No Sleep.

Why no sleep? Not because I have been training too hard, or even working to hard (well maybe the second one), but my children won't let me sleep. Madelyn (age 3) got her tonsils and adenoids taken out last Thursday. I have never had this done but I hear it is very unpleasant. Since then, she has not slept longer than 2 hours at a time. I think her pain is gone, but she got use to us babying her for the 5 days she had pain, and now she just wakes up and whines 5 times a night. Its like having a newborn again. Maybe I'll start taking naps at work.

Smackdown

Online registration is now open. Click the BikeReg logo.
VBW SMACKDOWN

BY: Virginia Beach Wheelmen Held under USA Cycling Permit

Location: Sleepy Hole, Suffolk, VA Saturday, March 15, 2008

Top 15 finishers in each race will be scored VA BAR Points

Category	Time	Field limit	Distance	Place/Awards	Fee
Juniors 10-14	8:00	40	15 min.	All receive ribbons	$10
Juniors 15-18	8:30	40	30 min.	Trophies 1/2/3	$15
Cat 5	9:15	40	30 min.	Trophies 1/2/3	$20
Women Cat 1-2-3,40+, 4	10:00	50	30 min.	3 places* $50,$50,$50	$20
Masters 50+ (No Cat 5)	10:45	50	45 min	$50/3*	$25
Masters 40+ ( No Cat 5)	11:45	50	45 min.	$50/3*	$25
Masters 30+ (No Cat 5)	12:45	50	45 min.	$50/3*	$25
Cat 4 Men	1:45	50	45 min.	$100/5	$25
Cat 3 Men	2:45	60	60 min.	$150/5	$25
Men (Pro/1, 2, 3 )**	4:00	60	90 min.	$400/5	$25

*Cash prizes may increase based on field size. **CAT 1/2 BAR only

Entry Fees include $2.00 USCF insurance fee. All entrants must have a current USCF license or MUST purchase a One-Day License at registration. Riders under 18 require a parent’s signature to race. All USCF rules apply. $5 late fee for registration day except for junior races. Online registration available at Bikereg.com . Helmets are required for all races; no aero bars. Promoter reserves the right to combine fields if the minimum field size of 15 racers is not met. Women's race has a combined limit of 50 riders. Course Description: A Blast from the Past. Those racers from the early 90's will remember this one! Course is a fast and flat circuit with two 90 degree bends and two nice left sweepers. Bring the family. Plenty of room to run and right on the water for a spectacular view.

Directions: . From Virginia Beach: 64 West to 664 South Exit 9 James River Bridge RT 17

Left turn at Stop light onto Benntts Pasture Rd

Right turn onto Sleepy Hole Rd

Right turn onto Sleepy Hole Park Rd

From Richmond/Williamsburg: Take 64 East to 664 South in Hampton. Travel on 664 South through the Monitor Merrimac Tunnel, and take the first exit after exit the tunnel (College Drive).

For additional info contact: Joshua Goyet at (757)515-5940 Email:vbwheelmen@cox.net

Virginia Beach Wheelmen is sponsored by: All About Bikes, Velocity Sports Performance, Premier Fitness Golds Gym, Ramone Photography, STIHL, Outdoor Impressions, Gam Jams, Ken Rapp from Rose and Womble Reality and SleepyHead Primitives. Please support businesses that support local cycling.

Who said all motorist hate cyclist?

Virginia Beach Wheelmen met at Premier Fitness (a cycling supporter) in Harbor View for a Saturday afternoon team ride. The idea was to get some good hard efforts (lead outs, pursuits, and sprints), then just ride and rack up some miles. With the addition of John Gray to the team, this was the first time all 6 of us have ridden together. Mike is getting back on the bike after taking time off for the fire academy. Overall it was a good ride.

I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the residents of Harbor View, or maybe it was the fact that six guys, all dressed exactly alike were out on bikes. But we got friendly honks, waves, patients and just overall very friendly attitudes while we were training. And most of the time we were two or three people wide.


Sometimes even taking up the entire road. Of course this road is brand new and not yet used my many people.
Very good team training. Looking forward to the race season.

