Greenville Cycling Center Blog

Women, Sport

Sharon Brown, 4^th Place, Team Inertia

Men, Beginner

Mark Henninger, 9^th Place, Team Inertia

Will Brown, 13^th Place, Team Inertia

Danny Shew, 17^th Place, Team Inertia

Congrats to you all on a solid start to the 2010 season!

Cat. 5, 35+

Ives Van Heule, 1st Place, Unattached

John Frame, 9th Place, Team Metro

Women, Pro-1-2-3

Cinthia Lehner, 1st Place, Raleigh All Stars

Cat. 4

Jonathan Pait, 5^th Place, POA Cycling Team

Congrats to you all on a solid start to the 2010 season!

Cat. 5, 35+

Ives Van Heule, 1st Place, Unattached

John Frame, 4th Place, Team Metro

Women, Pro-1-2-3

Cinthia Lehner, 3rd Place, Raleigh All Stars

Women, Cat. 4

Heather Webber, 4th Place, Donne Pedala GHS Every Woman

Master’s 35+

Jim Cunningham, 6th Place, Team Metro

Pro-1-2

Josh Whitmore, 6th Place, Team Globalbike, GCC Affiliate Coach

Cat. 4

Jake Strasser, 8th Place, Team Metro

Congrats to you all on a solid start to the 2010 season!

This past Sunday I rode the Myrtle Beach Marathon Metric Century.  My goal was to finish the 100K in 3 hours or less.  Having finished well the last two years I aimed once again to be the first across the ‘finish’ line…  It’s a timed ride and yes, I know, I’ve raced Pro-Am successfully for several years now and shouldn’t be ‘racing’ timed rides.  I’m not too proud though, its good motivation and my in-laws that live in Myrtle Beach  like to see me hit it hard each year.

Mind you, the last two years were indeed timed.  This year not so as to discourage racing.  Yeah, right…  350 cyclists in February…  they’re not gonna treat it as a race… After averaging 23+ miles per hour in heavy cross-winds and 255 watts for the first 45 minutes it was clear the race was ON.

So what’s my point…?

After whittling the lead group down to about 1o guys, this one long-haired muscular kid (at first I thought it was a sick-strong girl!) kept drilling it and attacking…  Finally with about 20K to go he went up the road… 3 seconds… 5 seconds… 10 seconds… more!  Uh-oh…

Yes, the race was on and somehow I managed to get across (thankfully his team-mates helped in the chase; I was surprised by that!).  After reaching him it took every ounce of focus and will to stay with this young stud…  His acceleration as we traded pulls about popped me off every time and I couldn’t help but think… ‘If he jumps even moderately hard just once I am G-O-N-E’.

He didn’t, even though I sensed he was ready to pound and pounce my ’spot of bother’ -body into the ground…  We rode to the finish together.

Was the goal of 3 hours met?  Yes, 2:45…  I talked with my finish companion to learn a couple very interesting things:

1)  Been riding for 1.5 years

2)  Cat. 5 and has never raced

3)  Rides 350 miles a week ‘because I love riding’

4)  Finished the 2009 Assault on Mt. Mitchell in under 6 hours

5)  Going to race Hincapie Spring Series the next 3 weeks

…by the way, his name is Johnny Mitchell.  How fitting is that!

With racing upon us after a cold, wet & snowy early training season it’s time to think about the tactical side of racing your bike.  Yes, you’ve trained hard and your Threshold Power is better than ever… your match-book is larger than last year at this time too; great!  BUT, what have you done in the arena of tactics, bike handling and teamwork?

Today’s tip – keep An Eye Behind You.  When you get up the road solo or in a break or when simply on the front of the race, be sure you know what’s happening behind.  Is the pack right on you and you’re pulling it around wasting precious energy?  Do you have a 100 meter gap?  Are you in a break with four others and ‘out of sight’ of the pack?  Are two of your team mates working hard to get across to your break which will give you numbers in it, fortify it and give your team a great chance at winning the event?

Yes, what’s in front of you is very important, but do keep tabs on what’s happening behind you also.