Starting Now, I'm Starting Over

Tick-tock, you're not a clock,
You're a time bomb

Altoona is over.  Out of nowhere, I was able to go uphill fast.  Also out of nowhere, I've got motivation for the rest of the season.  Cyclocross is coming soon, but before it starts, I'm going to bag at least one more win.  I'm looking specifically at the NJ State Criterium Championships.  Yeah, I'm looking at you.  Bring the bomb squad because I'm gonna blow it to pieces.

Stage 20 Pick

Well I'm going to get this one in on time. Turns out Levi was a good pick. That should move me up in the standings. It is going to come down to the final picks for Sunday.

Who: Thor Hushovd
Why: He's been quiet, too quiet, since his win way back in Stage 3 or 4 or whenever it was he won. He won on the Champs-Élysées last year and I'm hoping he'll have finally recovered from all the mountain (dumb) stages to bag one for me on the final day. I'm a bit worried that a "spectacular protest" may throw a wrench into things. That would be pretty sweet, though.

Stage 19 Pick

Once again, I'm late in posting this. For Stages 18, 19, and 20, all my picks were made Thursday afternoon. Plus, I haven't read the results of the TT yet.

Who: Levi Leipheimer
Why: As demonstrated in the ToC, he can time-trial fairly well. He's in a good position for the overall so will be quite motivated.

Altoona - Pre-Race

Despite heavy traffic leaving NJ and a huge delay once on I-80, I was able to make it to my hotel, the EconoLodge, in Altoona by 10:30PM. I forget where we stayed last year but it was far, far worse than the EconoLodge, and probably more expensive.

I settled in and started to relax a bit. My race wasn't until 11:35AM on Friday so I didn't have to worry about getting to bed early. So I flipped on the telly and found that Taxicab Confessions was playing on HBO. That was incredibly entertaining. Due to the PG-13 rating of this blog, I can't summarize any of the show for you.

Got to bed around midnight and woke up at 8:15AM. Quick shower, checkout, some breakfast at DD (not DnD . . . which is Dungeons and Dragons . . . Dunkin' Donuts is DD) and I was off to Martinsburg for a 38 mile circuit race.

One of the more exciting things about Altoona is that all the amateurs use all the same parking lots, facilities, etc. as the pros do. I saw Mandy Lozano and she cut me down for not having upgraded to Cat2 yet. Walked out of the bathroom (real ones, not Port-a-Potties) and bumped into Scott Moninger. the most successful active racer in North America. He is about 43 years old, has about 2% body fat and his legs are jacked. He's got longevity, for sure, but I'll leave its legitimacy for you to decide.

I haven't been this nervous pre-race in a long, long time. I think I put a bit too much emphasis on this weekend and thus a bit too much pressure on myself. But once we got rolling, it was fine. Race report to follow (maybe).

Stage 18 Pick

Please excuse my tardiness in posting this. Working out the logistics of Altoona has forced me to take some time away from the blogosphere temporarily (more on Altoona later). Did you miss me? DIdn't think so.

Who: Tom Boonen
Why: Well he's the strongest guy left. That's all there is to it. However, given that I'm posting this after knowing already the results of the stage, I have to say it should have been quite obvious given yesterday's stage that a break would stay away. Oh well.

Stage 17 Pick

Wow! The Tour has more drama than The OC, drunk sorority girls and a TNT primetime lineup combined! Stage 17 is a sprinter's stage . . . I really don't think a break will last especially with all but one of the categorized climbs over by the first third of the stage.

Who: Erik Zabel
Why: He's been there and thereabouts for almost every sprint stage. I think he will have gotten through the mountains with less effort than Boonen and the other Big Guns. Finally, back to the exciting stages!

Weird Dream

Last night I had a dream that I was at Altoona already. It must have been Sunday . . . I was wearing some type of leader's jersey but I don't think it was for the overall. George Hincapie high-fived me. He must have crashed out of the Tour and taken a direct flight back over to the US just to watch me race. I talked to Adam Myerson (who, incidentally, is the lanterne rouge after Stage 1, the TTT) and he seemed to need to borrow one of my wheels. Then he asked me if I had a coach and, when I responded in the negative, he said, "We should talk about that." For some reason I thought I was supposed to be racing in the P/1/2 race . . . maybe because upgrading to Cat2 has been on my mind lately . . . but in the preparations, I missed 1) making any Cytomax for the race and 2) the start of the Cat3 race. I was reduced to tears, as I recall.

Dreams are weird, man.

Stage 16 Pick

Vino. Hah. Vino. (and by Vino, of course, I mean wine).

