Putting a wrap on 2010

2010 was a great year on two wheels for me.  I had a solid and enjoyable racing season on the road, I completed my first triathlon, rode my first century in many, many years and got in some great mountain bike rides in the fall.

I didn't set the world on fire with my racing results, but I feel I am still progressing as a rider and improving.  I think my favorite race of the year was the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race.  It was a pleasing weekend of racing for me.  I had a strong TT, finished my first crit in contact with the pack in forever, and had a fairly strong road race.  I'll definitely try to put by best effort forward at that race in the new year as I think I can do well there.  The return of the state time trial championships to Tenino was a highlight as well.  Although my form was not at my best, I really enjoy racing on that course and put in a solid and rewarding effort.

The middle of the year brought a new two-wheeled experience for me as I completed my first triathlon in Chelan.  Triathlon doesn't light my fire the way road racing does, but I had a great time, bought a wetsuit, and will do a couple more in 2011.  The variety of the experience helps break up the monotony of training as well.

In the fall, my sister and I headed to Hood River, Oregon to ride in the innaugural Echelon Columbia River Gran Fondo.  It was the first time in many, many years that I had ridden 100 miles in a day and also the first time getting to ride an event with my sister in a long time.  It was a great event with a beautiful route and a wonderful way to spend a day with my sister.

Also in the fall I got a new mountain bike and got in some great riding before the winter closed in.  I am really looking forward to spending more time on the trails in the coming year.

As the year draws to a close, I am filled with excitement for the two-wheeled experiences that await me in 2011.  Bicycles are an indispensable part of my life and I look forward to many more memorable miles in the new year.  May all of you have a safe and rewarding 2011.

2010 Ride 542 - Mt. Baker Hillclimb

For the past three years I've headed over to Bellingham to do the Mt. Baker Hillclimb, also called Ride 542 because the route is up state highway 542 from Glacier to Artist's Point at the road's end.  Each year the weather has been more spectacular than the one before.  Given that the ride takes place in September and its on the western side of Mt. Baker, each year I wonder when the other shoe will drop and the weather will be miserable.  This was that year.

My sister and I left the hotel in Bellingham in a steady rain and temps in the low 50s.  As we drove east on 542 towards Glacier, more and more cars with bikes joined the stream of traffic, but the weather did not improve.  It was truly a gloomy, depressing atmosphere to be tackling such a challenging ride in.  For my sister, it would be her first time doing the ride.  I was sorry that these were the conditions for her debut.  We arrived in Glacier and picked up our registration packets and materials, put some spare clothes in the gear shuttle to the top, and got ourselves ready for a soggy, cold day on the bike.  My sister was doing the summit ride which is one of the earliest waves, starting a full two hours before my start in the competitive wave, the last start of the day.

As I hung around the start area, it began to become clear that this day was not going to be as originally planned.  I began to hear snippets of conversations indicating that the course was being shortened and that the start waves were being changed.  Eventually, an official announcement of sorts was made.   Some of the starts waves were being delayed and combined.  Also, due to zero visibility at Artist's Point, the upper three miles of the course were being chopped and we would finish at the employee lodge at the Mt. Baker ski area.  This was somewhat disappointing news, but given the conditions and the expected temperatures at the top, I was pretty sure I'd get over it.

The summit ride, with my sister in it, rolled out under somewhat moderating conditions.  At least the rain had eased.  By the time my start had come around, however, the rain had returned in its previous steady, depressing state.  I "warmed up" a bit and rolled to the start.  The competitive start usually has a couple hundred riders in it with a variety of pack riding experience levels.  Given the gloomy weather, I didn't really feel like mixing it up in the pack and thus lined up near the back of the group.  As you would expect, I was gapped very early on in the ride, after only a couple miles, and spent the rest of the ride in groups no larger than three or four riders.  This was just fine with me, as it was safer and more comfortable than being in the spray and close quarters of a larger group.  It did greatly reduce my pace however.  The first 14 or so miles of the ride are kind of a rolling stairstep climb, before starting the final 10 miles (7 this year due to the shortened course) which is all uphill.  I was about 5 minutes off my usual pace reaching the base of the final climb without the benefit of a large pack to ride in.

