Here is a quick video preview of the 35 mile course at Barry-Roubaix in Middleville, Michigan. March 26th, 2011 will mark the first race of the season for the Bohunk, the beginning of a ninth month expedition around the state, seeking cycling glory and free stuff.
Thanks to Rick Plite, the race promoter and the other guy in the video.
The Bohunk scurries up the Muur…(This is what I imagine I look
like on the bike. Everyday.)
About a mile and a half from getting home from my ride today, a middle-aged woman waddling across the road with her equally wide pal made a comment about me. It’s rare I actually hear people say anything because I am most often cruising along too fast or too far away. But this lady, I heard. As I rounded a corner and tore into the pavement to keep the pace up, she said, quite flatly, “Well, he is serious.” Yes, ma’am, I am. And let me tell you why…
Your skills of perception, madam, are lacking. What you saw was a 22 year old in tight clothing on a full suspension bicycle that is more than a bit too big for him. But what that young man really was doing was launching an attack off the front to get a gap over a select group of eight, including, just to name a few, Fabian Cancellara, Thor Hushovd, Tylar Farrar and Juan Manuel Garate. And trust me, the young man you saw was digging himself to China in an effort to get away.
You believe you saw this on a normal, cold and wet Thursday in Traverse City, Michigan, whilst in (my) reality, I was really just rolling of the top of the Muur climb at the Tour of Flanders, Belgians yelling and spiting obscenities at me in a drunken fervor as if I was Lance Armstrong his very self. You can see then, ma’am, that yes I was indeed quite serious. Thank you heartily for taking a moment to notice.
The sixth day of the TC Training Camp was a mountain-bike-on-the-road-ride because of the deep slush and snow on most of the roads. I only did an hour and twenty minutes and about 22 miles because of a very strong and cold wind, but I was really feeling the effects of a long run yesterday. Looking forward very much to the weather tomorrow, which promises partly cloudy skies and a temperate 37 degrees. More from the roads tomorrow!
The weather cooperated to a small degree today to allow for a rare jaunt into the “mountains” of Northern Michigan. The temperature was a balmy 35 degrees in town with an 8 mph wind from the south. The roads were mostly clear around town but near the tops of some of the climbs were spotted with piles of snow with no pavement exposed, meaning a precarious slip through on skinny tires. I did my normal climbing route except for one climb, which ended up being 5 climbs over 300 feet each. The legs are weak, but the lungs were better than I expected and my times on the climbs were not terrible considering my limited training. In Allendale, it would take all day to climb 400 feet, while the very first Col of the day on this ride was over 400 alone. The descents were a bit more dangerous and I took them with some degree of caution, tapping the brake occasionally and checking the shadows mud puddles for ice.
Thomas de Gendt wins on Stage One of Paris-Nice, donning the
Yellow Jersey for the second stage.
In the Paris-Nice, Greg Henderson of Team SKY won in a very close sprint in the second stage, edging out Robbie Hunter of RadioShack, Denis Galimzyanov of Katusha and a personal favorite of the Bohunk’s Heinrich Haussler (Garmim-Cervelo). The terrifying Peter Sagan of Liquigas-Cannondale) wound up fourth. The Bohunk is an excellent predictor of things, though admittedly better when Cheer-Babes are involved. For Paris-Nice, look out for Sagan for the overall. Remember that in a few days’ times…
In the first Classics race of the season, Rabobank’s Sebastian Langeveld outkicked Juan Antonio Flecha of Team Sky to win the hiply-named Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The race is even more fun to watch than to say, and racers did not disappoint. First, a potential protest over the radio ban was averted by representatives of the riders voicing their concerns but agreeing to go pedal, and forcibly. The Classics masters like Tom Boonen, Thor Hushovd and Phillippe Gilbert missed out on the moves in a confusing and dynamic race. The weather was 48 degrees with a steady rain over most of the course, leaving deep pockets of mud on roads and making the cobblestones slick and grimy. 50 km out, Langeveld attacked on the Eikenberg climb and went roughly half the distance alone before being caught by Juan Antonio Flecha, who rode down a gap of a minute in under 30km to join Langeveld to set up a tight finish. The former teammates (Flecha spent three years at Rabobank) worked together to hold off a chase group that never really closed ground before sprinting to the line, with Langeveld taking it by little more than the width of a rim.
Victory! It took Rabobank’s staff three hours to hose this guy down.
Note: He wasn’t in it today, but the Bohunk’s personal Classics favorite and all-around Nice Guy Thor Hushovd looked stronger today than he did at Tour of Oman. He finished 33rd but with many of the pre-race favorites, and even rode down Tom Boonen after the Belgian took a jaunt up the road.
