fear the snake!

......Pete chases early.....Fred is coming on strong....the Naked Snake early in the morning!

Hiss! The Snake Strikes!

You gotta try it next year. The Snake Alley Criterium. Fred and I raced Master's 50+. Eight laps of hell. Two blocks up, including the Snake, with it's nasty 12%+ grades. And rough cobbles. Then, gasping for air at the top, begin hurtling down hill with several left and right high speed turns. A really great course. Fred placed 4th. I suffered in for 8th. 22 Master's 50+ riders with another 5 Master's 60+ starting with us. Some real beasts in the field, even tho a little long in the tooth.

I started up the first of eight Snake climbs in the wrong gear. Too much, but couldn't change gears for fear of snapping the chain. Alternated between sitting and standing for the climbs. Lost big time in the descents. Had Jodie (Fred's wife) and YMCA friend Lindsey taking pictures of the suffering. Lots of fans rooting us on. It felt as close to what you see at the top of mountain stages in the Euro tours, where fans reach real close to you and encourage you on. A riot.

Well worth the 5 hour trip and sleeping in the back of the old wagon....Bob Roll style! Can't wait till next year!!

NEBRASKA STATE TIME TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS!

Presented by: Velo Veloce Cycling Club and Xtreme Wheels

Saturday, June 13, 2009. Triathletes welcome! 1st rider starts at 9:30 AM

Category Entry Fee Places Prize List Cash & Prizes
Men Cat 1/2/3 $30 5 $210 $70 50 35 30 25
Men Cat 4 $25 3 $95 $40 30 25
Men Cat 5 $25 3 Medals, 1st merch
Women Cat 1, 2, 3 $25 3 $95 $40 30 25
Women Cat 4 $25 3 Medals, 1st merch
Juniors 14-18 $20 3 Medals, 1st merch
Juniors 10-13 $20 3 Medals, 1st merch

Notes: 1) If no Cat 3 is in the top five of the 1/2/3 race, the top cat 3 will receive a cash payout of $25
2) State Championship medals awarded for Men Master’s 45+ and 55+ categories
3) State Championship medals awarded only to NE residents with USA Cycling annual license

REGISTRATION: Pre-register online at sportsbaseonline.com
On site registration till 9 AM available, but add $5 to entry fee. Triathletes who present an annual USAT license will receive $5 discount on entry fee! 2008 Riders-of-the-Year (ROY) road winners for their category receive free entry.

LOCATION: Yutan, Nebraska. See Veterans Club, Yutan, NE google map.

Directions: Yutan Veteran's Country Club is located just south of Yutan on Yutan Road. Yutan is located about 50 miles northeast of Lincoln and 20 miles west of Omaha on HWY 92. We will have limited access the Country Club building for restrooms and registration.

Rules:
All USAC rules will apply.
All riders must wear ANSI-approved helmets.
Race director reserves the right to combine categories and alter race distances.
Riders must have USAC annual license or purchase 1-day license for each day of racing.
Current USAC license must be presented at check-in. 1-day race licenses will be available for purchase at race site ($10.00). USAC annual license holders not eligible for $5 triathlete discount.
Only annual license holders are eligible for medals.
Events will be held rain or shine.
Held under USAC Permit 2009-(pending)
Out of state racers welcome, but are not eligible for Nebraska championships.

Course The course will consist of a 22 mile out and back route starting just south of the Yutan Veteran's Country Club proceeding south on the Yutan Road towards Ashland. From the Yutan Road riders will curve into CR-J, then curve into CR-6, and then curve into CR-G, then curve into CR-4, then making a 180 degree turn just before HWY 66(63).The first fourth of the course starts with some small rolling hills near Yutan, the middle half of the course is flat with the final fourth of the course again rolling hills. Riders have a high probability of having the wind at their back on the return. The road surface is in good condition and has minimal traffic but there is NO shoulder and caution should be used. The course will not be closed, however law enforcement is aware of race activities. Course marshals will be stationed along the course for rider safety.

