FLASH-POINT BLOG ARCHIVE: Jul 2007

I just came back from vacation where I watched the Ironman USA triathlon in Lake Placid. I had two friends from my tri-team in the race which made the event much more interesting. The two of them are Ironman-distance veterans and strong cyclists; they have given me countless tips and have helped my training tremendously.

First, a few things about Lake Placid: I lived in upstate New York for a few years, I know the area, and to this day it amazes me that they hosted the Olympic Games. It's in the middle of nowhere with no freeway access and doesn't sound like the kind of place to hold big events. But that same isolation allows for beautiful scenery and a nice friendly small-town environment.

I watched another friend do Ironman Arizona back in April, but I was with a large group of about 15 people so there were many distractions. In Lake Placid, I was essentially alone watching the race (aside from the thousands of other spectators) which meant I could pay closer attention to the race itself. That may have been a mistake. I'm signed up to do Ironman Coeur d'Alene next year, and rather than being inspired by Lake Placid it terrified me.

I saw many, MANY suffering faces that day. 112 miles is a long bike ride and it seemed to take its toll on just about everybody. By the time the run began both of my friends flashed brave smiles for my camera but it was clear they were hurting. I couldn't help but wonder, if they were struggling with the distance, what chance will I have?!!!

Fortunately, I have 11 months to prepare. They keep telling me that the key is to be strong on the bike so I need to start upping my mileage right away.

M,W,F of every week, some of the engineering guys from Zipp meet for an early morning ride before work. This week’s blog is an example of a typical morning ride that I termed, “The morning RUSH hour”.

4:10 AM – BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…The alarm rudely awakens me from a peaceful sleep. It seems like my head just hit the pillow 10 minutes ago. Arrrgh!

4:20 AM – After checking the weather report and radar on the internet, I grab my gear that I laid out the night before, get dressed, grab a banana to eat, fill the water bottle up and head out the door.

4:25 AM – Making sure bike and gear are in the car, I back out of the driveway and make the 15 minute drive up to the starting point.

4:50 AM – Arrive at the start point. Michael shows up at the same time. Good. I won’t be riding alone today.

4:59 AM – Andy rolls down the driveway. With headlights on and tail lights blinking, we are all ready to roll.

5:01 AM - As we are about to leave Andy’s subdivision, another headlight appears. It’s Todd riding in from his home, a short distance away. At that point, I noticed all of us, except Andy, are riding FPs. Michael has FP 40s, Todd and I are riding FP 60s, while Andy comes along with Zipp 808s.

5:30 AM – We are only 8 miles into the ride at this point. Indiana is not know for its steep terrain, but there are a few hills and rollers that will get the heart rate up and make one sweat. Having only been somewhat awake for only 90 minutes, my legs are screaming to keep up with the others. 20 extra lbs. is nice on a descent, but carrying them up the other side of a hill is another matter. We finally reach Lafayette road which parallels I-65 on the northwest side of Indy. Our average is around 16 mph.

5:45 AM – Once on Lafayette, the pace quickens even though it’s still a climb out of the valley. The road seems to flatten out, but according to the elevation charts we are still ascending. Our pace on the smooth pavement boosted the average close to 19 mph. We cross over I-65 and parallel it on the other side. This part of the route flattens out and we can really stretch our legs. Our wheels are really humming at this point. What a sweet sound they make! We barely catch our breaths as we make the right hander onto the road that leads to Whitestown.

6:00 AM – We arrive in Whitestown. We’re at 20 miles and our average is the same, 20 mph. The road into town is flat, so sometimes it’s a hammerfest. Some mornings we sometimes run into some of the guys from sales and it’s a parade of bike lights into town. Very cool! Not today, though. No other riders seem to be found.

6:30 AM – Almost back to the start. The sun is beginning to shine on the horizon. The terrain starts to become hilly again as we descend back down from the top of a plateau. There are some descents at this portion of the route that you really can fly, but the small rollers are steep enough to scrub off much of that speed as you ascend back up the other side. By the time we return to the start, our average drops back down to 19.5 mph. It’s still a pretty good average time for this 40 yr. old.

6:38 AM – Arrive back to Andy’s house. We debrief our run and go our separate ways. Total time 1:38:15. Total miles 31.54. Avg. 19.5 mph.

