November 30, 2004
CoyBoy Ride - End of November
Sunday, November 28, 2004 on the CoyBoy ride around the Old Thompson Mill Loop the riders were Dan, James Campbell, Matt, Doug and Dean. James and Matt were high school mates and hadn't seen each other in a long time, so they were chatting and catching up. James goes to school in Kentucky now and was home for the holiday weekend, he and I had ridden together on the previous Friday.
At the top of the climb up Old Thompson Mill Rd. the peloton turned right and went for the county line sprint. Matt blew his shift and almost got beat by his Dad. James was totally in the dark and missed the whole show, but he knew about and wanted the Sunny Hill sprint, so we turned around and headed down the road to the final attack zone at the top of the first hill on Sunny Hill Road.
At the attack zone Matt motored away with James in tow, Dan caught up after a quick nature break (a disadvantage of being an old man) and followed the two youngsters up the big climb. Doug and Dean had dropped back and were battling each other for position.
With 300-350 meters to go Dan attacked Matt and James from behind and buried himself to the line. James, who was expecting the move to come from Matt, hesitated briefly and then took up the chase, but it was too little too late. Matt didn't feel like sprinting and let the attacks go.
Doug had got a gap on Dean coming up the climb, but then he waited thinking he could get him in the sprint. Dean had other ideas and uncorked everything he had resulting in a near photo finish at the line. Dean's move was just barely enough to hang on for the win, as Doug could not quite come around him in time.
Dan's HRM data
Tuesday, November 30, 2004 Doug and Dan motored around the Blackjack Loop keeping a fairly steady pace until about mile 22 when Doug hit the wall and had to ride easy and recover. The pace was eased back and Dan took this opportunity to practice high speed pedal revolutions in a low gear, better known as "spinups". Still, the two riders finished in a respectable time and it was a good workout.
November 27, 2004
Maysville Dirt Road Ride
Ten tough riders met in Hoschton, GA for the 50-mile "Maysville Dirt Road" ride.
Start list:
Nathan O'Neill
Dan Coy
Shey Lindner
Ming Tai
Marshall Millard
Wojtek Wysocki
Carlos Rivera
Steven Blondeau
Mike Owens
Jeff Aldridge
The climate was a frigid 30-40-something, gray overcast skies with a substantial wind chill factor. No bother, as everyone seemed to be properly dressed for the occasion.
Marshall, our resident video production expert, brought a digital camera and captured some stills and video clips of the GTC peloton (I'll post 'em as soon as I get 'em). Ming brought a homemade Rum Cake which we devoured in the parking lot after the ride. Steven had designed the course, Ming and Mike provided maps and elevation profiles.
Nathan displayed amazing power and agility on the dirt road sections. Ming, who is normally dominant in this type of situation, had some bad luck and crashed on a narrow wooden bridge and rode much of the ride with a damaged front wheel and no front brakes. Shey, Dan, Marshall and Wojtek (on a mountain bike) seemed to be within their comfort zones for the most part. Carlos looked to be having a strong ride and hung with the front group in the end. Jeff, Mike and Steven settled into a pace and found their way back to the start on their own.
Nathan parted ways with our GTC gang and continued to log an additional 2-hours of chamois-time -- after all, he gets paid to do this!
November 25, 2004
Thanksgiving Dinner
Bev cooked the best turkey I've ever tasted, made her famous iced tea, cranberry sauce, and salad. Rachel made a pecan and a pumpkin pie and decorated the table. Ruth made a green bean casserole and a deliciously creative potatoes au gratin. Marcus helped with the crescent rolls. Scott joined us and we had a fun time sitting at the table and enjoying the food and fellowship.
Thanksgiving Day
Early AM ride: The group rolled out of Braselton at 8:00 with Nathan O'N leading six of us around the rural roads toward Jefferson and back. The wind was intense with gusts over 25 mph, but the sun broke through the clouds and lifted everyone's spirits as well as the temperature.
On a section of road that Mister O'N plans to use for motor-pacing and time trial intervals soon, we had a nice tailwind and he and I wound it up for a minute or so. None of the other riders could hang on as we completely spun-out or 53x11's. He said his power meter was registering 1200 watts briefly. I know he was nearly on the rivet, because he started flicking his elbow at me to take a pull, but I was not willing and we had totally ridden everyone off our wheel anyway.
On a long downhill, just before we parted ways, I decided to lead O'N out for a county line sprint. Two riders were off the front and it was debatable whether or not we could catch them in the headwind, but I was confident and urged him to get on my wheel. Motoring down the hill at 40 mph we caught and passed the two other riders and O'N easily came around me to take the county line sprint. In a real race he would have to pay me for that effort.
