Team Frames Arrive: It IS About the Bike

Working with long time team sponsors Bike Doctor and Cannondale, Team Latitude/ABRT put together a terrific team deal on CAAD9 and H-Mod SuperSix framesets. Both framesets come in unique Team Latitude/ABRT colors. The CAAD9 also has upgrades not unavailable on a stock 2009 CAAD9, a BB30 bottom bracket and an all carbon fork.

The attractive pricing, team colors -- if more than ten framesets were ordered -- and the great reputation of Cannondale, the CAAD9 and the SuperSix, made this a very attractive offer to team members, and something like 39 CAAD9 and 6 SystemSix framesets were ordered. While the initial requirement for team colors was ten frames of each, Cannondale – under encouragement from the ABRT BoD – graciously agreed to do the SystemSix framesets in team colors in addition to the CAAD9s.

Team Latitude/ABRT Hi-Mod SuperSix



Some ABRT members worked with Cannondale on the color schemes, and part way through the process two images were released.

With everyone sitting on their hands waiting and writing frequent e-mails asking when the frames would arrive, it seemed to take forever. But earlier this week the first two frames arrived at one of the Bike Doctor stores, and a day or two later large numbers were there.

Team Latitude/ABRT CAAD9



The wheelsucker acutely feels his age and his lack of short, medium and long interval power, and seeks to mitigate these issues by training effectively and having really good equipment, so the wheelsucker is in for BOTH a CAAD9 AND a Hi-Mod SuperSix.

In the wheelsucker's 58cm size, these weigh:

	frame w/seatpost clamp	fork
CAAD9	1360.4g	450.2g
HMS6	1090.7g	357.1g

These will replace his current CAAD9, which is one of the lightest CAAD9s in the world, and his even lighter Scott CR1 SL. So why replace one perfectly good CAAD9 with another? And why replace a 13 lb. 4oz. Scott C1 SL with a Hi Mod SuperSix, you ask? It must be the team colors. The wheelsucker has to admit it is all about the look.

They look great in real life

Saturday Feb 14th Training Ride: The Wheelsucker Report

The wheelsucker tries to follow his coach’s workout instructions with the commmitment of a religious zealot following dictums in sacred religious writings. The wheelsucker is not trying to qualify for some sort of better afterlife, rather he hopes that doing the workouts properly will lead to another ten or fifteen watts when he really needs it, which might ultimately lead to winning a race. And that would be worth something!

So when the wheelsucker read his instructions for the Saturday ride and saw

"Settle in the pack today and do as little effort as you can get away with. Focus on conserving energy." He was determined to obey (and in truth, happy to have the excuse). A later e-mail from coach Birner had emphasized the point about doing no work, but had added "win the sprint". Hmn, the wheelsucker had no idea how he could accomplish that.

The wheelsucker showed up on his weight weenie CAAD9 and his new super bling deep dish aero wheels with Powertap rear hub. Lance Armstrong may have written a book entitled "It's Not About the Bike", but the wheelsucker was not taking any chances, just in case.

So all the way down Patuxent Parkway, most of the way down Sands, and up Ed Prout, the wheelsucker was dutifully sucking wheels at the back of the group. Once in awhile he accidentally found himself near the front, at risk of pulling through and taking a pull, but he carefully pulled out of line early and rotated back. Sure, the wheelsucker had to put down some power for short periods on climbs, or to make sure he was on a wheel in front, but by and large he sucked wheels most of the way to the rest stop, and let others do the work of chasing Dave down, whenever he went off the front. A couple of times he could not resist the temptation to close down a gap as someone – almost invariably Dave, sometimes the tandem – tried to go off the front, but after a short hard (for the wheelsucker) pull, the wheelsucker would flick an elbow and let someone else finish the job. And if that didn’t work and the tandem was behind him, the wheelsucker would look for the tandem, and take a tow up.

