I am back...

After a little bit of time off of blogging I am back. Training and work has been completely nuts for the last year. I wanted everyone to know that I have been racing, training and losing weight. Last year I did pretty good at Masters Track Nationals. I ended up 5th in the points race and 4th in the team pursuit. I was disappointed in my kilo but there always next year. I am on a great team now and have a genius coach. Vic's/Peerless is the best group of guys around and Neal Henderson as I said is a complete genius. Well I better get back to work. Talk to you again soon. Pedal Hard! Rob

DATE	RACE	CAT	PLACE	TIME
3/7/2009	Frostbite Time Trial	SM 35+_3	1	26.19
4/8/2009	Karen Hornbostel Mem'l TT @ Cherry	SM 35+_3	2	23:18.2
4/15/2009	Karen Hornbostel Mem'l TT @ Cherry	SM 35+_3	4	24:02.1
4/22/2009	Karen Hornbostel Mem'l TT @ Cherry	SM 35+_3	3	23:31.6
4/25/2009	Deer Trail Road Race	SM 35+_3	19	2:12:42
4/26/2009	Haystack Mountain Team Time Trial	SM 35+_3	1	36:32.6
4/26/2009	Haystack Mountain Individual Time	SM 35+_3	1	36:13.6
4/29/2009	Karen Hornbostel Mem'l TT @ Cherry	SM 35+_3	2	23:42.0
5/3/2009	Rabbit Mountain Team Time Trial	SM 35+_3	2	17:43.5
5/3/2009	Rabbit Mountain Individual Time Tri	SM 35+_3	6	18:21.5
5/6/2009	Karen Hornbostel Mem'l TT @ Cherry	SM 35+_3	7	24:21.4
5/13/2009	Karen Hornbostel Mem'l TT @ Cherry	SM 35+_3	3	23:23.9
5/20/2009	Karen Hornbostel Mem'l TT @ Cherry	SM 35+_3	3	22:55.4
5/23/2009	Louisville Criterium	SM 35+_3	1	44:13:00

Support bill 148! My letter to Cheri Gerou

Back Ground and comment: I have sent two letters to my House Rep. Cheri Gerou about a bicycle safety measure here in Colorado. Republicans are voting against this safety measure even when statistics show more children ride bikes than adults. Are we hearing this correctly? Republicans are not concerned with child safety and are more aligned with transportation? Sadly the Rush Limbaugh self proclaimed all knowing ElRushbo and drug addict is the voice of the Republican Party. What a sad state of affairs for us Republicans. There is no middle ground here. Either you are far left of far right. What about us who are in the middle. Email to Cheri Gerou: On March 13th I sent you an email regarding Senate Bill 148 for Bicycle Safety. As an avid cyclist and someone who has been hit by a car I ask you to support this bill, especially the 3 foot to pass section. This is simply a safety measure. As you drive down the highway please look at the car next to you. The space between cars passing on the highway is around 6 feet. Imagine if a car raced passed you within 3 feet. I would think everyone who has driven on the highway at one time or another has been passed by a semi truck. Have you noticed some times when the truck passes it will make turbulence that pushes your car around? Imagine these things with a 20 pound bicycle. Imagine your child riding home from school and having cars buzz by them. Colorado is a Mecca for the cyclist. Many top level professional athletes come here to train. These riders bring in money that supports our local bike shops, restaurants and hotels. This bill will add some comfort to professional athletes knowing they will be safer on the road. If Colorado could loosen up the expense it takes to promote road races we could have a premier race here. Look at the Tour of California in 2008. It had 1.3 million spectators and generated $100 million in revenue for the state. This year they added twice the television coverage and I am sure they will have higher state revenue this year. I am a registered Republican that likes to vote my party line. As a father I support family values and child safety. I was upset to find out that fellow republicans are voting against this measure. It was also disheartening to find out that my friends who emailed Democrats such as Debbie Benefield got responses to their emails. To date I have grown tired of where my party affiliation is going. It seems for the first time since I voted for President Reagan; my political views are more with Democrats than Republicans. Especially when people are saying that Rush Limbaugh is the voice of republicans. I voted for you and want my faith restored with Republicans. Thank you for taking time to read this.

Time Trial Season!

