Farm House Classic

Did the Farm House Classic this past weekend.  It was my first Gravel Experience.  It was 93 miles.  6:55 of pedal time.  6:48 from start to finish.

Farm House Classic Gravel Grinder by ty.trammell at Garmin Connect - Details


I was kind of just in survival mode after 60 miles.  The front shifter was broken so I was stuck in the big chain ring the whole time, 46 tooth.  I felt pretty good on the climbs surprisingly.  I think I did a good job fighting off dehydration and cramps.  I took some Sportlegs, and Salt Stick before the ride and some more after about 3hrs.  I think this really helped.  I never had a single cramp.  I also ate shot blocks for the first 70 miles till I ran out.  I had a Coke at 30, and 70 miles.  I also ate some beef jerky for protein.   Then I bought some gummy bears and orange slices to continue with something to eat for the last 30 miles.

I rode in the last 40 miles with Eric formally with Bike Shack.  It helped to have someone to ride with.  Very dirty.  Everything was filthy. 

Tour of Lawrence

The main thing I got out of these races, are training and tube selection.  I've read that about 10hrs a week is the cut off for training.  At least seeing good results.  If you get under that you need to do a lot of high intensity most likely with structured intervals.  I could tell the first part of spring I had pretty good recovery after a hard attack.  Now I don't have as many matches to burn.  I haven't done any intervals except for one week.  So proof is in the pudding. 
  As for the races I didn't do very good on the ckt race,  mainly because of the hill.  I think going back to my training.  I have lost any hill ability I had built up in early spring. Just don't have the power.  So I go around 27th at the ckt.
  The crit went a lot better.  It's pretty much a fat boy crit.  Basically no elevation to speak of.  I felt pretty good most of the time.  I went for a $50 prime.  It was close enough that they had to check the video and I lost.  Then I was sitting in 3rd position on Gracen Warrior's wheel going around the last corner to the finish.  Just getting ready to start putting the hammer down and my tube popped. and I went down.  I pretty much had 3rd guaranteed. 
  This is the second time this happened to me with latex tubes.  After talking to some other people I guess they are know for popping easy.  So won't be using them anymore. They have cost me two races now.

Tour of KC

I guess I should post about the Tour of KC.  It was pretty uneventful for me.  It gave me a confirmation on where my fitness is.  Not as good as late winter, early spring.  At Spring Fling I could throw down 2 or three hard sprints and recover for the final.  Not now, I've got about one hard effort and that's it. Hill climbing is out, need to work on that.  Feeling better after weekend racing.  Ready for Tour Lawrence.

New Bike

   I finally got my bike.  Been waiting for while.  Not really that long, but it seemed like forever after they shipped it to Britton's Bikes it TX.  It's a Focus Izalco Team 2.0

   This thing is awesome.  I think I fell in love with it with in one block of pushing the pedals.  It felt like I was on a rail and it just wanted to go fast.  So after I established that it was stiff and loved to go fast I wanted to put ride comfort to the test.  I quickly started finding some pretty nasty assault to my surprise, and satisfaction it was quite comfortable.  I rode it last night at the Thursday Night Worlds.  Felt pretty good really.  Towards the end my gears started skipping.  So I tuned it up today.   I'm going to put 90 to 100 miles on it Saturday, so I'll see how it handles on the long haul. 

  Other than that it is a Dream to ride, a site to look at, and I love it. 

 

Raceing, and a New Bike

   Well I haven't had time to post lately.  I don't really have much to say either.  I did the Joseph Sheehan Race.  I'm also getting a new bike.  I guess that's a  lot.

  The Race was fun.  It was cold as most already know.   I road up front too much again.  I guess I kept hoping a break would get away and I could get in it.  Charlie was up front a lot too.  We traded pulls for a while with some guys.  I think we could've pulled off the front if anyone would've done any real work.  There was a guy that took off the front right at the beginning and lasted till the last couple of miles.  I tried to take off once I got a half to a mile away before they decided to get me.  I cramped up at the 1k to go mark and it was over.