Made For Each Other

Some people may know from the second they find out each other's names if they are made for each other. All they have to do is visualize their newspaper wedding announcement. If their names make people laugh, they need to get married...but probably should avoid hyphenating their names. Here are a few examples.

The Sick Ones Were the Lucky Ones

A handful of my Velocity training friends were sick or out of town this week. We had half the showing as normal for our Monday night session. Those that were absent were lucky. Usually after Velocity, I am tired. Last night I was sore by the time I got home. That's not supposed to happen for like 24 hours. I even had a hard time sleeping I was aching so much. It was a very good workout. The season is quickly approaching. Workouts like these will be the difference come April.

The Fighting 40

My good friend, teammate and now brother firefighter graduated from his fire academy last night. Mike Tamayo started this journey with me when we went through TRFA #58 volunteer fire academy with Virginia Beach. A few years later I got hired by Franklin Fire and Rescue then in 2002 got hired with Virginia Beach. Mike had gone with a different career, but had always regretted a little not pursuing the fire career. Over the last couple of years he has worked hard and gone through a long hiring process to fulfill this dream. On June 19th he became a recruit fire fighter with the City of Chesapeake. The Fighting 40 is what they called themselves. The 40 is their class number. This class started with 65 and ended with 57. This is an extremely large class of fire recruits. I have had the honor to be associated with everyone of them during some of their training they did at Virginia Beach. I was impressed, especially since a large class has a chance to have members "slip though the cracks".


So last night Jenni and I got to get dressed up and watch our friend Mike graduate. Here's Jenni looking pretty as usual.


Mike's girlfriend (the program said girlfriend but maybe it was printed before she became fiancee--hopefully thats not a secret that I just let out), Lori Ann was there and had the distinct honor of being able to pin his badge on him. She should be given just as much credit as he is. I know how much of a change he had to go through, personally and at home to make this work.

On another note, Mike was the Salutatorian (did I spell that right?) of the class. Second place out of 57 with 8 DNF's...not to shabby. Good job. Of course he is apparently one of those nerds who can't do sit-ups because he wasn't given any physical fitness honors. Maybe we need to rethink his place on our team...team manager sounds like a good position for a smart guy with no athletic ability. Of course I'm kidding. Mike was 2 sit-ups away from a perfect PT score.

Two friends, two cities, one brotherhood. Welcome to the club.

Another notable who graduated from the Fighting 40 was Russell Deaton. Russell is the brother of Jimmy Deaton aka superdork.

Check your jersey at the door.

"Check you jersey at the door" is a quote I pulled from K-dawg's blog. He was talking about our training sessions at Velocity. Riders from 3 teams meet on Monday nights and get specialized off-the-bike training that leaves us sore for the next two days that follow. This type of interteam training has allowed me to become real friends with more riders this past year and has grown some good team alliances. I still fully believe in the team only rides in which invites only go to team members. But riding, and actually training with these other teams brings us all together in a way I haven't experienced before. Sure, I have always done group rides, but thats not training together, thats riding together.

For me this type of training began in the fall when I took up cyclocross. The more experienced guys and gals from Tripower set up practice sessions and invited everyone in the 757. They were not stingy on their advice either. I learned a lot. Most of these same people are the ones who have joined me and my team with the Velocity training.

So why am I talking about this now? I was thinking about this on the ride this morning. Ten of us met and went for a 2.5 hour ride. The ride consisted of 7 Tripower riders and 3 Virginia Beach Wheelmen riders (that's me). The ride was a Tripower ride but the invitation was also sent to those of us who we part of the cyclocross training during the fall. I was just thankful to be included in all these invites from other teams. Thanks guys.

Here are some back of the paceline camera phone pictures from todays ride:



Don't get me wrong. Come racing season we are rivals once again. Well rivals that meet for beer and pizza after the races.