As we climbed, the rain continued but at least the effort kept me comfortably warm.  As we neared the final few miles, I really began to feel enthused for the first time during the ride and began to lift my pace and pick off several riders.  The rain also eased and the sky even began to brighten.  By the last mile or so below the ski area, I was wondering why we were finishing there, as conditions really didn't seem that bad.  Entering into the ski area and arriving at the finish at the lodge though, my opinion changed.  Although the rain had eased, there was a strong cold wind blowing that made things quite unpleasant.  I found my spare clothes, put them on in the lodge, grabbed a little food, and headed cautiously back down towards Glacier.

With the wet weather, I had very little braking power and had to be quite cautious with my speed.  Also, even with the extra clothes, the cold and wind was quite penetrating and soon I was shivering, at times fairly violently.  All in all, the descent off the final climb was not pleasant and at times a little scary.  I was relieved to be back down on the rolling section of road back to Glacier.  Typically, the little climbs on this stretch back to the start are very annoying and uncomfortable with the fatigue of climb in my legs.  On this day however, each one was welcomed as it provided an opportunity to generate some heat in my body and keep the cold at bay.

A couple miles before Glacier, I caught up with my sister who had started her descent a little while before me.  We chatted about the ride and the conditions and rolled into Glacier together, Ride 542 in the books for another year.

2010 State Time Trial Championships

This seems to be the year that I take a really long time to get around to writing my blog posts about my races.  Seeing that it has been well over a month since I rode the state time trial championships, it must be about time for a post on that subject.

This year's race was back in Tenino on a course that I really, really like and had raced on twice before.  Its mostly flat with only a few small hills and is on fairly winding roads which keeps things interesting.  It is far more enjoyable to race on than the straight featureless shoulder of a highway somewhere.

I headed to Tenino with pretty limited expectations.  Preparations for my triathlon experiment during the previous couple months had diverted my focus away from my cycling training in favor of swimming and running.  This meant I knew I wasn't going to set the road on fire and was probably going to be "pack fill".
Still, I knew the course well and enjoyed racing on it so I felt it was worth the trip.

I'll spare you the blow by blow account of my ride, but I felt great.  It was one of my best efforts and I don't see how I could have ridden any harder or any faster.  I was really pleased with my race and enjoyed it, but with so little training leading up to it, I finished the 40k course in just over an hour and placed 15th of 28 in the category 4-5 field.  About what I should have expected and still a pretty good way to spend the first day of August.

Thanks to David Longdon for the photo.  Be sure to check out his blog: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/velocity/

Tri-ing something new

One day late last summer, I came home from work to find my wife watching TV coverage of a women's triathlon.  I sat down and started watching it with her.  As we watched it, I could see the wheels turning in her head.  I said to her, "You're thinking you could do that aren't you?"  Well that's exactly what she was thinking.  Soon after that day, she had set herself a goal of completing the Danskin Women's Triathlon in Seattle this summer.  She also said she'd like to do the Chelanman Try-a-tri, which is about a month prior to Danskin, as an introduction to the sport.  Well, I'd always thought I could do a triathlon, but thinking about it and doing it are two different things.  So, being a supportive husband, I said I'd do the Chelanman Try-a-tri with her.  I now had ten months or so to get over my dislike of running and my even stronger dislike of and discomfort with swimming.

Throughout the fall, I worked on my running to be prepared to comfortably complete the 5k distance required for the Try-a-tri.  I started working on the running so early because I knew the big challenge for the spring and early summer was going to be turning my non-swimmer self into someone who could survive the 1/4 mile swim required for the event.  I was going to have to do this despite being a 2-hour drive from the closest swimming pool until June when our local outdoor pool would open.

The running training through the fall and winter went well and I even began to enjoy it for the short distance required.  I even competed in a 5k in December and had a really enjoyable time.  I started working on the swim in late April with once a week trips to the nearest pool (100 miles away).  As expected, I was not very secure or strong in the water when I started, but gradually I was able over the weeks to increase the distance of my swim workouts and plan for a combination of backstroke and freestyle to get me through race day.  Eventually, the local pool opened and I increased my workouts to twice a week.  Outdoors I discovered that I have real difficulty swimming straight on my back.  I tend to wander a bit.  My plan for race day was going to have to involve more freestyle or I might end up way off course.

