Holding Court

081413

Holding Court--He is moving like a Tremendous Machine!--What month is this again?

Last Saturday at the Mass Ave Crit I saw a form of awesomeness I can only describe as sublime.  In simple terms, Court Maple lapped a very strong field of masters racers on one of the toughest crit courses in the Midwest.  That is the statement I have heard from many people who were there.  I was there also and I can tell you it was a lot more exciting than that.  You might think it an aggrandizement for me to say this but that performance/clinic/show was Secretariat at Belmont in ’73.  For me at least.  I mean...who the hell does that anymore in masters racing around here?  

I don’t race much and I never get more than one state away if I travel but I have done some hard races and I have raced with some fast guys and most of the time...and I hate to say this...it is pretty boring.  Most races I do or watch are pretty much the same thing, whether it’s a 1,2 field or masters.  Start riding--couple of attacks--bring them back--counter--long solo break--bring it back--counter--small fast group gets away and either 1, stays away or 2, gets caught--three to go and calm before the storm--one to go and ramp it up--sprint for win or minor placing.  We have all done this many times.  We all do it weekly during any of the good “worlds”-type rides in Indy.  Most of us don’t mind that it’s somewhat scripted because, hopefully, most of us race or ride the “worlds” to test our own limits.  I do it because I enjoy pushing myself to see how much I can get out of my body and my mind.  I love the pain and the amazing ability of our minds to disregard it and go harder.  Most people don’t realize how hard you can actually go if you focus and push through that pain.  We are all capable of extraordinary things...in that context.  That we all have that ability, and that the fastest guys are able to harness it is what makes cycling so addicting and in some cases compulsive to many of us.  It’s eery.  It invokes something Higher in the universe.  It is Secretariat or Pele or Bo Jackson.  These are the things that are beautiful in the world.  There are lots of other things that are beautiful but Sport is Play taken to the next level and play is childhood and what is more wondrous than that?  

To see that dude (Mr. Maple) roll down the main straight at Mass Ave in the midst of his escape was inspiring.  Head down, eyes sucked back into his brain and ringed in fire, elbows bent, forearms parallel to the ground, normal Court-smile torn off and tossed to his daughters for afterwards...wow.  Loudest crowd noise of the day and start-line daylight fading quickly to black like a blanket of war-smoke settling over some pockmarked field in Belgium.  No shit...this was the type of environment that makes heroes.  I glanced up at the roof of a building across the street, at one point, and saw Superman throw up his hands in disgust and punch Batman dead in the face before flying off at Mach 4 with Super-Tears raining down over Fountain Square.  He knew he had just lost his mojo and was now just some guy in tights and a cape...like any other hipster in that weird section of the city.  

And to think that behind Court, or at this point more like in front of him, like some sort of bicycle time-warp...a Rosen Bridge?, guys like Weaver and Cox and Boggs and Dean and Brooks and Fritzinger and whoever else were chasing HARD to get back on terms!  Some of the people around me were quite verbal in their criticism of Zipp for so carelessly letting him escape but they were on the sidelines and probably didn’t even know who the hell Secretariat even was.  So their opinions were instantly sucked into the nearest storm drain and eaten by rats.  I think Zipp did everything right.  They sent their strongest sprinter into the break that Court FELL BACK TO after dropping their strongest pursuiter, presuming that the break would stay together with a bit of cooperation by those present (Weaver, Cox, Fritzinger, Maple).  I would have bet on that all day long.  That’s a similar mistake to the one made by Sham’s trainer at Belmont.  Run him hard from the gun and he’ll never make it to the stretch.  Well.............

I have ridden and trained with Court a lot in the past few years.  I know what he is capable of and so I know what to do when I’m with him in small-group situations on the road.  I know I cannot match him toe to toe (or, rather, cleat to cleat).  First of all, he has more natural ability.  Then there is the fact that his pain-sensors were removed accidentally when he had a tonsillectomy as a child.  And if that weren’t enough, he can counter HIMSELF when he is apprehended after an attack.  It’s nerve wracking and painful if he decides it is go-time on Tuesday nights.  These qualities make him deadly in a break of anything less than seven or eight riders.  And that is what doomed numbers two through four last Saturday.  

