This year the Jefferson Cup was the Virginia Championship Road Race.
Complete Results
Some quick notes for those interested.
Sara Clafferty, Mike Harris, Scott Olson and I pre-rode the course early Saturday afternoon. In between our first and second laps someone broke many glass bottles on the road the start/finish line was on. There were two or three areas with glass covering the road. We spent 10 minutes picking up glass and throwing it off the road while Sara fixed a flat, and our efforts did not make much of a dent in the mess. I e-mailed Ruth Stornetta about it when I was back at my hotel room, and she replied that they would clean it up in the AM.
9:00AM Races. Misty, a little cool and road very wet.
While clearly someone had worked hard to get the glass of the road, there were four flats just in the 50+ rollout. Actually the 50+ field was combined with the 60+ and the Jr 15-18 on one line, one field of 75 riders max. On the course at the same time were the W123 and W35+ fields, starting behind us at short intervals. I rode near the front hoping to jump into a break and ride away, but there were no serious break attempts. I did go off the front once with a junior, trying to catch a strong junior up the road, but we didn't make it and sat up. It came down to a field sprint. The results have me 14th and Mike Harris 29th, and no finish for Scott Olson, who I saw just to my left at 400 meters to go. Hmn. I think there were several more flats during the race.
One of the women's fields (I am guessing 35+) squeezed over to the right to let us by 2/3 of the way through our last lap. We had no Team Latitude riders in the W35+, and team finishes in W123 were:
10 Janet Olney
17 Amy Westenfeld
18 Christine Wehlburg
19 Diane Grimm
12:30 Races. The roads had started to dry towards the end of the first batch of races and the sun came out.
I don't think there were any Team Latitude/ABRT riders in the Jr. 10-14. Cat 5 results have not been posted. The registration list has Peter Shultz and Ty Wu racing it, and Ty crashed hard resulting in heavy road rash and no more new CAAD9. In the W4 race Sara Clafferty was taken down by a rider that braked in front of her going down a hill, but got back on. Amanda Wu finished second in a breakaway.
2:30 Races. The sun was out, it was warmer and the roads were dry.
I jumped into the 35+ race thinking I had not worked that hard in the 50+ (a view not backed up by a look at my powertap numbers this morning). We had strong teams in both the 123 and 35+. Once again we had flats during the rollout and I think we had more flats during the race. In the 35+, Chris Harshman and Lance Lacy were out with mechanicals fairly early. I went OTB early on the 3rd lap after taking a too-long and too-hard pull trying to help pull back a break that did not have any ABRT riders in it. I rolled around the rest of the 3rd lap chasing at first and then just trying to get to the feedzone as I was either very tired, or bonking, or both. Chris, Lance, Tina and other ABRTers were already in the feedzone supporting our 123 and 35 riders, and we enjoyed watching the rest of the race from there.
Yanni Papadopoulos came out of the 123 with bad cramps, and Ryan Guttridge came out of the 35+ with the same problem. That left Ace, Art, Keith and Matt in the 35+, trying to bring back a break. Matt was working hard for the team while I was in the race and kept it up the entire race. The 35+ break was brought back, but the winning move apparently went on the last lap and none of our guys could get in it. The winner then attacked the other 2 riders and rolled away for a significant lead at the finish. John Wirsing, apparently riding for Van Dessell, was second. Art was in it for the field sprint, getting 7th. Ace was 18th, Keith 35th and Matt 44th. The results have Ryan 45th, an interesting finish considering he was standing on the side of the road for much of the race. :-)
I found the 35+ race quite a bit faster and harder than the 50+. I had no trouble leading the 50+ field on the climbs or false flats if I wanted to, while the 35+ field was hurting me on the longer climbs, and I would find myself sliding to the back after taking a pull, and then having to slowly work my way back up after catching my breath. The 123s looked rather faster than the 35+. There were all sorts of riders going off the back, including Ramone, a Harley guy, and some of our guys. But Stephen Wahl, still a cat 3, had a great finish of 22nd, with Brian Fouche 27th when he could not quite get to the winning breakaway on the climb. I think I heard he was a little too far back to get to them, though he was so strong a climber that he gapped the entire 123 field on the same climb on an earlier lap, but was reeled back on the downhill.
Next stop Walkersville.
I thought the new team colors CAAD9s and new kit looked terrific, and every team member I spoke with about the bikes was enthusiastic about them.
Ali
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
ABRT Spain Training Camp - Group 2
Wow, what a difference a week makes! At the risk of gloating about how nice the weather was, the ABRT group two had 8 days of bright sunshine and temperatures in the mid 60s, although we did have to put on arm warmers the last 3 days, which really put a crimp on my tan. It was, like the first group, very windy most days.
Group 2 consisted of 3 ABRTers, Rick Paukstitus, Doug Shapter and Alex Pline along with Heidi von Teitenberg from C3-sollay.com and Nick Baker and David Edmondson both triatheletes from the UK. Heidi, Rick and David were there for a few days until Rick, Doug and Alex showed up on Wednesday. We all flew Air Chance, uh Air France, but luckily all bikes and baggage showed up at the prescribed time and place after paying the requisite $150 fee. After getting to Idlebreaks, we put the bikes together and went for a warm up ride up to Archidona. Alex stayed at Idlebreaks to nurse his sore back in the hot tub; a tweak the day before nearly kept him stateside, but a few pep talks from the peanut gallery made him realize the worst that could happen is that he would have a 7 day vacation in the hot tub in Spain. Luckily, it improved quickly.
The first full day on Thursday was a very nice 75 mile ride that we had not done last year. It took us through Antequera, up El Torcal, down through Almogia and around the reservoir Embalse Casasola which is about 10k north of Malaga, and back up to Conception. At that point, Rick, Doug and Alex had had enough given that it was just the first day. Nick, David, Jon and Heidi continued the last 10 miles home after Andy (with a straight face) told Heidi there is only a "little hill". As with all things, proper context is very important. Andy fessed up after they left saying it was a "bitch of a climb" which validated the decision to stop after 75. Watching them suffer while we passed them in the van was amusing.
Given that some of the group did a long day on Thursday, on Friday, we did a "semi" recovery day of 45 miles up through Archidona. Those of us who were fresh also added the "Church of Pain" climb. I was happy to get to do this, since last year I was cooked by the time we got around to it. It's about 1 mile at 15-20% with some really cool switchbacks. The surface has deteriorated a bit due to the weather this winter, but going up was not a problem. We just had to go very slowly down.
Rick grunting it up to the finish of the Church of Pain climb.
Saturday we went directly north to the reservoir in Iznajar. You can really see the difference between last year and this year as the reservoir level was up something like 25 feet. The highlight of this ride is the smokin' descent down to the reservoir and the climb back out. Since we decided to do the Pico Veleta climb on Sunday to accommodate David who was leaving Monday, we did not do very much climbing on this ride. Of course we did have a very nice cafe con leche in a small cafe next to the reservoir. On the way to Iznajar, we went by the gas station that was the infamous site of the "Ho Ho Incident" where James was left behind. I felt this strange sense of Deja Vu and quickly whipped out my camera to catch a photo of someone who looked like James standing the doorway.
Funny a guy who looked just like James was standing in the doorway.