A couple weeks before the tri, my rental wetsuit arrived, and I headed for the local lake.  I knew that it would be a big help buoancy wise, but was really surprised at what a difference it really made.  I now felt really confident that the swim was not going to be that big a deal.  A few days before the race, I had a chance to swim the race course in Lake Chelan.  The water was definitely rougher with frequent boat wakes, but still not all that bad.  I looked forward to race day with great optimism.

Race day arrived with a strong westerly breeze and swim conditions that were described by experienced competitors as "choppy".  Most rookies were using terms like "oceanic".  The wind had piled up a steady series of 2 to 3 foot waves.  I got in the water early and tried to acclimatize and figure out what strokes and methods in my limited skill set were going to help me through this.  After being in it a bit, it really didn't seem all that bad.  Soon the start was upon me.  My wave had maybe 50 people in it and I lined up at the back and waited for the traffic to clear a bit before starting out.  The first 50 yards or so were straight into the teeth of the waves and then the course took a 90 degree turn to the right and began parallelling the waves.  Although I had waited before starting, I was soon stuck in traffic with many other struggling swimmers.  As we cleared the first turn, the conditions became very challenging.  My wife and I talked about it afterwards and decided it was what we think being shipwrecked must be like.  You couldn't really make much forward progress.  It was kind of just treading water with a little forward motion while periodically being dunked.  I had hoped to make the whole swim distance non-stop, but soon found the conditions and lack of forward progress very tiring.  I "rested" a couple of times hanging onto the course marshal kayaks.  Even while hanging onto them however, it was very physical and hard to recover.

Eventually, I reached the second 90 degree right turn on the course and began to swim with a following sea.  Here, I could swim a bit on my back and make pretty good progress.  The challenge for this part of the course is that it was straight into the morning sun and was very hard with the rough water to spot the buoy line that we were following.  Finally, I had passed the last of the bouys and could head for the beach.  I staggered out of the water and made my way into the transition area towards where my bike was racked.  I glanced at my watch and was surprised to see I had only been in the water less than 15 minutes.  That was  the longest 15 minutes of my life!

Heading into this race, I obviously had plenty of confidence in my bike leg.  I brought my TT bike, but left the fancy wheels at home.  The Try-a-tri is designed for newcomers to the sport and is not really a competitve event.  Everyone is timed and gets a full set of splits, but there are no awards.  The sprint event also taking place the same day used the same bike and run legs but started with a 1/2 mile swim.  I wanted to be serious enough about my bike and run that I could compare my times with the sprint competitors to see if I should keep doing tris if I enjoyed my debut.

I got my helmet, shoes, and gloves on and grabbed the bike and headed out on course.  As expected, I steadily passed all sorts of riders.  I didn't ride full gas, maybe 85 or 90 percent as I wanted to do a good run as well.  Soon the bike leg had passed and I was back at transition for another change of shoes.  I sucked down a gel and headed out on the run.

Most triathletes you talk to and articles about training for triathlon that you read talk about how difficult the transition is from biking to running.  Both in training and on race day, I never experienced it.  I just leave transition and take off running smoothly.  The only problem I seem to have is the temptation to run faster than I can sustain.  I think after the speed of the bike, I'm trying to keep that sensation going instead of settling into the slower speed of running (part of the reason I get bored with running very far!).  Other than a couple of brief patches where I walked for 50 yds. or so at a time, the run went really well.  I caught a couple more people in my age group and soon had turned back into the park towards the finish line.  I crossed the line and received my finishers medal.  My first triathlon in the books!

The times were posted very quickly and to my astonishment, I was the fastest in my age group, and 17th fastest of  the nearly 300 who did the Try-a-tri.  Although, 13th out of 15 out of the water and several minutes back, I'd had the fastest bike and the fastest run in my age group.  My bike leg was the fastest for all the Try-a-tri participants, and would have been the 8th fastest out of the 338 Sprint triathlon finishers.  I'm going to have to work hard on my swimming to be ready for the increased distance next time and hopefully find a little more speed as well.  Yeah, that's right, I said next time.  It was a lot of fun and I will certainly try to mix in a few triathlons each year with the bike racing.  In fact, I bought my wetsuit just an hour or so after the race, so as one friend told me, I guess I'm committed.

