Goose Egg

That is what is going in the training diary today. Starting the month with a big blank white day troubles me, but it should not. The first day of the month is just another day. As much as I don't want to take a rest week going into an important race like Jiminy, my current feeling is that a few days of easy or nothing would be best. With rain in the forecast, this plan works well anyway.

April ended with 38 hours on the bike and 5.5 running, which brings my annual volumes up to 107 and 25 hours riding/running respectively. This amounts to almost the same amount of cycling as last year, but much more running. The cycling was also far more fruitful. Last year was my first season in years where I did a lot of road racing, starting at Ninigret in April, doing Jiminy, Sunapee, Raymond, Monson and another Ninigret early on. July and August brought WMSR, Ascutney, Bow, Mt. A and then GMSR and Haverhill in September. Topping it off with a full season of cross brought it home with over 7 straight months of competitions. A bit burnt out by December, sure, but it all took me into this winter more fit than in years. The mild weather, running and basic discipline with regard to health and fitness brought me into the spring in a better position to benefit from my training hours. All this means I got more out of the same training.

This month, after Jiminy and Hollenbeck, the only definite is Sunapee. The Colebrook TT is not on the calendar yet, and the Wachusett circuit race was cancelled, so that leaves Memorial Day weekend open. The Rye Duathlon is a possibility, and one reason why I continue to run. Right now, since I have yet to go to Wompatuck, the running has not seemed to hurt my cycling. However, just last week I read an article by AFHM where he lectures that nothing will kill your speed like running. I am not sure if Adam ever had the gut of an out of shape guy in his mid forties, but I know from experience that hurts your cycling a bit too. So I will take my chances with the running. I would like to run at least twice a week until the end of May, and possibly up until the Father's Day 5 mile race at the Children's Museum here in town. After that I will table the running until late August or early September.

I'm not sure if I am going to race 'cross this year. Last year on the new style fast courses with minimal barriers, my body endured quite well. The nice weather didn't hurt either. This year the feds have foolishly rescinded the 2 barrier rule, so I fear a return to the not so good old days of stupid courses that amount to little more than a dismount/remount contest. This year's racing consisted of pedaling courses that were, after all, BIKE RACES! A vocal minority squawked about the lack of barriers, but the unreal success and growth of the sport should tell people something. Anyway, I am too old to go back to the cartilage-ripping obstacle course style race. Most likely I will pick and choose races and be a fair weather crosser. This will leave more time for running races too.

Taking the summer off from running will allow me to focus on the WMSR TT. This is the most important race for me. Short TTs like this are where I am at my best, and as the club race, with very strong Master's competition, this is the one where I want to do well. It works out that Monson and Bow come on the heels of WMSR. Hopefully I can carry some form into them too. Today at work they posted the summer oncall schedule; the good news is I only got stuck with one night, the bad news is that I drew the night before Bow. Hopefully I will be able to trade that one off for something more favorable.

What else? Oh yeah, a Palmer report. Palmer is a great race promoted by the infamous Mike Norton. Two years ago when I decided to try racing again, Palmer was where I made my debut. The course is basically the same as the old Brimfield course where the Mass/RI district road race was held for years, except that back in the day we rode all the way into Warren, under the railroad bridge, and up the steep part of the climb every lap. Districts was 5 laps too, and no, I never did finish. The only senior districts I ever finished was different course that also went through Warren, actually going backwards down the current Palmer course before veering over to Ware and around clockwise up route 9. That was 115 miles and the longest race I ever did, and I got 18th.

So anyway, already being familiar and comfy on the Palmer parcours made the race a natural favorite. The current layout has only gentle climbing in the 3-4% grade range. Somehow it all adds up, and with the drag race down route 20 and subsequent downhill, the 58 mile race always feels like about a 35 miler. This year, in the 45+ we had about 100 starters. I thought we were behaving pretty well. Kinnin, our follow car official, apparently didn't agree. When we turned onto Route 67, or whatever it is, the wind was strong from the right. So naturally the field ignored the ample shoulder and we all pushed over as far to the left as we could in an attempt to echelon a bit. Of course, the pace got all surgy from the wind, and each time it slowed we would balloon a bit across the yellow line, drawing the ire of Ms. Payson. Honestly, in my years I have been in dozens of races where the rider behaviour was far, far worse than this one, but Kinnin decided she had to pull over the entire field for a lecture. I don't know why she didn't just take down the numbers of some of the alleged offenders and penalize them, but instead she made a scene out on the road.

