Koppenberg Casualty

 As with the Paris-Roubaix and Ronde von Vlaanderen, it takes luck, skill, fitness, and smarts to with a "classic".  I fell victim to the Koppenberg course today.  The quick recap goes like this.  I did my usual, start at the back thing, thinking that nothing eventful would relly happen until mid-way through the race and I didn't want to get caught up in the carnage of the first-lap fireworks.  The first lap was straight awesome.  We hit the dirt and it's single/double file full-gas all the way to the climb.  When I get within sight of the climb, it's a plume of dirt-smoke all the way and the leaders are already heading up it.  When I get to it, some guys already struggled in the middle and most everyone is off the bike running with the bike.  My cyclocross skills came in handy here as I was off and running at the start of the climb.  I passed several riders running, then had a picture-perfect remount and was off motoring again. 




I rode with several guys and eventually our group was about 10-12 riders all working pretty well.  We were catching other riders and making progress on the main pack.  Well, 3 laps go by and halfway through the dirt section, my rear wheel washes out on the gravel.  It was more like a power slide as I didn't go down or slow really, but all of a sudden my bike is riding like it doesn't have a tire.  I look down and I'm completely flat.  Race over at 45 minutes, 3 1/2 laps out of 8.  Later I realize that it was indeed a pinch flat.  I guess 100psi was too low for my 180 lb. body.  Also, the guys in my group ended up finishing around the 10-15th place in the race, so that lines up with how my prior results were going.




I'm coming away from this race feeling both good and bad.  Bad, because well, I DNF'd.  Good though because I felt pretty good, my legs were responding well, I felt very comfortable in the group I was in and that's a good indication of how I may perform at the last race of the year, the Steamboat Springs Stage Race.  I also felt great running with the bike, so that's good for cyclocross.  I ran for 30 minutes after getting home.  This week is a low-intensity, low-miles week to prep for the Steamboat Springs race.

Koppenberg Preview

My favorite race of the year is this Sunday.  The Koppenberg Circuit race in Superior, CO.  This course is just down the road from me and the race is usually held in spring around the time of the best single day classic races (Ronde von Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix) in Europe.  Unfortunately, this year we had terrible weather on the days preceeding this race and the course was unridable.

1/2 of this course is on a gravel/dirt road.  It can be very loose and bumpy and there is a small 60 meter or so section of 18+% grade.  The race is named after the famous Koppenberg climb that is typically included in the Ronde von Vlaanderen race.  This section is usually pretty trenched out and when it rains, the terrain turns to mud and is unridable.  Well, this third attempt to hold the race this year is going to happen regardless of the weather.  If it snows, hails, rains, etc., then the race will still go on and everyone will be running up the hill.

We're doing 8 laps of the 5.5 mile course.  Last year I raced this as a CAT 3 and broke away from the pack about two miles from the finish and held on for 4th place I think.  This year will be much tougher in the P/1/2 category.  Either way, this race will be sweet and I won't even have to drive to the course.  excellent.

HART Criterium - 8-23-09

The HART criterium was held today in south Denver. I really like this course as it has a couple hills, no sharp dangerous turns, and it's usually pretty fast. I was feeling tired at the start, but after about 15-20 minutes, I was warm and feeling pretty good. Marty, Chris, Tim Srenaski, and myself represented our team today of the 40-something group of P12s. We were all doing our parts to get in different breaks, but we missed the one that eventually got away. I actually never knew there was a big group in front of us, so I was surprised to hear of it at the finish.

Anyway, this course allows for resting on two downhills of the 1.3 mile course and I put them to good use. I won a prime early on, then recovered and tried to stay near the front to get in any good breaks. With about 20 minutes to go, Marty rolled off the front and tried to bridge up to the break, but the break was just a little too far up the road and he didn't make it. Towards the last few laps, our peloton split a bit. Chris got shelled off the back, I got in a chase group with 5 others and Marty and Tim were in the main peloton. Our chase group stayed away from the pack, but we never caught the break. I took 3rd or 4th in our sprint to the line for 14th overall.

I'm actually pretty pleased with the result because I did a hard workout the day before and wasn't fully recovered. One more solid week of training, then a rest week before the Steamboat Stage Race. I expect to be in good form if I can stay on target.

Hard Efforts

Had a good workout this morning. During my build period, I will usually do 3 hard workouts a week consisting of four 15-20 minute efforts with 5 minutes of rest between. I'll target a power level based on my field test data. If I can make the efforts, then I'll add a minute to each effort each week. This week I was aiming for four 17 minute efforts at 348 watts. On Tuesday, I hit 350, 350, 350, then on the last effort I could only average 344. I usually do the workouts Tues and Thurs, but I raced this Thurs, so I did the second workout this morning.


This morning I hit 350, 350, 352, 350. So, next week I'll do four 18 minute efforts. I also monitor and record my heart rate for my hard workouts. I think it is important to look at heart rate and power because over time, you should see a decrease in heart rate average for the same power levels if you are improving. Also, if you know what heart rate you "should" be at, you can check during an interval to see if you are fresh or tired and unrecovered. Several times when I have had difficulty making an interval effort, I've observed that my heart rate is much higher than it should be and I'm not fully recovered.


