The Suitcase of Courage

Bethel and Mileage

Anyone that knows me or has read this blog for very long knows that I hate racing in the rain.

So, given the ABSOLUTE DELUGE that happened yesterday, I rainchecked my first race of 2011 - literally and figuratively.

But I did take my bike outside on Saturday - first time it's been outdoors since Thanksgiving, 2010.  Saturday was the Bethel Sweep Day - an annual event where we help SDC sweep and prepare the track for the first race.  I didn't know what to expect, with rain threatening in the morning.  But new teammate JP met me at the house, we loaded up our bikes, and drove over.

It was a testament to how well JP and I hit it off (or - at least as likely - how distracted I get when I'm talking so much) that I actually missed the exit off the Parkway.  But we had an even more scenic detour up Rt. 53 and when we got to Francis J. Clark industrial park, even though I was entering it from the wrong direction, it still brought back a flood of memories.  Not to sound corny, but my eyes got just a little moist as I turned off the main road and onto the track - "It's finally here!  Racing Season 2011 - and Spring is just around the corner!"

Unlike last year, we had fewer people and more work to do.  And the ice was CRAZY.  For more details about our fun Sweep Day 2011 (and, BION, it WAS fun) click here.  After our work was done and we'd consumed some fantastic pizza (courtesy Frank Navone of Navone Studios), we kitted up and went for some laps around the track.  The weather cleared up nicely and we put in over 17 miles of 'round & 'round before we packed it in.

It was really weird to actually have to balance my bike rather than have it held rigid in the trainer.  But they don't say "it's just like riding a bike" for nothing - I was able to balance just fine.  And I could even respond to the not-surprising friskiness of teammates Lance and Paul.  I was glad to discover that my training must be working - I'm just as fast as last year.  But for NOTABLY shorter periods of time.  Hopefully, endurance will come as I put more miles in.

Speaking of miles . . . I've finally updated my mileage totals on the left side of the page (which hadn't been updated since Nov. 26!)  As you can see, I've put in almost 640 miles since January 1.  All but the last 17 on the trainer.  Based on previous years, I'll need to put in another good 400 miles before I feel good and ready to race for real.  Last year, since I was targeting the Bethel Series for the team, I started my training a month early - 12/1/09 - and got all my miles in just as the series started.  But this year, Bethel will be part of my training rather than the first main goal.

So that's why, despite being really psyched to kick off my 2011 racing season, I decided to bow out yesterday.  There'll be plenty of opportunities to race this year - no sense getting all gritty and cold right out of the gate.

BTW, the forecast for this Sunday's race is MUCH better - hope to seeya there!

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Longtime readers know that we have three great cats.  My training partner - Rainy - had a seizure last night that kept us at the animal hospital for a bit.  She seems to be doing ok now thankfully, but we still have a lot of tests we have to go through to figure out what happened.  So if you could keep her in your thoughts and prayers, I'd appreciate it.  Thanks

Happy New Year!Welcome to a New Year, New You

Happy 2011!  And welcome to another year of the Suitcase of Courage blog.  It's the first day of the new year and I've resolved to lose weight, get more fit, and ride more miles in 2011.  As a matter of fact, I'm on the trainer right now as I type.

Yes, I've become a New Year's cliche.  But I'm in good company.  I haven't paid any attention to the newstands  but I'll be willing to bet at least one - if not a dozen - magazines have some variation of "New Year, New You" on the cover.  It's the time of year to resolve to do better, to be better, to live better, than we did last year.

It's a daunting task and, inevitably, within a month or so, those same magazines will have articles on what to do when you've failed to live up to your hopes and dreams for the new year.  Unfortunately, the only thing more cliche than making New Year's resolutions, is breaking New Year's resolutions.

But if you're reading this blog, you can buck that sad trend.  You (probably) have a bike, so use the New Year's resolution craze to motivate you to just get on and ride.  I know of no better, more effective way to accomplish many of the typical New Year's resolutions than just getting on a bike and riding, whether on the trainer, on the rollers or (gasp!) even on the road this winter.

