My Bikes: 2012 Cervélo R5

Here is the first post in a new series called "My Bikes". I really hope this doesn't come across as bragging about my fancy toys, since I very strongly believe that fitness, intelligence, creativity and bicycle handling skills are much more important than equipment. I have a few goals for this series:

1. For the entertainment of my fans? readers who are really into equipment.
2. To showcase the awesome products that are provided by gracious sponsors such as Athlete's Lounge, ROTOR, American Classic, a whole lot more through the awesome Guinness Cycling Team and other awesome sponsors. A little disclaimer, I am not going to discuss how much I paid for each part.
3. To provide a reference in case one of my bikes get stolen.
4. To showcase my bikes that I want to sell.
5. To tell some personal stories that me and the bike have gone through.

Let's Begin With a BANG!



Purpose of this bicycle

I had no idea I was going to get this bike until Klipper called me up and told me we were about to get a absolutely screaming deal on this awesome bicycle. I could not refuse. This bike is a road racing machine which is incredibly stiff, incredibly light and most noticeably to me incredibly stable. I'll ride this bike in road races and important criteriums.

Equipment

Frame & Fork:	61cm Cervélo R5
Bottom Bracket & Headset:	I am not entirely sure, but I know that the shop had to glue them in.
Crankset:	ROTOR 3D Plus Cranks and ROTOR standard 53/39 chainrings (chainrings are ovular).
Stem & Handlebar:	Some take-off 44cm handlebar and unknown stem from Athlete's Lounge.
Seatpost:	3T Dorico LTD seatpost
Shifters:	Shimano Dura Ace 7900
Deraileurs:	Shimano Dura Ace 7900
Chain:	ROTOR Chain
Brakes:	FSA something or other
Saddle:	Not entirely sure, but this is my good old saddle I got from Tacoma Bike back two years ago. Still like it!
Water Bottle Cages:	Arundel water bottle cages.

Pictured Wheels:

Wheels:	2011 American Classic Carbon 58s
Tires:	Vittoria Corsa Evo CX 23mm Tubular Tires
Cassette:	Shimano Ultegra 10speed 11-28T.

Gadgets:

Power Meter:	iBike Newton+ Power Meter
GPS:	Garmin Edge 500
Sensor:	Garmin Speed/Cadence Sensor.

Personal Stories about this bike

I think the only thing I am superstitious about is bragging about something before it actually comes to pass. Sure enough, I posted that I was going to finally write this blog post and then the next big race I did (the OBRA Crit) this bike was involved in a crash. Fortunately the only thing that happened was that the derailleur hanger got bent and the right shifter got some scratches and the rear derailleur also got some scratches.

DNF Streak

Well, I'm definitely not on a win streak at the moment. I was recovering most of last week from the OBRA crit crash, so I didn't do PIR. Saturday came around and it was time for the Giro di Portland. And I was very unprepared for it. I didn't pre-ride the course, but I knew there were some cobbles, but I didn't know that they were nasty cobbles. Then, I got in a so-so warmup. And I didn't completely check my tire pressure or even make sure the skewers were tightened. Since I hadn't pre-rode the course I did a practice lap instead of lining up immediately. I went around corner one and was like "OH CRAP!" I lined up ok, and then we were off and it was tough. I got caught behind a crash and was able to get a free lap where I moved up a lot. But then, the skewer on my front wheel was all over the place. I got off the back and tightened it and the pack was gone. I sort of tried to catch up, but could hear the motorcycle and got lapped by Bedford and then decided to pull out. And that was I believe my shortest race of the year with a time of about 25 minutes.

That's about it really, I feel like I really disappointed a bunch of people who came to watch me race: my sister down from Seattle, my church friends, my new teammates and whoever else is out there following. I also feel lazy to myself for just pulling out like that. I really admired how Rocky raced since he dropped a chain and was a lap down and still finished the race and did work for the team at the end. And then Klipper got 2nd so that was good. More and more I feel like I'm a little less committed to performing well since I have my teammates in the field and am not reliant on myself or for winning money to stay financially viable in life. Furthermore I feel like it's a bad example I'm setting for our new teammates to bail out so soon. I'm realizing more and more that people really do pay attention to what I do and I don't want to set a bad example of being a quitter or having poor racer etiquette.

So this coming week it is a rest week, but I have really had it and am pissed off looking at my last 3 results: DNF, DNS, DNF. This streak must end! I am in fact going easy all other 5 days, but tomorrow at PIR I WILL MAKE IT IN THE BREAK and then I'm going to be trying hard to get a top 10 at Longview.

Those last few weeks

I think I may be getting close to that point where I was last year. The point where a long long season of racing, frustration upon frustration and poor result after poor result ate away at my psyche to the point where I didn't want to race anymore. Last year the summer was a real downward spiral where I got pushed over the edge at Cascade and was left with broken dreams.

And now the past few races have been sort of leading toward that direction. I performed just ok at Cascade was feeling a little maxed out at the Franz Bakery Crit last week. This week I had a strong lineup of races, Portland Twilight, OBRA Crit and OBRA TT.

But first, PIR

As the season goes on, the races here have seemed to get faster and harder to make a break happen. The highlight of my race was when I tried to follow Tuckerman's wheel when he attacked hard. I knew he was going to explode with that break attempt, but I was sad I couldn't at least follow it. In the field sprint I should have just followed Eddie, but let that wheel get away.

