Cornhusker TT report

So, another one is in the books. The 2010 Cornhusker State Games TT was held Saturday out at the venerable Yutan course. Wanna hear about it?

Hot! Musta been about 80F at 9 AM. Brudder Veloer junior Zach Lau and El Guapo sacked up and represented Xtreme Wheels/Velo Veloce. Somewhere around 70 total showed up to race. Most Cat 5s, only a couple of 1/2s.

Zach was one of the first to launch. No mercy for the juniors. They had to go the entire course! Zach pounded pavement and earned 2nd place in Junior's 13-15 age group. Verrrrryy nice effort, young padwan. I collected your hardware for ya!

I warmed up on the Pinarello, fearing a flat on my tubulars during warmup. My only gimmick was my heart rate monitor. Then switched bikes to the Orbea TT rocket. I pulled up to start line. Nancy dialed me into the right lane, Ryan held me up and Kevin counted me down. I took off like a scalded dawg. My 30 second man behind me was none other than Dan "the Man" Ertz, fresh off his State crit title. No time to look over the shoulder. Gulp!

I laid down some scorched earth in the first half. Wind was STRONG out of the south, right in our faces. So most the gains would be in the tuff 1st half of the race. Caught my 30 second man and one minute man, then started working my way thru Cat 5s. Turn around point was manned by none other than Midtown Joe Savoie. He screamed something as I made the turn, but I haven't the foggiest idea what. By now, the ticker had been steadily pounding at 170 to 173 bpms. Ugly hard into the wind was finally over. Sped back up with the wind at my back now, still pulling hard. BPMSs go down to high 160's. Driven by need for speed. This was my first true TT with the new Orbea and aero Easton EC 90 TT wheels (thanks Sean and Jason at BPedalers). Needed to prove that all the dinero was good investment.

Started to go deep into red zone. Watching pavement under bike so intently, lost in the fog of pain, that all of a sudden I'm off on the shoulder, spraying rocks and white knuckling the profile bars. Managed to fight it off and back up onto the pavement without getting splattered in the ditch. Disaster averted. Later, started drifting from one side of lane to the other, sure sign that your burning all your matches. There it is! The water tower of Yutan in the distance, a sure sign the HELL is almost over. Just another mile or two to go.

Fly over the finish line and reign in the sled. Nothing left in the tank, nada, nilch, nein, ZERO. Barely got unclipped. Felt like the Hindenburg going up in flames. No slow cool down ride. Stumble up to the old Mercedes wagon, plop my sorry buns in the well-placed soccer chair. Punished again. Not Ironman pain, but totally fried. Sit stone-like in the chair. Abe in the Lincoln Memorial got nuthing on you, babe, got nuthing on you. Statue still for 20 minutes. Only the eyeballs moving indicate there is life in the body. Zach and dad Randy drive by. They're bailing out early. Zach performs one last favor for team meat, err team mate, Guapo. Pulls my drenched skinsuit down over my shoulders from behind, as I didn't have the energy to do it myself. SAVED my life, he did. (yoda like language, eh?).

Finally, drag my carcass to the cooler in the car and swirl some nectar of the Gods...a Diet Coke. Life itself again courses thru my systems. Back from the brink of death itself. I have evolved from my amoeba like form, all the way to Cro-Magnon man. I make my way to the clubhouse, knuckles dragging on the gravel, stupid looking, to wait for results.

So, the results are in and not to shabby. El Guapo diesels in for the 3rd best time fo the day, bested by two tadpoles. I pull out the Gold Medal in Cat 4. Woo-hoo, another goal for the year achieved. Here are the final times for Zach and El Guapo:

Male Jr. Men 13-15 Years
Place Bib # Last Name First Name Racing Age Elapsed Time Avg MPH
1 239 Skiba Cole 15 1:13:33 17.38
2 238 Lau Zach 15 1:32:31 13.81

Male USCF Cat 4
Place Bib # Last Name First Name Racing Age Elapsed Time Avg MPH
1 275 Duryea Peter 53 0:50:46 25.17
2 276 ERTZ DAN 39 0:53:28 23.90
3 274 Dixon Michael 43 0:54:14 23.56

Ponca Success

Three team members were on the podium at the Ponca MTB race yesterday: Dave Randleman won the SS division, Conor Randleman won the Juniors, and Todd Eyberg finished 3rd in the marathon despite a flat tire. Great job, guys!