We had a lot of guys out from the team though and Quiet Brian got 2nd.  His first Cat 4 race.   Charlie got 6th.  So good job guys. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83227914

New bike.  I'm getting a new bike.  It's pretty awesome.  It's by far the nicest bike I've ever had.  Can't wait to get it.  Should be here 5/10 or so.  It's a Focus Izalco Team 2.0  All SRAM Red.  Pretty sweet!

http://www.focus-bikes.com/us/en_us/bikes/bikes-2011/category/racing-bikes-4/model/izalco-team-20-1.html

 

Spring Fling finale!

I raced the final spring Fling this past weekend.  It was exciting to say the least.  I didn't do as good as I had hoped, but it was still good.

I ended up with 2nd for the series.  Bobby from Velotek beat me by 2 points.  Me and Snider from the Tall Grass team were planning on making a go for a break after the first prime.  That was a no go when  I wiped out om the last turn headed for the prime.  My tube blew out and I went skidding out across the pavement.  The tube came out of the tire and wrapped around my brakes and cassette.  I picked the bike up cross style and started running down towards the finish line.  Luckily I had a wheel in the wheel pit.  I got it changed out and was able to hop back into the group.  Then on the 2nd prim I did not get up there.  I don't know what happened.  I just couldn't get up there.  So my only hope left was to get a good place at the finish.  Which only ended up being about 7th.

So good job Bobby!   He had to get 7 points to beat me and I think he got 8.   Charlie Got 4th over all and only went to 3 races.  He's awesome and rode hard in this final race.    

Spring Fling Numero Quatro.

I did Spring Fling #4 this past weekend.  It was a little different than the others. It snowed on us almost the whole time.  It never got very wet on the ground though. There were only about 14 people.  I got 3rd, I'm good with that.

Right off of the go there was an attack.  I wasn't going to chase it, but no one else was going and I didn't want a break getting away with out me in it.  So this happened a total of 3 times before the first sprint.  I chased all of them.  No one else wanted to help.  I was tired for the first prime, but was still able to take it.

Right after the prime some guys wanted to go for a break.  I was maxed out but tried anyway.  We had strong guy jump way out in front of us and say lets go.  It was more like an attack instead of trying to help us.  We had about five guys, and nobody was organized at all.  They were a mess.  The group was right on our wheel so I sat up thinking these guys aren't going anywhere.  I should have stayed on because they did.  There was a Velotek guy in the break so ones in the main group sat up.  So basically Kenny and I did all the work.

By the time the 2nd Prime came around there were only three left in the break, so there was one point left.  I was going for it, but didn't realize that Grant from Velotek was right on my wheel.  He go around me and got.  Not sure if it would've helped me or not since 1st and 2nd place guys were in the Break.

Bobby from VeloTek got second and is second for the series.  Some guy from Tulsa Tough got first.  I got 3rd for the race and I am sitting in 1st for the series.  I hope I have more teammates show up next week.  It felt kinda lonely out there.  

Cat4 14 Starters
Place Bib Name, Cat, Age, Team, City, State
1 151 Jordan Haffener,5,21,Tulsa Tough Racing / 1 151 Tulsa Wheelmen Man
2 121 Robert Brigman,4,27,GP VeloTek Lawrence,KS
3 143 Ty Trammell,4,35,Team Colavita/Parisi Coffee Kansas City,mo
4 105 Richard Weis,5,41,Localcycling.com Olathe,KS
5 103 Grant Harrison,4,27,GP VeloTek Lawrence,KS
6 137 Robert Englert,5,17,Colavita/ Parisi Kansas City Shawnee,KS
7 109 Matthew Kassawara,4,31,GP VeloTek Lawrence,KS
8 106 Hector Soto,3,36,Renaissance Cycling Kansas City,MO
998 102 David Romisch,4,46,GP VeloTek Overland Park,KS
998 107 Myron Michael,4,51,GP VeloTek Overland Park,KS
998 117 Michael Rost,4,48,GP VeloTek Lincoln,NE
998 138 Kenneth Englert,4,14,SKC Racing Shawnee,KS
998 145 Ryan Kelley,4,29,GP VeloTek Overland Park,ks
998 150 Aaron Stull,4,18,Epic Cycling Team Parkville,MO

Spring Begins with a two race weekend.