At the bottom of the climb out of Rosehaven, the group was in a double line with Mike Wagner and the wheelsucker leading; they pulled off and started to rotate back, but Dave came through and ramped it up. No one was inclined to close the gap, so Mike and the wheelsucker stopped dropping back and tried to ride near the front so they could grab a wheel when someone tried to close the gap. The wheelsucker was behind the tandem in the right hand line, and climbing is the tandem’s only weakness, so the wheelsucker looked for a gap and pulled out into the left line, and was perfectly positioned when -- sure enough, near the top of the climb -- Ace went by seated and pushing a big gear. The wheelsucker was in a quandary: Follow instructions and let Dave, Ace and perhaps others open a gap, or go after them. Even religious zealots can be tempted, so it is hardly surprising that the wheelsucker went after Ace, rode past the front of the group and quickly found Ace’s wheel. Ace was on Dave’s wheel, and the three had a gap. Ace rolled by Dave, and ramped up the pace. But the wheelsucker, having proven to himself that he could get to a safe wheel (and enjoying having an excuse to not work), decided he did not need to hammer with them, and sat up. Four chasers rolled by, and the wheelsucker grabbed the back of that train and rested, while Michel, Mike Wagner and others did all the work.

Dave and Ace continued to open the gap up the rest of the climb. Shortly before the right turn, the wheelsucker’s temptation to close the gap overcame his commitment to sitting in. He rolled to the front of the chase, checked that the next rider was on his wheel, and went to maximum wheelsucker power. Not much happened; maximum wheelsucker power was not enough (this should not be a surprise, as the wheelsucker was admitting before the ride started that his lactate threshold power was lower than that of anyone’s late grandmother). But the wheelsucker was feeling good, and felt fast with his super bling deep dish aero carbon wheels, and kept pushing. The gap had closed slightly by the time the wheelsucker led the chase group through the right turn, and he continued hammering down the hill, pedaling hard in a big gear, and the gap started to close! Once he’d got it a little closer, the wheelsucker conveniently remembered he was supposed to be taking it easy and flicked his elbow, letting Steve Owens close the rest of the gap. Steve did a magnificent job of holding about 500 watts and 30+ mph downhill, to lead the group up to Ace and Dave, all while the wheelsucker rested. The tandem went OTB on some rollers, so the group sat up climbing past the horse farms. Steve Owens rolled off the front and made the hard right turn that led to the wall with a gap, the wheelsucker waited (and wheelsucked) till the very top, to roll by and get to the front, then waited for a good wheel to grab. Conveniently, Ace rolled by. Down the descent before the wall, the wheelsucker was trying to hold Ace’s wheel, but the rush of wind as the tandem went by knocked him off. Ace climbed the wall seated, pushing a big gear. The tandem faded on the climb. Ace caught Steve, but the wheelsucker was somehow still glued to Ace’s rear wheel (this is what wheelsuckers do). At the top Ace was leading, but did not accelerate as hard as he sometimes does, and the wheelsucker was able to hold his wheel and catch his breath… and then wait for the right moment to rotate to the back.