Eventually we got underway again and we were all little angels from that point on. The next time past the finish line, where the long stretch of gradual climbing begins, I moved up easily as the group strung out. This continued all the way up the climb. When we got back on Rt 19, I could hear a lot of panting, and gaps started to open. Some riders were moving back like semis with the flashers on. We may have lost some people there. The pressure stayed on for a while, but when we came all the way back around to take the bell, the group was together. The last time up the hill I stayed near the front. Attacks were going near the top, but it was windy and I didn't think they could stick. One formed, and one of my teammates covered it. I could have gone, but I hung back and they dangled off the front a bit. However, after some reshuffling, a larger group started to move away, and since I had a guy up there, I eased at the front, as did someone from another represented team. The break flew away on the downhill and when we got to Rt 20 they were gone.

Much of the pack then conceded. Bethel missed the move and their captain yelled at them to chase, but they didn't look too interested. The break easily had a minute when we turned back toward Warren. With about 8k to go, more attacks started, as everyone figured the break would not be caught anyway, so even teams with riders up the road were free to race for the minor placings. I covered some moves, going from wheel to wheel up front. Dimitry was going, and I knew as a former Soviet Olympian he had the pedigree to make it stick. But he came back, and then Steamboat was about 50 meters off so I went. I thought I gave him enough warning, but he did not get on when I went by and I was alone. Nothing left to do but put my head down and go. Glancing back, I saw I had a sizeable gap, but one CCB was coming across. Dimitry? Sweet! I eased up a bit and then saw it was George. Hey, that's OK, I saw him win Haverhill solo last year, so he has a motor. I pulled hard to give him a chance to rest from his effort to cross the gap and we rode past the 3K to go painted on the road. He took one good pull, but then that was it. I guess he was toast. With no choice left but to drive it myself, we could see the break up ahead! If we had more power, we'd have made it, but with only one guy working, no way. I started to fade as we went over the railroad bridge with 1K to go, and with George sitting on I wasn't going to kill myself and then have him jump me. He still didn't come around, and our 25 second gap quickly evaporated when the remainder of the group wound up the sprint. We were swallowed about 300 meters out and I crawled across the line mid pack in 61st. Oh well, good effort. My teammate got 7th in the break of 7.

In other news, congratulations to Justin Spinelli for taking third at the Tour of Shenandoah! He is a great guy and a great rider and it is good to see him back racing and having fun. Matt DeCanio took Lanterne Rouge in his return to the peloton, racing for his own Stolen Underground team. Matt is a bit of a loose cannon, and his site is not exactly a model of responsible journalism, but his fight to expose doping in cycling has nonetheless pulled a lot of people's heads out of the sand. Doping is rampant, and EVERYONE looks the other way. I cannot believe that it is just a few bad apples. The quantity of PE drugs seized in the police raids makes it obvious that there are a lot of users. Riders from dozens of teams have been busted over the years, and I truly believe doping is institutional within pro cycling. No, it is not fair to paint everyone as a doper, but until more people within the sport step forward and testify about what they have seen, heard, and been exposed to, even the clean riders will race under a veil of suspicion. They may not all take dope, but some of them know who does, yet they choose to remain quiet. This is not good enough; doping cannot be tolerated. Those who come forward should not be persecuted as traitors, yet they are. That tells me something.

Matt and Justin were very courageous in their admission of being led to a life of dope when they got European pro contracts. Read their story, and believe what you will, but then think if you had a teenager with a promising future and a real chance to race in Europe for a pro team, would you send them over there? These kids thought they were getting a great opportunity too, but it did not work out so well for them. Dopers suck, and anyone who just accepts doping as part of the sport never finished second to a doper while riding clean themselves.

Thanks for reading!