Please go here: http://philly2010.livestrong.org/chlarsen, and give what you can - every dollar helps!
Thank you, and God bless.
- Chris, Jessica, and Ethan
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Help me fight cancer!
For the second year I will be doing Livestrong Philadelphia in honor of my mother. She was diagnosed with fallopian tube cancer last May and is working through a round of chemotherapy now. She was just in Asheville for a visit and it was a treat to spend so much time with her and see her with my son, Ethan! I hope that with your support we can surpass last year's fundraising of over $9000, and reach our team goal of $50,000! I'm teaming up with my good friend Arch, who's sister and sister-in-law have both battled cancer as well as team Vision. With your help hopefully can can provide the much needed funds to continue to drive research into treatments to help those that are fighting everday with this devastating disease.
Please go here: http://philly2010.livestrong.org/chlarsen, and give what you can - every dollar helps!
Thank you, and God bless.
Please go here: http://philly2010.livestrong.org/chlarsen, and give what you can - every dollar helps!
Thank you, and God bless.
Race Report: WNC Grand Prix
After a month off from racing, I returned with a local event, and the weekend started with some positive TV coverage for the team on the local TV station - WLOS 13: http://www.wlos.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wlos_vid_2633.shtml It's important to note that the proceeds from the weekend's events are used for disadvantaged youth in the Asheville area. The team is always looking to help out good causes, and this surely is one of them!
The races started with a Hill climb Friday night, which produce another win for Team ACE/Highland with Andy Applegate showing his time-trialing prowess ahead of the National Championships! While the event itself isn't super-exciting, the result was!
Saturday, the racing continued with a criterium around Lake Tomahawk in Black Mountain. Chris Emory picks up the commentary:
Andrew, Chris Larsen and I (Chris Emory) toed the line with some familiar elite racers from all over the Southeast. The short circuit was very difficult with a 120 degree turn immediately leading into a steep uphill. You could count on a lot of pain every lap as riders attacked this gut wrenching short climb.
At the gun Larsen was out in front of the field, obviously feeling well coming off his Emory training plan which involves staying off the bike and getting into the beer (not helped out by our excellent sponsor!). The field reacted swiftly and failed attacks and surges marked the day but kept the pace punishingly high forcing several racers to drop out of the race. I felt horrible from the beginning; my stomach immediately knotted and gradually got worse throughout the day. Likely as a result of the previous day’s food poisoning… Note to self: don’t trust seafood from a backyard BBQ.
I was able to hang in with the leaders as I felt somewhere between unpleasant and tolerable. The large teams protected the top 5 spots in the field and anywhere behind 15 riders back you would find yourself continuously chasing back into the group. Larsen was caught out in one of these unfortunate adventures as the group split into two. His small group chased back to the group but was gapped immediately afterward as a crash split the field again. Andrew, went down in the 120 degree bender and had to chase back on, bleeding in the process.
I was able to get up front with less than 3 to go fighting for every position at every turn. I remained on the front with 1 and a half to go and unfortunately decided not to respond to a single attack by an unknown rider up the hill who was going after the "gambler’s prime" with one lap to go. Nobody wanted to chase this guy; they were all just watching the main contenders. Sitting second wheel Idecided to keep the pace high so that attacks on the backside didn’t leave me in poor position, but as I rounded the corner no one from the big teams pulled through; I knew I had made a mistake. Hoping to catch a train, I was in the worst position - out in front and unable to see the hornets’ nest behind me. Everyone was on the rivet and unwilling to do any work. About 100 meters before the final turn I was swarmed on both sides as riders attacked, putting me behind the lead group; then came the kamikaze kids who I let through the turn in front of me to keep my skin. I was able to outsprint two riders at the finish to end up twelfth on the day. Larsen was tailed off, but never lapped and won the sprint for "best of the rest" taking home a sweet grill set!
The team started the weekend stronger than we finished, but not a failure given the conditions. I’m done with the rabies shots and looking forward to the impending birth of my son.