One thing is for certain, you make your gains off the bike. Every coach, trainer, or serious athlete will tell you that the workouts are for stressing the body (heart, lungs, muscles, etc.), and the time off for recovery is when the body rebuilds those stressed parts stronger.

weight loss update

Looks like my body just refuses to drop below 180lbs. I admit that I have been less focused on eating well the last week, so I'm going to put my head down and see if I can get to 175 before Steamboat.

CSP mid-week criterium series finale

Tonight was the last race of the mid-week Criterium series at the Colorado State Patrol course in Golden. This 1.3ish mile loop is maintained by the CSP and has nice wide turns and is a very safe course. I did the first few races in this series and competed for the sprinter's jersey. There are two competitions in this series: The overall/finishers competition, and the Sprinters competition. Every three laps is a prime and points are awarded to the top 5 riders across the line. I was doing well and was in the Sprinter's jersey for week 3, but since then I traveled to Europe and took some time off, so I hadn't raced the series in a couple months.

My teammate, Chris Cummings, was in 2nd place for the overall/finishers competition, so I decided to give it a go one last time and help defend his second place position. This was actually the first time our team had a clear goal in mind for a race, so Chris and I talked before the race. My goal was to stick on the 4th place overall rider's wheel (Drew on the HART team) and keep an eye out for breaks. If nobody threatening was in the break, then I'd let it go. Otherwise, I'd head to the front and help pull it back.

Well, surprisingly, our massive team of two riders (me and Chris) managed to do a good job tonight. I got in a couple breaks and helped pull back the threats. Chris was at the front for much of the race on the lookout. On the last lap, the HART team put together a train of 4 riders to leadout the lap. Drew was on the front, so I got on his wheel and he pulled all the way to the final corner (about 500 meters from the finish). He pulled over to let me through, so I pulled off with him and the pack came through and we were done. I didn't realize they had a train of riders, so I'm assuming Drew never intended to contest the finishing sprint. I'm not sure where Chris finished off, but Drew was the only real threat of the evening, so Chris kept the 2nd overall.

Life at the back

Today was the Colorado State Criterium Championships. Some riders have geared their whole season around this one race. Some treat is as just another race. I'm more of the latter. I have good fitness, but not good form. In other words, I'm in good shape, but fatigued from full-strength training and racing and not tapered or rested for the weekend races. As such, I suffered terribly. I also knew what I was in for, so I built a make-shift camera mount and filmed the race. I started at the very back of this extremely tight and twisty course and that was a very, very bad decision. I could barely move up a few spots for the first half of the race, and the second half? Well, I got dropped, so I worked with a few others in a group until getting caught on the very last lap, 1/2 mile from the finish.

Here is the video I took of the race:

CO State Crit. Champs - P12

Higher quality youtube video here: CO State P12 Criterium Championships

I will post a longer video with 5 minutes of the start, then the middle section when I got dropped for your viewing enjoyment on youtube.

I only posted the crucial moment in the race for me when I got dropped. This footage is about 35 minutes into the 75 minute race. At minute two on the video, you can see that I am behind a rider and not paying attention. The pace ramps up, he loses the wheel he's on (badly), I'm not paying attention and all of a sudden, the pack is up the road. I pull around him, sprint up to the next group that got dropped. We all work together, but it's too late. We hold the gap on the main field for the next 15 minutes or so, but can't pull it back and it's over. The race can change just that quickly if you aren't paying attention.

This is a very good illustration why you should never stay at the back of the pack in a crit. Unfortunately for me, it takes a few laps to get comfortable with the course, so I usually start at the back, then when I'm ready, I'll move up. Today, when I was ready, the pack was up the road. Not good.

Raisin Hope Foundation Classic Race Recap - 8/15/09

Today's race was so-so. Tom, Chris and I joined the other 33ish P/1/2 riders for this race. I think the small turnout was due to the Crit championships tomorrow, so guys are saving their legs. The pace for the first 30 minutes or so was pretty pedestrian. Some guys would attack, but the pack didn't seem to care too much and we meandered around until the break tired out. Around half-way the serious attacks started happening, so I moved up front and got in a couple breaks.

Nothing stuck, then while recovering in the back, the pack split and a huge group of 14+ riders got off the front. Great. So, I move towards the front of our nearly identically sized group and look for the strong riders to make the bridge. Our group was not working well together and I got in a group of 3 or 4 that tried to bridge, but didn't make it. Then, when we got caught, I watched Jon Baker move towards the front. He is a seriously strong rider, so I knew when he got in / created a bridging group, it would be successful. Well, of course, the guy goes, I'm too far back to join him, then I watch the front of our group lose the wheel and he's up the road in a group of 3. I went to the front to try to help pull him back, but our group wasn't working well, and shortly afterwards, he's too far up the road and later he latches on to the main pack.