Somewhere near Nutwell Sudely, Dave went off the front for about the seventeenth time, and Ace, Steve and the wheelsucker went after him (rest assured the wheelsucker was on the back as someone else punched it to close the gap). The four opened a gap on the peleton, and rotated pulls. Steve popped shortly before they crossed 255. The wheelsucker was rationalizing to himself that his coach’s instructions justified him taking very short pulls, and he let Dave and Ace do most of the work. The three had a nice gap at route 2, though Steve was still in sight. They survived the left turn off of route 2, then shortly after going down Harwood Hill, Dave’s long pulls took their toll, and he popped. The wheelsucker was glued to Ace’s wheel, so when Ace slowed down to let Dave catch up, the wheelsucker gratefully caught his breath. The three continued down Patuxent Parkway, up the wheelsucker’s favorite climb shortly before 214 and then sprinted across 214 as the light turned yellow. The wheelsucker continued taking short aging-wheelsucker-trying-to-follow-his-coaches-instructions pulls, while Ace took monster pulls, and Dave also took long pulls. The long pulls wore Dave down, and he popped half way from 214 to the finish. This time Ace thought they were close enough to the finish to make it without Dave, so he continued, with the wheelsucker still glued to his rear wheel. With at least second across the line almost guaranteed , the wheelsucker turned his thoughts to how on earth – short of some sort of divine intervention – he was going to beat Ace in a sprint. On the last flat - between the penultimate dip and the last dip - Ace pulled off after another monster pull, and the wheelsucker jumped. Well, jumped for the wheelsucker; Ace was so scared by this move he did absolutely nothing, and simply rode alongside making it clear he wasn’t worried at all, and the wheelsucker quickly gave up and assumed his usual wheelsucking position behind Ace. Ace led down the dip and up the other side. The wheelsucker was expecting Ace to go early on the climb to the finish, as Ace seems to like a long sprint. The wheelsucker’s first idea was to let Ace accelerate and try to hold his wheel, hoping for the best; but Ace didn’t go. As they neared the finish, the wheelsucker had another idea: If Ace wasn’t going to go long, but was thinking shorter sprint, what if the wheelsucker waited until they were close enough that even an aging wheelsucker could get out of the saddle and hammer as far as the line, and then try and jump Ace? This was the best the wheelsucker’s aging and tired brain could come up with, so from nearly point blank range to the finish, the wheelsucker launched – well, launched for a wheelsucker – from behind Ace, and jumped to the far side of the road, standing up and going as hard and as fast as an aging wheelsucker can sprint. Ace was either slow to react or not particularly interested in winning the sprint, because the wheelsucker got a bit of a gap. Ace refused to get on his line, close the gap and then jump out, but rode on a parallel line, gaining on the wheelsucker with each revolution of the pedals. But somehow, the wheelsucker still led by a wheel as they both lunged for the line. Ace had a much better lunge, but the wheelsucker still got it by about eight inches. Go figure! Ace said afterwards his legs were tired (and he had pulled about 75% of the time in the break), but the wheelsucker thinks Ace just let him have it.


Wheelsucker Data:
Time 2:50:04 (P&R to P&R including a couple of cool down laps in P&R).
Average speed 20.87 mph (slow early, fast late).
189 watts average, 899 watts peak.

Roller Racing: The Wheelsucker Branches Out

A long time ago, before global warming, there was a season called winter. Depending on exactly where you were in the Northern hemisphere (above the tropic), winter was so cold that rain fell as snow, and open water would freeze. People would shovel snow off their driveways, ski, and complain about winter, as forms of winter exercise. Since the roads frequently had snow or ice on them, cycling outdoors was dangerous, and it was much too cold to be comfortable doing this; so cyclists developed ways of riding indoors.

What with global warming, we no longer have a winter. Sure, we still call it winter, but there is almost never snow or ice on the ground, and many cyclists ride outdoors year round, though most of those declare an "off season" that was frequently a Thursday afternoon in November. But old traditions die hard, and the tools and techniques developed by cyclists in the old "real winter" days are still here, being used by some of the traditionalists.

Hence, indoor roller racing.

Roller racing is done indoors, so is unaffected by weather. Two riders face each other on two sets of rollers. Each set of rollers drives a pointer on a shared dial. The pointers show distance. To start a roller race both riders are stopped on their rollers, with the pointers lined up at the starting point. Each rider is held upright so they can start with both hands on the handle bars. While traditionally this is done on a 98 gear inch track bike, the shortage of track bikes, and riders who can ride track bikes, has caused the roller racing aficionados to become a little flexible, and allow road bikes using a 53-14 gear (which is about 99.5 gear inches, depending on wheel/tire size. A timer calls out "riders ready!" and then "go!" There is very little load on the rollers, so riders are spinning as fast as they can, going over 40 mph. While the race could go for any distance, apparently ½ mile, 1 mile and 2 miles are frequently raced distances. With the low load, high cadence and resulting very high speed, roller races are over in a matter of a few seconds.

Feeling that he had done "OK" at being an old dog learning a new trick (group riding and masters age group racing), the wheelsucker was easily convinced by Bobby "The Baltimore Bullet" Phillips to try roller racing. The roller racing setup is in Bobby’s basement, just north of the Baltimore beltway, so one evening a week the wheelsucker shows up at Bobby’s place and meets a few more cyclists encouraged (by Bobby) to try roller racing.