7:10 AM – I arrive back home, clean-up, pack lunch, eat a quick breakfast and head to work.

Wow, long time, no blog. Things have been crazy with work, interviewing for a new job, etc. Riding is definitely lower on the priority list, and even nature conspires against me. Too many thunderstorms the past few weeks here. Maybe it is global warming. Who knows?

I suppose it is officially the dog days of summer, and it sure feels like it. But now's not the time to slack, with some big rides coming up.

The first is a scouting ride for my annual charity event, the York Tour de Pink. In late September, I'll lead a group of 100 riders from Pennsylvania to NYC to raise funds for the Young Survival Coalition . This weekend, I'm riding 105 miles of the route.

Then next weekend, I'm riding the Pan-Mass Challenge, which benefits the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston--5,000 riders raising ~$30 million. I'm riding nearly 200 miles over two days with my friend Paul's team. Go Paul!

Sometime in the next week, the good folks at Serotta are lending me one of their new Serotta HSG Carbon bikes for the charity rides. I'm motivated to do justice to Uncle Ben Serotta's creation. Wish me luck.

This time I'm not going to go into one of my tangental, neurotic rants about the music world or the triathlon world or even the world in general.

Nope, instead I'm directing you to a competition. Give your best tips on the 4th sport of triathlon--the transition, and you can win some awesome prizes from Nuun--a years supply and more...worth the point, click, and type, don't you think?

And oh yeah, I'm a judge, so it had better be good!

The season is half complete- I'm happy with my results. My husband is training his way toward competing at IM Wisconsin and lately we have been discussing our biking techniqes. The best way to describe riding race wheels like the FP's is riding in the slot. You know when you hit it, a sensation that let's you know the bike is what it is;namely awesome. It's as if your wheels have hit a track and are being compelled along a smooth tunnel of black top. The effort is there, the sweat is there, when you are in the slot, the performance is there. What a feeling. I love flying up and over hills.

We just returned from watching friends in the Triple Bypass in Colorado. I don't imagine there was a lot of slot riding over that 120 miles, but for those riding race wheels, the road was smoother, faster and less troubling.

My goal over this season and next is to add power to the engine and ride the slot even more over the next year. I'm targeting the bike to up my speed over the international to iron distance with the goal of hitting a percentage of the winning time in each race. I have no doubt race wheels will help me meet that goal.

I'm getting a small case of Bike-Envy.

Rich from my tri-team is also doing Ironman Coeur d'Alene next year, and he just bought a shiny new bicycle. He was riding a mountain bike so it makes sense that he get something a little bit more tri-friendly. But now I'm starting to feel the bug. I bought my bike 2 years ago before my first triathlon when I had no idea what I was doing. There's nothing wrong with my bike (a Trek 1200); it's a good, all-purpose road bike and the gearing is actually pretty good for doing hills. But it's not specifically designed to help do an Ironman. So I am casually looking around to think about upgrading.

There are 2 things I will be keeping from my current bike, if and when I buy a new one. The first is my Killer Whale Squeeky Horn. It rocks. It's staying. The second is of course my Flash-Point FP60s. If anything, the wheels are too good for my bike and it's time I brought the rest of my gear up to spec.

My tri team has nearly 300 members, so at most workouts I will meet somebody new. At our last ride, someone came up to me and said "Nice bike...how do you like the wheels?" That wasn't the first time I was asked that. It's kind of funny because before I got the FP60s, nobody noticed my bike one way or the other. And now, people aren't really complimenting my bike, just the wheels.

It would be nice for someone to notice my frame for a change. Or perhaps even my riding skills.

We are working on a totally new look for 2008. Bladed spokes new hubs, internal nipples, reduced spoke counts?.... and adding Flash-Points to the Zipp demo program, so you will have a chance to test, try, experience and feel the wheels for yourself.

Nothing is final yet, but the image shows where we are headed. This I feel will be an great re-awakening for the brand. Oh did I mention we are looking into expanding the FP rim range? Check this space for details over the next two months. 650c and a new deep 700c rim are on the design boards - all in all 2008 looks to be an exciting year for Flash-Points - stay tunned.

Welcome to John Marshall as our new blogger. John is the wizard behind most of our engineering CAD work here at Zipp and an avid long distance rider - but I will leave it to him to tell the tales.