So, the last 20 minutes of the race were pretty dull. I pulled at the front and stayed up there knowing that I alone can't pull them back and the race is pretty much over, so I might as well get some training intensity in. On the last lap, I attack about a mile out into a corner. I get maybe a 5-8 second gap and hold it until the final 200 meters when I get caught by the charging field to get nipped at the line. I finished 21st. I'm disappointed because my legs felt great, but you can't get in every break and I shouldn't have been at the back of the pack when during that crucial middle part of the race.

2009 - CAT 2 - Rocky Mountain Bikes Team

I joined the Rocky Mountain Bikes Elite Cycling Team for 2009. This team is made up of only CAT 2 and CAT 1 racers and we've got a total of 16 racers. I upgraded in June of 2008, so I had a fresh start to the year in CAT 2.


My goals for this year were:
Get a top 5 placing at one of the Tour of the Gila stages (potentially stage 2 RR or stage 4 crit)
Break into the top 20 in one or two P/1/2 races
Help teammates achieve their goals and stick to my training plan

To do this, I built my training plan around peaking in early June (Tour of the Gila was 1st week of May), recovering, taking a little time off, then peaking again towards the end of the year for cyclocross (cyclocross is awesome!).



Here was the exact plan I followed.
Late November: Tempo workout (between 60-90 minutes at 75-94% of functional threshold) every other day. If I was racing on the weekend, then easy rides on the day before/after the race. Alternate Tempo days with easy/medium pace or recovery rides.
December: same as November
January: Tempo, easy/medium, SteadyState - (four 14-20minute intervals at 90-105% of functional threshold), easy/medium, SteadyState, long easy/medium, recovery.
February: SteadyState, easy/medium, SteadyState, easy/medium, SteadyState, long easy/medium, recovery
March: SteadyState, easy/medium, LToverunder (5min ~ 95%, 2min - 103%, 5min, 2min, 5min, 2min rest 10min repeat two more times), easy/medium, LToverunder, long easy/medium, recovery
April: LToverunder, easy/medium, LToverunder, easy/medium, LToverunder, long easy/medium, recovery
May and June: mostly alternating speed workouts (high intensity, short intervals, short rest periods) with easy/medium rides.
July: off, start over with Tempo when motivation returns.
I'll probably upload my journal for each month to show exactly what I did, but not in this post.

I almost never do two high intensity rides in a row. I typically ride between 10 to 14 hours a week. I didn't do any weight training last winter. I kept a journal and recorded my exact workouts, power levels, heart rate, and notes if I couldn't do the workout. Below is an exerpt of my training journal from July of this year. As you can see, I'm tracking my workout type/name, power/hr level, and weight if need be.


In the fall and winter I would do a field test to reassess my power levels and adjust accordingly. The field test consisted of two 8 minute maximum power efforts with 10 minute rest between. Take the average, then multiply the average by 0.878 to get the functional threshold power.


Below is my current power levels: The 358W (functional threshold power) is my average power for the two 8 minute efforts multiplied by 0.878. This is actually an estimation as my last field test was in April and my functional threshold was 351W, so this is a guess. You can actually tell if your power is too high because you won't be able to do the workout within the prescribed power levels. :)

CAT 3 videos

I made a couple videos back in my CAT 3 racing days (2008) with RockyMounts. I'm in the black/blue kit. Here they are:

CU Criterium - 1st

Coal Miner's Classic - 15th

Weight Loss

I went to Belgium and France recently and took a break from cycling completely. I went with my wife and her side of the family and we traveled to a bunch of smallish cities in Flanders. Since returning, my weight had ballooned to around 193lbs. That's what happens when you eat and drink like you're training a lot, but you're not training. Anyway, I needed to get back in shape and lose the weight, so I set up a little chart in my journal to weigh myself every night. My goal is to reach 170 lbs for the Steamboat Springs Stage Race, approximately 8 weeks after returning from Belgium.



As you can see, I'm on target to reach my goal. I've been a little above and a little below my progress line, but recently I've been unable to breach the 180 lb. barrier. I've been riding between 10 - 16 hours weekly and monitoring what I eat, but I just can't seem to break this barrier. Today, I rode my 20 minute commute to work, ate a small bowl of cereal, had a burrito and coke for lunch, then took a 3 hour ride in the evening, followed by a bag of "skillet Sensations". Come 11pm, what does the scale say? 180.4 lbs. Tomorrow morning it will say 178 or 179, then tomorrow night 180. Almost guaranteed. Anyone know how to lose upper body muscle without losing leg muscle? That's the cure I need.

2008, CAT 3, Race Recaps

Here are the recaps from my 2008 races..

CU Bikes ‘n Bunnies crit

Boulder, CO / March 23, 2008

Ryan Hughes said:

Today went much better than yesterday for me. We had a stellar showing for the RockyMounts team in the 3-4-5 race, and unfortunately the 75 rider cap was satisfied shortly before Drew and Amar could sign up. Eric, Greg H., Craig, and I took on the field and had a great showing. Eric, as per pre-race plan, went straight to the front and strung out the field on the first couple laps managing to drop some dudes right off the bat.
Both Eric and Greg were hanging strong for much of the race until a couple crashes forced them to bridge a gap to catch the field shortly before some strong attacks that managed to shell the riders off the back. Craig and I had plenty of face time at the front of the field the whole day and I took several attacks off the front to string out the field and make the race a little more interesting.