The wheelsucker had been under the impression that being able to ride on rollers was a prerequisite for roller racing. This was a show stopper for the wheelsucker, who – having talked president Shapter up to $150 – bought a set of rollers from him, but has so far failed to ride a bike on them for more than 15 seconds at a time, and has scared himself silly trying. But the Baltimore Bullet was very persuasive, saying he was a great teacher.

Evening one: Encouraged by Bobby, Track-Sean and Carol, the wheelsucker tried to get going on the roller racing rollers. With Bobby holding the head tube and seatpost, the wheelsucker was able to "ride the rollers" and was even able to stay on the rollers for short periods of time, while Bobby would let go. Fortunately Bobby is rather good at this, and would grab the wheelsucker’s head tube and seatpost just before the wheelsucker "lost it", so despite coming very close every 15 or 20 seconds, the wheelsucker did not actually crash off the rollers. When it came time to "race" for time, Bobby did not dare let go of the wheelsucker's bicycle, as the flailing wheelsucker was all over the rollers, would have been off them in short order, and the nearby contents of Bobby’s basement were at risk, to say nothing of the aging wheelsucker himself.

It turns out the wheelsucker is not bad at flailing, and with Bobby’s firm grip on the bike, the wheelsucker turned in some respectable times.

Evening two: Acutely aware that he had not in fact mastered a new trick (but was only doing it with Bobby literally holding his bike on the rollers), the wheelsucker was determined to have another go. A somewhat different group were already there when the wheelsucker arrived, Janet, not one but two track riders named Sean, John K. and another rider whose name escaped the wheelsucker’s aging memory. The other riders had already started their races. The wheelsucker decided to warm up on another set of rollers. These were carefully positioned next to a steel post, but were – in retrospect – perhaps a little to close to a free standing shelf containing pictures of Bobby and his parents cycling, some trophies, and some extra water bottles. The wheelsucker managed to get the bike on the rollers, himself on the bike clipped into the pedals, and holding firmly to the steel post, started pedaling. This was working fine until it was time to let go the post and move that hand to the handlebars. The wheelsucker was having trouble with this transition and had several aborted attempts – frantically grabbing the steel post each time to save himself – before trying the free standing shelf, as it was closer to the handlebars. The wheelsucker regrets that his flailing knocked several items off the shelf, and caused multiple pictures to fall over flat on the shelf as the wheelsucker fell off the rollers to the left, being saved from a complete crash by John K. who grabbed him on the way down. By mutual consent, John and the wheelsucker agreed that the wheelsucker should avoid warming up by himself.

The wheelsucker turned in respectable times (but keep in mind Bobby was holding him on the rollers) of 1:14 for the mile, 2:32 for the two mile and 29 seconds for the half mile.

As John Krawczyk wrote:

I’m still hurting. I didn’t think it would be possible to ride 2 miles in 2 ½ minutes, or beat Ali at something this year (if only by a second and a half), even on rollers.

Thanks for hosting this Bob.

In case you’re all wondering, Bob kicked all our asses at ½ mile (27 sec) and 1 mile (59 sec). Ali did great at the ½ (29 sec), the 1 (1:14) and 2 mile (2:32) distances for someone who’s not a roller rider. A little more practice on them, and he’ll cut those times down even more. FWIW I covered the ½ in 31 sec, the 1 mile in 1:22 (bad pacing) and the 2 miles at 2:31. Ali and I went head to head on the 2 mile. He was tough, but I edged him on lap 10 with a killer sprint finish that knocked a cleat screw right out my shoe.

The wheelsucker is looking forward to trying again next week. It is a unique experience – at least for the wheelsucker – to warm up by riding the rollers for less than a mile and then going as hard as an aging wheelsucker can go, for all of 29 seconds. It is amazing how tired and out of breath one can become in only 29 seconds. The notion of working very hard and not actually going anywhere also seems strangely familiar.

Wheelsucker data:
Total duration: 13:16 (that is thirteen MINUTES)
Distance 5.20 miles
125 calories
Max HR 168
Max power 547 watts
Max cadence 178rpm
Max speed 51.2mph

Is Spring on the Way?