So, I've clearly been slacking as of late in keeping up with this blog. The thing about it is that I've been slacking in general with riding. I've not been on the bike but a handful of times truthfully since my last post. Granted, I've all but given up on running lately as it just causes me way too much pain and agony, but I'm starting to try and ride more and more often.

Part of this emphasis for getting back on the bike I'm faulting to two of my good friends, Tom and his girlfriend Lauren. Both of their cycling accolades clearly outweigh my own personal 10 fold (which is quite easy, as I don't really have any anymore). We'll just say that they are both considerably faster than I am. But last night one of them jokingly asked if I was going on a ride with them and I accepted. I have a feeling that they were nice to me and didn't plan on hurting me too badly.

That being said, I survived the ride and managed not to complain too much. I'm not overly sore today and will try and get out this afternoon or evening for another quick spin to stretch out the legs.. Will keep you posted as to how it all shakes out.

~over and out...

Breaking news: The Iron Kahuna and Robo-Stu just signed up for the Las Vegas Triathlon on Sept. 30 -- and they are looking for some company. No, not that kind of company. The company of fellow triathletes.

They will get into Vegas Friday night and stay at the Hacienda Hotel, which is near the race site (but far from the Strip), that evening and Saturday night. The good news: the cost is only $87 a night. The bad news: it's the effeing Hacienda. But with enough tri-bloggers and friends, we can bring the party to the Hacienda.

We're also staying Sunday, but at Treasure Island on the Strip. The rate is only $135.36 (tax included).

This will be the season-ending event for our triathlon season dedicated to fun. In keeping with that spirit, we will be competing in the Olympic race and forgetting about the half-Ironman. This will free us up for our special pre-race activities Friday and Saturday nights.

This will be an epic adventure. Who's in?

Well, I finished the 160 mile journey across the corn belt of Indiana. 1,000+ riders left the start at 7 am at the Illinois border for a mass timed event across the state. By the time I had reached the start, the lead riders were already gone and out of sight. I heard the first rider crossed the finish at 12:25 pm. That was the time I hit the lunch stop. Since I had only ridden my FP60s for a few short miles around town, I took it easy to make sure everything was all right. Once we entered U.S. 40 and the throngs of riders spread out, I decided to step up my pace. Having never been on carbon wheels before, I was amazed at how easy it was for me to maintain my pace out on the open road. Hearing those wheels sing, just made me want to ride even faster.
That's when the trouble began. The last 10 miles were hell on my 40 yr. body. I was so thrilled with these wheels, that I used up valuable energy reserves for later stages of the ride. I became somewhat nauseated and my feet were killing me. My speed dropped dramactically and the wind started to become my worst enemy. That last .5 mile seemed to last an eternity. I crossed the finish line past the 10 hr. mark to the shouts and cheers from my wife and friends. No, I didn't beat or shatter my best time, but at that momemt, I didn't care. Heck, I don't even remember what the exact time was when I stopped. I'll have to review the results when they're posted. I was just glad I finished. After doing this ride 5 yrs. in a row, I keep saying that this will be my last. Of course the next day, I always change my mind. Hmm...let's see, if I lose 20 lbs, change my fluid intake...Maybe next year I'll....The saga continues....

How do you avoid triathlon burnout?

Get knocked up.

(Seriously.)

I think this is great advice. I was thinking about it the other day, and I really haven't stopped moving in a while. 2004 saw a bunch of triathlons, a Masters degree, and a marriage. 2005 brought me another marathon, some olympic and sprint tris, and my first half ironman. 2006 brought me another half ironman, 2 half marathons, a few shorter tris, and an Ironman. I did a half marathon in late November, 2006.

I didn't stop.

Until February rolled around. When my body gave me the proverbial middle finger and sort of FORCED me to stop.

I kicked and screamed. I tried to keep going...and mostly failed. I slept. A lot. In short, I really didn't know what to do with myself. If I'm not moving, then who am I?

I think that's a good question for all triathletes out there to ask themselves.

Because this thing can be taken away from you at a moment's notice. And not always for good, exciting reasons.

You really, really need to know who you are when you're not moving.

