TDF'06

tOUR dE fRANCE
Tour de France, the grandest tour in the cycling world, starts in 1-23july06. It's like the superbowl of cycling. Lots of action, even before the start. Allegations of blood-boosting EPO, HGH, steroids, other drugs that boosts endurance are aimed towards some of the top favorites. Now that Lance is not here, it is a free-for-all race to the finish. My take in all this is that "if you cheat, you'll get caught". As the bible says in Lk 8:17 "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open." It applies to all. I keep this verse close, and it keeps me out of trouble. Back to cycling: My pick is Ivan Basso. He follows Lance in style, technique, performance, drive, and so on. Basso is more likable though. I only have 90% respect for Lance. Everything was cool up until he divorced his wife. I would trade 10 TDF wins to be able to keep my wife and kids. For all his wins, he still "lost". Anyway, i'll be glued to the tv and on the saddle in july, so just leave a message and i'll get back to you.

Folsom Criterium Bike Race

This is my first full year of racing. I only race once a month. In the begining, I tried two and sometimes three, but my results were suffering (as well as the family). So once a month is good for the family, training and results. The last few training rides with the team has been encouraging. I'm seeing improvements mostly on the climbing, and overall, stronger riding. Hopefully that translates in a race.
I usually try to race my age group(mens 35+ cat 4/5). The elite cat 5 (open ages) is way too crazy. There are lots of newbies, very inexperienced riders. That means crashes! In the race before mine, there were 3 crashes. On the last one, the officials had to call the ambulance. That's bad. Riders that are not in condition start to get squirly, bump a wheel, crash, and take out anyone behind them. That's why it's always advisable to stay in the front 1/3 of the group. The other good thing about my age group is that most of us all have familys to go home to, so we don't take risks. There were no crashes on my race. Also, I always pray before every race. It works.
Back to my race. It was fast from the start (30mph) and didn't let up until 10 laps. Lots of surges and fighting for positions. It was hard to get to the front, so i was always ending in the back end and getting the yoyo effect. There were some close calls towards the end, but all stayed safe. The last 3 laps got really fast and I just made sure I wasn't in last place. I came in probable 30 our of 50 riders. I was glad i finished.
Our team, LuzViMin, did faily well that day.

I am now a cat 4 racer.

Train Train Train (not the caboose type)

Seems like I need to do so much work for that little bit of gain. I guess that goes for all aspect of life, not just sports. I've been training a lot more lately and trying to get more miles a week than before. And that's taking more toll on the family. Our agreement is one weekend for the team/racing, two weekends (sat) for work, and one weekend for family. Give or take. Too much of one and the other suffers. So, yesterday, I rode 72 miles, half of that with a friend. The week before, 45mi with the team. I need these kind of miles to get my base so when it's race time, i'll be able to keep up. I'm feeling better and riding stronger each week, but i could always do more. Now it's more about stragegy and making sure i don't get dropped in group rides. I'm getting more encouraging comments from our coach and others about my riding, that i'm getting better. So again, a lot of work for a little gain.

But that gain can go a long way.

I'll get my Cat 4 after my next race. Now i really need to step up my training.

Grateful Friday: Things

Things that I am grateful for:
-God
-Wife
-Kids
-Friends
-Work
-Home
-Bike
-Dog
-Food

Things that I'm even more grateful for:
-The way my wife makes me laugh
-Reading the same books before bed, watching my kids sleep at night, tucking then in early in the morning.
-Listening to: joyful cries, music in the house, laughter in the backyard.
-Coming home from work, opening the door, and hearing "Daddy's home!!"
-TV time with wife (24, Idol, HGTV...) and kids(PBS kids...).
-Daddy/Daughter time.

Things that I'm super-grateful for:
-reflecting on and building memories as a family.

bye
-jl