What a weekend! Both Saturday and Sunday had highs of over 55 degrees, so the Saturday rides and the Sunday ride had large turnouts. While it was still slightly below freezing when the wheelsucker left home at 9:15AM Saturday, it warmed up nicely; Sunday morning started above freezing and hit a similar – or better – high.

For Saturday, the wheelsucker’s workout instructions were to get "as much time in zones tempo/threshold power zones as you can accumulate", for four hours.

After lots of e-mail chatter on the ABRT listserver about doing the Goon Ride, everyone but Mike Wagner showed up at Davidsonville, including Ace and Nat and new members Christine and Amy. With ten miles on the wheelsucker’s legs before the Davidsonville ride even started, it was easy for him to roll off the front early, just after crossing Governor Bridge Road, simply by holding Z3 watts. Bill "don’t drop me" Neumann followed the wheelsucker. A couple of minutes later, the tandem rolled up and pointed out that the three bikes/four riders were well off the front. The wheelsucker sat up so as to not split up the ride so early, but the tandem and Bill continued, and after crossing 214 Steve Owens bridged up; that group stayed away to the rest stop (nice going, guys and gals!) Holding wheelsucker Z3 power was an excellent way to go OTB on short climbs, but the wheelsucker would slowly drag himself back, on the flats and descents. Then someone caught site of another group up the road, the peleton surged, and the wheelsucker went OTB big time! Fortunately the peleton slowed at the start of the climb after the left turn on Ed Prout. The wheelsucker caught back on and then just holding Z3 power on the climb, rolled off the front (with the jeers of team mates saying the group was slowing for a pee break ringing in his ears) also staying away until the rest stop.

After the rest stop, a small group split left at Boyd’s Turn Road for the short cut, but the main group did the full course. Ace looked strong on the wall, with Michel hammering off the top and looking good. The wheelsucker, noticing that he was not riding one of his weight weenie bikes, sat up and waited for the tandem to roll by, grabbed a wheel and took the tow back to the front. Shortly after the short cutters were caught on Sudley Road, Ace was pinned against the shoulder by the tandem and several other riders, behind the wheelsucker. Ace asked the wheelsucker to move left – which he did, not realizing that Ace was being pinned deliberately – and Ace jumped hard. A chase led by Nat went after him, but only caught him after the turn onto route 2. The wheelsucker found the tandem’s back wheel and hung on. Later, a tiring wheelsucker was gapped again on the climb out of the flood area on Patuxent Parkway before crossing 214, but the light saved him, and he caught up as the leaders rolled through a fresh green. The setup for the sprint was looking interesting. The wheelsucker took a short wheelsucker pull, rotated off and got to the back of the rotating part of the paceline, just before the start of the last dip. Several of the leaders went over a new pothole, with Rick Paukstitus losing a water bottle, and Ace flatting. With Ace out, Nat went with two guys on his wheel. A chase of Steve Owens, Tom Aga and the wheelsucker were a short distance behind. Nat pulled away for the easy win, with Michel looking strong in second. The wheelsucker put in no effort at all letting first Steve and then Tom tire, and rolled across third.

A few of the riders met for lunch at Chipotle in the Annapolis Mall, after the ride. The wheelsucker was long past being able to hold Z3, and slowly rode to the mall, finding Christine, Amy and Ace in Chipotle, and had a fajito burrito. The tired wheelsucker needed those calories badly!

Wheelsucker data:
Ride time 4:40:26
2899 calories burned (and more than that added between Chipotle and Pussers)
Zone 1 (Recovery) time: 112 minutes
Zone 2 (Endurance) time: 48 minutes
Zone 3 (Tempo) time: 51 minutes
Zone 4 (Threshold) time: 42 minutes
Zone 5 (VO2Max) time: 13 minutes
Zone 6 (Anaerobic) time: 13 minutes

Saturday night was the Latitude/ABRT kickoff party, and a great time was had at Pussers, with the new women’s team and the elite team introduced, a number of team members congratulated on their 2008 season, some key volunteers thanked, 2009 kit handed out and much more. Many stayed for dinner after the party, and some of those ended up at the Doetsch’s place later for more partying and fireworks. Being Doetsch’s neighbor must be rather exciting.