Who: Iban Mayo
Why: He's a Spaniard and they're going through Spain today. The Col d'Aubisque is somewhat near the Spanish border and is also a pretty long and steady climb, favoring old man strength versus the short and steep climbs that require youthful explosiveness. The only thing that concerns me is that, in light of the Vino news (again, wine, of course), there could be a big protest. However, given the tight race between Contador (definitely a doper) and Rasmussen (double-definitely a doper), a protest-neutralized stage is unlikely.

Stage 15 Pick

Well, I think this is kind of a crapshoot. The GC contenders should be exhausted an beat from Stage 14 (but with the drugs these days, you can be superman two days in a row), so I'm thinking an early break should be given a massive advantage. Thus, it favors a decent climber that is way down on GC.

Who: Manuel "Tricky" Beltran
Why: He can go uphill pretty fast as he demonstrated many times in the service of LA. Riding for Liquigas, they won't have much more to hope for other than another stage win or two. Tomorrow will be intereseting.

Stage 14 Pick

Hmmm, if Klödi hadn't fallen, maybe he could've even gotten 2nd. I guess Vino is back, too.

Who: Michael Rasmussen
Why: Duh

Stage 13 Pick

Well that Cat2 climb didn't sort out the sprinters like I expected. Dang. I need points tomorrow since they're catching up on me.

Who: Andreas Klöden
Why: Look at his performance in the prologue. I can't pick Cancellara or Millar (they're taken). My only concern is that Vino will ask him to save something for the following two stages.

Hate

Interns suck.

Stage 12 Pick

Who: Filippo Pozzatto
Why: He said he was going to win Stage 12. I believe him.

What Counts

I am almost always in complete agreement with PezCyclingNews's Toolbox articles and I always find myself thinking as I read them at work (on coffee break, of course) that I should post about them. Inevitably I forget and a week goes by . . . by the time I remember, it's time for a new Toolbox.

This week's Toolbox is no exception. Read the four (plus the five 'others') ingredients carefully. Aerobic Capacity, Strength, Economy and Anaerobic Energy System. I have observed many a cyclist that seem to key only on Anaerobic Energy to the great detriment of the other three ingredients. And these aren't just willy-nilly riders. Some of them have coaches who prescribe this kind of program. They end up playing a numbers game that, to me, is a bit "instant gratification" and not necessarily prudent or desirable in the long term. I'm not picking specifically on coached riders, but on those that use a system (coach-defined or not) that involves a lot of go-hard to develop the Threshold/Anaerobic/Lactate/Etc system(s).

I am a huge proponent of the long ride. Not quite long steady distance (LSD) but close. The long ride does amazing things for your Aerobic Capacity and your Economy. When it comes to racing, I personally think that Economy is of the utmost importance. You don't have to be the strongest in the race. You just have to have the most energy left when it counts (i.e. when the winning break goes, on that final climb, or, as is most often the case for me, in the sprint). Improving Aerobic Capacity and Economy allow you to come to the line with more reserves than those around you.

I have found that a combination of long rides and consistent riding (six days per week on the bike, even the Monday Night Recovery Ride counts) give the biggest improvements in Aerobic Capacity and Economy and that is what I attribute most of the (admittedly limited in time and discipline) success on the bike.

Stage 11 Pick

Hmmm, on my long list for Stage 10 were both Sandy Casar as well as Cedric Vasseur. I should've thought to include Jens Voigt, obviously, but in the end, it didn't matter. Stage 11 should be a more straightforward small break + late catch + normal sprint.

Who: Fred Rodriguez
Why: McEwen is out and Rodriguez has been given the go-ahead to play his own card. He won't ever be much help to Cadel Evans except for tempo riding but they're not in that position, yet. A messy sprint could favor him although he has been known to be a pansyass when it comes to riders crossing lines and wheels. We'll see.

Stage 10 Pick

This is another tough one to pick. Will Quickstep and Milram keep things in check? My guess is no. I'm betting on a small break staying away with a couple Cat3 and Cat4 climbs.

Who: Philippe Gilbert
Why: He's way down on GC, a Belgian one-day classic kind of rider, and riding for FDJ, whose best-placed GC man is in 69th place, a whopping 35'39" down (after Stage 8), one place below Erik Zabel . . . ZABEL! I've got my fingers crossed.

Stage 9 Pick

Well this is a tough one to pick. You've got some massively long and steep climbs but then a 38k descent to the finish. So you've gotta go with someone that can climb, can descend and can sprint. But do you go with a lesser name? Someone that wants just a single day of glory? Like I said, tough. Contador is taken, but otherwise I think he'd be a good pick.