The group headed back to the Addictive Cycles bike shop, where we had started about 2.5 hours earlier, making it a 41+ mile loop for us. O'N turned the other direction, headed into the wind toward Bethlehem and then to Grayson (another 1.5 hours in the saddle) to go have turkey with his in-laws. This pro cyclist is averaging 4 to 5 hours of chamois-time every day, rain or shine, and that's what it takes!
November 21, 2004
State Cyclocross Championship
A solid fifth place finish and a pretty decent ride left me mostly satisfied.
It was a long and very technical course which required a wide variety of bike handling skills. The rain had begun before the start so the course was becoming more technical and increasingly slippery as the race progressed.
By the end of the first lap a decisive selection was occurring, six riders were moving off the front and the winner was going to come from this group. Gerard was the fifth rider of this group and I was right on his wheel trying to conserve energy. Around a 90 degree turn, on mostly gravel, Gerard's tires slid out and he went down hard, I was practically doing a wheelie on my front wheel trying to avoid running over my fallen teammate. Meanwhile the other four riders got a substantial gap which I tried to close for the remainder of the race.
By the seventh and final lap I had nearly bridged up to the fourth place rider and had a comfortable advantage on the riders behind me. But in the end the grassy fields and asphalt sections were not quite long enough for me to make up ground, while I tried to limit the damage on the long run-ups and twisty, muddy single-track.
This championship race was worth more series points than the normal races. If I did the math correctly this will put me in fourth place in the overall series, in a very tight race with third. First and second place have a comfortable margin, while fifth and sixth are distant.
The HRM data suggests that I was not well rested for this event and the altimeter graph shows the severity of the climb on this course.
November 20, 2004
Blog Entry #200
Recap The Last Several Days: This has been stressful week and I didn't really get the rest and recovery I had hoped for, however a lot was accomplished.
Wojtek and Eva finished the huge job of renovating and painting the outside of my house this week, and it looks great -- see the photo album link below.
Friday afternoon I attended a luncheon discussion panel with renowned U.S. race announcer and cycling commentator Dave Towle. Joining Dave on the panel was Jeff Corbett, Director Sportiv of the HealthNet Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis; Micah Rice, Director Sportiv of the Jittery Joe’s Kalahari Cycling Team; Nathan O’Neill, five-time Australian National Time Trial Champion.
Friday night I went automobile shopping with Ruth and she bought an black 2002 Nissan Pathfinder -- see photo album link below.
Saturday night I attended Nathan O'Neill's 30th birthday party and it was a virtual who's who of cycling in this region.
Gotta go to bed now because I'm plan to go to the State Cyclocross Championships in the early morning. No particular expectations, especially after a stressful week, but we'll see what happens.
November 16, 2004
Russell Malone
I just got back home from my gig tonight, and I need to write about it because it was a special evening. My old friend and jazz guitar virtuoso Russell Malone arrived at the venue at the same time I did. Russell sat near the music and enjoyed a dinner while Mack and I played the first hour. For the next hour a small group of folks enjoyed the amazing talents of the one I consider to be the finest jazz guitarist on the planet. Trust me I don't toss words like that around lightly.
Compared to this man I am a total hack on the guitar, but for some reason he likes me and appreciates my ideas, work ethic and sensibilities. I am flattered. Thank you Russell.
Warmth
The new furnace arrived last evening. It was installed and making it cozy in the crib in a relatively short amount of time. We didn't mind too much because we have plenty of blankets and it's not all that cold in Georgia right now.
The past several nights the dogs had started sleeping together to stay warm, we will probably have to get them a bigger bed if they are going to continue doing that.
Django and Samantha tucked in for the night
Here's their interpretation of Yin and Yang
November 14, 2004
Jackson Cyclocross Race
With a display of total dominance, my teammate Gerard Remery, rode away from the Masters 40+ field to take his 2nd victory in this 2004 GA cyclocross series. Gerard has only competed in two races, so he is the clear favorite for the State Championship race next week in Marietta.
GTC Masters 40+ Cyclocross Team
Gerard Remery - 1st place
Dan Coy - 2nd place
Wojtek Wysocki - 7th place
I slowly emerged from the middle of the pack to finish in 2nd place in the Masters 40+, giving GTC the top two podium spots in this race.
The Dauset Trails Cyclocross course was short, muddy and did not favor the runners. With only 3 brief dismounts per lap and several long sections that favored the more powerful pedaler, the "horses" came to the fore.
For the moment, this race result moves me into 3rd place in the overall series standings.