Portland Twilight Criterium

Now I dunno, but when Klipper called me up on Thursday night and told me that my goal was to not crash, I thought that was a lame goal. I knew the race was going to be fast, but I thought I was fast and after blaring some techno before the race I was feeling pumped. I made the mistake of riding a warmup lap once the course opened and found myself much further back than I wanted to be. After the call-ups, I sprinted to get a spot in the 3rd row for the start, but really wish I had done better about lining up.

Once the race started it was strung out for the entire race. I was barely holding wheels the entire race, but I wasn't moving back too much staying pretty much 20th-30th the whole race. The whole race I was in the drops sprinting to hold wheels. With 10 laps to go I was the back of the field. The photo below sums it up:

Photo credit to SmugMug user stoneandsteel

I finished 21st after making a lousy sprint against the giver-upers at the very back. I didn't once get to the front of the race and that was that. I was disappointed that I couldn't do better.

OBRA Crit Champs

Off to Bend which I swear I'm now calling Bad Luck Bend! I thought maybe I'd warmup a little harder to feel fresh for races by doing a quick Archie Briggs climb. That got up my heart rate and I was feeling pretty good at the start of the race doing a few attacks off the front. However, it became apparent that a monster was among us. This kid broke away about halfway through and was holding an insane pace all by himself. But then he started coming back to the field and it was game on again. But then I saw him getting ready to get back in from the pit and knew he had a flat and was about to crush us again. And he did and when he and two other guys broke away I hammered on the front trying to do something to bring it back, but it seemed that none of us had the legs in us to chase him down. He broke away from the other two guys and he was gone. And then I was just struggling to get a good field position again. And then out of nowhere I got a flat on my front wheel in the middle of corner 2 and went down on my right side. And that was the race. I didn't feel like doing the TT the next day so that was my week.



I'm pretty sure I'm pretty tired after this whole season. Combine that with losing a bunch of blood and I was feeling quite tired Sunday. There is the potential for negative thoughts to enter my mind and I've got to fight that and remain positive not only for the last few races of the season, but more importantly for the upcoming dating season. However, this year the extra support from more bicycling friends I have made and above all else my teammates has made it much easier to bear. Hearing the random voices yelling "EVAN MOVE UP!!" 30 minutes into Portland Twilight and then "ALL RIGHT EVAN HANG IN THERE GOOD JOB!!" once they realized I was so tired helps me finish the race. Every race has been salvaged by Eddie or Rocky getting Top Ten or better, by hanging out after the races and all of us taking care of each other.

It looks like the Giro di Portland and Eugene are going to be the last races on my calendar. Almost there!

Team Racing

Not much happened last week due to it being a rest week. I did volunteer over at Swan Island, but then headed down to Roseburg to my cousin's birthday/graduation party that happened the next day.

PIR

Over at PIR, it was a lot of chasing and getting in breaks. I felt kind of strong, but not spectacular, or it could be that everybody else's fitness is improving since it is actually nice to ride outside in the Pacific Northwest this time of year. With a few laps to go, birthday boy Eddie came over and told me that on the final lap I should try to breakaway on the backstretch and then leave the sprinting up to him and Rocky. I put down a massive sprint and pretty much died right after the sharp left on the backstretch and could only hope something good happened to the mass of riders that filled most of the racetrack ahead. It looked like they had decent position and in the end Rocky got 2nd. Nice.

Franz Bakery

I have been anticipating this race most of the year. Last year's race made me get super depressed since I crashed on the final turn when I may have just needed to finish in 2nd to win the overall points in the race after being in a breakaway for most of the race. This time around, it was a much hotter day with seriously Texas style heat with the high of the day reaching 102 degrees. I really should have made my drinks much less sugary for the race and not used a recovery powder, but whatever.

The race started and I got up to the front and kind of waited a bit. Rocky got some early points with Bedford, Liberles and Spahr all trying to get away every once in a while. Then, Austin from Team O and a Veloce guy got a decent gap about halfway through. I knew any break on this course was a threat, so I bridged up. It was tough heat and we had an uneven effort level in the break with Austin being really fresh and the Veloce rider not so much, but he was taking lap points nonetheless. With about 10 to go, another Team O guy bridged up to us and I swear it was Bedford, but he said it wasn't him after the race. I might have been hallucinating. But whoever it was, it was definitely a Team O guy because they attacked and then countered with the other guy upon being brought back. Eventually one of them got away and the other Team O guy and the Veloce guy got absorbed by the pack. I probably didn't try my best to stay out there and really should have given more effort to catch Austin, so I got absorbed with about 4 to go. I then worked to counter Bedford, Liberles and Spahr again for the next few laps. Then with 1 to go, Eddie went up and gave Rocky a perfect leadout up the hill and then Rocky closed with a flawless sprint up the final hill and around the corner for 2nd place. I was happy to be consoled with a team podium finish, but perhaps when I'm by myself I know that if I fail in the break it is all over for me so I may be more motivated that way.



Well, the season is kind of winding down now. Next week I'm going to be racing a lot. PIR, Portland Twilight, OBRA Crit and I want to do the OBRA TT as well. Then after that it's the Giro di Portland. The weekend after that is Longview which I may or may not do, and then it's time to go out big in Eugene. I can see the light at the end of the racing season and I am getting a little antsy with my dating life and am considering actually pursuing women again. But I'm waiting to see if I'm going to secure a winter job assignment in Austin, TX for the winter before I get serious about that.

And one final thing, I promise you readers I will do a post this coming week about my awesome race bike since I probably have to because I am going to take the risk of riding it in these upcoming crits this weekend.