I'm getting to know her...and maybe starting to like her a bit. I'm realizing how much of a dreamer she is--that she can't stop thinking about the future. She thinks about school...will she really be able to handle an AP class and a bunch of honors kids? She hasn't really had the honors kids...ever. Far from it. Especially not with a new (or at least MUCH more detailed) subject and when 9 months pregnant.

Then, she remembers...yeah. Cum laude, Miami University. Armonk Scholar. James Madison Scholar. 3.9 GPA in MA program.

She can do it somehow. She'll make it work.

She thinks about the fall. How the room that used to be an office is now starting to fill up with blue, yellow, and green things. How she can't deny what's about to happen when she feels a strong kick to the rib cage. How sometimes it's all so overwhelming it brings tears of frustration to her eyes...this thing is so much bigger than anything she's ever done. It's so damn scary.

But she's never let herself down before. She remembers that...at mile 5 of the bike course last year, she knew if she was going to make it that day she was going to have to adapt to the situation and throw all prior goals out the window. It was going to be all about surviving.

So she knows she'll somehow do that, too.

She dreams about next year. Of how happy she'll be to get on her bike for the first time, after watching so many rain-less, brisk mornings go by this summer. Of how she can't wait to run...to really, really run again. To do a track workout. To gasp for air again. To see a "7" on her watch--at the front--after running a mile. To feel her heart pounding.

Of how good it will feel to be at a starting line next year.

Any starting line. And how good it will feel to finish.

But for now, she's forcing herself to be in the present, because she has to. The kicks remind her. Snap out of it. Think about now.

She's packed away all her trophies and age group awards, and really wasn't sad to see them move to the attic after mostly gathering dust in the old office. She's starting to realize that's not what this is really about. That she'll never, ever be in the top 3 at an Ironman, a marathon, or for that matter, probably at a half-ironman. But she knows that those races are where she needs to be.

She's getting as ready as she can...because you never will be ready. You can wait your whole life to be "ready," and still not be there. She's figured that part out, at least.

But sooner or later, she knows she's going to have to trust herself and her abilities.

And that's who I am when I am not moving.

Greetings All,

My name is John. Tomorrow, I will be spending my day Riding Across INdiana (RAIN). It's a 158 mile route across Historic U.S.40 in one day. I've done it 4 straight years but haven't been able to beat my own personal time. This time I will be equipped with a pair of FP60s for my journey across the state. From the brief few miles that I've ridden around town,I feel pretty confident that this year will be different. These wheels are a difference between night and day. Can't wait for the start. I will fill you all in with the details after a beat..errr.....smash my personal best.

I had a small accident with my bike last night.

I have become the unofficial photographer for our tri-team. It's not that I know anything about photography, I just happen to be the guy willing to show up to workouts with a camera. I have one those basic point-and-shoot digital cameras. I've had it a while, and some of the functions don't work anymore. And as small as it is, it still takes up quite a bit of room in my Bento box.

Being a tech-geek, I bought one of the new Apple iPhones. It's very cool. It has a built-in camera, and although the pictures aren't great they are perfectly fine for posting on our website. It's much smaller than my regular camera so I figured I'd use it to take a few shots during our ride.

No problem.

When we got back to the parking lot, I lifted up my bike to put it in my trunk. I forgot the iPhone was still in the Bento box and it fell out. I can still hear the sound of it crashing against the pavement. And bouncing. There was a collective gasp from the group as everyone watched it fall.

To Apple's credit, everything still seems to work just fine, and I know you can't really see the scratches very well in the photo. (Trust me, they are very noticable in real life.) All I can say is that if you don't have an iPhone, you can't understand how sick it made me feel.

On Sunday, I went out for a 40 mile bike ride with Phil, who had come up to visit me for the weekend. He's gotten increasingly involved in both biking and running, which has been totally awesome--it's great to be able to go out for an afternoon ride or run with him.

Anyway, to make a long story short(er), the big event of the ride was that I got my first flat tire.

And I was pathetic. Sitting on the side of the road, staring at the wheel, pathetic. Phil helped a little, but the tire was so damn tight around the rim that together we were only slightly above pathetic.

Then some biker-dude came along and saved the day. He cursed at the thing too, so it wasn't just me being helpless, but I still felt pretty silly sitting there with my fancy-shmancy wheels, admitting I had never before used a CO2 cartridge.