2010 Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race

Seeing how it has been 6 weeks since I raced it, I should probably write a post on my experience at this year's Mutual of Enumclaw State Race.  This race weekend is probably my favorite of the year.  The race is really well run, the courses are interesting, and the fields are usually large and competetive.  Last year was my first crack at this race and I competed in the master c/d field.  This year, I opted to race category 4 instead.
Another change is that last year's race was based on points awarded by finishing positions in the stages and this year was a true time-based stage race.

Like nearly all weekend omniums or stage races, the Enumclaw race consists of  a time-trial, criterium, and road race.  Typically, in an omnium, I hope for a strong TT result to gain enough points for a decent foundation for the weekend's competition and try to defy the odds and gain a few more points in the crit or road race.  Because this was going to be time based, however, a strong TT would only need to be followed with staying in contact with the bunch in the crit and road race to garner a strong result.

The weather forecast for the weekend was for cool and damp conditions and the TT conditions didn't miss the mark.  A light drizzle and temps in the low 40s greeted me as I arrived at the race site.  Being unenthused because of the weather, I was a little slower than usual getting my bike on the trainer and starting my warm-up, and ended up with a little shorter warm-up than I probably should have.  I rolled to the start line hoping that wouldn't come back to haunt me.  As in Wenatchee the week before, I rode the TT without a heartrate monitor or a computer, just my body's sensations to guide me.  The course is a nearly dead flat, 6.5 mile u-shaped course around Mt. Peak.  There is not a lot of time to spare settling in to a rhythm.  The clock counts down, you hit the gas, and you've either got it right for the day or you don't.  Luckily for me, I was on a good day.  I quickly caught the two riders that started ahead of me, kept my pace high, and took all 3 technical corners on the course at top speed.  In fact, I slid sideways a bit through the final corner.  Immediately after the finish I was not all that thrilled as my time of 15 minutes even was around  20 seconds slower than the previous year.  Once the results were posted, however, my mood improved as my time was good enough for 7th out of 76 starters in my category.

With a solid position now established in the overall, I set my sights on the afternoon's criterium and not losing any time in it.  It had been many, many years since I had finished a criterium in contact with the main bunch so I certainly would not be taking it easy.  The weather gods smiled on us and we had dry, sunny weather for our race.  Criteriums frequently start off blindingly fast for the first several laps and starting position can make a big difference on how easy it is to hang in there during this initial intensity.  Another benefit of my strong TT in the morning was a front row start for the criterium as the top 10 TT finishers were called to start line ahead of the field.  The race started very fast as usual, but instead of struggling to maintain contact with the tail end of the field, I was able to gradually drift back through the pack over several laps.  By then, the pace had eased some and maintaining contact was easier.  Then the crashes started.  Our race was only 30 minutes long, but there were at least four different crashes.  The first took place in the middle of a straight away, right near the front of the pack involving quite a lot of riders and took a little faith on my part to keep my pace up while shooting through gaps between fallen riders.  I managed to stay out of trouble and in contact with the second group to the finish, losing only about 19 seconds to the leaders.  In the overall, I still maintained a top 10 position with only the next day's road race remaining.

Sunday's road race would be 44 miles in length and feature three trips up the Mud Mountain Road climb.  The conditions that greeted us at the start line could not have been bleaker, steady rain and low 40s, this was late May right?  It felt like March.  We rolled out and were soon soaked through by the rain from above and the water off the wheels from below.  The first trip up the climb soon arrived and unfortunately, just like last year, I came up about 200 meters short of cresting it with the pack.  As the field disappeared up the road, I was soon caught up by a group of other dropped riders and we began the effort of chasing.  Unlike a similar effort last year, however, we were able to regain contact and get back into the field a couple of miles before the second time up the climb.  This time I was only able to hang on until about halfway up the climb.  I resigned myself to the fact that they were gone for good.  I was able to hook up with a couple of other riders as we began the final lap.  We worked well together, but certainly without the urgency of the previous chase.  As we approached the last intersection before the base of the climb, the corner marshal asked us which group we were with.  We answered 4s and she said, "keep it up, they're neutralised".  I thought to myself, "Sure, but they're ten minutes or more up the road".  We came around the corner, and there they were only a few hundred meters ahead just starting the climb.  It might as well have been 10 minutes, though, I was pretty cooked  from the chases and the weather and we never caught on.  At the finish, I was about 4 1/2 minutes behind the field.  As you might expect, this doomed my overall result, but I still ended up 35th out of the 76 cat 4s that started the weekend.