And now that you are endowed with the proper context of the Mass Ave Criterium Masters 40+ race, you can properly appreciate the aforementioned statement--Court Maple lapped a very strong field of masters racers on one of the toughest crit courses in the Midwest.  And I’ll add this:  You all should have known!  Did you see Indy Crit?  Do you remember the State Championship Road Race?  Did you see Parkview last year?  

And Court, I promise I don’t have a crush on you, man.  Just thought it a worthy subject and a helluva show!  

As for Motion Elite-First Internet Bank, Nick Torrance was second in the 3/4 race after nearly catching Gunnar following his (Gunnar’s) last-lap flyer.  That kid is good.  Both of them.  Nick is steady as a rock in any race he’s in and I look forward to seeing what he can do with the big boys next year.  Paul, Tom, and Turner experienced the wrath of that wretched course in the Pro/1/2 field where I think only about 15% of the field finished.  That was brutal to watch.  Becker is suffering from some mystery illness and we have requested that Hugh Laurie travel to Fishers to help diagnose him.  I know he is not really a doctor but he just seems so damn smart to me that I think he can help.  Schmutte has raced more this year than anyone and currently lies quivering in the corner of the Fit Area of the store...rocking back and forth and muttering loose-associations at his bike, which is very clean.  I think he’s done with the road for this season but has been mentioning Cross during his few lucid moments.  

I am very happy with the team.  It has been extremely rewarding to create this thing and watch it grow.  The guys and gals have been great ambassadors for the sport and for the store and many of them have improved exponentially over last season.  Next season I expect more.  We will be stronger in many ways.  There will be changes.  There will be more structure.  The reigns with be tightened.  It’s been fun having no pressure this year but this is a race team and it’s time to buck-up.  Stand by for some pretty cool developments with several of the teams that Motion supports....

As for me, I am really more interested in my yard at this point than going fast.  We went fast last night (under protest) because RJ came out and decided to do MT intervals at 35 MPH, which was so very fun.  That dude is strong.  Good guy.  Sort of grew up around us and is very humble and accessible.  Anyway that’s it for me.  I would like a vacation now.  

Spring 2013 News

052313

"Dark have been my dreams of late...but I feel as one new awakened" -King Theoden

 

Dear ladies and gentlemen of the peloton,

Please let me take this time and regale you with some exciting tales of Spring thus far.  Spring is always a strange time of year for the cyclist.  Some years everyone is super fit and ready to race by March, and some years everyone is sluggish and cold and full of pot-roast.  This year I think that, despite the cold, snowy winter we had a LOT of people ready to throw down early.  We all rode the trainer way too much, listened to the same playlist way too much, and watched so many of the same Sufferfest and Spinervals videos that if I ever see Coach Troy out in the open, I will thrash him good…Ip Man style... with my Wing Chun skills.  (side note:  see that movie, Ip Man…AWESOME fight sequences and Ip Man was the teacher of Bruce Lee)  But seriously, all that trainer time and pent-up aggression has manifested as fast and motivated guys and gals who are ready to rip.  And there have actually been quite a few Team Heroes members racing so far this year...and getting good results!

So back to Spring.  Spring is a time when hibernating beasts wake up and begin looking for something to kill and eat…and also for someone to mate with.  We will be dealing with the former in this post.  For the latter please speak to any one of my employees, each of whom is single unless you count their bikes...and I think that they do.  So, bike stuff:  I think by now that everyone knows we have a new developmental team.  We initially called them the Cranky Carnivores because that is how recently awakened-from-hibernation beasts are generally characterized.  We recruited most of them from Bloomington, where they had been living communally in an abandoned quarry and surviving through the generosity of a kind old bearded savant named Festis who fed them raw muskrat and beet-juice.  And although not formally trained in the art of bike-racing, the boys had a sort of natural “pack-awareness” from the constant need to hunt (muskrat are crafty and fast).  They were also very fit from the beet juice.  Soooooooooooooo…we rounded them all up in nets (using beets as bait) and hauled them up to Fishers, along with a few strays we caught in West Lafayette, Noblesville, and at Marian College, plunked them down on bikes, gave them some kits and lime-green helmets and called them Motion Elite-Heroes p/b First Internet Bank (THAT name is real, by the way).  After they learned the concept of turning pedals in a circular motion, the rest came easily to them and they started winning almost immediately (four wins and counting and some Cat-2 upgrades in the works).  Also Ben Schmutte is undefeated at the venerable Hammerfest this year.  So please keep a lookout for the boys in blue and green this season…should be very fun!  And much thanks to the very kind sponsors who have donated much to the cause:  First Internet Bank, Driver Solutions, Indianapolis Gastroenterology, Scopelitis Garvin Light Hanson & Feary, BioVelo Fit, and the Heroes Foundation.

