Saturday, September 24, 2011

I think I see Blue! He looks glorious!




Today marked the start of our Fall Membership drive. Left a little early this morning to ensure no snags. On the way in, I passed a lady wearing a clown nose. At 7:30am. How bizarre. Couldn't determine whether that promised good or dark tidings.
We promised a rockin' HCD Tshirt to everyone that showed up for today's roll. Apparently people like gimme shirts. Turnout was excellent. VJ, me, Chuck, Dan K, Ullrich, Malo, TdF Kevin, Z, Dan P, Sam H, Hoodie, Yeti, Rey, Kevin L, and his two friends, Astana Tom (aka Vino) and Tri-girl, who looked like she could bury us all.
Chuck was rockin' a new Madone. Internal routing, beefy downtube. Nice rig Chuck!

As I said, I got up early to make sure I was there early. I packed everything. Well almost everything. Left without my jersey. Dumbass of the Year award. Check out my sweet STAR WARS Shirt at the start of the ride.


Excellent Crew!

Thanks to VJ, Z and Ullrich for toting my pocket-gear. Made for a turbulent start to the roll, as I hoofed it (accompanied by Rey and VJ) to my house for my black kit. Burned a few matches early, while the rest of the Dough traded recipes and enjoyed the cool fall morning. VJ bore the brunt of the carnage, as he popped off the back as we chased down the pack post-shirt change. Sorry Veej.

Down Veej, Rey and I re-engaged at the high school hill on 620. Shortly after hooking on, Dan P went off the front. Just like old times! Z joined him up there, and I was happy to let em go. Not so with Hoodie. Once he went off, it was go time. Lively but manageable pace to the dam. Absent in the games was KL, who probably hadn't even noticed a change in speed. Rey, on the other hand, was working the front like an animal. Unleash the Furry Rey!! On the dam climb we ticked it up a notch. I pulled the first third, Rey 2nd wheel, KL 3rd (checking his email, playing words with friends, etc). More guys behind him, but I can't speak to order. I know Tyler and Hoodie were back there. Rey took over pace duties from there, and took us up the second third, and into climb 3 after the Steiner light. As the grade turned up, Rey sat up a bit, looking for someone to share the load. I obliged by blowing past him. Not the Christian thing to do, but it was fun nonetheless. Note that I paid for this effort on 360. But what the hell. Got outta the saddle and rode all but KL and some random Austin Bike dude off the wheel. As I crested Comanche Peak, KL saunters past me with a smile that could only mean something like "Sorry dude, but I PISS excellence". Austin Bikes guy followed him. I guess he shares that urinary tract issue. Oh well.

Regrouped at Walgreens. Veej caught back on!

Kevin and his teacher's pets

 
Rey and Yeti sharing a giggle. In the background,
Dan contemplates a replay of his infamous clean pinch...

We all stuck together on 620 to Spicewood. Descent to Spicewood was, as Rey put it, totally sketch. Tyler and Dan K decided to do the hustle at 40 mph. Remarkably it did not end in tragedy. Nice handling, at least after the bump. I wanna say thanks, since I was about 15 yards behind it, and would have certainly experienced an Airborne Toxic Event had they gone down.

On a lighter note, Spicewood was a blast! Lotta guys at the front (mostly Rey) made for a 26mph gash. Took a toll on me, burning my last strong match of the day. Nice pulls from Ullrich, Hoodie and Tyler!!

On 360 KL decided to step up the pace. From my vantage point, all I can say is Rey and Vino looked strong. Tried to hang on, but just wasn't up for the suffering. By the time I was reloaded, they was R-U-N-N-O-F-T. Hoodie had reeled my back in and I was happy for the pacesetting.

Some great conversation at Lola. Z was there waiting for us, having bombed Tumbleweed instead of hitting the full course. Lola was a blast. I passed out some PedalHard coupons to the team. Still have some if anyone is interested in checking out the studio.

Thanks to all for coming out. Hoodie hits Levi's King Ridge Gran Fondo next week. He put in 5 hours today! What a beast! Good luck next week Big Fella! Looking forward to the debrief!