The last five laps were fast on this 1k course and I was hanging in the top five, then got swarmed on the beginning of the 2nd to last lap. I was boxed in a bit before I could position myself on the outside of the pack and on the straight before the last corner, I attacked the group from about 10th or 15th to sweep past the front on the inside. Once I got through the corner, I put my head down, stood up, and sprinted as hard as I could to the line. I managed to create a pretty decent gap on 2nd, but I didn’t dare look until I crossed the line. Craig came through in about 13th against a field packed with 3s and 4s, proving that he will be a strong force this year in the 4s and 3s once he’s got enough points to cat up. Craig finished 4th yesterday as well in the 4/5 race.Nice work team, and let’s chalk one up for RockyMounts!

Koppenberg Circuit Race

Superior, CO / April 6, 2008

Ryan Hughes said:

The 3s were clicking pretty well today. Craig, James Sharp (anyone know his email address?), and I rocked the 6 lap, 30 mile sufferfest today. None of us got decent starting line positions, but immediately all three of us were at the front pulling the pack. As soon as we’re on the dirt, Craig lays down the law on the front and pulls the pack for the majority of the first lap. I think “take it easy” doesn’t register here.

The pack stayed together through the koppenberg on the first three laps and nobody put in any serious attacks at this point. Immediately after the climb, the pace increases, but everyone stays together. On the third lap, coming downhill on Marshall road, I’m off the front while Craig and James are in the pain pack. A touch of wheels (so I hear) and 6-8 people go down. Some guys overtake me at the start finish line yelling to hammer and the pack splits in two. James got caught behind the crash and never caught back on.

Craig and I stay with the main pack of 30 or so riders for the next 3 laps. On the 5th lap, a Vitamin Cottage guy attacks on the headwind section immediately after the koppenberg and gets a gap. He increases the gap on Marshall road to 10-12 seconds and thats the last we see of him. He solos for 1 1/2 laps for the win. We all stay together again through the Kop on the final lap and at the dirt in the headwind, a Velonews guy launches off the front. He gets a gap of 200 yards or so and looks strong. On the downhill before the righthander onto Marshall, I slide up to the front. I start pulling the pack up the hill, then launch an attack of my own from the pole position. Craig is on my wheel and tries to go with, but fades slightly and stays with the pack. I end up getting about 40-50 meter gap and bury myself to the finish. This section is uphill, but has a tailwind, so there’s not much benefit to staying in the pack. I narrow the gap between me and the Velonews guy, but he crosses the line in 2nd, about 15 meters in front of me. The pack comes through several seconds later and I think Craig finished somewhere in 10-15th.

Pretty sweet day for RM. I’ve never had any luck at this race, so I’m definitely psyched with the result. The 3s are rollin’ now…

Tokyo Joes/AST Crit

Golden, CO / April 13, 2008

Ryan Hughes said:

People either love or hate this crit. It’s a 1k loop, half uphill, half downhill, and very safe. Greg, Craig, James and I were representing for RM out of between 75-100 starters. As usual, no attacks got more than 10 or 15 seconds on the group. Craig nearly got a $50 prime, but got pipped at the line by a Velonews guy. I got a prime a couple laps earlier for some SKINS sock-dealibobs.

We all rode very strong yesterday. We all had some face time at the front for some reason or another and it was a relatively crash-free race. With two laps to go, the pack goes into swarm mode and we start looking like that scene out of the Matrix 3 where the Sentinals are swarming around the human base defense area. On the last lap, I move up to the front and get in great position for the final sprint corner at about 3rd or 4th. I didn’t have the speed after the work required to get to the front and ended up losing several spots on the sprint – ending at 7th by inches with my bike throw. I think Craig was swarming alongside me and we were really close together at the finish. Craig took 9th. James and Greg were also in the main bunch sprint with James at 21st and Greg at 33rd. Both of those guys did the TTT on Saturday too!

I’d say we did not work together, but with more experience racing with each other, we could definitely try some things this season.

Colorado College crit & Air Force Academy RR

Colorado Springs, CO / April 19 – 20

Ryan Hughes said:

This is a double race recap, so get comfy (it’s interesting, I promise).

Colorado College Crit 3/4s
This race was really fun. We had 56 starters and it was a pretty short race. The course is awesome. This isn’t your AST criterium boring donut course. It starts on a flat straightaway that heads directly into a 180 degree hairpin turn. Then, you’ve got a headwind for the next 1/3 mile with a chicane thrown in for variety on wide open roads. There’s a sharp 90 degree turn right and you descend about 50 feet, then rail around this 1/2 circle in your 53t, then you’ve got a steep hill (1/2 the length of the Stazio hill), then a left onto the final straightaway with a tailwind.

I forgot my trainer, so I tried warming up on the local roads, but it was pretty fruitless. As such, I felt pretty lethargic for the first 15 minutes and was hanging mid pack. There were a couple flyers, but they were immediately pulled back. The pack was pretty strung out for most of the course, then the usual swarm up the hill before the finish. About 20 minutes in, they call a prime for some tires, so I figure I’d give it a go and move to the front coming up the hill. I sprint it out with a purple Dentist 1 team guy and take the prime. Two new tires – cha-ching.

