From St Petersburg with Love

January 8th Alley Cat race....it's sure to be a pretty sweet event!

See you there!

Caio,
Rikc

Christmas Holiday Rides....

Being solo here in Florida wasn't too bad....I ended up doing the Ride-n-Roll group ride Friday morning @ 7:30am. I thought it was supposed to be in the 50's but was in the low 40's instead....it took a long time to warm up but had a great 50 mile ride with some really good people...hit up the Starbucks in Clearwater to warm up....


Saturday a smaller group of us met at 10ish (we wanted it to be warmer at the start of the ride); I made it to the starting point in Largo....."so where are we riding to" I ask. Craig starts grinning...we thought we'd ride to St Pete and back on the bike trail....they laugh....that's exactly where I just drove from! It was a nice spinning ride of 40 miles with a stop in St Pete at Starbucks. Other than the "KOM points" at the overpasses, it was a relaxing, fun ride.
I took sadie to the park for fresbee and hung out next to the water for a bit.

Back at work today and planning the rides this Friday and Saturday....maybe some MTB?

Caio,
Rick

Nutcracker III Alleycat Race

Brutal but fun race.....garmen info is here. 33 miles on the Pinerallo fixie.

I was in the front group of 5-6 and messed up the first check point by not having my manuscript ready to sign...got gapped and wasn't going to be able to bridge up. I sat up just a bit so Chuck could come up and we worked together the rest of the race. We missed the 3rd check point by roughly a mile; (You never know what each check point will involve....your going as hard as you can go to find/get to each check point. This one we had to get a picture of us with Santa and have the manuscript signed....)

lost 3-4 spots and then buried ourselves trying to make up the spots. We did. I started to have my damn left leg cramp up on me (again) and Chuck was cool enough to take extra pulls.



Results per the Florida Fixed site.

"Fastest results ever.

1. Dave Horst *
2. Pete Young – 1st overall
3. Kelby – 2nd male
4. Ben Pridgeon – 3rd male
5. Chuck – 4th male
6. Rick Adams
7. Mondo
8. Michael Davis
9. Stu G
10. Carol Davis – 1st female
11. Andrew Delia – 1st out of town
12. Jackson Meadows
13. Chad Williams
14. Todd West
15. Dylan Felix – most eggnog – 51 shots without puking
16. Ross Bond
17. Baddaskat
18. Trevor Martin
19. Randon
20. Bradley DFL
21. Aston – 2nd female
*Dave was ineligible for prizes due to winning Nutcracker 1"
35 started the race......

So, three Alleycat races and three 5th places for me. The finish is important but just doing this type of race is a blast.

I hope everybody has a Happy Christmas & New Years! Happy Hanuka too.....

Ciao,
Rick

morning rides and new ride.....

With daylight running out before I even get home....I've been doing (until the recent cold snap) two 6am morning rides a week. My boss is letting me come to work at 8:30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays which allows me to do around 26 miles those two mornings....

It was so cold I ended up trying to surf Tuesday.....it's always good to get back on the water...even if I'm not catching many waves....

I also purchased a Honda Element ('04) as a personal car.....
I have a company provided minivan, so I'll be just driving the Honda on weekends/vacation.....Sadie & I like it a lot.

I've got an Alley Cat Race in St Pete this Saturday....


Lots going on....gotta run!
Ciao,
Rick

Dade City 'Cross Race

Next to last finish in my age group.....sweet. ugh, the horror, the horror.

Very well run and put on, it unfortunately was a dirt/sand crit course that favoured a "power type" of rider with out much technical skills needed.

Yeah, I hated the course.

Sadie & I hung around for awhile and I shot some photos.


Neat area, but I miss the Northern Ohio and SoCal series for the designs of the courses.

Ciao,
Rick

Clermont, FL cyclocross race

My first race in FL was a b*tch.....I haven't gone at/over max for 45+minutes in a race in a long time.

The course was pretty cool; here's the garmen on it.

I did well at the mass start but after about 30 minutes the bear jumped on my back and the wheels came off the wagon....I lost some places (the 35+ was racing just behind us) and was hurting...heck, that's what one guy said to another and I passed where they were standing...."that dude looks like he is really hurting"!

I held it together until the last turn right before the bell lap and caught a post coming down a hill into a right hander....I went over the bars hard and laid on the ground for awhile..."well, I got one lap to go" so I got up and finished the last lap.

I ended up coming in 4th in a field of 10....go figure.

The FL championship is this weekend in Dade City...I'll race at least one of the two days depending upon how I feel. I hurt my back on the wipeout during this race.

It's supposed to be cold (40-50's) for FL this weekend so it may even feel like 'cross!

Ciao,
Rick

Turkey Shoot 'Cross Race

On last Sunday, the 28th we had a "local" cyclocross race that Kelby put on....the first race for Tampa at Picnic Island.

Course layout was great (no paved sections due to park traffic) and the vibe was great.

Everyone started the same time and were supposed to race for 45 minutes with two different groups at the start; the A's and B's.

I had a very good start and settled in to a good pace with some very good riders around me. One Taylor and (?) were both on SS (Taylor was on a Fixie!).....we swapped positions for a few laps and at the bell lap the SS guy comes around me so it's a 3 way race for (I haven't received what place we were in yet) bragging rights....I caught the two guys in the spiral and was able to pass and hold off the guy on the SS but wasn't able to close down the gap on Taylor.....awesome race.

Garmin Data is here.

Not exactly like Cleveland 'cross....maybe like the SoCal Series I did last year...

FL State CX Championships this weekend.....

Ciao,
Rick