Greene County Recap

There have been times in my life where I felt like I was a real beast on the hills.  Times when I felt like I could suffer with the leaders over the top of the hill, only to hammer it out on the backside and along the flats where I could use my power to my advantage and put all those skinny little runts on the rivet as the try to hold my wheel.  I am proud of these times and will take any opportunity to tell a willing listener how good I used to feel on the climbs.  Take for instance the 2012 Greene County Road Race where I was able to lead the field over the first climb and then somewhere between Kuhntown (pronounced CoonTown) and Brave I solo'd away from the Cat 4/5 field for about 15 miles.  I got caught on the next to last climb but stayed with the main group and hung on long enough to get over the last climb in a top 10 positon and sprinted to a 3rd place finish.  The plan going into the day was to have Jerry and I attack early and often to try to soften the legs of the other riders by chasing us so that our our other teammates like Shawn Geiger, James Braswell, Jonathan Suite, and Chris Jones could sit in and be fresh to attack on the final climb.  But things didn't quite work out the way we had hoped and a couple of mechanicals and a mistimed attack put the fork in our Big Plans.

 

2012 Greene County Road Race podium with Shawn Geiger

Photo Credits:  Anonymous

But I am not at the same fitness level I was back in 2012, and it is my goal to get back to the point where I am contending for podium finishes, even if I am racing in a much stronger field.  My coach had me well on track to be there very soon, but my promotion at work put me on a different time table, and the 3+ weeks of training I lost to the switch have definitely hurt.  But its back to the grindstone for me and I am refocusing my energies and I am confident that I will get back to that level once again.  And this past weekend was further proof that I am headed in the right direction.  Round #2 of the ABRA Road Race series was this past weekend and while it is ALWAYS a race I enjoy because I grew up riding these very roads, I wasn't just so sure it would be enough to make a difference if I had a bad day.

This year's course was a lolipop where most of the fields do a double loop.  The loop starts at the top of big, steep climb up to Warriror's Ridge and, and except for the descent a few miles later, remains relatively flat until the end of the lap where we would have to climb the backside of the ridge.  Between each of the 3 big climbs, was a relatively flat 18 mile stretch of road that was suited to my strengths and the focus of my training this past winter.  As expected, I was dropped by the leaders on the first climb (mile 5.5) and I was next to last to the top. But there were others around me, many of the same people I had worked so well with the past weekend in Morgantown, so I knew I still had an opportunity to work with some of these guys and improve my position.  In short order we were again a field of about 5 or 6 with lots of singles out in front to dangle as a carrot and chase down to hopefully build a formidable chase group. In short order, we were a strong group of 8, with 4 40+'s, 2 50+, 1 60+, and a Women's 1-2-3.  We rode well together around the first loop but got stretched out on the second climb.  I was last up it out of our octet, but soon got back on the wheels of the two in front of me.  I soon realized that the 3 of together were not gaining on the 5 in front, so I decided to give it a go and try to bridge back up to the bigger group.  I was happy to really feel my training pay off as I slowly but surely closed the gap over the next couple miles, and I finally latched back on their wheels just before we descended the second time down. Lap 2 was more of the same but we started picking up and dropping singles who had fallen off the pace of the 4/5 field in front of us.  

Right at the top of the first climb and already starting to catch a few of the people who I'd end up riding with the rest of the day

Photo Credits: Cassie Fetzer

I finished dead last out of our 6 that started the second lap together, but it was good enough for 10th overall in the Masters 40+ field. Its still a long way from the podium spot I want.  But on the good side, Devin Corboy managed to bring home a 3rd place and Jim Mock and Chris Jones were just off the podium in 6th and 7th, respectively. 

Last Time up... I worked hard to muster a duck face for the camera but Cassie missed it :-(

Photo Credits: Cassie Fetzer

You can look for me on the following dates at these races:

4/14/2015        ACA Masters

4/15/2015        ACA B's

4/21/2015        ACA Masters

4/22/2015        ACA B's

4/26/2015        ABRA McKeesport Crit

4/28/2015        ACA Masters

4/29/2015        ACA B's

5/2/2015          ABRA Fort Cherry Classic

5/5/2015          ACA Masters

5/6/2015          ACA B's

5/12/2015        ACA Masters

5/13/2015        ACA B's

5/17/2015        Easter Ohio Time Trial Series

Slow Down to Go Fast!