I did two races this weekend. Saturday was the third installment of Spring Fling and Sunday was the final round of the Perry Road Race series. I raced both days, and felt pretty good. The weather was drastically different for the two days.


Spring fling was rainy and they foretasted rain, but I felt obligated to go. I wanted to go after it again. I was fortunate and able to get 1st place again. I took the first prime. Then there was a little break and someone got off of the front of that break. me and one other guy chased them for a lap or so we tried to get a kid from Velotech to help but he has spent himself sprinting for what he thought was the prime (turned out to be nothing). When we got done around to the finish line they called out for the prime. So I had a lap to recover and try to get it. Well the guy off of the front got it, but I second. Once it started pouring on us they called out last lap. The young kid from Velotech took off for the finish at turn 3. I didn't figure he would make so I let him go. I followed John Williams (CowTown) around turn 4 and put the hammer down. I got third accross the line. The Velotech kid was too far up to catch and the guy off the front was a quarter lap ahead or so. I was still happy I got enough points to get first.

Perry
I got 7th at Perry. I really wish I would have tried for the KOM. I just figured I wouldn't be able to get it. Then a break formed with 6 people that did think they could get it. Kenny from our team went. He is a junior. I was in the pack behind them. there weren't very many people in our group that wanted to work. I found I could beat them to the top of the climb. After make almost a full pull across the dam and part of another one on the last lap, I was read to dump some dead weight. There were two of up front, a guy from santefe cycling. I said once we get around the corner to go down be hind the dam lets hammer it and drop these guys. I think a couple will come with us. We got 5 guys together and took off rotating pulls. So we had at least the top 11 there. When we got to the final corner up the hill I hammered ahead of the guys. Two came up with me. On the false flat I recovered got in my small ring. Once we started up the steep part, I felt really good so I nailed it dropped those two guys and got 7th.
I felt pretty good at the end and wish I would have gone for the KOM. Oh well. It was still a good race.

Spring Fling #2

Well I did Spring Fling Crit race this past weekend. This was the 2nd one of the series and the 1st one I've ever done.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/72931859

I did the Men Cat 4 and the Men Cat 3/4.

I was pretty excited I got 1st place in the Cat 4. This is my first top three finish. The race consist of 2 primes and the finish. You get points towards win by how you do in the primes. 1st through 4th get points in the primes. 1st through 8th get points at the finish towards placing. I like it because it makes the race more exciting. You have to go for the primes to to get a good place.
I got 4th in the first prime and 1st in the 2nd prime. On the first prime as we were going around the corner to head to the finish I was getting the finish line in my sites when I noticed someone coming right into me. They didn't make contact, because I went off in the grass to avoid collision. As soon as I went off and realized I was good, I decided I'm still going for it. So I bunny hopped back up to the road. It was about a 2 inch lip back to the road surface. Then I started grabbing gears, put my head down, and hammered it. I barely caught a guy to get 4th. I payed for it too. My heart rate went up to 198. The highest I've seen all year is 192. It took a couple of laps to recover.
Then on the next prime I was about 5 or 6 back and I got on my teammate Charles's wheel. He was a guy named Travis's (from Ethos) wheel. About half way there I hammered around Charlie and kept at till I just barely got around Travis a little before the line.
So now I've got two primes and I'm feeling good. Need a little recovery before the finish. Towards the finish. I was back a little too far and started making a move a long the back stretch before the last corner. Then once we got around corner just started hammering down to the line. I finished between 3rd and 6th not sure really where I was. There was a pretty good bunch at the finish. All I know is it was enough for 1st. Which I didn't know until the results were up.

I did have a strategy. It was try to take all the primes and the finish. I guess I didn't quite do it, but it worked.

Then I did the 3/4's an hour later and held on pretty good. They have three primes instead of two. I decided to go off the front by my self after the 3rd prime. I made it about 1/2 to 3/4 of a lap before they caught me. I was pretty toasted by then. I stayed with the group till the end and finished around 15 or something.

