I Want to Ride My Bicycle,...

I want to ride my bike. The USA Cycling Colligiate Road Championship was held in Lawrence last weekend. It's the National team, emphasis on team, Championship for the Division I and Division II colleges. Both, the men and women's results are combined to determine the national champions. It's not affiliated with the NCAA, each team is basically a cycling club.

It's a 3-day event. Friday is the team time-trial, in which, 4-men (women) teams ride against the clock on a 14-mile course. Saturday is the road race, 56.4-miles for the women, 84.6 for the men.

Sunday, was the criterium. it was a loop course, a little over a mile long that ran in a figure-eight pattern through downtown Lawrence, excellent for spectators.

It's a mass start with about 100-riders, the first race being the division II women, then division II men, and so on. They ride for 65-minutes and then they ride three more laps. The Pelletron pretty much stay together for most of the race. There were a few break-aways, but they were soon caught by the pack. There are some points awarded laps lead after about 30-laps. After the 65-minute mark, the race starts getting intense.

Mark Smelser, from K-State, won in convincing fashion. Could he be the next Lance Armstrong? There's a good chance that many of these young athletes will compete in the Tour De France someday. They spend 15-24 hours a week on the bike while maintaining full-time student status. The pros ride about 32-hours a week.






















I have a duathalon on Sunday, so, I have to get in shape while protecting my calf.
Monday, I forgot my shoes, so I had to ride on the stationary. I tried to hold a fast pace for 20-minutes. I ran another 4-miles when I got home.
Tuesday, I ran 3 X 1-mile repeats at 7:00 pace. Things were going a long pretty good on the intervals until the last one, and my calf gave away. Ouch!! I mean it hurts. This was the 10th straight day I've worked out. Today was a well-deserved rest day. I limped around all day. I've got until Sunday for it to get better, otherwise, it's no corportate challenge for me. There's always next year.