecycling.com/officialsponsors.html
The team went to Rock Hill this weekend to do the crit and the road race. Jacob, Chris E. and I went down for the crit and Jason joined us today for the road race. The crit course was one of the best courses that I've done in a while. Technical, with 6 turns and rise to the Start/Finish, but wide-open and safe. Great course and fun! The usual suspects were there: Mountain Khakis, DLP, Global Bike, etc. Of course with 3 guys it was a little tough to cover every move and Mark Hekman from MK got away, and stayed away, for over 1/2 the race! Once he was brought back the counters started and ended with another MK rider, my friend, John Hamblen going away with about 5 to go. He stayed away and MK took the field sprint as I finished in 10th. Probably could have done a bit better had Darren, from Hincapie, chopped me on the inside in the final turn, where I lost 5 spots . . . Chris had a solid field finish and Jacob, suffering from a cold, compounded by allergies saved his energy for the road race. Check out the sprint here: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1137694841596&ref=nf (I'm second from the left).
The Rock Hill Road Race marked my one year anniversary with the team and as my legs were feeling good, I had some high aspirations, and was shooting for at least another top 10. Chris E., Jacob, and Jason joined me, and we planned to 'race smart', follow moves and try to get in any breaks that looked to have the right mix. I figured I'd go with the early moves and followed some Mountain Khaki riders - first John Hamblen, then Mark Hekman. Unfortunately as I went through a series of turns on the first lap I went through a turn a little hot and hit some gravel - next thing I know I'm on the ground sliding with another rider on top of me. Fortunately the only result was a little road rash and a torn up rear derailleur. Unfortunately my race was over and Jason waited for me, causing him to burn a lot of energy to catch back on. I headed back to the start finish to lick (actually clean) my wounds and fix my derailleur. Meanwhile the break gained something ridiculous like 10 minutes . . . I hopped back in with the officials blessing on the second lap and tried to at least get a good workout in while not affecting the outcome of the race. Jacob was still feeling the affects of his allergies and Jason and Chris followed some good moves in the last lap. Unfortunately all the places were really up the road and we all cruised in with the field.
So, as I watch Stein Devolder win Flanders, with my belly full of meatball and spinach soup, Fat Tire, and a grilled cheese, I'm ready to get into bed to recover for another workout early tomorrow!
I hope each of you ended the day a little more comfortable than me. Congrats to Pete and all the winners this weekend, and thanks to our sponsors:
Industry 9, Trek, Hutchinson, Liberty Bicycles, Rudy Project, Honey Stinger, Dr. Miller, PML, Eco Concepts Realty, ABRC, Champion, Velosports, and Affordable Home Inspections. We couldn't do it without you!
You can check out their websites here: http://www.ashevilleelitecycling.com/officialsponsors.html
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