Thanks to: Highland Brewing, Trek & Bontrager, Liberty Bikes, Rudy Project, PML Pathology, Mosaic Realty, Honey Stinger, Swiftwick, Carmichael Training Systems, Dr. Steve Miller DDS, Crossfit Brevard, Joe Lilly Photography, and Affordable Home Inspections.
The races started with a Hill climb Friday night, which produce another win for Team ACE/Highland with Andy Applegate showing his time-trialing prowess ahead of the National Championships! While the event itself isn't super-exciting, the result was!
Saturday, the racing continued with a criterium around Lake Tomahawk in Black Mountain. Chris Emory picks up the commentary:
Andrew, Chris Larsen and I (Chris Emory) toed the line with some familiar elite racers from all over the Southeast. The short circuit was very difficult with a 120 degree turn immediately leading into a steep uphill. You could count on a lot of pain every lap as riders attacked this gut wrenching short climb.
At the gun Larsen was out in front of the field, obviously feeling well coming off his Emory training plan which involves staying off the bike and getting into the beer (not helped out by our excellent sponsor!). The field reacted swiftly and failed attacks and surges marked the day but kept the pace punishingly high forcing several racers to drop out of the race. I felt horrible from the beginning; my stomach immediately knotted and gradually got worse throughout the day. Likely as a result of the previous day’s food poisoning… Note to self: don’t trust seafood from a backyard BBQ.
I was able to hang in with the leaders as I felt somewhere between unpleasant and tolerable. The large teams protected the top 5 spots in the field and anywhere behind 15 riders back you would find yourself continuously chasing back into the group. Larsen was caught out in one of these unfortunate adventures as the group split into two. His small group chased back to the group but was gapped immediately afterward as a crash split the field again. Andrew, went down in the 120 degree bender and had to chase back on, bleeding in the process.
I was able to get up front with less than 3 to go fighting for every position at every turn. I remained on the front with 1 and a half to go and unfortunately decided not to respond to a single attack by an unknown rider up the hill who was going after the "gambler’s prime" with one lap to go. Nobody wanted to chase this guy; they were all just watching the main contenders. Sitting second wheel Idecided to keep the pace high so that attacks on the backside didn’t leave me in poor position, but as I rounded the corner no one from the big teams pulled through; I knew I had made a mistake. Hoping to catch a train, I was in the worst position - out in front and unable to see the hornets’ nest behind me. Everyone was on the rivet and unwilling to do any work. About 100 meters before the final turn I was swarmed on both sides as riders attacked, putting me behind the lead group; then came the kamikaze kids who I let through the turn in front of me to keep my skin. I was able to outsprint two riders at the finish to end up twelfth on the day. Larsen was tailed off, but never lapped and won the sprint for "best of the rest" taking home a sweet grill set!
The team started the weekend stronger than we finished, but not a failure given the conditions. I’m done with the rabies shots and looking forward to the impending birth of my son.