With 6 or 7 laps to go, a GS Boulder guy takes the hairpin too sharply and goes down. I’m behind him, but because we’re already going slow, it wasn’t a big deal and we’re still in the hunt. Blah, blah, blah, 2 laps to go and the pack is all together still. Vitamin Cottage has a few guys at the front setting the pace. 1 lap to go, a VC guy takes off the front and gets a decent gap. He stays away through the downhill and 1/2 circle, then we catch him on the climb. I move up to about 5th going up the climb and as soon as the leader of the pack slows, I attack on the right side. There’s another attack on the left side and we merge together coming around the left hand turn to the finish. There’s still 2-300 meters to go and I’m in second. I turn on the throttle and pass the leader, but a purple Dentist 1 guy comes around and maintains about a bike length gap on me to the finish. I take 2nd. Winnings? $75

Air Force Road Race 3/4s (and 35+ and 45+, etc.)
This was the hardest race I’ve ever done I think. It was about 51 miles, (4) 13 mile laps, so not terribly long, but it’s either a long uphill climb or a long downhill with 3200+ ft. elevation gain total for the race. Also the 1984 worlds cycling road course. My goal here was to hang on to the pack to the finish. A full 100 rider field made this race quite interesting. There were a lot of 35+ and 45+ riders here too. We had some killer 20-30mph wind, tailwind for the downhill section, headwind for the uphill section but slightly protected with trees. The pack hums between 40-50mph (est) on the downhill sections, so it’s important not to get gapped anywhere in this race.

The first lap is freaking fast. The field is shattered from the 100 riders to about 50 or so. A few guys go off on the 2nd lap and get a huge gap. There’s a Einstein’s, Mix1, and GS Boulder in the break and they’ve got lots of teammates doing their job. There is a lot of blocking going on and the gap holds. The pace is still blistering, and the pack thins by 10 more riders on the 2nd lap.

I now know what it feels like to be a climber in a criterium. I’m a 180 lb. crit racer in a climber’s race and it’s brutal. I’ve been doing these workouts called OverUnders, where you ride for 5 minutes at near a 20 minute lactate threshold power level, then ride for 2 minutes above lactate threshold, then repeat both intervals 2 more times for a total of about 21 minutes. This is EXACTLY what the climb felt like for me. Repeat that set 4 times for this race. I’m on the rivet for the whole ~20 minute climb, just hanging on, hoping the top will come around the next bend. (BTW – for the OverUnders, I try to peg 335 watts, then 371 watts, for the two intervals) Anyway, the pack gets thinned with each lap and at the top of the hill on the final lap, there’s just 15 of us and 3 guys up the road. They stay away and take 1-2-3.

There is a short downhill and flat before the finish and I manage to recover before the final 3-400 yard uphill climb finish. I move to about 5th going up the hill and attack our little group of 15 or so. There is a little bit of confusion with other racers finishing and a car on the road, and I get a gap on the pack, thinking that I’ve got 4th in the bag, but I think one of the guys in our group snuck off and I didn’t see it. I still took 5th and am super psyched with that result. Winnings? $10

Conclusions:
I’m ridiculously happy with my form this time of year. 7 races so far with a 12th, 1st, 3rd, 7th, 2nd, and 5th. (Granted, I’m peaking much sooner than everyone else, so I have a bit of an edge) I’m 10 days away from the Tour of the Gila and I’m confident I’ll be able to survive for the 3 road race days. Will I have a shot at the overall? I doubt it. There’s no way I could attack on a climb, and I don’t have any TT gear. However, I think I could net a top 15 or 20 if I can stay with the pack on those days, do well on the crit day, and do ok on the TT day. Deer Trail next weekend will be the next test – longer and flatter.

Deer Trail Road Race

Deer Trail, CO / April 26

Ryan Hughes said:

This race has been described as extremely boring by some people. Today, this was definitely not the case. It looked like all 81 preregistered riders showed up for the race today despite the occasional gusting
snow and early spring conditions (windy, very gusty, temp in the 40s). Craig, James, Andrew, Grant and I flew the RM/Izze flag today.

The race started off easy enough. We had a tailwind for the first 11 mile leg and James went straight to the front from the gun. The pace was moderate (~30mph) for this tailwind leg and we took up the whole half
of the road. At the turnaround into the headwind, James and a Dentist 1 guy jump off the front and get a gap. Soon enough, they are joined by several others and the breakaway swells to around 12 strong and
organized riders. Dentist 1 has 3 riders in the pack and they do a great job blocking and disrupting the chase. I try to bridge up to the pack when the gap is about 30 seconds and get to within 5 seconds on the
pack, but they had too much firepower and organization and I couldn’t make it.

I drop back to the main field with Craig, Couch, and Grant. Meanwhile, Grant gets DQed for getting bumped over the centerline, even though he didn’t advance his position. total bull. Couch is in worker bee mode
and pulls me up to the front after I’ve recovered from my bridge attempt. He then drops to the back of the pack to pull up Grant and realizes that everyone he is around is 35+. Uh oh. Unfortunately, when Couch
dropped back to pull up Grant, the main field merged and passed the 35+ field (they started 10 min ahead and this is around mile 17 to give you an idea of our speed vs. their speed). In the confusion, Couch
loses the 3s field and it’s game over for him.

