2009 IHBC - RRR gets a 4th place in Masters

click pic to enlarge the chi hit...


ilg couldn't imagine a more Happy 47th Birthday than what transpired during my 3 Days Of Fully-Differentiated Pain at last weekend's 38th-annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Omnium in my childhood h(om)e of Durango, Colorado. my own family came (first racing road trip as a New Daddy...phew!) as did my parents, sister, and my little brother's clan, each streaming in from many miles away and from various directions to cheer me on. also, hearing and seeing the support from my old friends along the 3 different courses over the 3 days reinforced the fact that Durango is still crazy over outdoor sports and the townspeople still gather, as in Europe, along the courses to cheer on the cyclists.

in the recently expanded Masters division which had a start list of 175, your feeble yoga teacher/coach managed a:

* 34th in the Road Race to Silverton (time; 2H54" including being stopped by the train on the tracks!)

* 11th in the Downtown Durango Crit (photo above by www.naggan.com

* 14th in the East Animas Time Trial (time; 41:32 from Durango to Shalona Lake)

that effort was good enough for 4th place (in the money!) and right behind my wonderful student and friend, Andrew Ferguson, with whom i stayed for part of the weekend.

i'd like to thank both John and Terry down at Cosmic for dialing in my bikes so quick and lovingly and to all my yoga and fitness students for inspiring ol' coach ilg to still get out there, toe the Start Line, throw down your best effort, and see deeper sides of yourself out there where every second counts; racing!

hope to see you in yoga soon and i'm gonna do my best to get for our club MTB ride tomorrow!

head bowed,
coach ilg

2009 Tour of the Gila

Holly ass whooping! I was so out of place at the Gila. Don't get me wrong. I did enjoy myself. During the first stage I hung with the pack just fine until the last feed zone at about 62 miles. I was out of water and b-lined it to the neutral support. When I did a couple of guys attacked off the front. I never recovered to catch back on before the last climb. I rode to within 50 feet of the pack but they took the turn to the Mogollon and I just ended up picking up a few stragglers before the top. I finished 59th out of 73, 12:28 down.

Stage two had me worried. I was hoping to get to the top of the first climb with the group but I fell off with about 600 meters to go. I had questionable tactics. I rode at the back of the pack and was sawed off twice. I sprinted back on both times. This cost me at the end of the climb. I couldn't cover the last surge and fell off the back. I rode the next 63 miles by myself. I felt fine riding by myself. I made it to the finish before the 120% cut off. I finished 59th out of 68, 37:28 down.

Stage three was more rewarding. I finished 47 out of 68 in the TT, 5:55 down. I watched Lance, Levi, and others during their TT. That was cool. Man! They are fast.

Stage four was the crit. I ended up flatting with 3 laps to go. Enough said!

Stage five was great. On the way out we had 3 rollers. I tried my best to stay on with each roller. I was shelled on each. I had flashbacks of day two and I wanted to ride with the group. After each climb I put my head down and motored back on. The last roller was a categorized climb. It was a category four which was easy for the slender guys. I knew there was a 2 1/2 mile decent after the climb. This helped with my stress level because I knew I could descend faster than the group even if they were pedaling all out. I ended up hitting 55.7 MPH. We rode together until the final set of climbs and as soon as it went up I was shelled. There was 18 miles to go and I took a piss and then settle into a rhythm up the climbs. I end up finishing 59 out 62, 18:10 down. I was 57 out 62 on the final GC.

Here is what I learned. I need to be lighter, how, I don't know. I know that almost everyone in this CAT3 race raced and trains with a power meter. I need to be more attentive to my position in the group. I want to go back and try to be more competitive.

Jeremy