This past weekend most of the Dynamic Physical Therapy powered by Pathfinder Cycling team participated in the Morgantown Road Race, myself included.  But I came into the race off form as I started a new job in early March and the longer hours I've been putting in to get acclimated at my new terminal have caused me to miss workouts in lieu of going to bed early for my 4AM wake up calls.  But I had worked hard earlier this winter thanks to the program that Rob at Performance Coaching Services had written for me, so I was hoping I was going to be in good shape from a "base" standpoint.

Thank you Cassie Fetzer for this photograph... of course you couldn't take one where I got to smile... 

I didn't have any high expectations, so my goal was to ride well and find ways to enjoy the day. Because of the course rerouting that went on a week out, we no longer got to enjoy a mostly flat first half, instead we were hit with a familiar climb just 4 miles into the race.  And like I expected, the little jitterbugs on bikes, decided to lift the pace on the first hill and I was dropped off the back as they topped the climb.  But I hammered down the hill and was in sight of the leaders as we hit Kriby. I have no doubt that I could have put in a big effort and most likely closed the gap, but we were only at mile 6 and we still had 44 to go.  I looked over my shoulder and saw a group of 2 or 3 behind me and I forced myself to slow down and get caught so we could share the load and stay out of the strong headwinds we were dealing with. It literally went against everything I've ever done in a race situation.  I mean, the idea of a race is to go as fast as you can, right??  But in years past, I would always do big efforts and find myself fried for the next climb and I would just watch the leaders ride off, never to be seen again.  And while I wasn't riding with the lead group at this point, my group of 4 grew to 10 as many as we reeled in riders along the way. Each climb we would lose 1 or 2 but we kept moving forward and picking up stragglers along the way.  We even started catching a few singles from the Cat4-5 riders who had been dropped by their groups. They were forced to ride most of the day by themselves, battling the winds on their own. So when we rolled past and told them to jump on, they just didn't have the legs for it any longer and they were left behind.  I knew exactly what they were feeling at that moment, because it had happened to me so many times over the last couple years.  I always let my ego and my self confidence write and story with an ending that always left me getting caught and passed by the fields behind me. And with about 6 miles to go, I finally felt the cord starting to break and I knew my time with the now group of 5 was soon to be over. About that time, we closed in on Johnny Mac and Aaron Bovalino, two of the nicest guys in racing.  So instead of killing myself to try to stay with the other 4, I again sat up and decided to ride to the finish with these two.

As I crossed the finish line, I was extremely pleased with the way the race had gone.  My legs started to fade right around the 2 hour mark, which made sense, as that was just about the average "long" ride I had been fitting in over the winter. My legs just weren't used to the extra time in the saddle and it showed.  I was hoping for a finish time around 2:40 and I just missed my mark, but I felt like I had been competitive with a lot of people I would have just watched as the rode off from me the last few years.  By slowing down and riding with others at mile 6, I managed to race faster than I would have on my own. It may have been the best decision I've ever made... well that or helping myself to a second helping of everything at mom and dad's for Easter. :-)

I hope to see you all going "slower" at Greene County next week!!

finally back from injury

First off, I want to send a huge thank you to Pathfinder for helping me upgrade my bike a little bit. I was able to get a new cassette, rings, cables, tape, and chain. I also put on a new set of Kenda tires!  So far I have been able to travel to NC State and Navy with WVU Cycling before the ABRA series starts up.

Navy Crit

Womens B field

            Off the bike I have had three horse shows and qualified myself for regionals. I have officially reached eligibility for collegiate horse shows, but I am hoping to make a run at the Tournament of Champions as an alumni. I am also planning on competing at three public shows this summer.

2nd Place at Greir

            Last week, I was able to go back to New Jersey to visit my parents for a few days and then went down to DC to visit. The first day was spent visiting monuments and wandering around the city. The next day I was able to go to the zoo and was the happiest child there. I am pretty certain my dream job would be a zoo keeper, because animals are the greatest thing in the world.

Patrick and I with Abe

            I wish I could see you all tomorrow morning at the Morgantown Road Race, but I will be in Annapolis visiting family for the holiday. Next weekend, I will be receiving my white coat from the School of Medicine on Saturday and racing in the WVU home crit on Sunday. The crit will be held at the same location as the ABRA training race for anyone interested in coming out! Then, I will ride down to Appalachian State the following weekend for a road race and crit. Most importantly the McKeepsort Grand Prix is the following weekend and I better see you all there.

            Finally, I want to give another shout out to Rob over at Performance Coaching Services for helping me get back out there from my injury last season. I still have my work cut out for me to get back into shape, but I can see myself recovering and getting stronger.

Thierry and Monty tired after a long day of bike races

See you all soon!!