Back to the peloton.. we hold the ~1 min gap to the breakaway for the next 40 miles, all the while shredding our main pack. Around mile 35 or so on the headwind section again, James loses the breakaway and drops
back to the field. We were definitely not messing around in this race and the pace was too much after working so hard in the breakaway and James gets dropped from the main field. On the tailwind sections, every time, we’re bookin’ at 35+ mph for 11 miles. (average spd. for the race on my cpu was 26 mph for 69 miles) Craig was a monster today.

Pulling into the headwind, tailwind, crosswind, whatever. He was always up at the front pulling through our pitiful paceline (3s do NOT know how to do a paceline in crosswinds) and basically forcing the issue on
everyone.

The pack thins down to about 12 riders before the final east/west leg and the gap has swelled to over 2 minutes. game over, we’re racing for 10th or so now. The pace is moderate for the next 14 miles to the
finish. Craig gets popped on the final uphill before the finishing straight and I take the pack sprint finish. How did I manage to take the final sprint? For the last 4 miles or so, I basically held 2nd or 3rd position, hugged the centerline, and forced anyone attacking to attack into the wind. I latched onto two attacks within the last mile, then attacked on my own about 300 meters from the finish, hugging the centerline
and nobody came around. Too bad we couldn’t catch the breakaway! Still, an awesome and exciting race. Wish we could have gotten at least ONE time split from the moto.

Tour of the Gila – Stage 1

Silver City, NM – Mogollon, NM / April 30

Ryan Hughes said:

Stage 1 is in the books. 79 racers, 73.1 miles, 4,530′ climbing. This stage starts with a gradual descent for 15 miles or so, then throw in some rollers, then a small ‘800 foot climb, then a CAT1 1,800′ climb with the final 3 miles of between 10% and 19%. The pack held a pretty nice pace for most of the day. The first bonus sprint was at mile 20.5, and your truly took it.

Shortly after, two groups of two got away, then joined together and built up a lead of up to 3 minutes at a point. They stayed away for the next 30 miles or so and were all reeled in except for the eventual stage winner. He had a minute gap on us by the time we started the final climb and won in impressive fashion. I held it together with the pack until mile 70. The pack shattered on the final, steep 3 mile climb and I was holding top 5 until mile 71, when the elastic snapped. I then got passed by several riders, who I would hop on for 10 or 15 seconds, then realize the pace was too much and pop off again.

I ended up finishing the stage in 13th, and 2min 45 seconds behind the leader. The sprint bonus I won also drops 10 seconds from my GC time and nets me $60. The winds have picked up and tomorrow is a harder stage than today with more climbing and more miles. I felt great throughout the day, but just can’t get my 180 lb. body vertical as easily as many of the riders here.

Tour of the Gila – Stage 2

Bayard, NM / May 1

Ryan Hughes said:

So it looks like I’m actually an ok climber. I was fearing this stage. Actually, I was fearing the first stage also, and now I’m fearing the final stage. This one was 77.9 miles with 5,854 ft. of climbing. yes, ouch. Luckily, none of the ascents are above 10%, so I didn’t get popped on any one climb. The pace was hard on the climbs, but not TOO hard. Two guys jumped at mile 1.5, and one of them took the first bonus sprint at mile 6. dang. They came back and the pack stayed together through the first climb. I think some guys got popped on the second climb up to meadow creek as the pack was whittled down to about 40 or 50 guys.

On the extremely steep Sapilio descent, a few guys got away and built up a lead of 5′20″ over the next 30 miles. One of them took the 2nd bonus sprint. While we are chasing, I get a flat and have a quick wheel change, then a 10 minute blow-up session to catch back on. I recover in the pack and we end up catching the leaders on the final climb of the day. The pack was now around 20-30 guys and with about 4 miles to go, one of the Blue Sky Velo guys jumps and gets a big gap. Great move. Two guys join him and they build up a lead of 30″ or so going into the final mile. The pack pulled them back a little bit, but we didn’t catch them and they go 1,2,3.

I was sitting tight in around 2nd place of the pack and a guy jumps up the left side at about 500 meters. I wind up the legs to catch him and he basically leads us out to the finish. Around 150 meters or so, I launch around the right side and manage to take the bunch sprint. So, I got 4th on the stage, with a time gap of maybe 10-15 seconds from the leader. Unfortunately, only the top 3 get time bonuses, so I missed out on that one. Still, it felt good to take 4th even though all the main GC riders get the same time. So, I guess I’m sitting pretty in 11th before tomorrow’s time trial, which will be a disaster since I don’t have my powertap and I haven’t done a TT in literally years. Hopefully, I can stay in the top 20, but only time will tell.