Sunday was one of the days we were really anticipating. For Doug and Alex a real objective of the trip was to significantly best last year's times on this climb. Hearing about how horrendous the weather was for group 1 really raised the apprehension level. After setting out on the lower section out of Monachil, the group split pretty quickly with Alex and David opening a pretty wide gap on the switchbacks. They paced themselves up through the quarry, with Alex opening gaps occasionally due to his lighter bike and lower gearing, but David always clawing back. They got out onto A-395 at about 45 minutes in and continued to work together. At about 14k to go Alex got a bottle from Jon at the van and was gaped by David; a gap that would never get closed. In the end both Alex and Doug cut nearly 1/2 hour off last year's time (2:21 and 2:45). David should have come in right about the 2 hour mark, but missed the turn at 7k and took a sightseeing trip into the ski village which cost him official time. Heidi came on strong on the flatter section to make up a lot of time with a time of 2:19. After the ride, we took some pictures and had beer and french fries in the outdoor cafe just below the finish line. It was quite the zoo up there due to the nice weather.
The zoo-like party atmosphere along the last 100m of the course was amusing.
Dave Edmundson, Rick Paukstitus, Heidi von Teitenberg and Alex Pline celebrating at the finish of Pico Veleta.
It is just amazing how different the weather was. For comparison purposes between the two weeks:
The turn at 7k to go.
5k to go.
On Monday we were all quite tired, so we did a ride with the long 17k descent into Loja followed by a few minor climbs, some rolling like D-ville terrain into Salinas (for coffee!) and some flats back home.
Tuesday was Puerto del Sol, which we all had personal record times for - given a nice tailwind all the way up. In general a beautiful day of riding. After stopping for coffee in Alfanarte after Puerto Del Sol, it happened to Doug - he was left getting gloves out of the van as Alex, Rick and Heidi started up Lactate Hill because it was very chilly. Angry Doug made an appearance, rocketing by us and big ringing it up Lactate Hill. I think in the future, we just need to tick him off before he races.
Tuesday was of course St. Paddy's day. We started at Patsy's and then walked around the corner to Manulo's where it felt like we were actually in Ireland. The pictures we took were waaaay tamer than last year, although there were certainly some that are not suitable for this family blog. Before we knew it, the evening was turning into morning and we didn't get back to Andy's until about 3am. Somehow, the Kirkwood Express route we decided on for the last day wasn't seeming like such a hot idea.
Rick and Heidi were up and raring to go at 8am (Doug and Alex were still bleary eyed)
so we eventually got rolling figuring we'd ride until we didn't feel like riding. It was very, very windy that morning, so we decided to start the ride away from Andy's just after the highway on the way to Archidona since the wind was most severe around Idlebreaks. The Kirkwood Express route goes north in a large clockwise circle which culminates with the long slog up the 17km hill from Loja. The night before we were all looking forward to this long ascent - evidently the source of some Ali humor in group 1 - but as were underway, the week's riding was certainly taking it's toll, not to mention 5 hours of sleep and, eh hem, some fuzziness from the night before not to mention leaving the compound without our lunches. Ouch. El Jefe bore the brunt of the previous evening's Guinness and kept Jon entertained riding shotgun in the van. Heidi was the first to say enough as her achilles tendon was bothering her, going only 1.5 miles after our coffee stop to the base of the last climb as she wanted to hit 450 miles for the trip. After the last climb, Rick had enough and Alex, determined not to be Mr. Sag Wagon like last year continued on to Salinas where he finally called it quits.
Tired and sunburned we returned to Idlebreaks to pack up the bikes, relax in the hot tub and have our final dinner. Once again, this was a fabulous trip. While we certainly lucked out with very nice weather, Andy, Tracy and Jon still worked their tails off to give us the best possible experience. Debbie's massages everyday were awesome! My experience two years in a row is that there is no better trip for a training camp that I could ever imagine. Our dynamic was a little different because the group was smaller, but that in and of itself was interesting because it gave us a lot of flexibility as we could travel easily in the van without the trailer. I encourage anyone who is even mildly interested to really try and attend next year. Thanks again to Doug Miliken for putting it together. A full slideshow is below.
-- Alex Pline
Group 2 consisted of 3 ABRTers, Rick Paukstitus, Doug Shapter and Alex Pline along with Heidi von Teitenberg from C3-sollay.com and Nick Baker and David Edmondson both triatheletes from the UK. Heidi, Rick and David were there for a few days until Rick, Doug and Alex showed up on Wednesday. We all flew Air Chance, uh Air France, but luckily all bikes and baggage showed up at the prescribed time and place after paying the requisite $150 fee. After getting to Idlebreaks, we put the bikes together and went for a warm up ride up to Archidona. Alex stayed at Idlebreaks to nurse his sore back in the hot tub; a tweak the day before nearly kept him stateside, but a few pep talks from the peanut gallery made him realize the worst that could happen is that he would have a 7 day vacation in the hot tub in Spain. Luckily, it improved quickly.
The first full day on Thursday was a very nice 75 mile ride that we had not done last year. It took us through Antequera, up El Torcal, down through Almogia and around the reservoir Embalse Casasola which is about 10k north of Malaga, and back up to Conception. At that point, Rick, Doug and Alex had had enough given that it was just the first day. Nick, David, Jon and Heidi continued the last 10 miles home after Andy (with a straight face) told Heidi there is only a "little hill". As with all things, proper context is very important. Andy fessed up after they left saying it was a "bitch of a climb" which validated the decision to stop after 75. Watching them suffer while we passed them in the van was amusing.
Given that some of the group did a long day on Thursday, on Friday, we did a "semi" recovery day of 45 miles up through Archidona. Those of us who were fresh also added the "Church of Pain" climb. I was happy to get to do this, since last year I was cooked by the time we got around to it. It's about 1 mile at 15-20% with some really cool switchbacks. The surface has deteriorated a bit due to the weather this winter, but going up was not a problem. We just had to go very slowly down.
Rick grunting it up to the finish of the Church of Pain climb.
Saturday we went directly north to the reservoir in Iznajar. You can really see the difference between last year and this year as the reservoir level was up something like 25 feet. The highlight of this ride is the smokin' descent down to the reservoir and the climb back out. Since we decided to do the Pico Veleta climb on Sunday to accommodate David who was leaving Monday, we did not do very much climbing on this ride. Of course we did have a very nice cafe con leche in a small cafe next to the reservoir. On the way to Iznajar, we went by the gas station that was the infamous site of the "Ho Ho Incident" where James was left behind. I felt this strange sense of Deja Vu and quickly whipped out my camera to catch a photo of someone who looked like James standing the doorway.
Funny a guy who looked just like James was standing in the doorway.
Sunday was one of the days we were really anticipating. For Doug and Alex a real objective of the trip was to significantly best last year's times on this climb. Hearing about how horrendous the weather was for group 1 really raised the apprehension level. After setting out on the lower section out of Monachil, the group split pretty quickly with Alex and David opening a pretty wide gap on the switchbacks. They paced themselves up through the quarry, with Alex opening gaps occasionally due to his lighter bike and lower gearing, but David always clawing back. They got out onto A-395 at about 45 minutes in and continued to work together. At about 14k to go Alex got a bottle from Jon at the van and was gaped by David; a gap that would never get closed. In the end both Alex and Doug cut nearly 1/2 hour off last year's time (2:21 and 2:45). David should have come in right about the 2 hour mark, but missed the turn at 7k and took a sightseeing trip into the ski village which cost him official time. Heidi came on strong on the flatter section to make up a lot of time with a time of 2:19. After the ride, we took some pictures and had beer and french fries in the outdoor cafe just below the finish line. It was quite the zoo up there due to the nice weather.
The zoo-like party atmosphere along the last 100m of the course was amusing.