[click to enlarge]
November 12, 2004
November 11, 2004
Cool Release
There hasn't been much blogging here lately. The big issue right now is our heater is not working correctly so it is turned off and it's a little chilly in the house until it gets fixed.
Firefox 1.0 was just released! Get it here: www.mozilla.org
November 07, 2004
Sunday Ride
The day started early with the Expert mountain bike race at Gainesville College. Since this was the final race of the 2004 season I wanted to get a few photos of a successful coaching client, who has moved from mid-pack finishes to podium finishes in an extremely competitive category. I also took a photo of another of my clients who finished her 2004 season with a victory in a category which she now outclasses. She will be graduating to the "Expert" category and racing on the National circuit in 2005 - no more easy wins!
Between races, this afternoon I got to go on the CoyBoy Sunday Ride with Matt, Doug and Dean. Matt, Doug and I were aboard our new matching black Cannondale Optimo road bikes. Dean will be inheriting my red Cannondale CAAD 5 that I had bought this time last year. These guys have not been riding much recently due to various reasons, but Matt still had some good kick in his legs (there are advantages to being 20). The over-40 guys are not so lucky, but there was still a lot of skillful riding among the group as a whole. Below is the data from my HRM.
November 06, 2004
Monroe Cyclocross Race
This was a hard course for me because it had more dismounts and running than the previous courses. Actually I dismount pretty decent, but my run is lame and my remounts totally suck, I rarely clip in my pedals on the first try. As the race wears on, my technique suffers. I can't wait for road racing season so I can just pedal my bike hard!
I did manage to finish 5th place in the Masters 40+ race. I had held onto 4th place for much of the race but was overtaken right before the finish line. I believe that I can pedal better than that guy, but he is an experienced 'crosser and most of the obstacles came at the end of each lap, so he stalked me until the course favored him - it was a good tactic.
For you data geeks, here are my Heart Rate and Altimeter graphs from the last three cyclocross races. Bear in mind that I have not raced in over a year previous to these events and my AT is not nearly what it was before the illness and injuries.
Covington Race
November 05, 2004
Addictive Cross
By request, here is another photo of the Addictve Cycles/Cannondale Optimo Cyclocross bike.
[click to enlarge]
November 04, 2004
Addictive Optimo Road Bike
The new GTC Team road bike is ready for it's maiden voyage. Black Cannondale Optimo CAAD 7 frame/fork built with Shimano Dura-Ace 10-speed. Let's ride!
[click to enlarge]
November 03, 2004
Ride with Nathan
My cell phone rang this morning and I didn't recognize the number so I wasn't going to answer it, but at the last second I did. On the other end was a voice with a distinctly Australian accent. "Hi Dan, this is Nathan O'Neill. Do you want to go for a bike ride?"
Nathan O'Neill is currently a member of the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team, the only U.S.-based team to register as a Professional Team under the new UCI rules for the 2005 season. Checkout more about Nathan here...
Navigators News
NathanONeill.com
Nathan was aboard his new Colnago C-50 and was getting it dialed in as we did a 3-hour ride and chatted. I felt a good connection was established and he wants to ride together more, so I'm happy about that.
I recently heard that climbing sensation Cesar Grajales will get a Colnago and ride for the Navigators in 2005 as well.
I must say the motorists with W's on their cars were much more relaxed and friendly today.
November 02, 2004
A Political Entry
I don't particularly like the political blogs that are so popular these days, however because it is Election Day I am going to go out on a limb and share a few observations which might be construed as political.
Traffic Analogy: First of all, I am going to have to suggest that Election Day is not a good day for cyclists to be on the road. While on my usual 35-mile route, the "Blackjack Loop", I discovered there was quite a bit more traffic than usual. Judging from the general attitude and demeanor of most of the drivers I would guess that the voter turnout this year was big and most folks had to wait in long lines - i.e. they were impatient and unfriendly.
If I were to vote for a candidate based on the motorists I encountered today, I surely would not vote for Bush. I was harassed by no less than six blatant, bird-flipping bullies with Bush stickers on their over-sized vehicles. On the other hand, only one minivan buzzed me that had a Kerry sticker on it, but that seemed to be without malice, they just were young and not very aware.
It seems simplistic, but that about sums up the political situation around here.
The Voting Process: I have often wondered about, not the wild-card voters, but the arbitrary voters. For example, how many folks go to the polls and vote for a specific candidate only to spite their spouse, friend or boss? Or how many flip a coin or rely on some other completely arbitrary method of choosing?
I have often thought that there should be some form of weighted voting. Prior to casting a ballot the voter must answer a series of questions about the candidates and issues. If the voter knows nothing, then their vote is worth less, while the educated and informed voter's vote is worth more.
[stepping down from my soapbox now]