More on Motion Elite in a separate post later.  

So here are a few random observations/thoughts about some random things I’ve randomly thought about and observed this Spring: 

1.        I cannot do high-volume, high-intensity training for two months straight and expect to get anything out of it except dead legs and a pissy attitude. 

2.       Chris Welch Jr. will soon be faster than any of us will ever be ever in our lives and he is only 14.

3.       I used too much nitrogen on my lawn last fall and this spring and now I have to mow every 8-10 hours or I can’t see out of my windows.

4.       Hammerfest is really hard still.  And now with the Elite guys showing up it is more explosive.  I have yet to finish with the lead group on a ride on which I used to be a main protagonist.  Some of this is overtraining (dead legs the past three weeks) but those guys are freaking fast!

5.       The Fat & Skinny Tire Fest up at Winona Lake is the most pleasant, fun, accessible, atmosphere I have ever experienced in a bike race/festival.  Rob and Nancy Gast of Trailhouse Bike Shop are such great people!  Try to make it up next year if you have never been.

6.       Vince and Cindy Todd did a wonderful job with the Heroes Gala this year.  Really impressive stuff and it really inspired me to do more for the foundation.  I was blown away.

7.       I am continually amazed, grateful, blessed, and humbled by the people who support the store.  We are six years old now and things are going well.  It’s probably wrong that I take the store so personally but I really believe that this is what God led me to do and this place feels like an extension of me.  I am certainly not perfect, and am frequently grouchy, but I promise you that my intention is to create a sense of family and belonging here and all are welcome. 

8.       Every once in a while I feel like the roof may fall on us because of all the bikes we hang from the ceiling.

9.       Today, for the first time in almost a month, I felt real, honest power when I rode…so watch out.  I might be fast again soon.

10.   Bike fitting is a long process.  Sometimes it is frustrating.  But it is always rewarding when we can help someone be more comfortable on their bike and produce more power.  Every fit is like a chess problem.  We analyze, measure, and think about how a change might affect the fit later on down the road.  More often than not, a proper fit will make you faster!

11.   Logan Park is a hipster.  I almost said “closet-hipster” but then I realized that he’s pretty open about it.  Today he is wearing a t-shirt that he stole from a Barbie.

12.   Oliver’s hair is far too long.  Jack Tripper baby…

13.   Ben Schmutte cracks me up.  I think if I told him there is no way he could ever do a 360 tailwhip off the roof and land on a pile of boxes with a Tarmac, he would do it just to prove he could.

14.   Don Birch is ageless but his hip is not.  But even with that one leg stuck out in the wind like a jib-sail he will still rip your legs off 364 days a year.  He takes Christmas off.