President Doug encouraged everyone to do a 10:00AM Sunday ride. This merged with the Peter Penzell Sunday ride, which turned out to be to Sandy Point and back with some extra loops for high gear/low cadence muscle tension intervals. A large group were in the Annapolis Park & Ride at the designated time, though some number of them appeared to be hung over and short of sleep. The wheelsucker was again trying to do a specific workout – this time it was stay in zone 2 for two hours – and again found himself going OTB on short climbs and then catching back on the flats and descents. As the group started their big gear low cadence intervals, the wheelsucker cut short the ride and headed home for a break and then a recovery/coffee ride with his girlfriend, Leslie. But the sun was out, the temperature was up, and he needed to switch his long sleeve jersey and vest for a short sleeve jersey – it must have been 60 degrees – before heading out with Leslie. They did the Lake Ogleton loop, and then went downtown for coffee. Everywhere they want, they saw cyclists enjoying the day. But the drivers were out in force too, with traffic through downtown Annapolis stopped. Why couldn’t everyone ride their bike?

Wheelsucker data:
Combined ride time: 3:32:39
1685 calories burned
Zone 1 (Recovery) time: 102 minutes
Zone 2 (Endurance) time: 88 minutes
Zone 3 (Tempo) time: 18 minutes
Zone 4 (Threshold) time: 2 minutes
Zone 5 (VO2Max) time: 0 minutes
Zone 6 (Anaerobic) time: 0 minutes
Total calories burned over the weekend: 4584. Weight gain 2 pounds.

The Day the Aliens Landed on High Rock

After a fairly laid back Davidsonville ride on Saturday I decided to head up to Western MD yesterday to do some hill repeats, and give the legs some serious work. Nat had decalred the roads rideable on Saturday, and I figured with the temps pushing 50 I'd at least have good roads in the valleys. As I rolled into Myersville around noon the bank temperature read 44 degrees. Not bad for a part of town that always seems to be 10 degrees colder than everywhere else. As I went to my usual starting place I noticed 3 cars (one with a bike rack) in my usual spot. Undeterred I pulled in between them knowing that they were already out on the route. I set off, and almost immediately encountered ice on Rt 17. This turned out to be a rather isolated phenomenon, and I knew it would only improve as the day went on. Still I knew I'd have to keep alert for the rest of the ride.

The snow melt was quite marked in places, and I ran into several impromptu streams in the middle of the road in my trip up 17. After a quick descent into Smithsburg which to my surprise was devoid of ice and slush I briefly ran into a group of 3 serious looking riders (1 in an AVC kit) who had just finished descending 491 into Smithsburg. After a quick wave I started my first red line climb up to Cascade. A few minutes in I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. My first thought was deer, but it turned out to be a couple of hikers crossing 491. While I honestly didn't see a trail in all of the snow they seemed to know where they were going. Halfway up the climb I decided to risk Ritchie Rd, and add another mile or so of climbing. That road turned out to be surprisingly clear as well until after the descent. At that point I decided I'd risk the conditions on High Rock. My plan was to go up easy the first time to scout out for ice especially on the descent. The last thing I wanted was another "Ali visits the ice in Philly" story.

As I got to the base of the climb I couldn't help but notice an empty tour bus parked across from the closed park. I'd never seen it there before, and it just didn't make sense to see it there. I've seen school busses at the top of High Rock, but never an empty bus at the bottom when the park was closed.

I started my first ascent in the small ring (yeah I was surprised I had one too) at an easy pace. It is amazing how scenic and relaxing that climb can be at 240 watts. Just after the first speed bump I ran into a hiker carrying ski poles (no skis just poles). He gave me a quick wave, and I just gave him a weird look. It did occur to me that if there was a ski-able area down the North side of the rock it would be a great way to get some free skiing in. As I continued to climb the rock at a leisurely pace I made note of the best line for the descent, and ran into a couple more hikers figuring the nice weather brought them out. After reaching the top I went back down, and started the real training (low cadence/high gear sufferfest.)