Other than the weather, it was another great weekend of racing in Enumclaw and with a little more climbing training before next year's edition, I may just get this race figured out. 

2010 Wenatchee Omnium

I have conflicted feelings about the Wenatchee Omnium.  On the one hand, I really enjoy racing in it, but on the other, I've had very little success at it, other than strong time trials.  The criterium is a particular nemesis of mine as I have never made it much past half distance without being lapped.  The road race course, with its climb to the sky, is a gas to ride, but because I'm a big guy, its usually a lonely ride.  This year's event went pretty much along those typical lines.


The time trial was a slightly different experience for me.  I had broken my computer mount on my TT bike recently so I did not have a computer to tell me distance and speed and my heartrate monitor chose to act up reading only about 60 beats per minute for most of the race.  Having these "distractions" eliminated, I just rode by feel and actually turned in a very strong ride for me.  I was nearly 30 seconds quicker than last year and ended up 5th out of 48 in the cat 4 field.  I sometimes tend to think too much during TTs and, at least this time, being forced to just race based on feeling may have helped me get on with the job at hand.

There's not much to say about my criterium.  I got a better start than in the past, but my lack of speed work and cautious nature on this course led to another early departure from the race at the official's whistle.

Sunday's road race was slightly different this year than the previous editions I had done.  Instead of one large loop with a really long climb, we did two smaller loops with 1/2 the previous climb.  The race starts with an out and back on the flatish 9 mile long TT course from Saturday which generally makes for a nice warm up as everyone knows whats coming.  This year, however, the boys from the dEVo team had other ideas.  Within a mile or two of the start they lined up on the front and started hammering.  I guess the big tailwind to the TT course tailwind was making them feel good, but I'm not sure what the tactical purpose was.  As soon as we turned back into the wind, they disappeared for the most part.  The rest of the race was pretty unremarkable for me.  The second time up the climb actually wasn't as painful as I expected.  I ended up being about 33rd or so out of the 55 riders that started, so not too bad for a "big guy" on a climbers course.

On the strength of my TT result, I ended up 16th out of 55 in the cat 4 field for the weekend's omnium.  Despite my challenges with this race (or perhaps because of them) I'll be back next year!

Frozen Flatlands Omnium Road Race #2 - An Easter miracle?

After Saturday's involuntary solo sufferfest, my morale was a bit shaken and I wasn't quite sure to expect for the final event of this year's Frozen Flatlands Omnium.  Usually, the second mass start event at this race is a circuit race held at Spokane Raceway Park, the local car road racing track.  This year however, that venue was unavailable so the organizers set up another road race on a 25 mile loop to the north and west of Cheney.  The terrain was pretty mellow with few hills to break up the pack, but the winds were back for a second day and they did the trick.

The wind had changed direction though, and was now blowing stoutly from the southeast instead of the southwest.  We rolled out on the course which started out by following the time trial course from the previous day.  It was a wide two-lane highway with a good shoulder for the first 10 miles or so with a strong quartering tailwind.  The pace was high but steady and it was quite easy to sit in the pack and watch the miles tick by.  At the end of this stretch, the course turned onto some narrower county roads with a few small rollers, but still nothing serious enough to break up the group.  With the race now nearly half done, various riders did try their luck at getting off the front, but none of the attacks stuck.

The course gradually arced back towards Cheney and more and more back into the wind.  Most of the race thus far had passed through forested areas and therefore the winds were somewhat moderated.  Soon, we passed across about a 1/4 mile wide open field which exposed the pack to the wind and gave a hint of what was to come.  The wind was blowing from the right and soon those of us near the back were lined out along the centerline trying to get what shelter we could behind the rider ahead.  We fought through it and entered the trees again.  A couple more miles passed uneventfully and soon the course headed directly back towards Cheney for the final five or so miles.  The run in was on a fairly narrow county road with some small rollers on it and through completely open fields.

The wind was now full force from the right and as the inevitable attacks began, the pace picked up and soon the entire field was lined out along the centerline.  This was the first time I had raced in crosswinds this strong where you gained no benefit at all from the rider directly ahead of you.  At about 5k to go as we headed up a slight hill, the pace began to ease and I decided since there was no draft anyways, it was time to try and move forward in the group.  I pulled out of line and began to move forward.  Several riders ahead of me, I could see a gap in the line opening and decided I had to get across it.  Further ahead, I could see a small group of perhaps 5 or so riders going clear from the front.  The gap I was moving across was to the chase group or second group on the road.

