Goodbye Garmin

Well, to be honest, lately I've been selling off a bunch of bike parts. Shortly after Indy, I sold the aerobars, which were just incredibly dangerous, & not really that much faster. Plus I sold the aero helmet for various reasons - it looks ridiculous, hot as hell under that thing, & it hurt my head & ears to wear it. So, as the last hurrah, my Garmin 305 is on the auction block on ebay. Lets face it - I'm never going to use half of the stuff on it! Cadence? I know how fast my legs are going. Heart rate? I know when it hurts & when I'm out of breath! Virtual Partner? Well, some days I'm slower than myself. GPS that hardly works when it's cloudy? Nah. Granted if I was a racer I'd adore these things. But what am I worried about right now? Miles. Miles & miles of miles. And would you believe it, this fancy schmancy computer doesn't tally mileage! It does on a computer program at home, but not on the road! I'm tired of having to remember to charge the battery! I'm tired of cadence magnets! All I need is a 'puter to give me speed, miles & my odometer.
Wait. I have one of those somewhere.... Hmm. I didn't realize how much I missed my Cateye! It's got all the things I need, & didn't cost me anything to put it back on! Love it!

Plus it's like 200 grams lighter than the Garmin... Haha!

Tour de Cure 2009 Indianapolis Motor Speedway

I've been thinking about the best way to post this. And there is only one good way to start it. I DID IT! I FUCKING DID IT! My first century. And the sweetest ride I've ever done. So the story starts like this...

Thursday after work, I swung thru Big Shark to grab the Zipp 1080's I had on reserve before we left. I actually reserved them from Little Shark, & then you take them to Big Shark to have them mounted & your bike checked out. Good thing, because at some point I put the pads on upside down for the front brake! Oops. When they rolled her out, I still couldn't get over the look. These are some bitchin deep ass rims. The deepest Zipp makes outside of a disc. I kept thinking please don't have any cross winds. Aero typically trumps weight, and these puppies were heavy - 2700 for the pair of clinchers. I still have no idea why they don't just do those in a tubular - there's no friggin way you're going to get a normal tire leaver on them. Luckily I didn't have to!

Friday morning came & Tab & I headed out. About 5 hours later we arrive at the hotel, the Sleep Inn near the airport. To my surprise and enjoyment, the Good Guys car club was having a car show that weekend, too! Tons of slick street rods everywhere! Ans one of the most beautiful 65 Corvette's I've seen too! We get unpacked, grab some carb load & hit the sack. But, I really don't think I slept too much - way too excited!

Dawn. June 13th, 2009. D Day (in my mind, lol). Moment of truth. I signed in, grabbed some breakfast with Tab, & headed toward the track. A final good luck kiss & the reply of "I will not settle for anything under 100" from her got me ready! I could see Fred off in the distance, & went over to greet him. He had been here last year for the ride, & got kicked off the track with a few laps to go. He wanted it as badly as I did. I also saw Deny from Pennsylvania who was with us last year, as well as some new faces to the team. Then, the boss shows up. I haven't seen Tom in over a year, & it was like we saw each other yesterday. Great guy. Luckily this year we actually started on time! Slowly, away we go. I was reminded of last year of overdoing it at the start, & suffering the rest of the day. I took a warm up lap this year... Once most of the crowd left the track, I decided to try a pace of 18-19 mph to see how I could do. Zipps humming away, I dropped into the aerobars, & churned out a nice slow cadence. My legs seem to hold out longer if I'm not spinning away lately, & this worked to my advantage here.

A couple of laps down, a HUGE paceline comes by, & I latch on with Denny. I'd be lying if we weren't going 25 mph! Woosh! I still wanted to keep my slow cadence thing going, & for the first time I think ever, I was in 50 x 11 gearing! Wee! I was wishing for a 53 for the front, & I was hanging on. I come in for my first pit stop at 20 miles wishing I hadn't had that cup of coffee! I told Tab she needs to update my Facebook status with mileage, which she did lovingly! Banana break, & back out I go. Another 20 miles, another break. And yet again on a charity ride, there was a wreck. Apparently two riders got tangled up on the back side of the track & went down. It's not right seeing the ambulance going by. I think about mile 60 the pain started to get too me. The wind began picking up, & the great idea 1080's are like a kite at this point. I'm bobbing & weaving along the front stretch & turns 1 & 2! The back stretch was fine with the tailwind, but I was losing steam fast.

About mile 78, I was really doubting myself. I came in for a break, & Tab gave me a kiss & told me otherwise. At this point the paceline's were gone, & only a few riders were left on the track. I kept staring at my Garmin doing calculations as to how much time was left & how fast I really needed to go. My average speed dropped to 15-16 with the wind and the "damn Zipps" as I was calling them now. But, every time I went by, the cowbells were ringing & Tab was blowing kisses & telling me to keep going.

Lap 38. Getting closer. I saw Fred & Denny up ahead of me & caught up to them. Turns out Fred had 2 more laps to do, & Denny only had one! Now I didn't feel so bad. It was the ultimate Team Stormcrowe photo op - all three of us side by side for the last laps. Luckily Tom got those shots! Denny finished his lap, & we applauded him as we went to do our last one. It may have been the longest lap of the day, but it went by faster than any I had done. As I rolled over the bricks very slowly for the last time, every muscle in my body hurting, I shed a single tear. Maybe because I had no energy to produce more. Maybe because I was so tired. Maybe because I was filled with joy. We come around the pit road wall back to the finish, & my support is there waiting for me. I somehow remember to unclip, & I receive the greatest victory of all - love. The words weren't coming out of my mouth at this point, but the fear, the burden, the shadow which had been looming over me for the past 365 days was gone. Like that.