There's only 9 weeks until the Bethel Spring Racing Series and there's lots of work to do.  The holidays took a toll this year and I'm about 15 pounds over my best race weight of 2010.  I'm also another year older tomorrow, so I expect it'll be a little harder to trim down.  We're going to find out.

So join me as we lose weight and get fit in 2011!   I'll share with you what I'm doing, what works for me, and what doesn't.  Hopefully you'll chime in too with your tips and suggestions.  It's going to be a great year.

But before we rush headlong into 2011, it's a good time to reflect on the highlights of 2010.  I had four goals last year:

• Support the new team and get SDC a podium position - if not the win - at Bethel.
• Learn more about racing as a team and gain experience.
• Get some top ten finishes in non-training races.  Podiums (podia?) are gravy.
• Help launch a new (hopefully successful and lucrative) charity ride supporting a local no-kill animal shelter.

I'm proud to say that I accomplished most of what I wanted:

• SDC won the Bethel Spring Series
• I got on the podium at Fall River
• We launched Pedal for Paws (Need to do a MUCH better post on this, with pictures)

Some more highlights of 2010:

15 year Anniversary

Summer vacation with Mr. & Mrs. SDC (just realized I didn't do a post on this.  Will do soon.  It'll be nice to relive last July in the depths of January)

Winning the Tuesday Night Rent' Race

Finishing a model I started 12 years ago, entering it in a model contest and getting Best in Show.

Some lowlights:

• Basement flood But that actually contributed to another highlight - finishing my basement.
• Little/no riding after Labor Day (only 270 mi since Labor Day; 4,179 for the year)
• Loss of fitness, gain of weight
• Bonking for the first time ever
• Mrs. SOC's unemployment benefits running out

I'm really blessed that the highlights far outweigh the lowlights.  All in all 2010 was a good year, but I'm looking for 2011 to be even better!

Trainer time is done now, so it's time to close this post.  As expected, the butt fared the worst with the time off.  But my Super Secret Bethel Training program starts with a Threshold Test this Monday.  So watch this space as - hopefully - our weight goes down and our fitness goes up.  Together, let's look forward to a New Year and a New You!

Happy New Year:2009 in Review

Happy New Year!!  I hope your holidays were safe and fun.  December was certainly busy!  After thinking I was going to get back to posting regularly - and even doing back to back posts in early December - well, I got distracted with all the cool goings-on of the season.  But I'm back now, and hopefully so are you.

Long time readers will recognize this as my annual "Highlights and Goals" post.  You can go here to see last year's (2008) highlights and 2009 goals in more detail.

I'm not usually one to make resolutions, but based on how I did on my 2009 goals, I think I may start making it a habit.  If you didn't click back, my goals for this past year were:

• Upgrade to Cat 3
• Join a new racing team
• Do more road races

I'm proud to say that I accomplished ALL THREE goals!!  One a couple of times (!) and one not enough....

I actually upgraded to Cat 3 at the beginning of the 2009 season after doing especially well in the 4s during '08.  I discovered very quickly - during the Bethel Spring Series starting in March - that Cat3 races are a whole lot different.  Certainly tougher and faster, but they felt much safer too.  I did well in 2009 as a 3, but posted no top ten results.  I had a couple of 12th place finishes toward the end of the season.  But my biggest accomplishment was doing better than (I) expected at the Rentschler field crits.  Sure, they're "just training" but for a dyed-in-the-wool sprinter (i.e. wheel sucker) like me, getting into a number of breaks in the "A" race, and sticking with most of them, was a major accomplishment.  I was definitely stronger and faster in '09 than I'd even been in '08, lack-of-results notwithstanding.  I hope 2010 is even better.

As for my second goal, well, I did that one twice.  After admiring the Capitol Velo Club (CVC) for a number of years, I joined them over the winter last year.  They're a super nice group of folks and great racers.  It's especially nice how they support the community not only with a weekly training series (they run the "Rent" crits), but a major charity race in June.  Unfortunately, CVC focuses a lot on Masters road racing and even though I certainly qualify as a "Master" (it's an age thing, not a skill thing), I like racing crits.

Toward the end of the year, a new team started to gel that looked like it would be a better fit for my goals and what I'd like to focus on, including a strong focus on charity events.  Best of all, many of the folks I'd ridden and raced with are on the new team.  While many of you already know, with the new year I can officially announce that I've joined the ExpoWheelmen for 2010.