I realized that the course dropped away a little on the other side of this hill and that if I didn't close the gap before the top, I would never see that group again.  I dug in and gave it everything I had and just caught onto the group as we crested the hill.  I sat on briefly and tried to recover from the effort.  At the 3k to go mark, I could see the breakaway several hundred meters ahead but had nothing in the tank to try and bridge with.  I traded pulls with one or two other riders in the group in an effort to make sure that no other dropped riders would get back to us.  Entering the final kilometer, I found myself on the front realizing that at least a couple of the riders in our group had teammates in the break and therefore had not been working at all the last few miles.  I swung off the front hoping to get a bit of a breather before the sprint.  Two riders pulled through giving me at least a little shelter and a chance to catch my breath.

The final 200 meters were uphill on a nice wide city street.  I was pretty sure I was hosed if I waited to sprint late as the other riders in our group had been sitting on my wheel for the most part, so I gambled at about 250 meters to go and attacked with whatever I had left.  From the spectators' standpoint, I'm sure my attack was undetectable.  I was immediately passed by a couple of riders and shortly after by the rest of my group.  Fortunately though, the work had paid off and no other riders had rejoined our group in the late going.  I ended up ninth for the day.  It was really a great surprise to me to find myself near the front of the race at the end and my biggest mistake was not recognizing the team dynamics in my group of who might have teammates in the break.  Even if I had figured that out though, I'm not sure I had the gas in the tank left to do anything differently.

It was kind of a roller coaster weekend for me confidence wise.  A great TT result had me on a high, then a dismal road race that afternoon had me questioning why I even bother, and then the next day an unexpected and strong result in the second road race had restored my faith.  After all was said and done, I finished 8th in the weekend's omnium for the 40+ Masters field.  Not too shabby at all for the first full weekend of racing for me for the season.

2010 Frozen Flatlands Saturday Road Race - Wind sucks as it blows!

After my solid result in this morning's time trial, I was cautiously optimistic that this afternoon's road race might be an enjoyable affair.  I've yet to finish in the pack in my previous two attempts, but hope springs eternal!

As we lined up for the start, the day's wind was still howling 20+mph and a very dark cloud seemed to be headed our way.  Most of the riders were chatting about how much clothing they had on and would it be enough with the wind, precip threatening, and temps in the low 40s.  I opted to start with my rain jacket on and that proved to be the right decision even though the dark cloud staring us down at the start missed us.

The course started through a forested section for the first few miles and was fairly directly into the wind.  This and masters proclivity for easing into their races made for a comfortable pace early on.  Soon though, someone had had enough and launched an impressive solo attack.  The pack chased intermittently, but seemed content to let the rider go up the road a ways.  Soon we emerged from the trees and onto a more windswept landscape.  The wind was still from mostly ahead, but had a pretty good cross from the right which meant I spent a lot of time trying to hang near the centerline and get as much shelter as possible.  I'm always amazed at how unaware of wind direction some riders are.  The pack steadily shed a few riders in this section as they were unable to figure out where the draft was, even though the pace was still reasonable.  that was about to change.

Soon, the course made a 90 degree turn to the left and entered a rolling section.  The wind went to being a quartering tailwind.  The collective will seemed to be that it was time to reel in the break.  The pace spiked and their was almost no shelter from the wind at all.  I yoyoed a bit, but was soon dropped for good after only about 15 miles of racing.  With the wind and squall clouds all around, I seriously considered pulling a 180 and heading back to the start.  Many other dropped riders were choosing this option.  Stragglers off the pack were tantalizing close and I continued on hoping to catch on and have a group to ride with.  Alas this was not to be and soon I had passed the halfway point on the course and the shortest way home was to finish.  The wind and occasional bouts of hail, some heavy, made the solo ride less than enjoyable, but I finished it off.

I'm sure I was the absolute last finisher in my field as surely no one else was stupid enough to ride the rest of the course after being dropped that early in today's conditions.  Tomorrow is a short road race of only 25 miles, so hopefully that will go better.  At any rate, its all good training mileage which is what I need most this time of year.

