Ken Fry goes big or goes home!
In preparation for a double century in California next month, Ken jumped on the Computrainer at 8 a.m. with the Endurance class and rode through two Boot Camp classes yesterday to rack up 6+ hours and 133 miles!
We're honestly so blown away we can't even remember what the previous record might have been.
A huge congrats to Ken and something tells us he's going to be in pretty good shape for the upcoming ride.
Since we have a lot of multisport athletes that participate in our Indoor Time Trial Series, we thought it would be fun to post age group results so that everyone could see how they did overall.
You can check them out here, and please note that if you raced twice only your fastest ride is included.
Like the age-group results? Hate 'em? Let us know in the comments, at www.facebook.com/ABDcycling or via our Twitter ID: @abdcycling
Like all places, Tucson has its downsides. This city happens to be one of the retirement meccas of the nation, filled with people that are coming to the age where they should have their license taken away, and people that are far past the point where their license should have been taken away. As I was out on a brisk morning ride on Wednesday I ran into one of these people (not literally), as 160 year old lady turned at about 2mph right in front of me and I had to slam on my brakes to prevent myself from becoming a hood ornament. There’s something wrong with the idea of a 90-something year old person operating a several ton machine that has the capacity to go really fast in public. Just saying.
But also like all places, Tucson has its redeeming qualities. For one, it has an insane amount of bike lanes. In Chicago it seems that an absence of bike lanes has contributed strongly to natural selection among the cycling population, so that those carrying traits that lead to riding on the right side of the road, wearing bright clothing, staying away from rush hour or riding towards the sun, and stopping when the light turns yellow are more likely to survive and thus are more abundant than their risk taking counterparts. I have theorized that due to the presence of bike lanes, Tucson is more likely to sport risk-taking cyclists with traits such as riding in rush hour/towards the sun, riding 8 across on group rides, or displaying the “I own this lane don’t get in my way or I’ll cuss you out” complex that so many car drivers exhibit.
On Monday I finally moved out of Stacy’s mom’s house, as Mrs. Appelwick all but had to pry my cold stiff fingers off the doorknob of her beautiful, delicious smelling home. I had to travel from North of Tucson all the way to the extreme South end of the city to get to my next home where I will be staying until February 26th. My new home was owned by a woman with a strong Brooklyn accent and her son, and occupied by two other cyclists that included a father from Colorado that was on a week-long vacation in Tucson just to ride his bike and a Canadian that actually pronounced words the way Americans always make fun of them for (who is also a ridiculously strong mountain and road rider I must say).
Tuesday was an off-bike day so I decided to go for a hike in Sabino Canyon, somewhat west of Mount Lemmon. I had never imagined hiking to ever be a “jaw-dropping” experience until I was literally on top of a mountain looking over the side of a sheer cliff. There were switchbacks just to walk up this mountain, and it was truly the ultimate stair workout. Forget a stair machine when you can get both the workout and an insane view of all of Tucson. It wasn’t until then that I actually regretted not bringing a camera to show everyone the 1700 feet I’d ascended (I know because I took my Garmin along).
Wednesday was when I had my run-in with the 160 year old lady and later rode up Gates Pass, which was a mountain route created by a man named Something Gates in the late 1800s that wanted a quicker way to get to his mines on the other side. I just wonder why he had to make his road so darn steep.
Thursday was my Epic Ride. My house is situated South of Tucson, and I pretty much just oriented myself North and rode. And then I rode some more. And 3.5 hours, 64 miles and two cliff bars and a banana later my Garmin computer died and I was still riding. And then, when I thought I couldn’t take it any longer and my power was at about a category 6 level, I found myself still riding. Throughout my ride I watched the sun go from rising in the east to setting in the west. I think I pedaled through time and space and got lost in the Twilight Zone for a few centuries and stumbled upon the meaning of life for a moment. And then I was back at my house in Rita Ranch and it was business as usual as I remembered I had a rider report to write. And when I told Mike Ebert (my coach) of my Epic Ride, he basically said it was about time I put away my solo fun in the sun and find somebody to ride with.
Hey everyone!
How we let this one slip by we will never know. However we did, and it was the fact there was no way to register for the men's 55+ category through active.com. I have since fixed active.com, however you might want to check results that are posted on www.abdcycling.com to make sure we got it right. Once I have sorted through all emails in the next day or so with fixes, we will upload an updated version of the results, so just hang tight until the dust settles. Go figure, put me in charge of something and the results get a little out of whack. Luckily this time, they put me in charge of this entire series, and only the results got a little out of whack. It must be a curse!
Anyways, I would also like to take this time to thank each and every one of you who came out and raced hard today. Many came out early hoping to get finished, hang out and watch a little of the racing, then get home in time to watch the Bears (not) do their thing. Nothing major happened, there was no drama, and everything went insanely smooth all because of our wonderful volunteers and of course you, the riders.