As I ascended the second time I saw more hikers scattered about the climb. I think I spent more time dodging hikers than ice, and local yahoos in pickups and motorcycles. The third time up the climb it became apparent that hikers were descending the rock en masse. But where were they coming from? The fourth time up the climb I stopped at the top for a nature break, and got the answer to my question. I spotted another hiker coming off the Northeast side of the rock. I didn't even know there was a trail back there. Last time we headed up that way we were met by a couple of guys with assault rifles. (that incident erased all doubts I had about Harshman's descending ability!) Apparently though the trail doesn't cross that area.

As I got to the bottom of the hill I noticed some of the hikers congregating around the bus. "Aha the mother ship!" Why I didn't see that before I don't know. The weird thing was that these hikers were from all walks of life; all ages, all physical statures (OK no one was obese), but you get the idea. It just seemed like a really ecletic group. They had to be aliens!

After my next repeat I noticed more congregating around the bus, and decided to get out of there before the mother ship lifted off, and caused possible mayhem on the narrow roads. I made the quick descent into Thurmont down 550, quickly refueled, and hit the Rt 77 climb where apparently the sun never shines. After the rollercoaster on Stottlemeyer I finished out with a nice fast descent back to the starting point. Four hours later the bank read 55 degrees on my way out. Not as warm as down South, but a very enjoyable ride given this winter so far.

For those who are new to the club there is a reason we always start our hill rides at a low point. It is much easier to ride back to your car if you blow up. (Harshman's short cuts aside).

Like all good aliens this particular species left a calling card. As aliens tend to be "high tech" creatures I decided to utilize modern technology to find them. Low and behold they actually had a web site. Go figure!

In any event if you are interested you can check out www.wanderbirds.org Apparently they charge 20 bucks a head, and rent a charter bus to drive to their hikes. So I had to ask myself; "Why can't ABRT do this?" Twenty bucks a head for a trip to Thurmont leaving from the Davidsonville park and ride. I bet those charter busses can fit several bikes underneath, along with coolers etc. We park the bus somewhere, offer multiple ride options, and everyone eventually meets back there for a relaxing ride home.

You know you live in the Mid-Atlantic when...

Only in the Mid-Atlantic area can you go from having possibly the coldest ride of the winter (for me anyway - I know two weeks ago was actually MUCH colder) to the warmest (I had 65 degrees on my computer today) in the space of 24 hours. And, to boot it will probably snow tomorrow!

About 15 people showed up for yesterday's Saturday ride, including new member Darren, an Australian who we gave grief for not knowing it was SUMMER there. At start time, it was about 28 degrees with the northwest wind starting to blow. The first half was a nice tempo ride and since it was with the wind, it actually didn't feel too bad. We all rolled into the Dash-in roughly the same time and after taking a correct head count by the alpha male, we rolled on to the beach. I could see the white caps on the bay as we rode up the boardwalk. This was a bad omen. Things split up a bit going up the hill but rejoined for the trip through Fairhaven. Over the wall, it split again but regrouped at 258. After 258, Ali (who was not feeling well) and I hung back a bit to see if anyone else was coming from the split over the wall, but not seeing anyone else coming we decided to try and get back on. Ali dropped me pretty quickly as the cold was taking its toll on me; he never quite got back on but joined up with a few others who came off the main group. The wind was really starting to blow and it was soooo much colder (especially on the left side!) as I continued alone through the rollers to Rt 2. I stopped to wait for the group behind. I only had to wait a minute or two, but it was worth it as the company really rejuvenated my rapidly chilling spirit and we rode fairly easily back to the park and ride. The chit-chat in the parking lot was short lived as we all were eager to get warmed up.

What a difference 24 hours makes! I did the Penzel Saturday loop, plus the River Road section with just a vest, knee warmers and summer gloves - and that is not much clothing for this whimp. Since I was feeling beat up from yesterday, I just had a nice recovery ride and enjoyed the warm sunshine. I love these 60+ degree days in the middle of winter, they are such a gimme.