Frozen Flatlands Omnium TT - Where the wind comes blowing across the plain

The weather forecast for today's racing was quite fear inspiring.  Temperatures in the 30s, snow showers, and wind.  Fortunately, we only ended up with two out of three.  At this morning's TT it was in the mid 30s and partly sunny, but the winds were 20 to 25 mph.  The first challenge was finding a windbreak in the parking lot to set up the trainer behind so that warming up might actually be possible.  I found a fairly sheltered spot and set up camp.

The next issue was wheel selection.  With the wind howling I wasn't super psyched about trying to control my usual TT setup.  I chickened out and decided to run just a standard low profile alloy rimmed front wheel instead of my usual deep section carbon wheel.  I'm so glad I did!

The course was a nearly flat 12.4 miles (out 6.2, back 6.2) that was a mix of crosswind and headwind on the way out.  The first mile or two of the race (and therefore the last couple miles) featured a nearly dead cross wind in the vicinity of 25 mph.  On the way out, I was forced to get off my aero extensions a couple times in this section and for nearly all of it coming back.  With the deep section front wheel, it would have been really, really scary and not all that fast given the control issues.

At this race, they just start racers in alphabetical order, so I'm the first one off in my class with a nearly 4 minute break ahead of me so there is no one to chase.  As such my race was pretty uneventful, fight hard into the headwind on the way out, try to make the most of the tailwind on the way back.  Oh, and try to stay on the road and out of traffic in the crosswinds!

My time for the race was 31:57, about a minute and a half slower than last year, but it was good enough for 4th in the 40+ masters group so that was a great confidence boost heading into the season.  Next up is this afternoon's 48 mile road race (also in the wind!)

Launching My Season at the Frostbite TT

Last Sunday, I launched my 2010 racing season with a ride in the Frostbite Time Trial in Everett.  Since it was only the end of February and I had only decided to do the race about a month before, I wasn't too sure what to expect.  With 64 riders in the cat 4/5 field, I certainly had lots of company to compare to.

The course is a fast, dead flat nine mile trip on good pavement east of Everett.  The weather was about as good as you could hope for in late February with sun, little wind, and temperatures pushing 50 at race time.  I started well and quickly found my rhythm in the familiar sensations of a maximum effort against the clock.

At this race, instead of start times grouped by category, the entire start list was randomized so you had no idea what level of riders were just ahead or behind you.  In a lot of ways, it eliminated the distraction that other riders can cause to my focus as if you caught someone you had no idea if it was to be expected or not and the same was true if you got caught.  As it turned out, I only passed one rider, just after the turnaround, and was passed by one rider just before the finish.

The race passed rather uneventfully for me.  I was able to ride full throttle the whole way without any fading in my effort towards the end which was encouraging for so early in the season.  My time of 22:01 was nothing stellar, but I felt it was a solid time for where I usually expect to be at the beginning of my season (usually April!).  It was good enough for 24th in the cat 4/5 field.  As a bonus to my day,  I won a professional bike fit from Herriot Sports Performance in the post race raffle.  All in all, a very successful launch to my 2010 racing season!

On the road for another season

Here in the Methow this winter, we've been blessed (or cursed if you're part of the skiing community) with a light winter and road conditions conducive to bike riding.  This has enabled me to get back on the bike outdoors about a month earlier than I have the previous two years.  This January start to my outdoor training has mercifully spared me riding on the trainer except for a couple occasions and has me eagerly looking forward to the beginning of the racing season.  In fact, given the work I've been able to accomplish already, I've decided to launch my season at the Frostbite Time Trial in Everett at the end of February.  Last year I rode an MTB race at the end of February, but that was more of a lark with no real expectation of any results.  While I am tempering my hopes for my season debut due to the early date, I am quite confident that I will be able to put in a good ride and expect a solid result out of myself.  We'll see how it goes in a week and half.

Regardless of the result in Everett, the following weekend I'll be back competing as part of a team at the MVSTA's winter triathlon.  Last year the team I was part of won the team classification (due to our outstanding skier).  This year it is a new course and I will have different teammates, so we'll see how it goes.  Again, I'm confident I'll be riding a little stronger which should help.  At any rate, the event is a lot of fun and will be a great way to continue to get back into the swing of another racing season.