15.   When Chris Clarke shows up for a group ride on the P5 you should have enough sense to stay in bed.

16.   Strava segments should only be bested on SOLO RIDES.  Everything else is cheating. 

17.   My wife is awesome.  I don’t know how she handles work, travel (a lot), the dogs, the house, my schedule, the unpredictable nature of my business, and my persnickety personality while keeping the most beautiful smile in the world on her face.  Amazing…

18.   I know it’s weird but I sort of miss how hot it was last year.  My legs work better in that heat.

19.   John From Cincinnati was a great show.  I don’t know Butchie instead.

20.   I really need to do some actual work now so I’ll save some more for the next post.

So that’s it for this post.  I’m going to write another one on recent results of Motion Elite and some race recaps but I sort of needed a warmup.  Some tempo…couple intervals.  It works with writing just like it does with riding.  Writing/riding.  Writing, riding, rhyming.  Good one…

Welcome to Spring 2012!

greetings everyone from the bike shop!

well, after a wave-like start to the year, in terms of weather and business and riding and running and all other manner of silliness, i believe i can declare that the season is open!  it is a happy time, like always.  there is a steady stream of sick bicycles making it’s way into the store.  we fix them and they leave to resume their duties as bringers of fun to their owners.  people are beginning to make their way in to purchase new bikes and gear and i can feel a wave beginning to form way out there beyond Noblesville and Fishers and even Geist, where the tooth-fairy leaves you hundred-dollar bills.  

roadies are the first riders to catch the wave.  they usually run into it over on Fortville Pike on the Mama Bear’s ride, or sometimes up at Potter’s Bridge, or even at the world-famous Boring Ede ride out of z-ville.  all winter they wander around in the cold searching for it with thick gloves and booties and a miserable countenance.  not finding it, and furious with cold and wet, they retreat to their basements and garages, and sometimes even their local bike shops to ride in place and watch videos.  IWBMATTKYT.  an ancient and terrible way to spend the winter, really.  i was never really much of an indoor rider.  you can ask anyone.  it is well known that i turn into a miserable ogre when i have to ride a trainer...early in the morning...without having performed my customary coffee/news/lounge ritual.  during those times i will not speak much and not even the sight of a black-eyed bieber will cause me to smile.  (we must rid the world of that thing)

so anyway the roadies.  they are the first to catch the wave.  i sort of caught it in february and rode it for a little while myself.  but it did not last long.  see, this year has been weird for me.  after last summer, we had a fall.  fall lasted about six months, completely bypassing the winter of 2011-12 and tearing straight into march as if that was just the normal thing to do.  by then it had built up a big enough head of steam that the only season that could possibly stop it was summer.  so that’s what happened.  spring tagged out and summer came barging in like gary busey on whatever it is he feeds on and put a boot-stomping on fall.  so march was summer.  but summer began it’s campaign so viciously it completely ran out of energy by early april and retreated back to columbia and spring tagged back in.  the first thing spring did was kick the recently beaten fall right in the jibblies and call winter to brag about it.  winter didn’t care because it had decided to take  some vacation time and was in columbia with summer...where the rum flows freely and the secret service tries to pay for hookers with amex.  

and that was essentially the way the season started, ended, started again, paused for shots of rum, took a month-long nap, woke up and drank irish coffee with gary busey, and, tonight, nearly drowned in broad-ripple because of thunderstorms and a broken water-main.  and between all of these volatilities, don birch somehow became faster than last year and logan park had another terrific wreck, in which his head became concussed.  also we hired him at the shop and he is just the most pleasant and well-mannered young man you can imagine!  

anyway back to bikes.  pretty much everyone got in way too good condition way too early this year except for me, which means that if.......you know what, never mind.  this thing is too long for any more anecdotes.  suffice to say, everyone has been riding a lot, tuesday sessions started way early this year, they are still the hardest ride in town, a lot of team heroes have already raced this year...multiple times, and i look forward to regaining some of my indomitable form sometime soon...maybe by the time spring rolls around this august.  

sincerely,

gary busey

Team Heroes Ride Schedule - 2012

The 2012 Ride Schedule is as follows:

     Saturdays & Sundays:  7:00 am, from Mama Bears - effective May 5th

     Tuesday Hammerfest:  6:30 pm, from HSE High School

     Tuesday Southside:      5:15pm Pioneer Park, Mooresville  

     Mon, Wed, Thurs:         6:30 pm, from HSE High School

     Mon-Fri mornings:         5:30 am, from Mama Bears,

......     ..                               when 40+ degrees & dry, lights required

Note to all:

     - Rides are geared to experienced, competitive riders interested in fast paced training and racing. 

     - Helmets required.