Oh well, back to rain, snow and 30 degree temperatures this week. But, looks to be warm(er) for the pre-party Saturday ride if you have any faith in the 7 day forecast.

Never give up

This is not really about bicycles or ABRT, but since I'm Hefe, I can pull this off. Its a lesson of determination coming from a proud father.

A few years ago, when Floyd Landis (illegitimately as it turns out) won Stage 17 of the Tour de France, I made my two daughters, neither of whom are bike racing fans, watch the stage. The lesson that I was trying to impress upon them was that no matter how bad the game seems, no matter how far down you are, no matter what, you go out and do your best. And good things happen when you do.

A few weeks later, we find out that Landis tested positive for illegal testosterone use. I refused to believe it at firs for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was embarrassment when I told my daughters. Here I was bragging about his gritty performance in the face of unspeakable odds and it turns out the dude was cheating.

But apparently the core lesson was not lost on either daughter, but this is a story about the youngest.

Both girls are synchronized skaters. For a guy, this is an odd sport. Its like ice dancing but with upwards of 16 to 20 girls on the ice at one time. Its a judged sport, which means its open to all sorts of nefarious behavior on the part of judges. But my word to my girls has always been: go out , have fun and do your best. You have no control over anything else, so don't worry about it.

My eldest has been doing this for 8 years now. Her younger sister watched every practice and went to every competition for and joined the team when she turned 8.

DC, despite its wealth, is not a hotbed for figure skating in general nor synchronized skating in the particular. Our club has difficulty in attracting participants and we are always scrambling to put together competitive squads. For the younger girls, this has been especially difficult in the past few years. In fact, my youngest dagger's team has never placed higher than last (yeah, last) in USFSA competitions and only won a few, less competitive ISI events. For five years, she went to every practice, every competition (some as far away as Atlanta and Detroit) and was always last. She takes multiple private lessons a week and attends camps in the summer. She knows every song from every routine her club has performed and practically every one from her competitors, too.

Last year, her best friend moved up to another squad and the "re-org" left her bitterly disappointed. I refrained from being too much of the little league dad, but did give her the option of not continuing or taking a year off and concentrating on her field moves. In the end, she decided to stick it out.

The coach had her and two other girls start on their routine in August, putting in extra sessions early on to get things started off right. The team evolved into a strong squad and it looked like this was the year for them. The music is beautiful as are the dresses and the choreography. The girls were stoked and loaded for bear when they took the ice for their first competition in early December in Cape Cod.

The routine came off almost perfectly and the girls were very pleased with their performance. There was the usual deconstruction of what when on, but all in all, they were happy and fired up (as were the parents). But remember the comment about nefarious behavior: yep, you guessed it: last place. What made it a bit harder was the celebration for one of the older teams, which placed fourth overall in their bracket. The younger girls were totally jobbed on this one, but the coach took the judges' comments (a coach can get face time with the judges for detailed critiques) and the girls wen back to work.

This past weekend was the Eastern Sectionals, which is basically the regional championships for the east coast. Her team is not "nationally qualifying" so this is the end of their USFSA season and a last chance facing strong competition. And strong it was: the pre-juvenile division has 24 teams, 12 in two "flights". The top six in each flight would go on to compete in the finals on the last day of the competition.

The girls put on a sterling display: flawless form the eyes of this amateur judge. Like every other parent in the club, our fingers were crossed: "please don't place them last." I had a sense, though, that his was special and my hunch proved correct: the girls placed fourth in the flight and were heading to the finals. It was a crowning moment for them and their celebration underscored that. My daughter even hugged me, in public, which is not something 12 year girls usually do.

The girls actually did not fare as well in the finals, but even placing last in that flight meant that they were mid-field overall. And for them, that was as good as walking away with a gold. There were lots of tears yesterday but, in the end, the girls left the rink happy and proud of their accomplishments.

For me, it was a far better lesson than Stage 17: for five years, my youngest worked and for five years, her team came up empty. For a 12 year old that is nearly 1/2 of her life. But she never gave up, she never sat out, she never stopped working. And that kind of determination is a lesson for any athlete competing in any sport