As I typically do; on January 1st every year I grow my silly mustache and goatee to indicate Time Trail season is around the corner and my training is focused on completing negative splits and increasing my power over long periods. Since this winter has been really mild my bike miles have never dropped under 200 miles a week and have several times completed centuries on Saturday and Sundays. This makes the long steady states much more tolerable. Thankfully here in Colorado I have no shortages of hills to climb and no shortage of routes that make me suffer and build strength. I just can’t wait until the Haystack Time Trial. After that I can shave this silly face hair and get back to normal. Superstition at its best! This weekend I raced in my first two Time Trial of the year. I have a new born baby at home that is just over a week old. I was up with her from 3am to around 5am before my season opening TT. Thank goodness my start time was later in the morning. I got to sleep about 4 hours before I had to make the hour drive north. The weather was unseasonably warm for this time of the year. Last year it was cold and had really bad swirling winds. This race usually lives up to its name Frost bite Time Trial! My new TT bike setup with its custom art turned a lot of heads. Basically it’s my old TT frame but all new components and bars. SRAM red works perfect on my TT bike. The shifts are quick and overall it is very good. I like it much more than my old dura-ace setup. I will never switch my road bike from campy but for time trial, SRAM is awesome. Saturday: The race start temp was around 45 degrees and had a 10mph cross wind or so. At the start I headed out and felt tired from the workouts over the last few weeks. As the TT went on my power splits increased. As I was approaching the turn around I was about 10 seconds behind my minute man. I powered on and passed him a few miles from the finish. I added steady power through out the race but finished with plenty in the tank. I will work on that as some of the other TT’s approach. At the end of the day I won the 35+ cat 3 TT and was 13th overall. Sunday: What an awesome day. Temps in the 60’s! I rode the race in just my TT suit and nothing else. I had a descent warm up but then my start time was pushed back nearly 2 hours. I kept warm and finally got to start. I held back way too much on the start but caught my 30 second man about 3 minutes into the race. This one had some pretty good rollers so I just stayed steady. I was really taking it to easy. After the longest climb of the TT’s turn around I noticed my 30 man was cutting into my time. I had to stop fooling around and lay it down on the way back. I put out more effort and took the time back off of my 30 second guy. At the end of the race I wasn’t even spent. This race was poorly ridden by me. As I rode home I told myself over and over better to die at the end than to leave it in the tank. The results are not in but my time on my garmin was right up with the college men A times. If they ever post them I will update the document. Pedal Hard!! Rob

Rudy Project, BNRG and Belgium Budder make for a great training weekend.

This time of year is usually tough since I seem to spend more time in the weight room than on my bike. In reality although my overall miles are cut by about 100 miles a week, my workout time increases. I still get out on my 6 hour bike rides Saturday and Sunday. During the week I get in 3 good bike workouts whether inside on a trainer or outside in the elements. Usually the weather is great here in Colorado but I still have a 31 degree limit. Saturday I set out with my Rudy Project glasses for a great ride in a beautiful state. It was a great day here. Riding along the foothills you could feel the crisp cool air and it made you feel great. I have to say everything looks great through my Rudy’s. The ride today was long and didn’t have many climbs. As I hit the town of Golden, I ran into a buddy of mine. He decided to follow me along. It was getting pretty warm and I had to take off some base layers. I was thankful to have my Rudy Project helmet and Belgium Budder in my arsenal to combat the heat and sweat. As we headed towards Denver, my buddy mentioned he didn’t have any food since he was just going for a little ride and didn’t expect to go for a 6 hour ride. I told him that I had these awesome protein bars. Actually at first he thought I had the typical protein bar that is tough to swallow and tastes horrible. I told him these bars are not your typical protein/power bar that leaves you gasping for water and then gives you a terrible after taste. I gave him a Power Crunch bar from BNRG. He was amazed. This is true, now. He talked and talked about how great these bars are. I told him I use the Proto-whey and Cell charge before and after my rides too. BNRG has some really great products I encourage everyone to use. After the ride my buddy told me that usually typical bars upset his stomach and is sold on Power Crunch. The Power Crunch bars made his ride enjoyable with no side affects at all. Sunday’s ride started out a little cooler and not as much sun. This is not a problem for the Rudy Project equipment. I switched my kerosene lenses to rose and opened the vent a little. This time I headed to a little hillier course. I climbed back to Golden then turned around and headed towards this little climb over Dinosaur Ridge. At the bottom of the climb I switched back to my blue lenses since the sun was much brighter than I when I started. It is so easy to carry extra lenses and switch them out. Rudy definitely has it right. I did hill repeats on Dinosaur Ridge then headed home. I had a Power Crunch bar and headed home. Results are in. 12 hours in the saddle and no eye headaches, soreness or saddle sores thanks to Rudy Project, BNRG and Belgium Budder. All are great products. I highly recommend you visit Excel Sports Boulder to get you some Rudy Project Sunglasses and gear, visit BNRG at http://www.bnrg.com and Belgium Budder at http://beljumbudder.com. Feel like a pro when you ride and look the part. Pedal Hard! Rob

Back to normal… Maybe!