Saturday, September 17, 2011

Ullrich and the Mantis

Great night at ACL last night. So good, that the Dough Roll got cancelled by the Coach. I got up and felt surprisingly well so I decided to do a little Mod Aussie action. BTW, I heard that several Doughboys were out today - Maurico, Fitzy, and Veej all ran into each other and I ran into Fitzy.
Prologue
So where to start? Wha wa happened was....as I left Lakeway I couldn't decide if I was going to country club it or try and go quick. That was decided for me by fate. As I came down to the dip below Panozzo's point, this praying mantis on a bike passed me. He must have just started the triad sport as he was pretty muscular up top. He was fit and I just let him go. Then 3/4 of the way up the hill I see him sit up. What? Is there a chink in the armor??? Crest the top and I am on him but I stay back. He definetly knew I was there.
Scene One
Across the dam he starts to drop me. Then as we approach perdnales electric, three VOP guys slide by. The Mantis latches onto their wheel and they all slowly pull away from me. At the new construction site, the Mantis is shat out the back. He is in no man's land and Ullrich smells blood in the water. So, we roll to a stop at the light at Steiner and I turn to him and say good morning. He seems to say "How the f*ck is this rotund rider hanging with me?"
Scene Two
Light turns green, he lets me go first. Oh, so he lets me set the pace! Well played Mantis! So now we are rolling and we are passing slower people as we come up to the church and the final climb. I am trying to keep it under control so I can get in his head at the end. Just before the light at Oasis, I get out of the saddle. Yeah baby, I was en fuego! Crest the hill and start pounding it out until the light at 2222. Looks like what he thought was going to be some Doughboy stew turned into some fried Mantis baby!
Epilogue
There was no epilogue, I did not see the Mantis again.
The battle did take its toll on the German. On the back end, at the mall I had to country club it. I didn't feel bad as I knew I burned a whole book of matches against the Mantis. Sweet roll baby! One last note, the stretch on Spicewood will be very nice for the next couple of weeks with the cool weather and fall leaves.
Ullrich

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Wattage Cottage Preps For Levi's Fondo

Quick note to the Dough. Our biggest Doughnut, Hoodie is currently training for the King Ridge Gran Fondo. As a result, we road a simulated course this morning at PH. Let me say that it did not entice me to find a transfer. Wall-like hill after hill.

Silver lining: Both of us posted our best 20 minute wattages. In honor of the Big Fella, I changed the blog pic to underline his position as the Power Plant. The Wattage Cottage. The Turbine. You get it.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Labor Day + Drought + Wind = Pandemonium

This weekend signalled a turning point. A lot of firsts, punctuated with the scariest non-tornado weather in my recollection.

Saturday - Me, Hoodie and Ullrich rolled a 6am start, soaking up the cool darkness for an hour. Great to beat the heat, and we caught up on Labor Day plans as the sun worked its way up the horizon.

Rolled into HP at 7am, meeting up with Tyler, VJ and MC. We headed down toward San Marcos, keeping an even pace. That is, when Hoodie was not in front. The Hoodster goes full throttle until the pop. Therefore we cranked it on two-four sections. In Buda we bade farewell to Hoodie, who had to get back to Austin and get his LSU-Oregon gameface on. Ride back was pretty mellow. Except for Ullrich's bad puncture luck. He flatted three times on the ride, Tieing an HCD record. Not sure who else holds the title, and not trying to remember. Silver lining is that the German's tire change skills now rival a NASCAR pit crewman.

See Strava link below for details

Sunday - DAY OFF. That's right.

Monday -
Me, Tyler and Ullrich waived off a Fitzhugh ride (fire at Paleface Ranch), instead meeting at the French Bakery on Bee Cave and rolling a "Fire Cheater" up 360. We rode into the wind all the way up 360, and controlled the pace, thus giving us perhaps the slowest non-recovery pace in 2011. we hooked up with the Yeti on Hancock, as we were preparing to attack Bull Creek. With a brisk tailwind, the guys got out and gave me some additional draft. Pedaled like hell and ended up taking the gold baby! Accomplished several goals. 1) topped 40mph - hitting 40.5 mph at peak 2) finished the effort over the entire Stava segment 3) averaged 33.7mph. Aww Yeah! Strava details below.

Bolted on a 7Oaks climb to get us right at 3 hours of cool weather riding.

This fire situation is scary. Trent and VJ are both waiting out the Steiner Fire, and numerous friends out here are dealing with the Spicewood Fire. And that thing in Bastrop is Old Testament scary. They are gonna have to rename Pedal thru the Pines next year. Let's pray for the wind to die down. And some rain. Y'all stay safe out there.