Vancouver Courthouse Crit

To start off I just want to put it out there that I love crits. I actually love bike racing in all its forms but crits are my favorite. Maybe its the rush that comes with high speeds and battling for postion, or maybe its the fact that crits make for excellent photo opportunities (I also love having my picture taken...)

That aside Hammer Velo had a strong showing on Sunday. Juan, Jamie, and I were all in the cat 4 mens race. Jamie talked of maybe going off the front with 10 laps to go as the course was loaded with corners and was to a breakaways advantage. This is much easier said than done but Jamie had a strong ride none the less. Juan also continued his podium streak with his 3rd place finish. As for my race...I started out strong and was able to hang on for a number of laps until the pace got ramped up and I went off the back (crits are my favorite but I never said my specialty). I still felt like I rode well and can feel myself getting stronger. Congradulations to Sam who finished 3rd in the womens 1/2/3 race, as well as Beth, Anna, Mindy, and Alice who also raced and had strong finishes.

-Chris

The Lawyer Ride: Close Encounters of the Shark Kind

(As an aside before I start this little report, I love having a team blog. Its nice to have a place to verbal dump that my mother doesn't read regularly, thus prompting the "do you EVER get any work done?" phone call.)

I've been a lawyer for almost six years, five at my current position. The infamous Monday/Thursday lunchtime "lawyer ride" has been going on for much longer than that. Richard, one of my coworkers, has been trying to get me join this ride ever since he found out, five years ago, that I owned a bike and rode it semi-regularly. I've promised to come along and reneged on that promise numerous times, citing work, fitness, rain, that it didn't fit into my Team Tedder Training schedule. Fear.

As of 1:30 this afternoon, I am no longer a Lawyer Ride virgin. Turns out that jumping into the two-wheeled shark tank wasn't nearly as scary as the lore would had me believing.

Here is what prompted the decision to join up today: Dave McHenry's stupid electronic scale. We had a discussion on Tuesday morning that I lost. And lost badly. I didn't think I'd be able to keep at my racing weight during my hiatus from serious training, but I also didn't expect to gain almost a pound a week during that time. You realize how many beers a pound per week is? Lets just say...more than four and less than five hundred. So with this in mind, I decided to pack up my extra luggage and ride with the boys to punish myself for my prolonged hedonism.

Boys? Did I say boys? I meant a whole herd of spandex clad men, most over the age of 40. We roll up and I see:

-Kits that came into circulation about the time I was born. In the 70s.

-At least two riders in cycling sandals. Not ironically.

-Fenders. Its approximately 90 degrees out. I need fenders to keep the sweat out of my eyes.

At this point, I figure that if I can't make it up Thompson in front of two 65-year old men in cycling sandals, there is a serious problem with my ability to retain fitness.

The ride rolls out and up Cornell at a leisurely pace until the group reaches NW53rd. One showdown begins there. I decide to take Thompson with the majority of the riders. As soon as we turn the corner, the acceleration begins. Although I can definitely feel the lack of intervals, tempo rides and generalized not giving a shit about getting my heart rate up, I make it up to Skyline with the front third of the group.

Then its south to Greenleaf. Eight hundred meters of stand up, grind it out climbing. Again, I'm nowhere near the front, but I'm also a long ways from the back.

Then its back downtown through the zoo. This was my favorite part of the ride. Until I got cut off by a bus, I was sitting comfortably in the slipstream of someone with twice my body weight and three times my cornering ability. And just rode the wave.

I'll be returning to this ride (and would recommend it to downtown dwellers), now that I have no fear of the group having to "slow up and wait for the girl." The route is fixed, there are least two regroups and the general level of bike-handling is high. And the male-female ration was at least 40-1. Score.

PIR 7/14/09

Today's PIR started out like any normal one. The first few laps were moderately paced but then picked up for the prime. Usually after the prime the group slows considerably so it didn't bother me that I dropped to the back of the pack not wishing to contest the sprint. However we crossed the line and the pace stayed firm. I found James' wheel who was following Kolben who was trying to close a small gap that had opened in the middle of the field. We turned on the the back stretch with the wind now in our face (we were going counter clockwise) and the gap was still there. I looked down at my computer which told me we were going 25mph straight into the wind. I decided to take a drink and absentmindedly drifted half a bike length off of James' wheel. Some idiot decided to force his way into this gap and then decided he didn't like the pace because he slowed down tremendously and left me grabbing for the brakes. As I scrambled to put away my water and avoid riding into this fools rear wheel the gap between me and my teammates became larger. I tried sprinting to catch but our effort to close the gap left my legs in shambles. The sinking feeling you get when you see the field riding away came over me. No one else in my groupetto including the idiot responsible was willing to work. The gap grew larger and any hope of regaining the field was crushed. I have only been dropped one other time at PIR in my second ever race there 3 and a half years ago. James has apparently been blessed with an endless natural supply of fast twitch muscle fibers as he went on to get 2nd. Kolben deserves most of the credit on that one supplying him with a killer lead out. Further excuses for my poor performance include the fact that I worked 8 and a half hours of physical labor at my job today and I had to go #2 the entire race. Whatever though...I'll just keep doing my intervals and workouts and hope for the best. I love racing. I don't care if I get last in every race...actually I would. See you all who are going to Vancouver Crit!!!! Hoping for a good result there.
-C-Rob

Sunday Morning Team Ride Report: AKA "What Happens When Tedder Doesn't Lead the Team Ride"

Ferdinand Magellan was born circa 1480 in Portugal. However, he subsequently obtained Spanish nationality, so that he could try to find a westward route to Indonesia. He thereby became the first person to lead an expedition across the Pacific Ocean.

This is your teammate Jamie. He was born somewhere on the East Coast sometime after the death of Elvis. In an attempt to demonstrate that the quickest route to Camas from Northwest Portland is via the Northwest Territories, he was the first person to lead an expedition to Lacamas Lake up Highway 30, over the St. John's Bridge and through Smith-Bybee Park.

If this makes no sense, it shouldn't. If you don't know why this doesn't make any sense, go to google maps and map it out. Wait, I'll do it for you. I'm no geometry wizard, but it doesn't seem to me like the quickest way from point A to point B is to first head ten miles in the opposite direction. But I am female and last took a math course when I was 17. Maybe I'm missing something.

But the five hardy explorers that showed up for the Sunday morning team ride managed to survive hangovers, summer rain, gravel roads, dead ends, gonorrhea jokes and a deluge of smack talking to get in a great 65+ mile ride up and around Lacamas Lake. Thanks to Chris S. for chaperoning what would have otherwise turned into something resembling an eight-wheeled bar fight. A bar fight that Christy and I would have won, leaving the boys to ride home alone. My guess is they would still be riding around Mt. Adams looking for the shortest route into North Portland.

(PS: This hereby serves as official team notice that Jamie has been nicknamed. You all should be able guess what that nickname is.)

Welcome to the Velodrome Pt.2 Race report 7.11.09

Two men enter, one man leaves. Race report for Oregon State Track Championship.