Dave Edmundson, Rick Paukstitus, Heidi von Teitenberg and Alex Pline celebrating at the finish of Pico Veleta.
It is just amazing how different the weather was. For comparison purposes between the two weeks:
The turn at 7k to go.
5k to go.
On Monday we were all quite tired, so we did a ride with the long 17k descent into Loja followed by a few minor climbs, some rolling like D-ville terrain into Salinas (for coffee!) and some flats back home.
Tuesday was Puerto del Sol, which we all had personal record times for - given a nice tailwind all the way up. In general a beautiful day of riding. After stopping for coffee in Alfanarte after Puerto Del Sol, it happened to Doug - he was left getting gloves out of the van as Alex, Rick and Heidi started up Lactate Hill because it was very chilly. Angry Doug made an appearance, rocketing by us and big ringing it up Lactate Hill. I think in the future, we just need to tick him off before he races.
Tuesday was of course St. Paddy's day. We started at Patsy's and then walked around the corner to Manulo's where it felt like we were actually in Ireland. The pictures we took were waaaay tamer than last year, although there were certainly some that are not suitable for this family blog. Before we knew it, the evening was turning into morning and we didn't get back to Andy's until about 3am. Somehow, the Kirkwood Express route we decided on for the last day wasn't seeming like such a hot idea.
Rick and Heidi were up and raring to go at 8am (Doug and Alex were still bleary eyed)
so we eventually got rolling figuring we'd ride until we didn't feel like riding. It was very, very windy that morning, so we decided to start the ride away from Andy's just after the highway on the way to Archidona since the wind was most severe around Idlebreaks. The Kirkwood Express route goes north in a large clockwise circle which culminates with the long slog up the 17km hill from Loja. The night before we were all looking forward to this long ascent - evidently the source of some Ali humor in group 1 - but as were underway, the week's riding was certainly taking it's toll, not to mention 5 hours of sleep and, eh hem, some fuzziness from the night before not to mention leaving the compound without our lunches. Ouch. El Jefe bore the brunt of the previous evening's Guinness and kept Jon entertained riding shotgun in the van. Heidi was the first to say enough as her achilles tendon was bothering her, going only 1.5 miles after our coffee stop to the base of the last climb as she wanted to hit 450 miles for the trip. After the last climb, Rick had enough and Alex, determined not to be Mr. Sag Wagon like last year continued on to Salinas where he finally called it quits.
Tired and sunburned we returned to Idlebreaks to pack up the bikes, relax in the hot tub and have our final dinner. Once again, this was a fabulous trip. While we certainly lucked out with very nice weather, Andy, Tracy and Jon still worked their tails off to give us the best possible experience. Debbie's massages everyday were awesome! My experience two years in a row is that there is no better trip for a training camp that I could ever imagine. Our dynamic was a little different because the group was smaller, but that in and of itself was interesting because it gave us a lot of flexibility as we could travel easily in the van without the trailer. I encourage anyone who is even mildly interested to really try and attend next year. Thanks again to Doug Miliken for putting it together. A full slideshow is below.
-- Alex Pline
Sue's race report analogy:
I decided I was going to buy a TV after much hesitation, since there was not a lot of $$ in the bank. I wasn't sure I could afford it, but was pleasantly surprised to find a store close-by that I hadn't visited before. So off I went! The shop was really friendly. I decided on a TV that was quite a bit smaller than my dream TV, but realistic under the circumstances. It was priced at $700, but when I went to pay for it, it was on sale for $500! That felt pretty good. The only trouble was that when I arrived at the warehouse to load it into my car, I realized that the clerk had mistakenly not given me my receipt! So I had to wait a while for them to straighten it out. But the supervisor found it, no problem. I feel pretty good about the transaction in general.
Translation:
I haven't been on my bike much at all in the past 3 months (seriously, about 3 times). I decided to race Rockburn on the old mt bike, anyway. I was on the waitlist, but got a spot in the Cat 2 Women/ Sport category. There were only 7 women registered and they all looked very fit. And unfortunately, the course was not very technical- so it would rely mostly on my fitness level- (which is non-existent). Therefore, my goal was to have fun and simply to finish, assuming I'd be in last place- since they all looked so strong! But in the end, I managed a surprising 5th place! I was pleased and really enjoyed hanging out with my teammates, afterwards- (Karen, Dee, Kidd, Sean, Mike, Justin, Steve, Michel, Dave, Kyle, and Dennis- am I forgetting anyone?). However, when I went to check the results, my name was not even on the board. I wasn't sure I wanted to make a stink about it, but I went to Lew (the official) and asked him about my number being left out. He checked the other official's notes and found my number - no problem.... and fixed it in the system. He also made me feel pleased that I had said something and told me that it was important, because he knew I worked hard for it, regardless. He was right... and I feel pretty good about the transaction in general!
Cheers!!!
SuePer
I decided I was going to buy a TV after much hesitation, since there was not a lot of $$ in the bank. I wasn't sure I could afford it, but was pleasantly surprised to find a store close-by that I hadn't visited before. So off I went! The shop was really friendly. I decided on a TV that was quite a bit smaller than my dream TV, but realistic under the circumstances. It was priced at $700, but when I went to pay for it, it was on sale for $500! That felt pretty good. The only trouble was that when I arrived at the warehouse to load it into my car, I realized that the clerk had mistakenly not given me my receipt! So I had to wait a while for them to straighten it out. But the supervisor found it, no problem. I feel pretty good about the transaction in general.
Translation:
I haven't been on my bike much at all in the past 3 months (seriously, about 3 times). I decided to race Rockburn on the old mt bike, anyway. I was on the waitlist, but got a spot in the Cat 2 Women/ Sport category. There were only 7 women registered and they all looked very fit. And unfortunately, the course was not very technical- so it would rely mostly on my fitness level- (which is non-existent). Therefore, my goal was to have fun and simply to finish, assuming I'd be in last place- since they all looked so strong! But in the end, I managed a surprising 5th place! I was pleased and really enjoyed hanging out with my teammates, afterwards- (Karen, Dee, Kidd, Sean, Mike, Justin, Steve, Michel, Dave, Kyle, and Dennis- am I forgetting anyone?). However, when I went to check the results, my name was not even on the board. I wasn't sure I wanted to make a stink about it, but I went to Lew (the official) and asked him about my number being left out. He checked the other official's notes and found my number - no problem.... and fixed it in the system. He also made me feel pleased that I had said something and told me that it was important, because he knew I worked hard for it, regardless. He was right... and I feel pretty good about the transaction in general!
Cheers!!!
SuePer
Monday, March 16, 2009
Elite Team Training Camp:A Wheelsucker Special Report
Perhaps influenced by the well publicized Team Saxo Bank (ex Team CSC) wilderness team camp in Denmark, and Team Liquigas’s team camp in the northern Italian snow, or more likely just a little unlucky with the weather, the Team Latitude elite (and elite dev) team held its training camp in the Blue Ridge mountains this past weekend.
Ex ABRTer Chris Larsen arranged to have part of the team stay with his grandparents, while the others stayed closer to the top of the Blue Ridge, at Wintergreen resort. While not all elite and elite dev team members could attend, the team had an excellent turnout with:
Chris Larsen (no longer with ABRT)
Chip Hoover
Eric Krause
Nat Thompson
Yanni Papadopolous
Brian Fouche
Stephen Koeble
Paul Beyer
Mike Hefner
Lance Lacy
Ali Meller
Supported by Kyle Jones and Doug Milliken.