Contact information:
Peter Duryea, ph: 402 708-0405, e-mail pduryea at cox dot net
Randall Crist, ph: 402 391-7554, e-mail drcrist at cox dot net

Bring me my whipping, please

Oh, yeah. Wednesday nights mean one thing. Meet at the Trek Store by NFM and get ready to rumble. It was a spectacular day for riding. 75F, hardly any wind. All the guys who like to hammer met at the Trek Store for the 6 PM countdown to launch. You know, the usual offenders. From Velo Veloce we have Andy, Rusty, Gene and Pete. We pick up Fred en route. We are riding against the bicycling animals, who are out to eat us up and spit us out. Brady, Paul, Lucas, Bernardo, Matt, Jeff, Mark, Eric, Ryan and countless other road warriors. We probably had 25 riders last night, and not a fat dude amonst them (present company excluded).

First part is the easy jaunt up the Keystone. Had all the skateboard pansies make fun of us on the way by the skate park. What's up with that? Who looks more stupid? Us in our lycra or them with their jeans hanging half-way down their crack?

Once we get out to Irvington Road and head towards 108th Street Hill, the jockeying for position begins. Things are usually relatively slow there, until the first instigator makes a strong move. Last night, Ryan Feagan lit the fuse. Reaction! You either get on your horse and react or you get dropped. Everyone is fresh enough to make it to the Hwy 36 Stop sign pretty much intact, although the first heart-rate carnage of the night has begun.

Second stage to 72nd street on Hwy 36. Giant paceline last night, almost dangerous because of its size and being restricted to the shoulder in a long two-line peloton. Stayed up with leaders, but didn't try to win stage. Decided to save my bullets for later.

Third stage on Omaha Trace. This roller coaster road is so fun. The pain...I love it. High speed assault all the way. Caught Paul's wheel at the right time and attached myself to it like a booger to a wall. He made the move, I was on it. He pulled me almost to the stage win, but I couldn't power by him the last few yards. Bernardo appears out of nowhere and nips me for 2nd.

Fourth stage really doesn't begin until Surfside Hill. There is a fast paceline out on the flats. If you get off the back end, you're toast. Adios. But the real damage begins at the first part of Surfside. Beaucoup fracturing of the peloton begins there. I survived the intial carnage. Tried to recover enough for the upcoming second crush. Redlining over the top of the hill, I come through the human debris in 2nd place. No time to slow down and recover tho, you gotta go aero and smoke the downhill. Final total survivors were six, charging towards the stage win by the green Mormom Bridge. Screaming lungs and nuclear heart rate, but find Bernardo's wheel close to the end. Draft just long enough to recover for the final burst and hold on for the stage win. Teammate Fred is right behind. Not a bad showing for the old fogies.

Oh, the pain. But it is euphoric. Pain is my friend, I embrace it. Can't wait for next week. Can you?

Good representation at Swanson!

Holy moly! What a great reward for an old bull having finished a tuff race. Free Red Bull, courtesy of Libby, the Red Bull hoddie.
The Tedster, menacing with his Fu Manchu bar-room brawler look, leads the group.
Single-speedster Dave is chomping at the bit to hit it!

Summary: May 2, 2009, Swanson MTB race

Andy, Ted, Dave, Randy and Pete all competed at the first Psycowpath mountain bike race of the season at Swanson in Bellevue. It was a fast track, due to early week rain. No dust, just beautiful fast dirt. Now, if I could only learn how to take advantage of those fast conditions.

I raced Cat 3 Masters 45+ for the last time. I'm moving up to Cat. 2 for the rest of my MTB life. I look forward to getting routinely thrashed in Cat. 2, but I'll get more out of it. Anyway, I managed to ramble to a win in my race. I was hoping to keep up with the Cat 3 Open youngsters, but the first tough up and down caused the two riders in front of me to fall over. I had to bail out and run up the slope. Later, it happened again on the hill right past the pavement crossing. And I dropped a chain. Did a quick pit and got it back on OK, but that cost me 20 seconds or so.

Dave podiumed in the Singles-speed category. What kind of sicko does that race with only one gear? Go figure.

Andy grabbed 13th in the super-fast Cat 1 Experts race. Nice showing for a dude out laying on the beach in Hawaii the last two weeks.

Ted raced Cat 2 Open and finished 24th in a big field. He was definitely the scariest dude out there with his new Fu Manchu look.

Randy did the Marathon class and endured his way to a 4th place finish. He did 8 laps and finishe in 3 hours, 25 minutes. Crazzzy!!

Looking forward to this weekend's Platte River State Park romp. Hope I can find a sub to teach for me at the Y for Spinning on Saturday morning. If not, that hilly Noon race is going to be my demise. Bring it on.

El Guapo