I'd planned on doing a final victory lap, but the time limit had just expired, & there was no was I could go around one more time physically. I sure thought at some point afterward I was going to get emotional. I did, and the smile is still there. No need to cry. But, until I have kids, this was the best day of my life. I will never forget it, or who was there with me on that day! She's a trooper! She brought a book and some knitting stuff, & thew entire 6 hours, she rooted me on! I saw her every time I went by. So Tab, I thank you & love you!

So, bottom line. Did the Zipps help? No. Honestly I think I'm going to stick with metal rims. Carbon fiber is supposed to help reduce road feel, & these surely didn't, even on the track. Did the funky aero helmet help? Doubt it. Did the aerobars do anything? Made my back hurt less, but still dangerous around a paceline. I don't think aero trumped weight at all - it's still about the rider & his engine. But lightweight may help with a distance thing like this. Did I look cool? Hells yea! Plan on doing it again next year even though I beat it this year? Absolutely! I'll beat my time. That's the goal. Along with some laps with Chad, Sandra & Tab! C'mon guys, it's your turn! And, thanks to all of you who supported me for the ride, whether it was financially or personally. I couldn't have done it without you! By the way, I'm not even going to look at that bike of mine for a month or so! And I did it. I effing did it.

Tour de Cure 2009 St. Louis

Ha! Pretty cool day. Woke up at about 4:30 & headed to Raging Rivers for the third time for TDC. I promised myself I would only do the 50 mile, as I still really want to do my first century at Indy. I got there with plenty of time to spare, & grabbed a cup of coffee, bagel & banana for my breakfast. Time was growing nearer, & I decided to make one last pit stop. When I came back to where I parked my bike, I hear a voice calling my name. It was Suzanne! A good friend of Tab's, & an avid cyclist who I often talk to on Facebook, but have never actually met in real life. We struck up a conversation, & she invited me to hang with them for a while. As it turns out, it was a good thing I did.

We were probably less than three miles from the start, & I hear a metallic clunk. A few yards away, another member from Team Revolution, Jackie had done an endo looking back to see where the other members were! Luckily she only managed to scrape her knee's, & hopped back on the bike like a champ! Hmm, these chicks are tough I think to myself. Then, a few miles later, Dessa ended up with a flat in her rear wheel (glass just like the ones I got a few weeks prior). Showing that chivalry was indeed not dead, I took it upon myself to put a new tube in it to get her on the way. But, not a few yards later, it went flat again. More glass shards. At this point, we're all checking our tires. I didn't want to run the risk of using another tube, so the SAG wagon picked her up & drove her to the next stop. Granted, this is all before the first rest stop! I nothiced my quads were starting to hurt from kneeling down, but I kept with it. It sure couldn't hurt as bad as that endo!

Once we got to the street & off the trail, we opened it up. Pacelining at a good 20 is fun! Especially when your turn to pull has less wind than drafting! They tried to talk me into doing the 100, which they were all doing. I told them no and explained why. Right about that time, I completely missed the turn off for the 50. I figured out that it would be around 75 if I went up north with them, & catch my turn on the way back down south. We got to go over the ferry over the Illinois river which was a great time last year, & I noticed the Garmin was still picking up milage as we went over the water! Looks pretty cool on the download! As always, I grabbed a 'naner at each stop, but that leg pain from before was still bugging me.

Then, it was my turn. It was a full moon, too. Somehow my cleat came loose on the left shoe & I accidentally unclipped while making a turn going over the bridge over the Il. river. I swerve, sway, & get all sorts of sideways! I corrected myself, but as I did, the pedal came back around & smacked the back side of my Achilles tendon. Now this really makes for some pain. I stopped for a minute, gained some composure, & notice the peloton riding away. So I try walking it off for a while, & then hop back on the bike. Luckily, and to my surprise, the ladies were all waiting for me around the turn. Suzanne said "Oh no! We lost Phil!!!" I told them what happened, & keep up with them, but both legs were gone at this point, & they were pulling too far awat for me to keep up. Looking down at the Garmin, I had done my 50. Just not the way I wanted to. A half hour later I make it to the rest stop where I was suppposed to turn off & saw them all waiting for me. I proclaimed I was done, & they all hugged me & thanked me for my help. I flagged down the SAG, & took a ride thru the finish line in the back of a cargo van yet again. I'm seeing a pattern here. But I did my 50. So, St. Louis is done for another year, & Indy is next weekend. I'm done playing Lance & now it's time for Zabriskie! I think I became an honorary (yet temporary) member of Team Revolution today, & I am proud to have ridden with some tough, great cyclist. So thanks to Suzanne, Terri, Dessa & Jackie for a great ride! See you around town!

I'm back...

Sorry! Giving up is way harder than trying. Lately I've been a little upset with myself & my cycling failures. The flat at Hermann, the huge time gap at Centaur. I was a little rash & deleted all my old posts, & almost gave up on the whole thing. That was very foolish on my part. Unfortunately, I can't get back my old posts. But, maybe that's a good thing. I can start fresh. I can start stronger. Safe to say, I may be done racing. I should have listened to Mickey when he told me of his struggles when he raced. It's just too competitive for me. I don't have the extra time to train, & I haven't been racing since I was 5! Nor do I have the means of buying thousands of dollars worth of go fast goodies, even though we all know what Lance says. It really took the enjoyment factor out of it - this is supposed to be FUN! Remember fun?!?

So as of now, I'm all about getting thru Indy. I won't have enough donations to do St. Louis. Which was another reason I got upset. But, not a big deal. Then, it's all about the fun rides. And taking the time to ride with the ones I love. For the reasons that I love it. Now, where's that comfy heavy saddle?