Who: Alejandro Valverde
Why: Well, he can climb and he can sprint. He'll be in the "contenders" group. He won L-B-L so when he gets to the line with all those petite climbers, he should be able to outkick them (kind of like the asshat move he pulled on Cristophe Moreau in Stage 8).

Owasco -- teh Suck

What is stupider than mountain biking?

Time-trialing.

Owasco started off with a 12.5ish mile TT. I rode complete and utter Merckx-style (i.e. sans aero of any sort) and still beat at least 20 d-bags with cash to burn (30'03"). Losers. But I sunburned my hands since I wasn't wearing gloves.

We sat around until the criterium. I spent some of that time sleeping on the concrete sidewalk outside the Auburn Wegmans. It was a really, really dumb criterium. I have no idea how I ended up with position going into the final turn (less than 100m from the uphill finish to the line -- yeah, like I said, really, really dumb) and pulled off 2nd after yet another d-bag (true story, ask Mark) from MIT pulled a cheeky move and chopped everyone to the inside.

The road race, despite being the worst ever, was awesome. I picked up some more bonus time (like that was going to help me, 2'30" down) in the first sprint. I came unhitched on the first KOM climb, a 1.2 mile 7% deal. I was in the third group over . . . the seven of us chasing back (ok, so honestly it was me and two Van Dessels chasing back, the rest were teh suxors) for 20 minutes. As soon as we got back on to the leaders, my back tire picked up a sweet sharp stone and went flat. Got a wheel change, chased back with two others (even more useless and lame than the non-Van Dessels in the first chase) with a bit of help from the wheel and follow car for another 20 minutes. Hung on for about 30 more minutes and then went *POP* on a section that looked like it came from a saltbox roof. Oh well. At least I chased back on twice.

P.S. I didn't finish.

P.P.S. Todd needs to go to man school.

P.P.P.S. Mark needs to go to potty training.

Stage 8 Pick

Who: Levi Leipheimer
Why: The second real Alpine stage *should* give some sorting-out to the GC standings. However, some of them may want to wait until the Pyrénées to make their moves (this is a mistake, in my opinion). Levi is going fairly well, following somewhat in the footsteps of Landis in preparation for the Tour. We'll see if any of the GC men have what it takes.

Stage 7 Pick

Haven’t seen the end of Stage 6 yet. Hoping Boonen podiums, at least.

Who: Frank Schleck
Why: CSC has indicated that he, along with Sastre, is their GC hopeful. I don’t think tomorrow will really sort out much of the GC but I think the stage will suit Schleck . . . much like the stage to Alpe d’Huez that he won last year. Plus, Luxembourg is nearly French, so he’s almost riding for Bastille Day glory. In hindsight, this is probably a bad pick because you KNOW a Frenchman will buy his way into the win tomorrow.

Stage 6 Pick

Hincapie placed 6th. Not bad, not bad. Stage 6 is another pure sprinter's stage.

Who: Tom Boonen
Why: He needs to do the Green Jersey honor and win a stage outright. His opportunities are becoming fewer and fewer. My only worry is that tomorrow will be a very easy stage and, in general, Boonen sprints well at the end of a hard stage when everyone else is tired.

Sicko, Part II

It seems that my semi-annual throat virus turned up last week and stuck with me through today. The sore throat has moved south and has become a hackish cough. Based on past experience, I can look forward to the cough for about a week or two.

Looks like I'll be taking it easy in Owasco this weekend and hoping my chest is clear for Altoona.

In general, I avoid riding whenever I'm sick below the neck but I don't think there's actually any sickness left, it's just residual. Off to the hills go I . . .

Stage 5 Pick

What a hectic finish for Stage 4. Glad for Hushovd to get on the top step for the first time this year. Also glad my pick, Oscar Freire, got a podium spot. Good on Robbie Hunter for his consistency. Now, back to business:

Who: George Hincapie
Why: The stage has 8 categorized climbs (4xCat4 3xCat3 1xCat2), very nearly assuring a break will stay away. CSC looks ripe to hand off the jersey after doing a lot of tempo work (unnecessarily, in my opinion) early in the week. Hincapie is a man for the classics-type stages and Bruyneel has shown time and again that, without Armstrong, he's about as effective as a chicken with its head cut off when trying to organize a GC-centric team. Look for Hincapie to be part of a 10+ man breakaway and unleash his halfway-decent sprint in the finish.

Stage 4 Pick

Whoa. Cancellara. More impressive than McEwen's Stage 1 win. Seriously. Stuff of champions.

