Race Resume

Most pros have race resumes to get sponsors and buttress their legitimacy, but I think its time that I put one together to hand out to all of the people that ask the same general questions when they find out I ride a bike.

No, I have not raced the Tour de France nor will I this year.

Lance Armstrong is not my favorite rider.

Meadows Farm Aftermath

After reading the following race accounts, I'm a little less upset about my result at Meadows. With 60% of the field shelled before I was, thats still top 30%-40%, which still kinda sucks, but is something that I'll accept since I'm still learning technical know how on tight courses and did the race after a heavy training week.

Celerity's account: http://http://www.celeritycycling.com/post/The-Meadows-Farm-Circuit-Race.aspx

Bike Lane's: http://thebikelaneteam.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/the-weekend-in-racing/

Bunnyhop should be the opposite so hopefully things will play out well there.

Old Post: 2010 Season

Its been a while since I last wrote on here and several good ideas have come and gone, which is probably for the better. If you've wondering where I've been I have been balancing an incredibly difficult schedule of interning, watching re-runs, hopelessly applying for jobs I won't get, and racing my bike. Yes, racing. At this point in the year I've probably raced close to 100 days, eclipsing most pros and amateurs.

But if I'm racing this much, how am I still a lowly Cat 4 and why can't you find the results online. Let me explain my racing season and schedule to you a little bit and then it will be quite clear how I manage such a grueling schedule of training and competition.

My Weekly Training Routine

Somewhat lifted from CyclingInquisition, but modified to fit the average MABRA'er (myself included):

Meadows Circuit Race

Today was the definition of an epic clusterfuck. I knew that when the course was described as "9 90 degree turns with a climb and a descent that will string out the field" that it wasn't the course for me. I don't do technical races very well partly because I have an irrational fear of pedal striking (which I did 8 or 9 times today) and partially because of a few friends that have gone down hard from them and had terrible injuries. Also, I just don't do well with sprinting every 20 seconds while trying to avoid crashes and make sense why the other cat 4s are doing some of the seemingly absurd things that they are usually doing. I'm fine in a road race where I can sit in the top 20, hang out, see the road in front of me, avoid nervous peloton spasms, and just relax.

Tour of the Battenkill

For some reason people all this race a classic, but I just see it as any other road race except that some of its roads are a bit shitty. It never appealed to me even when I lived in NY, and I always thought that its hype was part of the recent overweight-think-were-sprinters/classics hardmen-because-we're-overweight-and-old Belgian fanaticism that has seemed to have swept cycling in recent years. I'm no lithe climber by any means, but it seems that many think that just because you can use gravity to help your thoroughbred-sized legs create some speed for a few seconds that you're automatically the King of the Pave. Combined with the long drive, need for overnight accommodations, and the fact that a race with repeated, punchy climbs shouldn't suit me on paper always convinced me that it wasn't worth it.

Carl Dolan Shit-For-Luck-Fest

I felt great coming into Dolan and the course suited me pretty well; nothing technical, a nice hill and long, sweeping turns. I rested up, felt good, got some rest in and shit should've gone well, but the day would unfold in the opposite manner.

Black Hills Suck-Fest Season Opener

The Black Hills course seemed great for me on paper- 1 short hill, some nice loopy curves and another hill on the back that was completely covered from the win. I had planned for this race all season hoping that I could manage to capitalize on the fact that it was still March and maybe accumulate some points somehow, but the day had different plans for me.

Who I Am

I moved to Washington, DC in October of 2010 and have been here and there ever since. I was coming off a pretty hectic summer spent riding between 17 and 27 hours a week in the Alps and Juras in France and Switzerland respectively and a serious bout of manorexia that sent me all the way down to 153 lbs (more on my weight later). Having not done a high intensity ride since my last road race in May I really wasn't ready for cross and kinda sucked at it. I joined Raw Talent Ranch/CycleLife in February and you've most likely seen me around in one of their kits on one of the weekend rides or at races. I have a half sleeve on my right leg thats pretty unmistakeable and my nameplate on my frame reads 'Boner McGiven'