The wheelsucker feels honored and privileged to be a member of the elite dev team, and is not entirely sure how he made it onto the team, and worries about being able to hang with this crowd, some of whom are young enough to be his sons.
Almost everyone managed to arrive Thursday evening, enjoying the freshly falling snow on the trip down. The drive up the side of the Blue Ridge up to Wintergreen resort was impressive. The wheelsucker was trying to decide if the gradient was 15%, 18% or 20%, all while trying to stay on the road, while following Mike Hefner (aka Hef2) up the road.
Though not in the Burma jungle, this hike was a full-on "Bridge on the River Kwai"-style death march up the side of a mountain, in wet slippery snow, and then a race back down. With the possible exception of Chris Larsen, who seems to enjoy hiking and apparently does a lot of it, and who felt so strongly about cycling in the cold rain that he left the camp early Saturday morning and went home, just about everyone on the team swears they will never go hiking again.
March or die
Picture yourself hiking up the mountain at a threshold-crossing-into-VO2-max pace, soaked with sweat, muscles-not-used-in-cycling in pain, perhaps wearing only running shoes and plastic bags on your feet, and then racing back down the hill, trying to cut corners on the switchbacks to pass a few team mates.
Paul wore socks, plastic bags and running shoes!
Chip cannot go any further
The wheelsucker at the top
The rock formation known as "The Priest"
The wheelsucker – who as someone later pointed out should have taken advantage of any wisdom his advanced age had provided him – got caught up in this, and found himself running down the trail in pursuit of an agile, fit 23 year old. The agile fit 23 year old disappeared around a corner, stepped off the trail for a quick pee, and stayed silent as the wheelsucker went tearing by, risking twisting an ankle or falling at every step. By the bottom of the trail near the parking area, after sliding into a creek, falling several times, and covering his jeans in mud, the wheelsucker was nearly crawling with his back and every muscle in his legs reminding him that he had been foolish. But he was first back to the cars.
After the drive back to Wintergreen (for those staying there) everyone had trouble climbing out of Kyle's car and walking the short distance to the condo. The wheelsucker self medicated with ibuprofen, Goslings Black Seal rum and red wine (for medicinal purposes only).
Saturday breakfast at Wintergreen
The boys looking forward to a ride
It was just above freezing, and pouring with rain. The plan-for-the-day evolved into: meet at the ranch and ride from there. Strong man Doug Milliken decided to ride his bike to the ranch (this was a 35 minute drive by car!) and set off down the side of the Blue Ridge on his bicycle.
The ranch is at the end of a gravel/dirt road, so riders all looked like cyclocross racers even before they got to the paved road. The team headed out in a double paceline with the leaders taking short one minute-or-so pulls. Very soon after leaving, the team met Doug, who joined in. The wheelsucker noted that his socks were soaked through after ten to fifteen minutes of riding. The route was rolling initially, and the wheelsucker was able to suck it up and hang on the short climbs, but when the team hit the first climb longer than a couple of minutes he and another rider went OTB. The downhill on the other side was a series of switchbacks which felt very slippery in the pouring rain, so the two riders took it very easy descending and then worked hard to catch back on, with help from Kyle driving the SAG wagon. Once back on everyone was fine until the second longer climb which once again saw the same two riders off the back, chasing a third up the road that was losing contact. At the top of the climb Kyle and the SAG wagon were waiting and four riders took the opportunity to change some clothes in an effort to restore feeling in extremities. This took long enough that they decided they would not be able to catch on chasing, so they went down the climb the way they had come up, short cutting the route slightly. Once all back together, the team was hammering along in the pouring rain until the right turn towards Wintergreen. At one point the team crossed paths with the Coppi squad, who were also having a training camp that weekend. Everyone who was staying at the ranch except Chip, Eric and Stephen skipped the turn and kept going for the ranch, but Chip, Eric, Stephen, Mike Hefner, Ali Meller and Lance Lacy made the right turn and started up. The wheelsucker was miserable, he was soaked through, colder than he had ever been, and feeling the effects of the Friday hike and trying to stay with the elite team on the climbs earlier in the ride. Other riders were not much better, and one by one riders dropped out and jumped into the SAG wagon. The wheelsucker had no power left and was going slow and easy hoping to finish, and the gap between Chip, Eric, Stephen, Mike and the wheelsucker opened.
The riders came around one curve and found a fan dressed in a cockroach suit cheering them on from the side of the road. Check out the video.
omigod! That roach is enormous!
Then Stephen joined Paul and Lance in the SAG wagon, and it disappeared to ferry them up to the condo, leaving Chip, Eric, Mike and Ali on the climb. By the time the SAG wagon returned, Ali was more than ready to bail, and jumped into Kyle’s car to warm up while Kyle put the bike on the roof rack. Chip, Eric and Mike each made it to the top and rode to the condo. Kudos to these guys, it wasn’t just a very tough climb, the conditions were ridiculous, with pouring rain in near freezing temperatures, and very limited visibility (in the clouds). The only other rider who made it up the Wintergreen climb was ironman Doug Milliken, who had split with the team (recall that he had ridden to the ranch) and headed back at the Wintergreen turn. He made it most of the way up but managed to break his rear derailleur shortly before the summit, so disappeared in search of a bike store. Once back at the condo, the wheelsucker started self medicating with Goslings immediately, even taking his glass into the shower with him. After soaking in a hot bath, and several does of ibuprofen and Goslings, the wheelsucker regained enough strength to put some clothes on and make it down the stairs to the living room to sort through wet clothes.
Dry shoes are a must have!
Dinner at Wintergreen was a couple of hours later. The team hung out at the condo after dinner, with an epic Wii tournament and Hef2 playing his Wii guitar.
The Sunday forecast was for more of the same, so the plan was to drive north towards 66, hoping to get a ride in, north of the storm. The first convoy arrived in Sperryville to find it raining almost as hard as on Saturday, so everyone bailed and went home. The wheelsucker did get in a rainy cold recovery ride with Doug Milliken, the Doetsch and James, once back on the Annapolis area.
This was a very interesting weekend for the wheelsucker. The team has some very strong riders. Yanni is a big strong Jens Voight type who’s only claimed weakness is longer-than-five-minute climbs; this is of course a major concern in MABRA racing. If there are any long climbs, Brian Fouche is going to gap everyone, the others seem strong all rounders, and Hef2 clearly has the strength to get the last points he needs to cat up to 2 very shortly.
Team Latitude/ABRT looks pretty good at the cat 1-2 level. The wheelsucker is less clear on how the remaining cat 3s on the dev team will do in cat 3 racing. Few of the masters riders were there, and it is not clear to the wheelsucker if any of the masters riders are going to try to win the 35+ BAR, though winning a number of races should not be a problem with the masters riders on Team Latitude/ABRT.
Thanks very much to Kyle and Doug for supporting the team. Having a warm SAG wagon full of dry clothes made all the difference on Saturday, and the cockroach costume was priceless.
OK, despite the tongue-in-cheek whining... While the weather may not have been ideal for cycling, it was a great weekend with the team, members now know each other a lot better, have a better idea of what each team member can do, and had fun together.
CSC camp: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/nov08/nov26news2
Liquigas camp: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/dec08/dec03news
Ex ABRTer Chris Larsen arranged to have part of the team stay with his grandparents, while the others stayed closer to the top of the Blue Ridge, at Wintergreen resort. While not all elite and elite dev team members could attend, the team had an excellent turnout with:
Chris Larsen (no longer with ABRT)
Chip Hoover
Eric Krause
Nat Thompson
Yanni Papadopolous
Brian Fouche
Stephen Koeble
Paul Beyer
Mike Hefner
Lance Lacy
Ali Meller
Supported by Kyle Jones and Doug Milliken.