Cara

Getting Ready for Bike Racing and Club Ultimate Frisbee

So this year my goal is to balance racing bikes with being on a club Ultimate Frisbee team.  So the month of March particularly the second half of the month I have been stepping up my training with riding my bike more often and also doing a lot of running.  So starting on March 11, I rode my bike a couple of miles to go play Ultimate with a lot of people who were on club teams the year before, this was a lot of fun but reminded me how out of shape I was.  Then that weekend was the Dynamic Physical Therapy powered by Pathfinder Cycling Team training camp this was a blast and great to see everyone on the team again.  We rode about 100 miles that weekend and it was tough but I made it probably because of snowboarding and playing indoor Ultimate over the winter.  Even though I wasn't riding my bike I was still exercising over the winter which I'm sure is the main component to me surviving training camp.

So now for the week that I may have over trained a little bit .  Starting on March 21 I ran 2 miles and played Ultimate for about 3 hours.  March 22 I rode my bike to church and back.  March 23 I rode my bike to CMU then did a track workout with some people who will be trying out for the two mixed Ultimate Frisbee club teams in Pittsburgh (also what I think is an important note is that it snowed while we were running and on my bike ride home).    March 24 I rode my bike to CMU again to do another workout to prepare for Ultimate.  March 25 I played more Ultimate for about 2 hours.  March 26 I ran 6.2 miles. March 27 was finally a break day and at this point I hurt a lot this is way too much exercise for one week. March 28 I ran 2 miles and played Ultimate for 2 hours then later that night I went to Skyzone a trampoline park to jump for about 2 hours.  March 29 was another rest day.  March 30 I went for a bike ride around the city.  March 31 I ran 4 miles and did a sprint workout (running sprints not biking sprints).

Some very cool people that make a running workout on a track fun!

Even though I know that sounds like way more Ultimate and running then riding my bike I think it all will still help prepare me for racing this season since hopefully my cardio will not hold me back this year as long as I keep exercising in some form rather than just watching a lot of TV.

And finally, the highlight of March is that I ordered a new Cannondale SuperSix and I am so excited! After I get to pick it up then I have a feeling I will end up doing a lot more riding than running.

My new Cannondale is almost ready! I'm so excited!

And spring has finally arrived!

At least I think it has.  It is supposed to be in the high 60s and sunny today.  Plus, the Dynamic Physical Therapy Cycling team powered by Pathfinder just finished up their weekend training camp.  With all that and the racing season right around the corner I can’t imagine any more snow in the forecast.  Knock on wood!  This winter has been tough with record low temperatures and a whole lot of snow.  Kenda tires did get me out on the trails a handful of times this winter, but not nearly enough with the extremely cold temperatures and all the snow.

However, I did get to ride almost every weekend this winter with my favorite riding buddy.  This year we decided to buy a season pass for Rays MTB Indoor Park.  So at least one day of almost every weekend this winter the family would pile ourselves and our mountain bikes into the car and drive up to Cleveland to ride indoors.  It probably didn’t keep me in as good as shape as riding outside or doing structured workouts, however, spending the time riding with my family was well worth it.

So as we enter into the 2015 racing season I want to wish all of my teammates best wishes this year.  I hope the Dynamic Physical Therapy Cycling team powered by Pathfinder will see a lot of podiums this season and even more important, I hope all of my teammates stay healthy and have fun this year!

2015 Spring Training Camp

This was weekend was the annual Dynamic Physical Therapy Cycling Team powered by Pathfinder's annual spring training camp.  I took a couple of extra days off work and headed south to my parent's house for a short vacation.  And as is typical, on Friday Night, we gathered at one of our title sponsor's (Dynamic Physical Therapy) 6 locations in North Central West Virginia.  This year's team meeting was held at the Westover Location, which is conveniently located just a couple minutes off exit 152 on I-79.  After all the ink dried, we gathered our respective loved ones and headed to another team sponsor, Morgantown Brewing for a team dinner.  As I was feeling dehydrated from a training ride earlier in the day and also having to drive to Waynesburg after dinner, I chose not to partake in any beverage appreciating, but the burger I had more than made up for that.  Sure, we all know somebody that has a bigger burger, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who has one that tastes better than the Brewmaster.

Note to self... when the menu item's description says "how do you make XYZ better, you add fried egg and bacon, of course", you should probably read the menu item description for XYZ as well.  I did not realize this was a double burger and this was "WEIGH" more meat than I had intended (but I do NOT regret my mistake at all)

We woke up to a damp rain on Saturday, but most of us toughed it out and put in our 55 miles.  The worst part of the day was getting on the bike in the rain, but we were chatting it up in short order and we soon forgot about the weather.  And then somewhere along the way, the rain passed and we really just had to deal with wet roads and overcast skies.  Its always amazing the way a nice bike ride makes you feel, even if the weather is less than conducive.