And one more quick note. Many of you know an ABD cyclist who races in the 70+ category, Billy Wacholtz. Last week Billy went into Delnor Hospital in Geneva for surgery. After his surgery Billy was out of it a bit and seemed to be a bit down on his luck. Quite a few of us ABD'ers have gone over to the hospital in the past couple of days to hang out with Billy and hopefully cheer him up. Well, I guess it worked. Today while we were all taking part of the races, I received a phone call and a voice message. Our very own Billy had left me a message urging me to call him back. Now, the past couple of days Billy has been hooked up to oxygen and has been really tired, so much so that he would rarely speak. Well today he was up and around and well enough to talk to us on the phone during the races. He was excited and sounded like he was getting back into the form we all know and love. He was a bit saddened by the fact he couldn't be there today, but I can assure he did ask how many of you had done today and said he can't wait for the next one and he wanted to throw down a cold one in celebration. So for the next coming weeks, I ask that you keep Billy in your thoughts and prayers and lets all wish him a speedy recovery. Hopefully he will not only be back on his bike soon, but as many of you know, we hope he is on his roller skates again soon.
So with that, if you have any questions, issues, you name it, or to find out how Billy is doing, please send all responses to me (email address below). Thanks again everyone and we will see you in less than month for #2!!! Good luck and thanks for the hard racing today! --
Rich Johnson
Event Director
Athletes By Design
A quick update on the skiing conditions nearby:
For those of you who have their own skiing equipment, most of the DuPage FP locations (Herrick Lake, Blackwell, Mallard Lake) are fair to good. There is no track set, and you may have to deal with walkers/dogs/etc. I would suggest Mallard Lake as it is one of the locations that has low foot traffic.
Also Deer Grove FP is in good condition and getting better.
Arrowhead is still closed at this time.
For those of you willing to drive a bit and challenge yourself, the trails in the So. Kettle (Nordic and McMiller) are very good to excellent. You can rent skis at a few places, Bicycle Doctor and the Lagrange General Store to name a few.
JimAmerican Bicycle Racing just sent over their 2011 Mid America Time Trial Series Rules. Here they are in their complete and unedited format.
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2011- WISCONSIN / ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION (WIIL)
RULES for MID AMERICA TIME TRIAL SERIES, TOUR of IL/WI & RIDER of the YEAR
Series held under American Bicycle Racing rules. Below are special rules for this WI-IL Series.
Blue Type are rule changes
A. GENERAL for all MID AMERICA TTs (MATTS), the TOUR (TOI/W) & RIDER of the YEAR (ROTY) events:
1. Uniform Classes:
• Junior Open (age 18 & under) (no Junior events at Masters Memorial Day Weekend & ROTY Fall Fling events)
• Junior Women (age 18 & under) (no Junior events at Masters Memorial Day Weekend & ROTY Fall Fling events)
• Open (Cat 1/2/3), Cat 3, Cat 4. (no Category events at ROTY Masters Memorial Day Weekend)
• Women Open (Cat 1/2/3), Women Cat 4 (no Category events at ROTY Masters Memorial Day Weekend)
• Masters age groups: 30-39, 40-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79 & 80+(no 30-39 at ROTY Fall Fling events)
• Women Master age groups: 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 & 70+.
• Recumbent/Tandem are a combined class (Time Trials only)
• Racers may enter & race for more than one (1) eligible category (example: enter twice, race twice, etc.)
• Women categories and age groups are open to women only. All other Classes are open to both genders.
2. Medals will be awarded 5 deep in all classes except 3-deep for recumbents,/tandems, junior open & junior women.
3. Series Points for each qualifying event will be awarded to each Class as follows:
• 5 deep for Masters 65 and above, Junior Women, Women 40, 50, 60, 70, Recumbents&/Tandems.
(example: 5 for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th & 1 for 5th) (VQ Indoor 3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd & 1 for 3rd)
• 10 deep for Masters 60-64, Women Open, Women Cat 4 & Junior Open
(example: 10 for 1st, 9 for 2nd, 8 for 3rd, 7 for 4th, etc to 1 for 10th)
(VQ Indoor 5 for 1st, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th & 1 for 5th)
• 20 deep for all other Classes
(example: 20 points for 1st, 19 for 2nd, 18 for 3rd, 17 for 4th, 16 for 5th, etc to 1 for 20th.)
(VQ Indoor 10 for 1st, 9 for 2nd, 8 for 3rd, 7 for 4th, 6 for 5th, etc to 1 for 10th)
Double points or other incentive points offered by a promoter for their series will not apply to the above scoring.
4. Series Overall requires minimumMINIMUM participation to qualify for end-of-season awards (cash, prizes, medals and/or plaques):
• MATTS - 59 qualifying events (the best combined time of the 3 ABD indoor TTs count as one event)
• TOI/W - 5 qualifying events (pending)(four new crits are in development for 2011)
• ROTY - 10 qualifying events (pending)
A Rider must compete in at least 2 MATTS and 2 Tour of IL/WI for a total of 10 events to qualify for ROTY. (pending)
Participation requires starting, racers who start but fail to finish (DNF) an event will qualify for that event.