The wheelsucker feels honored and privileged to be a member of the elite dev team, and is not entirely sure how he made it onto the team, and worries about being able to hang with this crowd, some of whom are young enough to be his sons.
Almost everyone managed to arrive Thursday evening, enjoying the freshly falling snow on the trip down. The drive up the side of the Blue Ridge up to Wintergreen resort was impressive. The wheelsucker was trying to decide if the gradient was 15%, 18% or 20%, all while trying to stay on the road, while following Mike Hefner (aka Hef2) up the road.
Chip had arranged for the Wintergreen resort condo; it was quickly apparent that most team members (those who arrived in time to score beds) were not going to be "roughing it".
How hard can this be?
A team bike really adds to the decor
Lance makes himself comfortable
Those arriving earlier scored beds, others did not 
The view from the loft suite
Nutrition is important to elite team members
Do NOT mess with Hef2!
Team members awoke Friday morning to find several inches of fresh powder on the ground, balcony, trees and roads. After some quick phone calls with those at Larsen’s grandparent's ranch, Plan A (a long hard ride with amazing climbs) evolved to Plan B, then Plan C and finally Plan CV2. 
Is that two inches? Three inches? More?
Winter wonderland?
This is a cycling camp?
Plan C Version 2 was hike a section of the Appalachian Trail, specifically a hike called "The Priest", and described as "Hike the toughest part of the Appalachian Trail: This is the arguably the hardest section on the Appalachian Trail with a 3,000 ft vertical rise in about 4 miles." See: http://www.trailheadfinder.com/trail_editor/show/205 for more information.
What fun! A hike!
Plan CV2
Though not in the Burma jungle, this hike was a full-on "Bridge on the River Kwai"-style death march up the side of a mountain, in wet slippery snow, and then a race back down. With the possible exception of Chris Larsen, who seems to enjoy hiking and apparently does a lot of it, and who felt so strongly about cycling in the cold rain that he left the camp early Saturday morning and went home, just about everyone on the team swears they will never go hiking again.
March or diePicture yourself hiking up the mountain at a threshold-crossing-into-VO2-max pace, soaked with sweat, muscles-not-used-in-cycling in pain, perhaps wearing only running shoes and plastic bags on your feet, and then racing back down the hill, trying to cut corners on the switchbacks to pass a few team mates.
Paul wore socks, plastic bags and running shoes!
Chip cannot go any further
The wheelsucker at the top
The rock formation known as "The Priest"The wheelsucker – who as someone later pointed out should have taken advantage of any wisdom his advanced age had provided him – got caught up in this, and found himself running down the trail in pursuit of an agile, fit 23 year old. The agile fit 23 year old disappeared around a corner, stepped off the trail for a quick pee, and stayed silent as the wheelsucker went tearing by, risking twisting an ankle or falling at every step. By the bottom of the trail near the parking area, after sliding into a creek, falling several times, and covering his jeans in mud, the wheelsucker was nearly crawling with his back and every muscle in his legs reminding him that he had been foolish. But he was first back to the cars.
After the drive back to Wintergreen (for those staying there) everyone had trouble climbing out of Kyle's car and walking the short distance to the condo. The wheelsucker self medicated with ibuprofen, Goslings Black Seal rum and red wine (for medicinal purposes only).
The stronger ones made it to the hot tub, the rest collapsed in the condo
After a shower and short rest the wheelsucker was barely able to make it up the steps to Kyle’s car for the ride to Chris' grandparent's ranch, and dinner. But dinner was worth the effort, and several more glasses of red wine did seem to ease the stiffness in the wheelsucker's legs. While all the food was both excellent and plentiful, some of those participating were particularly taken with the extensive dessert selection.
It was a pleasure for the wheelsucker to meet the team members he did not already know, and everyone really enjoyed dinner and hanging out. Major kudos to Chris' grandparents for hosting many of the team for the weekend, and everyone for Friday dinner.
Saturday morning was harsh; everyone had stiffened up overnight. The wheelsucker was hobbling around getting ready, but noticed that Paul was having at least as much trouble walking up and down stairs.
Saturday breakfast at Wintergreen
The boys looking forward to a rideIt was just above freezing, and pouring with rain. The plan-for-the-day evolved into: meet at the ranch and ride from there. Strong man Doug Milliken decided to ride his bike to the ranch (this was a 35 minute drive by car!) and set off down the side of the Blue Ridge on his bicycle.
The ranch is at the end of a gravel/dirt road, so riders all looked like cyclocross racers even before they got to the paved road. The team headed out in a double paceline with the leaders taking short one minute-or-so pulls. Very soon after leaving, the team met Doug, who joined in. The wheelsucker noted that his socks were soaked through after ten to fifteen minutes of riding. The route was rolling initially, and the wheelsucker was able to suck it up and hang on the short climbs, but when the team hit the first climb longer than a couple of minutes he and another rider went OTB. The downhill on the other side was a series of switchbacks which felt very slippery in the pouring rain, so the two riders took it very easy descending and then worked hard to catch back on, with help from Kyle driving the SAG wagon. Once back on everyone was fine until the second longer climb which once again saw the same two riders off the back, chasing a third up the road that was losing contact. At the top of the climb Kyle and the SAG wagon were waiting and four riders took the opportunity to change some clothes in an effort to restore feeling in extremities. This took long enough that they decided they would not be able to catch on chasing, so they went down the climb the way they had come up, short cutting the route slightly. Once all back together, the team was hammering along in the pouring rain until the right turn towards Wintergreen. At one point the team crossed paths with the Coppi squad, who were also having a training camp that weekend. Everyone who was staying at the ranch except Chip, Eric and Stephen skipped the turn and kept going for the ranch, but Chip, Eric, Stephen, Mike Hefner, Ali Meller and Lance Lacy made the right turn and started up. The wheelsucker was miserable, he was soaked through, colder than he had ever been, and feeling the effects of the Friday hike and trying to stay with the elite team on the climbs earlier in the ride. Other riders were not much better, and one by one riders dropped out and jumped into the SAG wagon. The wheelsucker had no power left and was going slow and easy hoping to finish, and the gap between Chip, Eric, Stephen, Mike and the wheelsucker opened.
The riders came around one curve and found a fan dressed in a cockroach suit cheering them on from the side of the road. Check out the video.
omigod! That roach is enormous!
Then Stephen joined Paul and Lance in the SAG wagon, and it disappeared to ferry them up to the condo, leaving Chip, Eric, Mike and Ali on the climb. By the time the SAG wagon returned, Ali was more than ready to bail, and jumped into Kyle’s car to warm up while Kyle put the bike on the roof rack. Chip, Eric and Mike each made it to the top and rode to the condo. Kudos to these guys, it wasn’t just a very tough climb, the conditions were ridiculous, with pouring rain in near freezing temperatures, and very limited visibility (in the clouds). The only other rider who made it up the Wintergreen climb was ironman Doug Milliken, who had split with the team (recall that he had ridden to the ranch) and headed back at the Wintergreen turn. He made it most of the way up but managed to break his rear derailleur shortly before the summit, so disappeared in search of a bike store. Once back at the condo, the wheelsucker started self medicating with Goslings immediately, even taking his glass into the shower with him. After soaking in a hot bath, and several does of ibuprofen and Goslings, the wheelsucker regained enough strength to put some clothes on and make it down the stairs to the living room to sort through wet clothes.