Catching up

I have had a very busy couple of days. This is the first year since I have been back into racing that I have been this motivated to log miles in the winter. All I can seem to think about is getting on my bike. After my ride on Saturday I was really looking forward to getting at least another 50 miles in on Sunday including the Peter Tweeuwen ride. I went to church the family on Sunday were I irritated my wife because I spent most of the time texting my teammates on when we were going to meet for the ride.

After church, plans fell through a little. I picked up John and headed to Suffolk to meet James. We diverted and figured to go straight to the ride and just pedal around the area until the 1 o'clock start time. There was a decent turn up considering the chance of rain. And a lot of people were able to make it a long ride by riding from Virginia Beach or other areas around. I didn't bring my camera for fear of the rain.

On Monday, after work I had class. I have put off graduating from ODU long enough. With just 3 classes left to take I jumped in this semester with two of them. Exercise Prescription for Chronic Disease and Organic Chemistry Lab. After class it was off to Velocity. Kevin wrote an excellent description of the good times we have there. (Pictures were taken by Kevin Horvath)

The Velocity group after Monday's workout.

Don't hate because I'm sexy.

Change of Pace

Instead of the normal Saturday morning Virginia Beach stage race, I decide to meet up with some people in Suffolk at All About Bikes for a long steady ride. We had a decent turn out. Forced everyone to work on pacelining and sharing the work in the wind. Good scenery and great company. VBV, Fat Frogs, VBW and of course All About Bikes racing had some representation.





During the ride, we could see up ahead a group of 7 or 8 deer hauling ass through a field. They were heading towards the road in front of a large pickup truck. They all jumped the ditch and ran across the road right in front of the truck. I tried to get my camera out to get a good shot, but they were pretty fast. This is all I was able to get.

It was nice to get out of my norm for a change. I think change will be my norm. I can stay a lot more motivated by alternating my rides and changing bikes up. This week I rode my TT, fixed and road bike in three different cities. Don't get me wrong, I missed my friends from the Saturday morning ride, but I'm sure I'll see you tomorrow at the Peter Teeuwen Memorial Ride.

Wine and Dine

Keagan's at Town Center (I think they also have one in Newport News) does a Wine and Dine Night on Thursdays. $30 for two entrees and a bottle of wine. Its like getting a bottle for free. Jenni and I decided to try it out. The food is awesome. Kids enjoyed there corn dog bites.


Jenni enjoyed here wine.
This place runs deals throughout the week. For a lot of us Sundays may be the time to go. It is their Serve Your Country night. Military, Police, Fire and Teachers get a free meal (I think it is buy one get one free).

On a cycling note, I got on my TT bike yesterday. Just went out with John to the county and rode sort of easy in the wind. Felt good and comfortable. That bike has been hanging in my garage unused since July.

Inspiration

Just wanted to share some of those inspirational posters you sometimes see. These ones are not available in most stores.





More to come later.

Icy Hot

No I'm not refer to the cream you put on sore muscles. Although I do have a story about that...think about it. My days as a runner, sore groin muscle, Icy Hot applied to that area just before a ten mile run. Let's just say my mind was not on the pain of the run that day.

No, I am referring to this weekend's weather. Saturday morning I got up to do the Tripower training ride from Conte's (AKA the Saturday morning stage race.) It was 24 degrees out. Freak'n cold. Although by the end of the ride the temperature had risen to 44 degrees, my toes were still frozen and I could feel my fingers for a few hours later. But good day. 70 miles completed.

Now let's fast forward to Sunday. 2pm start time for the All About Bikes ride in Chesapeake. Much different weather. Near 70 degrees the entire ride. Windy, but very comfortable ride. Because of the wind it wasn't quite the relaxed, base building ride it was supposed to be. I'm just glad I did not bring my fixed gear. Good turnout too. About 15 riders from All About Bike Racing and Virginia Beach Wheelmen. I forget my camera. It would have been good pictures. Albe did bring his helmet cam though, so look for some video maybe. 50 miles completed.

Good weekend for me. Hope everyone else is also getting the good miles in. No ride for me today though. Work, then Velocity tonight.