After the ride, we hit up Rising Creek Bakery to try and replenish a few of the calories we killed on the ride.  If you're ever traveling on I-79 around the PA/WV state line, you owe it to your self to stop in for a cup of coffee and your favorite danish.  I had a hard time deciding what that was, so I went with a Brown, Hello Dolly, and a White Cocolate and Cranberry Oatmeal cookie.  I washed it all down with a piece of ham and carmelized onion quiche.  (The quiche was so good I got another one on Sunday after our ride as well)

Notice that there are no plates with any food left on them.

After cleaning up, we headed out for dinner at ABRA sponsor Pies and Pints in Morgantown, WV.  As luck would have it, we ran into one of the owners at Dynamic Physical Therapy and he offered to pick up the food tab....Thanks Lincoln!

The VERY appreciative Crew of the Dynamic Physical Therapy powered by Pathfinder Cycling Team

Sunday was atleast sunny and dry, but the temperature had dropped overnight and it was mentally tough to start the ride with wet shoes and gloves. But again, soon the conversation and comraderie took over and it was all Highfive and Hugs we previewed the Morgantown Road Race course.  45 miles of friends made the weekend completely worth it.  The ride was naturally also capped off with a snack stop at the Rising Creek Bakery. Between Pattis Pasticceria, Rising Creek Bakery, the Apothecary Ale House, and Morgantown Brewing.... we would be better served to have an EATING team versus a CYCLING team.

Photobombed!

And the weekend was capped off for me with a brief stop back at my parents for a homecooked meal and a good long soak in the hot tub at Casa de GarBar.

 I want to thank Rob at Performance Coaching Service for getting me ready for the upcoming season. While I am not yet where I want to be, I am much further along towards my goal thank I would have been with out his help. As of Friday, he still has one more spot open, so you still have a chance to help yourself get ready for the start of the season.  Thanks.

And while I had a great time seeing most of the team and catching up with a few I hadn't talked to for many months, it was SOOOOOO nice to finally get back to my home, turn the car off, and crawl into my own bed. 

GED for Winter Motivation

GED- Gittin'  'Er Dun

Some of the team is in Virginia getting much needed distance training, JR Petsko is getting tattoo's, Jeff Gernert is riding the trainer in a MANkini and I am doing short-high intensity training in my basement. We all do something to stay fit and sane during the long winters. We all do the best we can trying to stay motivated. 

This year I've taken a different approach to training and staying fit. The idea of training with short cardiovascular intensity intervals is not new but the idea of becoming a well rounded athlete before getting cycling specific has seemed to fall by the waist side. Gone are the days of long slow bike rides during the cold winter days and in are the days of cross training. What am i doing? 

First of all- the cycling bag remains! I just pack it a little different. Cycling shoes are replaced with boots, arm & leg warmers are replaced with puffy down jackets and goretex. The end caps are filled with carabiners and quickdraws and I have an axe in my hand. One thing remains the same though. I'm always stocked with Swiftwick socks!

Gear for the climb

Proper Footware

Luckily I can get a lot of  outdoor sporting supplies from our sponsor Pathfinder of West Virginia! That's great for me but what does that mean for you? It means if you swing by their shop in Morgantown you will be the happy owner of some great sporting equipment at a great price too!

Where do I go from here? It's literally and figuratively the same as with cycling.You have no place to go but UP!

 I love the beginning of the cycling season when the team gets together with sponsors in March and celebrate a future working together. We always learn about the development of the companies that support us and the personal goals of our friends. Unfortunately life doesn't always go as planned. For me and my wife Caito this year "camp time" will be spent in South America instead of in West Virginia. Yes it's exciting but also a bit disappointing. I am determined to make the most of this time and enjoy my crisis (40th) birthday challenging myself in the Andes Mountains. It all begins with Jampa! This 5500m beast may not be technical climbing but it will serve as a acclimation summit for the next days of climbing. 

The days that follow Jampa will not be a walk in the park. 

3-4 summits are to be done if the weather cooperates! I'm sure it will be easier than the Fairchance training race! You cyclist better get on the road...

Nevado Caracol

Caracol Ridge

With Luck and a lot of Hard work this will be me on Punta! 

Swiftwick motto "do what moves you" is a great lesson to live by. Winters are long and days are short so do what you love. Road cycling season is upon us! Set your goals! 

Dream BIG and GO FOR IT! 

Recognize and Appreciate those who support you on the Journey