Dry shoes are a must have!
Dinner at Wintergreen was a couple of hours later. The team hung out at the condo after dinner, with an epic Wii tournament and Hef2 playing his Wii guitar.
The Sunday forecast was for more of the same, so the plan was to drive north towards 66, hoping to get a ride in, north of the storm. The first convoy arrived in Sperryville to find it raining almost as hard as on Saturday, so everyone bailed and went home. The wheelsucker did get in a rainy cold recovery ride with Doug Milliken, the Doetsch and James, once back on the Annapolis area.
This was a very interesting weekend for the wheelsucker. The team has some very strong riders. Yanni is a big strong Jens Voight type who’s only claimed weakness is longer-than-five-minute climbs; this is of course a major concern in MABRA racing. If there are any long climbs, Brian Fouche is going to gap everyone, the others seem strong all rounders, and Hef2 clearly has the strength to get the last points he needs to cat up to 2 very shortly.
Team Latitude/ABRT looks pretty good at the cat 1-2 level. The wheelsucker is less clear on how the remaining cat 3s on the dev team will do in cat 3 racing. Few of the masters riders were there, and it is not clear to the wheelsucker if any of the masters riders are going to try to win the 35+ BAR, though winning a number of races should not be a problem with the masters riders on Team Latitude/ABRT.
Thanks very much to Kyle and Doug for supporting the team. Having a warm SAG wagon full of dry clothes made all the difference on Saturday, and the cockroach costume was priceless.
OK, despite the tongue-in-cheek whining... While the weather may not have been ideal for cycling, it was a great weekend with the team, members now know each other a lot better, have a better idea of what each team member can do, and had fun together.
CSC camp: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/nov08/nov26news2
Liquigas camp: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/dec08/dec03news
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Team Latitude/ABRT Training Camp at Idlebreaks in Spain(The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain)
Apparently February is the rainy season here, and despite almost no rain while the ABRTers were here in the past, we made up for it this year. The first five to arrive did a recovery ride late Saturday afternoon, and were rained on. We had a nice (dry) ride the next day, and the five others arrived later that day and some did their recovery ride in the late afternoon. Monday we were all out riding, and it rained. I was teasing Andy that Idlebreaks could advertise a two-country tour, Spain and Belgium (it was wet and cold enough to be Belgium).
Apart from five riders arriving late due to flight delays, about half the bikes showed up after their riders. The Wheelsucker arrived on time, but rode one of Andy's bikes for the first two days while waiting for the world's lightest CAAD9 to arrive.
Tuesday had the worst forecast of the week. Ed and Stu were talking about a ride, but everyone else spent enough time cleaning their bikes after Monday's ride to want to avoid having to do it again. There was some talk of going swimming in a nearby town at 14:00, but then we remembered we were in Spain to cycle, so we went riding. We rode every day, despite the rain, and enjoyed it.
Andy and John supported us incredibly well, the food was both very good and available in large quantities and the wine was excellent, plentiful and cheap :-)
The climbs were awesome, and the scenery incredible. There are moments going downhill on switchbacks that one thinks that one is cornering just like pros in the grand tours, and then one reminds oneself that the road is not closed and their could be a car coming the other way, and one backs off a little.
Saturday:
I arrived at Malaga airport via Dulles and Madrid. My flight choices were made to avoid the BWI to New York puddle jumper which had given me trouble with large baggage before and to fly an airline I thought would be "bike friendly". But there was no bike box at the Malaga airport luggage carousel. After checking carousels for awhile I inquired at the baggage office where a helpful person immediately told me the bike box was in Madrid and would arrive on the next flight in the evening, and would be delivered to me. I gave them the Idlebreaks address and Andy’s phone number. Fortunately, I had brought helmet, shoes, pedals and some basic kit in my carry on, so was able to ride without the contents of the bike box.
I was met just outside the baggage area by Andy who was easy to spot as he was wearing an ABRT wind jacket. I was the last ABRTer arriving Saturday, as several others who did fly the puddle jumper and then Delta from JFK to Malaga were held up in New York and were arriving a day later.
Andy turned out to be a very nice guy, and not just to me -- he graciously flattered an attractive older woman as we walked to the car when she asked him for directions. This is not the sort of move I feel I can pull off in the USA, but apparently in Spain one can do this; what a great country!
The drive from Malaga to Idlebreaks was through amazing hills, an indication of what we would be riding during the week.
Once at Idlebreaks, I grabbed a hire bike (Idlebreaks has a number of Planet X aluminum frames with 105 groupsets, including a 56cm with a 130mm stem), raised the seat all the way, mounted my pedals and went out with those who were already there, for a recovery ride. This was supposed to be an easy ride, but in this region of Spain you can go maybe five minutes before hitting a climb, so it was not a real zone 1 recovery ride, even if we did try to go easy. It was overcast and raining hard by the end of the ride; ouch! Matt put on an amazing spurt at the end and I hung onto his wheel, but later learned all he was trying to do was produce some warmth not win the ride! My ride data was 1:41 and 26.34 miles.
The Planet X aluminum was a nice bike with 105 components and a compact crank, but I was not sure I had the fit working for me.
Sunday:
Iberia called Andy at 7:00AM to tell him my bike was on the way, but it was still not delivered by 10:00AM, so it was back on the Planet X hire bike. The left shifter stopped working soon after the ride started, leaving me stuck in the small front chainring. The bars were quite low for the raised seat height, so I was very aero, but my lower back and neck were complaining part way through the ride. The small-chainring-only worked surprisingly well as we were either climbing, or coasting down, almost never going fast on the flat as there was no flat. I felt fast on the short climbs, probably because no one else was going 100%, and the small chain ring on a compact combined with a 12-25 cassette meant one could climb walls.
Early on during the ride the clouds cleared out and we caught a glimpse of what this area of Spain looks like on a nice day. I did my first set of switchback descents and convinced myself I looked just like a pro in the Giro d’Italia or Tour de France as I carved through some corners, and then remembered that the Grand Tours are raced on closed roads and the road I was on was open, and when I would cut the apex off a blind left corner I would be in the wrong lane and there could be a car coming... so I tried to take it easy on the sharp left (blind) turns.
We found a new never-before-climbed-by-an-Idlebreaks-group climb, and I hammered up it getting to the top first (I doubt anyone else was trying hard). Nat casually climbed past Steve for second. My ride data was 4:34:13 and 54.33 miles.
The remaining group members arrived, but some of them did not have their bikes yet. Some of them did a recovery ride while others declined to ride anything but their own Pinarello and took it easy instead.
My bike had arrived and I assembled it and checked it over with help from Ace and Stu.
Monday:
All riders and all bikes were present, and we set out in a light rain which was heavier at times. I had my CAAD9, but the Powertap hub batteries were failing, so I recorded limited data. This was a good ride, though riders and bikes looked like CX racers not roadies, from the mud washed onto the paved roads. At the lunch stop the group split, with those who missed the Saturday ride (plus Nat) deciding to go longer, while the rest headed back to Idlebreaks for the hot tub and some red wine. My ride data was 2:45:09 and 37.59 miles.
Tuesday:
I forget the details on this ride, I had no powertap data, but checked Steve Owens’. My ride data (estimated) was 2:06 and 38 miles.
We spent the evening in pub in the local village. I bought some watch batteries to get the Powertap going.