Tour of the Gila – Stage 3

Silver City, NM / May 2

Ryan Hughes said:

The Alien Race. Today I felt like I had shown up for an important interview in sandals, shorts, and a t-shirt. What was the suit that I should have worn? It’s like this: Take your normal road bike, then replace the frame with a time-trial specific frame (ovalized tubes, bladed fork and headtube, different tube angles, super-aero), then replace the handlebars/brakes/shifters with bull-horn bars with bar end shifters, then take your normal wheels and throw them in the garbage. Put on a solid disk rear wheel and a deep dish front wheel. Replace the 53 tooth chainring with a 56 tooth and increase the length of the cranks. Now, take your jersey, shorts, helmet, and sunglasses and throw them in the garbage. What you need is a skinsuit, a TT-specific helmet that makes your head look like a comet, and a visor on the front of the helmet to complete the alien costume. Now practice in this getup once a week prior to the event. That’s what I needed and that was the kit and bike that all 5 guys had in front of me when I lined up to start.

Needless to say, I did not pass anyone today. Their bikes and kits were probably more of a blow to the psychy than a huge time benefit, but I ended up 35th on the stage and 4′ 30″ behind the winner. It’s pretty obvious that I’m no time trialist. I tried to catch my 30″ man and stayed close to him on the initial 5 miles of uphill in a headwind, but once we descended, he was gone and I realized that I had a hard and demoralizing effort in front of me today. That drops me from 11th to 20th and 7′ 15″ down on the GC. It was pretty much exactly what I expected. 16.2 miles, solo, with constant 23+ mph winds and 1000′ elevation gain total. I got passed by my 1′ 30″ man at mile 7, then passed by my 2′ 30″ man at mile 15. On the return leg, I spun out of my 53×11 at 45mph.

Overall, I really don’t feel bad about my effort. I gave it all I had and I knew that I was going to lose a lot of time. I feel really, really tired now and I think the first two days are catching up on me quickly. I’ve got a crit tomorrow that I am looking forward to, but I really hope I can recover more in the next 12 hours.

Tour of the Gila – Stages 4 and 5

Silver City, NM / May 2

Ryan Hughes said:

Stage 4 was the crit. I drove the course and thought it was a pretty dangerous loop. It’s a 1 mile square with a high-speed 4th corner, two hills, and a San Fransisco-esque transition between the two hills that you could probably catch some air on if you were going fast enough. I took a prime about half way through for $40. It was a pretty fast crit and on the last lap, two guys banged together and crashed directly in front of me on the transition between the two hills. I was in about 10th place and the crash was somewhere in the top 5 or 6, so I went down and didn’t get to contest the sprint. I’ve got some road rash on my arm, leg, shoulder, and cracked helmet, but everything else seemed ok.

Stage 5 was the last day, the Gila Monster stage. This day proved my climbing prowess. I can hang with the pack on CAT 4 and CAT 3 climbs, but on CAT 2 or CAT 1 climbs, I get dropped. I hung with the pack until about mile 52 when the CAT 3 climb started on an 18% grade, then between 7-10% for the next several miles. I hung for about ten minutes, then the elastic snapped. I found a group of like riders toward the top of the climb and we survived to the finish at mile 73. This day had 5,800 ft. elevation and I think I was just too tired and wasted from the previous 4 days of hard riding to have anything left. I ended up losing another couple spots on the GC to finish in 22nd. I finished the stage 29th at 3′48″ behind the leader. I finished and survived the Gila, so jeez I’m glad its over.

Overall, I’m really glad I did the tour. I learned a bit about myself, met a lot of other riders and made some new friends, crashed, won a bunch sprint, won a bonus sprint, held my own with the climbers on one day, and tested the limits of my riding capacity. Thanks to all the emails and support I received throughout the week. Good times.

Sunshine Hill Climb

Boulder, CO / May 10

Ryan Hughes said:

My 39×28 was not enough for this beast. The pain started immediately as the pace was locked above the redline for me starting at mile 0.5. I hung with the main pack for 3 of the 9 miles, then gradually lost touch. I could still see remnants of the pack up the road around mile 8, but I never closed the gap. It was snowing on us on the top part of the course. Boups did well as he came past me around mile 4. I never saw the time trial master again. Good training, but my hands just about fell off on the descent from the cold. I finished in 13th. Boups finished in 8th. I’ve had a weird week of non-training, eating bad food, watching lots of tv, and seeing how my body recovers from the Gila. I feel good now, so hopefully I can get back in the training rhythm to peak for Longmont in July.

Wheels of Thunder

Englewood, CO / May 17

Ryan Hughes said:

James, Greg Pent and I raced the 3s yesterday. It seems like the wider the course is, the more dangerous. This race seemed fast to me, but compared to last year’s race, it was actually easier. I had my powertap on my bike for the first time in a race this year to gather some data. I had a tough time figuring out the finishing straight. I tried for primes 4 times with different tactics each time – sprint from the corner, breakway off the front 1/2 lap out, sprint from the hill, follow wheels to finish. I never got a prime. Maybe I just didn’t have the legs. Anyway, Pent and Sharp were 2-3 coming through the last corner, but got swarmed in the final, deceivingly long 500 meter finish. I was moving up in about 15th with about 300 to go when some guy in front of me put his front wheel in his neighbor’s rear derailer. Almost at the same time, someone on the left side and up front did a somersault into the grass. It was bad positioning on my part. I finished somewhere around 15th. I’m not sure if I passed Pent and Sharp or not. ahh well.