Thanks to: Highland Brewing, Trek & Bontrager, Liberty Bikes, Rudy Project, PML Pathology, Mosaic Realty, Honey Stinger, Swiftwick, Carmichael Training Systems, Dr. Steve Miller DDS, Crossfit Brevard, Joe Lilly Photography, and Affordable Home Inspections.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
RACE REPORT: Bristol
Courtesy of Eric Muehl:
I came into this weekend with halfway decent legs. I put in a pretty heavy workload during the week. The road race had a small field, maybe 25 guys and it was getting hotter by the minute. The first lap was nice and low key for the most part. The pace wasn't too high and people weren't chomping at the bit to launch attacks. There were a few unsuccessful moves during the first lap, but it wasn't until the last few miles of that lap that two riders slipped off the front. They had a pretty good gap going but there wasn't a hurry to reel them back in so early in the race. Then two more riders slipped away and created a decent gap quickly. A train forced the leaders to stop so we had to wait and let them regain their gap before we could continue. After that we carried on at the same pace and by about half way through the lap I took the lead to try and reel the riders up the road back in. I cut the gap by 20 seconds within a few miles and I kept riding hard to bring them in for an entire lap. A few miles after I got to the back and started recovering the course marshal came through and gave us the time splits which had jumped up to over 2 minutes. So the two groups of two became one strong group of four and they were killing it. The field started to get organized half way through the third lap and everyone was rotating and working together. Eventually people stopped working and the chase was held up again. Thomas launched a few good attacks and had some daylight for a good bit, but the field managed to chase him down. By the time we got stated on the fourth lap I was starting to feel the damage done to my legs. Someone lifted the pace through the feed zone and I had to chase for thirty seconds to catch back on. I made it up the next climb just fine, but the next climb was a little longer and a little steeper and I couldn't match the accelerations. I was left chasing on the descent and got back on before we hit the headwind section. By the time we hit the second to last tough climb we had caught one of the dropped riders from the break away and again I lost ground. I had a long downhill, slightly rolling stretch of road to catch back on. I got to within 200 meters of the group, but this was right before I hit the last of the climbs. I lost all the ground I had made up and was left chasing hard to get back however I was unable to. Luckily Thomas was able to stay in it and get 7th overall!
The day of the crit was even hotter than the day before and the race didn't start until 3. I was a bit doubtful that I would be doing anything other than hanging off the back struggling to match accelerations. For the first 15 laps that was the case, but I settled in to a rhythm and started feeling comfortable. A couple attacks early on maintained decent gaps and the last one got pulled back in with about 30 laps to go. Andrew spent most of the race marking all the attacks and keeping the field together. A couple laps later whilst coming through the last corner, a Metro rider rode right into the back of another rider and immediately started yelling at him. Everyone regrouped on the next lap and as we approached the start/finish the pace slowed. Three riders jumped off the front and I saw there was no reaction from the field so I jumped the gap to them and there was still no reaction. One rider tagged along with me so we had a strong five man group and a decent gap that was growing fast. We all kept working together and we had started lapping riders, however people stopped rotating with about 8 to go. I stayed at the front driving the pace and three riders attacked on before the third turn. I was able to stay with them, but coming into the last turn, the rider sitting third wheel slid out and disrupted the sprint a little. I probably started sprinting with 300 meters to go and I was able to hold on for third overall. I certainly wasn't expecting that to happen. Not a bad weekend for the team and I'm planning on better results at French Broad.
--
ERIC MUEHL
I came into this weekend with halfway decent legs. I put in a pretty heavy workload during the week. The road race had a small field, maybe 25 guys and it was getting hotter by the minute. The first lap was nice and low key for the most part. The pace wasn't too high and people weren't chomping at the bit to launch attacks. There were a few unsuccessful moves during the first lap, but it wasn't until the last few miles of that lap that two riders slipped off the front. They had a pretty good gap going but there wasn't a hurry to reel them back in so early in the race. Then two more riders slipped away and created a decent gap quickly. A train forced the leaders to stop so we had to wait and let them regain their gap before we could continue. After that we carried on at the same pace and by about half way through the lap I took the lead to try and reel the riders up the road back in. I cut the gap by 20 seconds within a few miles and I kept riding hard to bring them in for an entire lap. A few miles after I got to the back and started recovering the course marshal came through and gave us the time splits which had jumped up to over 2 minutes. So the two groups of two became one strong group of four and they were killing it. The field started to get organized half way through the third lap and everyone was rotating and working together. Eventually people stopped working and the chase was held up again. Thomas launched a few good attacks and had some daylight for a good bit, but the field managed to chase him down. By the time we got stated on the fourth lap I was starting to feel the damage done to my legs. Someone lifted the pace through the feed zone and I had to chase for thirty seconds to catch back on. I made it up the next climb just fine, but the next climb was a little longer and a little steeper and I couldn't match the accelerations. I was left chasing on the descent and got back on before we hit the headwind section. By the time we hit the second to last tough climb we had caught one of the dropped riders from the break away and again I lost ground. I had a long downhill, slightly rolling stretch of road to catch back on. I got to within 200 meters of the group, but this was right before I hit the last of the climbs. I lost all the ground I had made up and was left chasing hard to get back however I was unable to. Luckily Thomas was able to stay in it and get 7th overall!