And so then we go on our way, and ride most of the way back...but then 4 miles from the car, I heard that stupid sound of air leaving the tire again. Another freaking flat. I didn't have another spare, so I just gave up and sat by the side of the road while Phil finished the ride and then came back to get me.

I didn't mind sitting by the side of the road, but I was pissed my ride got cut short. Somehow 36 miles just sucks in comparison to 40.

But, it was still an absolutely gorgeous ride, with good company...plus, I learned a little about the bike. Like, how to change my tire. And, that if you sit by the side of a Vermont highway for a half an hour, 4 cars and 2 bikers will stop to ask if you're okay.

So, all in all, a good day at the end of a good week. The biking is coming along, and it feels great. My new wheels are awesome; the faster you go, the more they help. Three rides last week in the Vermont hills and I actually had fun; I feel like a superstar.

I've been riding my FP 60s as my everyday wheels for about 16 months now. They have been absolutely trouble free, everything I could want from my wheels. I go faster, climb better, ride smoother, and all with no trouble. They look great, too.

Once again it's Tour de France season. I'm not sure if the race is inspiring or intimidating. I feel pretty good about myself after a 50-mile ride or so, but these guys are doing twice that, every day, up hill both ways, in the snow. It boggles the mind.

The VS network has 2-3 hours of Tour coverage every day. That's a lot of racing to follow. I was a little disappointed to see how much of the prologue show was overshadowed by last year's Floyd Landis scandal, but I suppose it's the big elephant in the room that everyone is thinking about, so they have to cover it. Fortunately, Stage One was all about the 2007 race.

It never ceases to amaze me how close the spectators are to the cyclists. I had a taste of it at the Tour of California and the local Glendale Grand Prix, but those races were nothing in comparison. If I had front row seats in California, people in England were actually on stage. I'm amazed there aren't more wipeouts.

I'm still patting myself on the back for completing the Wildflower Triathlon in May and conquering the long, steep "Nasty Grade" hill. So I feel a certain distant bond to the polka-dot-jersey. This honor is given to the "King of the Mountain" for doing the fastest climbs up certain hills along the course. It's amazing to see some of these guys start sprinting as they approach the top. And of course, their hills make Nasty Grade look like a speed bump. . My legs ache just watching them.

This season won't be any different than I previously planned. I still have a Half IronMan in August to prepare for, and I'm still going to ramp up from there to the 101 distance in November. Then, I'll give myself a little bit of recovery time before starting IronMan specific training at the beginning of the year.

As the fact that I signed up for another IronMan settles in, I'm getting more and more excited...and excited mainly about the training. I'm anxious to get started and I can't wait to find out what I can really do. I want to cut some serious time off of my last IM (15:38), and I think I can do that if I really concentrate on the bike.

At France, I swam a 1:15, which I was very happy with. I'm not even really worried about improving upon that; if I can repeat that, I'll be just fine. And then I ran the marathon in 5:18, which is also basically okay. I think I can do it in closer to 4:30 or 4:45, but the time saved won't be hugely significant.

And so it all relies on the bike. Both my swim and run times put me in the middle of the pack. But the bike? I was 2nd to last. I'm not okay with that.

Now, you can say that doing an IronMan in and of itself is a huge accomplishment and who cares if you even finish dead last...and in a way I agree with that. 140.6m? That's freaking huge, no matter how long it takes you.

But, the thing is that I know I can do so much better. And that's what it's all about, right? Figuring out what you can do and then doing it.

I think I can knock my 8:50 bike time down to 7:30 or less. And really, I would like to finish it in under 7:00. I'd like to finish the IronMan in less than 14:00.

So we'll see. I'll never be a 'good' biker. But, I absolutely know that I'm going to be a 'better' biker.

Last night, I went out for a ride. It was only 20 miles, but for the first time that I can remember, I made myself hurt on the bike. I didn't just get through the miles. I was out of breath and my legs were burning; I made myself ride fast, and I averaged almost 18mph, which probably sounds pathetic, but for me it's a vast improvement.

So I'll keep going in that direction, and I'll show what I can do. It's so that I can do better at Coeur d'Alene, but even more than that, it's so I know I'm doing my best...and that knowledge can be kind of scary, but now? I'm ready.