Velo Veloce Exposed (Uncut)

OK. Pete (aka El Guapo) beat me to this. However, this is how things really went down.

I was travelling down Highway 36 on a ride in an early morning attempt to exorcise the rain demons from my soul, when I noticed a highway patrol hidden on the roadside. Fearing that he would issue a citation to me for clearly violating all speed limits within the continental U.S., I attempted the humility approach and gave the officer the three fingers Velo Veloce handle bar wave (Randy previously instructed me as to the proper use of this technique). He responded with the two fingers One Adam 12 Officer Malloy wave and I could detect I smile behind his mirrored Ray Bans. Having dodged that misfortune, I immediately looked forward….before me this appeared as the Holy Grail…… Obviously, the protector. I travelled the next section with a proud smile on my face and a warm appreciation for the Velo team and their support to the community in this section. It should be note that there are no other sections on Hwy 36 that have an Adopt-a-Highway sponsor. Well done Velo Veloce.

Velo Veloce Exposed!

A sign of good times!

Road warrior and Veloer Troy "the Hammer" Perry was pounding pavement on the northside today when he spotted this sign. Troy power slid to a stop and snapped this photo for all to enjoy. I'll be sure to point this out to the Wednesday Night World riders when we scream by it tonite. Thanks again to all Veloers who participated in the initial trash/litter pickup back in April. Next pickup will be in October or so. Nice effort Team Velo!

TT tanks!

Veloers,

Back from Okoboji. I wanted to let everyone that volunteered at the TT to know how grateful I was for your help. We COULD NOT have done this without you. You know who you are, so I don't want to name names, but I thought the race went smoothly. Traffic flowed smoothly, with the exception of the bozos in the pickups who took out cones and scared referees and cyclists. Luckily, we got their plates and turned them into the sheriff. Georgia's pictures are awesome. Ted looks good in each picture, btw. The turnaround point was clearly marked, thanks to Joe, Steevo and Jackie's new signs. Rob resisted throwing down with an irate redneck. Way to show restraint Rob.
Dave handled the bike adjustments for juniors and other tweaks for racers. Chrissy kept oncoming traffic happy. Randy handled all the scoring pressure without cracking, supreme effort. Joe Savoie pitched in on prerace registration. Gracias.
April and Todd kept traffic at the finish line flowing smoothly.

Another big thank you to referees Nancy and Kevin, especially for their patience at the end during scoring.

Obviously, the post race scoring/tabulating was a nightmare. I've some ideas to clean thing up, under the assumption we host the TT again next year.

The online registration will not have the option to sign up as a Master 45 or 55. Just sign up by category, period. We'll fish out the Masters later from the individual cats.

Also, just give one medal in 45 and 55 to the overall Master winner, for each category. No 2nd and 3rd places.

So, while this is all fresh in our minds, send me your ideas for making it run smoother next year.

Again, a big hearty THANK YOU to all volunteers.

Photos from NE State TT Start

The photos are in start order. If someone is missing it was due to a car passing by at the time of your start.

Photos are posted at http://velovelocecyclingclub.shutterfly.com/


The weather held out for everyone...Yippie. Everyone a job well done.

State Masters Champ

Matt earned the cat 3 state masters championship in the Norfolk Criterium. Congratulations!

Ironman melted!

News Flash! Purported Ironman melts down during Kansas 70.3

The truth be told, I'm only a half-Ironman. And 1/2 Ironman melted on the hot asphalt of Kansas yesterday. The course marshalls simply hosed him off the tarmac after he finished. Randy and Matt know nothing about cramping until they've heard my story.

Let's start from the beginning. I guess the real beginning is where I decided to do a triathlon. That probably came from my picking up running again last year. Fared well in 10K, 15K and Omaha half-marathon, so I figure I might as well go for the whole enchilada and do a triathlon. Say, why not go for broke and try a bleeding half-Ironman? How tuff can it be? You're immune to pain!

Was going to do the Boulder 70.3, but had my name in the ringer for the Leadville 100 MTB race. By the time they told me I didn't get selected from the lottery for the MTB race, the Boulder 70.3 was full. So, I opted for the Kansas 70.3.