Wednesday:
We rode to Puerto del Sol and did the timed climb. Andy said a good time was under 27 minutes. It was raining and windy, and the wind increased as we climbed. I think I was riding third. Each time we turned left on a switchback we were riding uphill into a strong wind and rain. There was a little bit of a tail wind after a right turn, but not enough to compensate. After what seemed like forever I saw the van parked just past a curve at the finish line. As I tried to hammer around the curve into the wind I was hit by an amazing gust. I was unable to stop the bike turning left in response, and almost immediately found myself going across the road, away from the finish line. Unable to turn the bike back onto course in the wind, I unclipped and put my foot down as the bike rolled off the road onto the shoulder. Jon helped me drag the bike across the finish line, with both of us leaning into the wind. My ride data was 2:10:58 and 32 miles.
Thursday:
It was raining hard in the AM, and the group decided to do Malaga rather than ride in the hard rain. Though only about 30 minutes away, Malaga has a different microclimate, and was sunny and nice. Andy and Jon keep checking on the weather back at Idlebreaks, and eventually announced that the rain close to Idlebreaks has stopped, so one vehicle, Andy, Steve, Greg and I headed back to get a ride in, while the others had a late lunch at a fine pizza establishment in Malaga. Our ride started dry, but we got some sprinkles during the ride. When we returned, we learned the others were back and were out doing an easy ride; apparently laps of an industrial park. It turns out the pros were racing the 29th Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia not far away, and they thought the weather was atrocious!
Friday:
Sierra Nevada day; though overcast and cool, it was not raining. Rather than starting from the service station close to Idlebreaks, where all the other rides started from, we drove north past Granada, to the starting point for the Sierra Nevada climb. This climb, along with the Puerto del Sol climb, is timed for bragging rights.
Most of us started off with limited clothing, knowing we would be working hard, and knowing extra clothing would be available from the vans. I wore a short sleeve jersey, arm warmers and bibs... this was fine until most of the way up where the snow banks were quite high, and the temperature considerably lower, and I started to get rather cold.
We ended up starting the climb in two groups, about ten minutes apart. The first group was Ace, Steve Owens, Greg Smith and me, with everyone else in the second group. Part way up the climb, I was behind Ace and ahead of the others, but was caught and passed by Nat, who started with the second group. Ace turned around where a snowplow had blocked the road. He started back down, seeing me not long after he turned around. I tried to go past the snowplow but couldn't get any traction in 1-2 inches of snow and quickly gave up and went back myself. Nat, who after passing me was between Ace and I, had taken a wrong turn, so it took Andy and Jon awhile to find him. It was COLD.
I think "epic" would be a good way to describe the ride. We were in the clouds, with limited visibility and the snow banks either side were getting higher and higher as we climbed.
One of the coolest things about this ride was that occasionally the driver and passengers of a passing car would toot the horn and give us a thumbs-up.
I think the picture was taken after the left turn off of 395 (which is apparently 7-9k from the top).. the road is narrower and the shoulders were not plowed. Nat took a right turn off of this, but the correct route was to stay on it, go past a hard right turn/switchback and up to where the snowplow was blocking the road, perhaps 3-4 k from the top. It turns out that Nat's wrong turn did get him close to the summit.
Saturday:
A really nice epic day: 80 miles in five hours with lots of climbing (nothing too long) and some wild descents. I went fairly hard at times, and then later worked hard to stay with Nat, Ace and Stu on the way back. It was sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky, 19 degrees C (70ish). We wore short sleeve jerseys, shorts, no arm or knee/leg warmers, and we were a little sunburned by the end. While Tracy’s dinners were always really good, we were all ready for dinner after this ride.
Sunday:
Another really nice sunny day: I was tired and not feeling 100%; I think some others were too. I was trying to take it easy and save what little energy I had for the Puerto del Sol climb. This was the second try at this climb; the first earlier in the week was hard to do in driving rain and strong wind. Not everyone who rode Sunday went hard on the Puerto del Sol.
I went over 2.5 minutes faster than the first attempt, doing 24:51, good for 4th on the all-time list. Jeff McDermott dropped Nat Thompson at the sprint for the line, gapping him by about 10 seconds, but Nat had started a few seconds later than Ace, so actually had the faster time. Nat and Ace are now 1 and 2 on the all-time list, with Nat recording a time of 23:04. The bottom line is that I could not hold Nat, Ace or Keith on climbs all week. But I can climb fairly well, and they are strong cat 2s.
I set new high Critical Power values for the 20, 30, 60 and 90 minute intervals, all during the timed climbs on Sierra Nevada and Puerto del Sol.
Overall:
While it would be easy to complain about the rain on six of the nine days, the weather is out of our control, and Andy and Jon did an incredible job of making the rides easy, ensuring we did not take wrong turns, and keeping us as comfortable as we could be. We rode every day, though on some days perhaps not as far as if it had been warm and sunny.
Idlebreaks is cozy and comfortable, and a close to perfect setup for cycling training camps. Andy and Jon were simply outstanding, and Tracy’s dinners and lunch sandwiches were incredible; add the low priced red wine and life felt very good for the nine days.
Apart from five riders arriving late due to flight delays, about half the bikes showed up after their riders. The Wheelsucker arrived on time, but rode one of Andy's bikes for the first two days while waiting for the world's lightest CAAD9 to arrive.
Tuesday had the worst forecast of the week. Ed and Stu were talking about a ride, but everyone else spent enough time cleaning their bikes after Monday's ride to want to avoid having to do it again. There was some talk of going swimming in a nearby town at 14:00, but then we remembered we were in Spain to cycle, so we went riding. We rode every day, despite the rain, and enjoyed it.
Andy and John supported us incredibly well, the food was both very good and available in large quantities and the wine was excellent, plentiful and cheap :-)
The climbs were awesome, and the scenery incredible. There are moments going downhill on switchbacks that one thinks that one is cornering just like pros in the grand tours, and then one reminds oneself that the road is not closed and their could be a car coming the other way, and one backs off a little.
Saturday:
I arrived at Malaga airport via Dulles and Madrid. My flight choices were made to avoid the BWI to New York puddle jumper which had given me trouble with large baggage before and to fly an airline I thought would be "bike friendly". But there was no bike box at the Malaga airport luggage carousel. After checking carousels for awhile I inquired at the baggage office where a helpful person immediately told me the bike box was in Madrid and would arrive on the next flight in the evening, and would be delivered to me. I gave them the Idlebreaks address and Andy’s phone number. Fortunately, I had brought helmet, shoes, pedals and some basic kit in my carry on, so was able to ride without the contents of the bike box.
I was met just outside the baggage area by Andy who was easy to spot as he was wearing an ABRT wind jacket. I was the last ABRTer arriving Saturday, as several others who did fly the puddle jumper and then Delta from JFK to Malaga were held up in New York and were arriving a day later.
Andy turned out to be a very nice guy, and not just to me -- he graciously flattered an attractive older woman as we walked to the car when she asked him for directions. This is not the sort of move I feel I can pull off in the USA, but apparently in Spain one can do this; what a great country!
The drive from Malaga to Idlebreaks was through amazing hills, an indication of what we would be riding during the week.
Once at Idlebreaks, I grabbed a hire bike (Idlebreaks has a number of Planet X aluminum frames with 105 groupsets, including a 56cm with a 130mm stem), raised the seat all the way, mounted my pedals and went out with those who were already there, for a recovery ride. This was supposed to be an easy ride, but in this region of Spain you can go maybe five minutes before hitting a climb, so it was not a real zone 1 recovery ride, even if we did try to go easy. It was overcast and raining hard by the end of the ride; ouch! Matt put on an amazing spurt at the end and I hung onto his wheel, but later learned all he was trying to do was produce some warmth not win the ride! My ride data was 1:41 and 26.34 miles.