Who: Oscar Freire
Why: Four Cat 4 climbs over 193km means the sprinters will have to do a bit more work than they like to. Freire, being a rather cheeky rider, is well-suited to this type of stage. It's somewhat reminiscent of Milano-San Remo, which Freire of course won this year. The only problem is that he'll have to do it himself since they've got the team dedicated to Menchov (minus Rasmussen who is allowed to do his own Chicken Pox thing).

Sicko

I've been feeling a bit sick for about a week. It's nothing major, mostly just a sore throat and achy joints. I could feel it in the beginning of my ride last Friday and I've decided to take it easy (read: no riding) until I'm fully back to 100%. If that means no riding until Owasco, well, that's fine with me. So long as I'm fresh and ready for Altoona, I'll be happy.

I've found that training while you're sick is, at best, ineffective. You can easily cause more harm than good so it's best not to push it when your body isn't up to it. Would you run your car without any oil in the engine?

Stage 3 Pick

Edit: I wrote this post last night and it looked like it posted but when I checked on Tuesday afternoon, it wasn't showing up.

My post on the Stage 2 Pick was a bit prophetic. Should've stuck to my guns. Steegmans is impressive . . . remember that stage in the Tour of Qatar when he basically had to soft pedal the last 50m to allow Boonen to come around him?

Who: Tom Boonen
Why: It's a long stage, the longest of the Tour. After 239.5km and in the north of France, Boonen will feel just like he did at E3 Prijs and Dwars door Vlaanderen . . . good. It's basically a semi-classic and that is right up his alley.

GC, Points and Mountain Picks

I forgot to put my General, Points and Mountain Classification picks in:

Yellow-
Who: Denis Menchov
Why: He has a solid team to support him (minus Oscar Freire . . . I doubt he'll make it to the end of the first week), though he's not much of a support rider anyways. He can climb and time trial and finished 6th last year. He won the Maillot Blanc in 2003. And I think Vinokourov will get tossed somewhere in the second week for a failed doping test.

Green-
Who: Robbie McEwen
Why: There are plenty of fast men to choose from but I don't think any are as consistent as McEwen. He has the ability to get over the smaller climbs that many of the other big sprinters can't (Boonen, Hushovd, etc). He's won it already in 2002, 2004 and 2006. He's got a great team that is dedicated to getting him stage wins (despite what they may say about Cadel Evans being their team leader).

Polka Dot-
Who: Michael Rasmussen
Why: He weighs about as much as a butterfly. He ran away with it last year and the year before, plus he'll be expected to be in the front group in any mountain stage to help out Menchov.

Stage 2 Pick

So now I'm back on top of my game for picks, let me review the results so far.

David Millar for the Prologue . . . turns out not to have been such a great pick. I guess his lack of drugs makes him go slow.

Tom Boonen for Stage 1 . . . decent pick, he got 3rd. McEwen pulled a rabbit out of his hat to come up with the win and you can't fight magic.

For Stage 2, my pick was also made before the Prologue, so don't accuse me of being a fair weather fan. It may have been better to switch my Stage 1 and Stage 2 picks:

Who: Robbie McEwen
Why: As the finish on Stage 1 demonstrated, the Scarlet Pimpernel always seems to remove his cloak at the last possible moment and steal victory away. The finish in Belgium would seem to benefit Boonen, but remember that McEwen also has a home there, so that may give him that extra bit of motivation.

Stage 1 Pick

I'm a day late. Oh well, I was too busy packing things up on Sunday morning to give my pick for Sunday. Here it is anyways:

Who: Tom Boonen
Why: He has the opportunity to wear yellow into Belgium, his home country and because he is really, really fast.

(This pick was made before the prologue. After the prologue was wrapped up, it was impossible for Boonen to wear yellow unless Cancellara had some sort of disaster and didn't get same time as the field)

Pittsburgh - Punxsutawney Ride

Link to the route is here.

Details to follow . . .

Prologue Pick

Well, the Prologue of the Tour 2007 is already underway so my pick may be a bit unfair, but just know this was my pick starting many days ago.

Who: David Millar
Why: He's a Brit and a TT specialist, a solid combo for a London Prologue.

Short Vacation

Heading to Western Pennsylvania for a few days for some family gatherings, good food and some hilly long rides.

Race report from the USBHoF 4th of July race to follow sooner or later (sooner if my sister brought her Macbook).

Hey, It Happens

This is the best piece of Cyclingnews.com journalism ever. (Let it load the whole way before trying to watch)