These new pedals I think helped along with these wheels.

I rested and planted broccoli and cabbage on Sunday. Before I knew about the snow coming. I got them covered. I did about an hour of recovery spinning on the rollers later that evening.

All aboard!

Weird ride tonight. I was intended to go out for about 1.5 to 2 hrs and try these new Ritchey Wheels out. They pretty cool. Well I got a flat in about 15 minutes into the ride. I hardly ever get flats, but it hapens hit something big and went right through the tire. I'm not sure what it was but it left a big gash in the tire. Any way... I was heading down to the airport to do some intervals. There was a train just stopped across the tracks where I had to get through. At this point I'm already running out of time. So I just went underneath it and kept riding. I wouldn't recommend this, but I wanted to ride those wheels. I like them too. I'm leaning towards them. I just can't decide very well.

I've got a follower and I'm getting Wheels

Hey Congrats and thanks James for being my first follower. I'm sure you are the first person to read mine as well. I hope to put some clear thoughts down.

Wheels.
Well Britton has been helping me buy look at wheels. I think I've tried about four pairs now and it's starting to be like testing cologne. Really it's been great though.
First tried the Velocity A23's. I really liked these wheels. They are super light and strong. They have a wider rim 23mm so the tire makes more contact with the rode.
Next I tried some Shimano RS Eighty's. These were really cool, with a 16/20 spoke count. They are also carbon with aluminum break surfaces. I was nervous about them at first because I'm 185lbs. They were stiff and rode pretty nice. I think they look pretty cool as well.
Then I rode the Velocity Victory 30's. These were fine. Looked pretty. I raced them on Sunday's Dam race.
Now I'm trying the Ritchey WCS Zeta wheels. These are pretty cool and right now I'm leaning towards these. They have the sapim spokes with 16 front 20 back. I haven't had a chance to ride them outside yet, but plan on it tomorrow.
For the most part I really liked all of these wheels, and will have trouble deciding what to go with. I looking at weight, bombproofness (that's a word), and cost. So it's still a hard choice.

First race of the Season

Perry Road race series.
This was my first race of the season. It was also my first Cat4 race. It was about 25 miles, 5 laps with a good hill.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/71705500

The first lap we were pretty much all together. The second lap I think a break started. I didn't really realize it until we got down on the dam and Charlie said something to me. Michael Ellis and I were not really worried about it. Then Charlie said something about an In-a-Tub guy was in the break and that one of his teammates was sitting on the front of the group just sitting up. By the time we got around the corner heading down low Charlie came rushing by and I jumped on his wheel. I thought, "Yeah we're gone". It didn't last long and the whole group was on our wheel. So I fell back and sat in. There were a few more attacks here and there. I jumped on some. One time two of us were of the front, some guy from South Dakota, but that didn't last long either. Then the next thing I know Three of us, the South Dakota guy and an older guy from Molle (Blue Springs). Were off and clear. I didn't even realize it for a few minutes. Then we started hammering to catch the other group. We didn't catch them till the end of the 4th lap right as we started up the hills again. Once we got on they started putting the hammer down again. I was good util we got the hill climbs. When we went around the corner for the last leg of the climb, I didn't have much left and lost them before the top of the climb. Six guys in front of me. I chased them down as hard as I could for the next lap but couldn't get to them. I still ended in 7th place. I was happy with that. Overall it was a blast, with lots of Colavita Loven' out to cheer us on.

Training and traveling

Well I've been trying to get in shape after taking it kinda easy through the Fall. I've been trying to to do high intensity through the week the some on the weekends with some group rides. I'm trying to do mostly team group rides or do rides that are with fast people. It seems to be ok for now. Nothing seems to really make up for long miles though.

Getting ready to go to NAHBS The North American Handmade Bicycle show next week. I'm pretty exited about that. We will be in Austin, TX. We will be able to do some warm weather riding and see a bunch of cool bikes. Hopefully more to come on that.