The Planet X aluminum was a nice bike with 105 components and a compact crank, but I was not sure I had the fit working for me.
Sunday:
Iberia called Andy at 7:00AM to tell him my bike was on the way, but it was still not delivered by 10:00AM, so it was back on the Planet X hire bike. The left shifter stopped working soon after the ride started, leaving me stuck in the small front chainring. The bars were quite low for the raised seat height, so I was very aero, but my lower back and neck were complaining part way through the ride. The small-chainring-only worked surprisingly well as we were either climbing, or coasting down, almost never going fast on the flat as there was no flat. I felt fast on the short climbs, probably because no one else was going 100%, and the small chain ring on a compact combined with a 12-25 cassette meant one could climb walls.
Early on during the ride the clouds cleared out and we caught a glimpse of what this area of Spain looks like on a nice day. I did my first set of switchback descents and convinced myself I looked just like a pro in the Giro d’Italia or Tour de France as I carved through some corners, and then remembered that the Grand Tours are raced on closed roads and the road I was on was open, and when I would cut the apex off a blind left corner I would be in the wrong lane and there could be a car coming... so I tried to take it easy on the sharp left (blind) turns.
We found a new never-before-climbed-by-an-Idlebreaks-group climb, and I hammered up it getting to the top first (I doubt anyone else was trying hard). Nat casually climbed past Steve for second. My ride data was 4:34:13 and 54.33 miles.
The remaining group members arrived, but some of them did not have their bikes yet. Some of them did a recovery ride while others declined to ride anything but their own Pinarello and took it easy instead.
My bike had arrived and I assembled it and checked it over with help from Ace and Stu.
Monday:
All riders and all bikes were present, and we set out in a light rain which was heavier at times. I had my CAAD9, but the Powertap hub batteries were failing, so I recorded limited data. This was a good ride, though riders and bikes looked like CX racers not roadies, from the mud washed onto the paved roads. At the lunch stop the group split, with those who missed the Saturday ride (plus Nat) deciding to go longer, while the rest headed back to Idlebreaks for the hot tub and some red wine. My ride data was 2:45:09 and 37.59 miles.
Tuesday:
I forget the details on this ride, I had no powertap data, but checked Steve Owens’. My ride data (estimated) was 2:06 and 38 miles.
We spent the evening in pub in the local village. I bought some watch batteries to get the Powertap going.
Wednesday:
We rode to Puerto del Sol and did the timed climb. Andy said a good time was under 27 minutes. It was raining and windy, and the wind increased as we climbed. I think I was riding third. Each time we turned left on a switchback we were riding uphill into a strong wind and rain. There was a little bit of a tail wind after a right turn, but not enough to compensate. After what seemed like forever I saw the van parked just past a curve at the finish line. As I tried to hammer around the curve into the wind I was hit by an amazing gust. I was unable to stop the bike turning left in response, and almost immediately found myself going across the road, away from the finish line. Unable to turn the bike back onto course in the wind, I unclipped and put my foot down as the bike rolled off the road onto the shoulder. Jon helped me drag the bike across the finish line, with both of us leaning into the wind. My ride data was 2:10:58 and 32 miles.
Thursday:
It was raining hard in the AM, and the group decided to do Malaga rather than ride in the hard rain. Though only about 30 minutes away, Malaga has a different microclimate, and was sunny and nice. Andy and Jon keep checking on the weather back at Idlebreaks, and eventually announced that the rain close to Idlebreaks has stopped, so one vehicle, Andy, Steve, Greg and I headed back to get a ride in, while the others had a late lunch at a fine pizza establishment in Malaga. Our ride started dry, but we got some sprinkles during the ride. When we returned, we learned the others were back and were out doing an easy ride; apparently laps of an industrial park. It turns out the pros were racing the 29th Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia not far away, and they thought the weather was atrocious!
Friday:
Sierra Nevada day; though overcast and cool, it was not raining. Rather than starting from the service station close to Idlebreaks, where all the other rides started from, we drove north past Granada, to the starting point for the Sierra Nevada climb. This climb, along with the Puerto del Sol climb, is timed for bragging rights.
Most of us started off with limited clothing, knowing we would be working hard, and knowing extra clothing would be available from the vans. I wore a short sleeve jersey, arm warmers and bibs... this was fine until most of the way up where the snow banks were quite high, and the temperature considerably lower, and I started to get rather cold.
We ended up starting the climb in two groups, about ten minutes apart. The first group was Ace, Steve Owens, Greg Smith and me, with everyone else in the second group. Part way up the climb, I was behind Ace and ahead of the others, but was caught and passed by Nat, who started with the second group. Ace turned around where a snowplow had blocked the road. He started back down, seeing me not long after he turned around. I tried to go past the snowplow but couldn't get any traction in 1-2 inches of snow and quickly gave up and went back myself. Nat, who after passing me was between Ace and I, had taken a wrong turn, so it took Andy and Jon awhile to find him. It was COLD.
I think "epic" would be a good way to describe the ride. We were in the clouds, with limited visibility and the snow banks either side were getting higher and higher as we climbed.
One of the coolest things about this ride was that occasionally the driver and passengers of a passing car would toot the horn and give us a thumbs-up.
I think the picture was taken after the left turn off of 395 (which is apparently 7-9k from the top).. the road is narrower and the shoulders were not plowed. Nat took a right turn off of this, but the correct route was to stay on it, go past a hard right turn/switchback and up to where the snowplow was blocking the road, perhaps 3-4 k from the top. It turns out that Nat's wrong turn did get him close to the summit.
Saturday:
A really nice epic day: 80 miles in five hours with lots of climbing (nothing too long) and some wild descents. I went fairly hard at times, and then later worked hard to stay with Nat, Ace and Stu on the way back. It was sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky, 19 degrees C (70ish). We wore short sleeve jerseys, shorts, no arm or knee/leg warmers, and we were a little sunburned by the end. While Tracy’s dinners were always really good, we were all ready for dinner after this ride.
Sunday:
Another really nice sunny day: I was tired and not feeling 100%; I think some others were too. I was trying to take it easy and save what little energy I had for the Puerto del Sol climb. This was the second try at this climb; the first earlier in the week was hard to do in driving rain and strong wind. Not everyone who rode Sunday went hard on the Puerto del Sol.
I went over 2.5 minutes faster than the first attempt, doing 24:51, good for 4th on the all-time list. Jeff McDermott dropped Nat Thompson at the sprint for the line, gapping him by about 10 seconds, but Nat had started a few seconds later than Ace, so actually had the faster time. Nat and Ace are now 1 and 2 on the all-time list, with Nat recording a time of 23:04. The bottom line is that I could not hold Nat, Ace or Keith on climbs all week. But I can climb fairly well, and they are strong cat 2s.
I set new high Critical Power values for the 20, 30, 60 and 90 minute intervals, all during the timed climbs on Sierra Nevada and Puerto del Sol.
Overall:
While it would be easy to complain about the rain on six of the nine days, the weather is out of our control, and Andy and Jon did an incredible job of making the rides easy, ensuring we did not take wrong turns, and keeping us as comfortable as we could be. We rode every day, though on some days perhaps not as far as if it had been warm and sunny.
Idlebreaks is cozy and comfortable, and a close to perfect setup for cycling training camps. Andy and Jon were simply outstanding, and Tracy’s dinners and lunch sandwiches were incredible; add the low priced red wine and life felt very good for the nine days.
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