What about that road racing goal?  Well, that one didn't go so well - which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.  But - unlike 2008 - I actually did Jamestown this year and that's a road race so I'm going to count it!

So what about Goals for 2010?  Remember - I'm not one for resolutions and I don't expect that things will gel in 2010 as well as they did in 2009.  I don't have any desire (or, frankly, the training time) to upgrade to Cat2.  I'm really looking forward to racing with the new team, so there shouldn't be a need to go elsewhere (besides, two teams in one year is pushing it).  Road Races?  I can't do Battenkill because my work schedule really conflicts this year - but I hope that it will be a goal for 2011.  I do still want to try more road racing though and will certainly do Jamestown, as well as the Three Village Tour at least.  That'll double my road racing calendar over last year(!)

That all said, my main goals for 2010 are:

• Support the new team and get SDC (who is now a teammate!) a podium position - if not the win - at Bethel.
• Learn more about racing as a team and gain experience.  This will be the first time I have a large number of teammates in the same races.  It'll be fun to actually work on some team tactics.
• Get some top ten finishes in non-training races.  Podiums (podia?) are gravy.
• Help launch a new (hopefully successful and lucrative) charity ride supporting a local no-kill animal shelter.  We're already listed on BikeReg so check us out.  Pedal for Paws, October 2, 2010.  Be there!

The start of a new year is always an intoxicating mix of anticipation and trepidation.  It'll be interesting to see how 2010 plays out.  It'll be even more interesting to see what my post looking back on 2010 will look like!

Why Race Wednesday& 10,000 Miles

"I am flooded with dread before every single event, as I walk around muttering, 'Why do I race? Why do I put myself through this? I hate this. I'm not going to do this anymore. This is it.' Then I get to the venue and am immediately sucked into the excitement of the event at hand. Once the race is on, I'm almost 100 percent happy. Don't get me wrong, I have my rough spots and I certainly suffer along the way. But there's no place where my mind is as quiet and I feel so 'in the zone' to dish out a trite, overused phrase as I do when in the midst of a race. The outcome is secondary--it's the actual event I love. In the end, that's why I race." -snipped from here.

My thoughts exactly.  I couldn't have said it better myself.

If you need more race perspective (as in, putting it in proper perspective for us amateurs), check out this article from The Everyday Athlete.

And if the thrill of racing isn't enough to get out and ride, there's always the joy of seeing your odometer change over . . .

from this . . .

 

to this . . .

 

I got this CatEye when I got my bike back in August 2005.  Once I got my indoor trainer the odometer function became less accurate (since the sensor is on the front wheel), but this mileage includes miles on the rollers as well as on the road.  This milestone passed under my tires during my last 50 mile ride.

Regardless of the actual number of miles it represents, the fact is that I've done at least 10,000 miles on my bike.  And it's pretty cool to see it (even if it means losing my tenths-of-a-mile).

Cat 3 Upgrade!A New Year's Goal Accomplished

Well, after two full seasons of fits and starts (and crashes and moves), I finally got my upgrade as a Category 3 bike racer!

Here's the proof - copied from the USAC website:

Type	Status	Exp Date
Road Racer  Categories   Road Cat 3	Active	12/31/2009

Diane Fortini, from our local racing association, approved my upgrade this morning.  She was actually ready to upgrade me last fall, but we figured it best to wait until I renewed my license for 2009.

So, with apologies to Hobgoblin, MY Cat(s) 3:

I can check one thing off my "2009 Goals" list.

But now it looks like I have to change the subtitle of my blog . . .

2008 Highlights & 2009 Goals

WARNING: This is going to be the obligatory, gratuitous, and narcissistic annual "Highlights & Resolutions" post.  I actually like reading these - it's interesting to see what others have been up to (12 months distilled into one post) and what their goals are.

So, without further adoo, here we go:

Highlights in 2008

As you'll see, "Highlights" here can be good or bad - but they're all notable for one reason or another.

• Memorial Day Weekend

On Saturday, I had my first non-training race, the Stafford Springs Crit.  I came in 4th due in large part to a great leadout by friend Guido.  And I hit #1 among all Cat 4 racers in Connecticut.