Knew I had to resume some swimming to train for this. Jackie2 worked with me during this winter off-season in an attempt to make me a sleek, efficient water-eating machine, like her. Unforunately, I remain a thrasher, despite her best efforts. The swimmer's mold was cast, but I was nowhere to be found when poured. But I did manage to swim the requisite distance of 1.2 miles w/o stopping in the YMCA pool. Pretty doggone impressive, considering when we started I could barely do a lap without panting like Pavlov's dog.

Race day: THE SWIM: So, when I actually took to the water to do the 1.2 mile swim during this half, the swimming didn't tire me out. But I lost scads of time lifting my dome up to see where I was. Plus the sunlight was bouncing off the water. The glare prevented me from seeing where I was in relation to the other swimmers. On the postive side of the ledger, I didn't inhale any suds, nor get tired, nor did I get knocked senseless by the flailing limbs of other thrashers. We did get to wear the wetsuits, so the added bouyancy really helped. I crawled out of the water in about 49th position. Ugly. Slow. But survived.

The T1 transition: Had to change quickly from water gear to biking gear. My 1st ever transition and I failed miserably. My time was like almost 5 minutes, compared to others getting swapped over in 2. Couldn't get the wetsuit off, had trouble putting on the biking top, finding the pockets to stuff GU into, you name it, it went wrong. Ugly. Real slow. GNASTY!

The Bike: Ahhh, now you're talking my language. Inhaled a GU. Warmed up slow. Then turned up the RPMS and starting kicking booty and taking names. To heck with Wholesome, steel cut goodness advice to rein it in on the bike. I cannot be stopped. I will soon be catching the pros. Well, I did catch a lot of those amphibious turds who slithered out of the water before me, and really only had one guy pass me, and he was a 44 year old stud. Stayed on him like glue. But, it wasn't as easy as it sounds. Half way thru the course, we had to actually stop, dismount, run around a patch of fresh oil in the road. When I remounted, my bike seat came loose. Ay caramba! Choices presented themselves. Stop and try to fix w/o tools. Keep going and don't get off the saddle for the next 25 miles. I opted for Door Number 2, where the lovely Vanna is standing. It worked, but my quads were screaming for relief by the end of the bike. Averaged 21.8, which I thought was slow, but the course was very hilly. No computer so I couldn't confirm the speed. Pretty. Speedy. Dat's what I'm talking about.It's all good. I ROCK.

T2: Bike to run. Nothing to it really. Take off bike shoes and helmet, put on Asics. Relatively fast.

The RUN: Oy, it hurt. After the first few strides, I knew I was in deep kimchi. Legs felt like hedge posts. Only 13.1 endless miles to go for my first triathlon. By now, I've got no frigging idea where my competitors are. There could be 58 of them ahead of me and I didn't give a rat's patootie. I went into survival mode. There would be no dominating performance on this run. I no longer ROCK. I am a rock. Rock legs, rocks for brains. The miles go by so slowly. 12, 11, eternity. Stop! Just throw in the towel. Go home with your tail between your legs. Fess up, you bit off more than you could chew. Now you know that was NOT going to happen, but I was wrestling with demons by now. I slog on. I OD on gatorade, I douse myself with ice water. I see Jesus and it made sense that he was there. I plod on. I notice I'm passing some turtles with my age group painted on their calves. I'm not going fast, they are just going slower than me. Finally, the last turn. About 2 miles to go. Merciless, senseless, brutal miles. Good hearted fans chanting "good job." If only they knew the truth! It was a horrible job. I'm weak. I'm feeble. I'm just hanging on by the guilt associated with being tagged "quitter." Eureka. The finish line is a couple of hundred yards away. The brain commands the legs to keep moving forward. I'm simulating a run, but moving at a walk pace. I had envisoned some glitzy victory salute when crossing the line. All I could drum up was a DEATH MASK. I stumble across the line. No burst of euphoria, no miraculous victory dance. Some wise medics realize the train wreck that just crashed in their turf and grab me. Despite my assertations that I'm perfectly fine, they realize that I'm lying through my teeth and whisk me away to the Medic Tent. They lay my living corpse on a nearby stretcher/cot. In my delirium, I ask for someone to remove my shoes, telling them they need to depress the red buckle release to take them off. Later, I realize that I actually have on my running shoes, not my biking shoes. Silly Pete. I'm cramping from the bald spot on my noggin to the little toes. I cramped in so badly I'm gnawing on my index finger knuckle trying to divert the pain elsewhere. Does this illustrate how much this race hurt?