I haven’t written anything in awhile because it has been a bit hectic. Last week I was in Madison WI for training. I couldn’t find any good food anywhere so I had to settle for typical restaurant stuff. I did get in a few hours of riding on a trainer they had at the hotel. I noticed my heart rate was about 10 – 15 beats slower there. To bad there weren’t any races. J So now that there is only one race left and I am 26 points a head of the number 2 guy I am planning for next season. I am already back in the weight room and trying to get down to the 170 pound range. If I can accomplish that and keep my strength it will be another good season. Next years ambition is to race more national events and try to make my impact on the track. If all goes well I hope to compete in the nation TT championships and track. We will see how that unfolds. Well back to work. Pedal Hard!

Schizophrenia or finding ones self?

During the last month or so I have been a little stressed out and whiney. I have a new job which is awesome. Finally I am back in the healthcare arena which makes me think my job helps people. Granted I deal with no patients since I am in IST. Knowing that I am a part of a hospital really warms my soul. My wife and family support my goals. My wife Lisa is my biggest fan. She is truly the epoxy that holds me steadfast to my dreams and goals. If you have ever been to a race you will see her. This week she was certain I would not miss the last lap bell since I have a few times now. She even recruited a photographer to yell at me “LAST LAP!” Kind of reminds me if the movie Forrest Gump. Stop Forrest! I have been trying to find myself and who I am as far as cycling. What are the things I like and what I dislike? One thing is for sure I love the suffering of the Time Trail. I have always been able to look past the pain or obstacle and suffer through it. Recently I found the track. I think everyone I know is tired of hearing it but the track is awesome. Imagine a crit with easy banked turns no idiots diving corners or slamming on brakes. Well the brake part is given since nobody has brakes. I would tell each of you right now the track builds power. I have been riding the track for a few weeks and my peak watts went from 1270 to 1480 this Friday. The biggest part is I have increased my 30 second and 1 minute power as well. This winter I am going back into the gym and trying to get to 170 pounds by next season. Honestly I am going after National TT and track. Let’s see how it shakes out. Race report. Today was the Federal Center Circuit race. I am in 3rd in the BAR race and I needed a top ten finish with Matt Swenson behind me. Part of finding myself was to find how I like to race. I like to bring out speed and pain early if possible so we can weed out the poor riders. I attacked where I said I would on the first hill but no one would let me go. If they were not going to let me go, I was going to make them work to hold the wheel. I was in the first slot on the first lap when they rung the prime bell. I let up slightly so I would be able to counter any attacks. Geoff Cooper came around and pulled me for a bit. This really helped me a lot and let me relax for a few. After Geoff pealed off a Vitamin cottage rider decided to pull for a bit. I stayed on his wheel when an unattached rider decided to pull. He went out hot but right in my view. I hopped on his wheel and the vitamin cottage guy was on my wheel. At 300m I dropped the hammer and took the 6 pack of beer prime. This was still part of my plan to win one prime and then sit in and not work. There was another prime bell for the next lap. At this time we had a little gap and we tried to hold it. I was not going to work hard anymore so I fell to about 3rd wheel. When we passed through for the second prime I watched the sprint and picked who my targets for the final lap would be. The sprint looked slow to me since we were gaining on the riders during the sprint. On this lap I looked back and could see that there were only 10 riders up. We were away. Come to find out there was a crash that caused the separation. I dropped behind a couple bigger guys and let them break the wind for me. On the last lap my wife and the photographer were yelling last lap (run Forrest) to me. I gave her the thumbs up since I had just basically coasted 3 laps. My heart rate was low 130’s and my legs were completely fresh. I let everyone pull and I stayed on the end of the 10 man break. On my left I saw movement. Matt Swenson had gapped us but he looked really tired. I was not about to let him get the nice benefit of my big body so I went for the gutter. He realized I wasn’t going to work for him so he went to the opposite side of the peloton. I moved up as the end was nearing. At this point in the last real corner the unattached rider decided to dive the corner. I could see it coming as the group was cutting to the corner. Quickly I yelled “diving the corner watch out!” I hit my brakes for a quick second and he flew in front of me barely missing me. I then had to get my lead out started. There was a little gap in front of me so I took it. I bumped my way through to get my position and laid on some power. I wanted to make sure that I enough in the tank for the sprint. I started my lead out at 1k and slowly increased the power. At 300m I let it fly. I looked back behind me and could see I was going to take my first Circuit race win. Sure enough I had it by a bike length and took home $50 and a case and a 6 pack of beer. I gave Geoff and Colm some beer for coming out and helping in the race. Thanks guys. Pedal Hard!