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Shawn "bega" Blumenfeld a quest to win a championship...
Current PostsArchivesgetting-ready-for-cross - September 14 2009and-so-now-im-addicted - September 22 2009 kelley-acres-next-up - September 24 2009 kelley-acres-cross - October 5 2009 another-cross - October 6 2009 hyattesville-cross - October 12 2009 photo-from-hyattsville - October 13 2009 tacchino-ciclocross - November 8 2009 re-tacchino-ciclocross - November 9 2009 urban-cross-is-coming - November 14 2009 re-urban-cross-is-coming - November 15 2009 im-in-points - November 19 2009 on-lead-lap - November 25 2009 44th - December 2 2009 indoor-training - January 10 2010 outdoors - January 27 2010 usa-cycling-radio-ban - February 3 2010 officials-renewal-clinic - February 6 2010 ten-nine-radio - February 8 2010 blueberry_soup_is_coming - February 18 2010 off-to-the-races - February 25 2010 waba_vasa_ride - March 11 2010 |
Over the years, I've dedicated a good deal of my life to helping other people race bikes. Whether from my early years of racing with the likes of Team Aggress, my own messenger racing Team Bega, and more recently the Hub Racing Women's Pro Team, I've received most of my glory from other people's victories. Don't get me wrong, I've played my part and I've recieved proper admiration for my job as a manager, a soigner, a domestique. But it's not the same as winning a race on the bike. And I've won a couple. But I want my own Championhip. I've always thought my best chance would be a messenger title. At the Cycle Messenger World Championships, I've qualified on the front line, placed top 20 twice, been in 6 finals. I thinks its time to try to win one...waba_vasa_rideMarch 11 2010so "leading" a ride like the vasa ride from the swedish embassy is really more like following the ride. with hundreds of participants, way more than expected, me and the other marshalls on the ride had to depend on experienced riders like arley kemmerer and heidi goldberg and mark plotz to hang in with the front group so we could follow and fix flats and such. it went off with out a hitch, and i rode the 60 miles moving from one group to the next, helping those on the side of the road as i went. but since this is about my training, ill properly relate it to that topic: 60 miles in this format is actually a pretty good resemblance to the finals at cmwc. every group i was with was moving pretty fast, but i wasnt settled to just stay with anyone. id make sure they were ok, then accelerate to the next bunch up the road. the stopping and starting for lights, intersections, conversations, mechanicals (other's mechanicals, not mine of course, though my new pedal/shoe combo was squeaking a bit) all have a similar strain on the heartrate as hitting the checkpoint at cmwc. up and down, try to recover instantly, and try to stay in control of your breathing and muscles the whole way through. any exhaustion would be a bad sign right now. i wasnt pushing race pace or anything, and kept my heartrate below the redline. so how was i at the end of the 4 hours? fresh and ready to go again. just where i want to be right now. the endurance feels good, the winter hours have paid off. next comes speed. im going to have to race to really get that. im thinking about the dismall dash tt this sunday. tt's are a great measure, and the 25 miles in southern virginia will be a good test for me. but it will take crits, and riding off wheels like dave osbourne and josh frick to really get my speed up. still a long way to go, but i feel the training is on the right path... off-to-the-racesFebruary 25 2010so trade zone got cancelled last weekend, so my first real officiating slot probably wont be til the (possible) trade zone again on march 21. but i get to do a couple of more gamjams computrainer races at contes. so thats at least a little practice in running an event from an officials point of view. but i did get to test my legs. with the open sunday, i did a small training crit. stayed with the 2nd group, but had little left at the end of the 45 minutes. these crits require a similar fitness needed for qualifying at cmwc. and i dont need to be winning these, or attacking or nothing like that, to meet the standard i will need to make the finals in guatemala in september. i only need to be in these groups at the end. but i gotta have something left. i should be finishing these strong even if not fast. if i can finish these crits strong over the next couple of months, i know ill have enough to make the finals at the messenger championships. regardless of my results though, the concetration in training has to continue to be on the 4 hours needed for the finals. i gotta trust that ill make the finals, and continue to train for that likelyhood. with the cold here, its a lot of time on the trainer. wanna ride with me? im doing skype video conference rides with some friends, and im always looking for ride partners... blueberry_soup_is_comingFebruary 18 2010got to officiate at the gamjams computrainer throwdown at contes last weekend. threw up some video also (check the link up top eh). get to officaite outdoors for the first time of the season on sunday at tradezone. the tradezone series will probably be a mixed game for me this year. im officiating at at least 2 of them: feb 21 and march 21. and ill race maybe 1 or 2 of the others. and i get to lead the waba "vasa" ride coming up on march 7th. blueberry soup at the end of a 56 mile trail ride. cant wait. more info on the vasa ride at waba.org ten-nine-radioFebruary 8 2010catch my interview with biker bill on 10-9 radio - episode 3. we go into some detail about the messenger email list and cmwc guatemala and other messenger community history stuff. download for your ipod, he plays music throughout the broadcast as well. |