The day of the crit was even hotter than the day before and the race didn't start until 3. I was a bit doubtful that I would be doing anything other than hanging off the back struggling to match accelerations. For the first 15 laps that was the case, but I settled in to a rhythm and started feeling comfortable. A couple attacks early on maintained decent gaps and the last one got pulled back in with about 30 laps to go. Andrew spent most of the race marking all the attacks and keeping the field together. A couple laps later whilst coming through the last corner, a Metro rider rode right into the back of another rider and immediately started yelling at him. Everyone regrouped on the next lap and as we approached the start/finish the pace slowed. Three riders jumped off the front and I saw there was no reaction from the field so I jumped the gap to them and there was still no reaction. One rider tagged along with me so we had a strong five man group and a decent gap that was growing fast. We all kept working together and we had started lapping riders, however people stopped rotating with about 8 to go. I stayed at the front driving the pace and three riders attacked on before the third turn. I was able to stay with them, but coming into the last turn, the rider sitting third wheel slid out and disrupted the sprint a little. I probably started sprinting with 300 meters to go and I was able to hold on for third overall. I certainly wasn't expecting that to happen. Not a bad weekend for the team and I'm planning on better results at French Broad.
--
ERIC MUEHL
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Heat Exhaustion, the 'easy' way to lose a few pounds
Well, after my final preparations in the local TT, buying a cooling vest, and a base layer drinking system, I did my best to avoid using all of my 'advantages' during the NC State TT on June 26! After checking the forecast and seeing that it would be 80 degrees I figured that I could get away with a half of a water bottle and minimal pre-cooling.
This strategy worked well for about 1/2 of the race as I was right on my goal pace. Unfortunately I paid heavily during the second half . . . Long story short I managed to place top 10 overall and still take 1st in my age group: 30-34 Men. However I probably lost 2 minutes during the last half of the race and was fairly disappointed with my performance. Lesson learned!
But that wasn't the end of it. My dehydration from the race caused stomach cramps and compounded into a case of heat exhaustion. Fortunately I'm now recovered and no worse for wear except for watching a ton of World Cup while I was on the couch, and losing 5 lbs at one point. I've regained most of this, just in time for our trip to Europe. Look for Jess and I next Tuesday and Wednesday at Le Tour!
Happy 4th of July, and thanks to all of our sponsors:
Highland Brewing, Trek & Bontrager, Liberty Bikes, Rudy Project, PML Pathology, Mosaic Realty, Honey Stinger, Swiftwick, Carmichael Training Systems, Dr. Steve Miller DDS, Crossfit Brevard, Joe Lilly Photography, and Affordable Home Inspections.
This strategy worked well for about 1/2 of the race as I was right on my goal pace. Unfortunately I paid heavily during the second half . . . Long story short I managed to place top 10 overall and still take 1st in my age group: 30-34 Men. However I probably lost 2 minutes during the last half of the race and was fairly disappointed with my performance. Lesson learned!
But that wasn't the end of it. My dehydration from the race caused stomach cramps and compounded into a case of heat exhaustion. Fortunately I'm now recovered and no worse for wear except for watching a ton of World Cup while I was on the couch, and losing 5 lbs at one point. I've regained most of this, just in time for our trip to Europe. Look for Jess and I next Tuesday and Wednesday at Le Tour!
Happy 4th of July, and thanks to all of our sponsors:
Highland Brewing, Trek & Bontrager, Liberty Bikes, Rudy Project, PML Pathology, Mosaic Realty, Honey Stinger, Swiftwick, Carmichael Training Systems, Dr. Steve Miller DDS, Crossfit Brevard, Joe Lilly Photography, and Affordable Home Inspections.
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