But hey, it wasn't all bad. I eventually recover. They have to physically yank me up on my feet. My pegs protest, but I walk a step or two just like the Tin Man after his first shot of oil in years. I'm mobile again. Say now, what's this? It occurs to me. I HAVE SURVIVED! It is in the books! I'm half-Ironman. They can read that at my eulogy.

The results: I blunder my way into 8th place out of ninety-eight registered 50-54 year olds. (The guy before me was a relay participant so he doesn't count) I surpass my projected finish time of 5 hours, 15 minutes, with a finish of 5.01.57. Oh, for a quicker T1!! A minute or two off and I would have been in the magical 4 hour category and moved up a spot or two. I really got dusted in the swim.

Results and splits can be found here: http://www.ironmanlive.com/tracking.php?race=kansas70.3&year=2010

1 PYLE, STEVE
4/1/1 52/M50-54 00:31:11 02:23:59 01:34:57 04:33:16
2 BENNATAN, ANDRE
3/7/2 51/M50-54 00:31:03 02:42:18 01:31:30 04:49:44
3 REYNEN, PAUL
8/4/3 50/M50-54 00:34:16 02:33:21 01:37:42 04:50:53
4 MCCLENDON, JAMES
19/8/4 51/M50-54 00:35:50 02:39:37 01:37:18 04:56:39
5 SALINAS, OMAR
11/13/5 51/M50-54 00:35:05 02:45:51 01:32:44 04:57:37
6 RUMSEY, ANDY
10/6/6 51/M50-54 00:35:01 02:39:12 01:42:01 04:59:56
7 DICK, SAMUEL
18/5/7 54/M50-54 00:35:50 02:37:52 01:43:07 05:00:16
8 SWENSON, ANDY
5/4/7 52/RELM 00:37:12 03:01:20 03:01:00 06:44:17
9 DURYEA, PETER
45/9/8 53/M50-54 00:41:11 02:33:29 01:41:13 05:01:49





I finish in the top ten, which was pretty ambitious considering this was my first triathlon ever. As I sit here typing, as the pain slowly subsides, as the brain elimates the negative and moves forward with the positive, a little, evil voice is whispering in the back of my gray spaghetti. You know what it is saying. Maybe you've heard the same voices. Mine is saying: Uh, dude, what you say we try a FULL BLOWN FREAKING IRONMAN!! 2.4 swim! 112 mile bike! 26.2 marathon run. Double the pain! You love it. You were made to absorb it, wrap yourself in it and immerse yourself in it. You only live once, and your days are numbered. Sack up. Can you say Coure de Alene?

The Cramps

No, not the punk band. Matt O'Donnell and I raced the Norfolk Classic RR today. The EVCC served up 64 miles of racing, with plenty of wind and humidity for us. Matt raced the 3s, I was racing 4s and we both cramped up during the race. Matt took a flyer in the 1/2/3 race and had a nice solo break going for 6 miles before they reeled him in. After that, it was cramping time. A long stretch by himself, but he finished 11th in the 3s race out of 18.

The 4s race was fun (36 riders-a fairly large group, especially for Nebraska), but there was a lot of negative racing: anytime someone initiated a break, you would end up with some clown getting in and doing no work or screwing up the rotation, or someone with no possible hope of placing well killing themselves to chase it down. Still, it was fast in spite of the headwind that never seemed to go away (the wind actually shifted during the race, so this is literally true). We almost caught the 1/2/3 peloton at the end. On this day of attrition, I was in the lead group of 10 riders that survived acceleration after acceleration. With 2 miles to go I was hit with severe cramping, to a point where I could barely turn the crank. Lost 59 seconds, was passed by a group of 3 and ended up 13th. Still, my fitness is coming along, and if I had remembered to bring electrolyte tablets, I would have survived in the lead group. Live and learn...

Photos from today: Matt and myself.