Cross Results

I was just surfing around the internet, doing a google search on people that I know, when I came across this site. Crossresults.com

Anyone see this before. Its pretty cool. It sort of reminded me of another site I had seen before. Athlinks.com Tracks results from endurance athletes.

Just cool stuff. These sites can even tell you who your competition is. In bike racing we usually know, but it was cool to see those stats from my days of marathon running. I know Keirin Racer I used the forbiddin "R" word that you hate so much.

Tour De Garage-its freak'n cold outside

Its cold outside. That is a legitimate reason to move your training indoors. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time building base miles while on the trainer. I have never been able to just get on and pedal on the trainer. But this time of year, that is exactly what I need to do. During the month of January my focus is aerobic base and muscular strength. I do these two together for one reason. This is when I lose weight. The base training helps lose the weight and the muscular strength training helps maintain muscle while I lose the fat. So a lot of my indoor workouts this time of year might include the gym, Velocity training, or hill workouts on the trainer. But also on the trainer I will attempt longer rides. Of course for me an hour and a half is long for the trainer. Here is one of my workouts:

Spend the first 15 minutes warming up. Use some of the warm ups I have provided before our use your own.

The key to keeping your sanity during long trainer rides is to be able to focus on a period of time of no longer than 5 minutes. Here's what I mean:

Warm up
15-20 minutes what ever you want
Workout
5 minutes in Big ring/18 spinning at a cadence of around 90
5 minutes in Big ring/12. Stand for first minute, sit for second minute, than stand for third minute...
5 minutes in small ring/18. Recovery spin at greater than 100 rpm.

Repeat this cycle for no less than 4 times. This workout gives good leg spin, recovery time and strength building. 5 minute intervals are easy to stay focused on.

Cool Down
Add some 1-legged intervals and an easy spin for your cool down.

Enjoy the cold if you like it...enjoy the trainer if you don't.

The First Day of 08

'Twas the first day of the New year,
when all through the roads,
cyclist were stirring, even those toads (aka Fat Frogs).
The tights were stretched over the legs with care,
in hopes of keeping warm out there.
The Wheelmen were riding in a group with no haste,
while visions of miles kept them at this pace.
And Tim and Jennifer on their tandem, and me on my fixed,
had just settled in on a New Year ride with bikes mixed.
When out of South there arouse such a gust,
we filed in one line for it was Creeds or bust.
Up the Pungo Ferry Bridge we flew like a flash,

...okay I give up.

I'm not a poet (obviously), but I figured everyone would be writing about New Year's day rides and I wanted mine to be a little different. The Virginia Beach Wheelmen (some of us) met this morning at 9 to ride the "Pungo Hangover Ride." Its much like the "Pungo Hell Ride", but slower.

The Players:
Tim Shockley
Jennifer Shockley
John Gray
and myself

The Scene:
Pungo. From Redmill, over the Pungo Ferry Bridge and back.

The Equipment:
Tim and Jennifer on a tandem, John on his road bike and me on my fixed gear. We like to mix it up.

The "no shows":
James Goyet chose to ride in Suffolk near his house. I can understand not wanting to drive too far for a ride. Good day to spend with the family.
Jon Nisbet is out of town and was with us in spirit since he was probably on his bike at the same time.
Mike Tamayo...I don't know. He is only two weeks away from graduation from the Chesapeake Fire Academy. We can cut him a little slack for a few more weeks.

The Hangovers:
I had a little to drink last night. Woke up with Mr. Hanky's cousin...the New Year's Poo. But recovered well and felt good.
Tim had some girl drinks at my house last night. He was probably still on a sugar high.
John worked on the medic last night in Suffolk and only got 3 hours of sleep.

The ride:
We kept the pace easy, but the wind still made the ride challenging. A lot of other riders were on the road. We saw Tripower guys and Fat Frogs (sorry for the toad comment, but I needed a rhyming word). 40 miles on the fixed gear for me was tough. It was almost harder on the return trip when we picked up the pace and I had to spin faster.

Overall it was a very good 4 days of training for me. It was a good way to start my aerobic base building and muscular strength phase of training. Now the temperature drops...the indoor trainer will be heating up though.