The next day, while racing the Hartford Crit - and with only 6 laps to go - a group of us went down in the corner.  Hard.  And I thus joined the Collarbone Club. 

• Bike Fitting

After recuperating from my broken collarbone, I raced the Naugatuck Crit - probably the toughest race mentally I've ever done (very afraid of crashing) - and did pretty well, coming in 5th place.  But friend SDC thought I could do even better with a better fit. It's definitely a "highlight" since he was right, as you'll see...

• First Podium Appearance

I raced the Fall River Crit for the first time ever - and it was also my first race since the radical re-fit.  It was a tough race, but I came in 3rd - just beating out one of the other racers at the line (thankfully, I'd been practicing my bike throw)!

• Rentschler Field Crits

My first race ever was a training race held at the 'Rent' in May 2006 and I've always enjoyed racing there.  It's always well run and a fun time.  2008 was extra special though since I won the last four "B" races of the season in a row and was even able to hold my own in the "A" race.  Since my first podium appearance was earlier the same month, August was the highlight month of the year.

Goals for 2009

• Upgrade to Cat 3

This is Priority Two for 2009, but - fortunately - I already know it's imminently do-able!

Given my results in 2008 (I did well in the spring races and, ironically, did even better AFTER I broke my collarbone.  Go figure), USACycling has already expressed a willingness to upgrade me.  But it won't be official until I renew my license for 2009.  And I don't want to renew my license until I know what team I'm going to be on.

Which leads me to Priority One . . .

• Join a new racing team

Ever since moving in July 2007, I haven't been able to do much with my current team.  I'm just nowhere near the rest of the team anymore and can't participate in rides and events with them as much as I'd like (and should).  So, I need to find a team that's closer so I can participate more and have teammates to train with.

• Do more road races

I've done only one road race in my life and it barely qualified as such - it was more like a long crit, or circuit race.  I love the Jamestown race, probably because I think of it as a crit racer's dream road race - no huge climbs, only 40 miles long.  I tend to race crits since I do well in them, and they don't take the whole day (especially good for Mrs. Suitcase).  But they are pretty dangerous.

But when I think of traditional bicycle racing, I think of road races.  The strategies, the alliances, the climbs, the countryside, the feed zones.  All contribute to the overall look and feel of what I recognize as bike racing.  I'll probably totally stink at them, but hey - if I get shelled, it's still a nice ride in the country, right?

• Learn more about bike maintenance and repair

I've learned how to change my own chain and cassette, but rebuilding - or even replacing - my brake levers/shifters is still pretty intimidating.  I've never replaced my own bar tape or cables.  And - shame of all shames - try as I might, I can't even dial in my rear derailleur the way I'd like.  That usually has to be done by a shop.  Of course, I've never opened my bottom bracket or hubs.

I have a repair stand and (most of) the tools I need.  I even have a manual.  I usually learn stuff by reading about it, but that hasn't worked well for me in the bike repair arena.  I think I really need someone to walk me through it once.

Maybe I'll volunteer at a bike shop and see what I can absorb through osmosis.

• Post to my blog more regularly

During my SPAM wars the first half of December, I seriously considered shutting down this blog.  Those of you who have blogs know they can be a lot of work.  I enjoy writing, but my perfectionist/OCD tendencies sometimes make it pretty difficult to produce posts.  Too often I make the perfect the enemy of the good and end up posting nothing.  And too seldom do I feel confident that my posts are helpful/inspiring/resonating to anyone but me.

But the number of comments I've received over the past week have been really encouraging.  And through some of them, I've discovered other cycling blogs that I didn't know existed and have made some new friends too.

While this blog is as much a personal journal as it is the sharing of a personal journey, the many new friends I've made through it - and the motivation I've gotten from them and the rest of my readers - has heightened my resolve to post more in the New Year.

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While the door's shut on 2008, I'm sure my goals for 2009 will evolve.  I hope you'll enjoy coming along for the ride and if you learn something, or anything I say causes you to think or try something new, it's already worth it.

So here's to a Happy New Year and a Safe and Satisfying Cycling Season in 2009!