5. Event Waivers: NONE.
• MATTS – 2 waivers (example: 16 events held and you race 16, then 14 best count. you race 9 then all 9 count).
• TOI/W – pending review
• ROTY –pending review
6. Tie Breakers for series overall standings:
• 1st tie-breaker - the racer participating in the most events of the series.
• 2nd tie-breaker - the racer who places highest in the final event of the series.
7. Promoters are responsible for having race results in the hands of the ABR by no later than the day following the date of their event. Give results to the ABR Official or Email results to: AmBikeRace@aol.com
8. Entry fees will be at the discretion of the race promoters.
B. SPECIAL RULES FOR MATTS
The ABD Indoor Time-Trial Series will count a racer’s best combined time of the 3 indoor TTs as one MATTS result.
(A rider who raced all three will place ahead of a rider who raced only two or one of the courses.)
2. Rules for the Two-Person Team Time Trial:
• Both riders in a Team must be eligible to race age group or ability category entered.
• Both riders in a Team must be the minimum age for age group entered, points will be awarded in the age group of the youngest teammate. Except for age groups Women 60-69 and 70+ who can team & race together and Master 65-69, 70-74, 75-79 & 80+who can team & race together. Points awarded in their respective age groups.
• Women only classes are for Women only Teams. Women and Men may team together to race in other classes they are otherwise eligible to enter.
• Each team, for each run may enter only one categoryrace Class. (enter twice, race twice)
3. Prize distribution for end-of-season racers who complete the minimum number of (9) nine qualifying events for awards is:
• Cash & Awards will be awarded 5-Deep in all classes, except 3-deep for Recumbent, Tandem & Juniors.
• Cash and/orPrizes will be divided among the categoriesClasses based upon the percentages of qualifying racers in each categoryClass.
(Example: 200 total qualifying racers & Masters 50-59 category has 20 qualifying racers, then 10% of the total cash award money will be distributed to the top-5 Masters 50-59 racers)
• The award distribution for each category will be: pending
5-Deep Classes – 33% to 1st, 26% to 2nd, 19% to 3rd, 13% to 4th, and 9% to 5th3-Deep Classes – 50% to 1st, 30% to 2nd, and 20% to 3rd
Ready to get out of the basement and test that winter fitness? The 12th Annual ABD Indoor Time Trial Series* kicks off next Sunday, January 23rd!
The Pre-registration deal for the first event and the series closes this Sunday at midnight- plus Sunday also marks the close of the "Series Pre-Reg Deal" - all 4 races for just $80- save yourself $20 if you sign up now! We already have 125 riders registered and start times are assigned on a first come, first serve basis.Preliminary start times for all riders will beposted on Wednesday, January 19th.
Online registration is available at: http://www.active.com/triathlon/winfield-il/abd-cycle-club-indoor-tt-...
Full details and a video describing what exactly an Indoor Time Trial is are available at http://abdcycling.com/events/ttseries.html .
You can view past results at http://abdcycling.com/events/results.html
Any riders who aren't pre-registered can register on-site for any remaining time slots.
We are also proud to announce the return of the "take home the trainer prize"! This year we will have 16 Blackburn trainers available for warm-up at the three indoor events, and after the final event (the JFMTT), the overall winners of each category with at least 3 riders will take home one of these trainers! *PLUS*, the fastest three Men and Women at each event arereceive $50, $30 and $20, respectively.
The dates of this year's series are:
TT #1: SUNDAY, JANUARY 23 - FLAT 10K
TT #2: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20 - ROLLING 10K
TT #3: - SATURDAY, MARCH 19 - 9K HILL CLIMB
OUTDOOR FINALE: SUN, APRIL 10: JOHN FRASER MEMORIAL TT
Other 2011 ABD Events:
- May 28-30: Memorial Day Weekend Masters Races
- August 13 & 14: Winfield Criterium Weekend
- Late September: Fall Fling Stage Race
Hope to see you next Sunday!
For ABD members that sometimes (or frequently) race triathlons and who are interested to improve their swim efficiency and speed, Petersen Performance Lab, a Chicago area triathlon coaching group, is putting on a Swim Technique Clinic in Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 16 at 9:30am at the UIC Sport and Fitness center pool.
Each athlete will get individualized stroke instruction, evaluation, and feedback. Cost is just $79, but there is a discount for ABD members that contact me directly. You can see the swim clinic flyer (pdf file is attached to this email or, if it doesn't come through, a link to it psted online is here below):
http://oi53.tinypic.com/8y94k5.jpg
Any questions, please contact me at the number below.
Thanks,
Greg Grunner
USAT-certified Triathlon Coach
Wheaton