Coal Miner’s Classic

Louisville, CO / May 18

Ryan Hughes said:

Hometown race, yeeha! This one was just a couple miles from my house, so I didn’t need to drive. The organizers decided on a new location and the course was awesome. It had 8 turns in the shape of the tetris piece that looks like a thick T. The finish is the one long edge.

Yelena and I rode down to the course in the morning on our cruisers so that I could get my number and see the course. Pretty much a perfect day in the morning with little wind. Later in the day, the wind picked up and made the course just that much harder. We started at 4:20pm Craig, James, Greg Pent, Boups and I representing RockyMounts.

This race was fast and the field shredded. It looked like we started with 80+ riders and only 37 finished. This is rare in CAT3 races when almost everyone starts, finished. This is the difference between CAT 4 and CAT 3. In CAT 4, the pack gets shredded at every race and really only 20-30 guys are racing for the final sprint. In CAT 3, everyone has good endurance, so almost nobody gets dropped. Anyway, back to the race. Boups, the time trial master, was leading and pulling the pack for most of the race. About 20 minutes in, he gets a gap of about 10 meters or so, and I jump and bridge to him. I then try to encourage him and another breakaway rider to work together, but they think it’s too much, so we get swallowed by the pack shortly later.

On and on, people are getting blown off. This is a bad course to be at the back of the pack. It’s constant braking into the corners, sprinting out, trying to hold the wheel in front of you, then braking into the next corner. When you are at the front, it’s smooth and no braking into the corners. I found myself getting quite tired at the back and feeling better at the front or middle.

With 5 to go, Boups is still pulling the pack. He starts to fade back and I check to see if he’s ok. He is. With 3 to go, Boups goes up the left side and I get his wheel. We launch an attack off the front, but the pack just lets us dangle for a 1/2 lap and doesn’t give us a chance, so we’re reeled in. Boups pulls for the rest of the race and I’m in 5th wheel coming around the last turn. Then, chaos occurs and the field is all over the road. Two trains come by and I get boxed in. The right side train fades and one of the riders makes an extremely erratic move and chops James’ wheel in front of me at 30+mph. James doesn’t go down, but it certainly halts our progress. James, Greg, and I finish around 15th. Boups faded on the finishing straight to 18th or so and Craig came in around 29th.

We’ve definitely got a strong team in the 3s, but we haven’t quite figured out how to make our strengths work for each other yet.

City Park Criterium

Denver, CO / June 1

Ryan Hughes said:

thought I’d give you an update on my inagural P-1-2 race at the City Park criterium in Denver today. We had a pretty full field of 80+ riders for the 75 minute criterium. I was the lone RM/Izze wolf. Anyways, the entire race was blistering. I was about mid-to-back of the pack for the first 10 minutes, then moved up to the front. I was here to race, not just wait to get dropped right? So when I saw the opportunity, I took it and put the pros in the hurt locker by trying to get into a couple breaks.

Ok, so I didn’t really make them work too hard since the two breaks I got in only lasted.. oh, say 30-45 seconds. Still, not that anyone knew me, but I wanted to show that I wasn’t afraid of the pros.. and I wanted to get some “face time” and do some racing!! Maybe it was just to prove it to myself. Anyway, about 45 minutes, the legs start disagreeing with the effort and I drift to the back gradually. At minute 51, I lose contact with the pack, so I time trial it alone for the next 25 minutes. I ended up getting caught on the last lap by the breakaway, but the main pack never caught me, so they let me place. YESS!! 54th — one spot behind Corey Carlson.

It’s a start.

2008 Racing - CAT 3

This was the year that I finally figured out how to train. I built training plans from several sources and put them all on a big whiteboard. Then, I looked at the similarities between the plans such as workout type, length, intensity level, recovery, building block types, etc. I put it all together and made a single training plan that I felt best incorporated everyone's ideas. I'll write a blog specifically about training plans after I recap my racing years.

My training plan for 2008 involved the following:
Starting in January, do two months of Base period. This is mostly tempo workouts (60-90 minute intervals, 85% of functional threshold power) and endurance miles (easy/medium pace rides). In February, start incorporation medium interval workouts once a week (10-20 minute intervals, 97% of functional threshold power). March and April, build months, are mostly these same intervals, while gradually incorporating intervals without rest periods ("Over Unders" -- 5 min. @ 95% of FTP, 2 min. @ 102% of FTP, repeat 2 more times. rest between sets). May and June are the speed months. All workouts are short, super high intensity efforts.


So, yeah, this was a great year. I signed up for the Tour of the Gila stage race (late April) and that was a driving motivation during my hours on the trainer during the winter. This motivation and early "big" race allowed me to peak early and thus achieve some great results.


Two weeks before I got married (6/21/08), I upgraded to a CAT 2. I also raced cyclocross in 2008 as a CAT 3, but I didn't have the success as the road season (most likely because I got married in June, then took a couple months off and lost some fitness).